As Psychoville is a character driven horror-comedy, there is a plethora of odd characters who appear over the course of the show. This page catalogues them and lists the tropes associated with them.
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Introduced in series 1
Main Cast
Sean/ Mr. Jelly
played by: Reece Shearsmith
The first blackmail recipient. An alcoholic amputee from Salford,Manchester who works as a birthday clown. His hook hand and rival clown, Mr. Jolly, have severely hampered his business.- An Arm and a Leg: How he lost his right hand is the main focus of his plot in series 1 and becomes briefly relevant late in series 2.
- Berserk Button: Any mention of Mr. Jolly, especially being mistaken for him or being negatively compared to him.
- Everyone Has Standards: While he happily involves himself in identity theft and organ trafficking in series 2, he sees to exposing Andrews when he finds out how much blood she's had spilled in pursuit of the project he just involved himself in.
- First-Name Basis: Mr. Jolly is the only person to call him by his real name, Sean.
- Hook Hand: Sean has two variations of this, "the hook" and "the claw", both of these are frequently used.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his violent temper and Mrs. Wren's scatterbrained nature, Mr. Jelly comes to genuinely care for her and makes her his assistant.
- Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher: Most of the comedy revolving around Jelly comes from the fact that his disfigurement and subsequent alcoholism have made him extremely ill-suited for being a children's entertainer.
- Mistaken Identity: Frequently with his rival, Mr. Jolly, much to both their frustrations.
- Monster Clown: Jelly is a through Subversion of this trope. Despite his appearance, liquor addled short temper and hook hand, he's the most well adjusted of the blackmail recipients.
- Only Sane Man: Amongst the blackmailer's targets, anyway. Justified, as he's the only one of them who isn't a former mental patient.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: He befriends Mrs. Wren and even makes her his assistant in season 2, despite her scatterbrained nature.
Joy Aston
played by: Dawn French
The second blackmail recipient. A midwife living in Bristol with her husband, George. She's under the delusion that her demonstration doll, "Freddy Fruitcake", is alive and will eventually become a real child.- Berserk Button: If anyone tries to break her delusion, otherwise speaks ill of Freddy, or worse, tries to pick him up. This is not helped by her tendency towards violence.
- Companion Cube: Her little Freddy Fruitcake, of course! She goes all in on her belief that he's alive, much to George's chagrin.
- Dissonant Serenity: Joy is quite prone to this, especially in the Halloween Special.
- Fat Bitch: Joy is quite overweight and has been stealing blood from the hospital and replacing it with vimto. All in an effort to turn her Freddy into a real boy. And the less said about what she does to Nicola, the better.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: She does some truly deplorable things and wears glasses.
- Killed Off for Real: In the series 2 premier, "Survivors".
- Replacement Goldfish: It's eventually revealed that Freddy was given to Joy at Ravenhill after her first child, Paul, passed away as an infant.
- She mistakes Jennifer for Freddy in the series 1 finale and after the explosion, takes her home in a wheelchair.
Oscar Lomax
played by: Steve Pemberton
The third blackmail recipient. A blind and wealthy recluse who resides in his Ilkley, Yorkshire mansion with his many treasured "commodities".- Blind Mistake: Mr. Lomax is very prone these and other characters often exploit this.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Despite how menacing he initially comes off, he's nothing but a dedicated, if eccentric, toy collector and trader.
- Gonk: As he's both very old and blind, Oscar isn't exactly pleasant looking. Though he had Tealeaf give him a haircut shortly before his death.
- Killed Off for Real: At the end of the series 2 episode "Hancock".
- Serious Business: He made his fortune and lost his eyes in his pursuit of a complete set of first generation Beanie Babies. The real kicker is that other characters get sucked into it and take it just as seriously.
Robert Greenspan
played by: Jason Thompkins
The fourth blackmail recipient. A lovesick dwarf actor who's rehearsing for a Snow White pantomime in Sussex. His anger is often accompanied by telekinetic outbursts.- Abhorrent Admirer: Robert can be seen on both ends of this, as he tries to use Debbie's injury to get with her, despite her not being genuinely interested in him and is threatened and abducted by Kerry, who plans to use a Love Potion on him.
- Depraved Dwarf: Becomes this courtesy of his desperation to get with Debbie.
- Killed Off for Real: In the series 2 episode "Dinner party".
- Mind over Matter: Whenever Robert gets mad, you can bet a telekinetic explosion is on its way. Ultimately Subverted when it's revealed that Kerry is the one with powers, she was just using them on Robert's behalf.
- The Napoleon: Robert's first scene establishes that his temper is shorter than he is.
David John Sowerbutts
played by: Steve Pemberton
The fifth and final blackmail recipient. A mentally and emotionally stunted true crime fanatic with a particular fondness for Serial Killers. He shares a small apartment in London's Wood Green with his elderly mother, Maureen.- The Family That Slays Together: The focus of the Sowerbutts' plotline in series 1.
- Fat Bastard: He's and overweight man who spends most of the first season going on a killing spree.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: A Downplayed example, as David's childish mind and occasional regret for his actions makes it hard to see him as truly villaionous.
- Idiot Savant: Sports shades of this, David isn't all that bright or competent but is exceptionally knowledgeable on true crime adjacent topics.
- Incest Subtext: David and Maureen have many of these moments, even having multiple in their first scene.
- Morality Pet: Acts as this to Maureen more and more as the show goes on.
- My God, What Have I Done?: David has 2 moments of becoming disillusioned and horrified by the killings he and hi mother have carried out in series 1, one in "David and Maureen" and the other in "Joy".
- Paper-Thin Disguise: Has one in the form of beautician, Gil Gascoinge.
- Psychopathic Manchild: The most apt description of David, he's very child like and has dedicated his life to learning about serial killers.
- Serial Killer: The first series gives him the chance to realize his dream of becoming one.
Michael "Tealeaf" Fry
played by: Daniel Kaluuya
A young man court ordered to act as a social worker to Mr. Lomax. This leads to him getting pulled into the world of "commodities"- Audience Surrogate: As the most normal main character, Michael often finds himself in this role.
- Embarrassing Nickname: It doesn't get much worse than your nickname being slang for thief. Made worse by the fact that Oscar only ever refers to him as such, leading to a case of Only Known By Nickname.
- Killed Off for Real: In "The Hunt", courtesy of Peter Bishop.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Almost all the other characters address him solely as Tealeaf.
- Only Sane Man: Even more so than Jelly, as he's the only truly normal member of the main cast, with no zanny gimmicks or habits.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Becomes this with Mr. Lomax over time.
Maureen Sowerbutts
played by: Reece Shearsmith
David's overbearing, elderly mother. She mistakenly believes the blackmail is referring to another incident.- Evil Cripple: The fact she needs a crutch does nothing to slow her or her murders down.
- Eviler than Thou: Pulls this on David. after he begs her to cease their killing spree. She goes as far as to quote a message Jack the Ripper used to taunt the police.
- Evil Old Folks: She enthusiastically participates in David's murders of the Murder and Chips memebers. She even insists on doing after David no longer wants to do it.
- The Family That Slays Together: The focus of the Sowerbutts' plotline in series 1.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Just like her son.
- Hidden Depths: Her excess free time has allowed her to refine her bontempi playing to a T.
- My Beloved Smother: This is a major part of Maureen's personality and arc, just in a bloodier way than usual.
- Til Murder Do Us Part: It's revealed that Maureen is guilty of this in "David and Maureen".
Supporting Cast
Dr. Stuart Strachen/ Mr. Jolly MAJOR UNMARKED SPOILERS
played by: Adrian Scarborough
The true identity of the blackmailer. A surgeon turned birthday clown, the very surgeon responsible for Mr. Jelly's missing hand.- Big Bad: Of the first series.
- Big Bad Wannabe: Despite being the main villain of the show's first season, Stuart makes numerous errors in the execution of his blackmailing of the main cast that only 3 of his intended targets end up in his trap, in addition to 4 people who had no involvement whatsoever. The fact all he did was in pursuit of avenging his mother, who was still alive and ultimately died in his explosion, only makes his failure greater.
- Connected All Along: He's actually the son of Edwina Kenchington.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: His mother used the Ravenhill fire to fake her death before dying 2 years later in an explosion of her son's design. His website reveals that Jolly telling his father he was leaving medicine to pursue clowning gave his father a fatal heart attack.
- Evil Is Petty: While his hatred of the four patients responsible for his mother's presumed death is understandable, he also blames Mr. Jelly for it. Simply because he was the patient Stuart was operating on at the time of the fire. It's also implied he became a clown solely to poach Sean's business and make him even more miserable.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: A bespectacled and profoundly disturbed man who orchestrated and elaborate plan to blow up five people as well as himself.
- Non-Ironic Clown: While he carries himself as one, it's Subverted and turned into Monster Clown with the reveal of his true nature.
- Self-Made Orphan: A notably Zigzagged example. Stuart doesn't seem to realize (or at least accept) that his change of profession was the direct cause of his father's death and the only other person harmed in his explosive murder-suicide is his own mother, who had be presumed dead for 2 years.
Claudia Wren
played by: Vilma Hollingbery
A sweet old woman who becomes Mr. Jelly's assistant through an unlikely chain of mishaps.- Kill the Cutie: Fortunately Subverted in the episode "Sunnyvale", though unfortunately at the expense of her roommate, Pat.
- Connected All Along: The second series reveals that she's the great aunt of Simon.
- Scatterbrained Senior: The crux of many of her jokes and quips.
- Skewed Priorities: Claudia is quite prone to this as a result of both her forgetfulness and lack of context to most of the situations she finds herself in.
George Aston
played by: Steve Pemberton
Joy's emotionally browbeaten husband. He's having an affair with Joy's coworker, Nicola.- Bald of Evil: He sports a rather tragic comb-over and colludes with Nicola to kill Joy in her feature episode.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Despite initially appearing as straight man to Joy's strangeness, George is eventually revealed to be having an affair with Nicola AND they eventually attempt to kill Joy.
- Death by Irony: In the Astons' segment in the Halloween special. Wherein after saying that someone could break their neck in the mess Joy made in the kitchen, he later makes a mess himself which leads to him falling, breaking his neck and dying.
- Henpecked Husband: George fits this trope in a rather odd way. Most, if not all, of his issues with Joy stem from her delusional behavior regarding Freddy.
- Karma Houdini: Unlike Nicola, George never faces consequences for his actions in the episode "Joy".
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He never appears following Joy's death in the series 2 premier.
