Uncanny (BBC Programme / Podcast)

escargot said:
Their live show at a book festival featured the deeply irritating gimmick of a woman randomly screaming. I won't be bothering again.
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Yes, sometimes they just need to grow up a bit. But I enjoyed that live show despite the lo-grade hi-jinks.
 
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I have just listened to the live 'Uncanny' follow-up to the Heol Fanog 'Witch Farm' investigation. It all seemed a bit strung out and overly dramatic to me. Shame. Have to say the story would probably make a decent movie though.

The whole Egyptian angle came a bit out of the blue. I don't recall the description of the bird-headed apparition in earlier episodes, but maybe I missed that particular point.

One element that really made me wince was the way the audience started whooping and hollering every time a guest came out onto stage, like they were rock stars. Where do they find their audience??

By and large I have enjoyed the series but I hope we soon get another series investigating various different cases. Some of them have have been very good.
 
Danny Robins was a guest on Saturday Live this morning on BBC Radio 4.

Nikki Bedi and Richard Coles are joined by writer, podcaster and ghost-botherer Danny Robins, behind the hit podcast The Battersea Poltergeist and smash West End play 2.22 A Ghost Story.
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His feeling about the supernatural is that it's both scary and reassuring. A bit like God, then.
 
I knew of this podcast, and also listened to the series he did on both the Battersea polt and The Witch Farm.
After listening to him on Saturday Live, I'm binge-listening to the whole lot. Actually quite good, in a basic presentation to newcomers to Forteana.
We've decided to see 2.22 A Ghost Story when it comes to York.
 
Stormkhan said:
I knew of this podcast, and also listened to the series he did on both the Battersea polt and The Witch Farm.
After listening to him on Saturday Live, I'm binge-listening to the whole lot. Actually quite good, in a basic presentation to newcomers to Forteana.
We've decided to see 2.22 A Ghost Story when it comes to York.
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Oh thank you I didn't know it was touring, will have to keep an eye out for the tickets being released!
 
Stormkhan said:
The theme tune of the podcast (by Lanterns on the Lake) has become an earworm of myself and my wife. :)
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Yup, on the Railway Ghosts thread I described how some experienced railwaymen refused to use a service lift because something appears in it. :omg:

When pressed, they will only say 'I know what I saw.'
That set me STRAIGHT off! :chuckle:
 
CharmerKamelion said:
I have just listened to the live 'Uncanny' follow-up to the Heol Fanog 'Witch Farm' investigation. It all seemed a bit strung out and overly dramatic to me. Shame. Have to say the story would probably make a decent movie though.

The whole Egyptian angle came a bit out of the blue. I don't recall the description of the bird-headed apparition in earlier episodes, but maybe I missed that particular point.

One element that really made me wince was the way the audience started whooping and hollering every time a guest came out onto stage, like they were rock stars. Where do they find their audience??

By and large I have enjoyed the series but I hope we soon get another series investigating various different cases. Some of them have have been very good.
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It was interesting to hear from the mother and son but yes, a bit less 'whooping' from the audience would have been appreciated...! In a sense, I feel the son had no option other than to agree with what his mother had already said during the series. It was also intriguing to hear from the new owners and how the house and grounds are now peaceful and full of nature. This begs the question of it being a person-centred phenomenon rather than it being attached to the house and/or land...?

Personally, I feel did strange poltergeist-type activity probably did happen but then got blown out of proportion through a combination of their heightened states, financial problems and his drinking and general mental health issues.

Bring on the new series of 'Uncanny'...!
 
Stormkhan said:
I'd ask which came first ... the drink and mental health issues or the phenomena. Did one cause the other or vice versa?
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The place is isolated, giving little opportunity for social interactions, so previous issues might come to the fore.
 
I've just started in on the Uncanny podcast after also being late to the Battersea show. I like the presentation. It's fun. But the process of attempting an explanation is painful to listen to for me, even thought I find Drs. French and Watt far more credible than the paranormalists.

You can't ever tactfully say the truth: recollection is not reliable evidence.

It's fine to hear a story but narrators become very convinced that their memories are accurate (when we know that is false) and listeners are convinced that they are hearing things described exactly as they really happened (which is a courtesy but not a reliable practice, particularly since these events took place a long time ago).

I've always been fine with ghost stories. It's when people start to make them into facts and move to conclusions that unnerves me. We will never know what happened and it's not right to suggest that we can.
 
I don't mind open discussion about possible causes for some phenomena but it's almost laughable when you get the non-believer and the believer both completely intractable in their opinion.
It's the equivalent of one saying "it didn't happen" and the other "it did happen". Adds nothing to the debate on the actual case.
 
Sharon Hill said:
I've just started in on the Uncanny podcast after also being late to the Battersea show. I like the presentation. It's fun. But the process of attempting an explanation is painful to listen to for me, even thought I find Drs. French and Watt far more credible than the paranormalists.

You can't ever tactfully say the truth: recollection is not reliable evidence.

It's fine to hear a story but narrators become very convinced that their memories are accurate (when we know that is false) and listeners are convinced that they are hearing things described exactly as they really happened (which is a courtesy but not a reliable practice, particularly since these events took place a long time ago).

I've always been fine with ghost stories. It's when people start to make them into facts and move to conclusions that unnerves me. We will never know what happened and it's not right to suggest that we can.
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Personally I disagree but respect your viewpoint.

I am just pleased that we have Danny's shows to listen as BBC Radio have delivered very little such content over the years that hasn't been overtly skeptical bar one or two exceptions. To me, these shows are the 21st Century radio equivalent of the great paranormal documentaries of the '80s and '90s such as 'Strange but True?'and Arthur C. Clarke's 'Mysterious World'.
 
Stormkhan said:
I don't mind open discussion about possible causes for some phenomena but it's almost laughable when you get the non-believer and the believer both completely intractable in their opinion.
It's the equivalent of one saying "it didn't happen" and the other "it did happen". Adds nothing to the debate on the actual case.
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With all respect, that encapsulates the poltergeist phenomenon: on the one hand you have various witnesses saying stating that objects threw through the room, there were knocking sounds, levitating children and ghostly voices etc etc and on the other hand you have those who refuse to believe such things can happen in a rational world where everything is explainable by science. Yet the problem is the quality and quality of the witnesses who refuse to back down, including journalists, photographers, police officers, priests, people walking past the house and so on....
 
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