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
Rentaghost did not sell, with some concerns over appropriateness of dark tone of the series aimed at young children, and plans for the series were axed. In September 2008, it was reported that the show could be returning to television after the rights to the programme were obtained by the UK production company RDF. However, no new show was forthcoming. "Deadline" reported in December 2010 that "Warner Bros had acquired the rights to "RentaGhost" and was going to develop it into a "Beetlejuice"-style afterlife feature comedy vehicle for Russell Brand as Fred Mumford." However, in October 2011, it was reported that