Doctor Who pirate incident news cast

[totalrandomcrap]

I'm sad that they tore down the TV studio to build Navy Pier.

[WhatsAYak]

And would you believe that nearly 25 years later, the pirate and his accomplice(s) STILL haven't been found?

[SCRIPPSCAST2007]

Why were WGN and WTTW specifically targeted and singled out? We may never know!!!

[djjokerman2000]

0:49 Max Headroom's hair looks more real than this guy's!

[jamesdemonic]

31 people got so upset that they wanted to bust their TV set, they really did

[coffee4binky]

It's so easy to do, now. You'll be surprised how cheap TV station equip. actually is, but in the 1980s, no, it was expensive and a power-hog.

Anyways, the way to do it today . . .

Nevermind, shut my mouth.

[izzklo]

@coffee4binky how

[coffee4binky]

@izzklo How? Are you saying "hello" as an American Indian?

Sorry, but I don't post criminal actions on a public website. It's bad enough the FCC, FBI and others monitor websites like this (and Congress will soon pass a law criminalizing most of the content on YouTube and other websites). So, go take your snarky ass somewhere else, people like you ruin the world.

[izzklo]

@coffee4binky chillax... you don't know me. i am a nice person. i was just curious, not planning anything. 

[Sympliesque]

@coffee4binky Yeah cos the USA controls the internet. Oh no wait. They don't. Lulz. Congress can't do shit about the content of a website other than ban it in the USA. Your own government is still fucking yous up the arse and yous still cant see it, or those that can are bending over and lubing themselves up. Admit it though, you have no clue how to do this and you are just trying to make yourself look good to a load of people that don't know/give a shit about you. One question.... Y U mad tho?

[animaleyes403]

if that would have happened now, i would have just checked the channel to see if i was on adult swim lololol

[animaleyes403]

Ye old Penis Finger.

[GaspingMenace]

I see Nyder was interviewed about this regretable incident.

[xxhennersxx]

His power level must have been over 9000.

[SonicEditingChannel]

cocaine is a hell of a drug

[gshowguy]

@ 0:50...

Wow. Fanboy, much?

[daleksfearthewhovian]

I love Americans.

[CrzyCanuk13]

"I got so upset I wanted to bust the TV set"?

Really?? Over that??

Well I got JUST as angry having to look at his LOUSY RUG!!

;-)

[Cyberplayer5]

In retrospect the price of cable was cheap then! Think what most people pay now!

[ProjectFlashlight612]

What a hell of a lot of effort to achieve nothing very much at all.

[KinetikPlayground]

crap, dan roan had brown hair!

[MuggleSnuggles]

The angry guy's wig is making me very upset.

[thatguywiththeegg]

Trolling is a art form.

[ryratt]

I saw the Max Headroom pirate incident on Youtube. I got so upset I wanted to bust my computer monitor.

[ToiletBomberAlpha]

@ryratt - Yeah, mean! The episode of Doctor Who I can't stand got interrupted! GAAARRRHHH. Alright, I'm done.

[chumshot1]

@ryratt xD!!!!!!

[grendelee]

@ryratt I keep seeing comments like this on youtube. It gets me so upset i wanted to bust my internets.

[ThatsnewsTV]

The engineer is not entirely correct. All it takes is a fairly low powered transmitter fairly close to the targeted receiver unit.

[flancakes93]

Back in the day when trolling meant something.

[DictatorRoB]

Somebody could do some sort of remake of this, wearing Paris Hilton's mask, interrupting Samantha Who.

[batterygrunt]

I remember this night on Nov 22 87'... I was 14 and a fan of Dr. Who. When the Max Headroom rip off came on I got freaked out!!! I told friends of mine at school the nest day and I was laughed at until the news hit. The day after I got all kinds of questions from my classmates. I couldnt believe what I saw! Some guy in a max Headroom Mask and getting spanked??? WTF?? Cable TV wasnt out yet so seein an ass was not common. I was a scared teen back then but now I would laugh. I want to kick his ass

[copyright1982]

Geez. I hope the same people who were upset enough to "bust the tv set" over a side shot of a butt cheek weren't watching the Janet Jackson Super Bowl halftime show...

[hariseldon59]

I was actually watching Doctor Who the night this happened, and remember seeing this incident firsthand. Pretty freaky.

[batterygrunt]

@hariseldon59 I got freaked out too!! I wrote a comment in about it.

[mgabrysSF]

Jesus Christ - what's with the audio trying to blow out my fucking speakers? Fuck you. Learn how to fucking edit.

[Aiicyla]

@mgabrysSF ?

[batterygrunt]

@mgabrysSF I didnt post this vid but the actual video was really like this I grew up with a black and white tv in my room as teen when this happened this came in loud and sudden. So what you saw and heard is the same like it came on my tv in the 80's

[Membrane556]

I wish more people had the balls to do stuff like this today esp with the biased as hell news media.

[c10u75]

"I got so upset, that I want to bust the TV set, I really did"

[12345combination]

His power level was over 9000.

[legopants]

i wish they would reference this in the new series, maybe the doctor's monitor goes all wonky for a second showing max headroom.

[verbod]

that was funny :)

[Jenna10227]

0:50 LOL relax, dude.

[sapphosnape]

This guy is brilliant! I mean CRISPIN GLOVER-LEVEL GENIUS! He needs to go public, because I want to meet him!

[TomatoeAssassin]

OK, I can see overpowering a PBS station; they don't have the worlds best equipment. But WGN? That took balls and good equipment.

[haseo18615]

I wonder what this guy was thinking when this was on the news!

[NBaimf]

This is the funniest shit I've ever seen. Good for that guy! Someone find that guy and give him a fuckin gold metal for balls, funny and sticking a big pile of icky poo in the face of the corporate tv pricks.

[blakeandcrap]

The father of Anonymous.

[funkyflashman]

@blakeandcrap He wouldnt feel a thing with that terrible rug on his head.

[TackyRackyComixNEO]

He interrupted Bear football highlights with something bare of his own.

[03lydia05]

Ha Ha 0:48 butthurt.

[bvseediermedia]

I like the fool who claims he wanted to smash his TV up.

I think he should have - and preferably over his own fucking head.

[zbake11]

I can't believe they've never found him.

[ErichoTTA]

Not a Doctor Who fan, but this is probably by favorite video related to it.

[KarinMikazuki]

1:20 yes

HIS POWER LEVEL WAS OVER 9000!!!

VEGETA!!!

WHAT 9000!!!

ITS OVER NINE FUCKING THOOOOOOOUUUSSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND­!!

[litos1251]

nice

[RobotHector]

Good episode. If my episode of Doctor Who was interrupted I would hunt down the pirate and flog him.

[ArjeeBhajee]

max headroom?

[g8btony]

justfuckinggoogleit [dot] [com]

[g8btony]

and i mean that in the most helpful way possible. :D

[ArjeeBhajee]

ya I know what the Max Headroom character is, its just a random thing to insert into a Dr Who episode.

Is there some sort of connection to Dr Who that I'm missing?

[g8btony]

not as far as i know. max headroom was a show on ABC at the time, and his character was also the pitchman for a new formula that Coca-Cola put out, called "New Coke." He was futuristic and edgy at the time (1987) and Coke invested quite a bit into marketing it, so he was very prominent in the TV culture at the time.

[batterygrunt]

@ArjeeBhajee Its an old pepsi ad, back in the 80's It was super popular

[MadJewelz]

I wish people could still do this

[toucansam3]

They could, I'm surprised it hasn't happened since.

[Rsrocks412]

i know if i was a video pirate i would make a video with bizarre images of me and shout "I am the future ruler of the world" in an echo voice

[Coastergeekperson04]

Caltech should do this! If they can alter signs on a football game and change the Hollywood sign (which they did the year this happened), I bet they can override the signals!

[beccathepigeon]

LOL

[meinvent]

creepy

[nickpj9695]

was he ever caught?

[tomspy77]

No, to this day nobody knows who he was or why he did it, although he seemed to have a thing against WGN and the Tribune...

[Pkirk618]

Yeah, gives me chills cause I live in IL,

[beefygoblin]

@tomspy77

I doubt anyone with a real grudge would have handled it this way. Have you seen the uncut version of this? It's kinda funny. Not scary and the liberal comment was hillarious, considering he had someone spank him afterwards.

I believe this was a joke.

The likelyhood that he did it the way they said he did just isn't very likely. It would have been insanely expensive at the time.

[batterygrunt]

@tomspy77 I did It

[batterygrunt]

@nickpj9695 

[batterygrunt]

@nickpj9695 it was me

[oHelmslyo]

There was only just at the beginning of this month another incident like this when Super Bowl viewers in Tucson saw thirty seconds of a porno movie.

[masterfox3000]

Lol he was spanked.

[SrgtRock11]

"I got so upset I wanted to bust the tv set" LMAO Think he needs anger management sessions?

[col06]

lmao i think the guy needs to chill out

[toucansam3]

I know, why would this piss somebody off at all much less enough to attack your tv.

[meric2]

@SrgtRock11

It's Chicago. He fits right in.

[Peygaagyep]

This should be a special feature on a Doctor Who DVD

[Zjheol]

"there was some minor nudity involved" ;)

[memidonw00tw00t]

LMAO he used microwave power???

[BlackoutRK]

LMAO

[benxander]

Ahhh pre-internet lulz!

Anon is an ancient being, this is true

[NotGood1024]

Pretty good joke if I do say so myself. The mask is akin to Duke Nukem as I can't get the prior pop culture reference that the News showed.

[Pinwormx]

Can't they trace him by the mole on his ass. There's got to be a match.

[batterygrunt]

@Pinwormx M Jackson had a mole on his ass

[norakapranosbanks]

epic lulz!

[upabittoolate]

i remember that like it was yesterday

[vega92]

teh first LUL ever

[regicide2021]

lol o:32 just lol

[Voshra]

AHAHA....

i so hope to grow up to be that guy 10 years from now, hijacking television broadcasts...

and this is coming from a doctor who fan (NEW, NOT OLD!OLD IS CHEESE!) *waits for the insane comments from the "hardcore" doctor who fans (HEY, i am HARDCORE, for the NEW stuff!)

Cheers To the fact we now all have the ability to post recordings that are 40+ years old!HURRAH!now, someone post some bootleg of Bettie Paige XD

Cheers

[HeyArnoldsspleen]

Old is great. Cunt

[Fattyrat]

OOO **** that man! How dare he interfer with a TOM BAKER episode! If it was tennent i'd be laughing, but Tom? Grrrr.... *Loads gun*

[puertoirish]

"i got so upset that i wanned to bust the tv set...i really did" ha

[Oceanproject]

HAHAHA! i love the guy!!! Respect's dude!!

[thephilchannel]

it's mister furley @ :49!

[lucite11]

-In 2007 in the Czech Republic sombody tampered with video stream on-site, but that probably doesn't count as pirating.

~In the Soviet Union in the 1970's and 1980's it actually occured several times, and was often ignored by authorites.

~There have been several occurences around the world when something weird appeared on audio or video and it can't be confimed whether this was jsut a weird mistake or a pirating incident.

If anyone knows any others, it would be nice to hear.

[jollyxgreenexgiant]

The Joker, anyone?

[drussta]

$100,000 fine and a year in prison, that is absolute bullshit. for making a bunch of people watch garbled crap for 90 seconds. hardly a punishable crime... just spank him on the arse and send him on his way

[AtomicMyopia]

That was pre 9/11 now I bleave it's 500,000, and 10 years in prison.

[the06bug]

Half a million clams and ten in the pen? I didn't know that was possible

[drussta]

That's crazy! You do see it a lot in the movies, a terrorist taking over the air ways, it's the classic evil master mind plot. The high sentence is probably a deterrent for copycats. Not that they'll probably ever catch this guy...

[ShuChoMouff]

problem is, though, that he'd probably like that.

[j0rmis]

that's creepy :S

[matthaufan97]

I know what you mean

[blahlur]

I got so upset that I wanted to bust the tv set. Really, I did.

[radiorob1]

This guy is my hero!

[flacorocks70]

I remember seeing this in AZ with my Dad on WGN the night it interrupted the news! We were channel surfing (all 15 channels) and that came on and scared me at first. When the ass spanking commenced, my Dad was rolling! The next day at school I was tired as hell from not sleeping because I wanted to meet the person that pulled this off! GO CUBS!

[t3hfuhr3r]

Damn, that is BADASS!

[snideukorg]

This was SnideInc's finest moment. Under the mask is Vince Squarciari, now with SnideUK!

[Fattaman]

How do you know?

[Godgotron]

This reminds me so much of The Joker, not 1 but 2 stations at the same time! And he never got caught, only 1 other person who pirated a station in history search

" Captain Midnight Incident " the guy wrote a text message to HBO but got busted " Max is a legend!

[lucite11]

well, in American history...

[Godgotron]

I havent heard of any other pirating the Tv signals in any country other than Captain Midnight and Max in the US.

Military pirating doesnt count.

Public Acces doesnt count, were talking Major Tv stations pirated with civilian equipment.

So who else did pirate elsewhere then?

You seem to know something or are you just assuming...

[TheSaintOfPain]

Look up the 1977 Vrillon incident, where someone hijacked the audio of a UK news broadcast, with a message claiming to be an alien from the "Ashtar Galactic Command," and held the transmission for a little over 6 minutes. Whoever did that one never got caught, either.

[lucite11]

I suppose it could depend on how you define 'pirating' but I have heard of:

~An incident in 1987 when a religious activist actually hijacked Playboy TV channel for a few minutes. But that was also the USA, and I can't seem to find more info on it and no one seems to have a video of the incident

~In 1985 in Poland a protesting labor group(Solidarity) superimposed a graphic over a news broadcast, and later a detective show. Not sure if you'd consider this pirating

(watch?v=Lztemas2fFI)

[lucite11]

There's the famous Vrillon of the Ashtar Galactic Command broadcast in England in 1977Just google Vrillon for more info

(watch?v=wZSLzWjxEHA)

Although that was audio-only.

~In 2002 the Falun Gong religious group reportedly hacked into China's state television but no one seems to have video of the event

~I heard something vaguely about a political group in Italy in the 1990's hacking the audio portio only of a news program but can't find any further details

[TheSuperDude2]

i was actually watching this when this happened and got scared out of my life. this is why i hate it when i find screamers on youtube though now their not scary because your expecting them.

[TheSuperDude2]

so a guy called max headroom made a satteilite out of microwave power and used it to cut through an episode of doctor who with a weird mask on standing in front of a weird background at midnight thus scaring everyone watching and giving them nightmares.

Sounds like the work of an average american i think.

lol joke joke. not for reals

[YoPappee]

I would've crapped my pants if this happened at midnight in 1987.

[Fiddlesticks411]

I lol'd

[pipesmoker76]

if this happened now they would be called terroists..a joke..

[nascarandamdrag]

right you are!

[deadringersilence]

i lold

[preciousjewels89]

Wow, if that happened now we could all go online and see what happened or talk to others about it all over the area. But back then people just went to bed completely terrified! I can't even imagine! Just seeing the clip on YouTube was scary enough!

[tehasia]

That is double epic.

[SAc0balt]

I'm still waiting for the day someone in a Guy Fawkes mask cuts in on a broadcast from one of our State of the Union addresses.

[jackjingles]

tralk about picking te right tv show I live in th euk and would have filled my pants if that had have happened during the horror of fang rock!!!

[zufgh]

i love how you americans say doctor who LOL

[Yadoso]

I almost crapped myself, watching the uncut video. Freaky stuff.

[sonicfeet]

Did you also shit bricks when the fucknut got close to the screen and pointed at you?

[Japesh]

Pahaha. Classic IRL drama.

[tigergogoradio]

I remember when this happened. I didn't see it live cuz I don't live in Chicago but I remember being freaked out just watching it on the news. I was almost 10 yrs old and already was afraid of Max Headroom. This just about sent me over the edge.

[bchiefs222]

did they ever cath the guy?

[mpontmercy]

Never.

[LOLPr0nW33d]

20 years later, he's still at large.

[mrZeroSoulDude]

Nope. It wasnt like Cpt. Midnight, which the guy was traced. The microwave power was not easily tracable.

[ryanne320]

I can't imagine watching Dr. Who and some dude in a mask pops up getting spanked. That would probably weird me out a bit. LOL

[dfirest1]

I was staying up late watching that live! I had nightmares for about three weeks, then again, I was 5 at the time! Nobody had any idea what the hell happened

[mysteryword]

A whole bunch of weird sh1t happened in the 80's.

[mysteryword]

That would be kind of creepy.

[DoctorScissors]

"I got so upset that I wanted to bust the TV set." Man, what a dork.

I think the guy in the Max Headroom mask is totally cool.

Plus I'd love to be able to say I saw it when it happened. I did get to see Drew Barrymore flash Letterman when that happened!

[Kargaroc286]

at the 1.28 mark you can see the HBO in space open!

[trippolette06]

Catch the Wave!

[dgwaters]

You have to wonder, whatever did happened to the person who masterminded this. Who knows, he may have posted a comment or two on Youtube!

[indianawho]

oh i love that show and that should be done as a easter egg

[spasticnerfbag]

Thanks for posting this!

[Astro7Nut]

If I saw that while watching Dr.Who, I'd laugh my head off!!

[matman125]

Those tight-asses who watched Dr. Who deserved it.

[borgduck]

Hey! we're not that bad!! if I had seen that I would have enjoyed it!

[diddymuck]

mess with the news and sports all you want, jerk, but don't f... with Doctor Who!

[Synesthete78]

So who turned out to be "Captain Midnight"?And what happened to him. They said he was caught.

[spasticnerfbag]

Captain Midnight was a guy working as a satellite TV dealer in Ocala, Florida. He had to pay a fine and was put on a year's probation.

He now has his own satellite dish business in Ocala.

[07bcowpland]

i hope they got cout

[TheSaintOfPain]

Well, they didn't, and probably never will. And, apparently, the statute of limitations on the crime is over, so even if they came out and admitted it today, nothing could be done about it.

Why would you hope they got caught? They pirated a total of about 2 1/2 minutes or so of airtime, and the whole thing was harmless, and not very vulgar or anything. If there was some hardcore porn or murdering happening, it'd be different, but since there wasn't, wanting them to be caught is pointless.

[soulkinng]

I got upset by that mans Toup'e!

[mpn1990]

You'd never see the flyswatter scene rebroadcast on the news if this happened today.

[Rcrby525]

true, the FCC will have a field day

[PsycheofAphrodite]

I can just imagine the guy who said he was so mad he could have "busted the TV set" crying and screaming in agony because he was missing his Dr. Who. Nothing against the Who, but what an interesting thing to witness!

[IGExpandingPanda]

Well, keep in mind that the episode in question was first shown in 1977. It wouldn't shock me if 1987 was a first showing in that area. But most defiantly episodes where picked up on the affiliate level, so odds are the gent paid WTTW directly. And since it was clearly taped, it's pretty likely that this person, or someone, was attempting to build up a library of tapes for trade. It's star trek where at the time you could catch it again within months.

[SohokReactor]

What is it with Doctor Who fans and destroying televisions when they can't watch it anymore?

[skunktail6]

As a Doctor Who fan myself I speak in all honesty that we're not all like that!

It's not like they couldn't just re-run that episode again afterwards, besides all they missed was the part were Leela gets undressed and the Doctor finds a dead body.

[SohokReactor]

I am a Who fan myself. I was just wryly making a reference to Ian Levine's 1985 outburst via the Sun.

[VoltzCartoons]

Why do they have a penalty for tv pirating? Cant they take a joke? If it had extreme nudity or threats, then it would be different.

[0skaterkidd0]

you know, nothing like this has successfully happened since then

[FeellikeDirt]

The hacker should've skewered yuppies and Ronald Reagan while he was at it.