http://www.thecourier.co.uk/lifestyle
The
Tractate Middoth/M.R. James: Ghost Writer: Christmas
Day, BBC2
Death
Comes to Pemberley: Boxing
Day and Friday, BBC1
Raised
By Wolves: Monday, Channel 4
Paul
Whitelaw
In theory at least, there are few
more qualified to revive the BBC's distinguished tradition of ghost
stories at Christmas than that suave champion of the macabre, Mark
Gatiss. From his blackly comic work with the League of Gentlemen to
his numerous contributions to Doctor Who, Sherlock and BBC4's
archive vaults of horror, Gatiss is TV's foremost exponent of
cobwebbed chills and candlelit bumps in the night.
So why did his directorial début,
The Tractate Middoth, disappoint?
An adaptation of a short story by one
of his heroes, M.R. James, it carefully arranged all the right
elements – a Jamesian sense of atmosphere and place combined with
the kind of enjoyably ripe performances so beloved of Gatiss – but
failed to deliver any shocks or substance.
Stripped of James' celebrated gift
for evocative, descriptive language, this tale of a young academic
searching for a lost will buried in an ancient Hebrew text felt
frustratingly slight. Despite Gatiss' attempts to build upon the
classically disquieting mood he established at the start, it simply
wasn't enough to compensate for its anticlimactic denouement. It was
all tease and no release.
Openly influenced by the BBC's
classic James adaptations of the 1970s – I'll bet you Gatiss has
studied every frame of those films - The Tractate Middoth is
unlikely to be remembered in the same fevered breath. Sometimes fans,
no matter how talented and sincere, simply aren't the best people to
adapt their idol's work.
More satisfying by far was the
lovingly curated documentary, M.R. James: Ghost Writer. Gatiss
was securely in his element here, bicycling through the grave English
countryside in a dapper three-piece suit, in pursuit of the fecund
father of the modern ghost story.
Despite the nightmarish visions
conjured in his work, James was a genial gent whose only demons lay
in the gruesome medieval tracts he studied while at Cambridge: he's
still regarded as one of the greatest scholars in his field. A devout
Anglican and confirmed bachelor, he didn't even seem to be troubled
by his repressed homosexuality. Instead he delighted in platonic
relationships with the young gentlemen of Cambridge's wonderfully
named Chit Chat Club, for whom his enthralling tales were originally
written and performed (the tactile economy of his writing was brought
to life via beguiling readings from an actor).
Referring to his subject throughout
as "Monty", Gatiss rather sweetly approached him as a dear old friend
with whom he shared much in common. Monty, I suspect, would've been
flattered and charmed.
Being almost completely unfamiliar
with Pride and Prejudice, I was absolutely baffled by Death
Comes to Pemberley. While I applaud its refusal to pander to the
casual viewer, this hectic adaptation of P.D. James' unofficial
sequel to Austen's novel unfolded wildly before my eyes like a
sherry-induced fever dream. It was like struggling through Rocky
IV without having seen the first three. I'd imagine.
Co-written by Times columnist
Caitlin Moran, Raised By Wolves is a semi-autobiographical
sitcom about an unorthodox single-parent family living on a
Wolverhampton council estate.
Mercifully devoid of insulting
working-class clichés, it nevertheless tried far too hard to
establish its goofy, whimsical credentials. Over-reliant on laboured
pop culture references in lieu of actual jokes it struggled to match
the strength of its thematic sibling, My Mad Fat Teenage Diary.
The actress playing Moran managed to inject some innocent charm into a borderline tiresome character, but this limp comedy won't survive on scatty good nature alone.
The actress playing Moran managed to inject some innocent charm into a borderline tiresome character, but this limp comedy won't survive on scatty good nature alone.
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