BBC Ghosts has long been one of my comfort shows, so anytime a new spin-off comes out, I’m ready and waiting with a TV remote in hand.
After the success of the US remake, when Australia decided to join the party, I sat down and asked myself, can I really watch almost the exact same show play out for a third time?
It turns out, yes, yes, I can.
When the original BBC series came out in 2019, I knew before even hitting play on the first episode that it would be a surefire success. After all, it was from the masterminds behind the ever-iconic Horrible Histories, which remains the pinnacle of children’s entertainment.
Created by and starring British TV icons (and the nation’s favourite history teachers) Mathew Baynton, Ben Willbond, Jim Howick, Martha Howe-Douglas, Laurence Rickard and Simon Farnaby – sure enough, the show became an instant classic.
For those unfamiliar, the premise follows a couple, Alison (Charlotte Ritchie) and Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe), who inherit a haunted stately home inhabited by a host of eccentric ghosts who have died on the property.
When Alison gains the ability to see the dead, chaos ensues. It’s an ode to hearty humour, found family and soul-warming silliness.
Although the UK series wrapped in 2023 – fellow fans are now looking forward to the feature film coming out in October – we’ve not been starved for content, as the US quickly followed on its heels with their own take on the story.
Naturally, I was sceptical such a masterpiece would be utterly ruined by those across the pond, but I needn’t have been worried. It’s similar enough to evoke those feelings of warmth while totally going off in its own direction.
Enviably, the US version – starring Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar as our bewildered heirs Sam and Jay – boasts up to 22 episodes per season rather than the BBC’s meagre six.
So where does Australia’s valiant attempt rank?
Now I’ll be the first to admit, with so many different ghosts already taking up space in my heart, it took longer than I wanted for this latest version to win me over.
This time around it’s Tamala Shelton and Rowan Witt as our wide-eyed duo, Kate and Sean, and the ghosts are perhaps the most unrecognisable yet, with few parallels with the original cohort.
Many are a mish-mash of the familiar, but mostly original phantoms. The uptight late heiress Miranda in Australia’s version is a merge of the closeted Captain and fusspot Lady Fanny in the UK, while sex and gold-obsessed Joon goes pantless just like Simon’s sleazy MP Julian.
By far the standout of this version, and the person who kept me coming back for more, was Michelle Braiser’s Lindy, a colourful lycra-clad exercise guru who could give Olivia Newton-John a run for her money.
Verdict
Although it doesn’t quite reach the calibre of the UK version, Australia’s remake of Ghosts is an earnest attempt and managed to reel me in regardless – here’s hoping for more!
Many of the laugh-out-loud moments were thanks to her brilliant comedic timing and absurd line deliveries – her role reminiscent of one of my favourite UK Ghosts, the ditzy Kitty (Lolly Adefope).
With a new playground of characters, the show brought me round by the end with its ridiculous plotlines, from Kate’s hippy mother trying to move in to an endearingly sweet proposal episode where everything characteristically goes wrong until it doesn’t.
I’ll happily tune into another season of the undead mercilessly annoying the owners of their home until Kate flicks on the next episode of the reality show they’re watching from the beyond.
Does it hold a candle to the original? Not quite. But perhaps no remake could surpass the genius of the first.
What makes the structure of Ghosts so brilliant is that, with every country having its own rich history, there’s an endless pool of spin-offs that could happen, each with their own unique cultural twist.
I say, let’s follow in The Traitors’ footsteps and go global.
Ghosts Australia is available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.