GHOSTWATCH

It looked like a genuine live investigation into a haunted suburban home, fronted by trusted national treasures Michael Parkinson and Sarah Greene, with a real phone-in number.

Though billed as a drama by the BBC, hardly anyone realised the whole thing was fiction. As the scares escalated around a ghost called 'Pipes', families believed they were watching the supernatural unfold for real. The backlash was ferocious: an estimated 50,000 complaints, a tabloid frenzy, and the first TV show cited as causing PTSD in children. Buried for years, Ghostwatch is now a cult landmark – its story told by the creators, the stars, and those who watched as children and never forgot.