Most Haunted The Stage Show is a fun look back at the popular ghost hunting TV show, but it’s not without its problems, writes RACHAEL ELIZBTETH
On 3 March 2024, my partner and I took our seats in the beautiful Grand Opera House, York; the lights lowered, and the theme tune that I (and many others) have heard emanating from our TV screens since the early 2000s echoed throughout the packed auditorium. Excited cheering and applause burst through the air, as the spooky journey we were about to embark on was set in motion.
Most Haunted is a UK-based paranormal investigative series, produced and presented by Yvette Fielding and Karl Beattie. The British TV show quickly became one of the most popular and well-known ghost-hunting shows in the world, and ran for a whopping 25 series. The show explored many different allegedly haunted locations (mostly within the UK), with a varying team of investigators, mediums, and even celebrity appearances.
I was an avid watcher of the show back in the early 2000s, and have many fond memories of watching the series with my Dad during the late hours of the night. Although I was never sold on the mediumship aspect of the show, I still enjoyed, and to this day remember, some of the most compelling and frightening incidents that occurred at their chosen haunted locations.
The First Segment
As we sat in the auditorium, myself once a full believer, but now somewhere on the fence, and my partner a skeptic, we watched Most Haunted The Stage show unfold. The show started with Yvette Fielding introducing to the stage Karl Beattie, Glen Hunt, the show’s “open-minded skeptic”, and Gregg Smith, the show’s cameraman.
The premise of the show revolved around the quartet discussing certain episodes and footage which was shown on a projector screen, during which the cast would exit the stage; there was also a Q&A section at different moments throughout the show. My partner and I really enjoyed the first half – the chemistry and banter between Yvette and Karl were incredibly humorous, and on more than one occasion Karl had the audience bursting with laughter due to his somewhat risque humour.
Re-watching the archived clips from the Most Haunted TV show (which brought many gasps and some chuckles from the audience), and listening to the cast members’ firsthand experiences, made for an interesting paranormal lecture.
One of the funniest clips, for me at least, was when Yvette and Karl took the Happy Mondays on a ghost-hunting expedition – as you may imagine, it was messy but downright hilarious. Some of the scariest clips involved chairs being lined up before being dropped, almost hitting the cast, Yvette nearly getting hit by a flying crowbar, and a sound eerily similar to footsteps running toward Karl during a lone exploration.
The Second Segment
After a 15-minute break, Yvette, Karl, Glen, and Gregg returned, and after a few more clips the audience was open to the Q&A section, before commencing to the audience participation part of the show. Now, as a proud introvert, I was torn – I was desperately hoping to get picked to join the team on stage to participate in a Ouija board with Yvette, or to participate in the dressing room ghost hunt with Karl, but as audience members were encouraged to whoop and shout as though their lives depended on it (something that perhaps stands to reason when looking for “energy” as the crew put it), I dishearteningly lowered my arm.
For the Oujia board, four lucky audience members (two men and two women) sat on stage with Yvette and conducted their séance. The Ouija board was considered a success by the members on stage due to the glass moving around the board, but this seemed to happen sporadically at best with no coherent ‘message’ coming through; there was what felt like a desperate attempt to connect the results with a seat number, so an audience member in the corresponding seat was called on stage, but attempts to relay a message were again, unsuccessful.
The ghost hunt in the dressing rooms saw Karl and several other members of the audience through night vision cameras as they called out for any spirits to communicate with them; the team did say they had received lots of knocks and bangs when the Ouija section was in motion, but at that point, the live feed wasn’t shown to the audience.
However, when one of the participants asked how many people were in the dressing room, seven light knocks could be heard, and low and behold, there were seven people in the dressing room. Although compelling, it is difficult to pinpoint, in a packed auditorium, if the knocks and bangs could be construed as ‘paranormal’ due to the sheer volume of people present.
Problematic Claims at Most Haunted The Stage Show
At the end of Most Haunted The Stage Show, in what was probably meant to be an uplifting and passionate speech about life after death, the audience was told that life after death is real, and that we will see our loved ones again, and even our pets.
Although this could be an understandable oversight when dealing with a sincerely held belief, making truth claims like this with insufficient evidence ought to be viewed as incredibly irresponsible. No one knows what emotional state any one member of the audience is in, so hearing how wonderful life after death is, with the promise of meeting loved ones again certainly has the potential for serious consequences.
During various points in the show, remarks were made against former team members in what seemed like a desperate attempt to distance themselves from any criticisms that could be made towards the show. However, by doing so by way of petty remarks surrounding a former colleague in front of a live studio audience feels somewhat like low hanging fruit.
In Conclusion
Overall, the Most Haunted Stage Show is a fun and entertaining night. The revisited footage, along with the cast members reminiscing, provided, in my opinion, a wonderful compilation of some of the spookiest moments from the show, and it was great to be able to relive them again next to the cast members who experienced them.
Yvette and Karl are wonderful hosts who drive the show with their warm chemistry, and many laughs along the way, and is only hampered by carelessly overstepping its boundaries as an entertainment piece.
Have you seen Most Haunted The Stage Show? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below!
