"Peter Capaldi (Doctor Who, The Thick Of It, Paddington) will star in Martin's Close, airing this Christmas on BBC Four.
The standalone 30-minute drama is based on M.R. James' chilling ghost story of the same name, and is adapted and directed by Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, The League Of Gentlemen, Doctor Who).
1684. John Martin is on trial for his life. Facing him, the infamous ‘hanging judge’, George Jeffreys. But this is not a cut and dried murder case. Because the innocent young girl Martin is accused of killing has been seen after her death...
Peter Capaldi will play Dolben, in a cast which also includes Wilf Scolding (Game Of Thrones) as John Martin, Simon Williams (The Archers) as Stanton, Sara Crowe (Four Weddings and a Funeral) as Sarah, James Holmes (Miranda) as Snell, Fisayo Akinade (A Very English Scandal) as William, and Elliot Levey (Murder On The Orient Express) as Judge George Jeffreys.
Mark Gatiss says: “After the delightful success of last year’s The Dead Room, it’s a fantastic privilege to continue the tradition of the Christmas Ghost story on BBC Four - and what better than one of my favourite stories by the master of them all, M.R. James?"
Cassian Harrison, Channel Editor of BBC Four, adds: "I’m delighted to welcome another of Mark Gatiss’ ghostly escapades to BBC Four after the success of last year’s The Dead Room. With a stellar cast and a plot to send a shiver down the most resolute of spines, this is a guaranteed treat for the winter nights.”
Martin's Close follows the tradition of ghost stories for Christmas on the BBC, most recently continued by Mark Gatiss with Crooked House (2008), The Tractate Middoth (2013) and last year's The Dead Room, starring Simon Callow. The Dead Room was watched by almost one million viewers over the festive period, placing it within BBC Four's top ten shows of last year.
Martin's Close is made for BBC Four by Can Do Productions with Adorable Media. It is adapted and directed by Mark Gatiss, and produced by Isibeal Ballance. Ben Irving is executive producer for the BBC.
Martin's Close (1x30') will air on BBC Four this Christmas."
Well Mal, if it crossed my tiny mind then I expect it would have crossed other viewers minds as well, and it did distract me and pull my attention out of the story.
Glancing at the Internet, it tells me slavery was still sadly around in England of 1684, when I think this story is roughly set.
Still think 'Squire' would have a smoother word choice.
Tom Baker IMHO is TV gold.
"Master" doesn't necessarily come with connotations of slavery. During the period in question the word was a common honorific.
Well, this was pretty much the only piece of 'live' telly I watched this Christmas.
I did wince in two places and got annoyed afterwards about two things. The first wince when the shepherd(?) boy referred to his boss as 'Master' because they'd cast a young black man in the part, this has obvious slavery implications, and could surely have been changed for a better word - I'm sure there is a historical equivalent that could have been used (squire?). Second wince was 'the cupboard', which in this story seems to be come a chest, and is handled in an awkward way.
Annoyed afterwards by the Gibbet - surely he'd be hanged (I'll have to check the short story about this) And secondly, we never get mention of them finding the body. I thought having a corpse, would have been pretty vital thing to have before starting a murder trial. Although I must admit, I may have been distracted and missed this bit.
Having said all those negative things, I'll have to end with a positive, all the performances I thought were excellent (the judge, was a little too irritating), I did like the ghost's appearance during the trial (facing away at first, and then nearer the end of the trial all decayed) - and I liked at the end, flapping the hands but this bit I thought this little bit would have been better if it was in shadow or if all the followers had been dark silhouettes against the light. I even liked framing the story wit the narrator, which sometime can be a hindrance, but here I thought it helped enormously by put things in context.
I think it is an improvement over his earlier The Tractate Middoth, but I kept thinking to myself that there is far better M.R. James' stories to adapt, and their are a lot of classic ghost stories besides James that could be looked at, as an effective Christmas ghost story.
I thought Martin's Close was an okay time filler but it seems a long way from the event TV that was the annual LGC ghost story in the seventies. I can't help thinking that getting an actor with a good voice to do a direct read to camera, as in the Tom Baker or Christopher Lee series of old, would be more effective than the adaptations of recent years.
We watched it last night and thought it was another "BBC Ghost Story for Christmas" disappointment . I really hope Dracula is better than this.
Looks like this board has its first spammer.
:-(
I am glad to read this wonderful article.
Well, Mal, thanks for the link. I think that's the only Christmas programme I'm actually looking forward to. If it is terrible, it'll just make me scurry back to the audio version of M. R. James' stories I've got sat on a shelf (so no down sides really)!
I may watch the new version of Dracula but I think that's going to be like watching a slow-motion car crash, given my opinions on how the modern day take on Sherlock scripts devolved as the programme progressed, as this is by the same writers (At least watching Sherlock and the online comments of peoples views of it learnt me a new word gaybaiting, that I hadn't heard before). Let's hope Mr. Gattis will feel obliged to stick closer to the source with M.R. James than I feel he will with Bram Stoker.
Is there anything good horror-related on over Christmas?
But anyway I shouldn't get off topic too much, Peter Capaldi looks excellent in the wig and I suppose if he was the judge he'd have less to say, so I will revise my initial thoughts, it looks like he's the prosecutor in the clip and I'm looking forward to her performance the most.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ1B5e1u4JI&feature=youtu.be
(Not just for Martin's Close).
(Hmm, I seem to have lost my forum picture, most odd.)
Haven't heard anything at all about 'The Dead Room', 'so I'm not getting your delightful success comment Darrell (please enlighten me).
Interesting, I've recently listened to 'A Podcast to the Curious' episode dedicated to this story. I wonder if they'll take the pregnant or non-pregnant reading of the story. I think the latter is more in keeping with M. R. James.
Also there's a relevant song - which has many version apparently.
Shame, I was really hoping the Peter Capaldi was going to be cast as the judge.
I can't say I was impressed at all by the attempt, The Tractate Middoth.
Link to relevant episode of 'A Podcast to the Curious' below. It's a good podcast I recommend it.
http://www.mrjamespodcast.com/2012/06/episode-14-martins-close/
I liked it, although I know it didn't thrill the BHF board in general, or the general public come to that, based on the feedback I saw. The new one looks like it's maybe ... less cheap?
As for "the delightful success of The Dead Room"...
Wouldn't you know it! As soon as I add a brief section on the Ghost Stories For Christmas at the site, it needs updating within a couple of hours!