MHL 12 - Blackpool (Most Haunted With Yvette Fielding And Derek Acorah (DVD))

Member Name: badpsychics

Product:	Most Haunted With Yvette Fielding And Derek Acorah (DVD)
Date:	23/12/04 (4909 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Entertaining, Fun, Silly

Disadvantages: Lying to the public, faking paranormal events, too many money making schemes

The following review was made for my site http://www.badpsychics.co.uk

MHL12 Blackpool

by Emma


"We give so much hope to so many people out there"
Yvette Fielding, Most Haunted Live, Blackpool, 12 December 2004.

NIGHT 1
This began with Andy Ansell, a member of the Casino staff telling of a construction worker named Patrick, who was killed in 1937, during the building of the Casino.
According to Mr Ansell, Patrick has haunted the place ever since it opened, especially in the maintenance area.
The original Casino at Blackpool's Pleasure Beach was built in 1913 and was replaced in 1939 with a new design by architect Joseph Emberton, so the three-night Most Haunted Live did not get off to a very good start.

CASINO ATTIC
Acorah picked up on a male energy, and an un-connected female energy.
The male energy - James Metcalfe - was described as:
"dying before his 50th year"
"tall, slim, very energetic"" "died in an accident when 'this part of the building wasn't here'"
"connected with Fleetwood"
"Here around 1910/11/12"
"had connections with the 'low road'"
"died 1936"

And so to the Ouija board - something the Most Haunted crew swore they would never, ever use. Acorah, Cath, Yvette and Karl took their places at the table, and proceeded to use the glass to spell out the name James, then confirmed the surname Metcalfe. So far, so good. Unfortunately, James had forgotten what he'd told Sam, and now said he died in 1926, aged 58

But that situation was saved when a David Metcalfe allegedly rang in to the programme to say that his grandfather, James Metcalfe, had worked on the wooden roller coaster around that time, and had gone drinking in Fleetwood. Naturally, this was announced with great glee that an interview with David Metcalfe would be heard on Monday. But no interview was aired - not on Monday, and not on Tuesday.

Was this a hoax, or a nice piece of publicity by someone to advertise a brand new programme on a brand new channel? Hoax or not, 'David Metcalfe' was used each evening to corroborate Acorah's wonderful psychic mediumship.

But back to the seance/Ouija board. Those seated at the table claimed to hear gentle taps on the table - something confirmed by the sound man, although for some strange reason, most were unheard by the viewer. However, Ciaran noticed that the free hands of some participants were out of sight, and asked them to put their hands on the table. The taps stopped.

RIPLEY'S ODDITORIUM
Throughout the time in the museum, knocks and bumps could be heard, mostly unidentified - hardly surprising with a crew of seventeen squashed in there, of course!
At one point there was a bigger than usual bang, and the camera focussed on Karl, standing by a large plastic lion's head, with his hand in its mouth. "It wasn't me," he protested. "How can I bang it from here?" and he rattled it with his hand in an attempt to prove it.
Step forward super-hero Ciaran. "It sounded as if someone kicked it," he said mildly, and proceeded to demonstrate. The noise sounded identical to the previous one, but Acorah insisted that the earlier bang came from the back of the head ...
The highlight of Ripley's had to be Acorah's 'possession' by the spirit of a shrunken head. Acorah declared the man's name was Lanu, and he was from Guinea - a nicely ambiguous location. Why ambiguous? Take your pick, from Guinea [with 32 languages], Equatorial Guinea [with 6 languages], Guinea-Bissau [with 20 languages], Papua New Guinea [with 700 languages], or New Guinea [with around 1,000 languages]. Given the choice of almost 2,000 languages from three continents, he must have felt pretty safe when Ciaran asked him to give some words in Lanu's own language. The tribal dance was a nice touch, though, and kept the audience in stitches.
Such a shame that after all that, it should turn out that the shrunken head comes from Ecuador, where they speak either Spanish or Quechua!

GHOST TRAIN
Acorah contacted the spirit of 'Cloggy', who:
"committed suicide by hanging in 1913"
"gave the name of John Reid/Reed/Read"
"was connected to a shop on the ‘low road’"
"knew the owner of the ride, who invited him there"

However, the original opened 1930 as the Pretzel Ride, but was rebuilt by Joseph Emberton on a completely different site in 1936, both well after Cloggy's ‘suicide’.
Then we had Yvette left all alone in the Ghost Train. Well, all alone except for John Dibley ... oh, and the other person she caught on her camera... And where were the other fourteen team members? We were told they were 'upstairs', investigating bangs that they heard coming from up there. Wonder if we'll ever see any of that footage??
The first night ends with Karl, Stuart and Dibley in the Ghost Train, when three loud knocks are heard. Cloggy? Well, thanks to Ms Y we now know that repairmen working on the Ghost Train have always been in the habit of 'contributing to the atmosphere' by creating noises, or even donning white sheets and jumping out on passengers.

NIGHT 2
TOWER
To set the scene, Anna Holland, described as 'one of Blackpool's most famous clairvoyants' (who comes from Fleetwood, apparently) told us "something amazing will happen in the ballroom". It didn't.
The team went to Tunnel 72, under the Tower. There, Acorah sensed a man in torment who had been stabbed around the end of the 1800's, beginning of the 1900's.
He also sensed a woman in torment, who was weeping, and crying and running away from the trainer of the polar bears. He was describd as 'a bad one', foreign, very tall with dark hair; a good friend of Charlie's. Name of Iger or Igan - oh no, it was Ivan. It happened when Charlie arrived in 1935 - no, it happened two years later, in 1937. Charlie is a good soul.
So, who are the good friends, Ivan and Charlie? How about Charlie Cairoli, probably the most famous clown ever in Britain, who joined Blackpool circus in 1939, and was there until 1979. Ivan Bratuchin and his Cossack Riders appear immediately below Cairoli on the bill at Blackpool in 1953 - the only Blackpool Circus bill to be found on the internet, so far as I can see - and so easily found if you know the name Charlie Cairoli.

LOBBY OF TOWER LIFT - next to the Ballroom
Table-tipping! Acorah is 'possessed' by an agitated man shouting 'Fire! Fire! I'm burning! I'm burning! I'm burning!" At this point he collapses and has to be taken away to recover. He's heard to say "I couldn't get out". Once recovered they return to the table-tipping, and try to establish the year of the man's death. As soon as it seems the man died in the 1940's, Yvette decides to call it a day there, and move on to the Ballroom. Why??
Could it be that the table got the decade wrong? Should it have been the 1950's when there WAS a fire in the Ballroom? And who was the man who died in the fire? Was it the fireman - the red herring that had been displayed on the Bad Psychics Forum for all to see during the previous week?
And how did Acorah explain it once he found out that no-one died in any fire in the Tower? "David, I actually - looking back on it - although th.. re.. y'know .. I can't give recollection ... but what I could... uh.. uh.. understand .. and what I was experiencing... my head, my shoulders, my chest .. it was .. engulfed in flames, and I'm.. y'know... this was a spirit person .. What I want to say.. I said to Karl when we come away from that area, shortly afterwards, that this soul did not lose his life in a fire. But he was burnt in the fire." "He passed over later on and he's come back in visitation reliving the agonies." I'll leave it to the readers to make up their own minds ...

BALLROOM
Acorah senses one small, angry, young man; a young woman sobbing, and two children. Suppose that covers every eventuality, really ...
No, hang on - Acorah gives another murder. This time it's a man named Henry Riley, late 20's early 30's; 5' 7" to 5'8"; stocky, strong build who was 'assistant to the janitor' from 1906 to 1911. (Naturally, no records exist of this man.)
Earlier David Wells had also picked up on a male and a female spirit in the ballroom. This male is wearing a top hat and cloak; well-heeled; wearing 'an order given by the Queen' - a gold and scarlet medal. Originally from Yorkshire, this man is named Stanley, and was shot over a a gambling incident.
At this point Richard Felix becomes very excited and says that 'Stanley' is actually Sir John Bickerstaffe ... David Bull is also excited that Acorah and Wells have picked up on the same male entity! It obviously pays to have a very selective memory on Most Haunted.
So David Wells joins them in the Ballroom for some scrying ... unfortunately, absolutely nothing happened!
Acorah senses animals - horses, elephants, polar bears. Hardly surprising as it's well-known that Dr Cocker's Aquarium and Menagerie stood on the site, and the Tower built round it.
So to the final seance of the evening - Acorah, Wells, Yvette and Karl around a cloth-covered table with extremely dodgy legs. Yes, the table moved - as did the cloth around Yvette's fingers as she pushed. Acorah, on the other hand, resorted to palms flat on the table, and had to be reminded twice by Ciaran to only use fingers ... which were rather less successful.
The only other spirit of the night was 'John' who was murdered - shot ... er.. stabbed? in a gambling incident.
To end the evening, Wells, Cath and John Gilbert were left on their own in the ballroom ... except for the four very human figures sitting on the seats at the side, that were clearly seen by many viewers.

NIGHT 3
On the last night, our forum members had the added bonus of the night's complete running order, courtesy of Ms X. This enabled us to plan our drinks, popcorn and loo breaks so we didn't miss one second of fun.

Opera House
Acorah was 'possessed' by the spirit of an RAF man. He asked, "Can you give me a name, Sam? What do you mean he's already given it? Well, why didn't you tell me?". So Sam told him. Flight Lieutenant Cross, who had trained in the Wireless Operators’ School at the Tower during WW2. No further information was given, but Google found a Joyce Cross, who had trained there at the time ...
Acorah also came up with the spirit of William Holland, general manager of the Opera House from 1887 to 1895.
Tonight we had another Victorian parlour games - the planchette. In the hands of the usual quartet, the planchette experiment produced the initials W and S.
However, Richard Felix hotly disputed that the initials given were W & S. He interpreted them as M and ?. Because of this, he declared, 'It's Michael, who died on the stage in the 1960's because it put M? and we don't know his surname'. It was at that point that any credibility the man had left just flew out of the window.
So, because the planchette's initials were W.S., when Acorah is ‘possessed’ by ‘an angry man’ he gives his name as William Stocker’.
Yvette asks "Where did you die?"
Acorah replies "In my bed of course!" and called her "Pretty petal".
Later on Yvette asks "Do you realise that you’re dead?"
Acorah replies "I am not dead you silly girl. Now PISS OFF. You’re in my father’s house."

Dr William Henry Cocker was the son of Dr John Cocker, and grandson of Henry Banks, who built the original Bank Hey House around 1800. When the Winter Gardens were built on the Bank Hey estate, William Cocker insisted that they be built around Bank Hey House, and it remains in the amusement arcade off Floral Hall, not in the Opera House.
Research into the origin of the phrase 'piss off' indicates that the phrase didn't come into being until the second World War. Not the first time Acorah's spirits have used language inappropriate for their period.
It’s not widely publicised, but the original Opera House was built in 1889, and demolished in 1938. The new Opera House opened in 1939. Nevertheless, Dr Cocker, with whom Acorah was apparently ‘possessed’, seemed to believe he was in the original building.
When questioned at the end of the programme about William Stocker/Cocker, Acorah said the name ‘had got lost in translation’.

So, after three nights - eleven hours, if you include Access All Areas - what about Yvette's claim, "We give so much hope to so many people out there"? If she meant 'hope of a life after death', then I'm afraid she's deluding herself. If I'm right I suspect those eleven hours will ultimately prove that the Most Haunted team have been deluding us.

Emma

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