The Yorkshire Exorcist on Really TV
A TV programme featuring Yorkshire-based exorcist Ian Lawman is set to screen just before Halloween and shows the minister driving out malevolent forces. Sharon Dale reports.
THE Really TV channel has delighted, informed and amused us with its two “Yorkshire” series, which have included The Dales for Sale in 2022 when the cameras followed Richmond-based estate agency Marcus Alderson as the owner and his staff went about their work in the glorious Yorkshire Dales.
Then came the The Yorkshire Auction House, now a firm and regular favourite, which features Ryedale Auctioneers in Kirkbymoorside as they clear houses and bring the gavel down while telling the sellers’ emotional stories, which often bring a tear to the eye before a happy ending leaves us feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.
Now, Really is bringing us something completely different with a subject matter that is much darker. The Yorkshire Exorcist is set to be aired on Saturday October 28, just before Halloween, which is appropriate given the subject matter. It is a one-off programme featuring Ian Lawman, a psychic medium and a Church of England ordained minister and exorcist who conducts exorcisms to rid homes, objects and individuals of malevolent entities.
Best known as one of the three lead experts in the hit paranormal series Help! My House Is Haunted, Ian, who lives in Yorkshire, has stepped out on his own to star in his first ever solo programme that could well spark a commission for a full series.
Having watched it, I can testify that it is interesting, gripping and compelling but perhaps not a mustwatch for children or the fearful and faint-hearted. The sneak preview reveals a woman who fears she has been possessed by a malevolent entity and, as a result, her home, family and her own mental health have suffered. She is at breaking point when Ian rides to the rescue.
For 16 years, Michelle had felt increasingly drained and anxious while suffering headaches, aggressive outbursts and bouts of coughing when trying to speak. “It was like my personality had changed,” she says. “I was also pushed down the stairs and had this feeling that something was attached to me.”
Mental and physical health issues had been ruled out by the NHS and Michelle had got to the stage where she was contemplating leaving her husband and children so they could be safe from her. Instead, she called on Ian for his help.
He specialises in Deliverance Priesthood, which seeks to remove demonic influences from people and their homes, thereby, as it says in the Lord’s Prayer, delivering them from evil. We can’t spoil what happens next but suffice to say it’s interesting and prayer, God, St Benedict and holy water are very much involved in the process.
Becoming an exorcist is never offered as a profession by careers advisers and to say it is niche is an understatement, which begs the question “how did Ian get where he is today?”
The answer is via a circuitous route. Born and brought up in Scunthorpe, he started working life at 16 as a dancer and model. He was so successful, his looks and charisma saw him named the Face of Storm model agency in 1997 before he fully embraced religion and his psychic abilities, which he sees as a God-given talent.
“I was about four when I started hearing voices. My dad was cynical but my mum would set a place at the table for my ‘imaginary friend’,” says Ian, who was ordained by the Church of England before being asked to train as a Minister of Deliverance performing exorcisms.
“It’s something that the Catholic Church is very open about but the Anglican Church not so much,” he adds.
Now 54, cool as you like and sporting a heavily tattooed neck, he looks nothing like your average minister. He stresses that before he performs exorcisms, people have to have medical records checked and a medical report to rule out brain tumours, mental health issues or reactions to medication that can mimic attachment or possession by a malevolent force.
Only then can he intervene. “Full possession is harder to treat but there is a high success rate because we never give up whether it takes days, weeks or months,” he says.
He also points out that those suffering mental health issues, alcoholism and abuse are more susceptible, though one of his most distressing exorcisms was on a fiveyear-old child.
“It was when I first started as an assistant exorcist and I was called to see the boy who told of seeing a figure nobody else could see and who was speaking fluent Latin even though he had never been taught it,” says Ian.
“He was aggressive and screaming and swearing, which was horrible to hear but the exorcism was successful.”
Since entering the spotlight with his TV shows and appearances, he has continued his work with the church and has developed a thick skin and a no-compromise approach to being filmed.
“The TV crew have to work around me and that’s why you’ll see them in shot. There is no stopping and starting when performing an exorcism,” says Ian, who inevitably encounters scepticism. “Part of my job is to live with the cynics and just accept them. I never argue as they are entitled to their opinions,” he says.
The Yorkshire Exorcist airs at 10pm on Saturday October 28 on Really and is also available to stream on discovery+.