Suddenly the paranormal has taken over prime-time television and after years when we had to wait forever for a decent programme to come along, now we can hardly move for them.
Of course, much of this is pap. Infotainment, as it is known, where a celebrity host wheels on 'medium Mrs Ectoplasm' a man 'who thinks he is the reincarnation of King King' and, 'as our final guest' - meet 'Crystabell Gobbledegook - who has been to Uranus and met the space people'.
Sadly, television is an entertainment medium and it regards strange phenomena in that light. Sometimes it can be difficult to combine what is good viewing with what is good research. However, thankfully even that seems to be changing. UFOlogy is finally getting a look in amidst the sea of ghost stories and tales that go bump in the night.
I was lucky enough to be involved with one series - Strange but True? - from the start, when programme originator (and first series producer) David Alpin asked me to meet him in London in early l993 to plan the pilot show. It was already known that they had exclusive rights via Piatkus Books to make a film of the extraordinary past-life reunion of Jenny Cockell with her children (who are now years older than she is, because she supposedly gave birth to them in a previous existence!)
What David wanted was a UFO story to balance out. There were many ways this could have been done, but it was decided to illustrate a window area in action - as this had not been featured before. I spent some time in the Pennines with the research team looking into options and this is when I got my first taste of the compromises that are necessary for TV.
Although the window area covers a swathe of moorland between the Rossendale Valley in Lancashire and Todmorden and Ilkley in Yorkshire I was told that you had to fix it upon one town for the public to understand. So it became 'Todmorden', centre of the UFO universe, and I had to cook up (well not exactly - but it felt like it) figures to justify this - even though some of the cases included in the feature were from Rossendale.
Then I had to go back to be filmed for my brief spot before the cameras on the programme - which was to explain why window areas might exist. I expected to have plenty of time to say what I wanted to say but in the end I virtually had to learn and then read a scripted sequence that ran to about 20 seconds only. I think that even got cut to about 15 when it went out! As a result I was unhappy with the outcome, where I thought the programme failed to devote enough time to the mechanics of a window area. But, I was told, this was viewing things from the perspective of a UFOlogist. The average watcher of this programme wanted to see witnesses relate their stories, view the 'Crime Watch' style reconstructions of the scene and did not want to be blinded by science about earthlights, electrical effects and geological processes. I was learning by experience of the realities one faces when making television.
We had no idea how Strange but True? would fare. Initially it only had a showing in the London area, where it went down well. Then the ITV network decided that it wanted a paranormal series and there were two candidates - ours and a magazine/chat show format from another regional company. As the pilot was on the shelf it was given a network slot on a Friday night that autumn and got respectable figures (around 9 million). This was enough to convince ITV to commission a short series; although there was a several month wait before that happened.
There was never any doubt in my mind what I wanted to see as the UFO programme in the first series. I knew there would be a full-length programme on one case and had long tried, and failed, to get British television to make a documentary about the Rendlesham Forest case. Numerous promises had come to nothing over the years. The BBC had even once pulled out when we had a contract and a transmission date agreed! I was beginning to get rather paranoid about government conspiracies.
Now, as story consultant on the forthcoming TV series, I had my chance and, thankfully, David Alpin was only too aware of how strong this story could be - IF we could get the witnesses to talk. As you know, this was possible and the programme brought together some who had not been on camera before to give what I think was the most complete retelling of this remarkable case. Many hours of material was filmed and some good stuff ended on the cutting room floor. But I think what went out made its point
When the programme clocked up the highest ever viewing figures for a serious UFO programme in the UK (12. 5 million - still the best for any episode of Strange but True?) and it was praised by media sources and the TV industry alike it was good news for the future of the series and for UFOlogy. We had media sources finally realising that there were important cases out there and their laughter may not have been as justified as they thought it was.
But I could not help feeling frustrated at those lost years when Brenda Butler, Dot Street and I had scratched around in the dark trying to get to the truth about this amazing case and had been hit by total apathy when our book 'Sky Crash' was published. If only 'Sky Crash' had been in the shops in December 1984 when the programme appeared on TV at least some might have listened.
There was a book of the Strange but True? TV series which I wrote with Peter Hough. This allowed for a discussion of the case. The 1995 series also produced a book (which I wrote on my own) and a third series has been commissioned for autumn 1996, with work about to begin any day. I am not yet sure to what extent I will be involved this time. Sadly, the ITV rules forbid promotion of the book on screen - so, whilst it has not fared badly, surveys show that far too many people do not even realise there is a book based on each series.
Whilst writing these books has given me an intriguing new insight into television , it is also difficult and very time consuming. The series films between April and August and transmits in September/October. This means I get film and scripts and interview transcripts as things go along and have to write the book in a very short time it ready to have any hope of being in the shops when the series begins. Indeed, we often do not know an exact transmission date until a few weeks beforehand.
Yet, I only get paid a fraction of the money that I would if I were writing a book in the normal way for the same publisher - because many others have to be paid out of the same kitty. Those who think writing for TV in this way is a lucrative opportunity should think again. I do what I do with Strange but True? because I enjoy it and because it is important to try to help keep the series on track in so far as its handling of the supernatural in a responsible manner is concerned. Any series that attracts 11 or 12 million viewers and sells around the world has a role to play in shaping peoples attitudes about the subject that we investigate. So it is a responsibility that cannot be taken lightly.
In a sense, Strange but True? is a cross between entertainment and a documentary and is very difficult to do right. But UFOlogy has new opportunities on the horizon which may take advantage of the success of this series.
An Equinox programme on Channel 4 this autumn is looking at earthlights and should hopefully counter some of the criticism raised against the l994 Horizon feature in which Sue Blackmore explored abductions without giving credit to anyone in UFOlogy for doing anything right.
Interestingly, some involved in that Horizon documentary are now working on perhaps UFOlogy's greatest opportunity - a TV series entirely about the subject. To run for four hours and with a mega budget from the US parent company this series is initially for satellite TV; although there is a good chance that terrestrial channels will also screen it. This series will hopefully redress the balance and work on it so far is very promising. My one fear is that the American angle will, because of its base of funding, prove to be over-emphasised, but it is good to see efforts to avoid that pitfall being taken. We should all soon know how it works out as it will be on screen before the year is out.
TV UFOlogy has definitely come of age - and with the 50th anniversary of the birth of the modern mystery looming next year there is likely to be more going on than even the most avid viewer can keep up with. Indeed, the projects and ideas that I keep hearing from week to week certainly suggest that.
The one worry is that you can have too much of a good thing. The bubble can burst and we may find ourselves back in the wilderness just as quickly as we seem to have got to where we are today.
Jenny Randles