3 Sep2025
SIxTIETH Anniversary EXTRA!
Due to an oversight on my part, Steve's tale of the purr-fidous loss of one of his Spooks hasn't been told here until now! Steve also addresses the myth about the Spooks being radioactive. Click here and read on!
Stewart wonders if the spooky staircase set in the Dr.Who story The Chase could have been hired from an external source and points out there was a company the BBC did use for its props. See TV Advert and scroll down to the section Depicting the Haunted Manor.
(BTW, the Randall & Hopkirk episode, The House on Haunted Hill, with, IMO a very likely location for the Spooks TV ad, can be streamed for free from ITVX).
We're also taking a closer look at the Barry Gray archive in an attempt to understand why the TV ad isn't there. See here for the new page, which is also linked from the TV Advert page in the sub-section Companies & Resources in Search for the TV Ad.
As may be obvious, I've made some changes to the appearance and organization of the site. If it looks just a little bit slicker and is easier to navigate, I will have succeeded. If not, please let me know!
A couple of new requests:
I have a really vague recollection that a train may have featured somewhere in the TV ad. Did a Sugar Puffs train ever feature in their TV ads of the time, or was it just on the packet? If it did feature in the Spooks TV ad, could it have been to make the setting a ghost train ride? Doing so could have made the ad less scary and help it comply with the rules of the time governing suitable content for showing on TV to children. Any thoughts?
Does anyone have access to editions of Television Mail for the 1960s? I'm keen to confirm my suspicions that BG also made the spooky sounds for the Luvil washing powder ads, meaning those in the Spooks TV ad could well have sounded similar, even the same.
17 Aug 2025
BUMPER SIxTIETH Anniversary UPDATE!
Well, it seems like no time at all since it was the 50th anniversary of the Spooks in August 2015, commemorated at the time with marvellous artwork from Stewart and here we are 10 years later, barely believably, at the 60th anniversary!
Many thanks to Steve for this wonderful new Spook (scroll to the end) that he crafted to mark the occasion!
Here are a few other things that happened in August 1965:
the first Ford Transit vans rolled off the production line
the record-breaking Gemini V manned space flight took place
The Beatles' latest LP Help! was released
as was The Rolling Stones' new single (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
as was the film Dr. Who and the Daleks starring Peter Cushing
SpOOK Alley
Three great new spooky recollections here plus a few new lines of my own.
THE TV AD.
See here for some new thoughts on the TV advert:
was Tilly a waxwork?! (Scroll down to the section, The 'Artists').
how was the Haunted Manor realized? (Scroll down to the section, Depicting the Haunted Manor). There's a possible filming location and you will also discover a connection between the TV ad and a theatre production of Dracula!
PLEASE GET IN TOUCH!
Even after all this time, let's continue hoping that one day we'll see the complete cereal box with all the artwork and the entire spooky story contest. Similarly, perhaps the TV advert will turn up - that would be a terrific find! However, in the meantime, I am sure there must be unmined nuggets of information in the heads of some of the visitors to this website! We've done incredibly well so far (thanks in particular to Steve for recalling so much of the spooky story), but if you can add to the memories of the cereal packet and TV ad, then please do get in touch!
Perhaps you remember entering the competition? Even winning one of the watches?
See Home page for contact details - looking forward to hearing from you!
****
Oct 2024
How time flies! It's been more than a year since I last posted here!
Here are a couple of small updates:
I've just come across two responses to the item on the Luminous Spooks on my old Spooky Things blog and have added them to the top of Spook Alley.
Belated links to cerealmad's YouTube channel and to his LS video have been added here.
10 Sep 2023 (consolidating earlier updates from today and 8 Sep)
I'm thrilled to have received pictures of a stunning new model of the Haunted Manor made by Steve using the artwork from the back of the packet. Read - and see - all about it here. I think Steve is very modest about his own creative abilities and hope that others will be inspired by him.
Also, in an idle moment of wondering what the Spooky Story would have looked like, in between the start and finish that we had a very good idea about, I penned a few lines (now the second entry from the top in Spook Alley), pure speculation of course, but with the intention of spurring others to get creative or to jog memories.
Well, blow me down, but very soon afterwards, Steve contacted me with some newly-remembered, nicely atmospheric lines to add to the story, with the result that we now have pretty much more than half of it, all without the benefit of the cereal packet! See Spook Alley (top). Any more anyone?
19 Aug 2023
After much dithering, I'm thrilled to have a set of Luminous Spooks on display in their very own Haunted Manor and the results are amazing! See here and scroll down to the end.
18 Aug 2023
Gremlins (or Spooks) at work? I'm always delighted to hear from fellow Spooks fans, so was horrified to find that my email account (retromat 'at' btinternet 'dot' com) was - somehow - set to block all incoming email from the entire gmail.com domain! I have no idea how this happened and I fixed it as soon as I could. Looking at the emails that I have been receiving, it's possible this had been going on since last year. Have I missed some revelations about the TV advert or cereal packet (wishful thinking maybe!)? However, even if it was just to say 'hello', if anyone has emailed me from a gmail account in the past year or so and has not heard back, apologies, but please email me again and I'll respond ASAP!
And on the subject of people getting in touch, more memories of the Spooks, at the top of the page here.
10 Apr 2023
Oh wow! I'm thrilled to have received a stunning near-complete set of replica Luminous Spooks from 'Spooky' Steve! :-)
Click here and scroll to the section 'Spooky' Steve's - III to have a look and read about how they were painstakingly created!
(I can hardly believe it, but with these wonderful new replicas, I am now the delighted owner of a complete set of Spooks, comprising these, the terrific Whitie one from Stewart and an original Winnie, also courtesy of Steve and in due course, all will go on display in Stewart's wonderful Haunted Manor! Thanks so very much to both!)
Also, if you have ever wondered how many Spooks were made in 1965, information here (scroll to the Daleks promotion) perhaps indicates the order of magnitude!
Finally, I've found another picture online of parts of the SP Dalek cereal packet. It includes a couple of small 'new' pieces not in the eBay auction referenced below. Nothing to get very excited about, but it does suggest we should remain hopeful that one day we'll see more of the LS box! See the link in the previous paragraph.
17 Jan 2023
Stewart's tale of nefarious goings-on ( see The Cat and the Canary in Spook Alley) with one of his Spooks, continues with a "recently-found" courtroom transcript that made me chuckle!
As with the Spooks Sugar Puffs cereal packet, the one for the Daleks promotion the following year has been something of a holy grail for collectors, with no known examples existing, as far as I'm aware. Well, part of one is now for sale on eBay and attracting bids! It seems there may also have been a TV ad for this promotion as well, but as with the one for the Spooks, is now presumably lost. More info here (scroll to the Daleks promotion).