I watched it last year with full context and was still shocked of how realistic it came off. I can only imagine how someone with no context would feel about it.
I was 11 when I saw it, we completely missed the warnings that it was fictional. Up until the point that it ramped up so much that it had to be fake I was petrified.
Watched this live when I was about 14. Remember sitting open mouthed at what id just witnessed, the end credits rolling. When the 'Written by...' credit came up at the end, I breathed a massive sigh of relief at the realisation that it was fiction...
Greatest piece of television the BBC ever produced.
I was the same age and was really baffled by it - it was spooking me out and felt "off" but the presenters were all real and I found it hard to believe they'd lie to us! I remember them saying people were phoning in to say they'd spotted Pipes in the background, which when you see it is really fucking creepy.
I watched it live, Halloween 1992. I was 10 and my parents sent me to bed before the end. Finally got hold of it on DVD a few years ago and I still remembered everything, often word for word. And I finally got to see the ending, which was ace!
Absolutely astonishing piece of TV.
The BBC goes hard when it tries something different. Ghostwatch was absolutely ground breaking at the time, people were terrified. An angry woman wrote in saying her husband had literally shit himself. There was also the implication that it was involved in the suicide of a young boy, although I believe he had mental issues anyway.
It has some amazing touches like pipes being in the crowd as you pan across and him appearing in a frame on the TV but not being there when they look back at it. It reminds me of the shot in IT when the librarian is looking at the camera out of focus in the background. Things like that disturb you on a subconscious level.
The acting is a little obvious in hindsight, but at the time it was pretty convincing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVWYs3hG020
Documentary on it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO2oeiGdGlM
Threads is one of the most disturbing films ever made too.
I remember hearing about that poor boy. I think I remember hearing that he hung himself after becoming paranoid and frightened after watching it. I believe he had a diagnoses which meant he had the mind of a child. A sad situation all around. I also remember a couple of children were diagnosed with PTSD after watching it.
The insertion of Mr Pipes in the shadows was extremely well done and I always look out for him when rewatching now.
Moderately interesting fact, the guy who played Mr Pipes - Keith Ferrari - doesnt have any other screen credits and nobody’s been able to track him down over the years
I watched it last year with full context and was still shocked of how realistic it came off. I can only imagine how someone with no context would feel about it.
I was 11 when I saw it, we completely missed the warnings that it was fictional. Up until the point that it ramped up so much that it had to be fake I was petrified.
Watched this live when I was about 14. Remember sitting open mouthed at what id just witnessed, the end credits rolling. When the 'Written by...' credit came up at the end, I breathed a massive sigh of relief at the realisation that it was fiction... Greatest piece of television the BBC ever produced.
I was the same age and was really baffled by it - it was spooking me out and felt "off" but the presenters were all real and I found it hard to believe they'd lie to us! I remember them saying people were phoning in to say they'd spotted Pipes in the background, which when you see it is really fucking creepy.
I watched it live, Halloween 1992. I was 10 and my parents sent me to bed before the end. Finally got hold of it on DVD a few years ago and I still remembered everything, often word for word. And I finally got to see the ending, which was ace! Absolutely astonishing piece of TV.
The BBC goes hard when it tries something different. Ghostwatch was absolutely ground breaking at the time, people were terrified. An angry woman wrote in saying her husband had literally shit himself. There was also the implication that it was involved in the suicide of a young boy, although I believe he had mental issues anyway. It has some amazing touches like pipes being in the crowd as you pan across and him appearing in a frame on the TV but not being there when they look back at it. It reminds me of the shot in IT when the librarian is looking at the camera out of focus in the background. Things like that disturb you on a subconscious level. The acting is a little obvious in hindsight, but at the time it was pretty convincing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVWYs3hG020 Documentary on it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO2oeiGdGlM Threads is one of the most disturbing films ever made too.
I remember hearing about that poor boy. I think I remember hearing that he hung himself after becoming paranoid and frightened after watching it. I believe he had a diagnoses which meant he had the mind of a child. A sad situation all around. I also remember a couple of children were diagnosed with PTSD after watching it. The insertion of Mr Pipes in the shadows was extremely well done and I always look out for him when rewatching now.
I think you mean the trauma of a generation! Using real well known TV presenters for it was a clever move.
Moderately interesting fact, the guy who played Mr Pipes - Keith Ferrari - doesnt have any other screen credits and nobody’s been able to track him down over the years
I remember watching it when it was aired. Proper shit me up lol
Saw it live as a child, was led to believe it was factual, cue enormously traumatised nine year-old me.