I find the production values amazing. Considering it’s one very hard working actor who takes care of both the narration and the technicalities. Well done Simon!
Timestamps: 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:20 The story begins 00:38:12 Credits, thanks and further listening Narrated/performed by Simon Stanhope, aka Bitesized Audio. If you enjoy this content and would like to help me keep creating, please see the video description for options. Note for returning listeners who think you may have heard this before: you probably have; it's a re-upload (with a new thumbnail) of an older recording which was previously available on the channel 2019-21. It's also available to listen/download at bitesizedaudio.bandcamp.com/track/the-signalman
This one always sticks with me because of how freely these two strangers became friends, and giving the signal man, perhaps, one last bit of solace before the end.
Thanks Simon for this wonderful video. Dickens is without doubt my favorite English author. An interesting note to the story is that Dickens was in a horrific train crash (The Staplehurst Railway Accident) himself. He comported himself admirably in helping to rescue survivors of the crash. He retrieved a flash of brandy and his top hat which he filled with water and gave to the people to drink. For those needing a little calming down, he gave them a nip of the flask. "My Mutual Friend" was being written as he was travelling. The Signalman was written the next year as he reflected on his near death experience. Great story, I thought that I would share. - T.R.
Thanks TR. Yes, I made a brief reference to the Staplehurst accident in my notes in the description, but those extra details are wonderful, thank you for sharing!
Ahhh this is one of my absolute favourite stories. I was just getting in the Christmas mood listening to your fabulous reading of a Christmas carol when this popped up in my notifications. Will listen after Christmas carol finishes. Certainly being spoilt tonight. Dickens was just an awesome writer. Thank you Simon. Your narrations are unbeatable. Just fabulous.
Great reading, Simon. You did an especially good job with the signalman's lines at the start of the second meeting. It's not a simple thing to whisper lines and enunciate them clearly, AND fill them with emotion. But you nailed it!
First read this in HS but somehow Dickens was lost on me. No one mentioned he wrote for serialzations and he bored me. Back then it never occurred to me to do anything except follow directions literally. Still doesn't, but I've learned to think twice. As an adult of 50 I went back and read not only Dickens but Melville, Hawthorn, et al. Et voilà, I enjoyed Dickens and Moby Dick is a favorite. Great for a 50 yr old, not so much for a 15 yr old. I'd be surprised if they're still taught. Childless by choice, I have no idea what goes on in schools. Your narration is enthralling, always. I could listen to you read the instructions for a washing machine enraptured to the last word. Thank you. (I'll send you money as soon as a final relative dies. She's 84, so watch this space.)
Totally disagree , as a 15 Yr old I absolutely fell in love dickens writing because of this. Now I'm 40.you didn't like it because you didn't want to . Now your open to it . And now you do. Has nothing to do with age .
Me too, I love this creepy story which was one of the best of the early 1970s BBC Christmas ghost story adaptations. Looking forward to a spine-tingling version from Simon.
A perennial favorite! This classic Victorian ghost story written by master story teller Charles Dickens is one I loved and enjoyed reading as a student and later in the class room with my students as teacher of English Literature . Beautifully narrated by you as always Simon Stanhope Sir Many thanks and regards
Great story. And as always, narrated with a passion and enjoyment that takes the listener visually into the very centre of the story. My favourite Dickens book is The Old Curiosity Shop. Particularly because of Quilp - a character who doesn't receive the recognition and notoriety that he should. He's equally as miserable, malevolent and cruel as Scrooge. However, whereas Scrooge finds redemption (granted with the help of some scary ghosts) and becomes our Christmas Hero, Quilp, happily, does not. And continues to be a vile wretch to the very end of his days (no spoilers here). Bah, humbug.
Ah a creepy classic narrated by the pro himself. An excellent listen for this upcoming holiday. The old special is spectacularly eerie. Can’t wait to see it remastered along with the others. Don’t forget the first volume of Ghost stories for Xmas is out next week. Ah too exciting. Fav series Your readings have been my night time companion for awhile now and I will continue to listen for years to come 🙌
I don't think this could have been done better! Chose this in memory of my late father whose copies of Dickens were falling to pieces with use, and a wonderful addition to doing some embroidery. Thankyou so much.
Great reading Simon. Thank you. I wonder if this is the origin for all the ghost stories of signal men around the world. Especially because of it's year of publication. Wonderfully done. And of course such an epic author.
I know this isn't part of your stated repertoire, but I'd love to hear your voice and intonation telling the Lovecraft tales, The Call of Cthulhu, and The Shunned House. If you ever decide to expand.
A truly outstanding narration, Simon, as always. Everything about this was perfect. We are so very fortunate to have you reading these stories to us and bringing fresh life even to such well remembered classics as this one, a favourite for these may years. Thak you so much.
Very creepy indeed! I do have a special soft spot for A Christmas Carol, not least as the first one of his I read, and I also have happy memories of being in a stage production of it. A fabulous story
I have read this before and loved it. Hearing it read makes it so much more real and you do a fantastic job, sir. Texas thanks you! I mean, we do read Dickens here in my country of Texas. 😉
I don't like Dickens as a novellist or human being, but I really do like this adaptation - incredible quality for one man in a (non-signal) box. Always found this story tragic in the most cruel way, with the cryptic warning causing the distracted accident. Frustrating all round...
Thanks Simon for the background work you do… the pictures for each story, the information about the authors, the piano work that separates the stories. I hope it’s you playing, but no matter, it’s a warm gentle sound that adds to the atmosphere of all the stories, amazingly! I’m one of the 45.5k listeners who love to hear your performances. I’m listening again to The Signalman by Charles Dickens. You read it perfectly. Thank you. I’ll buy a membership but like the idea of sending you Super Thanks every month. Thank you again Simon. You are an awesome actor and a very generous person to share your talent and skills so fully. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Simon, it's always a pleasure. A Dickens?!! Awesome!! Foreshortened- a very interesting word. I enjoy reading stories and noticing the phrases in their structure and the many words in their varient uses. Sometimes the story is so good that I get swallowed in and forget to pay attention to the kind of words used.
It seems the signalman had been quite happy with his lot until the ghostly activity began. Either he was seeing a premonition in the figure of the employee the narrator sees at the denouement, or his own "ghost" or doppelganger. My friend, cleverer than I, agrees! Thank you. I have a tape of Ian Holm's reading of the story, and it's nice to hear an alternative interpretation. Mrs Lunt is another story on the tape, read by Andrew Sachs and Nigel Davenport. It scares me silly.
...there you go, as I said, quality ! ... and one of my favourite of Dickens short tales, best read near Christmas. The phrase 'Hello below' oft being used at work to inform colleagues of a potentially dangerous task about to be performed.
Lovely reading Simon! I am ever so upset with RUclips. I got notification of each of your videos until recently and then they stopped. It was about Thanksgiving time here in the states and I've been busy with some much needed home repairs so time crept by. Today, I was determined to track you down and inquire if you were under the weather and that be the reason for the hiatus. Imagine my shock to find out it was not you, but I that had been absent! On the bright side, I now have several wonderful readings to catch up on but I'm terribly disappointed that I'm not being notified when you upload. However, now I know and will seek you out! Please forgive my absence. ❤
Lovely to hear from you Susan! I know that seems to happen sometimes with YT, no idea why... Anyway, I hope you enjoy catching up. And I've another couple in the pipeline coming soon...
"...I came in and sat down, partly to collect my thoughts, partly because it had turned me faint. When I went to the door again, daylight was above me, and the ghost was gone...He touched me on the arm with his forefinger twice or thrice, giving a ghastly nod each time..."
Simon is splendid as always, but I - like, I suspect, many schoolchildren - was put off Dickens by my traditional English education. Through O-Levels, AO-Levels, A-Levels and months and years of dreary revision, essays and exams I grew to loathe Mr Dickens, which is a great pity. How much better it would have been to have discovered him, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Chaucer, Manley-Hopkins et al for myself, rather than to have been TOLD how I should think and feel about them at a time when I had (I thought) far more interesting things to occupy my mind. It's only many years later that I can appreciate the skill and imagination of 'the greats' without viewing them through the resentful eyes of a bored and grumpy teenager.😁
Hello Neil, no you're quite right - this story was on the channel previously but I removed it along with several others when I had some difficulties with YT a few months ago. I took the opportunity to clean up the audio a bit and reupload it
I was delighted to witness one of the absolutely brilliant onstage performances by Miriam Margolyes of her Dickens Women production. It was around 2012 in Adelaide Australia. This story is beautifully performed here Simon.
Many thanks for a beautiful reminder of my father reading this same tale to me as a child. I am now eighty four years old.
I find the production values amazing. Considering it’s one very hard working actor who takes care of both the narration and the technicalities. Well done Simon!
Thank you!
Timestamps: 00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:20 The story begins
00:38:12 Credits, thanks and further listening
Narrated/performed by Simon Stanhope, aka Bitesized Audio. If you enjoy this content and would like to help me keep creating, please see the video description for options. Note for returning listeners who think you may have heard this before: you probably have; it's a re-upload (with a new thumbnail) of an older recording which was previously available on the channel 2019-21. It's also available to listen/download at bitesizedaudio.bandcamp.com/track/the-signalman
Thank you so much for this surprise 😊. Always happy to see you with a tale to tell.
This one always sticks with me because of how freely these two strangers became friends, and giving the signal man, perhaps, one last bit of solace before the end.
One of my favorite. One of Dickens true ghost story.
Thanks Simon for this wonderful video. Dickens is without doubt my favorite English author. An interesting note to the story is that Dickens was in a horrific train crash (The Staplehurst Railway Accident) himself. He comported himself admirably in helping to rescue survivors of the crash. He retrieved a flash of brandy and his top hat which he filled with water and gave to the people to drink. For those needing a little calming down, he gave them a nip of the flask. "My Mutual Friend" was being written as he was travelling. The Signalman was written the next year as he reflected on his near death experience. Great story, I thought that I would share. - T.R.
Thanks TR. Yes, I made a brief reference to the Staplehurst accident in my notes in the description, but those extra details are wonderful, thank you for sharing!
Amazing how you told this Thankyou
Ahhh this is one of my absolute favourite stories. I was just getting in the Christmas mood listening to your fabulous reading of a Christmas carol when this popped up in my notifications. Will listen after Christmas carol finishes. Certainly being spoilt tonight. Dickens was just an awesome writer. Thank you Simon. Your narrations are unbeatable. Just fabulous.
Great reading, Simon. You did an especially good job with the signalman's lines at the start of the second meeting. It's not a simple thing to whisper lines and enunciate them clearly, AND fill them with emotion. But you nailed it!
Very kind of you to say so Kitty, thank you!
First read this in HS but somehow Dickens was lost on me. No one mentioned he wrote for serialzations and he bored me. Back then it never occurred to me to do anything except follow directions literally. Still doesn't, but I've learned to think twice. As an adult of 50 I went back and read not only Dickens but Melville, Hawthorn, et al. Et voilà, I enjoyed Dickens and Moby Dick is a favorite. Great for a 50 yr old, not so much for a 15 yr old. I'd be surprised if they're still taught. Childless by choice, I have no idea what goes on in schools. Your narration is enthralling, always. I could listen to you read the instructions for a washing machine enraptured to the last word. Thank you. (I'll send you money as soon as a final relative dies. She's 84, so watch this space.)
Totally disagree , as a 15 Yr old I absolutely fell in love dickens writing because of this. Now I'm 40.you didn't like it because you didn't want to . Now your open to it . And now you do. Has nothing to do with age .
This is my favourite find, a palm sized addition, discovered in a huge book shop. Who else to read it but you?!
Many thanks, you've made the year.
Me too, I love this creepy story which was one of the best of the early 1970s BBC Christmas ghost story adaptations. Looking forward to a spine-tingling version from Simon.
A perennial favorite! This classic Victorian ghost story written by master story teller Charles Dickens is one I loved and enjoyed reading as a student and later in the class room with my students as teacher of English Literature .
Beautifully narrated by you as always Simon Stanhope Sir
Many thanks and regards
Thank you for perfection, on all counts. For anyone who likes to write, listen to this a few times and hope to emulate Dicken's grand ability.
Thank you
I love your narrations and my cat and dog seem to listen too as they are just so chilled out when I'm listening x
How wonderful!
Good evening Simon. Another Stanhope Special to look forward to. Many thanks, as always. x
Great story. And as always, narrated with a passion and enjoyment that takes the listener visually into the very centre of the story.
My favourite Dickens book is The Old Curiosity Shop. Particularly because of Quilp - a character who doesn't receive the recognition and notoriety that he should.
He's equally as miserable, malevolent and cruel as Scrooge. However, whereas Scrooge finds redemption (granted with the help of some scary ghosts) and becomes our Christmas Hero, Quilp, happily, does not. And continues to be a vile wretch to the very end of his days (no spoilers here).
Bah, humbug.
Ah yes, Mr. Quilp. Dickens certainly did write some memorable villains...
Ah a creepy classic narrated by the pro himself. An excellent listen for this upcoming holiday. The old special is spectacularly eerie. Can’t wait to see it remastered along with the others. Don’t forget the first volume of Ghost stories for Xmas is out next week. Ah too exciting. Fav series
Your readings have been my night time companion for awhile now and I will continue to listen for years to come 🙌
'Tis the season for Dickens ghost stories.
This story, and "The Upper Berth", are my "go to" ghost stories.🙂☠
I don't think this could have been done better! Chose this in memory of my late father whose copies of Dickens were falling to pieces with use, and a wonderful addition to doing some embroidery. Thankyou so much.
What a lovely comment, thank you kindly, I'm so glad to know you enjoyed it
A brilliant story, brilliantly narrated, thank you Simon
Well done!!! You do such a great narrative. Thank you!!
Great reading Simon. Thank you. I wonder if this is the origin for all the ghost stories of signal men around the world. Especially because of it's year of publication. Wonderfully done. And of course such an epic author.
I know this isn't part of your stated repertoire, but I'd love to hear your voice and intonation telling the Lovecraft tales, The Call of Cthulhu, and The Shunned House. If you ever decide to expand.
Noted, thank you!
What a fabulous narration of a masterful rendering of a simple story! An absolute delight!
_Thank you_ !
Excellent as per usual Simon! I remember watching the film version with Denholm Elliott 😊
I Re:listen, a new knew but so true, your gifted storytelling is exceptional & leaves one to “cooo”, “Ahhh, boy…YOU…are so TALENTED🎊❣️
Thank you so much, you're very kind!
A truly outstanding narration, Simon, as always. Everything about this was perfect. We are so very fortunate to have you reading these stories to us and bringing fresh life even to such well remembered classics as this one, a favourite for these may years. Thak you so much.
What a lovely comment, thank you Yvonne!
Yippee. The *best* Dickens story. OK, there are a couple of others I enjoy, but this is the creepiest and best Dickens *ever*
Very creepy indeed! I do have a special soft spot for A Christmas Carol, not least as the first one of his I read, and I also have happy memories of being in a stage production of it. A fabulous story
Thanks for the recording! It was a pleasure to listen to 🎉
I have read this before and loved it. Hearing it read makes it so much more real and you do a fantastic job, sir. Texas thanks you! I mean, we do read Dickens here in my country of Texas. 😉
I have heard that story narrated before, but you make it seem new again. Lovely to come home to after a long day at work! Thanks, Mr. Stanhope!
Beautifully narrated. One of my all time favourites, must have heard/seen it at least 50 times and I still get a bit choked up at the end. Many thanks
I don't like Dickens as a novellist or human being, but I really do like this adaptation - incredible quality for one man in a (non-signal) box. Always found this story tragic in the most cruel way, with the cryptic warning causing the distracted accident. Frustrating all round...
Dickens was an amazing author… a brilliant man with a brilliant mind….
Thanks Simon for the background work you do… the pictures for each story, the information about the authors, the piano work that separates the stories. I hope it’s you playing, but no matter, it’s a warm gentle sound that adds to the atmosphere of all the stories, amazingly!
I’m one of the 45.5k listeners who love to hear your performances. I’m listening again to The Signalman by Charles Dickens. You read it perfectly. Thank you.
I’ll buy a membership but like the idea of sending you Super Thanks every month.
Thank you again Simon. You are an awesome actor and a very generous person to share your talent and skills so fully. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
How lovely to hear from you aunty, and thank you for your kind comments and support. All best wishes, Simon
Simon, it's always a pleasure. A Dickens?!! Awesome!!
Foreshortened- a very interesting word. I enjoy reading stories and noticing the phrases in their structure and the many words in their varient uses. Sometimes the story is so good that I get swallowed in and forget to pay attention to the kind of words used.
It seems the signalman had been quite happy with his lot until the ghostly activity began. Either he was seeing a premonition in the figure of the employee the narrator sees at the denouement, or his own "ghost" or doppelganger. My friend, cleverer than I, agrees! Thank you. I have a tape of Ian Holm's reading of the story, and it's nice to hear an alternative interpretation. Mrs Lunt is another story on the tape, read by Andrew Sachs and Nigel Davenport. It scares me silly.
Very well read, thank you
...there you go, as I said, quality !
... and one of my favourite of Dickens short tales, best read near Christmas.
The phrase 'Hello below' oft being used at work to inform colleagues of a potentially dangerous task about to be performed.
Thanks Andy, appreciated!
Beautful, Simon! One of my favorite stories. Thank you!
Thank you for the beautiful story
Thankyou Simon. Love this channel. Listening from Australia.
Thanks Jen, glad to know that!
Lovely reading Simon! I am ever so upset with RUclips. I got notification of each of your videos until recently and then they stopped. It was about Thanksgiving time here in the states and I've been busy with some much needed home repairs so time crept by. Today, I was determined to track you down and inquire if you were under the weather and that be the reason for the hiatus. Imagine my shock to find out it was not you, but I that had been absent! On the bright side, I now have several wonderful readings to catch up on but I'm terribly disappointed that I'm not being notified when you upload. However, now I know and will seek you out! Please forgive my absence. ❤
Lovely to hear from you Susan! I know that seems to happen sometimes with YT, no idea why... Anyway, I hope you enjoy catching up. And I've another couple in the pipeline coming soon...
This is a favorite of mine. Thankyou.
Can't give you enough thumbs up Simon
A thousand 👍 up for you
Ah, a very welcome return of this story! Brilliantly performed as ever.
This is one of my favourite stories,of course your narration makes it even better✊♥️
Thanks Julie!
Great story thanks Simon
This is fabulous, and the narration superb 👌
Thank you
Very enjoyable. Thank you.
It struck chill to me as if I had left the natural world
"...I came in and sat down, partly to collect my thoughts, partly because it had turned me faint. When I went to the door again, daylight was above me, and the ghost was gone...He touched me on the arm with his forefinger twice or thrice, giving a ghastly nod each time..."
Splendid! May I recommend "Geat and Maethild", a recent upload on the Northworthy Sagas and Stories channel here on RUclips.
Brilliant thank you.
I loved it, passed it on to another fan of those old Penny dreadfulls
Wonderful, thanks for listening - and sharing!
Excellent thanks
Hello from Moscow.
Dear Simon,
Merry Christmas.
Be always Happy!
Be always Healthy!
God bless you.
Stay warm.
This is a good one...so well written..
Excellent story, the writers back then wrote great ghost stories.
A channel that it is a treasure!
Thanks for these
Excellent
Simon is splendid as always, but I - like, I suspect, many schoolchildren - was put off Dickens by my traditional English education. Through O-Levels, AO-Levels, A-Levels and months and years of dreary revision, essays and exams I grew to loathe Mr Dickens, which is a great pity.
How much better it would have been to have discovered him, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Chaucer, Manley-Hopkins et al for myself, rather than to have been TOLD how I should think and feel about them at a time when I had (I thought) far more interesting things to occupy my mind.
It's only many years later that I can appreciate the skill and imagination of 'the greats' without viewing them through the resentful eyes of a bored and grumpy teenager.😁
Love them Thank you.
Thanks
Thank you 😊
Thanks!
Thanks so much for your support
Dickstisickulation . My English just went up 3 levels! To bad my spelling didn't.
Is this a reupload? Or am i getting confused?
Hello Neil, no you're quite right - this story was on the channel previously but I removed it along with several others when I had some difficulties with YT a few months ago. I took the opportunity to clean up the audio a bit and reupload it
@@BitesizedAudio Ahh fantastic. Glad all that trouble got sorted and glad it's back. Have a good Christmas Simon.
Somehow this seems familiar....?
Perhaps you’ve watched the old BBC 70’s TV Movie Adaptation starring Denholm Elliott.
I am confused.
Sorry to hear that... I assume you mean by the story. Can I help clarify anything?
👓🕶👓🕶
Thanks for your time
I was delighted to witness one of the absolutely brilliant onstage performances by Miriam Margolyes of her Dickens Women production. It was around 2012 in Adelaide Australia. This story is beautifully performed here Simon.