Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Charlotte Ritchie, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Lolly Adefope, Matthew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, Ben Willbond, Katy Wix, Sutara Gayle, Leon Herbert, Samantha Pearl, Timmika Ramsey.
There is a train of thought that the Christmas special of any comedy is meant to be one that goes even further to provide the laughter that we need to put us in the festive mood; like a drug it is there to warp our perception of what the season is actually for, that to be jolly and full of happiness that it makes the year’s end a giddy affair, one of unashamed and continuous enjoyment, that makes the dark evenings one of absolute light.
Christmas is not all about enjoyment, at least not so continuously that it masks a truth of the time of year, one that even comedy cannot ignore.
Even in laughter we must surely learn a valuable lesson, one that must interrupt the festivities because it has to, it is the lesson of living, not just well, but for the small things, the important moments to which we neglect at our peril and to which, if there is an afterlife, we will surely regret the opportunities to love and smile that are missed.
Such a sentiment may appear on the face of it to be mired in melancholy, but that is the truth of Christmas, we do what have to celebrate the occasion, but we must also be mindful of the Ghosts of Yule times past, the memories that haunt, the smiles that are on the verge of tears, the hugs and laughter that are hiding a memorial of their own.
Comedy is meant to hold a mirror up to society, but it is also there to prod us to be better than we are, and for every present we wish to receive, we must also perhaps spend time in recollection, atoning for the anger, for the missed moments, that we will never get back.
It is in this truth that the Christmas special of the much-admired comedy, Ghosts, places its trust within and with a partial back story of Simon Farnaby’s character Julian Fawcett M.P. being presented as the framework to Christmas with the Coopers at Button House.
In amongst the agony of keeping a schedule to which Alison’s husband’s family won’t keep to, through the inevitable teasing and childish antics, somehow Christmas happens, and for the ghosts of Button House, it is one that actually represents the more spiritual belief than the excess demanded by others as they pursue love by the gift rather than the soul.
It is to comedy rather than drama that we are reminded of the truth of Christmas, for why else would pantomimes be so popular at the time of year. It is in the realisation that Christmas is not perfect, that to continue to believe that it needs to be picture book and faultless is to deny yourself a time of memory and love.
The Christmas special of Ghosts might not be a laugh a minute, but it is aware enough of the fact that it does not have to be, it just has to be honest; and for that Ghosts is one of the best British comedies in recent years.
Ian D. Hall