After an ultra-competitive bidding war, Blumhouse Television and Michael Seitzman’s Maniac Productions have officially secured the rights to BBC Radio 4’s “The Battersea Poltergeist” podcast. Blumhouse is developing the podcast as the first season of an ongoing scripted series in conjunction with an unscripted series titled Blumhouse’s Ghost Story.
The companies have also secured Shirley Hitchings’ life rights along with the right to her and James Clark’s book, The Poltergeist Prince of London: The Remarkable True Story of the Battersea Poltergeist.
Written and presented by Danny Robins, the Battersea Poltergeist Podcast was the #1 drama podcast worldwide on Apple Podcasts. The show features the vocal talents of Dafne Keen (Logan) and Toby Jones (The Dark Crystal). The podcast follows the strange events involved in the haunting Shirley Hitchings in 1956. The investigation lasted 12 years and was the longest documented poltergeist haunting in history.
“It’s been an amazing journey making the podcast for the BBC and now I couldn’t have hoped for a better partner than Blumhouse, a leader in the genre, when looking to further develop it,” said executive producer and series creator Danny Robins. “I’m thrilled to work with them and Michael to bring the series to life visually. Ghost stories don’t get stranger or scarier than this.”
“Once you listen to the gripping and terrifying true story of Shirley Hitchings, it’s easy to understand why Danny’s podcast inspired two-page spreads in every newspaper in the UK,” said executive producer Michael Seitzman. “It was exactly what we’d been looking for to launch our new ongoing series based on true hauntings. As he did with his podcast, Danny Robins will have viewers sleeping with the lights on after they watch his show!”
Danny Robins, Michael Seitzman, Jason Blum, and Chris McCumber are set to executive produce both the scripted and unscripted series. Additionally, Emma Cooper (The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, Bikram) is on board to produce via her company Empress Films on the unscripted series with the production team.
