Anyone know this ghost story?

[melade]

I've been haunted by a drama I saw in the 70s. I think it was probably a made for tv drama rather than a film. All I remember is that a woman from the present time looks in the mirror and sees herself dressed as a nun. I think the story involved a young nun and a monk who had had an illicit affair. One or possibly both of them may have been bricked up behind a wall as a result. It was set in the present with something happening to trigger ghostly events but it's only really the image of this women looking in the mirror that I can remember.



Not much to go on but does anyone know what this was?



Thanks

Melade

[Steve Crook]

name='melade']I've been haunted by a drama I saw in the 70s. I think it was probably a made for tv drama rather than a film. All I remember is that a woman from the present time looks in the mirror and sees herself dressed as a nun. I think the story involved a young nun and a monk who had had an illicit affair. One or possibly both of them may have been bricked up behind a wall as a result. It was set in the present with something happening to trigger ghostly events but it's only really the image of this women looking in the mirror that I can remember.



Not much to go on but does anyone know what this was?



Thanks

Melade

Googie Withers does the haunted Mirror segment in Dead of Night (1945). But I don't think that there were any nuns in that.



Steve

[melade]

It wasn't Dead of Night. I'm sure it was a seventies production. I had previously got it mixed up in my head with Dead of Night: The Exorcism but saw this again recently and realised that they were two seperate memories.

[Here Hare Here]

Hi Melade

I seem to remember there were lots of good TV ghost stories made in the 70s - often broadcast around Xmas. They did a few James adaptations: I particularly recall the Ash Tree (which was terrifying) and one about some cathedral stall carvings coming alive. Your description does ring a bell, but I can't put a name to it, I'm afraid. So sorry, I hope someone else out there can help you.



Julia

PS - I'm a Burton girl too - born and brewed - ha ha. Don't live there now tho, but mother does so I often visit.

[Pipski]

It wouldn't be the `Quiet As A Nun' series of `Armchair Thriller' would it? I haven't seen it myself, but they should be releasing it on DVD any time now. Can't wait, because it has quite a reputation for leaving a lasting impression on people.

[Lord Brett]

I can't remember all the plot details, but it might be the Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense production And the Wall Came Tumbling Down starring Gareth Hunt and Bari Benton.

[dylan]

The nun and monk story is one of the myths surrounding the "haunted" Borley Rectory - this was lifted from one of Rider Haggard's novels.



Sinthyia Darkness-Nightmare Theater: Borley Rectory



D.

[alan french]

HI.

I recall seeing at least one, maybe two, stories where something like this happened. I do not know if they were both the same production or two seperate stories.



I recall seeing something where it was learned that a nun had a love affair and was bricked up. This eventually lead to some strange events to the part of the story set in the present.



I also recall a story where a woman was forced to brick up a wall while she was watched by someone.



Like you I cannot remember exactly much more detail.



However, it is fact that, as stated elsewhere, there were a number of ghost stories on television during the 1970's, possibly even the 1980's. Yes, some were broadcast around Christmas time. But there were also series. The BBC produced a series about a club which listened to prospective members' tales. If the club members liked it, that person would be allowed to join. If the story did not meet with approval, then the teller would be disposed of.



Commercial television also put out a series with Patrick Mower called Haunted. It also broadcast a series called Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Later it presented Raold Dahl's Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Hammer films also came on the scene with Hammer House of Horror. I cannot recall much more than that. If I do, I shall return.



Alan French.



PS. I did send a shorter quick reply yesterday, but it does not show here. It may have been because I operate by public computer in the Hemel Hempstead Library

and my time was running out as I was sending it.

[nandywell]

But there were also series. The BBC produced a series about a club which listened to prospective members' tales. If the club members liked it, that person would be allowed to join. If the story did not meet with approval, then the teller would be disposed of.

Wasn't it called Supernatural from 1977?

[alan french]

Hi.

After I logged off Friday, I realised that I had made a mistke regarding Roal Dahl's series. It was Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected. I also took advantage of being in the local library and consulted a book regarding television. It confirmed I had made a mistake. Sorry.



However, the reason I consulted the book was to see if this could throw any light to the original question. But to no avail. However, it did confirm the BBC series of which I could not remember the title. Since then I see there is a posting asking if the series was called Supernatural. I am pleased to confirm it was.



Alan French.

[nandywell]

Aye, there is actually a copy of it floating around on Ebay at the moment for �9.99, although I can't condone the selling of illegal copies. Incidentally, the seller appears to be a fellow Manc which may cause a number of you to put two and two together and conclude that it is I who is selling it, but it isn't.

[melade]

I still haven't been able to put a name to this one.



Thanks to those that replied and my humble apologies for the delay in replying.

[Euryale]

name='melade']I've been haunted by a drama I saw in the 70s. I think it was probably a made for tv drama rather than a film. All I remember is that a woman from the present time looks in the mirror and sees herself dressed as a nun. I think the story involved a young nun and a monk who had had an illicit affair. One or possibly both of them may have been bricked up behind a wall as a result. It was set in the present with something happening to trigger ghostly events but it's only really the image of this women looking in the mirror that I can remember.



Not much to go on but does anyone know what this was?



Thanks

Melade

I remember something like this. It was a TV play entitled The Haunting and was part of a series called Menace. I don't remember the other episodes, only this one. However, it was not set in modern times, but around 1900. It was the story of a middle-aged clergyman (Anthony Bate) who had married a much younger woman (Marilyn Taylerson). He has been appointed vicar of a parish and they go to live in the old rectory there. The wife begins to see visions of a nun in mirrors around the house. I don't remember much of the storyline after that, but I'm sure it turns out that a nun had been killed or bricked up for having an illegitimate child centuries before. The wife becomes obsessed or semi-possessed by the nun (the wife herself is childless). I think Bate calls a doctor in to try and find the cause of her 'hysteria'. They may even locate the nun's body, but I'm not sure, or whether they manage to put her spirit to rest. At any rate, I think the ending was a 'happy' one, with Bate and his wife deciding to leave the rectory.



The IMDB confirms that it aired in 1973, but I don't know if the tape still exists - it is a great pity if it doesn't.



Euryale.

[melade]

name='Euryale']I remember something like this. It was a TV play entitled The Haunting and was part of a series called Menace. I don't remember the other episodes, only this one. However, it was not set in modern times, but around 1900. It was the story of a middle-aged clergyman (Anthony Bate) who had married a much younger woman (Marilyn Taylerson). He has been appointed vicar of a parish and they go to live in the old rectory there. The wife begins to see visions of a nun in mirrors around the house. I don't remember much of the storyline after that, but I'm sure it turns out that a nun had been killed or bricked up for having an illegitimate child centuries before. The wife becomes obsessed or semi-possessed by the nun (the wife herself is childless). I think Bate calls a doctor in to try and find the cause of her 'hysteria'. They may even locate the nun's body, but I'm not sure, or whether they manage to put her spirit to rest. At any rate, I think the ending was a 'happy' one, with Bate and his wife deciding to leave the rectory.



The IMDB confirms that it aired in 1973, but I don't know if the tape still exists - it is a great pity if it doesn't.



Euryale.

That's it! Thank you very much.



I was seven in 1973 so that sounds about right and explains why it freaked me out a bit and left me, temporarily, with a (mild) fear of mirrors.



Incidentally, I've still got a fear of mirrors only now for entirely different reasons!



Thanks again

[silverwhistle]

name='melade']That's it! Thank you very much.



I was seven in 1973 so that sounds about right and explains why it freaked me out a bit and left me, temporarily, with a (mild) fear of mirrors.



Incidentally, I've still got a fear of mirrors only now for entirely different reasons!



Thanks again

By the sound of it, it's a dramatisation of the claims about Borley Rectory.

[silverwhistle]

name='Pipski']It wouldn't be the `Quiet As A Nun' series of `Armchair Thriller' would it? I haven't seen it myself, but they should be releasing it on DVD any time now. Can't wait, because it has quite a reputation for leaving a lasting impression on people.

No, that was a present-day whodunnit set around a convent.

[Jack Gurney]

There's also a similar legend concerning one of the Laines in Brighton. I dunno, nun-bricking must have been a popular hobby back in them days.