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Ghostwatch interview: Writer of cult paranormal TV show tells all

In 1992, a TV show petrified millions of UK viewers with a “live” investigation of a paranormal event. What happened next? Its writer, Stephen Volk, explains

By George Bass

31 October 2022

New Scientist Default Image

Ghostwatch

via Stephen Volk

Ghostwatch

Writer: Stephen Volk

Director: Lesley Manning

Blu-ray release 31 October

It was the night of Halloween, 1992. Millions of British TV viewers had tuned into a BBC TV programme called Ghostwatch to watch a live investigation into a haunted house. Hosted by Michael Parkinson and Sarah Greene, the show featured parapsychologists and electronics engineers who were certain their recording equipment was detecting something sinister. Viewers were told that they had taken part in a “national séance” that had unleashed a great evil via the TV signal.

This 1992 …

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