the young dr. fanshawe ( mark letheren ) and an avid archaeologist and be dispatch by his museum bos to the large country home of squire richards ( pip torrens ) and where his task be to find provenance for and catalogue the collection of antiquity and curio belong to the recently decease father of the squire . the squire be surprise by the arrival fanshawe and he hadn not be expect him for another week and but none the less welcome him and get his only servant and patten ( david burke . of dr watson fame ) and to show him to his room and a fanshawe must stay over for some day in order to finish his rather large task . patten it would seem be not the friendly sort and seem to resent the extra work that fanshawe visit will entail and the large empty house provide an endless amount of cooking and cleaning and maintenance for him . fanshawe be a fussy sort and very neat and precise with everything have it place and whether they be his clothes or his book and paper and he be rather disgust by the dirt in his room . needless to say he be rather eager to begin his work and but unpack he find his binoculars have be damage in transit and so he ask the squire for a replacement pair and the squire who be a modern thinking man but also it would seem rather uncultured with such matter and be also eager to get rid of the clutter around the house and so he oblige and walk fanshawe to the top of the hill so that he can survey the estate and the surrounding village and there the squire direct him to point of interest and include gallows hill and where local be hang for their crime and misdemeanour and his interest be also take by a local abbey which the squire describe a a ruin and but fanshawe can see through the binoculars that it clearly isn not and he investigate further and pay a visit to the site of the abbey and be shock to find that there be but a few stone remnant . fanshawe doesn not have too much time to think about this conundrum a he darkness fall he feel he be be watch and he feel a presence and he begin to see move shadow in the wood and startle he run home . over dinner he impart detail of his harrow day to the squire and patten overhear the story and suggest an explanation for it . the binoculars . they use to belong to a local man call baxter and whom it would seem collect bone and skull from gallows hill and boil them up for some concoction or other and baxter have disappear mysteriously one night and the late squire have acquire his belonging and include a mask make out of a skull and some old etching of the area . these etching fascinate fanshawe a they portray the abbey he see through his binoculars and but he learn that the abbey have be destroy during the reign of henry vii and so it would be impossible for baxter to have draw the sketch and never the less they be sign and date by baxter to the recent past so he conclude that the binoculars have some special power . that night he have horrifically vivid dream and when he wake and he set off with the binoculars to have a close look at the abbey through them and what he find surprise him but have he put himself in perilous danger by do so . fanshawe finally become trap in his dangerous obsession and a darkness fall the squire and a search party go in search of the now miss archaeologist and they be alert by dozen of loudly caw crow circle above gallows hill and they quicken their speed and but will they be in time to help or save fanshawe from his destiny . the ghost story for christmas series of film make by the bbc sadly end it initial run of film in 1978 with the ice house and they be for the most part base on the work of the great m. r. james . in 2005 and 2006 the series be revive briefly and thankfully a view from a hill also mark a return to the work of james and whose ghostly writing have haunt many generation of reader . director luke watson be new to the series might have worry fan of the old film and but he return to the period set abandon by the later film which immediately set the tone for a great ghost story and his direction be assure a he stay true to the mood of the master work and gradually build up the fear factor to a terrifying climax and all the while keep what the viewer see to a minimum and thus up the tension and mystery . the autumn countryside provide oodles of atmosphere and the fall leaf and low lie sun provide an unsettling backdrop for the sinister event to come . the cast it must be say be all superb and be perfectly cast in their respective role . the idea behind the binoculars be simple but very effective and the use of a man make object to see supernatural being and event that the naked eye can not see and may even have influence álex de la iglesia in his film la habitación del niño ( 2006 ) of the following year and with which it bear striking similarity . i have hear mixed review of this particular film and but i must say i find it at all time intrigue and it even raise a few hair on my head and give me a few shiver and something that doesn not happen much these day and i think any negativity surround the film can only be attribute to it pacing and which to my eye be perfection but to modern audience it will be see a deathly slow . plenty of time be give and even within it brief 40 minute run time and for character development and plot expansion and i must say it a new favourite of mine and certainly one of the good film of the decade .