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It's Christmas time, and with Christmas come ghost stories. This Christmas, we watched two of the BBC's ghost stories made for Christmas.

The sixty-ninth TV show: #932 The Tractate Middoth

While put in this category (and aired as a horror on Christmas Eve), it feels like this doesn't quite become a good horror story. In fact, the story ends when it feels like the real story is about to start, set up with a lot of warnings, but instead the first act is the full thing. What we get instead is a mystery story, a hunt for a missing will, where a mysterious entity interferes a full time - at the end to make sure the right people get the will. The ominous warnings after it, however, about how it gives a gift that isn't to be trusted, never gets resolved and is instead a cliffhanger that doesn't get resolved. We genuinely wondered if this was some sort of ad break or otherwise a part one, but no - it's only that. If this is the best sample of the revival, it doesn't really work.

The seventieth TV show: #249 The Signalman

Jumping back in time, this is part of the original run that also included A Warning to the Curious. The Signalman's story set up is fairly standard - three warnings that end with the observer's death, based on Dickens' own experiences. It's quite compelling in how it slowly builds its suspense - it's clear what went wrong and sets everything up early, but you clearly don't get quite what's going on until the end. While not horrific and somewhat predictable - I believe I picked up a lot of the story through osmosis - it's well told and builds its curve of suspense really well. Thanks to the limited cast and location, the action stays contained and easy to follow, without it feeling left open further. It's more of a success.

The twenty-seventh classical recording: #741 Maurice Ravel - Bolero

We recently listened to an episode of the podcast Radiolab that, in part, discussed this piece. It repeats the same melody, adding in more instruments and going up as the cycle progresses. The basic melody is familiar from elsewhere, but it starting at a simple point and repeatedly building up from there is what really makes it fascinating. Knowing that mental illness influenced the composer adds to the mystique of the piece, but the build up is fascinating regardless, as coloured as it is by what comes into it being played each time. The repetition really feels enhanced on each iteration, with the instruments bringing their own colour. Fascinating, if odd as a concept.

The sixty-eighth TV show: #569 The League of Gentlemen

Thanks to the anniversary season, I've got a good excuse to write about this show. I watched Inside No 9 early on in the list and watched Psychoville on our own. We also finished watching the series a few months before we started on the TV list, so otherwise this would have taken its time.

When I covered Little Britain earlier, one of the big thoughts was that League of Gentlemen did a lot of it better - a few sketches seemed like direct, but worse copies. Now, some things feel a bit dated (LGBT issues were still being explored), but that's something where there is at least some progress and exploration with the themes they explore with their characters.

The series explores a lot of dark characters and themes, some slightly supernatural, some gross, but mostly brilliantly portrayed and memorable. The most interesting is that where these start off as isolated characters, in the third season the storylines mostly started to grow to be interconnected, creating some interesting interactions and making a more interesting ongoing story.

It's dark, it's funny and it's incredibly well put together. I'd never want to visit Royston Vasey... but I'm happy we got to see more of it.

The eighty-fourth album: #84 The Beau Brummels - Triangle

A lot of the bands we get to now don't have a major contemporary presence. The Beau Brummels don't have a major impact these days and to be honest, it's not that surprising either. A lot of it feels like folk rock, with some psychedelic instruments mixed in - Magic Hollow does sound magical (or, considering the season, Christmassy), but on the whole it follows that genre quite closely. It's done well, but I can't find any real standout tracks or moments in here that truly got me.

The fourty-sixth book: #1003 Metamorphoses - Ovid

Here we have an epic work, trying to catalog myths and historical adventures from the beginning of Roman mythology to the day when, or just before, Ovid was writing it. It's an interesting collection, enhanced by me knowing a lot of these stories, but through the nature of the work sometimes focusing on a different aspect - or probably, most of the time, serving as a primary source. Pretty much all of the stories focus on a transformation happening during it, in several different ways, and while I didn't really go looking for it, it worked out well.

Obviously, a lot of the enjoyment that I get now comes from the translation, as that impacts readability. For my money, I suggest a prose adaptation - while the original would have been poetry, forcing a translation into that doesn't necessarily work, and the stories become more readable this way.

The eighty-third album: #83 Love - Da Capo

Away from songs, I go back into psychedelic rock.And while it's big in places (especially in one example I'll get back to), a song like Orange Skies has that while still keeping itself contained and personal as well. It sounds out there, but can still connect. This goes through all of them, with songs that don't feel as out there, but move in interesting direction without quite constraining their sound. The variation in songs, on the other hand, is shown in the single 7Is 7, which switches to something more like proto punk instead, sticking to the standard instruments and sounds and considerably upping the speed. It immediately brings the energy back in the album, even if it might not be a perfect fit.

The other half is its own thing. It's not the first song to have a half to itself, but it's still a rarity for the day and here stands as a nearly twenty minute show off piece for the band. There's some interesting performances here, I suppose, but on the whole it's less integrated and less interesting to listen to. It doesn't provide anything new and really feels like the weaker half of the album

The sixty-seventh TV show: #606 The Blue Planet

For our sake, we included Blue Planet II in this watch - might as well, right? - and as that finished tonight, I'm checking it off today.

There's something amazing about nature documentaries, especially when done right, especially when the behaviour is new to you. Blue Planet works well with this, as the sea life it documents is so much more alien to us. Whether you go deep underwater, in places where people have not been seen before, or stick to the rock pools that rely on the flow of tides, there's so much weird life there is.

This is, of course, partially down to it being a great place for life to develop and diversify, which shows here. There are sea animals that are more intelligent and show quite different behaviour, while others are recognisable, simple, but also show where else it can lead. And it feels like a lot is discovered even as these documentaries were being made, showing how much more complex this life is than we think.

At the same time, it shows how fragile the environment can be and how important it is to be careful and try to protect our oceans in the same way that we want to protect the rest of the planet. It's scary, sad, and you can only hope it is something we can turn around.

The three hundred and twentieth song: Life on Mars? - David Bowie

Through all of this list so far, as well as the commentary after his recent death, David Bowie has been building up for me, and this feels like one of the songs that defines why. It's him, but it's a different sound, confident in the way it sounds unlike other songs to some extent. It's a bit alien, as intended, and it works here.

The three hundred and twenty-first song: Bang a Gong (Get It On) - T.Rex

The chorus of this is probably the most famous part, and all of it confirms how rock has moved on - we've entered the era of glam rock, and that stands out. It sounds darker, more aggressive than Life on Mars, while featuring some blues as well. It's a heavy sound, that ends up in your face, while taking some extravagant stylings in there.

The three hundred and twenty-second song: Blackwater Side - Anne Briggs

In the mean time, folk still has its shot and shows it can have a far greater impact with how little it does. With minimal accompaniment, Anne Briggs evokes a mood and sound that stands out and reaches deep into you, telling you a story and setting a mood. Simple, understated but beautiful.

The three hundred and twenty-third song: I Don’t Want to Talk About It - Crazy Horse

We combine what was listed before into a folk rock song that feels like it contains some sadness and despair, a longing mood that becomes impossible to shake. There is not a lot of happiness in it here and while it seems at its core a love song, there's more to it here than that.

The three hundred and twenty-fourth song: A Case of You - Joni Mitchell

While Anne Briggs went for plain folk, Joni Mitchell's song here feels like it has a bit more polish to it. Perhaps because she wrote it for herself, she added some more body and made it more personal. It's an incredibly lovely song, one that resonates and sounds sweet, delivering the right tone.

The three hundred and twenty-fifth song: Crayon Angels - Judee Sill

More folk, with Judee's lovely voice - really standing out even amongst others here - singing lyrics that are compex and powerful, difficult to break through and fully understand even now. There's a feeling of escape that hasn't arrived yet and that she struggles with - and possibly one that didn't come for her, considering her tragic end.

The three hundred and twenty-sixth song: Famous Blue Raincoat - Leonard Cohen

After some strong female representation, very welcome in the list (and with another coming up next), we move to Leonard Cohen's folk. The second of his two songs of the list, here's a song that doesn't really reach a crescendo, the guitar being amplified by a women's voice in the background that possibly emphasizes the singer's connection to the woman in the love triangle. There's a sadness of loss in here, but also an encouragement to take care of her. It feels like it's pointing towards reaching that state of sad detachment that shines through.

The three hundred and twenty-seventh song: Chalte Chalte - Lata Mangeshkar

One of the most recorded artists (a record currenctly held by her sister), Lata Mangeshkar has mostly had a career in Bollywood films, singing the songs that are mimed by the artists on screen. This gives us an insight in Indian music here, a different sound that I feel we see parodied more than that we see legitimate examples of it. For that reason, I do need to get more acquainted with this type of music, as for parts of it, this did feel a bit off putting. It sounds lovely though, and Mangeshkar's voice in particular is lovely, really shining through as a highlight.

The three hundred and twenty-eighth song: Maggie May - Rod Stewart

We might have put the breaks in this year in the wrong place - after a lot of folk and related songs, here we have a straight up rock song, the first to feature Rod Stewart's vocals. It's a protest rock type of love song - the sentiment is there, but the relationship is unconventional and odd, looking back on somethign that isn't quite right, but that still feels right. There are some blues stylings in here as well, the drums dropping out in places to leave a lot more room for a more whimsical mandolin. On the whole it's a good, lovely sound.