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View Full Version : GHOSTWATCH - Excellent mockumentary


Scully1888
01-04-2006, 05:41 PM
Yay, Scully's back!!! etc.

Now, none of these spamming nonsense. I was just wondering if any other of my fellow Schmoes had ever seen Ghostwatch, a TV special filmed on Halloween 1992 in the UK where a so-called live broadcast was being filmed in the "most haunted house in Britain".

There was a presenter back in the studio (the highly-respected Michael Parkinson, who gave a lot of credibility to it) who would talk to the outside broadcast team who were "expecting" to have a couple of laughs with it and reveal it to be the hoax that it probably was.

Of course it doesn't turn out like that, things go wrong, ghostly images appear in the background and it ends up being genuinely scary.

I remember watching this at the young age of 9 and almost shitting my pants (as was the whole of the UK, it seemed). Although the "live broadcast" bits were pre-recorded, the studio was live and Parkinson would take calls from the public who would phone in and swear they'd seen a little girl standing in the corner, heard noises etc. Some of it was true (they had deliberately put people in the shadows and such) but a lot of it was the viewer's imagination.

The main "ghost" was a poltergeist called Mr Pipes, who possesses the girl living in the house with her family.

The whole thing's extremely realistic, very effective and remains one of the scariest things I ever saw.

I just bought it on DVD so I'm going to watch it and see if it's still as scary as it was 13 years ago, but going by its IMDb rating (http://imdb.com/title/tt0200659) I'd say it is.

EDIT: Just reading up on it, it seems someone commited suicide while watching it (though he already had a mental condition). Also, here's a site showing you all the times when the ghost of "Mr Pipes" appears.

http://www.untamedaggression.iofm.net/dvd-ghostwatch3.html

Cronos
01-05-2006, 12:04 AM
ive heard a hell of a lot about it but never seen it, when it was first broadcast i was 6 so didnt see it then, ill probably end up checking out the dvd at some point though

ive seen some clips of it and they managed to creep me out a bit

Scully1888
01-05-2006, 08:26 AM
Well I watched it after posting that first post and I bloody loved it!

It was a tad cheesy for the first 30 minutes (though bear in mind nobody knew it was a hoax) then things started "going" wrong and it because a game of Spot The Ghost, you could see Mr Pipes in the background and such.

I'll review it in full later on my site, but I'll post the review in the Reviews section here too.

Psychocandy
01-05-2006, 08:41 AM
I too haven't seen this and was surprised that the BBC didn't take the opportunity to show it again during their recent ghost story season on BBC4 (a lot off good stuff there including all of their M. R. James adaptations). I'll try to get a hold of the DVD because i'm certainly intrigued. I just wish I had seen it when it first aired. Looking forward to the review Scully.

Scully1888
01-05-2006, 04:01 PM
If you're going to Dead By Dawn this year I'll trade it with you my son. Bought a new DVD-writer so there'll be no errors this time. :D

Psychocandy
01-05-2006, 04:20 PM
Originally posted by Scully1888
If you're going to Dead By Dawn this year I'll trade it with you my son. Bought a new DVD-writer so there'll be no errors this time. :D

Of course i'm going. And there were only errors on one disc. I was well happy with our trade and would be interested in doing another one this year. We'll discuss it closer to the time.

doaflip
01-05-2006, 04:41 PM
Haha Ghostwatch is classic. How could anyone forget that girl belching out "what big eyes you have" whilst the presenter shouts "stop it!" Haha classic.

Apparently the reason the BBC released it on DVD is because they're not allowed to show it on TV ever again, as someone thought it was real and killed themself. That's what Richard & Judy said anyway. I don't know if I trust them. The bastards.

Scully1888
01-05-2006, 06:27 PM
Aye, here's the real story according to the guy who wrote it. The day after it was broadcast the papers were full of criticism, and then came the suicide story:

http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/166/mail.jpg

The programme was then nominated for a BATFA award (the UK equivalent of a Golden Globe, for you US chaps) but the BBC withdrew its entry because of the bad name it had been getting. As the write put it:

...the effect of all this was that the BBC clammed up and effectively disowned the programme, and subsequently behaved as though it had never happened. Allegedly, its nomination for a BAFTA award was quashed by the Powers That Be at the BBC. The Radio Times was ordered never to mention the programme again. (Even when Ruth, Lesley and I collaborated again on episodes of the BBC drama series Ghosts, Ghostwatch was never mentioned in the publicity.) I felt our work was like a dissident airbrushed out of a photograph in Stalinist Russia. Far from being proud of an unusual and provocative programme, the BBC clearly wanted to bury it. It was certainly absolutely clear it would never, ever get a repeat showing.

It was then the first ever TV programme to be cited in the British Medical Journal as having caused Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in children.

Since then it's never been shown and only appears on other channels referring to it, such as the Richard and Judy thing and Channel 4's 100 scariest moments (ranked 41st, behind The Others which is a disgrace in my opinion).

The full interview can be found here:

http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/166_ghostwatch.shtml

KillerKlown
01-06-2006, 08:33 AM
I remember watching it and being creeped out big time. I'll have to pick this up on DVD.

Scully1888
01-10-2006, 07:15 PM
Here's a video I've captured from it, of my favourite bit in the whole show. See if you can spot the ghost of "Pipes". :)

http://media.putfile.com/Ghostwatch

I'll stick the review up this weekend, I have to go to Bath on Thursday to get an interview for a job at gamesradar.com.

Scully1888
01-10-2006, 07:29 PM
God damn double post. :(

KillerKlown
01-11-2006, 05:53 PM
Originally posted by Scully1888
I'll stick the review up this weekend, I have to go to Bath on Thursday to get an interview for a job at gamesradar.com.



Good luck!

someguy
01-11-2006, 06:28 PM
I watched this and liked it a lot. Since a lot of the scares were more subtle it still has power today.

Jewbo
01-18-2006, 02:56 AM
I was 10 when this came out and remember sitting down watching it and getting scareder than I have ever been in my life. Even to this day I remember turning it over and watching the film wall street. For weeks I couldnt sleep well. Having got it now on dvd I cant believe I was fooled.