TV GHOUL-D
Behind the scenes of the Ghosts Christmas Special
Ghosts is back on our television screens this December for a Christmas Special. We met up with some of the hit BBC show’s talented creators and performers during the last days of filming…
When creating Ghosts, was it clear which one of you would inhabit which character? Larry Rickard (Robin, the caveman): The only thing I remember being really sure about, was that I didn’t want to play the caveman! I always seem to have to do lots of make-up [in previous shows] but I did like the idea of having the oldest ghost we could think of. So I said, ‘Yes, all right, I will do it, but only if we just use that character really sparingly’. But once we made the taster tape we all thought that character looked like a lot of life and fun.
How long does Robin’s make-up take?
Larry: Two and a half hours, and about 45 minutes to take it all of f. Long enough!
You must have been delighted with the public reaction to Ghosts.
Ben Willbond (The Captain):
It was lovely. We were really ner vous, I was just watching the first series thinking, ‘Please like it!’ and tr ying not to look at Twitter. So yes, really surprised and genuinely grateful.
Charlotte Ritchie (Alison):
There were people I really didn’t expect to enjoy it, who just loved it. I think it is a ver y warm show and people seem to respond to that so much. Larry: We all slightly sor t of mentally braced ourselves to that kicking that you can get when you do a primetime sitcom and it was tremendously gratifying and a huge relief that people responded to it how they did.
Ghosts is filmed at West Horsley Place in Surrey. Just as Alison inherits ‘Button House’, the mansion really was a surprise inheritance for academic and former University Challenge presenter Bamber Gascoigne in 2014
It was cer tainly beyond our expectations.
Filming in the winter must be so cold for you in shorts, Jim – and Julian without trousers.
Jim Howick (Pat, the adventure club leader): It can be ver y cold. We have a night scene for the Christmas Special, where I am stood watching. Often you are stood still in these frames because we have to get so many people in the shot, we don’t really move ver y much. So that doesn’t really help with keeping warm.
Simon Farnaby (Julian, the MP): Julian’s stor y is in the Christmas special. His past is revealed a bit, so I do get to wear trousers!
able to dip into. It’s really fun, from a visual point of view as well. We have transformed rooms in the house into a few dif ferent periods, and there is something really exciting about seeing it in its former glor y or former states.
There must be challenges relating to how the ghosts act and appear…
Mat: We have had to invent our own rules about the ghosts. The way I see it, the whole thing is a sor t of an illusion anyway, it is their perception. They can see their breath in the air because that’s their perception of themselves, as if they are alive.
Larry: You always get some people who say, ‘How come they are able to stand on the floor but they can walk through walls?’ We tend to be as exhaustive as we can when it comes to establishing ‘rules’ for our show, but as soon as you star t to apply science to it, it all star ts to fall down.
Amongst other productions,
West Horsley Place featured in ITV’s Vanity Fair, which starred Mathew Baynton. His experiences inspired the memorable episode of Ghosts in series 1 when a period drama is filmed at Button House
Any ghostly occurrences during filming? Mat Baynton (Thomas the Romantic poet): On series one there were lots of whisperings of people saying things like, ‘I felt breath on my neck’ and there are some places that are par ticularly cold here and you go, ‘Ooh, this is spooky.’ But then you think, ‘Well, it’s cold because it has no heating!’ At the same time, we all agree it wouldn’t be ideal to spend a night here in the dark!
Have you enjoyed portraying the different ghosts’ backstories?
Mat: It is one of the really fun things to do. It is like a treasure trove that we are
We can’t wait for the Ghosts Christmas Special on BBC 1 this year…
Ben: It was a nice surprise [to be asked by the BBC]! And then, after being nicely surprised and going ‘Yes!’ we went, ‘Ooh, that’s quite a big job!’ But suddenly lots of ideas came out and it was fine. It was fun to do research for [the different ghosts’] historical periods on their attitude to Christmas.
It’s a bright but ver y chilly day when I pick my way through the cluster of production trailers towards the front door of “Button House”. I’m over the “moonah” (Ghosts fans will understand!) to be visiting the filming of one of my favourite shows and to meet a group of writers and per formers I’ve enjoyed watching since their Horrible Histories days.
Robin (Laurence Rickard) is there in the door way, rather incongruously sporting a cosy Puffa jacket over his animal skins as he checks his phone messages during a break.
I ndoors, coats and scar ves remain essential wear – only a few of the rooms are heated. West Horsley Place is undergoing an ambitious restoration programme and funds have so far been prioritised on more urgent needs. Some of the rooms on the restoration to-do list suit the premise of the dilapidated Button House per fectly, but the show’s talented ar t depar tment add touches such as cobwebs and peeling paint for filming, restoring ever ything to good order after the shoot has completed.
Today, crew members navigate paint pots and ladders as they zip around with props, tools and cables.
Alison (Charlotte Ritchie), Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe) and all their spooky housemates are busy filming, along with some new faces; in the stor yline, Mike’s family have come to stay for Christmas. While cameras reset during the afternoon, I enjoy chats with various cast members, smiling to myself at the thought of several career firsts. I’ve never inter viewed “ghosts” before and cer tainly not a caveman, a man with an arrow through his neck nor a Romantic poet, let alone together! Later, as I tour the house, I learn how some of the show’s special effects have been achieved, and how all the rooms multi-task on film and behind the camera.
I’m allowed a peek at one of the Christmas scenes being filmed in the kitchen, watching on a monitor in a small adjacent room. Around 20 crew are crammed in there, along with a fair amount of technical kit. There’s barely space to breathe out, and much shuffling ensues as make-up ar tists dash in and out between takes, to powder out shines or replace stray locks of hair. The appearance of the ghost characters must remain consistent throughout.
There are up to 80 members of cast and crew on set during the filming of Ghosts, which makes filming rather tricky in some of the smaller
rooms
I realise that Julian (Simon Farnaby) is watching the monitor over my shoulder. Behind us in the corridor, Thomas (Mat Baynton) writes a note and passes it to a crew member who takes it to the cast in front of the camera. A tweak in the script? A suggested improvement?
“There is such a shared language and shor thand when we write, but also on set,”
Mat had explained earlier about this award-winning creative team, who have worked together for 12 years. “If something doesn’t feel funny enough, we can turn to someone else and see if they
Supporting artists due to appear in scenes set in the Medieval plague village, just before filming ended in advance of lockdown, could not be brought in to take part, due – ironically – to the outbreak of the real
pandemic
Watch closely in the kitchen scenes and you might spot the Penny Farthing which formerly belonged to Bamber Gascoigne. He used to ride it around Cambridge while at university have some inspiration. I think other actors are sometimes surprised by how readily we give each other notes – in general, the idea of one actor giving another a note in a scene is just breaking an unwritten law.”
F ilming recommences with the cast repeating their dialogue again. Even four th time around, I have to stifle a laugh – silence is a must for being allowed in this room.
“I think that the ghosts are almost like family to Alison now,” says Charlotte of her character. Watching the easy camaraderie between cast and crew, it’s clear the same ease extends across the set.
“I always feel, working with this group, more relaxed and safer than I do on any other job,” Mat explains. “We make each other laugh ever y single day.”
I can’t wait for December’s Christmas Special. And when that kitchen scene appears, I’ll think wistfully of being crammed into the room next door with a ghostly MP peering over my shoulder!
Look out for the Ghosts Christmas Special on BBC One over the festive period.