The Woman In Black And The Genius Of Nigel Kneale

The original Susan Hill novel published in 1983 is a tribute to the ghost stories of Henry James -The Turn Of The Screw and the short ghost stories of M R James.One of the chapters in the book is actually entitled Whistle and Ill Come To You which is the title of one of M R James most frightening stories.The name of the protagonist in the novel is Arthur Kipps.Nigel Kneale in his adaption changed the name from Arthur Kipps to Arthur Kidd which apparently annoyed Susan Hill. So why did Kneale effect this small change in nomenclenture?. Arthur Kipps was originally the hero of H G Wells comic novel Kipps. This was a best seller in its time and virtually every literate person in Britain had heard of Arthur Kipps.The novel was adapted as a film starring Michael Redgrave in 1941 and was adapted into the musical Half a Sixpence which was also filmed in 1967 staring Tommy Steel.I would be surprised if Susan Hill was not aware of this so why give her character what was at the time the well known name of a popular fictional character?.In the current 2012 adaption  the leading character has once more become Arthur Kipps and I doubt if one person in a hundred would be able to tell you who the original Arthur Kipps was.I think this is part of the phenomena which the critic Clive James has entitled Cultural Amnesia which title he has given to a brilliant book on his cultural heroes. published several years ago.A lot of things people used to know they don't know any more and they don't know what what they are missing.