The Ash Tree

Nothing really surprising but still a rather good atmosphere for this tale where it is question of witch. But do not expect to see another WITCHFINDER GENERAL. Yes a bit boring from time to time, but this is the "price to pay" for this kind of material. I repeat, typically British. So you have been warned. However, if you crave for this kind of series, anthology series, don't miss this one. The ending is quite good, in the line of this atmosphere. The best example of what folk horror is. This series is however dedicated to this genre, as far as I can see. Niw, that's up to you. I just advised you.

And the witch ain't whistlin' Dixie!

Legendary (because I say so) entry in the long running Ghost Story For Christmas 'series'. Another little gem from Mr Clark, meticulously and subtly weaving past with 'present', in this case around the time the novel Tom Jones was published, as it is mentioned in one scene. Don't ask me the date, my history is terrible, and I can't even blame modern schooling! Like all the previous ghost stories, you have to concentrate a little to follow the plot.

The poor chap in this evil little rustic tale is the most unfortunate in the series, being that he is haunted by both his ancestor and the women he had wronged. He has a portent of his own doom, and is his own marionette, leading himself to a fate you wouldn't wish on your worse enemy. Well, maybe. Signalling the past through echoing voices is a little hokey, but the ending is juicy.

Sir Richard learns of his Uncle's death, and having been left his estate, he returns from Italy to take over, he is instantly distracted by strange goings on, disturbing sounds from a nearby Ash tree haunt him.

True to form, there is one incredibly creepy scene, but you have to wait for it, as it comes in the final few minutes, until then it's more of an unsettling psychological thriller, I'm not saying it's bad, far from it, The Ash Tree is one of my favourite entries.

In terms of atmosphere it packs a real punch, it's just over thirty minutes long, it passes by very quickly, the tension builds in a very measured manner, the ending however delivers.

I enjoyed each of the performances, Edward Petherbridge and Preston Lockwood are both very good, personally I loved Lalla Ward and the excellent Barbara Ewing.

It's intensely creepy and disturbing, The Ash Tree delivers.

8/10.

The last 5 minutes of this film are very true to the creepy and unsettling MR James story. Unfortunately, the pacing of the proceeding 26 minutes is far too languid, especially given the brief 31 minute running time. There is also no score to speak of, which makes the needlessly slow pacing seem even more so. In addition, the casting and editing are equally uninspired.

One can see what they were trying to achieve by intersecting the protagonist's present-day experiences with those of his ancestor's, through some kind of cursed flashbacks, but it just doesn't work. The final minutes make the episode worth watching, but what precedes the conclusion is disappointing.

Between 1971 and 1978 the BBC used to dramatise a ghost story every year under the title "A Ghost Story for Christmas". The first five entries in the series were all based upon tales by that great master of the genre, M. R. James. "The Ash Tree", first shown in 1975, was the last of these; the ghost story for Christmas 1976 was an adaptation of Charles Dickens's "The Signalman", and the offerings for 1977 and 1978 were original stories.

The story is set in the mid eighteenth century. Sir Richard Fell, an English aristocrat, has recently inherited a stately home from his great uncle Sir Matthew. He arrives at his new home, full of plans for rebuilding the old manor house in the then fashionable Classical style. His peace of mind, however, is disturbed by the strange circumstances of Sir Matthew's death- it is suspected that he was poisoned, but hard evidence is lacking- and by mysterious sounds which suggest that the house may be haunted. These manifestations seem to centre upon an old ash tree outside the window of Sir Richard's bedroom, the room in which Sir Matthew died.

Intercut with the main action are flashbacks to the time of another Sir Matthew who was responsible for the execution as a witch of a local woman named Anne Mothersole. (Sir Richard and this Sir Matthew are played by the same actor, Edward Petherbridge). Local people begin to suspect that the strange disturbances which affect the manor are being caused by Mrs Mothersole's vengeful ghost, but Sir Richard dismisses such talk as superstition. "The dead are dead".

In the original story Mrs Mothersole's was "one of a number of witch trials" which took place in Suffolk in the year 1690, but in the television adaptation her trial takes place during the great witchcraft hysteria of the 1640s and 1650s, probably because by 1690 this hysteria had largely died down in England and prosecutions for witchcraft were few. To accommodate this change the first Sir Matthew (in James's story Richard's grandfather) here becomes a more distant ancestor. With this exception, however, "The Ash Tree" (unlike some of the other Ghost Stories for Christmas) keeps relatively closely to the original.

This is not the best of the Ghost Stories for Christmas; there is no single dominating performance like that of Peter Vaughan in "A Warning to the Curious" or Joseph O'Connor in "Lost Hearts". I would, however, rate it more highly than "The Treasure of Abbot Thomas", which is less a ghost story than a follow-the-clues tale of buried treasure with an unconvincing ghostly ending tacked on. "The Ash Tree", by comparison, is more atmospheric and does have a genuinely scary ending. 7/10.