History Film / TheStoneTape

* TheMistress: Jill to Brock, who has his own family and callously dumps her for his SexySecretary when she becomes a liability.

* MainliningTheMonster: Brock's ''immediate'' conclusion, upon realizing that the "ghost" is more a recording than an entity, is to redirect the think tank's resources entirely to commercializing an information-storage system based on the same principles.

* GoMadFromTheRevelation / LaughingMad: Alan's friend Jackie was trapped in the haunted room during a childhood game of dare.

-->'''Alan:''' What for? He don't remember. They took him up the County, you know. They put him right. They can do that. He don't care a button he just ''la-a-a-ughs all the time!''

* HauntedTechnology: Inverted

** Also: "[[{{Narm}} IT'S IN THE COMPUTER!]]"

* DiesWideOpen

''The Stone Tape'' was broadcast on Christmas 1972, and is regarded as one of Creator/NigelKneale's best and most frightening television plays, listed on ''Series/The100GreatestScaryMoments''. It was originally intended to run as an extra-long instalment of an [[{{Anthology}} anthology series]], ''Dead Of Night''[[note]]That series also features episodes written by Creator/RobertHolmes and [[Film/BastardOutOfCarolina Dorothy Allison]][[/note]], but was eventually [[DivorcedInstallment broadcast as a standalone feature]]. Both Creator/StephenKing and Creator/JohnCarpenter have cited it as an influence. It was released on DVD (itself a revolutionary form of memory storage) in 2001.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Under pressure from his boss to come up with results, Brock accidentally erases the stone tape with his experiments, and then dismisses Jill's warnings in his eagerness to cover up his mistake.

''The Stone Tape'' was broadcast on Christmas 1972, and is regarded as one of Creator/NigelKneale's best and most frightening television plays, listed on ''Series/The100GreatestScaryMoments''. It was originally intended to run as an extra-long instalment of an [[{{Anthology}} anthology series]], ''Dead Of Night''[[note]]That series also features episodes written by Creator/RobertHolmes and [[Film/BastardOutOfCarolina Dorothy Allison]][[/note]], but was eventually [[DivorcedInstalment broadcast as a standalone feature]]. Both Creator/StephenKing and Creator/JohnCarpenter have cited it as an influence. It was released on DVD (itself a revolutionary form of memory storage) in 2001.

''The Stone Tape'' was broadcast on Christmas 1972, and is regarded as one of Creator/NigelKneale's best and most frightening television plays, listed on ''Series/The100GreatestScaryMoments''. It was originally intended to run as an extra-long instalment of an AnthologySeries, ''Dead Of Night''[[note]]That series also features episodes written by Creator/RobertHolmes and [[Film/BastardOutOfCarolina Dorothy Allison]][[/note]], but was eventually [[DivorcedInstalment broadcast as a standalone feature]]. Both Creator/StephenKing and Creator/JohnCarpenter have cited it as an influence. It was released on DVD (itself a revolutionary form of memory storage) in 2001.

''The Stone Tape'' was broadcast on Christmas 1972, and is regarded as one of Creator/NigelKneale's best and most frightening television plays, listed on ''Series/The100GreatestScaryMoments''. Both Creator/StephenKing and Creator/JohnCarpenter have cited it as an influence. It was released on DVD (itself a revolutionary form of memory storage) in 2001.

* WomanInWhite: Louisa Hanks, as she's [[JacobMarleyApparel dressed as an undermaid from the 19th century]]. This gives Alan a shock when he flees the room, but runs into Jill in her lab coat.

''The Stone Tape'' was broadcast on Christmas 1972, and is regarded as one of Creator/NigelKneale's best and most frightening television plays, listed on ''Series/The100GreatestScaryMoments''. Both Creator/StephenKing and Creator/JohnCarpenter have cited it as an influence. It was released on DVD (itself a revolutionary form of memory storage...) in 2001.

* ItsAllAboutMe: Brock never accepts responsibility for anything that goes wrong, and constantly dismisses Jill's fears as an attempt to manipulate him.

* CampbellCountry: The castle only dates to the 19th century, but the foundations turn out to be a lot older. It even has "[[Creator/HPLovecraft rats in the walls]]".

** May be at least partly justified - at the beginning of the play she's convinced a lorry is about to run her down, even though it's not moving very fast and doesn't look close.
*** She had beeped her horn several times, and it just kept backing toward her, as did the truck coming at her from the other direction. In a car that small, at a slow speed or not, she could very well have been crushed between them...it was a legitimately frightening moment.

* RedEyesTakeWarning / GhostLights / TheDarknessGazesBack

-->'''Security guard:''' Before I forget, sir. Them conservation inspectors was here again. Been in there a long time, they was. They said there would be a summons. And before they went one of them said, "Did you know about the room?"

-->'''Guard:''' Just that, sir. "Did you know about the room?"
* SexySecretary: One turns up with Crawford, and Brock doesn’t take long to bed her.

* AbsurdlyLongStairway / {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The haunted room has a staircase leading up the wall to nowhere, apparently built as a folly. Louisa Hanks was killed falling off the stairs and Jill notes it doesn't seem high enough to kill someone that way. [[spoiler:Jill herself is pursued up the staircase by the Others to an EldritchLocation from which she falls an infinite distance, being found in the room later dead of shock.]]

* EldritchLocation: [[spoiler:Jill flees up the short flight of stairs to nowhere, and somehow ends up on a high precipice surrounded by stars.]]

* {{Bizarrchitecture}}: The haunted room has a staircase leading up the wall to nowhere, apparently built as a folly. Louisa Hanks was killed falling off the stairs and Jill notes it doesn't seem high enough to kill someone that way. [[spoiler:Jill herself is pursued up the staircase by the Others to an EldritchLocation from which she falls an infinite distance, being found in the room later dead of shock.]]

''The Stone Tape'' was broadcast on Christmas 1972, and is regarded as one of Creator/NigelKneale's best and most frightening television plays, listed on ''Series/The100GreatestScaryMoments''. Both Creator/StephenKing and Creator/JohnCarpenter have cited it as an influence.

This telefilm provides examples of:

-->"[[{{Narm}} IT'S IN THE COMPUTER!]]"

''The Stone Tape'' was broadcast on Christmas 1972, and is regarded as one of Creator/NigelKneale's best and most frightening television plays, listed on The100GreatestScaryMoments. Both Creator/StephenKing and Creator/JohnCarpenter have cited it as an influence.

* RedEyesTakeWarning / GhostLights

* NothingIsScarier: Given the limited special effects budget of a BBC television play of TheSeventies, the Others are only seen as glowing lights or an ImpendingDoomPOV.

A research team for British company Ryan Electronics move into a renovated castle where they intend to develop new technologies that can compete with Japan. When computer analyst Jill Greeley sees the ghost of Louisa Hanks, an undermaid killed falling from a staircase in 1890, team leader Peter Brock decides to concentrate their efforts on researching the phenomenon, convinced it's the key to a revolutionary form of memory storage -- the "stone tape".

''The Stone Tape'' was broadcast on Christmas 1972, and is regarded as one of Creator/NigelKneale's best and most frightening television plays, listed on Main/The100GreatestScaryMoments. Both StephenKing and JohnCarpenter have cited it as an influence.

* BriefAccentImitation: Whenever Brock quotes his boss he does so in an Irish accent.

* CampbellCountry: The castle is only dates back to the 19th century, but the foundations turn out to be a lot older. It even has "[[HPLovecraft rats in the walls]]".

* DestroyTheEvidence: [[spoiler: After Jill's death Brock has the computer printout shredded, derides Jill as a lunatic and orders his team not to discuss the matter.]]

* ElectromagneticGhosts: Averted -- the ghost scream won't record on audio or video. Eventually the scientists realise what they hear and feel is the brain's reaction to whatever is imprinted into the walls; this is why some people are more sensitive to paranormal phenomena than others.

* ImpendingDoomPOV: [[spoiler:The final shot is a zoom in on Brock's screaming face as he sees...]]
* ISeeDeadPeople: The team vary in their sensitivity to paranormal phenomena -- Jill can see the ghost, others like Stewart Jessop can barely hear it. Brock can hear but not see the ghost [[spoiler:though after Jill dies while screaming his name, it's implied he can see her just fine.]]

* PerpetualMotionMonster: Lampshaded -- Jill notes the 'tape' should have decayed after thousands of years. The fact that it hasn't shows the Others still exist.

* [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld Really 7000 Years Old]]: According to Jill's computer analysis, the Others are ''very'' old.

* WomanInWhite: Louisa Hanks as she's [[JacobMarleyApparel dressed as an undermaid from the 19th century]]. This gives Alan a shock when he flees the room only to run into Jill in her labcoat.