"We don't want to give anybody sleepless nights"

Whilst at work last week we got onto the subject of old TV programmes and I asked if anyone had seen the show 'Ghostwatch' from back in the early nineties. I have very fond memories of this show from when it was first broadcast and remember being scared witless alongside some friends, literally shouting at the TV screen and then running like hell on the way home! Luckily, my work mate had a copy of this on video and I was thrilled to be able to sit down and watch this again last night - fifteen years on! Would it stand the test of time?

For those of you who never saw it or where too young, the premise of 'Ghostwatch' was very simple. Basically, imagine an episode 'Most Haunted Live' but where something actually happens!! Originally broadcast on Hallowe'en 1992, this BBC TV Show, written by Stephen Volk, worked on the same premise that the infamous Orson Welles' 'War Of The Worlds' radio show did back in the 1930's. We, the viewer, were led to believe that what we were watching was an actual 'real' TV investigation. We had well known presenters such as Michael Parkinson, Sarah Greene, Mike Smith and Craig Charles all investigating supposed paranormal behaviour at a regular house, in a regular town, where a family were apparently being terrorised by a ghost called 'Pipes' and the BCC were hoping to capture some of this on tape. I'd heard someting about this in the newspapers prior to the broadcast but even watching it at the time I felt myself not quite sure if what I was seeing was fake or not!

Remember, this was back in the day when horror films had gone down the pan. Many years before 'Scream' came along and redefined the entire genre and seven years before 'The Blair Witch Project'. Horror films were, at the time, something of a bad joke, Reality TV shows were unheard of and there was no internet to shoot down the myth.

Watching it today, knowing good and well that it was fake, does little to dampen the chills. Sure the acting from the family is a little wooden and very scripted (my girlfriend Jayne who'd not seen this before said it was like a bad episode of Grange Hill) but if you detach yourself from that and buy into it, then 'Ghostwatch' is simply brilliant. The presenters are awesome throughout and totally convincing. Other than the ropey ending which lets it down somewhat, it stands up brilliantly as an essential bit of Horror & Ghost televison viewing. Even last night, the brief glimpses of the ghost Pipes in the patio window and in front of the curtains sent familiar goosebumps through my body - serious!

I'm sure many people who see this today may find it funny and ridiculous, much in the same way people did of The Blair Witch, but if you're a fan of this genre and you've not seen it before PLEASE try and check it out.

Totally essential!

For more info visit Ghostwatch