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Similar to The Ash Tree
Man of leisure Sir Richard receives notification that his Uncle has died, bequeathing him his stately country manor and all its lands. On his return to England he immediately sets about taking stock of all legal matters concerning his new property, but during these dealings Sir Richard seems to be more than a little distracted, he hears strange noises from the ash tree outside his bedroom window.
Sir Richard/Sir Matthew
Anne Mothersole
Lady Augusta
Mrs. Chiddock
William Beresford
Herdsman
Young Cleric
"Sir Richard" (Edward Petherbridge) arrives at his recently inherited stately home and almost instantly decides that he and his bride-to-be (Lalla Ward) need to have a new pew in the parish church. Warned by the vicar (Preston Lockwood) that he cannot build on consecrated ground he sets about relocating another grave - and that's his first mistake. With flashbacks galore to a previous, somewhat tragedy-stricken, lord of the manor ("Sir Matthew") we begin to learn of the history of this house, it's church, it's occupants and - of course the mysticism of the solitary ash tree and it's associated witchery that continues to make it's presence felt. It's tough to try and squeeze all of the superstitiousness of the original MR James story into half an hour, but I thought that this BBC television adaptation did quite well in exuding a little of the sense of fear and menace that prevailed not just at the time it is set, but in the erstwhile years when Matthew Hopkins might have plied his trade. The acting is all adequate enough and the script abridged but still capable of conveying the gist of this quite decent example of maypole-style horror/terror.
December 23, 1975
Sir Richard/Sir Matthew
Anne Mothersole
Lady Augusta
Mrs. Chiddock
William Beresford
Herdsman
Young Cleric
"Sir Richard" (Edward Petherbridge) arrives at his recently inherited stately home and almost instantly decides that he and his bride-to-be (Lalla Ward) need to have a new pew in the parish church. Warned by the vicar (Preston Lockwood) that he cannot build on consecrated ground he sets about relocating another grave - and that's his first mistake. With flashbacks galore to a previous, somewhat tragedy-stricken, lord of the manor ("Sir Matthew") we begin to learn of the history of this house, it's church, it's occupants and - of course the mysticism of the solitary ash tree and it's associated witchery that continues to make it's presence felt. It's tough to try and squeeze all of the superstitiousness of the original MR James story into half an hour, but I thought that this BBC television adaptation did quite well in exuding a little of the sense of fear and menace that prevailed not just at the time it is set, but in the erstwhile years when Matthew Hopkins might have plied his trade. The acting is all adequate enough and the script abridged but still capable of conveying the gist of this quite decent example of maypole-style horror/terror.
