This is the characters page from the 2019 TV series Ghosts (UK). Click here to see the characters page from the 2021 TV series.
open/close all folders
The Living
The Coopers
Alison Cooper
Played by: Charlotte Ritchie
A young woman who inherits Button House from a distant relative. She plans to turn the derelict house into a hotel.
- Beer Goggles: After getting drunk during About Last Night, she ends up telling Thomas that something might have happened between them if they were the same age, he was alive and she wasn't with Mike. When she recalls this the next morning, she's horrified and tells Thomas she didn't mean it.
- Celeb Crush: Toby Nightingale, the lead actor in the drama being filmed in the house, is her free pass.
- Character Development: After several months of wrangling a group of quarrelsome ghosts, she's more mature than she was at the start of the show.
- Death-Activated Superpower: Has the ability to see ghosts after her brush with death.
- Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: After Lucy is exposed, Alison asked why her, wondering why she went through the trouble of pretending to be her lost sister and steal her money.. Is disappointed by Lucy's only response is a dismissive 'Don't take it personally.'
- Hollywood Healing: Alison is put in an induced coma after being pushed out of a window and technically dies, but suffers no health-related effects except being able to see dead people and having to wear a neck brace for a short while.
- I See Dead People: She can see ghosts. Certainly causes her some issues when living people are around too. She mostly gets away with it by pretending she is over reacting (i.e. Robin scares her and she responds by saying she forgot to take out the bins) or ignores them.
- Meaningful Name: Inverted and somewhat downplayed as her name means noble but she is not one. However she is related to nobility.
- Only Sane Man:
- Zig-Zagged. She has a bit more common sense than Mike, but she still makes the occasional dumb mistake such as misplacing Dante after a night of partying.
- In a house full of bizarre ghosts, she is this. Justified as she is a modern woman living with ghosts from various time periods who may not be as progressive as her. Also, they have long been denied the ability to talk to a living.
- Team Mom: The ghosts all come to look up to her, often competing for her attention like a bunch of bratty kids.
- Too Dumb to Live: She fell trying to balance herself hanging out of an open window. While her fall was caused by Julian pushing her, Julian's powers were so weak, the fact that it worked meant Alison put herself in a position where a sudden breeze could have killed her.
- Tuckerization: Alison shares a first name with producers Alison Carpenter and Alison Owen, while she shares a last name with producer Imogen Cooper.
- Unexpected Inheritance: Button House from her very distant relative.Alison: So she was like my step-great auntie?
Lawyer: There's no real term for what you are. - Unfazed Everyman: After Gorilla War she accepts the ghosts are real and learns to live with them.
Michael (“Mike”) Cooper
Played by: Kiell Smith-Bynoe
Alison's husband. After their move, he has grand plans for how to repair the house.
- A Day in the Limelight: The first Christmas special focuses on him and his relationship with his family.
- Did Not Think This Through: His main character flaw is his impulsivity and tendency to dive right into things without actually planning them through; be this fixing up a wall or entering into massive, finance-destroying loans.
- Doom It Yourself: His approach to D.I.Y. In one example, he ends up making hole in the wall to Fanny’s annoyance. She demands that the hole be fixed. However, he uses a portrait of her hated husband George to fix it.
- Freudian Excuse: As seen in the Christmas special, some of his behaviour quirks clearly stem from his family's treatment of him. His parents are well-meaning but slightly overbearing, while his sisters try to provoke him into becoming "The Incredible Sulk" (basically, manipulating him into having a temper tantrum on Christmas so they can make a video of it to humiliate him with).
- Hidden Depths: As revealed by "A Lot to Take In," Mike is a people person. He even quits his job as a cold calling life insurance salesperson on day one when his manager wants him to be completely impersonal with their elderly customers.
- Insecure Love Interest: Has various shades of this:
- He's worried when Alison's celebrity crush shows up in Free Pass, especially when it's revealed that said celebrity is her "free pass".note And while Alison doesn't take the free pass seriously, Toby, on the other hand, does. The actor also openly flirts with Alison once right in front of Mike, much to his annoyance.
- He also has a moment of insecurity with Kevin, Alison's ex who she supposedly dumped to be with Mike. However, it's eventually revealed that he's less insecure about Kevin and is more afraid that said ex is implied to be a Crazy Jealous Guy who is out to murder him, since the ex's Facebook history portrays a man who loves guns and is not shy about his criminal behaviour. Mike is scared, and rightfully so, that Kevin might still hold a torch for Alison and might be willing to Murder the Hypotenuse to get her back. Alison eventually confesses that she was the one who got dumped, so Mike has nothing to worry about.
- The one major time this is played straight is in Perfect Day, where Mike overhears Alison trying to comfort Clare because she got cold feet. He only hears the first part where Alison wonders if she was right to marry him, due to their age and the fact that he has many bad habits that get under her skin. He flees because it's hard to listen to — and missed out on her finally coming to the conclusion that she simply can't live without him. Still hurting from this discovery, he blurts out Alison's confession to a waiting Sam, who figures out that Clare is having cold feet. The entire wedding nearly gets derailed because of this, leading to a real argument with Alison. It's only after the miscommunication is cleared that Mike makes up with Alison and the two can be seen kissing during the dance.
- Manchild: He's a bit immature, perhaps best shown when he's working on the house and pretends to be a robot with a drill for a hand, then starts pretending to shoot stuff with it.
- One-Steve Limit: Downplayed as he technically shares the same name with Mick the plague ghost (Mike and Mick are shorten forms of the name Michael). Although he is occasionally referred to as Michael, Mick is never referred to as Michael.
- Read the Fine Print: He signs a few contracts after giving them a "lengthy skim". Bad idea.
- Shy Bladder: He keeps going to the pub to use their toilet because he's scared there'll be ghosts watching him at home. He's right, too; Mary's been watching him in the bathroom!
- Spoonerism: Has a tendency to make these, hence the episode title "Redding Weddy" and his inability to say Barclay Beg-Chetwynde's name correctly.
- Understanding Boyfriend: Quickly comes to accept Alison's ability to see ghosts as part of their daily lives after he sees a keyboard key on his computer moving by itself (which is actually Julian pressing it).
Others
Barclay Beg-Chetwynde
Played by: Geoffrey McGivern
An eccentric Upper-Class Twit who lives in (and owns) a village nearby to Button House and initially comes into conflict with the Coopers over the rights to their driveway. He frequently appears as a recurring nuisance throughout the series.
- Accidental Hero: He apprehends the robbers in "Bump in the Night" after being alerted by his 'bitches'. However, it was Robin who howled out to the dogs in the first place, making him the true hero of the story.
- Accidental Misnaming: It's a Running Gag that he always calls Alison Annabel.
- Everyone Has Standards: He might be a scheming, self-aggrandizing twit, but he rushes over to help his neighbors when they are being burgled. That is what a good neighbor is supposed to do.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: When he attempts to fake evidence that Button House is unsafe for human habitation as it features asbestos in its construction, Julian prompts Alison to realise that the building work used must come from Barclay's house, prompting him to swiftly withdraw that allegation or face trouble himself.
- Innocent Innuendo: He always calls his pet dogs 'bitches', apparently with no self-awareness to what that word can also mean.
- Nosy Neighbour: He frequently pops up to pry into the Coopers' business, often with some ulterior motive in mind.
- Timmy in a Well: In "Bump in the Night", he correctly interprets the barking of his dogs as the specific situation of a burglary in progress in Button House.
- Upper-Class Twit: Having known him in life, Julian regards him disdainfully as a stuffy old berk who loves the sound of his own voice.
Lucy (Unmarked Spoilers for Series 3)
Played by: Jessica Knappett
A cheerful woman who arrives at Button House claiming to be Alison's half-sister on her estranged dead father's side. She becomes a recurring character in Series 3 as Alison comes to terms with having a sister she never knew.
- Arc Villain: She's the main antagonist of Season 3, though her villainy isn't confirmed until the final episode.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She very convincingly plays a sweet, smiley, down-to-earth woman, enough to fool Alison into wholeheartedly believing her story. When the truth is revealed, her wholesome demeanor disappears in a flash.
- Chekhov's Gunman: At first she is introduced as Alison's long-lost sister by giving a photo of their father. By “Part of the Family”, she gains enough of Alison's trust that she was willing to give all her savings to her after she claims to be robbed. However, it turns out to be a scam as the photo of Alison's father is fake and she is only here for the money.
- Gold Digger: As Kitty correctly suspects, she's only befriending Alison to gain a share of the Button estate.
- Long-Lost Relative: Plays this card in order to worm her way into Alison's life until she trusts her enough to hand over some cash.
- Mysterious Stranger: Series 3's arc mainly centres around Alison and the ghosts investigating the veracity of Lucy's story.
- Nothing Personal: After being exposed as a fraud, Allison asks why her. Her only response is
Lucy: Don't take it personally.
- Unknown Rival: The unfailingly kind and trusting Kitty immediately hates Lucy's guts and plays a pivotal role in exposing her fraud, but since Kitty's a ghost, Lucy has no idea she exists.
Spoiler Character (Red Nose Day)
Kylie Minogue
Played by: Herself
Watch her appearance here
.
Actress and Pop sensation Kylie Minogue scouts the manor for an upcoming music festival, but holds an unlikely secret.
- All for Nothing: Despite her role expanding the show’s mythos as well as bonding with Alison and the ghosts, she decides to hold her event in another location that only contains 1 ghost.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She only appears in one mini-episode but her role in expanding the lore is huge: people other than Alison can see ghosts too!
- Wham Line: When the ghosts start talking over each other and Kylie was left alone in a room, she turns around and shouts:
Kylie: Alright, everybody SHUT UP!
- What the Hell, Hero?: She gives each of the ghosts a lecture when the rest of the group leave the room.
The Ghosts
In general
From left to right: Robin, Mary, Thomas, Kitty, The Captain, Pat, Fanny and Julian
The undead residents of Button House who weren't lucky enough to get "sucked off" to Heaven. As they all hail from different time periods, they're a colourful, eccentric lot, yet they all get along fairly well. Together, they find a purpose in unlife by protecting Alison, the only person who can see and interact with them.
- Barred from the Afterlife: For reasons that aren't entirely clear, they are unable to pass on, perhaps due to Unfinished Business.
- Cast Herd: Almost completely Averted. All of the Button House ghosts have uniquely fleshed-out dynamics with each other and episodes that see them separated into smaller pairs or groups will usually reconfigure them into different combinations. That said, it's clear that some pairs are closer than others (e.g. Julian and Robin, the Captain and Pat). However, this is very much played straight with the Plague victims, who exclusively hang out with each other in the cellar and rarely come out to interact with the rest of the cast.
- Cast of Snowflakes: You can recognise most of them by their silhouette alone. It helps that they are physically unable to change clothes from whatever Iconic Outfit they died in.
- Disappeared Dad: Pat and Julian were often absent from their child’s life due to their job. Although Julian deliberately wanted to be away from his daughter, as seen in the flashbacks of the 2020 Christmas special.
- Dysfunction Junction: They all have their fair share of trauma and baggage, most of which isn't immediately obvious on the surface.
- Friendly Ghost: Aside from that one time Julian attempted to murder Alison which kickstarted the whole story, they're all pretty harmless and friendly.
- Guardian Entity: They all steadily become this to Alison and Mike, even though the latter can't see them. When two inept burglars attempt to rob the house while only Mike is home, the ghosts do everything in their power to alert him to the threat and even try to phone the police.
- Hidden Depths: Initially, the ghosts appear to be fairly cartoonish stereotypes from the respective eras they hail from, but over time, they all receive substantial development as more details about their backstories come to light.
- Intangibility: They can walk through walls and phase through objects, much to their own frustration, yet they are able to sit down on chairs and lie on beds. At one point, Thomas lampshades that the mechanics don't make much sense. Living people unknowingly passing through them is noted to be especially uncomfortable for them.
- Invisible to Normals: Ghosts are completely invisible to normal humans.
There could be a whole gaggle of them surrounding you right now and you'd never know. Most of the show's comedy comes from Alison being the only person aware of them, while other people are oblivious to their voyeuristic antics. - Jacob Marley Apparel: Every ghost is stuck wearing the clothes they died in and the Captain still has the swagger-stick from Havers as well as any visual evidence of their death e.g. Pat still has an arrow through his neck, Thomas has a bullet wound in his side, etc.
- Jerkass Realisation: In the 2023 Christmas episode, the ghosts all conclude that they have become a burden on Alison and Mike's lives, encouraging Alison to move on with their lives by selling the house so that the ghosts won't bother them any more.
- Locked in a Room: They are physically unable to leave the grounds of Button House. Any attempt to escape through the front gates simply reverses them back to face the house. As a result, they are forced to spend eternity together as housemates, so they try to make the best of the situation.
- Mass "Oh, Crap!": The group’s reaction when Kylie Minogue gives them a Big "SHUT UP!" as they were unaware that she can see them:
Thomas: You can see us?
- Mundane Fantastic: The reality that ghosts A) exist, and B) are everywhere, quickly becomes a tedious fact of life that the main characters accept. The ghosts find much amusement in modern music, TV and pop culture.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: Since they all hail from past eras, many of them understandably don't have the most progressive moral or political views. Robin lived many thousands of years before there were any laws regarding sex and is implied to have been intimate with his own sister; Thomas has uncomfortable stalkerish tendencies when it comes to his idea of courting women; Fanny is vocally disgusted by the idea of same-sex marriage (initially, at least); and Julian is a sexist, classist, debaucherous Upper-Class Twit of the highest order.
- The Pollyanna: Kitty and Pat are the most cheerful and upbeat ghosts despite having a troubled family background in life (Kitty had a cruel sister while Pat’s wife cheated on him with his best friend).
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Ghosts are from different eras of history and social classes. The Captain is the token homosexual and Kitty is the only person of colour. They all died on the property and became a found family along with Alison.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: While being a ghost isn't entirely unpleasant, it means you are doomed to exist in perpetual boredom while almost completely unable to interact with the living world. Prior to Alison's arrival, the only way for the Button ghosts to pass the time was playing lame parlour games with each other.
Thomas Thorne
Played by: Mathew Baynton
A failed Romantic poet from the Regency who falls in love with Alison.
- Achey Scars: When the musket ball that killed him is brought into his presence, he reacts in pain and claims that the fatal wound it gave him is burning. Whether this is really the case or he's being dramatic is unclear. Though in the next episode when the Captain mentions shooting, Thomas brings his hand up to the injury (in a less dramatic manner), implying that mentioning anything to do with guns and shooting is enough to trigger a reaction.
- A Day in the Limelight: Season two's The Thomas Thorne Affair is focused on him and how he died.
- All Love Is Unrequited: Alison doesn't return his feelings, for obvious reasons. Although at one point she drunkenly tells him that they could have a chance... if they were the same age, he wasn't dead, and she wasn't married to Mike. She tells him she didn't mean it the very next morning. Then in series 3 it's implied that Alison actually likes the attention and tries to get him to notice her again when he's admiring Lucy - though she's quickly reminded why she finds him annoying once his attention is back on her.
- Butt-Monkey: Granted the other ghosts do suffer shades of this as well, but Thomas is the most prominent because of how often his pain and tragedy is dismissed by the people around him. The only reason why he's not a total Woobie is because he is quite insufferable to deal with.
- Character Catchphrase: "DAMN YOUR EYES!!!"
- Chewing the Scenery: Due to being a poet, he often does this.(trying to get Julian to admit if he pushed Alison or not): ANSWER THE QUESTION, DAMN YOUR EYES!!!
- Covert Pervert: He generally presents himself as a hopeless romantic, but it's made fairly clear on several occasions that he is interested in much more than a chaste relationship.(reciting an original poem): ...The housemaid's leg was Gwendolyn, and the lusty dog...was I.
- Dark and Troubled Past: It’s implied that he is obsessed with Alison because he died believing in the assumption that Isabelle didn’t love him and was robbed of a life with her. It is also noteworthy that Alison bears a similar resemblance to Isabelle as they are distantly related.
- Deadpan Snarker: On the very, very rare occasion that a situation doesn't drive him straight to dramatics, he tends to respond like this instead.
- Drama Queen: Oh, so, very, very much. It is very pronounced whenever he feels poetically inspired or when he tries to woo Alison (in vain) or when facing with an actor playing his rival Lord Byron or the entirety of The Thomas Thorne Affair. It says something in a group full of drama queens (of various levels), he out drama queens them all.
- Everyone Has Standards: While he has a massive crush on Alison from the start, he's furious with Julian trying to murder her, even though her dying would (potentially) give him more of a chance with her.
- Et Tu, Brute?: He was betrayed by his own cousin, who tricked him into fighting a duel and made sure he died in it. Thomas doesn't realise this until Humphrey exposes the truth.
- Expy Coexistence: His mannerisms and poetry make him a reference to Romantic poets such as Lord Byron, but it's also established that he had a (likely one-sided) rivalry with Byron when he was alive.
- The Friend Nobody Likes: The other ghosts regularly ignore Thomas, especially when he launches into his poetry or is having a dramatic moment.
- Hidden Depths: Once he gets the hang of it, he's very good at improvising a radio show including commercials. Too bad EVP doesn't actually work.
- Hopeless Suitor: As he himself says, "You're married, I'm dead. It's never going to work."
- I Just Want to Be Loved: Thomas would do anything to have a meaningful romantic relationship with a woman. His heart may be in the right place because he doesn't mean to harm anyone, but his idea of romance is much too backwards for today's ladies. Not to mention that the woman he fawns over for most of the series is alive, already married, and distantly related to him.
- In the Back: He died by being shot in the back during a duel due to his cousin deliberately misinforming him about how many paces he was supposed to take.
- It's All About Me: Thomas is extremely needy and has a habit of making everything about him such as recalling the roaring applause he received after performing his poem at a gathering in Higham House (The name of Button House at the time of his death) when in reality, the audience mocked him for his terrible poetry by laughing.
- Kissing Cousins: Played for Laughs. After hearing his backstory, Alison realises that she and Thomas are related. Thomas assures her that they're distantly related. note
- Love at First Sight: When he saw Alison arriving at Button House for the first time, he immediately falls in love with her.Thomas: Let me pluck out my eyes, for never I will see such beauty again.
- Screams Like a Little Girl: When he gets frightened by things like the toaster. Somewhat justified as it’s implied that sudden loud noises are a trigger for him due to being shot.
- Serial Romeo: Implied. In series 3 you'd think his heart was playing table tennis with the way it bounces between Alison and Lucy.Kitty: You think every woman is the woman of your dreams.Thomas: I have a lot of dreams! And most of them are about women! ...apart from the one where I have the body of a crab.note
- Small Name, Big Ego: He believes himself to be a great lover and poet, to the point of claiming to be the most important person ever to walk the grounds. In reality, he is a self-absorbed Drama Queen whose poetry is often shown to be terrible.
- Stalker with a Crush: For Alison. Before she can see him he watches her in the shower. After she can see him he follows her around, attempts to write her poetry and tells her to kill herself so they can be together.
- You Were Trying Too Hard: His usual poetry is doggerel, turning off most of his listeners. However, when looking at the sun and seeing how it has been the same for two hundred years, he says, "It is no fault of the sun if the eye sees not its beauty." Alison remarks that it was very poetic.
Julian Fawcett MP
Played by: Simon Farnaby
The 'youngest' ghost, a Conservative MP who died at the house on March 18th, 1993 during a sex act. He is able to move objects using his right pointer finger if he concentrates hard enough.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- The 2020 Christmas special focuses on his past and gives him a bit of a Heel Realization about his behaviour.
- “A Lot to Take In” shows the aftermath of his death and the early stages of being a ghost.
- The Alcoholic: He laments not being able to drink now that he's dead. In "Something To Share?", however, Thomas points out that since he died shortly after drinking champagne, he's essentially tipsy for the rest of his, well, afterlife. He's greatly cheered up by this.Julian: I suppose, thinking about it, it was the dream death. Booze, bit of rumpy pumpy, and out. Ha! [he punches Thomas lightly in the shoulder] There are worse ways to go, eh? [he walks off happily as Thomas frowns sadly and touches his bullet wound]
- Comic Sutra: He regularly baffles his fellow ghosts with descriptions of obscure sexual acts such as the "Himalayan Campsite" and the "Norwegian Picnic".
- Hidden Depths: After spending time with a baby that had been left in his room, he is found reflecting on how he neglected his own child while growing up, which inspires him to look up what his daughter has done with her life since his death.
- Hypocritical Humour:
- He thinks the ghost-hunters are morons for believing in spirits — even though Allison reminds him that he's a ghost. "Yeah, but, you know...before I became one, you wouldn't have caught me believing in this sort of nonsense... Bloody weirdos!"
- He also calls all builders "thieves", despite cheerfully admitting to committing fraud and stealing money from taxpayers.
- In the episode "Speak as Ye Choose" Julian tells Mary that times have changed and men "listen to women" now. He then spends the episode barely listening to Mary's story and interrupting Fanny whenever she tries to speak.
- It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: His pushing Alison out of the window is not as well-received as he thought it would be.
- Karma Houdini: For pushing Alison out the window. Although she survives, he didn't really intend her to and he gets nothing worse for it than a bit of a dressing down from the other ghosts. Though given that he's already dead and intangible, there's not really much more anyone can do about it.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: His amoral acts during his life caught up to him after his death, since he's pretty much only remembered for dying in humiliating circumstances. And unlike real life people who become infamous after they've died, he's fully aware of how much of a laughing stock he is.
- Meaningful Name: His name means youthful which is very fitting for the most recently deceased ghost.
- Mind over Matter: The only ghost who can move objects, though he can't manage anything heavier than a coffee mug. It also requires an enormous amount of effort and concentration, though he seems to be getting better with practice.
- Naked People Are Funny: Seems to be a theme for Simon Farnaby. Here he spends the entire show sans trousers.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Seems to be based off Conservative MP
- Stephen Milligan, who accidentally killed himself by auto-erotic asphyxiation, although it turns out Julian's death was caused by a cardiac arrest during sex.
- According to Simon Farnaby, Julian's characterization was inspired by a "cross-party cocktail" of politicians, including Boris Johnson, David Cameron and Tony Blair.
- He is also similar to John Profumo, a similar Tory who also infamously had an affair with a young up and coming women, though Julian had it with another politician while Profumo had it with a model.
- Stephen Milligan
- Odd Friendship: With Robin, the oldest ghost in the building. Julian taught him how to play Chess and they are often seen hanging out together. While a Tory MP from the 1990s and a millennia-old caveman may not seem an obvious pairing, they both have mischievous personalities thanks to their shared abilities to affect the material world.
- One Head Taller: At 6'2 (1.88 m) he towers above the rest of the cast, with only the Captain coming close to matching him.
- Out with a Bang: Julian died during some kind of scandalous sex act, and as a result his ghost is without trousers.
- Parental Neglect: He was an extremely absent father to his little daughter, missing every single Christmas that they were both alive for, and referring to her as 'it' during conversations on the phone. In "Something To Share?", it's revealed he's been subconsciously punishing himself for it in his dreams.
- Poltergeist: His unique ghostly power is the ability to touch and manipulate physical objects.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: How he got away with his many, many, many crimes in life. He once sold 50 crates of AK-47s to the Libyans in 1983 to pay for his Orangerie.
- Sleazy Politician: A stereotypical Tory MP, up to and including fraud and voting against animal welfare.
- Small Name, Big Ego: His political achievements have been long overshadowed by the scandal which ended his life, but he still acts like the most important person in the room.
- So Proud of You: He's pleased as punch to learn that his daughter followed in his footsteps and became a politician. He's mildly deflated to learn that she stood for the Green Partynote , but is willing to brush that off with a "Nobody's perfect" in the spirit of the occasion.
- Token Evil Teammate: He's by far the most amoral of the ghosts, as slimy in death as he was in life. When Alison was feeling particularly frustrated with neighbour Barclay Beg-Chetwynde, she turned to Julian for help on the grounds that he would be able to think like Barclay and help Alison catch some of Barclay's tricks.
- Undignified Death: Died in some sort of salacious sexual act, and as a result it dominates his legacy (much to his chagrin). Also, it means he has to spend his afterlife perpetually 'caught with his trousers down'.
Lady Stephanie ("Fanny") Button (née Colebrooke)
Click here to see Fanny as a young woman*
Played by: Martha Howe-Douglas
An Edwardian matriarch and former owner of Button House. She was murdered by her husband whom she caught having sex with the groundskeeper and their butler. Her image can be seen by the living, albeit only in photographs and on video.
- A Day in the Limelight: "He Came!" explores her past (specifically, her relationship with her mother).
- All There in the Manual: Her maiden name is only mentioned in the companion book.
- Arranged Marriage: Her mother forced her into a marriage to save the family fortune.
- Behavioral Conditioning: She heard the clock striking three in the morning as her husband shoved her out the window, so every time she hears the clock hit three, she repeats the action without being able to control it. The other ghosts get around this annoyance by setting the clocks back and using her scream as an alarm.
- Berserk Button:
- She's a stickler for etiquette and maintaining a good reputation as Alison quickly discovers.
- She is not pleased when a painting of her husband (who, to be fair, cheated on and killed her) resurfaces. She flies into a rage whenever she looks at it.
- Cheated Death, Died Anyway: She was booked onto the Titanic, but missed it. (With that said, the odds were against her dying, as very few First Class women died on the Titanic.) She was later pushed out of a window by her secretly gay husband.
- Chewing the Scenery: She is second to Thomas when it comes to chomping down the scenery. Especially her overreaction to what she considers immoral and calling out Alison for being unladylike in “Gorilla War”:(after Alison closes the door in her face): A LADY WOULDN’T TELL ME TO DO THAT TO MYSELF!
- Covert Pervert: Very much so. She secretly enjoys reading erotica, had a lustful crush on Mike and it's implied she spent her marriage being frustrated that her husband was not sexually interested in her.
- Distracted by the Sexy: In Redding Weddy, after reading Lady Chatterley's Lover, she develops an obsession with Mike’s figure whenever he tries to prepare the garden for a visitor such as moving Florence the statue. Fortunately, she snaps out of her fixation with him by the end of the episode.
- Good with Numbers: "He Came!" reveals that Fanny is naturally clever at maths. When she was younger, she refused to get married on the grounds that she would be much more useful in helping her father manage his business' finances.
- Grande Dame: She is this to the 'T' as she the oldest female ghost in terms of “physical age”. She is also one of the least progressive ghosts.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Anytime anyone does not act in a way she deems proper, she can heard shrieking about said person's lack of manners and upbringing.
- Hidden Depths: Thanks to watching a lot of Murder She Wrote, Fanny is pretty good at solving mysteries. Though she needs other information from the ghosts, she's the one who puts it all together and figures out that Lucy is actually a con woman trying to steal Alison's money; in addition she was suspicious of Lucy from the start, due to her previous experience with an identity thief. "He Came!" reveals that she's also very adept at maths.
- Hypocritical Humor: Calls Alison an "ill-bred hen" for shrieking, then sees her husband's portrait and shrieks louder and at a higher pitch.
- Lifesaving Misfortune: Back in the day she booked passage on the Titanic, but it turned out someone had stolen her identity and passed themselves off as her. While Fanny probably would have survived if she had gone on the voyage (only four women from First Class died in real life) she was definitely saved from a horrifying experience.
- Long Hair Is Feminine: When attempting to go skinny-dipping, she unties her hair which is long enough to reach her ankles.
- Meaningful Name: Her name comes from the Greek word for crown. Crowns are associated with rulers and she often acts like one. It could also refer to her noble status.
- Outgrowing the Childish Name: Inverted. "He Came!" reveals that Fanny's family called her by her full name, Stephanie. She only started to go by Fanny when she was introduced to her future husband.
- Prim and Proper Bun: Her hairstyle is one commonly found in the Edwardian Era.
- Proper Lady: She likes to think she is but she is seen feeling horny around Mike and Humphrey’s body. At first is against same sex marriage as it’s not traditional. However, she changes her mind after Humphrey ask that it would be if they had the choice on who to marry. She also like modern tv shows such as Loose Women.
- Properly Paranoid: She turns out to be right on the money about Lucy as she works out, thanks to Julian and the Captain, that Lucy used Photoshop to produce a fake photo of Alison’s father to trick Alison that they were sisters.
- Riches to Rags: Fanny's family ends up becoming destitute due to her father becoming heavily indebted to several other businesses. This is the main reason why Fanny marries her husband.
- Sex Is Evil, and I Am Horny: She's got a lot of stuck-up ideas about morality, but it's clear that she regrets not getting more in life.
- She Knows Too Much: How she died: her husband was a Depraved Homosexual whom she caught cheating on her with not one, but two men! He threw her out the window in cold blood because he didn't think she could keep a secret. Ironically, she didn't tell the other ghosts about it until more than a century later. When she finally tells everyone, Thomas points out that he and several of the other ghosts saw the whole thing, so it wasn't exactly a secret in the first place.
- Suicide as Comedy: Seeing as the Captain thought she threw herself out of the window, his comments come across as this. But it's ultimately subverted; instead, she was murdered.
- The Future Is Shocking: Her reaction to Alison. In Getting Out, she admits that when Alison first arrived, she thought she was a prostitute. Then in series 2 she's shocked at the idea of a lesbian couple getting married, but later changes her tune.
- Trauma Button: She doesn't take Julian pushing Alison out the window in the first episode well, as it was similar to how she died.
- Underage Casting: Martha Howe-Douglas, 38 when the series started, is heavily made up to play 60-year-old (and older-looking) Fanny, the oldest of the ghosts by age at death. (Doubles as
Dawson Casting during the flashbacks in "He Came", in which Fanny is in her early 20s.) - Unfortunate Names: Some crass comedy is mined from her preference for being called "Fanny", which, in Britain, is slang for a certain female sex organ. And it really doesn't help that her surname is "Button"...
- Unwanted Spouse: Her husband was secretly gay. Thus, he cheated on her with other men and saw her as disposable when she found out his secret.
Patrick ("Pat") Butcher
Played by: Jim Howick
An upbeat youth group leader. He was accidentally shot through the neck with an arrow on the grounds of the house in the summer of 1984.
- Accidental Murder: Was shot through the neck by a careless scout.
- A Day in the Limelight: Happy Death Day explores his death and family with the latter getting more focus in It’s Behind You.
- Ambiguously Bi: In About Last Night he stares at a living naked man along with The Captain.
- Blaming the Cuckold: Following reflecting further upon his life, Pat comes to blame himself for his wife Carol's affair. Whilst a Nice Guy, he realises his sheer inflexibility and unspontaneity, to the point over literally having every single hour of his life scheduled to meticulous detail long in advance, and sheer obliviousness to how bored and miserable this was making her, led to her seeking excitement elsewhere.
- Creature of Habit: So unspontaneous was Pat that he refused to try a new Italian restaurant with his wife because each night of the week already had a pre-determined dinner. Everything he did both as a youth leader and in his personal life was meticulously scheduled. Sadly, this eventually led to his wife having an affair, because she was so tired of the boredom and lack of spontaneity or excitement in their marriage.
- Face Death with Dignity: One of his first instincts, when he was shot in the throat and realised he was facing certain doom, was to minimise any trauma suffered by his charges by pretending not to be so injured and telling them not to look at him.
- Fantastic Arousal: While camping, he gives Alison tips and tricks for making her campsite work better than Mike's. When she is sitting back, enjoying a biscuit (cookie) in her tea, he tells her "dip it again," and seems to have an obsession about it. After a couple times, Alison says she can't eat them while he is looking at her "like that."
- Forgiveness: The scout who killed him later attends a wedding at Button House years later as an adult. Pat (eventually) forgives him when he realizes that he is partly to blame by giving a dangerous weapon to a child without first going over the safety requirements.
- Friendly Ghost: One of the friendliest and was the one who was quite cheery and hopeful when Alison and Mike moved in. In fact, when by the season 1 finale everyone is begging Alison to stay and promise to change their quirky behaviour for the better, Pat has a realisation that he has no bargain chip, for he did nothing wrong.
- Harmful to Minors: Attempted aversion. After getting shot in the throat, one of his first concerns (after realizing none of them were old enough to drive him to the hospital) was telling his scouts not to look at him, playing off how badly wounded he was, and trying to drive away so the kids wouldn't be haunted by the images of his injury and demise. All this happened right in front of them, so obviously, it was too late, but the thought counts.
- Heroes Love Dogs: Absolutely loves dogs (a trait shared by his actor, Jim Howick) up to the point where he's willing to cause himself pain by having one of Barclay's dogs partially phase through his hands as he instinctively tries to pat her.
- Impromptu Tracheotomy: Pat died when one of the scouts he was teaching archery accidentally shot him through the neck with an arrow.
- Ironic Name: His name means nobleman or patrician and he isn’t one.
- The Lancer: He tends to defer to the Captain's authority and act as a kind of right-hand-man / NCO.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Pat when he's shot with the arrow. This is mainly because he doesn't want to frighten his youth group.
- Nice Guy: He's friendly towards everyone and tries to do the right thing.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- In Happy Death Day a couple of the characters note that he's not his usual cheery self. Turns out tomorrow's the anniversary of his death, and his family comes by annually to pay their respects. A bit of a departure from the usual Rapid-Fire Comedy. He also took a couple of swings at the adult version of the young boy who shot him when he came back to the grounds for a wedding, but eventually forgave him for it.
- When Alison tries to prank him for April Fool's Day, he tells her (with a face of complete stone) that after taking packs of ten year old boys on summer camps for ten years straight, there's absolutely no prank she can try that hasn't already been pulled on him. He then (somehow?!) manages to mime eating Alison alive.
- Scout-Out: The writers are very careful not to identify Pat's youth organization as the actual Scouts. The uniform is similar but different and the organization is never given a name.
- Team Mom: Both towards his youth group and the other ghosts such as acting as the director for the ghosts' panto production of Cinderella in “It’s Behind You”.
Rogh ("Robin")
Played by: Laurence Rickard
A caveman and the oldest ghost in the house. He has the ability to make lights flicker and animals can hear him.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- Not Again explains the story of his death.
- En Francais explores his friendship with Humphrey’s wife Sophie.
- Ambiguously Human: We're not sure if Robin was a modern human or a close relative to humans such as a Neanderthal, as he is shown to have the features and characteristics of both types.
- Brother–Sister Incest: When Pat talks about how all humans are related on some level, Robin pipes up with 'Yeah, you all come from me! And my sister.' When the other ghosts and Alison react with confusion and disgust, he says he was joking — but judging by his expression when no one can see his face, he definitely wasn't.
- But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When Mary moved on, he was outside, watching his "mouse family," who had just had babies. While the others are upset, he asks them if they want to see the babies. He's been around for so long he's got his own way of remembering them: by naming a star after them. He names off others that have come and gone, then names a star ("because it twinkles") after her.
- Conspiracy Theorist: In one episode, he falls down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theory videos on YouTube and believes every single one of them.
- Crying Wolf: He apparently does this so often that the other ghosts ignore him out of habit, even when he ends up telling the truth.
- Eternal Sexual Freedom: In his day, the basic rule was that 'if you like someone, you do it' (which apparently included your own siblings) nobody knew who their father was, and all the children were raised together. Consequently he thinks monogamy is stupid; when Pat, Julian and Fanny voice varying levels of disapproval, he points out that their respective marriages ended with them either cheating or being cheated upon, and in Fanny's case also being murdered, and when Thomas is disgusted Robin poses the question of what he would have done if he had married Isabelle and then met Allison, with Thomas unable to reply.
- Hidden Depths: He's a master at chess and does crossword puzzles as a hobby. He also learned to speak French simply from listening to Sophie Bone and her maid, as well as learning Russian as some point.
- High-Voltage Death: He was touching a tree that he used to hide from a bear when it was stuck by lightning. It's implied that's the reason for his electric based powers as a ghost.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Thomas states that Eleanor poisoned Kitty with her tea as she gave Kitty one in the morning, since she grew deadly nightshade in the garden. However, Robin corrects him with the fact that Eleanor made the tea later on in the day.
- It Will Never Catch On: Believes that Christmas is just a fad that will be replaced with something else over time.
- Loon with a Heart of Gold: Being a caveman he can seen as a bit of a savage. However since he is the oldest, he his very wise and offers advice to his fellow ghosts when they are down.
- Meaningful Name: His name is a diminutive of Robert, which means bright and shining. A very fitting name for someone who has light based powers.
- Only Sane Man: As the oldest of the ghosts by several thousand years, Robin has literally seen it all, and is one of the wisest and most level-headed of the bunch... when he's not amusing himself. He'll often be the one to state the simple solution e.g. when Fanny and the Captain are squabbling about her disturbing his sleep and everyone else gets dragged into the argument, Robin roars for attention, then calmly points out they can simply swap rooms.Mathew Baynton: Robin actually is surprisingly articulate. [...] Yeah, he's been around the longest so he's actually the wisest one, so there are moments where his wisdom suddenly shines through and he makes all of the others look like the idiots they are.
- Pelts of the Barbarian: Being a caveman, this is how he dresses. This is historically accurate as Stone Age peoples did use animal fur for clothes. It kept them warm while out hunting which he was doing before he died.
- Power-Strain Blackout: Occasionally his power backlashes and floors him.
- Time Abyss: No one knows exactly how long Robin has been around, probably somewhere around tens of thousands of years, with no hope of passing on. He's been present for every other resident's death and he muses that the only thing that's been there as long as him is the Moon.
- The Trickster: A lot of what he does is simply for fun. When Alison asks him what he wants in exchange for him to stop bothering her, and is enraged when she learns he's been scaring her out of her mind for no reason, he sheepishly says, "Well, it was something to do."
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: At the start of "Happy Holiday", the ghosts watch a trailer for a TV show about the skeleton of a pre-historic man. Robin is convinced that the person is Hat, a fellow caveman who, amongst other things, gave Robin the furs he wears in exchange for a tool. When they watch the show later on, Robin is proven right — and then he discovers that Hat died from hypothermia, because he no longer had his furs to keep him warm.
- You No Take Candle: As a stereotypical caveman with a speech centre of the brain that hadn't fully developed when he died, Robin speaks like this, despite being quite intelligent.
- Averted when speaking French, oddly enough.
"The Captain" (James)
Played by: Ben Willbond
A Royal Army officer who was once stationed at Button House during World War II.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- Redding Weddy explorers his past and his feelings for his lieutenant, Anthony Havers.
- Carpe Diem shows the story of his death.
- All Gays Love Theater: Implied by the fact that his choice for countering Alison's Ignoring by Singing is "I am the very model of a modern major general". The Hardest Word reveals he's a fan of Cole Porter.
- Character Development: Goes from complaining about the party in About Last Night and rather repressed about his emotions and sexuality, to dancing quite happily with a gay couple at the end of Season 2.
- Chekhov's Skill: He has a talent for planning and attention to detail which led to him being put in charge of a weapons research unit during World War II... and also makes him an excellent wedding planner.
- Closet Gay: Verging on Transparent Closet as of Free Pass. By series 3, it's so obvious that when the other ghosts are trying to figure out who Fanny is having an affair with, Robin immediately rules him out.
- Desperately Seeking A Purpose In Life: Or in his case, afterlife, because though he's too much The Stoic to admit it, he's rather lost in an afterlife where his talents are neither required nor appreciated by the other ghosts. He's much happier when he's able to use his skills to lead the ghosts or assist Alison. It’s implied he’s like this because he died in shame as he didn’t earn anything in life.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He's only known as the Captain until the fifth season is almost over.
- Given Name Reveal: His name is finally given as James in Carpe Diem.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: He exercises with great discipline, but is disappointed with how he hasn't been improving. The fact that he doesn't have muscles anymore is clearly irrelevant.
- Has a Type: Strong men and authority. Justified as he is a closeted homosexual and since he is a captain, he is used to take charge of a situation.
- Hidden Depths: Is shown to have quite a talent for wedding planning.
- Holding Hands: Combined with died in your hands tonight. As he is dying Havers is seen holding his hands as he admits that he gatecrashed the Button House VE Day celebration in order to see him.
- Manly Gay: Stoic, disciplined, loves war, and an admirer of handsome young men.
- Meaningful Name: James means supplanter which is alluded to when he steals someone-else’s badges in order to gatecrash the Button House VE Day celebration as it was for decorated officers only. It also means he who follows which he essentially does on the day he does in order to see Havers. He also shares his name with James VI and I of Scotland and England who was a possible homosexual.
- No Name Given: His birth name is never revealed for the first four seasons. He almost mentions his surname in Series 3 while attempting to give Alison a debriefing, but is interrupted. The 2021 Christmas special reveals that Pat, at least, knows his real name, but he is again interrupted before he can tell Alison what it is. His first name is eventually given as James in Series 5, when Havers calls him this as the Captain is dying of a heart attack, but we still never learn his surname.
- Not So Above It All: Despite acting like a ranking officer and demanding strict discipline with himself and others, he has a tendency to be join in with the activities the other ghosts are doing.
- Officer and a Gentleman: The Captain literally refers to himself as such.
- Only Sane Man: He thinks he is, but he's wrong. As seen in “Something to Share?” he is hiding a secret (he's gay) like most of the other ghosts.
- The Leader: Being an army officer, he thinks himself as this. While the others sometimes defer to him, it's mainly because he's bossy and tends to assert his authority more than they do.
- Phony Veteran: both invoked and subverted. The Captain volunteered and served in the Second World War but never saw combat, relegated to a training and administrative position in the UK. In order to get into a party for combat veterans and be reunited with his gay crush he borrows a set of medal ribbons and is hugely ashamed that because he died whilst wearing them he's stuck with them pinned to his uniform forever.
- Team Dad: He's the de facto leader of the ghosts and is usually the orchestrator of their plans (often involving some military strategy).
- In Something To Share? we see some of Kitty's backstory, where she replaces significant players with the other ghosts and Alison to repress the true unpleasantness of her situation. Most prominently, Alison (unsurprisingly) takes the role of her sister, and her dad is replaced by the Captain, suggesting that she genuinely sees him as a surrogate father figure.
- He acts as stage manager when the ghosts try to put on a panto version of Cinderella in "It's Behind You". Later on, he gets recast to play the fairy godmother to Kitty's Cinderella
- Younger Than They Look: He looks to be in his 50's or 60's with his grey hair, but according to the official Ghosts book, he was 45 when he died, which is younger than Julian (who was 48). (Ben Willbond was 46 at the start of the series.)
Katherine ("Kitty") Higham
Played by: Lolly Adefope
A cheery but naïve and overly friendly Georgian noblewoman.
- A Day in the Limelight: Series 3's Something To Share? explores her past, while Series 5's Pineapple Day explores her death.
- Absence of Evidence: Brought up when the other ghosts are discussing how she died, as the fact that there isn't a mark on her- in contrast to Pat's arrow or Thomas's bullet-wound- rules out most obvious causes of death. After realising that Kitty died by a spider bite, they check her hand and find a small bite mark.
- Black Sheep: Her sister Eleanor was often mean to her on the basis that she was the “true” daughter while Kitty was only adopted. Reports have emerged that the character may be based on Dido Elizabeth Belle, a free black British gentlewoman from the Georgian Era.
- Childish Tooth Gap: She has a gap between her two front teeth, and is easily the most child-like of the ghosts.
- Cinderella Plot: Her backstory alludes to this fairytale such as having a wicked sister and not being able to go to a ball.
- Companion Cube: In life, she had Florence the statue, who was her Only Friend growing up.
- The Cutie: Very sweet and innocent and tends to be treated like the baby of the group, although as of season four she's a little less ditzy and her speech and mannerisms have evolved to be less child-like in pitch and tone.
- Fake Memories: Kitty has rewritten her own memories, forcing herself to believe that her sister was a kind person when in reality she was cruel.
- Freudian Excuse: It’s implied that she wants to have a very close relationship with Alison because her sister Eleanor, was often cruel to her. It’s also noteworthy that Alison bears a resemblance to Eleanor, which is ironic since Alison is Eleanor’s descendant.
- Friendly Ghost: One of the nicest ghosts in the group.
- Good Parents: Despite being very lonely in her life with only a malicious, cruel sister who enjoyed tricking her and a statue named Florence for friends, Kitty appears to have been treated equally with her sister by her adoptive parents and seems to have enjoyed a nice upbringing.
- Hidden Depths: Despite her cheery attitude, she had a troubled youth and was mistreated by her sister (which she has repressed her memories of).
- I Just Want to Have Friends: Kitty instantly latches on to Alison as a friend, to the point of irritation on the living woman's part. We get plenty of hints that Kitty was very lonely when she was alive, since her companions consist of a malicious sister who enjoyed tricking her, and a literal statue.
- Kindhearted Simpleton: While kind, she's rather naïve and ignorant about a lot of things.
- Living Emotional Crutch: Alison has become one for her, to the extent that Kitty bursts into hysterical tears when she gets the inaccurate impression that Alison doesn't care for her anymore.
- Meaningful Name: Her name means pure which is reflective of her personality and her innocence.
- Miss Conception: Thinks babies are made by pressing ears together.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: As a black Georgian noblewoman she's probably inspired by Dido Belle.
- Still Believes in Santa: "He Came!" reveals that Kitty still believes in Santa. Apparently, not even the Captain has made an attempt to correct her. We see him trying to, but he can't bring himself to crush her belief.
- Token Minority: She is the only ghost and the only one in her family who is black. It’s implied that her sister was mean to her because of her skin colour.
- Womanchild: Zig Zagged as she is the most childlike of the ghosts since she loves playing games with her sister, back when she was alive and Mary in the present day. However she is seen reading adult romances, knows about Mary Shelley, is fascinated with Maddocks’s flesh wound and gets excited when she sees how babies are really made.
Mary Guppy
Click here to see Mary when she was alive.
Played by: Katy Wix
The Stuart era victim of a witch trial. Anyone who passes through her can smell something burning.
- All There in the Manual: Her surname is only mentioned in the companion book.
- Ash Face: Since she was burned to death, as a ghost she is perpetually covered in soot.
- Burn the Witch!: How she died; two farmers decided to accuse her for using witchcraft to summon the frost that damaged their crops, rather than accepting responsibility. So she was burned at the stake.
- The Bus Came Back: She makes a faceless cameo in a flashback in “Carpe Diem” when she and the other ghosts are looking at motor vehicles on VE Day at Button House.
- Character Tics: Mary's ghost emits a small cloud of ash whenever she's stressed or if her death is mentioned.
- Cloudcuckoolander: She has a set of superstitions and beliefs that's baffling to all the other characters (thinks cereals popping sound like people dying etc). This could explain why she had been accused of witchcraft; she can be quite eccentric even when compared to her peers at the time. Unfortunately back then 'eccentric' often led to accusations of witchcraft and/or heresy.
- Conditioned to Accept Horror: For past 300 or so years she had the exact same horrible nightmare, every single night. By the time she finally shares it, she doesn't even register it as a nightmare anymore.
- A Death in the Limelight: For the first three episodes of series 4, we learn more about Mary's past; why she was accused of witchcraft, how she spent her days with her husband and her friendship with Annie. Then in the fourth episode, she moves on.
- Four Is Death: She moves on in the fourth episode of the fourth series.
- Genius Ditz: After a day on a film set she proves quite adept at direction.
- Heroic BSoD: She mentally shuts down for a while whenever anyone mentions the 'witch trial'. It takes her over 300 years to even begin to be ready to talk about it.
- Hideous Hangover Cure: Mary starts to suggest one to a hung-over Alison, getting as far as soaking mushrooms in goats' milk and vinegar before Alison almost pukes.
- Lethal Chef: She tried, though. Unfortunately, she first lets the pheasant burn because she's only ever smelled burning since the day she died, then lets the stew overcook because she doesn't know what "reducing" it means. In life she also knew better than to wash the flavor off turnips.
- Meaningful Name: One of the meanings of her name is rebellious which is alluded when she insults various people over the years, along with Annie, after Annie teaches her to speak her thoughts out loud. Another meaning is bitter which could represent the offscreen moment at the end of “The Hardest Word” where she tells off Alison for forgiving the other ghosts and them not facing justice.
- Never Learned to Read: As Mary was born a peasant woman during the Stuart Era, she is this at first. But season 2 shows her learning to read with the help of Alison.
- The Peeping Tom: Likes to peep on Mike bathing, though she promised to stop.
- Power Incontinence: She can't control her power—it works on anyone who passes through her.
- Superstition Episode: In general, she has a number of superstitions, but the first wedding at Button House kicks them into high gear—as it turns out, her husband died because she didn't uphold the tradition of having a cake broken over her head at her own wedding. (That is, he died in a plowing accident three years after they were married....because of the cake, obviously.)
- Trauma Button:
- Referencing fire in her presence is a quick way to bring her to tears.
- The problem with using her power is that it makes her smell burning more intensely, bringing back memories of her death. This is why she outright refuses to use it to help Alison gull some paranormal researchers at one point.
- When the house needs to sprayed for woodworm, she's absolutely terrified by the professionals in their protective suits, taking them for demons.
Sir Humphrey Bone ("Headless Humphrey")
Humphrey's body
Click to see Humphrey's head.
Click to see his younger self.
Played by: Laurence Rickard (head), Yani Xander (body)
A Tudor nobleman trying to reunite his head and body.
- A Day in the Limelight:
- Series 3's The Bone Plot reveals what his marriage was like and the circumstances of his death.
- En Francais shows more of his married life from Robin’s perspective.
- Arranged Marriage: He was married at fourteen to a French girl (who was twelve). They didn't love each other — she didn't even like him. Series 3's The Bone Plot shows that they both at least tried to get along, with Humphrey trying to make her happy to the point of allowing her to escape persecution so she can live the life she wants.
- Ascended Extra: In the first season, his body mostly just wanders around looking for his head and doesn't really get involved with the shenanigans of the main characters. Come the second season, he interacts much more with the other ghosts, reveals the truth about Thomas's death (that his cousin set him up to be killed so he could steal his beloved) and causes Fanny to rethink her aversion to the same-sex wedding taking place in the house. In series 3 he gets A Day in the Limelight episode and in another episode his body gets involved in a romantic relationship with Fanny.
- Cranium Chase: Get separated from his body quite often and since it doesn't have ears, it can't exactly hear his instructions.
- Gory Discretion Shot: When the mounted swords are jarred loose, the camera cuts away from Humphrey's demise to the two Queen's guardsmen and the sound of his head hitting the floor is heard.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He stays behind to hold back the guards so his wife can escape. Subverted then parodied as he manage to hide from them; only for him to be accidentally beheaded by the swords hanging above the fireplace where he hid in.
- Meaningful Name: His name means peace which is alluded to when brings closure to the circumstances of Thomas’ death and when he brings peace in Fanny over her outrage of a same-sex wedding.
- Severed Head Sports: He's quite relaxed about having his head used as a volleyball by the other ghosts, since it means he gets to join in for once. He's rather less pleased when Thomas decides to use him for keepy-uppies.
- Time-Shifted Actor: His younger self is portrayed by an uncredited actor.
- Unwanted Spouse: He wife didn't like him, and it seems the feeling was mutual. Although the season 3 premiere demonstrates that he made an effort to be at least friendly with her and she acknowledged to her friends that he was a good man.
- Unwitting Pawn: In his wife's plot against Elizabeth I. She and her co-conspirators were so successful in scapegoating him that the TV documentary made at the house in Series 3 still identifies him as the plot's mastermind.
Other Ghosts
Plague Victims
Played by: Lolly Adefope, Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard, Ben Willbond, Katy Wix
A group of medieval peasants who "live" in the basement. Only some of them have been named, specifically Geoffnote , Nigelnote Micknote , Walternote and Johnnote . They look absolutely terrifying at first, but are actually surprisingly nice and intelligent.
- A Day in the Limelight: They come up out of the cellar in one episode, when they learn that Mick accidentally gave them all the plague and they don't want to share a space with him anymore. They hire Julian to act as a barrister while putting Mick on trial.
- Creepy Basement: The basement they live in is creepy even if you can't see them, since their corpses are still buried in it—and not particularly well.
- The Hermit: To a degree. They're friendly, and they can come into the house proper whenever they like, but they seem to prefer each others' company down in the basement.
- Incurable Cough of Death: Mick gets this after he returns from London, although he hurriedly wipes the blood off his hands before anyone can see it.
- Oh, Crap!: Mick gets this look on his face when it comes out that the furs he brought back from London were infested with the plague, meaning he's responsible for wiping out the entire village.
- One-Steve Limit: Downplayed as Mick technically shares the same name with Mike (Mike and Mick are shorten forms of the name Michael).
- Out of Focus: They only made brief appearances in the first two series, but had A Day in the Limelight during the second series. They're completely absent in series 3, though this was due to Covid restrictions preventing the cast from being so close together in one room (and they have a brief appearance in the Christmas special for that series). They return properly in series 4, getting a subplot in the first episode, and making up the audience of the pantomime in the Christmas special.
- Room Full of Zombies: They're ghosts but their appearance gives this impression, as noted by Alison. Justified as they died of the plague, which left them disfigured hence their zombie like appearance. They also prefer to stay in the boiler room.
- Smarter Than You Look: They may be a bunch of medieval plague victims who mostly live in the basement, but that doesn't make them stupid. Case in point, they've learned a good deal about electrical repair and maintenance from watching all the repairmen who've been in the basement over the years.
- What the Hell, Hero?: The other peasants turn on Mick when they realise he brought the plague to their village in the first place, but they're still not as bothered by it as you'd expect and quickly accept him back when Julian proves to be more of a prick.
Jemima
Played by: Anya McKenna-Bruce
A young girl who died of the plague, and now hangs out in the pantry. Her singing can be heard by the living.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's not really clear if Jemima is in any way related to the Plague ghosts in the basement, if she was part of their village, or if she died of plague at another point during the Black Death, or even sometime afterwards, possibly during the much later seventeenth century outbreak. It's never really mentioned or implied when she died, other than the fact it was before 1824. She also can be heard singing by the living, but the song she sings was released after the final outbreak of plague in England so it's possible she learned the song after death, possibly hearing it sung by a child who grew up in Button House.
- Creepy Child: Even the other ghosts are scared of her. She honestly doesn't understand why people find her recital of "Ring a Ring a Roses" so unsettling...
- Ironic Nursery Rhyme: Her specialty, although admittedly "Ring a Ring a Roses" doesn't need too much help.
- Out of Focus: Even more so than the other plague ghosts; she has only appeared in the very first episode and one episode of the second season, and barely ever gets mentioned. It's unclear if she's still around, or if she eventually moved on off screen.
Annie
Played by: Bridget Christie
A Puritan ghost who died after choking on a piece of bread. Was once a friend of Mary, but moved on long before the start of the series.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: This happened to Annie long before Alison arrived at Button House.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Being forced into silence all her life caused her to freely voice her negative opinions on those she disliked in death regularly, but she did have a genuine kinship with Mary and expressed some sympathy for Thomas after his death. Robin also seems to remember her fondly, saying how she had a "good heart" and he named a star after he'd once she got "sucked off".
- Meaningful Name: Her name means grace, favour or prayer. These are characteristics for a typical Puritan as they were strict Christians. The favour part of her name meaning could refer to having favour in God as a Christian.
- New England Puritan: What Annie was in life, though from her attitude in death and conversations with her husband, she didn’t seem to enjoy being one.
- Teach Him Anger: Annie was the one who taught Mary how to speak her mind and become comfortable voicing the opinions she couldn’t speak in life. Mary still remembers her fondly for this.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Only appears twice in flashbacks due to having moved on prior to Alison’s arrival, so we don’t get to know her much outside of her death and friendship with Mary.
Maddocks
Played by: Richard Glover
A ghost that haunts the neighboring land to Button House after getting his foot stuck in a badger trap.
- Ambiguous Situation: It is unknown when exactly he died as he wears a standard countryman outfit that could come from anytime after The Edwardian Era.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Subverted, where he was actually hiding so that the ghosts can finally leave.
- Fate Worse than Death: He thinks that the house ghosts fighting over being his friend is worse than the badgers eating his corpse.
- Odd Friendship: With Robin as he is a caveman while he is more recently deceased. He is the only ghost he likes and has hung out with before. Both of them agree that the rest of the Button Ghosts are overbearing. It’s implied that Robin helped him escape the annoyance of the other ghosts by stating that he “sucked off” when in reality he hid behind a hedge. Before they part, Robin agrees to meet with him again on Tuesday.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He gives one to all the house ghosts after they keep bothering him and fighting over being his friend.
Other minor background ghosts
Played by: Various
The true curse of Alison's unique power is that she sees ghosts everywhere, not just in Button House. Throughout the series, she has brief encounters with various unnamed ghosts, including a doctor at a clinic, two Luftwaffe pilots who likely died when their plane was shot down and are now suspended in midair, a Roundhead soldier of the English Civil War, and a hitchhiker who was murdered by the side of a road.
- Funny Background Event: Sometimes, their antics aren't even verbally acknowledged. For instance, the Civil War soldier (with a huge spear still in his chest) awkwardly follows Alison and Lucy around while muttering about which side won the war.
- Instant Death Stab: William, the ghost who moves on in a flashback of “En Francais”, seems to have died this way as he has a sword or dagger sticking out of his chest.
- Selective Gravity: Since they evidently died mid-flight, the German pilots are stuck hovering in place several hundred feet in the air, at eye level with the window of a flat Alison and Mike considered moving to.
- Surprisingly Creepy Moment: The hitchhiker girl cheerfully asks if Alison was murdered too, which is a surprisingly dark moment even for this series. The reveal that Alison's doctor is also dead may come as a shock as well.
- You Can See Me?: The minor ghosts often react with surprise and excitement whenever Alison sees them.
People the Ghosts Knew In Life
Clockwise from top to bottom: Carol, Isabelle, Sophie, Francis, Daley, Lavinia, Lieutenant Anthony Havers and Eleanor.
Played by: Various
- Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder: Carol cheated on her husband Pat, since he often didn’t spend time with her due to his lifestyle on sticking to routines and the fact that he was a youth leader. After Pat’s death, she later married the man who she cheated on Pat with.
- Alpha Bitch: Kitty’s adopted sister, Eleanor; even Mary, who's generally well disposed towards most people, flat out states that 'She was a horrible wench.'
- Ambiguously Gay: Havers, the Captain’s close friend and crush. Was he homosexual like the Captain? Did he reciprocate his feelings? Or did he just see him as a close friend? Carpe Diem implies that Havers was homosexual and knew that the Captain had feelings for him.
- Dead Guy Junior: Daley names is son after his deceased father Pat.
- Depraved Homosexual: George Button is pretty much the only LGBT character in the whole show not to be portrayed in a positive light. He willfully cheated on Fanny with not one, but two men, then he murdered her in cold blood when she found out.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight:
- Isabelle holds Thomas dearly and makes out with him as he dies. Subverted as it is revealed that Thomas actually died alone.
- The Captain reaches out to Havers as he's dying but since they're in a room full of soldiers and need to hide their feelings for each other, the most Havers can do is hold the Captain's hand as he passes him his swagger stick.
- Freudian Excuse: It’s implied that Eleanor was often mean to Kitty because she thought that ever since that her parents adopted Kitty, she thought that Kitty took away the love and affection she deserved. Since Kitty is black, her spitefulness might have been motivated by racism.
- Meaningful Name:
- Francis means free man which may allude to the fact that he never got punished for being responsible for Thomas’ death and marrying Isabelle. Hence he was free to live a married life with her.
- Eleanor means light-hearted and shining light. The shining light to the part of her name may be a reference to how she would blind Kitty of her true intentions. The light-hearted part of her name is alluded to when she appears kind and caring as part of her manipulation of Kitty. She later confesses to a dying Kitty that she wants to be the kind sister Kitty has always been.
- Sophie means wisdom which is very fitting as she organises a Catholic plot to overthrow Elizabeth I without her husband’s knowledge and is bilingual.
- Isabelle means pledged to god which is alluded to as she is in love with Thomas and was in a secret relationship with him.
- Havers’ first name Antony means priceless one. It is a reference to the captain’s affection for him.
- Murder in the Family: Francis and George Button are both responsible for the deaths of Thomas and Fanny. The difference is that George directly killed Fanny by pushing her out of the window, while Francis orchestrated his cousin Thomas’ death by tricking him into fighting a duel and lying about the pace count so his opponent can shoot him.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Eleanor comes to regret her mistreatment of Kitty when the latter is on her death bed.
- One True Love: How Thomas considers Isabelle. They were in a relationship which her father doesn’t know about. It meant that when Thomas visited Higham House on the day he died, he couldn’t openly display his feelings for her since she was with her father.
- Time-Shifted Actor:
- The adult Sophie is played by Chloé Delanney while the young Sophie is played by Eva Shevchenko-Holovko.
- Charlie Mackinnon and Billy Byers portrayed Daley aged 7 and 12 while his adult self is played by an uncredited actor.
- Sophie Bould plays Carol as a young woman in old VHS footage of Pat celebrating Christmas with his family while her older self is played by an uncredited actress.
