Mark Gatiss to direct Una Stubbs in MR James' festive ghostly story The Tractate Middoth

Mark Gatiss is to direct his first TV drama (PA)

Mark Gatiss is to be reunited with his Sherlock co-star Una Stubbs when she takes a lead role in his directorial debut, a festive ghost story.

Horror fan Gatiss - who first found fame with dark comedy troupe The League Of Gentlemen - is adapting The Tractate Middoth, a short chiller written by MR James, for BBC2 this Christmas.

He has been a writer on BBC1's Sherlock, in which he also starred as Holmes's brother Mycroft, alongside Stubbs who has played landlady Mrs Hudson.

Gatiss - a regular writer of sci-fi series on Doctor Who - will also be directing a former assistant of the Time Lord in his new half-hour drama, Louise Jameson who played Leela in the mid-1970s opposite fourth Doctor Tom Baker.

Other stars in the cast of The Tractate Middoth include Sacha Dhawan - whose roles have included Last Tango In Halifax and The History Boys - and John Castle, famed for his performance in classic series I, Claudius.

Gatiss, who has also scripted the film, said: "The wonderful adaptations of MR James's tales that I saw on TV as a child have been a lasting inspiration to me.

"I'm delighted to restore the tradition of a BBC Ghost Story for Christmas and bring to life a personal favourite - The Tractate Middoth - one of James's most atmospheric, thrilling, and downright scary tales."

In the tale, terrifying spirits are brought to an academic library as a result of two men going through an ancient Hebrew text.

Mark Bell, the BBC's commissioning editor for arts, said: "In his ghost stories, MR James displays a beguiling mixture of dry wit, singular erudition and a joyful enthusiasm for the macabre.

"Mark Gatiss shares the same attributes and it is tremendously exciting to be working on both a new drama and a documentary investigation of what made this great British eccentric tick."

Gatiss will also host a documentary about the Victorian author which will also be screened during the festive season, with the working title MR James: Ghost Writer.

PA