A Warning to the Curious

"A Warning to the Curious"
A Ghost Story for Christmas episode
Title screen, showing the expansive North Norfolk coastline that features heavily in the adaptation.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 2
Directed by	Lawrence Gordon Clark
Written by	M. R. James (story) Lawrence Gordon Clark (adaptation)
Original air date	24 December 1972
Episode chronology
← Previous "The Stalls of Barchester" Next → "Lost Hearts"

"A Warning to the Curious" is a ghost story by M.R. James, found in his book A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories first published in 1925. The tale tells the story of Paxton, an amateur archeologist who travels to "Seaburgh" (a disguised version of Aldeburgh, Suffolk) and inadvertently stumbles across one of the lost crowns of Anglia, which legendarily protect the county from invasion. On digging the crown up, Paxton is stalked by its supernatural guardian.

BBC adaptation

In 1972, the story was adapted by Lawrence Gordon Clark as the second instalment of the BBC's A Ghost Story for Christmas strand. As with the previous installment, it was first broadcast on BBC 1 at 11pm on Christmas Eve 1972. In adapting the story, Clark changed the protagonist of the original from a young, innocent amateur to an older, more menacing man (Peter Vaughan) fully aware of what he is looking for. The implied background of the 1930s Depression adds an extra layer to Paxton's search for the treasure. Clark also included the character of Dr. Black (Clive Swift), who first appeared in The Stalls of Barchester. The adaptation was filmed around the North Norfolk coastline at Waxham, Happisburgh and Wells-next-the-Sea.

Plot summary

This is a summary of the plot of the original story and not of the BBC adaptation. The seaside town of Seaburgh has changed little over the years. It forms part of a wind-swept marshy coastline dotted with windmills and red-brick cottages in the east of England. While staying at the Bear Inn in Seaburgh with his friend, the narrator meets another of the residents, a young man called Paxton. They engage him in conversation and he recounts the events which have put him in such an anxious state of mind.

We learn of Paxton's interest in architecture and archaeology and how he learnt of the legend of the three crowns which were buried around the ancient kingdom to protect it from invading forces. Only one crown remains interred since one had already been dug up many years before and probably melted down, whilst another had been washed into the sea with the Saxon palace that contained it. Paxton enquires of the rector of the local church if he knows the whereabouts of the last crown; it is implied that locals know where it is buried.

The rector also discusses the Ager family who believed they were inheritors of the duty to guard the crown; the last, William, died recently from consumption after having spent many a night watching over it. Paxton discovers the crown's likely burial place, and tells how he dug into the mound under cover of night and removed the crown. The other two men are naturally excited by this, but are shocked to learn of the young man's dilemma; he quivers, 'I don't know how to put it back,' which strikes both as very strange indeed.

The other two men ask to see the crown. As they approach the young man's room, they have the distinct impression that there is someone else in the passage. On wishing to examine the crown with his own hands, the narrator is prevented from doing so by Paxton, who nervously tells his companions that he has never been alone since he touched the crown. He felt a scratching on his back while he dug the tunnel which at first he mistook for falling soil and afterwards. While he returned to the station, he sensed the spectre of Ager lurking behind hedgerows, and passers-by stare beyond Paxton as if there were something following him. As he boards the train, the porter apprently sees someone enter the same carriage even though nobody is there. Worse, Paxton is conscious the ghost of William Ager will afford him no forgiveness even were he to put the crown back.

With the crown concealed under Paxton's coat, the three return to the hillock at night. All the while it seems they are being watched and when they arrive they feel a definite, malevolent presence. Paxton hastily reburies the crown. As they descend, the narrator cries out to Paxton that he has left his coat on the mound. Of course, Paxton recognises that this is not the case and when they turn again to look, the dark shape has vanished.

The following morning Paxton seems in lighter spirits and agrees to meet with his two friends later in the day. They see him early in the afternoon and agree to meet half an hour later. When they return to his room he has, to their surprise, already left and the Boots tells them Paxton had made haste down the beach after he thought he had seen the others go that way.

As the mist gathers, they can see little, until they climb the ruins of an old battery neighbouring a martello tower. Suddenly, they hear a ghastly laugh and peering beneatthe towe, find Paxton's body - his mouth filled with sand and stones and his jaw and teeth smashed. The tower's caretaker witnessed the scene in part, but was unsure if Paxton was alone or not when he fell.

The inquest into his death concludes that Paxton was in danger from someone, although it was not known whom, and no mention is made either of supernatural forces nor of his discovery of the crown.

The BBC adaptation from 1972 is broadly faithful to the original but differs in a number of ways.There is only one other character who accompanies Paxton, who is named as Dr Black, and Paxton is chased back to the mound which is where he meets his end. The adaptation ends with Clive Swift's character boarding the train away from Seaburgh, only for the porter to say he thought he saw someone else boarding the train in the same carriage, suggesting Ager will exact vengeance on him too.

External links

• A Warning to the Curious at bbc.co.uk.
• A Warning to the Curious at the Internet Movie Database
• A Warning to the Curious at the BFI's Screenonline