Picking up after the events of season 5, the episode opens with the happy couple returning from hospital with their newborn baby, Mia, who the ghosts are ecstatic to meet.<\/p>\n
However, things take a difficult turn as Alison struggles to give the ghosts the attention they have become accustomed to while also caring for her infant daughter \u2013 even with mother-in-law Betty (Sutara Gayle) there to lend a helping hand.<\/p>\n
And when Betty spots what appears to be paranormal activity on a baby monitor, things escalate even further.<\/p>\n
Co-creators and stars Jim Howick (Pat), Laurence Rickard (Robin\/Humphrey) and Mathew Baynton (Thomas) had a spoiler-filled chat<\/strong> with RadioTimes.com<\/a> and other press about the ending of the Ghosts Christmas 2023 special.<\/p>\n The Ghosts Christmas 2023 special is sure to be an emotional rollercoaster for fans, as Mike and Alison decide to sell Button House and move on with the next chapter in their lives.<\/p>\n After the season 5 finale<\/a>, it seemed the happy couple would be staying in their stately home for the foreseeable future \u2013 but when baby Mia arrives, the reality of that decision sets in.<\/p>\n The truth is that Button House \u2013 while beautiful (see West Horsley Place<\/a>) \u2013 isn\u2019t an ideal place to raise a child, with Betty\u2019s doubts about the Cooper homestead spiking when she witnesses an apparent haunting in the baby\u2019s room.<\/p>\n Of course, she isn\u2019t strictly mistaken. What she sees on the baby monitor is Julian tucking in the baby using his limited ability to interact with the mortal world.<\/p>\n But nevertheless, Alison sets out to \u201cdisprove\u201d Betty\u2019s claim in the hope that she\u2019ll finally leave when satisfied.<\/p>\n Alas, the attempt is in vain, and Betty secretly calls a priest to conduct an exorcism on the property \u2013 something which briefly terrifies both the ghosts and Alison. Could this be how they meet their ultimate end?<\/p>\n Of course not! The chirpy bunch are unaffected by the ritual, but Betty agrees to move out after its completion, content that Button House is safe enough for the family to live in.<\/p>\n But the saga takes a toll on Alison\u2019s relationship with the ghosts, with the tired new mother asking for space as she and Mike get settled into their new roles as parents. They oblige, and come to a big realisation in the process.<\/p>\n \u201cThis child arrives\u2026 and that\u2019s the family,\u201d explained Rickard. \u201c[And] the ghosts start to realise, \u2018Oh, hang on then, by default, we actually aren\u2019t,\u2019 which is tricky for all of them.<\/p>\n \u201cI think some handle it worse than others. Obviously, because Kitty\u2019s always felt this incredible kinship with Alison, I think that was the most prevalent sense of jealousy.\u201d<\/p>\n In a reversal of the season 5 finale \u2013 in which the ghosts, led by Julian, begged Mike and Alison to stay at Button House \u2013 the group approach them again as Christmas nears with a very different message: it\u2019s time to move on.<\/p>\n Co-creator Jim Howick (aka scoutmaster Pat) explained: \u201cI think [when] writing it, we were always of the opinion it was like parents saying goodbye to their kids when they go to university.<\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t necessarily a goodbye, it was more of a natural separation now that they\u2019re proper grown-ups and they\u2019ve got a child of their own. So they\u2019re still very much a family in our mind, but one that visits.\u201d<\/p>\n Things wrap up rather quickly from then, as Alison says her goodbyes and heads to Betty\u2019s house for Christmas Day.<\/p>\n What follows is a surprising time jump several decades into the future, which gives us a glimpse of Alison and Mike\u2019s twilight years.<\/p>\n They have remained happily married and make annual visits to Button House to catch up with their old friends, which lessen the initial pain of having to part ways.<\/p>\n Actors Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe are aged-up for the scene, although we don\u2019t get to see the full extent of their transformation as the camera follows only from behind.<\/p>\n Explaining this decision, Baynton said: \u201c\u200b\u200bIt\u2019s partly a practical concern\u2026 [If] you do it beautifully, you\u2019re so proud of the work you\u2019ve done that you linger on close-ups to go, \u2018Doesn\u2019t that make-up look realistic and amazing?\u2019 [But] then the audience is thinking about the craft and not the story.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd we just felt like what we wanted the audience to feel was like they\u2019re encountering this space that they were familiar with \u2013 the uncanny feeling of the familiar made strange,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n \u201cYou wanted to be with Mike and Alison, experiencing that walk into the building.\u201d<\/p>\n Howick added that the make-up job on the two stars was \u201creally good\u2026 so it wasn\u2019t a matter of hiding anything\u201d, before revealing the team also discussed the possibility of casting older actors as Alison and Mike for the flash-forward.<\/p>\n Ultimately, this was deemed another thing that could result in viewers being \u201cpulled out of the story\u201d.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s hoping Ritchie and Smith-Bynoe got some selfies in their aged-up forms \u2013 this fan (and no doubt many others) would be curious to see what the make-up artists came up with.<\/p>\n Ghosts is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Comedy<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what\u2019s on.<\/strong><\/p>\n Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only \u00a310 \u2013\u00a0subscribe now<\/a>. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to\u00a0The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/b><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Mathew Baynton, Jim Howick and Laurence Rickard break down the end of the series. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":42531,"template":"","categories":[6,5],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/ghosts-christmas-2023-special-ending-explained-writers-on-final-scene-scaled.jpg",2560,1707,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/ghosts-christmas-2023-special-ending-explained-writers-on-final-scene-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/ghosts-christmas-2023-special-ending-explained-writers-on-final-scene-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/ghosts-christmas-2023-special-ending-explained-writers-on-final-scene-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/ghosts-christmas-2023-special-ending-explained-writers-on-final-scene-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/ghosts-christmas-2023-special-ending-explained-writers-on-final-scene-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2023\/12\/ghosts-christmas-2023-special-ending-explained-writers-on-final-scene-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Mathew Baynton, Jim Howick and Laurence Rickard break down the end of the series.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/42530"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Ghosts Christmas special 2023 ending explained<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Betty](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/452635-de118bf.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413\" "\\"Ghosts")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"The](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/ghosts-cast-finale-c8951f1.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"ghosts-cast-finale\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>Ghosts Christmas 2023 special time jump explained<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Alison](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/12\/ghosts-charlotte-ritchie-christmas-a1a2c01.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"ghosts-charlotte-ritchie-christmas\\"\/")
\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>![\"Thomas](\"https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2023\/10\/mathew-baynton-thomas-ghosts-d0577f0.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413\" "\\"mathew-baynton-thomas-ghosts\\"\/")
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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"