14 thoughts on “Ghosts (2019-) Scares Up Some Laughs

    1. Kitty is supposed to have been adopted; it’s never really explained where she originally came from (and her negative memories from childhood are something she works to repress) but it’s clear that she’s partly inspired by Dido Elizabeth Belle.

      1. That’s what I was thinking. Dido Belle was very fortunate in her family. Other biracial children might not have been so lucky.

    2. Race isn’t really mentioned, so it’s left up to the viewer to decide whether they’re doing color blind casting or showing historically accurate examples of people of color. In addition to Kitty, there are also flashback scenes to the Regency Era where the crowd of aristocrats include a few people of color, which would’ve been possible but very unusual. The medieval flashbacks also include a black person, but that’s because the plague ghosts are all played by the members of the main cast for comedic effect.

  1. I quite like both versions; the American remake follows a lot of the same beats but made the wise choice to swap some of the ghost’s stories for ones that fit American history better; so Julian is now Trevor, a Wall Street party boy, Thomas and the Captain are combined to make Captain Isaac (a gay American Revolutionary officer who died during the war and considers Alexander Hamilton his nemesis), and Robin becomes Thorfinn, in recognition that the Vikings were likely the first non-Indigenous people to make contact with North America. My favorites though are new creations for the America version – Sasappis, a Lynape Indigenous ghost and Alberta, who was a Probition-era Jazz singer; she gets a not entirely period accurate but still very gorgeous magenta velvet dress and silk robe combo for her forever outfit.

  2. Thing is ‘cavemen could sew, we have the needles and also to prove it. 8ce age Britons probably dressed much like traditional inuit.

  3. Lady Fanny’s garment is so spot on that I wonder if it was made of real period elements.

  4. I think Kitty’s dress seems better fitted in seasons 2 and 3 (and spoilers! we get a flashback to a more expanded wardrobe as well!)

  5. I hope you do watch the US version, it’s pretty funny! The costuming isn’t as wide-ranging, but the characters are hilarious and play well off each other. After reading this, I’m definitely going to check out the UK version. Interestingly, all the characters are not direct translations.

  6. I am also left slightly confused and bemused at Mary’s ensemble. I am really not quite sure what the layers are meant to be or represent, 17th Century costume wise – it is almost like she is wearing two costumes, one on top of the other! Weird… but I do love her subtle ‘scorch’ makeup and hair though. I do love 18th Century Kitty, both her characterisation and her gown. Her hair is amaze-balls and really detailed from the back/side and I really appreciate the accurate elements of her costume, although the vibrancy and clash of the colours and the height of the stomacher/bodice is slightly distracting when you study her intently. Definitely no period décolletage here, even without the kerchief. A great show all round I feel!

  7. Mary’s outfit seems like it could have been inspired by the Vermeer painting of a milkmaid, but on a TV budget. Kitty’s outfit is by far my favorite of the main cast, and her backstory episode had some really beautiful costumes, including a couple of recycled ones.

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