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BBC Ghostwatch (1992 Television Pseudo-Documentary)

GNC said:
It's not the All Hallows' Eve as a celebration that's the bother, it's the "trick or treat" which is regarded as an Americanism too far. Before about the 90s it had never caught on, though there was dressing up like guising in Scotland, but once the whiff of commercialism was detected, the grumps piped up. Not to mention the Christians complaining that it was all Devil worship, but I remember them from my (non-t.o.t.) childhood, so presumably they were always with us.

And just like you'll be sick of hearing Slade and Mariah at Christmas, now we get sick of hearing Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Whacko Jacko (though to be fair, he is pretty disturbing).
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The cheap-tat and confectionery shops here in Sweden are also trying to get us to adopt the American plastic-Halloween. We did buy a load of sweets just in case but oh dear what a shame, no kids showed up so we have to eat it all :yay:
 
GNC said:
It's not the All Hallows' Eve as a celebration that's the bother, it's the "trick or treat" which is regarded as an Americanism too far. Before about the 90s it had never caught on, though there was dressing up like guising in Scotland, but once the whiff of commercialism was detected, the grumps piped up. Not to mention the Christians complaining that it was all Devil worship, but I remember them from my (non-t.o.t.) childhood, so presumably they were always with us.

And just like you'll be sick of hearing Slade and Mariah at Christmas, now we get sick of hearing Bobby "Boris" Pickett and Whacko Jacko (though to be fair, he is pretty disturbing).
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And here we are, all thinking we're participating in a true ritual of Scotland, which, by the way, is a terrifying, haunted land that looks something like this:
halloween-tree-ray-bradbury-illustration-1-0011.jpg

And everyone carries carved turnip lanterns to keep the grim reaper at bay.

I'm only slightly joking. The idea of Halloween being an old-world and especially Scottish tradition is widespread.
 
GNC said:
It's not the All Hallows' Eve as a celebration that's the bother, it's the "trick or treat" which is regarded as an Americanism too far. Before about the 90s it had never caught on, though there was dressing up like guising in Scotland, but once the whiff of commercialism was detected, the grumps piped up. Not to mention the Christians complaining that it was all Devil worship, but I remember them from my (non-t.o.t.) childhood, so presumably they were always with us.
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Agreed. My parents generation ranted about Trick or Treat back in the 80s. A lot. And it was always a rant which began with 'Bloody American import. Why should we do that in Britain?'

But actually that's kind of selective memory of Trick or Treat. Certainly the tradition of going house-to-house collecting some kind of food at Halloween, in costume, goes back as far as the 16th Century. Far more common in Scotland (where some variations went by the notion of *performing* a trick to *get* a treat) but the notion of 'Guising' really was a thing in both Britain and Ireland.

While the actual term 'Trick or Treat' didn't really make it to the UK until the 80s the concept certainly had been here in one form or another for centuries.

And, to be fair, the Trick part is usually a pretty hollow threat. Thankfully. The pageantry is the important thing.
 
CuriousIdent said:
Agreed. My parents generation ranted about Trick or Treat back in the 80s. A lot. And it was always a rant which began with 'Bloody American import. Why should we do that in Britain?'

But actually that's kind of selective memory of Trick or Treat. Certainly the tradition of going house-to-house collecting some kind of food at Halloween, in costume, goes back as far as the 16th Century. Far more common in Scotland (where some variations went by the notion of *performing* a trick to *get* a treat) but the notion of 'Guising' really was a thing in both Britain and Ireland.

While the actual term 'Trick or Treat' didn't really make it to the UK until the 80s the concept certainly had been here in one form or another for centuries.

And, to be fair, the Trick part is usually a pretty hollow threat. Thankfully. The pageantry is the important thing.
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Yes, I would recite a poem I had written myself to get the sweets when guising, because I was a pretentious little bastard. Although I suspect most of my generation were aware of the American trick or treat because we'd seen It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! on TV. We would never dream of performing a trick on someone by way of extortion to get the sweets, though.
 
GNC said:
Yes, I would recite a poem I had written myself to get the sweets when guising, because I was a pretentious little bastard. Although I suspect most of my generation were aware of the American trick or treat because we'd seen It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! on TV. We would never dream of performing a trick on someone by way of extortion to get the sweets, though.
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Techy and I do a whole performance on the doorstep for the kids before we part with the sweeties. The poor little bastards.
 
Ghostwatch. The Paul Daniels Halloween Special. The Late Late Breakfast Show Bungie disaster. There was a lot of things which caused controversy for the Beeb around that time. And in many ways I think that sense of needless NIMBY outrage has continued through to the current day, increasingly driven by tabloids which just so happen to be owned by the same people who own alternate UK broadcast services...
 
escargot said:
Techy and I do a whole performance on the doorstep for the kids before we part with the sweeties. The poor little bastards.
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I'm glad someone's holding up the theatrical traditions of the celebration.
 
Has anyone posted this yet?: Bite Back, a TV programme where 'you the viewers get to take the programme makers to task' .. I've just found it by accident.

 
Swifty said:
Has anyone posted this yet?: Bite Back, a TV programme where 'you the viewers get to take the programme makers to task' .. I've just found it by accident.

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It really is bizarre watching the way that this was addressed. This near totally one-sided hate mob of an audience seem ridiculous in their level of overreaction. But I'd also say that both production members don't fight their case particularly well either.
 
CuriousIdent said:
It really is bizarre watching the way that this was addressed. This near totally one-sided hate mob of an audience seem ridiculous in their level of overreaction. But I'd also say that both production members don't fight their case particularly well either.
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The show was very much a product of the time, we still had newspapers banging on about video nasties warping peoples minds so that attitude was still very much in the public conscious in the late 80's in England ..

An interesting comparison would be to watch this old (UK) Central Weekend show from roughly the same time period where/when a (then young) Sam Raimi gets grilled over his Evil Dead films, part of the audience defends him, he's incredibly polite and eloquent under very similar over reaction circumstances :

 
CuriousIdent said:
It really is bizarre watching the way that this was addressed. This near totally one-sided hate mob of an audience seem ridiculous in their level of overreaction. But I'd also say that both production members don't fight their case particularly well either.
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A vision of the future.
 
Swifty said:
The show was very much a product of the time, we still had newspapers banging on about video nasties warping peoples minds so that attitude was still very much in the public conscious in the late 80's in England ..

An interesting comparison would be to watch this old (UK) Central Weekend show from roughly the same time period where/when a (then young) Sam Raimi gets grilled over his Evil Dead films, part of the audience defends him, he's incredibly polite and eloquent under very similar over reaction circumstances :

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Central Weekend Live! Wow. That's a proper blast from the past!

Shot in Birmingham. I visited those studios, back in the days of the pre-dumbed down homogenised ITV.

Fascinating to see a young Sam Raimi having to justify himself. :)
 
CuriousIdent said:
Central Weekend Live! Wow. That's a proper blast from the past!

Shot in Birmingham. I visited those studios, back in the days of the pre-dumbed down homogenised ITV.

Fascinating to see a young Sam Raimi having to justify himself. :)
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And he was so graceful at it! .. one of my favourite parts in that vid is our English audience being a bit snooty at him and him stating how much he liked English literature and how he was thinking about setting Evil Dead 3 in England. The audience laugh assuming he's being sarcastic but he was telling the truth and that was actually the first scoop that Evil Dead 3 - Army Of Darkness was going to be set in an English castle ..
 
Is there anywhere you can see the full episode?
On YouTube all I can find are clips and reaction videos.
Thanks.
 
Ghostwatch coming to Bluray this Halloween...

Brand new extras

‘Do You Believe in Ghosts?’, a brand new 30th anniversary documentary on the Ghostwatch phenomenon • Commentary with film historians Shellie McMurdo and Stella Gaynor • Commentary with writer Stephen Volk, producer Ruth Baumgarten and director Lesley Manning • Shooting Reality by Lesley Manning • Limited Edition Booklet: Includes ‘Extra Sensory Perception Management’ by Sarah Appleton, ‘Ghostwatch – As it Happened’ by Tim Murray and short story ‘31/10’ by Ghostwatch writer Stephen Volk • Reproduced script, annotated by director Lesley Manning • Set of six art cards
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Ghostwatch_Box_2D_PACK_1_720x.jpg


https://101-films-store.com/collections/black-label/products/ghostwatch-1992-limited-edition-blu-ray
 
I remember seeing the stuff about the programme before it was broadcast and, young as I was, I sussed it wouldn't be a "serious" documentary on the paranormal. Seeing that it had Sarah Greene and Mike Smith involved reinforced this impression.

I was surprised at the reaction to it - I didn't watch it because I suspected they were going to set up some sort of "paranormal" events for the cameras and pretend there were things going on (that weren't) as a joke.

I never thought it would be taken seriously, scare people or still be discussed all these years later.

I didn't watch it but I have seen clips on youtube in recent years.

Did someone really soil their trousers watching it?
 
I recall the night well.

On the evening of Saturday 31 October 1992, I went out with a couple of mates for some beers.
When I got home, my wife was slightly agitated and told me about Ghostwatch, saying in a trembly voice "I'm sure I saw the ghost!".
I will always regret missing the original broadcast, as I only ever saw the replay after knowing that it was all nothing more than spooky theatre (like Most Haunted).
 
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