Episode 10 Haunted Theatres Part 1

[00:00:03] - [Speaker 0]
Hello everyone. Welcome to episode 10 of lights on still scared. My name is Graeme Milne.

[00:00:08] - [Speaker 1]
My name is Gareman Swanston.

[00:00:10] - [Speaker 0]
Tonight we are going to be talking about haunted theaters part one. So how have been doing, Karen?

[00:00:51] - [Speaker 1]
I've been very well, yourself?

[00:00:53] - [Speaker 0]
Fine, thank you. We recovered from last episode's Fit with the Giggles so for today we have our sensible heads on I'm going to be talking about some of Britain's most haunted theatres which are fantastic, very good stories Each city has probably numerous theatres with same stories going on that are truly terrifying for patrons and people who work there. So what we're giving today is a selection of those stories and from eyewitness accounts. So Karen, would you like to kick off today?

[00:01:24] - [Speaker 1]
Very well, I am actually going to talk about a very famous theatre in London, the London Palladium.

[00:01:30] - [Speaker 0]
Good. Yeah.

[00:01:31] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. So London Palladium opened in 1910 and it became Britain's most famous variety theatre. So it's not a very old theatre by any means. And over the century, it's hosted quite a few people on this stage such as Frank Sinatra Mhmm. Julie Garland

[00:01:49] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:01:50] - [Speaker 1]
Bruce Forsyth Uh-huh. The Beatles

[00:01:54] - [Speaker 0]
Very good.

[00:01:55] - [Speaker 1]
Tommy Cooper

[00:01:56] - [Speaker 0]
Very good.

[00:01:57] - [Speaker 1]
Morgan and Mark Wise. Okay.

[00:02:00] - [Speaker 0]
These are these are high these are

[00:02:01] - [Speaker 1]
high profile Yeah. And countless royal variety performances. So I don't know if you remember it when you were young watching it on the telly.

[00:02:10] - [Speaker 0]
Yes, we did. It was a staple of television back in the day.

[00:02:14] - [Speaker 1]
It certainly was, Yes. Wasn't

[00:02:16] - [Speaker 0]
Good

[00:02:17] - [Speaker 1]
family entertainment. Yes. Like many old theatres, the Palladium has developed a reputation of paranormal activity. So we have a woman on the stairs.

[00:02:28] - [Speaker 0]
Okay.

[00:02:29] - [Speaker 1]
So the oldest haunting associated with the palladium concerns the unidentified female apparition.

[00:02:35] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:02:36] - [Speaker 1]
And she's sometimes referred to simply as the woman on the stairs. Or the lady in white, it's a white lady. Again. Again. Yes.

[00:02:46] - [Speaker 1]
Or woman in the passage.

[00:02:50] - [Speaker 0]
I think I prefer the previous two names to

[00:02:52] - [Speaker 1]
be fair. Yes. Yes. You don't wanna be called a woman in the passage, No do you, confirmed historic identity has been attached to her though, so they don't know who she is.

[00:03:00] - [Speaker 0]
Alright. Yeah.

[00:03:01] - [Speaker 1]
So she's described as a woman wearing a pair of white clothing, walking slightly down one of the backstage staircases and vanishing before reaching the bottom. But she never interacts with people.

[00:03:14] - [Speaker 0]
Oh, okay.

[00:03:15] - [Speaker 1]
So it would be that she's one of those Recordings? Recordings. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:03:22] - [Speaker 0]
Let me see that.

[00:03:23] - [Speaker 1]
So her behavior is that she walks calmly and never acknowledges anyone. So so basically, it's just less classic. There's theater residue haunting. And one that surprised me Yeah. Perhaps might not be considering connection to the Palladium is Bruce Falsythe.

[00:03:41] - [Speaker 0]
Really?

[00:03:42] - [Speaker 1]
Mhmm. Yes. So sir Bruce, as he was known Right. Worked closely with the London Palladium. He hosted Sunday night at the London Palladium, which we know well, I'm sure of.

[00:03:53] - [Speaker 0]
Oh, that was back in the sixties, wasn't it? Was that

[00:03:56] - [Speaker 1]
before he began? Actually, no. Perhaps that was a bit before my time.

[00:03:59] - [Speaker 0]
Well, yeah. I mean, I'm just I only heard the Surumur.

[00:04:03] - [Speaker 1]
He performed there many times and considered being one of his favorite theatres.

[00:04:07] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:04:07] - [Speaker 1]
So following his death in 2017, which I didn't think it was all that long ago, but it was, his ashes were interned beneath the stage. That's insane.

[00:04:18] - [Speaker 0]
I never realized that. Goodness me.

[00:04:20] - [Speaker 1]
So, yeah, following his death, stories started to circulate as they do in these theaters.

[00:04:26] - [Speaker 0]
Yes.

[00:04:26] - [Speaker 1]
That they include feeling Bruce's presence backstage. And there's been unknown noises as well. Dressing room doors open by themselves, which is a good one. Yeah. Friendly atmosphere rather than frightening.

[00:04:41] - [Speaker 1]
Reports that Bruce is still checking on the theater. And some recent claims, which I had a little bit a chuckle when I heard this.

[00:04:48] - [Speaker 0]
So

[00:04:49] - [Speaker 1]
do tell. Control yourself,

[00:04:51] - [Speaker 0]
Gabe. I am. I'm under control.

[00:04:53] - [Speaker 1]
Some recent claims even suggest hearing his famous, nice to see you. To see you. Nice.

[00:04:59] - [Speaker 0]
Maybe not for the people who

[00:05:00] - [Speaker 1]
see him, but I totally get it. No. No. So yeah. So unlike many hauntings in theaters, these stories are basically that it's quite warm and affectionate, the stories of these ghosts, so they're not frightening at all.

[00:05:15] - [Speaker 1]
And other paranormal activities, staff ripple, footsteps, empty dressing rooms sound occupied, and again, doors opening unexpectedly Yeah. And feeling watched backstage. Shadow figures seen briefly before disappearing. So, yes. So, I mean, these are basically similar to all those reported in other But, yeah, it's it's a good one.

[00:05:39] - [Speaker 1]
I did not realize that Earl Brutti haunted it.

[00:05:42] - [Speaker 0]
I did not. I absolutely did not. That's very fascinating. I'm going have to look into that myself a little bit Aren't theatres creepy?

[00:05:51] - [Speaker 1]
You know, these old They are scours a

[00:05:52] - [Speaker 0]
bit, yes. Cavernous.

[00:05:53] - [Speaker 1]
Indeed.

[00:05:54] - [Speaker 0]
I've known a few people who've worked in them in the past and yeah, just being alone in those places gets your old mind going slightly. The one I'd like to talk about just now to kick off is one from nineteen o six. So it's an Edwardian theatre from Aberdeen called His Majesty's Theatre which is a fantastic building. I mean it's really beautiful. First performance there was called Sweet Red Riding Hood.

[00:06:22] - [Speaker 0]
It's a little red riding hood obviously. And the theatre itself was designed by Frank Matcham who did a lot of theatre designs across Britain. A very famous designer. It's been there ever since. But in the 1940s circuses were actually performed inside rather than the big top.

[00:06:40] - [Speaker 0]
So it wasn't uncommon for animals etc, courses and what have you, to be on the stage which sounds detrimental to health and safety but it was the 1940s and that's kind of what they did. And this one was no different. So in December 1942 we have a circus going on here described well it's a Royal Britannic Circus advertised as a colossal Christmas and New Year attraction colossal. Highlights included forest bred lions. I don't know what a forest bred lion is but they had lines on stage which is crazy.

[00:07:18] - [Speaker 0]
Equestrian act, a Russian troop described as our allies

[00:07:24] - [Speaker 1]
That was a sign of the times.

[00:07:26] - [Speaker 0]
And performing pigeons, would you believe it? Performing pigeons? Performing pigeons. I'm assuming there was somebody with the pigeons to direct them and what we're supposed to do, but that's what they had. So it was an eclectic mix.

[00:07:38] - [Speaker 0]
Now at the time, there was a guy working there called John Murray, who was 73. And, you know, he should have really been retired, but he'd been working there for years and really knew the theatre inside out. Apparently he kept a book with all the names, the different acts and people he'd spoken to. So he was a really go to guy if he wanted things done there. However, on the press and journal, which is a local paper, on Monday December 27, so two days after Christmas, this story appeared that said Tragedy at HMT Theatre.

[00:08:05] - [Speaker 0]
And it turned out that on the night of the performance, Christmas Eve, what is believed to have happened is they tried to get pip ponies from the stage down into the basement where they were going be kept in a kind of corral. And the lift was pretty small, was hand wound, you're supposed to have two ponies on at a time but they took the floor down to speed up, you know, everybody wanted get home obviously, but the lift actually collapsed, so it plunged like a story and set this huge wheel in motion and John Murray and his friend went to grab the wheel and his friend ended up with a really badly broken arm of which, you know, as compensation, was getting free tickets from the theatre. John got struck in the head and killed instantly And that was the end of him. Absolute disaster for him and his family, I mean it was really unfortunate. Had kids and he lived in Nelson Lane in Aberdeen so it was a real tragedy.

[00:09:00] - [Speaker 0]
However, his attraction as it were to the theatres never ended. It seems like he's still there to this day. Lots of stories from people who claimed to have seen him. Like a guy called Dougie Monaghan who actually started in the theatre in 1938 as a page boy, provided lots of information about this guy getting his free tickets for life. He told me a lot about him, told me about a friend of his Eddie Swan who's the archivist there.

[00:09:29] - [Speaker 0]
Eddie Swan went to art school in the 1950s in Aberdeen and he claims to have met Jake the ghost twice. One time when he fell off the stage and actually badly twisted his ankle, he had to try and find himself out into the hospital, which is directly behind the theatre. Now he had to go down this huge flight of stairs, which is called the Lambeth Walk, crawling in agony, and when he got to the back door he realized then there nowhere to go because it could be locked. But for one day only the door was unlocked, the padlock had been removed. The guy who padlocked the door at night swore it had been there in place, so he claims that this ghost removed the padlock so you could get access to the hospital.

[00:10:11] - [Speaker 0]
So that's one of the stories that's been there before, but the figure that's been seen describes a man wearing a brown dust coat, somebody who'd been working there and he's been seen in various parts. Some of the stories are actually quite creepy. For example, a guy I spoke to called Neil Newcombe, a very nice guy, he said I was given the task of painting is his quote by the way I was given the task of painting the basement with masonry paint and while painting I shifted the pot to allow me to paint another area but when I went and dipped my brush into the tin it had disappeared and was never found again. So the ghost seems to be moving things about just to play jokes on people. It's not seen as malevolent, Neil actually also had to do some sort of, like, what I would describe as work at night, as a night watchman.

[00:10:57] - [Speaker 0]
So you know there's a lot of security in the building, it's huge. And there's a very famous story when he used to take this dog around. It's a guard dog in Ossetia and it was called Savage. Oh. I know, simply scary.

[00:11:09] - [Speaker 0]
But partly very friendly, but he took Savage around to do the rounds, to check the emergency lights were working, the exit signs, etc. Etc. And heading down the back of the theatre to the Lambeth Walk, which is this huge flat of stairs on the side, it was quite creepy and I've been in it, yeah, it is quite creepy. And the dog got down in its legs, I mean it collapsed on the ground, he threw a ball for it, collapsed on the ground and lay in its stomach and crawled backwards and its stomach whining. But he would not go down that set of stairs that night.

[00:11:40] - [Speaker 0]
I know. This is supposed to be Jake wandering around. He was seen by a guy called Peter Thorpe wandering about above wearing a brown dust coat and apron. Another time seen wearing a blue jacket of some description, so what he's wearing seems to change by sight. One great story from an ex employee called Kenny Luke, he worked there for many years, but in 1983 he was quite new to the building and he said I went into the corridor from a very hot backstage and walked into what I can only describe as a sensation of freezing cold water.

[00:12:16] - [Speaker 0]
I felt uncomfortable. Then I heard the door which connects to the basement open followed by the sound of someone approaching. I waited and waited to see who was coming up the stairs but no one appeared so I hot footed it back to the stage pronto. When I got there, it was around interval time, and I spied Dougie Monaghan who looked at me with a knowing smile and said I take it you've just experienced Jake. So this story has been going on a long time.

[00:12:42] - [Speaker 0]
I think one of my favourite stories was probably from someone who worked there as a notcherette, and she was standing waiting for the evening audience to come in with her torch and as she's standing waiting in the main auditorium she gets pushed on the back and she staggers forward slightly and then looks as the curtains on the stage part as someone walks through. So this has been going on for years. He's described as a friendly ghost, there's been I think two times the theatre has actually been done up and each time there's been work carried on there, his ghost activity seems to have increased somewhat. I've been there a few times, I was invited a few times round to Luke which was really really nice, the people there, and spoke to the archivists at the time And, yeah, I can imagine it would be scary place at night. We went down the basement and actually looked where the flywheel had been sorry, not flywheel, where the wheel had been to take the lift down.

[00:13:47] - [Speaker 0]
And yeah, it had atmosphere, that's for sure. Anyway, that's HMT. There is much more online, I think I must have about 40 stories lurking around in various books, all taken from personal accounts from people I've spoken to, so yeah, this might be one of most haunted in Britain, not just Aberdeen.

[00:14:06] - [Speaker 1]
So is it just the one guy that's haunted it? There's another

[00:14:09] - [Speaker 0]
actually, yeah. There is another, but she's a bit of a mystery lady because she's they think it may have been somebody who worked in the box office, maybe from the 1930s, the mode of the dress, the fashion, but seen very rarely. It seems to be the man who's prevalent, harmless as it seems, you know, he doesn't cause anyone any grief but he is mischievous. But I think what really freaked me out most about this, when I did the research for the building, I wanted to find out, that sounds really grim, but how he passed away, because there were so many stories exaggerating the event, which is tragic enough in itself. So I went to the birth, death and marriages office and got some information from it, and that's all good.

[00:14:53] - [Speaker 0]
But before that I the death date, you see, because the death date changes in different reports. So I'd gone to John Milne, the book auctioneer in Aberdeen, and bought a box of books randomly while I was doing this research. And I was racking through the books one day and opened up one of the pages and out pops this tiny clipping from the newspaper of the day, nineteen forty two December the twenty seventh, and that is when I actually managed to get the information I needed purely randomly from a Oh,

[00:15:25] - [Speaker 1]
you say randomly.

[00:15:26] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah, well, was Mr. Money there helping me? I don't know. I don't know. But anyway, that's that.

[00:15:33] - [Speaker 0]
That's HMT. So what have you got for us next?

[00:15:37] - [Speaker 1]
So Graham, I've got the Sunderland Empire Theatre.

[00:15:40] - [Speaker 0]
Fantastic.

[00:15:41] - [Speaker 1]
That's Good in Sunderland.

[00:15:43] - [Speaker 0]
Goodo.

[00:15:44] - [Speaker 1]
It says what it says on the tin.

[00:15:45] - [Speaker 0]
Goodo. Keep me right here.

[00:15:48] - [Speaker 1]
So the Sunderland Theatre opened in nineteen o seven. So, again, a very old theatre. Uh-huh. But it is one of the largest and most prestigious theatre in the Northeast Of England.

[00:15:58] - [Speaker 0]
Very good.

[00:15:59] - [Speaker 1]
It housed countless famous performances. As we have mentioned before, we've we have the other theatre, the Beatles.

[00:16:07] - [Speaker 0]
Very good.

[00:16:08] - [Speaker 1]
They've done quite a round around the theaters by the sounds of it. Tommy Still.

[00:16:12] - [Speaker 0]
Oh, yeah. Mhmm. Half a sixpence.

[00:16:14] - [Speaker 1]
Indeed. Don't remember him, but yeah.

[00:16:18] - [Speaker 0]
So it was a bit before our time.

[00:16:19] - [Speaker 1]
Before our time. Helen Mirren apparently had a stage debut there.

[00:16:24] - [Speaker 0]
Really? That's the

[00:16:25] - [Speaker 1]
first time she went on stage was there. And there has been loads of major West End productions and well known in paranormal circles because of the death of Sid James.

[00:16:36] - [Speaker 0]
Right. Now that is something I'd completely forgotten about. That's correct. He died during a performance. Indeed.

[00:16:43] - [Speaker 1]
Yes. So Sid James, obviously, is famous for the Carry On films. Indeed. What's your favorite Carry On?

[00:16:50] - [Speaker 0]
Oh, blimey. Carry On Screaming, of course. Carry On Camping followed close behind, if you pardon the pun.

[00:16:56] - [Speaker 1]
Well, mine, Carry On Camping. That's a classic.

[00:16:59] - [Speaker 0]
It certainly is.

[00:17:01] - [Speaker 1]
I'm sorry.

[00:17:01] - [Speaker 0]
Volleyball's never been the same since.

[00:17:05] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, and Carry On Dick as well.

[00:17:08] - [Speaker 0]
This is a reference to last week's episode of Lights On Still Scared Folks in case you missed it.

[00:17:15] - [Speaker 1]
No. Honestly, my favorite is Carry On Dick.

[00:17:18] - [Speaker 0]
I saw that when I was eight years old. Would you believe it?

[00:17:20] - [Speaker 1]
Did you?

[00:17:21] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah. And was quite shocked,

[00:17:23] - [Speaker 1]
I have to say. Yes. I mean, I don't feel they could get away with the majority of the stuff now that they did in those films.

[00:17:28] - [Speaker 0]
God bless the seventies. Yeah.

[00:17:29] - [Speaker 1]
But anyway, so Sid James is born in 1930 and he died in 1976. So he wasn't that old. He was only about 63.

[00:17:38] - [Speaker 0]
Right. Yeah.

[00:17:39] - [Speaker 1]
He had one of those faces out there that looked old, really.

[00:17:42] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah. Like a relief map of the Himalayas, I think was one of the quotes they once said.

[00:17:46] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, dear. So, yes. So he's a a legendary comedy actor starred in Bless This House, which I vaguely remember.

[00:17:54] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah. I do remember it. Yeah. Yeah. It's actually quite funny.

[00:17:56] - [Speaker 0]
I think they made a movie about it as well.

[00:17:58] - [Speaker 1]
I think they did. Was Terry Scott? He was the neighbor in the film,

[00:18:03] - [Speaker 0]
I believe. Yeah. That's correct.

[00:18:05] - [Speaker 1]
So yeah. So at that time, he's one of the most recognizable entertainers and instantly recognized by his famous laugh.

[00:18:12] - [Speaker 0]
Yes. The laugh.

[00:18:14] - [Speaker 1]
The laugh. Yes. Sometimes I do that laugh without

[00:18:18] - [Speaker 0]
Feel free at any point during this podcast.

[00:18:20] - [Speaker 1]
It has to be spontaneous.

[00:18:21] - [Speaker 0]
Fair enough. Yeah.

[00:18:22] - [Speaker 1]
It's like I'm possessed, but there you go. So on 04/26/1976, Sid was appearing in the mating season

[00:18:30] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:18:31] - [Speaker 1]
At the Sunderland Empire. And during the performance, Sid was laying on a sofa as part of the script.

[00:18:37] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:18:38] - [Speaker 1]
His costar, Ogleth Lowe, continued delivering her dialogue. So she carried on as it was, but then he failed to respond.

[00:18:46] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:18:47] - [Speaker 1]
And initially, the audience believed it was part of the play, so they were laughing along with it.

[00:18:52] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:18:53] - [Speaker 1]
It was only when the stage manager came onto the stage and a doctor from the audience come on that they realized he was ill.

[00:19:00] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah.

[00:19:01] - [Speaker 1]
And Sid was taken to ambulance, but he died shortly afterwards after suffering a heart attack. So yeah. So it rains one of the most tragic moments in British theater history. Yeah. So the haunting, he he does kinda like haunt the theater.

[00:19:16] - [Speaker 1]
So there's reported of activities include footsteps backstage

[00:19:20] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:19:20] - [Speaker 1]
A shadow figure, dressing room doors opening, the feeling that somebody was present. There's a smell of cigar smoke and whiskey, which apparently what he

[00:19:30] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah.

[00:19:30] - [Speaker 1]
Used to drink quite heavily and smoke quite heavily as well. And you actually do hear his laugh, apparently, in empty corridors.

[00:19:38] - [Speaker 0]
Oh, that's wild. I do like that.

[00:19:40] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. So most reports center around backstage corridors in the dressing room area.

[00:19:45] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:19:45] - [Speaker 1]
So this is my favorite story. Do you remember Les Dawson?

[00:19:50] - [Speaker 0]
Yes, I do.

[00:19:51] - [Speaker 1]
Yes. So one of the best known celebrity ghost stories this is. And according to folklore, several years after Sidder died, comedian Les Dawson was appeared in pantomime at the Sunderland Empire. Oh, no. Wasn't.

[00:20:06] - [Speaker 1]
Yes. He was. And he was allocated the dressing room that was used by Sid James.

[00:20:12] - [Speaker 0]
Really? Oh.

[00:20:14] - [Speaker 1]
So he was getting ready to go on stage and he was preparing for the evening performance. And he looked up in the mirror of the dressing room, and standing there was was Sid James. That's wild. Apparently, deathly pale

[00:20:28] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:20:29] - [Speaker 1]
Almost black eyes

[00:20:31] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:20:31] - [Speaker 1]
Wearing what could be described as a white shroud. Now, according to what was reported, and this is brilliant, Sid gave his laugh

[00:20:41] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:20:41] - [Speaker 1]
Then uttered a crude remark directly at Les and immediately vanished.

[00:20:48] - [Speaker 0]
Professional jealousy. It's a terrible thing.

[00:20:50] - [Speaker 1]
Indeed. As some mentioned, there was a smell of whiskey lingering in the room. Dear. That that

[00:20:56] - [Speaker 0]
Oh my lord.

[00:20:56] - [Speaker 1]
Really did make me chuckle, actually. I mean, terrifying for this. Doorsome.

[00:21:01] - [Speaker 0]
But still Good in him for sharing the story. Otherwise, that would have been

[00:21:04] - [Speaker 1]
Well, he he didn't apparently, but so according to legend, Les was visibly shaken by the experience. Despite what happened, he still completed the evening's performance.

[00:21:15] - [Speaker 0]
Okay.

[00:21:16] - [Speaker 1]
So the show must go on even if you see Sir James ghostly looking in the mirror. Yeah. According to the members, reportedly noticed that he seemed distracted and repeatedly glanced towards the wings. So he constantly was looking over at the wings

[00:21:29] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:21:29] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Of the stage. And once the performance ended, he left the theater immediately. He didn't stay for any of the after drinks or anything. And he reportedly instructed his manager never to book him at the Sunderland again.

[00:21:41] - [Speaker 1]
And he never did work there again. And he was halfway through his contract.

[00:21:45] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah.

[00:21:46] - [Speaker 1]
So he just said, no, get me out the contract. I'm not coming back.

[00:21:49] - [Speaker 0]
That's quite something.

[00:21:50] - [Speaker 1]
And that's why he never does. So yes. So that that that was a good one.

[00:21:55] - [Speaker 0]
That's a great story.

[00:21:56] - [Speaker 1]
Really enjoyed that one. And there is a couple more there. There's a Avista Tilly, who was one of the greatest music hall performers Mhmm. When it opened in nineteen o seven. Said to occasionally appear at the front of house areas.

[00:22:09] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm.

[00:22:10] - [Speaker 1]
And there's a Molly Mosul, who was a former stage manager.

[00:22:15] - [Speaker 0]
Okay.

[00:22:15] - [Speaker 1]
And accordingly, she left the theater to post a letter and she never returned.

[00:22:20] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:22:20] - [Speaker 1]
And her spirit is said to wander parts of the theater as well. So yes. But it's interesting that apparently, he's never publicly told the story.

[00:22:32] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:22:32] - [Speaker 1]
But obviously he's told people and it's come,

[00:22:36] - [Speaker 0]
folk gone back.

[00:22:37] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. It's gone back. So, yeah, that's that was a good one. That is

[00:22:41] - [Speaker 0]
That's a great one. I wonder if Sid's ever been seen in that form by anyone else.

[00:22:48] - [Speaker 1]
That would be interesting.

[00:22:50] - [Speaker 0]
I'm kind of tempted to approach them and ask just to see what they say because I don't know, it'd be fantastic to find out if he was.

[00:23:00] - [Speaker 1]
Another angle is perhaps he just because they were friends, he just thought I will scare the out of my mind. Which he did. He did.

[00:23:10] - [Speaker 0]
Blimey. My best piano playing went all the pot that night.

[00:23:15] - [Speaker 1]
Indeed. Indeed.

[00:23:17] - [Speaker 0]
Good god.

[00:23:18] - [Speaker 1]
So yes, so that that is

[00:23:20] - [Speaker 0]
Well, my next one's really boring in comparison. I'm afraid. Nothing's nothing Nothing particularly outrageous. Well it's quite good but it's not like it's not got Sir James in it. It's got BBC Scotland.

[00:23:33] - [Speaker 1]
That's good enough.

[00:23:34] - [Speaker 0]
Well, this one took place in a place called Calduthal Road which was well this takes place in the late 70s in Calduthal Road which was the BBC Scotland's at the time Highland HQ and of course as a radio station nothing distractions when one is reading the news etc is really important but the building was meant to be really haunted and lots of articles appeared at the time witnessed were sounds that were described as strange and sights that were described as unusual including sightings of a lady dressed in grey, the sound of a woman's voice screaming which actually was recorded live in a programme which scared everybody to bits and a plethora and that's not an easy word to say I might add of disconcerting poltergeist activity. So the figure of the woman for example was seen fully formed and described as looking like someone in mourning but whether the screams connected to her in any way is this conjecture. Anyhow, a member of the technical staff was shocked to hear it on transmission tape during playback. On another occasion, producer Alan Bates plainly heard someone outside the studio door and quickly looking out found nothing.

[00:24:56] - [Speaker 0]
Soon after another senior reporter stated that on one occasion he entered the building closed the door behind him and on glancing back found again wide open. So during the refurbishment several workmen, because the building was very ancient apparently, well not very ancient but old, so it was refurbished a few times. So during refurbishment several workmen also reported strange goings ons including two of them who had a very unsettling experience and they left the building much like Les Dawson never to return. So on that occasion one worker was sent to fetch beer from a local hotel called the Bullfort. I love the seventies you know, you just go to work and crack open a few tinnies as you get off the chain.

[00:25:39] - [Speaker 0]
So he left his colleague on-site. Several minutes later, the lone worker heard what he assumed was his workmate clumping back up the stairs with a beer and called out to him, instructing to put one a beer for him in one of the adjacent rooms. However he's perplexed to hear the footsteps continue out through another door and vanish. Minutes later his real workmate appeared carrying the carry out and in hearing both the story both decided to vacate the building with the beer I'm assuming and that was the end of them. I mean it went on for ages these stories BBC bosses eventually sanctioned a visit by a Glaswegian medium called Daphne Ploughman when walking around Corroboree the sightings included that of a grey lady and a woman in widow's weeds and mourning.

[00:26:24] - [Speaker 0]
So she went and did a blessing and apparently then the ghost sightings sort of tempered down and became much quieter and I've not heard anything recently from that even if the building's actually there anymore. To be honest with you I've not found out if it's still ongoing as the BBC HQ and it was for many years But yeah, that was it. So around the nineteen seventies, that was what was going on. BBC Inverness. Lovely.

[00:26:49] - [Speaker 0]
There you go.

[00:26:49] - [Speaker 1]
Yeah. Okay. So we're still back into the seventies.

[00:26:53] - [Speaker 0]
Okay.

[00:26:54] - [Speaker 1]
Next theatre was built in the seventies. It's the Royal National Theatre in London Mhmm. On the South Bank. It was built in 1976. And I must admit, I'd done a little stint there once, not very long, but it's not a very pretty building.

[00:27:11] - [Speaker 1]
It's it's a building of its time Okay. Compared to a lot of the theaters, which are quite ornate. Yeah. Isn't. This is, like, concrete and yeah.

[00:27:20] - [Speaker 1]
You can tell why it wasn't that.

[00:27:22] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah. It's a shame.

[00:27:23] - [Speaker 1]
It was. Yes.

[00:27:24] - [Speaker 0]
Poor theatre.

[00:27:25] - [Speaker 1]
Oh, dear. So yeah. So it's one of Britain's busiest and most prestigious theatres now. Mhmm. And it's home of three auditoriums.

[00:27:33] - [Speaker 1]
We've got the Olivier Theatre, Uh-huh. The Littleton Theatre. The Dorfman Theatre, which is formerly the Cottlesloe. And although it's modern, it has developed quite tradition of backstage folklore, which I must admit when I was there, there was whispers that it was a bit spooky. It's a bit spooky.

[00:27:53] - [Speaker 1]
And I must admit, the stage, I was not keen on. And they do actually said, the staff reported that dark figures walk across the empty stage, which I can believe that considering my my spidey sense used to go, and I used to say, I really don't wanna go there. So shadowy silhouettes in backstage corridors as well. And some apparently crossing landings before disappearing, and figures seen from the corner of the eyes.

[00:28:22] - [Speaker 0]
Mhmm.

[00:28:23] - [Speaker 1]
And apparitions vanishing when approached. So yes. So no one's been actually been able to identify any specific historical individuals at all. Mhmm. So it just it seems like it's just general theater folklore.

[00:28:40] - [Speaker 1]
I mean, theater people do talk.

[00:28:43] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah. I suppose a lot of superstition attached to these buildings as well.

[00:28:47] - [Speaker 1]
But there is quite a story repeated by several theater staff over the years, and that's seen what appears to be a lone person sitting in the auditorium of performances. Mhmm. And when you look again to find the seat empty and feeling that someone's watching in rehearsals, which is quite a few in theater folklore.

[00:29:07] - [Speaker 0]
Yes. The favorite seat.

[00:29:08] - [Speaker 1]
The favorite seat.

[00:29:09] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah.

[00:29:09] - [Speaker 1]
Yes. That's true. That is true. Staff has also described footsteps overhead where no one should be present, doors opening, closing unexpectedly, perhaps it's about you never know. Sounds coming from the scenery dock in and backstage area, a movement in otherwise empty corridors, And trolleys and equipment apparently moving by themselves.

[00:29:31] - [Speaker 1]
Now that's a good one.

[00:29:32] - [Speaker 0]
I do like a trolley moving by itself. But it's quite creepy, you think. It is creepy. Yeah. That's

[00:29:38] - [Speaker 1]
kind Yeah.

[00:29:38] - [Speaker 0]
I think I find it creepier not seeing I I think I would find it creepier actually not seeing a a figure. You know, if I saw a figure pushing a trolley, it's a bit creepy, but a trolley on its own? I find that

[00:29:52] - [Speaker 1]
a bit disconcerting. Bit disconcerting, isn't it?

[00:29:54] - [Speaker 0]
I do.

[00:29:54] - [Speaker 1]
The Olivia Theatre reports experience include feeling of watched whilst working alone, which I think was the the one that I thought was a bit Shadows, movements on stage, and strange noises from the auditorium, and a general feeling that someone else is present. Mhmm. So yeah. So the theater superstition, they're well into that, was never to whistle backstage.

[00:30:18] - [Speaker 0]
Okay.

[00:30:19] - [Speaker 1]
Never to say the how am I gonna say it? Wood Macbeth.

[00:30:24] - [Speaker 0]
Oh, dear God.

[00:30:25] - [Speaker 1]
Said the Scottish play. You know, the Scottish play. Never say good luck. Of course. Yeah.

[00:30:31] - [Speaker 0]
Of course.

[00:30:32] - [Speaker 1]
Always say break a leg.

[00:30:34] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah.

[00:30:34] - [Speaker 1]
So that's that's the tradition there. One of the oldest traditions, which I assume all the others have gone for, is that they would leave a single lamp in illumination on the stage.

[00:30:45] - [Speaker 0]
Okay.

[00:30:46] - [Speaker 1]
So the practical purpose for that is to prevent accidents and allow staff to work safely across the stage in darkness. But the traditional belief is that the ghost light allows theater ghosts to perform after everyone has gone home. They need to practice.

[00:31:01] - [Speaker 0]
They do?

[00:31:02] - [Speaker 1]
They do need to rehearse.

[00:31:03] - [Speaker 0]
Can't Rehearse your hauntings? Hauntings have to be perfected somehow.

[00:31:07] - [Speaker 1]
Keeps spirits content and prevents mischievous ghosts from causing problems. Yeah, and that's only on most theatres that believes in the the ghost light.

[00:31:21] - [Speaker 0]
Can I ask, does that theatre not what is it not meant to be haunted by Laurence Olivier as as, you know, obviously, who it's named after? Has he been seen? I seem to have this vague memory of searing theatre.

[00:31:34] - [Speaker 1]
Have to look at I never actually heard that there. I think it's another theater. Right. But I can't remember which one it was. So I'll have to look that up for next time.

[00:31:43] - [Speaker 0]
I've got this vague feeling that I heard some he'd be seen in in the mirror by another actor or something.

[00:31:49] - [Speaker 1]
Along with Sid James.

[00:31:51] - [Speaker 0]
Great double act. Can you imagine? Sir Larry and Sid. Carry on acting. I'd pay to see that.

[00:32:01] - [Speaker 1]
Would you?

[00:32:02] - [Speaker 0]
I would. I would.

[00:32:04] - [Speaker 1]
So, yes, I've completely lost my train of thought now. Thanks, Graham.

[00:32:07] - [Speaker 0]
Sorry about that.

[00:32:10] - [Speaker 1]
But it's interesting that despite all the spooky goings on, that they haven't actually narrowed it down to who is actually doing it.

[00:32:18] - [Speaker 0]
Right.

[00:32:19] - [Speaker 1]
And considering it's quite a a new theatre as well. Yeah. Yeah. It'd be interesting to find out.

[00:32:25] - [Speaker 0]
Yeah. Well, I dare say, I mean, it must be tons of these actual experiences being recorded by staff, I'm sure, but it's getting them to speak about it. Some people are quite happy to sort of offload and others seem a bit reticent. You know, seeing things but they don't want to talk about it for whatever reason, which I totally get but I know it's a level of embarrassment sometimes when people say a ghost, they don't want to talk about it because people assume they've imagined it or whatever.

[00:32:53] - [Speaker 1]
It's interesting though that a majority of theatres are Yeah. Meant to be haunted. So is it a case of that it's it's the atmosphere of the theaters that's causing the hauntings? Because obviously, with actors, it's like loads of emotions, and obviously, you've got the emotions from the audience as well. So or is it a case that they just love the action that they didn't want to leave?

[00:33:19] - [Speaker 0]
Maybe just because it was a happy place maybe. But you're right. I think a lot of emotion and hopefully positive emotion in a place would probably, don't know attract something or have some residual in the air I guess but yeah they're brilliant. I think it's tragic when theatres get destroyed and there's many theatres in Britain that even to this day should be preserved or being changed or bulldozed down to build flats or whatever and I know they're not used or maybe difficult to use for things but the work that went into them so beautiful, works of art themselves. But, yeah, that's good.

[00:33:57] - [Speaker 0]
I like that story.

[00:33:59] - [Speaker 1]
We hope you enjoyed our first episode of Haunted Theatres. We'll continue this journey next week with Haunted Theatres part two. In the meantime, keep the lights on. Stay scared. Louder than before.

[00:35:03] - [Speaker 1]
Lights on, still scared. You can't hide from what's already