The M.R. James BBC Radio Collection

3.6/5 ( ratings)

Spine-tingling stories by M. R. James, plus a chilling original drama and two bonus programmes about his life and work

M. R. James was the master of the uncanny. His classic supernatural stories have haunted readers for over a century, and been adapted countless times for radio, TV and film.

This collection features dramatisations of twelve of his most popular stories – The Mezzotint; Casting the Runes; The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral; A Warning to the Curious; Rats; Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come To You, My Lad; The Tractate Middoth; Lost Hearts; The Rose Garden; Number 13; Martin’s Close and Count Magnus. Among the star-studded casts are Mark Gatiss, Derek Jacobi, James D’Arcy, Anton Lesser, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Donald Wolfit.

Also included are a trio of readings by Benjamin Whitrow: Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook; A School Story and The Haunted Dolls’ House.

Neil Brand’s disturbing drama The Haunting of M. R. James, starring Mark Gatiss and Fenella Woolgar, sees horrific events from James’s own stories echoed in reality.

The life of M. R. James is discussed by Muriel Gray and Christopher Frayling in an episode of biography series Great Lives, presented by Humphrey Carpenter. Finally, in a fascinating documentary – The Ghosts of M.R. James – Michell Raper examines the author’s life and work, with readings from several of his stories.