Mark Gatiss summons three ghost stories for the BBC at Christmas

Tuesday 29th November 2022, 12:00am by Jay Richardson

A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story. Mark Gatiss

The BBC is being haunted by Mark Gatiss this Christmas, airing three spooky tales from the comedian over the festive period.

For his sixth adaptation of an M.R. James tale for BBC Two, the League of Gentlemen star has penned his version of Count Magnus, the disturbing 1904 chiller about the titular Scandinavian aristocrat.

The 30-minute special stars W1A's Jason Watkins as the inquisitive Mr Wraxhall, alongside MyAnna Buring (The Comedian's Guide To Survival) as Froken de la Gardie.

Speaking to the Radio Times in 2019, Gatiss said: "The one everyone has always wanted to do is Count Magnus, which eluded the great Lawrence Gordon Clark [who directed the BBC's A Ghost Story For Christmas series in the 1970s]. "Unfortunately it's set in Sweden - but it's possible!"

BBC Four is also showing a recording of Gatiss' stage adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, in which he played the spectral Jacob Marley, following its limited release in cinemas.

And Radio 4 is broadcasting Mark Gatiss And Richard Coles Are On A Ghost Hunt, with the Reverend Coles inviting the paranormal sceptic actor to his former parish in Finedon, Northamptonshire, reputedly the most haunted in England, to try to meet a spirit. And possibly compare script notes.

The corporation has also confirmed a Christmas special for its hit sitcom Ghosts and a festive episode of its hit anthology series Inside No. 9, The Bones of St. Nicholas, set in a haunted church, and featuring Gatiss' regular collaborators Simon Callow, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, as well as dinnerladies star Shobna Gulati.

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