The original series of Ghosts is set in the UK, starring many familiar faces of those who grew up watching CBBC. The main cast of Horrible Histories (known to fans as ‘The Six Idiots’) star as most of the ghosts in Ghosts—joined by comedian and Horrible Histories rotating cast member Katy Wix and comedian Lolly Adefope—as well as writing and producing the entire show.
The show follows Alison (played by Charlotte Ritchie) who gets a concussion, and is subsequently able to see ghosts. The ghosts she sees the most frequently are those of the people who died in her newly inherited stately home.
As this format is both educational and comedic, the show has been picked up in a multitude of other countries. Regional productions of the show allow for local history to be spotlighted where it might else go unseen. Although some characters—such as Pat Butcher, a scoutmaster, or Julian Fawcett, a disgraced politician—fit tropes that can be seen anywhere, others—such as Thomas Thorne, an overbearing Regency poet—are more localised to British History. The success of the British edition of the show has inspired a multitude of international spin offs, but which is the best?
The US edition of ghosts sees consistent critical acclaim and is currently in the production stage of it’s 6th season.
First released in October 2021, the US edition of Ghosts was the first international adaptation. With assistance from the 6 idiots in their production team, this rendition of Ghosts has also become widely popular. Several characters from the UK edition of the show have clones on the US edition but, like in the UK edition, there are several characters who are more unique to the region. Sasappis (played by Román Zaragoza) plays a Native American ghost (namely of the Lenape people), highlighting a highly dismissed group of people in US history. Other more US-centric characters include Alberta Haynes, a Prohibition-era lounge singer (played by Danielle Pinncok) and Susan Montero, a hippie and ex-cultist (played by Sheila Carrasco). The US edition of ghosts sees consistent critical acclaim and is currently in the production stage of it’s 6th season.
Aired first in 2025, the German release of Ghosts has also been a success, and has even been picked up for a second season in 2026. As far as regional characters go, the German edition of the show is more reflective of the British edition, with several carbon copy characters. However, the German edition does have some regional characters, namely Claudius (played by Max Giermann), a Roman legionary and Svenni (played by Sina Tkotsch), a teacher from the ‘Waldorf education’ era—a controversial time in post WW2 German history. Although there has only been one series of the German show, it faced decent ratings, although some critique for not going specific enough with German historical characters.
Moreover, in 2025 Australia saw its own edition of the show, which subsequently been picked up for a second season. Unlike the German edition however, the Australian show highlights several more localised ghosts to the country’s history. Eileen (played by Mandy McElhinney) is an Irish famine survivor and Joon (played by George Zhao) is a gold-rush era Chinese miner, both characters highlighting the large immigrant communities that live in Australia. However, it is notable that there are no Indigenous Australian characters in the show. For a community whose history has been dismissed and lives ignored, a character spotlighting such communities would be beneficial to the education of many.
The final released version of the show is that of the French edition. Also known as Ghosts: Fantômes en heritage, it’s first season was released in November 2025. Unfortunately, like the German show, almost all of the characters are carbon copies of those in the British show, with the edition of a chef character named Albos, played by Camille Combal.
Overall, the British version of the show is still widely accepted as the best season of Ghosts, although the US edition does also face high approval. The Australian adaptation is unique and interesting too—although its lack of Indigenous Australian character(s) does disappoint. The German and French adaptations could both benefit from a more localised historical lens and, with the rumoured release of a Czech and Greek editions of the show, these may soon become outdated, in favour of shows spotlighting unique history.