The Ash Tree

Sir Richard, a man of leisure, learns that his uncle has died and left him the sprawling manor along with the surrounding lands. Returning to England to finalize the arrangements, he dives into the formalities that secure ownership, signing papers and reviewing titles. Yet as he presses through the bureaucratic task, his attention keeps slipping away to sharper, unsettling sensations. Odd noises seem to echo from the ash tree outside his bedroom, a presence that feels almost alive. The house itself appears to adjust around his movements, corridors narrowing and doors creaking in sympathy with his unease. The more he documents possessions, the more the boundary between reality and something older and unseen blurs. Its atmosphere lingers after viewing, always.

Directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark, The Ash Tree is a 1975 television adaptation of M. R. James with a script by David Rudkin. It stars Edward Petherbridge, Preston Lockwood, Barbara Ewing, Lalla Ward, and Lucy Griffiths. Noted for its mood.

As a television film, The Ash Tree did not have a theatrical release. It aired in 1975 on British television, and box office figures were not published, with its reach measured by viewership and critical discussion rather than tickets sold.

There are no widely documented nominations or wins for this adaptation anywhere, and it remains a quiet achievement within genre circles, appreciated by fans of MR James for its faithful mood and restrained storytelling, with atmospheric direction praised by some viewers and considered a high point of 1970s TV horror.

Critics praised its slow burn and mood over gore, highlighting Clark's measured pacing and Rudkin's faithful adaptation of the source material. The film explores inheritance as a burden, the past intruding on the present, and the unseen menace that stalks a quiet lingering horror that linger long after the credits.