Ghostwatch

Ghostwatch
Airdate	October 31, 1992
Written by	Stephen Volk
Directed by	Lesley Manning
Network	BBC
Style	90-minute horror drama
Company	BBC
Origin	UK

Aired on Halloween night for Great Britain's BBC network, Ghostwatch is a look at the most haunted house in Britain and the family that had to live there.

Cast: Michael Parkinson (Himself), Sarah Greene (Herself), Mike Smith (Himself), Craig Charles (Himself), Gillian Bevan (Pamela Early), Brid Brennan (Suzanne Early), Michelle Wesson (Kim Early), Cherise Wesson (Dr Lin Pascoe)

Plot Overview

Presented by three well-known and reliable news presenters as well as comedian and actor Craig Charles, this ninety-minute documentary looked at what is possibly the most haunted house in all of Britain and the effect living in such a house has on a divorced mother and her two young children. As the documentary starts, things are very quiet. We are treated to interviews of the family and some dialogue from the studio hosts debating various film footage taken over several weeks prior to the airing. The studio hosts, one skeptic and one believer, debate whether or not it's a hoax and the possible causes of the phenomenon, take phone calls and comment on the goings on inside the house.

As the show progresses, the older of the two children, who is 12 and entering puberty, begins to show signs of abuse in the form of scratches. At first it looks like she is being attacked, but later it appears as if the wounds are self-inflicted. Likewise with strange sounds being heard. At first they appear legitimate but are soon found to be made by the smaller of the two children.

It appears as if the house is not haunted after all. Until the camera starts actually seeing real events. Chairs being stacked, objects flying around the room, strange breezes coming from nowhere and electrical disturbances. All this while the house is empty except for persons from the studio. The skeptic disavows it all as a hoax. The believer begins to put the pieces together. With so many people watching this live broadcast, they have in effect created a mass seance that is feeding the presence in the house, making it stronger. The power of millions of viewers has even allowed the presence to begin manifesting effects such as wind and telekinesis in the studio itself, dozens of miles from the house. The believer tells everyone to stop watching or even thinking about the show so as to stop feeding the poltergeist before it is strong enough to threaten all of Britain. She tells the camera men to stop shooting. As lights explode and wind blows from nowhere, the skeptic is screaming how it's simply not possible. The show abruptly goes off the air leaving millions in Britain wondering whether or not a poltergeist had just become powerful enough to threaten their entire country.

DVD Releases

Title	Release Date	#
Complete Series
The Complete Series	November 25, 2002