Comedian Dom Joly's House Haunted By 19th Century Opera Singer

Comedian, writer, and broadcaster Dom Joly has been entertaining the nation for years, but is he the only performer living in his Gloucestershire townhouse? Dom's son Jackson has long complained of strange and bizarre paranormal occurrences emanating from his bedroom in the basement, most notably he reports hearing the distant melodies of a female opera singer.

Dom appears in the first episode of the brand-new fourth series of 'Celebrity Help! My House Is Haunted', which is available to stream exclusively on Discovery+ now. In the episodes, the show's team to attempt to uncover any spirits that might be lurking in Dom's home, and perhaps give him the opportunity to shout "hello" to any uninvited guests in his famous 'Trigger Happy TV' style.

When Dom's son Jackson first told him he could hear a lady singing opera, he was initially quick to brush it off. "Honestly, I thought he was on the wacky baccy when I first heard him talk about it," Dom quipped. "I just thought, yeah, whatever. But quite a few times he heard it and I started to take it seriously. I did go down once and I heard something and it did absolutely freak me out. My wife paints down there and Jackson sleeps down there and I avoid it. I get completely creeped out by things and I do get freaked out in the dark...I can't watch horror films. This is probably a terrible idea, this whole thing actually," Dom says, starting to wonder what he has got himself in for.

When the team, consisting of Ian Lawman, Jayne Harris, and Barri Ghai, arrive at Dom's house, they quickly learn something significant. Jayne uncovers the fact that a famous opera singer called Agnes Nicholls lived in Dom's property back in 1878. "That's blown my mind a little bit," Dom says as Jayne relays the news, validating his son Jackson's previous experiences. "You've heard it too though?," Barri asks Dom after talking to Jackson about the opera singing. "Yeah I have. But I just thought I'd drunk too much!" Dom jokes.

As the team start to use their paranormal investigation equipment to seek out a connection with Agnes, Dom is disturbed when they also receive what they believe to be contact from a male spirit present in the property. "I don't know what I'm hearing anymore, I'm slightly freaked out by the whole experience," Dom worries. "Dom, your house is haunted!" Barri replies. "So what do we do about it then? That's the bit they don't tell you about on Scooby Doo. Are you going to get rid of it, or do I have to pay?" Dom hilariously asks the team. "I think it's time we moved house," he quips to Jackson.

As the first day of investigation draws to a close, the 'Help! My House Is Haunted' team prepare for their nightlong investigation of Dom's property in the hopes of gaining further clarity on who the spirits are, and their intentions. "We need to crack on with the investigation, we need to get further clarification as to why Agnes is here, what she's trying to communicate, and does she like being here?," Barri explains to Dom.

"We need to go to the pub," jokes Dom. "Will you have answers for us tomorrow? I don't need any more spirits... I think Agnes is quite enough. If you start finding more then this house is for sale," he laughs.

Initially, the team's overnight efforts to communicate with Agnes prove fruitless, leading Jayne to suggest a much rarer method of spirit connection called automatic writing. This involves a participant, in this case Barri, being lowered into a subconscious state and allowing the spirit of Agnes to communicate through him as he holds a pen over a notepad.

Barri explains, "I'll write whatever she communicates to me," as he prepares himself in Dom's basement. He adds, "We're going to play a recording of her as well to try and stimulate her." The team feel the automatic writing experiment produces some interesting results, and provides proof that Agnes is able to communicate subconsciously through Barri. As the experiment comes to an end, Barri appears shake when he notices the writing on notepad. "This isn't my handwriting," he exclaims. "It was surreal."

The following day, Dom and son Jackson return to their home, where the team showcase the results of their overnight tests. Dom and Jackson are both visibly shocked as Jayne plays them a recording which sounds in which what sounds like the name 'Agnes' being whispered can be heard.

Jayne confesses, "In over 20 years of being involved in this kind of work, that is probably the clearest name I think we've ever captured." Sounding impressed, Dom says, "That's 100% someone saying Agnes, I mean that's crazy."

Summing up his experience, Dom says, "Right so we've got an inconsolable opera singer adrift in my basement," before admitting, "I've got to tell you, I was very sceptical about the whole thing, but the link though... the moment we found out that there was someone, an opera singer...what are the chances that an opera singer is living in this house? I mean that's crazy!"

You can watch the first episode of the new fourth series of 'Celebrity Help! My House Is Haunted' now, available to stream exclusively on Discovery+.