Peter Duncan Will Star in UK Tour of New Ghost Story WHEN DARKNESS FALLS

Peter Duncan will star as John Blondel and Daniel Rainford as The Speaker in the spine-chilling ghost story, WHEN DARKNESS FALLS. Following a successful season at Park Theatre in London last summer and a short tour, there will now be a full UK Tour, opening on 15 September at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool. The Tour currently runs through to 29 October 2022, with more dates to be announced for 2023. Written by James Milton and Paul Morrissey, the production will be directed by Paul Morrissey.

On a stormy night on the small island of Guernsey, a young paranormal expert joins a sceptical history teacher to record the first in a series of podcasts based on the island's incredible folklore and paranormal history. As the expert regales his horrifying stories, the teacher learns that we all have our own truth, our own story. Ghosts that haunt us; that bring the past, present and future together in unexpected ways; ways that can threaten to unsettle everything we think we know.

Inspired by true events, this powerful new production by James Milton and Paul Morrissey draws us into dark pasts, reveals disturbing truths and explores the power of stories. Perhaps most importantly, the ones we tell ourselves.

Actor, film and documentary maker, former Chief Scout and 1980s Blue Peter man, Peter Duncan has a theatre, TV and film career that spans five decades. Peter began his career on stage, joining Laurence Olivier's National Theatre. He became a household name when he joined Blue Peter in 1980. After TV presenting, he began to appear in musical theatre roles such as Barnum, Bill Snibson in Me And My Girl, Charlie Chaplin in The Little Tramp and Denry Machin in The Card, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award as Best Actor in a Musical. More recently, he appeared as Wilbur Turnblad in the UK Tour of Hairspray.

Daniel Rainford recently completed a UK tour of Michael Morpurgo's Private Peaceful, in which he played the lead role, Tommo - a role he also played in its original run at the Nottingham Playhouse. His other stage credits include Once Upon a Time in Nazi Occupied Tunisia at London's Almeida Theatre. His screen credits include this year's The Batman starring Robert Pattinson and Zoe Kravitz. Rhys Jennings will be the understudy for both roles.

The show's illusions are designed by John Bulleid, an Associate of the Inner Magic Circle with Silver Star, whose other theatre credits include The Ocean At The End Of The Lane (The National Theatre - associate to Jamie Harrison), Harry Potter and The Cursed Child (Palace Theatre, London - current Magic & Illusion assistant) and The Prince of Egypt (Dominion Theatre, London - associate to Chris Fisher).

Writers Paul Morrissey and James Milton have worked together for the past 15 years. James is currently Head of Content for the new Holocaust Galleries at Imperial War Museum. His first book, The Holocaust, was published in 2021. Paul has written several other plays including Bingo, The Wickies and Alcatraz.

WHEN DARKNESS FALLS is directed by Paul Morrissey and designed by Justin Williams, with lighting by Bethany Gupwell and sound by Daniel Higgott.

The UK Tour of WHEN DARKNESS FALLS is produced by Paul Morrissey Ltd, Christopher Wheeler and Molly Morris in association with The BARD, Jason Haigh-Ellery and Glynis Henderson Productions.

Website: www.whendarknessfalls.co.uk

WHEN DARKNESS FALLS is proudly partnered with Unexplained Podcast and Richard McClean Smith will be appearing at selected venues where audiences can expect an exclusive live episode of Unexplained as part of the show/ticket price. Dates to be confirmed.

Unexplained is a haunting story-based podcast in which host and creator Richard MacLean Smith explores a different unexplained mystery each week - often to terrifying effect. With each episode, MacLean Smith leads the listener on an atmospheric journey through the strange and eerie, taking in everything from bizarre tales of supposed time-slips, vanishings and UFOs to chilling unexplained deaths and dabblings in the occult.

Best of iTunes 2016 and one of the most popular paranormal podcasts in the world, Unexplained has been an international success reaching number 2 in the US, UK and Canadian Apple Podcast charts with over 50 million streams to date. www.unexplainedpodcast.com

2022 TOUR SCHEDULE

15 - 17 September Grand Theatre, Blackpool 01253 290190

www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk on sale

20 - 22 September Octagon Theatre, Yeovil 01935 422884

www.octagon-theatre.co.uk on sale

23 - 25 September Queen's Theatre, Barnstaple 01271 316523

www.queenstheatre-barnstaple.com on sale

27 September - 1 October Salisbury Playhouse 01722 320333 www.salisburyplayhouse.com on sale

3 - 8 October Palace Theatre, Southend 0343 310 0030

palacetheatresouthend.co.uk on sale

11 - 15 October New Theatre, Cardiff 0343 310 0041

www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk on sale

25 - 29 October Oldham Coliseum 0161 624 2829

www.coliseum.org.uk on sale

31 October - 5 November Beau Sejour Theatre, Guernsey 01481 223200

beausejour.gg/ on sale soon

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