The disturbing TRUE story of BBCs Ghostwatch

[@necropink9200]

Ghostwatch was still more believable and convincing than Most Haunted. Also Michael Parkinson being possessed was more convincing than Derek Acorah.

[@Clashman.cjv77]

Are you kidding? Both programmes are equally shite!

[@catherineg9943]

“Most Haunted”, was “caught-out” to be FAKE!! It’s BEEN “IN THE NEWS”, many MANY TIMES!!

[@lindatannock]

​@Clashman.cjv77 at the time it was HUGE though. People had never seen anything like this before, so of course they believed it! Nowadays we can see it's fake.

[@MrLtia1234]

@@Clashman.cjv77 One is a classic bit of horror that overestimated the audience, the other is a reality TV show (aka fake nonsense pretending to be real) that accurately thinks lowly of its audience.

[@linferguson8702]

Derek Acorah is the most unbelievable person who has ever claimed to be a psychic! He is laughable and insulting! Why did most haunted have to always have an idiot in their team! Fred Batt what a twit 🙄

[@Eurobunneh]

I was 16 when this was broadcast, and it scared the shit out of me. On the bus to college it was all we could talk about and we truly believed it all. Yes, looking back at it today, you can see the overly dramatic acting, but back then it wasn't as evident.

[@davidhabert]

Your not wrong and I've been studying the paranormal for many years. It started to fuck with my ability to figure out if what I was seeing was real or not. So don't feel bad, your not alone.

[@gunmandoo]

Ghostwatch was a classic. I loved how even the technical and behind-the-scenes staff on the "paranormal special" were actual staff that people would have recognized, made it more believable.

[@Cleggsta]

Like many kids, we had been out and rushed home to see this, so whether we were getting a drink or just getting settled, we missed that introduction piece. As did all of my friends. I was born in 80, so was still pretty young when this aired. Parents had gone out for the evening leaving 3 young boys to watch this at home alone. We saw this whole thing, believing it was a genuine BBC live outside broadcast. Parkinson, Green & Smith were BIG players on the BBC then, so their presence made this thing legitimate in our young minds. This show scared the life out of us as kids. We sat, inching closer together on the sofa watching this, within 10 minutes the lights were turned on in the house. Within 20 minutes, we wouldn't go to the loo alone, wouldn't fetch a drink alone. We went together, as a 3. By the time Mum & Dad came back from the pub, there were 3 absolutely terrified young boys in the house. The aftermath of this haunted me for YEARS, and I DO mean years. I slept with my light / TV on for the rest of my childhood. At first I wouldn't go to the toilet in the night at all, even as it was getting dark I would SPRINT to the loo, and sprint back to bed. I was terrified to go in our kitchen at night for years, as it was at the back of the house which faced a field, I was terrified of seeing a reflection of something in the panes of our windows. Every noise, every little thing was "Pipes" in our heads - this went on for a very long time. We had no idea this was a film, a spoof!!! Talk about traumatised. There was nothing like this ever shown on TV in the 80s / early 90s. It was absolutely groundbreaking. The paranormal was supoosed to be make believe, so when the BBC presented a "live investigation" that proved the existence of the paranormal, it was a big deal. It was certainly all legit in our minds! Obviously today it's clearly a show, but back then it difnt seem that way - different times!

[@user-kv1nj2kz6r]

This is the problem, your parents should have explained but the night-fears of kids back then were hushed up and 'they'll get over it' as if they weren't important. It just wasn't a done thing! Maybe that's why our kids are so protected?

[@pepper_strong]

I've recently rewatched this, and even if the acting was cheesy? I had to admit it was shocking for its time. Thanks for the memory flashback Beardo

[@beebeelicious]

We were all a lot more naive then I think.

[@lindatannock]

​@beebeelicious we had nothing to compare it to! I believed it at the time. There had been nothing else like that on tv before.

[@pepper_strong]

@@lindatannock 100% agree

[@irenes3470]

For its time: the 90's? Come on.

[@beebeelicious]

@@irenes3470 I was ten and I wasn't that shocked. I could tell it was acting.

[@Beornigan]

I watched it as a kid, and it scared the crap out of me, even though I did notice in the credits that Pipes was played by an actor. I still remember watching it very clearly, and it sparked my interest in the paranormal. Keep up the good work, Beardo.

[@lindatannock]

I watched it at the time too 😊

[@davidmurphy7332]

As someone who was 13 at the time and missed the disclaimer at the start and turned it off before the cheesy ending, I was utterly terrified by what followed to the point of being reduced to tears and a sleepless night. However, I think this is one of the best pieces of television I’ve ever seen and I wouldn’t change that experience for anything

[@atonewithnature_]

I was 10 and this absolutely terrified me too

[@chriseYe-xh6oh]

I was 11 and in tears... and my sister was 14 and in tears

[@EvilRobotSteve]

I love that this still gets videos made about it. I watched it as a kid, and no horror experience has ever stayed with me quite like this one did. I don't remember ever seeing an intro stating that it was a drama, and the adverts that rolled for it in the weeks leading up to it definitely were intended to make you think it was real. By the time the credits rolled at the end making it clear it was fake, it was too late. I was scared sh*tless. I slept with the light on that night.

[@The_Reborn]

I never saw Ghostwatch myself but a mate of mine did, and I remember talking with him the following day. He thought it was real to such a degree that he told me he had left all the lights on in his house when he had gone to bed. At first, I thought he was joking, but then I realised he was still genuinely shaken by the show.

[@emmajanewatts4388]

I was 17 when this was broadcast, nothing like this had ever been broadcast before plus there was no internet back then. We only had 4 tv channels and the calibre of the presenters plus it was on bbc1 live that we’d never experienced made it so real. I’m 49 now but think back to that time when mobile phones weren’t even a thing. It really was terrifying ❤

[@majesticloops]

Ghostwatch, Threads and The Day of the Triffids were masterpieces

[@Inverse_Midas]

Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling!

[@corvidual]

It was like a modern day version of the War of the Worlds radio show in 1938, when people in the US really thought they were being invaded by aliens.

[@hildahilpert5018]

My dad passed away in 1996. He said they were listening to the radio when the War of the Worlds came on.They listened for a little bit,and then grandpa said turn it The family knew it was fake.

[@lorrainebowe9585]

I agree it was like a modern day version of the War of the worlds radio show in 1938 I felt sorry for the 18 year old who committed suicide and his family as that will be with them for the rest of thier lives

[@stoikes]

Yeah he said that.

[@Steve-xi3lx]

I did read an article that made the case the "War of The Worlds Panic" was not as bad as it was made out. Readily available radio stations were still a new thing so most of the tales of panic and fear were spread by old school publicity like newspapares who faced increased competition from this new fangled radio format. It was in their interests to spread panic about a possible 'competitor' according to the article.

[@DCambs-ry6bi]

Beardo - Did you see the Inside No 9 episode that went out live and was inspired by this? It was fantastic. At the time, as soon as it was happened, I was taken back to Ghost Watch which I remember watching live. I remember assuming it was a play when I was a kid (would have been about 12 and was obsessed with horror films and practical effects from about 10), but there were lots of kids at school the next day who believed it had been real and were subsequently shitting themselves.

[@ktjai9445]

I was 8 and also realised it was acting. I really enjoyed it

[@xashfordx]

Hate when people try to blame tv for real life tragedy. Perhaps the parents should actually learn to take responsibility for their failure.

[@microfrog4855]

I'm American, and as a kid, I would always seek out British shows, specifically British comedies. I ended up getting to watch Ghostwatch, not knowing that it was a hoax and not a real documentary. It had be thoroughly convinced for a long time that it was totally legit. One of the best pieces of horror ever filmed.

[@davidhabert]

You might be interested to know that. The makers of The Blair Witch Project (1999) were reported to have seen this before they made their own movie.

[@TheHouseofsuffering]

I thought it was completely unconvincing- I watched it as a 22 year old, I felt betrayed by this obvious hoax

[@Jaye-Jae]

I watched it as an 18-year-old with my boyfriend and younger sister who was 15. I honestly missed every scene where Pipes was seen. My younger sister saw him in a scene and was so freaked out, she was begging me to call and say she'd seen him. I don't remember much about it, but I remember her being so scared and panicked.

[@FireMoon42]

The WOTW and Ghostwatch shared a common incident that was key to people's reactions. Both shows overlapped another highly rated show which meant a large number of people switched over after WOTW and Ghostwatch had begun. That meant they missed the introduction and the fact they were dramas.

[@Prowrastletalk]

Yeah but people have common sense sorta

[@lindatannock]

​@@Prowrastletalkthere was no internet then, and we only had 3 or 4 tv channels! People believed what was on tv back then.

[@petersvillage7447]

​@@lindatannock I often hear this idea that people were media-naive because it was The Olden Days, but it really is nonsense. In 1992 people were well familiar with fake broadcasts, not least because every single year in the UK there would be fake news stories on April the 1st (a tradition that is still going). The 1960s BBC report into the failure of Italy's Spaghetti Harvest was already a legendary TV moment that we were shown in school, and *everybody* knew about the 1930s War of the Worlds. The reason Ghostwatch fooled people is because people just naturally believe stuff - even when it's broadcast as a drama, in the weekly drama slot, after being trailed as a drama for several days. People back then were no more nor less credible than they are today - and if anything, popular belief in nonsense has escalated because of the internet...

[@artif1ed]

Very very few people thought it was real as anyone who checked of the many TV guide magazines or newspapers knew it was a drama a week ahead of schedule and then the talking BBC stings inbetween shows also promoted the upcoming drama.

[@petersvillage7447]

​@@artif1ed What you say is correct, but the fact is that Ghostwatch *looked* like it was another show using the established '-watch' format, and therefore looked like it was 'real' and the immediacy of that was very strong. It was meant to. Certainly, enough people believed it was real for the BBC phone lines to be flooded with calls... However, I suggest that the real question is not whether people believed it was real when it began, but how long they believed it was real for. After all, the idea of a live show from a supposedly haunted house is perfectly believable - the bit that required credulousness is to keep beiieving it when conveniently exciting and scary things start to happen. I suspect that literally nobody believed it was real by the time it had ended.

[@thelmaviaduct]

Scared me as a kid, the red curtain part at the end especially. Even now watching this, gives tingles over my back.

[@ivaneames4354]

I was 12 when this was broadcast and like many others I thought it was real. That made the ending super confusing as I was waiting for someone to tell the viewers that Parky and the others were ok but nothing happened and they just moved onto the next scheduled programme. I had gone to bed before the reassurance message was put out so I didn't see it or know anything about it. Even as a 12 year old I didn't understand the hate it got because although I found it spooky, it didn't scare me that much. If anything I was more intrigued as I loved things to do with ghosts and was really hoping for some conclusive evidence that they were real. I found the idea of it scaring someone into killing themseves to be utterly ridiculous and felt people were majorly overreacting. I didn't know at the time that the young man had learning difficulties and only found that out later when the DVD came out. I watched it again as an adult when it finally came out on DVD and found it to be incredibly tame and pretty badly acted. Seeing it through adult eyes I wondered how on earth anyone took this seriously in 1992 and, just like child me, still could not understand at all how 30'000 people got so upset about it.

[@GiuseppeStromboliESQ]

Man, I remember my entire school being traumatised by this. We even had an assembly to address it as the teachers were concerned about us all. Yeah, looking back now it’s quite cheesy, but at the time it was horrifying.

[@russellpalin]

I watched it, but I can't remember the talk about it being a film beforehand, maybe I missed the start? At the time I videoed it on VHS and can remember rewinding some bits as it was on to make sure that things hadn't been overlayed. The shock element came from the acting and the fact that the paranormal hadn't really been in the mainstream media in this way. I watched it with a friend (we were both 19) and I remember there was a number to call if you had seen something. We called it to try and work out if it was a hoax, but not being able to get through (due to the lines being overwhelmed?) played up to the fact that it must be real. Looking back on it, it was a true groundbreaker, in both good and bad ways. I think more could have been done to reassure people that this was a film in the run-up to Halloween, and at the end. It raised points about presenters who were trusted in a way that they wouldn't really be questioned, and whether a line was stepped over. (A bit like the line they drew around news presenters not being able to be involved in similar things.) Anyway, I did watch it, and it did have me questioning things a lot, I can see how people took it at face value, and my thoughts are still with every family affected by it. The way it slowly built up over time watching it didn't really get the viewer to question the possession and the studio exploding at the end. (Building things up slowly is a way to draw viewers in, whereas if you saw the end first, you'd think it was a bad b movie.) In a way without it the fact that presenters could be involved in something non-factual had the effect of putting a seed of 'is this real or not' in a lot of things in the following months and years. Imagine how bad things could have been if Most Haunted had the idea first?

[@ipfreely9245]

@@russellpalin Ahhh VHS!😂 I suppose it was wayyyyy better than BETAMAX.🤣 maybe the BBC should get a slice of that dude. repeat repeat repeat, crap!😅

[@Imasnailysnail]

Ghostwatch terrified me as a kid and stayed with me a long time. It was iconic TV and nothing like it has ever been done since. I'd love to watch it again in full to see what it's like from an adult viewpoint. I think it definitely played a massive part in my fascination for the paranormal from a young age .

[@ssb031]

I've heard about this. So tragic for that boy's family. That said, it's a testament to the production value of the show at the time that they were able to scare so many into believing it was real. OMG.. Pipes is terrifying. Sheeeeeshhh.

[@bryanreinhart5667]

Wow that was a crazy “found footage live event”. I was told as a kid don’t watch “the day after” in 1983 about nuclear war. I did and it messed me up for a long time as a kid. I get it.

[@GillianCranston]

Threads was the uk version. Once you watch that..... Jesus, you never forget.

[@user-js6lv7us1f]

I watched it when I had just bought my first house and it did terrify me, now I would watch it from a different point of view. Love your channel.

[@denisehill7769]

I was in my 20's; as far as I can remember we missed the first few minutes and thought it was a real documentary, until quite some way in when we realised it had to be a spoof - it was just too over the top to be real. Incidentally I loved watching Michael Aspel's "Strange But True", some of which scares me to this day!

[@blankfaces256]

sameeeee

[@sg-zd8eb]

Some episodes of Strange But True are on KZbin.

[@blankfaces256]

@@sg-zd8eb omg what a show that was, and 999. I miss old telly

[@sg-zd8eb]

@@blankfaces256 especially the Endfield Poltergeist episode, when the sofa moved in that episode it freaked me out.

[@Anderson-91]

This is a good example of how some people with mental illnesses and disabilities are more susceptible than others when it comes to the fraudulent claims and evidence from these fake "paranormal investigators". You can watch certain investigations and clearly see this is fake or just spooky entertainment, but when it gets real people involved, through almost predatory means, with real mental health issues, it can turn into something else, entirely. This is something those certain "investigators" should be highly aware of. Great video, as always!

[@ConstantiaVerted]

I think anything can cause a person to wig out if they're on the verge of wigging out unfortunately. There was a boy who killed himself inspired by something to do with The Lion King.

[@Anderson-91]

@@ConstantiaVerted True. But I'm speaking from the perspective of people who do watch certain channels, and see these "investigators" in my own opinion taking advantage of people who are clearly mentally ill, mentally disabled, addicts, elderly, just lost a loved one, etc. and are benefitting off these people for clout, when they clearly need some help or type of intervention and not have their home "cleansed of demons." I'm not gonna name channels, but it's pretty obvious, if you keep up with these channels as to who I'm speaking on. I understand your point, though. Many vulnerable people have done something they can't take back over many things. But to know it's happening in real time, and to watch these people getting taken advantage of just rubs me the wrong way. It's gross. I'm not even really speaking on the people who even watch those channel(s), because they're followers are almost cult like, but I worry more about the people they're "helping."

[@lindatannock]

​@@Anderson-91I have to agree!

[@emmab009]

I used to love Halloween shows 😃. Really enjoyed this one Beardo, but obviously very sad for the boy who passed….

[@Fireflowerherbal]

Watching this brought back some memories! Like so many young people this programme is seared into my brain, and probably a huge part of my fascination with the paranormal.

[@gavinburrows5223]

As a kid when this was live, i was so scared i cried. My father told me it wasn't real and that I should sleep. It was terrifying. As an adult you can see its fake but as a child it's bone chilling.

[@iansmith1965]

I remember seeing Ghostwatch in 1992 when it was broadcast, but what gave it away for me that it was fiction was...at the start of the programme, which admittedly many people did not see, in the credits it said, "Written by Stephen Volk", and also I recognized the actress playing the psychologist Dr Lyn Pascoe, but it was still scary nonetheless, and a ground-breaking piece of television, as nobody had done this before! Nowadays, ghost shows....you can't turn on the TV without seeing half a dozen!

[@sammybloom2065]

I was 20yrs old and at the time an unquestioning believer. And it honestly scared the living daylights out of me. My dad scared me by scratching my bedroom door. I cried. 😂. And it really frightened me I don't think now, 30yrs later I could watch it again. I am a believer, but like you, I'm sick of the con merchants, that drown out the genuine few.

[@stevengiles77]

I remember watching it when I was a kid, and it freaked me out, growing up I have experienced several of my own paranormal experiences, and now me and my nephew have our own KZbin channel doing paranormal investigations, as we are just just intrigued and fascinated by it, and what the reality of it all could be. Great video, brought back some memories 👻

[@SonicStealth]

I was 10 when i watched it and i remember it very well, i watched it round my nans, after a couple of times of seeing the figure 'pipes', it scared the hell out of me, I just said to my nan I want to go to bed.. as a kid that was really scary, and i still remember it 32 years later, so id say it definitely was a legendary programme of its time 👍

[@ianlapworth4510]

I remember it well. I was 25 at the time, my girlfriend and I has been out for a meal, and missed the first half hour or so (including the 'disclaimer' at the start). I was absolutely convinced this was real. Seeing 'Pipes' in the background - well, I nearly shat myself. Only at the very end, when the studio became possessed, did it click that it was made up. But yes, it terrified me for days, and even now, at 56 years old, the fear I remember from that night has stayed with me - a testament to how believable the programme was at the time. 👻

[@devilsknight]

Ive heard commented before that the best horror are the ones that make you do most of the work. No one can scare you better than being inside your own head

[@RionTokymaka]

I loved Ghostwatch, greatest thing the BBC ever did. Was 12 when it aired the perfect age to watch were I was old enough not to go to bed pissing myself but young enough to get dragged into it. I fully believed at the time I was watching a live event, I remember the promos with Michael Parkinson saying join us this Saturday night for Ghostwatch Live. We didn’t get the Radio Times, but I’m sure the listing in the free guide we had said ‘Ghostwatch Live!’. They may have had an icon system for actual Live events but I was 12 so I setup the TV and VCR in my sisters room, with candles and the fire on ready to record any potential ghost sightings. I may have been in the other room and missed a little bit of the beginning as I don’t recall the Screen One title card but it wouldn’t have meant anything to me anyway. I definitely thought it was legit in the beginning, they were all recognisable trusted faces, even Craig Charles being there wasn’t too out of the ordinary, he had been appearing in other tv shows as a cameo or guest at the time. As the program went on I started to get suspicious that it wasn’t legit, but there’s a lot you can explain away when your 12 and looking for ghosts. Some of the acting with the family seemed off, but then they weren’t supposed to be actors and people can and do behave unnaturally on camera when they’re not used to it. I thought the actress playing the Doctor was great though. Obviously by the end when everything started kicking off properly I was 99.9999% sure it was fake. But if I’m honest when Parky gets possessed and the screen goes black at the end I remember saying to myself “Please let there be credits, please let there be credits”. And there was, so I slept okay 😅. I kept the VHS copy for many years, and upgraded to the DVD when it finally came out. It’s sad that some people were strongly affected by it, I’d have loved for this sort of thing to be a regular Halloween event.

[@petersvillage7447]

You mention something interesting there. In fact the Radio TImes listing didn't refer to it as live, but specifically as 'A Screen One Special Drama'. However, it was also called 'Ghostwatch' - and that '-watch' bit was as good as saying it was a live broadcast even back then. We still have 'Springwatch' but through the 80s and 90s there were loads of different shows like Hospitalwatch or Nestwatch that used this '-watch' suffix to indicate they shared a format - of 'real life' being recorded and reported on, sometimes with fixed cameras in set locations. So calling it 'Ghostwatch' was as good as saying 'live, factual programme'. I myself went into it thinking it was a live programme, even though at the back of my mind that didn't seem to make sense because it was a Screen One programme, and Screen One was the drama slot... But basically I ignored that contradiction because it *looked* like a live documentary. Rather like you, I noticed a few things were off with the acting and for me it was the people phoning in who made my belief in it falter... the strangest thing of all is that Ghostwatch wasn't even the first time the BBC did this. Back in the 1930s, a year before The War of the Worlds in America, BBC Radio did a special live Christmas Eve broadcast from Britain's most haunted house, and that was actually a drama though it was presented by famliar broadcasters of the day. I don't know why it didn't scar the British public in a similar way - but perhaps it was just that not enough people listened to it...

[@AlmightyHoogs]

My memory of this as a kid was different when i watched this again as an adult. Just as you said, watching Parkerson sitting as the studio going crazy is weird.

[@ipfreely9245]

Memory lane, i remember watching. 😮 I didn't know someone actually took their own life watching that, definitely shows the damage it can do to an individual. 🙏 You've actually had someone in the comments a few videos back, she was petrified about what she'd seen on other channels. You Beardo and Mrs Geek put her mind at ease, thankfully. 🙏😊

[@Quiltress1999]

I watched this for the first time this year. The person watching with me had given me the complete rundown regarding the film being fictional and some of the actors being related. I have to say this held up. I’m easily bored with movies, but I loved this one. To me, the disclaimer at the beginning of the movie seemed very vague. We also didn’t have Google yet 😅

[@user-kv1nj2kz6r]

I was 14 when this was aired and I was staying around my Nan's house. I was so scared that I had to sleep in my aunties bed!!!! Don't forget this was 1992, we did not have computers, few had mobile phones. We had only 4 channels on TV, video recorders, LPs and singles on record players or tape decks and it had only been 10 years since colour TV's were a common household item. The idea of dishwashers, the internet, smart phones and TVs, digital TV etc were a long distant imaginative thought!

[@bittertroll7476]

watched ghostwatch for the first time on youtube a few years ago. have seen it several times since. even found a copy on bluray and picked it up. this is something i can watch over and over again

[@ihunt2147]

I remember watching this as a kid, and going to high school where it was all the talk. There is a BUT. When the credits had stopped rolling there WAS a disclaimer saying it was on fact fictional and all made up. I remember the relief at school when some people like me had kept watching in disbelief, and then the disclaimer popped up!

[@GaryWayneHill64]

I was 28 and in the pub at the time and so missed it, the spirits I encountered that night had their effect on me the following morning😁

[@mgal3604]

I remember this well, was visiting my parents for dad's birthday. We were gripped. Then we realised it was Halloween, and just enjoyed it for what it was.

[@jekylthorn8969]

I watched this live as a kid. A lot of us didn't hear the intro and only started watching after it had started. I remember our family thinking it was real until the phenomena became obviously fake and some of the acting gave it away. It did freak people out, though.

[@TrentonBennett]

Awesome new video Beardo. I did see this a few year ago and chuckled at it quite a few times. I could see why people and kids thought it was real back then. I agree the "possession" at the end was a little over the top. It was funny the kid got caught banging the pipe or something on the wall. I remember seeing Pipes. No doubt the actor is most likely a good likeable guy. I think this was the first Paranormal "show" to ever air. Then came out Ghost Adventures Documentary which didn't air until July 25th, 2007. However shortly after GA made their documentary Ghost Hunters (TAPS) rolled out .I wonder how much of BBC's Ghostwatch was partly the reason why both those teams and shows were started.

[@whispersoftheafterlife1017]

As a kid, i used to think the ppl in the tv could see me

[@RichardWatt]

Hey beardo, I just remembered that apparently if someone phoned into the switchboard in the BBC during ghostwatch and they weren't one of the prearranged crew members then the phone system would play a recording message saying that this was not real and was being staged for a Halloween special.

[@bryanreinhart5667]

Beardo i didn’t watch yet but it was amazing seeing your and SEG on the live for GCP. It was so cool to see the interaction. I think I have a lot of respect for the ladies and saw some of their points of view. Nice job getting up early for that!

[@lindatannock]

Yeah I really liked seeing Beardo, Seg, Crow etc in the chat! Jade and Mandy handled it really well, and made some really good points I thought. Nice to see everyone behaving like adults. I do respect Mandy and Jade, and I don't think they do things to be fake. They just need to show their debunks a bit more, which they agreed about.💗🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@_charmed]

I watched it! It was great. I was scared but even 13 year old me realised it wasn't real by the end. The studio blew up and the credits rolled, and the illusion was shattered. Everyone was talking about it at school the next day and only 1 kid insisted it was real and she was already convinced ghosts were real before Ghostwatch.

[@ResidentBeagle]

I was 8. And was sent to bed terrified lol! It’s difficult to explain just how unsettling this was at the time. No mobiles / social medial / internet. You definitely had to be there to experience it properly.

[@angelcoops511]

I watched this when I was a teenager, remember going to school taking the piss out of this. How anyone took this serious amazes me. It also reminds me of Most Haunted. Honestly I’ve witnessed more scarier things than that in real life.

[@TheSoulsTrail]

It makes you wonder how much we need to believe. How dangerous it is for a tired of fractured mind to think it's easier just to let go if there is more. Here, a believer who questions. Great video.❤ Oh, edit: Definitely more of this, please.

[@kennethcampbell9699]

Had just moved into my own house living myself , the hot water pipes installed in the 1970s would creak and bang and was made aware of this as I sat in the dark watching this ................ only time in my adult life I walked about with the lights on , this was the best Halloween night entertainment ever.

[@harrydunn3754]

Man this was a kick ass episode man!! I nice change of pace brother I really enjoyed this!! Thank you sir!

[@ifadetogray]

The acting was good, but that' what gives it away to us now as we have a long history of reality TV vs scripted, and back then we did not. This reads more theatrical and it's apparent to our jaded eyes.

[@mywatchaccount5928]

As a 16 year old and not actually knowing it was fake. all the way up to the studio being haunted it was so convincing as to start with nothing happened for a fair while.

[@craigshannon6011]

I remember people were talking about this in school the next day, I was always disappointed I had missed it.

[@nicoladolby2154]

I was 24 when Ghostwatch came out. I must admit I was a bit confused as to whether it was real or not until the end when the ‘spirit’ took over the studio. Today it would be a bit dated, but it’s nice to know there was some BBC innovation in the 1990s. Could do with some of that now.

[@Sindollx666x]

That Groot piece of artwork on your wall is INCREDIBLE!!!❤❤❤ Red Dwarf ❤👍

[@beardogetsscared]

Thank you so much 😀

[@Sindollx666x]

@@beardogetsscared You're welcome! did you make it?

[@julieburton7384]

Me and my husband sat and watched this, we were only 18 and had our daughter who is 32 now, she was only a baby. We had never sat and watched anything paranormal before this, we were terrified & had to sleep with the lights on in our bedroom for 2 nights.

[@jodiecarson82]

This made me want to watch Poltergeist as a kid use to sit right Infront of TV 😂

[@KellyReiki]

I’ve just remembered watching this aged 15. Forgot all about this. Completely thought it was real at the time. I’m so saddened to hear that young people lost their lives after watching, that’s a terrible thing

[@AJCrowley]

I remember watching this as a 15 year old at boarding school, we all thought it was bloody genius. It was obvious to all of us at the end that it was a setup. If a group of 12-16 year olds spotted it for what it was at the time, I have to question the intelligence of anyone who was genuinely "traumatized" by this. It's a tragedy that the kid killed himself, but if this broadcast was the trigger, then if it never aired something else would have been the trigger to an obviously very troubled young man who wasn't getting the help he needed. There was no epidemic of ADHD or Aspergers back in those days, and the number of kids with these disorders today can't be put down to purely non or mis-diagnosis at the time. Regardless, he was a troubled young man who didn't get the help he needed, and it's fallacy to blame a TV show for what was a terrible tragedy.

[@user-eh8cg4bp3y]

Great callback. I remember this vividly. Ironically, I didn't see the show but I remember the mayhem at school the next day. Classmates were crying on the bus, crying in class, crying in assembly. I went to a Church school as well and it was absolutely insane. It got so bad that the headmaster brought in counsellors and child psychologists for a full week.😳 I just walked around bewildered at how everyone around me was freaking out and to this day, I'm of the opinion that everyone just was setting everyone else off... Like some sort of mass hypnosis. Crazy times.🤨

[@beckyfay6226]

I was gutted to have missed this! I was 18 and at first year of uni. Does anyone remember the Paul Daniels Hallowe’en special a few years before this? I was convinced his iron maiden stunt really had gone wrong where they blacked out at the end and you could hear the crew panicking for a minute or so. They didn’t sufficiently relieve viewers’ minds about it either. Just a pre-filmed clip of Paul D saying he hoped he’d survived the trick. I was very shaken by it at the age of about 14!

[@lisadawson6712]

Hey Beardo and Mrs Geek. I was 16 when this showed and I honestly thought it was real, it was bloody scary I thought It was real due to the likes of Parkinson, Sarah greene and her husband being in it, they were the to personalities we trusted which made it believable back in the early 90s As you said it was definitely the start of ghost hunting programmes, maybe MH and others should have taken some tips from them 😂 Much love to you and Mrs Geek 💕

[@TheFerretLives]

It took about five minutes for me to realise it was a drama, particularly because the woman in the studio with Parky was an actress I'd seen in loads of things, especially comedies. Yeah some of the acting was obvious, the mum in particular was not very natural. The kids though were great and Parky and Sarah Greene were surprisingly good (Sarah was an actress as well as a presenter). I did chuckle when you called Mike Smith Mike Greene, don't think he took his wife's name! Also RIP Mike Smith 😢 Stephen Volk also wrote the excellent ITV series Afterlife starring a pre-Walking Dead Andrew Lincoln

[@ZeroStako]

Ghostwatch is one of the most amazing films I've ever seen. I was hoping that "Late Night with the Devil" would be more like it, but alas.

[@GingerJesusDJ]

This absolutely terrified me as a kid when it originally aired. Pleased my folks recorded it for me as it wasn’t until years later I got a copy on DVD. I’m now 41, and it’s been tradition as long as I can remember now that we watch this on Halloween night.

[@AmberNBK8]

This is a very different and great video beardo! I miss your true debunks that you used to do, this is a nice change from your new normal! Good work!

[@lindatannock]

I watched this at the time! We all really believed it. The ending made me think, wait, this cant be real?! I honestly dont remember anything at the beginning saying it was a dramatisation. It was a time where wed never seen anything like this before, so it made it way more believable! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💗

[@Jade_holloway]

I watched it at the time, got a bit confused as to whether it was real or not, I'm sure I watched the whole thing but I don't remember any disclaimer either.

[@ceridwenacheryri]

I was 14 in 1992, and remember watching this with my mum. It's safe to say I was bricking it, and have never forgotten Pipes . Always been into the paranormal since I was a little kid - Ghostbusters started it, but Ghostwatch is definitely the one that had the most impact.

[@LabradorLady]

This gave me ptsd as a child but I’ve lost count of the amount of freaky KZbin videos I’ve watched since then and there ain’t much that’ll freak me out these days…! Thanks Beardo, I had to admit to my husband that this ‘Ghost Watch’ seriously freaked me out as a 12 year old…!

[@englishteadrinker736]

I remember watching this as an 18 year old and finding it terrifying. I haven’t seen it since but I remember becoming incredulous at the end when the studio went berserk and Michael Parkinson was possessed. Until that point we all thought it was real. I remember the aftermath. In the early 90s I think we were more naive as there was no internet and we weren’t used to things being fake and we trusted familiar faces on the television. Nowadays I think we would know it was fake.

[@jamesupton5601]

I was nearly 12 when it broadcasted. Me and my mum loved it but we didn't believe it to be real. If I'd been a year or two younger, I would of been traumatised and believed it was real (and probably loved it even more for it! ) So part of me wishes I had been taken in. Weirdly, I don't recall many people in school talking about it? 1. Did you know Sarah Green is a classically trained actress and that defiantly helped her play it so authentically. 2. Did you mention it got the highest rate of complaints ever recorded on the BBC? 3. I love it when Sarah Green's husband loses it a little and starts asking the crew about his wife's safety. 4. That later backstory is brutal, specially when the guy call's in and talks about the houses past. You don't need a budget to be effective, you just need imagination and skill.

[@mandalorianmama]

This is definitely reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project. It scared the absolute 💩 out of me, because we all thought it was real, and I worked at a summer camp in Maryland, only an hour or so away from Burkittsville. I legitimately cried and didn't want to go back

[@mandalorianmama]

@@lsusanna3 hahaha yeah! I live like 20 minutes from Burkittsville now. The Blue Ridge is beautiful though

[@markbeards4441]

I watched this live with some school friends. It was traumatic. But yet it was good. Pipes will always be in my memories.

[@MrsBlackOrchard]

I was 13 when I watched it when staying at my grandma's house. I was genuinely affected by it for around 2 years. To the point where I would only stay at her house if I could sleep in my grandma's bed with her.

[@ALICE-m8f]

Remember watching this with my mum and dad when I was about 9 years old the first time was really exciting and scary but after watching it a few time as my dad had recorded it ,I realised that the camera man had accidentally caught the girls banging on the wall and blowing down a school style recorded to make the squeal sound. Also remember the hype in the papers and on the news the next day.

[@Clara-ph7my]

'GhostWatch' was all over the newspapers the following days. At the time it was really believed. Kind of old skool now. I mean technology was not the same then, as it is now. Unless you had cable TV you were still watching mainstream, 4 channels.. This deserves it's merit in TV history,, very clever. I think as 'GhostWatch' went on, it did get sillier and sillier, with the apparent live phone calls. Definitely took interest from 'The Enfield Poltergeist'. A great refreshing revisit. Thank You.

[@stephenswift5426]

I and my family all watched this programme on the night it was aired. Me then aged 40, my wife aged 33, eldest son, aged 9, his brother, aged 7 and their little sister then 5 was in bed. I can't now remember which part it was but at some point I'd seen and heard enough to make me leave the room to, " put the kettle on ". I was totally fooled. To this day my kids still remind me .

[@Omega11998822]

I remember watching this when I was about 10. It was a Saturday so I could stay up late. To this day it's still one of the scariest things I've ever watched. Next level squeaky bum moments haha

[@DiscoDougify]

I watched this as a child, and I can remember it scared the shyte out of me. I remember thinking about it for weeks after I saw it. It was believeable at the time.

[@TimeBunny]

I missed this when it originally aired in 1992 (I want to say I was on a family holiday in Blackpool and we were out, so missed it). I finally watched it in my 20s and, even though I knew it wasn’t real, it still scared the heck out of me. So I’m glad I didn’t see it as an 11 year old, as it would’ve been terrifying for me. But all in all I really enjoyed the plot. It was nothing like I’d seen before, at the time.

[@johnw2758]

I remember watching this with my 3 young sons at the time. It was VERY believable up until, I think, the stairway shot(s) and then I sussed it. My eldest son, now 39, still talks about it to this day.

[@gisellel12357]

This is a really important video and thank you for covering it. My interest in debunking comes down to mental health in many ways, and I didn’t know much about this story. We had an incident in the US with young believers in slenderman. It’s the more vulnerable that I worry about. Questions come up such as who is responsible. Loved your ending!

[@beardogetsscared]

Oh ill look into slenderman I think

[@gisellel12357]

@@beardogetsscared it occurred in Wisconsin if that helps locate the story. It’s a sad one.

[@martinmowbray4304]

Bought this on dvd a few years ago. Still holds up well. I remember Sarah Green had to go on tv a few days later to show she was ok.

[@xXxLily_MoonwaterxXx]

I remember bits and pieces of that program, crazy to think there was so much backlash. Never knew it got that bad. From what I remember, it wasn’t very scary. I mean it had a certain allure to it but I watched worse as a kid.

[@shhhhhh62]

I watched it as an adult and loved it. I recognised the actress that played the mum as she was a local so knew it was fake but incredibly well delivered.

[@Phil5150Bower]

Remember this also have it on DVD extremely well done scary drama. The story was extremely dark and possibly too advanced for the time it played on how people perceived celebrities and how they believed them and what was happening. The ghost images were extremely well done and sporadic that made the difference.

[@jeffquayhagen1705]

I’d been chasing this movie for years and finally saw it on Prime. Loved it, and yes, I could see how in its time it would have scared the crap out of people watching it. Still pretty spooky/creepy and very worth the watch.

[@JJMClark]

Watched it at the time and re-watched it within the past couple of years. Enjoyed it both times.

[@TwoFourJoy]

I was 12 when this aired. I can’t remember hearing the controversy at the time but I do remember having the shit scared out of me. The scene where Pipes is standing with the curtains and the camera flicks back to show nothing there is still clear as day. 😆 I loved Sarah Green when I was a kid so was excited and nervous to watch this. It was a Saturday night if I recall and I remember my parents had friends over for the evening, so I was getting fully wound up by them all for being frightened. The bastards! At the time it was utterly convincing but as you say, the special effects haven’t aged well. I think a re-watch is in order soon.

[@bigdave4859]

I was 11 when I watched this live. It scared the shit out of me. I didn't get much sleep that night and slept with the lights on for weeks

[@stoikes]

I completely remember watching this as a kid. Was at my Nan and Grampy’s house, with my parents, we were sleeping over there. I was 9 going by the date this was on. I absolutely remember being absolutely terrified and affected by this, the “apples” scene for some reason sticks in my head. But yeah, I remember being put into bed (I would guess half way through the program) and I was panicking and screaming. Don’t know why I had such a bad reaction to it, my younger brother didn’t but it was definitely something I think was probably an over reaction. But, I was obviously susceptible to the program, mental! I think like you say, this was in the genre of lots of other current to programs like Crimewatch which we would accept as factual, the same studio to location set up would have made it familiar and so believeable.

[@MiniUsyk]

Don't remember it. TV and film never take responsibility for the influence they have on people.

[@BreakfastAtNoon]

Watched it when it came out, home alone. Mate.. it f**ked me up lol it was my “war of the worlds” moment, legit thought it was real. Edit: lmfao you brought up WotW I thought my comment would be lost on people.

[@MyVikinglife]

The War of the Worlds panic was in the US when the CBS Radio network broadcast it, even though before it went out they said it was a drama.