Derren Brown

Crooked House is a supernatural drama mini-series which aired on BBC Four in December 2008.

The three-part series was broadcast on consecutive nights from 22 to 24 December 2008. It was written and co-produced by actor and writer Mark Gatiss, who found fame in the BBC series The League of Gentlemen. The three linked episodes form an anthology story, influenced by the writings of M. R. James and Amicus horror movies, and a Māori death-mask belonging to Gatiss. They concern the ghostly secrets of fictional Geap Manor, a recently demolished Tudor mansion.

The first story, “The Wainscoting”, is set in the late 18th century. Gatiss plays a museum curator who is given a strange door-knocker, which inspires him to share his dark researches into the Manor. The first tale related the story of Joseph Bloxham, who buys and improves the Manor after capitalising on an investment which ruined his fellow speculators. Strange noises are heard behind the newly installed wainscoting, the wood of which came from the gallows known as ‘Tyburn Tree’.

The second story, “Something Old”, takes place in the 1920s, where, at the Manor, a lavish costume ball is being held. During the ball young Felix de Momery announces his engagement to Ruth, much to the surprise and annoyance of his grandmother and his friends, Billy and Katherine. The young couple’s future seems to be inextricably linked with another tragic wedding day and a ghostly bride who haunts the corridors.