Enjoying your new-found freedom? Then spare a thought for the spooks in BBC1’s BAFTA-nominated sitcom Ghosts, which is back for a third run. They’re confined to the country house they all died in for eternity… no wonder they’re squabbling.
Created by the team behind Horrible Histories, many of whom appear in the show, the family-friendly comedy centres on young married couple Alison and Mike (Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe).
They inherited derelict Button House… and its ghosts, who include a Second World War officer, a Conservative MP and a scout leader.
Alison tries to appease them as she and Mike turn their property into a guest house (the last thing the ghosts want is humans invading their home), but only Alison can see and interact with them, which leaves her husband, who knows they’re there, often baffled.
Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe star as married couple Alison and Mike in the third season of BBC1’s Ghosts
All eyes will be on Alison in the new series, says co-writer Martha Howe-Douglas, who plays the Edwardian Lady Button.
‘Alison has a big emotional journey,’ she reveals. ‘There’s more pressure on her and Mike financially. And something – or someone – turns up and jeopardises that.’
Charlotte Ritchie, best known for her role as Call The Midwife’s Barbara Hereward, is not giving much away about the new arrival.
‘This person is very unexpected and poses a bit of a challenge to Mike and me and our plans,’ she says cryptically. ‘It kind of leaves everybody warring a little bit. Essentially, there’s a question over them and who they are.’
Alison is increasingly accepting of the ghosts though, despite Mike’s antipathy. ‘It’s a difficult balance to strike, about how Mike feels about the ghosts, because they take his wife away from him a lot and mess up his life,’ laughs Charlotte. ‘But Alison’s definitely protective over them now.’
This time round some of the ghosts’ deaths are examined in further detail. In episode one, Humphrey (played by Laurence Rickard) – a Tudor aristocrat whose chopped off bonce is often seen rolling off his body into dusty corners – tells the others his surprising story after a documentary being made at Button House reveals he facilitated a plot to overthrow Elizabeth I.
‘Humphrey is more vocal now, and there’s a bit of exploration of his character,’ explains Laurence. ‘It was tremendously good fun and quite a departure from what we’ve done with Humphrey before.’
We also discover more about how Conservative MP Julian Howell (Simon Farnaby) met his scandalous death at Button House in 1993.
The death of Tudor aristocrat Humphrey (pictured), played by Laurence Rickard, is examined in episode one
‘We see him moments after he dies, which were my favourite scenes to film,’ says Simon.
‘He’s dealing with having just died without any trousers on and realising that he will now have to spend eternity trouserless. We explore his reaction to becoming a ghost, and I really enjoyed that.’
Filmed at West Horsley Place, a 15th-century manor house in Surrey, the sitcom also has Not Going Out’s Katy Wix as the ghost of a witch trial victim burned at the stake and This Time With Alan Partridge’s Lolly Adefope as Kitty, a strangely naive Regency lady.
As a history-themed farce with jokes aimed at all ages the show’s been a huge hit and was nominated for a BAFTA.
‘It’s amazing to be able to appeal to both young and old,’ Charlotte says. ‘It makes kids feel good to watch a show that adults like too. Ghosts doesn’t talk down to them, and I think that’s rare.’
So after two series of playing a character who lives in a haunted house, does she now believe in ghosts?
‘It does make me think that if ghosts do exist they’re cowards, because they only come out at night,’ she laughs. ‘I don’t think I believe in them, but I am scared of them!’
Ghosts starts on Monday at 8.30pm on BBC1.