Wyrd
25-11-2008, 11:54
All things Most Haunted - including live shows, for fans and critics.
It seems there was a general Most Haunted thread, but now it's archived. So here's a new one.
I've not seen this programme for about a year, but since I had Sky+ installed last month I've been watching past and present eposodes with my flatmate, who seems to get the same pleasure from it as I do, both of us being paranormal geeks, albeit quite sceptical ones. Isn't it the most hilarious programme on tv? You can keep your sitcoms, this is side-splittingly funny.
To its credit, it seems to have drawn Dr. Ciaran O' Keeffe, the in-house sceptic parapsychologist, into more of a pivotal role since he shopped Derek Acorah to the press for faking possession in his role of team psychic investigator.
But my gaaawwwd there's still a lot of claptrap going on in that show.
Has anyone noticed those little clips they keep showing, where Karl Beattie (the show's producer) and Stuart Torevell (camera operator) toddle off on their own to conduct a vigil? Strrraaange how it all kicks off when those two are on their own, hmmm? Last week a chair was seen to be moving when only they were present. Beattie's acting skills are woeful and his attempts at shock and wonderment were painful to watch.
This week we had Beattie on his own in a bedroom. Beattie himself was filming. On hearing a whining noise, he concludes it came from a cot by a bed. So...
"Right, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna pull this cot... what I'm gonna do... is pull this cot. I've got a wide shot camera which I'm gonna use..."
He proceeds to pull the cot into the centre of the room. Next we see a split screen, Beattie on the left, the cot on the right. Beattie begins to speak, the cot, surprise surprise, begins to rock.
"What the f*** is that? It's a f****** heartbeat. No way! It's not the... the- the- the- the cot's moving!" Beatie aproaches the cot and boots it with his foot. "Ok, I'm gonna move it so you can see there's no strings attatched to it. I'm going under the bed. Right I'm under the bed. There was no-one under that bed. I mean, I know there's not but this is for you guy's at home."
...I've never seen a more pathetic scene on this show. The guy's an idiot if he thinks anyone is taking these crappy staged pieces at face value.
The scene ends with Beattie talking to camera on night vision, when he suddenly hears a noise behind him. His ham acting is a classic at this point.
"What's moving? What's moving? What's moving behind me? Something's moving behind me! Something's moving behind me!"
He scrambles off the floor in a bit of a tither. And where's he pointing the camera throughout the scene? At the mystery object moving behind him as any paranormal investigator would do? Nah, he's the show's producer after all. The cam is held at all times in close up on his face, night vision switched on. He was after the Blair Witch terror shot.
Funniest moments in this show:
1. Team historian Lesley Smith addresses a 19th c. ghost: "Mistress, come to us. We ask you most heartily would thou be of good kindness to us and make that noise again please?" - Dawn French couldn't have delivered a funnier line.
2. Team medium Brian Shepherd expresses his opionion that the team aren't welcome there because the spirit talking to him (inventor Samuel Crompton) thinks they are a group of Luddites* come to destroy his Spinning Mule design.
Right. so a crowd of workers with a profound hatred of any technology more advanced than a spinning wheel are likely to be wandering around carrying cameras, tripods, rigging, mics, EMF meters, movement detectors and laser thermometers. Suuuuure, Brian. Even Derek wasn't that stupid.
* For anyone who doesn't know, without being patronising I hope, the Luddites were a social movement of British textile artisans in the early nineteenth century who protested—often by destroying mechanized looms—against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt threatened their livelihood. (Wikipedia)
It seems there was a general Most Haunted thread, but now it's archived. So here's a new one.
I've not seen this programme for about a year, but since I had Sky+ installed last month I've been watching past and present eposodes with my flatmate, who seems to get the same pleasure from it as I do, both of us being paranormal geeks, albeit quite sceptical ones. Isn't it the most hilarious programme on tv? You can keep your sitcoms, this is side-splittingly funny.
To its credit, it seems to have drawn Dr. Ciaran O' Keeffe, the in-house sceptic parapsychologist, into more of a pivotal role since he shopped Derek Acorah to the press for faking possession in his role of team psychic investigator.
But my gaaawwwd there's still a lot of claptrap going on in that show.
Has anyone noticed those little clips they keep showing, where Karl Beattie (the show's producer) and Stuart Torevell (camera operator) toddle off on their own to conduct a vigil? Strrraaange how it all kicks off when those two are on their own, hmmm? Last week a chair was seen to be moving when only they were present. Beattie's acting skills are woeful and his attempts at shock and wonderment were painful to watch.
This week we had Beattie on his own in a bedroom. Beattie himself was filming. On hearing a whining noise, he concludes it came from a cot by a bed. So...
"Right, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna pull this cot... what I'm gonna do... is pull this cot. I've got a wide shot camera which I'm gonna use..."
He proceeds to pull the cot into the centre of the room. Next we see a split screen, Beattie on the left, the cot on the right. Beattie begins to speak, the cot, surprise surprise, begins to rock.
"What the f*** is that? It's a f****** heartbeat. No way! It's not the... the- the- the- the cot's moving!" Beatie aproaches the cot and boots it with his foot. "Ok, I'm gonna move it so you can see there's no strings attatched to it. I'm going under the bed. Right I'm under the bed. There was no-one under that bed. I mean, I know there's not but this is for you guy's at home."
...I've never seen a more pathetic scene on this show. The guy's an idiot if he thinks anyone is taking these crappy staged pieces at face value.
The scene ends with Beattie talking to camera on night vision, when he suddenly hears a noise behind him. His ham acting is a classic at this point.
"What's moving? What's moving? What's moving behind me? Something's moving behind me! Something's moving behind me!"
He scrambles off the floor in a bit of a tither. And where's he pointing the camera throughout the scene? At the mystery object moving behind him as any paranormal investigator would do? Nah, he's the show's producer after all. The cam is held at all times in close up on his face, night vision switched on. He was after the Blair Witch terror shot.
Funniest moments in this show:
1. Team historian Lesley Smith addresses a 19th c. ghost: "Mistress, come to us. We ask you most heartily would thou be of good kindness to us and make that noise again please?" - Dawn French couldn't have delivered a funnier line.
2. Team medium Brian Shepherd expresses his opionion that the team aren't welcome there because the spirit talking to him (inventor Samuel Crompton) thinks they are a group of Luddites* come to destroy his Spinning Mule design.
Right. so a crowd of workers with a profound hatred of any technology more advanced than a spinning wheel are likely to be wandering around carrying cameras, tripods, rigging, mics, EMF meters, movement detectors and laser thermometers. Suuuuure, Brian. Even Derek wasn't that stupid.
* For anyone who doesn't know, without being patronising I hope, the Luddites were a social movement of British textile artisans in the early nineteenth century who protested—often by destroying mechanized looms—against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt threatened their livelihood. (Wikipedia)