1. Ghostwatch (1992)
Ghostwatch was absolutely classic British television. It was truly a cultural phenomena and a complete breath of fresh air at the time - and it hasn't really been replicated since. Airing on the 31st of October in 1992, it was a 90 minute horror mockumentary which appeared as part of BBC Drama's Screen One series. The premise was that several BBC reporters were performing a live, on-air investigation of a house in Northolt, Greater London, at which poltergeist activity was believed to be taking place (it was, in fact, shot several weeks earlier). Going Live's Sarah Greene and Red Dwarf's Craig Charles were based in the house, while presenters Michael Parkinson and Mike Smith (along with a "Doctor Pascoe" - an actor playing a spirit specialist) were based in a studio, where they interacted with the recorded footage. By virtue of some filmed footage and interviews with neighbours and the family living in the house, they discovered the existence of a fiendishly malevolent poltergeist who they nicknamed Pipes because of his habit of knocking on the house's plumbing. As the programme progressed, the viewers learned that Pipes was the spirit of a mentally disturbed man called Raymond Tunstall, who was believed to himself have been troubled by the spirit of Mother Seddons a "baby farmer" turned child killer from the 19th century. Pipes manifested several times in the program - instances which became progressively more bold and terrifying (including an eerily memorable scene where he was seen behind a curtain very briefly), until the frightened reporters realised that the programme itself had been acting as a sort of "national séance" through which Pipes was gaining enormous power, which ultimately resulted in the spirit unleashing its full power and dragging Sarah Greene to her probable death behind a doorway, before escaping to carry out poltergeist activity throughout the country, terrifying audiences. He even took control of the BBC studios and transmitter network, using the Ghostwatch studio as a focal point and eerily possessing Michael Parkinson in the process. The presence of respected broadcasters like Parkinson did make this show seem genuine (although Craig Charles' light-hearted antics were somewhat out of place) and people really believed that they had just witnessed live poltergeist activity and the death of a beloved presenter. It garnered many complaints as a result and one scene in particular - in which one of the children living in the house suffered visible facial wounds at the hands of the poltergeist - really caused controversy. Even the fact that credits rolled at the end with actor's names in full view was not enough to dispel the illusion to some gullible viewers. I was very young at the time, but I vividly recall my parents receiving a phone call at the show's climax from one of our neighbours who had been disturbed by it! Brilliant television and it is available on DVD to buy. Go get it! So there you have it; Six great one-off British Halloween TV specials to find and watch! Have you seen any of these? Did you enjoy them? Can you think of any other decent one-offs of this nature? Let us know in the comments box below. And if this article encouraged you to watch any of these shows, let me know what you thought! And please feel free to follow me on
Twitter! P.S. Here's wishing a Happy Halloween to all.