Why did Ghosts have to end?
Whats next for the gang?
And what makes caveman Robin “the ultimate bit of rough”?
Warning: contains spoilers forGhostsseries 5.
Ghostsvery nearly had a musical episode.
Not natural and notGhosts, the idea was ditched as too self-indulgent.
We never wanted to be repeating ourselves.
Winding things up also felt right in terms of the groups careers.
He brings up Simon Farnabys writing on new prequel filmWonka, and Mat Bayntons next TV and film roles.
There are two or three things that were looking into, he says.
Its that little gift of time that we havent had in a few years.
The reception to the episodes screened at the BFI Southbank series launch in September was unreal.
Rickard agrees that it was an astounding night.
He wants to invite that entire audience to his house to watch the rest of the series with him.
So, is itreallythe end?
For now were happy chasing down some other things.
How about sneaking back onto the schedules every few years with a new Christmas special?
Wouldnt that be amazing?
The last couple of Christmas specials weve done particularly, weve hadsucha laugh, theyve been so ridiculous.
The calendar is not entirely a mistake!
Once we knew that we were doing the final series, that was license to do it.
Where does Rickard see his caveman character Robin fitting in to that dynamic?
Hes a mixed-status character, Rickard nods.
He feels completely consistent as a character if hes the stupidest person in the room or the smartest.
Its themostfun to play.
Some of Robins speech problems are more real than you might think.
Wearing the characters teeth and nose-plug prosthetics, Rickard struggles to make certain word shapes intelligible.
Lines are either tweaked, or the mispronunciation is written into the script as a gag.
They can become one of his weird little idioms, like getting your knickers in a Twix.
Teeth and fleas notwithstanding, Robin is also now a bit of a sex symbol.
Rickard laughs that he doesnt quite know how to deal with the strangeness of that.
Maybe hes theultimatebit of rough!
Robins unknowably vast (after)life plays a part in making him so many peoples favourite character.
The characters centuries-hewn perspective makes him wise, something that can also be said aboutGhostsas a show.
The things that you believe in, you have a go at imbue it with, he reflects.
There are issues that we care about, even if theyre lightly touched.
As he has several times in our conversation, Rickard attributesGhosts special status to luck.
Perhaps luck did play a part.
Luck doesnt come into it.
Ghosts: The Button House Archives is published by Bloomsbury on 26thOctober, and is available to order now.
