Podcast: Ghostwatch

the BBC Halloween special that sparked a public outrage

Bring Me The Axe! Horror Podcast

Episode 86: Ghostwatch

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Bring Me the Axe! is a comedy podcast celebrating the best (and worst) horror from a time when the video store ruled the night. Every other week, brothers Bryan and Dave White (and the occasional guest) heed the call of nostalgia and evaluate the classic 70s and 80s horror movies they loved in their childhood to determine whether the movies are still relevant today or should be allowed to fade into obscurity.

This week we take on another made-for-tv movie -- another British made-for-tv movie -- as we take in the notorious BBC Halloween stunt, Ghoswatch. In 1992 the BBC set out to make a movie about a paranormal investigation gone horribly awry. The kicker is that it’s cast with real BBC personalities and was kinda/sorta presented to the English TV watching public as a real investigation. A portion of the viewers were deeply affected by the movie and it resulted in a minor public panic that resulted in some actual diagnosed cases of PTSD for some viewers and one very tragic suicide. Since that time, Ghostwatch has lived in the imagination of British viewers who watched it and were either scared out of their fucking minds or were seriously entertained because there’s no two ways about it, Ghostwatch is a good time.

Taking notes from the Enfield Poltergeist investigation of the late 1970’s, Ghostwatch presents a family in trouble in some council housing in North London. The mother is at wits end. Her daughters are being harassed by a terrible spirit that they call Pipes. As the movie unfolds across 90 minutes, we learn more about the neighborhood, the old local legend of Mother Seddons and the terrible secret of Raymond Tunstall. Pipes The Ghost hides in plain sight among numerous shots and the whole comes together as all hell breaks loose and the TV broadcast accidentally lets a terrible force loose across all of England.

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