The Big Picture

• The original UK version of Ghosts, created by a collective of comedians, writers, and actors, stands out due to their friendship and collaboration.
• The UK version of Ghosts feels fresh and natural, with jokes that are not recycled, while the US version tends to rely on flat character types.
• Them There, the team behind the UK version, had the opportunity to end the series on their own terms, providing a satisfying conclusion for fans.

America has had its fair share of television shows that originated in the United Kingdom. Remakes are a common thread on American TV, whether it’s Strictly Come Dancing becoming Dancing With the Stars, or narrative shows being ported over to a different audience, including Being Human, Life on Mars, and more. Each has had varying degrees of success, based on how well the concept translates to American humor, but none has perhaps been more successful lately than Ghosts, a supernatural comedy that arrived on our shores in 2021, after the original version premiered in Britain in 2019.

Where some American remakes try to alter their premises to better fit the tastes of a much larger country, both versions of Ghosts remain largely the same on the surface: a couple (played by Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe in the UK, and Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar in the U.S.) inherits a large, rundown manor house that they intend to turn into a hotel. Little do they know, the house is crawling with ghosts of all kinds, and when half of the couple has a near-death accident that grants her the ability to see them, things go awry as they must learn to manage their new home and the needs of the spirits haunting it.

It’s a simple concept, propelled just as much by its cast of characters as its interesting premise. The UK version is still as much of a success as ever, finally coming to an end after five seasons and a new Christmas special that was released in December 2023. The team behind Ghosts also produced a book giving a special inside look at the characters of the series and continue to receive massive amounts of love from fans, who each have their favorites out of the rowdy pack of specters determined to find peace in Button House.

'Ghosts' UK Is Defined by Its Creators

But more importantly, that team is exactly what makes the original version of Ghosts so special. While the U.S. version was developed as a spin-off adaptation by Joe Port and Joe Wiseman, the original series came from the minds of Them There, a collective of comedians, writers, and actors comprised of Mathew Baynton, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, Ben Willbond, and Simon Farnaby. While each has achieved personal success in their own career — Farnaby notably co-wrote last year’s Wonka, as well as the hit film Paddington 2 — they’re largely known for their group efforts, which began with the inception of Horrible Histories in 2009. A comedy sketch show meant to teach children about English history (notably including the iconic “Monarch Song”), the series brought the six creatives together as they were hired out of the UK comedy scene, and brought them such success that they banded together to continue creating, moving on to the fantasy series Yonderland and the comedy film Bill, a humorous take on the life of William Shakespeare, before creating Ghosts.

Them There is the backbone of the series, writing the show as well as playing a majority of the ghosts inhabiting Button House: Baynton as romantic poet Thomas Thorne, Howe-Douglas as the stuck-up Lady Button, Howick as cheerful Boy Scout leader Pat Butcher (the greatest DJ in the ar-e-a), Rickard as both the decapitated Lord Humphrey and stoic caveman Robin, Farnaby as pantsless Tory MP Julian Fawcett, and Willbond as the simply titled Captain. While a few others fill out the cast of specters plaguing Ritchie’s Allison (including Horrible Histories guest star Katy Wix), the collective is the heart at the center of the show that elevates it over the American remake.

It’s that simple difference that sets the original series apart from its American cousin. Where the U.S. version is crafted exactly like every other sitcom on network television, with a writers’ room and actors hired individually, Ghosts UK being a product of friendship and collaboration gives it a homier feel, like how I imagine waltzing into Button House would feel. The writers and stars know each other well, enough to know what kinds of jokes work for whom and exactly what they can get away with given their chemistry. Viewers get the sense that the ghosts really have spent hundreds of years (or in Robin’s case, thousands) together, their fifteen years of collaboration and creativity meshing together in the exact right mixture for the show’s premise.

Comedy Collective "Them There" Caters to the 'Ghosts' UK Cast With Its Humor

As a result, the show always feels fresh pulling not only from situational comedy but also the small moments that come from working together, especially when it comes to improv or over-the-top reactions — which also make for an extremely entertaining blooper reel. It never feels as though jokes are recycled, something that happens at least moderately on the U.S. series, and they feel less like staged bits and more… well, I’d say natural, but there’s nothing natural about being able to see ghosts, is there?

Even those who come to the series from outside the collective — including Ritchie and Smith-Bynoe, as well as fellow ghost Lolly Adefope — are catered to in the show’s writing, as their fellow stars took the opportunity to examine their specific strengths and weaknesses and bonded with those who’d already worked together. There’s nothing worse than watching a show where sets of actors feel like they’re on completely different planets, and even though Smith-Bynoe’s Mike can’t see the ghosts, he’s just as much in on the joke as the rest of them, given a chance to shine as comedic support that few actors (including Ambudkar as the American Jay) are ever given.

That’s not to say the U.S. Ghosts isn’t funny, but it does tend to defer to flat character types or stereotypes to define its spirits whereas the original series created characters based on its actors’ strengths. The best example of this is the character of Pat Butcher, one of the few characters copied and pasted directly from the British series to the American one. While Pat was originally categorized only as sweet and cheerful, which allowed Howick to play a variety of emotions based on the plot, the American version — renamed Pete Martino and played by Richie Moriarty — takes Pat’s dorky charm and Flanderizes him, often making “nerd” the core part of his personality, without much more depth than that.

While the American Ghosts has only run for two seasons, giving it plenty of chances to expand and deepen its cast of characters in the future, it does seem like the standard sitcom approach to writing for an ensemble cast does the American ghosts a disservice compared to the UK ones, who get the opportunity to fully expand themselves and create rich inner lives with the help of their actors, who can make choices for their characters themselves as opposed to simply being handed material. Whether it’s Allison’s relationship with the ghosts or the tact with which the show handled The Captain’s queerness — something the UK series far outdoes the American version with — it’s hard not to see the sentimental and loving side of what many might pass off as a standard comedy, new layers to each character, living or dead, hiding in the nooks and crannies of Button House.

'Ghosts' UK’s Humor Is Widely Acclaimed

It’s no surprise, then, that the series is BAFTA-nominated, both in the Scripted Comedy and Comedy Writer Craft categories. Them There know themselves and each other inside-out, and that camaraderie is far more natural and appealing than the constructed feel of the American series. Their history lends itself to natural depth and complexity, something that not every British series can achieve, even though comedy on television in the country varies greatly from the fare we’re used to in America.

That personal ownership of the show also means that Them There had the chance to decide when and where the ghosts’ story ends. As opposed to American network television, which will likely drag the U.S. Ghosts out as long as it continues to be successful, the team behind the UK version knew there was a natural conclusion ahead for the show’s story, and chose voluntarily to bring it to an end, rather than string the characters along simply because of its massive popularity. While many fans were sad to see the show go, Them There was able to give their audience an emotionally satisfying conclusion — if not the one that everyone wanted — rather than being forced to wrap up when the show was eventually canceled, escaping the feeling of the dreaded rushed finale. There’s nothing worse for a beloved series than getting the can early, forcing a team to half-ass character arcs, and the ghosts managed to escape with their lives — or, well, deaths — intact.

There are strengths to the standard sitcom format — a near-guaranteed audience, for one — and the success of Ghosts in the U.S. can’t be understated, particularly with the way the premise was adapted for American audiences. It’s a television staple in its own right, but I can’t help but always drift back to the friendliness of Them There, and the feeling that I’m part of a family — if not that of Button House, then of the massive, wonderful audience the show’s developed, and who shares in my love for a bunch of spirits who make us all feel seen.

Ghosts is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S.

Watch on Paramount+