''Spine Chillers'' was the name of two separate supernatural television series, broadcast on the BBC.

1980s series

''Spine Chillers'' was a 1980 British children's supernatural television series produced by the

Jackanory ''Jackanory'' is a BBC children's television series which was originally broadcast between 1965 and 1996. It was designed to stimulate an interest in reading. The show was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, and the first story was the fair ...

team and broadcast on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. It featured readings of classic ghost and horror stories aimed at older children, and ran for 20 episodes of 10 minutes each.

Episodes and air dates

#' The Red Room' by H. G. Wells, told by

Freddie Jones Frederick Charles Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (12 September 1927 – 9 July 2019) was an English actor who had an extensive career in television, theatre and cinema productions for a ...

(17 November 1980) #'The Yellow Cat' by Michael Joseph, told by

John Woodvine John Woodvine (born 21 July 1929) is an English actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles. Early life Woodvine was born in Tyne Dock, South Shields, Tyne & Wear, Engla ...

(18 November 1980) #'The Music on the Hill' by Saki, told by Jonathan Pryce (20 November 1980) #'

The Mezzotint "The Mezzotint" is a ghost story by British writer M. R. James, included in his first collection ''Ghost Stories of an Antiquary'' (1904). Plot summary Mr. Williams, the curator of a university art museum (implied to be Oxford), receives a mezz ...

' by

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English author, medievalist scholar and provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936). He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambrid ...

, told by Michael Bryant (21 November 1980) #'The Treasure in the Forest' by H. G. Wells, told by Freddie Jones (24 November 1980) #'The Devil's Ape' by Barnard Stacey, told by John Woodvine (25 November 1980) #' Sredni Vashtar' by Saki, told by Jonathan Pryce (27 November 1980) #' A School Story' by M. R. James, told by Michael Bryant (28 November 1980) #'In the Avu Observatory' by H. G. Wells, told by Freddie Jones (1 December 1980) #'The Running Companion' by Philippa Pearce, told by John Woodvine (2 December 1980) #'The Penance' by Saki, told by Jonathan Pryce (4 December 1980) #'The Well' by

W. W. Jacobs William Wymark Jacobs (8 September 1863 – 1 September 1943) was an English author of short fiction and drama. His best remembered story is " The Monkey's Paw". He was born in Wapping, London, on 8 September 1863, the son of William Gage Jacobs ...

, told by Michael Bryant (5 December 1980) #'The Stolen Bacillus' by H. G. Wells, told by Freddie Jones (8 December 1980) #'A Sin of Omission' by Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes, told by John Woodvine (9 December 1980) #' Gabriel-Ernest' by Saki, told by Jonathan Pryce (11 December 1980) #'The Diary of Mr Poynter' by M. R. James, told by Michael Bryant (12 December 1980) #'The Flowering of the Strange Orchid' by H. G. Wells, told by Freddie Jones (15 December 1980) #'More Spinned Against' by

John Wyndham John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (; 10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names ...

, told by John Woodvine (16 December 1980) #'The Hounds of Fate' by Saki, told by Jonathan Pryce (18 December 1980) #'Jerry Bundler' by W. W. Jacobs, told by Michael Bryant (19 December 1980)

2003 series

''Spine Chillers'' was also the name of a British series aimed at older viewers, a horror/comedy anthology first shown on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, cur ...

in 2003. Season 1 comprised six episodes.

External links

*http://www.mausoleumclubforum.org.uk/ClassicGhostStoriesReview.pdf
''Spine Chillers''
(EOFFTV). * * British supernatural television shows 1980s British children's television series British fantasy television series 1980 British television series debuts 1980 British television series endings {{BBC-tv-prog-stub