Most Haunted: Complete Series 10 [DVD]

Most Haunted series ten is now on dvd but does it offer fans anything new? Yvette Fielding is the face of Most Haunted. Lesley Smith is the resident Historian. Dr. Ciaran O'Keeffe is the resident Parasychologist and sceptic but David Wells does not appear in this series. Instead, several different guest Psychics offer their talents.

When the team visit Morcambe Winter Gardens Theatre a piece of wood is thrown at Yvette and the team encounter a female spirit who "sings" to them. Later on the team encounter the spirit of an aggressive dwarf and a "pervert" in a balcony (you couldn't make it up). Plas Y Ddualt is a remote haunted house in Wales. As the team move through the building a door is unlatched and swung open and during a seance another door swings open. Yvette tells us that a person was literally scared to death in the Chislehurst Caves. This unfortunate soul was a Priest who was lost for ten days in the labyrinthine tunnels. During a seance a table is shook violently as the tragic Priest makes his presence felt. When the team visit Pembrey Woods they use a ouija board outside for the first time. Karl does a lone vigil on the nearby sand dunes and manages to film what appears to be a ghostly figure slowly walking out of view. In Hack Green Bunker the team encounter a tragic female spirit who was involved in a doomed lesbian relationship. At the Coalhouse Fort in Essex the team enter an underground tunnel system. They find an electric light that flickers on and off. Is Yvette talking to a manipulative spirit or a faulty lamp? You decide.

Sadly, as Most Haunted has become more commercialized it does seem to be losing the magic and charm of the earlier series. There are only eight locations in series ten and there are no extras. This means the running time is just over eight hours. At over sixteen hours series nine is the better buy.

Quite a few things wrong with this particular series (I don't watch it on TV, but have to wait for the DVD to come out). Firstly the medium the team uses in this series - Brian Shepherd? - is quite simply awful. He mumbles incoherently, imparts little if no information to the team or the viewer, and is incredibly skilled in dramatically gasping and stopping dead, pointing at nothing in particular in the shadows. Barrie John, the other guest medium is slightly better, but David Wells is sorely, sorely missed. Historian, Lesley Smith just comes across as dramatic and barking mad, and there are times when Ciaran, the Parapsychologist can barely keep his face straight at all the obviously (badly) staged shenanigans.

At various stages over the years, Most Haunted fans have known that Karl and Stuart have sometimes staged some of the paranormal activity (there ARE occasions when truly unexplained things have happened though). In this series I think the Most Haunted team lost it completely. The Karl and Stuart lone vigils are a case in point where the poltergeist activity cranks up to such a extent that its obvious that the two guys are faking it and being particularly subtle about it either.

The episode in Pembrey Woods is ludicrous for many reasons, firstly because nothing actually happens apart from Yvette, Lesley and Kath screeching, giggling uncontrollably and Yvette shouting that she can see a "smuggler's lantern" switching on and off. Slowing the DVD to frame by frame viewing clearly shows a member of the crew flashing a torch in the distance - you can even see the bulb. Karl's lone vigil on the sand dunes purport to show a figure in night vision (which oddly looks like Stuart).

Another incredibly annoying thing about Most Haunted is that we frequently get the usual, "Did you hear THATTTTTT???" from Yvette - no dear, we didn't hear a thing because YOU are bellowing over the top of any sounds we can hear. The lack of a camera underneath the table during seances are annoying too, but then if they WERE under the table, the guest medium wouldnt be able to rap the table or kick it up in the air. The frequent bleeping out of swear words is incredibly annoying too, for goodness sake it IS possible to make a show without bellowing obscenities all the time. Im no prude when it comes to bad language either. In the early DVDS the team barely swore at all. Im a fan of Most Haunted, purely for tongue in cheek entertainment purposes, but I think that Series Ten, with all the above faults and no extras on the DVD is taking the pee out of the buyer just a little. Most Haunted team, if nothing else you REALLY need to ditch Brian Shepherd and look around for another medium. He has no presence whatsoever.

Having previously sunk into what some might call 'cheesyness' in earlier series (certainly the lacklustre series 7,8 and 9) I'm happy to say Most Haunted is finally back on form. There are some genuinely chilling episodes in this nice presentation box set, especially the Morecambe Winter Gardens which had me on the edge of my seat. A lot of people criticize the show for being over-dramatical and fake but all the same it is great entertainment, especially for those who wish to take it seriously. All the regulars are back. Yvette Fielding is still the sharp presenter whilst her husband Karl Beattie still brings little bites of charm and the hillarious Stuart Torevell, makeup lady Cath and resident Historian Leslie provide the light hearted giggles previous in the latter series. One thing that is missing is the exceptionally talented and believable spiritualist medium David Wells, who is replaced by several guest mediums. Not that this a huge problem, but his presence is surely missed.

There are 11 episodes (including Most Haunted Extra! episodes) which makes up the whole of series 10 so fans shouldn't be disappointed. Thats over 10 hours of paranormal mayhem to add to the collection. I recommend this package to fans, collectors and people who genuinely like the show. Its better than the previous installments.