The spookily successful BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds hit podcast Uncanny is making the leap to television, featuring brand new stories and bringing Britain’s biggest paranormal investigation to BBC Two and BBC iPlayer later this year.
The series is hosted by Danny Robins, creator of BBC Radio 4’s global smash hit podcasts The Battersea Poltergeist and The Witch Farm, as well as Uncanny, and writer of the award-winning West End play 2:22 – A Ghost Story.
Uncanny will feature real-life stories of supernatural encounters told by the people they happened to - experiences that seem to defy logical explanation. The programme will feature analysis from experts, as well as investigations into possible answers.
Played almost 5 million times on BBC Sounds and with 3 million downloads on other platforms globally, the Uncanny podcast has proven a hit with both sceptics and believers alike - now the TV version is about to ignite the debate in living rooms across the land.
Danny Robins says: "I've been blown away by the response to Uncanny. We’ve built an incredible community around the show, many of whom never realised how interested in the paranormal they were! I'm incredibly excited to get the chance to both continue the podcast and adapt it for TV, as we explore that biggest of all questions - 'do ghosts exist'? I promise it will be scary and fascinating in equal measure - so, do you dare watch?"
Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual, says: “Uncanny is a sensational podcast that has proved to be a huge hit on BBC Sounds, and it’s going to be every bit as spine-chilling when it makes the transition to BBC Two and iPlayer later this year. Watch it with the lights on.”
Rhian Roberts, Commissioning Editor Podcasts, Formats & Digital, BBC Radio 4 says: “We’re thrilled to give Uncanny fans a whole new way to scare themselves silly. And for anyone yet to discover this world of shivers and chills the Uncanny podcast is on BBC Sounds now, along with Danny’s other paranormal cold case investigations The Witch Farm and The Battersea Poltergeist."
Danny Robins has been hailed as “the UK’s go-to ghost guy” (Evening Standard), “a latter day Alfred Hitchcock” (Radio Times and “a contemporary Van Helsing” (Sunday Times). His play 2:22 – A Ghost Story has broken box office records in the West End, was nominated for 3 Olivier Awards and won Best New Play at the WhatsOnStage Awards.
Uncanny is being made by BBC Studios Documentary Unit, the award-winning department behind Fight The Power with Chuck D, Inside Our Autistic Minds with Chris Packham, Freedom: 50 Years of Pride, and Lucy Worsley Investigates. It was commissioned by Jack Bootle, Head of Commissioning, Specialist Factual. The Series Producer / Director is Joe Myerscough.
