{"id":2078,"date":"2020-09-20T14:10:43","date_gmt":"2020-09-20T14:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/?p=2078"},"modified":"2023-02-01T19:59:35","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T19:59:35","slug":"the-signalman-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/a-ghost-story-for-christmas\/the-signalman-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Signalman (1976)"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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A Ghost Story for Christmas<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Signalman<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Following several M.R. James adaptations, Lawrence Gordon Clark turned to Charles Dickens for the sixth A Ghost Story for Christmas episode. Johnny Restall explores Dickens’ classic haunted tale, The Signalman…<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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We begin with an indistinct figure crossing deep green moorland. The words \u2018A Ghost Story\u2019 appear on screen for the first time in the series, as though they apply directly to this vague apparition.<\/b> After a moment, a close-up shot seems to dispel this illusion; it is a man in early middle age, his expression thoughtful but alert, as though he is seeking something he cannot quite identify. A piercing whistle concentrates his attention, and the camera follows his gaze to a vast plume of steam advancing through the countryside to slowly unveil a distant train.\u00a0In the bleak, misty landscape, it looks more like a vessel crossing a vast sea than an engine anchored to firm ground. We only see the moorings of the hard earthly tracks in the following shot, as the camera looks down into a deep railway cutting, containing a second dark figure. The title appears: The Signalman<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>

Made in 1976, ‘The Signalman’<\/i> is the sixth official entry in the BBC\u2019s A Ghost Story for Christmas<\/b><\/i> series, and something of a milestone amongst the original 1970s episodes. While it echoes the previous films, it explores significantly different concerns with a subtly different approach. It is the penultimate instalment to be directed by series-founder, Lawrence Gordon Clark, the last of this vintage to have a period setting and the first to be adapted from the work of an author other than M.R. James.<\/p>

\"the<\/p>

The short story The Signal-man was originally published in the 1866 Christmas edition of <\/span>All The Year Round<\/b><\/i> by its author, Charles Dickens. In brief, the plot is as follows: an unnamed narrator meets a lonely railway signalman haunted by a mysterious spectre, whose appearances seem to foretell deaths on the line. The TV adaptation is by acclaimed screenwriter Andrew Davies (perhaps best known for his work on BBC serial adaptations such as <\/span>House Of Cards<\/b><\/i> (1990) and <\/span>Pride and Prejudice<\/b><\/i> (1995)). It is more faithful to its source than the previous James adaptations, retaining much of the original dialogue, and is a masterclass in precision and economy.<\/span><\/p>

Many critics attribute the inspiration for the tale to Dickens\u2019 own presence at the Staplehurst railway disaster in 1865. The train on which the author was travelling came off the tracks over a viaduct, with many carriages plunging over the side of the bridge, and his own carriage ending up perilously balanced over the precipice. This incident, along with the Clayton Tunnel crash of 1861, certainly contributed to contemporary fears regarding industrialisation and its capacity for disaster rather than progress. This theme is the first major difference between this and the previous tales in the series; where James\u2019 stories typically concern medieval or older evils reactivated in the relatively modern world (with the exception of the previous year\u2019s ‘The Ash Tree<\/em>‘<\/a>), in Dickens\u2019 tale the modern world, itself, is the source of fear.<\/p>

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The programme\u2019s visuals emphasise this notion, with trains traversing the landscape like ghostly visions, and dark tunnels billowing infernal smoke. The railway cutting, itself, looks bleak and unnatural, a \u2018great dungeon,\u2019 as Dickens described, \u2018excluding all view but a strip of sky\u2019 from within. The superb choice of location \u2013 on the Severn Valley Railway at Bewdley Tunnel \u2013 and the atmospheric camerawork of David Whitsun perfectly realise Dickens\u2019 \u2018barbarous, depressing and forbidding air.\u2019 The ghost appears by the red light at the mouth of the daunting man-made tunnel, explicitly linking fear of the supernatural with the new technology, and also revealing the limitations of both \u2013 they can warn, but their warnings are vague and ultimately ineffectual, barely in control of the influence of their own powers.<\/p>

Sound also serves to underline the tale\u2019s unease with the industrialised world. As the camera lingers on the telegraph wires, a swelling electronic buzz is heard, as though the wires themselves are eldritch and possessed. This link becomes explicit when we witness the same sound accompany the Signalman \u2018hearing\u2019 the spirit ring the bell in his signal-box, unheard by Dickens\u2019 nameless narrator, credited as \u2018the Traveller\u2019 in Davies\u2019 adaptation. The Signalman states that he never mistakes this other sound for a man\u2019s ring, the reassuring analogue of a struck bell replaced by this eerie new tone. The use of silence is also striking \u2013 the sparse score by Stephen Deutsch uses electronic textures and drones rather than traditional music, and several scenes involve almost soundless sequences broken only by bells, electrical tones or engine sounds, with human conversation coming a faltering second.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

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Illustration by Johnny Restall<\/figcaption><\/figure>

The environment of ‘The Signalman’<\/em> is claustrophobic and dehumanising. The signalman, himself, sees little sun, and explains that he cannot even find relief in taking breaks outside of the cutting as he must always listen for the mechanical bell \u2013 \u2018My face would be in the sun, but my mind would be down here in the dark.\u2019 He is crushed by having, \u2018so little to do, with so much depending on it,\u2019 a life more suited to machine than man. Tellingly, in Dickens\u2019 original story the signalman reveals that he was a student of natural philosophy but \u2018run wild,\u2019 and \u2018misused his opportunities,\u2019 likewise, the world around him has surrendered nature to industrialisation, resulting in unnatural oppression and, indeed, carnage. When the Traveller first meets the signalman, the latter seems almost unwilling to speak, as though his language has broken down, conveying his meaning more eloquently by look and gesture. Even as he warily opens up, Denholm Elliot\u2019s superb performance in the title role remains tightly clenched, making great use of his naturally lugubrious features and nervous eyes, like an animal cornered in its den, beset on all sides. He cannot even trust his own senses \u2013 he sees and hears what others apparently do not. <\/span><\/p>

Or does he? Davies\u2019 screenplay deliberately amplifies the ambiguities in Dicken\u2019s short story, particularly regarding the traveller, subtly played by Bernard Lloyd. When the traveller first calls the signalman, the audience hears the same electronic burr on the soundtrack that will later be associated with the ghost. The same uncanny sound seems to draw him back down to the cutting during the finale, though he earlier claimed himself unable to hear it. The traveller\u2019s presence, intentionally or not, appears to precipitate the final crisis for the signalman \u2013 and why is he present? Why is he drawn to that lonely spot? He never explains his reasons, going only so far as to say, \u2018I had to know how you\u2026\u2019 before trailing off to explain that he is, \u2018simply a man.\u2019 He says that he has been \u2018shut up within narrow limits \u2013 confined, but now I am free,\u2019 Lloyd\u2019s careful delivery suggesting this statement contains hidden depths. At the conclusion, he simply drifts away into the fog, as ghostly as he appeared in the opening shot. Between the signalman\u2019s fears and the subtler uncertainties of the Traveller, the audience is left untethered, lacking any objective witness such as Dr Black in ‘The Stalls of Barchester<\/em><\/a>‘ and ‘A Warning to The Curious<\/em><\/a>‘. It is perhaps the episode\u2019s most insidious aspect \u2013 can we trust our own senses any more than the Signalman?<\/p>

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Illustration courtesy of Sarah Coomer<\/figcaption><\/figure>

This brings me to the second major difference between the James and Dickens stories. In the James-based adaptations, there is little doubt about the nature and the reality of the ghosts (with the exception of Jonathan Miller\u2019s non-canon 1968 ‘Whistle and I\u2019ll Come To You<\/a>‘<\/em>). The supernatural is a definite antagonist, physically menacing the characters. ‘The Signalman’<\/em> declines such certainties. The events could, conceivably, have come to pass without any supernatural agency at all, by simple grim coincidence. The audience may see the ghost onscreen, but only through the signalman\u2019s tortured eyes. The haunting may only be in his imagination; the Traveller conjectures, \u201cI wonder what you do with your mind,\u2019 and it is clear that the Signalman is deeply troubled. Assuming the ghost is real, it may be a harbinger of doom but does not readily fit with James\u2019 malignant spectres. It does not appear actively evil \u2013 maybe it is just an embodiment of inevitable fate. The signalman says of his studies, \u2018All the time in the world, and nothing to do with the knowledge when I have it.\u2019 The ghost gives him knowledge of danger to come and plenty of time to act; the tragedy is that he simply cannot do so.<\/p>

‘The Signalman<\/em>‘ is a beautifully complex adaptation, and a wonderful short film, in its own right. Clark\u2019s direction is assured and confident, content to move at its own pace, perfectly realising Davies\u2019 intelligent screenplay, and anchored by exemplary performances from the two leads. It is a treat that rewards repeat viewings, and for my money, may just be the best of the series.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJohnny Restall\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Johnny Restall draws and writes. You can find out more by clicking his name (above)<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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More Ghost Stories for Christmas ><\/a><\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\tMartin’s Close (2019)\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t30\/11\/2020\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tMark Gatiss returned to M.R. James for 2019's A Ghost Story for Christmas, adapting the writer's 1911 tale, Martin's Close. Graham Williamson explores the episode...\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/article><\/div>
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\n\t\t\tThe Stalls of Barchester (1971)\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tThe first official episode of the BBC's A Ghost Story for Christmas series was an adaptation of the M.R. James' story, The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral. Lee Broughton explores the…\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/article><\/div>
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\n\t\t\tThe Ghost Story for Christmas and the Christmas Ghost Story\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tDr. Derek Johnston introduces Horrified's retrospective with some thoughts on the ghost story for Christmas and the Christmas ghost Story...\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/article><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Following several M.R. James adaptations, Lawrence Gordon Clark turned to Charles Dickens for the sixth A Ghost Story for Christmas episode. Johnny Restall explores Dickens’ classic haunted tale, The Signalman…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":122196,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"page-builder","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[578],"tags":[619,560,479,561,426],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/The-Signalman.png?fit=731%2C412&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2078"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2078"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125049,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2078\/revisions\/125049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horrifiedmagazine.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}