It has been announced that a spooky new digital play is being created by Original Theatre, the team behind Birdsong Online and Apollo 13. 

Entitled The Haunting of Alice Bowles, the new piece is based on M R James’ ghost story, The Experiment. It bounces between two time periods, 1918 and 2020, in a retelling of the story of Alice Bowles, a widow who has to solve a riddle left behind by her late husband. In the modern day, two Youtubers pick up the trail. 

The play, due to be released online on 17 December, will star Janie Dee, Max Bowden, Stephen Boxer, Jack Archer, Alexandra Guelff, Robert Mountford, Poppy Roe and Tim Treloar. 

Phillip Franks, who has penned this new adaptation, said: “I’ve loved M R James ever since I was terrified by Whistle and I’ll Come to You on the BBC in 1968. A series of brilliantly subtle and scary adaptations of his ghost stories were a highlight of Christmas viewing for many years. Now it’s my turn. I’ve taken a very short story of his – as far as I know never dramatized before – and given it a modern twist for our troubled times. I hope audiences find it pleasurably terrifying.”

Tickets can be purchased here, only costing £10 if purchased before 31 October. The play will premiere on 17 December and will be available to stream through to 28 February.