Ghosts: The Possession of Button House review – new levels of giddiness unleashed in spooky spin-off

What on earth is happening at Button House? Kitty has tasered a police officer. Fanny is pulling down her capacious Victorian drawers to show off her bottom. Robin the caveman has fallen in love with a crusty eco activist (to be fair she looks quite a bit like him). If you’ve never watched the BBC’s haunted house comedy Ghosts – one of the finest family television shows in recent memory – none of the above will make the slightest bit of sense. Neither perhaps will this glorious new film, which picks up with the ghosts not long after the events of the final episode in 2023.

Often when British sitcoms get a spin-off what happens is the gag-to-runtime ratio dips. But breaking out of the 30-minute episode structure seems to have freed up the writers to unleash new levels of giddiness with added spoonfuls of silliness. The jokes keep coming, and it’s every bit as warm and comforting as on TV.

It’s been a few months since Alison and Mike (Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe) left Button House, selling the crumbling stately pile to a hotel chain. But work on the refurb has stalled, and the ghosts are pining after Alison, the only living person who can see them (long story). One of the joys of Ghosts is the competing main character energy of Button House’s deceased residents, played to perfection by an unassailable cast. There’s the sleazy Tory MP with no trousers, Julian Fawcett (Simon Farnaby), forever caught with his pants down. And scoutmaster Pat (Jim Howick) with an arrow through his neck. It feels mean to leave out the rest; each and every ghost could single-handedly power a 90-minute script.

To say anything about the plot would ruin the fun. (I watched with a nine-year-old who hooted throughout.) It really is a delight. My only complaint is the timing: if the BBC was serious about public service it would have waited a couple of months and put this on telly at Christmas for a bit of genuine festive cheer.