''Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns'' is a paranormal reality television series which features noted Medium

Derek Acorah Derek Francis Johnson (27 January 1950 – 4 January 2020), known professionally as Derek Acorah, was a British spiritual medium. He was best known for his television work on ''Most Haunted'', broadcast on Living TV (2002–2010). His career a ...

as he visits towns in the UK to investigate hauntings. The team would travel in the "Ghost Town Van" and would allow townsfolk to tell the team about their encounters with hauntings in their home town. During the investigation, Derek would visit a random house and give the owner a

psychic reading A psychic reading is a specific attempt to discern information through the use of heightened perceptive abilities, or natural extensions of the basic human senses of sight, sound, touch, taste and instinct. These natural extensions are claimed to ...

this was "Doorstep Divination." The show aired from 7 November 2005 until 28 November 2006.

Series guide

Series one

The first series aired every Monday night at 9pm on LivingTV between 7 November and 12 December. The show was hosted by

Danniella Westbrook Danniella Westbrook (born 5 November 1973) is an English actress and television personality. She is best known for playing Sam Mitchell in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Westbrook has also presented various television shows and was a conte ...

and Angus Purden. After each episode aired, a "behind the scenes" show "Ghost Towns Revealed" aired which followed the team as they filmed the episode. #

Faversham Faversham () is a market town in Kent, England, from Sittingbourne, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2 road (Great ...

(7 November 2005) #

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

(14 November 2005) #

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

(21 November 2005) #

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

(28 November 2005) #

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

(5 December 2005) # Royston (12 December 2005)

Series two

The second series aired every Tuesday night at 9pm on LivingTV between 31 January 2006 and 4 April 2006. Once again,

and Angus Purden joined Derek on the show. #

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

(31 January 2006) #

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

(7 February 2006) # Ely (14 February 2006) #

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...

(21 February 2006) #

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

(28 February 2006) #

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

(7 March 2006) #

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

(14 March 2006) #

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

(21 January 2006) #

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

(28 March 2006) #

Devizes Devizes () is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-cent ...

(4 April 2006)

Series Three

The show returned for a third series at the end of 2006. It aired every Tuesday night from 3 October 2006 until 28 November 2006. This series featured a "new look" for the show as there were new opening titles and new presenters.

Myleene Klass Myleene Angela Klass (born 6 April 1978) is an English musician, singer, television presenter and model. She was a member of the pop group Hear'Say, and later released two solo classical crossover albums in 2003 and 2007. More recently, Klass ...

and

Rhodri Owen Rhodri Owen (born 20 September 1972) is a Welsh speaking radio and television presenter. Biography Owen was born in Three Crosses, Gower, Swansea, and was brought up in Gowerton

presented this series. This was the last series of Ghost Towns to air. #

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

(3 October 2006) #

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

(10 October 2006) #

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

(17 October 2006) #

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

(24 October 2006) # Dorchester (7 November 2006) #

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

(14 November 2006) #

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

(21 November 2006) #

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

(28 November 2006)

Live

In early 2006, Ghost Towns broadcast two live events. The events would each last for three nights from 9pm until midnight. The studio host for the show was

Liz Bonnin Elizabeth Bonnin (born 16 September 1976) is a French-Irish science, wildlife and natural history presenter, who has worked on television in both Ireland and the United Kingdom. She presented morning show '' RI:SE'' and music show ''Top of the ...

was unable to take part in the first live event and was replaced by Emmerdale actress

Nicola Wheeler Nicola Wheeler (born 4 April 1974) is an English actress. After appearing in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' in the recurring role of Melanie Tindel in 1999, Wheeler began portraying the role of Nicola King in the ITV soap opera ''Emm ...

. Angus Purden was present for both live events and

returned for the second live event. Two companion shows aired during the live events. "Early Doors" aired 1 hour before the investigation began which featured interviews with the team. "Revealed" allowed viewers to call into the studio to discuss the nights events. This show aired for 1 hour after the live event. Episodes *York **Night One (27 January 2006) **Night Two (28 January 2006) **Night Three (29 January 2006) *Halifax **Night One (10 March 2006) **Night Two (11 March 2006) **Night Three (12 March 2006)

Ending

Although the series still had good ratings and a fourth series was planned for 2007, Acorah announced plans to take a break from the show to focus on a large scale UK Tour demonstrating his mediumship. Once his tour finished he returned to television and LivingTV with ''Paranormal Egypt'' instead of a fourth series of ''Ghost Towns''.

DVD

All three series of ''Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns'' are available on DVD.

Book

A book based on the investigation of the locations of series one is available. It was written by

and has contributions from

and Angus Purden.

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0483852, title=Derek Acorah's Ghost Towns 2005 British television series debuts 2006 British television series endings 2000s British reality television series Sky Living original programming Paranormal reality television series British English-language television shows British supernatural television shows