Requiem: BBC's spooky Friday-night drama starts this week

Friday evenings on the BBC have become increasingly associated with upbeat sitcoms and witty panel shows.

But fans of things that go bump in the night will find a more pleasing alternative in Requiem - a new six-part paranormal drama that looks set to get weekends off to a spooky start.

The supernatural thriller follows talented 23-year-old cellist Matilda Gray (Ripper Street's Lydia Wilson), who is recovering from the shock of her mother's unexpected suicide.

As she sorts through her late parent's possessions, she stumbles upon a horde of newspaper cuttings regarding a toddler who disappeared from a remote Welsh village, nearly 25 years earlier.

Subsequently, she calls on close friend and fellow musician Hal (Game of Thrones alumnus Joel Fry) to help her uncover the truth behind the missing child.

And any possible links to her mother.

Don't watch it alone

If that all sounds deliciously creepy, that's because it is, according to the cast.

Co-star Joanna Scanlan believes the show is "very scary", adding: "Don’t watch it alone or in the dark."

Wilson says: "I hope [audiences] will feel like we did when we made it - intrigued by this strange thing that doesn’t look like anything else.

"I think it’s great to do something like this, which is uncomfortable and unfamiliar. It’s fantastic to make something that is so bold."

'Don't watch it in the dark': Requiem looks to be very scary indeed (Photo: BBC)

Requiem looks to go beyond its surface tropes of missing children, and remote, fog-drenched communities.

It also deals with the psychological challenges of loss and bereavement; how losing a parent can set in motion an identity crisis.

'I hope we scare the bejesus out of viewers'

The atmospheric show is very much inspired by psychological horror films like Don't Look Now and Rosemary's Baby, and has been produced for both the BBC and Netflix.

Downton Abbey's Brendan Coyle - who plays a detective haunted by the original investigation into Carys's sudden disappearance - likens it to The Omen, telling the Mirror that "it preys on our faith."

"I watched the first episode in the dark and I was terrified. I hope we scare the bejesus out of viewers."

Requiem starts on BBC One this Friday February 2 at 9pm