The Signalman

A traveller makes the acquaintance of a signalman who works the evening shift along a lonely stretch of rail track. The signalman has a tale to tell of a ghostly apparition, which appears to warn of impending disaster.

The Signalman is a good old fireside ghost story written by Dickens, concerning a railway signalman who has witnessed a ghostly apparition on several occasions whilst undertaking his duties. He relates his story and distress this has wrought to a middle class gentlemen who befriends him one afternoon. As they drink tea and toast their toes they chat about the ghostly figure that has been seen hiding in the shadows at the mouth of a tunnel just prior to an oncoming accident. The gentleman tries to reassure his new acquaintance but the signalman is a troubled man who feels powerless to stop approaching events.

The BBC has a good reputation for producing low budget period dramas faithfully told without pretentiousness. There is no overacting or other distractions, what is being relayed is believable right from the start allowing you to quickly settle into the story. The drama becomes claustrophobic as the tightly filmed shots give the impression you are right along side them, waiting with trepidation for the last inevitable piece of the puzzle to fall into place.

Reviewed: 25/07/07

The Signalman, Charles Dickens .pdf

• Television

Whistle and I'll Come To You (1968)
The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral (1971)
A Warning to the Curious (1972)
Lost Hearts (1973)
The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974)
The Ash Tree (1975)
Stigma (1977)
The Ice House (1978)
The Woman in Black (1989)
The Stone Tape (1972)

• Literature

The Haunted-House, Charles Dickens
The Trial For Murder, Charles Dickens
The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargin, Charles Dickens