Print & Features Editor Jess Parker reviews the highly anticipated conclusion to the celebrated British comedy series Ghosts, praising the shows legacy but finding a rather unbecoming end in this last Christmas special
Spoiler warning for the Ghosts finale!
Brit-com favourite Ghosts released its final ever episode on Christmas Day 2023, bringing to a close the light-hearted BBC One sitcom that has been on air since April 2019. The episode ranked fourth in the UK Christmas TV viewing figures, reaching a staggering 4.4 million viewers. The episode comes off the back of Ghosts’ fifth series, which aired across October and November of this year.
The plot revolves around a ragtag gang of ghosts, Robin the Caveman (Laurence Rickard), Thomas Thorne the romantic poet (Matthew Baynton), Georgian ancestor Kitty (Lolly Adefope), Lady Button (Martha Howe-Douglas), Pat the Scoutmaster (Jim Howick), The Captain (Ben Willbond), and politician Julien (Simon Farnaby), who haunt Button House, a stately home in England. The manor house falls into the hands of married couple Alison (Charlotte Ritchie) and Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe). After falling from a window and almost losing her life, Alison is able to see and interact with the ghosts who reside there, becoming like family to the two across the show’s 5-year run. Ghosts is a staple of British TV … employing a style of humour that is comforting in its nostalgia
Ghosts is a staple of British TV, with its successes even prompting a US spinoff in 2021. The show was created by, written, and starring members of the original cast of beloved children’s factual entertainment show Horrible Histories (2009 -), employing a style of humour that is comforting in its nostalgia and recognisable impact on the British pop-culture canon.
Nearly five years in the making, the highly anticipated conclusion to Ghosts had a lot to live up to (pun intended), not only in terms of closing the entire story arc of the show but in terms of its previous Christmas special success. The episode, entitled ‘A Christmas Gift’, is the show’s fourth Christmas episode, and comes after December 2022’s heart-wrenching ‘It’s Behind You’, an episode that dug into Pat’s emotional familial past, giving a brief insight into the ghosts’ lives after death outside the confines of Button House. Alison and Mike leave Button House for a fresh start, which in their absence becomes a hotel
‘A Christmas Gift’ follows Alison and Mike in the run-up to Christmas after the birth of their first child Mia. Mike’s mum Betty (Lorna Gayle) decides to stay with them until they get settled, however, her indefinite stay begins to form tensions in the house. This, on top of the ever-present ghosts that become enamoured with Mia, causes Alison to struggle under the pressures of new motherhood, and ultimately seek a change. Alison and Mike leave Button House for a fresh start, which in their absence becomes a hotel. The episode ends as the pair visit the site at an older age, which it seems they have done many times before, and interact with the ghosts that they once cohabitated with. It is clunky in its conclusion, feeling hardly fleshed out and ultimately rather shocking for viewers of this well-known comfort show
Sadly, the ending feels rather rushed, with ‘A Christmas Gift’ focussing predominantly on the tensions surrounding Betty’s interference and giving little time for audiences to consume Alison and Mike’s decision to leave, and the couple’s returning to the house. This ending felt a little bit slapped on and hasty. It is clunky in its conclusion, feeling hardly fleshed out and ultimately rather shocking for viewers of this well-known comfort show.
Additionally, the idea of leaving Button House has been considered in the show before, and should not suit Alison and Mike, resulting in a rather glaring plot hole in this conclusion. In episode two, ‘Gorilla War’, we see Alison encountering ghosts outside of the house, and finding it impossible to find peace in a world that is full of the spirits of the dead. Unfortunately, Ghosts appears to have forgotten Series One’s difficulty with this issue and has instead opted for delivering Alison a lifetime of jump-scares and hauntings. Ghosts ends on an episode that pins the eponymous ghosts as entirely unlikeable
Sadly, Ghosts ends on an episode that pins the eponymous ghosts as entirely unlikeable for the vast majority of it and wraps up the overarching narrative with them simply being left behind. Although they have evidently grown through their newfound self-awareness throughout ‘A Christmas Gift’, it feels a shame for the final episode to be so lacklustre. The episode is without a doubt enjoyable, however, feels a little underwhelming for such a stand-out show.
Rating 3/5
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