The Clifton House Mystery

The Clifton House Mystery was a British children's television paranormal drama series written by Daniel Farson and Harry Moore, produced by Patrick Dromgoole and directed by Hugh David, and shown in 1978 by HTV.

Contents

• Factual basis of subplot
• Main characters
• Home media availability
• References

The plot revolves around concert pianist Timothy Clare and his family - a daughter and two sons - moving into an old house in Bristol they had just bought from the elderly Mrs Betterton; the house having been in her family for generations. While exploring the garden, Timothy's two sons notice that the house has an extra window, and deduce that a hidden room may exist. After breaking through an upstairs wall and discovering an ancient dusty bedroom, a long-dead skeleton is found in the four-poster bed.

A number of strange incidents then start to occur. The Clares' daughter Jenny is visited by the ghost of a kindly old woman who appears to be summoned by a music box left behind by Mrs Betterton's granddaughter. Plates and bowls jump out of people's hands and smash to the ground. A dragoon's helmet that the boys had bought at Mrs Betterton's contents auction starts to glow mysteriously; and a blood-like liquid drips through the ceiling onto some dinner party guests.

After these unexplained incidents, the boys recruit a local ghost hunter called Milton Guest to investigate. After hearing what has happened, Guest becomes convinced that a ghost connected in some way with the Bristol Riots of 1831 is haunting the house. After checking local records, they realize that it may be the ghost of a dragoon commander called George Bretherton who was court-martialled for his lenient handling of the rioters, and who subsequently disappeared without trace.

Although she confirms that the house would have been in her family's possession at the time of the riots, Mrs Betterton claims to have been unaware of the secret room, or any family connection to the riots in 1831. She does mention that there was a 'family scandal' sometime in that era, but she was never told the details. Guest suspects that she is a direct descendent of Bretherton, the family name having been changed as a consequence of the 'scandal'.

Guest performs an exorcism that appears successful at first. The helmet stops glowing and the ghost of the old lady - apparently the dragoon's mother- is no longer seen; the music box which summoned her ceases to function and all returns to normal. However in the final episode, after authorities remove the skeleton and give it a Christian burial, the phenomena start to occur again...