Ghostwatch – Again

Many years ago, I ran a little website called www.ghostwatch.info.  It brought together a lot of information about the show, reaction from those who watched it and those that dreamed of seeing it again.  Life overtook me a little and I lost the domain, but never lost the pages that I had put together.  Over the next few weeks they will return to this blog in a special section.

But, here is something to keep you going with.  Going back to my original VHS cassette recording of the programme that October 31 1992 night, here is the continuity leading up to Ghostwatch on BBC1, as well as a few seconds of the after continuity.  For those continuity and news junkies, it’s a treasure trove!

Ghostwatch – clip shown on BBC for the first time in 18 years!

Nearly Eighteen years from it’s original broadcast, the fantastic documentary drama Ghostwatch was long buried by the Beeb following it’s controversy – and the fact a lot of people fell hook, line and sinker for a smartly made drama.

Well, The One Show, the BBC’s 21st century to Nationwide, but without the charm or the content usually, brought in Kim Newman to go through sixty seconds of TV Hoaxes.  Ghostwatch was proudly the last one listed and it’s here below:

The Pass The Remote Guide to the New Season of Spooks

Episode 1:

An officer dies and the team run around screaming a lot and avoiding explosions

Episode 2:

An M15 Officer dies, a new sinister Government Minister introduced, and lots of explosions

Episodes 3 to 8:

An M15 Officer dies, lots of angst in the ranks at the M15 Building, Harry sighs, and lots of explosions

Episode 9:

An M15 Officer dies in an explosion, and Harry is in a life and death situation which gets worser and worser by the minute.  Will he survive?

And a brief spoiler for the first episode of Season 10:

An M15 Officer dies, Harry is all angsty and there are lots of explosions.

Blackeyes, Dennis Potter Drama BBC

Many years ago when I bought my first DVD Recorder, I went through many a video tape to archive onto good old DVD-R (not +R), it was a Panasonic.  I tended to run tapes during the day when I was out at work, come back, initialise them at the end and basically store them away.  Today I have been going through some of these and I got to Blackeyes, the controversial Dennis Potter drama that the BBC did many years ago. I had never seen it, just recorded it.  Tonight I bunged it on…

….and turned it off after about an hour.  Throughout I was thinking of that episode of South Park, when everyone was gathering around the TV to see and hear the word ‘shit’ uttered on a fictional US drama.  Blackeyes was similar, because in amongst the confusing, up-it’s-arse narrative, red blooded heterosexual men were only waiting to see the bits with Gina Bellman getting her breasts out.  And to be honest, they were certainly the only highlights in a mish mash of surreal imagery and the like.   Are all Dennis Potter dramas like this?  I don’t think so.   I certainly remember The Singing Detective, Gorky Park and Brimstone and Treacle being a little more Pinteresque and interesting – and probably Blue Remember Hills his best work in my view.  I suppose anyone, even Potter, is allowed a dud.  A pity that despite all the controversy, Blackeyes doesn’t actually live up dramatically to it, other than for titillation, quite literally.

Eastenders – End of the Vic 9/9/2010

Thought tonight’s episode was stunning.  The fire itself actually more violent and virulent a force than I originally thought the BBC would do, being that the show is broadcast at seven thirty on a weeknight.  Barbara Windsor is really pulling out the stops as her reign as Peggy Mitchell comes to a close (although I suspect she will be back in the show sooner rather than later, like Annie Walker in Coronation Street she’ll die whilst working in the soap.)

End of The Bill

So after some 25 years or so, The Bill ends tonight on ITV1.

Heres my thoughts that I sent into the BBC earlier:

Sad that the show has gone, but it sadly lost all that magic that The Bill had for years when it had the latest revamp.  Gone were the ‘characters’ such as Cryer, Burnside, Carver and Brownlow, and in just people who could have walked in from a catwalk.  The Bill probably died a long time ago and ITV have just put it out of it’s misery.

Australia launches new News Channel

ABC News 24 (I wonder where that came from?) launched very recently, and here are the first 8 minutes or so of it’s broadcast, courtesy of You Tube.

Where Are They Now?

To think this was nearly thirty years ago:

What we’ve been watching this week:

Juliet Bravo – series 5 and 6.  Fantastic series, beautifully written.  The stories simple and straightforward but generally with a twist somewhere that you didn’t see coming.  Strange to think I’ve never seen an episode featuring Stephanie Turner as Jean Darblay.  For my childhood, Juliet Bravo was and is Anna Carteret, even though she was Turner’s replacement.

Alternative 3 – check out the Audioboo of this here

One of the strangest films ever….

Baby Love.  It’s a strange viewing when you realise just what you have been watching afterwards.  Definately 18+.  And available for free from here:

http://www.archive.org/details/Baby_Love_1968_Linda_Hayden

Feel free to comment afterwards.  I still don’t understand to this day what this film is actually trying to achieve though.