We’re back with a classic tale by Charles Dickens, The Signal-Man!
Special thanks to reader Marty Jopson, science bloke!
You can watch the BBC adaptation of this story in full here.
Need a designer? MIKE’S YOUR MANN!
Next up: The Great God Pan
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Re: Doctor Who: I’ve always wondered if the Doctor’s liking of the story had anything to do with something similar happening to himself in “Logopolis” (where he is haunted by the Watcher – the foreshadowing of his future incarnation)? (though oddly enough Christopher Eccleston did the story for radio as part of the “Devil’s Christmas Series a few years since.)
As for motivations and plot in this story – something you didn’t seem to touch upon was the idea that if it wasn’t for the premonitions the signal-man wouldn’t have been on the line. The story talks about him being a careful and experienced operator who should have known better, but whose curiosity, fear and fascination ultimately lead him to be on the track and perhaps investigation the fateful call and “specter” when they actually turned out to be fatally real. just a thought.
While I sympathize with your desire to work out the connections in “The Signal-Man”, I also think this is the sort of thing that would make H.P. smile. You’ve got that very human belief that the universe really does work through cause and effect. That the logical underpinnings of this story are understandable.
Perhaps the reason H.P. enjoyed the story is that he understood those underpinnings are not there. The events in the story are either utterly unconnected, wholly coincidental, or follow a logic/physics/metaphysics inconsistent with the world as we know it. In other words, you’re looking for before-the-veil explanations in a beyond-the-veil story.
You sure you want to raise the corner and have a peek? Sure, you’ll see the way the events of the story really connect. But you can’t go back…
great show as always. do u guys plan on covering any Poe stories? that would bo so great! plz! what if i subscribe
just kidding! i plan on doing that anyways!
The radio version is on iPlayer at the moment:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00pdkdp/Charles_Dickens_The_Signalman/