BBC Radio 4 for BBC Sounds

Mr Art Director. In the dining room. With his own eyes.

“It was completely deserted… I saw an old lady sitting on a bench…. on a completely inhospitable night… in a very expensive camel coat… just very gently rocking.”

More ghosts and time travel, and this time we’re playing Cluedo with a room full of them.

Grant, this week’s witness, describes a figure appearing at his door, sensors going off – some of which, taken in isolation, could be explained, true. Throw in a daylight funeral and a midnight dinner party that Grant doesn’t remember inviting anyone to (spoiler alert: he didn’t and they weren’t)

The subject of the power of suggestion is an interesting topic of debate this week. Grant receives an autobiography with a photograph of the eponymous (and allegedly returned) former owner, and immediately recognises the old lady he saw on the bench in a howling storm.

Hayley Stevens, our sceptic expert this week, posits that the fact that when Grant is shown the photo, he is told it is Elizabeth Dacre, makes this connection less compelling than if he had been shown it with no context and identified it as the woman he saw. A very reasonable point, as is the fact that recollection and recognition differ. This doesn’t change the fact that Grant is sure the lady in the photograph is the lady he saw, and he was able to describe her features and attire very clearly.

As our other expert Evelyn Hollow mentions, the site lends itself to tragedy and drama but the all-important fact for me is, why was she there? On that night, in awful very inclement weather? “She’s immediately in violation of her environment.” Which is what chills me.

This provokes an interesting debate, but while reasonable and well explained, the sceptical explanations this week don’t challenge my viewpoint as much as other episodes, and I would have liked to hear more about that dining scene before the Art Director yelled ‘cut’!

My take on case 13: It probably was Elizabeth Dacre. Relatively recently deceased at the time, with the possibility that her dying wish relating to her ashes wasn’t fulfilled? Someone find those ashes and do as she asked! Add the other evidence we hear about Tudor Close and it makes me think that this site must be susceptible in some way to activity and sightings. Maybe that’s what has trapped the old lady there in her old home?

Verdict: Another fascinating case, but the explanations don’t quite cut the (colonel) mustard. 7/10

Claire Smith