The Gadget Show team at Tamworth Castle

The Gadget Show team at Tamworth Castle

Channel 5′s Gadget Show seem to have a small fascination with using Tamworth’s much loved tourist attractions and using them to scare people.  Back in May the team voted Apocalypse at Drayton Manor Theme Park the scariest ride in the country (read the story here).  They now return to Tamworth to put Liz McClarnon through hell at Tamworth Castle.

Tamworth Castle was rigged with high-tech wizardry on September 16/17 all in aid to scare the former Atomic Kitten star for the Halloween special which airs on Channel 5 on Monday 26 October at 8pm.

The Castle, which is already famous for being one of the most haunted locations in the midlands was chosen to already put the firghtners into the star.

The crew rigged the castle with a host of techincal treats all designed to make Liz think she had had a paranormal experience.  Nic Hall, researcher on the popular Channel Five show said:

“Tamworth was absolutely the perfect location for us – with its reputation as being one of the most haunted places in the midlands, Liz was terrified before she even entered the first room. With us having to conceal vast swathes of people from Liz, the shoot was particularly hectic, and everyone at the castle, in particular Kirsty, were simply brilliant and a real help in putting together a hugely successful piece of filming for us.”

The effects used throughout the castle included:

Infrasonic sound – research has found that in a lot of places in which people have encountered a paranormal experience, instances of low frequency sound (below 20HZ) have been present. Such sounds aren’t easily audible, but the body can feel the effect. This leads to a sense of presence in the room, and can cause distortion of vision. The Gadget Show team used very high-end audio equipment to replicate this truly spine-tingling effect.

  • Electromagnetism – The team used an expert from Goldsmith’s College to rig the Servant’s Bedroom with a fluctuating electromagnetic field. Studies have found that such fields can alter brainwaves, and can give a person the feeling of uneasiness.
  • Silent chill – the Cooke’s bedroom up was rigged up with an advanced air-con system to silently drastically cool the room, giving the impression of a ‘ghostly chill’.
  • Flickering lights – the drawing room was rigged with motion sensors meaning that lights could flicker on and off.
  • Hologram – a home-made hologram was created at the window of one of the rooms, giving the impression that the famous ghost of the ‘White Lady’ of Tamworth Castle was stood at the window.

At one point the crew believed that Liz would be unable to continue as presenter Ortis Deeley triggered the mechanical phenomenon from a control room within the Guards room from a control station and his iPhone, believing Liz could be to scared to carry on.

You can see the Halloween Special of The Gadget Show on Channel 5 on Monday October 26 at 8pm.