Most Haunted

I actually do believe in ghosts which is exactly why I hate television shows such as "Most Haunted" - they simply cash in on the paranormal phenomenon knowing full-well that it will grab the attention of everyday people.

I've had my own experiences in the past, and read supported stories, to convince me there is some type of supernatural force out there - but "Most Haunted" certainly isn't a study of that. It's an exploitation - and a fake one - not only of ghosts but of its viewers, too.

The lead psychic, Derek Acorah, seems to get possessed every time he walks into a room. The Mirror (UK) recently uncovered evidence proving Derek is a faker - he was supposedly "possessed" by a fake ghost character invented by a sceptical co-star to test Derek's honesty.

I think this show is just a really poor and deceiving program that shouldn't even be on the air anymore.

At first we were impressed that Derek (aka "Degsie" to fans) could pull out historical facts from the ether with the help of his psychic guide Sam (an ethiopian who lived centuries ago).

We so wanted to believe!

The show Most Haunted has been a huge ratings winner for a little cable channel in UK - and the show crossed over onto our basic cable in the USA. It does nicely for Travel Channel in the USA.

After a little digging and googling - and reading about some behind-the-scenes entrapment by the crew who planted fake info to Derek before tapings -- we are now bigger fans than ever.

We know from media reports that he was slyly given anagrams of the words "Derek Lies" (Rik Eedles) and "Derek Faker" (Kreed Kafer) and he grabbed onto the names he overheard from the crew and sure enough these fake names of souls promptly came through during the taping !! Brilliant! We love this show anyway!!

Derek may give hope to millions that there is something in the next world, and sweet souls are in "visitation" among us -- but to us - "Degs" is simply a classic TV showman.

A few seasons into the series - Degs began to get possessed during seances. He would bellow and hiss as the supposed spirit persons who were hanging around old cellars, castles and manors.

In one classic show, he became possessed by the spirit of a pagan hag and barked at an interviewer when asked "her" name -- Degsie hissed: " What's YOUR name, leper ?!! " After these entertaining possessions, Derek usually collapses into a heap, is escorted out and his work is done. ("Derek, come forward!")

Derek (a former footballer turned spirit medium) supposedly arrives at these "haunted" locales "with no prior history of the building." However, many of these locations are famous "haunted" UK tourist destinations (many with "ghost tours" available to the public).

Sometimes Derek forgets a date or a surname - but he usually covers by getting distracted by another spirit and the question is never answered.

The show is hosted by a former UK child star named Yvette Fielding. Co-hosted by her campy historian colleague and part-time ghost walk tourguide Richard Felix, with "base line readings" taken early in every show by Phil Wyman (thru season 4). Phil is a husky and cute lad prone to wearing tight dance club Tshirts. I love Phil!!

Watch for: Yvette sitting in a dark empty manor and asking ever so politely "is anybody here?" --- "please make a noise if you can hear me." --- "a noise...a bump...anything".

Watch for: Derek being "drawn" to "an area" and after being prompted by Yvette if he'd like to go towards another room, he says "may we?". (Yes! we want to yell-- That's why you are there!)

Watch for: Derek to use A lot of descriptive words to reveal very little info.

The MH producers perhaps became hostile towards -or- jealous of Derek's antics & fame - and he left the show after 6 seasons to star in his own spin off series "Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns" (where he has even more over-the-top possessions, and brings celebrity to ordinary people's haunted houses. In the spin off series, attention seekers drop by the "Ghost Truck" for pre-interviews. How handy!).

Most Haunted was a cult sensation in the UK - with French & Saunders even spoofing it on their BBC comedy special.

After 7 years of investigations and a parade of psychic mediums, the show has uncovered little in terms of proof of hauntings or the paranormal- except the occasional bump in the night, TV sets that turn on & off, and those frequent "light anomalies" (which look a lot like dust floating past digital handi-cams).

Most Haunted with Derek Acorah and his predictable enthusiasm, edginess and histrionics is a terrific way to pass an evening in front of the telly --with or without "a grounded soul in visitation".

I just find that brilliant. The cry from Derek Acorah when he senses his spirit guide telling him something.

Most Haunted is a brilliant series. Although it is a serious investigation, I find it good that the crew do have a mess and laugh behind the scenes or even on camera, showing that they are real people and do not put on an act on camera.

Now in the fourth series, I'm happy to say I dedicate my Tuesday nights to UK Living on cable. I come downstairs and the remote is handed to me. Various family members leave the room, so i sit by myself and enjoy the program even more.

The first series was an excellent start, although I find the most annoying thing about it is Jason Karl, the parapsychologist/investigator. He was too chatty for the show, asking pointlessly detailed questions to derek that at times I think bored Yvette as we could tell by the look on her face.

Series 2 came along and it was even better. Jason Karl had finally gone, replaced by the calmer paranormal investigator Phil Wyman (who only asks questions when appropriate, not every 2 seconds), Richard Felix came along and has now taken over from Jason as the annoying one, but only his voice(before the end of every sentence, he pauses, then says something), more fascinating results were captured (polterghiest activity in The Station Hotel, Derby) and Yvette got a new haircut! This by my opinion is the best so far and the funniest to watch.

Series 3 is a little better than series 2, although I cant say much as I haven't seen as many episodes of series 3, yet, I think that Yvette got a new haircut!

Series 4 is just starting and sounds promising to be the best yet, according to my friend who has told me of a face appearing in a mirror in one of the episodes, with all the crew seeing it.

The Most Haunted Live editions are also very good to watch and it is an ingenious idea to use audience and home participation in the show. My favourite so far would have to be Most Haunted Live At New Year, all because we finally had the pleasure of seeing Matthew Smith go out into the darkness himself.

The team are funny yet serious at the same time, making the show a joy to watch.

I am looking forward to the rest of the new series, the Easter Weekend 3 day special and many more adventures with the team to come. 100% brilliant television!

And just think, we have Sam to thank for all this. THANK YOU SAM!!!

A pile of dog toffee, they got rid of Derek Acora, and that ddodgy get in a fat pinstripe suit, they are the types that put me off paranormal investigations. Its always the same boring topic locations, fxxxng pubs and inns, statley homes, hotels....yawn yawn.. Then its 60mins of infra red camera shots, pebbles being tossed about (by the crew). screaming and shouting..To invoke spirits, you don't start a conversation just like you were asking for a jar of coffee in the corner shop...MH...is a load of cobblers

Warning: don't watch this.

When comparing to other ghost hunting shows, Most Haunted has got to be one the worst. Whilst Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures and Paranormal Lockdown have some aspects of authenticity, Most Haunted has nothing. The reactions of those investigating are so fake it's funny. As soon as they hear an unexplained noise, they jump and run away without actually doing anything or trying to figure out what accumulated the noise. Let's use Ghost Adventures as an example. Whether you like Ghost Adventures or not; it's arguably the best ghost hunting programme on the air. Anyways, as soon as the Ghost Adventure crew hear a noise; they jump (maybe runaway) but always refer to it later and let the audience know if they figured out the source of the sound. Most Haunted does not do that. Instead, they automatically assume it's paranormal. I completely understand that reacting in a way of disbelief, shock or fear is normal - but their completely go overboard with it. Ghost Adventures does this, but as previously mentioned, they don't let it obstruct their investigation and always refer to what they saw, sensed or heard straight after. This isn't the only thing that bothers me about this show. The psychic that have on the show is awful. His evidence sucks, his acting is horrible and I can almost guarantee you that he has no psychic powers. How all the other investigators keep a straight face when the "psychic" is reacting to an occurrence from a "spirit" is beyond me. Honestly, this "psychic" is a really big problem in the show. When they're investigating a noise (which is very rare) or an apparition that appeared out of no where, the guy always stops the team of investigators and obstructs their work while they're actually investigating something interesting. In terms of the evidence they capture, there isn't really anything to note. Of course you'll see the typical light anomaly or a noise echo in the building they're investigating. But, this is pretty much it. They once did a live stream of a building and viewers could call in or report something they'd seen. This had to be the worst business move from the Most Haunted crew. When I was watching this when I was like 9 years old, my dad phoned in as a joke stating their was a women holding a map on one of the cameras. They received his report and reported it on live TV. I am sure thousands of other viewers did this without actually witnessing any paranormal activity on any of the cameras they were using. Because of this reason, this really hurt the authenticity of the show. Lastly, this show has WAY TOO MANY INVESTIGATORS. Unlike Ghost Adventures and Paranormal Lockdown, this show has at least (if not) 10 investigators in a group. Yes, I know that Ghost Hunters has about 8 investigators, but they ALWAYS split up. The Most Haunted crew do not and only do this occasionally. This takes away the enjoyment of watching someone getting scared. If it were a smaller group with maybe 3-5 investigators, maybe I'll consider watching it for enjoyment reasons. Also, you would start to feel sorry for the investigators if they were in a massive building all by themselves if their numbers were tied down to a minimum. But, as mentioned before, there's far too many of them. At first, this show was mildly enjoyable. Season 1 & 2 was fairly decent and rather interesting. This now can't be said for the newer series'. However; because it's so fake and lousy - it makes it hilarious to watch. I recommend you watching it if you want a good morning or late night laugh. However, if you want authenticity - stay away from this show and watch some other paranormal investigative shows. Thanks for reading, hope this helps and have a great day!