The Ghosts of Motley Hall is a British children's television series written by Richard Carpenter. It was produced and directed by Quentin Lawrence for Granada Television, and broadcast between 1976 and 1978 on the ITV network. The series relates the adventures of five ghosts who haunt the crumbling, abandoned Motley Hall. Each ghost is from a different era, and all except one (Matt) are unable to leave the confines of the building—and even Matt is unable to travel outside the grounds of the Hall. The only regular character who is not a ghost is Mr. Gudgin, a real estate agent and the de facto caretaker of Motley Hall. Though Gudgin is tasked with selling the hall and its property, the ghosts are anxious that it be sold to someone who will respect it and restore it to its former glory; consequently, they often work to thwart a potential sale to an unsuitable candidate. Gudgin himself is not an enemy of the ghosts, as he too is respectful of the hall and its history. The ghosts are generally unable to be seen by the living, although there are exceptions the White Lady can make herself visible to Mr. Gudgin ... although actually communicating with him is difficult, as her appearances instantly terrify him. Carpenter wrote a companion novel for the series for Puffin Books in 1977. A 3 DVD set containing the complete series was released by Network in 2005 and the show recently inspired a successful BBC series Ghosts.

Production

External shots of the fictional Motley Hall were filmed on location at Borwick Hall in Carnforth, Lancashire.

Main characters

Episodes

Season 1 (1976)

Series 2 (1976–1977)

Christmas Special (1977)

Series 3 (1978)

Critical reception

Jon E. Lewis and Penny Stempel described The Ghosts of Motley Hall as an "exuberant supernatural sitcom, with convincing SFX and a decidedly solid cast". Writer Mark Gatiss has described The Ghosts of Motley Hall as "a charming show and really deserves to be much better known. Very funny and very moving."