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The Signalman (BBC Ghost Story For Christmas) [1976]


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Editorial
Special Features

English
Region 2
Reading Of Dickens Original Story

Editorial
Synopsis

This installment of the BBC's GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS tells the haunting tale of a railway worker (Denholm Elliott) who sees frightening visions that appear just before horrible train wrecks. Are the visions his imagination...or something terrifyingly real

The best BBC Ghost Story for Christmas.
Review date: 2007-07-26 Rating: 10 out of 10

If the BFI hadn't started to release television programmes then we'd probably have a complete set of the BBC Ghost Stories for Christmas by now- at a reasonable price, with some decent extras and restored picture and sound.

The adaptation, by Andrew Davies, is excellent, though, and is one of the few programmes that I rewatch on a fairly regular basis.

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Reviews


Classic
Review date: 2007-06-19 Rating: 10 out of 10

As with A Warning to the Curious, this was part of the BBC's ghost story for christmas series and it doesn't disappoint, these short films feel like tales for cold nights outside while a warm fire roars inside. The simple setup and masterful performance by Denholm Elliot really sell the subtle chills and even if the finale doesn't deliver it's well worth a ride. The extras are not that special but it's worth the price just for the film itself, a great example of quality storytelling with unobtrusive direction by Lawrence Gordon Clark. Now, if only the bfi would release The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral.

The signalman
Review date: 2007-02-27 Rating: 8 out of 10

I saw this film when i was a kid and it had quite an impact on me. When i saw the title on amazon i was thrilled at the prospect of seeing it again. It didn't disappoint. Its a really simple, quietly told story but the great acting and lonely, miserable backdrop make it a truely spooky little film. The only reason i have given it 4 stars instead of five is because its just not LONG enough!

Awe inspiring
Review date: 2006-07-17 Rating: 10 out of 10

The staggering quality of this simple 1970s production shines as brightly today as it did when first released. Based, quite tightly, upon Dicken's original short story, which was arguably one of his very finest tales, the result is one of the most genuinely eerie pieces ever made for television. This short film is a masterclass in how things should be made.

The casting, and cast deserved a hatfull of medals. Eliot in particular is magnificent, and gives possibly his finest performance as the doomed, haunted, eponymous signalman. The direction is well judged, and the piece is beautifully, and atmospherically shot, while the location, at the bottom of a dank cutting, is as close to the feel of the original story as you could possibly hope for. The sound too, is superb, a wonderful mono clarity so absent from many recent releases, and supports the story magnificently with simple effects like the ghostly whine of the bell.

The DVD is nicely packaged, with few extras, aside from the original story read as an audio track. I wish Eliot himself had read it, but you can't quibble. Very short, but it would be churlish to argue with it in terms of value for money. Let us just celebrate the fact that it is freely available for the first time, pour a glass of port, and put our feet up on Christmas Eve. This was easily the best of the BBCs 1960s-70s ghost stories (though the rest were excellent too), which are also now available and well worth investigating. What I now want is the 2001 mini-series of 4 M.R. James stories, read by Christopher Lee, to be released. That would complete things nicely.



One of the best yet i guess the classics really are good.....
Review date: 2006-02-08 Rating: 10 out of 10

The Signalman by Charles Dickens is about a powerless man who is visited by a traveller (the narrator of The Signalman). The story is based on a railway accident that Dickens was involved in, where the train was derailed and ten people were killed. The whole story revolves around just two characters, the narrator and the signalman. The powerless man works as a signalman for the passing trains and lives near by the train track. The railways were only recently invented; so it was cutting edge technology. But, when the signalman sees the traveller for the first time he becomes afraid by the three words that the traveller utters Halloa! Below there! As the two men talked, the signalman tells the traveller the sinister reason to why he was so scared by the travellers greeting. This is typical of Dickens later work as he then used darker tones and more disciplined literature that had a greater sense of unity. So by the end of the visit the two men had gradually formed a firm friendship. The further meetings became more intense and there was an increased air of mystery around what the signalman was saying.

I did this for my english project and i tell you that the book and the film are exact. The characters are amazingly similar to the ones in the story. It really does give you goosebumps. I recomend this to absolutely everyone.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Reginald Jessup
Carina Wyeth
Bernard Lloyd
Denholm Elliott

Creators:
Denholm Elliott (Primary Contributor)
Bernard Lloyd (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Bfi Video
Manufacturer: Bfi Video
EAN: 5035673005538
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: PAL,
Release date: 2002-11-25
Number of discs: 1
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Audience rating: Parental Guidance
Region code: 2
Running time: 40 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1976
Language: English (Original Language)

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