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, the BBC regularly used to dramatise one every year under the title "A Ghost Story for Christmas"; the tradition was revived in 2005 and continues to this day, although these recent offerings have not been broadcast every year. (There have been nine in a period of nineteen years).
James's story "Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" has been dramatised before by the BBC in Jonathan Miller's version from 1968. (This was broadcast in May of that year as part of the "Omnibus" series of arts documentaries, and does not form part of the "Ghost Story for Christmas" series). James borrowed his title from a Robert Burns poem, but both television versions were broadcast under the shortened title "Whistle and I'll Come to You".
Miller's version omits a few minor details from James's tale, but is otherwise reasonably faithful to it. Professor Parkins, an elderly bachelor Cambridge academic, arrives at a hotel in a small Suffolk seaside town for a golfing holiday. While exploring the ruins of a local abbey, Parkins finds an old whistle. When blown, the whistle unleashes a terrifying supernatural force.
The 2010 version makes much greater changes to James's story. The protagonist is here renamed James Parkin and he becomes a retired astronomer. He is neither a bachelor nor a golfer, but feels the need for holiday after his wife Alice, who is suffering from dementia, has to be moved to a care home. Although it is the middle of winter, he chooses a hotel on the Kent coast which he and Alice once visited in earlier, happier days. He is, in fact, the only guest on the hotel (which made me wonder why they bothered to stay open if they get so little custom off-season).
Instead of a whistle, Parkin finds an old ring. Although this rather makes a nonsense of the title, it is a relatively minor change compared with two other ways in which this adaptation varies from the original story. The first concerns the protagonist's personality. James intended his story to be about "intellectual pride", something which Miller well understood and which was borne out in Michael Hordern's excellent performance in the 1968 version. His Parkins was, on the surface, an unworldly academic, but underneath an arrogant intellectual snob. Like his near-namesake Parkins, Parkin is an scientific rationalist who makes it quite clear that he does not believe in the supernatural. His reasons for disbelief, however, are rooted in his despair at the tragedy which has befallen Alice and have nothing to do with the intellectual pride which is Parkins's besetting vice. The second major change concerns the protagonist's fate. Parkins escapes with nothing more than a bad fright; Parkin also undergoes a terrifying experience but is found dead in his room the next morning.
These changes made me feel that, unlike Miller, Neil Cross, the scriptwriter of the 2010 version, did not really understand James's tale. Miller's version contains a note of ambiguity (which I think is also there in James) in that we can never be sure whether Parkins's experience is genuinely supernatural or a product of his imagination. What is important is that he comes to realise that there are, or at least might be, things in heaven and earth not dreamed of in his philosophy.
In Cross's version, however, we are never really sure what is going on. Is Parkin's experience somehow connected to the mysterious ring? Or is it somehow connected to Alice, who appears to Parkin as if in a dream? And why does Cross kill off this inoffensive old gentleman? Is he the victim of dark forces? Or was his fright more than his heart could stand? James's tale was a taut, well-constructed ghost story; this version is loose, baggy and coming apart at the seams. The only thing which saves it from a lower mark is the very good performance of John Hurt in the leading role. 5/10.
James's story "Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" has been dramatised before by the BBC in Jonathan Miller's version from 1968. (This was broadcast in May of that year as part of the "Omnibus" series of arts documentaries, and does not form part of the "Ghost Story for Christmas" series). James borrowed his title from a Robert Burns poem, but both television versions were broadcast under the shortened title "Whistle and I'll Come to You".
Miller's version omits a few minor details from James's tale, but is otherwise reasonably faithful to it. Professor Parkins, an elderly bachelor Cambridge academic, arrives at a hotel in a small Suffolk seaside town for a golfing holiday. While exploring the ruins of a local abbey, Parkins finds an old whistle. When blown, the whistle unleashes a terrifying supernatural force.
The 2010 version makes much greater changes to James's story. The protagonist is here renamed James Parkin and he becomes a retired astronomer. He is neither a bachelor nor a golfer, but feels the need for holiday after his wife Alice, who is suffering from dementia, has to be moved to a care home. Although it is the middle of winter, he chooses a hotel on the Kent coast which he and Alice once visited in earlier, happier days. He is, in fact, the only guest on the hotel (which made me wonder why they bothered to stay open if they get so little custom off-season).
Instead of a whistle, Parkin finds an old ring. Although this rather makes a nonsense of the title, it is a relatively minor change compared with two other ways in which this adaptation varies from the original story. The first concerns the protagonist's personality. James intended his story to be about "intellectual pride", something which Miller well understood and which was borne out in Michael Hordern's excellent performance in the 1968 version. His Parkins was, on the surface, an unworldly academic, but underneath an arrogant intellectual snob. Like his near-namesake Parkins, Parkin is an scientific rationalist who makes it quite clear that he does not believe in the supernatural. His reasons for disbelief, however, are rooted in his despair at the tragedy which has befallen Alice and have nothing to do with the intellectual pride which is Parkins's besetting vice. The second major change concerns the protagonist's fate. Parkins escapes with nothing more than a bad fright; Parkin also undergoes a terrifying experience but is found dead in his room the next morning.
These changes made me feel that, unlike Miller, Neil Cross, the scriptwriter of the 2010 version, did not really understand James's tale. Miller's version contains a note of ambiguity (which I think is also there in James) in that we can never be sure whether Parkins's experience is genuinely supernatural or a product of his imagination. What is important is that he comes to realise that there are, or at least might be, things in heaven and earth not dreamed of in his philosophy.
In Cross's version, however, we are never really sure what is going on. Is Parkin's experience somehow connected to the mysterious ring? Or is it somehow connected to Alice, who appears to Parkin as if in a dream? And why does Cross kill off this inoffensive old gentleman? Is he the victim of dark forces? Or was his fright more than his heart could stand? James's tale was a taut, well-constructed ghost story; this version is loose, baggy and coming apart at the seams. The only thing which saves it from a lower mark is the very good performance of John Hurt in the leading role. 5/10.