Uncanny (BBC Programme / Podcast)

[Paul_Exeter]

At the moment it is reminding me of this alleged abduction:

"Abducted: The True Story of Alien Abduction in Rural England​

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0747221219/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0"

...by Ann Andrews and Jean Ritchie in which a boy from a pretty ordinary rural UK family is at the epicentre of visits by alleged aliens.

It seems at the outset to be a fascinating and 'solid' case but when you start delving into it you find a family who are attributing all sorts of mildly unusual weather events, noises and lights to aliens and becoming more and more frightened and paranoid. For example, they come to believe they are being watched at all times from some dense scrub and bushes. They hear the shrill original Nokia ringtone (from the first generation mobile phones) coming from that area and believe it their 'watcher' being careless. Not once did they stop to consider that starlings and other song bites are able to mimic these ringtones to a tee, and so it goes on...

Going back to our case, where was the boy when that growl was heard? I seem to remember he was still in the house at that time.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Well the latest episode 6 of The Witch Farm is worth it for the interview with the exorcist alone, although I found him a bit glib, especially when you consider mental illness etc.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Just listened to Episode 7 and Case Update 3, both intriguing and entertaining. Great shame there hasn’t been more interest on this forum, however it is interesting that Danny states a 50/50 split between believers and skeptics, whereas the Battersea Poltergeist was more pro-believer.

 

[MorningAngel]

Just listened to Episode 7 and Case Update 3, both intriguing and entertaining. Great shame there hasn’t been more interest on this forum, however it is interesting that Danny states a 50/50 split between believers and skeptics, whereas the Battersea Poltergeist was more pro-believer.

I didn’t know there was another update. They confuse my schedule, I never know when they are turning up.

 

[brownmane]

I found it interesting in the case update 3 that they compared it to the Amityville case. The similarities were interesting and I enjoyed the discussion with the journalist who reported on the Amityville case.

Both cases had family turmoil, blended families, father possibly (as I believe) dealing with major depression and the fact that suddenly you have all of these random mediums, exorcists etc who try to change the happenings to fit their beliefs. The original experiences are so over examined with these prejudices that you don't really get any idea of what really happened.

The husband not being alive makes it so he has no voice in the story. The daughter seems to be the only one who just gives her experience and it seems to have no outside influence as to how she perceived it. This may be due to her being a child at the time and the people "investigating" didn't see any advantage to influencing her.

I personally don't like the drama aspect of telling a true story. I prefer to hear it with the actual people just telling their experiences.

 

[MorningAngel]

I've just listened to the second 'case update' on the Witch Farm story, and there seems to be one whopping great big omission that I can only assume will be addressed in one of the later episodes.

As Paul mentioned above, the lack of any kind of recorded evidence in this case (so far) is strange considering it is based on events that took place as recently as the 1990s. In the second case update, we are told that a news crew came to the farm to record an interview with Liz, focusing on the weird behaviour of the electricity meter. According to the journalist, during the interview, some kind of loud angry roar was heard, by all 3 people present including the sound recordist, and the journalist says Liz wearily explained to her that "it is angry that you are here". The journalist and sound recordist completed the interview and left, feeling unnerved. So... what happened to the recording? Did the noise get recorded? If so, did they not re-listen to it? And does the recording still exist? It would be gold dust on a series like this!

Maybe Danny is holding it back for a big "clincher" moment in episode 8. I can just hear it now : "... you remember that interview that was interrupted by an angry roar....?"

The noise is addressed in the latest update.

 

[catseye]

I personally don't like the drama aspect of telling a true story. I prefer to hear it with the actual people just telling their experiences.

I had a huge disagreement with one of my lecturers during my Creative Writing degree. We had to take a real life event and 'fictionalise' it, and I was finding this extremely hard. He was explaining to me how it's done, how you take real events and add to them and I disagreed that this should even be a 'thing'. As soon as you start to 'dramatise' something, then the person who is doing the dramatisation starts to add their own opinions and views of how things went, however hard they try to stay factual, because factual events don't tell a story. And to dramatise is to impose a story on random events.
He did take my point, and I learned how to do it, but I still don't like it. It's imposing narrative which can give a false impression of events.

 

[Cloudbusting]

Just listening to the final episode right now. Something that stands out to me is that they were there for 6 years?! I know that they said there were financial reasons why they didn't move (and perhaps were concerned the phenomena would follow them) but they didn't own the house, they rented it. I just can't believe you wouldn't move out in all that time, it seems like a very strange decision.

Excited about the prospect of an Uncanny Xmas special!

 

[MorningAngel]

Uncanny Christmas special 21st December.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

I found it interesting in the case update 3 that they compared it to the Amityville case. The similarities were interesting and I enjoyed the discussion with the journalist who reported on the Amityville case.

Both cases had family turmoil, blended families, father possibly (as I believe) dealing with major depression and the fact that suddenly you have all of these random mediums, exorcists etc who try to change the happenings to fit their beliefs. The original experiences are so over examined with these prejudices that you don't really get any idea of what really happened.

The husband not being alive makes it so he has no voice in the story. The daughter seems to be the only one who just gives her experience and it seems to have no outside influence as to how she perceived it. This may be due to her being a child at the time and the people "investigating" didn't see any advantage to influencing her.

I personally don't like the drama aspect of telling a true story. I prefer to hear it with the actual people just telling their experiences.

Agree, although Danny might have been pressured by the BBC to adopt this format, he has worked wonders to get so much paranormal content on Radio 4

There are also some clear disparities in the narratives provided by the book and this podcast, although the book made no attempt at critical analysis of the events. The electricity meter and initial huge bill is an issue when they first move in but then fades from the book and we aren’t told how much subsequent bills were.

That said, it remains a challenging case that will widen the divide between believer and skeptic.

 

[Salmonellus]

I struggle with UFOs that are reportedly caught on radar as evidence for the ETH (extraterrestrial hypothesis). We have had radar-evading Stealth technology for decades now, so it is really feasible that an advanced species of alien visitors would neglect to camouflage their craft against what is a now rather dated 20th Century technology...?

To use an analogy: perhaps it's for the same reason that modern soldiers no longer carry a shield on their left arm. Shields were very handy when combat was primarily one-on-one, with both parties using edged weapons. They're pretty useless these days.

Maybe ET technology is so different that radar shielding is, to their way of thinking, completely irrelevant.

 

[brownmane]

Just listening to the final episode right now. Something that stands out to me is that they were there for 6 years?! I know that they said there were financial reasons why they didn't move (and perhaps were concerned the phenomena would follow them) but they didn't own the house, they rented it. I just can't believe you wouldn't move out in all that time, it seems like a very strange decision.

Excited about the prospect of an Uncanny Xmas special!

Yes I had questions about why they would stay in a rented place that was so bad for them. But maybe it was the only place available for where they wanted to live?

Now that the series is done, I will make more comments about issues I feel about the story.
If you haven't listened to the podcast and don't want any possible spoilers, please skip this area.

Family problems were not addressed. It's a blended family and Bill's son Laurence is identified by one medium that he is the cause of the disturbance. So they have him sent away no questions nor concerns expressed. What? That made me angry. And then later another person says it's Bill himself. However, the son never returns to the family, so I do suspect there were huge family issues not addressed. I do believe that Bill developed major depression probably due to debt and family problems.

It was interesting when the artist interviewed spoke of how types of paint can cause physical damage. I do believe that Bill's bleeding hands may have been a reaction to his paints.


Not that it can be helped, but we only get Liz's story. Would Bill, if he were alive, have a totally different story.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

Yes I had questions about why they would stay in a rented place that was so bad for them. But maybe it was the only place available for where they wanted to live?

Now that the series is done, I will make more comments about issues I feel about the story.
If you haven't listened to the podcast and don't want any possible spoilers, please skip this area.

Family problems were not addressed. It's a blended family and Bill's son Laurence is identified by one medium that he is the cause of the disturbance. So they have him sent away no questions nor concerns expressed. What? That made me angry. And then later another person says it's Bill himself. However, the son never returns to the family, so I do suspect there were huge family issues not addressed. I do believe that Bill developed major depression probably due to debt and family problems.

It was interesting when the artist interviewed spoke of how types of paint can cause physical damage. I do believe that Bill's bleeding hands may have been a reaction to his paints.


Not that it can be helped, but we only get Liz's story. Would Bill, if he were alive, have a totally different story.

I am still struggling with the concept that Social Services coughed up for a 15/16 year old to leave home for a ‘boarding house’ with no further questions asked. I feel there is more to this than we are told, especially as they don’t seem to have consulted his birth mother.

I can’t help wondering, given the rural location, if the accommodation was provided to help Laurence to be closer to his 6th form/college…? This sanctioned moving out then became entangled with the paranormal goings-on. Otherwise I would have expected Laurence to be assigned a social worker at the very least.

 

[MorningAngel]

'I fled our haunted Welsh farmhouse after I ended up possessed and it destroyed my husband'
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/i-fled-haunted-welsh-farmhouse-25668088

 

[brownmane]

I am still struggling with the concept that Social Services coughed up for a 15/16 year old to leave home for a ‘boarding house’ with no further questions asked. I feel there is more to this than we are told, especially as they don’t seem to have consulted his birth mother.

I can’t help wondering, given the rural location, if the accommodation was provided to help Laurence to be closer to his 6th form/college…? This sanctioned moving out then became entangled with the paranormal goings-on. Otherwise I would have expected Laurence to be assigned a social worker at the very least.

And I think it very telling that Liz never refers to her stepson even when speaking about her family. Makes me question who really pushed (and possibly set up conditions) for him to go to a boarding school, never to return.

 

[catseye]

And I think it very telling that Liz never refers to her stepson even when speaking about her family. Makes me question who really pushed (and possibly set up conditions) for him to go to a boarding school, never to return.

Was it a boarding school? Or a more secure establishment, perhaps?

 

[brownmane]

Was it a boarding school? Or a more secure establishment, perhaps?

It is told as a boarding school for him not to be disturbed in his studies with all of the goings on.

 

[catseye]

It is told as a boarding school for him not to be disturbed in his studies with all of the goings on.

Thank you. I did wonder about this, whether it actually was a boarding school (because, in my experience, Social Services won't intervene in a family unless there is some reason to suspect severe abuse), or whether 'boarding school' was used as a euphemism for something else.

 

[Cloudbusting]

Does anyone know whether the son is still alive? I don't remember him featuring as a guest, but may have missed it.

 

[Paul_Exeter]

It is told as a boarding school for him not to be disturbed in his studies with all of the goings on.

Chadbourn’s book definitely says a “boarding house” in Brecon that was paid for by Social Services because they were broke. The book was released on Kindle in 2014.

 

[Who me]

That’s the first time I’ve seen a picture of the couple and never any pictures of the house.
Strange how after reading/listening to the podcast and I have read the book how bill looks a bit sad stressed.
I know it’s only because of the above reasons but it affects your judgment of people.
Hope I’ve put that down correctly.

 

[brownmane]

Considering he had debts, had sent his son to a boarding school, never to see him again until several years layer, a not particularly, imo, successful business and the remoteness of the place, I can see a person in turmoil.

Then he also has a neighbour blame him for killing his horse just by the landscape he placed it in. Talk about someone being ridiculously superstitious.

Even if he was also dealing with major depression (which I mentioned before) and alcoholism, the remoteness would most likely not have made it easy for him to find help if he did want it.

I do believe the one farmer's explanation for the animal deaths. The excess gas build up (can't remember what kind he said) in a small barn and pigs in particular are very sensitive to their environments. They are very susceptible to extreme changes in temps, for example, and will die suddenly. A couple who have no farm animal knowledge would not be aware of illnesses on animals that can spread very suddenly. Again, the remoteness and their debts probably contributed to the animal deaths. A vet would, I think, not have been easy to come by and they may not have wanted the extra expense.

None of this directly explains if the house is haunted, but when you look at poltergeist settings, these factors are present.

I also believe that the others called in with their mishmash of real or fake abilities did no favours. I, on one hand, believe that this can stir up things paranormal related. On the other hand, I think that the family was heavily influenced by what others were telling them.

I still don't know whether it was haunted by an entity. Sometimes people are the haunted ones.

 

[catseye]

The excess gas build up (can't remember what kind he said) in a small barn and pigs in particular are very sensitive to their environments. They are very susceptible to extreme changes in temps, for example, and will die suddenly. A couple who have no farm animal knowledge would not be aware of illnesses on animals that can spread very suddenly.

Pigs are also very susceptible to pneumonia, which is why pig barns have slatted sides and open slats in the roof, to encourage the movement of air. A completely enclosed environment will kill pigs, particularly young ones, REALLY fast.

One of the few things I remember from my time at agricultural college.

 

[lordmongrove]

Witch Farm part 1
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001d6yr

 

[lordmongrove]

Witch Farm
Episode 2
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001ddg1

 

[lordmongrove]

Witch Farm
Episode 3
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001dn16

 

[lordmongrove]

Witch Farm
Case update 1.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0dcq395

 

[lordmongrove]

Witch Farm
Episode 4.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001dwv8

 

[lordmongrove]

Witch Farm
Episode 5
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001f549

 

[lordmongrove]

Witch Farm
Update 2
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0dgw85b