Ghostwatch remembered 30 years on as terrifying show led to teen taking own life

30.10.2022 - 07:47 / dailyrecord.co.uk

It's been 30 years since the controversial Ghostwatch mockumentary aired on the telly on Halloween.

On October 31, 1992, viewers at home tuned into the BBC to watch what they thought was a live broadcast investigating a series of disturbing poltergeist events at a house in Greater London. The "broadcast" was hosted by the legendary Michael Parkinson, alongside TV couple Mike Smith and Sarah Greene.

The film featured paranormal expert Dr. Lin Pascoe as she attempted to rationalise a haunting shown on "home video footage". As the show continued, viewers saw the pragmatic presenters come to the realisation that something sinister was at play.

Viewers sat terrified watching "the most haunted house in Britain" where Pamela Early and her two daughters were being tormented by a poltergeist. The presenters acted as on-site investigators, darting around the house with a camera crew in tow while speaking to the terrified family haunted by a malicious ghost called Pipes - named after the location in the house the children heard noises from.

The show, which was created by horror writer Stephen Volk, was pioneering and ahead of its time. It even asked the public to phone in with their own experiences with ghosts and offered a message explaining the show wasn't real.

Blurring the lines between fiction and reality, Ghostwatch caused huge backlash from unsuspecting viewers at home who were fooled by the dupe. The backlash was intense and reportedly sparked over 30,000 phone complaints within an hour from terrified viewers.

While the production team wanted it to look realistic, unfortunately, not everyone realised Ghostwatch was indeed fiction. Just five days after it aired, a teenager took his own life after his parents said he became