These spirits aren’t ghouling around. BBC Studios has confirmed production for a German-language version remake of the CBS series Ghosts. According to Deadline, German broadcasters WDR and ARD Mediathek have commissioned a six-part series. Directed by Erik Haffner and produced by BBC Studios Germany, the show will feature writers Yves Hensel and Ayling Kockler, with Claudius Pläging providing the comedic flair. Cinematographers Tom Holzhauser and Anne Lindemann will capture all the action in Cologne, where filming is set to proceed throughout the summer.
First hinted at in May, the German remake sticks closely to the original show’s premise. A young couple, Emma (Cristina do Rego) and Felix (Benito Bause), inherit a mansion they plan to convert into a hotel. After a near-death experience, Emma gains the ability to see ghosts. The spectral residents include Neanderthal Urs (Jan van Weyde), Countess Adelheid (Antje Widdra), insurance salesman Joachim (Sebastian Schwarz), Roman legionnaire Claudius (Max Giermann), teacher Svenni (Sina Tkotsch), love-struck poet Friedrich Dorn (Alexander Khuon), and feminist maid Griet (Meltem Kaptan).
This isn’t the first time Ghosts has been remade for international audiences. While American viewers may know the U.S. version of Ghosts, the show originally hailed from the UK. Premiering in 2019, the British Ghosts charmed audiences for five successful seasons, wrapping up with a special Christmas episode in December 2023. Both the UK and US versions share the same premise: a couple inherits a rundown manor, intending to flip it into a hotel, only to discover it’s haunted. As one of them gains the ability to see the ghosts, hilarity and chaos ensue. Starring Charlotte Ritchie and Kiell Smith-Bynoe in the UK, and Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar in the US, the British Ghosts earned BAFTA nominations for Scripted Comedy and Comedy Writing.
