[2][3] In 1922 the middle-aged and bumptious bachelor Edward Williams (Rory Kinnear) is living an uncomplicated life as the curator of a small museum at an Oxford-style college.

His life revolves around his work, golf, playing cards and trying to solve a family mystery - why his great grandfather had two surnames on his birth certificate.

Specialising in the topography of England, he is initially disinterested when an art dealer sends him details of an early 19th-century engraving, a mezzotint, of an old country house.

Williams encounters the eccentric Mrs Ambrigail (Frances Barber), the wife of the local vicar, and discusses with her his attempts at solving the mystery about his ancestor's two surnames.

The Mezzotint was chosen as a replacement due to the original story lending itself to a bottle episode, which suited the restrictions still in place when it was filmed in February 2021 on a small budget and with limited shooting time.

The acrobat and contortionist Tommaso Di Vincenzo, whose skills had previously been used in Gatiss's Dracula (2020), appears in the final scene.

"[2] Also giving the drama four stars out of five, Lucy Mangan, the critic for The Guardian wrote: "The Mezzotint (BBC Two), an M. R. James short story adapted by aficionado Mark Gatiss into a glittering half-hour nugget, is an absolute treat.

These two masters of their forms can nudge even the most committed sceptic into willingly suspending their disbelief for a tight 30 minutes, especially when the plot runs like clockwork and is as stuffed with actors as a stocking is with gifts.