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

Some mild spoilers

Will the real King Donald please stand up? 

Our Donald has evidently learned to write, albeit poorly, and he likes TV and singing along to theme tunes. I find myself in a strange topsy-turvy space wherein every item of physical evidence that turns up, as Donald’s power and activity seems to escalate, I find my belief sapping away. Yes, I believe in ghosts but if and how they are able to interact with our plane of existence is the part I can’t fathom – but that doesn’t stop my attachment to this excellent podcast growing even more as Chib and the Hitchings have become like friends through the expert weaving of drama with investigative documentary.

For me, I’m rooting for Shirley and Chib, which made this episode heart-breaking and it appears that I am invested in their narrative more than I’d thought, which is very sneaky on the part of the team behind the podcast. You know that feeling when, towards the end of a good ‘whodunit’ film, the hints dropped towards the ‘big reveal’ make you guess it 30 seconds before the denouement? Yeah, that. I really don’t want to give any spoilers in this particular review because this episode contains some genuinely mind-blowing moments, and I would strongly urge you to listen in private so your fellow socially-distanced bus passengers don’t jump when you scream ‘WTF’ at the top of your voice.

I must mention the live-tweet that took place at 9pm on 24th February. There was something strangely comforting – for such scary subject matter – about a shared experience reacting to the episode together with the team behind it and other listeners and fans, all with a broad range of views and questions. We are currently starved of the communal experience that live events give us and this podcast has filled that gap to an extent with this event.

Just when you think it’s safe to move over to the dark (sceptic) side, there’s a final reveal (which I won’t spoil here if you didn’t manage to tune in for the live-tweet) that genuinely flips everything up in the air again and leaves you reeling. What the bloody hell are we dealing with here? A poltergeist, a bully, a lodger, a king, an actor, a trickster, a violent stalker, a fan-boy, an interior designer, a clairvoyant?  My fragile believing heart can’t take much more of this!  Thank goodness it’s the final episode next week… are we going to be put out of our misery?

Verdict: Chib may have jumped the shark but this episode had more dark twists than the Black Hole at Alton Towers. Cracking, compelling stuff.

10/10

Claire Smith