Jason Manford Opens Up About His Uncanny Supernatural Experience At London's Haunted Adelphi Theatre
This article is more than two years old and was last updated in February 2024.
British comedian, Jason Manford, recently talked about the time he shared a dressing room in the Adelphi Theatre with the ghost of a murdered actor.
Jason told his story, that took place in 2012, on the latest episode of Danny Robins' paranormal podcast series, 'Uncanny'. The podcast returned for a three-part summer special, which is available on BBC Sounds now. In the third part of the special Jason described the unsettling moment at the historic haunted theatre that gave him goosebumps.
Danny explained, "we got talking because he enjoys the show, and then he said to me, 'I've got a ghost story.' And he didn't disappoint."
The special episode was recorded live at the Hay Festival in Wales in front of a live audience, but Danny had pre-recorded an interview with Jason a few days before. Jason's story was played out to the audience at the annual arts and literature festival in Hay-on-Wye.
Jason told Danny, "I'd been cast in 'Sweeney Todd' in the West End at the Adelphi Theatre. And I've never done a play or a musical before." It was the standup's first time working as part of a theatre company and he was on stage each night alongside Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton.
"I played a character called Pirelli," said Jason, "I think it's one of the best parts in show business, mainly because you're dead by about 10 past eight and then you just have to sit for two hours watching 'Breaking Bad' waiting for the bows."
Jason had a small dressing room over the stage door, and because it was the first time he'd been away from home for an extended time, he used his time in his dressing room to call his family back home in Manchester. At the time Jason's twin daughters were three years old and he'd chat to them each evening on a video call.
One particular night, Jason remembers one of his daughters saying "daddy, who's that man behind you?" At this time Jason was in the dressing room alone, but wanted to be sure. Jason said, "I obviously had a look, just in case someone's come in, maybe one of the wardrobe or whatnot. I said, 'sweetheart, there's nobody there.' She said, 'there is, Daddy, there's a man right behind you'."
"Maybe three or four nights later," Jason continued, "sat chatting, 'daddy, he's back.' I said, 'who's back?' 'The man's back, he's behind you'." Jason said, "it felt eerie because she was saying it, but other than that there was no other indication that something was going on."
The third time it happened Jason decided to quiz his daughter and asked her what the man looked like. His daughter described a tall man with a moustache and dark hair dressed as a soldier and crying. Jason said, "it was like that whoosh of goosebumps. I was like, 'okay, that's weird'. Where, where do you even get that from? So just let it go."
But the revelation had left Jason feeling unsettled in his dressing room. From this moment on he kept his door open more often and found himself inviting more people into the room with him. Then one night, Jason mentioned it to a member of staff at the theatre who immediately said, "that'll be William." The staff member went on to tell Jason about a famous ghost who is said to haunt the theatre.
Jason took to Google to find out more about this famous spook. He told Danny, "William Terrace is the full name of the ghost. From the picture I can see, he's tall, dark, a guy with a moustache. He's an actor and the story, according to what I found out was that he was quite a well-known actor."
William was murdered at the stage door of that theatre in the 1890s on the opening night of his new play, in which he was playing the role of a captain in the American Union Army. Ever since, he is said to haunt the theatre. Jason was by far not the first to encounter his spirit.
The podcast's regular parapsychologist, Ciarán O'Keeffe, gave his thoughts on Jason's story. He said, "I think what is great about this, is you've got a case going back a number of years. So it's not just Jason's daughter seeing it without any kind of evidential backing, you've got kind of historical accounts of seeing the same figure."
Danny added, "the other interesting odd layer to this is that his ghost has also been spotted at Covent Garden Tube Station as well. So if you ever go to the tube station or the Adelphi look out for the ghost of William Terrace."
Hands up who else is going to struggle to sleep tonight? 👻
— BBC Sounds (@BBCSounds) June 21, 2022
This ghost story from @JasonManford @danny_robins has us TERRIFIED 😱
As well as Jason's story, the special live edition of the podcast featured three other new cases, including Amanda's tale of a grey lady and invisible hands that walked her around her bedroom in an old farmhouse when she was a baby, Tony's story of encountering the vision of a dead woman while tackling a house fire in Northampton, and Laura's account of a time slip that she experienced on Oxford Street in London in 1993.
The special also included a quick update on Scott and his dad Brian's case from the previous two episodes that kicked off the summer special. Danny mostly talked about the theories sent in by listeners which could explain the paranormal activity that Scott and Brian experienced in the holiday home in Twillingate. He explored everything from the possibility that rocks being thrown around by the ocean in sea caves under the house might be responsible for the sounds heard there, to a theory involving dodgy wiring that could explain how someone could be thrown from their bed in the middle of the night.
All three parts of the 'Uncanny' Summer Special are available to listen to now on BBC Sounds. You can subscribe now on BBC Sounds and future episodes will automatically drop into your feed.
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