Cert – PG, Run-time – 1 hour 37 minutes, Director – Simon Hynd
When clashes throw the future of Button House into uncertainty, the ghosts make a time-sensitive return to the world of the living to get the help of former owners Alison (Charlotte Ritchie) and Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe) to save the estate.
The Possession Of Button House is designed as a welcome return to the familiar faces of Ghosts. There’s no real establishment of these characters or change for them beyond the types that audiences have come to love over the course of five series, we just re-enter the halls of the titular estate and in some ways it’s like, much like the titular characters, we never left. While for those who haven’t seen the series the extent to which the film will work may not reach above general amusement. There’s something of a reliance on knowing who each character is and what they’re like, even if they remain well-defined to get the general gist.
Yet, as we see them try to communicate with teenager Jack (Scott Ellis Watson) there’s a feel of a missing figure. While Katy Wix’s Mary left part way through the TV show’s run, the film misses the form of Simon Farnaby’s former MP Julian amongst the ghost clan. He’s possessed Jack’s body and has run back out into the world to find former Button House owners Alison (Charlotte Ritchie) and Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe) to bring them back to save the day as clashes over the planned development of a golf resort on the site put the estate’s future into uncertainty. He still gets a good number of gags, and his presence overall isn’t missed, but there feels a gap amongst interjections during Food Club.
The camaraderie is still very much in place amongst the rest of the unit, with the majority of the ensemble continuing their role as writers. The film is less about giving each character their time and just letting them talk and have jokes as normal. While Julian is let out into the world, although needing to get back before both he and Jack are lost due to an overlong possession, and we see observations of protesters against the planned resort at Button House, there may not be a feeling of an extended episode here but perhaps a feature length special – although the third act has some nice moments to steer away from this.
There’s a warmth and silliness that’s familiar from the sitcom here. The series itself ended in 2023 with a Christmas Special which still acts very much as the finale, with the film acting more as a spin-off, or simply feature-length outing than a follow-up. That short gap might help with the cast feeling as if they, too, never left the characters; throwing themselves into each joke, moment and played-up beat. It’s fun to see play out in the exchanges unfolding amongst, and sometimes between, the narrative strands. Jim Howick’s Pat remains irresistibly warm in his heart and humour while the stiff-upper-lip laughs of Lady Button (Martha Howe-Douglas) and The Captain (Ben Willbond) make their brief character breaks all the more amusing. Helping to make an audience film with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments and giggles throughout.
After learning about the possibilities of possession in the opening stages Lady Button states that “nothing will ever be the same again.” What follows is a welcome return to distinct and familiar faces, unchanged for the big screen. And they, and the film, are all the better for it.
While it might feel more like a feature-length special more for those familiar with the TV show, Ghosts: The Possession Of Button House is a welcome return to old faces, bringing plenty of giggles with the same kind of silliness that’s unchanged, albeit missing one or two dynamics, for the big screen.
