Writer/Director/Actor Mark Gatiss, best known for his work on Doctor Who, Sherlock, Dracula talks about his TV film Count Magnus, and the English tradition of ghost stories at Christmas, and he fascination of true ghost stories.

When it comes to the English tradition of telling ghosts stories during Christmas, Charles Dickens still reigns supreme, with medieval scholar M.R. James in a very close second place. But in recent years Mark Gatiss has quickly earned mention alongside those two by reinvigorating the United Kingdom’s heritage of holiday horror.

Best known for his work on Doctor Who, Sherlock, Dracula and the comedy troupe League of Gentlemen, Gatiss has become the force behind the BBC’s revival of A Ghost Story for Christmas series of television films. The original run of annuals was largely helmed by Lawrence Gordon Clark, and aired from 1971 until ’78, before returning sporadically in 2005. Gatiss made his directorial debut in 2013 with The Tractate Middoth, the Ghost Story adaptation of James’s work. He has since written and directed three more for the series — James adaptations Martin’s Close and The Mezzotint, and the original story The Dead Room — along with writing mini-series Crooked House (2008) and writing and directing The Amazing Mr. Blunden (2021) TV film, which both aired at Christmas.

Now he is back as writer and director for “Count Magnus,” the long-anticipated adaptation of M.R. James’ 1904 work, which airs December 23 on BBC Two, and drops the same day on streaming service BritBox. In this interview Gatiss speaks about his collection of real-life ghost stories, and his love for season’s screamings.

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