What to watch
CHANNEL 4, 10.00PM
You can see the attraction of this new, four-part dramatised documentary series from Channel 4. Eyewitness accounts of paranormal activity are brought to life by spooky re-enactments of the events themselves, making for a potentially edge-of-the-seat outcome – the show even comes with a viewer warning.
For the most part it works. Tonight’s opening episode takes us to a farm in rural Wales. Liz Sanders, her artist husband Bill and their two children move in, establishing the idyllic family set-up. Things soon go wrong. There are sudden electricity surges, animals die and looming apparitions roam the house. Worse still, the strain of all these macabre shenanigans starts to fracture the family. So far it’s standard horror fare.
The programme’s strange power, however, comes via straight-tocamera testimony from some of the story’s major players including Liz herself, daughter Becca and religious-minded locals who came to the family’s aid. Credulity will always be a matter of opinion, but there’s no denying the impact that the affair had on those involved, particularly Bill whose descent into darkness gives new meaning to the term “tortured artist”. Toby Dantzic