- 2 months ago
First broadcast 29th September 1976.
Livingston, a psychic investigator, is asked to attend a seance.
Donald Pleasence - George Livingston
John Bluthal - Sam Nicholls
Janet Street-Porter - Robina Oliver
Charles Keating - Dr. Delane
Diana King - Mrs. Livingston
Sarah Douglas - Miss Radson
Jane Hayden - Miss Furniss
Elizabeth Rees - Miss Smith
Izabella Telezynska - Mrs. Brown
Tim Barlow - Mr. Smith
Vilma Hollingbery - Mrs. Smith
David Woodcock - Mr. Green
James Giles - Mr. Craig
Kathleen Heath - Medium
Patrick Field - Youth
Livingston, a psychic investigator, is asked to attend a seance.
Donald Pleasence - George Livingston
John Bluthal - Sam Nicholls
Janet Street-Porter - Robina Oliver
Charles Keating - Dr. Delane
Diana King - Mrs. Livingston
Sarah Douglas - Miss Radson
Jane Hayden - Miss Furniss
Elizabeth Rees - Miss Smith
Izabella Telezynska - Mrs. Brown
Tim Barlow - Mr. Smith
Vilma Hollingbery - Mrs. Smith
David Woodcock - Mr. Green
James Giles - Mr. Craig
Kathleen Heath - Medium
Patrick Field - Youth
Category
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TVTranscript
00:20As my readers are by now only too well aware, I have consumed the better part of three decades
00:26in the pursuit of the supernatural. In that period, not a single supposed manifestation of the hyperphysical
00:33has survived the scrutiny of my comprehensive knowledge of conjuring. You may imagine then
00:40that when in the February of last year I received a call from a strange voice summoning me to a
00:46suburb of North London, I was disinclined to curiosity. The communicant, describing himself
00:53as a member of a group, offered me the opportunity of joining their circle the following Tuesday evening,
01:00at which time he guaranteed me the materialization of a spirit child named Meriel, which I would be
01:09unable to explain away. However, I would have to observe several strange conditions, the foremost
01:16of which was that the identities of the participants and the location of their residence must never be
01:22diverged. I arrived at the object of my expedition shortly before seven o'clock.
01:30I found myself confronting a large and substantial edifice situated on the corner of a broad and
01:36respectable avenue at a somewhat meaner byway. The face of the residence looking out upon the avenue
01:42had a flight of ten stone steps leading to an ornately panelled front door and separating two large rooms,
01:51each with a bay window.
01:59As I was forbidden to use the real names of the circle, I proposed to use the common names of
02:04Smith, Brown and Green. I'm so glad that you were able to accept my invitation to come here this evening.
02:09It's my pleasure, sir. My name is Smith. Please allow me to introduce my wife. Good evening. It's a great
02:14honor to meet you, Mr. Livingston. May I present Mrs. Brown, the mother of Meriel? How do you do?
02:19Oh, I'm so pleased you can come here this evening. This is my daughter. Hello. Hello. And her fiance,
02:25Mr. Green. Good evening, sir. Good evening. Mr. Livingston, why don't you come and sit down? Thank you.
02:34I think the best idea would be for Mrs. Brown to explain what all this is about.
02:38Yes, certainly. Well, Mr. Livingston, I was born in Belgium, but in the 50s, I come to this country to
02:45be an
02:45au pair. After some time, I marry a young English soldier, but a year later, he's killed in Cyprus, so
02:51I'm left only with a
02:53baby daughter called Myrie. She is a delicate child, and at the age of seven, she dies. Naturally, I'm very
03:03much upset by this.
03:04But years, years, years after she's gone, I wake up one night in my bed, and I hear what seems
03:13to be
03:14my child's voice saying, Mama, Mama. I cannot tell if I'm dreaming or I'm awake, but it continued to happen
03:23for many nights, and I'm bewildered. So I turned to my friends, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, who were interested in
03:33spiritualism and who have also lost a daughter when she was the age of Myrielle, and who was very much
03:40like Myrielle, so I thought they would be sympathetic. Well, Mr. Smith kindly suggested that I attend
03:48services here so that Myrielle might be encouraged to come. So we start having the sittings,
03:55and after a few weeks, Myrielle arrives, but completely materialized, although in complete darkness,
04:03I'm able to touch her. Then, after a few more weeks, her face appears. Then, later, at later
04:13sittings, she begins to speak. At first, only single words, but then, whole phrases. Till now, only myself and
04:22Smith are the sitters, because I feel more people might frighten Myrielle away. But tonight, because
04:28you are a famous expert, Mr. Livingstone, we will see if Myrielle will appear just for this one time
04:34only in front of strangers. Thank you very much, Mrs. Brown. The next thing is, sir, with your permission,
04:42to examine the seance chamber. Most certainly, of course. If you would all be kind enough to
04:48depart for a little while. I'll commence my examination.
05:22his name, Mr. Livingstone, to write the song.
05:25ls
05:25ls
05:26ls
05:28ls
05:29ls
05:35ls
05:36ls
05:37ls
05:37ls
05:38ls
05:39ls
05:40ls
05:54I thoroughly investigated everything in the chamber
05:57until I was completely satisfied that no exits, entrances
06:00or fraudulent devices lay hidden waiting to see me.
06:03This achieved, I recalled the members of the circle
06:07into the chamber.
06:11As you see, I'm sealing this door.
06:19And now I'm going to sprinkle a little of this powdered starch
06:26on the floor.
06:33I must now ask you to indulge me in a requirement
06:36which, although somewhat incommoding,
06:37is nonetheless, I assure you, absolutely unavoidable.
06:41You wish the sanctions?
06:42I do indeed.
06:43The ladies do?
06:44With regret, yes, madam.
06:45You see, you all asked me to arrive here unaccompanied
06:49and so I was unable to bring my lady assistant
06:51who usually...
06:52All in a good cause.
06:54I suppose so.
06:56It must be so.
06:57Yes, that is always.
06:58Look at it.
06:58Thank you very much.
07:02Mr. Smith, may I commence with you?
07:05You may indeed.
07:14Thank you very much, Mr. Green.
07:25And now it's my turn, I suppose.
07:27I'll endeavor to conduct the operation
07:29as expeditiously as possible.
07:35Um...
07:36Oh.
07:38You're extremely gracious.
07:55And now, uh...
07:57Miss Smith.
08:04My daughter had just returned from her ballet class
08:07when you arrived and is still wearing her leotard.
08:09Yes, I see.
08:10Well, uh...
08:11That's perfectly satisfactory.
08:13I'm now convinced that every precaution has been taken.
08:16I should like, therefore, if I may,
08:18to arrange where each person shall be seated.
08:21Of course.
08:24I shall sit here with my back towards the fireplace.
08:27Mrs. Brown, would you be kind enough to sit upon my left?
08:29Mrs. Smith upon my right?
08:31Thank you very much.
08:32Mr. Green, would you sit next to Mrs. Brown?
08:35Splendid.
08:36Miss Smith, would you sit beside Mr. Green?
08:38Very good.
08:39And you, sir, would you be kind enough to complete the circle?
08:42Excellent.
08:48Before the seance commences,
08:50I'd like to point out two of our habitual practices.
08:53By all means.
08:54Our circle sits with hands unclasped,
08:57without touching one another.
08:58Is that all right?
08:59Yes, that's quite all right.
09:01And after we've been seated in silence for some time,
09:04I switch on the record player.
09:05I see.
09:06We have a little light music.
09:08Yes, we have found that a little light music
09:11seems to be conducive...
09:13How do you say it?
09:14Conducive.
09:15Yes.
09:15Conducive to the appearance of Muriel.
09:18Yes, well, I have no objection.
09:21And the seance will end on the stroke of eleven
09:24from the clock in the hallway.
09:26Yes.
09:27All right.
09:29Very well, ladies and gentlemen.
09:30I'm now going to turn off the lights.
09:32I'm now going to turn off the lights.
10:05There, unmoving in the darkness,
10:07I began to lose all comprehension of time
10:10and to develop in some slight degree
10:13a sensation of being somewhat suspended in spatial terms.
10:17I have therefore no precise idea how long had elapsed
10:21when...
10:22...
10:27...
10:33...
10:34...
10:37...
11:11Myrille.
11:14Myrille.
11:17Myrille.
11:19Viens.
11:21Viens ici.
11:23Viens ici, Myrille.
11:25Viens ici, mon enfant.
11:29Myrille.
11:32Myrille.
11:34Myrille.
11:38Myrille.
11:41Myrille.
11:44I suddenly sensed something close to me within the circle of chairs.
11:49Strangely enough, it was my olifactory sense which first alerted me.
11:52To my astonishment, I inhaled a fresh vernal fragrance like that of sweet peas in full flower.
11:59Myrille.
12:00Myrille.
12:01Myrille.
12:01You are my darling.
12:03My darling.
12:04I wonder, Mrs. Brown, would you allow Mr. Livingstone to touch the presence?
12:12Oh, I don't know.
12:13She might not like it.
12:15I'm sure she will make no objection.
12:17And Mr. Livingstone is an expert in these matters.
12:22Oh, well.
12:24Yes, well, he may.
12:26Thank you, madam.
12:27No.
12:28I reached out with my left hand and, to my utter amazement, encountered the nude body of the little girl.
12:36Taking both of the apparitions' hands in mine, I addressed the assembly.
12:42I would like to ascertain whether everyone is in their correct position.
12:46Would you all please answer in turn when I ask you?
12:49Mr. Smith.
12:50I'm here, Mr. Livingstone.
12:51Mrs. Smith.
12:52I'm here.
12:53Mrs. Smith.
12:54Mr. Livingstone.
12:55Mr. Green.
12:56Still here, sir.
12:57Mrs. Brown.
12:58I have no dwarfed.
13:00Thank you all.
13:02Each one of them remained in their proper place, and I released the apparition's hands.
13:08I should now like to ask permission to make a further test.
13:13Yes.
13:14I have in my pocket a small luminous plaque.
13:18It's painted with fluoride paint.
13:20May I use this to view, Maria?
13:22Oh, no.
13:23I do not think so.
13:24I assure you, madam, the illumination it bestows is both slight and gentle.
13:28Oh, I don't know whether...
13:29Well, I'm worried.
13:31Mr. Livingstone has gone out of his way to come here tonight.
13:34I cannot see any harm.
13:35Oh, very well.
13:37Please do nothing to alarm her.
13:39Of that, my dear madam, you have my absolute assurance.
13:43Quiet.
13:53I started with her feet, which were perfectly formed, the toes showing no sign of distortion,
14:00the nails peach tinted and delicate.
14:02Then I slowly moved up her legs.
14:05They, too, were perfectly proportioned, and I could discern fine, fair, wispy hairs upon them.
14:11The loins were prepubescent and the hips boyish.
14:15The stomach was delightfully protuberant, the umbilicus shallow, the chest flat, with the lovely pastel pink nipples and fine tracery
14:25of blue veins of a seven-year-old.
14:29And then I came to her face.
14:33She had classical regularity of feature, with a chucky nose, an immaculately pale opalescent complexion, a well-shaped mouth with
14:44lips set in a determined manner, and large, shining, intelligent blue eyes.
14:51The hair, which glissaded upon alabaster shoulders, was a subtle auburn, in perfect complement to the skin and eyes.
15:00Her height, I would estimate, at some three feet to seven inches.
15:04I turned her round and saw her back.
15:09I was utterly fascinated by the luxuriant texture of her opalescent flesh, which, although I could make out every exquisite
15:18pore, appeared to be completely without blemish.
15:24That is enough, monsieur. Now the examination will end.
15:27Very well, my dear, but before it does, may I make one last request? May I not speak with her?
15:30She will not answer.
15:32Right, not as so.
15:32Nevertheless, may I please try.
15:34Do you really think it necessary?
15:35With respect, I do indeed.
15:36Oh, very well, but you will not speak with me.
15:38Thank you, well, darling.
15:41Where have you come from?
15:44What is your name?
15:48What do you do there?
15:51Do you play with other children?
15:56Do you love your mama?
16:02Yes.
16:06Oh, my God.
16:07Would you please put your light away, Mr Livingstone?
16:09Let us have silence again.
16:11I must confess that I, too, felt quite affected.
16:15Once again, I cannot judge how much time elapsed.
16:19Before...
16:28Mr Livingstone.
16:30I can't judge how much time elapsed.
16:30The whole room is coming to the house.
16:31But in the leading to the end is it better.
16:32I can't judge how much time elapsed.
16:32Ah, is it better than the day?
16:38Mary.
16:39We don't know you're in trouble.
16:43Well, Mr Livingstone.
16:44i hope that we've not disappointed you oh certainly not i'm completely astounded
16:50you cannot explain it my dear madam i have never experienced anything similar
16:55i confess myself to be completely bewildered
17:01but come let me examine the chamber again of course
17:08i discovered that nothing had been even remotely disturbed
17:11i therefore took leave of my hosts and commenced myself a journey home
17:17as i drove a myriad questions revolved within my brain
17:21could it have been a hoax and if so to what purpose
17:26who would possibly gain from the contrivance of such an elaborate machination
17:32if there had been a deception how had it been achieved
17:36the experience defied every conjuring explanation i tested upon it
17:40if the participants were acting then they were highly consummate artists
17:46then which of them was the medium if there was a medium
17:48i'd never heard of an alleged materialization occurring without one
17:53had i finally come upon a genuine manifestation of the paranormal
17:59the sitting had taken place under controls that not one medium in a thousand would have accepted
18:04what i had experienced in those few hours was so shatteringly inexplicable
18:10and so contrary to everything i had ever experienced before
18:13that it challenged my whole attitude
18:16not only to my profession but to the very nature of reality
18:21i made several attempts to persuade the circle to permit me to attend a further city
18:26but to no avail therefore i present the case to the reader
18:30as it happened a mystery without an answer but with bewildering
18:35and possibly momentous implications
18:39a case which must remain for eternity
18:43an enormously tantalizing question mark
18:54wait a minute not so fast
18:58my name is nichols sam nichols
19:05i'm a kind of detective
19:07what you might call a ghost detective
19:09same line of work as george livingston
19:11i guess you could say i'm his number one fan
19:14my big regret is i never met him
19:16died of bronchopneumonia a couple of years back
19:19fall of 1970
19:21well his chapter on muriel
19:23and his last book annals of a cyclical investigator
19:26sure made a big impression
19:27the capital d debunker
19:29coming up with a case he couldn't explain
19:31well back in the states uh
19:33i worked on it
19:35did a couple of pieces for some magazines
19:38they caught the eye of the cyclical research center here in london
19:41they gave me an assignment
19:42clear up the muriel case
19:50so i began right here
19:52livingston archives
19:53cyclical research center
19:57went through the lot
19:58couldn't find a thing
20:00except a few letters written to his publisher
20:02only one of any interest was this
20:07oh yeah
20:09dear mr sharp
20:11please find and close the final manuscript of the report on muriel
20:14it'll form the final chapter in my book
20:17and i feel that it'll provide
20:18just the climax which the book needs
20:21not much to go on
20:23so my next move was to put out an ad
20:26information please
20:27anybody
20:28strict confidence
20:29but i didn't get any takers
20:32well livingston had given only one clue in his book to the location of the seance
20:36said it was in quickley wood
20:39so it was time to take a look at quickley wood
20:44went hunting for corner locations like livingston described
20:48day after day
20:49week after week
20:53and every time i drew a blank
21:01i drove around
21:04and around
21:05and around
21:08Then hooked it down every street, every avenue, and every back alleyway in the neighborhood.
21:26I came up with nothing.
21:28So what next?
21:30Where could I get a lead?
21:35Livingston's wife.
21:36Where were you in the evening of the seance?
21:40Bournemouth.
21:40Yeah?
21:41Recovering from an operation.
21:43So you weren't with your husband?
21:45Not from January to March.
21:48I see.
21:50When did he first mention the Muriel case?
21:52When he came to see me.
21:54Oh, when was that?
21:56Early March.
21:57What did he say?
21:59What's in his book?
22:01Oh.
22:01Nothing else?
22:03Nothing.
22:04Nothing different?
22:06Not a thing.
22:07Hmm.
22:09Who saw him at the time?
22:11Time?
22:13The time of the seance.
22:17Oh.
22:19I don't know.
22:22Anybody at all?
22:24His secretary, I suppose.
22:27Had a secretary?
22:28Oh, yes.
22:31I never knew that.
22:32She'd become a hairdresser.
22:37Miss Radson.
22:38Miss Radson.
22:39Yes?
22:40Ever work for a guy called Livingston?
22:43Who are you?
22:48Psychical research center.
22:50Oh.
22:50Did you work for Livingston?
22:52Perhaps.
22:52Oh, come on.
22:53You're rather rude.
22:54Sorry.
22:55One should be polite.
22:56Okay.
22:56Answer my question.
22:58Please?
22:58Please.
22:59Yes?
23:00The time of the Marial case?
23:02Yes.
23:02You remember him going to it?
23:04No.
23:05Oh, you remember him coming back?
23:06No.
23:07I thought you said you were with him.
23:08I was.
23:09He never mentioned it.
23:10Never mentioned it?
23:11Well, not till ten days after it happened.
23:12No?
23:13No.
23:15Tell me about the 22nd.
23:17Please?
23:18Please tell me about the 22nd?
23:20Perfectly ordinary.
23:21Typed a few letters left at six.
23:23The next morning?
23:24Perfectly normal.
23:25Usual routine.
23:26Didn't say a thing?
23:27Not a thing.
23:28How'd he look?
23:29Use yourself.
23:30No different?
23:31None whatsoever.
23:32Was he good at hiding his feelings?
23:34No good at all.
23:36You sure?
23:37Oh, yes.
23:38I saw him five days a week for four years.
23:51Did he, uh, confide in you?
23:55Yes.
23:58About his work.
24:01Who typed the report?
24:02The Merrill report.
24:04Yeah.
24:04He did.
24:05Oh, wasn't that unusual?
24:07Yes, most unusual.
24:08And even more unusual.
24:08Didn't even talk about the case.
24:10Very unusual.
24:10The most important of his career.
24:11Very, very unusual.
24:12Didn't even seem slightly disturbed.
24:13Extremely unusual.
24:14You never wondered about it.
24:15Yes.
24:15Well, what did you think?
24:16Well, I think it's, pff, mysterious.
24:21Well, that was it.
24:23My last bit of evidence.
24:25What was I left with?
24:26A mystery?
24:28A riddle?
24:28I don't think so.
24:30I went through all the evidence.
24:32There was only one way it added up.
24:34I couldn't find that house in Cricklywood, because it was never there.
24:38Livingstone never went back there, because there was no place to go.
24:41Well, he didn't talk about it with his secretary, because there was nothing to talk about.
24:45She noticed nothing unusual about him, because there was nothing unusual to notice.
24:50Well, he didn't name names, because there weren't any names to name.
24:55Well, Livingstone made the whole thing up.
24:57I'd broken the case.
24:58There was no case.
24:58Mariel never existed.
25:00Mariel was a lie.
25:02She was a lie, I tell you.
25:09It saddened me.
25:11After all, the guy was my hero.
25:14There was no getting away from him.
25:16So, what in the hell had gotten into him?
25:18To answer that, we've got to remember that Livingstone was a very famous man.
25:23Reports of a Psychical Investigator.
25:25Cases of a Psychical Investigator.
25:28Experiences of a Psychical Investigator.
25:30Chronicles of a Psychical Investigator.
25:33Aye, his first book was a smasheroo.
25:35So was his second and his third.
25:36But in 1966, when his fourth book came out, it didn't do too well.
25:41Audiences for endless debunking was cooling off.
25:44Oh, sure, it was fascinating.
25:46Sure, it was scientific.
25:48But, uh, people are starting to want a little something more.
25:53The door left open a crack.
25:55A little bit of...
25:57Might be.
26:00So, what's Livingstone gonna do?
26:02He likes his fame.
26:05How's he gonna win back his readers?
26:08Yet another anthology of frauds?
26:10Oh, forget it.
26:12His next book needs a little something extra.
26:14Another anthology of frauds plus X.
26:17Plus a little number can't be explained away.
26:20A little number called Merrill.
26:22And, uh, who better than Livingstone to pull it off?
26:26Who knew better what was required?
26:29Who was in a better position to be believed?
26:31Why, with his record, who's gonna doubt him?
26:34Let's take another look at that letter again.
26:41I feel that it'll provide just the climax which the book needs.
26:45Is that the phraseology of a scientist?
26:48Climax the book needs?
26:50Sounds more like a novelist or a short story writer.
26:57The guy unconsciously gives himself away.
27:00Why, he's cooked up a climax to sell his new book.
27:04And he's done a swell job.
27:08When his last book came out, it hit the top of the charts.
27:10You betcha.
27:11It had to.
27:13Like all good works of fiction, the Merrill case gave its readers exactly what they wanted.
27:33I suppose I better introduce myself.
27:35Yeah.
27:36Well, my name's Rubina.
27:38That's it.
27:38Rubina.
27:39Rubina Oliver.
27:41I'm into psychical research.
27:44You know, occult and all that.
27:45I've been interested in the Merrill thing, you know, for a long time.
27:50So when I came across this expose by Sam Nichols,
27:54you know, I was really brought down.
27:56I just couldn't get it together while a really great investigator like Livingston
28:02should, you know, sort of cop out on all its principles just to keep in with the public.
28:08So that's...
28:09I mean, that's why I decided to look into the thing for myself.
28:14So I started here, same as Nichols, and had a real good old look through all the documentation.
28:21And I came across these letters.
28:23Letters between Livingston and his publisher.
28:26You know, letters what Nichols said were of no interest, but which I think are.
28:31I mean, listen to this one from Livingston.
28:35I really am most reluctant to include the Merrill case in my forthcoming book.
28:41There are no independent witnesses to corroborate the experience, and I am pledged never to reveal the names.
28:48And here, the reply from the publisher.
28:51With your reputation, no one will question the veracity of your account.
28:56It will absolutely fascinate the public and provide just the climax the book needs.
29:02I mean, listen to that, provide just the climax the book needs.
29:07It was the publisher what first used the phrase.
29:10Well, my next thing was to go and see Mrs Livingston.
29:16Now, this is, um, this is?
29:21Call me Cynthia.
29:23Oh, yeah, well, Cynthia, what do you say of Mr Nichols?
29:25Oh, complete nonsense.
29:27But what about what his secretary says?
29:29His secretary?
29:30Yeah.
29:31George never showed his feelings.
29:33Well, I mean, he might, I suppose, to me, you know, as his wife, now and again, but other people.
29:38Oh, no.
29:39And certainly not to, uh...
29:41Miss Wrightson.
29:43Radson.
29:44Radson.
29:44Rightson, yes.
29:44Not to her.
29:45So what should she say?
29:47Say the opposite, yes.
29:48Well, I mean, this is where we come to the, uh...
29:57I mean, I'm not going to say anything against her.
30:00I think it was simply a question of faulty memory.
30:02I mean, George would have gone...
30:05He would have done anything to hide his feelings from her, to appear perfectly normal.
30:09Then what?
30:10Well, she was only a slip of a girl in those days.
30:13There's been all this controversy since I simply think she over-dramatized the whole thing
30:18and really believed that...
30:22You know, I think she's come to believe that she was more important in my husband's affairs than she...
30:28So it was quite, uh...
30:30You know, um...
30:30It really was, or...
30:32Compatible.
30:34Uh...
30:34Compatible.
30:36Um...
30:39Ever.
30:47Um...
30:51Sorry.
30:52Sorry?
30:53You were?
30:53I mean, it was compatible with George's...
30:56normal behavior, you know, to appear really...
31:00cool when he'd just been through a, you know, a traumatic...
31:03Oh, yes.
31:05Perfectly compatible.
31:07I think that's exactly how he would have behaved.
31:11I say, yeah.
31:20The next thing to do was to nose round Cripplewood.
31:23You know, sort of looking for the house as described by Livingston.
31:26You know, man..
31:57Well, I had a look at all sorts of houses, but none of them was what was required.
32:43Still, I didn't allow myself to be got down. And then, you know, one afternoon, at first
32:49sort of glance of it, you know, me heart sang. I mean, it was large and the right age and
32:54all that. And it stood on the right sort of a corner, you know. But I mean, where was
32:59the bay windows? And one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. There was only nine
33:06steps. And where was the, what do we call it? Ornately panel door. I mean, the place had
33:13none of any of these features. Well, but anyway, just to make sure. As always was my routine,
33:21I had a bash at the front door. Oh, hello. Hello. Hello, I'm doing some research.
33:33Oh, I think some research. No, no, psychical. It's cyclical? No, psychical. Oh, mental illness,
33:39right? No, you know, sales and things. Oh, I think you've come for the run, please. Well,
33:44probably. What number are you looking for? Well, I'm not. This isn't a candid camera.
33:48No, this is serious. It is. Yeah, I'm looking for a house where a famous seance might have
33:53taken place. What makes you think this? Well, I did. I mean, I did think it might
33:58be, but now, you know, I don't think it can be. Why not? Well, I mean, there are no bay
34:02windows.
34:04It used to have bay windows. Well, then, Eureka, the house Nichols said ain't never existed.
34:10With it, I'd really demolished Nichols' arguments against Livingston. But why had Nichols suppressed
34:16and distorted evidence? Why had he fitted Livingston up? Because Nichols didn't believe
34:22that genuine phenomena ever took place. And Livingston's account of the Merrill case undermined
34:30his position. But back to the owner of the house, Mr. Craig. I interviewed him there and
34:35then. When did you buy the house exactly? Uh, three years ago. It had been gutted by fire.
34:47So that's why you had to have all them renovations? Aye, that's why you couldn't recognise it.
34:51What happened to the people who lived here? Burnt to death.
34:55Well, all of them? Aye. And you knew nothing about them? Nothing. I bought the house from an agent.
35:00An agent? You know, for who? No, I'm afraid I cannae help you. Whoever was in charge of
35:06the deceased's estate. Oh, come on, you know. No, I can't.
35:12The agents, you know, told me the, uh, executrix, uh, exec, yeah, was a missed furnace. So I went
35:19to her house, but there was nobody in. However, a neighbour told me that he thought she was a student
35:25at the Department of Applied Physics at Watford University. Yeah. So I sort of made my way there.
35:40I was shown into her lab, and I set up the equipment. And I... I got the shock of me
35:48life.
35:48Good morning. I'm Merriam. What? Perhaps I should say I was Merriam. Come on.
35:54I was a spirit child. I'll explain to you. I was the daughter of the house in Cricklewood.
36:00I escaped the fire, and I took part in all the seances. I just don't believe it. I was sworn
36:05to secrecy.
36:06But as all the others are dead, and I'm the only one left, I can now reveal the truth.
36:12In 1968, I lived with my parents, right? My father worked for a plastics firm. Accounts department.
36:19He lost a lot of money on the horses. And he embezzled from his employers.
36:23What? And no one sort of tumbled. Yes, they did. One of his colleagues.
36:28The woman Livingstone called Mrs. Brown. She caught him at it. Yeah? Yes. She was going to report him.
36:34But father knew she'd had a daughter who died. Knew she yearned to communicate with her. Father was quick.
36:42He pretended mother was a materialising medium. They made a deal. Don't tell a mother will spirit up Merriam.
36:48And Mrs. Brown fell for it? Not immediately. But she'd give mother a chance.
36:53What did your mum do? She said she'd do it. She always stood by my father.
36:57But she wasn't a medium. No. But father read some stuff. They got clued up.
37:02And then they asked me to be Merriam's ghost. Well, I mean, how old were you then?
37:07Twelve. Merriam was supposed to be seven. I mean, how come a twelve year old...
37:11I was small for my age. But you wouldn't look nothing like Merriam.
37:13Apparently I did. Coincidence. Except for my hair. That had to be changed.
37:18But how do you reckon you managed... I'll tell you.
37:25Father, mother and Mrs. Brown sat in the drawing room.
37:31In the dark, I waited in the hall.
37:35Father switched off the record player. That was my signal.
37:39I slipped in. Answered a few questions.
37:42What sort of questions?
37:43Oh, harmless stuff. Whether I was happy. Stuff like that.
37:47Father taught me the answers and told me not to answer anybody but mother.
37:51And Mrs. Brown was satisfied with that? Yes.
37:53But how could your voice, I mean, sound like Merriam's?
37:56I don't suppose it did. But Mrs. Brown fell for it. Merriam had been dead for a long time.
38:01And mother wouldn't forget her child's voice.
38:03Speaking from experience?
38:04Well, no, but...
38:05Thought not.
38:05Mrs. Brown was thoroughly convinced.
38:08Had seances every Tuesday.
38:10Then she started to worry about my father's debts again.
38:14Ever quick, father decided it was time for Merriam to be seen.
38:19Dressed in black leotard, tights, and arm-length gloves, I experimented with a torch.
38:25The bulb covered with several layers of tissue paper.
38:28And Mrs. Brown was taken in by that?
38:30Yes.
38:31It was very effective.
38:33A facelift from underneath is unrecognizable.
38:36I don't believe it.
38:37Try it sometime.
38:38Things went well for a couple of months.
38:40Then a new problem arose.
38:42What?
38:44Years before, father had told Mrs. Brown he'd got a daughter.
38:48Suddenly one evening she asked why she'd never met me.
38:51Father said I was 17 and went to ballet class every Tuesday evening.
38:55Mrs. Brown said she insisted she meet me.
38:58So I had to play myself.
39:00But five years older.
39:02That's incredible.
39:03I mean, how could you-
39:04I'll tell you.
39:05Mother disguised me.
39:07She gave me tights, a padded bra, teenage dress, a blonde wig and makeup, and high heels.
39:16I was transformed.
39:17What is this?
39:18Something out of the circus?
39:19A convincing adult.
39:22Livingston said Merriam was three foot seven.
39:25Even in a wig and heels she'd look like a dwarf.
39:27He guessed wrong.
39:28I was taller.
39:29And Mrs. Brown, you know, bought it.
39:31Absolutely.
39:32And when you reappeared, you know, as Merriam, she didn't notice no similarity.
39:36None.
39:37Things went smoothly.
39:39Then I got too confident.
39:41Ignored father's instructions.
39:43Answered one of Mrs. Brown's questions.
39:45It was the wrong answer.
39:47She demanded an investigation.
39:50Demanded George Livingston.
39:51Father had to agree.
39:53But father knew he'd seal everybody in the room.
39:56Then how would you, you know, get in?
39:58Ah.
39:59I'd be there all the time.
40:01I do?
40:02No.
40:03Visible.
40:04As sweet seventeen, Miss Smith.
40:07In the dark, I changed into Merriam.
40:09How come Livingston never heard you?
40:11I rehearsed and practiced.
40:12Practiced.
40:13You stripping?
40:13Yes.
40:14It was embarrassing.
40:16But father realized Livingston would want to see more than a face.
40:19But if you was, you know, nude for the first time, why didn't Mrs. Brown comment?
40:23She thought spirits were unpredictable.
40:26She was emotionally overcome.
40:28Well, there were you.
40:30Starkers.
40:30Twelve years old.
40:31What about puberty?
40:33Why didn't Livingston notice nothing?
40:35I was a late developer.
40:36Caw, you must have been.
40:37Though my legs weren't bad then.
40:39Showing them to Livingston prevented him from searching me.
40:42You mean when Miss Smith lifted up her skirt?
40:44Yes.
40:45To show him there was nothing underneath.
40:48There's your great scientist for you.
40:50Completely taken in.
40:52The final touch was having a fiancee.
40:55Who was Mr. Green?
40:57Father's youngest brother.
40:59Uncle Frank.
40:59Officer in the army.
41:01On leave.
41:02Who doubt the age of a girl old enough to be engaged?
41:05But in the dark, how do you make out your old designs?
41:09Oh, that.
41:10Yes.
41:11In the dark, I left my seat.
41:15Tiptoed to a corner.
41:16Took off my clothes.
41:18Slipped back.
41:19When the time came to do Meriel, I went over to Livingston.
41:23He touched me.
41:25Now came the hands test, but we were ready for him.
41:28Mother had small hands.
41:30No larger than mine.
41:32She rolled up her sleeves and then removed her ring.
41:36I moved back to my place.
41:38Mother put her hands in front of him.
41:41He took hold of them.
41:42Thought they were mine.
41:43He didn't notice all that shuffling around.
41:45We didn't shuffle.
41:47We did everything perfectly.
41:49He was completely baffled.
41:51Mrs. Brown was happy.
41:53Faith restored.
41:55Seances went on for another six months.
41:58When father was straight with the firm,
42:00Mrs. Brown was told mother had lost her powers.
42:02What, and she just like, took it?
42:04She had to.
42:05It was too late to tell.
42:07But why hadn't she spoken before?
42:09She died.
42:10Last year.
42:12Liver complaint.
42:13Earlier this year, Frank was shot dead.
42:15In Ulster.
42:17So I'm the only one left.
42:18The only one who knows what happened.
42:20Hi, Andy, innit?
42:21What?
42:22All the others kicking the bucket means there's no one left to contradict you.
42:25Or corroborate.
42:27But what I say stands up on its own.
42:29That's it.
42:30That's what happened.
42:31No more mystery.
42:33No more speculation.
42:34The end of the Merrill case.
42:38Well, I didn't believe Miss Furness.
42:40But I checked, and she really was the daughter of the house.
42:43But I didn't believe she played Merrill in any of the seances.
42:47But if the whole thing took place, just as Livingstone described it,
42:51then what can be the explanation?
42:54I'd like you to have a look at this film.
42:56It was taken in Reykjavik, Iceland, with an infrared camera,
43:01and has been proved to be completely authentic.
43:04It depicts some phenomena very much like what I think happened in the Merrill case, you see.
43:10I believe that Merrill really was the materialisation of a seven-year-old girl,
43:16would have been dead for several years.
43:19My own theory for what it is, is that a material, you know,
43:23from what a materialised being is formed, is called ectoplasm.
43:28And this sort of ectoplasm is a sort of neutral substance,
43:33with no cloud, you know, no taste, no smell, no texture, no nothing.
43:39And it's sort of brought into existence by the exertions,
43:43the powerful exertions, yeah, of a medium out of our own body.
43:47Though it has nothing to do with normal flesh and blood, you know, as we understand.
43:53Well, this ectoplasm is then sort of moulded by, you know, paranormal forces,
43:59which ain't got any sort of physical qualities of their own.
44:03And these forces sort of, well, impress themselves on the ectoplasm
44:08and sort of mould themselves, the body, with whatever sort of characteristics they need.
44:14I mean, in the Merrill case, the spirit of the little girl, you know,
44:18used the ectoplasm to mould the form it had when it was alive.
44:23My own suspicion is that Mrs Smith was the medium, yeah.
44:33Well then, to sort of sum up, I believe that on that evening in February, five years ago,
44:39George Livingstone took part in one of the most amazing
44:42and irrefutable supernatural events that has ever been recorded.
44:59Well, at this point, I enter the story.
45:02My name's Delan. I'm what they call a psychologist.
45:10Some months ago, I came across Miss Oliver's documentary on the little ghost girl.
45:17She convinced me that something very odd had taken place on that mysterious evening,
45:21but she didn't win me with her explanation.
45:25I know. No.
45:28So I decided to open up my own very private eye and peer,
45:33with as much penetration as I could muster, into the depths.
45:39Now, I went after those who'd known Livingstone throughout his career,
45:43and in particular, his wife, who told me about his mood at the time of the seance.
45:49She said he'd reached 50 the previous year and was going through
45:54what she'd heard described as the male menopause.
45:59And to be sure, that's the sort of word they do is these days.
46:04Now, just what can we make of this unusual case?
46:10But to put it plainly, I think that what happened that February evening
46:14was an example of group hallucination.
46:18And indeed, the group hallucination had been going on in that house
46:22for a tidy old time.
46:26The important thing about hallucinations are that you have to both crave for
46:31and believe in whatever you hallucinate.
46:35These are the twin passions needed to bring forth miracles.
46:40Of course, I'm not suggesting for a moment
46:42that the Cricklewood Circle had consciously worked out all these things.
46:46Far from it.
46:47I'm talking about unconscious and intuitive processes
46:51evolved over long periods.
46:54Now, we've heard they believed it perfectly possible for departed souls
46:57to materialize before the living.
46:59But why, we must ask ourselves, should that be?
47:06Well, in the case of Mrs Brown, I should think the answer is obvious.
47:12Hadn't she lost her only daughter
47:15and yearned to be reunited with her.
47:23As for the family Smith, well, the parents had also lost a daughter.
47:28Not only the same sort of age as Mariel, but apparently very much like her.
47:33As for their surviving daughter, we don't really know.
47:35But isn't it safe to conjecture that the two girls had been very close when both were alive?
47:45But what about the young fellow, Mr Green, the young fiancé?
47:49Well, surely there in that very word fiancé we have it.
47:54Which of us has never been in love and suffered that overwhelming ache,
48:00not only to be with the object of our desires,
48:03but also to become them and share in every morsel of their existence
48:07and make it into our own?
48:11Ah, well, that's enough said about that.
48:15So I think we can see how every member of the circle
48:19had an emotional investment in Mariel's materialization.
48:23It may be that before Mrs Brown began attending seances,
48:27the Smiths had been materializing their own dead daughter.
48:32But by the time Livingston attended a seance,
48:36their lost little girl had somehow blended and merged with Mrs Brown's lost little girl
48:42to form a sort of compound lost child they could all equally draw comfort from.
48:49Yes, I think we can peer into that dark room
48:52and realize that Mariel was, in more senses than one,
48:56a communal possession.
48:59Where no wonder Livingston couldn't work out who the medium was,
49:02because, in an individual sense, there was no medium.
49:06The whole group was the medium.
49:08All had entered equally into a trance-like condition.
49:13But how did they become entranced?
49:21Well, after the ceremonies of introduction,
49:24Mrs Brown gave a detailed and graphic description,
49:28a menu, one might say, of what was going to appear at the seance.
49:31But this wasn't simply for Livingston's benefit,
49:33but for everyone in the room, herself included.
49:36By her recitation, she was reminding, re-suggesting,
49:40reinforcing exactly what it'd be they'd all be experiencing shortly.
49:45And she was also ensuring they'd all experience exactly the same thing
49:49at exactly the same time.
49:52I cannot tell if I'm dreaming or I'm awake,
49:55but it continued to happen for many nights and I...
49:58And I'd be worried.
50:00How did they go about synchronizing themselves?
50:05Well, they plant a communally accepted device.
50:10Now, this acts as a subconscious trigger in each mind
50:13for the supernatural to make its entrance.
50:16And so we have all the ingredients for the exercise,
50:20except one.
50:22Sensory deprivation.
50:24Now, the important thing about sensory deprivation
50:27is the individual loses all sensory orientation
50:30and becomes suspended in a limbo out of which anything might come.
50:35You see, when you're completely out of contact with everyday reality,
50:40you're free to arrange any new reality you fancy.
50:44You suit yourself.
50:48I'm sure it's darkness and silence you need
50:50if you're after-fashioning up infants from the dead.
50:54So back there in Cricklewood,
50:55once the lights are out,
50:57our friends are in the right condition.
51:00Apart from their backsides perched on the chairs,
51:03they sense practically nothing.
51:04They sit, with hands unclasped, without touching one another,
51:09perfectly still in the total darkness
51:12and in unbroken silence.
51:17Now, as the minutes go by, Livingston tells us
51:19he began to lose all comprehension of time
51:22and began to develop in some slight degree
51:24a sensation of being somewhat suspended in spatial terms.
51:28And then...
51:45As the Edge of the Boundary
51:46...
52:06Now, why by all the saints should he do such an incongruous thing?
52:12it was the signal i mentioned earlier the trigger for mariel to begin
52:24and likewise hours later the clock striking 11 in the hall that was the signal telling everyone
52:30they could now stop hallucinating now i've talked about everyone's motives for hallucinating except
52:37george livingston's now what in a month of sunday should he be hallucinating for
52:45let's just see what we can piece together now his wife told me at the time of the seance he
52:51was
52:51depressed and his colleagues echoed the same thing he'd lost all hope of finding genuine phenomena
52:58i think by early 1969 livingston felt like a spent man like a man spent searching after the fabled
53:05water horse and finding nothing but mats of weed
53:10and what is a man spent like that to do with himself how is he to spend his future
53:16well he won't be spending it at all for he hasn't it to hand over
53:19what can a spent man do but give up the ghost give up the ghost uh yes
53:27yes but wait a minute if you really need a ghost desperately need a ghost can't live without one
53:32then there's one place you're certain to find it in the depths of your own skull but you'd best be
53:41careful to be sure the human mind is a very strange business a man has to be very careful about
53:51fooling
53:52himself mustn't let the right lobe know what the left lobe is doing so to speak we're talking about
54:00leisure demand of the mind our man subconsciously decided to find himself a phenomenon no not a
54:07phenomenon you'd absolutely have to believe in just one you couldn't get around so he waited
54:15and when the call came from cricklewood something in what the caller said told him subconsciously that
54:24here was the opening he'd been waiting for that's why we find him breaking all his usual conditions
54:33and if one thinks about it isn't it easy to see how going alone and and never going back
54:40were essential for his own subconscious purpose to be sure they defend the mystery against solution
54:48and just listen to the vividness of the language he uses when his mystery at last appears when he
54:56finally gazes upon her he murmurs of her toes showing no sign of distortion and the nails peach tinted
55:04and delicate then the fine fair wispy hairs on her legs he whispers how her stomach was delightfully
55:12protuberant and how on her chest he made out lovely pastel pink nibbles and the fine tracery of blue veins
55:24then when he finally arrives at her face he sings of her chucky nose her opalescent
55:29complexion and her large shining intelligent blue eyes
55:35then scanning her back he sighs over how he could make out every exquisite paw
55:43all very vivid
55:45which is a quality common to all hallucinations
55:49it's as though the mind has to make them double strength so as to ensure their credibility and
55:55here we have livingston describing meriel with a vividness not found in anything else he ever wrote
56:02and surely there's uh there's the sexual and and even a parental quality in the way he caresses the
56:09little apparition with words and we must remember he was a man of 50 his marriage was without children
56:17maybe the browns and the smiths weren't the only ones that sad tuesday who were seeking long lost
56:22daughters perhaps our journey after truth was also looking for the long lost daughter he had never had
56:31and wouldn't that be fitting that the self-generated riddle that should save his life
56:38should come to him in the form of a little girl
56:45well now after this renaissance how did our man feel well he tells us he felt shattered at first but
56:54i've
56:54spoken to his wife and colleagues and they're unanimous that he recovered his old plumb and in particular
57:01his spirit for spirits
57:16and so a changed man
57:21a man who'd rediscovered faith by rediscovering doubt
57:26yes a man went out into the night to find his life and did so peach nailed an opalescent with
57:34blue eyes
57:34shining out of the darkness
57:38ah yes indeed a fitting daughter
57:41a daughter the daughter of a man's desperate need for an enigma
57:46is
57:47THE END
58:25THE END
58:54THE END
58:54THE END
58:54THE END
58:56THE END
58:57THE END
59:00THE END
59:01THE END
59:01THE END
59:02THE END
59:02THE END
59:03THE END
59:03THE END
59:04THE END
59:04THE END
59:05THE END
59:05THE END
59:05THE END
59:08THE END
59:09THE END
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