{"id":23861,"date":"2022-10-14T21:58:19","date_gmt":"2022-10-14T19:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=1722198"},"modified":"2022-10-14T22:16:14","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T20:16:14","slug":"bbcs-ghosts-why-marys-shock-exit-had-to-happen","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/bbcs-ghosts-why-marys-shock-exit-had-to-happen\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC\u2019s Ghosts \u2013 Why Mary\u2019s shock exit had to happen"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Michael Hogan\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 14 October 2022 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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\u201cIt\u2019s Mary. She\u2019s gone. She was there and then she was not there. All very sudden. A whoosh and then poof!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Haunted house sitcom Ghosts<\/a> took a surprise sad turn in tonight\u2019s episode (Friday 14th October) when one of the spectres left the building.<\/p>\n

Just minutes into the poignantly titled Gone Gone, witch trial victim Mary (brilliantly played by Katy Wix) was suddenly bathed in golden light before ascending into the afterlife. Her last word was a heartbreaking \u201cOoh\u201d as she gently floated up through the ceiling.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The other Button House ghosts were left open-mouthed and it wasn\u2019t long before they found themselves in a tailspin. Scoutmaster Pat (Jim Howick) comforted naive noblewoman Kitty (Lolly Adefope); trouser-less Tory MP Julian (Simon Farnaby) saw red; army officer The Captain (Ben Willbond) kept busy to avoid thinking about it; romantic poet Thomas (Mathew Baynton) made it all about him, as usual; even the stiff upper lip of Lady Fanny (Martha Howe-Douglas) wobbled.<\/p>\n

It seems that\u2019s the last we\u2019ve seen of Mary, who has become a firm favourite of Ghosts fans. She was the 17th century West Country peasant woman who added comic relief every time she pluralised random words (\u201cI smells burnings\u201d). She was deeply superstitious about wedding garters and lucky cake-throwing. She called TV cameras \u201cone-eyed metal cows\u201d, cocktails \u201cthe devil\u2019s juice\u201d and swans \u201cLucifer\u2019s lackeys\u201d.<\/p>\n

Way back in the Stuart era, Mary was cynically blamed by male villagers for a poor harvest, falsely accused of witchcraft and burnt at the stake. As a result, her face was forever smeared with soot and she constantly smouldered. The living could smell toast if she passed through them. \u201cShe\u2019s at peace now,\u201d Pat reassured the tearful Kitty.<\/p>

The masterminds behind the show \u2013 the Horrible Histories gang of Baynton, Howe-Douglas, Farnaby, Howick, Willbond and Laurence Rickard \u2013 told RadioTimes.com<\/a>: \u201cWe were so lucky to have Katy Wix with us in Button House for four fun-filled series. She, ironically, breathed life into the role of Mary, as only Katy could, making her into such a unique, hilarious and popular character. We\u2019re sad to see her go but can\u2019t wait to see what she does next.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why did she become the first <\/span>main character to move on? It might well have been a workload issue for Wix. She\u2019s increasingly in demand \u2013 her CV includes Carole in Stath Lets Flats<\/a>, Fergie in The Windsors and Jules in Big Boys<\/a><\/span>. She has a flourishing writing career, having published acclaimed memoir Delicacy last year, and she\u2019s currently co-writing Fat Camp, a comedy series about a children\u2019s weight loss retreat, in which she\u2019ll also star.<\/p>\n

While this is the end of the road for Mary, there\u2019s plenty more to come from Wix.<\/p>\n