The League Of Gentlemen: All Their Other Shows Ranked From Worst To Best
11. The Tractate Middoth
Back in the 1970s, creepy short film adaptations of classic ghost stories (typically by haunted house maestro M.R. James) were a BBC festive tradition under the Ghost Story For Christmas brand. Gatiss is an avowed admirer of the original series, citing ghost child episode Lost Hearts as one of his formative horror viewing experiences, so was an obvious choice for the most recent attempt to revive the series.
Airing on BBC Two on Christmas Day 2013, The Tractate Middoth was adapted by Gatiss from one of James' less well known stories, originally published in 1911. It starred Last Tango In Halifax's Sacha Dhawan as a young librarian searching for an obscure Hebrew text that carries a dark secret.
Gatiss crafted a solidly creepy version of James' ghost tale and Dhawan is convincingly traumatised by something as potentially mundane as an odd encounter in a library. However, The Tractate Middoth didn't quite capture the disturbing magic of classic series episodes like A Warning To The Curious and The Signalman, nor of Gatiss' earlier attempt at a festive chiller (more on that later). The Tractate Middoth remains the last time that A Ghost Story For Christmas has been revived by the BBC.