Kiell Smith-Bynoe: 'Ghosts feels pretty Christmassy!'

(Image credit: BBC/Monumental Television/Guido Mandozzi)

Kiell Smith-Bynoe on the spooky goings-on in the festive special of BBC1 comedy Ghosts

Christmas has arrived at Button House in BBC1 comedy Ghosts. But while the stately home’s owner Alison (Charlotte Ritchie) is trying to give the resident spooks a festive season to remember, husband Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe) is in panic mode as his family is coming to stay.

Here, Kiell Smith-Bynoe tells us about the Ghosts Christmas special...

Are you pleased to have a Christmas special of Ghosts?

Kiell Smith-Bynoe: “It's great and it feels pretty Christmassy! I’ve never done a Christmas special before. I’m not much of a Christmas person, I am close to a Grinch, but it’s exciting! I even wear a very comfortable reindeer outfit!”

Where do we find Mike?

KS: “Usually Mike’s never flustered but he’s rushing around to prove he’s the man of the mansion – well, the living man! But he reverts to the position he’s always had in the family and his sisters call him The Incredible Sulk! It’s important seeing a black family on screen at Christmas in a mainstream show, so I’m excited.”

And what is happening with the ghosts?

KS: “Lady Button [Martha Howe-Douglas’ Edwardian aristocrat] is fixated on the tree and The Captain [Ben Willbond’s World War Two soldier] wants to see the King's speech and then remembers it’s now the Queen's speech! But Julian [the trouserless MP played by Simon Farnaby] is faced with hauntings from the past. It takes him on an emotional journey…”

Alison and ghosts in the Ghosts Christmas special — Alison (Charlotte Ritchie) and her spooky pals in the Ghosts Christmas Special, starring Kiell Smith-Bynoe (Image credit: BBC/Monumental Television/Guido Mandozzi)

Is it hard to play the scenes with the ghosts and not look at them, because Mike can’t see them?

KS: “It is really difficult! In between takes, everyone's just chatting. And then they call, "Action" and you'll have to completely ignore eight people!”

Ghosts has been such a hit with different age groups. Why do you think that is?

KS: “I wasn’t sure how it was going to be received. But it’s silly fun for all the family. There's something for everyone. Jennifer Saunders is vocal on Twitter about how much she loves it and so is the voice of Come Dine With Me, Dave Lamb! That was my favourite response! When Dave tweeted about Ghosts, I thought, “Right, I have made it!”

Kiell Smith-Bynoe stars in Ghosts on Wednesday 23 December on BBC1 at 8.30pm

Caren has been a journalist specializing in TV for almost two decades and is a Senior Features Writer for TV Times, TV & Satellite Week and What’s On TV magazines and she also writes for What to Watch.

Over the years, she has spent many a day in a muddy field or an on-set catering bus chatting to numerous stars on location including the likes of Olivia Colman, David Tennant, Suranne Jones, Jamie Dornan, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Derek Jacobi as well as Hollywood actors such as Glenn Close and Kiefer Sutherland.

Caren will happily sit down and watch any kind of telly (well, maybe not sci-fi!), but she particularly loves period dramas like Call the Midwife, Downton Abbey and The Crown and she’s also a big fan of juicy crime thrillers from Line of Duty to Poirot.

In her spare time, Caren enjoys going to the cinema and theatre or curling up with a good book.