Carlton Television -- The Big Story

Inside The Cult

[Description of 13 July 1995]

Carlton Television last night broadcast a half-hour 'Big Story'
documentary entitled "INSIDE THE CULT'

Reporter Ali Davis was first trained to fool the E-Meter sec-checks
<guess "Chris Miller" had to be telling the truth about at least one
thing , auditing can't detect if your ethics are out>
 "Are you a journalist"?
"No" The needle floated.
She went to the South coast town of Poole, which is a focus for their
activity these days, and was soon accosted in the street by a young
man doing a "survey", then invited into the "org".
Cut to explanation that LRH founded the cult. His former PR man Vaughn
Young said "He literally wanted to take over the world, but he had to
put it into other terms, and the term he came up with was to 'clear
the planet' and this sounds like a very beneficient thing,clear the
planet of its problems,  really more of a case like a Hitler, he
wanted to rid the planet of vermin, and the vermin were the people
stopping him.
Russell Miller <author of "Bare-faced Messiah"> described LRH as " a
charlatan, a liar, confidence trickster, a thief, he invented his
whole life, he invented a career to substantiate himself as a guru".
Cut to film of clams boarding a ship (The Royal Scotman?) with
background music of Gilbert and Sullivan's "And give three cheers and
one cheer more, to the perfect captain of the Pinafore". 
<Whatever next, "and so do his sisters and his cousins and his aunts
and his BodyThetans"?>
An interview with LRH 
Q "Do you ever think you might be quite mad?"
LRH "Oh yes
. the one man who never thinks he is mad is a madman"
<.sig!>


Continued with account of Hubbard leaving 650 milliondollars when he
died, David Miscavige now in charge, Picture of Miscavige <obviously
not a full-length shot>
Stacey Young, head of DM's private office for 5 months said "He just
loved to degrade the staff, ... he got a kick out of it"

Back to Poole, where the reporter took the famous 'personality test' 
Big suprise "she had bad communications skulls," and needed a 50 pound
communications course.
She had earlier taken a real personality test and that had showed she
was a very outgoing person, which is how she came across on-screen.

Secret filming of the course . A man talking to an ashtray. "Stand
up". Lifts ashtray. "Thank you" , "Sit down"....
Reporter was partnered with a young man . He gave a list of numbers,
then switched to letters, she had to persuade him to switch back to
the numbers. "Could you go back to the numbers, I really liked them"
Then he was crouched on a desk, arms clasped around his knees,
pretending to be achild who had wet himself and she had to re-assure
him. "lots of children do it"
<Is this original LRH or is it something PoodleBoy has introduced?>
Reporter described the staring routine (not blinking for over an
hour), and the hallucinations that happen by the end of it.
Fencing contractor Gary Fry described how after this routine he was so
disoriented that he agreed to sign a blank sheet of paper, and the
Scientologists typed a letter of authority around it. He also gave
them his building society pass-book.
They got 21,000 pounds out of him as a result. He got the money back
after going to court.
<and these  scum tried to sue the reporter for 'obtaining services by
deception'?!>

The Director of the Poole Mission, Roger Kay  wanted the reporter to
sign up for another 2,000 pounds worth of auditing and courses. (she
had spent 250 pounds by this time)
She pretended to have an inheritance due to her from Australia.
He was anxious for the money to be transferred to the UK as fast as
possible.

She was escorted everywhere, even to put more money in a parking
meter, and the courses went on till late at night.
Stuart Boote (former 5th in charge oat the Poole org until November
94 ) explained  that this was deliberate staff policy.
"The idea was that you weren't going to let them leave because often
you found that if people had a moment or two to themselves to think,
the chances were that they'd leave or change their minds about the
money they'd paid in for a course, which was often quite high '
Stuart attended many late night meetings to decide which clents to hit
financially.
"It would become a money-orientated thing, that you would be looked at
as to how many services we could get out of you, how much money we
could milk you for'.
Nuclear physicist Adam Bird was milked for 34,000 pounds after going
to them for treatment for dyslexia. He borrowed from various banks,
and ended up with scientologists lodging in his house, and 'renting'
his car to help pay the interest bills.
"They took over my life"
Gary Fry snapped back to reality when his mother broke down in front
of him, but went through "suicidal depression"

The reporter visited Saint Hill in East Grinstead, and within an hour
was asked to join the Sea Org. The billion-year contract was not
mentioned but 'to clear Earth takes a long, long time'

Jon Atack <author of' A Piece of Blue Sky'>spoke about the OT levels."
Prince Xenu "<the Galactic dictator formerly known as Prince?. This
title is new to me>
"75 million years ago rounded  up the population of 76 planets,
averaging 178 billion per planet, and crushed them together using
hydrogen bomb, having dumped  them in volcanoes"
Film of lava flows.
" Scientologists who are doing the OT levels come to believe they are
inhabited by thousands of extra-terrestials, and they are basically
seeking to exorcise these spirits which are governing their behaviour
and reactions'
The reporter was asked to list all her past sexual partners, what she
did with them, and how many times.
Atack explained that these files would be used to silence former
members.

By this time the reporter had been exposed. She was videod, the police
were called. <The Crown Prosecution Service have confirmed that there
will be no charges> and she was escorted off the premises.
"It was bizarre, everyone was lining the corridors as I was walking
out, as I gave them eye contact they would look away, as if I was
evil"

Russel Miller described Co$ harrassment as his biography of LRH neared
publication. The police would keep arriving, wanting to know where he
was on particular dates, starting with a murder in a pub.

Scientologists who might leave are warned that they are likely to
commit suicide within 6 months.

John Buchanan , a Scottish landscape gardener working in Germany, was
recruited by the Munich org 3 years ago, accrued huge debts to several
Munich banks to buy courses and materials, and committed suicide in
May 1994  to escape his debts.
His mother quoted a letter claiming he would be re-incarnated   and
come back to Scotland
Closing shot of his headstone "He did return to Scotland"

What happened behind the screens?

Carlton's undercover reporter Alison Braund wrote up her bizarre experiences inside Scientology.

Scientology meanwhile tried to prevent the program from being broadcasted and have Ali Braund prosecuted for obtaining services by deception. The Church had accused the program makers of having obtained entry to two of its courses dishonestly, and of trespass to goods. City of London magistrates dismissed private prosecutions for theft brought by the Scientologists against Braund, producer Claudia Milne and Twenty Twenty Television as an abuse of process.

Shortly before the broadcast, four cars in Carlton's car park had their windscreens smashed. This and more is can be read on this page, including quotes of the program.