The Stalls of Barchester
The Stalls of Barchester | |
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Based on | "The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral" by M. R. James |
Written by | Lawrence Gordon Clark |
Directed by | Lawrence Gordon Clark |
Original release | |
Network | BBC One |
Release | 24 December 1971 |
The Stalls of Barchester is the first of the BBC's
Plot
Whilst cataloguing the library of Barchester Cathedral in 1932, a scholar, Dr Black (Clive Swift) is shown a box containing a 50-year-old diary (sealed under the order of the Dean) detailing the events leading up to the mysterious death of Dr Haynes (Robert Hardy), a former Archdeacon of the cathedral. From the diary, Dr Black is able to piece together how the murder of Haynes' agéd predecessor, a 17th-century carving on the cathedral choir stalls and the appearance of a large black cat ultimately cursed the former archdeacon.[1] It is implied that Dr Haynes caused the death of his aged predecessor, and therefore falls under the curse of 'Austin the Twice-Born', a carver who made the wooden decorations (the Devil, death and a black cat) of the cathedral's Archdeacon's stall from oak brought from a nearby wood and from a tree known locally as 'The Hanging Oak'.
Cast
The cast includes several actors now better known for their roles in situation comedies, or lighter dramas.[2]
- Clive Swift as Dr. Black
- Will Leighton as the cathedral librarian
- Robert Hardy as Dr. Haynes
- Thelma Barlow as Letitia Haynes
- Harold Bennett as Archdeacon Pulteney
- Erik Chitty as the priest
- David Pugh as John
- Ambrose Coghill as museum curator
Production
In adapting the story for film, Clark set the story of the Archdeacon within the
References
- ^ a b c "The Stalls of Barchester". British Film Institute Database. Archived from the original on 1 June 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-900486-36-1.
External links
- The Stalls of Barchester at IMDb
- Ghost Stories at the BFI's Screenonline