Ghostwatch

Ghostwatch
The BFI DVD release cover
Created by	Stephen Volk
Written by	Stephen Volk
Directed by	Lesley Manning
Starring	Michael Parkinson Sarah Greene Mike Smith Craig Charles Gillian Bevan Keith Ferrari (as Pipes)
Theme music composer	Philip Appleby
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
Production
Producer(s)	Ruth Baumgarten Richard Broke (Executive Producer) Derek Nelson
Editor(s)	Chris Swanton
Running time	91 minutes
Release
Original network	BBC1
Original release	31 October 1992 (1992-10-31)
External links
Website

Ghostwatch: Behind the Curtains
Announcement poster. Artwork by Arfon Jones
Directed by	Rich Lawden
Produced by	Rich Lawden Lesley Manning
Starring	Michael Parkinson Sarah Greene Mike Smith Craig Charles Gillian Bevan
Cinematography	Alex Ryle Adam Gutch Liam Iandoli Curtis Reid
Edited by	Lesley Manning
Production company	Lawman Productions
Release date	2012 (DVD release, 2013)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

Ghostwatch is a British reality–horror/mockumentary television film, first broadcast on BBC1 on Halloween night, 1992. Written by Stephen Volk, and directed by Lesley Manning, the drama was produced for the BBC anthology series Screen One by Richard Broke, Ruth Baumgarten and Derek Nelson.

Despite having been recorded weeks in advance, the narrative was presented as live television. During and following its first and only UK television broadcast, the show attracted a considerable furore, resulting in an estimated 30,000 calls to the BBC switchboard in a single hour.

Ghostwatch has never been repeated on UK television. It has been repeated internationally, on stations such as the Canadian digital channel Scream for Halloween 2004, and the Belgian channel Canvas in 2008.

There have been two UK home video releases. In 2002, the British Film Institute released a 10th Anniversary edition on VHS and DVD, and in 2011, 101 Films issued a DVD release. In 2016, BBC Store made the film available as part of the Frightmares collection, marking Halloween.

A retrospective documentary, Ghostwatch: Behind the Curtains, based on the film's lasting impact, was released on DVD in 2013 (having been in production between 2007-2012), featuring interviews with many of the original cast and crew. It too was made available as part of the BBC Store Frightmares collection, and shortly after release, the BFI Mediatheque.

The 90-minute film was a horror story shot in a documentary style and appeared as part of BBC Drama's Screen One series. It involved BBC reporters performing a live, on-air investigation of a house in Northolt, Greater London, at which poltergeist activity was believed to be taking place. Through revealing footage and interviews with neighbours and the family living there, they discover the existence of a malevolent ghost nicknamed Pipes (the children in the house had asked their mother about noises heard, and she said it was the pipes, hence the name). As the programme proceeds, viewers learn that Pipes is the spirit of a psychologically disturbed man called Raymond Tunstall, himself believed to have been troubled by the spirit of Mother Seddons – a "baby farmer" turned child killer from the 19th century (probably inspired by Amelia Dyer). In the course of the programme Pipes makes various manifestations which become more bold and terrifying, until, at the end, the frightened reporters realise that the programme itself has been acting as a sort of "national séance" through which Pipes was gaining horrific power. Finally, the spirit unleashes its power to the fullest extent, dragging host Sarah Greene out of sight behind a door and then escaping to express poltergeist activity throughout the country. He takes control of the BBC studios and transmitter network, using the Ghostwatch studio as a focal point and possessing Michael Parkinson in the process.