Introduction: Defining Television Gothic

This book began from a very simple question, which, like many simple questions, has turned out to have a very complicated, and not entirely clear, answer. That question arose from being introduced to the BBC’s series of dramas from the 1970s that went under the umbrella title of A Ghost Story for Christmas. This introduction revived memories of other spectral programmes, and particularly of episodes of ongoing series that were not usually concerned with the supernatural, but which would take on a tinge of horror in those particular episodes. These episodes transpired, from some quick research, to have mostly been originally broadcast at Christmas or Halloween, which led back to the obvious question arising from the Ghost Story for Christmas label: why show a ghost story at Christmas? And why does this appear to be a British tradition, with US programmes showing their ‘horror’ episodes at Halloween?