Ghostwatch

zooooooooooooo · 28/02/13 - 03:19

Does anyone remember this classic show from 1992. I've just bought it on dvd and watched it for the first time in 20 years, and although some of the acting is quite bad, it still stands out as a very good one off show. Images of it remained in my mind long after it had finished. And Pipes is still scary:eek:

Definately Michael Parkinsons finest hour.

[Deleted User] · 28/02/13 - 03:26

"The dog goes round and round the garden..."

DavetheScot · 28/02/13 - 04:07

I haven't seen it since the time, but I remember it as being very good.

pinkyponk34 · 28/02/13 - 04:10

So, for all us non mind-readers, what's it all about then ?

SteelEdge · 28/02/13 - 04:33

pinkyponk34 wrote: »

So, for all us non mind-readers, what's it all about then ?

It was basically a one-off drama spoofing 'Most Haunted Live', starring such stars as Sarah Green, Michael Parkinson, Mike Smith (I think), and Craig Charles. It was presented as if it was a real ghost-hunting tv show and it investigateda supposed haunted suburban house, and viewers were encouraged to call in if they saw a ghost. Loads of people weren't aware it was a drama and thought it was real and there were loads of complaints that their kids didn't sleep for like 2 days cos they were so scared.

I remember watching it as a kid when I was 9, and I missed the start so I believed it was real and it proper terrified me. Looking back it was quite funny, but in '92 it was no laughing matter

Here's a 3 minute segment from 100 Scariest TV Moments on the programme if you're not familiar with it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHxibm7nTPk

miaow · 28/02/13 - 04:42

Ghostwatch was amazing

and yeah it stayed in my mind too, for years afterwards I hoped they'd repeat it. I bought the dvd a couple of years ago for Halloween and my daughter loved it. I wish they'd do something else like that for next Halloween!

zooooooooooooo · 28/02/13 - 04:49

miaow wrote: »

Ghostwatch was amazing and yeah it stayed in my mind too, for years afterwards I hoped they'd repeat it. I bought the dvd a couple of years ago for Halloween and my daughter loved it. I wish they'd do something else like that for next Halloween!

Yeah I remember it clearly, it was a Saturday night, so no school the next day which made it even better, and nearly all the way through I thought it was all real and it was only in the last couple of minutes I realised it was all made up.

It was brilliant entertainment and was all anyone talked about in school on the Monday.

Leicester_Hunk · 28/02/13 - 04:52

SteelEdge wrote: »

It was basically a one-off drama spoofing 'Most Haunted Live', starring such stars as Sarah Green, Michael Parkinson, Mike Smith (I think), and Craig Charles. It was presented as if it was a real ghost-hunting tv show and it investigateda supposed haunted suburban house, and viewers were encouraged to call in if they saw a ghost. Loads of people weren't aware it was a drama and thought it was real and there were loads of complaints that their kids didn't sleep for like 2 days cos they were so scared.

I remember watching it as a kid when I was 9, and I missed the start so I believed it was real and it proper terrified me. Looking back it was quite funny, but in '92 it was no laughing matter

Here's a 3 minute segment from 100 Scariest TV Moments on the programme if you're not familiar with it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHxibm7nTPk

Sat by my nan's bed in hospital watching this and she died on the same night bless her. Always freaked me out.

Serial Lurker · 28/02/13 - 04:55

I remember watching it, I must have only been 8. Absolutely terrified me. I remember my parents had gone out and my uncle was babysitting, and he thought it was real too, the daft get.

miaow · 28/02/13 - 05:05

From what I can remember the BBC (or whoever made it) kind of played down that it wasn't real beforehand - I was halfway through watching before someone told me it wasn't real

I guess by 90s standards it was pretty convincing!

Apple_Crumble · 28/02/13 - 05:08

I remember watching it as a youngster in my parents bedroom (they were downstairs). I watched it purely by chance, by flicking through the channels at the time. It freaked me out!

Compton_scatter · 28/02/13 - 12:58

I loved it at the time and watched it with my then gf, we were late leens then but we both wasn't sure if it was real or not. I seem to remember that some kid hung themself at the time as they were so scared by it.

[Deleted User] · 28/02/13 - 13:19

Anyone else remember the time Craig Charles really sh*t Sarah Greene up. He suprised her man that was so funny.

pinkyponk34 · 28/02/13 - 16:24

daveycrocket222 wrote: »

Anyone else remember the time Craig Charles really sh*t Sarah Greene up. He suprised her man that was so funny.

Eh ...?

zooooooooooooo · 28/02/13 - 16:31

pinkyponk34 wrote: »

Eh ...?

He was hiding in the cupboard and the children told Sarah Greene that they had heard a noise and when she went over Craig Charles jumped out in a wolf mask. It might not sound that good but it was quite funny, and scary at the time.

logansdad · 28/02/13 - 16:48

You've got to remember that this was pre internet..We didn't have a clue if it was real or not, but since it was broadcast as a factual live investigation with Parky we took it at face value. I was 20 at the time and i remember being quite unsettled by it and my Mum freaking out!!

johartuk · 28/02/13 - 17:18

Even though I knew it was a drama when I sat down to watch it (the TV page in whichever tabloid newspaper I was reading that day mentioned it being a drama), I still found it pretty scary. It was well done, I thought, especially the whole back story of 'Pipes' and the brief glimpses we got of him.

I doubt it will ever be repeated due to the contraversy it stirred up at the time. I recall a young lad comitting suicide not long after it was shown, and many viewers being upset by it, presumably because they thought they were watching a real documentary. The fact that the presenters were actually BBC presenters (Parkinson, Mike Smith, Sarah Greene, Craig Charles) rather than actors probably added to the documentary feel of the thing.

It was released on DVD a few years ago - I think it might still be available. I bought a copy and was surprised at how well it had held up. Still a good watch

[Deleted User] · 28/02/13 - 18:12

zooooooooooooo wrote: »

He was hiding in the cupboard and the children told Sarah Greene that they had heard a noise and when she went over Craig Charles jumped out in a wolf mask. It might not sound that good but it was quite funny, and scary at the time.

I was in stitches for 5 minutes lying on the floor laughing.

[Deleted User] · 28/02/13 - 18:16

It was such a croc

pinkyponk34 · 28/02/13 - 19:39

Honestweegie wrote: »

It was such a croc

It was a crocodile, or maybe an item of footwear ?

I'm confused.

Paul Wilson · 28/02/13 - 19:45

What big eyes you've got...

mred2000 · 28/02/13 - 19:49

I watched it live in '92 and then got given the DVD release as a present way back in 2003. Brilliant stuff, long before the days of Most Haunted and many other TV progs & films have been influenced by it in one way or another.

Stephen Volk (the writer behind it) has written a sequel, available for free on his website here: http://www.stephenvolk.net/31-10.pdf

miaow · 28/02/13 - 22:35

mred2000 wrote: »

I watched it live in '92 and then got given the DVD release as a present way back in 2003. Brilliant stuff, long before the days of Most Haunted and many other TV progs & films have been influenced by it in one way or another.

Stephen Volk (the writer behind it) has written a sequel, available for free on his website here: http://www.stephenvolk.net/31-10.pdf

Thanks for that mred

just read it - weird, but interesting

Flat Matt · 28/02/13 - 23:45

Yes, I remember watching it when I first aired.

Started off quite well and quickly became totally ridiculous.

eugenespeed · 28/02/13 - 23:46

I was 11 when it was on, and it scared me I'll happily tell you.

Not seen it since, but I would love to see it again.

Paul Wilson · 01/03/13 - 00:28

The creepy thing was advertised on Going Live!!! What were these people thinking?? Won't somebody think of the children?? Etc, etc.
Favourite moment was when the TV studio started being blown about with Parky looking genuinely worried. The implication being something had gone very wrong indeed here...

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