Ghostwatch

 Recently at a conference I had the opportunity to watch a screening of the BBC 1992 drama, Ghostwatch. Following the screening there was a question and answer session with the writer Stephen Volk. Going into the screening I had never heard of Ghostwatch and had no idea about the controversy surrounding it so it was really interesting to get it all at once and have the writer there to explain what had happened. Initially the show was going to be a six part series detailing other haunted houses and events culminating in this final show but the BBC said they would only do one episode. Although the show was a scripted drama it went out as 'live' and had the air of War of the Worlds about it. Some viewers didn't realize that what they were seeing wasn't really happening and there were a lot of complaints made towards the BBC after it aired. Sarah, the woman who was in the house had to go on television quite soon after the show aired to prove that she was still alive. The decision to use real broadcasters such as Michael Parkinson helped add to the verisimilitude of the show and I think would add to the panic people were feeling. 

The show is set up as the crew is visiting the most haunted place in Britain on Halloween. A family is being harassed by a ghost they call Mr. Pipes. Time is spent inside the house documenting what's happening, talking with experts in the studio, taking phone calls from viewers, watching footage of previous work with the ghost and the family that the expert has been doing and talking to the crowd gathered outside the house in question. Really it's not much different from the kinds of shows they have on now that investigate the paranormal. 

I found it really fascinating and I think going into it without any preconceived notions helped but learning about the controversy the show provoked I think makes the show more interesting than if it was simply ignored and was just a show I happen to find. Maybe with all the haunted stuff that on tv now, that wasn't there in 1992, ruins the idea of the show as a mockumentry because this kind of show now exists for real (as in other shows don't present their material in mockumentary form). It's a different form of mockumentary though than to what we're used to now with things like The Office and it harkens back to War of the Worlds. Blurring the lines between real and fiction but an in intelligent way that works really well. The controversy that grew from it really just goes to show how much people believe what they see on tv to be true.