Phantom is a South African documentary travel series produced by Curious Pictures for SABC2 which travels to little-known towns to investigate famous ghost stories, on a quest to find home-grown ghosts.
The series premiered on SABC2 on Friday 16 May 2008, at 21h00. There are 13 half-hour episodes in the series.
Synopsis
People love ghost stories. Who amongst us has not shivered delightfully as someone tells of a spooky, unexplained encounter?
Phantom showcases and explores places in South Africa that remain relatively unknown to most South Africans. In tracking down the famous ghost stories of different cities, towns and regions, Phantom takes viewers on a rollicking tour of the country.
Phantom's "tour guide to the other side" Michael de Pinna is probably best known as the hapless leopard-skinned character in the original Vodacom campaign.
A firm believer in the paranormal, he studied for a time at the College of Psychic Studies in the UK. From his childhood he was drawn to the stories and visions of his Russian grandmother and has himself experienced those feelings of spiritual premonitions.
Active in show business for 25 years, De Pinna is willing to laugh and be laughed at. He seeks out the paranormal and invites us to join him on a journey to the other side, exploring spirit tales in our country's folklore.
Covering all areas and all types of phantoms, Michael discovers and unearths the 'dark side' of South Africa through stories of the 'other side' you've never known existed.
South Africa has a wealth of tales of the unexplained. Our rich and varied view of different landscapes, different cultures and different ways of life bring us an abundance of spirits and ghosts closely tied to our country's dramatic history and the tribulations of those who lived to tell of it.
Phantom tells a variety of these stories – from the Flying Dutchman, the ghost ship that sank in Table Bay in 1641; to the story of the Uniondale Hitchhiker.
Phantom also goes in search of Daisy de Melker's ghost and explores why Kimberley is considered one of the world's most ghostly towns.