Written by Stephen Volk, and directed by Lesley Manning, the drama was produced for the BBC anthology series Screen One by Richard Broke, Ruth Baumgarten and Derek Nelson.

[2] [better source needed] This outrage is often compared to Orson Welles' 1938 The War of the Worlds radio broadcast and the 1994 Without Warning television film, both of which also allegedly caused nationwide panic in the United States.

A retrospective documentary, Ghostwatch: Behind the Curtains, based on the film's lasting impact, was released on DVD in 2013 (having been in production between 2007 and 2012), featuring interviews with many of the original cast and crew.

Parkinson is supported by fellow hosts Sarah Greene, who ventures into the house to spend the night with the Earlys, her husband Mike Smith, who oversees (staged) phone calls from the public who wish to share their own ghost stories, and comedian Craig Charles, who interviews the locals regarding the street's violent history.

The public share their ghost stories, numerous callers mention they have seen Pipes lurking in the house on the broadcast footage, and others say paranormal incidents are happening in their own homes.

Later, an anonymous call from a probation officer reveals that Raymond Tunstall, a disturbed paedophile who believed he was possessed by Seddons, hanged himself in the room under the stairs, where his body was eaten by his relatives' cats.

However, Pascoe realises the footage is from earlier in the broadcast, and that Pipes has used the free will to create a nationwide séance circle, invading the public's homes.

The programme ends as inexplicable paranormal activity starts happening in the TV studio, causing all on-set save Parkinson to flee.

The recorded scenes in the house and street were then played into the studio, where Michael Parkinson, Mike Smith, and the fictional Dr Pascoe had to interact with them.

[6] The film's fictional villainous spectre, referred to by the children as "Pipes" and credited simply as "Ghost", is depicted as a merging of negative spiritual energies, which parapsychologist Dr Pascoe theorises have been accumulating for years, possibly back to prehistory.

Its physical appearance mostly resembles that of deceased child molester Raymond Tunstall, a fictional character who, it is revealed by a phone-in caller, killed himself at the haunted property some time in the 1960s after himself being possessed by the entity.

It is suggested that the character of Suzanne Early may become the next "layer" in the ghost's spiritual make-up, and in the final moments of the film the entity possesses television host Michael Parkinson.

A number of psychological effects were reported in Ghostwatch's wake: Eighteen-year-old factory worker Martin Denham, who suffered from learning difficulties and had a mental age of 13, died by suicide five days after the programme aired.

[13] Simons and Silveira published a report in the British Medical Journal in February 1994, describing two cases of Ghostwatch-induced post-traumatic stress disorder in children, both ten-year-old boys.

British label 101 Films released a Blu-ray disc in late 2022, including Do You Believe in Ghosts?, a new 30th anniversary documentary on the Ghostwatch phenomenon.

A comment left by writer Stephen Volk on the official Ghostwatch: Behind the Curtains homepage claims that British illusionist Derren Brown once told him that the film had at least partially inspired his similarly controversial "TV hoax" Séance.

[23] More recently, the creative team behind the 2020 British Zoom-based computer screen horror film Host have credited Ghostwatch as an influence.

[24] As featured in his collection Dark Corners, screenwriter Stephen Volk wrote a short story entitled 31/10, which is effectively a sequel to Ghostwatch.

[26] All that was initially revealed regarding the project was a notice asking fans of the original film to contribute any Ghostwatch-related stories or recollections via the comments boxes provided.

"Since October of 2007, plans to develop a retrospective documentary on the "legendary" Screen One, Hallowe'en special, Ghostwatch, have been slowly gathering a head of steam."

The first article to be published was written by the documentary's creator, Rich Lawden, in which he revealed the idea to make a retrospective first originated at a Cineformation screening held at the Watershed in Bristol.

[30] A DVD of the completed film was released by the producers on eBay in March 2013, and within hours, had to be re-listed directly on the Lawman Productions website after quickly selling out.

[31] In October 2013, a companion book, written by Lawden, was released on Lulu containing a foreword by writer Stephen Volk, the sequel story 31/10, new interviews, and an extensive production diary for the documentary itself.

[32] In October 2016, it was announced that the online platform BBC Store was to offer both Ghostwatch and the retrospective Behind the Curtains documentary as part of the new Frightmares collection, in time for Halloween.

[33] Shortly thereafter, it was revealed that the documentary had ranked among the best performing titles in the collection, also making the top ten best sellers for the first two weeks, after launch.

Dubbed National Séance, fans were asked to simultaneously play their personal recordings of the show at precisely 9:25pm (just as Ghostwatch was originally broadcast) and tweet about the screening as it happened on the social networking site Twitter.

[35][36][37][38] The event is known for celebrating the original drama by the unveiling of special artwork, or occasionally unseen or unheard material relating to its production, and often directly contributes to the hashtag #ghostwatch trending on the platform.

In 2020, the tenth National Séance took the form of a live YouTube stream via Zoom hosted by Rich, called National Séance Live, featuring special guests, Mike Aiton (Soundman/himself), Gillian Bevan (Doctor Pascoe), Richard Drew (Assistant Set Designer), Sarah Greene (Reporter/herself), Lesley Manning (Director) and Stephen Volk (Writer).

[39] "Lawden's passion for Ghostwatch is shared by many of its younger viewers, drawn back in adulthood by its chilling allure [...] He scores an impressive coup in securing interviews with all the key players [...] A worthwhile enterprise."