Ghostwatch: The Night That Terrified Britain

On Halloween 1992, millions tuned in for a live ghost hunt. And they had no idea it was fake. This is the story of the most terrifying night in British TV. Fronted by Michael Parkinson and Sarah Greene, with Craig Charles reporting from the street, it had every hallmark of serious, sober BBC television. But there was one detail millions of viewers missed: the whole thing was fiction, scripted and filmed months earlier. Convinced they were witnessing the supernatural in real time, viewers - many of them children watching with their parents - were left genuinely terrified. The backlash was immediate and ferocious: a jammed BBC switchboard, with an estimated 50,000 complaints. Yet the show that was buried has become a cult landmark, recognised as a startlingly innovative blueprint for the found-footage horror that followed. Exec Prods: Claire McArdle/Rebecca Knight; Dir: Toby Roebuck; CMG Productions