BBC’s Uncanny explores the chilling decades-long haunting of a man pursued by Shadow Man, a mysterious entity seen by multiple witnesses. GAYLE FIDLER takes a look at the episode
The third episode of the BBC television series of Uncanny aired on Valentines Day 2025. A spooky treat for lovers of all things dark.
Shadow Man is a deeply unsettling episode. The witness is Julian. A music teacher in his mid-forties. Julian appears sincere and visibly shaken from events that have dominated his life from the age of seven. He is a haunted man. Julian contacted Uncanny to help him find answers and ultimately closure.
As an investigator of the supernatural, I always try to remain neutral as I review and write up cases. This one I found difficult. Because I too, have seen Shadow Man.
Julian’s story starts in the village of Crofton, West Yorkshire. A small community, where everyone knows everyone. When Julian was seven years old his father was killed in a tragic accident. This is when Shadow Man first appeared. Not just to Julian. His mother saw it as well. A 7-foot-tall entity. Darker than black. Faceless and featureless. It left the pair terrified and confused. Julian has spent many years living in a constant state of fear.
It then went on to appear to more people. Two of Julian’s childhood friends also saw Shadow Man. On one occasion they even followed it into the back garden before it disappeared. A group also saw it in the local cemetery. Watching them eerily from a distance, as they watched it.
Forensic psychologist Dr Ciarán O’Keeffe appears baffled by the case.
“It’s a tough one,” he exclaimed. “An unusual case, like a supernatural stalker.”
O’Keeffe is reminded of the Gorbals Vampire case from Glasgow in the 1950s. Multiple children claimed a creature with metal teeth had gone on a blood drinking killing spree. Mass hysteria ensued.
Parapsychologist Evelyn Hollow disagrees with this theory. Stating that the vampire case was an urban legend, and nobody witnessed anything taking place. Shadow Man however has been seen by multiple witnesses.
O’Keeffe as usual has another theory. This one gave Danny Robins the opportunity to test it out. Robins sets off to Crofton graveyard armed with a smoke machine and a light. He meets up with Julian and his friends to see if he can recreate Shadow Man in the form of a Brocken spectre. This is an optical illusion, sometimes seen by mountain climbers as the sun magnifies their shadow against mist.
Robins does cast a large and impressive shadow, however it does not effectively recreate Shadow Man. His name does not do him justice. As Julian and his friend explain, he was not a shadow. This was a solid being, not see through.
Julian continues to tell his story. Poltergeist activity plagued his house. Items appearing and disappearing. A locked cabinet would open of its own accord. All the activity seemed to centralise around a specific time. 2.11am. This time later became significant to Julian in a further tragic way.
Robins visits the University of London library to review the archives of ghosthunter Harry Price. Here he uncovers folkloric accounts of shadow creatures from across the globe. They all appear to tell a familiar tale. Stories of Shadow Man have been collected for centuries, in many different cultures. Mesopotamian, Inuit, Choctaw, Gaelic. The Price archives hold a mass of information on cultural beliefs all relating to a similar entity.
Back in Crofton, Julian searched for answers. Why did it appear in the first place? Could it be linked to family connections? On one occasion he tried to flee the house and phone the police, but something physically stopped him. Items continued to move seemingly on their own. There is one particularly terrifying event involving family photograph albums.
Julian eventually moved from his childhood home, but Shadow Man still haunted him. Julian was left terrified in the knowledge that it might find him and come back.
The episode does end on a lighter note, with some form of closure for Julian. Yet questions remain. Julian is not alone in his experiences and we still do not have answers. What is Shadow Man? What does it want? Where will it next appear and to who?
Tell us your thoughts on this episode of Uncanny: Shadow Man in the comments section below!
