Paranormal Past of Sauchie Revisited on Screen
Events/Upcoming Shows
Yesterday
2 minute read.
A forthcoming episode of a popular television series will feature a segment on the Sauchie Poltergeist, a reported paranormal event from 1960, as presenter Ian Hamilton and his guide dog Major explore the towns of Sauchie and Alloa in Clackmannanshire.
The programme, set to air in September, will include an interview with author and paranormal researcher Malcolm Robinson, who has written extensively on the subject in his book The Sauchie Poltergeist (and other Scottish ghostly tales).
The story centres around 11-year-old Virginia Campbell, who had recently moved from Donegal, Ireland, to Sauchie. Not long after her arrival, unexplained phenomena were said to have taken place in her home and at school.
Mr Robinson said, “Ian was lovely, him and I shared a lot of stories, so much so that the television people said ‘stop, stop, we need to do some filming.’”
Although Mr Robinson was not involved in the original investigation, he said: “I was not the original researcher on that case, because I was only three years of age when it happened.”
“I heard about it growing up, and I felt that I had to do something about it. I managed to track down several pupils who were in the class at the time and saw these things happening.”
Mr Robinson previously worked with the BBC One Show in 2020 on the same topic. “We recorded a programme about it. Sadly, it never got aired because Covid struck and everything was about that,” he said.
The upcoming episode will also examine the area’s industrial heritage, both past and present, as part of a broader look at what shapes life in communities across Scotland.
The programme, set to air in September, will include an interview with author and paranormal researcher Malcolm Robinson, who has written extensively on the subject in his book The Sauchie Poltergeist (and other Scottish ghostly tales).
The story centres around 11-year-old Virginia Campbell, who had recently moved from Donegal, Ireland, to Sauchie. Not long after her arrival, unexplained phenomena were said to have taken place in her home and at school.
Mr Robinson said, “Ian was lovely, him and I shared a lot of stories, so much so that the television people said ‘stop, stop, we need to do some filming.’”
“They’ve covered it very well. I spoke forever, but you know that they can only use so much because the programme’s not just about Sauchie.”
“I was so pleased they put it on the map, because the poltergeist has never really been done on the television. I also said that they should do a docudrama on it.”
Although Mr Robinson was not involved in the original investigation, he said: “I was not the original researcher on that case, because I was only three years of age when it happened.”
“I heard about it growing up, and I felt that I had to do something about it. I managed to track down several pupils who were in the class at the time and saw these things happening.”
Mr Robinson previously worked with the BBC One Show in 2020 on the same topic. “We recorded a programme about it. Sadly, it never got aired because Covid struck and everything was about that,” he said.
The upcoming episode will also examine the area’s industrial heritage, both past and present, as part of a broader look at what shapes life in communities across Scotland.
