Ghostwatch | The Infamous Banned Paranormal Hoax

On October 30th, 1938, the Mercury Theater presented War of the Worlds, a radio broadcast about Earth's invasion by terrifying and nearly unstoppable aliens from Mars

Orson Welles' realistic script caused over a million people to panic, convinced that tentacled monsters were destroying New Jersey

But that was radio and years ago. Surely such mass hysteria couldn't happen in the age of television, or could it

Today on Scream to Screen, we'll be discussing Ghostwatch, the 1992 Halloween special that

inspired mass pandemonium and even death. Stephen Volk's Ghostwatch was presented as if it were an actual ghost hunt that played

out in real time, an otherworldly journey that was unforgettable for any who witnessed it

11 million viewers watched as a poltergeist grew stronger and more dangerous right before

their very eyes. And despite being told it was fake, 11 million people succumbed to Ghostwatch's bone-chilling thrall

In the late 70s, two young girls in Enfield, London, claimed to be haunted by a poltergeist

The spirit threw toys, knocked down chairs, and even levitated one of the girls

Their claims were dismissed as pranks, but some members of the Society for Physical Research

called the haunting genuine. In the end, no one was hurt except for the reputation of several news reporters

The same could not be said of Ghostwatch. Simple haunting events like loud banging and toys being tossed about

similar to the infield poltergeist, soon gave way to one girl being scratched on the face

a mirror crashing onto the head of a cameraman, knocking him unconscious, and actual demonic possession

taking this story to much greater heights of terror than the ghost prank it was based on

And even though an announcement at the start of the show let the viewers know they were watching a fictional ghost tale

it was so well presented that most of the viewers seemed to believe what they were watching unfold before their eyes was real

This would lead to cases of actual terror, with some younger viewers suffering sleep disorders

adults declaring ghosts were real, and tragically, one person's death directly tied to the show

Shown on October 31st, some considered this the most effective Halloween prank of all time

Stephen Volk was an experienced screenwriter, with such horror movies to his credit as Gothic, The Kiss, and The Guardian

His movies inspired terror in the audience. His imagery in Gothic was so powerful that some claim they could smell the scent of decay as if from a grave

But it was time to try something new Television His idea was to have a fictional paranormal investigator work with a TV reporter in a North London housing estate where usual ghost activity was reported There would be six episodes

where each episode would reveal progressively more information with the final show being a

live broadcast at the house where all hell would break loose. Producer Ruth Baumgarten liked the

idea but didn't think an audience would stick around for multiple episodes. She agreed to one

90-minute TV special, treating it like the episode 6 originally planned, and indeed

all hell did break loose. 11 million viewers tuned in at 9 p.m. on October 31st, 1992, to the BBC expecting a TV drama

Michael Parkinson, a well-known television reporter and co-host of the popular British

news magazine, 24 Hours, hosted the event. He was joined by paranormal expert Dr. Lynn Pascoe, played by actress Jillian Bevan

While Michael and Dr. Pascoe reported from the studio, Sarah Green and Craig Charles were live on location with a small film crew

Like the infield story that inspired the event, the location was a house in a London suburb

where two young girls claimed to be haunted by a poltergeist. They were supposedly interacting with the ghost investigators

when in actuality, the house scenes had been filmed weeks before. This live event was anything but

Sarah Green and Craig Charles played themselves as the investigators. Craig was already known in England from his starring role in the science fiction comedy Red Dwarf

while Sarah was hosting the popular children's show Saturday Superstore. Sarah's work on a children's television show would increase the pressure on the BBC by the time the evening was over

and she later appeared on Children's BBC to show the kids she was okay

and remind them that what they saw that night was not real. The reporters are greeted by Mrs. Pam Early and her two daughters, Suzanne and Kim

They claim to have heard banging in the walls and cats howling, and a short video of the girls in their room screaming while toys flew at them was shown

At first, the reporters did not take the show very seriously, even pulling pranks on each other

Viewers are given the phone number of the studio and encouraged to call in with their own supernatural experiences

One caller claims she spotted a dark figure standing near the curtain in the background of the girls' bedroom while the girls were lying down to sleep

Michael Parkinson replayed the footage and there was indeed what could have been a person

watching the children from the darkness of the wall once the lights had been turned out

But when they played the footage again, the figure was gone. Later in the program, Michael Parkinson and Dr. Pascal

are playing a tape of an old case she had supposedly worked on when a figure unseen by the two seems to materialize briefly in the shadows behind them Is it possible the ghost had found a way to leave the house and get into the studio

In a live interview, neighbors reported hearing the noises coming from the house

at one point seeing a black Labrador lying dead in the yard, cut open as if in a butcher shop

The use of children in this story and talking about dead dogs helped heighten the suspense

but it also became a major complaint of viewers unhappy with the show. Events grew more and more mysterious

Cats were heard howling from the basement. Electrical malfunctions plagued the camera crew

More callers claimed to see a figure in the background, an old man or possibly a woman

bald with a skull-like head, dark eyes, or as some reported, just holes for eyes

and wearing a black robe or dress. One caller offered a possible explanation

He described himself as a social worker who had seen a client at the psychiatric hospital

The patient had several convictions ranging from aggravated abuse to the abduction of minors

He took his own life, the caller said, under his stairs at that very home

His lifeless body sat for 12 days before anyone came to look for him

The neighbors heard cats screaming. The poor animals had been locked in the house

alone with him for all that time, those 12 days, and they had gotten hungry

In the end, the spirit who had been haunting this evening's production had the last word

Sarah Green was locked in an under-the-stairs cupboard, alone with the howling ghost

And back at the studio, Michael Parkinson slowly walked toward the camera

as the screen faded to black, the entity having presumably possessed the TV host

in the final moments of the show. None of this was real, of course

The scenes in the house had been filmed weeks earlier and Michael Parkinson was a talented actor

not a man possessed by an escaped demon. But the backlash over the show haunted the BBC

as much as any real ghost might. Though it has gained cult status today, the initial reactions of the show were negative

30,000 callers phoned the BBC to complain. The British Medical Journal documented the cases of seven children as young as eight

suffering from panic attacks and sleep disturbances traced back to this program

The stress of this show caused one woman to go into labor. Producer Ruth Baumgarten had to defend the show, its creators

and even the BBC itself against charges of malicious intent. Sarah Green went on the children's BBC the next week to prove that she was still alive and unharmed

The BBC gave an official apology and Ghostwatch was banned. Is it possible there was a darker consequence of the show A vicar called in to say he knew the show wasn real but he claimed the combined psychic energy of 11 million viewers actually summoned real demons The saddest story from the

event came from 18-year-old Martin Denham, whose learning difficulties made it hard for him to deal

with what he saw on the TV that night. He grew more and more terrified that he might actually

encounter ghosts himself. In the show, the girls claimed to have heard banging in the walls

The house had a faulty heating system, so when the fictional children asked their actor mother

what the noise was. She simply said, pipes. And so throughout the show, the poltergeist was named Pipes

This led to a fatal connection to Martin Denham. His own home had faulty central heating

which caused the pipes to knock, similar to what had been seen from the show he had been watching that fateful Halloween

Martin took his own life just five days after the program aired, leaving a suicide note that read

if there are ghosts, I will be with you always as a ghost. The parents of Martin Denham tried to lodge a complaint with the Broadcast Standards Council

blaming them and the show directly for the son's suicide. But it wasn't until Britain's high court intervened that they were heard

In the end, the BBC was forced to issue a formal apology. Sarah Green received hundreds of letters from children

who had watched her ripped from the world by pipes, and many of them drew her pictures of what they had seen that night

Since they drew them from memory, the images were very disturbing. A hearing of the Broadcast Standards Council concluded that the show intended to cultivate a sense of menace

With such a strong reprimand, the BBC was forced into action. Ghostwatch was banned for 10 years and has never been seen on British television since the first Halloween date in 1992

Though the initial outcry seemed negative, the show has had a lasting appeal

With its use of found footage, infrared camera work, and surveillance, the authors of the 1999 film The Blair Witch

cite Ghostwatch as a big inspiration. In October 2016, an announcement was made that the BBC

would be releasing a DVD of both the original Ghostwatch film, additionally, Behind the Curtains

a documentary made in 2012, chronicling the making of the film as well as reactions to it as it was produced

It soon became one of the most popular DVDs in the United Kingdom. Interest in the show had grown since, with books, blogs, and even a national seance being held in honor of the momentous adventure into horror

Ghostwatch is possibly the greatest Halloween prank ever shown on television, surpassing War of the Worlds for the most powerful media-induced hysteria known

It demonstrated the grip television has over its viewers, and some have suggested may have even helped the supernatural gain a foothold here in the realm of the living