Ghosts story
After five seasons of BBC comedy Ghosts, costume designer Lucy Williams, production designer Andrew Lavin and producer Pat Tookey-Dickson take DQ behind the scenes at Button House to find out how the series – and its titular occupants – were brought to life. Since its debut in 2019, BBC comedy Ghosts has amassed a dedicated fanbase on its way to becoming one of the best shows on television. That much was clear by the hundreds of people who packed a special BFI screening ahead of the series’ fifth and final season, dressing up as characters from the show and cheering every moment from the opening two episodes. Dedicated fans can even enjoy filming tours at West Horsley Place, the Grade I listed medieval manor house in Surrey that doubled for the grand – but very dilapidated – Button House, home to the show’s resident ghosts. For those not accustomed to the Ghosts phenomenon, the series comes from writers, creators and stars Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond, members of the Them There collective known for previous collaborations such as Yonderland, Bill and another BBC comedy, Horrible Histories. They all play the show’s ghosts – romantic poet Thomas (Baynton), disgraced politician Julian (Farnaby), Edwardian Lady Button (Howe-Douglas), scout leader Pat (Jim Howick), caveman Robin (Rickard), headless Tudor nobleman Humphrey (Rickard again) and Army officer The Captain (Willbond) – together with Lolly Adefope (as excitable Georgian noblewoman Kitty) and Katy Wix (witch trial victim Mary, … Continue reading Ghosts story
