The Ghosts of Motley Hall

The Ghosts of Motley Hall
Created by	Richard Carpenter
Starring	Arthur English Sean Flanagan Freddie Jones Nicholas Le Prevost Peter Sallis Sheila Steafel
Theme music composer	Wilfred Josephs and Derek Hilton
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	20
Production
Producer(s)	Quentin Lawrence
Running time	30 minutes per episode
Release
Original network	ITV
Audio format	Monaural sound
Original release	28 April 1976 – 5 March 1978

The Ghosts of Motley Hall is a British children's television series written by Richard Carpenter. It was produced and directed by Quentin Lawrence for Granada Television, and broadcast between 1976 and 1978 on the ITV network. The series relates the adventures of five ghosts who haunt Motley Hall. Each is from a different era, and all except Matt are unable to leave the confines of the building and Matt himself is unable to travel outside the grounds of the Hall. The only regular character who is not a ghost is Mr Gudgin the caretaker of Motley Hall.

Carpenter wrote a companion novel for the series for Puffin Books in 1977.

A 3 DVD set containing the complete series was released by Network in 2005.

Main characters

• Bodkin (Arthur English) - In life he worked as a fool at Motley Hall and died as a result of a cold he contracted from constantly being thrown in the duck pond for the amusement of his employer.
• Sir George Uproar (Freddie Jones) - In life a General in the British army and now leader of the ghosts in Motley Hall. He died falling down the stairs after a long career in the army.
• Sir Francis 'Fanny' Uproar (Nicholas Le Prevost) - Died during his twelfth duel due to being drunk. He is a stupid but likeable character.
• Matt (Sean Flanagan) - In life he was a stable lad.
• The White Lady (Sheila Steafel) - A ghost of a woman who died in the Motley Hall. She has no memory of who she was in life and how she came to be haunting Motley Hall.
• Mr. Gudgin (Peter Sallis) - Caretaker of Motley Hall. In the past members of the Gudgin family had worked as servants to the Uproar family.

Episode list

Series One (1976)

1. "The Last Uproar" (25 April 1976)
2. "Old Gory" (2 May 1976)
3. "Box of Tricks" (9 May 1976)
4. "Bad Lord William and the British Banana Company" (16 May 1976)
5. "Perfida Blackart Rides Again" (23 May 1976)
6. "Double Trouble" (30 May 1976)
7. "The Pogmore Experiment" (6 June 1976)

Series Two (1976–1977)

1. "The Christmas Spirit" (24 December 1976)
2. "Sir Peveril's Hoard" (2 January 1977)
3. "Where Are You, White Feather?" (9 January 1977)
4. "Godfrey of Basingstoke" (16 January 1977)
5. "Ghost of a Chance" (23 January 1977)
6. "Horoscope" (30 January 1977)

Christmas Special (1977)

1. "Phantomime" (26 December 1977)

Series Three (1978)

1. "Family Tree" (29 January 1978)
2. "Ghost Writer" (5 February 1978)
3. "Skeleton in the Cupboard - Part 1" (12 February 1978)
4. "Skeleton in the Cupboard - Part 2" (19 February 1978)
5. "Party Piece" (26 February 1978)
6. "Narcissus Bullock's Bell" (5 March 1978)

See also

• List of ghost films

External links

• The Ghosts of Motley Hall at the Internet Movie Database