BBC1 - Ghostwatch

Have you ever, I mean ever had the kind of experience that leaves you cold and plagued by recurring memories of what you have seen? Well I have, and I hope that they will come back soon!

Ten years ago, on October 31st 1992, the BBC screened what was to become one of it's most notorious programmes. It was screened as a special edition of it's 'Screen One' drama series, but the techniques involved, ground-breaking and innovative in their ...
...questioning whether what they had just witnessed was dramatisation or a very scary shared experience.

Nowadays we are used to programmes like '24' that give us real-time dramatisation, but 'Ghostwatch' was only a 90 minute play, but a 90 minute play which used actors and television presenters, which lent the air of realism, if you can call it that!

It was presented by Michael Parkinson, that doyen of investigative journalism, ... more

Have you ever, I mean ever had the kind of experience that leaves you cold and plagued by recurring memories of what you have seen? Well I have, and I hope that they will come back soon!

Ten years ago, on October 31st 1992, the BBC screened what was to become one of it's most notorious programmes. It was screened as a special edition of it's 'Screen One' drama series, but the techniques involved, ground-breaking and innovative in their day, left every single one of the 11 million viewers questioning whether what they had just witnessed was dramatisation or a very scary shared experience.

Nowadays we are used to programmes like '24' that give us real-time dramatisation, but 'Ghostwatch' was only a 90 minute play, but a 90 minute play which used actors and television presenters, which lent the air of realism, if you can call it that!

It was presented by Michael Parkinson, that doyen of investigative journalism, who was joined by Mike Smith in the studio. Smith was dealing with the specific phoneline set up, which was 'called' by actors, but members of the general public did phone on the night, only to be told it was fictitious and counsellors were on hand.

In a house in the leafy suburbs were Craig Charles and Sarah Greene, who were 'investigating' the haunting of a house and a family by a cheery, mutilated fellow known only as 'Pipes'. Indeed one of the adept things in the editing of the show were appearances by Pipes, in a kind of 'did I really just see that?' kind of way.

The first 30 minutes of the show are a little slow- it would appear that the haunting is a hoax, and the studio begins to wind down- then a number of strange things happen. There are eerie noises, cats under the stairs, lights flicker, and the daughter of the family is 'possessed', with mutilations appearing on her face and her reciting nursery rhymes in a voice that is clearly not her own. I know that this sounds like a rip-off of 'The Exorcist', but our minds tell us that we are watching a real documentary, so well do the presenters play it with the much-needed straight face. Indeed it could even be said that the documentary style is done to much better effect than in 'The Blair Witch Project'!

Eventually chaos breaks out in the house. There is a great deal of noise, and we are treated to Mike Smith in the studio seeing Sarah Greene, his wife, dragged into a cupboard by an unseen force, never to be seen again. And what makes it worse is taht he doesn't ham it up- we start to think it is genuine, if we haven't started already!

The chaos then spreads to the studio, with lights exploding and darkness taking over. The chilling end to the programme is Michael Parkinson speaking, trying to make sense of the mayhem, and then suddenly reciting the nursery rhyme in that same voice as earlier, the one that is clearly not his......

So, did Michael Parkinson really become possessed? Was Sarah Greene killed? Of course not, but the power of this programme is that it succeeded in making viewers suspend their disbelief into believing that it was a real documentary, not a play, and that is its true strength.

The actors are okay, if not great, but the presenters are brilliant, and it is their skill that make sus wonder if it is actually happening.

The programme has never been repeated on television, such was the outcry after its broadcast. The British Film Institute, however, is releasing it this autumn as part of its 'Archive Selection'.

I for one will be ensuring that I have this piece of television history in my collection. In the 1930s 'The War of the Worlds' caused an outcry and mass hysteria, but this programme from 1992 is all the more powerful in my view, as it set its supernatural events in our own backyard, so to speak.

If you have any memories of the programme, feel free to leave a comment.

Neil
August 2002  

...less