The Woman in Black: Angels of Death

Unless there are flashbacks involved, the time scale of the storyline suggests that Daniel Radcliffe will not be back to reprise his role as Arthur Kipps.

His character would be in his 60s or 70s by the time that the next installment picks up the story of The Woman in Black. Though Radcliffe was famously aged with make-up for the Harry Potter finale, that was only one scene. It would be difficult to maintain the realism of such a young actor playing an older man throughout an entire film.

Also neither Hammer Films nor Susan Hill have mentioned Arthur Kipps in relation to the sequel. It will have to stand or fall on merits other than Radcliffe's considerable pulling power.

This is not an adaptation of an existing Susan Hill story, so even diehard fans are going to find something new.

As someone who counts herself amongst their number, I have mixed feelings about the announcement of The Woman in Black sequel.

On the one hand, I'm thrilled to bits that Susan is going to be writing a) in this genre and b) in this specific location again. I read that classic ghost story long before anyone had even made a stage-play of it, let alone either of the films.

The fact that she will have grown as an author in the interim makes this whole prospect even more delicious to contemplate. I want her to hurry up and get it published already!

On the other hand, I'm very dubious about the wisdom of turning this story into a franchise. Sometimes less is more and that is the very technique used to render The Woman in Black such a chilling read.

The visual nature of the movie screen means that the shocks and horror had to be pumped up a gear, so it was already bordering upon going too far. Sequels have to go further still. I'm worried that the light touch will be lost; and with it the whole story.

Of course, I, along with everyone else, will have to reserve judgment until we've seen it.