Catch-Up #4: Ghosts, Doctor Who and a New Year!

Happy New Year, guys! I hope you had a good holidays and will have a good New Year.

We are starting the blog off strong this year with a brief look at the Christmas Specials, because to my disappointment I’ve not actually watched much of anything else since last I posted, which feels odd considering we had that weird space between Christmas and New Year’s where time doesn’t exist, and every day is Sunday… but alas, into this we go.

Doctor Who at Christmas

This is only the second episode I have watched live ever. I, my brother and mum’s boyfriend settled into the living room on Christmas Day to hog the TV for an hour in between eating exclusively leftovers and playing games we probably wouldn’t play on any other day of the year… and, boy, was it a fantastic hour. Finished it, texted all my Who inclined friends, and we all promptly freaked out together because:

1. Who is Mrs Flood? RTD! Cliffhangers like that are not okay on Christmas Day!
2. It was brilliant.

I look forward to watching 15 and Ruby explore the never ending boundaries of time and space, their chemistry is good, they’re so fun to watch! Gatwa did a brilliant job in the role, and I can’t wait to see more of him. RTD had the Doctor crying already, and jumping over buildings, and performing silly and obscure daring rescues… It’s just the show I have come to know this past year.

The Goblin Song was wonderfully charming, and I kind of want us to see 15 breaking out into more musical numbers. A whole musical episode would be great, but that might just be me. There’s a mystery with Ruby that I’m sure will unfold over the next season, I expect greatness, and look forward to discovering it.

Mrs Flood? I’ve heard speculation that it could be River, and bets that it might be The Master, and theories that she’s a Timelord, time-traveler, or past companion. Maybe she’s Ruby’s birth mum, maybe she’s the next Big Bad… we’ll all just have to wait and see. Personally, I’d love a River comeback whether it is via Mrs Flood or Alex Kingston.

I may be late to this decades old fandom, but I am so glad to be apart of it now, and eagerly anticipate everything moving forward. With many more rewatches in my future I am sure. I am missing 12 more and more every day, I’m going to have to dive in again soon. I did briefly start from the beginning with 9 again before the Christmas Break, but I haven’t persisted. He does grow on you the more you watch him, though. I shall have to continue, it’s too good not to watch as many times as humanly possible.

An Introduction

Ghosts is new in the posts, so the details we must do first.

Ghosts is a British sitcom. It began airing in April 2019 on BBC One, and ran for 5 Seasons concluding with a Christmas Special on the 25th December 2023.

The Sitcom is written, created and performed by the collective Them There, who previously worked on such productions as Horrible Histories and Yonderland together. Their members include;  Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, and Ben Willbond. All of which made up the cast of the titular ghosts, along with some others including:  Lolly Adefope, Katy Wix and Yani Xander, with Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe playing the shows lead human cast.

Ghosts is produced by Monumental Pictures, part of ITV Studios in association with Them There. It was filmed at West Horsley Place in Surrey.

CBS began producing an American Adaptation in 2021, and a tie-in book to the UK version, The Button House Archives, was released in October of 2023. As always full details on Ghosts UK and Ghosts US can be found on IMDb.

Ghosts UK and Ghosts US can currently be streamed on BBC iPlayer in the UK.

A Summary

Ghosts follows Allison and Mike as they move into Button House, where a group of eclectic ghosts from different historical periods reside. Chaos ensues resulting in one human member gaining an ability to see the ghosts in question. We watch their lives change as they get to know each other, and develop with one another’s influence.

It’s a fun little sitcom with lots of love to give.

A Ghost to Miss

Was it a perfect ending? That depends on who you ask. I’ll defend it because I enjoyed it enough, but I think they could’ve benefitted from another season to give the full ending they were clearly aiming for. I did take away that the final episode of a series should never be a Christmas Special. It’s too cheery a background to cram into an episode where 90% of your viewers will be mourning while watching. We’re going to miss them, it’s going to be sad. Christmas, decidedly, is a socially accepted time where sad is not what we are.

I will grant that 10 was told he’d die on Christmas, then did so for New Years, then 11 died on Christmas too (but at least it was of old age!), and 12’s last episode was also a Christmas Special… but that’s just the pain you endure for Doctor Who… and a slight flaw in their schedule, that makes me ever so glad I only just got into the series now, considering I bawled at each of those episodes.

However, their success does not make it an example to live by, and besides, due to the nature of it’s ability to have an ever-rotating cast none of those were final episodes. They weren’t trying to wrap up the Doctor’s centuries long life span in 45 minutes. Ghosts was trying to wrap up way too many characters in half an hour! At Christmas!

I loved it, though… even if it brought me to a few tears. Nothing is flawless, and endings are HARD. they’re so hard to do justice, and right, and to encapsulate so many lives in half an hour or 45 minutes is a nigh impossible task. These characters had told their stories, developed and changed. It’s good they ended before they were scraping the bottom of the barrel, too many shows go on too long. They tried their hardest to bring them all to closure, and there was just so many of them to do that for. It was perfect for what it was, bittersweet, calm, and sad… and it was Christmas, it was giving, it was familial.

Ghosts doesn’t go big, and they didn’t not even for the finale, and I appreciate that. They didn’t differ from what they were at their core. It felt like every episode of Ghosts until the last few minutes, and then it felt like an ending I didn’t want. Not because it was bad, but because it came too soon. It felt unfinished and concluded all at the same time. I didn’t want to cry because I felt there should be more, but I cried because I knew there wasn’t.

This is a show some trusted friends dragged me into this year, and though I may not love it as much as them, it did earn it’s spot in this obsessive little brain of mine. It’s wonderful, the kind of show you can enjoy and cry just a little because the sad moments are few and far between, and executed so well. Backed by humour that never fails, and a cast so brilliantly constructed there’s a reason so many of them have worked together so many times. Their chemistry will always be believable, because they choose to return to work together. I have no doubt they’re all good friends off set.

So? Watch Ghosts, goddamn it! they are a worth-it little viewing, and there’s so little of it, it won’t even take you that long! We shall all wish for the more that will not come, but enjoy what we have and be glad they didn’t ruin it with too much.

To Conclude

Christmas was fun! For the TV viewer in me, that watches live about as much as I open presents, it was a fantastic day.

I hope this little Catch-Up was a good read, you had a good holiday, and you have a good New Year.

I shall see you all for the next post in a fortnight.

On to the next!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the images, narratives or characters present or referenced in this post. All rights belong to the BBC, Monumental Television, Them There and all other relevant parties.