BBC One has announced details of The Living and the Dead, a new supernatural drama written by Ashley Pharoah and Matthew Graham, co-creators and writers of Life On Mars, Eternal Law and Ashes To Ashes.

Set in Somerset in 1888, the six-part series follows a complex and compelling man who investigates hauntings, paranormal happenings, and ghostly visitations, encouraged by the Society for Psychical Research.

Pharoah and Graham commented: “We are as excited about this show as anything since Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes – we want it to be moving, tender, sensual… and very, very scary.”

Charlotte Moore, Controller BBC One, added: “From the creators of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes comes exciting new fantasy series The Living and the Dead, steeped in real history and mythology that will scare the audience and awaken the dead.”

The official synopsis reads: “A land and a community on the edge of monumental change, on the great hinge between ancient traditional ways and an industrial, scientific future. A land of ghosts and myths, poltergeists and demons – if there was ever a time for those ghosts to rise out of the ground, this would be that time. At the heart of this small community is Nathan Appleby, a reluctant gentleman farmer who is obsessed with proving the existence of the afterlife.

“But as these terrifying investigations become ever more frequent and ever more scary, Nathan starts to see and hear disturbing things that he simply cannot have imagined. Will Nathan’s interest in the occult begin to threaten his family, his livelihood and even his sanity?”

A co-production with BBC America, The Living and the Dead will start filming in the West Country in 2015.

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