Category: Books

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The other face of Councillor Christian Vassie as Gothic horror novelist of Whitby trilogy SCRAVIR launches Possession

SCRAVIR author C.M. Vassie, pictured in Whitby, where his gothic horror trilogy is set. Costume courtesy of York Theatre Royal costume hire department

YORK author C.M. Vassie will hold a book signing and meet & greet session for the third instalment of his supernatural thriller trilogy, SCRAVIR III – Possession, at Holman’s bookshop, on Skinner Street, Whitby, on Saturday.

This 2pm to 4pm event forms part of the first Whitby Literature Festival Fringe and concludes Vassie’s promotional travels to the East Coast after book signings at the Whitby Shop and Whitby Bookshop over Whitby Goth Weekend.

Vassie is not only a gothic horror author but also the City of York councillor for Wheldrake with a long back story as film and TV music composer Xian Vassie for the BBC and others too from 1992 to 2012.

“While the SCRAVIR books are dark and nasty, they are nowhere as dark or as nasty as local politics,” says Liberal Democrats Councillor Christian Vassie/author C.M. Vassie.

SCRAVIR – a word made up by the author – is a contemporary gothic horror story that serves up a thriller and a police detective story too. Set in Whitby and Romania, its protagonists are a London youth, Daniel, and a Whitby lass, Tiffany,  who works in a fish-and-chip shop. The nemesis is a Goth music star and the action takes place over Whitby Goth Weekend when emaciated bodies appear on streets in the old town. 

The original book, SCRAVIR – While Whitby Sleeps appeared in the summer of 2021; the second, SCRAVIR II – Lacklight, followed in 2023. Now Vassie completes the trilogy for Injini Press with Possession, whose plot finds Thor Lupei dead and the pandemic shrinking in the rear mirror, as Daniel and Tiffany make a life together in Whitby, thinking they are safe.

Daniel’s past, however, looms over everything, and when a Goth Weekend gig at the Pavilion goes awry, they decide a holiday in Romania – to discover his mother’s Transylvanian origins – would be a grand idea.

“What could possibly go wrong?” teases the back cover taster. Go wrong? Not so for Christian Vassie, for whom everything has gone right since he ventured on his SCRAVIR journey (also writing the time-travelling adventure The Whitby Trap, set in the 1820s, en route).

Ahead of last weekend’s SCRAVIR III launch, he said: “The last book signing I did there had 65 costumed goths queuing for a chat and copies of the SCRAVIR books. Which is nice, though quite daunting as some of the fans know the stories better than I do!”

Whether composing music or writing books, Christian “finds things I want to do, and I don’t make a fortune but I’m able to make a living, like everyone else, and that’s fine,” he says. “When artists start off they have wild dreams of kidney-shaped swimming pools and five houses, but actually, if you can live a good life, that’s fine.

“I produced music for over 80 productions, but over those 20 years, downloading music has become so easy. You used to have to go to Denmark Street [in London]; now you have access to millions of pieces of music on your computer.

Author C.M. Vassie meets SCRAVIR book fans at launch events at Whitby Goth Weekend. “One even came as a deathly bride, one of the characters in the first book,” says Vassie 

“I did the music for a series about the Medici in 2003 that you can find on YouTube and has had a million views, but I’ve never earned a penny from that. So you can either feel sorry for yourself or you adapt.”

Adapt he did, a decision brought on partly because he was going deaf. “I could trust my musicality, but I couldn’t trust my hearing,” says Christian. “I no longer had the confidence I needed – but I went out with a bang with Bishaash, a 12-part sci-fi series where Scooby Doo meets Star Trek meets Doctor Who, produced by BBC Worldwide and Bangladesh TV. That had 17 million views! What a wonderful way to go out. I could feel fulfilled.”

Christian had been the head chorister at York Minster in his Archbishop Holgate schooldays, going on to study African Languages and World Music at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London from 1979 to 1982. “I didn’t come from a musical family, but from the age of 11 or 12, I understood the meaning and value of excellence.”

That drive has never left him. “It has to be part of creativity,” he says. “When I worked on compositions for films, often the director would be satisfied before I was, and I would keep looking to improve. We’re driven to be artists because that is who we are – we just want to explore creative things.”

Hence the move into writing books, already armed with a grasp of how scenes are written how characters develop, from working on films. “It started off with writing a couple of thrillers that did nothing, printing 100 copies and selling 30,” he says.

“Then I wrote a children’s environmental book, a picture book, The Three Little Pigs And The Straw Stick House, when I was also instrumental in the eco-depot being built in James Street with straw bale cladding. That book sold in its thousands.”

Christian was off and running. “Careers in the arts are partly about learning a craft, but also about how you position yourself to make something that appeals to people, to find your audience, and these SCRAVIR books have been transformational for me,” he says.

“People ask me why I don’t set stories in York, but I went to Whitby as a child and loved it, and it’s been in my heart ever since, as it is for many York people. Whitby is so condensed and it’s on the edge of the unknown.

“That romanticism, being at the top of the cliff, looking out at what might be. Like Captain Cook, at a time when things were bl**dy hard, you could just pack your bags and leave. In reverse, it’s where Dracula arrives, so you can go out into the unknown or the unknown can come to you. That’s what makes Whitby so special; what makes it different from York. It’s like a door that’s permanently ajar.”

 A door ajar for C.M. Vassie to explore his creativity in three SCRAVIR books. “It’s great to play a small part in shaping how our collective sense of place,” he says. “Yorkshire came close to losing Whitby old town altogether in the 1920s and 1930s as plans were advanced to bulldoze the entire area and replace the yards with modern housing.

“We are all lucky that didn’t happen. I like to imagine that the stories authors create in those ginnels and old buildings help to protect it from developers and give us a clearer view of our history. The armies of goths help too.”

Councillor Christian Vassie’s political thought for the day

“Councillors should be the conscience of the city.”

The Great Plague: Cutting provided by Christian Vassie

The Great Plague: Xian Vassie’s back story

CHRISTIAN Vassie composed the score for Chanel 4’s The Great Plague in 2001. “Samir Shah, now chairman of the BBC, told me it was the film of which he was most proud,” he says.

“It won the Best History award at the Royal Television Society awards in 2001 or 2002. It was a groundbreaking story because it told the story of the lives of a group of Londoners during the Great Plague, not from the recollections of Samuel Pepys or other lofty fellows but from the simple records of a churchwarden.

“He had recorded in absolute detail the tragedy that befell the inhabitants of an alley in London: who he had money to feed when they were locked in their homes to stop the spread of the disease; who he paid to bury their neighbours; how families were torn apart. Real peopl with real names.

“My contribution was to write a score that wasn’t period music to tell you how long ago the events took place; the music blended bluegrass and folk music. Drama documentaries at the period only had a silent cast, over which historians would be the human voices. My score gave the inhabitants of the alley back their voices, using songs without words to draw us into their world.”

Christian used a similar approach for their next joint film project, 2003’s  Invitation To A Hanging, winner of the RTS Best History award the following year.

“That told the story of Jack Shepherd, a young man who arguably became the first working- class hero in England because his brief life, and escapes for Newgate Prison, coincided with the birth of newspapers,” he says.

“The score for that film, set in the 1720s, was a mixture of jazz, reggae, and soundscapes. Again the point was to avoid using music to tell the audience when the story was set, but rather to communicate that they were watching the original ‘Jack the Lad’, the hero of The Beggar’s Opera, the inspiration for the song Mack The Knife.

“Jack didn’t see himself as a historical figure but as a man about town, a celebrity. Until he was caught a fifth time and hanged…”

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Navigators Art to present poet Ian Parks and Friends at The Basement, City Screen. Who else is in November 21 line-up?

Poet Ian Parks with his new collection The Sons Of Darkness And The Sons Of Light

YORK arts collective Navigators Art plays host to An Evening With Ian Parks and Friends on November 21 at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York.

“This is one for lovers of poetry and folk music,” says organiser Richard Kitchen. “Ian is a widely published and much admired poet from Mexborough, described as ‘the finest love poet of his generation’, although his work vigorously addresses the political as well as the personal.”

Parks will be reading from his new collection, The Sons Of Darkness And The Sons Of Light. Joining him will be York novelist and poet Janet Dean, critic and poet Matthew Paul and singer-songwriter Jane Stockdale, from York alt-folk trio White Sail.

In addition, Parks will be in conversation with publisher Tim Fellows, of Crooked Spire Press.
Tickets for this 7.30pm event cost £5 in advance at bit.ly/nav-events or £8 on the door from 7pm. “We hope to adjourn for a chat after the show with anyone who’d like to join us,” says Richard.

The poster for Navigators Art’s November 21 bill at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York

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David Walliams is up for a chat, a surprise and a question at York Barbican on Tuesday

David Walliams: Frank chat at York Barbican. Picture: Charlie Clift

CANDID  conversation, outrageous anecdotes, storytelling and surprises combine in An Evening With David Walliams, actor, writer, sketch comedian and talent show judge, at York Barbican on November 4.

Everything, from his breakthrough with Matt Lucas on Little Britain, Come Fly With Me and judging duty on Britain’s Got Talent to his prolific book writing for young readers, will be on the table, opening in Little Britain attire and topped off with the chance to put questions to “one of Britain’s most beloved entertainers” in the second-half Q&A.

“I was last in York for a book signing about a year ago. I love the city,” he says. “Went to the Minster, bought some old-fashioned sweets. I like cities and towns where you can walk around, not too big. That’s why I like Edinburgh, Bath and York.

“I love the National Railway Museum too. I’ve been there a few times. I went there as a kid, when the Mallard was my favourite. I had a Horny train set too. I like a train journey, so I’ve always wanted to write a book based around trains but I haven’t had the right idea yet.”

When does he know that moment has arrived? “I think it’s when…I make a lot of notes…and it’s normally when you have a number of ideas coming out of you at once. What will make it different from other books?” says David, whose books have been translated into 55 languages.

“I read a brilliant book by Stephen King about writing where he said, ‘a good book has to have two ideas’, and it just stuck with me. With kids’ books, you write in a world halfway between imagination and reality, Like, if there was an empty house on my street as a child, I would say it was haunted.

“With each book now, it’s very much a case of having to top the last book, having started by drawing on my childhood experiences, like The Boy In The Dress, writing stories very much grounded in our world, even though fantastical things might be happening.

“But as I went on, I had to invent more, or I would have written the same book again, and indeed I’ve had to let my imagination run riot. What is popular with kids is writing a series of books, like The World’s Worst Children, but most of the time with my books I have to start with a new character, maybe a new setting.”

Writing a book can be a slog, but that slog is worthwhile. “It’s not something I can speed up. It’s not something you can dash off,” says David, who puts plenty of planning into his writing. “Some things get cancelled because they’re just not working.”

 Has the prolific David Walliams ever experienced writer’s block? “Sometimes I don’t know what to write, but I then just get up and do something else. There is always tomorrow,” he says. “Sometimes maybe you need to go for a walk, or weirdly, when you’re not thinking about it, your brain goes into problem-solving mode and comes up with the solution.

“I’m constantly alive to ideas, wherever they come from, like reading an article in the newspaper and thinking, ‘this is a great story’. The other day I was reading about an archaeologist and then flipped it on its head for an [Egyptian] mummy to travel to the modern world.

“It’s stuff like that which makes you constantly open to new ideas – and I’ve had many more ideas than I’ve used. Just like with Little Britain, where we had so many characters that never saw the light of day, maybe two thirds of the things we came up with.”

The three series of  Walliams & Lucas’s satirical sketch show Little Britain aired from 2003 and 2005 and, such is the nature of comedy, they were very much of their time whereas books tend to transcend time – or so I suggested to David.

“My son is 12 and we watch comedy movies together, and he’s drawn to the ones from 20 years ago, like Borat [from 2006]  and the Austin Powers films [from 1997 to 2002]. You might think, ‘you couldn’t do that now’, but I think, ‘what’s the point of this debate?’. They’re still really funny. Sometimes it’s context.

“If you don’t like Borat, which I think is the funniest film ever made, what are you going to do to complain about it?”

David continues: “Interestingly, people are still finding Little Britain funny and teenagers are sharing it on social media, which is pleasing because it means they’re enjoying it. You can remember bad reviews and negative voices, which are always loud. People can always turn off the TV if they don’t like it.

“You have to remember that there’s a spread of opinions, and just because there are negative opinions, it doesn’t mean they are more important.

“At the end of the day, there were moments of satire, but it was silly as well, and entertaining people, if you’re successful, is a fantastic feeling, because it can be life-changing when people say ‘I was going through difficult times and thank you for helping me to get through that’.”

Humour, by its nature, will either be found funny or not, and that may change with changing tastes too. “Come Fly With Me, which came out in 2011 [first episode, December 25 2010], the kids are really into it now, partly because it’s edgy,” says David. “We’re watching things thinking ‘you couldn’t make that now’, but Mitchell & Webb have just done a new sketch show [Mitchell And Webb Are Not Helping, Channel 4] that I loved.

“It’s just that people are much more able to articulate their response now. You can be on your phone at the same time [as you are watching], saying you find something offensive, whereas before you had to call the BBC and wait in a queue, when 100 complaints would be a big deal.”

Was he tempted to call his tour show ‘A Night With’ rather than ‘An Evening With’? “No. I think if you said ‘Night’, you would think you’d be up all night on a crawl of kebab shops!” he reasons. “I was first asked to go to Australia and New Zealand with ‘An Evening With’ and had a brilliant time there as they’re very aware of what shows I’ve done.

“We put together this show with all my funny stories and favourite characters, talking about my career and where ideas came from, showing clips of the best bits, then inviting audience questions.”

What is the most unusual question he has been asked? “In Australia, an 11-year-old girl said her mum had given her her ticket because she wasn’t well…‘My question is, who are you?’! The audience love it when they put you down.”

He is enjoying the format, with more shows planned for next year after this autumn’s dates in York, Hull and Derby. “It’s like a stand-up show with a stool for me to sit on,” says David. “I’m at that age [54] where you make noises when you get up!”

An Evening With David Walliams, York Barbican, November 4, 7.30pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk. Also Hull Connexin Live, November 5, 7.30pm. Box office: https://connexinlivehull.com/

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York supernatural thriller writer C.M. Vassie to launch SCRAVIR III – Possession at bookshops over Whitby Goth Weekend

The poster for York supernatural thriller author C.M. Vassie’s book launch of SCRAVIR III – Possession at the Whitby Shop this evening

THE third book in York author C.M. Vassie’s SCRAVIR trilogy of Whitby supernatural thrillers will be launched at  a 5pm to 7pm signing session this evening at the Whitby Shop, on Church Street, amid the buzz of Whitby Goth Weekend.

Further book signings for SCRAVIR III – Possession will follow at the same shop tomorrow at 2pm to 4pm and Whitby Bookshop, on Church Street, on Sunday from 12 noon to 2pm.

Then, as part of the first Whitby Literature Festival Fringe, Vassie will hold a book signing/meet & greet session at Holman’s bookshop, on Skinner Street, on November 8 from 2pm to 4pm.

He is not only an author but also the City of York councillor for Wheldrake with a long back story as a music composer for the BBC too. 

“While the SCRAVIR books are dark and nasty, they are nowhere as dark or as nasty as local politics,” says Liberal Democrats Councillor Christian Vassie/author C.M. Vassie.

York author C.M. Vassie in 1820s’ attire at the Whitby launch of his time-travelling book The Whitby Trap. Now comes his third SCRAVIR thriller, Possession

SCRAVIR is a contemporary gothic horror story that serves up a thriller and a police detective story too. Set in Whitby and Romania, its protagonists are a London youth and a Whitby lass who works in a fish-and-chip shop. The nemesis is a Goth music star and the action takes place over Whitby Goth Weekend when emaciated bodies appear on streets in the old town. 

The original book, SCRAVIR – While Whitby Sleeps appeared in the summer of 2021; the second, SCRAVIR II – Lacklight, published in 2023, continued the gothic horror story.  

Vassie also wrote the time-travelling adventure The Whitby Trap. SCRAVIR III – Possession will retail at £10.99.

The book cover to C.M. Vassie’s SCRAVIR III – Possession

Did you know?

HOLMAN’S bookshop is celebrating its 105th anniversary over Whitby Goth Weekend, an occasion marked by the launch of owner Angela O’Connor’s commemorative book, Holman’s, Whitby’s Time Travelling Bookshop, charting the bookshop’s history.

“Angela spent a great deal of time researching at the Whitby Museum, talking with relatives and other shop keepers along the street,” says C.M. Vassie.

“Having spent days in the Whitby Museum researching for my time-travelling story The Whitby Trap, I know how difficult it can be extracting stuff from the archives!

“Interestingly, three members of staff have covered the entire 105 years of Holman’s existence, the last lady retiring earlier this year after nearly half a century at the shop.”

Full interview with C.M. Vassie to follow.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond when walls come alive with art and light. Hutch’s List No. 47, from The York Press

Principal dancers, dance captains and siblings Anna Mai Fitzpatrick and Fergus Fitzpatrick in Riverdance’s 30th anniversary show, The New Generation

LEFT-FIELD Halloween entertainment, garden art and light installations, Normal comedy and a splurge gun musical spark Charles Hutchinson’s interest.

Dance show of the week: Riverdance, 30th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, today and tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

VISITING 30 UK venues – one for each year of its history – from August to December 2025, the Irish dance extravaganza Riverdance rejuvenates the much-loved original show with new innovative choreography and costumes, plus state-of-the-art lighting, projection and motion graphics, in this 30th anniversary celebration.

For the first time, John McColgan directs “the New Generation” of Riverdance performers, none of them born when the show began. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Blair Bitch Project: Playing on Navigators Art’s bill at YO Underworld 6 at The Basement

Live, left-field, local new music, comedy and words for Halloween: Navigators Art presents YO Underworld 6, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 7.30pm

IN this special Halloween edition, York arts collective Navigators Art plays host to riot grrrl punk and grunge-inspired York quartet Blair Bitch Project and improvising cellist and sound artist Gaia Blandina, performing collaborative, open-form pieces with Ish, featuring Iris Casling, double bass, Des Clarke, oboe, and Nika Ticciati, voice.

Joshua Arnold & Therine: Welcoming the coming of Samhain at YO Underworld 6

Taking part too are dark hurdy-gurdy and vocal-led trad and experimental drone folk combo Joshua Arnold & Therine, welcoming the coming of Samhain; Kane Bruce,  delivering his outrageously dark yet cheeky take on “taboo” topics, and Hull poet Melissa Shode, who explores identity in the socio-political climate and writes for release, justice and the voiceless. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance or on the door.

Steve Gunn: Showcasing his two 2025 albums at The Band Room, Low Mill, tonight. Picture: Paul Rhodes

Moorland gig of the week: Steve Gunn, The Band Room, Low Mill, Farndale, North York Moors, tonight, 7.30pm

STEVE Gunn, the ambient psychedelic American singer-songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York, made his name as a guitarist in Kurt Vile’s backing band, The Violators. His myriad magical influences include Michael Chapman, Michael Hurley and John Fahey.

This weekend he will be showcasing his second album of 2025, Daylight Daylight, out on November 7 on No Quarter, as well as his first fully instrumental album, August’s Music For Writers. Box office: 01751 432900 or thebandroom.co.uk.

Hands and Voices: York choir singing at Laughs, Lyrics & You! at the Gateway Centre on Sunday

Inclusive open mic event of the week: Accessible Arts & Media presents Laughs, Lyrics & You!, Gateway Centre, York, Sunday, 2.30pm to 5pm

WHAT is Laughs, Lyrics & You!? “The idea is to have an open mic-type event, in a relaxed and friendly environment that’s accessible and fun, with tea and cake too,” says Accessible Arts & Media (AAM) chief executive officer Chris Farrell. “Our projects, IMPs, Movers and Shakers and Hands and Voices, will start the show with their wonderful music, dances and stories.

“Then it’s over to whoever would like to perform. Any talent is welcome, a duet, a solo instrument, a poetry reading, a recording of some original music, jokes…whatever you can think of would be great!” To take part, performers must contact projects@aamedia.org.uk or ring Hannah on 07762 428818. Admission is free; donations welcome.

Artist Ric Liptrot: Taking part in That Acomb Arty Thing

Art event of the week: That Acomb Arty Thing, Art Trail, until November 2; Open Studios, November 1 and 2

DISCOVER York artists’ work in venues around Acomb on the autumn Art Trail featuring Carla Ballantine, Linda Braham, Ric Liptrot, Jelena Lunge, Rae Merriman, Isaac Savage, Ginette Speed, Donna Taylor and Dianne Turner.

North Yorkshire Open Studios participants are hosting open studios next Saturday and Sunday: Paul Mathieson & Peter Mathieson, 49 Jute Road, 10am to 4pm; Peijun Cao, 60 Jute Road, 10.30am to 5pm; Fran Brammer, 81 Jute Road, 10am to 4pm; Charlotte Lister & Charley Hellier, 7 Chestnut Grove, 10am to 2pm; Robin Grover-Jacques, 35 Chestnut Grove, 11am to 4pm, and Mo Nisbet, 116 Acomb Road, 11am to 4pm.

Blue sigh thinking? Henry Normal reflects on himself, his mistakes, his Z celebrity status, in The Slideshow

Normal service resumed: Henry Normal, The Slideshow, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 8pm

THE Slideshow, as poet, film and TV producer/writer Henry Normal explains, is a multi-MEdia spectacular with the emphasis on the “me” in his celebration of his “meteoric rise to Z celebrity status”, followed by his joyous and inevitable slide into physical and mental decline.

Expect poetry, photos, jokes, music, dance, song, circus skills, costume changes, props and stories, exploring where Normal  went wrong in life, plus lessons you can learn from his mistakes, in this memoir with cautionary verse. Box office: helmsleyarts.co.uk.

David Barrott, left, Catherine Edge and Adam Marsdin in rehearsal for Settlement Players’ production of Party Piece

Calamitous comedy misadventure of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Party Piece, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 28 to November 1, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

AMERICAN director, writer, producer, historian and stuntman Martin T Brooks directs Settlement Players for the first time in Richard Harris’s calamitous 1992 comedy Party Piece.

Michael and Roma Smethurst are preparing meticulously for their fancy-dress housewarming party. Mrs Hinson, not the biggest fan of her upper-class new neighbours, is keeping a criticising eye on the attendees. Then disasters strike: an embarrassing lack of guests, a burning barbeque, a marauding Zimmer frame and a corpse showing up at the front door. Cue chaos. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Cassie Vallance, left, and Jane Bruce in Story Craft Theatre’s Bat, Cackle And Pop! at York Theatre Royal

Children’s Halloween show of the week: Story Craft Theatre in Bat, Cackle And Pop!, York Theatre Royal Studio, October 29 to 31, 10.30am and 1pm

WINIFRED the Witch thinks everyone has forgotten her birthday. Not so. There will be a big surprise party, but first, a special birthday cake must be made.

“We just need the last three rather spooky ingredients,” say York company Story Craft Theatre’s Cassie Vallance and Jane Bruce. “Our show is bubbling with all sorts of ghosts and ghouls – more silly than scary – and there’s plenty of opportunities to dabble in some spell making, as well as flying with luxury BAT Airways.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Rory Stewart: Discussing his new book, Middleland, at York Barbican

Book event of the week: Toppings presents Rory Stewart, Middleland, York Barbican, October 30, 7pm

NOW Professor of the Practice of Grand Strategy at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs and Alastair Campbell’s co-podcaster on The Rest Is Politics, Rory Stewart spent nearly a decade as Conservative MP of Britain’s most rural constituency, Penrith and the Border.

Living in the Eden Valley, he found inspiration in the beauty of Cumbrian landscape, its rugged history as a frontierland, and the spirit of its people, prompting him to write Middleland: Dispatches From The Borders, a portrait of rural Britain today: a place caught in tensions between farming and the natural world, between the need to preserve and to grow, between local and national politics. Over to you, Rory.  Tickets: toppingbooks.co.uk/events/york/rory-stewart-middleland/.

Fizzy with the singers in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Bugsy Malone: Theo Rae, Isla Lightfoot, Olivia Swales and Beau Lettin

Musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Bugsy Malone, Grand Opera House, York, October 31 to November 8, 7.30pm, except Sunday and Monday ; 2.30pm, both Saturdays and Sunday

LESLEY Hill directs and choreographs York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s cast of 40 young performers in  Alan Parker and Paul Williams’s musical, replete with the movie songs You Give A Little Love,  My Name Is Tallulah, So You Wanna Be A Boxer?, Fat Sam’s Grand SlamandBugsy Malone.

In Prohibition-era New York, rival gangsters Fat Sam and Dandy Dan are at loggerheads. As custard pies fly and Dan’s splurge guns wreak havoc, penniless ex-boxer and all-round nice guy Bugsy Malone falls for aspiring singer Blousey Brown. Can Bugsy resist seductive songstress Tallulah, Fat Sam’s moll and Bugsy’s old flame, and stay out of trouble while helping Fat Sam to defend his business? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

In Focus: Tom Grennan, York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, July 25 2026

BEDFORD singer-songwriter Tom Grennan is the first act to be confirmed for the Music Showcase Weekend at the 2026 York Racecourse flat racing season.

Grennan, 30, has achieved three UK number one albums, 2021’s Evering Road, 2023’s What Ifs & Maybes and 2025’s Everywhere I Went Led Me To Where I Didn’t Want To Be, preceded by his top five-charting 2018 debut Lighting Matches. 

He has chalked up hit singles too with Little Bit Of Love, Let’s Go Home Together (with Ella Henderson), Remind Me, Lionheart (Fearless, with Joel Corry), Here, How Does It Feel, It Can’t Be Christmas, By Your Side (Calvin Harris, featuring Tom Grennan) and Not Over Yet (KSI, featuring Tom Grennan).

Next summer’s Knavesmire gig will form part of a busy touring schedule for Grennan, who also co-hosts the You About? podcast with TV and radio presenter Roman Kemp.

Racing and music fans can take advantage of a price freeze on adult general admission on the track’s website, meaning entrance to the main Grandstand and Paddock enclosure, starts at just £40 per person for a group of six. As well as free car parking, no booking fees apply on this route to purchase. To book, visit www.yorkracecourse.co.uk.

On the racecourse, the racing action will see seven thoroughbred contests with combined prize money of £380,000. The Group Two feature race will be the Sky Bet York Stakes.

The Summer Music Saturday meeting will be held on June 27; the Friday evening Music Showcase Weekend meeting on July 24. Music acts for both those days are yet to be confirmed; keep checking www.yorkracecourse.co.uk for further announcements, expected soon.

James Brennan, head of marketing and sponsorship says: “It is great news that Tom Grennan is joining the artists to have performed on the Knavesmire; a performer who has gone from strength to strength. It will herald a month for music and racing fans to remember.”

In Focus too: Luxmuralis presents Echoes Of Yorkshire, York Museum Gardens, until November 2, 6pm to 8.20pm

Luxmuralis’s Echoes Of Yorkshire transforming the St Mary’s Abbey ruins in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Duncan Savage, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust

LET light, colour and music surround you at the Echoes Of Yorkshire light and sound installation conjured by the internationally acclaimed Luxmuralis, who bring alive the culturally rich story of the Yorkshire Museum and York Museum Gardens.

Visitors are invited to “immerse yourself in the story of the historic site with contemporary light and music showcasing its age-defining artefacts and extraordinary exhibits. Join us to celebrate all that the museum and its gardens bring to our city and the wider north of England.”

In the 30-year collaboration of sculptor and artist Peter Walker and composer David Harper, Luxmuralis travels the world to create stories in light and sound for audiences at locations ranging from the Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral, London, to city-wide open-air projections in places such as Oxford and Limburg in the Netherlands.

Through combining fine art, light and sound, Luxmuralis reflects closely on the history and heritage of places by weaves together the contemporary and the ancient.

Now, for the first time, Luxmuralis is transforming the walls of York in Echoes Of Yorkshire in York Museum Gardens for ten evenings filled with six looping art installations and landscape lighting by Steve Rainsford.

Ticketed entry time slots are given every 20 minutes, but once in the gardens visitors can journey through the experience at their own pace with a recommended walking time of one hour. Refreshments will be available to buy on the night, including from Thor’s tipi.

Echoes Of Yorkshire is suitable for all ages. Audiences will experience the gardens’ history from the Roman period to its time as an abbey (St Mary’s Abbey) in tandem with Luxmuralis’s showcase of the Yorkshire Museum’s collections that span 60 million years from the Jurassic and the Mesolithic, through to the Romans, Viking, Anglo Saxon and Medieval.

Welcoming Luxmuralis to York Museum Gardens, Siona Mackelworth, head of audience and programme for York Museums Trust, says: “We are delighted that Luxmuralis agreed to produce a very special and bespoke show for us here in York.

“This is a celebration of all that the Yorkshire Museum brings to the city, its history and the location as the repository of great discoveries and stories. With this amount of content, the Luxmuralis light and sound show looks amazing.”

Luxmuralis artistic director Peter Walker says: “We’re thrilled to be collaborating with the team at Yorkshire Museum to deliver a truly distinctive experience set within the stunning and historically rich Museum Gardens.

“By drawing inspiration from the museum’s collections, this light installation re-imagines the architecture and landscape in an entirely new and transformative way.”

Tickets cost £13.50 per adult; £9.50 for children aged five to 16; free admission for under-fives. Box office: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk. Echoes Of Yorkshire is on a constant loop from 6pm to 8.20pm each night. Please note, only assistance dogs will be allowed into the gardens during the event.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond monsters, ghosts, banjos and bratwurst. Hutch’s List No. 45, from The York Press

Anna Soden: No bum deal, bum steer or bum’s rush, for that would be a bummer at tonight’s hour of comedy, It Comes Out You Bum, at The Old Paint Shop

FROM royal history re-told to Dickens’ ghost stories, magical monsters to banjo brilliance, Charles Hutchinson delights in October’s diversity.

Homecoming of the week: Anna Soden, It Comes Out Your Bum, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight, 8pm

NOW based in Brighton but very much shaped in York, comedian, actor, writer, TikTok sensation and award-nominated Theatre Royal pantomime cow in Jack And The Beanstalk, Anna Soden delivers her debut hour of madcap comedy, full of brainwaves, songs, revenge and talking out your ass. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Robin Simpson: Monster storyteller and York Theatre Royal pantomime dame, performing at Rise@Bluebird Bakery

Spooky entertainment of the week: Robin Simpson’s Magic, Monsters And Mayhem!, Rise at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, Sunday, doors 4pm

YORK Theatre Royal pantomime dame Robin Simpson – soon to give his Nurse Nellie in Sleeping Beauty this winter – celebrates witches, wizards, ghosts and goblins in his storytelling show.

“The audience is in charge in this interactive performance, ideal for fans of spooky stories and silly songs,” says Robin. “The show is perfect for Years 5 and upwards, but smaller siblings and their grown-ups are very welcome too.” Tickets: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.

Out for revenge: Henry VIII’s wives turn the tables in SIX The Musical, returning to the Grand Opera House, York, from Tuesday. Picture: Pamela Raith

Recommended but sold-out already: SIX The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, October 14 to 18; Tuesday & Thursday, 8pm; Wednesday & Friday, 6pm and 8.30pm; Saturday, 4pm and 8pm

FROM Tudor queens to pop princesses, the six wives of Henry VIII take to the mic to tell their tales, remixing 500 years of historical heartbreak into an 80-minute celebration of 21st century girl power. Think you know the rhyme? Think again. Divorced. Beheaded. LIVE!

Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow’s hit show is making its third visit to York, but it’s third time unlucky if you haven’t booked yet. Like Anne Boleyn’s head, every seat has gone.

Eddi Reader: Performing with her full band at The Citadel

Seven-year itch of the week: Hurricane Promotions presents Eddi Reader, The Citadel, York City Church, Gillygate, York, October 15, 7.30pm

EDDI Reader, the Glasgow-born singer who fronted Fairground Attraction, topping the charts with Perfect, also has ten solo albums, three BRIT awards and an MBE for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts to her name.

Straddling differing musical styles and making them her own, from the traditional to the contemporary, and interpreting the songs of Robert Burns to boot, she brings romanticism to her joyful performances, this time with her full band in her first show in York for seven years. Eilidh Patterson supports. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk.

Damien O’Kane and Ron Block: Banjovial partnership at the NCEM

Banjo at the double: Damien O’Kane and Ron Block Band, The Banjovial Tour, National Centre for Early Music, York, October 15, 7.30pm

GROUNDBREAKING  banjo  players Damien O’Kane and Ron Block follow up their Banjophony and Banjophonics albums with this month’s Banjovial and an accompanying tour.

O’Kane, renowned for his work with Barnsley songstress Kate Rusby, is a maestro of Irish traditional music, here expressed on his Irish tenor banjo; Block, a key component of Alison Krauss & Union Station, infuses his signature five-string bluegrass banjo with soulful depth and rhythmic innovation. Together, their styles intertwine in an exhilarating dance of technical mastery. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Francis Rossi: Solo show of song and chat at York Barbican. Picture: Jodiphotography

Hits and titbits aplenty: An Evening of Francis Rossi’s Songs from the Status Quo Songbook and More, York Barbican, October 16, 7.30pm

IN his one-man show, Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi performs signature Quo hits, plus personal favourites and deeper cuts, while telling first-hand backstage tales of appearing more than 100 times on Top Of The Pops, why they went on first at Live Aid, life with Rick Parfitt, notching 57 hits, fellow stars and misadventures across the world. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

James Swanton: Halloween beckons, so here comes his double bill of Dickens’ ghost stories at York Medical Society. Picture: Jtu Photography

Ghost stories of the week: James Swanton presents The Signal-Man, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, October 16, 17, 20 to 23, 7pm; October 27 and 28, 5.30pm and 7.30pm

A RED light. A black tunnel. A waving figure. A warning beyond understanding. Here comes the fear that  someone, that something, is drawing closer. Gothic York storyteller James Swanton returns to York Medical Society with The Signal-Man, “one of the most powerful ghost stories of all time and certainly the most frightening ever written by Charles Dickens”.

Swanton pairs it with The Trial For Murder, wherein Dickens treats the supernatural with just as much terrifying gravity. Tickets update: all ten performances bar October 21 have sold out. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Natnael Dawitin in Shobana Jeyasingh Dance’s We Caliban, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Foteini Christofilopoulou

Dance show of the week: Shobana Jeyasingh Dance in We Caliban, York Theatre Royal, October 17, 7.30pm (with post-show discussion) and October 18, 2pm and 7.30pm

SHOBANA Jeyasingh turns her sharp creative eye to Shakespeare’s final play The Tempest in a new co-production with Sadler’s Wells. A tale of power lost and regained, the play is the starting point for Jeyasingh’s dramatic and contemporary reckoning, We Caliban.

Written as Europe was taking its first step towards colonialism, The Tempest is Prospero’s story. We Caliban is Caliban’s untold story that started and continued long after Prospero’s brief stay. Performed by eight dancers, complemented by Will Duke’s projections and Thierry Pécou’s music, this impressionistic work draws on present-day parallels and the international and intercultural discourse around colonialism, as well as Jeyasingh’s personal experiences. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

John Bramwell: Playing solo in Pocklington

As recommended by Cate Blanchett: John Bramwell, Pocklington Arts Centre, October 17, 8pm

HYDE singer, song-spinner and sage John Bramwell, leading light of Mercury Prize nominees I Am Kloot from 1999 to 2014 and screen goddess Cate Blachett’s “favourite songwriter of all time”, has been on a never-ending rolling adventure since his workings away from his cherished Mancunian band.

His sophomore solo album, February 2024’s The Light Fantastic, will be at the heart of his Pocklington one-man show. . “After both my mum and dad died, I started writing these songs to cheer myself up,” Bramwell admits with trademark candour. “The themes are taken from my dreams at the time. Wake up and take whatever impression I had from what I could remember of my dream and write that.” He promises new material and Kloot songs too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Velma Celli: York drag diva lighting up Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse. Picture: Sophie Eleanor

Festival of the week: Yorktoberfest, Clocktower Enclosure, York Racecourse, Knavesmire, York, October 18, 1pm to 5pm and 7pm to 11pm; October 24, 7pm to 11pm; October 25, 1pm to 5pm and 7pm to 11pm

MAKING its debut in 2021, Yorktoberfest returns for its fifth anniversary with beer, bratwurst and all things Bavarian. Step inside the giant marquee, fill your stein at the Bavarian Bar with beer from Brew York and grab a bite from the German-inspired Dog Haus food stall.

The Bavarian Strollers oompah band will perform thigh-slapping music and drinking songs; York drag diva Velma Celli will add to the party atmosphere with powerhouse songs and saucy patter. Doors open at 6.30pm and 12.30pm. Tickets: ticketsource.co.uk/yorktoberfest.

In Focus: Charlie Higson and Jim Moir: A Very Short But Epic History Of The Monarchy, York Theatre Royal, Oct 13, 7.30pm

In the frame: Author Charlie Higson and artist Jim Moir discuss royalty and comedy at York Theatre Royal on Monday

36 kings. Five queens. Two comedy legends. Join Charlie Higson and Jim Moir (alias Vic Reeves) for the rip-roaring story of every English ruler since Harold was shot in the eye at the Battle of Hastings.

Higson has always been interested in the story of the fabled English monarchy: from the b*stardly to the benevolent,the brilliant to the brutal. “Far from being a nice, colourful pageant of men and women in funny hats waving to adoring crowds, it’s a story of regicide, fratricide, patricide, uxoricide and mariticide (you might have to look those last two up),” he says.

Launched for the coronation of his namesake King Charles III, Charlie’s podcast Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee takes a deep dive into the murky lives of our monarchs. Now, his new book of the show features illustrations by artist Jim Moir, his compadre in comedy.

On Monday, Charlie and Jim will first share stories from their comic collaborations over 30 years, including Shooting Stars, Randell And Hopkirk Deceased and The Smell Of Reeves and Mortimer. Then they will take the plunge into the storied history of this most treasured of institutions. Bloody treachery? Check. Unruly incest? Check. Short parliaments? Check. A couple of Cromwells? Check.

Their rip-roaring journey takes in the Normans, Tudors and Stuarts, not to mention the infamous Blois (how can we forget them?), tin an “utterly engrossing and grossly entertaining primer on who ruled when and why – with never-before-seen illustrations”!

A signed copy of Higson & Moir’s book Willie, Willie, Harry, Stee: An Epically Short History Of Our Kings and Queens (RRP £22) is included when purchasing Band 1 (£55) tickets, available for collection on the night. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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‘No more war,’ pleads York obituary cartoonist Bertt deBaldock as he launches Good Rabbits Gone 4 book at Golden Ball

Good Rabbits Gone 4’s final catwalk for fashion designer Mary Quant, by Bertt deBaldock

TERRY Brett will launch the fourth volume of his cartoon rabbit tributes to celebrities and remarkable individuals at a charity event at the Golden Ball pub, in Cromwell Road, Bishophill Senior, York, on October 15.

Publishing costs are met by Terry’s gallery, Pyramid Gallery, in Stonegate, enabling copies to be given away from there, but “if they enjoy the book”, voluntary donations are encouraged in aid of St Leonard’s Hospice, York, in memory of Terry’s father, who died of prostate cancer.

The same applies at next Wednesday’s 4pm to 7pm event, where Terry/artist alter ego Bertt deBaldock will sign copies. Donations can be made to https://www.justgiving.com/page/terry-brett-8.

Terry Brett/Bertt deBaldock holds a copy of Good Rabbits Gone 4, No More War!, plus drawings of John Lennon and Amy Winehouse that will be for sale at the Golden Ball book launch, along with 15 other original works (£20 each, unframed, for this size)

The 104-page fourth compendium of death notices, entitled Good Rabbits Gone 4, No More War! covers the fallen from the spring of 2023 to the demise of  2024, with Mary Quant, Norman Ackroyd, Hairy Bikers’ Dave Myers, Melanie Safka, Shane MacGowan and Terry’s fellow cartoonist Bill Tidy among his favourite portraits this time.

Entertainers Barry Humphries, Paul O’Grady, Mike Yarwood and Len Goodman feature too. So do writers Benjamin Zephaniah, Martin Amis and Fay Weldon. Actors Dame Maggie Smith, Glenda Jackson and Bernard Hill. Musicians Burt Bacharach, Sinead O’Connor, David Crosby, Jeff Beck and Tina Turner. Footballers Bobby Charlton and Pele. Politicians Jimmy Carter and John Prescott. Artist Frank Auerbach. Even the Slender Billed Curlew, the first mainland bird to become extinct in West Asia, Europe and Northern Africa.

The cartoon drawings by “the Scribbler” Bertt deBaldock, the nom d’art of gallery owner, colour-blind artist, ukulele player and long-ago chartered surveyor Terry are each drawn in response to an individual’s death and then assembled in a book with Terry’s own witty tributes or poignant memories of the person.

Terry Brett/Bertt deBaldock’s first Good Rabbit Gone, David Bowie, January 10 2026

Why use rabbits, Terry? “It started from my two daughters wanting a pet to replace our cat, back in 1995. I became carer for their pet rabbit and drew the cartoon, which then appeared on a Christmas card every year,” he says.

“Upset when David Bowie died in January 2016, I drew the rabbit shape with an Aladdin Sane-style red-and-blue lightning flash. Then Terry Wogan with a ‘Pudsey Bear ‘ bandage. Eventually I had so many scribbles that I put them in a book.

“Though a better answer is: the rabbit is the most peaceful and least destructive creature on the planet, yet also, potentially, one of the most successful. I like it that individuals, when they die, are reduced back to a persona that is not powerful, not celebrated and not destructive. It’s a leveller.”

The Scribbler’s call for No More War! on the inside sleeve of Good Rabbits Gone 4 

Terry introduces the latest volume with the sentiment “The world has gone bonkers”, then adds: “While scribbling this collection of remarkable individuals as rabbits, there has been war in Ukraine; the Hamas attack on Israel and Israel’s retaliatory destruction of Gaza; the Iranian regime has been cruel to Iranian women; Houthis have been bombed by the USA for sinking ships in the Gulf and China are poised to attack Taiwan. Hence the tag line is the cry ‘NO MORE WAR!’.”

Expanding on this thought, Terry says: “It seems to me that the disparity between rich and poor has become wider, nationally and individually. But the rich no longer have all the power and developing nations or marginalised groups are finding ways to steal something back from the powerful nations.

“Leaders of all nations seem to be prepared to risk everything in order to strengthen their own position, even though this will destroy the very thing that has allowed them to have such power.

Good Rabbits Gone 4 raises a last glass to Shane MacGowan, by Bertt de Baldock 

“I do not know what to make of it. It’s nothing new, but we can all see what is happening, thanks to technology!   It just needs one person to make them (leaders of the big nations) and us all see sense: someone like Ghandi or Mother Theresa, or Mikhail Gorbachev – he could sort it.”

Summarising what qualities make someone quality to be a Good Rabbit Gone, Terry suggests: “Some of these ‘rabbits’ have been exceptional at one thing, either through talent or endeavour, and have become famous. But I’m really more interested in the effect that those individuals have had on others. I think ‘good’ means that the person has followed a path which has made a positive impact on others, or on the wider world which we need to conserve.”

Last month at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Alan Ayckbourn introduced his new play Earth Angel with this thought: “We have to remember there are still good things floating about in the world today, though it’s often hard to see them. But the good is still there if we look for it.”

Russell Richardson’s Gerald Mallett, left, and Iskandar Eaton’s Daniel in the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough premiere of Alan Ayckbourn’s Earth Angel: “The good is still there if we look for it,” says Sir Alan. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Asked to refract that philanthropic philosophy through the ethos of Good Rabbits Gone, Terry says: “I am constantly looking for those good things when researching the life stories of the deceased. And there are many good stories to tell.

“Fame or power is not enough for me, I need to find some evidence that the individual has either focused on some endeavour or creative expression, or has acted for the benefit of other people or the environment. If I cannot find some form of selfless intention in their character, then I lose interest.”

Terry highlights the “interesting story” of  Camilla Batmanghelidjh (who died on January 1 2024). “She got into trouble with the media over poor book-keeping and alleged misuse of charity funds. The Kids Company, which had helped thousands of children, was forced to shut down due to false allegations that were dismissed in the high court,” he recalls.

Good Rabbits Gone 4’s exit stage left to Dame Maggie Smith

“But from what I can read about her, she was very successful at assisting 36,000 marginalised children. She is said to have helped 96 per cent of them to return to full-time education and had a massive impact with respect to reduction of crime.

“There are many really good people in the world, devoting their lives to helping others, and their stories need to be celebrated.”

 How would Terry define ‘good’ in 2025? “It’s a bit of a woolly word!” he says. “Some people in this world are so selfishly focused on their ambition, power or money, that they will never be ‘good’ in my eyes. I think ‘good’ means to have acted with the intention of making an improvement to the lives of others, or to the state of the world itself.”

Good Rabbits Gone 4’s hair-flapping farewell to footballer Sir Bobby Charlton, by Bertt deBaldock

One more question…

How long does it take to construct each Rabbit obituary?

“I would say about a day of thinking, three hours’ reading and between 30 minutes and four hours drawing,” says Terry.

Oh, and one more thing…

How does Good Rabbits Gone 4 differ from past Good Rabbits Gone?

“I spent more time on this volume,” says Terry. “I have become fussier about the look of the scribbles and about who goes in. It’s maybe more serious, which sounds ridiculous when I say it!”

Good Rabbits Gone 4’s painterly dark goodnight to School of London artist Frank Auerbach, by Bertt deBaldock

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York supernatural thriller writer C.M. Vassie to launch SCRAVIR III – Possession at Whitby bookshops over Halloween

York author C.M. Vassie in 1820s’ attire at the Whitby launch of his time-travelling book The Whitby TRAP. Now comes his third SCRAVIR thriller, Possession

THE third book in York author C.M. Vassie’s SCRAVIR trilogy of supernatural thrillers, SCRAVIR III – Possession, will be launched in Whitby on Halloween weekend.

Bookshops in Whitby will host book signings with Vassie, not only a writer but also the City of York councillor for Wheldrake and a music composer for the BBC, who also will appear at the Whitby Literary Festival the following week. 

SCRAVIR is a contemporary gothic horror story that serves up a thriller and a police detective story too. Set in Whitby and Romania, its protagonists are a London youth and a Whitby lass who works in a fish-and-chip shop. The nemesis is a Goth music star and the action takes place over Whitby Goth Weekend when emaciated bodies appear on streets in the old town. 

The book cover artwork for C.M. Vassie’s SCRAVIR III – Possession

The original book, SCRAVIR – While Whitby Sleeps appeared in the summer of 2021; the second, SCRAVIR – Lacklight, published in 2023, continued the gothic horror story.  

“While the SCRAVIR books are dark and nasty, they are nowhere as dark or as nasty as local politics,” says Councillor Christian Vassie/author C.M. Vassie.

He also wrote the time-travelling adventure The Whitby TRAP. SCRAVIR III – Possession will retail at £10.99.

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James Swanton is back on track with The Signal-Man for Dickens on the dark side

York ghost storyteller James Swanton: Returning to York Medical Society for a second season of The Signal-Man performances. Picture: Jtu Photography

AFTER a sell-out run last Halloween, gothic York actor James Swanton is reviving his solo production of Charles Dickens’s The Signal-Man from October 16 to 28.

A familiar face from Inside No. 9 and The First Omen, he will give ten performances of his solo show at York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, before transferring to the Charles Dickens Museum in London.

Each performance will incorporate a second Dickens’s ghost story, The Trial For Murder, and the show will run as a partner event with the York Ghost Merchants, in Shambles, whose annual Ghost Week celebrations will take over the city from October 25 to November 2.

“Last year, I was shocked when every performance of The Signal-Man sold out more than a month in advance,” says James. “I think that had a lot to do with the wild popularity of the York Ghost Merchants! I’ve therefore scheduled twice as many performances this Halloween.”

All but one performance – October 21 – has sold out already, matching the popularity of his annual performances of Dickens’s Christmas ghost stories, A Christmas Carol, The Haunted Man and The Chimes since 2018.

“The Signal-Man ranks among the most famous ghost stories of all time – subtle and mysterious, but gradually building to a devastating conclusion,” says James Swanton

Here James discusses Dickens’s storytelling prowess with CharlesHutchPress 

If at first you succeed, do The Signal-Man again, but what might differ from last Halloween?

“This year, I’m relieved to have had first-hand experience of the show actually working in performance! That should make everything more collected and confident, though I hope without losing the quiet mesmeric charge. It’s a strikingly different energy to most Dickens, which is where the M. R. James comparisons come in.”

What makes York Medical Society such an ideal setting?

“I enjoy a black-box theatre space, but it’s difficult to beat the immersive feel of antique wood panelling, latticed windows and an open fireplace. The room in which I’m performing puts me in mind of the tavern in Barnaby Rudge. Perfect for relating ghostly tales!”

What form does the partnership with York Ghost Merchants take?

“It’s mainly about connection and community; the Ghost Merchants are always giving back to York. Those who are in the city for Ghost Week may stumble on my storytelling thanks to the Merchants – and in turn, my shows may tip them off to things going on elsewhere.

“I feel this is one story that works far better when spoken out loud than read in private,” says James Swanton of The Signal-Man

“We’ve been collaborating since early 2020 – pre-pandemic! – when I gave a rendition of M. R. James’s Canon Alberic’s Scrap-Book at their Shambles premises. Each ticket included a tie-in yellow-eyed ghost, patterned after the demon in the story. Highly collectable now, I’d imagine.”

How does The Signal-Man differ from Dickens‘s Christmas ghost stories?

“It’s a rather darker show, ranking among the most famous ghost stories of all time – subtle and mysterious, but gradually building to a devastating conclusion.

“I’ve now performed it everywhere from Gad’s Hill – the country house at which Dickens died in 1870 – to a Category C prison. Everywhere it holds audiences riveted. I first gave The Signal-Man with the York Ghost Merchants as one of their online streams during the pandemic, so it’s fitting to be collaborating with them again.”

Without giving away the ending, what happens in The Signal-Man and why does it suit live performance?

“In short form, a wandering gentleman befriends a lonely signal-man on an isolated stretch of railway. He there hears about the signal-man’s uncanny supernatural experiences.

“I feel this is one story that works far better when spoken out loud than read in private. Simon Callow agreed with me after he recorded it as an audio drama.

“Dickens is essentially the character actor’s Shakespeare,” says James

“Even so, I’d recommend that people familiarise themselves with the text in advance. The final revelation takes some digesting, not unlike the ending of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now. But once the core idea sinks in, it’s forever burned into the memory.”

Likewise, what happens in The Trial For Murder and why does it suit live performance?

“A city gentleman does jury service at the Old Bailey and begins to catch sight of an unsettling figure whose face is ‘the colour of impure wax’. People don’t generally know this story – it also goes by the unhelpful title ‘To Be Taken With A Grain Of Salt’ – so there’s a vital element of surprise.

“After all, a courtroom is itself a type of theatre, and this narrative’s structure is deliberate, verging on procedural, which contrasts well with the shocks.

“The Trial For Murder is less well known [than The Signal-Man] – and in my opinion, something of a neglected classic. Like The Signal-Man, it feels imbued with the spirit of M. R. James. So many of Dickens’s ghosts are family-friendly – just think of A Christmas Carol and how well it lends itself to the Muppets! None of that with these tales. Keep your children away.”

The poster for James Swanton’s double bill of ghost stories for Halloween at York Medical Society

How come you performed The Signal-Man at a Category C prison? 

“This came about after an approach from A. G. Smith, who’s highly regarded as a ghostly storyteller through his touring work with Weeping Bank. The prison offered that rare thing: an audience who not only wanted but needed to be told a story.

“They were among the best I’ve ever had; certainly the most attentive. I’m sure they understood the signal-man’s feelings of entrapment in ways I can’t begin to imagine.”

What keeps drawing you back to Dickens?

“His invented people are irresistible; Dickens is essentially the character actor’s Shakespeare. That said, his narration interests me more and more with the passage of time. And there’s rather a lot of that in these two pieces! The eye-catching grotesques melt away and the storyteller takes centre stage.”

James Swanton (in the mirror) and Julia Garner in the film poster for Apartment 7A

What else is coming up for you? Any filming commitments?

“There’s the odd project in the offing, though nothing nailed down. I’ve been continuing my association with Hammer Films this month. They put me back into Christopher Lee’s Creature make-up for last week’s premiere of their restored Curse Of Frankenstein, where I was honoured to shake hands with 90-year-old cast member Melvyn Hayes. Young Frankenstein himself!

“I’ll also be guesting at Manchester’s Festival of Fantastic Films closer to Halloween. But most of the year is now blocked out with stage work, including my return to York Medical Society in the last week of November with A Christmas Carol and The Haunted Man. Tickets are now on sale.”

And finally, James, why should audiences see The Signal-Man?

“Come to The Signal-Man if you want to experience old-fashioned theatrical storytelling in the pricelessly atmospheric setting of York Medical Society. Roger Clarke, esteemed author of A Natural History Of Ghosts, has been good enough to call me ‘the best interpreter of Charles Dickens’s ghost stories alive’. I’ll be doing my chilling best to live up to that praise.”

James Swanton presents The Signal-Man, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, October 16 to 28, 7pm, except October 27 and 28 at 5.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets are on sale too for Charles Dickens’s Ghost Stories, The Haunted Man, November 24 and 27, 7pm; A Christmas Carol, November 25 and 28, 7pm; November 30, 2pm and 6pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

James Swanton in ghost story-telling mode at York Medical Society

James Swanton on York’s history of trains and ghosts and Dickens’s railway links

“YORK is as much a city of trains as ghosts. The National Railway Museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary with the opening of its refurbished Station Hall.

“It’s also been an interesting year for Dickens’s links with the railways. 2025 marks 160 years since the Staplehurst accident – a horrifying train crash from which Dickens was lucky to escape with his life.

“It’s this trauma that inspired him to write The Signal-Man, which might also be considered the last story that Dickens completed. All that followed were collaborative works and an unfinished novel.

“Incredibly, Dickens died on the fifth anniversary of the Staplehurst crash. Given that The Signal-Man is so much about our inability to escape our fates, that feels eerily significant.

“I was pleased when the Charles Dickens Museum commissioned me to create a show based on the incident in June. We gave it a sensational title: Killing Dickens!”

James Swanton working with Mark Gatiss. Picture: Sonchia Lopez

Did you know?

JAMES Swanton often appears on film as all manner of demons and monsters. Last year, he was seen in Apartment 7A, Tarot, The First Omen and the final series of Inside No. 9.

He also has a keen interest in the history of screen horror. “Many people first encounter The Signal-Man through the 1976 Ghost Story For Christmas starring Denholm Elliott,” he says.

“In 2023, I became a part of the BBC’s modern Ghost Stories For Christmas tradition – playing the Mummy in Mark Gatiss’s Lot No. 249, chasing poor Kit Harington down those country roads at night – so I’d like to think I’m well placed to present such terrors on stage.

“Recently, I was reunited with Lot No. 249’s make-up man, the Oscar- winning Dave Elsey, to re-create Christopher Lee’s Creature from The Curse Of Frankenstein, in aid of a documentary on the new Blu-ray release. At last, I can say I’ve been employed by Hammer Films!

“I’d stop short of saying I’m now Christopher Lee’s representative on Earth, but it was certainly a singular honour.”

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Photographers Joe Cornish and Simon Baxter capture trees’ leading role on nature’s theatrical stage at Nunnington Hall 

Great Ayton photographer Joe Cornish, left, and Gisborough counterpart Simon Baxter at last Saturday’s launch of All The Wood’s A Stage at Nunnington Hall. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

NORTH Yorkshire photographers Joe Cornish and Simon Baxter’s exhibition All The Wood’s A Stage takes its inspiration as much from Shakespeare as nature.

The title is a spin on All The World’s A Stage, the opening line of Jacques’ Seven Ages Of Man soliloquy in As You Like It, prompting Joe and Simon to mirror theatre’s format by present their show in four acts, or four ages/stages of trees, in three top-floor rooms and the linking corridor against the backdrop of Nunnington Hall’s gardens and trees in late-summer seasonal change.

“Trees and woodland may seem sedate, but drama unfolds slowly, staged over seasons, years, decades, even centuries,” reads one statement on the exhibition walls, where the photographs are divided into Emergence, Interference, Transience and Performance.

Joe, from Great Ayton, and Simon, from Gisborough, present trees as “actors on the woodland stage”, representing the three forms of Shakespeare’s plays: comedy in their branch formations; history in their rings of life; tragedy in their fate, whether  deforestation, heat stress, climate change, or the crass felling of the Sycamore Tree Gap near Hadrian’s Wall in September 2023 that led to prison sentences for Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers.

“We must learn to reconnect with nature, and woodland is a good place to start,” say the photographers. “Trees are critical actors in nature whose time on this planet far exceeds our own.” 360 million years, to be precise.

All The Wood’s A Stage, by Simon Baxter

Joe and Simon had first used the term “All The Wood’s A Stage” in their Woodland Sanctuary exhibition at the Moors Centre, Danby, in 2022. This time their focus spreads beyond Yorkshire to take in the South, Snowdonia, the Lake District and Scotland too in “celebration of the beauty and vital significance of trees, woodland and forests across the UK”.

Exhibition curator Laura Kennedy, Visitor Experience and Programming Manager at Nunnington Hall, says: “All The Wood’s A Stage invites us to see trees as silent performers on nature’s stage – inviting us to observe, listen and reflect.

“Trees provide joy, peace, and inspiration; they are the lungs of the Earth, guardians of biodiversity, and a crucial part of our mental and physical well-being. Through changing seasons, they symbolise life, death, and renewal.

This exhibition promises a truly uplifting experience, inviting visitors to fall in love with woodland life all over again.”

Both photographers attended last Saturday’s launch of 65 photographs for sale, complemented by two short films, to the noises-off accompaniment of the day’s incessant downpours. They work on their exhibitions and accompanying books in tandem – they live ten miles from each other – discussing potential themes, selecting each other’s photographs for the shows, printing together, but always photographing separately, even on joint excursions.

Dancing Trees, by Joe Cornish

“We think it’s important to listen to nature, and to express empathy, which comes from knowledge, but to have access to knowledge has to come from experience. For me, being in nature, among trees, has helped with my wellbeing,” says Simon.

“Through my photography, I’m doing justice to the woods, as a celebration of what they’ve done for me through their power to heal. It’s a celebration to say I love this natural world so much, not because it creates a great photograph but because I feel better among trees, and I want to share that wonder – and if nature can revert you to a different state of mind, it’s a very powerful thing.”

Joe and Simon see their work as holistic. “We know of the performative aspect of trees, sometimes as leading characters, sometimes as supporting cast, and if trees are the primary actors, where do we fit in? We are the audience,” says Joe.

He is delighted to be exhibiting at Nunnington Hall. “To have our work on show in this beautiful place, it’s like a sanctuary,” he says. “The National Trust has been very supportive of the arts, and I really hope that the trust can continue to play its leading role in providing spaces for artists to show their work.

“I see photography as a political act, and I slightly bristle at the thought that we just take pretty pictures. What we do is take pictures to offer a sense of hope.”

Woodland wanderers Joe Cornish, left, and Simon Baxter

Joe has experienced has own drama when filming for an exhibition with a theatrical structure. “I broke my neck falling off a mountain at Assynt [north of Ullapool in the Northwest Scottish Highlands],” he says. “I was hit by a gust of wind so hard that, even with my camera equipment on my back, I was knocked off my feet and fell quite a long way,” he recalls. “It was such a dangerous place, I had to walk for a mile but then the pain became unbearable.”

Joe was taken to hospital by mountain rescue helicopter. “Luckily I hadn’t damaged my spinal cord,” he says. “I’ve camped on the top of that mountain since then, which felt like an act of redemption.”

The trees, the woods, their theatre of life, will keep calling him and Simon back again and again.

Joe Cornish and Simon Baxter, All The Wood’s A Stage, on show at Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley, until March 29 2026. Opening hours: 10.30am to 5pm daily; last entry, 4pm; from October 1, closed on Mondays.

Normal admission prices apply, including entry to the exhibition, with free entry for National Trust members and under-fives. To book tickets, go to: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/nunnington-hall.

Cornish and Baxter’s self-published accompanying book, All The Wood’s A Stage, is on sale at £30 at Nunnington Hall, along with copies of Woodland Sanctuary. Visitors can buy prints on display too.