Casting the Runes

Casting the Runes is a British supernatural television drama produced by Yorkshire Television for the ITV network in 1979. Running at 50 minutes, it is based on the story Casting the Runes by British writer and academic M. R. James, first published in 1911 as the fourth story in More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, which was James' second collection of ghost stories. Directed by Lawrence Gordon Clark for the anthology series ITV Playhouse, it was first broadcast on 24 April 1979. Adapted by Clive Exton, it reimagines the events of James's story taking place in the late 1970s and changes the central protagonist to be a female character.