"There's only two reasons why I'd watch this programme...." (Jane Goldman Investigates)

Member Name: Sarah_Louise

Product:	Jane Goldman Investigates
Date:	24/12/03 (2407 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Jane was sceptical but open minded, Aspects were looked in from all angles, Interesting subjects covered

Disadvantages: Squashing a months learning into 1 hour is impossible, Ghosts programme was a bit wishy-washy and not as scientific as it could have been, Does Jane really need to wear high-heeled shoes ALL the time??

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br>Jane Goldman Investigates was a new series on Living TV which started just a few months back. It was aired from 10pm-11pm on Tuesday evenings, straight after Living TVs' (now) cult TV programme, Most Haunted. Most Haunted rakes in thousands of viewers each week so to bagsie a slot straight after the show, any programme about the paranormal was bound to be a success.

Jane Goldman Investigates (hereby referred to as JGI to avoid RSI!) was, not surprisingly, presented by Jane Goldman. Who's she? I hear you ask. Well she is actually Jonathan Ross' better half. Jane is also the author of two best-selling, non-fiction books with accompanies the X-Files series.

Each week, Jane learnt a different "psychic" skill from a leading expert in the field of the paranormal. She had 1 month in which to learn this skill. At the end of the month she was to be put to the ultimate test.

In some respects, this programme resembled the "Faking It" series on Channel 4 in that Jane was to try and pass herself off as being as good as any professionals in various different fields within the paranormal circle.

When I said "psychic" skills earlier, this is rather deceptive. More on this in a moment.

When I first heard about this programme on the grapevine, only to see it advertised at a later date, my first thoughts were "well, that looks a bit rubbish!" Firstly, Jane looks a bit, well, ummm, how do I put this nicely? Arty farty I guess is the term I'm looking for! You know how it is. Never dressed appropriately and with long bright red hair she just didn't look like the type to take things seriously. As I'm into the paranormal in a big way and into it from a serious, scientific angle, I was not too impressed by the looks of this programme.

However, like I say, as it was on straight after Most Haunted (a programme I watched every week) I decided to
give it a c
hance.

Did it live up to expectations?

Well, in my humble opinion, this show exceeded all expectations I had for it. Jane herself was far more level-headed than I was expecting. (Which just goes to show that looks really can be deceptive!)

At the start of every single episode (there were 10 in total), Jane said she was quite sceptical about the whole paranormal field but she was open minded enough to look into things to see if there is any truth in it.

This was a superb start in my opinion. Personally I feel in order for anyone to investigate the paranormal effectively, they need to have a little scepticism. For example, taking my group (North Wales Paranormal Research)'s particular "specialist" field, that of hauntings/ghosts/spirits. If you go in believing wholeheartedly in life after death and that spirits walk the earth then any little thing that happens on an investigation will simply be put down as being "paranormal" or "supernatural". I'm not saying this never happens. It does. We *do* have things happening that can only be described as being paranormal. However, as we all have a healthy dose of scepticism to go with it we look into alternatives first before branding anything as being "spooky".

So, for Jane to openly admit to being at least a little sceptical on camera she was to look into things properly and not just jump to wild conclusions.

So, right from the start, the JGI show was in my good books!

Over the 10 weeks/episodes, Jane looked into a number of different fields. These were:



~ Episode 1: Psychometry ~

This is the psychic ability to pick up information from an object simply by touching it. Jane was taught by one of Britain's best-known psychometrists. Travelling across the UK, she worked with a psychic detective in an attempt to find a missing dog, as well as visiting Eyam Ha
ll, a 17th-centur
y homestead soaked in history as she attempted to master the skill for herself.


~ Episode 2: Tarot ~

Janes' teachers prepared Jane to give both personal and predictive information for those seeking answers with the aid of a pack of Tarot cards.


~ Episode 3: Ghosts ~

Jane joined a ghost research group as she attempted to learn the rules of her first ever ghost hunt. She consulted a leading parapsychologist in an effort to see whether she could make contact with a ghost herself.


~ Episode 4: Astrology ~

The mysteries of the stars are slowly unravelled as Jane learned the arte of plotting birth charts, as well as predicting the Horoscopes for a national newspaper.


~ Episode 5: Dowsing ~

Jane investigated the art of dowsing, the ability to find people or things using a 'wishing rod' or a pendulum. Her research lead her to seek the advice of leading dowsers as she attempted to locate things ranging from water to finding her way through a manmade maze.


~ Episode 6: Psychic healing ~

Concentrating on Reiki healing, the ancient Japanese art, Jane investigated the nature of psychic healing, from animal healing to psychic surgery, to try and discover exactly why so many people think it's one of the best things that's ever happened to them.


~ Episode 7: Clairvoyance ~

Jane learned the ancient and mysterious arts of clairvoyant prediction. Fate and destiny are put to the test as she finds out how to read everything from crystal balls to tea leaves. She met the real-life Monsieur and Madame Zeldas who devote their lives to predicting the arrival of that tall, dark and handsome stranger.


~ Episode 8: Past life regression ~

Jane looked at hypnotherapy as a tool of being able to retrace a person's past life. Through group and individual work, she investigated her own past lives
as well as trying to
someone else of a fear inherited from a former life.


~ Episode 9: Spell casting ~

The Wiccan religions are frequently misunderstood, and in this episode Jane tried to explode the myths. The UK is home to over twenty thousand practising witches and as she delves deep into the magical traditions, she teams up with comedian David Baddiel to cast a spell that might well have an impact on her hubby, Jonathan Ross.


~ Episode 10: Talking to the dead ~

Is it really possible for a person to contact the spirit world? Jane tried to connect with spirit guides as well as talking to a psychic artist in an attempt to prove that there is life after death.



I was looking forward to the ghosts, clairvoyance, dowsing, spell casting and talking to the dead ones myself more than the others as I personally find these the most interesting. That is not to say I don't find the others interesting though!

All the programmes had their good and bad points though. Mainly good points I must say. Like I say, Jane actually investigated things quite effectively on most occasions. (Ghosts being the only obvious exception in my opinion).

Taking the ghosts programme for example. A friend from another paranormal research group appeared on this show. They spent the night with Jane investigating the ghosts of a certain building. I was looking forward to this programme, not only because I knew/have worked with the group appearing on the show but also because ghosts are my personal favourite topic. I was a little disappointed though. Jane didn't investigate this programme as thoroughly as she could have done. Whether this had anything to do with the group she was with or not I don't know. I can't really comment on it either!

For example, one thing this research group do on a fairly regular basis when investigating ghosts is that of "table tipping". Th
is combination and Jane bei
ng a little sceptical just didn't seem to mix well in my opinion. For a start, you could not tell whether the table was moving of its own accord or whether someone was moving it themselves. So, coupled with the fact that Jane prefers to have things "proven" to her one way or another, this combination just didn't gel somehow.

I only really had a problem with one of the other programmes too, that being the one labelled "Clairvoyance". In the description above you'll see its mainly about being able to predict the future from "reading" things, e.g. tea leaves, scrying (e.g. looking into crystal balls, etc).
As I'm sure many of you know, clairvoyance is nothing to do with this. Clairvoyance is the ability to see dead people (for lack of a better expression!). I.e. a psychic medium who can actually see spirits has the ability of clairvoyance. Some can't see spirits but can hear them (clairaudience) while others can sense them (clairsentient). While some really lucky people have all three abilities!
So, by labelling an episode "Clairvoyance" I was expecting Jane to try and learn to see spirits. This was not the case. She spent 80% of the episode learning to read tea-leaves. I was a little disappointed to say the least!

General bad points about the show were that you simply cannot fit 1 months learning into a 1 hour show. It goes against the laws of physics. Its impossible! Taking the Psychic Healing episode for example, this one focused on the ancient art of Reiki healing (which is something I trained in over summer). I learnt one heck of a lot over the two day course, more so than was conveyed in a 1 hour programme. So, if Jane really did spend a month learning the art then a LOT must have been missed from the show. Hence Reiki came across to look like it was rather simple, anyone can do it with no training, that sort of thing. Like I
say, I realise its impossible to squash a potential 672 hours worth of learning into a 1 hour programme but I do feel a little more emphasis on the important points would have been better.

On the other hand, in each episode Jane did her best to approach things rationally. If she didn't believe in something then she said so. There was no beating around the bush with Jane involved!

I particularly like Janes' rational approach to every field and her honesty. I also really liked the fact that she tried to get opinions from all sorts of different people.

For example, she approached Ciaran O'Keefe, a Parapsychologist from Liverpool University (who's also appeared on Most Haunted). He appeared on a few episodes talking about how a Parapsychologist would approach things. Taking astrology for example. By saying "Monday will be a bad day for you". Just how many millions of people will that fit? Statistically, is there any significance to any of it? I rest my case.

So, alongside Jane learning from the experts in their fields, e.g. spell casting, dowsing, etc. she also approached the people on the other side of the "fence" as it were. Getting a balanced opinion to everything.

The Most Haunted programme tried to do this in series 2 and 3 but somehow failed. At the end of each episode they had a short (5 minute, if that) section by Dr Matthew Smith (Parapsychologist from Liverpool University) or Ciaran O'Keefe (previously mentioned) whereby they would "analyse" footage and events from the nights investigation. However, as neither of the Parapsychologists were present on the night itself it was nigh-on-impossible for them to be sure. Hence kind of defeating the object somewhat.

A second series of Jane Goldman Investigates has now been commissioned so I shall be keeping an eye out for the second series. I highly recommend this programme for anyone remotely inter
ested in the paranormal.

Having spoken to Ciaran O'Keefe since filming for this series, he also enjoyed doing the show and commended Jane on her open minded approach to things.

So roll on series two I say!

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For further information you can see the Living TV website:

http://www.livingtv.co.uk/janegoldman
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P.S. As for the title. A friend of mine said this a while ago. He remained under the impression that this programme wasn't his "cup of tea" despite being a member of NWPR and being interested in the paranormal. As for what the "two things" refer to, you'll just have to watch for yourself and use your imagination! ;o)

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