Haunted 80-06-21 (01) Little Girl Lost

Summary

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Harold's Old Time Radio — "Haunted" (80-06-21) Little Girl Lost

Date: October 15, 2025
Episode Theme:
An eerie drama about grief, the supernatural, and the complexities of family relationships, "Little Girl Lost" centers on Mrs. Grove, her fraught relationship with her son Herbert, daughter-in-law Sally, and granddaughter Janet. After Mrs. Grove’s husband dies, her insistence on speaking with his spirit unsettles the household, leading to tragic events and a haunting conclusion that blurs the line between the living and the dead.

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Episode Structure & Key Segments

Introduction to the Family Tensions

[01:43-05:47]

• Characters introduced: Mrs. Grove, her son Herbert, daughter-in-law Sally, granddaughter Janet, and Dr. Raven.
• Mrs. Grove's odd behavior: She talks to her deceased husband, John, arousing concern.
• Dr. Raven's assessment: Recognizes the grief but sees no immediate harm, noting, “It’s not unusual for someone recently bereaved… Mrs. Grove is open about it, which isn’t a bad thing, really.” (05:02)

Janet and Mrs. Grove’s Bond

[06:13-11:16]

• Janet’s acceptance: Janet is unfazed by her grandmother’s conversations with the dead.
• Mrs. Grove finds solace in Janet, who listens nonjudgmentally:

  “At his funeral, I was saying to him in my mind, goodbye, my darling. And he gave that little chuckle which I knew so well. He said in reply, ‘Did you really think you got rid of me as easily as this? Not on your life.’” – Mrs. Grove (09:31)

• Lightness amid darkness: Janet jokes, “Oh, I wish I had a dead husband to talk to. Much more fun than washing and getting meals ready all the time.” (10:12)

The Family’s Rising Anxiety

[11:43-13:13]

• Sally and Herbert’s fear: Sally confides, “My mother-in-law is gaining too much influence over my daughter. They laugh together. It’s the laughter that frightens me most.” (12:01)
• Sally’s frustration: “We should never have sent her to that damn clinic. All she needed to keep her happy was a harmless ghost.” (17:15)

An Eerie Pact and Mrs. Grove’s Demise

[15:10-21:52]

• Mrs. Grove and Janet’s secret: Mrs. Grove entrusts Janet with her psychiatric medication, hoarding the pills.
• Mrs. Grove dies suddenly; ambiguity surrounds her death—was it a natural end, or suicide by overdose?

  “Dr. Raven said…there’s reason to believe that your mother died from an overdose of those tablets the psychiatric clinic gave her.” – Herbert (16:41)

• Guilt and denial: Sally and Herbert accuse each other, only to discover Janet was unwittingly involved, having obeyed Gran’s wishes but withheld half the pills, torn between love and fear.

  “You loved her so much that you couldn’t refuse to do what she wished. But at the same time, you hoped that if she didn’t take enough, her plan might fail.” – Sally (21:46)

Secrets, Regrets, and the Supernatural Finale

[22:26–28:36]

• Sally’s confession: As a child, she aided her mother in her bid for freedom, feeling guilt afterwards.
• The haunting intensifies: After a family holiday, Janet claims to hear Gran and John’s voices when they return home. She runs inside; the front door, supposedly locked, is somehow open. Janet vanishes inexplicably, leaving the family distraught.

  “Janet, where are you? … She can’t vanish… No. Not vanished... She’s lost.” – Sally and Herbert (26:39-27:34)

• Closing note: The episode ends affirming the uncertainty between the supernatural and psychological, as the family is left with their loss and unanswered questions.

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Notable Quotes and Emotional Beats

• Mrs. Grove on Grief:
  “So I am. But I still talk to my husband. Sally doesn’t understand… They think I imagine it.” (03:16)
• Janet’s Innocent Acceptance:
  “Why shouldn’t you talk to your husband?” (09:17)
• Sally’s Resignation:
  “All she needed to keep her happy was a harmless ghost.” (17:15)
• Janet’s Heartbreak:
  “She’s gone away and left me, and it’s all my fault.” (21:52)
• Haunting Ambiguity:
  “Janet. You haven’t got a front door key. Janet, come back!... She kind of disappeared. Not like that.” (26:11-27:07)

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Memorable and Pivotal Moments

• [05:15] – Sally confides how Mrs. Grove’s presence is oppressive but also hints at deeper family wounds.
• [09:31] – Mrs. Grove’s funeral anecdote with John’s “reply” reveals her grief and delusions.
• [11:16] – Sally’s realization that Janet is being drawn into Mrs. Grove’s world.
• [16:41] – Dr. Raven’s suggestion that Mrs. Grove died from an overdose, moving the family to guilt and suspicion.
• [21:46] – Sally’s bittersweet understanding of Janet’s actions: a child’s love weaponized by an adult’s despair.
• [26:01-27:31] – Janet seems to merge with the supernatural, culminating in her unexplained disappearance.

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Episode Tone

• Atmospheric, somber, and unsettling. The tension derives more from psychological unease—grief, estrangement, guilt—than from explicit supernatural events.
• The finale blurs reality and the supernatural, leaving listeners with a sense of unresolved loss and ambiguity.

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Summary Takeaway

"Little Girl Lost" delivers a poignant, chilling story about how the past haunts the present, the danger of unresolved grief, and the ways in which familial bonds can be both a comfort and a curse. Its strength lies in subtle emotional complexity, drawing listeners into the world of a family undone by what may be ghosts—or simply the enduring power of memory and loss.

Transcript

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[Narrator]

We present haunted stories of the supernatural Little girl Lost by Rosemary Timperley Adapted.

[Jenny Linden]

For radio by Derek Hoddinott. Starring Jenny Linden as Sally, John Carson.

[Narrator]

As Herbert and Ruth Dunning as Mrs. Grove. Haunted.

[John Carson]

Mother, I brought Dr. Raven to see you.

[Narrator]

How do you do, Mrs. Grove?

[John Carson]

How do you do, Doctor?

[Ruth Dunning]

I thought it was Janet.

[John Carson]

Janet's not home from school yet, Mother.

[Ruth Dunning]

Oh, well, I don't understand, Sally. It's quite unnecessary to have called the doctor. I've only got a bronchial cold.

[Narrator]

Maybe, but there's no need to take risks, is there? An examination won't go amiss now, will it, Mrs. Grove?

[Ruth Dunning]

Such a fuss.

[John Carson]

If you'll excuse me one moment, Doctor.

[Narrator]

Yes, of course, Mrs. Lick, but it's.

[John Carson]

Just that I've got something cooking.

[Narrator]

I'll be perfectly all right.

[Bernadette Windsor]

I'm.

[Narrator]

I think Mrs. Grove and I will get along splendidly.

[Ruth Dunning]

And.

[Narrator]

And what, may I ask you? Laughing at something cooking indeed.

[Ruth Dunning]

I couldn't have put it better myself. You can stop this far, Doctor. I know why she sent for you. You've come to see whether I'm mad or not.

[Narrator]

I can assure you, Mrs. Grove, I haven't. I' because by the look of things, you've got a touch of bronchitis and a worried daughter in law.

[Ruth Dunning]

You're new, aren't you?

[Narrator]

I took over from Dr. Martin two months ago.

[Ruth Dunning]

Oh, I see. Thought I hadn't seen you before. Well, she thinks I'm mad.

[Narrator]

And why does she think that?

[Ruth Dunning]

Because she hears me talking to John.

[Jenny Linden]

Who's John?

[Ruth Dunning]

My husband.

[Narrator]

I thought you were a widow.

[Ruth Dunning]

So I am. But I still talk to my husband. Sally doesn't understand. Nor does my son. They think I imagine it.

[Narrator]

When did your husband die?

[Ruth Dunning]

He left the world a year ago. At first I stayed down at the cottage, then Herbert, he's my son. But my first husband insisted that I come and live here with him. I got accustomed to talking to John at the cottage, so it's difficult to remember not to know. Sally keeps catching me in the middle of a conversation with him. She looks at me as if she thinks I ought to be behind bars.

[Narrator]

You're an old fraud. Now, I'll go and leave a prescription for some linkers with Mrs. Lake. Good day, Mrs. Grove.

[Ruth Dunning]

Goodbye, doctor. You see, John, I knew she'd tell him, so I thought I'd put my side of it first. I was right to tell him, wasn't I? Oh, John, really.

[John Carson]

What did she tell you, Doctor?

[Narrator]

She talks with her dead husband. Her second husband, I gather.

[John Carson]

Yes, and it's getting worse. She talks to him all the time when she's alone.

[Narrator]

Well, it's not unusual for someone recently bereaved to feel the presence of a dead spouse. Many widows, and widowers too, for that matter, have the experience and keep it to themselves. Mrs. Grove is open about it, which isn't a bad thing, really.

[John Carson]

Oh, you don't have to live with it, Doctor. Putting me down, I can tell you. My husband laughs it off and says it's harmless. But then she doesn't do it so much when he's around. I expect she thinks it's tactless. You see, my husband Herbert didn't exactly love John Grove. His mother deserted his father and him for John when Herbert was only a little boy. Still, he's very fond of his mother. And when she was left on her own, he asked her to come here to stay with us. Although she's always made me feel uneasy. She's weird.

[Narrator]

Doctor, your mother in law mentioned Janet.

[John Carson]

Yes, she's our daughter.

[Narrator]

Does she find Mrs. Grove, well, weird?

[John Carson]

I don't know. I've expected her to say, who is Gran talking to? But she never does. She sort of accepts. Accepts it? You think I'm making a fuss about nothing? Oh, Janet, this is Dr. Raven, my daughter.

[Narrator]

Hello, young lady.

[Adrian Egan]

Hello.

[Bernadette Windsor]

It's Gran. Work?

[Narrator]

No, no, no, no, she's coming along nicely.

[Adrian Egan]

Oh, good. I brought her some of those wine gums she likes. I'll take them up to her.

[John Carson]

I know she might be asleep, darling.

[Adrian Egan]

No, she's not. I can hear her talking.

[John Carson]

That's the first time she's actually mentioned it.

[Ruth Dunning]

They always do that.

[Narrator]

Do what?

[John Carson]

I never know what they're laughing at.

[Narrator]

Well, it's probably something quite innocent.

[John Carson]

Well, it doesn't sound like it to me. Oh, Doctor, I'm sorry. Perhaps it is getting me down.

[Adrian Egan]

She sneezed with the wine gums. I told her she ought to go to sleep for a while.

[Narrator]

Absolutely right. What was the joke about?

[Adrian Egan]

Nothing I dare repeat in front of Mummy. It was something John said, that's all.

[Jenny Linden]

Sally, are you sure she said that?

[John Carson]

Of course I'm sure, Herbert. Right in front of Dr. Raven. When he asked her what she was laughing at, she replied it was something John said, that's all. The way she said it, so casual. It was the casual way she said it that frightened me.

[Jenny Linden]

Frightened you?

[John Carson]

Yes. You must do something. Go and speak to your mother. No, her. But while Janet's doing her homework.

[Jenny Linden]

Steady, Aunt Sally.

[John Carson]

I mean it. Something has got to be done.

[Jenny Linden]

She hasn't got much left in life, love. What's a bit of talking to herself matter?

[John Carson]

Please. Now.

[Ruth Dunning]

You look as though you've come.

[John Carson]

To tell me off.

[Jenny Linden]

Not really, Mother. It's just I. It's just this business of talking to John. We can't have you upsetting Janet, can we?

[Ruth Dunning]

I don't upset her.

[Jenny Linden]

Oh, Mother, listen to me now. John Grove is dead. Whatever you hear in your head, it's not him.

[Ruth Dunning]

You resent him. You always have. He took me away from you.

[John Carson]

But it was your own fault.

[Jenny Linden]

Don't let's rake up old history again, please.

[Ruth Dunning]

That old history happens to be my life.

[Jenny Linden]

I can't have you discussing him with Janet.

[Ruth Dunning]

When John speaks to me and Janet happens to be here, I can't ignore him. The child wouldn't expect me to. She doesn't think I'm out of my mind the way you and Sally do.

[Jenny Linden]

We don't think you're out of your mind.

[Ruth Dunning]

Yes, you do.

[Jenny Linden]

You know in your heart of hearts that he's not there at all.

[Ruth Dunning]

He is there. John is not a fantasy.

[Jenny Linden]

Yes, Danny.

[Adrian Egan]

Oh, sorry. I thought Gran was alone.

[Jenny Linden]

What do you want?

[Adrian Egan]

I've come to talk to Gran.

[Ruth Dunning]

Let her stay, Herbert. We enjoy our little chat.

[Jenny Linden]

All right, but remember what I said.

[Ruth Dunning]

Your father objects to me talking to John.

[Adrian Egan]

Why shouldn't you talk to your husband?

[Ruth Dunning]

It doesn't strike you as strange, then?

[Adrian Egan]

A bit. But then life is strange, isn't it? You never know what's going to happen next, do you?

[Ruth Dunning]

You know, my darling, yourself. So right and so young to have recognized that. Do you know, Janet, my dear, at his funeral, I was saying to him in my mind, goodbye, my darling. And he gave that little chuckle which I knew so well. He said in reply, did you really think you got rid of me as easily as this? Not on your life.

[Adrian Egan]

How fantastic. Did you laugh?

[Ruth Dunning]

I gave a rather undignified snort, which was taken fortunately for a sob.

[Adrian Egan]

You are marvellous, Gran. Oh, I wish I had a dead husband to talk to. Much more fun than washing and getting meals ready all the Time. Like Mummy does.

[Ruth Dunning]

You clean your room, don't you?

[Adrian Egan]

Well, that's Mummy's idea. Although actually I don't mind. It means she doesn't have to go in there and nose around.

[Ruth Dunning]

Yes, privacy is nice. I miss it. When I was alone at the cottage and John was there, I neglected the housework and he said, you're a natural slut. Look at that dust. And he laughs so sweetly.

[Adrian Egan]

People waste too much time dusting. Anyway, we're all made of dust, aren't we?

[John Carson]

Yes, John.

[Bernadette Windsor]

What did he say?

[Ruth Dunning]

He said only our bodies are.

[Adrian Egan]

I wish I could hear him too one day.

[Ruth Dunning]

Not yet. Herbert and your mother disapprove. As we live on charity in their house, we must respect their wishes.

[Bernadette Windsor]

What's the joke?

[Adrian Egan]

Granite.

[Ruth Dunning]

John's just uttered a word. A rude word.

[Adrian Egan]

What was it? I know nearly all of them.

[Bernadette Windsor]

Oh, no, I shouldn't. Oh, go on, please. Granite.

[Narrator]

Well now, Mrs. Lake. Is it you you've come to see me about or Mrs. Grove?

[John Carson]

Mrs. Grove.

[Jenny Linden]

I see.

[Narrator]

It was a month ago that I came to visit her, wasn't it?

[John Carson]

I need your help, Doctor. My mother in law is gaining too much influence over my daughter. She spends nearly every evening in her room. They laugh together.

[Narrator]

Well, isn't that a good thing, Mrs.

[John Carson]

It's the laughter that frightens me most of all. It's odd. It's not like normal laughter. They talk softly like conspirators. And last night something really awful happened. Well, I'm ashamed to admit this.

[Narrator]

Go on, please.

[John Carson]

Well, I listened at the door of Mrs. Grove's room. And I heard her say, well, John, how can Janet help us? And then she said, janet, open the door, quickly. The door was flung open and Janet caught me there listening. She said, mummy, you were listening. In a voice of horror. And I denied it and packed her off to bed. Then Mrs. Groves said you were listening, Sally. I know because John told me. Well, I tell you, Dr. Raven. I crept up those stairs without making a sound. How could she have known I was there?

[Narrator]

Oh, very easily, Mrs. Lake. A person living in a room all day gets to know every riddle sound the house makes. Every creak, every rustle, every whisper.

[Bernadette Windsor]

You.

[John Carson]

You don't think it is possible that.

[Ruth Dunning]

John is there, do you? No, I don't. But she thinks he is.

[Narrator]

And she has a strong personality. It's affecting you as well as Janet. I think it would be a good idea if you tried and persuaded Mrs. Grove to come in and see me.

[Ruth Dunning]

Your concern. Conspiring with my daughter in law to have Me put away. And that's the truth?

[Narrator]

Yes. Nothing of the sort, Mrs. Grove. But you do realize how much you're distressing the household by insisting that John is with you.

[Ruth Dunning]

I won't lie and pretend he's not.

[Narrator]

Well, then, couldn't you keep it more to yourself? Especially where the child's concerned.

[Ruth Dunning]

You're being stupid now, Doctor. It's Janet who understands, you see. If it weren't for her, I'd have escaped this life and joined John long before now. He wants me to, you know.

[Narrator]

Now, now, look, Mrs. Grove. Have you considered that the voice you hear isn't John at all?

[Ruth Dunning]

Don't be ridiculous, Doctor.

[Narrator]

What's so funny? Oh, it wasn't you.

[Ruth Dunning]

John just said something. It wasn't very polite, I'm afraid.

[Jenny Linden]

I see. Look, Mrs. Grove, I'd like to fix.

[Narrator]

An appointment for you at the psychiatric clinic.

[Ruth Dunning]

You've got me safe, my darling.

[Bernadette Windsor]

Yes.

[Adrian Egan]

Granite.

[Ruth Dunning]

John asks me to thank you for all that you're doing.

[Adrian Egan]

Thank you, John.

[Bernadette Windsor]

Shh.

[Ruth Dunning]

Careful, my little darling. Keep your voice down. She might be listening. It's difficult waiting like this. Still, it'll only be a few more hours, and then tonight.

[Adrian Egan]

I'm afraid, Grant.

[Narrator]

No.

[Ruth Dunning]

And you mustn't be either. You'll be saved.

[Adrian Egan]

I'm not afraid when I'm with you, Gran.

[Ruth Dunning]

Good. Be brave, little one. Let me have them after they've gone to bed. Creep in like a little ghost, eh?

[Adrian Egan]

What exactly will happen after?

[Ruth Dunning]

By tomorrow, you will know.

[Jenny Linden]

Did you say heart failure? When did it happen?

[John Carson]

Just after you and Janet left this morning.

[Jenny Linden]

Does Janet know yet?

[John Carson]

No. I thought she'd better stay at school for the day while we sorted things out.

[Jenny Linden]

Oh, God. Poor Mother. I'm sorry I couldn't get home quicker.

[John Carson]

The office says you were out. I couldn't reach you.

[Jenny Linden]

Yes, I had to go down the Plimston branch.

[John Carson]

Dr. Raven said something else. I didn't know whether to believe him or not. I mean, I find it hard to believe.

[Jenny Linden]

What did he say, sonny?

[John Carson]

Well, he said there's reason to believe that your mother died from an overdose of those tablets the psychiatric clinic gave her.

[Jenny Linden]

What?

[John Carson]

I said I thought it was impossible.

[Jenny Linden]

Of course it is.

[John Carson]

Well, I told him that I took charge of those tablets when she came home from the clinic, and that only I gave them to her one three times a day as procedures.

[Jenny Linden]

What do you say to that?

[John Carson]

Well, he said that mental patience.

[Jenny Linden]

Mental patience. She wasn't a.

[John Carson]

Mental patience, please.

[Jenny Linden]

Mental patience.

[John Carson]

Oh, he said that mental patients were skillful at pretending to have taken tablets yet, saving them up to take in one go. That's what he said.

[Jenny Linden]

Oh, my God. Heart failure. A broken heart's more like it. We should never have sent her to that damn clinic. All she needed to keep her happy was a harmless ghost.

[John Carson]

Harmless as well, you know.

[Jenny Linden]

We took away her only comfort.

[John Carson]

You mean I took away her only comfort.

[Jenny Linden]

All right, I do mean that.

[John Carson]

Am I being blamed for her death now?

[Jenny Linden]

Oh, Sally, of course you're not. You know what I mean.

[John Carson]

What are you saying next, it was me who administered the overdose?

[Bernadette Windsor]

Oh, Sally, for God's sake. Well, why not?

[John Carson]

That's what you really think. That is there true? Yeah. I couldn't get rid of her fast.

[Bernadette Windsor]

Enough, is that it?

[Jenny Linden]

Look, Sally, all I say.

[Bernadette Windsor]

I know what you.

[Ruth Dunning]

You said.

[John Carson]

I know what's at the back of your mind. Well, if you must know, it wasn't me. It was Janet.

[Jenny Linden]

What?

[John Carson]

Oh, my God.

[Bernadette Windsor]

I didn't want to believe it.

[Jenny Linden]

Sally, look at me. What? What do you mean, it was Janet?

[Bernadette Windsor]

But listen, I didn't want to feel thinking, but.

[John Carson]

Well, while I was waiting for the doctor to come, after I found your mother, I started to tidy up Janet's room. Well, you know, something to do. I, I, I just couldn't sit around the silence. Janet's room was in a mess again and her night dress was on the floor. It's unusual for her. She used to be so tidy. When I put the night dress back in her drawer, I, I, I found this.

[Ruth Dunning]

Look.

[John Carson]

A bottle with the tablets inside. Yes, I know, but. I know they're your mother's tablets.

[Bernadette Windsor]

But.

[Jenny Linden]

If mother had been hoarding three a day since she came home, there'd be twice as many of us. We'll have to talk to Janet when she comes in and she gets over the shock. Hello. What are you doing?

[Adrian Egan]

Hello.

[Jenny Linden]

I thought you might be asleep. Just looked in to see how you were.

[Adrian Egan]

I can't sleep.

[Jenny Linden]

No?

[Bernadette Windsor]

No.

[Jenny Linden]

Looking for something, were you?

[Bernadette Windsor]

What?

[Jenny Linden]

In the drawer. Looking for something?

[Adrian Egan]

No. Just tidying things up.

[Jenny Linden]

Your mother did that for you this morning?

[Adrian Egan]

No. Is that why I can't find anything?

[Jenny Linden]

Unless, of course, you were looking for this.

[Adrian Egan]

What is it?

[Jenny Linden]

What does it look like? It's a bottle. A bottle of tablets. Gran's temperates. You steal them, Janet?

[Bernadette Windsor]

No.

[Adrian Egan]

So someone seems to have taken them from me.

[Jenny Linden]

That's enough. Your mother found them and knew they couldn't possibly belong to you.

[Adrian Egan]

They are mine. He had no right to take them.

[Jenny Linden]

She had every right. Now, tell me, how did you get them, Gran?

[Adrian Egan]

Gave them to me.

[Jenny Linden]

Why?

[Adrian Egan]

To keep for her, that's all.

[Jenny Linden]

But you knew she was supposed to be taking them to cure her illness.

[Adrian Egan]

She wasn't ill and she didn't need.

[Bernadette Windsor]

To be drugged out of her mind.

[Adrian Egan]

So she blew John. She needed John. At least they're together now, so they'll be happy.

[Jenny Linden]

And Gran asked you to keep the tablets for her? Did you know she wanted them saved?

[Adrian Egan]

No, I just did as I was asked. Each day she saved three and passed them to me to keep safely until she asked for them back.

[Jenny Linden]

And did she ask for them back?

[Adrian Egan]

Yes, last night. So I gave them to her.

[Jenny Linden]

But not all of them. You kept these?

[Adrian Egan]

So it came many.

[Bernadette Windsor]

We paid too many.

[Jenny Linden]

I see. Oh, Janet. Janet, darling. She died of an overdose, love. It would have been more of an overdose if you had given her all the tablets. Is that why you only gave her half? You loved her so much that you couldn't refuse to do what she wished. But at the same time, you hoped that if she didn't take enough, her plan might fail. Is that how you'd worked it out in your mind?

[Bernadette Windsor]

Yes.

[Adrian Egan]

Yes, it's true.

[Bernadette Windsor]

And now she's gone away and left me and it's all my fault.

[Ruth Dunning]

No.

[Jenny Linden]

No, darling, it's not your fault. She could always make people do what she wanted. Fran was a very persuasive lady. We'll never mention it again, though. Never. It's our secret. Yours, Mummy's and mine. Okay. I don't want to talk about it anymore. Sally, it wasn't Janet's fault.

[John Carson]

Aiden abet someone she loved so much to commit suicide.

[Jenny Linden]

Look, there's something I've never told you before. When I was a child, I used to carry messages between Mother and John Grove. I even helped her run away.

[Ruth Dunning]

You did?

[John Carson]

Even when you knew it meant leaving you behind.

[Jenny Linden]

Now, the plan was that I should go with them. I funked it at the last minute, though. I let her down. I was tormented with guilt afterwards.

[Bernadette Windsor]

You let her down? You let her down.

[Jenny Linden]

You never understood Mother. And that's why you've never liked her. You see, she expected everything from those who profess to love her. She wouldn't even let poor old John die, would she?

[John Carson]

Well, at least your mother's death has rid this house with an abominable ghost or whatever it was. All right, Herbert. We'll try and forget them whole thing.

[Jenny Linden]

We will, in time. But it will take time. Perhaps a holiday would help. I've got some time. I mean. Yes.

[John Carson]

Where's Janet now?

[Jenny Linden]

Crying in her room.

[Adrian Egan]

Gran, is that you? I couldn't. I was too afraid. Now they found the bottle and taken it away. What? I don't know what they've done with it, honest.

[Bernadette Windsor]

Gran.

[John Carson]

Janet?

[Bernadette Windsor]

Yes, Mummy?

[John Carson]

Who were you talking to?

[Bernadette Windsor]

No one.

[Adrian Egan]

I was just learning some poetry. Saying it aloud to myself.

[Bernadette Windsor]

Oh, it was a lovely fortnight.

[John Carson]

It was a marvelous holiday, wasn't it, Janet?

[Bernadette Windsor]

Well, you enjoyed Spain, didn't you?

[Adrian Egan]

It was all right.

[John Carson]

You don't sound too sure.

[Bernadette Windsor]

All right, then.

[Adrian Egan]

I enjoyed myself.

[Narrator]

Oh, Miss Nasty.

[Adrian Egan]

I missed the house.

[Bernadette Windsor]

What? I said I missed the house.

[Jenny Linden]

I didn't.

[Adrian Egan]

I miss Gran, please.

[John Carson]

You know what I said.

[Adrian Egan]

I know what you said, but it doesn't make me feel any different.

[Jenny Linden]

Janet, Gran's dead. Let's forget about her, John, and all the others.

[John Carson]

I think we'll take the suitcases in when it stopped raining.

[Jenny Linden]

Okay. A nice cup of tea first, eh?

[Bernadette Windsor]

Oh, good. There's the house. Look. Look. Right.

[John Carson]

It's the same one we've lived in for the past 10 years.

[Adrian Egan]

I'm so pleased to be back again.

[Bernadette Windsor]

Listen.

[Jenny Linden]

What's the matter, Janet?

[Adrian Egan]

Can't you hear them?

[Jenny Linden]

We better make a dash for it.

[Bernadette Windsor]

You must be able to hear them in heaven. Amy.

[John Carson]

You talking about.

[Adrian Egan]

Listen, damn you.

[John Carson]

Listen, dare you? Janet.

[Jenny Linden]

Sonny.

[Bernadette Windsor]

Oh, my God.

[Jenny Linden]

Did you.

[Adrian Egan]

You heard them, didn't you?

[John Carson]

No.

[Adrian Egan]

They're inside waiting for me. They've missed me as much as I've missed them.

[Bernadette Windsor]

Now, listen to the.

[Jenny Linden]

Janet.

[John Carson]

I don't want to hear any more of this nonsense.

[Bernadette Windsor]

Gran. John. Here I am. I'm back. I'm back. Janet.

[Jenny Linden]

My God. What's she doing?

[Bernadette Windsor]

Janet. You haven't got a front door key. Janet, come back.

[Jenny Linden]

She's gone in. We must have left the door unlocked.

[Bernadette Windsor]

The door was locked. I made sure before we left. Janet. Janet.

[Ruth Dunning]

Janet.

[Bernadette Windsor]

Janet, where are you? Janet. Oh, come on now. Don't be silly. Janet. Oh. Oh, my God. What are we going to do? What in God's name are we going to do?

[Jenny Linden]

Sally. She's nowhere in this house. She's gone.

[Bernadette Windsor]

Brighton. Oh, Brighton.

[Jenny Linden]

She kind of disappeared. Not like that.

[Bernadette Windsor]

But listen. She's gone, Janice. She's gone.

[Jenny Linden]

She can't vanish.

[Bernadette Windsor]

No.

[John Carson]

No, not vanished.

[Bernadette Windsor]

She's lost. No.

[Narrator]

That was Little Girl Lost by Rosemary Timberley. Starring Jenny Linden as Sally, John Carson as Herbert and Ruth Dunning as Mrs. Grove. Janet was played by Bernadette Windsor and the Doctor and John Grove by Adrian Egan. Haunted was adapted and directed by Derek Hoddinott.

[Bernadette Windsor]

SA.