This episode Mike and Will whip out their podcasting binoculars and peer through them at ‘A View from a Hill by M.R. James. This episode we are very lucky to have actor Scott Wichman (@scottwichmann) as our reader! Scott is starring as comedian George Burns in “Say Goodnight, Gracie” at the Virginia Rep later this month: do check that out if you can! His co-producer Ryan Corbett – who wrote all the music and edited Scott’s readings – runs ‘Songwire‘ studios, in Richmond, VA. Big thanks once again to Alisdair Wood for providing the great illustration to the right. Check out his new set of MR James postcards, which will soon be available on his store. Do check out our photos of the very spooky Coombe Gibbet on flickr. Snow notes: Story notes by Rosemary Pardoe (Ghost & Scholars) Where would we be without Rosemary Pardoe’s excellent story notes? The Herefordshire of ‘A View from a Hill’ by Rosemary and Darroll Pardoe (Ghosts & Scholars) If you are interested in knowing exactly where the titular hill is (and Gallows Hill of course!) then this excellent Ghosts & Scholars article has some answers. ‘A View from a Hill’ – 2005 BBC adaptation (Ghosts & Scholars) Ghosts & Scholars also has a review of the 2005 TV adaptation of this story. If you haven’t seen it you can find it in the BFI’s excellent ‘Ghost Stories for Christmas: The Definitive Collection‘ DVD box set. Fredrick Bligh Bond (Wikipedia) Some have speculated that the character of Baxter could be inspired by Fredrick Bligh Bond (1864 – 1945), and antiquary who made some impressive archaeological finds which he claimed were revealed to him by supernatural means! Dead Men’s Eyes blog (www.dead-mens-eyes.org) Taking inspiration from Baxter, this doctoral research project aims to mix augmented reality with heritage with the aim of allowing people to virtually ‘see into the past’. Interesting stuff!

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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