🎞 Winter Tales- 📺 Charles Dickens 'The Signal man' a mystery.
Saturday, 6 Jan 2024, 02:29
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Edited by Gill Burrell, Wednesday, 10 Jan 2024, 23:59
Over the Christmas break, I have been watching The BBC television adaptation(1976) of "The Signalman", a film based on 1866 short story by "Charles Dickens"  The production was directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark and filmed on the Severn Valley Railway. The two main characters in the story are the traveller(who is the narrator) and the signalman.Â
The traveller was staying at the nearby local Inn, he is out walking one late afternoon, when he comes across a railway line, with a signal mans box beside the rail track. The signal man is standing on the track deep in thought. The traveller calls down, he waves to the signalman "Halloa! Below there!" The signalman standing on the railway below he does not look up, as the narrator thinks he will but instead he turns about and looks ahead into the railway tunnel. Eventually after calling out a few times the traveller finally gets the signalmans attention. The traveller asks if there is a way to come down to the track. At first the signal man says nothing, and then he simply points his finger to a footpath further along that leads down to the rail track.
The signalman appears rather wary, even afraid of the traveller for some reason. Saying he thinks he has seen the traveller somewhere before, that his face seems somehow familiar, but the traveller reassures him that he means him no harm, that he just wants to talk, as he is curious to know how the signalman passes his day there. After being invited up to the signalman's cabin, he stays a while and watches the signalman, as he goes about his mundane duties of anwering bells, from other signal men, giving telephone instructions and pushing and pulling the levers. On his occasional breaks in between the traveller listens, as the signalman talks about his life, that he missed out on having a good education due to poverty and that he reads books to try to self educate. He goes on to talk about his responsibilities as a signalman, but then suddenly he stops, he seems afraid even of his own thoughts. He keeps looking at the bell and sweating, as if the bell was about to ring even though it does n't. "What is it that troubles you?" asks the traveller.
The signalman said he will tell the traveller more about the visions he is having, when next the traveller returns to visit. On leaving he especially tells the taveller not to call out next time, but to just come down the footpath path without speaking. The traveller is a bit puzzled at first but agrees to his request.
Upon the travellers next visit, the signalman speaks about the sight of a ghostly figure of a man of shabby appearance, waving his arm vigourously and saying the very same words the traveller had spoken when he first met with the signalman."Halloa! Below there! " The first vision of the ghostly figure was followed by a terrible train crash inside the tunnel. This did indeed happen some years ago, nobody knew the cause. The second vision was of the spectre saying the very same words, "Helloa below there" that was succeed by another train crash near to the tunnel , in which a young lady was mysteriously killed. The last apparition and the most fearful of all, was of the ghostly man who was standing next to the tunnel and yelling "Below there! Look out! For God’s sake, clear the way!" The ghost was waving his arm about frantically and then covered up his face with his arm. The signalman is clearly disturbed by what he has lately witnessed. He feels he is unable to prevent a looming disaster, but he asks for the travellers opinion on what he has just explained, about the visions.
The traveller who is an educated man of reason, and who is sceptical about the supernatural, tells the signalman straight forwardly his opinion, that he was probably over tired, his imagination was a little overactive and that he should see a doctor, and explain it to him, perhaps he may be able to help him give him some pills and cure him to these ghostly fearful sightings. As long as he is doing his job correctly, directing the trains, then he need not worry but to just ignore the ghostly warnings and carry on doing his job, saying that in any case, the visions do not actually try to prevent any of these disasters from happening. Accidents do happen, but as long as the signalman is doing his very best job that he can do, then he is not to blame for whatever happens. Reassured the signalman agrees and they decide to meet up again the next day.
However, the next day when the traveller arrives at the railway line, there is no sign of the signalman at all. Instead he sees a man, one of a group of officials who are investigating an incident on the line.
 He is told the signalman is dead, that the driver said he saw the signalman standing on the railtrack lost in thought, looking at the tunnel and the signal man seemed oblivious to the oncoming train. The driver tried to warn him by yelling "Below there! Look out! For God’s sake, clear the way!" As he waved his arm frantically about, then he covered up his face with his arm.
(1) So had the signalman been given a premonition of his own death?
(2) Was it his conscience?
(3)Was the traveller a bad or good angel?
(4) Or was it fate?
It is the audience who are left to decide, based on what they have seen and heard in the film.
🎞 Winter Tales- 📺 Charles Dickens 'The Signal man' a mystery.
Over the Christmas break, I have been watching The BBC television adaptation(1976) of "The Signalman", a film based on 1866 short story by "Charles Dickens"  The production was directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark and filmed on the Severn Valley Railway. The two main characters in the story are the traveller(who is the narrator) and the signalman.Â
The traveller was staying at the nearby local Inn, he is out walking one late afternoon, when he comes across a railway line, with a signal mans box beside the rail track. The signal man is standing on the track deep in thought. The traveller calls down, he waves to the signalman "Halloa! Below there!" The signalman standing on the railway below he does not look up, as the narrator thinks he will but instead he turns about and looks ahead into the railway tunnel. Eventually after calling out a few times the traveller finally gets the signalmans attention. The traveller asks if there is a way to come down to the track. At first the signal man says nothing, and then he simply points his finger to a footpath further along that leads down to the rail track.
The signalman appears rather wary, even afraid of the traveller for some reason. Saying he thinks he has seen the traveller somewhere before, that his face seems somehow familiar, but the traveller reassures him that he means him no harm, that he just wants to talk, as he is curious to know how the signalman passes his day there. After being invited up to the signalman's cabin, he stays a while and watches the signalman, as he goes about his mundane duties of anwering bells, from other signal men, giving telephone instructions and pushing and pulling the levers.
On his occasional breaks in between the traveller listens, as the signalman talks about his life, that he missed out on having a good education due to poverty and that he reads books to try to self educate. He goes on to talk about his responsibilities as a signalman, but then suddenly he stops, he seems afraid even of his own thoughts. He keeps looking at the bell and sweating, as if the bell was about to ring even though it does n't. "What is it that troubles you?" asks the traveller.
The signalman said he will tell the traveller more about the visions he is having, when next the traveller returns to visit. On leaving he especially tells the taveller not to call out next time, but to just come down the footpath path without speaking. The traveller is a bit puzzled at first but agrees to his request.
Upon the travellers next visit, the signalman speaks about the sight of a ghostly figure of a man of shabby appearance, waving his arm vigourously and saying the very same words the traveller had spoken when he first met with the signalman."Halloa! Below there! "
The first vision of the ghostly figure was followed by a terrible train crash inside the tunnel. This did indeed happen some years ago, nobody knew the cause. The second vision was of the spectre saying the very same words, "Helloa below there" that was succeed by another train crash near to the tunnel , in which a young lady was mysteriously killed. The last apparition and the most fearful of all, was of the ghostly man who was standing next to the tunnel and yelling "Below there! Look out! For God’s sake, clear the way!" The ghost was waving his arm about frantically and then covered up his face with his arm.
The signalman is clearly disturbed by what he has lately witnessed. He feels he is unable to prevent a looming disaster, but he asks for the travellers opinion on what he has just explained, about the visions.
The traveller who is an educated man of reason, and who is sceptical about the supernatural, tells the signalman straight forwardly his opinion, that he was probably over tired, his imagination was a little overactive and that he should see a doctor, and explain it to him, perhaps he may be able to help him give him some pills and cure him to these ghostly fearful sightings. As long as he is doing his job correctly, directing the trains, then he need not worry but to just ignore the ghostly warnings and carry on doing his job, saying that in any case, the visions do not actually try to prevent any of these disasters from happening. Accidents do happen, but as long as the signalman is doing his very best job that he can do, then he is not to blame for whatever happens. Reassured the signalman agrees and they decide to meet up again the next day.
However, the next day when the traveller arrives at the railway line, there is no sign of the signalman at all. Instead he sees a man, one of a group of officials who are investigating an incident on the line.
 He is told the signalman is dead, that the driver said he saw the signalman standing on the railtrack lost in thought, looking at the tunnel and the signal man seemed oblivious to the oncoming train. The driver tried to warn him by yelling "Below there! Look out! For God’s sake, clear the way!" As he waved his arm frantically about, then he covered up his face with his arm.
(1) So had the signalman been given a premonition of his own death?
(2) Was it his conscience?
(3)Was the traveller a bad or good angel?
(4) Or was it fate?
It is the audience who are left to decide, based on what they have seen and heard in the film.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Dickens