Trial and Retribution

A GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS - MARTIN'S CLOSE (2019)

Peter Capaldi sports the worst wig in costume drama history.

WRITTEN and directed by Mark Gatiss, this is a laboured adaptation of a minor M.R. James' tale included in the 1911 collection More Ghost Stories. Introduced by unnecessary modern armchair dweller Stanton (Simon Williams), we are soon back in 1684, where Judge Jeffreys (Elliot Levey) is presiding over the murder trial of his cousin, Squire John Martin (Wilf Scolding), a "young gentleman of quality." Prosecutor Dolben (Peter Capaldi) presents the case that Martin slit the throat of backward peasant Ann Clark (Jessica Temple); Martin played with Clark's affections, and this callous action had ruined a promising marriage proposal for him. What makes the proceedings unique is that Clark makes herself known to Martin after her death, with Ann haunting the Squire in the courtroom, in his cell, and following him to his hanging.

MARTIN'S CLOSE should not use the A GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS moniker at all, as it is an underwhelming historical drama with only flashes of creepiness. This celebrated BBC strand of the 1970s is a prime example of what has become the Hauntology concept; with their pre-digital, incomplete history, paranormal programming in this decade has become particularly astute to these nostalgic otherworlds. Contemporary culture's constant recycling of old entertainments and inability to escape from them is at the heart of the phrase, leading franchises to - at best - tired facsimiles of past glories. MARTIN'S CLOSE has a whimsical portrayal of Jeffreys - the notorious hanging judge and vengeful alcoholic - with Capaldi attempting to hold the half-hour together in his Brian May wig. But its superficial theme of social standing is lost under bright photography (it was filmed in late July) and a micro budget that would make the piece more a candidate for daytime television than a late night chiller.

The ghosts of M. R. James do not uniformly convey to neat resolution. Sometimes protagonists steer clear altogether, in others a haunting ends only when a vindicated act of revenge is carried out.

In a 2015 Guardian article, Michael Newton makes the shrewd point that our general acceptance of Christmas ghost tales has shifted to the Americana of Halloween. This has been illustrated in the disappointing later entries of the A GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS series. James brought spectres to the snowbound feast with a cosy anxiety, while Halloween mirrors our now jolted directness. But perhaps it is because of the march of time - and more importantly, technological levels of communication - that the effectiveness of cathedral closes and windswept locales has now eroded into shock scares that we can act out ourselves. The widespread yearning for social media and, inevitably, untouchable levels of self-importance, has no rationale for old school atmosphere and tradition.