The Secret of Crickley Hall 

A year after their son goes missing, a family moves to Crickley Hall. When supernatural events begin to take place, Eve feels the house is somehow connected to her lost son.

Stars:

Suranne Jones, Tom Ellis, Douglas Henshall

Cast

Series cast summary:
Suranne Jones	...	Eve Caleigh 3 episodes, 2012
Tom Ellis	...	Gabe Caleigh 3 episodes, 2012
Douglas Henshall	...	Augustus Cribben 3 episodes, 2012
David Warner	...	Percy Judd 3 episodes, 2012
Sarah Smart	...	Magda Cribben 3 episodes, 2012
Iain De Caestecker	...	Young Percy 3 episodes, 2012
Olivia Cooke	...	Nancy Linnet 3 episodes, 2012
Maisie Williams	...	Loren Caleigh 3 episodes, 2012
Bill Milner	...	Maurice Stafford 3 episodes, 2012
Pixie Davies	...	Cally Caleigh 3 episodes, 2012
Kian Parsiani	...	Stefan Rosenbaum 3 episodes, 2012
Fern Deacon	...	Susan Trainer 3 episodes, 2012
Susan Lynch	...	Lili Peel 2 episodes, 2012
Donald Sumpter	...	Gordon Pyke 2 episodes, 2012
Craig Parkinson	...	Reverend Horace 2 episodes, 2012
Julia Ford	...	Irene Judd 2 episodes, 2012
Nicholas Sidi	...	Reverend Andrew 2 episodes, 2012
Elliot Kerley	...	Cam Caleigh 2 episodes, 2012
Shannon Beer	...	Bully 2 episodes, 2012

Storyline

2012: Nearly a year after their son goes missing, Londoners Gabe and Eve Caleigh and their two daughters move to Crickley Hall. Gabe hopes a few months away from the city will help his family heal. But it soon becomes apparent, their new home is haunted. 1943: Crickley Hall is an orphanage run by Augustus Cribben and his sister Magda. The orphans live in terror of the Cribbens, especially Augustus, whose brutality knows no bounds. Nancy, the children's new tutor, is appalled by the abuse and determined to find a way to save them - Can these dark secrets of the past help the Caleighs find their son?

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Plot Keywords:

orphanage | world war two | 1940s | secret | orphan | 

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Taglines:

They came to escape the past, the past had other ideas.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English German

Release Date:

28 October 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Crickley Hallin salaisuus

Filming Locations:

Manchester, Greater Manchester, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

BBC Manchester

Technical Specs

Runtime:

59 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Trivia

Most of the cast has since gone on to success in American TV programs. Iain De Caestecker took a part in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013), Olivia Cooke became a series regular on Bates Motel (2013) and Maisie Williams landed the key role of Arya in Game of Thrones (2011). Tom Ellis' first foray into US series television - Rush (2014) - was canceled after the first season, but has since landed the title role in Lucifer (2015).

User Reviews

Creaky Crickley

I like a good ghost story and this BBC dramatisation of a James Herbert novel (which I've not read) made for entertaining if far-fetched viewing. Spread over three hour-long episodes, I imagine gave the serial time to stay closer to the novel and to be fair I didn't notice a lot of unnecessary padding.

Set in two different time-frames, one set in the present day with a young family trying to get over the apparent loss of their beloved young son, the other telling the more interesting story of a sadistic brother and child-abusing sister who run an oxymoronic "safe home" for young evacuee children during the Second World War, whose methods are challenged by a game young teacher who comes into their employ. The two stories converge when the modern family unaccountably pick the spookiest house in the country to recuperate from their loss, with the mother and her two other young children apparently seeing and hearing the presence of the young children murdered 70 years ago and the former believing that the ghosts might be able to contact her missing son.

As I've indicated, it's probably best to pop a few massive coincidence pills in before watching and while some confusion inevitably enters the narrative, it coheres well enough to engage me through three Sundays in a row. The actors put the hokum across pretty well as a group with special mention going to Olivia Cooke as Nancy Linnet, the defiant young teacher who braves the dastardly brother and sister at risk of her own career and indeed life. Douglas Henshall also makes for a creepy "Whacko" villain, who fetishistically notes down every beating he gives out and demands one more victim in return for the one that got away.

The special effects were okay, more about suggestion which is usually the best way in programmes like this with no cliché unturned (subjective camera shots, pouring rain, dark sets, voluminous background music at key moments) and of course there's an impossible rescue of the daughter by her father, but if you're watching this as a study in realism then think again.

I've watched more realistic and scarier ghost stories than this but this twin-spook story engaged me reasonably even if at no stage was I tempted to hide behind my sofa or even peek through my fingers at any point during it.