\u201cThe one everyone has always wanted to do is Count Magnus, which eluded the great Lawrence Gordon Clark,\u201d Mark Gatiss shared in 2019<\/a>, speculating that perhaps a screen version of M R James\u2019s tale of a terrible force inflicted on an inquisitive traveller was simply \u201cnot meant to be\u201d. This festive season though, Gatiss has finally broken the curse and achieved what Clark, his predecessor in spearheading the BBC\u2019s A Ghost Story for Christmas strand, could not in bringing this Holy Grail of James adaptations to the screen.<\/p>\n Clark had wanted to film a version of Count Magnus adapted by novelist Basil Copper as his final Ghost Story in December 1977, but was unable to secure sufficient budget from the BBC for the Sweden-set narrative. 45 years later and Gatiss has delivered a stripped-back version very much of a piece with his previous sojourns into the supernatural \u2013 like 2019\u2019s Martin\u2019s Close and last year\u2019s The Mezzotint<\/a>, this Count Magnus is sparse but mostly effective.<\/p>\n Set in 1863, the story follows the <\/span>inquisitive Mr Wraxhall (Jason Watkins) as he attempts to unpick the shadowy history of the titular Count, by all accounts a \u201cmerciless\u201d character who embarked on a \u201cBlack pilgrimage\u201d to the Holy Land \u201con most unholy business\u201d, bringing something \u2013 or someone<\/em> \u2013 back with him.<\/p> There\u2019s often something blackly comic about James\u2019s tales of unwitting victims being drawn slowly but inexorably towards a terrible fate, but it\u2019s fair to say that vibe is laid on pretty thick here \u2013 compared, for example, to The Mezzotint\u2019s sympathetic protagonist Williams (played by Rory Kinnear in the 2021 adaptation), Watkins\u2019s Wraxhall is far more a pompous dolt, entirely ignorant of the meaningful looks and sorrowful silences that surround him whenever he mentions Count Magnus to the locals.<\/p>\n The first act of this short, sharp horror almost plays as a comedy of errors, with Wraxhall \u2013 described as \u201can intelligent and cultivated fellow\u201d though appearing to be anything but \u2013 refusing to be deterred from his investigations despite the warnings, both implied and explicit, from Magnus\u2019s descendant Froken de la Gardie and Herr Nielsen (MyAnna Buring and Max Bremer, both delivering memorable performances with limited screentime).<\/p>\n But the further that our thoughtless protagonist progresses on his path to the darkness, the more successful this adaptation becomes. The layers of mystery begin to be peeled away and from the moment we hear tell of an invisible evil that left one man dead and another broken, Count Magnus grows steadily more atmospheric and suspenseful,\u00a0delivering some genuinely spooky moments and one particularly horrible visual flourish, as a burst of vivid blood-red pierces an otherwise monochrome flashback.<\/p>\n Much like his previous M R James dramatisations, Gatiss\u2019s Count Magnus again avoids being what he once himself referred to as a \u201cstatic retelling<\/a>\u201d by adding an additional sting in the tail and it\u2019s a particularly delicious twist that closes out this half hour, one that offers a neat climax to the story as it\u2019s unfolding on screen while also providing added value for James aficionados convinced they know how this particular yarn will play out.<\/p>\n The rather broad first act means that Count Magnus isn\u2019t quite up there with the best of these Ghost Stories. The Mezzotint was particularly exceptional, while 2018\u2019s The Dead Room \u2013 an original tale written by Gatiss but inspired by James\u2019s work \u2013 was another small but perfectly formed gem. All the same, there\u2019s plenty here to entertain and unsettle \u2013 certainly enough to leave fans hoping that, with four stories down and 30 more to go, Gatiss\u2019s adaptations of James\u2019s works will remain a fixture in the festive schedules for some time to come. Let\u2019s hope he can strike a deal to secure such longevity\u2026<\/p>\n A Ghost Story for Christmas: Count Magnus is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n For more, check out our dedicated\u00a0Fantasy<\/a>\u00a0page or our full\u00a0TV Guide<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Streaming Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n The Christmas double issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<\/strong>subscribe now<\/strong><\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0<\/strong>Radio Times View From My Sofa podcast<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n By Morgan Jeffery Published: Friday, 23 December 2022 at 12:00 am 3.0 out of 5 star rating \u201cThe one everyone has always wanted to do is Count Magnus, which eluded the great Lawrence Gordon Clark,\u201d Mark Gatiss shared in 2019, speculating that perhaps a screen version of M R James\u2019s tale of a terrible force […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":27746,"template":"","categories":[1,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/count-magnus-review-a-spooky-diversion-with-a-delicious-twist.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/count-magnus-review-a-spooky-diversion-with-a-delicious-twist-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/count-magnus-review-a-spooky-diversion-with-a-delicious-twist-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/count-magnus-review-a-spooky-diversion-with-a-delicious-twist.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/count-magnus-review-a-spooky-diversion-with-a-delicious-twist.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/count-magnus-review-a-spooky-diversion-with-a-delicious-twist.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/12\/count-magnus-review-a-spooky-diversion-with-a-delicious-twist.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Morgan Jeffery Published: Friday, 23 December 2022 at 12:00 am 3.0 out of 5 star rating \u201cThe one everyone has always wanted to do is Count Magnus, which eluded the great Lawrence Gordon Clark,\u201d Mark Gatiss shared in 2019, speculating that perhaps a screen version of M R James\u2019s tale of a terrible force…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/27745"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/12\/myanna-buring-count-magnus-1cdf688.jpg?quality=90&resize=618%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"