10 British Horror TV Shows You've Probably Never Seen

10. Whistle And I'll Come To You (1968)

Jonathan Miller's adaption of the M.R. James short story 'Oh, Whistle and I'll Come To You, My Lad' is arguably one of the best films ever commissioned by the BBC.

Updating the story to a then-contemporary setting, Michael Hordern's bumbling academic Professor Parkin takes an offseason holiday somewhere on the English east coast. Finding a bone whistle in a derelict graveyard one day, Parkin believes himself being followed by a far-off figure as he walks down the beach back towards his hotel.

Miller's adaptation has been praised ever since broadcast, with the power of his economical horror having hardly diminished in fifty two years. Of especial note must be Hordern's performance, humanising a character who is largely an academic stereotype in the original story. This core human element around which the atmosphere and horror is woven not only makes Whistle And I'll Come To You particularly engaging, but also accentuates the fear.

The story was adapted again in 2010 by the BBC, though this version was generally disregarded as being inferior to the original, despite excellent work by John Hurt. True horror fans would be hard pressed to find a finer ghost story than the original 1968 version.