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Post by ripper on Jan 24, 2021 12:11:24 GMT
I can remember the reports at the time claiming a suicide due to watching the programme, but pre-internet information was not easy to come across. Doctor Strange mentioned that the suicide note said something about wanting to be a ghost, and that rang a faint bell in my memory, but close to 30 years later I can't recall how much follow-up on the suicide happened or was reported in the media. The suicide note (addressed to his mother) said something like "Please don't worry - if there are ghosts I will be a ghost, and I will be with you always as a ghost." I suppose that could be spun in different ways - but it's not an obviously straightforward case of someone being driven to suicide because of intense fear or distress. I've come across various quotes from family members/friends saying things like he had become "obsessed" with the programme, and there was something about the pipes in the house he lived in making similar sorts of noises to those in the show and him repeatedly asking his parents if that meant there were ghosts in their house too. I think it's probably correct to say the show had some bearing on what happened, but it's not so clear that the programme makers could realistically be deemed "responsible". There was an inquest (standard procedure in a case of suspected suicide), and the family presented their views on how the show had affected their son, but the coroner made no reference to it when he returned the official verdict of death by suicide. I think at that point the BBC did the sensible thing and expressed their condolences to the family, but essentially refused to engage in any further public discussion of the matter (what may or may not have been discussed internally within the organization is another matter). Agreed. Sounds like Ghostwatch may have had an effect on the person in question, but other issues were already there. Also, it must be a fine balancing act for broadcasters to judge how a particular programme may adversely affect audiences and to what extent and to how many, against how many will find it entertaining and not be affected.
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Post by ripper on Jan 24, 2021 12:23:18 GMT
GHOSTWATCH"On Halloween 1992, the BBC broadcast a take ‘live' outside broadcast from a haunted house, presented by Michael Parkinson, Mike Smith, Craig Charles and Sarah Greene. it finished up with an apparently possessed Parky wandering a devastated TV studio reciting nursery rhymes in a demonic voice while Greene was locked in a cupboard with the ghost of a dead child molester. it inspired widespread panic and remains one of the most complained about BBC programmes ever." - Joe McNally, Fortean Times # 128, Nov. 1999. Parky reciting nursery rhymes and Sarah locked in a cupboard with a ghost. I mean, how could so many take it so seriously. Yes, children who watched it may have been scared, but surely most adults would have seen it for what it was, and just turn it off if it was disturbing. The programme also was shown under the Screen One banner, surely a strong hint it was all fake. I wonder if shows like Most Haunted get complaints. After all, the presenters are not actors, Derek seemingly got possessed every show and it is presented as a serious investigation.
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Post by Dr Strange on Jan 24, 2021 13:04:06 GMT
I wonder if shows like Most Haunted get complaints. It has done, for claiming to be real when it is faked - news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4500322.stmOfcom's view that "the audience is not necessarily in full possession of the facts" is, I think, being kind to a lot of the audience - I'd have replaced "the facts" with "their faculties".
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Post by ripper on Jan 25, 2021 11:08:24 GMT
I wonder if shows like Most Haunted get complaints. It has done, for claiming to be real when it is faked - news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4500322.stmOfcom's view that "the audience is not necessarily in full possession of the facts" is, I think, being kind to a lot of the audience - I'd have replaced "the facts" with "their faculties". lol I haven't watched it for a long time, and then it was just for a laugh. There are one or two sites that review episodes and point out, shall we say, inconsistencies. Just occurred to me that with Parky possessed and spouting nonsense, and Sarah in that cupboard, that ghost must have been a pioneer in multitasking in the spirit world. lol
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Post by Dr Strange on Jan 25, 2021 14:47:10 GMT
It's kind of amazing really that Ghostwatch pre-dates all these "paranormal reality TV" shows we have now. Things like using infrared cameras - I suppose they got that from Badgerwatch or whatever - are just a cliche now. There are some UK Freeview channels that seem to run practically nothing but these sorts of shows - I'm sure people watch them for all sorts of different reasons, but still find it incredible that some people seem to take them seriously. It's notable though that Ghostwatch didn't involve any "mediums" - maybe they figured that would actually have made it less believable, and would have just highlighted the whole issue of whether people were "acting" or not.
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Post by ripper on Jan 26, 2021 13:10:13 GMT
It's kind of amazing really that Ghostwatch pre-dates all these "paranormal reality TV" shows we have now. Things like using infrared cameras - I suppose they got that from Badgerwatch or whatever - are just a cliche now. There are some UK Freeview channels that seem to run practically nothing but these sorts of shows - I'm sure people watch them for all sorts of different reasons, but still find it incredible that some people seem to take them seriously. It's notable though that Ghostwatch didn't involve any "mediums" - maybe they figured that would actually have made it less believable, and would have just highlighted the whole issue of whether people were "acting" or not. Yes, Ghostwatch was in a way a pioneer for today's 'true' ghost-hunting shows. As with most 'reality' shows, they are popular with makers because they are dirt cheap to produce compared to a drama or sitcom. Whenever I have watched them in the past they have usually given me a giggle. So many 'hunters' seem to put great store on using technology like EMF meters, infra red cameras etc. I suppose it gives an air of science, though waving an EMF meter around and interpreting variations as evidence of ghosts just makes me smile. Still, everyone on those shows seems to enjoy themselves, but I really do hope that viewers are aware of just how questionable ghost-hunting is, not to mention using scientific instruments to detect ghosts when, even if ghosts exist, there is no evidence or rationale behind their use for that purpose.
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Post by Dr Strange on Jan 26, 2021 16:46:54 GMT
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Post by Dr Strange on Jan 26, 2021 17:11:29 GMT
Here's the director talking about Ghostwatch in 2014 -
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Post by dem bones on Jan 27, 2021 8:56:20 GMT
Allen Koszowski. A contemporary view. From The Ghost Story Society Newsletter #12, February 1993 (wrong year on cover)
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