With Christmas coming... a few online recommendations for you

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With the Advent-Christmas season upon us, I am offering you a few recommendations in this somewhat unusual, tangential, and gratuitous post. It reflects my peculiar tastes, but perhaps I might influence you to search out what I consider — at least, for myself — a few unmissable gems. As it happens, all the recommendations below are British-made. I have some favorite American Christmas films (It’s a Wonderful Life, for example), but I unapologetically find myself drawn to rewatch every year all the films, programs, and shorts listed below — and they all originated in the UK.

My favorite Christmas-themed book is The Box of Delights (1935) by John Masefield, who was Britain’s Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. It’s a children’s fantasy, the sequel to Masefield’s The Midnight Folk (1927), and both novels are a delight to read and re-read — even at my decrepit age. In 1984, the BBC made a six-part television series based on The Box of Delights, and I’ve rewatched the series every year since then. I can think of no more Christmassy production than this one. A story of the battle between light and dark, full of magic and mystery, adventures with gangsters, pirates, talking animals, and preternatural beings, one can see why C. S. Lewis, among others, was inspired by the original book. The 1984 BBC production features old-fashioned (by our standards) Doctor Who-type special effects (which I quite like), but that only contributes to its charm. Unfortunately, the DVD is only for Region 2, so it isn’t compatible with American DVD players. That said, the Internet Archive has made it available. Here is the description of the series from that source (although some of its details are incorrect):

Kay Harker (Devin Stanfield) is returning from boarding school for Christmas 1934 when he finds himself mixed up in a battle to possess a magical box. The current owner of the box is an old Punch and Judy man called Cole Hawlings (Patrick Troughton) whom Kay meets at the railway station. They develop an instant rapport, which leads Cole to confide that he is being chased by a magician called Abner Brown (Robert Stephens) and his gang, which includes Kay's former governess.

The box allows the owner to shrink in size, to shapeshift, to fly, to travel to the past and to experience various magical wonders and creatures, and thus is sought for evil purposes by Abner. Cole (who turns out to be the medieval philosopher and alleged magician Ramon Lull) entrusts the box to Kay. The schoolboy then goes on to have many adventures across time as he protects the box from Abner Brown.

During his travels, Kay encounters many characters drawn from English folklore, history and pagan mythology including Herne the Hunter, King Arthur, Father Christmas, unicorns, Roman soldiers and medieval monks. Jenny Shirt of "We Are Cult" notes that The Box of Delights features a recurring "motif of the intertwining of paganism and Christianity".

Episode 1 "When the Wolves Were Running...", 21 November 1984

Schoolboy Kay Harker travels home for Christmas, but meets a strange Punch and Judy man at the railway station.

Episode 2 "Where Shall the 'Nighted Showman Go?", 28 November 1984

Fearing that he is soon to be kidnapped, Cole Hawlings entrusts the Box of Delights to Kay.

Episode 3 "In the Darkest Cellars Underneath", 5 December 1984

Kay and Mouse spy on Abner from the Prince Rupert Arms.

Episode 4 "The Spider in the Web", 12 December 1984

Kay and Peter fly to the Chester Hills to unravel the mystery of the kidnappings and to find Abner's hideaway.

Episode 5 "Beware of Yesterday", 19 December 1984

On Christmas Eve, Abner Brown discovers that the missing box is at the Bishop's Palace.

Episode 6 "Leave Us Not Little... Nor Yet Dark", 24 December 1984

Kay is trapped in the dungeons of the Bishop's Palace. Can he locate the magic box before it's too late?

You can watch the entire series on the Internet Archive by clicking here.

*****

Of the many faithful versions of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol that have been made (and there have been a few truly fine ones — notably those with George C. Scott and Patrick Stewart), it is 1951’s Scrooge that stands above all the rest. It has a gravity to it that — in my opinion — makes it not only a great adaptation of the book but even improves on it. The incomparable Alastair Sim (and I will watch any film in which he appears, even if briefly, just to watch him in action) plays the miser-turned-convert, and his ability to be Scrooge — to inhabit the character right down to the smallest details — is nothing short of wonderful. It’s most probable that you have seen it already, but if not —

*****

Since we have just looked at A Christmas Carol, one of the great ghost stories in literature, it’s worth recalling that Christmas has traditionally been a time for ghost stories. At least, in the Isles, it has always been the tradition. The days of the year are at their shortest, the nights are long, and one may well believe that there are spirits about, watching...

M. R. James (1862 - 1936) regaled his students every Christmas Eve with a new ghostly yarn, and one can find them collected and published in numerous editions. In the 1970s, many of James’ stories were adapted for television, and one can view them on YouTube (I am not as fond of those produced in more recent years). To give you a taste, here is the one — a subtle one — I like best, made in 1971 and featuring the late Robert Hardy. It’s called “The Stalls of Barchester” (borrowing the name of Trollope’s fictional cathedral town) and is described in the video introduction below in this way: “An ambitious cleric murders an aged Archdeacon at Barchester Cathedral. However, he is soon stalked by a sinister black cat and by a hooded figure, both of whom seem to be embodiments of carvings on the cathedral's choir stalls.” If you like it, look for the other adaptations.

And Christopher Lee did a series of James’ stories, as well, but taking the part of James and telling the tales to a rapt audience. Here is one of them — “The Ash Tree” — and again, if you enjoy it, there are more like it on YouTube.

*****

Of the two enjoyable animated adaptations of Raymond Briggs’ books, the one I watch each year is Father Christmas (1991). I like the fact that he’s depicted as a working-class gent, a bit of a grumbler, but dedicated to his job and a kindly fellow overall. A true role model for the likes of me.

*****

Peter Cook was one of the great comic geniuses of the 20th century. In 1990, he did a series of 12 “interviews” as Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling, poultry tycoon (a character he had portrayed from time to time throughout his career), with Ludovic Kennedy. Each 5 - 7 minute interview, at least ostensibly, has something to do with one of the Twelve Days of Christmas. I think it is one of the funniest series of comic shorts ever made. You may or may not agree, but I dare you not to laugh. Here is the first of the 12-part playlist:

*****

Finally, I have to view this at least once or twice each Christmas. The Christian folkloric elements bring us straight back to Box of Delights country.

I hope you will give some of these a watch. Next time, it’s back to matters mystical, and right now it’s back to the more somber preparatory season of Advent.