{"id":5598,"date":"2021-10-12T01:01:13","date_gmt":"2021-10-11T23:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1385538"},"modified":"2021-10-12T09:23:14","modified_gmt":"2021-10-12T07:23:14","slug":"mark-gatisss-creepy-christmas-drama-the-mezzotint-gets-frightening-first-look","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/mark-gatisss-creepy-christmas-drama-the-mezzotint-gets-frightening-first-look\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Gatiss\u2019s creepy Christmas drama The Mezzotint gets frightening first-look"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Morgan Jeffery\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 12 October 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

First look images have been released of BBC Two\u2019s ghost story for Christmas, adapted by Mark Gatiss from the works of M.R. James.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/a>Mezzotint \u2013 a one-off half-hour drama \u2013 is based on a short story by James first published in 1904.<\/span><\/p>\n

The official synopsis for Gatiss\u2019 adaptation reads: \u201cIt\u2019s 1922 and in the heart of an old English college, Edward Williams receives an engraving of an unknown country house. An imposing facade. A sweeping lawn. And, just perhaps, something else\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n

\""Rory\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Rory Kinnear in The Mezzotint<\/span><\/figcaption> Adorable Media\/Michael Carlo<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

New pictures give us a first look at Rory Kinnear (No Time To Die<\/a>) as Williams, Robert Bathurst (Cold Feety) as Garwood, Frances Barber (Doctor Who) as Mrs Ambrigail and Nikesh Patel (Starstruck) as Nisbet.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Mezzotint<\/span> also stars John Hopkins (Poldark), Emma Cunniffe (Roadkill), and Tommaso Di Vincenzo (Dracula<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\""Frances\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Frances Barber in The Mezzotint<\/span><\/figcaption> Adorable Media\/Michael Carlo<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Gatiss, who directs and has written the script for this screen adaptation of\u00a0 The Mezzotint, previously told RadioTimes.com<\/a> that his initial plan to write an original horror story for BBC Two<\/a> this year had to be abandoned, largely due to concerns that it would feel inappropriate against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe BBC had originally asked for another original, which I wrote,\u201d he explained. \u201cBut it was very grim, set in a hospital, largely concerned with old people dying, and I thought, d\u2019you know, I think now what we need is another MR James!\u201d<\/p>

The Mezzotint \u2013 which tells the story of an artwork which may have taken on a form of supernatural life \u2013 was also far easier to achieve under COVID filming restrictions. \u201cBy dint of being not action packed, I thought it felt very doable,\u201d Gatiss said. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t have made [2019 Christmas story] Martin\u2019s Close this year, for example, because it featured a jury \u2013 it was set in a tiny room full of 35 people!<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I tried to make it [The Mezzotint] quite spare. It\u2019s mostly two-handers to make it doable. So it was a practical consideration as much as it being a favourite story and a very famous one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gatiss has previously adapted the MR James stories The Tractate Middoth (in 2013) and Martin\u2019s Close (2019), as well as writing and directing his own original horrors inspired by James with 2008\u2019s Crooked House and 2018\u2019s The Dead Room.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Mezzotint<\/span> will air this Christmas on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer \u2013 visit our Fantasy<\/a> hub for more news and features, or find something to watch now with our TV Guide<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n

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