Ghosts is bowing out for good with a Christmas special, which brings high emotion and big change for the residents of Button House.
The episode, airing on BBC One on Christmas Day at 7.45 pm, sees Alison (Charlotte Ritchie) and Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe) welcome their first baby, which delights their ghostly housemates. But trouble brews when Mike’s mum Betty (Sutara Gayle) moves in to lend a hand.
While her well-meant fussing drives Alison and Mike crazy, she also starts to suspect that the stately home might be haunted, which could have big repercussions for the ghosts…
What to Watch chatted to two of the show’s co-creators – Jim Howick, who plays spectral scoutmaster Pat, and Laurence Rickard, who portrays Tudor phantom Headless Humphrey and caveman Robin – to find out more about the Ghosts Christmas special…
Ghosts is coming to an end with its Christmas special. What can you reveal about the episode?
Laurence: "The show is about living people and dead people, so you're never going to have that ending of them all moving to Greece!"
Jim: "It will be emotional, that’s unavoidable when you're dealing with a last episode. The idea was always to keep it as upbeat as possible though and not venture too much into the supernatural. We wanted it to resonate on a human level."
Was it tough for you to film your final scenes?
Jim: "Yes, the last shot we did, we kept improvising and carrying on, because we didn’t want them to say ‘Cut!’ I’m going to miss it."
Laurence: "It should feel like a wrench though. Because we've had a joy making it, selfishly, we could have gone, ‘Let's keep doing it.’ But even with all the kind things people have said about the recent last series, we’ve not gone, ‘We've made a mistake in ending it.’”
What impact does the arrival of Mike and Alison’s baby have on the ghosts?
Laurence: “The ghosts are a family and they all have that dynamic with Alison and Mike, but when this child arrives, they realise, ‘Actually, that’s the family.’ Some of them handle that worse than others! Kitty [the childish Georgian played by Lolly Adefope] has always felt kinship with Alison and she’s the baby of the gang, so jealousy comes in!”
It sounds like Betty could cause problems too…
Laurence: “We see generationally how parenting has changed and that’s tricky for grandparents. The issue is compounded because Mike and Alison live in this big house in the middle of nowhere and they’re all stranded together!"
Jim: “Yes, we liked the idea of Betty's involvement stimulating a burst of opinion from all the ghosts and there’s friction and a chain reaction.”
What was it like working with the twins who share the role of Alison and Mike’s baby?
Jim: "Surprisingly, they liked Robin most!"
Laurence: “I was keeping my distance, thinking, ‘Will Robin scar them for life?!’ But they seemed intrigued and probably just thought, ‘That's the strangest thing I've seen in the weeks I've been alive!’”
Does it still feel special for Ghosts to be a centrepiece of the Christmas schedule, particularly with the final episode?
Jim: “Yes, it’s a massive deal. When we were offered our first Christmas special [in 2020], there was a sense of achievement and privilege.”
Laurence: “A Christmas special feels like a natural fit with the tone of the show because it is about different generations coming together. There's melancholy and wintryness but also warmth and fun. It’s lovely when the tree goes up!”
Finally, in the special, Robin is struggling to get into the festive spirit. What makes you both feel Christmassy?!
Laurence: “I like it when the lights go up. As a kid, we’d do a tour of the neighbourhood with my parents and see the houses who had gone nuts with the lights and decorations!”
Jim: “I cook the Christmas dinner most years, so it’s all about food! And I love the two days pre-Christmas Day when there's a feel of magic in the air!”
Ghosts airs on Christmas Day on BBC One at 7.45pm.
