Carrie Kirkpatrick just wanted to make a documentary series. She had filmed a five part series called Mystical Legends for an English speaking Spanish television station. For the paltry sum of £10,000 Carrie had completed the series with local topics ranging from the Knights Templar to Girona/Patrice Chaplin/Rennes-le-Chateau connection to Spanish witchcraft. As the series was getting ready to be aired, the Spanish TV station suddenly went out of business. Carrie was left holding Mystical Legends in the can.It's bad enough not to make one's money back on a project, but to have an unseen project just won't do. Carrie turned to her friends at Sky Channel 200, "Controversial TV". She had formed a connection with the owners of Controversial TV while doing work for their sister station Psychic and Soul. Along with owning Controversial TV and Psychic and Soul a smattering of soft core porn stations are in the fold. Carrie presented the managers of Controversial TV a unique offer. She would allow the station to air Mystical Legends and pay for the music licensing herself. All the station had to do was add it to their line-up, pop the DVD in and hit the transmit button.
According to Carrie, Controversial TV always operated on a shoestring budget. The office staff consisted of a handful of people and finding programming was always a challenge. The powers that be at Controversial TV jumped at the offer for free programming and agreed to show two of the Mystical Legends series a few times over the next year. Carrie sent, and Controversial TV accepted, a letter of intent that gave the SKY TV station the right to air two of Mystical Legends.
Kirkpatrick wouldn't see a quid from the airing of the series, but at least it was out there. Controversial TV decided to start out with Girona, A City Of Secrets. The special explored the connection between Charlie Chaplin's daughter-in-law Patrice Chaplin and a secret society that operates in Girona. (I was lucky enough to speak to Patrice last year about her book on the topic. For more on my conversation with Patrice, click here) The piece was aired twice and then the hammer dropped.
On October 20, 2009, Carrie received the following e-mail from one of the staffers at Controversial TV. While she would not disclose the name of the staffer, Carrie did say after the signature there were two kissy lips added. The email below is an exact copy, bad syntax and all...
"Hi Carrie,
Hope you are well? Unfortunately after a few meetings with the people at the top we have been asked to pull your shows of the channel, and unfortunately are hands are tied Carrie. I know you have gone to alot of trouble to get these shows ready for us, and also promoting it to your friends and even going to the extent of paying for the music. But we have been told that Due to circumstances out of control we cannot show them anymore. I understand that you will not be happy with this decision, but i also hope you understand that we have to abide by the people above us and their decisions. I ‘m sorry to have to be the one to deliver the news, and i hope you understand the situation we are in.
Best wishes"
That was it. A quick kiss off from a rank and file staffer carrying out the wishes of those mysterious figures from up above. There was no mention of the documentary's quality not being what Controversial TV was looking for, or a problem with Carrie herself. She still maintains a connection with their sister station Psychic and Soul, even though she has not been available to appear on it for some weeks due to other commitments Carrie has not been sacked and they still use her high profile and reputation as a TV Psychic to advertise their Psychic channel. Representatives from the SKY TV station have never answered my requests for an explanation for pulling the show.
The big question then is why? If you've watched Carrie's work above, there is nothing contained within the half hour special that would raise an eyelash. Was the documentary not controversial enough for Controversial TV? Or does someone not want the information contained within the documentary to be aired on TV? If that's the case who might that be?
My first thought was the e-mail sounded surprisingly like one sent to controversial radio show host Michael Savage in early October. Savage has been ban from entering the United Kingdom, ostensibly for his views on radical Islamic activities across the globe. Savage was invited to perform debate, via video link, at the Cambridge Union. A week before the debate was to take place, Savage received an e-mail from Cambridge including the following:
“We have reconsulted [sic] with our counsel, and been informed that there are numerous legal issues with Dr Savage speaking here and so because of all of the technical, financial and legal problems involved, we have come to the reluctant conclusion that the event cannot proceed.”
While one might not agree with Savage's views, the root of the matter is free speech and a government's control of discrimination of information.
To date, Carrie Kirkpatrick is still in the dark. She's a filmmaker who has gotten the rug pulled beneath her by an unknown hand. Nothing in the world of the underground stream is what it seems, and Carrie might very well be the invisible hand's latest victim.
You can befriend Carrie on Facebook here or join the Group Bring Back Mystical Legends! or her group Divine Productions. Kirkpatrick is also holding a contest for the best conspiracy theory relating to why Mystical Legends was banned from Controversial TV. The winner gets a bottle of Champagne I will hold my thoughts on this for the moment, you can form your own opinions to try and win the bottle for yourself...
