The final volume of the collected BBC Ghost Stories is, in many ways, an addendum to the collection, containing as it does the two episodes made during a brief revival of the concept in 2005 and 2006. Although the two stories here – A View from a Hill and Number 13 – return to the world of MR James for their source material, even more so than Stigma and The Ice House that appeared in Volume Four, these two tales feel somewhat alien to the series as a whole. Shot on HD video rather than the 16mm film that made the 1970s productions seem so strangely alien to anything else out there, these two tales look rather like any contemporary TV drama, and that strange, grainy stillness of the original series doesn’t translate to the sharpness of high definition video. Yet on the other hand, these two films are as removed from the world they emerge from as any of the earlier programmes. After all, single dramas – especially period pieces and even more especially supernatural stories – are generally a thing of the past on British television these days.

A View from a Hill was considered for production back in the 1970s, but rejected as being unsuitable for TV (that decision brought us The Signalman, so we can agree it was a wise one). Watching this version, it’s hard to argue with that original thought, because despite impressive efforts all round, the story is altogether too thin for TV drama. James could be a sparse writer at the best of times, and this is a particularly open story that doesn’t translate entirely successful. Mark Letheren plays archaeologist Dr Fanshawe, visiting the estate of cash-strapped Squire Richards (Pip Torrens) to evaluate the contents. Borrowing an old pair of binoculars made by occult dabbler Baxter (Simon Linnell), he find they give him a view into the past – and seemingly unleash dark forces.

A View from a Hill is a handsomely mounted piece, but it lacks the creeping unease of the earlier stories, instead being an awkward mix of talkative exposition and sudden, perhaps too blatant shock scenes. It’s by no means a bad work, but it does feel somehow inconsequential.

Number 13, made a year later, is perhaps a more effective ghost story, even if it rather dispenses with much of the James original. Here, we have Greg Wise as stuffy, arrogant academic Anderson, investigating old church records and uncovering dark stories about a former bishop, even as his hotel room becomes the scene of strange events – mysterious noises coming from the room next door – a Room 13 that only appears at night.

The story ditches James’ satanic, dancing shadow figure for a more moody, but somehow less scary figure seen in shadows, swaps a skeletal arm for a black gloved hand, and switches the location from Denmark to a more affordable England among several tweaks and changes. Some of these are improvements, to be honest – a final revelation about a missing guest is effective, as is the switch of Anderson from the rather affable sort in the original story to the sort of pompous fool more often found in the writer’s work. Certainly, this version of the story is much more suited to film than the James original, and the story builds a good head of steam as it goes along.

To be honest, neither of these films comes close to the quality of the 1970s productions, though they do try to match the style as much as they can. As stand-alone, modern supernatural dramas, they are effective enough, and certainly worth checking out for anyone who misses the days when this sort of thing was on TV a lot. But I imagine that this will be the disc than less completist fans will feel they can live without.

Also included is another episode of Ghost Stories for Christmas with Christopher Lee – a typically powerful reading of Number 13 that will have you hoping that the missing episodes will also appear somewhere.

Now, to lobby the BFI to release Schalken the Painter, The Unborn, Out of the Unknown, Dead of Night, Supernatural, Penda’s Fen, Menace…

DAVID FLINT

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