Profile of writer, host and paranormal enthusiast, Danny Robins, by Fiona Dodwell

WHEN I was twelve, I stayed in my Aunt’s house in Northern Ireland. It was an old, one storey property that had apparently been a local dentist’s surgery and home many years before. Staying there with just a very small handful of relatives, certain things that happened became hard to explain away. The house was impossible to warm, even with heating cranked up; lights would be on in the morning when we knew we’d turned them off the night before; items went missing and reappeared in odd places, and, chillingly, one morning we awoke to furniture in the lounge tipped upside down in the centre of the room. These experiences marked me for the rest of my life, and over time, I became deeply fascinated by the subject of the paranormal. Clearly, I am not alone, as people all over the world have been seeking explanations for events that should not have happened – unless ghosts exist. It’s not hard to see why writer, host and paranormal enthusiast DANNY ROBINS has been taking the world by storm with his hit series Uncanny and subsequent TV show and theatre tour. Here I take a look at the work and career of Danny and examine what keeps us so captivated about the paranormal…

Danny Robins has been bringing some of life’s biggest mysteries to the masses since his first podcast, The Battersea Poltergeist (a mixture of drama and documentary on the infamous haunting) became a hit with listeners in 2021, after it was released via BBC Radio 4. After that, he began interacting with audiences all over the world as they exchanged their real-life paranormal experiences with him online, and this proved to be the catalyst for his podcast Uncanny, which became an overnight sensation. Now, three seasons in, Uncanny has proven so popular that he has been touring the show across theatres in the UK to sold-out audiences, has released a book (via BBC Books) entitled Uncanny, and has starred in a three-part television series.

The paranormal seems to be in Danny’s blood. He is the writer and director behind West End smash hit, 2:22 A Ghost Story, which has starred huge names of the entertainment world such as Lilly Allen and Cheryl Cole. He has written for various TV shows, including Dracula for BBC 1, wrote and presented BBC Radio 4 show The Witch Farm, and presented the Haunted Podcast for Panoply. His life is fully immersed in the strange and weird, and thankfully for an intrigued public, we have been allowed to follow his journey.

It seems Danny Robins’ own experience has drive him to explore life’s biggest question: is there life after death? No spoilers here, but in his 2023 book, Uncanny, Robins’ describes an experience in which he is left not only traumatised but with a lingering hunger to know what could potentially lie on the “other side” – if anything at all.

His question – indeed, a question that has plagued humanity since time began – has lit a fire in the heart of not only the British public but for audiences over the world who have been tuning into his shows in their millions. Whilst the subject of the paranormal interests people of all generations, Danny seems to be tapping into something in a way that’s never been done before.

Uncanny, both the podcast and the current live show, seem to be capturing the attention of both sceptics and believers, and has managed to amass endless true-life encounters, of everyday people, from all over. The Uncanny phenomena is making people sit up and listen – and that can only be a good thing.

In a society increasingly wary of religion, seeking truth in the paranormal is perhaps a way for audiences in our modern world to seek deeper meaning and truth. If the success of Danny Robins is anything to go by, this is something we have all wanted, and perhaps needed, for a long time now. What is the truth about life after death? Perhaps we will never know on this side, but we may get closer to the answer by exploring the testimonies of those who have witnessed phenomena first hand.

Whether a sceptic or believer, Uncanny is not to be missed. Together with deeply respected names in the paranormal field – from Ciaran o Keeffe to Evelyn Hollow and Chris French, the topic of ghosts is tackled with warmth and respect… and leaves many with the confidence to finally say “I know what I saw…”

You can find out more about Danny Robins and his work HERE