Most Haunted Live! A Living Hell on Earth Eastern State Penitentiary   Starring: Yvette Fielding, Paul Ross and some dead people (allegedly) Universal Playback RRP: £12.99 8274983 Certificate: 12 Available 15 February 2010

Get ready for trans-Atlantic terrors as for the first time ever Yvette Fielding and the rest of the Most Haunted team uncover ghosts from the past in the United States. Turn down the lights and hold on tight as buried secrets from the famous Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia are uncovered. Set amongst the dark and spooky atmosphere of the derelict prison that once confined the legendary Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton, the team invite you to watch as they investigate live...

I'm not even going to pretend that this show is anything other than a load of adults mucking about in the dark. If you want to read more in depth dissection of the show's main faults you can read them in my reviews of Most Haunted: Series 9 and Most Haunted (Almost) Live: Series 7.

Most Haunted Live!: A Living Hell on Earth - Eastern State Penitentiary was originally broadcast live in the USA on 01 June 2007, with an edited version broadcast in the UK on 25 December 2007.

The show was recorded at the infamous Eastern State Penitentiary, thought to be the world's first penitentiary. The building was active as a penitentiary between 1829 to 1971 and amongst its famous residents were gangster Al Capone (who served nine months there between 1929 and 1930) and bank robber Willie Sutton.

The only elements of the show that are noteworthy are the historical segments which explain background information on the facility. The actual fake paranormal investigations are just a lot of silly nonsense to be honest - adults pretending to be attacked by strange visitors from another plane of existence.

Yet again when Karl Beattie and Stuart Torevell are left alone most of the "activity" occurs. In this episode Karl is scratched and later he seems to be possessed and attacks Stuart.

The resident historian, Lesley Smith, pops up a couple of times to confirm the things that the team are experiencing actually relate to historical facts. However this time around, in order to dispel all those critics out there that have pointed out that these shows are broadcast from famous historical buildings and that a simple guided tour (The Eastern State Penitentiary is now a museum with guided tours offered) or search on the Internet will allow the fake medium to gain access to events beforehand, Smith points out that one ghost that has appeared to the team is not in the public domain. However, as she's managed to dig up this information (remember the show is live) I'd love to know how she did this as she claims it's not accessible to the general public, and I doubt she has access to the relevant source from the set of the show.

Thankfully, there are no extras - so I wasted no more of my valuable time there!

Why does this show keep getting made? Why do people watch it? And why did I fall asleep watching it as 1pm? These are the only unexplained things about this show.

2

Darren Rea