Rentaghost with limited success, to involve the ghosts in his latest business enterprise. When actor Michael Darbyshire (who played the role of Davenport) died in 1979, Anthony Jackson (Mumford) declined to appear in the next series, leaving Michael Staniforth's Claypole the sole original ghost; Davenport and Mumford's absences were explained at the start of the series by the pair having gone on an extended tour of stately home hauntings. After Mumford's departure, the business was taken over by Harold Meaker and his wife Ethel, who suffered from the various problems the ghosts brought to their lives. The long-suffering neighbours of Rentaghost
Black Jester Jester carried 134 pounds to victory in the June Stakes, which was a replacement for the Coronation Cup. At the same course a month later, he was beaten by the three-year-old Rossendale in the Princess of Wales's Stakes, when attempting to conceded twenty-one pounds to the younger horse. Black Jester had been confidently expected to win the race and his defeat reportedly caused "quite a senstation". By the end of the year Black Jester's temperament had become highly unpredictable. On some occasions he would work brilliantly; but on others he could "hardly be persuaded to put one leg before the