Ghosts (2019 TV series)

Alison Cooper unexpectedly inherits the vast but crumbling Button House from a 99-year-old distant female relative of hers. The house is haunted by numerous squabbling ghosts from across the ages who died on its grounds, who are invisible and intangible to the living. Ignoring their solicitor's advice to sell the property, Alison and her husband Mike decide to move in and renovate it, with the idea of turning the house into a luxury hotel. At first, the ghosts are not very happy with their plans and conspire to get rid of the newcomers. After various failed attempts to scare them, one of the ghosts pushes Alison from an upstairs window, resulting in Alison being clinically dead for three minutes. When she awakes two weeks later from an induced coma, she discovers her husband has arranged a huge mortgage, and that she can see the ghosts due to her moments of death.[11]

Initially imagining the ghosts to be an after-effect of her accident, Alison eventually accepts the truth and confronts them. Because neither she (for financial reasons) nor the ghosts (who are bound to the mansion’s land for eternity) can leave, both sides eventually agree that they have no choice but to coexist as best they can. Meanwhile, the house requires a lot of work, and Alison and Mike devise several schemes to assist their perilous finances.[3]

West Horsley Place in Surrey, which appears as Button House in the series.

According to Mathew Baynton, the idea of a haunted house was one of the first ideas the writers developed after the end of Horrible Histories. However, they were initially uncertain because there was "no jeopardy that we could write into it" and they created the sitcom Yonderland for Sky One instead. However, after the ending of that series, they "realised the boredom of eternity and the existential aspects of the ghosts idea was unique...We realised it was a house-share sitcom – and as soon as you stop thinking about those kind of major drama stakes, you unlock a story that is really domestic and petty."[14] Mike and Alison, the two living characters, were introduced as a foil to the ghosts, as well as to introduce "the stakes, the worries about money, life and everything you need for a story".[14]

Writing in Broadcast, Jim Howick notes that the 2016 episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, in which EastEnders actor Danny Dyer discovered he was related to Edward III of England, formed the basis of the idea of Alison: "We loved the idea of Danny Dyer's royal lineage...We've mirrored this with our character Alison, who discovers her aristocratic roots, which she embraces immediately and takes on with relish".[15]

Baynton recalled that BBC head of comedy commissioning Shane Allen was looking for a pre-watershed primetime sitcom for BBC One. During the writing process, the intention was to make an adult show, but one that would appeal to older children, along the lines of Blackadder: "We wanted to do something that has a properly creaky atmosphere. I love the idea that some kids might stay up for it. It's great as a kid when you think something isn't quite for you and it's a bit cheekier."[15] In the event, the programme was scheduled at 9.30 on Monday evenings after the sitcom Not Going Out. Baynton noted in the i newspaper that as the original audience of Horrible Histories would now be grown up, "hopefully we're making something so they can continue to watch us!"[16]

Baynton said the Tim Burton film Beetlejuice provided the writers a "useful tonal reference" as did The Rocky Horror Show. Jim Howick, addressing its similarity to the 1970s series Rentaghost noted most of the writers were either slightly too young or too old to have watched it, but the series did make knowing use of many of the clichés of horror programmes, such as headless Tudor noblemen.[15]

The programme is filmed at West Horsley Place in Surrey, England, a large country house unexpectedly inherited by the writer and former University Challenge presenter Bamber Gascoigne in 2014 from his great aunt, the Duchess of Roxburghe, under circumstances not dissimilar to those depicted in the series.[17][18] Some scenes were also filmed on London Road and Clandon Road in nearby Guildford[19] with outside images of the famous Bettys Tea Rooms in Harrogate, North Yorkshire rebranded as "Sandrine's" in the penultimate scene of the final episode of season three.

Filming of the second series started on 13 January 2020. On 12 September 2020 Baynton tweeted that the second series would begin airing on 21 September 2020 on BBC One.[20] The series was moved to a pre-watershed slot of 8.30pm.[21]

Production on the third series began in early 2021[22] and finished on 7 April 2021.[23] It premiered on 9 August 2021.[24]

Critical reception to the series has been positive. Stuart Jeffries in The Guardian wrote that "In making us giggle at the supernatural, Ghosts is very British – a mash-up of Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), not to mention the manifold sillinesses of Hammer [film] horrors. But it is American in the sense of having a gag-to-airtime ratio much higher than British sitcoms normally manage these days."[11] Michael Hogan in The Daily Telegraph was similarly positive, comparing it to the 1970s children's sitcom Rentaghost but noting that "This deliriously daft supernatural romp, however, was none the worse for that."[4]

Susannah Butter in the Evening Standard said the first episode reminded her of a property show, watching the couple view a terrible flat, before making their escape to the country. She was critical of the post-watershed scheduling of 9.30pm, saying "it feels like a show that children would enjoy" and noting "This is a gentle ensemble comedy. Alison and Mike are wide-eyed, charming and likeable. I would gladly have them as friends, even though they can't sing...Nothing about this show is scary."[3] Carol Midgley in The Times was also confused by the scheduling, noting that "Ghosts is smut[-] and swearword-free" and calling it "a curiously life-affirming comedy about death".[2]

Contrasting it with the bleak "sadcoms" such as Fleabag and After Life, Pat Stacey in the Irish Independent noted "It's joyously, infectiously silly, yet at the same time whip-smart. It's just the ticket to scare those sadcom blues away."[29]

A second series was announced a week after the transmission of episode 6.[30] The BBC Press Office announcement noted it received a consolidated average of 3.7 million viewers across the series, highlighting its popularity with 16–34 year-old viewers.[30] On 8 October 2019, Rickard confirmed that a third series had also been commissioned.[31][5]

In April 2021, the sitcom was nominated for the Scripted Comedy BAFTA Award and the Comedy Writer BAFTA Craft Award.[32]

In December 2021, the BBC announced that Ghosts would return for a fourth series. [33]

An American adaptation of the series was announced on 29 November 2019 by CBS.[34] On 4 February 2020, it was announced that a pilot had been ordered to be produced by BBC Studios, Lionsgate Television and CBS Studios.[35] On 4 March 2020, Rose McIver was cast in the pilot.[36] On 1 July 2020, Utkarsh Ambudkar was also cast.[37] On 9 December 2020, additional casting of Brandon Scott Jones, Richie Moriarty, Asher Grodman, Rebecca Wisocky, Sheila Carrasco, Danielle Pinnock and Roman Zaragoza was announced.[38] On 31 March 2021, it was announced that a full series had been ordered.[39] The series premiered on 7 October 2021.[40] On 24 January 2022, the series was renewed for a second season.[41]

• Ghosts at BBC Online
• Ghosts at IMDb
• Ghosts at British Comedy Guide