Former Blue Peter presenter to star in When Darkness Falls at Salisbury Playhouse

The actor and former Blue Peter presenter, who is set to tread the boards in When Darkness Falls at Salisbury Playhouse, had been visiting the island of Sark when he hitched a ride back to Portsmouth on a boat with three or four others and they broke down.

“It was the middle of the night and we were floating in the English Channel, with no light, no power, and big steamers going past,” he recounts. “We did a lot of shouting and I remember looking at the guy driving the boat and seeing the panic in his eyes.”

Duncan and his shipmates waited out the long, dark night, before eventually waving down another boat, which sent word they needed help. He finally made it safely to shore, but the fear he felt that night is fresh in his mind as he prepares to star in the new ghost story.

“What I experienced wasn’t psychic or paranormal, but the script resonated when I read it as I had had this experience, and When Darkness Falls has a story about a sea trip with something strange that went on during it,” he says.

The play is inspired by true events, and written by James Milton and Paul Morrissey. It focuses on a young paranormal expert (Daniel Rainford) who joins a sceptical history teacher, played by Duncan, to record the first in a series of podcasts based on the island’s folklore and paranormal history.

Duncan was hooked after reading the script and becoming “intrigued on several levels”.

“Islanders have lots of strange things happening to them, history wise,” he says. “And it ups the stakes when people talk about the unseen.”

The play has already had a run at London’s Park Theatre, with one review describing the tension as “overwhelming” - leaving audiences “cowering every time the lights get low”.

For Duncan, part of the fun of performing in the play will be the audience reaction. “People go in cynically, thinking they won’t be scared, but then you catch them out and you do scare them and that’s the trick of it,” he says.

Duncan was also drawn to When Darkness Falls because of the fact it will see him return to the stage for the first time since theatres closed in March 2020.

Prior to the pandemic hitting, he had been appearing in a tour of musical Million Dollar Quartet.

When that stopped, he found himself moving his work online and making a pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, in which he starred. It was filmed and shown in cinemas and Duncan has since made a further two online pantomimes.

But he is eager to return to the live stage on this seven-week tour.

The Salisbury Playhouse, meanwhile, has a strong pantomime connection.

“I bought all their pantomime costumes when they ran out of space,” he laughs. “My house is full of pantomime dame costumes, all made by the wonderful team at Salisbury Playhouse.”

However, he says he has never played at the Oldham Coliseum, despite his long and varied career, and is itching to get there.

“If you start your career in theatre, like I did, the excitement of doing a play or musical never goes,” he says. “I still get that thrill, and I am still excited about doing it, which is great.”

Duncan’s own stage career began when he appeared in Treasure Island in 1969, before he moved into television and became one of the faces of Blue Peter in the 80s. But he soon found his way back into theatre, appearing in musicals such as Barnum and Me and My Girl.

“I had always wanted to get into big musicals,” he admits. “For me, big musical parts are as hard as the big Shakespearean parts. They are the modern version of these roles.”

But he has also appeared in many plays, including the stage adaptation of Sebastian Faulks’ Birdsong, with When Darkness Falls continuing this trend.

And Duncan is very happy about it.

“It’s so lovely to go back to being on a stage, and being convincing as a character and drawing people in,” he says. “I find it thrilling to do.”

Darkness Falls is at the Playhouse from September 27 to October 1. Visit: wiltshirecreative.co.uk