Ring, ring: London statues want to talk to you

Calling all London tourists: Peter Pan, Sherlock Holmes and Queen Victoria want a word with you.

Statues of some three dozen historical and fictional characters in London and Manchester are coming to life thanks to a new interactive project that gives them a voice to tell their stories.

Passers-by can swipe their smartphones on a tag or type in a web address to get an instant call from the characters depicted. Actors including Patrick Stewart and Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville perform the monologues, which last a few minutes each.

The project, launched Tuesday, features Isaac Newton at the British Library, Sherlock Holmes at Baker Street station, and Queen Victoria at Blackfriars Bridge, among others.

The statues will talk for a year and organisers hope to bring them to other cities.