BBC Radio 4, October 11, 2017 and on iPlayer here

Tom has a new dating app – SoulMaits – and is determined not to lose a bet that he will meet someone through it. But will she be his heart’s desire?

Tom Neenan’s new two-part radio chiller doesn’t start off in a way that’s likely to make you think it’ll leave too much of an impression – its humour won’t be to everyone’s taste – but once the situation is established, and Tom disappears off to spend some time in an old house way out in the country, things start to get spooky. The app’s special feature is that it tells you the distance from a potential “soulmait” (sic) – and if they’re coming closer or further away. Which is not necessarily something you want to hear in a deserted house at dead of night…

Chances are you’ll immediately be put in mind of those scenes in Aliens when the marines are looking at their scanners and can’t understand why they can’t see the xenomorphs when all the indications are that they’re right on top of them, and Frances Barber does an excellent job of making this impersonal app sound chilling, both for these scenes and also when she’s describing the new soulmait. Age can be such a giveaway!

Verdict: By the end the blend of horror and humour may well have you engrossed… and possibly even a little on edge. 7/10

Paul Simpson