Or How Stephen Volk nearly created The X Files

BBCi: I read an article stating that your agent suggested a drama in the vein of Edge Of Darkness. How much did that drama influence the original concept of Ghostwatch?

Stephen Volk: My agent Linda Seifert said the BBC was looking for more 6-part thrillers in the style of Edge of Darkness. So I thought, �great, [here�s] my chance to do a supernatural thriller film serial on the BBC� dark, moody, grainy, etc. Maybe featuring an investigative team who�d go on to have other stories.

Anyway I did this treatment of six one-hour episodes, starting with a poltergeist in a North London housing estate, which is investigated by an eccentric young psychical investigator (male) and a TV Roger Cook-ish journo (female). I also had a scientist who was investigating psychic people in a lab, but that was lost along the way, along with the reporter�s clash with her bosses.

It worked in a conventional drama serial sense, structured a bit like a Stephen King mini-series, not pretending to be �real�. Except Episode 6 was to be a �live� broadcast from the haunted house in North London, and all hell breaks loose.

Then one day the producer Ruth Baumgarten said to me, look, there�s no way the BBC are going to commit to this as a series, is there any way we can do it as a one-off 90 minute drama? I remember very clearly sitting in her office and saying, "Look, I had this idea: what if we do the whole thing like Episode 6 and pretend it�s going out live?" There was this look on her face and I thought �oh my God, there�s no going back now. How the hell do I pull this off�?

Read our review of Ghostwatch >>