Carlton Television: "Inside the cult"

Reporter Ali Davis was first trained to fool the E-Meter sec-checks [Ritson: 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 beneficent 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 Scotsman?) 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 Body Thetans"?] 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 million dollars 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 surprise "she had bad communications skills," 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 a child 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.

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-terrestrials, 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 videoed, 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$ [Hill: Church of Scientology] harassment 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."