Ghosts – Who Do You Think You Are? Review

Ghosts is the latest comedy show that the BBC has been heavily promoting and a part of their Monday night comedy double-bill. The only thing the opening episode had to offer was a mild entertainment.

Alison (Charlotte Ritchie) and Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe) are a young couple struggling to find their first property. They come into some sort of fortune when a distant relative leaves her country estate to Alison and the couple decide to renovate the estate to turn it into a hotel. However, the house already has some supernatural residences and they attempt to haunt the couple out of the house.

Ghosts was created by the people who make Horrible Histories and Sky One’s Yonderland. They were comedies designed for families and despite Ghosts‘ post-watershed broadcast time it is a lightweight comedy. The only real adult aspects in the opening episode is some of the characters have a mark of how they died like a scoutmaster with an arrow stuck in him and a man without trousers. Plus there is an attempted murder.

The main aim of “Who Do You Think You Are?” was to introduce audiences to the characters and the scenario and ease them in. The main couple is a straight man (and woman) surrounded by extraordinary characters, i.e. the ghosts. They are broad figures like the creepy Victorian girl, the simple Caveman, and a headless Tudor.

The episode also sets out the rules of the supernatural. The ghosts are invisible to the living but some do have abilities. The Caveman is able to make lights flicker and Mr. Kinky can move objects slightly. The most inventive scene in the episode was when Alison walks through a room and the ghosts try to scare her. The scene intercut between the ghosts being visible and invisible. The episode also had to set up how Alison gets her ability to see ghosts later on in the series.

The show so far is mildly funny. Some scenes did raise a chuckle – like when the couple go to the wrong house and one of the ghosts’ having a nightly routine.

Ghosts‘ opening episode is the distinction of average. It does enough to entertain and avoids falling flat on its face, nor is it particularly remarkable. It needs to be seen how the series pans out so it can make its marks on the crowded sitcom scene.