In Camden Town, 1918, Mrs. Allen (Dorothy Alison) and her three children, Lucy (Lynne Frederick), James (Garry Miller) and baby Benjamin, are met by the mysterious Mr. Blunden (Laurence Naismith), a kindly but mysterious old man who offers them a caretaker's job at a burnt-down old mansion. Upon their arrival, Lucy and James encounter two children, around their own age, who may or may not be ghosts. And just what do they have to do with the mysterious, and amazing, Mr. Blunden?
This story provides examples of:
- Adapted Out: The junior partner, Smith, is absent from the film, and his appearance at the end is given to Mr. Clutterbuck.
- Adaptation Personality Change: Several, some minor; but the largest is the snobbish Georgie in the book who is dismisses Jamie as a silly ghost when Jamie tries to keep him quiet when spying on the adults and who criticises almost every character at some point. In the film, he is little more than an lovable, if easily cross, scamp.
- Mr Wickens, whilst Dumb Muscle in both; speaks in the book and seems to be genuinely unpleasant whilst the film version is clearly mentally ill and only speaks (or mumbles) coherently once in the whole fil.
- Mr. Blunden himself seems a lot more confident in the film, though still guilt-stricken, he does not seem nearly as morose when offering the Allens a job and gleefully wishes Lucy and Jamie a happy Christmas.
- The Alcoholic: Mrs. Wickens, Bertie. In the original book, Mr. Wickens is too.
- Amoral Attorney: The original Mr. Blunden.
- Arc Words: "We three Kings of Orient Are..."
- Bad Cop/Incompetent Cop: Blunden and Bertie in the original timeline.
- Brainless Beauty: Bella Wickens as she has a mind of a child.
- Cats Are Mean: Averted, Georgie refuses to test the potentially poisonous potion on Mrs Wickenses' cat because it hasnt done them any harm.
- Celestial Bureaucracy: In the book, after his death Mr. Blunden takes Jamie to a spectral court, where it is judged whether his striking from the legal register should be reversed.
- Composite Character: The film combines the secretary Mr. Clutterbug, who appears when the Allens come about the job, with the junior partner Mr. Smith, who arrives to inform Mrs. Allen of her inheritance. In the film, Smith is only mentioned.
- Dead Person Conversation: When Sara and Georgie appear in 1918, Lucy and Jamie thought they were ghosts. However they are only here because they drank a potion that sent them forward in time. They prove that they are not ghosts by having Lucy and Jamie touch their hands. However, it turns out that Lucy and Jamie first instincts are true after they find Sara and Georgie’s graves.
- Disappeared Dad: Mr. Allen has died in a car crash/during the war (in the book and film respectively) sometime before the story, as have Sara and Georgie's parents.
- Dumb Muscle: Mr. Wickens.
- Establishing Character Moment: The Wickenses, Mr. Wickens' mental problem is soon set-up when a patron of the pub taps on a glass (reminding him of the boxing bell) whilst Mrs Wickens reigns him in with a few sharp punches.
- Foreshadowing: James sees a lot of himself in Sara, even describing it as like looking into a reflection.
- Ghostly Goals: Sara and Georgie want to escape from their evil guardians whilst Mr Blunden wants to make it up for allowing the children to die in the first place.
- Handsome Lech: Bertie.
- Haunted House: Although one of the "ghosts" doesn't realise they're dead...
- Heel–Face Turn: Mr. Blunden has spent the past 100 years attempting this.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Mr. Blunden dies to save Georgie and Jamie.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Sara tries to see the best in everyone, holding affection for her Uncle Bertie and the pampered Bella, has a friendship and later marries the lower-class stableboy Tom, and continues to write to Georgie after their estrangement. Any scorn is reserved for Mrs. Wickens.
- Invisibleto Adults: All the ghosts. Bella can see them as apparitions because she has the mind of a child.
- Karmic Death: The Wickenses die in their attempt to kill the children.
- Large Ham: Mrs Wickens.
- Mouthscreen: When Lucy begins to travel back to her own time, she pleads not to go back without Jamie. The camera quickly zooms onto Lucy's mouth as she says this over and over again, cutting between the intense closeup her talking mouth and the burning building for several minutes.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Children who travel forwards or backwards in time becomes invisible to adults.
- Pensieve Flashback: Most of the finale.
- Psychopathic Manchild: Poor Mr. Wickens. He's not evil by nature, but brain damaged from his days as the boxer "Wrecker" Wickens. In the book, he is much more villainous, and actually speaks on occasion, instead of just grunting.
- Regency England: Sara and Georgie are from this period, the year 1818 to be exact.
- Running Gag: Nobody seems to remember the name of the secretary at Blunden, Claverton and Smith, despite Jamie's comment that no one could forget a name like "Clutterbug." Once he leaves, Claverton rebukes Clutterbug for having such a silly name, for which he apologises.
- The Scrooge: The original Mr. Blunden.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Lucy and Jamie are sent back in time to prevent Sarah and Georgie dying in a house fire.
- Stable Time Loop: By saving the children in the past, Lucy and Jamie unwittingly save their own ancestors.
- Stealth Hi/Bye: Mr. Blunden's good at these.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Lucy contemplates Bella and Bertie's eventual fates in the book. In the film Bella almost certainly dies, but that still leaves Bertie.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Wickenses, oh so much.
