It was like a fake Hallowe'en thing, from the 80s...

Greetings, Ghostwatchers!

Well, who'd have thunk, Ghostwatch briefly returned once more to BBCTV last night, specifically BBC Two, during the most recent edition of Victoria Coren Mitchell-hosted, perpetual-brain-fazer, Only Connect. Yes, the game-show so intimidatingly tough, even I can't think of an adequately clever and pithy way to describe it.

... It's like, steak? A really well-done steak? Nah, forget it.

Anyway, roughly thirteen minutes, forty-two seconds, and eight-and-a-half frames in to last night's edition, having casually selected The Eye of Horus (as you do) for their next quiz category, intrepid and all-round geniusistical team, The Escapologists were tasked with finding a common, albeit coded link between a four-tiled sequence.

The first clue, 'Many a Slip', didn't seem to help much, then moments later, the tile 'Ghostwatch' appeared, promising a hearty three points in return for an accurate, early guess. Ultimately, neither team were able to correctly deduce that 'Desert Island Disc Presenters' was the actual connecting thread. I mean, like, g'uh, it's so obz, like, whatevs.

But something I find really interesting here, is that despite the correct answer functionally stemming from 'presenting gigs', strictly speaking, only three of the shows in this sequence were actually 'presented'. Nationwide, Crimewatch and Many a Slip were all true-life current affairs, or quiz programmes. Ghostwatch of course, was not (... or was it? *dramatic chords*). And crucially, it wasn't *hosted* by Michael Parkinson. It *starred* Michael Parkinson, *as a host*.

A pernickety preconception on my part perhaps, but nevertheless, for just one brief moment in time, I must confess to feeling as though I was journeying through some weird, alternate, Mandela Effect-type dimension in which our favourite Hallowe'en Hoax was regarded in the same light as any other live broadcast.

... I've been working on this thing, for too long.

It should also be noted that the show's otherwise delightful and assured host, Victoria Coren Mitchell, briefly expressed genuine surprise that the team thought of Parky for Ghostwatch more than anything else. Hmph. Bet I could beat her at poker, anyway.

Until next time, Ghostwatchers, try not to have sleepless nights.

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