Colonisation and land rights feature in local version of international show

If you’re going to fake your death, there are some rules you need to follow. First, you can go through some things, but you can’t hit some things. You can sit on chairs and go up the stairs, but you can’t fall through them. You also – for the most part – can’t lift or move things.

“It’s harder than you think,” says Brent Hill. “Because we’re so used to picking things up haphazardly or sitting or leaning on furniture. It was hard for me because sticking a spear in the chest was like a Laurel and Hardy or Three Stooges routine; if I turned around too fast I’d knock over a vase or something and that couldn’t happen.”

Yes, a spear went through his chest. Hill plays Gideon, the blond and long-departed former naval commander of the Third Fleet. Ghosts Australia.

“Gideon is a ghost with the hair of Margaret Thatcher and the sensitivity of a goose,” says Hill, who also plays King George III in the musical. Hamilton. “He’s stubborn, and when everyone thinks of a goose — ‘Oh, you stupid goose’ — they think it’s funny. And then you realize that geese are incredibly territorial and aggressive, and they chase people, they honk their horns, they’re absurd and kind of ridiculous. And that’s Gideon. He’s a 200-year-old ghost who doesn’t want to change but is forced to because he suddenly has a new breathing person with whom they can interact.”

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Gideon is one of several spirits haunting Ramshead Manor, a country estate inherited by city lawyer Kate, played by Tamala (who goes by only one name), when her elderly uncle suddenly dies. Forced to afford a “pretty killer” flat with the toilet conveniently located in the kitchen, Kate and her partner Sean (Rowan Witt) head to the spooky property on studio flat hell.

“She’s a really strong woman,” Tamala says of Kate. “It’s incredible. There’s this quality about him where it’s like nothing can bring him down, nothing can disturb him. In pre-production we defined him as a shark, so that sharks can’t swim backwards, they just move forward, which makes him very useful in this show environment where there are so many people needing things from him all the time.”

If this all sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because the show is a local version of the popular UK comedy. ghostsA Spanish version of the film, which has also been adapted in the USA, France and Germany, is also planned. It comes from the two authors of the book, the original of which is completely stupid and mostly true. Scary Datesand each country adapted it to their own backstory. For example, in the British version there is a woman burned at the stake during the witch trials of the 1600s; another features a disgraced Tory politician who died of a heart attack after a sex scandal in 1993. Meanwhile, the US version features Native American hunter Sasappis, while the French version features Francois, the ghost of a French Nazi collaborator.

The premise remains roughly the same across all versions – a young couple (“breathers”) move into a house full of ghosts and they all have to learn to live together – but what keeps it from being a cheap imitation of the Australian version (hello, Office Australia) is brave enough to forge her own path in unlikely comedy areas like the housing crisis, colonization, and Indigenous land rights.

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“It’s not just rinse and repeat, copy and paste,” says Tamala, who starred in the ABC series. smart man And Nowhere Men. “This is actually an opportunity to showcase the special history of our country, all the different eras we have, all the different characters and cultures.”

Other ghosts besides Gideon include Irish hotelier Eileen (Mandy McElhinney), Joon (George Zhao), a Chinese gold prospector in the 1850s, aerobics instructor Lindy (Michelle Brasier) in the 1980s, glamorous young sheep station heiress Miranda (Ines English), and Satan (Jackson Tozer), a tattooed biker who eventually becomes Gideon’s sidekick. There’s a group of prisoners in the basement too, and Ned Kelly even shows up.

And while Kate, a First Nations woman, was generally welcomed by all the ghosts, Gideon was unimpressed because he considered Ramshead Manor to be his own country.

“I smell an invasion,” Gideon says when Kate and Sean first appear in the house.

“Yes, that’s you,” Eileen responds towards him.

This is a breathtaking joke that sets the tone Ghosts Australia is excellent as it gleefully leans into all the disturbing parts of the last 200+ years of our history.

“Humor, when done right, serves a very important purpose,” says Tamala. “And we have two incredible First Nations writers who I think do a great job of blending truth and humour: Steph Tisdell and Shontell Ketchell.”

The decision to include First Nations themes was made by the creative team before Tamala even auditioned. “They definitely made the right choice,” he says. “We can’t have a show about different periods of Australian history without a First Nations person at the helm.”

Hill agrees. “Our history goes back a long way, and a big part of it is: We need to find a way to deal with our history with both humor and heart,” he says.

“It was hard because there were real issues, but we talked about it a lot and made a lot of changes. Tamala and I talked in depth about our characters’ journey and the relationship between them because Gideon, ultimately we’re taking a colonist and putting him in an empathetic position about what it’s like to be displaced.”

“And that’s a big, big challenge for Gideon. And it’s about having a character who’s suddenly not used to giving anyone space, having to create space internally for other people. It’s really hard, but we think it’s important. We don’t shy away from it because it’s part of our history, and we definitely aimed to tackle it with humor and heart.”

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Native spirits are also present. For Tamala, a proud Bundjalung and Lama Lama woman, this meant doing something she hadn’t seen on Australian television before: honoring Country. It’s a moving and simple scene where Kate grabs a handful of sand and scatters it across the field.

“There are many different ways to honor the country, and it’s different from mafia to mafia,” Tamala says. “But the way we did it with sand was how the local mafia in that area in Perth did it. [where the show was filmed] honored their processes.

“I actually met some of the elders and the mafia from the area where we were filming and they talked to me about this protocol and process and then we incorporated it into the show, which is really incredible. It was a real honor to be a part of it and it was really special to show it to the audience.”

Although Kate and the ghosts see each other, Sean is the only one who cannot see the ghosts. As Witt describes it, Sean is “100 percent” committed to Kate, so if she wants to leave town and turn a rundown mansion into a boutique hotel, he’ll support her all the way.

“It’s important that Kate and Sean will stay with each other forever,” Witt says. “They understand each other. There’s something nice about playing two people who are unashamedly best friends with each other, and it’s a window through which the audience can see the ghostly stupidity going on around them.”

“And in that respect, our function as a couple was very clear; to help the funny but never compete with it. Tamala is such an effortlessly funny and understanding rock in that respect, she holds everything so gently that it always feels utterly delightful when you’re around her.”

Ghosts Australia It will premiere on Ten and Paramount+ on Sunday, November 2 at 8.30pm.

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