First screened on ITV at 9.00 pm on Christmas Eve in 1989, Herbert Wise’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s 1983 novel, The Woman in Black, wowed critics, ruined Christmas for a generation and is still one of the best ghost stories made for TV.
Set in 1925, the narrative follows solicitor Arthur Kidd (Adrian Rawlins), who is sent by his superior, Mr Sweetman (David Ryall), to the small coastal market town of Crythin Gifford to deal with the estate of recently deceased eccentric widow Mrs Alice Drablow – much to the dismay of the superstitious locals.
The estate in question is Eel Marsh House, an isolated coastal house that is cut off regularly by the winter tides flooding its shingle causeway.
In that remote house, Arthur is tormented by terrifying noises and cries – and ghostly appearances from a tall woman dressed in black (Pauline Moran), who comes to exert a malevolent hold over his life.
The story was remade in 2012, with Daniel Radcliffe in the lead, but it’s this original version that remains the most frosty and desolate.
With a script adapted by visionary British sci-fi screenwriter Nigel Kneale, it creates a creeping sense of dread that ebbs just like the water surrounding the bleak setting.
After briefly resurfacing on WH Smith’s own-brand VHS label in 1991 and screening on Channel 4 in 1994, The Woman in Black disappeared.
Partly owing to its scarcity, a mystique grew around it, with copies passed from hand to hand on home-dubbed VHS tapes and hooky DVDs. In later years, it made fleeting illegal appearances on YouTube.
The movie – beautifully restored to a cinema-quality print – was eventually released on Blu-ray in August 2020.
Arthur Kidd
Adrian Rawlins Sam Toovey
Bernard Hepton Josiah Freston
David Daker Woman in Black
Pauline Moran Mr Sweetman
David Ryall Stella Kidd
Clare Holman Stella’s Mother
Caroline John Eddie Kidd
Joseph Upton Arnold Pepperell
John Cater Reverend Greet
John Franklyn-Robbins Mrs Toovey
Fiona Walker John Keckwick
William Simons Bessie
Robin Weaver Rolfe
Steven Mackintosh Jackie
Andy Nyman Mr Girdler
Robert Hamilton Farmer
Trevor Cooper Gypsy Woman
Alison King Gypsy Children
Mary Lawlor
Clare Thomson Stall Holder
Peter Guinness Lorry Man
Timothy Block Fireman
Albie Woodington
Director
Herbert Wise
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The estate in question is Eel Marsh House, an isolated coastal house that is cut off regularly by the winter tides flooding its shingle causeway.
Arthur Kidd
Eddie Kidd
Jackie
Gypsy Children
