BBC’s ‘The Witch Farm’ Has Serious Spooky Season Vibes
The BBC will bring viewers a Welsh ghost story for Halloween.
As autumn begins and Halloween draws nearer, expect to see more festively spooky fare heading to networks and streamers everywhere. This year, the BBC’s big ghost story for the season has a distinctly Welsh flair. Based on Danny Robins’ hit BBC4 podcast of the same name, The Witch Farm draws on events that took place 30 years ago in the Brecon Beacons. In 1989, a young couple moved into a remote farmhouse and endured years of inexplicable and terrifying paranormal activity.
(Fun fact: The house is named Heol Fanong; it’s real; and it’s officially the most exorcised home in Britain.)
The series stars Gabrielle Creevey (Amadeus) and Michael Socha (Showtrial) as Liz and Bill Rich, a young couple who buy what they believe is their dream home: a beautiful spot in the Welsh countryside, perfect for raising a family. But their dreams of an idyllic rural paradise soon turn into a nightmare.
As a series of increasingly frightening events begin to occur — the real stories claim everything from poltergeist activity and ghostly apparitions to possession — the isolation and unexplained disturbances begin to take a toll on their marriage.
Here’s the series’ synopsis.
South Wales, 1989. Bill, Liz, and their teenage son Jonathan leave London for Heol Fanog, a remote modern farmhouse in the foothills of the Brecon Beacons, determined to make a fresh start. At first, the isolation feels like freedom. But when frightening, inexplicable things begin to happen around the house and a strange figure begins to appear, the family starts to feel increasingly scared.
What follows is a steady escalation of the chillingly uncanny - unexplained disturbances and an unsettling sense that they are not alone.
As Bill and Liz begin to investigate, the house draws them deeper into a history that refuses to stay buried. And as the land yields its secrets, so too does their marriage - testing the limits of trust, belief, and what they’re willing to deny in order to survive.
(Photos: Bill (Michael Socha) (Image: Simon Ridgway/Mammoth Screen/BBC)
Alongside Creevy and Socha, the series also stars Lewin Lloyd (His Dark Materials), Sian Gibson (Death Valley), Robert Pugh (Game of Thrones), Jeremy Swift (Ted Lasso), Edward Holcroft (Industry) and Roger Evans (House of the Dragon).
Series creator Robins penned all episodes, with director Stacey Gregg helming all installments, and Megan Ott producing. Executive producers include Gregg, Robins, Simon Barnard, James Gandhi and Damien Timmer for Mammoth Screen, and Nawfal Faizullah and Rebecca Ferguson for the BBC. ITV Studios produces it in association and distributes it internationally, with additional funding from the Welsh Government via Creative Wales.
The Witch Farm doesn’t have a confirmed release date, but it seems obvious that it will air in the U.K. before Halloween. The series doesn’t have an American distributor yet, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see it hit BritBox around the same time.
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