Television series
Rentaghost
Rentaghost is a cheerfully ramshackle BBC children's comedy about a team of hapless spirits running a haunting-for-hire agency, forever undone by wobbly special effects, a temperamental pantomime horse and their own comic incompetence. It's slapstick pitched squarely at kids - broad, silly, unthreatening - built on chaos and running gags rather than plot. Pure teatime nostalgia, not scares.
If you liked this
The Ghosts of Motley Hall1976
Made the same year by ITV, it's Rentaghost's fraternal twin - a band of squabbling ghosts trapped in a crumbling stately home, forced to deal with each other and the living tenants below.
But Slower and talkier than Rentaghost, leaning on character bickering rather than gags and pratfalls.
Worzel Gummidge1979
Jon Pertwee at his most gloriously silly as a scarecrow who comes alive, blending folk-horror atmosphere with pure daftness in a way few children's shows dared.
But Folklore elements like the Crowman give it a genuinely eerier edge than Rentaghost's cosy chaos.
Bagpuss1974
Oliver Postgate's stop-motion masterpiece about a saggy old cloth cat and his toybox friends - gentle, strange and unbearably soothing, a completely different register of magic.
But Near-silent and dreamily slow; if you want jokes and running gags, this isn't it.
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Topper1937
Same idea in its earliest form: incompetent, well-meaning ghosts blundering around trying to help or torment the living for comic effect, decades before British telly got hold of it.
Cary Grant as a mischievous ghost who can't quite manage the afterlife - the screwball comedy that arguably invented the bumbling movie ghost, decades before Rentaghost's crew turned up.
But Black-and-white 1930s pacing and sophisticated wit rather than pratfalls - a real tonal jump from teatime slapstick.
More like this (7)
Metal Mickey1980no page yet
A robot wrecking havoc in a suburban household, built on the same wobbly-effects, everything-goes-wrong energy as Rentaghost, with a genuinely chaotic streak.
But Thinner scripts and a robot costume that creaks louder than Dobbin ever did.
Mr. Benn1971no page yet
A man walks into a costume shop and out into an adventure - simple, elegant fantasy structure and calm narration, a lovely antidote when Rentaghost's chaos gets a bit much.
But Only thirteen episodes were ever made, and its pace is gentle to the point of sedate.
The Goodies1970
Proper anarchic slapstick from three grown men who never grew up, aimed a little older than Rentaghost but sharing its love of props, chases and total nonsense.
But Broader satire and occasional dated jokes that kid-focused Rentaghost never had to worry about.
ChuckleVision1987no page yet
Barry and Paul Chuckle turning "to me, to you" into a national catchphrase, pure slapstick incompetence played dead straight - Rentaghost's clumsy spirit reincarnated for a new decade.
But Repetitive by design, and the format barely evolves across its many years on air.
Jamie and the Magic Torch1976no page yet
A boy slides down a helter-skelter into Cuckoo Land each night - trippy, cheaply animated, gently surreal bedtime fantasy with the same amiable strangeness as Rentaghost's ghost world.
But Very short episodes and extremely of-its-time animation some viewers might find too primitive now.
Ghostwatch1992
Same broadcaster, same national fondness for a haunted house on the telly - but played dead straight as horror instead of comedy, the dark mirror of Rentaghost's cosy chaos.
The BBC's legendary fake live broadcast about a haunted house, so convincing it caused real panic and got pulled from repeat for a decade - the scariest thing British ghost telly ever produced.
But Genuinely unsettling rather than funny; not for kids, and not for anyone hoping for Rentaghost's gentle idea of a haunting.
A Ghost Story2017
Strips the sheet-ghost image down to its saddest core: a spirit stuck in a house, unable to leave or be understood, the same premise played for grief instead of gags.
A ghost in a literal bedsheet haunts his old home across centuries, watching life move on without him - achingly slow, strangely moving, and about as far from slapstick as ghosts get.
But Almost no dialogue, glacially paced and deeply melancholy - the emotional opposite of Rentaghost's knockabout cheer.
People
Cast
Writing
- Bob BlockCreator
Production
- Jeremy SwanProducer
- Paul CianiProducer
Recommended by
Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, Worzel Gummidge, The Ghosts of Motley Hall