Christmas Spirits
from archive.org
The Brits love a good ghost story at Christmas. Here's a collection of spooky holiday radio dramas from the BBC that are sure to send a chill down your spine. I've posted FLACs (lossless) whenever possible, otherwise they're in high quality Mp3.
1962-12-24 The Goblins Who Stole A Sexton (by Charles Dickens)
From the series Mysterious Circumstances. A less than merry grave-digger is persuaded to change his ways. From "The Pickwick Papers." Music composed and conducted by CHRISTOPHER WHELEN, Storyteller Ralph Richardson, Goblin King WILFRED BROWN, Goblins THE AMBROSIAN SINGERS. Adapted & produced by Charles Lefeaux.
1962-12-26 The Demon King (by J B Priestley)
From the series Mysterious Circumstances. The Boxing Day panto was going to be a flop - even for Bruddersford. But then the Demon King came on... Ian Wallace stars in JB Priestley's vintage comic drama. Adapted by Michael Hardwick and Mollie Hardwick.
Kirk Ireton/Demon King .... Ian Wallace
Dulcie Farrar/Fairy Queen .... Marjorie Westbury
Alice/Principal Boy .... Sheila Grant
Johnny Wingfield .... George Merritt
Horace Rudd .... Frederick Treves
Lionel Sampson .... David Valla
Tom Burt .... Godfrey Kenton
Jonty Webster .... John Baddeley
With Andrew Irvine, Sian Davies, Dorrit Welles, Frank Partington, Barbara Mitchell and Timothy West
Other parts played by members of the BBC Drama Repertory Company
Special effects by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop
Signature tune composed by Ron Grainer
Music composed, arranged and conducted by Christopher Whelen
Producer: Charles Lefeaux
1971-09-17 Markheim (by Robert Louis Stevenson)
From the series Mysterious Circumstances. A desperate young man murders an antiques dealer... and then meets a stranger who demands his soul! "Murder is no special category. All sins are murder as all life is war. I have no interest in evil acts - only in evil men." Adapted by Tom Wright, Produced by Gordon Emslie.
Markheim ...... Tom Watson
Stranger ...... Malcolm Hayes
Deader ...... Martin Heller
1972-11-05 The Exorcism (by Don Taylor)
'It wasn't much more than a ruin really ... but we liked the area ... and anyway, Rachel fell in love with it.' But the weekend cottage is not quite the bargain it seemed, as Dan and Margaret find when they accept an invitation to go there for Christmas.
1984-12-22 A Christmas Story (by Joe Mahon)
'Molly's mind raced round the house. The back door was shut and bolted, as was the front door. All the windows were closed and tightly locked, even the fanlight. She looked at the fireplace. The fire was nearly out. Well, if he could get down the chimney, then he really was supernatural... Producer Maureen Gallagher BBC Northern Ireland.
1984-12-22 The Demon Cakestand of Beastley Chase (Stephen Fry)
A festive tale from The Mausoleum Club. Could Sir Henry's cake adoration be his downfall? Comic ghost story starring Stephen Fry.
1988-01-03 The Snowman Killing (by J.C.W. Brook)
From the series Fear on 4. A young mother's fear is intensified by her children's fascination with an eyeless snowman. Starring Imelda Staunton
1988-05-24 The Spirit of the House (by Michael Robson)
Dick and Alison retire after 30 years in the Far East, to realize their dream of an English home. On Christmas Eve, however, this dream becomes a nightmare without end. Director: Gerry Jones
Dick Lennox .... Bernard Brown
Alison Lennox .... Sheila Grant
Wedderburn .... Norman Bird
George Evans .... David Goodland
Daphne Evans .... Carole Boyd
The Revered Colet .... lan Dudley
1988-11-08 The Waits (by L. P. Hartley)
Mr. Mariner is looking forward to Christmas Eve when there's an unexpected knock at the door. Read by Robert Lang for BBC's Book at Bedtime.
1988-12-22 Angels at Partridge Cottage (by Lucy Gannon)
Zoe and Magnus Partridge intend to spend a child-free, present-free, glitter-free Christmas, but the ghosts that haunt their cottage have more traditional ideas. Directed by Philip Martin. BBC Pebble Mill
1990-01-06 A Dreadful Night (by Anton Chekov)
Returning home from a seance one Christmas Eve, Ivan Spektroff is horrified by what's waiting for him. Alec McCowen reads Anton Chekhov's atmospheric short story. Producer: Matthew Walters
1990-12-22 A Christmas Carol (by Charles Dickens)
Michael Gough and Freddie Jones star in Christopher Denys' adaptation with music by Elizabeth Parker. Director Janet Whitaker. The rest of the cast:
Ghost of Marley: Robert Eddison
Scrooge's nephew: Douglas Hodge
Mrs Dilbur: Anna Wing
Ghost of Christmas Past: Elizabeth Lindsay
Ghost of Christmas Present: Peter Woodthorpe
Bob Cratchit: Danny Schiller
Mrs Cratchit: Vivian Pickles
Mr Fezziuiig: Timothy Bateson
Mrs Fezziuiig: Maxine Audley
Young Scrooge: Andrew Wincott
Dick Wilkins: Terence Edmond
Belle: Joanna Myers
Old joe: Ronald Herdman
Scrooge's niece: Petra Markham
Sister: Emma Gregory
Topper: Timothy Carlton
Schoolmaster: Ian Lindsay
Martha: Danielle Allan
Tiny Tim: Hugo Mendez
1992-12-20 The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain: A Fancy for Christmastime (by Charles Dickens)
Charles Dickens' last Christmas story, about a man tormented by his past.
Dramatized by Jill Brooke from Charles Dickens' short story. Producer: Glyn Dearman. Director: Kay Patrick
1992-12-24 Gobble, Gobble (by Paul Burns)
From the series Fear on 4. By Christmas Eve, most people will have their turkeys safely secured, but for Martin Reynolds, his search ends in a nightmare.
1992-12-26 After Supper Ghost Stories (by Jerome K Jerome)
Christmas Eve, 1891 and in Laburnum Grove, Tooting, Uncle John's whisky-punch and Aunt Maria's toasted lobsters are not the only frights on the menu... Stars Dinsdale Landen as the narrator, Geoffrey Matthews as Uncle John, Linda Polan as Aunt Maria, Roger Hammond as Mr Coombes, Jonathan Tafler as Teddy Biffles, David Holt as Mr Scrubbles and John Baddeley as Ghost of a Sinful Man.
With Neil Brand on the pianoforte.
Adapted by Paul Wetherby
Director David Blount
1995-03-07 It's Cold Outside (by Eric Pringle)
Ray wakes to find himself trapped inside his car in a snowdrift. He can't move. He doesn't know who he is - or how he came to be there... Directed by Cherry Cookson
Ray ...... Kenneth Cranham
Sophie ...... Julia Ford
Gerry ...... Neville Jason
Anna ...... Elaine Claxton
Edward ...... Paul Panting
Elizabeth ...... Vivienne Rochester
Charles ...... Malcolm Ward
2003-12-25 No Conferring (by Jonathan Holloway)
From the series A Sting in the Tale. A Christmas bonding week in an isolated moorland cottage for the 1983 University Challenge team from Bracewell College, Cambridge, goes horribly wrong. Directed by David Hunter. Cast includes:
Derek .... Damian Lynch
Dilly .... Lydia Leonard
Ernest .... Kenny Blyth
Donald .... Peter Darney
Emily .... Jaimi Barbakoff
With Bamber Gascoigne and Jeremy Paxman as themselves.
2005-01-22 The Drover's Path (by Vanessa Rosenthal)
Based on real-life family history, a chilling ghost story set on a remote Yorkshire sheep farm in 1890. Directed at BBC Manchester by Polly Thomas.
John Whitam .... Jeff Hordley
Percy Metcalf .... Malcolm Hebden
Robert Whittam/Thomas Omerod .... Kenneth Alan Taylor
Ellen Whittam/Edith Whittam .... Elianne Byrne
Arthur Cunliffe/Edward Ormerod .... Matthew Lewney
Young Ellen/Young Edith .... Catherine Jenkins
Young John .... Oliver Hudson
Signature tune: Wench All
2006-12-11 A House to Let (by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell & Adelaide Anne Proctor)
Distressed by an unsettling sign of life in a derelict house across from her new London home, Sophonisba relies on the competitive efforts of an elderly admirer and her manservant to unravel the secrets of the "house to let".
A festive tale by four eminent Victorian writers working together - Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell and Adelaide Anne Proctor. In a letter to Collins from 6 September 1858, Dickens outlined his idea for a Christmas story. He originally envisaged the story being written by himself and Collins with his plot outline fleshed out by Collins, but was later to invite Gaskell and Procter to contribute chapters. Dickens and Collins wrote the first chapter, "Over the Way", and the last chapter "Let at Last" together, and each of the writers wrote one of the intervening chapters: Gaskell "The Manchester Marriage", Dickens "Going into Society", Procter "Three Evenings in the House" and Collins "Trottle's Report".
Originally broadcast in five 15 minute episodes from Dec 11-15, 2006, this is an omnibus of the series. Directed by Ned Chaillet.
Sophonisba ...... Marcia Warren
Jabez Jarber ...... Alec McCowen
Trottle ...... Brian Croucher
Openshaw ...... Sam Dale
Alice ...... Miranda Keeling
Norah ...... Tracy Wiles
Frank ...... Stephen Critchlow
2010-12-30 It's Me Who Keeps the Bird's Heart Beating (by Luke Sutherland)
In Luke Sutherland's magical, haunting 'It's Me Who Keeps the Bird's Hearts Beating', Regina overcomes muteness with some help from the afterlife. It's been 6-years since he published 'Venus as a Boy' - which The Guardian described as "a searing, heart breaking work of beauty" - so this story will be warmly welcomed by his fans. It's one of five contemporary ghost stories by Scotland's finest writers for BBC Radio Scotland.
2014-12-20 A Christmas Carol (by Charles Dickens)
A new version of the seasonal classic adapted for actors, the BBC Singers and the BBC Symphony Orchestra by Neil Brand and recorded before an audience in the BBC Maida Vale Studios.
Director: David Hunter
Adapted for actors and orchestra by Neil Brand.
Music: The BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers. Conductor: Martin Andre. Producer: Ann McKay.
- 1962-12-24 The Goblins Who Stole A Sexton (Sir Ralph Richardson) [by Charles Dickens] (37.2Mb)
- 1962-12-26 The Demon King (by J B Priestley) (27.1Mb)
- 1971-09-17 Markheim (by Robert Louis Stevenson) (26.2Mb)
- 1972-11-05 The Exorcism (by Don Taylor) (123.3Mb)
- 1984-12-22 A Christmas Story (by Joe Mahon) (22.2Mb)
- 1984-12-22 The Demon Cakestand of Beastley Chase (Stephen Fry) (17.6Mb)
- 1988-01-03 The Snowman Killing (Imelda Staunton) (26.6Mb)
- 1988-05-24 The Spirit of the House (by Michael Robson) (34Mb)
- 1988-11-08 The Waits (18.2Mb)
- 1988-12-22 Angels at Partridge Cottage (by Lucy Gannon) (78.6Mb)
- 1990-01-06 A Dreadful Night (by Anton Chekov) (9.5Mb)
- 1992-12-20 The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain: A Fancy for Christmastime (by Charles Dickens) (61.8Mb)
- 1992-12-24 Gobble, Gobble (by Paul Burns) (26.7Mb)
- 1992-12-25 A Christmas Carol (Christopher Denys adaptation) (63.7Mb)
- 1992-12-26 After Supper Ghost Stories (by Jerome K Jerome) (63.9Mb)
- 1993-12-xx The Woman in Black (by Susan Hill) (170.2Mb)
- 1995-03-07 It's Cold Outside (by Eric Pringle) (21.9Mb)
- 2003-12-25 No Conferring (by Jonathan Holloway) (36.5Mb)
- 2005-01-22 The Drover's Path [by Vanessa Rosenthal] (81.1Mb)
- 2006-12-11 A House to Let (by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins & Elizabeth Gaskell) (59.1Mb)
- 2010-12-30 It's Me Who Keeps the Bird's Heart Beating (by Luke Sutherland) (7.8Mb)
- 2010-12-30 It's Me Who Keeps the Bird's Heart Beating (by Luke Sutherland) (13.7Mb)
- 2014-12-20 A Christmas Carol (Neil Brand adaptation) (115.3Mb)
MP3 files hosted by archive.org.