 The BBC had previously adapted several horror stories as Christmas films , with their series A Ghost Story for Christmas including adaptations of the M. R. James stories " The Stalls of Barchester Cathedral " ( filmed as The Stalls of Barchester ) , " A Warning to the Curious " , " Lost Hearts " , " The Treasure of Abbot Thomas " and " The Ash Tree " . The Turn of the Screw fits into this " mini @-@ genre " of the Christmas horror film . The BBC executive and drama commissioner Ben Stephenson , discussing The Turn of the Screw , said that " Christmas wouldn 't be Christmas without a ghost story for the adults to watch in front of the fire when the children are in bed , and they don 't get more chilling than this bold reimagining of the classic Henry James tale . " The film was commissioned by Stephenson and Jay Hunt , then controller of BBC One . It was directed by Tim Fywell , and produced by Colin Wratten ; the executive producer was Jessica Pope . 
