When the final episode of the hit television sitcom Ghosts aired in December 2023, the narrative appeared to reach a definitive conclusion. The central storylines involving Charlotte Ritchie’s character, Alison, and the spectral inhabitants of her inherited manor house were neatly resolved as the spirits urged her to sell the property to a hotel developer. The finale proved emotionally charged for both viewers and the production team behind the scenes. As well as for the cast and crew behind the scenes, it was a tearjerker of an episode for the millions of people who watched it. Having met while making the Horrible Histories TV show almost two decades ago, and continued with the sitcom Yonderland and the 2015 Shakespeare comedy film Bill, the Ghosts team are now veterans.
Co-creator Mathew Baynton, who portrays the romantic poet Thomas, revealed that the cast initially intended the series finale to be their final project together. He recalled that the team was in tears on the last day of filming. Cast member Lolly Adefope, who plays Kitty, shared a similar sense of loss, comparing the end of the show to a party where everyone else was departing. Director Simon Hynd noted that while the ending was clear and the creators felt the characters had been fully explored, he observed a visible sense of regret among the team. “I was so upset that it finished,” adds Lolly Adefope, who plays the excitable Kitty, from the better structured end of the chaise. “It was like being at a party and you guys were leaving.”. I was translating for you,” she smiles back. You know, the big swan song,” replies Rickard, that prompts a slightly more uneasy response. “This does sort of feel like. Their work together now largely consisting of tweeting hatred at each other, even Monty Python ran out of films and shows in less time.
Despite the initial finality, the troupe has reunited for a feature film titled Ghosts: The Possession of Button House. Executive Alison Carpenter at Monumental Pictures originally pitched the idea of securing film funding, though the creators initially dismissed the concept over concerns that it might feel like an artificially stretched 90-minute television episode.
Co-creator and star Laurence Rickard, who plays both the caveman Robin and the decapitated nobleman Sir Humphrey Bone, noted that the break was significant. The first year after the television series wrapped marked the first time in 18 years that the core creative team had not worked together on a project. However, a group discussion among the six creators—including Baynton, Rickard, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, and Ben Willbond—prompted a rapid shift in perspective. A brain-storming session starting at 9:30 a.m. quickly yielded a breakthrough by 11:00 a.m. “It was the fastest turnaround ever,” laughs Rickard. “We went in at 9:30am going ‘I mean, it’s nice to see everyone, but I think the answer is probably no’ – and then by 11 o’clock, we were going, ‘We have to do this.’”. “Oh, we’ve got that phase to look forward to,” laughs Rickard. “I’ve been drafting some of that stuff.”. Rickard is the one who seems to have most keenly felt the absence of Ghosts: “The first year after the series stopped was the first time that we hadn’t done something together in 18 years.
The central breakthrough was a narrative revolving around spectral possession, which allowed one of the ghosts to venture beyond the grounds of Button House. The team drew inspiration from classic cinematic touchstones of their youth, referencing the body-swap dynamics of Big, the fading timeline stakes of Back to the Future, and the youth-led group adventure style of The Goonies.
The resulting film preserves the original series’ mixture of absurdity—such as a Ouija board spelling out ‘Leave’ in reference to Brexit—and deep emotional beats, including a poignant moment involving a scotch egg. Director Simon Hynd was brought onto the project late last year, managing a fast turnaround to organize the ensemble cast. With its unique mix of sharp absurdity (at one point a Ouija board spells out ‘Leave’ to make a point about Brexit) and near-debilitating emotional notes (you may never again look at a scotch egg without crying), the resulting film is still very much Ghosts. Without giving too much away, a roomful of characters old and new flit in and out of tangibility. “It took me a minute,” he says. “I had to keep asking Simon who I was supposed to be able to see.”, this challenge was doubled for the film’s climax when.
Structuring the feature presented unique writing challenges, but the team relied on their experience from television. Baynton explained that their established method relied on multi-thread narratives, where individual storylines were delivered in brief, concentrated moments. The film credit is shared among all six creators, who rotated writing duties depending on availability, allowing those returning from breaks to offer fresh perspectives on narrative roadblocks. “With the series, we got so used to writing multi-thread narratives,” explains Baynton. “In any episode, the actual stories are told in two or three brief moments, so that had become our mode of writing anyway.”. According to was that a hard thing to accomplish? “It was just a process of who was around at what time,”, Baynton. “So sometimes it was two of us, sometimes three or four.
The film’s plot also reintegrates Alison and her husband Mike, played by Kiell Smith-Bynoe, into the story despite their departure from Button House. Smith-Bynoe expressed satisfaction with his character arc, noting that Mike gets an opportunity to prove himself. However, executing the film’s climax was complex, as Smith-Bynoe had to navigate scenes where characters rapidly shifted between tangible and intangible states, requiring frequent visual guidance from the director. As Mike is often the only person on screen who isn’t a ghost and can’t interact with them, smith-Bynoe has arguably always had the hardest acting job on Ghosts. A lot of this is simply muscle memory.
In addition to the returning core cast, the movie introduces new child actors. Scott Ellis Watson, previously known for playing young John Davidson in I Swear, joined the cast in a standout role where he impersonates a dead middle-aged Tory MP. Adefope bonded with the younger cast members over TikTok and memes, acting as an intermediary between the generations on set.
Addressing the future of the franchise, Baynton clarified that no additional projects are currently in secret development. While Rickard joked that his aging appearance makes a spinoff centered on the caveman Robin a viable idea, both creators emphasized that they genuinely love working together and would gladly continue collaborating on future projects if funding permits. My makeup call would get shaved right down.”.
