Radio 4 podcast produced by Bafflegab Productions, available on BBC Sounds

Some spoilers for the episode – click the link above to listen before reading on…

Frightful first contact.

We pick up the idea from the previous episode that our resident poltergeist, Donald, has something to prove. Surely evidence of physical injury is incontrovertible proof, is it not? Think again, believers, as this cleverly spun investigation continues.

Danny Robins has sought out another case for comparison, this time the Pontefract Poltergeist of 30 East Drive, and he interviews the current owner, Bill. (Can we have photographic evidence of the “snazzy shirt” please, Danny?) The dramatic narrative as we follow Chib teaching Donald how to communicate is interwoven with his modern-day counterpart, Jane Harris, who is staying with Danny at East Drive as they and other intrepid ghost-hunters attempt to make contact with Fred – that’s the name of this one.

We cut to Shirley humming Frere Jacques absentmindedly before Chib suggests “fighting fire with fire,” (no Chib, we won’t forgive the pun) and persuades Shirley to allow a journalist back into her room – overnight – to witness Donald’s behaviour first hand. Despite the fact that the reporter selected for the task is a young, female reporter (Joyce Lewis) who Shirley had a rapport with, it strikes me once again as deeply intrusive, as Shirley is subjected to invasion of her privacy and personal space. Joyce shares a bed with Shirley and asks to hold her hands and for her to put her feet between hers, as proof that Shirley was not responsible for any noises. I’ll draw a veil over the rest of one of the most spine-chilling dramatic sequences yet, just to add that by the end of the night, that’s not the reason Joyce is holding Shirley’s hand.

Back in 21st century Yorkshire, sensory deprivation to make those present more attuned to the paranormal is one of the activities undertaken at East Drive. The results seem inconclusive as you find yourself, like Danny, suffering from poltergeist FOMO. Why doesn’t everyone have these experiences if ghosts exist? I have my own thoughts on that which boil down to the fact that, essentially, I’m comfortable with the belief that some hauntings could be real and some could be fake, but this doesn’t seem to be a thread that’s being pulled much.

Just when you think you may be becoming a believer, Ciaran again drags us back to reality when he explains that it is possible for the injuries sometimes evidenced in poltergeist cases to be caused ‘psychosomatically’. OK, I’ll bite, I’m interested, but how exactly? And this still doesn’t account for everything described in the witness statement published by journalist Joyce Lewis.

Finally we travel back to 1950s Battersea and Chib’s language lessons with Donald are paying off, but maybe too well as he seems to have picked up Frere Jacques really quickly. “You hum it, I’ll tap it, Shirley.” Is that too much of a stretch, even for believers?

I feel like I need Battersea Poltergeist merchandise at this point in proceedings. Team Sceptic and Team Believer. Which T-shirt will you be ordering?

Verdict: Close encounters of the frightening kind as scientific theory clashes with published witness statements… are believers reading too much into the drama? I need answers! 8/10

Claire Smith