Season 1 Plot
Broadcast in the dying hours of Christmas Eve, the BBC's A Ghost Story for Christmas series was a fixture of the seasonal schedules throughout the 1970s. For ten years viewers were chilled and terrified by atmospheric literary adaptations as well as sinister contemporary tales.
Ghost Stories for Christmas Season 1 aired on December 24th, 1971.
Season 1 Episodes
1. The Stalls of Barchester
While cataloging the library of Barchester Cathedral, a scholar finds a diary detailing the events surrounding the mysterious death of an Archdeacon some 50 years earlier. The first of the BBC's famed 'A Ghost Story for Christmas'.
2. A Warning to the Curious
An archaeologist goes treasure hunting along the English coast in search of a lost, fabled crown that supposedly helps protect Great Britain against invasion, but uncovers something much more sinister.
3. Lost Hearts
A young orphan, Stephen, is sent to go and live with his strange, much older cousin at his remote country house. Once there, Stephen experiences terrible dreams in which he sees a young girl and boy who are missing their hearts.
4. The Treasure of Abbot Thomas
The Reverend Justin Somerton, a scholar of Medieval history, and his protégé Lord Peter Dattering are visiting an Abbey library. Studying a stained glass window they uncover clues leading to a treasure hidden by a disgraced Abbot.
5. The Ash Tree
"The Ash Tree" tells the tale of when an aristocrat inherits his family haunted estate.
6. The Signalman
A lonely Signalman is visited by a stranger.
7. Stigma
"Stigma" tells the tale of when after a young couple move into a remote country house in the middle of a stone circle workmen disturb an ancient menhir, unleashing a supernatural force.
8. The Ice House
Paul, recently divorced, seeks sanctuary at a country retreat run by a sinister brother and sister.