One of the great things about Christmas is that every so often a new song, album, TV show or film comes along to become part of your own personal Christmas. This has happened with Lost at Christmas which I first came across on BBC Scotland two years ago. I watched it again last year and thoroughly enjoyed it once again, so this year I took the plunge and bought the DVD. So what is so special about this film as far as I am concerned? Why should you ignore the ridiculously low rating on IMDB? Well, read on.
The Story
In a small Scottish town, two people are making big decisions that will be life changing. Jen is heading there to surprise her boyfriend and Rob is about to propose to his long term girlfriend. Suffice it to say, things do not go to plan and the two find themselves on a station platform, only to find that there is no chance of getting home that way. Jen takes her former boyfriend’s car and the two of them head into some typical Scottish (Christmas movie) weather. Having to stop at a remote inn when their car grinds to a halt, the two, who don’t really understand each other, having to share a room. So far, so predictable, but there’s some twists that really make the film different from a traditional Hallmark style movie.
The Cast
One of the main reasons I first gave this a chance is because of its very strong Doctor Who connection. We have the Seventh Doctor himself, Sylvester McCoy, 60s companion Jamie McCrimmon, Fraser Hines and young Amelia Pond from the new series, Caitlin Blackwood. Add the star power of Gregory’s Girl alumnus and Altered Images lead singer Clare Grogan, and you have a central supporting cast packed with talent. The two main characters, Natalie Clark’s Jen and Kenny Boyle’s Rob are, on the surface a typical rom-com couple with one being a free spirit, or at least trying to be, and the other being an initially taciturn and unhappy man at a crossroads. The way they introduce you to the hidden depths in the characters is part of the charm of this film for me.
My reflections
I have always enjoyed my trips to Scotland and I feel at home in Edinburgh whenever I visit. The Scots seem to have a kindness mixed with a no nonsense attitude and a sense of not suffering fools at all, let alone gladly. As a result, I have always enjoyed films, TV, music and sport from there. To me, Lost at Christmas captures the irreverence and warmth of the people who are often very happy to poke fun at themselves as well as others. It is a film that is a very welcome contrast to the syrupy Christmas movies common at this time of year – not that I am averse to them either! The characters all have their own charm but they are not instantly appealing. You have to get to know them and appreciate them, just as you do people in real life. It makes the film more true to life than most and gives it a welcome edge especially early on. This film will no doubt be on the BBC sometime this month and if you spot it, I really urge you to give it a chance. If you’ve had too much sweetness you will appreciate the occasional tartness of Lost at Christmas.
In 1976 I was up late on a night three days before Christmas. My parents may well have been out because I wasn’t being told to go to bed even though I was just 11 years old. At the time I was a big fan of ghost stories and horror stories. When I saw The Signalman in the Christmas Radio Times listing I was determined to stay up for it. Well, I soon realised I had chosen to watch a programme that would leave me very unsettled both then and now.
The story
A traveller is walking in the countryside and comes across a signal box and he calls down to the signalman below. He is beckoned down to the track by a clearly disturbed man who looks like he has seen a ghost. It turns out that his cry of ‘Look out below there’ is the very same cry that an apparition, who has appeared to him twice, greeted him with. As The Signalman tells the traveller his story he is met with scepticism as the traveller tries to find a logical explanation. However, it seems that it may not be a situation where logic applies.
The adaptation
This story was the 6th in the Ghost Stories at Christmas strand, and the only one featuring a tale from Charles Dickens, who wrote this in the year after he was involved in a terrible train crash. The Signalman was played by acting legend Denholm Elliot and he carries the adaptation with his suppressed terror that occasionally leaves its mark on his expression. It is a tour de force of subtle power that unsettles the viewer far more than screams and an exaggerated response to the situation. Bernard Lloyd who plays the traveller is an excellent foil, reacting to the increasingly scared signalman with compassion and support. For 35 minutes they hold the audience in the palms of their hands as they come to terms with the true nature of the otherworldly apparition. In keeping with the other stories in this collection there is little overt horror, although two glimpses of the face of the apparition have been burned into my mind for nearly 50 years.
My reactions
47 years ago I was deeply unsettled by the programme and tonight on re-watching The Signalman the same reaction came to the fore. This is a genuinely scary piece of television of the type they struggle to make these days. Why is that? Well, I think it is to do with the restraint of the actors, directors and film makers. They allow the minimum of overt horror and reap the reward of genuinely unsettling and scaring the audience. The atmosphere is one of quiet dread from about 30 seconds in right up to the shocking ending. At no point is this played anything but straight and there is no attempt to explain what is happening. It is left to the audience to decide and that exerts a greater pull on the imagination than any of the jump scares and other tricks of the horror genre these days. If you want to see a classy and creative piece of storytelling, look no further than The Signalman, but don’t blame me if you are given an unsettled night!
The bedtime story is a cherished part of many children’s nightly routines and then a cherished part of their memories ever after. The same is true for many parents. I read to my children throughout their formative years, and given the 7 year gap between our oldest and youngest children I was lucky enough to do so for more years than many parents have the opportunity to. It was a marvellous time for both reader and listeners and Christmas meant a chance to revisit books that became perennial favourites. In our house that meant Merry Christmas Sleepover Club, Old Bear, Paddington and the Night Before Christmas amongst many others. They provided fun, laughter and the comfort of earlier childhood and every Christmas we revisited them, knowing the stories and losing ourselves in the spirit of the season. Even as older children they reconnected with that part of themselves which still believed in magic. (I can see an entry for Blogmas 2024 right there!) I read A Christmas Carol in its Ladybird Book form, but it wasn’t one that I returned to quite as often, perhaps because they were played many different versions of the story on video, and later DVD, in my attempt to bring that same magic that I felt from the story.
As adults we don’t necessarily settle down for stories as our busy lives take precedence, although I do try to read before going to sleep most nights. For many, Book at Bedtime, the long running Radio 4 series takes on the role of storyteller, and the recording of A Christmas Carol by Martin Jarvis and Denise Bryer was a 1988 release on cassette that I bought very eagerly despite not having heard the original programme. It was a chance to immerse myself in my own visions of the book and the characterisations of the readers. So, without further ado I will look at the qualities that makes this particular version my favourite reading.
The first thing that appealed to me when I first heard this on cassette was the lovely opening theme. At the time, I had never watched Box of Delights or listened to the Hely-Hutchinson Carol Symphony so the beauty of the theme just entranced me and it still has exactly the same effect. When the story starts with the pronouncement ‘Marley was dead! To begin with’ read by Martin Jarvis you just know you are in safe hands. However, the addition of the lovely voice of Denise Bryer adds the touch that all other readings miss, the voice that can deliver all the female roles written in the book without resorting to caricature. I can pick out two of her many roles for particular praise, Mrs Cratchit and Mrs Dilber. The former has a real strength and an anger when denouncing Scrooge that is really powerful whilst the latter has the requisite cockney accent but Bryer steers clear of making her a music hall style foil. Martin Jarvis is, as ever, simply marvellous with a superbly caustic Scrooge and an open hearted and kind Bob Cratchit standing out. One of the other real strengths of this production is the perfect timing of the end of each episode. My favourite is the appearance of Marley where the flame leaps up. It is just perfect.
The beauty of the best audiobooks is that it takes you back to your time as both the person being read to as a child and the person reading to your children. This book definitely does that in every respect. Sadly it is not available on the BBC Sounds site or indeed on CD, and it deserves to be heard by a much bigger audience. Should you still have a cassette player and should my love and affection for this version has encouraged you to seek it out you can occasionally see it on Discogs or on eBay, but, sadly, it is incredibly difficult to find otherwise. I just count myself lucky that I was able to get a copy and to be able to play it to this day.
‘May it haunt your house pleasantly and no one wish to lay it’
For Day 5 of Blogmas it’s another vinyl, this time something of a lost Christmas classic. Jon Anderson is perhaps most famous to many as the occasional partner of Vangelis in the 70s and 80s. However, prior to that he was the driving force behind the prog rock supergroup Yes, along with Rick Wakeman amongst others in a changing line up of incredibly innovative musicians. By 1985, he was contributing to soundtracks, making appearances on St Elmo’s Fire, Biggles and Legend, In this busy period he made his Christmas themed album 3 Ships. It didn’t chart in the UK, scraped into the Top 200 in the US and only charted in one other country, reaching Number 66 in the Dutch charts! It did not get a great critical reception at the time. This could be because his unusual move of recording a Christmas album when they were perhaps less of a seasonal banker didn’t go down well with the more purist vision of the critics. It could be that it was such a personal vision that they just didn’t buy into it, especially coming from the leading light of progressive rock. It may be this lack of critical enthusiasm that accounted for the poor sales. However, when I discovered it a few years ago and bought it on the strength of his name I was able to come to it completely fresh. So, let’s take a listen.
Side 1
The album starts with Save All Your Love and the first thing that hits you is the incredible purity of Jon Anderson’s voice, one of the most beautiful male voices in rock music. He can lift the quality of any material simply by singing on it, but in the case of the opening track which is short and sweet at less than 90 seconds he just makes a lovely song even better. Already Said and Done is a track that has the 1980s writ large and it is one that may sound rather underpowered to modern ears, but it has its own charm and once you let that voice wash over you it is a song that works its own understated magic of the season. Three Ships is great fun as it gives the listener a synthesised treatment of the famous carol complete with fast paced verses which I really enjoyed. Not for the purist perhaps, but if you want something different in your Christmas carols it definitely works very nicely. Forest of Fire is a Christmas themed song set in a jungle! It sounds like a prototype of The Lion King in places and is one of the most unusual festive songs you could ever hear. Ding Dong Merrily on High has a synthesised backing that takes the familiar carol into some quite interesting territory! Once again, the voice rises above the material and gives it its own individuality and appeal. The final track is a reprise of the gorgeous Save All Your Love which could easily be a companion piece to the classic I’ll Find My Way Home. By the end of this side you will either be into the album or you won’t, but I can guarantee you that you won’t have heard another Christmas album quite like it!
Side 2
The Holly and The Ivy has a Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells feel to it and it gives this familiar carol a very different feel. Despite the synthesiser backing it actually has a more medieval feel than most with the use of trumpet fanfares and the use of a tune that sounds like an Elizabethan dance in places. The next three songs reflect upon the same event, namely the birth of Jesus. Day of Days is an interesting song that has hints of a spiritual alongside an unmistakeably 80s touch that contrasts with very traditional lyrics about the Nativity. 2000 Years covers similar ground in a track that is short but effective, and my favourite of the trilogy of more devotional songs. Finally, Where Were You? reflects on the experience of the shepherds before looking at the event in a more global perspective. O Holy Night is an instantly recognisable piece of music, or at least it usually is! On this track Anderson gives us a version utterly unlike any other with a much more minimal backing than we are used to. With the now traditional huge ballad approach on pretty much every other Christmas album, I found this a very nice change of pace, and with his gorgeous voice you can’t go far wrong anyway. How It Hits You can be read either as a love song or a devotional anthem according to taste and has a soft rock feel that sets it apart from the rest of this album. The vocals and the tune put me in mind of Mr Mister in places and also The Thompson Twins, so I for one thoroughly enjoyed it. The final track is Jingle Bells! By this stage nothing really surprises the listener so why not? It’s definitely an album where you have to go with the flow. It is the briefest of codas with a very soft child’s voice singing the famous refrain and in that way it is a fitting end to a very atypical Christmas album.
What I really like is when artists follow their vision and back it to the hilt as Jon Anderson did in this case. It won’t be for everyone, but that’s actually a good thing because so many Christmas albums play it safe and become interchangeable. Three Ships definitely goes out on a limb and if you are prepared to follow it out on that limb, you are in for a treat – or at least a very original listening experience.
It’s not on Spotify as far as I can see, but the vinyl is here on Discogs. Go on, give it a try!
Today, it’s a charity shop find that I couldn’t resist. I have no idea whether it will be any good, but I am playing it and writing the blog at the same time so you will know what my thoughts are as I have them! The Partridge Family were TV stars on both sides of the Atlantic and David Cassidy was Donny Osmond’s chief rival in the heartthrob stakes! Every episode featured a song and the single I Think I Love You was well known enough to be namechecked in Four Weddings and a Funeral by Hugh Grant! So, their Christmas album with Cassidy and Shirley Jones taking on vocal duties must have seemed like a sure fire winner. The original albums contained an actual Christmas card from the Partridge Family with facsimile signatures, but sadly my version doesn’t have that piece of kitsch memorabilia. Oh well, I think I will cope without it. In the meantime, here’s the real time review of this quintessentially 70s Christmas album.
Side 1
The first track is the only original track on this side. It’s called My Christmas Card to You. It really is so 70s it’s incredible! I don’t know if anyone else remembers the songs in the programme, but calling it easy listening somewhat oversells a track that I found completely forgettable. David Cassidy’s version of White Christmas is actually a lot better because he could really sing. The vocals are good, although they are occasionally buried beneath a musical accompaniment that really overdoes it after the first verse. I think it would have been more effective as a straight solo track. Still, Cassidy’s voice just about rescues it. Santa Claus is Coming to Town is another very 70s mix, but it actually works in this case. Once again, Cassidy is on fine form, but the music and the backing vocals complement his performance and you end up with a bouncy, fun version of this Christmas staple. Blue Christmas doesn’t try for an Elvis copy, very wisely. Instead it reverts to the country version of the original sung by Ernest Tubb, and it really works in a side that gets stronger as it goes on. Jingle Bells has to appear on a Christmas album somewhere, it’s the law! This one swings along really nicely in the verses although the chorus doesn’t really work with the backing vocals intruding on the song rather than complementing it. It’s a different version and it definitely gets your toes tapping even if it doesn’t completely convince. The final track, The Christmas Song features a long overdue lead vocal from Shirley Jones which is superb and as smooth as hot chocolate. This is a touch of class to end this side on a high note.
Side 2
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree can scarcely have had a less rocking version than this one! I almost had to check it was at the right speed to start with. This reminds me of the variety shows of the 70s when easy listening versions of uptempo songs were very popular, and it works as well as it did on those – not very! Still Side 1 started badly and improved so what’s next? Well, it’s Shirley Jones duetting with Cassidy on Winter Wonderland. It’s not a bad version despite another mix that has me asking ‘Could it BE any more 70s?’! Both the singers were extremely good in their own right and here their voices blend very well indeed. If you wondered what Frosty the Snowman would sound like on a John Lewis advert, well the answer is on here. You really have to hear it to believe it, but yet again Cassidy’s voice makes a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. This is the one you really have to listen to, so the link is below. Trust me, it is a John Lewis advert in the making!
On the home stretch now with Sleigh Ride. When Leroy Anderson wrote it, I can’t imagine he imagined this, but if you want to have an alternative to the classical version or The Ronettes version, well this is definitely it. The vocals are the nearest to a family sound on the album, but it needs more oomph! The final track is Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and here the arrangement and the vocals match perfectly giving Jones a lovely backing for her clear as a bell vocals. It reintroduces the melancholy of the original very effectively and provides a very nice end to this album.
Final Thoughts
This is definitely a curates egg of an album with a few clear misses, but it really would be good as the backing track to present wrapping and you can find it on YouTube or Spotify. Indulge your kitsch side at Christmas and let The Partridge Family transport you back to the 70s with everything that entails.
David Pearce - Popular Culture and Personal Passions 