Asking compensation because of her husband soiled himself. B R U H

That teen who killed himself probably didnt do it because of a scary ghost show. He was probably already struggling with stuff and his parents twisted it to shame BBC

Moral of the story: Parents need to hold themselves responsible for what their children watch. I mean, really! Your kid got PTSD because YOU let them watch a horror show that stated it wasn't for kids? Sounds to me like you made a bad parenting decision. Lazy parents never seem to stop traumatizing their children by exposing them to adult content.

if you, as a parent, thought this show was real and depicting real horrifying events... why would you- let alone let your kid continue watching the show until it gave them PTSD? if anything, this show provides more insight into how little parents actually care about the environment they place their children in and how large that problem is.

Ghostwatch was really, genuinely scary but it was on quite late in the evening which should have been a clue that it wasn't suitable for children.

The kid killing himself reminds me of something that happened around the time the game Doki Doki Literature Club came out, where a young man also committed suicide, and mother found the game on his laptop. Despite the fact the kid had been struggling with mental health issues, his mother saw the game's dark content and immediately blamed that, and threatened to sue the developers.

I like how they literally had a disclaimer that was basically “This show is fiction, and is horror unsuitable for children, do not watch if you are uncomfortable.” and yet people still were offended when it was horror, and thought it was real.

That was so clever. Real time interaction with the audience and having them give input on what they saw from the footage and putting the pieces together. It was a show ahead of its time.

I remember seeing Ghostwatch when I was 10. I had no idea about all the controversy about it. I was staying at my mum's friends house. My Mum and Dad had gone out for the night. I watched it with my mums friend. She was saying "This can't be real, it's too ridiculous", I believed it was real - Until I saw the credits roll and she said "See I told you it wasn't real, there's a writer, it's all made-up." So I went to bed.

Movie: I’m Rated R Parents: *Lets their kids watch it* Kids: *Gets PTSD* Parents: THIS MOVIE IS SCARY IT HORRIFIED MY CHILDREN HOW SHAMEFUL!

The show discussed suicide, the son was probably going through depression and suicidal thoughts. His parents just accused the TV show because they can’t accept the fact that their son committed suicide because of other problems, that they didn’t care enough ( I’m not saying that all parents who lose their child to suicide are at fault, but if you’re a parent who blames your child’s suicide on a tv show it kinda hints at your incapability of acting out your role as a parental figure ) they should have looked for other clues and reasons such as bullying.

So a kid basically watches a horror TV show, kills himself, and the parents blame the producers of the show for this? Sounds like a classic tale ot poor parenting and blame-shifting.

“mY sOn WaS sCaReD” Well maybe the program wasn’t MADE FOR CHILDREN, JANET

This has the same energy as parents taking their kids to see Joker or other R rated films and then blaming the employees at the theatre for not warning them about the violence

I watched this live. I accidently tuned in after it had started and I attempted to call the number. It really worked to scare a 12 year old me. But even the 12 year old me figured out it was fiction when the credits rolled. This is one of my best memories of watching television.

This is art! They were way ahead of their times. It is beautiful. It was literally announced it was fake. Why did parents have to do that? I love this. I just hope the actors, directors and writers did well after this...

This is like buying your young child a game like GTA when you know they are not old enough and being mad at the creators of the game when you see how inappropriate it is for your child.

BBC: This show is scary Show: *is scary* Parents: I've been bamboozled

Having Michael Parkinson present this was a stroke of pure genius and it's so good they got him on board with it. Hard to think of a TV figure at the time who was considered as trustworthy, wholesome and upstanding.

I remember this airing back in 1992 and everyone even the teachers at school talking about it the next day. Hats off to the BBC for having the balls back then to air this. Things are so sanitised now. This would never happen again. Even though it terrified me at the time, I'm glad I lived at a time when television was this creative and daring.

> this show has material that may be disturbing to some viewers "How could you scare my kid!" Sounds like theres a lot of crappy parenting involved here

the people complaining that a horror special scared their children are the same people who'd bring their kids to see deadpool and get mad at marvel for the inappropriate jokes

This sounds like America's War of the Worlds.

I remember watching this as an 11 year old boy. I had recorded it, being already a little fascinated by the paranormal. I watched it the next day while alone in my Dad's house while he was at work and by the end of the program I was on the phone to him screaming hysterically because I could hear noises coming from upstairs! I can totally see why some children ended with PTSD, thankfully I didn't. In many ways, this program gave me my strength; I have had a few ghostly experiences in my life and never allowed the fear to take over.

"Viewer discretion is advised, this may not be suitable for every audience" Well, gotta let my disparaged son watch this, sure he will take it lightly

they literally told people it was fake before AND after. like literally what else do they want. movies don’t pause every 15 minutes to tell you it’s all fiction

I believe Orson Welles could have told the BBC what could possibly go wrong

I watched this live as a kid and the girl banging on the pipes has stuck with me to this day. I thought they did a terrific job. I was genuinely scared and genuinely fascinated and, after the finale, a genuine sceptic too.

“My son was scared” That’s like complaining about the spicy in a Chili pepper.

"After watching your show my child was too scared to sleep until we removed the replica of a dead body we leave standing over his bed"

The people who created this should be proud of themselves. They managed to do what a suspense/horror genre should be doing and that's to scare people.

I asked my Dad about this and he says he does remember watching it live. Though he believes in ghosts he said that he thought it was fake and wasn't scared. However he did say that it was very well made. I myself think the same thing. It's quite like the Blair Witch project in my opinion. I do wish the BBC would either re-run it or put it on DVD.

It seems like the BBC did a lot of prep work with telling people/the media that “hey there’s this fake scary thing that’s going to happen, it’s a fake movie that looks real. Here’s a magazine article about how it’s fake before it airs, here’s promos saying it’s fake, here’s a disclaimer beforehand saying it’s fake and made to look real, etc. etc. People are mad because a scary movie/experience is scary

BBC: Has warnings and advertises it as fake, also has credits at the end further making the audience know that it’s fiction. Parents: MAH HUSBUND SOYLED HIZ PANTS

It was exciting (and scary). I do recall trying to call the number to report a "Pipes" sighting. We were kids and knew no better. "Round and round the garden, like a teddy bear?..."

"As there were no known examples at the time of what they were trying to do." 1938s War of the Worlds: Am I joke to you?

“My son was so scared he couldn’t sleep!” D-do these people know how horror films work?

Oh no, a Halloween horror show advertised and warned as being scary was actually scary! How could the BBC do like this to me!

I watched this LIVE at the time. About 12. Scared the living SHIT out of me. Even after my patents pointed out "written by" in the credits. I now photograph abandoned buildings and I wouldn't have had the courage without this programme. ❤️✌️❤️

The acting, oh the acting, if it wasn't enough to make you believe it was completely real.

Me initially going into this: omg... a tv show was so horrifying that children were suicidal? Who could have possibly done this? Me after: so they advertised it as scary and YALL STILL LET YOUR KIDS WA-

It kinda irritates me that people are so protective of children. I understand you don’t want to expose children to shit like this, but then don’t show them. The fact that people got so pissed about the fact that a child was included in this just angers me. They refuse to see anything but the children. There is such a beauty in a show like this, but it will remain unseen because people are so sheltering of their children.

my nat 5 media teacher showed us this and wouldn’t tell us whether it was real. practically all of us thought it was real up until 3/4 of the programme. after that, he explained what it was. absolutely insane regarding the outcome of the situation !

Kids in the Middle East: Live through multiple wars Kids in Britain: Get PTSD from a TV show

They didn't need a disclaimer about it being fake, the Mother's acting was proof enough.

this is kinda stupid. people need to take better care of their kids. TVs are not babysitters. don’t leave them unattended

I watched it when it was aired, and I loved the fact that it used proper well-known presenters rather than actors pretending to be presenters. I quickly understood that it was a fictional drama rather than a live documentary due to the acting of the supporting cast: they didn't actually speak like real people would speak - you can always tell, especially in TV commercials!

"Can I get a six part series." "Try an hour."

"So the automated message telling people it was fake no longer played" Oh that's just... delicious.

This is absolutely genius horror storytelling for the time. Wow. Sucks someone took their life after it though.

Watching Ghostwatch was one of my favourite childhood tv moments. Adored it!!!

What i love about this, is that they said at the beggining that it was a drama, and people had the control to turn it off, yet they continue watching and decided to complain about it.

“Parents were better in my day” Parenting in their day:

I'm sorry, but this entire special sounds like genius...

very reminiscent of the live inside no 9 episodes. both of these videos are great, thanks!

I remember the controversy about The Enfield Haunting at the time (I was a child) as the 'case' was in all the papers even before the show was made, the people who were at the centre of it claimed the haunting and poltergeist activity was genuine: but I saw Ghostwatch and honestly don't remember there being that much fuss about it at the time, maybe because I was an adult? There was the usual tabloid newspaper fuss for a few days, but they get their knickers in a twist about the slightest thing. Just a Halloween spoof show which a raft of irresponsible parents (who took no responsibility for what their children watch) rang up and complained about. There was plenty to tell people it was a spoof at the time and the interviews with witnesses were generally poorly acted, not terribly convincing to an adult viewer - and children were not meant to be watching after 9pm, The Watershed as it was called. I honestly think the reaction has been blown out of all proportion in later years, fuelled by people who watched it as children and are now adults sharing how scary it was on the internet. A child's imagination does most of the work and then maybe it becomes remembered as genuinely scary. The fact a BBC show wasn't available for VHS or DVD for years is not that unusual either. I think a lot of the 'outrage' in the papers was blown up because it was the BBC, the tax payer funded station which has a duty to broadcast educational programming, and is frequently at the front of defunding campaigns by the government of the day. If it had been broadcast on ITV or Channel 4, funded by advertising, the newspapers would not have gotten so excited. The spoof show that causes genuine panic was all done before by Orson Wells "War of the Worlds" on the radio back in the late 1930's of course, nothing new under the sun.

I watched ghostwatch as a kid, scared the bejeebuz out of me. My dad just shrugged and said “why did you watch it then?” Hahaha

Oh my goodness. ...... they have a skull shaped head

This was a fantastic show. I was a teen at the time and in a world with no real internet about for general public use without being prohibitively expensive so the only horror we ever saw was in cheesey movies so this was entirely new and freaked out so many people myself included.

What an amazing piece of work - the power behind a creation like this, the ultimate psychological horror.

BBC: This show is not for children. Karen: *It’s free real estate.*

It's sad that a unique artistic expression could be ruined like this by stupid people who don't listen to warnings

BBC's response should have been: _Are you not entertained?_

I came back here to pay my respects after Michael Parkinson died yesterday. Thanks for helping bring one of the best TV horror programs to life.

This was groundbreaking television and should be celebrated. I was 8 when this aired and I wasn't allowed to watch it live, (I've watched it online since), given that it discussed suicide and molestation that was probably a good call by my mom and dad. Responsibility lies solely with the parents, I'm afraid. There's a watershed for a reason.

This show was clearly not meant for children, and it surprises me that so many parents let their young kids watch it.

Excellent commentary, thank you.

"hey this is fake and all but dont show it to your kids its very scary" parents: yeah but no

The people who got offended, deliberately watched the show to get scared, and then got mad because they got scared... if y'all don't want your kids getting scared then don't let them watch a scary tv show/movie.

I wish they still did specials like this for Halloween. It’d actually make the holiday interesting and different than the normal things going on. And would be fun for people that don’t want to go out

I just watched this for the first time tonight. Holy crap, it was scary... What a genius work Ghostwatch is. So innovative and creative for its time.

"Do it like episode six" sounds like an excellent catchphrase

I'm 18 and I'm still hesitant whenever something that "some viewers may find disturbing" is airing and these kids and parents are like "yeah sure no prob"

This is kind of similar to the panic that occurred with the War of the Worlds radio broadcast in New York in 1938. Even though the audience was told it was fake, some missed the memo and there was a huge panic.

BBC: This show is not for children Also BBC: let's air it on a non-school night and get the lady from the kids show Going Live to present.

The father answered the son, "I laughingly told him there must be a ghost in this place because all the biscuits keep disappearing..." I bet that dad regretted saying that. It only solidified what was in his son's mind.

If your kid was getting scared why would you let them sit through the entire movie

I'll never forget the day after, in school, and the ones that caught "Written By" at the end reassuring those who hadn't.

Nice review and great script. I think a special like this could no longer exist today in the age of social media and viewers understanding mockumentary tropes better. There was a series of failures on behalf of the BBC, one was people missed the intro due to tuning in after an ITV ad break, it also went out on a Saturday so kid's were up later than they would have been during the week.

That show feels amazing and innovative. It's a pity that it faced such backlash. Why the heck are your children watching something scary?

Basically, they did their jobs _too well._

All this controversy because people were too stupid to consider the fact that it might ACTUALLY be quite scary, some people just don't have the force with them

one of the best TV moments ever!!! great Job!!!

Finally found this video again! Such a good video

The promos before the show: IT'S FAKE. IT'S FAKE. REMEMBER IT'S FAKE! Parents: how could you not tell us it's fake!? 😭

"Some viewers may find this disturbing." Parents: Sounds like the perfect program fer my youngins!

This is super interesting!! I just subscribed.

this was so well done

How do they know that the show caused those kids PTSD? Better look into those parents.

Rare case of a horror movie that actually does what its supposed to do. Scare the audience.

I remember this being so horrible when I was a kid it was so scary. I couldn't sleep right for ages after.

Great video!

"Why did you have to bring the story of the children into it?" Have you seen a paranormal horror film? There's nearly always kids involved.

show: don't show this to ya kids parents, while showing it to their kids: bUt tHiNk oF tHe cHiLdReN!!!!

this would've been so fun to watch live

Some shows back in the late to early 00s are downright scary...but revisiting them these days I have a good chuckle at how bad some of them are. But I think most of the scares came from being a kid and having the ads manipulate you easily. I remember clearly being so scared of horror shows ads on tv because of the eerie songs and vibe. Couldn't even bring myself to finish a single episode of kingdom hospital

It's crazy how despite there being literal specific rating systems, parents still find a way to blame their bad parenting on writers.

BBC: This is real and it’s spooky Parents: Well that warning can’t stop me because I can’t read

We've come a long way in 30 years: 1992: "Ghosts exist" 2021: "The earth is flat"

I'll never forget watching this when it was broadcast, I was 12 years old and it absolutely terrified me. I loved it!!