Most Haunted - Season 8 - Complete [DVD]

Series 8 does not provide the full-body apparition that most fans are waiting for but it does offer more, much more, of the phenomena that regular viewers will be familiar with. That means lots more knocking, scraping and other sounds of movement. There are more disembodied voices, groans and even growls. Chairs and tables are moved and objects are thrown to the floor. Doors open and close inexplicably and floating orbs are captured on camera. Yvette Fielding is the face of Most Haunted while David Wells and several other psychic mediums offer their talents. Parasychologist Ciaran O'Keeffe attempts to offer a scientific explanation for any phenomena.

When the team revisit Michelham Priory Stuart Torevell suffers a painful scratch to his lower back. This is becoming a regular occurence for the unfortunate lighting rigger. The team hear a harpsichord being played only to discover that no one was in the room to play it. At Margam Castle Karl Beattie and Stuart enter the Children's Nursery and record a chair moving across the floor. In a first for Most Haunted, a drunken spirit has an intoxicating affect on Yvette in the Royal Exchange Theatre. At Preston Manor a very interesting light anomaly is caught on camera which some viewers may interpret as an apparition. At Taunton Castle the team experience another first. During a seance a camera records all four legs of a table leaving the floor. At East Riddlesden Hall the team hear a dog bark and then growl. Then they hear something moving on the stairs. In Bamburgh Castle Karl is able to film an antique drum moving across a table. At the same location historian Richard Felix makes some noises that are just as disturbing as the phenomena. At Chambercombe Manor Karl is able to film a child's crib rocking inexplicably.

In summary, MH8 offers regular viewers of the series a few surprises. The light anomaly at Preston Manor, the levitating table at Taunton Castle and the disembodied barks at Riddlesden Hall are probably the highlights. This 5-disc set comes in 3 library cases rather than the fiddly slyderpaks used in previous releases. At the time of writing this release actually costs less than MHL5 even though there are more discs and 675 minutes of action. For fans of Most Haunted I would recommend this release highly.

I know I shouldn't, but I loved it. I don't regard it so much as parapsychology but a form of magical ritual that evokes the phenomena it purports to investigate. I mean, if you're going to call out questions in a creaky old house, and you decide to interpret the noises you hear as responses from a dead person, then that's what you're going to get, isn't it? This is magick, not science - but there's nothing wrong with that, in my view.

What does trouble me is that the need to make an entertaining programme may interfere with the magick at times. I didn't find the poltergeist activity too convincing. Why does the bald-headed bloke always seem to be out of camera shot when objects start being thrown around? And *obviously* the mediums have people on the inside letting them know the details beforehand of the places the team are going... Or they've got iPhones... Duh. But I still find it irresistible to watch. Spitbank Fort was an amazingly weird venue. Michelham Priory: the most haunted site in Britain? Memorable moments: seeing Gordon Smith recoil in shock when something seems to whisper his name (captured on audio); and the clearly audible 'dog' that is repeatedly heard worrying the team, at a venue where no ghost dog has been reported.

The only problem with *Most Haunted* is that it has now become the popular template for how people assume a paranormal investigation should be organised and run. But in fact there are plenty of other possibilities, and people in interested in this field need to keep finding original approaches if we want to keep challenging assumptions of what the paranormal is (if anything) and how it operates.

I have just bought this set of dvd's and once again, they are fantastic. I have actually been to some of the locations and witnessed for myself, some great paranormal action. If you are a most haunted fan, then these are a definite must for you. Definitely recommended !!