They received thousands of complaints
A Halloween TV programme created for the BBC that left viewers horrified was cut and never rebroadcast.
The one-time mockumentary Ghostwatch, which aired on Halloween in 1992 caused so much discomfort among viewers that the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) described it as excessively distressing and graphic, saying it created “a sense of menace” and it was never rebroadcast.
However, the show did receive acclaim for its originality.
Presenters Michael Parkinson and Sarah Greene were at the helm of the show that has been credited by some as a precursor to ‘found footage’ horror films such as The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield.
Following Parkinson’s death last August, there have been repeated calls for Ghostwatch to be shown again over three decades after it aired.
The show involved a documentary team delving into the paranormal activity of ‘the most haunted house in Britain’, inspired by the real-life Enfield Poltergeist case in London from 1977 to 1979.
Although it was presented as a drama, it mimicked the format of a conventional BBC documentary starring Parkinson, Greene, her husband Mike Smith and Craig Charles.
It centred around two sisters, Kim and Suzanne Early who were tormented by Pipes, a poltergeist in their London home.
Viewers were encouraged to phone in with their own ghostly experiences. They would then hear a pre-recorded message clarifying that the show was fictional.
However, the five call handlers were overwhelmed by the volume of calls they received, leaving many callers hearing the engaged tone.
It’s estimated that around 1 million calls were made to the BBC switchboard. Ghostwatch’s writer, Stephen Volk, has since reflected on the show and its impact in today’s digital age.
He told the Daily Record: “You couldn’t do what we did nowadays and get away with it. People would know in 30 seconds what was going on.”
As the show went on, Pipes was revealed to be the spirit of malevolent child abuser Raymond Tunstall, whose figure subtly appeared throughout the show, including in the studio.
Scratch marks appeared on Kim and Suzanne’s faces and objects moved on their own.
In the studio, Greene was pulled into a cupboard by the poltergeist on one occasion, and a chilling wind swept through, causing the lights to go out.
After the show had aired, the BBC was hit with a barrage of complaints. An estimated 30,000 people contacted them with one woman claiming it triggered her labour.
The most shocking claim was that the effects of the show contributed to the death of an 18 year old.
Martin Denham, who suffered from learning difficulties, committed suicide, which his parents said was due to being “hypnotised and obsessed” by Ghostwatch.
There were also claims that two 10-year-olds suffered PTSD following the show but the regulatory body now known as Ofcom didn’t uphold any of these claims, however, the show was banned for ten years.
Volk reflected to the BBC in 2017: “It was partly that it scared people, but the complaints were actually more that the BBC had made them feel like mugs.
“People felt the BBC was something they could trust, and the programme had destroyed that trust.”
Lesley Manning, the director of Ghostwatch, reflected on the show’s impact in a 2020 interview with The Guardian, saying: “I definitely didn’t set out to cause mass hysteria. But I wasn’t trying to make it look like a conventional BBC movie, either.
“I thought the fact that it was a drama was obvious: it was trailed as such by the continuity announcer, and it opened with a ‘written by’ credit.”
