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“Boo.”

I’m taking this as proof. Ghosts are real, and they now appear on podcasts. In fairness, if I were a ghost, Uncanny would be my choice too.

If you haven’t watched BBC’s fabulous, funny, and heart-warming comedy, Ghosts, what other plane of existence have you been hiding in? It tells the story of a couple who move in to an almost derelict stately home that’s packed full of ghosts from the stone age to the spice (girls) age. It’s a smash hit, go and binge it immediately, series 4 has just dropped on iPlayer.

The aforementioned stone age ghost is called Robin, and he’s a caveman who plays chess and likes hiding in cupboards to scare people. Boo. He’s played by Laurence Rickard, who gives Danny Robins a fascinating insight into his love-affair with the spooky and how it has informed the creative team of Ghosts.

It’s inarguable that there is some questionable logic that crops up in ghost stories – for example, how come they can sit on furniture and walk through walls? That’s a common trope that Ghosts deals with in a very funny ‘wink to camera’ way, and as Laurence explains, it is part of the sometimes witty, sometimes poignant exploration of the paradoxes that are common in ghost theory.

There’s always that leap of faith that some people (naming no SFB writers) are prepared to take, though… that huge gulf of space that lives within the letters of the question “what if?” and Danny teases a couple of possible encounters from Laurence, who can’t explain what he experienced. It is indeed “a detective story that never ends” and that in itself is hugely fascinating. Lovely to get such a relatable insight into this comedy masterpiece.

Verdict: I want Danny saying “give me ghosts” in a very sinister voice as my ringtone, specifically for use annually on 31 October only. 10/10

Claire Smith