The Canterville Ghost

We're in riding country, Ginny.

Maybe you should get a horse?

Because that will make everything better?

Remind me this was a good decision.

Buying an English stately home,

sight unseen, dragging our kids to the other side of the world

under heavy protest?

Yeah. That was the right decision.

-(engine rumbles) -(splashes)

Eyes up.

This is the village.

Alrighty?

-Let's go. -(clicks)

-(Frank) Whoa, whoa, whoa! -(Virginia) Dad.

No signal! The signal is down!

I was in the middle of a conversation there!

There isn't even a 3G back up! What is this place?

Actually, we're in a signal blackspot.

There's no cell or Wi-Fi connection anywhere

within the estate boundary.

Oh, funny!

He's not joking, sweetie.

Think of it as a technological Bermuda Triangle.

Mum?

Woah, look at this place.

Alrighty.

Let's run.

Mum, tell him.

I'm fully supportive of your father's decision.

This family needs time out.

And no YouTube tutorials.

It was only a micro rocket. And it was an accident.

You burnt down the school Gymnasium, Theodore.

I knew this would all be our fault.

No.

But now that you mention it, Franklin,

setting fire to the only school in the state

you hadn't been expelled from may have been a contributing factor.

As for Virginia, if her life is now meaningless,

it might as well be meaningless here as anywhere!

Hiram.

We may as well start by telling it as it is, Lucy.

Huh, oh, my, I hope you brought a map.

-(Theo) Hello? -(Lucy sighs)

-(bulb breaks) -(Lucy yelps)

Where are you going?

To my room.

Honey, there are 150 rooms in the house.

Then I guess I'll find one.

Could we at least get a grid reference?

It's been a long day, and everyone is jet lagged.

We'll have a family council tomorrow.

Like the family council you had without us

before deciding to come here?

Seriously, could this get any worse?

-(metal clanking) -(squeaks)

Oh!

Do you think we need to get pest control in?

Let's get the bags.

Ah.

There you are.

So...

Cesspitt.

The Gargoyle missed its cue.

The, the rain was a nice touch.

Merely a prelude by way of welcome.

From henceforth,

we will no longer play to an empty house.

You, you, you, you... you terrify the mice.

Pea-brained vermin, unworthy of mine effort.

And as for spiders, let me not start.

A species singularly devoid of an attention span.

So, what of the incomers?

Their speech is strangled.

Hmm.

I think they're from the Americas.

Colonials. Ha!

Hardly a history to amass a ghost of any stature.

We shall tailor mine performance to the audience.

Study them.

Discover their darkest fears that haunt their dreams,

so that I shall become their living nightmare.

Lucy, remind me in the morning to get the plumbing checked.

See this, Lucy.

So, Simeon Otis was born just on the other side of that wood.

It's barely changed in centuries

even the gypsy wagons are still there.

His parents, brothers and sisters

are all probably buried somewhere near here.

Sweetie, I just know you're gonna find them.

We said peace and quiet.

You don't get quieter than this.

Hiram?

Where are the birds?

The completion documents for the sale of the Chase, Lady Deborah.

Thank you, Mrs Watkins.

I suppose it will just about cover the mortgage.

It was the only offer in 25 years.

Now, for neighbours, we have Yanks with more money than sense.

Hiram Otis would be hard pushed to have more sense than money.

He's currently ranked eighth

in the Forbes rich list.

How very vulgar.

I assume the occupancy clause is watertight?

You know how litigious these Americans are.

Oh, yes. Lord St John was quite punctilious

and insisted on him being included twice.

Once under the sitting tenant clause and also under fixtures and fittings.

I don't expect them to last long,

but we shall see for ourselves.

"Lady Deborah de Canterville at Home. Dinner 7:30."

I'm guessing an "at Home" is English for a potluck?

Ah, at least the neighbours are friendly.

I hereby declare this family council in session.

Now, we know you weren't sure about coming here.

Huh, we were sure. We didn't want to.

Yes, but it isn't just about you.

Your father's an inventor,

and boardroom life was destroying him.

Ah, maybe if I'd spent less time in a boardroom

and more with my family.

Maybe if I'd spent less time at work as well.

We just wanted to be a normal family.

Not get dragged to a Wi-Fi blackspot in the middle of nowhere.

Exactly. So instead of us being glued to devices,

we can spend time actually communicating with one another.

So let's call this day one of a new chapter

for the Otis family. What do you say?

I have to unpack.

What are we going to do?

What boys used to do before the internet.

There's 5000 acres of England out there.

Explore the woods, make a den, climb trees...

Under no circumstances are you climbing any trees.

Under no circumstances are you climbing any trees.

Need any help?

Thanks. I'm pretty much finished.

Um... Aren't you going to unpack that?

I don't recall packing it.

You still could have a great legal career ahead of you.

Don't let one mistake destroy your life.

A mistake that destroyed a life.

Kayla's life was destroyed by the system.

And you know, Ginny, you could have summer interned

at some fancy law firm.

But instead you wanted to help people who needed it most

in an over stretched system,

and when resources are stretched, mistakes happen.

It's moving on from the mistakes is all part of growing up.

"Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently."

I know, Mum.

I was gonna say if it was a horse,

you'd have got straight back in the saddle.

I know you and Dad are disappointed with me.

We're not disappointed in you. We love you.

We want you to be happy.

I know you wanna help,

but you can't therapise this one away.

Don't forget the Canterville's potluck.

Find something nice to wear.