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The Cast/Creators Of Ghosts Will "Probably" Be Working Together Again

Jim Howick, Mathew Baynton, Laurence Rickard & Martha Howe-Douglas (four of the creators/writers/actors of Ghosts) took to the stage at MCM.

Some comic conventions have been hampered recently with their TV and film-related content as a result of the SAG-AFTRA strike. Which is why yesterday's Bodies panel was staffed only by production staff. And why MCM Comic Con didn't run an Our Flag Means Death panel, but rather a Rhys Darby, Vico Ortiz & Samson Kayo In Conversation panel instead. But Ghosts is a fully BBC UK production, filmed under the Equity Union, which already has much of what SAG-AFTRA is fighting for, so it's not a striking issue. This also means it was one of the biggest panels of the show, a full house for the Main Stage, and after queueing outside in the rain for hours. There was a lot of soggy cosplay on display.

But it was all worth it for Four of the Six known as Them There, Jim Howick, Mathew Baynton, Laurence Rickard, Martha Howe-Douglas… though Ben Willbond and Simon Farnaby were missing. The creators/writers/actors of Ghosts are also known for the shows Horrible Histories, Yonderland, and the film Bill. But Ghosts has given them their biggest mainstream hit of all, the BBC's most popular sitcom since Miranda, with a remake in the USA and other countries to follow up. And Mathew Baynton began as they meant to go on, telling us, "Spoilers, they're all dead."

They were here to talk about Ghosts but also the Ghosts: Button House Archives – which had already sold out at Forbidden Planet at the show, mostly to people who had luckily got a ticket for a post-panel signing.

Matthew Baynton, who plays Thomas the poet, told us that doing the book was "something we talked about, stories that couldn't go in the show but would be fun in another format. We've all watched 'Who Do You Think You Are,' the idea of having old documents we really liked, we were too busy writing the show, but we realised as we were finishing the show, we thought we should really get on and do it while people remember the show."

There won't be much chance of folks forgetting, even after the conclusion of the fifth series. Plus, the Christmas special to come.

Jim Howick, who plays Pat, the Scout leader, shared that "it became apparent that flashbacks in the show were very popular, but we trod very lightly as we wanted the show to be about present stories. Writing the book wasn't too far away from writing the show itself."

Laurence Rickard, who plays Roger and Humphry, told us that Simon Farnaby, who plays Julian the MP, "will promise to write ten things and deliver three, and we'll ask how everything's going in Hollywood, and he'll say "I gotta go, I gotta go" Rickard also used his graphic design degree to help put the book together and design some of the items in the book.

Lawrence also talked about the challenge in Ghosts, from traditional screen narratives and how initially, they "couldn't find the jeopardy… looking for something bad to happen to get your characters to get out of, with executives asking where are the stakes: Ghosts, it didn't work with them. It was finding the idea that living people became a proxy for jeopardy and stakes, where one can see them and the other can't, and that's a structure that works. The stakes for the Ghosts themselves are minute."

Jim Howick told us that "the joy we get from the jeopardy of minor stakes, running out of things to do, for the Ghosts, is like running out of water in the desert."

They also talked about how they all played more characters in the original pilot, Martha recalling, "Simon and I played this peasant couple in a murder-suicide, she killed him and accidentally died herself, so they were in hell together". But this is why Laurence plays two people because everyone did at some point and then decided that they weren't going to bother. And he missed that meeting.

As for the fifth series, it was pointed out that Martha had stepped up her Lady Button facial expressions for the fifth series of the show, including her walking into scenes with an "everyone listens to me" gait. Matthew stated, "If you happen to be next to Lady Button in a scene, you get this "grunting" soundtrack." I say "grunting" because he gave a litany of examples.

He also recalled his own catchphrase in the show, "damn your eyes," before it became that. "I thought the first take I did of Damn Your Eyes was too big, but director Tom [Kingsley] told me to go bigger. And that was a red rag to a bull. It sounded Scottish, which ended up being canon."

And what was the favourite thing they got to write in the book? Laurence "really enjoyed writing Lady Button's complaint letter to the Titanic" for the three-quarters of the trip she didn't go on. Jim "really enjoyed writing the Summer Camp rap.  And it was even more fun to record". And a highlight of the audiobook version. For Martha, "the menu was a fun one for me, a weird, wonderful world of Edwardian dinner parties." Jim recalled "lamb groin with a kidney fillet." And for Mathew, "Kitty's diaries were fun to do."

Answer fan questions, while Ghosts will end with the Christmas Day special, as to whether they would work again as a writer/actor group following Ghosts. And Jim gave us the best confirmation that something else was coming, saying that they would "probably" be working together again.

We also got a special poem written by Mathew during the panel, a challenge given to him by the host to promote their book. As well as a celebration of some of the youngest Ghosts cosplayers amongst the thousands filling the crowd. And here it is!

@thatrichjohnston Matthew Baynton challenged to write a poem to promote the Ghosts book, Button House Archives, at MCM London Comic Con October 2023 #mcm #mcmlondoncomiccon #ghosts #bbc #ghostsbbc ♬ original sound – Rich Johnston

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