| Ghostwatch | |
|---|---|
 The BFI DVD release cover | |
| Genre | Horror Mockumentary |
| Created by | Stephen Volk |
| Written by | Stephen Volk |
| Directed by | Lesley Manning |
| Starring | Michael Parkinson Sarah Greene Mike Smith Craig Charles Gillian Bevan Keith Ferrari |
| Theme music composer | Philip Appleby |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Richard Broke |
| Producers | Ruth Baumgarten Derek Nelson |
| Editor | Chris Swanton |
| Running time | 91 minutes |
| Production company | BBC |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 31 October 1992 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Ghostwatch is a British mockumentary supernatural horror television film, first broadcast on BBC1 on Halloween night, 1992. Written by Stephen Volk, and directed by Lesley Manning, the drama was produced for the BBC anthology series Screen One by Richard Broke, Ruth Baumgarten and Derek Nelson. Despite having been recorded weeks in advance, the narrative was presented as live television[citation needed]. During and following its first and only UK television broadcast, the show attracted a considerable furor,[1] resulting in an estimated 1,000,000 [dubious – discuss] phone call enquiries to the BBC switchboard on the night of broadcast, comprising a mixture of complaints and praise for the programme's unique presentation.[2] [better source needed] This outrage is often compared to Orson Welles' 1938 The War of the Worlds radio broadcast and the 1994 Without Warning television film, both of which also allegedly caused nationwide panic in the United States.
Ghostwatch has never been repeated on UK television. It has been repeated internationally, on stations such as the Canadian digital channel Scream for Halloween 2004, and the Belgian channel Canvas in 2008. It became available on the American streaming video service Shudder in 2017,[3][4] and it was made available on the Internet Archive the same year. There have been three UK home video releases. In 2002, the British Film Institute released a 10th Anniversary edition on VHS and DVD, and 101 Films issued a DVD release in 2011 and a 30th Anniversary Blu-ray release in 2022. In 2016, the BBC Store made the film available as part of the Frightmares collection, marking Halloween.
A retrospective documentary, Ghostwatch: Behind the Curtains, based on the film's lasting impact, was released on DVD in 2013 (having been in production between 2007 and 2012), featuring interviews with many of the original cast and crew. It too was made available as part of the BBC Store Frightmares collection, and shortly after release, the BFI Mediatheque.
- ^ Adam Curtis (22 December 2011). "The ghosts in the living room". BBC. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- ^ "GHOSTWATCH FAQ". ghostwatchbtc.com.
- ^ "Shudder – On Halloween 1992, the BBC aired GHOSTWATCH as a..." Facebook. 17 April 2017. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
- ^ "Home". Shudder. Retrieved 31 October 2017.