Rentaghost were later recovered by the BBC Archives. The "Rentaghost" theme song, originally composed by Michael Staniforth who also played Timothy Claypole, was performed as part of the "George's song" skit in Shooting Stars (TV series) where it was one of the very few songs performed unmodified; it attracted cheers and applause as soon as the first line was finished. The well-known version of the theme is from the later series; the first series had the lyrics "ghosts and ghouls and poltergeists" (later changed to ".. and freaks and fools"), and "what you see is not ESP.." (as ESP was highly
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