There are a number of reasons why the BBC was forced to ban a show that aired on the scariest night of the year.
On the eve of 31 October, 1992, viewers got a true sense of Halloween when the terrifying show made its way into the living rooms of 11 million people.
The fake – but very realistic – mockumentary followed a group of TV presenters who were watching a ‘live feed’ of the ‘most haunted house’ in Britain.
‘Footage’ of inside the Northolt home showed mum, Pam Early, and her two daughters being terrorised by a ghostly presence named ‘Pipes’.
The name is derived from the fact it kept banging on the water pipes.
Meanwhile, Michael Parkinson was in the studio and reporter Sarah Greene was there to do a ‘real’ investigation.
Just a day after the special – titled Ghostwatch – was released, it attracted over 30,000 viewer complaints.
It seems blurring the line of fiction and reality proved to be too much for some.
The plan was to initially air six episodes, but the series was cut down to a 90-minute programme instead.
The BBC show was aired on the evening of Halloween in 1992 (BBC)
Though it was still enough to scare the s**t out of viewers, with people still ‘wetting the bed’ over 30 years later.
“I remember watching this and thought it was real. I was frightened to death xx,” one viewer said.
“I saw it when it was aired live back then. Absolutely gave me nightmares,” a second added.
“That s**t the life out of me when I watched it as a kid. I’m 40 now and I’m still mad,” commented a third.
This comes after Ghostwatch horror writer Stephen Volk told Examiner Live: “If you are going to tell this horror gag then don’t do it half-heartedly. If you say it’s not true then you pull the teeth out of unsettling drama.
Pam Early and her daughters were being terrorised by a ghostly presence named ‘Pipes’ (BBC)
“We were of the opinion that when it’s finished then we can have a discussion about it.
“The BBC didn’t do that. When it cut to black at the end the announcer said, ‘And now, Match of the Day‘.”
Ghostwatch was also accused of giving viewers PTSD after parents of an 18-year-old claimed it caused his death.
Martin Denham died by suicide five days after it aired, having ‘become entranced with talk of ghosts’.
“He seemed a bit upset because things were happening at that time in the house that had been happening [on Ghostwatch]. The pipes were banging,” his stepfather told the BBC.
Martin Denham on his 18th birthday (BBC)
This comes after a note addressed to his mother read: “If there is ghosts I will now be one and I will always be with you as one”.
“I went crackers,” Mr Denham added. “I started swearing. When I heard about the [contents of] the note, I knew it was that programme.”
The Broadcasting Standards Commission later said the BBC had ‘a duty to do more than simply hint at the deception it was practising on the audience’.
It was concluded that there was a ‘deliberate attempt to cultivate a sense of menace’, and the BBC issued an apology.
