Rent Ghosts (2019 - 2023)

Ghosts review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

Ghosts is a simple premise that is thankfully a strong foundation for some supernatural silliness. The show centers around a married couple, Alison and Mike, who have just come into possession of an old house belonging to Alison’s descendants. If only those walls could talk. Unfortunately, they do. Alison receives a bonk to the head and now finds that she is able to communicate with the ghosts who haunt her new home.

Well, haunt might be a strong word. The ghosts are a quirky sort of various generations that struggle to get along with living in the realm of the paranormal. Kitty (Lolly Adefope) is a chipper Georgian noblewoman that is an absolute charmer, more than making up for her inability to understand the world. Thomas Thorne (Mathew Baynton) is a romantic poet finding it difficult to compose a new combination of words. Julian Fawcett (Simon Farnaby) is an MP who died with his pants down and is one of the youngest ghosts who is mildly aware enough of the modern world. The same can’t be said for Lady Stephanie 'Fanny' Button (Martha Howe-Douglas) an Edwardian elder with an old-fashioned look at the world, causing her to critique everything Alison does in the modern world. Patrick ‘Pat’ Butcher (Jim Howick) is one of the nicest ghosts who always find a bright side despite having died after a student shot an arrow through his neck. Captain (Ben Willbond) is a secretively gay army officer of the second world war, aiming to keep to a routine and assume some form of order. Robin (Laurence Rickard) is…well, he’s pretty just a caveman.

The many ghosts vie for Alison’s attention and try to keep the home more of a place where spirits can feel at home. She also translates for Mike, trying to get used to living in a house full of ghosts that only his wife can speak towards. While the ghosts are unique for their many personalities, they also have their own powers that are rather clever. I liked how there are limitations to such powers as well, mostly activated with how they touch the world of mortals. For example, Julian can move objects but only with his pinky and only if he concentrates hard enough to focus his energies. Robin, despite being a caveman, embodies the power to manipulate lights.

Most episodes find Alison and Mike trying to find ways to make money and keep themselves above water. This can lead to some funny sequences as when a period-piece drama decides to shoot on their location. Of course, the old house leads to some disaster that derails the filming, as if the ghosts weren’t interfering enough. Another darkly hilarious development is when a plague pit is discovered in the basement, leading to both an archeologist investigating and an unearthing of even more ghosts.

The biggest draw of the series is the amazing chemistry of the characters. They all have such pitch-perfect comedy in how they interact, going above and beyond the standard only-one-who-can-see-ghosts humor. The charm of Kitty is infectious, especially for how horny she becomes when the world of sex finally becomes more vivid and explained to her naive mind. Robin has this keen sense of learning about the world that makes him all the more compelling. Button is just the perfect reactionary to get all flustered at the world around her. Butcher is just downright adorable that even when the ghosts admit their guilt in causing Alison stress, his conscience seems as clean as a whistle.

Ghosts is a series that quickly works its magic and me entranced by its handful of seasons. It’s easy enough to see why the show lasted as long as it did and had an American remake. As a combination of both darky comedy embracing horror and heartfelt drama centering around past and future, this is such a feel-good show for a program where over half the cast is playing dead people.