I always enjoy a good ghost story, but having only intermittently watched these intermittent BBC Christmas schedule fillers over the last four decades can't consider myself a genre expert. And this one is also based on one of M.
During the Seventies the BBC made a habit of broadcasting A GHOST STORY FOR Christmas, mostly written by M. R.
From actor, writer and director Mark Gatiss is an adaptation of a short ghost story from M R James.Gatiss better known as a performer with The League of Gentlemen and as a writer on Doctor Who and Sherlock.
The BBC continued its Christmas Day tradition of adapting a ghost story by the celebrated master of the genre MR James to add a little spice and ice to the seasonal festivities. Unlike last year's "Whistle And I'll Come To You", this tale wasn't brought fully up to date instead finding itself attractively moved forward to a post-war time-span where crucially for the plot, libraries and the cataloguing of books were still important and commonplace occurrences.
Four years after 'Whistle and I'll Come to You', A Ghost Story for Christmas once more returned to the BBC, for another festive tale to chill the blood in the shape of 'The Tractate Middoth'. Adapted from a short story by M.
Although only one feature film ("Night of the Demon") has been based upon the ghost stories of M R James, a number of them have been adapted as short plays for British television, a format to which they are possibly more suited. During my childhood in the 1970s, I remember that the BBC regularly used to dramatise one every year under the title "A Ghost Story for Christmas", and this tradition has been revived in recent years.
THE TRACTATE MIDDOTH deserves commendation purely because it's a traditional ghost story and an adaptation of an M. R.
The Tractate Middoth is one of James's weaker stories and although I was looking forward to a recent adaptation of his work I was surprised that this was the story Gatiss chose.Unfortunately, despite really wanting to like this, I found it absolutely dreadful.
I thought this ghost story was awesome! (My review is too short) so I will also say, "this short film would be great to watch on a rainy afternoon.
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