Supernatural houseshare sitcom for BBC One

The Horrible Histories team are reuniting for a BBC One sitcom, Chortle can exclusively reveal.

Ghosts stars and is written by Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond.

It features the sextet as restless spirits who have died in the crumbling country pile of Button Hall over the centuries: each ghost a product of their time, resigned to squabbling with each other for eternity over inane daily gripes.

However, their afterlives are thrown into turmoil when a young urban couple inherit the derelict house and make plans to turn it into a bustling family hotel, leading to an impossible house-share with the ghosts trying to oust the newcomers.

Chortle understands the spectral characters include a Tory MP who died in embarrasing circumstances, a 'wilderness club leader' and a witch.

Made by Monumental Television, the commission of six 30-minute episodes follows a successful non-broadcast pilot in September last year.

At the time, Howick enigmatically tweeted 'idiots assemble' ahead of the pilot and was followed by Willbond posting 'the idiots are gathering. I'm excited.'

The series will be directed by Tom Kingsley, who previously helmed Pls Like, and produced by Agatha Raisin's Matthew Mulot.

A Horrible Histories film is set to shoot this year, with a plot set in Roman Britain but without the television show cast.

The Olivier Award-winning dramatist Jessica Swale is scripting the cinematic version of the kids' sketch show, planned as the first of several Horrible Histories movies.

- by Jay Richardson

Published: 19 Jun 2018