Ghosts: The Possession of Button House

It’s forgivable to wince a little when you hear that a British sitcom is getting a movie spin-off. Whether you’re flashing way back to the risible likes of On the Buses and Are You Being Served?, or thinking more recently of the okay-not-so-bad Alan Partridge or The Inbetweeners, it’s hardly the gold-standard of big-screen comedy. So the bar is pretty low for Ghosts: The Possession of Button House, which rejoins the BBC show’s daffy, bickering band of spectres (played by theatre collective Them There/Horrible Histories gang plus the brilliant Lolly Adefope), who are eternally stranded in a semi-rural mansion.

Fortunately, the Ghosts movie floats comfortably over that bar by virtue of two crucial factors. Firstly, it has the exact same creative team (all of Them There, who co-write, plus director Simon Hynd) and as such faithfully imbibes the original series’ alcohol-free cocktail of cosy-comedy charm, cheeky edginess, political/social commentary, winking risqué-ness and light-touch sentimentality. While there aren’t really any big laughs, it maintains a steady flow of pleasantly gentle chuckles, right up to the moment when you realise you’re shedding a tear or two because, damn their eyes, you really do love these silly characters. 

A delightful, Ealing-esque caper with added body-swap shenanigans

Secondly, the movie manages to avoid the ‘extended episode’ pit-trap by inventively progressing the ‘sit’ of the com and expanding its narrative horizons, without resorting to ‘they all go on holiday’ cliché. In short, not giving too much away, the ghosts discover they can possess people, leading to a delightful, Ealing-esque kinda-crime caper with added body-swap shenanigans. This allows for some fresh faces, most notably I Swear’s Scott Ellis Watson as a foster kid whose body is usurped by sleazy Tory Julian (Simon Farnaby), while his stranded spirit must deal with the well-meaning but clumsy attentions of away-with-the-fairies Regency lady Kitty (Adefope), cringey ’80s scoutmaster Pat (Jim Howick) and their intangible chums. Who, by the way, also need to contend with an influx of eco-protestors, unhappy with plans to turn Button House into a hotel and golf course.

As the film’s emotional core, Watson has a tough job, especially given he spends part of the time imitating Farnaby (though mostly we see Farnaby himself in Watson’s hoodie), but thankfully he’s up to the task. Of course, really we’re here for the ghosts, and the ensemble are sure to give each of their characters (two in the case of Laurence Rickard) their moments, without muddling the action. Though be warned: there’s no hand-holding for the newly initiated. We dive straight into events following the show’s finale, and there are no reintroductions. But that’s fine. If you’ve not seen it yet, just watch all of Ghosts before heading to the cinema to see the latest goofy-ghoulie adventure

In UK and Ireland cinemas Fri Oct 24.