The Ghost Train

by Arnold Ridley

Mystery/Thriller Arnold Ridley

Characters: 7 male, 4 female

Interior Set

A long running success in London and on Broadway and packed with thrills, chills and laughter. In a remote Cornish station there's a legend of a phantom locomotive sweeping through the village leaving death in its wake. Smugglers use this and the villagers' superstition to their advantage but a not-as-incompetent-as-he-seems detective clears up the mystery of the spectre and attendant deaths. His seemingly silly actions result in the apprehension of the evildoers and the little village and its station are finally at peace. For sheer, creeping mystery, it's a play without a peer.

Genres: Plays, Mystery, Theatre, British Literature, Drama, Fiction, Classics

114 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1923

About the author

William Arnold Ridley, OBE was an English playwright and actor, first notable as the author of the play The Ghost Train and later in life for portraying the elderly Private Charles Godfrey in the British sitcom Dad's Army (1968–77).

Reviews

[Jaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mystery of a ghost train with a couple of passengers stranded on a dark stormy night, in a haunted railway station. Comedy of errors ensues.
2.5 ⭐

[Bettie · Rating 1 out of 5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj0u0...



Description: Mystery/Thriller Arnold Ridley Characters: 7 male, 4 femaleInterior Set A long running success in London and on Broadway and packed with thrills, chills and laughter. In Maine near the Canadian border there's a legend of a phantom locomotive sweeping through a peaceful village leaving death in its wake. Rum and narcotic runners use this and the villagers' superstition to their advantage but a not as incompetent as he seems detective clears up the mystery of the specter and attendant deaths. His seemingly silly actions result in the apprehension of the evildoers and the little village and its station are finally at peace. For sheer, creeping mystery, it's a play without a peer.

Never could abide Askey. Shame that his presence eradicates the plot of this story.

[Meggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this short mystery story played by(BBC)Radio 4 Extra. The quality of this audio version was excellent. The story was full of comical characters and well developed plot. The end was really surprising and greatly plotted. Highly recommended work!

[Bettie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bettie's Books

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A quick read with a surprise ending.

[Hessam Ghaeminejad · Rating 3 out of 5]

یادمه اولین بار این نمایش رو از شبکه دو سیما در سال ۷۶ یا ۷۷ دیدم؛ مجموعه تله تئاترهایی که براساس نمایشنامه های مطرح ساخته شده بودند، همچون تله موش، تاجر ونیزی ، دشمن مردم و همین قطار ارواح
یادآوری صحنه هایی مربوط به ۲۰ سال پیش همگام با خوندن کتاب لذت دو چندانی داشت
در مورد خود نمایشنامه هم یک اثر پلیسی شسته رفته که ساعاتی شمارو به خودش مشغول میکنه همین!!!

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good old fashioned creepy ghost story combined with smuggling, and trains that shouldn't be there in the middle of the night, and much more. Very entertaining.

[Ryan Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this play! I love the plot it’s a great whodunit mystery especially like the part of Teddy!

[Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

What fun!

[Godly Gadfly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Radio play version of a play (3 stars)

The Ghost train was originally written as a play by Arnold Ridley in 1923; I listened to a radio dramatization. After a train is delayed, six travellers miss their connection at a lonely English railway station, and find themselves stuck there overnight. Thrown together by their circumstances, they begin to get nervous when a station master appears, and frightens them with tales of a terrible accident some 20 years ago. He claims that ghostly hauntings continue, with specters of both the dead and the fatal train appearing. When these supernatural happenings appear to come to pass before their very eyes, including the stationmaster's death, and the arrival of a frightened lady, fear begins to grip the stranded passengers, and what is the explanation? The solution proves to be quite unexpected, with smugglers arriving to further complicate events.

The play has been produced and adapted many times, and even a novel based on the play and adapted by Ruth Alexander was published in 1927. But what kind of play is this supposed to be? It's intended primarily as a thriller and ghost story, but some performances portray it with straight-faced humor. It does seem that the creator intended it to be a comedy suspense thriller, with a lo tech portrayal of the ghost train off stage, and the characters with exaggerated gestures and over-the-top personalities, occasional gags, and a denouement that some even consider ludicrous and farcical. The surprise ending is quite satisfying, but the tone can depend very much on the interpretation and performance, and whether or not the absurd comedy or the thrills get the emphasis. Something is lost by having an audio only version, and the adapted performance I listened to was merely average; it's not helped by the fact that the story is from a time almost a century ago. Even so, this has become somewhat of a classic.

[Isabella ⸙ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this! The play maintains a good balance of humour and mystery, and I found myself hooked. The characters or themes may not be particularly deep, but, overall, it's a pleasant way to pass the time. (I'm only slightly disappointed that the eponymous train is, in fact, not a ghost train.😂)

If you do decide to listen to this, I highly recommend the 1998 BBC Radio 4 version, adapted by Shaun McKenna!

[Hamed Movaghari · Rating 4 out of 5]

کتاب صوتی : http://audiobook.iranseda.ir/FullAudi...
در سال 1376 این نمایش در قالب تله تئاتر از شبکه چهارم صدا و سیما پخش شد
تله تئاتر : http://nostalgiktv.org/%D8%AA%D9%84%D...

[Rosemary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much more fun than I expected! It states quite clearly in the intro it is a comedy thriller not a farce, so the Askey film was a bit of a disappointment. I’d like to hear the bbc radio version but can’t find it anywhere?

[Orçun Güzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Restricted in a waiting room of a small station on a dark stormy night, this play has a wonderful old-school creepy atmosphere. No surprise it is later adapted to a mystery novel (by Ruth Alexander). The twist in the end was not very convincing for me, but who cares - small book, big entertainment.

[Logan Stark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful play that starred a young Claudette Colbert when it debuted on Broadway and written by Daisy Ridley’s great uncle (who’s now best known for playing Godfrey on Dad’s Army). I did not see that ending coming at all. Brilliant finish to a great plot and the final two lines are just perfect.

[Julie D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this after finding out it had been written by one of my favourite characters from Dads Army, the lovely elderly man, Godfrey. I found the book really atmospheric as it's a play and I did enjoy it. I liked the twist too!

[Shabbeer Hassan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent plotline and admirably adapted as a radio play!

My Rating - 4/5

[Zainab]

Oh this was funny

[Elena (Taylor’s Version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Ghost Moran · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted so badly to like this play, but it was so slow, and frankly boring. Also, half of the script was stage direction, which is the most tedious thing to read.

[Rallen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptional, play often considered lost which is such a shame as it really is a stunning piece of work. Written in 1923 it hasn’t aged at all – though it may now feel rather familiar because subsequent stories that have come after it have incorporated part of the plot and some of the major themes (this started the ‘strangers stranded together in a railway scenario in constrained circumstances’ genre) However, this is definitely the best and most sophisticated of all that came after it.

It’s a shame the author – more famous as a character actor never wrote more. It really is a top class sophisticated piece of work that I imagine is a must see at the theatre - avoid the 1941 film version – a ghastly mess with an extremely irritating Arthur Askey however the excellent comedy ‘Oh Mr Porter’ with Will Hay (1937) is loosely based on the Ghost train and is worth checking out once you have read this.

[Patrick Neylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucky I didn't eat before seeing the show. The script provided the corn while the cast provided plenty of ham.

That said, it's of its time and so the language can be considered 'period' British ("What the deuce?" etc), while the characters come across as caricatures to a modern audience, which means it can be played for laughs. Playing as a straight horror-mystery would be difficult if not impossible, given how dated it is.

[Noor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story for teens...

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining play, pleasantly frightening and well resolved.

[حسام شاهر · Rating 4 out of 5]

قرأتها بترجمة الكاتب العظيم أحمد جوده السحار ـ مين ده؟! ـ و من نسخة تبدو و كأنها خرجت من أمعاء كلب، و لكن على أي حال المسرحية جيدة جداً.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

dated but enjoyable

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was different from the film in which I'm a big fan of. I enjoyed it though a little short, however it was a fun little play.

Loved it even more second time round.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - Fun. Playful.