REVIEW: Most Haunted - Series 1 Episode 3 (11th June 2002) Avebury Stones and The Red Lion, Wiltshire

We are back for another review of a classic Most Haunted episode. Now I know that there is some confusion regarding episode number, as some DVD releases had them in a different order, and obviously things are always filmed out of order, so I am doing my reviews purely based on air date according to Wikipedia so if it is wrong etc, don't blame me.

If you ever want to catch up on other Most Haunted reviews, just click the Most Haunted tab on the horizontal menu, and everything is there.

Also I heard from the original Most Haunted mole over Christmas and they informed me that both Yvette and Karl have been reading these classic reviews, and enjoying them immensely. 

And with that said, we have a young, pretty and unsullied Yvette Fielding, and she has just opened her handbag, and as we look inside we see some kind of buzzing back massager, well I think that is what it is, anyway it has some kind of substance on it, so as I scrape it off, I can see that it is sticky blurbage, and that sticky blurbage is below!

"The Most Haunted team visits Avebury, Wiltshire. Considered by some to be one of the most paranormal places in Britain. The town sits within a prehistoric stone circle. The team investigate The Red Lion Inn, haunted by four ghosts."

I am watching the "unseen" version of this episode, which is from the DVD release.

We start off with Yvette mysteriously appearing from behind one of the 4000 year old Avebury Stones, she gives us a bit of history and is then quickly stood in front of a pub.

Her hair is a mess as you can see, but she does look quite fetching all in black.

She then tells us about some of the ghosts of the pub, and then starts to introduce us to the crew.

She then sits with Jason Karl who thank god has ditched those god awful leather gimp trousers, and is going with a straight forward jumper, black jeans combo.

Bizarrely Jason has a few ridiculous gimmicks with him, from the obligatory EMF meter (Useless) and some flour and coins which he is gonna spread about later as a way to catch ghostly foot and hand prints. Yes that is as dumb as it sounds.

A ghost can walk through walls, yet will leave footprints.

The landlord of the pub is telling us some stories, remember this is a "haunted pub" this is how it makes it's money, by selling space to idiot ghost hunters.

Here is a shot of the Landlord, known to his friends as "Dickie Bounts".

We also hear from a retired cellar-man who tells some ghost stories. Jason Karl rightly points out that the people who have seen ghosts are often people who have been drinking.

Jason Karl really was a good "para psychologist", he really did point out the more rational explanation even if sometimes his lack of knowledge of basic photographic anomolies would expose him.

Derek Acorah has arrived and we get another lovely scene of everyone sat around a big table having food.

They are talking about the location, asking questions and generally having a lovely time.

I am very much enjoying Derek's red jacket. Very fashionable back in the early 2000's

Dinner is finished and the investigation begins.
Straight away Derek is picking up on the ghosts and calls over the pub manager Dickie Bounts and tells him this ghost lady is following him around.

Derek comes up with the name Florence, which we then get confirmed with an on screen graphic.

Again I remember how people would get so involved with trying to debunk Derek, searching the internet for records to prove how he could have researched it, or his fans showing how hard it would have been to research it. It was all very intense back in the day between the skeptics and the believers. But as I said in previous reviews most of the time Derek didn't really do much work at all. He would pick up a leaflet on the location when he first came in, or his wife Gwen would and then pass to him. He could then read it in the loo. Sometimes he would just know a place because he had been there before. Derek really did just "wing it" on the day. And there was not this huge conspiracy that many people thought.

Each episode he would need to remember maybe 4 or 5 names and that is it, everything else was just educated guesswork, cold reading and so on.

And as Karl got to know Derek more, Karl would often engage Derek in conversation before filming started, and drop a few names, while talking about the location.

Back to Derek and he has now come up with the name Arthur, followed by King Edgar.

Finally Derek comes up with "Little Boy" and then utters the famous line of 
"He is so excited at times, he is like a whirling dervish"

This gets a laugh out of everyone present, this really was Derek at his very best.

Derek talks what a lovely little boy this is, followed by a quick change of how he was murdered as part of a sacrifice. Well that escalated quickly.

Derek then debunks a legend of Merlin. Derek is saying that Merlin is NOT in any way buried behind some stone structure.

Just think about that, Derek is debunking a legend because spirit is telling him so.
Truly Derek is the uber skeptic! 

Derek and Yvette have now entered a bedroom, and Derek starts talking about a virgin ghost. Yvette has the look on her face of "What's this virgin thing you talk of?"

I'm not saying Yvette was promiscuous in her youth, no I am NOT saying that. Nope, not gonna go there.... Unlike the local soccer team in 1985.

Derek is talking about more child sacrifices. Blimey this is all very depressing.

Jason sets up the flour experiment, while the rest of the gang go to investigate the stones during what looks like a mild hurricane.

Derek is hearing a spirit chanting, and a circle of women and men. How he can hear anything in this storm is beyond me. Derek talks about the chanting being an encouragement of the elements.

Yvette has seen a couple of ghosts! But Derek quickly debunks it as two people with hoods on. Again Skeptic Derek is on fire in this episode. Using his psychic powers for good it seems.

It is quite funny watching them struggle in the wind.

Clearly Derek knows a bit about these stones as he is talking about about various stories that are in the public domain.

Just occurred to me that this is the first ever episode of Most Haunted that does NOT feature a dog.

Back in the warm, Yvette has had her hair fixed while Derek is talking about Florence again, but also mentioning a Well. Saying she is in the Well because she was killed, thrown in the Well by 3 men.

Yvette has been "voted" to stay in the very haunted private room all by herself, before she goes in, Derek primes her with some spiritual type advice. Very similar to how if you tell someone NOT to think of a pink elephant, that is exactly what they will think about, just like you are now, as you are reading this. So Derek is telling her how to cope if ghosts touch her or sit on her etc.

We also get the first use of the "Blair Witch" shot, which then becomes a staple of Most Haunted going forward for the next 15 years. And makes the whole idea of using a video camera on a ghost investigation completely pointless.

As expected Yvette is feeling tickling on her head and other sensations.

She is putting all her professional acting lessons to good use here, as she manages to force a tear from her eye. Didn't you know she is a professionally trained actress?

She gets up, panics a bit and leaves.

We are with Jason now and he is alone in a room. He is talking about failing to be scared again, which is blatantly setting up something that is coming up.

"Come on orbs, let's have an orb go past my face" - Jason Karl

Jason is orb hunting, and getting a few out of focus particles appear close to the lens, but bizarrely thinks they are some kind of spirit manifestation. I am sure that looking back he will feel very embarrassed when listening to himself talk about orbs as if he is some kind of photographic expert. 

Back in the day you didn't have Stuart throwing things, or Karl dropping items OFF CAMERA, so you had to rely on orbs as you main source of ghostly activity.

Jason panics and leaves the room.

In a voice over Yvette tells us that after Jason left the room, Karl went in to retrieve a camera and received two scratches to his neck.

Notice how they are in the exact position that a scratch would be if you reached over your own head and scratched yourself. Only episode 3 and Karl is faking stuff like this, I can only think he did it because he knew the episode was really lacking anything physical on the ghost hunting front, a few orbs, and Derek repeating well known stories about a place, does not really make it haunted, but with a nice little scratch, they can now claim physical evidence.

Remember back in 2002 people trusted Karl, he was the producer as opposed to just Yvette's Husband, most people didn't even know he was married to her. This whole show was a launchpad for Yvette, so Karl really would do anything to get attention for the show, even if it meant scratching himself on the neck.

They decide to all go back to the room to investigate the ghost that scratched Karl. 

"Come on your son of a gun, show yourself" - Derek Acorah

Clearly they didn't like to swear in those days.
Derek is taunting the ghost to scratch him, nothing happens.
I get the impression here that Derek blatantly does not believe what Karl has said happened to him, and probably thinks that Karl is trying to steal his thunder.

There is a sound of a coin or something dropping to the floor OFF CAMERA, they look around but cant see anything, as they film around you notice that Dickie Bounts the landlord is there. Hmmm.

We then get one last orb.

And Yvette tells us they cant explain it. The flour experiment from earlier had no results, and with that the investigation is over, we now enter the summary interviews.

Look at that happy crew, compared to 2017 that is a huge difference.

I give this episode a fair 5/10.

We did get the legendary Whirling Dervish line, but that really was the only highlight.

No dog, no ghost monkeys. Just orbs and Karl scratching himself.

If you enjoyed this review and would like me to continue to review the old episodes let me know in the comments. If you don't then I wont.

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By Jon Donnis

REVIEW: Most Haunted - Series 1 Episode 2 (4th June 2002) Chillingham Castle, Northumberland

Usually I hate reviewing Most Haunted, I dread the thought of having to sit down and waste a couple of hours of my life watching the episode, taking screen grabs, repeating the words (that I invented) "OFF CAMERA" seemingly endless times, and that is why I never bothered to go back and review the Series 20 episodes that aired night after night around Halloween time. But after watching the first ever episode of Most Haunted a few days ago, it peaked my interest once again. And after checking and being impressed by how many people read that review, I find myself with sodall else to do, so why not review episode 2 and keep the momentum going.

Most Haunted truly was so much better with Derek Acorah on the show, and because it was all so long ago, I know that I will be surprised to see the ridiculous things he gets up to. So with that said, I went and started digging in Yvette Fielding's lady garden, and deep beneath the thick bramble bushes, I found some blurb, dry, flaky blurb, but it was still readable, so here is the blurb for episode 2 of Most Haunted.

"Most Haunted travels to Northumberland to reputedly the most haunted castle in England. Will they make contact with the famed Blue Boy? Derek contacts a former resident, a hissing noise frightens the crew and a box moves by itself."

Yvette is all in black again and with leather trousers on, very sexy, although this is the start of her ridiculous hair cuts that seem to change every week. I prefer her hair last week.

Seeing how Yvette was the "hotty" of the early series, it then makes it easier to understand why in later series the likes of Mel Crump would get chased off the show.

Yvette then introduces us to the crew, a mixture of family members and close friends.

NO! NO Jason Karl, it is NOT ever acceptable for a man to weather leather trousers. It is ok for Yvette, in 2002 she had smooth shaven legs, the trousers hug her figure, they improve her look. But for a man, you look ridiculous. You look like you should be in the Blue Oyster Bar. So I am docking you 15 internet points for this HUGE fashion faux par.

Yvette announces that there is one last member of the team to join them.

"A man who can talk to the dead"

Wow that sounds impressive, we then get introduced to Derek Acorah, and again reminded that he does not know where he is investigating that evening. 

Yvette goes on a tour with some old posh geezer who is something to do with the Castle, sorry I didn't catch his title as I was fascinated by a dog that appears on the screen.

So in just two episodes we have now seen two dogs, this dog is called Billy. 

Chillingham Castle really is a beautiful location, and they also have some appartments that they rent out, and of course they are "haunted rooms", so we need to be aware that as is nearly always the case with these locations, they rely on tourism, so they NEED the place to be recognised as "Haunted"

Derek Acorah arrives and gives Yvette a HUGE hug! You wouldn't get that today.

As Derek is looking around, Rick Fielding suddenly starts feeling faint. Now if you recall he had a funny turn in episode 1 as well, so we are already seeing a pattern develop here. So Rick is clearly putting this on as part of the show, now whether he is directed to do this by Karl or he is just doing this off his own back I don't know. But it does go to show that they were faking incidents right from the start.

Derek comforts Rick and all is fine after Derek asks the ghost to step away as she is affecting Rick. 

Jason Karl has his usual incredulous look. Where as in 2017 Glen constantly looks smug, Jason Karl is unable to hide his real thoughts. Good for you Jason, even with your stupid leather trousers on.

Derek comes up with the name "Mary", Yvette asks Jason if he can confirm the name. Which he does. It is funny how serious they take this, as if Derek really is talking to some dead spirit.

Derek really is quite a good actor, well if the character he is playing is that of a crazy psychic who is convinced they can talk to the dead. 

Ironically, in the business if you break character it is known as "corpsing", that being when you laugh when you are not supposed to etc, yet Derek never breaks character. Well not when he knows he is being filmed anyway, I remind you of the "Mary loves Dick" scene from a Most Haunted Live to see one of the very few examples of Derek "corpsing" when he assumes the camera feed has cut.

Remember last episode when we had everyone sat around the fire chatting, sharing ghost stories and then Derek got possessed by a monkey? Well this episode everyone is sat around a nice big table eating, and laughing.

People laughing, enjoying the experience, Derek sat next to his wife Gwen (a real life close personal friend of mine by the way). Now everyone hates each other.

As expected Yvette sees something walk past the window outside, and then Jason goes to investigate after they put the green filter on.

They find nothing, so the show then moves on.

We are told again that no one has told Derek about anything to do with Chillingham Castle. Suddenly there is a hissing noise that could be anyone, Yvette panics and everyone runs out of the hallway.

The make up lady Marcella is absolutely petrified and doesn't want to continue.

You would think that being one half of the Wild Samoans the WWE Hall of Fame Tag Team, that she wouldn't be so scared of a few ghosts.

Things have calmed down and Derek is talking to Lady Mary Berkley.
Some great acting by Derek here. Not great "possessed monkey" great, but still decent.

Look at the evil in Derek's eyes! Maybe the monkey has returned?

Derek has started to get confused and disorientated, guessing he had a few whiskeys before he started and they have started to kick in.

He also claims to be seeing "pink", he then says he is drawn to the pink!! Aren't we all Derek, Aren't we all.....

Derek then gets possessed, and it is hilarious, I had forgot how he would just be mid sentence and then get possessed. After about 15 seconds, Sam helps him regain his composure. (But not his dignity, the ghost monkey still has that)

Derek is telling stories, and Jason Karl is either confirming or denying them. Nothing of actual importance here sadly, as the episode hits a dull spot.

With Derek not playing, we cut to Karl who has gone off to "investigate" on his own.

There is then a noise OFF CAMERA, which kinda sounds like Karl dropping something. We then see a basket that is right next to where Karl's left hand would be move a couple of inches, Karl panics and runs out of the room. Again people claim the show was honest in the first season, but knowing what you know now, especially about Karl and how he has been caught cheating so many times, it becomes very obvious he is behind this. He knows exactly what is being filmed, he is the only person present, so makes sense he just nudges something and then reacts.

Back to Derek and he is talking about some ghost he been chatting to, Derek informs us that he has a 4 poster bed at home (lucky Gwen), and that the ghost is showing him a 4 poster bed.

Here is a photo of Derek Acorah in bed with Karthik, the monobrow star of The Apprentice. 

Yvette is feeling a strong cold draft. Jason Karl has a laser thermometer thingy, and he states that the temperature is normal and has not changed. Yvette tells him to stand where she is, he does and he feels nothing.

Look at the state of Karl here.

Yvette in voice over talks about how some of their still photos when analysed showed a lot of orbs, she then said that "Independent Vision Engineers" had confirmed that this was NOT caused by dust or reflected light. Yes she has really claimed that.

I am curious as to who these "Independent Vision Engineers" actually were? Since clearly the orbs are in fact a mixture of dust, air particles and moisture that are too close to the camera and out of the focal range of the lens. Guess that makes me an "Expert Independent Vision Engineer".

With bold claims like this by Yvette, which are downright lies, you can understand why we ended up with an entire generation of idiotic ghost hunters claiming orbs were paranormal. If you have ever published a photo of an orb and claimed it was something paranormal, then hold your head in shame, now and forever.

Yvette takes Derek to the dungeon. Something that in 2017 I know that Glen dreams of, being taken to Yvette's dungeon, tied up, and whipped while wearing his favourite gimp suit and a ball gag in his mouth. One day the photos will leak I am sure.

Nothing happens in the dungeon and we move onto the end of episode summary clips. 

Again Jason Karl pours scorn on everything that happened, and Derek claims everything was paranormal, so a nice difference between beliefs and personalities there.

A final shot of the crew sat on some steps, and we are done.

I give this episode a decent 6/10.

Not as good as episode 1, but then hard to beat a ghost monkey possessing Derek Acorah.

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By Jon Donnis

REVIEW: Most Haunted - Series 1 Episode 1 (25th May 2002) Athelhampton Hall, Dorchester

I asked before on social media if people would be interested in me reviewing Most Haunted from the very beginning. And overwhelmingly people said yes. So I managed to grab the episode from Youtube and my review is below.

Depending on how engaged people are with this review will depend on if I continue on. Hopefully my expertise and knowledge on Most Haunted will let me give you previously unknown insights on the show as I look back.

Lets start with how Most Haunted was conceived.

BBC1 Halloween night, 1992, a new type of TV show was born, never before seen, that show was called Ghostwatch. It was a show filmed like a documentary, but it was a spoof, there was a warning before the show explaining that, much like how today we get "For Entertainment Purposes only", the show was clearly advertised as a spoof. Unfortunately many people quickly forgot about that, and after the show aired there was reports of people with PTSD, and sadly Martin Denham, an eighteen-year-old factory worker with learning difficulties, committed suicide five days after Ghostwatch aired.

Ghostwatch had become the most complained about show of all time, and was immediately banned. Terrestrial TV channels would take decades before aired any similar shows, no one dared even touch the subject in such a manner, but Living TV a satellite channel in 2002 finally agreed to give Most Haunted, a show that was basically a remake of Ghostwatch a chance, but aired with very strict disclaimers admitting it was just entertainment. Whereas Ghostwatch was written and scripted and then acted by professionals, Most Haunted was purely a vehicle for Yvette Fielding to relaunch her career and hopefully get her back on mainstream TV. Sadly as you know now Yvette quickly because typecast and has never broken away from the show or the genre. Her career never really getting back on track, and from being viewed by 10 million people on Blue Peter, she is still stuck on Most Haunted which rarely gets more than 300,000 viewers. And the odd appearance on reality TV shows with other Z List celebs.

So now you know the origins of the show, let us begin.

Back in 2002 Karl Beattie still had his original hair colour, his blurb was thick and strong, and luckily I managed to find the remnants of such blurbage and you can read that below.

"The Most Haunted crew travel Great Britain in a search into the paranormal. Experience the tears, laughter and fear of the Most Haunted team as the stay overnight at Haunted locations. Setting experiments and using some of the most up-to-date equipment Most Haunted captures some of the best paranormal activity ever seen."

As the show opens up, Yvette Fielding looks straight at the camera and says

"We guarantee no tricks, no camera illusions, and no practical jokes"

Many people often look back at the first series as a genuine investigation, but what they don't know is that the show was always "faked", just not to the obvious level it is today. She claimed no tricks, we see tricks every episode now, with items pulled by fishing wire or Karl being pulled up steps by a rope wrapped around his waste, no camera illusions, well we all remember the video overlay effect of ghost Stuart walking up stairs, or camera edits before beds are tipped upside down, and as for no practical jokes, well usually a practical joke is exposed as such right after, that is the joke bit, so I can give that to them, they don't do practical jokes do they.

Also worth noting that Yvette must be early to mid 30s here, and is looking quite hot. Leather skirt, hair typed up. 

Hilariously Yvette says "If we find nothing, you will see nothing", if that was true, the show would have tanked after 2 or 3 episodes and forever cancelled.

Blimey as the titles roll, they have not changed the music in 15 years!

Also the production value was so much higher back then, who would have thought that 15 years later they would be making episodes on a shoe string budget.

We then get introduced to the "Parapsychologist" Jason Karl, now it is worth saying that back in 2002 no one was really familiar with this title, it sounds "sciency" so automatically makes you think that Jason Karl must be some kind of scientist who has decided to move into this field. In fact Jason Karl was just a jobbing ghost hunter employed to play the part of a parapsychologist, and his claim to fame at this point was an appearance on kids TV show Knightmare under his real name Julian Smith. (Source IMDB). Amazingly despite his lack of real knowledge or experience, I do remember him as being one of the best skeptics they ever had on the show, and he quickly became popular. (Which was also the reason he was eventually let go, remember the show is a launching pad for Yvette)

Jason introduces us to the EMF meter, and sadly this is the start of thousands of idiot ghost hunters buying these useless machines to wave about just because they have seen it used on TV.

Quite a few shots of Yvette sat on chairs with her legs crossed. The filming was so much better back in 2002, more atmospheric shots and really playing up to Yvette.

Derek Acorah has arrived, we are continually told he doesn't know the location, he didn't know he was coming here before hand and so on. It is funny looking back now how much they wanted to insist that Derek had no prior knowledge. Lots of stories would go around of his wife Gwen hidden away on a laptop looking up info that she would then pass to Derek. All very funny.

The crew are sat around the fire and discussing ghosts, this is great. Fantastic idea. Now I am watching the "unseen" version of this episode, so not sure what made the original airing or not. 

Long before Watson was even born, we had this little fella, he is looking at something, and before you know it Derek proclaims that he is looking at an ape, a monkey, yes Derek Acorah is claiming that there is a ghost monkey present. And that the dog is looking at the ghost monkey.

Now surely if there was a ghost monkey there the dog would be barking or even run at the monkey.

Jason and Derek start bickering a bit about what the dog is seeing. All very bizarre.

Derek then gets possessed by the Monkey, I am not even joking.

Quick reminder of what Yvette said earlier.
"We guarantee no tricks, no camera illusions, and no practical jokes"

After a break we are back, and Derek has been taken over by a spirit called Martin, I had forgotten how great Derek's possessions were. TV gold.

While all of this is going on Jason Karl is looking incredulous as he writes things down on his notepad.

It is interesting to see how much of the show was about Derek, and how he would become such a star through Most Haunted. 

These 3 are pretty much all you see on screen from the crew, no Karl, no crew members with cameras pointed at themselves. So refreshing.

They hear a noise and a rocking cot is slightly moving. Derek says it must be one of the ghost women present. 

20 minutes in an they are finally turning the lights off, they do this because stupid Jason Karl said that they are more likely to get paranormal activity in the dark. The irony being that historically the vast majority of ghost sightings are reported in the light.

Rick Fielding is Yvette's brother, and strangely he only worked on Most Haunted for a couple of years, he has since worked in America on a few TV shows as a cameraman. I do not know why he left, or anything more about him, but in his brief appearance in episode one, it is clear he is a big wuss and scared of everything, so you would think he would fit right in.

If anyone knows any more about him please let us know in the comments. Just curious.

As he is scared to go near a door, Derek and Jason investigate. Derek sees a spirit near a door, Jason does not pick up anything on his EMF meter. Derek is now talking to his spirit guide Sam, suddenly Derek has a name.

"de Lafontaine"

We get some info on screen that matches the name. This is an incredible piece of psychic evidence from Derek, such an unusual name, it could only possible come from the spirit world, there is no other possible explanation.

Just for fun here are a couple of non paranormal explanations.

1. The name is written on a plaque on a wall, in the gardens and so on.

2. In literature for the Hall this name could be written, maybe on leaflets near the entrance.

The point is that even back in 2002 there were many ways to get such information. You would not need to do massive amounts of research, such keep your eyes open as you walk around. And if in a big location like this, if you had been before, you would most likely remember such information, especially if it is part of your job.

So you have to ask yourself what is more likely, did Derek pluck the name out of the spirit realm, breaking the laws of physics, or did he just read it on a sign as he came in the building?

We get our first shot of Karl, full head of hair, and you can even see his jaw line.

You can also see how many people are present.

Derek has his eyes closed and comes up with another name. 

"Ralph Bankes likes this room"

Hmmm another owner and likely person mentioned in any literature or signs around the location for visitors to see.

Another name given, incredibly specific here. Yet when you see Derek live he seems to be so vague.

Belief in Derek comes down to one thing, trust, the only way you can believe him, is if you trust that he is telling the truth, because clearly it would be very easy for him to cheat.

I can understand why Jason Karl became so popular on this show, his looks of pure incredulity towards Derek are brilliant.

We now start to understand why Derek was possessed by a Monkey earlier as we are told about the legend of Martin's Ape.

By the way for anyone wondering, yes from episode 1 they used green filters to fake night vision. 

We now get a first shot of Stuart, full head of hair! He mumbles a bit about things and they quickly move on.

Jason Karl is up close and personal with Yvette, a position that Glen dreams of.

There is a lot of talk of a secret passage that a monkey would go down. They go into the passage.

Karl feels a breath on his ear, so must be a ghost.

Yvette has moved that rocking cot from earlier to a new position. Jason Karl is now asking the ghosts to give them a "flashing orb" this is the first mention of an orb in the show, so we now know we can blame Jason Karl for starting a generation of idiots who think that orbs are spirits and not just bits of out of focus fluff or insects.

The monkey ghost is breathing in Karl's ear.

Despite him sat by some stairs in an old house that is full of drafts.

As Yvette and Jason look at the cot, there are some digital artifacts that appear on the footage, remember this is 15 year old technology, but they are calling them orbs. This is easily debunked by anyone even vaguely familiar with digital photography.

The investigation ends, and we now get the summary interviews as various cast members talk about the show and what has happened.

I genuinely had forgotten how incredibly entertaining Derek Acorah was, and how he truly was the star of Most Haunted from the very first episode. It is sad to see the show today and how far they have fallen, and how it is the same old rubbish every week.

As much as I disliked Derek back at the time of this show first airing, I can better understand now that he was just playing a part, doing what he was employed to do, and he was making the most of his TV time to make a name for himself.

Of course now it seems ridiculous to even try to use facts to debunk Derek, back in the day we would spend ages looking things up as a way to prove he had researched things, and desperately tried to catch him out. Now I can watch these old episodes and just enjoy how ridiculous it all was.

Episode 1 and Derek got possessed by a ghost monkey, how did anyone ever think that was real?

For a first episode, I have to give this a really decent score, I was entertained, I never got bored, even Yvette was fun to watch as she wasn't screaming, or running around like an idiot, or having blatantly staged arguments with Karl, it was just her being herself, and she came across quite genuine.

If you take Derek out of the equation, nothing really happened, there was a cot that started rocking OFF CAMERA (I had to throw at least one of them in), and a few digital artifacts on some camera footage that they claimed were orbs, and other than the Ghost Monkey breathing in Karl's ear, nothing really happened.

And Yvette looked rather hot in her leather skirt and knee high boots.

Derek was the star by a mile, or should that be the Ghost Monkey?

I give this episode a strong 7/10.

Light years ahead of what they produce 15 years later.

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By Jon Donnis

I promise, it is the last time I will write about Tyler Henry. This year. Probably.

Sometimes what is missing from a psychic reading is more interesting and more important than what was actually said.

Case in point: In the summer of 2016, as a promo for the third season of E! Network’s Hollywood Medium, psychic Tyler Henry sat down with American television host of The Today Show, Matt Lauer. They recorded for an hour, and The Today Show released a 6:35 segment on YouTube. This video has been watched 1,025,162 times, and has more than 4,000 likes, and 890 comments.

As I write this, Lauer has just been fired from his job as the host of The Today Show. The media is reporting that Lauer was accused of many cases of inappropriate sexual behavior with women. Lauer released a statement soon after, and apologized for his actions, admitting that some of the allegations were true. I remembered that Tyler Henry had done a psychic reading for Lauer and I wondered if there was any foreboding of this scandal. Most people would say that this has been the worst week of Lauer’s life, surely Tyler Henry must have seen it coming and warned him?

I’m going to give a brief overview of the reading, with my explications of what is on the video. Then I will describe what is missing. The video, if you want to follow along, can be watched below.


Let’s set the scene first. Tyler Henry is sitting with cameras and lights on a set, and Lauer walks in with ease and confidence. He shakes Henry’s hand and says he really doesn’t know how this works. There is voice-over from Lauer telling us that Henry has been on The Today Show doing readings before and that Henry did not want to know who he was going to read in advance. This is typical of all of Henry’s videos; there is strong stress on this point: Henry does not know who he is going to read. This is a reaction to skeptics claiming that Henry Googles people in advance. I’ve written about Henry many times, here, here, and here stating that, from my investigations, it appears that Henry does not need to do research. By using cold-reading techniques, he can produce the same effect as what we see happening during a reading.

In this case, Henry does know Lauer, and they greet each other with Lauer saying, “Good to see you again Tyler, how have you been?” Henry knew that he was shooting a promo for Hollywood Medium, so it seems probable that he knew he would be reading Lauer.

Henry uses psychometry (holding a personal object) in order for him to focus on who the sitter would like to “come through” during the reading. Lauer (this is explained by a voice-over) brought a pocketknife that was given to him by his maternal grandfather. Lauer gave it to Henry, who then said that many people want to come through. This is a statement that mediums use as a way to transition between “stories”; if they aren’t getting good hits with someone, they just move to the next person, saying things like, “so now an older woman is pushing her way forward and wants to acknowledge a dog. Does that connect to you?”

Henry then mentioned a “fatherly kind of essence” who did not want to die in a hospital surrounded by doctors. I’m not sure how many people would be happy to die in a hospital, but Henry goes on to acknowledge that this person was grateful that he did not die “in a traditional kind of facility.” At first, I wondered about this statement, as it does seem a bit of a risk to state it with certainty at the beginning of the sitting. So, I went back and watched this exchange a few more times, paying attention to the body language of Lauer. And sure enough, you can watch him agreeing with Henry, nodding his head, making eye contact and reassuring Henry he was on the right track. Henry is young, but he has done over a thousand readings and is no fool when it comes to body language feedback.

I also want to point out that as soon as Henry starts talking about this “fatherly kind of essence,” Lauer’s demeanor completely changes. His head drops and his voice softens. During a voice-over, Lauer says that Henry is talking about his father who died in 1997.

At this point, Lauer in his mind has claimed the “fatherly kind of essence” as his father. But for Henry, he still does not know if this is a father, grandfather, father-in-law, a mentor, uncle, brother, or a close male friend. Henry plays it safe and continues saying “he” or “this person” but nothing else to describe him.

Next Henry moves onto something that seems specific but really is a common general statement made by mediums doing readings. The “fatherly kind of essence” is showing Henry, “a coin, coins, or a coin collection.” Henry follows up with, “that is a really odd thing.” Henry does this all the time; he makes a very general statement and acts like it was specific. Lauer says that he has a couple of silver dollars from him but not a lot. Henry replies that there is a third coin somewhere.

Next Henry lightens the mood a bit and throws out another general “vision.” The “fatherly kind of essence” is showing him a bird that was in the house and someone had to trap the bird and it was really funny. Lauer said that this had actually happened.

How risky was that statement for Henry? Birds fly into homes, and businesses, and all kinds of places; it’s not that unusual. And they often will not leave on their own and need to be removed. I’m sure it is pretty comical when it happens. (One of the people who commented on the video said that while watching, a bird flew into her house.) The odds of Lauer connecting to this story are pretty high, a quick YouTube search and you will find endless videos of birds flying inside homes. If Lauer had not connected, then Henry had several options. He could have said, “this happened before you were born, ask someone else in the family” or maybe it was on a TV show they could have watched together, or it could have happened to someone else in the family. Henry does not say to whom this happened or when. That leaves the door wide open for Lauer to make the connection. Or the final out, if Lauer had not connected to the story, Henry could just move on to something else knowing that only the best parts of the reading will actually air. And Lauer (like most humans) will remember the hits and forget the misses.

And once again, Henry makes a statement claiming that what he just said was really specific, “It’s random details like that that proves someone is coming through.”

Next, Henry says that the “fatherly kind of essence” has just told him that Lauer has sleep apnea; something that Lauer confirms. Sounds like a specific hit. Well … what are the odds that a man would have it? A Google search tells me that about 4 percent of men have it, so that does look like a hit. Well done “fatherly kind of essence.” Oh wait … a Google search for “Matt Lauer” and “sleep apnea” returns a 2014 article, How early does Matt wake up? In this article, Lauer says that he “sometimes” has sleep apnea. Very possibly Lauer has discussed this on The Today Show; maybe when Henry was present. When Henry was getting his makeup and hair done before the taping, he could have innocently asked the stylists something like, “Matt must get up really early in the morning; he probably has sleeping problems?” With that little question mark at the end of the sentence and a pause, they easily could have told him all kinds of things. Not so difficult for a personable Tyler Henry to glean a bit of information. It’s not as if this was a test for the JREF million-dollar challenge. So the sleep apnea was not so much of a hit as I first thought.

The “fatherly kind of essence” now acknowledges a lone individual in a boat with a fishing pole. Lauer is nodding in agreement. The video cues the emotional music, so viewers know we need to start getting misty eyed. Lauer clearly emotional, tells Henry that this “fatherly kind of essence” is his father. Which leads Henry to smoothly say, “Your father is SO immensely proud of you, you didn’t have to get to where you are today for him to be proud of you … or successful in his eyes. He views you as successful regardless.” Very smooth Henry! He added that tidbit as if he had known all along they had been talking about Lauer’s father.

Next, Lauer asks if there is something his father wants to know. Which is a rather odd question, but Lauer is probably a bit emotional as he has been convinced that he is speaking to his father who died nineteen years ago. Henry says, “He just wants to know if you are happy.” “Yes,” Lauer says, “I am.”

Then the video cuts to Lauer on the beach wearing sunglasses and talking to the other hosts who are back in the newsroom. Lauer is telling them that after that reading, he cried and cried. He said his hands were shaking the whole time and Henry was “spot on.”

Remember that what we were shown was only five minutes of an hour long reading. So, a lot is missing; editing pulls together the best bits for the video promo. Anything that was a miss would not make the cut. Only the best parts would be shown. If there were a lot of great hits, they would have cut the part about the coins or the sleep apnea. They could have run a longer video; so I assume these were the best hits: A “fatherly kind of essence” who did not want to die in a hospital and who gave Lauer silver dollars and wants him to go find the third one. Then there was a bird was loose in someone’s house, and he also wanted to tell Lauer something that he already knew, that he has sleep apnea. Oh, and about the boat: it looks like another hit. Or does it? A Google search for “Matt Lauer” and “father” gives me this article, Today’s Anchor Chat: Matt Lauer’s Fish Tale from 2007 where he says, “One thing you have to understand about me is that outside of my family and my work, I have two passions, both instilled in me by my father: golf and fishing … We also used to do a lot of freshwater fishing, which we both loved … .”

I’m not saying that Henry did a Google search as I did; I’m saying that Lauer’s love for fishing came from his dad, and this was not a well-guarded secret. In that same article, Lauer mentions his favorite photo of his son is one he took on the boat with a striped bass that they had caught minutes before. Perhaps that photo is framed on Lauer’s desk. What is more likely? That a dead person communicated to Tyler Henry a vision of Matt Lauer sitting in a boat with a fishing pole? Or, Henry saw a photo, or heard a story from Lauer’s co-workers, about how much he likes to fish on his boat?

It’s possible, even likely, that Lauer really did think Henry was “spot on.” This was an hour sitting, and a very emotional hour. Lauer is not asking the questions, he is not in control as he is used to. The psychic was throwing a lot at him very quickly, and his brain tried to make sense of it all. That’s how human brains work; we look for connections. Even if something is a bit of a stretch, we will try to make sense of it all. Plus, we want the psychic to be accurate. Henry is very personable and charming, and Lauer likely wanted to make a really good promo. Henry claimed to be speaking to his father, and Lauer really wanted that to be true. And, as we tend to remember the hits and forget the misses, I can’t blame Lauer for thinking the reading was accurate. I’m at home, able to rewind, over and over, rewatch whatever I want, and think about what happened. Lauer wasn’t even taking notes during the reading. I have a notebook with many pages full of notes.

As I said at the beginning, sometimes what is missing is more important than what was said.

What happened to the maternal grandfather who gave the pocketknife to Lauer? We don’t hear from him at all. If it had been a hit, then it would have been included in the segment. In this review of the reading, you might have become annoyed with me continuality using the phrase, “fatherly kind of essence” instead of just saying “father” as we knew that Lauer thought his dad was coming through. We know this is supposed to be dad. But until Lauer said it, Henry didn’t know. And Henry carefully guarded his words with just “he” or “this person” until just seconds after Lauer admitted it was his dad.

Henry, never mentioned a name, not initials, not even one letter. No places, no dates, no mention of a wife, other children, siblings, his parents, grandchildren. Nothing. He mentioned he died, but nothing about the illness or the room. What about pets or family friends, anniversaries or … well … anything?

Lauer had the chance to talk to his father and never asked him any questions? He didn’t ask for advice or even about what the future has in store for him and his family. Dad just wanted him to find the third coin! Really?

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. As I write this, Matt Lauer has just been fired from The Today Show. This is all over the news; it is a very big deal. It is possibly the most important thing that could have happened to him outside of him becoming a star journalist. The allegations against him, if true, are disgusting. Coworkers are coming forward saying that they all knew he was unfaithful to his wife, but they didn’t know that he was having non-consensual relations with other women. Lauer’s father said he is “immensely proud” of Matt. Really? If these claims of infidelity and or sexual harassment are true, you are immensely proud of your son?

And if they are not true, or only partly true, then why was dad spending his precious, limited time communicating through Henry about sleep apnea? Dad just wanted his son to “be happy.” How about a head’s up dad? This week has been earth-shatteringly difficult for Lauer and his family; for the next few years, Matt Lauer will be the butt of many jokes. He is likely to lose his wife and children; he has already lost his career, and dad just wants to talk about a bird that flew into the house?

Something is really missing here. And that is the point. Each of these recorded readings can be reviewed years later and analyzed. Just like when Tyler Henry didn’t mention to Alan Thicke that just two months after their reading, Thicke would be dead.

I’ve read through the comments on this video. Some are believers, hoping they will be able to get a reading from Tyler Henry. Others are slamming psychics as frauds. Almost no one is commenting on the actual statements from the reading or noticing what is missing. As I noted at the beginning of this article, sometimes what is missing from a psychic reading is more important than what was actually said.

I would like to thank Rob Palmer for suggesting I write this article and Stuart Jones and Rob Palmer for reviewing my writing.


By Susan Gerbic
Affectionately called the Wikipediatrician, Susan Gerbic is the cofounder of Monterey County Skeptics and a self-proclaimed skeptical junkie. Susan is also founder of the Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia (GSoW) project. You can contact her at SusanGerbic@yahoo.com

Originally published on csicop.org and republished here with full permission.