The BBC has ordered a new ghost story for Christmas, written and directed by Mark Gatiss and starring Tobias Menzies (The Crown; F1) and Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous; Motherland).
The Room in the Tower, adapted by Gatiss from the E.F. Benson story, is set in the inter-war years and will beGatiss’ eighth ghost story for Christmas on the BBC. Additional cast includes Nancy Carroll (The Crown; Father Brown), Ben Mansfield (Endeavour; Sister Boniface Mysteries) and Gatiss’ recent Bookish co-star Polly Walker (Bridgerton; Rome).
For 15 years, Roger Winstanley has been haunted by an unsettling, recurring dream: an invitation to spend the night in the house of an acquaintance, where an unseen terror lurks and the figures who populate the dream seem to age in real time. Nightmare and waking life seem to finally collide when an invitation to the dreaded “room in the tower” becomes all too real…
Mark Gatiss, Writer and Director, says: “I’ve always wanted to adapt the great E.F. Benson’s ghost stories and this is one of his chilling best. I’m also very grateful to have been able to continue the most Christmassy of Christmas traditions. The Room in the Tower has been prepared for you – and with Tobias Menzies and the legendary Dame Joanna Lumley to boot!”
Mark Bell, Commissioning Editor for BBC Arts, says: “Mark and the team have gathered a wonderful cast for this atmospheric treat where dream meets terrifying reality. ‘I have given you the room in the tower’ is a sentence nobody will want to hear once they have experienced this festive haunting…”
Previous festive tales for the BBC from Gatiss have included last year’s Woman of Stone, The Mezzotint, Martin’s Close, Count Magnus and The Tractate Middoth – all of which were based on works by M.R James. In 2023 he wrote and directed Lot No. 249 – an adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story.
Principal photography took place earlier this year on location in Cobham Hall, Kent.
A Ghost Story for Christmas: The Room in the Tower is a BBC Arts’ commission for BBC Two and iPlayer produced by Adorable Media. BBC Studios is handling global sales. The Producer for Adorable Media is Isibeal Ballance and the Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Mark Bell.
Image: Adorable Media / BBC / Joe Duggan)
Jon Creamer
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