A spine-tingling television programme that aired on Halloween left an entire generation of viewers so deeply disturbed that the BBC has never dared to show it again.

The standalone broadcast triggered such widespread alarm amongst audiences that the BBC's telephone system became completely overwhelmed, with broadcasting watchdogs later condemning the programme. The Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) later declared that 'Ghostwatch' deliberately created "a sense of menace."

They ruled the BBC programme was overly distressing and explicit, broadcasting far too close to the 9pm watershed. The programme featured presenters including Sarah Greene, widely recognised as a children's television host, alongside the late chat show legend Michael Parkinson, who passed away in August 2023.

However, despite the backlash, numerous critics applauded the show's inventiveness, and it's credited with inspiring the "found footage" horror film genre that emerged afterwards, including The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield.

Ghostwatch aired only once on Saturday, October 31 ( Halloween night), on BBC1 at 9.25pm in 1992. The programme was a mockumentary-style investigation exploring claims of a poltergeist in 'the most haunted house in Britain', inspired by the tale of the Enfield Poltergeist, a purported real-life haunting that took place in the 1970s, as reported by the Manchester Evening News..

Ghostwatch gave nods to Enfield incident during the course of the show. The programme was promoted as a drama but aired as if it was a live BBC documentary broadcast.

The 'live ghost investigation' centred on two young girls, Kim and Suzanne Early, who were plagued by a chilling poltergeist named Pipes in their west London home. The ghost earned its name because the children heard strange noises in the house, which their mum brushed off as 'just the pipes'.

Initially, the presenters remained sceptical, but slowly they began to accept that the bizarre occurrences might actually be happening. Claw marks materialised on the youngsters' faces, unexplained sounds echoed through the house, and furniture could be witnessed shifting on its own.

Throughout the broadcast, viewers were urged to ring in with their own ghost sightings only to be told that the show was, indeed, fictional. However, the phone lines were overwhelmed by what was later estimated to be around a million calls pouring into the BBC switchboard, as there were only five operators handling calls.

Approximately 30,000 grievances flooded into the BBC, reportedly including Parkinson's own mother and one woman who alleged it triggered her labour pains. "A vicar phoned in to complain that even though he realised it wasn't real he thought the BBC had raised demonic forces," Ghostwatch's creator Stephen Volk revealed to the BBC in 2017.

"It was partly that it scared people, but the complaints were actually more that the BBC had made them feel like mugs. People felt the BBC was something they could trust, and the programme had destroyed that trust."

A decade-long prohibition was placed on any repeat broadcast, yet it has never since been screened in its entirety on British television and remains accessible only through DVD release. International broadcasters have, nevertheless, aired it repeatedly.

Over 11 million viewers tuned in to watch the programme, yet circumstances turned devastating when it became linked to the death of teenager Martin Denham. The 18-year-old, who had learning disabilities, ended his own life after his parents claimed he was 'hypnotised and obsessed' with Ghostwatch; the complaint was, however, rejected by what is now Ofcom.

BBC's banned Halloween show that gave children nightmares and panic attacks - Daily Star