Widow Lucy Muir makes her mind up and sticks to it. When a patronizing estate agent tells her she won’t like the criminally cheap and isolated seaside cottage, she insists upon seeing it and immediately takes it there on the spot, despite it quickly becoming clear that the house is haunted.

Even when the ghost and former owner of the cottage – plain speaking sea captain Daniel Gregg, played by George Telfer – introduces himself to her in an attempt to dissuade her from staying she stands her ground. Mrs Muir, played by Anna Brecon, makes a deal with the spirit and soon moves her children in. Over the years Mrs Muir remains in the cottage, with the aid of the increasingly sympathetic Gregg, despite the efforts of her interfering sister-in-law, a shifty suitor, and her well-meaning son..

Patrick Kearns’ adaptation sticks more closely to R A Dick’s novel than the film 1945 version with Rex Harrison, keeping the focus on the relationship between the titular characters, as Gregg’s admiration for his houseguest grows with every scene. Deftly avoiding cheap sentimentality, this well-paced and entertaining production delivers both laughs and moments of poignancy, and is recommended for fans of the kind of old-fashioned ghostly love stories they just don’t make anymore.