Whistle and I'll Come to You

Whistle and I'll Come to You is the title of two BBC television drama adaptations based on the ghost story "Oh, Whistle, And I'll Come To You, My Lad" by the writer M. R. James. The story tells the tale of an introverted academic who happens upon a strange whistle while exploring a Knights Templar cemetery on the East Anglian coast. When blown, the whistle unleashes a supernatural force that terrorises its discoverer.^[1]

The story was first published in 1904 in Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, the first collection of ghost stories that James published based on tales he had written as Christmas entertainments for audiences of friends and selected students at Eton and King's College, Cambridge, where he was provost.^[2]

The first adaptation was made by the BBC in 1968. It was adapted and directed by Jonathan Miller and broadcast as part of the BBC arts strand Omnibus.^[3] This production inspired a new yearly strand of M.R. James television adaptations known as A Ghost Story for Christmas (1971–1978, 2005–2006). A new adaptation of Whistle and I'll Come to You, written by Neil Cross and directed by Andy de Emmony, was made by the BBC in 2010. Both adaptations use James' story as a basis, but alter a number of aspects of the tale.^[4]

1968 adaptation

Jonathan Miller adapted his 1968 version as part of the BBC arts strand Omnibus, which consisted mainly of arts documentaries so the dramatic adaptation was an unusual move; David Kerekes notes that this probably explains Miller's documentary-like introduction to the film.^[3] Ian McDowell notes that the adaptation itself changes a number of aspects of James' story, turning the academic, described as "young, neat and precise of speech" into a bumbling, awkward, middle-aged eccentric.^[5]

This adaptation was filmed on the Norfolk coast, near Waxham.^[6]

Plot

The apparition in the famous beach scene in Whistle and I'll Come to You was achieved with a ragged cloth suspended on a wire.^[7]

Professor Parkin, a stuffy Cambridge academic, arrives for an off-season stay at a hotel somewhere on the English east coast. Preferring to keep to himself, Parkin spends his stay walking along the beach and visits a local graveyard, which has become overgrown and unkempt. While there, he spots a small object protruding from a grave which is partly undermined by the edge of the cliff. He uncovers it and finds it is a bone whistle, which he keeps. When walking back along the shore, he turns twice and sees a dark silhouetted figure standing still in the distance in front of a setting sun, appearing to watch him.

Later, in the calm of his hotel room, he cleans and inspects the whistle, revealing a carved inscription: "Quis est iste qui venit" ("Who is this who is coming?"). He blows the whistle and a windstorm begins outside. Later that night, Parkin is kept awake by mysterious noises in his hotel room.

At breakfast the following morning, another guest at the hotel asks Parkin if he believes in ghosts. Parkin responds in a typically academic fashion, dismissing such beliefs as little more than superstition. However, that night, Parkin appears to have disturbing dreams of a spectre pursuing him on the beach. His nerves are not helped when, the following morning, he is informed by a maid that both of the beds in his room have been slept in – even though Parkin only slept in one.

Increasingly disturbed, he searches a book for answers. That night, he is awakened by a sound like flapping sheets. As he sits up in bed, the sheets from the other bed across the room move and then rise up into the phantom from the shore. Waking another hotel guest who comes to his aid, Parkin sits in stunned terror at what he has just witnessed.

Cast and characters

• Michael Hordern – Professor Parkin
• Ambrose Coghill – Colonel
• George Woodbridge – Hotel Proprietor
• Nora Gordon – Proprietress
• Freda Dowie – Maid

Reception

This version is highly regarded amongst television ghost story adaptations, and described by Mark Duguid of the British Film Institute as "A masterpiece of economical horror that remains every bit as chilling as the day it was first broadcast."^[8] A BBC Press Release for its repeat showing in 1969 stated that it was an "unconventional adaptation...remarkable, both for its uncanny sense of period and atmosphere, and for the quality of the actors' performances."^[9]

The performance of Michael Hordern is especially acclaimed, with his hushed mutterings and repetition of other characters' dialogue, coupled with a discernible lack of social skills, turning the professor from an academic caricature into a more rounded character, described by horror aficionado David Kerekes as "especially daring for its day".^[3] The stage journal Plays and Players suggests that Hordern's performance hints that the professor suffers from a neurological condition called the "idea of a presence".^[10] Much of the script was improvised on location with the actors.^[9]

2010 adaptation

John Hurt in the remake of the same scene. Note the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, which is unusual for a television production.^[11]

A new adaptation was screened on BBC Two during the 2010 Christmas television season. This new version, written by Neil Cross and directed by Andy de Emmony, stars John Hurt in the lead role.^[4] This adaptation removes the whistle of the original James story, but hints at Robert Burns' original Scottish folk song "Oh, Whistle, And I'll Come To You, My Lad", which Hurt's character recites at the beginning of the story to his wife. ^[11][12]

Plot

In this version, retired astronomer James Parkin goes on a respite holiday after leaving his aged wife (who appears to be in the advanced stages of senile dementia) in a care home. When revisiting one of their favourite coastal towns during the off-season, he discovers a wedding ring on the beach and he keeps it. The ring is inscribed (as was the whistle in the original story) with the Latin words for "Who is this, who is coming?" Parkin reads the words out loud. He then sees a white clad figure in the distance on the beach, but as he walks away, the figure has got closer to him each time he turns to look back. Panicking, he runs back to the hotel where he is staying.

Later that night, he is awakened by scratching noises like somebody trying to enter his hotel room. The following morning, he is told that he was alone in the hotel all night with no other guests or staff present. Though his academic mind refuses to acknowledge the existence of the spiritual or supernatural (he refuses to believe in the idea of his wife's spirit being trapped in her almost functionless body like a "ghost in the machine"), he becomes increasingly uneasy during the remainder of his stay at the hotel and makes plans to leave.

The night before he is due to depart, he is once again awakened in the night by noises at his door, sending him into a panic. This time, a spectral apparition enters his room from underneath the door. Parkin shuts his eyes in terror and implores the apparition to leave him alone, but as he opens his eyes he sees a figure sitting on the end of his bed. The figure appears to be his wife, who says over and over again "I'm still here" as Parkin tries in vain to escape. The following morning, Parkin lies dead in his bed, while his wife is no longer at the care home.^[13]

Cast and characters

• John Hurt – James Parkin
• Gemma Jones – Alice Parkin
• Lesley Sharp – Hetty, the nurse
• Sophie Thompson – Carol, the hotel proprietor

Score

The music for this adaptation was composed by Tristin Norwell and Nick Green.

Reception

As it was shown on Christmas Eve, there were few reviews. Sam Wollaston, writing in The Guardian was mixed in his review, criticising some of the changes ("His terrifying short story has been much tampered with. The whistle...is missing mysteriously...Even the shoreline is wrong; it should be the east coast: dunes, windswept. This looks like Dorset."). However, he praised John Hurt's performance, calling it "a masterclass in how to captivate" and noting that despite the changes "what survives...is the spirit of the story – a man, alone by the sea, haunted, pursued by something. It is terrifying."^[14]

DVD releases

The 1968 television adaptation was first released in the UK on DVD by the British Film Institute in 2002, though has been out of print for several years.^[15] The BFI later released both the 1968 and 2010 versions in a single volume DVD, and as part of an M.R. James boxset in 2012.

Both versions were released in Australia by Shock DVD in 2011 as part of a five-disc DVD set of the BBC's M.R. James TV adaptations.

References

External links

• Review of Whistle and I'll Come to You at Behind the Couch
• Whistle and I'll Come to You at the Internet Movie Database
• Whistle and I'll Come to You at the BFI's Screenonline