The BBC hosted a remake of a classic 1970s work of haunted media. The Stone Tape (1972), written by the great Nigel Kneale, took place in an old haunted mansion. An innovation-hungry engineering team figures out how to use the building's stones as an audio-visual storage medium. Things... don't turn out well.
So this year the BBC asked up and coming director Peter Strickland to reimagine the tale for audio. The results follow Kneale's tale closely, set in the period. The plot follows the original, as well.
In 1979, a team of scientists moves into a new laboratory in a Victorian mansion. When Jill Greely hears a strange disembodied scream, the team decides to analyse the phenomenon, which appears to be a psychic impression trapped in the wall. The scientists begin to realise that their work has disturbed something hidden beneath the stone, something ancient and malevolent.
Period audio effects have a powerful effect, combining setting with creepiness. The conclusion is more cryptic than the original; listeners will have to determine for themselves if that's an improvement or error.
For those Infocult readers not in the UK, you can't listen from the BBC site linked above, but you can enjoy this YouTube copy.
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