The BBC is officially bringing Ghosts back to life – with the sitcom returning after three years off our screens.
Button House’s supernatural residents are haunting the broadcaster once again in a feature film, confirmed just days after the cast hinted at the show’s return.
Creators and stars Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond will reprise their roles in the one-off special alongside Lolly Adefope, Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe.
Announcing the news, the writers and stars said on Friday (27 February): “We thought we had said goodbye to Button House at the end of the final series.
“We never planned to come back. But when we had the idea for this story, we all got so excited that we couldn’t resist returning to our haunted home for one more adventure. We can’t wait to be together and to welcome some brilliant new faces, to tell this soul-stirring tale of life and death.”
Baynton also took to Instagram to show a behind-the-scenes picture of the cast and creatives. “Yes, we are making a film!” he wrote. “GHOSTS: The Possession of Button House. We are so excited to be doing this and very grateful to everyone who is making it happen.”
The BBC is yet to reveal which new cast members are joining the project, however comedian Rufus Jones confirmed on X that he was taking on a role in the show.
“Having begun my career with many of these idiots in the illustrious portakabins of the Edinburgh Fringe, it is a very, very special thing to be joining this,” he said. The Independent has contacted the BBC for comment.
While little is known about the plot of Ghosts: The Possession of Button House, producer Alison Carpenter teased that “die-hard fans and newcomers are in for a real treat”.
Filming is set to being at West Horsley Place – the backdrop for Button House – in Surrey in March. Lionsgate will distribute the film in the UK with BBC Studios distributing it worldwide.
It comes after the show’s cast sent fans into a frenzy earlier this week after sharing a hint at its comeback.
Farnaby and Howe-Douglas, who play poltergeists Julian Fawcett MP and Edwardian Stephanie “Fanny” Button, were among the stars who shared a video of the Button House door swinging open. Fans were quick to speculate that it was a sign that Ghosts would be coming back, with one writing on X: “It must be coming back! Pleeeeeeeeeeeease??!!”
Others were spot-on with their predictions, with a viewer writing: “Fingers crossed it’s movie time for the sublime Ghosts.”
The BBC One sitcom aired from 2019 until 2023, following couple Alison (Ritchie) and Mike Cooper (Smith-Bynoe) after they inherit a mansion from a distant relative that turns out to be haunted by ghosts. After being pushed out of a window by one of them, Alison gains the ability to see, hear and communicate with the supernatural gang.
Ghosts was received well by fans and critics alike, and received a nomination for the Scripted Comedy Bafta Award and Comedy Writer Bafta Craft Award in 2021.
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