A Ghost for Christmas 1.2 - The Woodman's Enigma

Summary

Podcast Summary: Harold's Old Time Radio

Episode: A Ghost for Christmas 1.2 - The Woodman's Enigma
Date: November 30, 2025
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio

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Episode Overview

This episode, "The Woodman's Enigma," is a dramatization of a ghostly mystery set in the days before Christmas, adapted from Gary Kilworth's story. Two siblings, Colin and Jill, are sent to spend the holidays with an unfamiliar uncle in the countryside, only to discover an eerie enigma involving a haunted tree, a mysterious ghost, and a riddle that must be solved to bring peace to a restless spirit. As the children unravel the woodman's secret, the episode explores themes of family, adventure, and the timeless magic (and spookiness) of classic radio storytelling.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Progression

Family Context & Setting

• Siblings Colin and Jill are sent by their mother (who is in hospital) to Uncle Giles' cottage for Christmas. The children are uneasy, as they barely know Uncle Giles and the place feels gloomy and unwelcoming.
  • [Narrator, 01:32]: "Christmas was only seven days away... Both of them felt pretty miserable, but they knew they'd have to make the best of a bad job."

The Enigma Game & Their Plan

• To pass the time, the children play a riddle game called Enigmas, exchanging classic puzzles, but are quickly bored by the familiar tropes.
• They reveal their secret plan: to invent a new video game, hoping to make enough money to bring their father home from Saudi Arabia.
  • [Narrator, 02:46]: "The plan was that they invent a new video game in order to make themselves enough money to get their father home."

Strange Arrival & The Spooky Cottage

• Arriving at the dark, powerless cottage, the children scavenge for firewood and accidentally use branches from the old yew tree outside—a fateful choice.

Encounter with 'Uncle Giles' & The Ghostly Tale

• The real Uncle Giles arrives, both mysterious and stern, and immediately asks if they've had any "bad encounters"—with the ghost.
  • [Giles Foster, 04:55]: "Yes, with the ghost."
• Giles tells the story of the Woodman's ghost:
  • A woodman who died mysteriously, hanging from the yew tree, unable to rest until someone solves the riddle of his death.
  • There is a "penalty" for guessing wrong: eternal haunting.
  • [Giles Foster, 07:23]: "The Woodman's ghost will return night after night and harass you until you're half out of your mind with fear."

Solving the Enigma

• The children brainstorm possible answers in enigma-style, gradually deducing the woodman's motives.
• Jill famously realizes the solution:
  • [Jill, 09:36]: "Mistletoe. He was climbing the tree to get some mistletoe so that he could have an excuse to kiss the spinster. And he slipped and fell and got caught in the fork of the branch."
  • [Giles Foster, 09:45]: "At last, at long last, the Woodman's ghost be able to close his eyes and go to his rest."

The Ghost Appears & The Truth Revealed

• A ghostly figure enters, but is revealed to be the real Uncle Giles, arriving late after his car broke down.
  • [Giles Foster, 10:37]: "I'm your Uncle Giles."
  • The true supernatural Woodman vanishes, his riddle solved at last.
  • The episode leaves a playful ambiguity about whether the ghost was ever really there.

Resolution & Wholesome Ending

• Uncle Giles surprises the children with a new home computer—the tool they need to make their video game dream a reality.
  • [Giles Foster, 12:15]: "Tara," he cried, gesturing towards a desk. On it was a brand new home computer.
• The siblings agree on the perfect game to create: "The Woodman’s Enigma."
  • [Colin & Jill, 12:56]: "'You mean the game called the Woodman’s Enigma?' 'That’s the one,' said Jill."

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [00:41 | Jill]: "Oh, Colin, that's an old one."
  Sums up the sibling banter and the theme of familiar stories getting a new twist.

• [04:55 | Giles Foster]: "Yes, with the ghost."
  Abruptly introduces the episode’s supernatural element.

• [07:23 | Giles Foster]: "The Woodman’s ghost will return night after night and harass you until you’re half out of your mind with fear."
  A classic chilling warning in the tradition of ghost stories.

• [09:36 | Jill]: "Mistletoe. He was climbing the tree to get some mistletoe so that he could have an excuse to kiss the spinster..."
  The clever 'aha' moment that resolves the story.

• [10:37 | Giles Foster]: "I'm your Uncle Giles... Sorry I wasn't there to meet you."
  The supernatural twists back to mundane reality, in true radio drama style.

• [12:15 | Giles Foster]: “Tara.”
  Simple, joyful exclamation upon revealing the children's prize and launching the real "enigma": writing their game.

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Important Timestamps

• 00:12 – 02:46: Children’s arrival, family backstory, and their secret plan.
• 04:27 – 07:00: Uncle Giles’ ghost story and the ghost’s curse.
• 07:18 – 09:45: Children’s riddle-solving sequence and the "mistletoe" revelation.
• 09:57 – 10:50: The ghost’s appearance and Uncle Giles’ real arrival.
• 12:15 – 13:09: The reveal of the home computer and the siblings’ hopeful plan for the future.

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Summary Tone & Atmosphere

The episode is classic radio drama steeped in nostalgia, gentle suspense, and cozy spookiness, with clever dialogue and sibling camaraderie. The tone is warm yet eerie—a family ghost story that ends on a heartwarming, hopeful note. Listeners are left with a sense of childhood imagination and the magic of storytelling around a fireside.

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Final Note

The Woodman’s Enigma is a fine example of how the Golden Age of Radio wove together the supernatural and the everyday, delivering both chills and comfort—just in time for Christmas.

Transcript

[Narrator]

The woodman's enigma by gary kilworth. They played a game called Enigmas. I've got one, said Colin. Romeo and Juliet are lying dead on the floor in a pool of liquid. They're surrounded by broken glass. What's happened? His 10 year old sister, Jill, snorted. Oh, Colin, that's an old one.

[Giles Foster]

Romeo and Juliet are goldfish.

[Narrator]

The liquid is water. The bits of glass are there. Smashed goldfish bowl. She flicked her blonde ponytail. Think of a new one. Colin, fair haired and tall for 13 years of age, sighed and stared out of the train window at the falling snow. I can't, he said. I've run out of ideas. We really need the computer for a good enigma. I don't expect Uncle Giles will have one. He's 60 something. It was dark when the train at last pulled into Rochford Station, and so quiet they could hear themselves walking along the deserted platform, even though their footsteps were deadened by the snow. Christmas was only seven days away and and here they were in a strange country place with no real celebration to look forward to. Both of them felt pretty miserable, but they knew they'd have to make the best of a bad job. A taxi arrived. Giles Foster's place, said the driver. Expecting him to meet you? Yes, we were, said Jill. But our Uncle Giles must have got the times of the trains wrong. Taxi driver frowned. That doesn't sound like Giles Foster to me. Colin shrugged. Anyone can make a mistake, I suppose, he said. We've never actually met Uncle Giles. Not so as we can remember. Our mum's sick in hospital. She's got to have an operation. So she wrote to Uncle Giles and he said he'd have us for Christmas. What about your dad? Asked the driver. Dad's not with us, answered Colin, not wanting to go on. The car suddenly pulled off the main road and went jolting along a mud track. It pulled up outside a wooden shiplap cottage. Once the car lights had gone, the place looked very gloomy and forbidding. There was an ice cold lion's head knocker on the door. Colin hammered with this for at least a minute, but no one answered. Jill found the doormat under the snow and lifted it. Underneath was the key. Hello, Uncle Giles. They called, pushing open the door. No answer. Jill tried the light switch, but nothing happened. Even if uncle has got a home computer, it won't work without electricity. We are going to have to forget our plan. The plan was that they invent a new video game in order to make themselves enough money to get their father home. Dad was in Saudi Arabia, working for a petroleum company. He'd been unable to find work in England. The plan was not really a pipe dream. A 16 year old friend of theirs had set up a workshop in his garage, and if Jill and Colin could come up with a really good game, they could make a fortune between them. That fire's going to go out if we don't get more logs, said Colin. You stay here. No way, said Jill. I'm not staying in this spooky place on my own. Most of the trees in the spinney were blackthorns, too skinny to be of any use on the fire. Then they came to a massive evergreen tree. The snow had been too heavy for one old dead branch. It had snapped away under the strain and fallen to the earth. There was an instant flare as they put the two halves of the branch on the fire. It helped to brighten the room. The only trouble was that the logs tended to crackle and spit. His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp rat, a tat on the front door. Then a voice cried, let me in.

[Giles Foster]

I know you're in there, the pair of you.

[Narrator]

Who are you? Cried Jill, her voice wavering.

[Giles Foster]

Giles Foster.

[Narrator]

Colin let out a breath of relief. Uncle Giles, he said and unbolted the door. Giles Foster sat down in the old armchair by the fire.

[Giles Foster]

You. You had no bad encounters, I trust?

[Narrator]

Encounters? Asked Jill.

[Giles Foster]

Yes, with the ghost.

[Narrator]

What ghost? Asked Colin. Giles was looking intently at the hissing logs.

[Giles Foster]

He haunts the spinney mostly, but he sometimes comes in here a lookin'.

[Narrator]

The logs on the fire spat a shower of sparks into the fireplace.

[Giles Foster]

Them logs. Where did they come from?

[Narrator]

From the big tree, Uncle.

[Giles Foster]

The old yew tree. No wonder you'll meet the ghost this night, that much is certain.

[Narrator]

Both children glanced nervously towards the front door.

[Giles Foster]

But then, you don't believe in ghosts, do you?

[Narrator]

Giles leaned forward and stirred the logs with a poker.

[Giles Foster]

Yes, it was at the turn of the last century. There was this woodman, you see. Fine figure of a man. Thought it time to lay aside his axe and go a courting, settle a bit. He'd been a coppicing and a cutting down trees all his life. Near destroy the forest he did. Some say the old yew tree killed him of a purpose. While he were on his way to a carol service just a few days before Christmas, somebody walked under the old yew tree, caught a clip on his ear from a dangling boot and there he was hanging by his neck from a fork in a branch. Well, there were no going straight to heaven, of course, because the Woodman was not in particular a religious man. The way of his death were very mysterious, and until someone living guesses exactly how the Woodman met his death, his spirit is not to be put to rest.

[Narrator]

And no one has guessed it, said Jill. That's terrible. Come on, Colin. We can think of how he died the way we play enigmas.

[Giles Foster]

I have to warn you, said Giles, that if you fail to get the right answer, there's a penalty.

[Narrator]

What? Asked Colin, his skin tingling with fright.

[Giles Foster]

The Woodman's ghost will return night after night and harass you until you're half out of your mind with fear.

[Narrator]

Scared as they were, the children felt compelled to go on. Jill swallowed hard. Did the wind sweep the branch down low and scoop him up?

[Giles Foster]

Doubtful, said Giles.

[Narrator]

Did the woodman climb the tree? Asked Colin. And he slipped.

[Giles Foster]

Cried Jill. Possible, said Giles. But why did he climb the tree in the first place?

[Narrator]

There was a kite caught in the branches, said Jill. And the Woodman was wanted to take it home to his grandchildren.

[Giles Foster]

Wrong again. The Woodman were a bachelor.

[Narrator]

An old bachelor, said Colin.

[Giles Foster]

Growing on, you might say.

[Narrator]

Then he wouldn't have a girlfriend, would he? So he wasn't climbing up to break off a few small branches to make some sort of a bouquet or something.

[Giles Foster]

Why wouldn't he have a lady friend? He may very well have had a lady for whom he carried an affection.

[Narrator]

So this girlfriend, said Jill carefully. She was at church, wasn't she? Otherwise he wouldn't be going there. You said he wasn't very religious. Giles clasped his hands together, and for the first time his eyes showed approval.

[Giles Foster]

Good lass, good lass.

[Narrator]

So, said Colin, frowning. He was on his way to church to see his girlfriend, though they were both quite old. Did she like him much? Asked Jill.

[Giles Foster]

Ah, there's the tragedy. No, not a great deal. He once tried to kiss her and she gave him short shrift.

[Narrator]

Colin remembered trying to do the same thing to a girl at a birthday party. You need an excuse for that sort of thing when they don't want you to do it. Jill suddenly sat up straight and clicked her fingers. Got it. She cried. Mistletoe. He was climbing the tree to get some mistletoe so that he could have an excuse to kiss the spinster. And he slipped and fell and got caught in the fork of the branch.

[Giles Foster]

At last, at long last, the Woodman's ghost be able to close his eyes and go to his rest.

[Narrator]

He pointed a bony finger at the door, and the children immediately guessed that the ghost was coming. The door swung open and an Old man stood before them. His eyes were colder than winter. I believe in ghosts, whispered Colin. I really do. I can tell you how you died. You'll be free. You can stop roaming the spinney. What on earth are you talking about, young man? Said the ghost, kicking off his shoes. Colin and Jill, eh? Please, Woodman, began Colin. But the ghost interrupted him with Woodman.

[Giles Foster]

I'm your Uncle Giles.

[Narrator]

The car broke down on the way to the station. I've been walking for an hour over the fields.

[Giles Foster]

Sorry I wasn't there to meet you.

[Narrator]

Taxi brought you, eh? Why on earth are you sitting in.

[Giles Foster]

The dark, for goodness sake?

[Narrator]

He reached up and turned a switch. The room was suddenly bright, and when Colin and Jill turned to look at the chair by the fire, it was quite empty. The ghost of the Woodman had played his final trick on the living and had gone now to the place where he belonged in the land of the dead. Now, said Uncle Giles, what about this Woodstock chappie?

[Giles Foster]

What?

[Narrator]

Never put a yew log on and open fire. It spits.

[Giles Foster]

Brings the ghost too.

[Narrator]

But I don't want to frighten you. We'll damp down the fire and perhaps he won't come. He's already been, said Jill.

[Giles Foster]

Good Lord. Giles Foster. Your great, great Uncle Giles, as a matter of fact, here was he. Well, I'm blowed. He. He didn't by any chance ask you to solve any riddles, did he?

[Narrator]

He did, and we gave him the right answer, said Jill proudly, and they told him the story of the mistletoe and how it happened. Now, come into the den. Bought something special for the pair of you.

[Giles Foster]

Made Christmas with an old man a bit more exciting.

[Narrator]

He led them into another room, switching on the lights as he did so.

[Giles Foster]

Tara.

[Narrator]

He cried, gesturing towards a desk. On it was a brand new home computer. That night, when the house was silent, Colin and Jill stared out into the starlit landscape. I bet I know what you're thinking, said Jill. What? Asked Colin. We've got our video game. The one that'll make enough money to get dad back home, Colin thought. Suddenly it came to him. You mean the game called the Woodman's Enigma? That's the one, said J. The Woodman's Enigma was written by Gary Kilworth and read by me, Edward d'. Souza.

[Giles Foster]

The story was abridged for radio by.

[Narrator]

Penny Lester, and the producer was Nandita Ghosh.