Count Magnus, on PBS

Like Barnabas Collins’s coffin in Dark Shadows, the ancient sarcophagus holding this notorious Swedish land-owner is chained and padlocked. That ought to tell you to keep the heck away. Nevertheless, the Count’s story piques the interest of a traveling English scholar. Once again, curiosity does what it often does in Mark Gatiss’s Count Magnus (part of the A Ghost Story for Christmas annual series in the UK), which airs on participating PBS stations.

Mr. Wraxhall is not a bad fellow, but he can be a bit much. However, he is such an earnest semi-professional scholar, Froken de la Gardie happily allows him to catalogue her disordered family library. Initially, Wraxhall is quite struck by a glaring portrait of her notorious ancestor, Count Magnus. Then, when he discovers papers referencing the Count’s “black pilgrimage,” his curiosity gallops out of control.

At some point, the family took the precaution of chaining up the Count’s grand coffin and locking the crypt’s wrought iron door. Only the local Deacon holds key, to maintain its sanctity. Unfortunately, Wraxhall might sound like a pretentious twit, but his fingers are surprisingly stealthy. However, he could very well open a Pandora’s box.

In fact, Jason Watkins might overdue Wraxhall’s annoying naivete. On the other hand, Allan Corduner plays the Deacon with a slyly suspicious attitude that perfectly suits the genre. Having portrayed a lot of working-class horror characters, fans will be interested to see MyAnna Buring shifting gears as the appropriately regal as Wraxhall’s hostess.

Maybe you need to read the original M.R. James story to get the full intended effect, because the fundamental elements are all quite familiar. Of course, they are familiar for a reason. Count Magnus represents one of the lesser installments from Gatiss, but it features plenty of skulking around crypts and tales of unexplained murders—most assuredly Count Magnus’s work from beyond the grave.

Genre fans will not find anything special, but if you watch it while pumpkin-carving, it will contribute to the Halloween ambiance. There is at least enough gothic Britishness to tide over a lot fans, but it is a fix, not a favorite. Basically, its fine for a week like this, Count Magnus airs Thursday (10/31) and 11/15 in North Texas and Friday (11/1) in Louisiana.