Starring Suranne Jones (Scott & Bailey), Iain De Caestecker (The Fades) and Tom Ellis (Miranda), three-part haunted house event drama The Secret of Crickley Hall arrives on BBC One this autumn.
Episode 1
Sunday 18 November 2012, 9pm
2012: Eve, Gabe and their children Loren, Cam and Cally, live in London until Cam goes missing. Eve falls asleep for a few seconds at a playground and he disappears.
Nearly a year later, Gabe suggests relocating the family to the North, hoping a change of scenery will give Eve some comfort, as they all still cling to the hope that Cam may be alive.
When they first arrive at Crickley Hall, they meet Percy Judd who worked there during the war; he seems concerned for their children. They start to settle in but before long, strange things start to happen at the house. They hear people, Cally claims to have been hit by a man with a cane and their dog runs away in terror.
In the house Eve hears her missing son’s voice for the first time in a year. He says he is alive and the children can tell her where he is. After Loren suffers a terrifyingly real nightmare where she gets whipped by the man with the cane, Gabe wants them all to leave, but Eve can’t bear to abandon her son.
1943: Eighty years ago Crickley Hall is an orphanage for children evacuated from the Blitz. Nancy is interviewed for the position of ‘tutor’ by Magda, sister of Augustus Cribben who runs the orphanage.
Nancy meets the children, including six year old Stefan, a German refugee, and fourteen year old Maurice, the class sneak. Cribben keeps in the shadows – he hasn’t been the same since he was injured in the Blitz.
Nancy suspects the orphans are being mistreated, especially Stefan. When Nancy finally meets Cribben, she is appalled by a man who seems out of control. She tries to rescue the orphans but is fired and no-one believes her apart from young Percy, who is about to be called up to war.
Episode 2
Sunday 25 November 2012, 9pm
2012: Following continued disturbances at Crickley Hall, Eve goes in search of answers. She speaks to the Vicar, Percy and finally to (retired) psychic Lili Peel. Lili is reticent at first to return to Crickley Hall, having had previous unsettling experiences there, but Eve manages to persuade her and Lili holds a séance.
Meanwhile, Gabe finds Cribben’s punishment book hidden in the cupboard by the stairs and is appalled by what he discovers. He pays his own visit to the Vicar, who puts him in touch with Gordon Pyke, a parapsychologist who has a history with the house and will be able to prove to Eve that there are no such thing as ghosts…
1943: Percy is sent off to war while Nancy continues to investigate goings on at Crickley. She travels to London to find out more information about the mysterious Augustus Cribben. She finds out about his punishment book, and comes up with an idea on how to retrieve this. Things don’t go to plan and Nancy discovers even more disturbing goings on…
Episode 3
Sunday 2 December 2012, 9pm
2012: Eve receives some new information from Lili about her son Cam, and calls the police. Gabe heads to London to speak to the police, while Eve and the girls are left with Gordon. As a wild storm rages outside, it becomes clear that Cribben’s plan to find one final child means everyone’s lives are in danger at Crickley Hall…
1943: Percy returns from war to find Nancy has gone – he doesn’t believe his mother’s claims that Nancy left out of shame, and vows to take up her fight against the orphan abuse at Crickley Hall.
After trying various approaches, Percy finally succeeds in making Reverend Horace listen. He visits Crickley Hall and confronts Cribben when he discovers the contents of his punishment book. Cribben is left desperate to cover his tracks and quieten the orphans once and for all.
Are you looking forward to The Secret Of Crickley Hall? Let us know below…