ACE OF WANDS

1970 - 1972 (46 eps) / ITV (Thames TV).

Series Creator: Trevor Preston.

Children's adventure series. Telepathic stage magician Tarot, and his two assistants, battle against villains with magical powers.

With: Michael Mackenzie, Tony Selby, Donald Lane-Smith, Judy Loe, Petra Markham, Roy Holder,

See: http://www.aceofwands.net

THE OTHERS

15 June 1970 / ITV ("Armchair Theatre").

Writer: Richard Lortz / Director: Piers Haggard.

A couple find themselves trapped in a house. They eventually escape and stumble upon the site of a fatal car crash. It turns out that they were the occupants of the vehicle and have now passed over into the spirit world.

With: Nigel Stock, Ann Lynn.

MACBETH

21 Sep 1970 / BBC1.

Writer: William Shakespeare / Director: John Gorrie / Producer: Cedric Messina.

Ambition drives Macbeth to murder after a prediction given by three witches. But he is haunted by the ghost of one of his victims.

Starring Eric Porter (as Macbeth), Janet Suzman (as Lady Macbeth), John Thaw (as Banquo), John Alderton (as Malcolm).

Macbeth (BFI screenonline)

ANGELS ARE SO FEW

5 Nov 1970 / BBC ("Play for Today").

Writer: Dennis Potter / Director: Gareth Davies.

A scruffily-dressed man claiming to be an angel comes to stay at a family's home.

With: Tom Bell, Christine Hargreaves, Susan Richards, Eric Chitty.

Read a comprehensive review at The Mausoleum Club ("Play for Today" section).

Play for Today (TV Cream).

TO LAY A GHOST

28 April 1971 / BBC2 ("Out of the unknown").

Writer: Michael J Bird / Director: Ken Hannarn.

A young couple move into a new house. But whenever the husband takes a photograph of his wife a ghostly figure appears in the print. A Psychic researcher is called in to investigate.

With Lesley Anne Downe, Peter Barkworth.

Michael J Bird tribute site.

625 Org guide - To lay a ghost

DOCTOR WHO: THE DAEMONS

22 May - 19 Jun 1971 (5 eps) / BBC1.

Writers: Barry Letts & Robert Sloman / Director: Christopher Barry.

The time-travelling Doctor and his young assistant discover a witchcraft coven which is summoning up dark forces at an ancient burial mound.

Starring Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Roger Delgado, Nicholas Courtney.

THE CHOPPER

16 Jun 1971 / BBC2 ("Out of the unknown").

Writer: Nigel Kneale / Director: Peter Cregeen.

A journalist is disturbed by the engine noise made by a phantom motorcycle and its ghostly rider.

With: Patrick Troughton, George Sweeney, Margaret Brady, David Wood, Ann Morrish.

THE UNINVITED

23 Jun 1971 / BBC2 ("Out of the unknown")

Writer: Micheal J Bird / Director: Eric Hills / Producer: Alan Bromley.

A middle-aged, middle-class couple undergo a series of terrifying hallucinatory experiences in their flat.

With: Shirley Cain, Geoffrey Palmer, Hilary Mason, Bobbie Oswald, David Sinclair, David Allister.

Michael J Bird tribute site.

RASPUTIN

24 Oct 1971 / BBC2.

Writer: Ronald Eyre / Director: Alan Cooke / Producer: Cedric Messina.

Drama about the infamous Russian healer and mystic who exercised such a strong influence in the court of Csar Nicholas.

With: Robert Stephens, Isabel Dean, T P McKenna, Peter Barkworth, Lally Bowyers.

A GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS

1971-77 / BBC1.

Producers: Lawrence Gordon Clark, Rosemary Hill..

The classic and definitive TV anthology of the supernatural. The episodes were:

(1) The Stalls of Barchester (1971).
(2) A Warning to the Curious (1972).
(3) Lost Hearts (1973).
(4) The Treasure of Abbot Thomas (1974).
(5) The Ash Tree (1975).
(6) The Signalman (1976).
(7) Stigma (1977).
(8) The Ice House (1978).

See individual entries for details.

Ghost story for Christmas guide

Guardian review (17 Dec 2005)

THE STALLS OF BARCHESTER

24 Dec 1971 ( rpt 1972, Dec 2004) / BBC1 ("Ghost story for Xmas").

Writer/Producer/Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark.

Wooden carvings on the stalls of Barchester cathedral mysteriously come to life after the Archdeacon is murdered. Based on a story by M R James.

With Clive Swift, Robert Hardy.

Ghost story for Christmas guide 

ESCAPE INTO NIGHT

19 Apr - 24 May 1972 (6 eps) / ITV (ATV).

Writer: Ruth Boswell (based on the novel by Catherine Storr) / Director: Richard Bramall.

Children's series. While recovering from an accident, Marianne passes the time by making drawings of an imaginary place. The drawings come to life in her dreams, where she discovers a crippled boy who is trapped upstairs in a house. Marianne must help him escape before the sinister "Watchers" get to him......

With: Vikki Chambers, Steven Jones, Patricia Maynard, Sonia Graham, Edmund Pegge.

Television Heaven guide - Escape into Night

THE INCREDIBLE ROBERT BALDICK

2 Oct 1972 / BBC ("Drama Playhouse").

Writer: Terry Nation / Director: Cyril Coke.

Robert Baldick is an eccentric Victorian aristocratic given to investigating mysteries - including the case of a hauunted crypt in the ruins of an abbey.

Starring: Robert Hardy.

The incredible Robert Baldick (pdf)

DEAD OF NIGHT

5 Nov - 17 Dec 1972 (7 eps) / BBC2.

Producer: Innes Lloyd.

An anthology of chilling tales:

(1) The Exorcism.
(2) Return Flight.
(3) Bedtime.
(4) Death cancels all debts.
(5) Smith.
(6) Two in the morning.
(7) A Woman Sobbing.

See below for details of surviving episodes.

THE EXORCISM

5 Nov 1972 / BBC ("Dead of night").

Writer & Director: Don Taylor.

Two couples spend christmas at a country cottage where they encounter the ghosts of a destitute family who had lived there years before and had starved to death. Events move to an unexpected and deadly conclusion.

With: Clive Swift, Anna Cropper, Sylvia Kay, Edward Petherbridge.

Screenonline.

RETURN FLIGHT

12 Nov 1972 / BBC ("Dead of Night").

Writer: Robert Holmes / Director: Rodney Bennett.

A modern-day airline pilot has a ghostly encounter with a wartime bomber crew.

With: Peter Parkworth.

A WOMAN SOBBING

17 Dec 1972 / BBC ("Dead of night").

Writer: John Bowen / Dir: Paul Ciappessoni.

A young woman hears noises coming from the attic at night.

With: Anne Massey, Tommy Boyle, Ronald Hines.

A WARNING TO THE CURIOUS

24 Dec 1972 (rpt 1974, 1992, Dec 2004) / BBC1 ("Ghost story for Xmas").

Writer / Producer / Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark (based on a story by M R James).

An amateur archaeologist unearths buried treasure on the Norfolk coast but is menaced thereafter by an unseen presence.

With: Peter Vaughan, Clive Swift.

Ghost story for Christmas guide

THE STONE TAPE

25 Dec 1972 / BBC2.

Writers: Nigel Kneale / Director: Peter Sasdy.

Supernatural drama. A team of scientists working on a new recording medium investigate a haunting at a Victorian mansion.

With: Jane Asher, Iain Cuthbertson, Michael Bryant, Michael Bates.

THE HAUNTING

5 Apr 1973 / BBC1 ("Menace").

Writer: Ken Hughes /Director: Gerald Blake

A vicarage is haunted by the ghost of a murdered nun who was buried in the cellar.

Starring Anthony Bate.

THRILLER

1973 - 1976 / ITV (ATV).

A long running "suspense" anthology (6 seasons) which occasionally forayed into the realm of the supernatural, especially in series 1 (see below).

POSSESSION

21 April 1973 / ATV ("Thriller").

Writer: Brian Clemens / Director: John Cooper

Businessman, Ray Burns, and his wife Penny buy a house in the country. But strange manifestations make them suspect that the place may be haunted

With: John Carson, Joanna Dunham, Hilary Hardiman, Athol Coats, James Cossins, Richard Aylen.

SOMEONE AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS

28 April 1973 / ATV ("Thriller").

Writer: Brian Clemens / Director & Producer: John Sichel.

Two female students acquire cheap lodgings in an old Victorian boarding house but are unnerved by the odd behaviour of the other tenants. To add to their unease, it turns out that the previous occupant of the flat, a young woman, went missing under mysterious circumstances.

With: Donna Mills, Judy Carne, Francis Wallis, Alethea Charlton.

COMFORTABLE WORDS

17 May 1973 / BBC1 ("Menace")

Writer: Fay Weldon / Director: Brian Lighthill.

A mother and her child are menaced by an unseen presence.

Starring: Michele Doltrice.

A PLACE TO DIE

26 May 1973 / ATV ("Thriller").

Writer: Terence Feely (Story by Brian Clemens) / Director: Peter Jefferies.

Bruce and Tessa Nelson move to a country village. But Tessa discovers that their lives are in danger from a group of Devil Worshippers.

With: Bryan Marshall, Alexandra Hay.

SPELL OF EVIL  

16 Jun 1973 / ATV ("Thriller").

Writer: Terence Feely (Story by Brian Clemens) / Producer & Director: John Sichel.

After the sudden death of his wife, businessman Tony Mansell finds love again through a marriage agency. But his new partner turns out to be a witch whose intentions are not what they seem.

With: Diane Cilento, Edward De Souza, William Dexter, Jeremy Longhurst, Jennifer Daniel, Iris Russell.

LEAP IN THE DARK (series 2 - 4)

1975 - 1980 / BBC2.

Directors: Colin Godman, Michael Croucher, Anne Owen.

A supernatural drama-documentary anthology based on real life tales. Episode list:

Series 2 (19 Sep - 10 Oct 1975)

(1) The Rosenheim Poltergeist
(2) The Search for Pat MacAdam
(3) The Battle for Miss Beauchamp
(4) The Vandy Case

Series 3 (14 Jan - 18 Feb 1977)

(1) Dream me a winner
(2) The Fetch
(3) The Ghost of Ardachie Lodge
(4) Undercurrents
(5) Parlour Games
(6) The Mind's Eye

Series 4 (4 - 12 Sep 1980)

(1) Jack Be Nimble
(2) Poor Jenny
(3) The Living Grave
(4) Come and find me
(5) Room for an inward light
(6) To kill a King
(7) Watching you watching me.

Also see Leap in the Dark (series 1).

THE WITHERED ARM

7 Nov 1973 (rpt 2002 and 15 Jan 2003 - as part of "English file" for BBC schools) / BBC ("Wessex Tales").

Writer: Rhys Adrian (based on the short story by Thomas Hardy) / Producer: Irene Shubik / Director: Desmond Davis.

Period drama. In a remote 19th century rural community, a young newly-wed awakes one morning to find strange and painful marks on her arm. She consults a local wise man who prescribes a ghoulish cure.

With: Billie Whitelaw, Yvonne Antrobus, Esmond Knight.

Read the original story here.

LOST HEARTS

25 Dec 1973 (rpt 1974, 1994) / BBC1 ("Ghost story for Xmas").

Writer: Robin Chapman / Director: Lawrence Gordon Clark.

An orphan goes to stay at the house of his rich uncle. But he discovers it to be haunted by the ghosts of two children who previously lived, and died, there.

With: Simon Gipps-Kent.

Ghost story for Christmas guide 

ONE DEADLY OWNER

16 Feb 1974 / ATV ("Thriller").

Writer: Brian Clemens / Director: Ian Fordyce.

Model Helen Cook splashes out on a Roll Royce only to find that the car is supernaturally possessed.

With: Donna Mills, Jeremy Brett, Robert Morris, Laurence Payne, Eric Lander, Michael Beint.

PENDA'S FEN

21 Mar 1974 / BBC2.

Writer: David Rudkin / Director: Alan Clarke / Producer: David Rose.

Set against the backdrop of a rural English landscape, a young man has his conservative views about nationhood, patriotism, and sexuality challenged by a series of hallucinatory encounters with angels, a mythical pagan king called Penda, and the spirit of Edward Elgar.

With: Spencer Banks, John Atkinson, Georgine Anderson, Jennie Hesselwood, John Scott.

Screen online review.

THE CANTERVILLE GHOST

1974 / ITV.

Writer: Robin Miller (based on the short story by Oscar Wilde) / Director: Walter Miller.

Supernatural comedy drama. An American family move into an English mansion only to find it haunted by one of its former aristocratic owners.

With: David Niven, Flora Robson, James Whitmore, Audrey Linley, Maurice Evans.

HAUNTED: THE FERRYMAN

1974 / ITV.

Writer: Julian Bond (Based on a story by Kingsley Amis) / Director: John Irwin.

Following the publication of his latest novel about a murderer called "the ferryman", a writer decides to spend a weekend with his wife in the country. But events in the real world start to mirror the plot of the novel with potentially fatal consequences.

With: Jeremy Brett, Natasha Parry.

The Ferryman (jeremybrett.info).

POOR GIRL

1974 / ITV (Granada).

Writer: Robin Chapman ( based on a story by Elizabeth Taylor) / Director: Michael Apted.

Period drama. An Edwardian Governess accepts a post at a large country house. But a series of disturbing psychic experiences make her stay a less than happy one.

With: Lynne Miller, Angela Thorne, Stuart Wilson.

ORSON WELLES GREAT MYSTERIES

6 July - 7 Sep 1974 (11 eps),
18 Sep - 16 Dec 1975 (13 eps),
30 April & 24 July 1976 (2 eps) / ITV (Anglia) .

Producer: John Jacobs.

A drama anthology featuring some supernatural episodes - namely:

2. The Leather Funnel (13 July 1974): A man is warned off marrying his fiancée by a series of dreams . With Simon Ward, Jane Seymour, Christopher Lee.

11. The Monkey's paw (7 Sep 1974): A wish-fulfilling trinket brings ill-fortune to its unsuspecting owners. With Michael Kitchen, Megs Jenkins.

25. Trial for murder (30 Apr 1976): The ghost of a murder victim appears to be affecting the jury foreman at the murderer's trial. With Ian Holm, Jennie Lin.

Introduced by Orson Welles.

Orson Welles Great mysteries (BFI).

THE TREASURE OF ABBOT THOMAS

23 Dec 1974 (rpt 1983, 1993, Dec 2004) / BBC1 ("Ghost story for xmas").

Writer: John Bowen / Director Lawrence Gordon Clark.

A scholar searches for treasure rumoured to have been buried by a sorceror.

Ghost story for Christmas guide

MR HUMPHREYS AND HIS INHERITANCE

1975 (rpt 13 Jun 1977) / ITV (Yorkshire).

Writer / Director / Producer: Tony Scull.

A short adaptation of an M R James ghost story (for schools). Note: This drama can be found as an extra on the DVD release of "Casting the Runes".

Starring Geoffrey Russell.

The story is available on-line at Litgothic.

NURSE WILL MAKE IT BETTER

11 Jan 1975 / ATV ("Thriller").

Writer: Brian Clemens / Director: Shaun O'Riordan.

A family engages a nurse to look after their daughter who was crippled in a riding accident. But the nurse turns out to be a practioner of the dark arts who offers the daughter a pact with the devil.

With: Diana Dors, Cec Linder, Linda Liles, Michael Culver, Andrea Marcovicci , Ed Bishop.

http://www.ufoseries.com/films/nurse.html

THE BREAKTHROUGH  

15 Jan 1975 / BBC2 ("Playhouse").

Producer: Irene Shubik / Based on a short story by Daphne Du Maurier.

A scientist at a remote military research establishment builds a machine which can capture the life force of a person after death.

With: Simon Ward.

MRS ACLAND'S GHOSTS  

1975 / BBC2 ("Playhouse").

Writer: William Trevor / Producer: Irene Shubik.

A man receives a letter from a woman he doesn't know, who claims to have seen ghosts. As a result she has been confined to a mental institution.

SKY

7 Apr - 19 May 1975 (7 eps) / ITV (HTV).

Writers: Bob Baker & David Martin.

Children's fantasy drama series. Teenagers discover an alien with supernatural powers who has been sent on a mission to help planet Earth.

With: Marc Harrison, Stuart Lock, Cherrald Butterfield.

Memorable Children's TV.

WON'T WRITE HOME MOM - I'M DEAD

26 April 1975 / ATV ("Thriller").

Writer: Dennis Spooner (Story by Brian Clemens) / Director: James Ormerod.

After a young man goes missing, his girlfriend starts to have psychic experiences which lead her to believe that he may have been murdered.

With: Pamela Franklin, Ian Bannen, Suzanne Neve, Oliver Tobias, Dallas Adams, Lesley North , Norman Scace.

AGAINST THE CROWD: MURRAIN

27 July 1975 / ATV.

Writer: Nigel Kneale.

A young country vet begins to suspect that a witch may have cast a spell on the surrounding countryside.

With: Una Brandon-Jones, Bernard Lee, David Simeon.

SHADOWS

3 Sep 1975 - 1 Nov 1978 / ITV (Thames).

Long running children's supernatural / horror drama anthology series.

Series 1 (3 Sep - 15 Oct 1975):

(1) The Future Ghost. (2) After School. (3) The Witch's Bottle. (4) The Waiting room*. (5) Optical Illusion (6) Dutch Schlitz's shoes. (7) The Other Window.

Series 2 (28 July 1976 - 1 Sep 1976):

(1)The Dark Streets Of Kimball's Green. (2) Time out of mind. (3) The Inheritance. (4) Dark Encounter. (5) Peronik. (6) The Eye.

Series 3 ( 20 Sep 1978 - 1 Nov 1978):

(1) Eleven O'Clock. (2) The Rose Of Puddle Fratrum. (3) And Now For My Next Trick. (4) The Boy Merlin. (5) The Man Who Hated Children. (6) The Silver Apple. (7) Honeyann.

THE ASH TREE  

23 Dec 1975 / BBC1 ("Ghost story for Xmas").

Writer: David Rudkin / Director Lawrence Gordon Clark.

A witch's curse reverberates through the generations of an aristocratic family.

With EDWARD PETHERBRIDGE.

Screenonline.

Ghost story for Christmas guide