Ghostwatch

 "You don't know, do you?"

"..........No. I don't."

I haven't seen this since... well, 31st October, 1992, so reluctant was the BBC to admit to it until recent years. A drama that (despite the opening and closing making it clear that it is indeed such) apes Orson Welles' famed 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds and convinces much of the nation that this is in fact a real live broadcast, with actual, well-known presenters, was... well, bound to be controversial, and the BBC got cold feet very soon after broadcast.

All of which, of course, is an ironic consequence of just how bloody good it is. Yes, some criticise the early parts for being slow and meandering, but that's the point: if it's to convince as a real drama, it has to do precisely that, warts and all. And it does so well. Michael Parkinson and Sarah Greene, in particular, are utterly convincing as themselves, which is not as easy a feat as it seems, both being absolutely convincing at moments that have to feel spontaneous. And Craig Charles, too, is not only convincing but rather a good sport in allowing himself to come across as a bit of an arse during scenes when he "thinks" he's off camera.

Yet the family themselves, none of them known faces for obvious reasons and including two child actors, are utterly convincing with, necessarily, very naturalistic acting. The whole thing progresses perfectly and the ending is utterly chilling. I'm surprised how dark the themes are, with hints of past child abuse and child murder, and the terrifying use of nursery rhymes.

Watching it in 2025, though, one is ruefully reminded that this is a bygone age of tape recorders, where deepfakes and AI were undreamt of, as I wish they had remained. And the one obvious hint that this isn't actually real is the merely token inclusion of a sceptic, made to be unlikeable, the BBC certainly not being likely to have dared to seem so biased in reality... at least back then. 

Still, this is not only one of the earliest examples of this kind of more metatextual take on horror, leading to genres such as "found footage" becoming more prevalent and therefore important to film history, but also one of the very best,