The Whisperer in Darkness Episode 2

## Synopsis

Henry Akeley's disappearance leads Heawood & Kennedy to Rendlesham Forest.

## Plot

After the events of the previous episode, Matthew Heawood and Kennedy Fisher go back into Henry Akeley's house and discover 16 audio tapes Henry had made before he disappeared. They play the first two for the listener to hear. In the first one, dated 5th of May 2019, he talk about the police ignoring him, a man named Walter Brown watching him, and a broadcast that he keeps hearing on his radio. He mentions that Albert Wilmarth is the only person he trusts, but has been unable to play the broadcast to him. The second tape, made at 2:17am the following morning, consists of an unearthly static hissing and dogs barking. Henry narrates that several figures have surrounded his house but he cannot see them well due to the lack of light. It ends with one of the dogs yelping in pain as it's killed by the intruders.

Kennedy goes to the Rendlesham vicarage to interview Albert about his relationship with Henry. He tells Kennedy that the two of them bonded over their shared interest in British mythology, and that Henry often spoke about Amelia Fenner. Amelia came to Rendlesham after leaving the New Forest coven because of the richness of the local folklore, and Henry became part of her group when he was a teenager. However, the events of the Rendlesham Forest Incident scared Henry out of it, and by the time he met Albert, Henry's interest in witchcraft was purely academic.

Meanwhile, Matt is given a tour of Rendlesham Forest by American ufologist Dean Perry, who describes the events of the Rendlesham Forest Incident as they walk. On Christmas night, 1980, United States Air Force personnel stationed at RAF Woodbridge see red and blue lights in the woods. After confirming there are no civilian or military aircraft in the area, they send a team of four to investigate. As they enter the forest their radios fail, and two of them stay behind to keep in contact with the base. The other two continue further, following an intense static charge, and see a triangular UFO. One of them is frozen in the UFO's light, while the other touches the craft and experiences a flood of binary information before he lets go and the craft departs. The two men return, only to find a manhunt underway for them as they been gone far longer than they thought, and their watches were 45 minutes slow. Two nights later the UFO returns and is witnessed by a different group of U.S. personnel. Matt concludes that while he doesn't have an opinion on UFOs, he thinks something must have happened to draw the U.S personnel into action.

Kennedy and Albert go to the area behind the Akeley House and they talk more about Henry's state of mind. Albert explains that Henry believed that the Rendlesham Forest Incident was the result of a ritual he and Amelia's group performed on that same night, but that it had nothing to do with aliens. He'd been trying to lay the force they had summoned to rest ever since, and later came to believe he'd been targeted by it. Albert explains that Henry never presented him with any evidence for his claims, not even the broadcast that he claimed to hear, and that despite humouring Henry, he never believed him. He believes Henry's deteriorating mental state is the cause of his disappearance. With little mystery so far, Matt and Kennedy discuss continuing the show but spinning it more towards a mental health angle, and decide to regroup to plan where to go from here.

As Kennedy travels back to London that night, she passes the Akeley house and notices there is a light on inside. She goes to the door and rings the wi-fi doorbell, and strangely finds that it's still working. She tries speaking to it, but only gets the radio girl's laughter as a response. She spots the light switching off and goes inside to find the house empty, but that the radio has been turned back on. As she starts looking around a broadcast is heard on the radio. It is of a music box playing *Girls and Boys Come Out to Play*, followed by a child's voice saying "Pa un pa un ur med drux", and then a burst of static before looping back to the start. As it plays, someone, or something, begins thumping on the house's front door, causing Kennedy to scream in terror.

## Cast, Characters, Crew

* Jana Carpenter as Kennedy Fisher
* Barnaby Kay as Matthew Heawood
* Mark Bazeley as Albert Albert
* David Calder as Henry Akeley
* Robert Glenister as Dean Perry
* Ben Crowe as Penniston
* Edie Simpson as Child's voice
* Charles Halt as himself (archive audio)
* Bruce Englund as himself (archive audio)

* Writer & Director: Julian Simpson
* Production Coordinators: Sarah Tombling and Holly Slater
* Sound Recordist and Designer: David Thomas
* Composer: Tim Elsenburg
* Producer: Karen Rose

## Notes and Trivia

* The audio of Charles Halt and Bruce Englund are the genuine recordings from the Rendlesham Forest Incident.
* You can find a full transcript of Lt Colonel Charles Halt's tape from the Rendlesham incident online on Ian Ridpath's website.
* Ridpath's website also gives a good overview of the incident and various theories surrounding it.

## References

1. ↑ Julian Simpson interview with SFB