RING RING RING –
Jan. 3, 2026 – During a tour of West Africa, where she was performing Shakespeare, a young Judi Dench was seized by a sudden premonition.
‘This was in the middle of lunch,’ she said, ‘and it was so strong that I asked if I could phone home to England, in a total stranger’s house.
‘I rang home and Daddy had just had a serious heart attack… and I sensed it thousands of miles away.’
Dame Judi, who tells this story in her 2010 autobiography And Furthermore, possesses a great wealth of theatrical tall tales which she tells with her unique dramatic flair. But this one is presented as simple fact. She believes, beyond doubt, that some telepathic sense told her that her family were desperate to speak with her.
Extraordinary as it seems, my research suggests that something similar has happened to more than three-quarters of us – up to 85 per cent in some countries, including the US.
For decades, I have been collecting accounts from people who say they have felt that a close friend or relative was about to call, or else felt a powerful urge to ring someone who, it turns out, was eager to hear from them.
The effect has nothing to do with physical proximity and everything to do with the close emotional connection between two people.
