A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974)

Ever since Victorian times, it has been a tradition in England to tell ghost stories at Christmastime and the BBC, in keeping with this tradition, aired an annual teleplay of a ghost story each year beginning in 1971. This series of supernatural tales were released under the title A Ghost Story for Christmas. 

They were inexpensive productions but their filming (in 16mm), by director Lawrence Gordon Clark, was excellent and the actors who starred in them were excellent as well. The series ran for 8 years and then it was revived again in 2004 and 2005 by BBC Four productions. 

Most of the original 1970s episodes were based on short stories by that legendary writer of the supernatural, Mr. M.R. James. Since his stories were short so were the episodes with most clocking in at under 40 minutes. It's not a lot of time to tell a chilling tale and yet the stories are surprisingly compact and manage indeed to send chills down your spine... especially if you watch them at night. 

One particular episode, The Treasure of Abbot Thomas, we do not recommend watching on Christmas Eve as it will leave you with a decidedly gooey feeling afterwards... but it's worth checking out this week before the holiday.

The Treasure of Abbot Thomas tells the tale of a young lord who is studying Latin under the tutelage of the Reverand Justin Somerton (Michael Bryant), a medieval historian and a clergyman. One of the documents that Lord Peter (Paul Lavers) is learning to decipher is a book written by Abbot Thomas, a monk from the 15th century who was disgraced by his involvement with alchemy. His words speak of a treasure of gold which he himself hid near the grounds of the very abbey where the Reverand and Lord Peter study. 

In the document, he shares the first clue to finding this treasure, which the twosome decide to investigate. It leads them to an old stained-glass window featuring images of four Biblical characters, each of whom have a cryptic phrase written in Latin beneath them (“They have on their vestments writing which no-one knoweth”, “On one stone are seven eyes” "He looks down high to see what is hidden"). These clues lead them eventually to a culvert where the Rev. Somerton believes the treasure may be hidden. Despite the fact that Abbot Thomas had warned that he "set a guardian" to protect his treasure, the Reverand goes in search of the fabled gold.... much to his regret. 

M.R. James' "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas" was heavily revised by screenwriter John Bowen for this teleplay but, unlike some script revisions, Bowen's improved upon the original. As in many of James’s tales, the plot follows academic characters whose rational worldview unravels when they encounter something supernatural. In the Reverand's case, we sense that he wanted to believe that there really was a legendary golden treasure to be found but at the same time, disbelieved in the message being true. It is only Lord Peter's eagerness and insistence that sparks Somerton's curiosity as well. Bowen's script adds new characters and situations to James' story but he also leaves in James' hints of ambiguity. At the end we are left wondering whether Lord Peter returned the treasure or kept it for himself. A nice touch. 

Michael Bryant and Paul Lavers play their parts so well that it makes one wish they had paired up again as these characters for a series of mysteries. It certainly would have been better than many of the crime shows that were available stateside in the 1970s. The music for this particular episode also contributes greatly to its eerie ambiance. It is a strange concoction of vocal chanting and drumming that was later mimicked in Children of the Stones (1977), another spine-tingling British television production. 

Feeling intrigued enough to watch this? Check it out on AMC+ or at this link.