They all met again at the Drama School Reunion: the Hollywood celebrity, the out-of-work soap star, the understudy, the Shakespearian hero.

Thirty-six years ago, they dreamed of the great parts awaiting them. What they did not know was that the parts would soon dry up, for the actresses. Because they had stopped being young.

But: once an actress, always an actress and on this hot, summer's day it becomes clear that age does not wipe out ambition. Or desire. Or memory. Or love. So when the Reunion culminates in an accusation of rape that dominates every newspaper in the country, the past – sweet, cruel, tragic – comes flooding back, and the actresses become the stars of the story.

Perceptive, shocking, gripping and wise, this could only have been written by somebody who has been there.

Lawrence Gordon Clark directs this triple bill of BBC adaptations of the ghost stories by M.R. James. In 'Lost Hearts' (1973) young orphan Stephen (Simon Gipps-Kent) goes to stay at the generous Mr. Abney (Joseph O'Connor)'s estate where he is haunted by two children who previously lived in the house. It turns out the children have come to warn Stephen that Abney is not all that he seems. In 'The Ash Tree' (1975) Sir Richard Fell (Edward Petherbridge) inherits his uncle's manor and grounds. He moves in and decides to cut down an ash tree that could prove harmful to the property but before he gets the chance he begins to hear strange sounds and sees supernatural figures coming from the tree... In 'The Treasure of Abbot Thomas' (1974) cynical Reverend Somerton (Michael Bryant) is completely close-minded when it comes to paranormal activity. His steadfast beliefs falter, however, when his and Lord Peter Dattering (Paul Lavers)'s search for the treasure of alchemist Abbot Thomas (John Herrington) unleashes a terrifying spectre.

Sometimes successful, often not, the life of an actress is never dull but what happens when you reach fifty? If you're an actor, the work pours in; if you're an actress, suddenly the wrinkles start showing, the boobs sag, that young sprite who's just left college last year is the tops. So it seems, anyhow, to this group of thespians, now all in their fifties, meeting for a drama school reunion. There's Juliet, beautiful, brittle star of the stage, all out for her big screen break; lovely Pauline, a good actress in her own right but often overshadowed by her ebullient actor husband Anthony; blowsy, breezy, sexy soap star Molly; the three wise monkeys Emmy Lou, Franny and dear old Harry; sweet Izzy and gorgeous Terence Blue, Hollywood superstar, heart throb extraordinaire. But age doesn't wipe out desire, ambition or memory. So when the celebrations culminate in an accusation of rape, the past comes flooding back and the present takes extraordinary and unexpected turns.