Ep74 – Review of Martin’s Close on BBC4

01/06/20 • 33 min

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A Podcast to the Curious - The M.R. James Podcast

Excitement abounds in the podcast house as Big Santy C leaves us a new BBC Ghost Story for Christmas, courtesy of BBC4 and Mr Mark Gatiss! Will and Mike offer their humble thoughts on this festive treat.

Show notes:

A clutch of reviews of Martin’s Close, from the Radio Times, i, Metro, Telegraph and Warwick University Student newspaper.
Our thoughts on the story back in 2012, including a visit to the Devon village in which the story is set and a chat with a garrulous innkeeper.

Image and excerpts from Radio Times and BBC4.

Show notes:

A clutch of reviews of Martin’s Close, from the Radio Times, i, Metro, Telegraph and Warwick University Student newspaper.
Our thoughts on the story back in 2012, including a visit to the Devon village in which the story is set and a chat with a garrulous innkeeper.

Image and excerpts from Radio Times and BBC4.

Previous Episode

Episode 73 – Out of the sea by A.C. Benson

This episode Mike and Will indulge in murder, moralising and supernatural goat-based mayhem in A.C. Benson’s ‘Out of the Sea’.

Big thanks to our reader for this episode Debbie Wedge, and don’t forget to check out her M.R. James-themed t-shirt designs, ‘No diggin’ ere‘ and ‘Barchestering‘!

Notes:

A.C. Benson (Wikipedia)
A.C. Benson was one of MRJ’s closest friends throughout his life. They attended prep school, Eton and King’s College together, worked together in later life and remained regular correspondents right up until Benson’s death in 1925.
‘Out of the sea’ (full story – Project Gutenberg)
You can read this story online, or download as a free ebook at Project Gutenberg. The story features in Benson’s 1904 collection ‘The Isles of Sunset’.
Wreckers (wikipedia)
In this episode we speculated that Mister Grimston might have been involved in ‘Wrecking’, the act of luring passing ships into dangerous waters to sink them so their cargo could be stolen.
A.C. Benson and Cambridge (Ged Martin)
An extended essay about A.C. Benson that touches on his whole life at Cambridge, as well as his relationship with his father and his mental health.
Why is the Devil also a goat? (Refinery29.com)
This article explores why goats became associated with evil in both religious symbolism and popular culture.

Next Episode

Episode 75 – The Traveller by R.H. Benson

This episode explores some ecclesiastical terrors in R.H. Benson’s ‘The Traveller’. It was ‘too ecclesiastical’ for M.R. James, but will Mike and Will find something to enjoy in this tale of perturbed priests, creepy confessionals and historical haunting?

Thanks to our reader for this episode Debbie Wedge!

Show notes:

Robert Hugh Benson (catholiceducation.org)
Benson was ordained a priest by his Archbishop father in 1895 before sending shockwaves through the church by converting to Catholicism in 1904, the year after this story was published.
The Light Invisible by R.H. Benson (Gutenberg)
The volume that this story appears in can be read in full online at Project Gutenberg.
Frederick Rolfe (wikipedia)
Benson’s close friendship and literary collaboration with the eccentric Frederick Rolfe (the self-styled ‘Baron Corvo’) threatened to derail Benson’s religious career.
Thomas Becket (wikipedia)
Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. During his life he quarreled with King Henry II over the rights of the church, and was made a saint after his death.