Quiet as a Nun

"Quiet as a Nun - A Tale of Murder" was a thriller novel, published 1977 by Antonia Fraser. In it, Fraser's sleuthing heroine Jemima Shore revisits the convent where she was schooled after the death of a nun, a former school friend. A six part dramatisation of the book (written by Julia Jones) was featured as part of ITV's Armchair Thriller series. A spin off of Thames Television's Armchair Theatre, the series attempted more to chill than thrill, as exemplified by the traditional Thames logo appeared in "night" rather than "daylight", and the two sets of opening titles - one of a shadow walking over to sit in a white chair, the other of the same chair becoming bloodsoaked as a red maniacal screaming face passed over it.

Plot summary

The novel begins with the death of a nun, Sister Miriam, who apparently starved herself to death in a ruined tower, known as the "Tower of Ivory", which adjoins the grounds of the Convent of the Blessed Eleanor, a nunnery and girl's school.

The tower has specific significance to the order, as it was the original convent building. The tower and the ancient history of the order are recorded in the "Treasury of the Blessed Eleanor", a manuscript which is referenced throughout the story. Though it is never stated explicitly, Blessed Eleanor is presumed to be Eleanor of Aquitaine, the once Queen of England.

Television reporter Jemima Shore, who knew Sister Miriam when the two were school friends at the convent school - Sister Miriam's former name was Rosabelle Powerstock, and she was heiress to "the Powers fortune", one of the largest fortunes in Britain - is invited to the convent by Reverend Mother Ancilla, where she uncovers a number of mysteries, including the suggestion that Miriam, whose family owned the convent lands, may have written a second will bequeathing them away from the Order, and into the hands of another charity.

The tension builds when the boarders at the convent school tell Jemima that the Black Nun - a malevolent spectre reputed to appear whenever a death is about to take place within the grounds - was seen just prior to Sister Miriam's death, and has been sighted again.

Television adaptation

"Quiet as a Nun" was adapted for television by ITV in 1978, as part of the Armchair Thriller series. It was undisputably the most successful and infamous of the series, to the detriment of the show as a whole. Subsequent stories failed to create the same impact, and after only two series, Armchair Thriller was dropped.

The ITV adaptation starred Maria Aitken as Jemima Shore, and an impressive supporting cast which included Renée Asherson (Mother Ancilla), Brenda Bruce (Sister Elizabeth) and Sylvia Coleridge (Sister Boniface). Patsy Kensit, then a young child, plays one of the convent school students, Tessa Justin, who has a significant role in the final two episodes.

The final minutes of the third episode, aired on April 18 1978, are still regarded as one of the most memorably terrifying moments on British television, noteworthy because the series was transmitted before the traditional 9pm "watershed", the demarcation line in British television scheduling between family-friendly and adults-only viewing.

In the scene, Jemima Shore climbs a ladder to the attic of the "Tower of Ivory" and encounters the Black Nun, with no face inside her veil and wimple, rocking backwards and forwards in a rocking chair. Jemima Shore screams as the Black Nun advances, and the episode ends.

Episodes and original airdates

*Part One, "The Tower" - 11 April
*Part Two, "The Chapel" - 13 April
*Part Three, "The Black Nun" - 18 April
*Part Four, "Witness And Wills" - 20 April
*Part Five, "Powers Of Darkness" - 25 April
*Part Six, "Death And Decision" - 27 April

Cast

*Maria Aitken (Jemima Shore)
*Renée Asherson (Mother Ancilla)
*Brenda Bruce (Sister Elizabeth)
*David Burke (Tony Amyas, MP)
*James Laurenson (Alexander Skarbek)
*Doran Goodwin (Sister Lucy)
*Margaret D'arcy (Sister Clare)
*Kate Binchy (Sister Edward)
*Linda Slater (Dodo)
*Sarah Webb (Margaret)
*Michelle Winstanley (Blanche)
*Patsy Kensit (Tessa Justin)
*Catrina Hylton (Mandy Justin)
*Mary Healey (Beatrice O'Dowd)
*James Appleby (Joe)
*Susan Engel (Sister Agnes)
*Sylvia Coleridge (Sister Boniface)

Crew

* Julia Jones (writer, adaptation)
* Moira Armstrong (director)
* Jacqueline Davis (producer)
* Bill Palmer (production designer)
* Roger Webb (incidental music composer)
* Robert Banks-Stewart(script editor)

Attempts To Make Available On DVD

Until now, the only way to see the story again - as with all the other Armchair Thriller episodes, was via old copies from collectors and a number of bootleg copies being sold.

In 2008, Network DVD - a company specialising in old TV shows - began issuing Armchair Thriller on DVD, with this story first appearing for preorder at several online stores in August, with a release date set for November 2008. This would appear to disprove the repeated rumour that Antonia Fraser was denying them permission to release it.

Trivia

* The inspiration behind the Black Nun may come from two sources, one is the ghost of a dark veiled elderly woman (Sarah Whitehead - a lady who became mentally unhinged after her brother Phillip was executed for forgery) that allegedly haunts the Bank Of England in London that was nicknamed the Black Nun (but which is more familiarly known by the nickname she gave the bank in turn - "The Old Lady Of Threadneedle Street")

* The second source is the Crime Museum aka the Black Museum in the basement of New Scotland Yard, which is haunted by a woman with no head under her veil - probably the ghost of the headless (and to this day unidentified) corpse found when the foundations of New Scotland Yard were being laid - unlike the Black Nun in the tale, she is only seen at the end of corridors and vanishes if approached.

External links

*
* [http://www.markmcm.co.uk/~blacknun/armchairthriller/ Armchair Thriller fan site including original newspaper clippings from the transmission of Quiet as a Nun.]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9405E5DD1738F932A15751C1A964948260 New York Times review of the ITV adaptation of Quiet as a Nun.]
* [http://www.angelfire.com/film/armchairthriller/julia.html Interview with Julia Jones, who directed the ITV adaptation of Quiet as a Nun.]