Binny and the Ghost

Binny and the Ghost, or Billie and the Ghost in the United Kingdom (German: Binny und der Geist) is a German television series produced by UFA Fiction on behalf of Disney Channel's GSA. The series was created by producer Steffi Ackermann and author Vivien Hoppe. The pilot episode was first broadcast on Disney Channel Germany, on 23 March 2013, which was followed by the first episode of the first season on 26 October 2014. Disney Channel Germany gave the green light for the production of a second season in January 2015, which was first shown on 10 April 2016.

The finale of Binny and the Ghost was broadcast on 15 May 2016 by German Disney Channel.

Development
In 2012, the German Disney Channel convinced the US parent company Disney that they be allowed to produce their own series of programs. They searched for new ideas from independent production companies and were attracted by the pitch from teamWorx under the working title Binny und der Geist. The idea for the series came from the producer Steffi Ackermann and the author Vivien Hoppe, while casting was carried out by Daniela Tolkien. On 8 November 2012, the production of a pilot episode of Binny and the Ghost was confirmed. teamWorx became UFA Fiction in August 2013.

Filming
Shooting the pilot episode began on 9 November 2012 in Berlin and the surrounding area, followed by the first season of Binny and the Ghost. Filming of the first season continued until autumn 2014. The long timescale was due, among other reasons, to the availability of the main actors which was restricted to the school holidays. Filming of the second season began on 13 March 2015 and continued until the end of 2015. One episode of the second season was filmed in the zoo on the Reilsberg in Halle.

Main

 * Merle Juschka as Binny Baumann (British voice actor: Abigail Morgan)
 * Johannes Hallervorden as Melchior von und zu Panke (British voice actor: Roman Kemp)
 * Katharina Kaali as Wanda Baumann (British voice actor: Francesca Anderson )
 * Steffen Groth as Ronald Baumann (British voice actor: Brendan McCoy)
 * Eliz Tabea Thrun as Luca Schuster
 * Stefan Weinert as Hubertus van Horas (season 1)
 * Stefan Becker as Bodo
 * Robert Köhler as Rhett Thorn (season 2)

Recurring

 * Inga Busch as Steffi Schubert
 * Anselm Bresgott as Mark
 * Patrick von Blume as Principal Rötig
 * Paul Maximilian Schüller as Martin
 * Hoang Dang-Vu as Jan
 * Lucas Reiber as Niklas Neudecker

Broadcast
A pilot episode was previewed on the Disney Channel Germany, on 23 March 2013. Due to the success of the pilot, a complete first season with 13 episodes was ordered. Regular broadcast in Germany started on 26 October 2014.

The series had its premiere on Disney Channel in Europe, Middle East and Africa on 13 December 2014. Disney Channel UK announced that it would premiere the series on 27 July 2015 at 5:00pm under the title Billie and The Ghost. The characters Binny and Melhoir were renamed Billie and Malcolm respectively.

The first episode of Season 2 was first broadcast in Germany on 10 April 2016. .

Books
Starting in September 2014, Egmont Schneiderbuch has published a series of books written by Mark Stichler to accompany the series.

DVD
The complete first season of Binny and the Ghost was released on DVD in Germany on 22 January 2015.