East Coast Mariner
TS Member
Yeah, some dodgy things happened on there because it was live. Didn't think it was too bad though, generally? I used to love Friday night TV - entertainment shows, debates, and local TV. It was sort of like the wild west, and you never knew what was going to be said. Then we got Ofcom and the scrapping of local TV, and it all became a bit homogenised. I've never been one for deliberately-offensive things, but I do miss those days.
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I didn't want to bump this thread myself, but I did want to have a say about Ghostwatch, War of the Worlds etc. I think what's sometimes missed is that some people in entertainment do have a cruel streak, and these things were intentional deception. They tell themselves it's OK if they've given you a little hint. Orson Welles didn't read out H.G. Wells' book, for instance. It was deliberately staged to seem like the "news" was interrupting a concert.
With Ghostwatch, I thought it was going to be a real documentary, but realised it wasn't when I was watching it. Claims that they made it clear it was a drama are very much exaggerated, in my opinion. You have to realise that there were documentaries about this subject back then that didn't really frighten people, but this programme was actually designed to scare. I sometimes think the actors involved "protest a bit too much" about that one. My class was about 13-years-old at the time, and I think they could have coped with a genuine documentary, but trust me, they were very scared the next day.
Here, I agree with the Broadcasting Standards Commission:
Also, the BBC had form on this type of thing. Ghostwatch was 1992, but in 1987, the BBC put out a Halloween special in which the magician Paul Daniels faked his own death, which did upset people. All I'm saying is that be careful before you scoff at those who believed these things, or think they were stupid, because you never know what you've believed yourself that wasn't true!
