The Stone Tape

Audience Reviews

View More

Patrick H @RT16645641 Jan 9, 2026 A team of corporate scientists move into an old house to develop a cutting-edge recording medium. Some of them hear and see the dying moments of former inhabitants in the house’s basement. They wonder if its stone walls can record and replay events and make it their mission to find out. Writer Nigel Kneale’s creative fusing of horror and science fiction is fun, but more impressive and enduring are the characters he crafts. Jill, the team’s computer scientist, is the most susceptible to the ghosts and knows by instinct that there are things in that basement they should not investigate. But Peter, her lover and boss, is determined to succeed and dismisses her as neurotic. As he pushes on, their relationship deteriorates. Jill’s foreboding alienates her and there is a certain kind of grim humour in watching the fallout of Brock’s reckless ambition. Age may have eroded its ability to scare, but as in all good horror and science fiction, The Stone Tape is a story about people at its core. See more C I @RT25086904 Aug 7, 2025 Classic! Many layers and always kept my interest. See more Matthew B @RT07450941 Sep 17, 2023 Perhaps the most remarkable achievement of The Stone Tape is that it seeks to provide a rational and scientific explanation for ghostly phenomena while maintaining an atmosphere of mystery and fear. The story was written by Nigel Kneale, who was a sceptic about supernatural forces. He did not necessarily believe that ghosts do not exist, but he felt that they could be explained rationally. Confronted by a ghost, Peter Brock (Michael Bryant) describes it in these terms: "Let's just say it's a mass of data awaiting interpretation". He tells his researchers, "Let's cut out all the loaded words. Ghost … spook … apparition … phantom, because they get in the way of considering the evidence scientifically". Nonetheless The Stone Tape has an ominous and eerie feel to it. Kneale recognised that while humans may be able to use their powers of reason to explain the world, there are nonetheless elements that are still beyond our understanding and control, and that these may pose a threat to us. The Stone Tape was made by the BBC in the 1970s as a Christmas ghost story, and broadcast on Christmas Day. It shares some of the common faults of BBC shows during that period. The production values are low. The sets, camerawork, directing, editing, acting and special effects are not as good as they could be if more money and time had been invested in making the show. Some aspects of the production have dated too – the old-fashioned hairstyles, polyesters, flared trousers and cheerful racism, for example. There are many good aspects to the programme however, and these outweigh the flaws. While there is little in the way of a music score, the opening credits play a low effect like an ominous hum that recalls the computers, but also gives a sense of something lurking beneath the surface of the consciousness. Jane Asher is a believable lead star. What really makes The Stone Tape great however is Nigel Kneale's intelligent script. It harks back to a day when programme makers and audiences were not afraid of shows that were talky and full of ideas, rather than soap operas punctuated by a series of quick jolts of action. The Stone Tape was a modest production in many ways, but its ideas seep into the mind and create a sense of unease. It proved to be an influence on John Carpenter (in his film Prince of Darkness) and Tobe Hooper (when he was making Poltergeist). Kneale's story reminds us that finding rational explanations for that which frightens us do not remove our blind fears. I wrote a longer appreciation of The Stone Tape on my blog page if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2020/11/10/the-stone-tape-1972/ See more P F @RT71851917 Dec 24, 2022 By a strange coincidence, I had planned to see The Stone Tape at Halloween but kept putting it off until now. I didn't realise of course that not only was this tale of scientific interference shown on Christmas Day but that my viewing of it was on the story's 50th anniversary year. You couldn't make that up yet neither could we imagine the response to what seemed like a spooky tale by the BBC. What I mean is that the film had a significant influence on media to the point that the theory of a natural environment recording someone's image became known as The Stone Tape Theory. The idea of scientists studying the supernatural was later revisited in films such as Poltergeist (1982) and Prince of Darkness (1987); films inspired by Nigel Kneale's 1972 classic. I am happy to say The Stone Tape will continue to leave an imprint of popularity for years to come. See more Feb 28, 2022 Despite the non-existant budget and occasionally overblown acting, I felt this had something going for it, probably something in the script. There are some interesting ideas at the core and the dialogue is well written. See more May 5, 2013 Brilliant, clever sci-fi/ghost story from the mind of Nigel Kneale. See more Read all reviews

The Stone Tape

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING