McWilliams' Wimpy Wampyr Intro

Farrant apologist and flunkie Redmond McWilliams attempts to talk about the Highgate Vampire, the British Occult Society and Readers' Letters in the Hampstead & Highgate Express in early 1970. We say "attempts" because the sound quality is so abysmal and McWilliams' reading skills - he is reading from a prepared script so that the audience receive propaganda as though they are attending a cult's indoctrination session - leaves an awful lot to be desired. A worse and more boring speaker would be difficult to imagine. That said, David Farrant would certainly give him a run for his money.

Seán Manchester's name is curiously bleeped out on the soundtrack, but those attending will have heard it clearly enough. That same audience were misinformed about the British Occult Society, an organisation which opposed Farrant's activities from the moment he entered the public arena and distanced itself from him immediately, and the truth about the article "Does A Wampyr Walk In Highgate?" which title Redmond McWilliams predictably mispronounced ("wampyr" sounds phonetically the same as "vam-pyre"). Furthermore, reference is made by McWilliams to letters written to the Hampstead & Highgate Express by readers, but, of course, he fails to mention that Farrant wrote quite a number of them, using the names and addresses of acquaintances and friends.

David Farrant's own letter to the same newspaper is projected onto the screen behind the speakers in doctored form. The very revealing last paragraph of his letter has been expurgated from the text.

A blundering, amateurish start to the so-called Highgate Vampire Symposium where even the sound of Seán Manchester's name sends such shivers down their spines that they felt obliged to censor it.

To view the video, click on the image of Redmond McWilliams at the top of the page.

To read some facts relating to McWilliams' prepared drone of a monologue, click on the image below of Seán Manchester, captioned "President, British Occult Society," from a Thames Television programme broadcast on 13 March 1970, where he spoke about the Highgate Vampire case.