The American television programme Suspense adapted "The Signal Man" in 1953, starring Boris Karloff and Alan Webb. The same story was also adapted in the radio format of the same franchise.
"The Signal-Man" was adapted by Andrew Davies as the BBC's Ghost Story for Christmas for 1976, with Denholm Elliott playing the principal character. This production was filmed on the Severn Valley Railway; a fake signal box was erected in the cutting on the Kidderminster side of Bewdley Tunnel, and the interiors were filmed in Highley signal box. The setting appears to have been moved forward in time from the 1860s to the 1900s, judging by the fashion and technology visible. At one point the Signal-Man whistles "Tit Willow", a song from the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta The Mikado (1885).
On 28 March 1969, Beyond Midnight (a South African radio programme produced by Michael McCabe) aired the story as "The Train".
Elements of "The Signal-Man" are used in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 2004 musical The Woman in White (which is also based on the Wilkie Collins novel of the same name).[2] Lloyd Webber had previously attempted to adapt the short story in 1979 as a double bill for his song-cycle Tell Me On A Sunday, but abandoned it, feeling the story's gloomy tones unsuitable to be paired with the upbeat Tell Me.[3] The following year, Lloyd Webber again attempted to adapt "The Signal-Man" for the stage, offering it as an operatic work for English National Opera's 1980-81 season. However, the opera's board rejected the proposal, fearing that the story, having few characters, would leave most of the ensemble with nothing to do.[4]
In the United States, the story was adapted for radio for the Columbia Workshop (23 January 1937), The Weird Circle (as "The Thing in the Tunnel", 1945), Lights Out (24 August 1946), Hall of Fantasy (10 July 1950), Suspense (4 November 1956) and Beyond Midnight (as "The Signalman", 1970) radio shows.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation also adapted the story for its CBC Radio drama programme Nightfall (17 December 1982).
In 2015, Brazilian filmmaker Daniel Augusto adapted the short story into a 15-minute short film starring Fernando Teixeira in the title role. The film was shown as part of the Short Cuts programme during the Toronto International Film Festival.[5][6]
In 2019, the story was adapted into an audio drama as part of the debut season of Shadows at the Door: The Podcast, in which it was touted as "arguably the greatest ghost story of all time".
In India, the story has been transformed into a Hindi drama on radio by Vividh Bharati Services.
BBC Radio 4 broadcast a version on Christmas Day 2022 starring Samuel West and James Purefoy, written by Jonathan Holloway, and directed by Andy Jordan. The following year, Holloway adapted his version into a stage play for Creation Theatre Company. The play was staged as a site specific production at Wesley Memorial Church, Oxford, and starred Anna Tolputt as The Signalman and Nicholas Osmond as The Visitor.[7]
In 2024, Matatabi Press published a contemporary and streamlined adaptation of The Signal-Man titled The Signalman & Holiday Romance: Level 600 Reader (L+) (CEFR B1-B2). This edition, created by Josh MacKinnon under John McLean's guidance, makes the classic story accessible and engaging for modern readers at the CEFR B1-B2 proficiency levels.
