General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast

18 - Ghostwatch (1992) by Stephen Volk


Listen Later

Ghostwatch, a drama produced for the BBC anthology series Screen One, is a British reality–horror/pseudo-documentary television film, broadcast on BBC1 on Halloween night, 1992. Written by Stephen Volk, and directed by Lesley Manning. Despite having been recorded weeks in advance, the narrative was presented as live television.

 

During and following its first and only UK television broadcast, the show attracted a considerable furore, resulting in an estimated 1,000,000 phone call enquiries to the BBC switchboard on the night of broadcast, comprising a mixture of complaints and praise for the programme's unique presentation, these calls included a call from Michael Parkinson's own concerned mother and a very nervous 15 year old Ross.


Ghostwatch has never been repeated on UK television. 


The story, based on the tale of the Enfield Poltergeist, was put into production months before and was complete fiction. The presentation contained realistic elements which suggested to a casual viewer that it was an actual documentary. The studio scenes were recorded in Studio D, BBC Elstree Studios, Clarendon Road. The scenes at the house and the street were all shot on location around 5–6 weeks before the recording of the studio scenes. The recorded scenes in the house and street were then played into the studio, where Michael Parkinson, Mike Smith, and "Doctor Pascoe" had to interact with them.


It earned the dubious honour of being the first TV programme to be cited in the British Medical Journal as having caused Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in children.


As featured in his collection Dark Corners, screenwriter Stephen Volk wrote a short story entitled 31/10, which is effectively a sequel to Ghostwatch. The piece was later selected for "The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 2007".


The Apparition Phase

Will Maclean

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1119138/the-apparition-phase/9781786091017.html


No one Gets out Alive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY2TLiK27g4


$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$


Just in case anyone has too much money and wants to give a bit to us to help with our hosting n stuff. It would be amazing if you fancied sending us some pennies - thank you.

https://supporter.acast.com/general-witchfinders


$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$£$


Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/general-witchfinders.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

General Witchfinders: The British Horror PodcastBy Ross, Jon & James | Exploring Cult British Horror Films, TV & Books

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

12 ratings


More shows like General Witchfinders: The British Horror Podcast

View all
Hypnogoria by Hypnogoria

Hypnogoria

84 Listeners

Smersh Pod by John Rain

Smersh Pod

53 Listeners

Telefantasy Time Jump by Paul Cornell, L. M. Myles.

Telefantasy Time Jump

36 Listeners

Clinton Baptiste's Paranormal Podcast by Peters-Fox Ltd

Clinton Baptiste's Paranormal Podcast

37 Listeners

Full Disclosure with James O'Brien by Global

Full Disclosure with James O'Brien

288 Listeners

The Evolution of Horror by Mike Muncer

The Evolution of Horror

845 Listeners

The Rest Is History by Goalhanger

The Rest Is History

14,267 Listeners

The House Of Hammer by The Gaff Network

The House Of Hammer

40 Listeners

The Rest Is Politics by Goalhanger

The Rest Is Politics

3,180 Listeners

Kermode & Mayo’s Take by Sony Music Entertainment

Kermode & Mayo’s Take

326 Listeners

Hammer Horrors by NEOZAZ

Hammer Horrors

11 Listeners

Scarred For Life by Lock It In Studio

Scarred For Life

14 Listeners

Dark Darzet by Ross Cleaver & David Burton

Dark Darzet

3 Listeners

Frankenstein: Dissected by ross cleaver & lisa worthington

Frankenstein: Dissected

0 Listeners

Carry On Up The Podcast by Mike Muncer

Carry On Up The Podcast

3 Listeners