BBC's Ghosts movie reveals game-changing twist in hilarious new trailer

Lionsgate has released the full-length trailer for Ghosts: The Possession of Button House, confirming a game-changing twist in the feature-length follow-up to the BBC's Ghosts series. The film is set for release in UK cinemas on 23 October 2026, just in time for Halloween.

Directed by Simon Hynd, the movie sees Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond return as writers.

They are also set to reprise their on-screen roles alongside Lolly Adefope, Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe.

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The beloved show followed Ritchie and Smith-Bynoe as a married couple, Alison and Mike Cooper, who inherited Button House and all its ghostly inhabitants.

Although they sold Button House in the final episode, the couple are back in the movie, with the new trailer explaining exactly how.

In the new trailer, a group of teenagers visit the spooky manor and attempt to speak to the dead using a Ouija board.

In a twist, one of the teenagers invites a ghost to possess him, with Julian Fawcett MP happily taking on the challenge. This marks a change from the BBC sitcom, where possession was never a thing, though ghosts in the US version of the show can do it.

With a new body, Farnaby's Julian is able to leave the house, and in one hilarious moment he forgets he is no longer a ghost and tries to run straight through a door.

Later, he pays a visit to his old friends Alison and Mike, who are shocked to find that he has inhabited the body of a boy.

Related: BBC acquires Ghosts Australia, adapted from the beloved and near-perfect British sitcom

"I realise it's confusing because I'm inside a boy, but it's me, Julian," he tells the pair on their doorstep.

It appears to be a race against time, as the boy whose body was taken over is trapped in Button House and facing death.

Ghosts aired for five series on BBC One, with its final episode drawing 7.2 million viewers. It became the UK’s most-watched comedy series of 2023. The US adaptation has been renewed for a sixth season.

Ghosts: The Possession of Button House is out in cinemas on 23 October 2026.

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Reporter, Digital Spy

Harriet is a freelance news writer specialising in TV and movies at Digital Spy. 

A horror enthusiast, she joined Digital Spy after working on her own horror website, reviewing films and focusing largely on feminism in the genre. 

In her spare time, Harriet paints and produces mixed-media art. She graduated from the University of Kingston with a BA in fine art, where she specialised in painting. She also has an MA in journalism from Birkbeck University.