Just to be playful and keep the writer and director amused while they were reading it.” Sir Michael Parkinson presented Ghostwatch from the studio, with Sarah Greene reporting from the house and Mike Smith manning the phones. Or Nick Ross from Crimewatch, and Anneka Rice. One version had David Dimbleby, and Selena Scott as the person in the house. Having a recognisable presenter in the studio to guide viewers through the action was important to Volk, though he didn’t always envisage it would be Parkinson. It was also screened seven years before 1999’s The Blair Witch Project. The show used a variety of techniques that came a decade before constructed reality TV series such as Most Haunted. “I think it would have turned out very differently if in any way I thought we were having a laugh,” notes Manning. Some people didn’t believe any of it, and some people believed the whole lot right to the end.” “But there was a really wide range of reactions. “I thought people might be taken in for about 10 minutes,” admits Volk. Gillian Bevan (Dr Pascoe) Caroline Nobel (make-up) Charlotte Blair (PA) and Lesley Manning (director) at a gathering on the day of the Ghostwatch wrap (Photo courtesy of Lesley Manning) Neither the writer nor director anticipated the intensity of the audience response.

“It involved a bit of pulling the wool over the eyes.

“Ghostwatch began as a conventional drama about a ghost hunter at a modern haunted house,” says screenwriter Stephen Volk. There were subsequent claims of post-traumatic stress.ĭespite viewers being taken in by the apparent authenticity of the show, it was always intended by its creators to be a drama rather than a prank. Ghostwatch was screened seven years before 1999’s The Blair Witch Projectīut that didn’t stop Ghostwatch causing panicked phone calls from BBC viewers, who believed the on-screen events were really happening.

The Longest Night by Stephen Volk