John Hurt tells Susan Griffin that he feels it is impossible not to believe in the paranormal.

PREPARE for a sleepless night after watching the chilling ghost story Whistle And I’ll Come To You on Christmas Eve. Based on the atmospheric Edwardian tale by MR James, it’s been updated by Neil Cross, the man behind the gritty detective drama Luther, in a modern adaptation that boasts John Hurt at its helm.

“Christmas is just the right time for a ghost story, it’s conducive I think,” says 70-year-old Hurt. “It’s sitting around the fire in the semi-dark, chatting and reminiscing, and it’s traditional.”

We’re chatting on set – an eerily abandoned residence where Hurt’s character, James Parkin, is staying.

The story begins with Parkin, a retired lecturer, being forced to place his wife in a care home when her deteriorating mental state becomes too much for him to bear.

“It’s horrible. He doesn’t want to do it really, but he can’t cope with her any more,” Hurt explains in a measured tone derived from a life on the stage.

It’s a different approach to the 1968 black and white adaptation that starred Michael Hordern as a bumbling recluse, but one which Hurt believes will have greater resonance.

“This adaptation’s a love story, which I think is rather important because it’s very identifiable. I mean, they were childhood sweethearts and the sense of loss is big.”

In his lonely state, Parkin decides to visit some of his and his wife’s old haunts, a decision that leads him to a quiet, bleak seaside town. Out walking along a desolate beach one day, he encounters an apparition that leads to terrifying consequences.

“Being a scientist and not believing in any of what you might call the supernatural, Parkin’s confronted with things that are not scientific and struggles to come to terms with them,” says Hurt.

To say any more would, the actor explains, be “inappropriate”, but rest assured that this is a ghost story in the most simple and consequently most effective sense. The sort of story that plays havoc with your imagination – and the kind you don’t want to watch alone.

“It’s not a horror film, it’s a ghost story,” says Hurt. “I don’t see many horror movies that I like because I just don’t believe them. I don’t find them very believable, I find them rather silly.

“But I am a fan of ghost stories. It goes back to when I was sent away to school in the Forties. If you became a prefect, which misguidedly enough I was, it was a treat on a Sunday night before going to bed, to go in and see the warden who would read ghost stories. He was very good at it, too.”

As for whether Hurt believes in paranormal activity, his eyes widen as he says: “Well, how can you not? Unless everybody is lying (about seeing ghosts), and I don’t suppose they are. But what makes that phenomenon happen? I don’t think we know.

“What I don’t like is trying to make it into a personal thing, making it into some connection between the ghost and you specifically. I don’t think the ghost is interested in whoever it may be. I suspect not, but I don’t know. How can I possibly know?”

As an actor who boasts a long and illustrious career with films as varied as Alien, The Elephant Man and Harry Potter, this is the first ghost story Hurt has ever undertaken.

“I’m always looking for new challenges and different stories to tell,” he says with a smile, although he makes a point of adding that he’s never had any ambition to seek out particular projects.

“I am the result of other people’s imaginations. I will always do anything I consider stands the chance of succeeding on the level it’s intended to succeed on.

“If you’re going to do a deeply intellectual piece, it’s got to stand the chance of succeeding on that level. If it’s supposed to be a piece that hits you emotionally between the eyes, you’ve got to feel it has the opportunity to do that. And if you’re going to do a ghost story, it has to have the suspense to make it nice and scary.”

Hurt won’t be watching the final edit though, as he dislikes watching himself on screen – not until a considerable amount of time has passed anyway: “Like ten years and then I’ll see something and I’ll have forgotten all the business of thinking about it and working on it. Then I can see things slightly more objectively,” he explains.

“But the real enjoyment is when you’re doing it, not when you’re watching it.

“I’m well aware that the purpose of doing it is for other people to see. And if people come up to me afterwards and say they thought it was terrific, I’m thrilled. Not for me, for them, because that’s who I do it for.”

■ Whistle And I’ll Come To You, BBC2, Christmas Eve, 9pm