Mark Gatiss explains why he changed the ending of Lot No. 249
"I'm so thrilled with that ending, it's kind of outrageous."
*Warning: This article contains spoilers for A Ghost Story for Christmas: Lot No. 249*
The latest Ghost Story for Christmas, Lot No. 249 was adapted by Mark Gatiss from the Arthur Conan Doyle story of the same name – but the conclusion to the TV adaptation is markedly different to the original tale.
As in Doyle's 1892 short story, Lot No. 249 sees young academic Abercrombie Smith (Kit Harington) encounter the strange and exotic Edward Bellingham (Freddie Fox) who brings an ancient mummy to life with dark magic, using the creature to strike at his enemies.
Both versions see Smith confront Bellingham and force him at gunpoint to destroy the mummy – but while the source material ends with Smith victorious and Bellingham fleeing the country, Gatiss's version takes a much darker path...
On-screen, we see Bellingham unveil a second item he's acquired – Lot No. 250 – and shortly afterwards, Smith is faced with a second undead creature.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com, Gatiss explained why he opted for this new ending: "As is often the way, as with MR James, they often don't really have an ending that will work on television – there's an ambiguity to some of them.
"I think if there's anything that my ones have, it's a strong streak of EC Comics – a kind of vengeance motif and people getting terrible punishments for not very much... but I think you sort of want that, don't you?"
Read more:
- Mark Gatiss on surprise cameo in Lot No. 249: "I couldn't resist"
- Mark Gatiss fears Lot No. 249 may be his final Ghost Story for Christmas
Sure enough, the TV version of Lot No. 249 ends with both Monkhouse Lee (Colin Ryan) and Smith being brutally executed by the second creature – the final shot is of Smith's neck snapping in the creature's grasp, a macabre moment that was suggested by Kit Harington.
"That was Kit's idea – I storyboarded it that he [just] throttles him," Gatiss explained.
"I'm so thrilled with that ending, it's kind of outrageous. I thought, 'We'll never get away with that neck break.' It's so horrible. It's genuinely nasty!"
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A Ghost Story for Christmas: Lot No.249 is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.
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