BBC Ghosts if it was a British sitcom from the 1960s/70s (imo):
-live studio audience/laughttrack
-(possibly wobbly) studio set for interior scenes, exterior/outside scenes would be shot at West Horsley Place
-probably would have uhh casual racism and sexism, particularly towards Mike and Alison respectively (although it would kinda be possible if the show combatted against said racism and sexism but it also would unfortunately be very few and far between I think)
-The Captain would either be *implied* to be gay (possibly due to pressure from the studios or something) but would still be an upper-lip, stiff and hard (pun intended) leader OR if Cap was gay he'd be a campy stereotype for sure
-Kitty probably wouldn't exist as a character in the show, or if she did she'd probably been more likely to be played by a white woman rather than a black woman, since Kitty's historical inspiration (Dido Elizabeth Belle)'s story wasn't nearly well known back then up until about recent-ish years
-probably would be more farcical in terms of the situations, ala "Fawlty Towers"-esque
-more innuendo-laced lol
-possibly would've gotten a film adaptation in the 1970s (since that was kinda the trend for most Britcoms at the time, like "Are You Being Served", "Man About the House", etc)
That's all I could think about in terms of ideas. Do let me know if I missed anything in the tags/comments btw, guys! Thanks!!
controversial take but being a longtime ghosts fan over the past few months has just been watching the captain become increasingly more prevalent in tags and fan content to the point where almost no other character’s stories or personalities are explored and usually if they are, it’s in relation to the captain.
I’m gay, a lesbian, and the amount of fanbases I’ve seen fall to mostly straight women and become a whirlpool of one white, conventionally attractive gay man played by a straight man has been so disappointing. the captain is not the only character in ghosts. he is not the deepest or most tragic character in ghosts. it is a found family themed show. we, gay people, do not exist as tragic entertainment to be fetishised. the women in this show are rarely mentioned in comparison to the captain, Kitty had multiple scenes about her abusive sister, is implied to come from a horrific colonialist background and basically came out as asexual in season 5 and nobody talked about it, Mary died in a way that was so horrific they didn’t even show it on camera but havers had five minutes of screen time and he is everything now, apparently.
it’s to the point where you can’t escape it, no matter what tags related to the show you do or don’t follow. I’ve seen it before with the way the good omens fanbase changed from people who respected this incredible story criticising blind faith in religion with queer characters that inherently further that message into people calling them “uwu husbands” or whatever.
I’m not particularly angry, I’m just sad to see that the internet has turned into this again. I love the captain. I love ben, he’s a fantastic actor that I grew up admiring!!! but the captain is not the entire show and I think we need to think about why he takes up like. 85% of fan works.
I have a theory/explanation as to why captain appears in a broken mirror in the intro.
This post contains spoilers for S5 e5!!!!!
A mirror is typically used to show identity, a cracked mirror would mean a loss of identity. Cap had to fake fighting on the front line and take someone else's badges (hide his real identity) in order to see havers one last time. He died while pretending to be someone he wasn't and feeling like a fraud. This meant would have struggled hugely with his identity after his death (and likely before, being a closeted gay man in 1940's!!). This struggle with and loss of identity was potentially shown by the metaphor of broken mirror