Is there life after death? Actress Cathy Shipton, best known for playing Duffy in the BBC drama Casualty, is not sure if she has much truck with the idea.

“I think I’m a bit wishy-washy about that,” she says, but she does not dismiss the theory out of hand.

“You can have a hunch or instinct and it works out right, or people have a dream.

“We give those things names like a ‘sixth sense’.

“I think there’s a bit of that kind of energy in all of us whether we pursue it or not.”

But it is a question her character in the supernatural thriller, I Met a Man Who Wasn’t There, is searching for answers to.

She plays investigative journalist Amanda Schilling, a former Fleet Street hack, who turns her back on the nationals and becomes a correspondent in war-torn Bosnia, where she adopts a young boy.

“Her natural position is to be cynical and to doubt the possibility of that [supernatural events]. But certain events that have happened to her since she adopted this child, and her experiences have led her to question it.

“I think she would feel safer being a cynic. It’s like a door has opened to another world.” Written by former Emmerdale and Heartbeat scriptwriter Philip Meeks, the thriller tells the story of Edgar Ryme, a popular medium who disappeared from public life after his wife died.

Amanda tracks him down to a flat in a northern seaside town and, despite having turned his back on the spirit world, he agrees to an interview.

But as Edgar tells Amanda his story he unearths her own secret. The pair engage in a battle of wits as a terrifying tale unfolds featuring malevolent spirits, plot twists and shocks.

Shipton, a former Coloma schoolgirl, stars opposite ex-Corrie baddie Brian Capron, who stepped into the role at short notice.

“His interpretation of the character is very true to the writing,” she says. “It’s not at all vain. He plays quite a shambling eccentric with a shabby beard.

“To entertain the audience with just the two of you is quite intense.

"Certain things are revealed through the show, it’s quite macabre and surreal.”

I Met A Man Who Wasn’t There, Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, June until 18, 7.30pm, 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinee, £14, £18, 020 8688 9291, fairfield.co.uk