TV STAR REVEALS FEAR OF SCRIPTS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT DOUGIE'S TEEN SEANCE CHILLS
Primeval star Douglas Henshall revealed fighting dinosaurs was easy compared to his latest role... battling the supernatural.
The Paisley-born actor faced down ferocious beasts in ITV's recent Saturday night hit.
But when it comes to things that go bump in the night, Douglas, 41, comes out in something close to a cold sweat.
The actor, who appears in paranormal drama Sea Of Souls this week, confessed to a teenage brush with a Ouija board - used to communicate with the dead during a seance.
He is reluctant to discuss the hair-raising experience but when pressed, said: "I don't really want to talk about it because it sounds really stupid.
"It's like talking about acting - you can never actually make it sound like anything that people are prepared to listen to with a straight face.
"It happened when I was 15 and involved a Ouija board but it was very scary and enough to put me off it for life."
Douglas plays a 19th-century occult leader in the Sea Of Souls two-parter on BBC1.
The character's presence is felt in the present by a couple who move into his former home, a derelict manor house in the Highlands.
Douglas admits the subject matter makes him uneasy because he's something of a believer.
He said: "I didn't do much research for the role because I get a little freaked out by all that kind of occult stuff.
"I don't think it's poppycock. I didn't want to go there, because I think if you do, you're inviting stuff that you won't necessarily like.
"I just think there are greater things at work than we're aware of. I don't have any explanations, I just have a healthy respect for it.
"There are so many instances of spirits, it can't be so prevalent in all ages and societies without having some basis in something real.
"But I wouldn't want to muck about with it in any way because I think it could be quite scary."
In Sea Of Souls, Douglas actually had to film a seance in which he was possessed by a spirit.
Given his past experience, he might have been expected to run a mile but, ever the professional, he toughed it out.
He said: "I was fine FILMING a seance because I'm kind of in control of it, so it's all right.
"I wouldn't go to one. I think it's best left to people who know what they're doing. I'm not a thrillseeker in that way."
In the award-winning show, Dougie plays a character called Robert Dunbar who becomes involved with an occult group, The Golden Dawn, when he discovers his wife Mary (Christine Bottomley) is dying. His story comes to light when a modern day couple, Ian and Karen O'Rourke (Ben Miles and Scots star Neve McIntosh) discover strange painted symbols and diagrams while renovating Dunbar's former home.
When unexplained events start to occur, they call in professor of parapsychology Douglas Monaghan (Bill Paterson) to investigate.
Douglas said: "My take on Dunbar is that he's a man who can't or won't accept that his wife is dying.
"He has a power to stop that from happening so he's going to do anything he can to stop it and his morality just goes flying out the window.
"He's a decent man who makes the wrong choice, or a few wrong choices.
So essentially he's a villain but I don't think he's necessarily a bad man."
It's classic watch-from-behind-the sofa TV but Douglas insists it doesn't scare him.
He said: "I'm not easily scared, though it's sometimes nice to get a fright.
"That's why fairground rides are so popular - because you want that bit of adrenalin and fright."
The actor, who got his big break in Peter Mullan's black comedy Orphans and cemented his rise with a series of acclaimed roles including Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, starts filming the second series of Primeval at the end of May.
He will return as Professor Nick Cutter, who heads a crack team investigating anomalies in time which allow dinosaurs to wreak terror in the towns and cities of today.
It's a big-budget, special effects-laden show which has proved a hit with critics and viewers alike. And as far as Douglas is concerned, it works because it offers pure, unadulterated entertainment.
He said: "People want to get back to being properly entertained. I don't want to watch another programme about 12 people losing weight!
"Recently we've had an upsurge of people going, 'OK, enough reality TV.' It's absolutely s****.
"I think the Indians got it right when they were demonstrating and saying, 'Death to the makers of Big Brother!' It would be nice to remind people what was so great about Saturday nights and the best thing about Primeval is that it's good entertainment.
"It's not rocket science. It just has to be really good entertainment. We do that really well in this country."
'I get a little freaked out by all this occult stuff, it's as if you are inviting stuff that you won't necessarily like'
Steve Hendry - The Sunday Mail - 15th April 2007