Having seen the latest ‘Most Haunted Live’ I felt I needed to remind people that this programme is primarily created for entertainment purposes and not a credible investigation. On most vigils, nothing happens for at least 90% of the time and the other 10% is usually inconclusive – mostly due to how controlled the environment is. This of course, would be boring television. Audiences would be lost and most importantly, revenue.

It is important to remember that if you are serious about finding proof of the existence of ghosts, you have to discount all other possible explanations first before jumping on the paranormal bandwagon. My questions regarding Most Haunted Live (don’t get me wrong, I was a fan) are ones that an archeologist may ponder, having a film crew trample all over his precious site! For instance:

• In the ‘table lifting’ instance, why on Earth would you drape a table cloth over it? Perhaps to hide what is going on underneath? Surely, a camera under the table would have been a better option in order to provide proof of paranormal activity and not human intervention?
• How did the knife get into the bedroom? I will tell you. Karl pocketed it when pretending to place it in a locked box*. Notice how the camera swung away from him at the moment he was about to close the box? The knife was never in there.
• Also, how many times does the producer/director cut back to the studio just as something exciting is happening? Could this be for ‘safety’ in case the audience see something they shouldn’t? They can always edit it quickly and re-run later. Don’t forget, we are also coming to a commercial break, so ending on a semi-climax would ensure you kept watching afterward. Thank Thomas Hardy/Charles Dickens’ ‘cliffhanger’ for that! The programme to a degree MUST be planned and choreographed due to these ad breaks.
• Karl being pulled up the stairs? We all saw the rope in the slo-mo. Camera cable? What camera? Maybe they had forgotten that the night vision camera would make the cable stand out so much. No coincidence that Karl and Stuart argued in order for him to storm out, possibly to remove his rope harness. as for the red marks, I used to use that technique for getting off school. Pinch my cheeks for a few minutes to make them red so that my Mum thought I was ill!
• Moving ping-pong balls? Why leave the door open? Anyone with a pea shooter and a good set of lungs could cause that. However, the balls moving in the opposite direction is harder to explain without examining the room. If you arrange that sort of experiment, you seal the room and eliminate draughts.

All in all, it is a shame that most things are staged**. American versions of the series all carry a disclaimer that states that the programme is for entertainment purposes only. I so much WANT to believe in the show but sadly, a lot of what I see is so transparently engineered. Lets face it, no-one wants to go to a birthday party with no games or cake!

*All views are my personal opinions and not a statement of fact. **Ditto.