NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: BFI Blu-ray (November 2023): BFI have transferred Ghost Stories for Christmas: Volume 1 to a three Blu-ray package. Eric Cotenas had reviewed Ghost Stories for Christmas - The Definitive Collection (6-DVD set) from BFI in 2012, HERE. We have compared some captures below. This has 1080i transfers (accurate for original 25fps UK TV) of The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974,) The Ash Tree (1975,) The Signalman (1976,) Stigma (1977) and The Ice House (1978.) The original TV 70's broadcasts we shot in 16mm. We reviewed Volume 1 HERE. The HD presentations are rich in grain texture - there is a slight shift in some colors - presumably exporting them more accurately. They looks quite good showing more information in the frame and the grain and improved detail and color rendering seems the dominant feature of the vastly improved higher resolution upgrade.

NOTE: We have added 136 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, BFI use linear PCM dual-mono tracks (24-bit) in the original English language. Strong effects are rare and modest in the A Ghost Story for Christmas TV series. From Wikipedia; "Adam Scovell, analyzing the aural aesthetics of the BBC Ghost Stories, notes that although Lawrence Gordon Clark (television director, writer and producer most associated with A Ghost Story for Christmas) talks about "stock music", the early adaptations make use of what were then new, avant-garde classical works found in the BBC's gramophone library at Egton House. The Treasure of Abbot Thomas was the only entry in the series to have its own original score. Geoffrey Burgon's score consists of an organ, two countertenors and various unconventional percussion instruments; according to Clark, a "mixture of evensong and bicycle chains". It all sounds superior to the lossy DVD audio transfers - clean with consistent dialogue in the uncompressed transfers. BFI offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'B' Blu-rays.

The BFI Blu-ray offers five new commentaries - one per episode. We get writer and TV historian Simon Farquhar (A Dangerous Place: The Story of the Railway Murders) on The Treasure of Abbot Thomas. The Ash Tree has a commentary by writer and TV historian Jon Dear, incorporating material from author and editor Johnny Mains (Celtic Weird: Tales of Wicked Folklore and Dark Mythology.) The audio commentary for The Signalman has Jon Dear again and actor and writer Mark Gatiss (Black Butterfly: A Lucifer Box Novel: A Secret Service Thriller.) For Stigma and The Ice House we enjoy Kim Newman (Kim Newman's Guide to the Flipside of British Cinema) and Sean Hogan (That Fatal Shore) discussing the last two productions of the series with a lot of extraneous information on the cast, crew and tangential efforts. Also repeated from the DVDs are, 2000 recorded, introductions by Lawrence Gordon Clark running almost 40-minute in total of The Treasure of Abbot Thomas, The Ash Tree, The Signalman, and Stigma. Included are the 40-minute A View From a Hill in SD (576i see below) which was also on the Ghost Stories for Christmas - The Definitive Collection (6-DVD set). It involves a young museum curator, Fanshawe (Mark Letheren) who finds himself in possession of a pair binoculars that grant him a strange new ability. Ignoring all warnings about their necromantic creator, he carries out his research, but the bloody past of the area is best left undisturbed. Also in the 2013 DVD set is 2006's Number 13 - in 1080i (see matched captures below) also running 40-minutes that has Professor Anderson (Greg Wise) infuriated by the ghoulish noises made nightly by his neighbor, so he is soon driven to investigate the diabolical secrets of the old hotel and mysteriously vanishing room 13. NEW is Spectres, Spirits and Haunted Treasure: Adapting MR James - an excellent newly commissioned 1/4 hour video essay by, film and video producer, writer and photographer, Nic Wassell exploring some of the classic BBC adaptations of the work of MR James, who as an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936.) It was very informative. Lastly is another episode of Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee from 2000. Ronald Frame’s adaptation of Number 13 is brought to life by the horror maestro. The BFI Blu-ray package has an illustrated booklet with archival essays by Alex Davidson, Dick Fiddy, Simon Farquhar and Helen Wheatley.

All shown either a few days before Christmas, on Christmas or Boxing day, from 1974 through 1978, we get delightful stories of; in The Treasure of Abbot Thomas an investigatory theologian and his protégé hunting clues to a disgraced monk's treasure. 1975's The Ash Tree has an aristocrat who inherits his family estate and is haunted by visions of witchcraft trials and his, potential, ancestor's role. In The Signalman, the titular character (Denholm Elliott) diligently does his job and converses with a curious bystander on how he is being troubled by a calamity-predicting specter. Stigma, possibly with references to 'Stigmata', a family moves into a cottage near an ancient megalithic stone circle, that is in the process of being excavated, unleashing a curse on the mother (Kate Binchy) who begins bleeding without visible wounds. The Ice House (the only entry not directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark), is more a horror than a ghost story, has a strange flower at a health spa, with an addictive fragrance. It is linked to strange disappearances and the suspicious brother and sister who run the resort. The BFI Blu-rays improve dramatically over the 2005 DVDs, offer five new commentaries, a new video essay and booklet. These are totally addictive and I'd love to watch near the holidays curled up near a stoked fireplace while enjoying. Absolutely recommended!

Gary Tooze