German ‘Ghosts’ Remake Goes Into Production At ARD/WDR

Jesse Whittock
·2-min read

There will soon be sightings of Ghosts in Germany.

BBC Studios has confirmed production of a German-language version of the sitcom, which has been a hit for the BBC in the UK and CBS in the States.

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German pubcaster WDR and streamer ARD Mediathek have commissioned a six-part series, with Erik Haffner directing and BBC Studios Germany producing its first in-house production. Yves Hensel and Aylin Kockler are writing, with Claudius Pläging providing punch-up and Tom Holzhauser and Anne Lindemann overseeing cinematography. Filming is underway in Cologne and will continue over the summer.

First teased in March as Series Mania, the series will follow the plot line of the original. It will centre around young couple Emma (Cristina do Rego) and Felix (Benito Bause), who inherit an old mansion and decide to turn it into a hotel, but after a near-death accident, Emma begins seeing ghosts. The bizarre and chaotic apparitions include neanderthal Urs (Jan van Weyde), Roman legionnaire Claudius (Max Giermann), countess Adelheid (Antje Widdra), feminist maid Griet (Meltem Kaptan), insurance salesman Joachim (Sebastian Schwarz), teacher Svenni (Sina Tkotsch) and love-hungry poet Friedrich Dorn (Alexander Khuon).

The original British version of Ghosts ended last year with a fifth and final season, which was the most-watched comedy in the UK in 2023. Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond created the show, which was made by Monumental Television. The U.S. remake is in its fourth season on CBS, and a French version is also being prepped.

“We are pleased to add a completely unique program color to ARD Mediathek with the German adaptation of the successful British series,” said WDR Fiction Director Alexander Bickel. “Ghosts captivates with a special, warm-hearted humor and hopefully will also inspire audiences in Germany next year.”

“The start of filming of Ghosts marks the beginning of a new, exciting chapter for BBC Studios Germany,” added BBC Studios’ Eva Holtmann. “For our first in-house produced series, we were able to win a fantastic ensemble that will fill the characters created by our team of writers Aylin Kockler and Yves Hensel with a lot of humour and emotions.”

Holtmann will produce Ghosts, with Nina Sollich the exec producer. The editor in charge is Anke Hirschel.

BBC Studios Germany was established in 2020 after the BBC’s commercial arm had exited Tower Productions, the decade-old production joint venture with All3Media.

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