History Characters / Ghosts

This is the characters page from the 2019 TV series ''Series/{{Ghosts}}''. Click [[Characters/GhostsUS Here]] to see the characters page from the [[Series/GhostsUS 2021 TV series]].


[[foldercontrol]]

!!The Living
!!!The Coopers
[[folder:Alison Cooper]]
[[quoteright:203:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghosts_alison_5.png]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/CharlotteRitchie

A young woman who inherits Button House from a distant relative. She plans to turn the derelict house into a hotel.

----
* BeerGoggles: 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.
* CelebCrush: Toby Nightingale, the lead actor in the drama being filmed in the house, is her free pass.
* CharacterDevelopment: After several months of wrangling a group of quarrelsome ghosts, she's more mature than she was at the start of the show.
* DeathActivatedSuperpower: Has the ability to see ghosts after her brush with death.
* HappilyMarried: With Mike. Though they do have some rocky moments throughout the series.
* HollywoodHealing: Alison is 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.
* ISeeDeadPeople: Certainly causes her some issues when living people are around too.
* OnlySaneMan: In a house full of bizarre ghosts, she is this.
* TeamMom: The ghosts all come to look up to her as this, often competing for her attention like a bunch of bratty kids.
* UnexpectedInheritance: 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.
* UnfazedEveryman: After ''Gorilla War''.
* WomenAreWiser: Played with. Alison has a bit more common sense than Michael, but she still makes the occasional dumb mistake.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mike Cooper]]
[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mike_6.png]]
->'''Played by:''' Kiell Smith-Bynoe

Alison's husband. After their move, he has grand plans for how to repair the house.

----
* ADayInTheLimelight: The first Christmas special focuses on him and his relationship with his family.
* DidNotThinkThisThrough: 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.
* DoomItYourself: His approach to D.I.Y.
* FreudianExcuse: As seen in the Christmas special, some of his behavioural 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).
* HappilyMarried: With Alison. Though they do have some rocky moments throughout the series.
* HiddenDepths: 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.
* InsecureLoveInterest: Has various shades of this:
** He's worried when Alison's [[CelebCrush celebrity crush]] shows up in ''Free Pass'', especially when it's revealed that said celebrity is her "free pass".[[note]]Normally, an agreement between a couple where they can sleep with someone famous, usually anybody on a short list, if the opportunity ever presents itself.[[/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 CrazyJealousGuy 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 is willing to MurderTheHypotenuse to get her back. Alison eventually confesses that ''she'' was the one who got dumped instead, and that Mike has nothing to worry about.
** The one major time this is played straight is in ''Perfect Day'', [[spoiler: 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 Alison calling him 'insensitive' and heavily implying she might not come back because of his petty cruelty. 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.
* ReadTheFinePrint: He signs a few contracts after giving them a "lengthy skim". Bad idea.
* ShyBladder: 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.
* SupernaturalProofFather: Happily averted; even though he can't see or hear the ghosts, he very soon comes to believe Alison and takes it mostly in stride. It does help that he saw a invisible hand using the laptop to look up "Vicky Pedia".
* UnderstandingBoyfriend: Isn't weirded out at all by Alison's ability to see ghosts and just comes to accept it as part of their daily lives.
[[/folder]]

!!!Others
[[folder:Barclay Beg-Chetwynde]]
->'''Played by:''' Geoffrey [=McGivern=]

An eccentric UpperClassTwit 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.

----
* AccidentalHero: 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.
* AccidentalMisnaming: It's a RunningGag that he always calls Alison Annabel.
* InnocentInnuendo: He always calls his pet dogs 'bitches', apparently with no self-awareness to what that word can also mean.
* NosyNeighbour: He frequently pops up to pry into the Coopers' business, often with some ulterior motive in mind.
* UpperClassTwit: Having known him in life, Julian regards him disdainfully as a stuffy old berk who loves the sound of his own voice.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: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.

----
* ArcVillain: She's the main antagonist of Season 3, though her villainy isn't confirmed until the final episode.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: 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.
* ChekhovsGunman: 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.
* GoldDigger: As Kitty correctly suspects, she's only befriending Alison to gain a share of the Button estate.
* LongLostRelative: Plays this card in order to worm her way into Alison's life until she trusts her enough to hand over some cash.
* MysteriousStranger: Series 3's arc mainly centres around Alison and the ghosts investigating the veracity of Lucy's story.
* UnknownRival: The unfailingly kind and trusting Kitty [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness 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.
[[/folder]]

!!The Ghosts

[[folder:In general]]

The undead residents of Button House who weren't lucky enough to get [[InnocentInnuendo "sucked off"]] [[BarredFromTheAfterlife 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.

----
* BarredFromTheAfterlife: For reasons that aren't entirely clear, they are forbidden from passing on, perhaps due to UnfinishedBusiness.
* CastHerd: 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.
* CastOfSnowflakes: You can recognise most of them by the silhouette alone. It helps that they are physically unable to change clothes from whatever IconicOutfit they died in.
* DysfunctionJunction: They all have their fair share of trauma and baggage, most of which isn't immediately obvious on the surface.
* FriendlyGhost: Aside from that one time [[KarmaHoudini Julian]] attempted to ''murder'' Alison which kickstarted the whole story, they're all pretty harmless and friendly.
* GuardianEntity: They all steadily become this to Alison and Mike, even though the latter can't see them. When a pair of 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.
* HiddenDepths: Initially, the ghosts appear to be fairly cartoonish, cardboard 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, [[LampshadeHanging Thomas lampshades that the mechanics don't make much sense.]] Living people unknowingly passing through them is noted to be especially uncomfortable for them.
* InvisibleToNormals: Ghosts are completely invisible to normal humans. [[ParanoiaFuel 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.
* LockedInARoom / InvisibleWall: 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.
* MundaneFantastic: 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.
* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: Since they all hail from past eras, many of them understandably don't have the most progressive moral or political views. 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, and Julian is a sexist, classist, debaucherous UpperClassTwit of the highest order.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: 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.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Thomas Thorne]]
[[quoteright:244:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghosts_thomas_thornejpg.png]]
->'''Played by:''' Mathew Baynton


A failed Romantic poet from the Regency who falls in love with Alison. [[spoiler: He died from a duel orchestrated by his scheming cousin who wanted Thomas' lover and her inheritance.]]

----
* AcheyScars: 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.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Season two's ''The Thomas Thorne Affair'' is focused on him and how he died.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: 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.
* ButtMonkey: 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.
* ChewingTheScenery: '' '''"ANSWER THE QUESTION, DAMN YOUR EYES!!!"''' ''
* CovertPervert: It's subtle, but Thomas has moments that imply he craves more than just a romantic connection with a woman.
-->(reciting an original poem): ...And when I awoke, the houseguest's leg was Gwendolyn, and the dog...was me.
* DeadpanSnarker: On the very, very rare occasion that a situation doesn’t drive him straight to dramatics, he tends to respond like this instead.
* DramaQueen: 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 [[Creator/LordByron Lord Byron]] or the entirety of ''The Thomas Thorne Affair''. It says something in a group full of [[DramaQueen drama queens]] (of various levels), he out drama queens them ''all''.
* DuelToTheDeath: How he died.
* EveryoneHasStandards: 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.
* EtTuBrute: [[spoiler:He was be betrayed by his own cousin as he tricked him into fighting a duel and making sure he dies in it. He doesn’t realise this until Humphrey exposes him.]]
* ExpyCoexistence: His mannerism and the poems he reads to people make him a reference to Romantic poets such as [[Creator/LordByron Lord Byron]], but it's also established that he had a rivalry with Byron when he was alive.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: They're all this a little but they all tend to ignore Thomas. Especially when he launches into his poetry or is having a dramatic moment.
* HiddenDepths: 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.
* HopelessSuitor: As he himself says, "You're married, I'm dead. It's never going to work."
* InTheBack: He died by being shot in the back during a duel [[spoiler:due to his cousin deliberately misinforming him about how many paces he was supposed to take]].
* KissingCousins: PlayedForLaughs. After hearing his backstory, Alison realises that she and Thomas are related. Thomas assures her that they're ''distantly'' related. [[note]]And not even by blood, in fact, since the last owner of Button House was Alison's ''step'' great-aunt, but RuleOfFunny...[[/note]]
* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: When he gets frightened by things like the toaster.
* SerialRomeo: 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]]For a touch of FridgeBrilliance, take a look at [[https://sleepculture.com/crab-dream-interpretation-meaning/ this dream interpretation]] about what Thomas' dream might mean.[[/note]]
* StalkerWithACrush: 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.
* TriesTooHard: 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.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Julian Fawcett MP]]
[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/julian_1.png]]
->'''Played by:''' Simon Farnaby

The youngest ghost, a Conservative MP who died at the house on March 18th, 1993 from a [[NoodleIncident sex act.]] He is able to move objects using his right pointer finger if he concentrates hard enough.

----
* ADayInTheLimelight: The 2020 Christmas special focuses on his past and gives him a bit of a HeelRealization about his behaviour.
* TheAlcoholic: 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, [[OutWithABang 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]''
* ComicSutra: He regularly baffles his fellow ghosts with descriptions of obscure sexual acts such as the "Himalayan Campsite" and the "Norwegian Picnic".
* HiddenDepths: [[spoiler: 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]].
* HypocriticalHumour: 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.
* ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime: His pushing Alison out of the window is not as well-received as he thought it would be.
* KarmaHoudini: 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.
* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: 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.
* MindOverMatter: 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 concentration, though he seems to be getting better with practice.
* NakedPeopleAreFunny: Seems to be a theme for Simon Farnaby. Here he spends the entire show sans trousers.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Seems to be based off Conservative MP [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Milligan Stephen Milligan]], who accidentally killed himself by auto-erotic asphyxiation, although it turns out Julian died of from 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.
* OddFriendship: With Robin, the oldest ghost in the building. Julian taught him how to play TabletopGame/{{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.
* OneHeadTaller: At 6'2 (1.88 m) he towers above the rest of the cast, with only the Captain coming close to matching him.
* OutWithABang: Julian died during some kind of scandalous sex act, and as a result his ghost is without trousers.
* ParentalNeglect: [[spoiler: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.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: How he got away with his many, many, ''many'' crimes in life.
* SleazyPolitician: A stereotypical Tory MP, up to and including fraud and voting against animal welfare.
* SmallNameBigEgo: 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.
* SoProudOfYou: 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 Party[[note]]for those unaware of British politics, a left-wing environmentalist party who are basically almost in 180-degree ideological opposition to the Tories, who Julian represented[[/note]], but is willing to brush that off with a "Nobody's perfect" in the spirit of the occasion.
* TokenEvilTeammate: He's by far the most amoral of the ghosts, as slimy in death as he was in life.
* UndignifiedDeath: 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 '[[LiteralMetaphor caught with his trousers down]]'.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Lady Stephanie ("Fanny") Button]]
[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ladybutton.png]]
->'''Played by:''' Martha Howe-Douglas

An Edwardian matriarch and former owner of Button House. [[spoiler: She was murdered by her husband whom she caught having sex with the groundskeeper and their butler.]] Her image can be seen by living, albeit only on photographs.

----
* ADayInTheLimelight: "He Came!" explores her past (specifically, her relationship with her mother).
* BehavioralConditioning: 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.
* BerserkButton:
** 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.
* CheatedDeathDiedAnyway: 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.) [[spoiler:She was later pushed out of a window by her secretly gay husband.]]
* ChewingTheScenery: She is second to Thomas when it comes to chomping down the scenery.
* CovertPervert: Very much so. She secretly enjoys reading literotica, 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.
* DistractedByTheSexy: Her reaction to Mike in ''Redding Weddy''.
* GoodWithNumbers: "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.
* GrandeDame: She is this to the 'T'.
* HairTriggerTemper: Anytime anyone does not act in a way she deems proper, she can heard shrieking about said person's lack of manners and upbringing.
* HiddenDepths: 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 [[spoiler: 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.
* HypocriticalHumor: Calls Alison an "ill-bred hen" for shrieking, then sees her husband's portrait and shrieks louder and at a higher pitch.
* LifesavingMisfortune: 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.
* OutgrowingTheChildishName: 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.
* PrimAndProperBun: Her hairstyle is one commonly found in the Edwardian Era.
* ProperLady: She likes to think she is.
* ProperlyParanoid: [[spoiler:She turns out to be right on the money about Lucy.]]
* RichesToRags: Fanny's family ends up becoming destitue due to her father becoming heavily indebted to several other businesses. This is the main reason why Fanny marries her husband.
* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny: She's got a lot of stuck-up ideas about morality, but it's clear that she regrets not getting more in life.
* SheKnowsTooMuch: How she died: [[spoiler:her husband was a DepravedHomosexual 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.
* SuicideAsComedy: 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.
* TheFutureIsShocking: 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.
* TraumaButton: She doesn't take Julian pushing Alison out the window in the first episode well, as it was similar to how she died.
* UnfortunateNames: Some crass comedy is mined from her preference for being called "Fanny". And it ''really'' doesn't help that her surname is "Button"...
* UnwantedSpouse: Was this to her husband.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Patrick ("Pat") Butcher]]
[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pat_9.png]]
->'''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.

----
* AccidentalMurder: Was shot through the neck by a careless scout.
* ADayInTheLimelight: ''Happy Death Day''.
* FaceDeathWithDignity: 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.
* CreatureOfHabit: 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.
* {{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.
* FantasticArousal: 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 "dunk 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."
* FriendlyGhost: 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.
* HarmfulToMinors: 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.
* HeroesLoveDogs: 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.
* ImpromptuTracheotomy: Pat died when one of the scouts he was teaching archery accidentally shot him through the neck with an arrow.
* TheLancer: He tends to defer to the Captain's authority and act as a kind of right-hand-man / NCO.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Pat when he's shot with the arrow. This is mainly because he doesn't want to frighten his youth group.
* NiceGuy: He's friendly towards everyone and tries to do the right thing.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: 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 RapidFireComedy. 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.
* ScoutOut: The writers are very careful ''not'' to identify the youth organization as the Scouts. The uniform is similar but different and the organization is never given a name.
* TeamMom: Both towards his youth group and the other ghosts.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Robin]]
[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/robin_25.png]]
->'''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.

----
* AmbiguouslyHuman: 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.
* BrotherSisterIncest: 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.
* ConspiracyTheorist: In one episode, he falls down a rabbit hole of conspiracy theory videos on [=YouTube=] and believes every single one of them.
* HiddenDepths: He's a master at chess and does crossword puzzles as a hobby.
* ItWillNeverCatchOn: Believes this about Christmas, of all things.
* LoonWithAHeartOfGold
* OnlySaneMan: 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 [[StatingTheSimpleSolution 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.
* PeltsOfTheBarbarian: Being a caveman, this is how he dresses.
* PowerStrainBlackout: Occasionally his power backlashes and floors him.
* TimeAbyss: 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.
* TheTrickster: 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.'
* YouNoTakeCandle: As a stereotypical caveman, Robin speaks like this, despite being quite intelligent.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Captain]]
[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/captain_5.png]]
->'''Played by:''' Ben Willbond

An army officer who was once stationed at Button House during World War II.

----
* ADayInTheLimelight: ''Redding Weddy''.
* AllGaysLoveTheater: Implied by the fact that his choice for countering Alison's IgnoringBySinging is "[[Theatre/ThePiratesOfPenzance I am the very model of a modern major general]]".
* CharacterDevelopment: 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.
* ChekhovsSkill: 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.
* ClosetGay: Verging on TransparentCloset 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.
* DesperatelySeekingAPurposeInLife: Or in his case, afterlife, because though he's too much TheStoic 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 once he's able to use his skills to assist Alison in her wedding planning business.
* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: His proper name hasn't been revealed as of the Season 3 finale.
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: 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.
* HasAType: Strong men and authority.
* HiddenDepths: Is shown to have quite a talent for wedding planning.
* TheLeader: Being an army officer, he thinks himself as this. While the others can tend to defer to him, it's mainly because he's bossy and tends to assert authority more than the others.
* ManlyGay: Stoic, disciplined, loves war, and an admirer of handsome young men.
* NoNameGiven: His real name is never given. He ''almost'' mentions his surname in Series 3 while attempting to give Alison a debriefing, [[TheUnReveal but is interrupted]]. The 2021 Christmas special reveals that Pat, at least, knows his real name, but he is [[RunningGag again interrupted]] before he can tell Alison what it is.
* NotSoAboveItAll: Despite acting like a ranking officer and demanding strict discipline with himself and others, he has a tendency to be this trope.
* RatedMForManly: Oh yes.
* TeamDad: 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.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Katherine ("Kitty")]]
[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kitty_2.png]]
->'''Played by:''' Creator/LollyAdefope

A cheery but naïve Georgian noblewoman.

----
* ADayInTheLimelight: Series 3's ''Something To Share?'' explores her past.
* CompanionCube: In life, she had Florence the statue, who was her OnlyFriend growing up.
* TheCutie: Very sweet and innocent and tends to be treated like the baby of the group.
* FakeMemories: Kitty has rewritten her own memories, forcing herself to believe that her sister was a kind person when in reality she was cruel.
* FriendlyGhost: One of the nicest ghosts in the group.
* HiddenDepths: Despite her cheery attitude, she had a troubled youth and was mistreated by her sister (which she has repressed her memories of).
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: 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 another was an actual ''statue''.
* KindheartedSimpleton: While kind, she's rather naïve and ignorant about a lot of things.
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: 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.
* MissConception: Thinks babies are made by pressing ears together.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: As a black Georgian noblewoman she's probably inspired by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dido_Elizabeth_Belle Dido Belle]].
* StillBelievesInSanta: "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.
* WomanChild: The most childlike of the ghosts.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mary]]
[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mary_7.png]]
->'''Played by:''' Katy Wix

The Stuart era victim of a witch trial. Anyone who passes through her can smell something burning.

----
* AshFace: Since she was burned to death, as a ghost she is perpetually covered in soot.
* BurnTheWitch: How she died.
* CharacterTics: 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). [[FridgeBrilliance 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.
* ConditionedToAcceptHorror: 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.
* GeniusDitz: After a day on a film set she proves quite adept at direction.
* HeroicBSOD: 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.
* HideousHangoverCure: 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.
* LethalChef: 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.
* NeverLearnedToRead: 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.
* ThePeepingTom: Likes to peep on Mike bathing, though she promised to stop.
* PowerIncontinence: She can't control her power--it works on anyone who passes through her.
* SuperstitionEpisode: 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'').
* TraumaButton:
** 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.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sir Humphrey Bone ("Headless Humphrey")]]
->'''Played by:''' Laurence Rickard (head), Yani Alekansandrov (body)
[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ghosts_headless.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:220:Humphrey's body]]
[[caption-width-right:220:[[labelnote:Click to see Humphrey's head.]] https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/humphrey_head_4.jpg]][[/labelnote]]

A Tudor nobleman trying to reunite his head and body.

----
* ADayInTheLimelight: Series 3's ''The Bone Plot'' reveals what his marriage was like and the circumstances of his death.
* ArrangedMarriage: 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 [[spoiler: to the point of allowing her to escape persecution so she can live the life she wants]] and his wife calling him a good man.
* AscendedExtra: 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, [[spoiler: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 ADayInTheLimelight episode and in another episode [[spoiler:his body gets involved in a romantic relationship with Fanny.]]
* CraniumChase: Get separated from his body quite often and since it doesn't have ears, it can't exactly hear his instructions.
* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler: 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.]]
* SeveredHeadSports: 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.
* UnwantedSpouse: 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.
* UnwittingPawn: 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.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: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 Geoff[[note]]played by Simon Farnaby[[/note]], Nigel[[note]]played by Laurence Rickard[[/note]] Mick[[note]]played by Mathew Baynton[[/note]], Walter[[note]]played by Ben Willbond[[/note]] and John[[note]]played by Jim Howick[[/note]]. They look absolutely terrifying at first, but are actually surprisingly nice and intelligent.

----
* ADayInTheLimelight: 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.
* CreepyBasement: 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.
* TheHermit: 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.
* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Mick gets this after he returns from London, although he hurriedly wipes the blood off his hands before anyone can see it.
* OhCrap: 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.
* OutOfFocus: They've only made brief appearances in both seasons, but had ADayInTheLimelight during the second season. They're completely absent in series 3, though this was most likely 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).
* RoomFullOfZombies: They're ghosts but their appearance gives this impression, as noted by Alison.
* SmarterThanYouLook: 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.
* WhatTheHellHero: 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.
-->'''John:''' [[BlackComedy You killed my kids, mate.]]


!!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.

----
* CreepyChild: 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...
* IronicNurseryRhyme: Her specialty, although admittedly "Ring a Ring a Roses" doesn't need too much help.

!!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, a pair of Luftwaffe pilots who died in midair, a roundhead soldier of the English Civil War, and a hitchhiker who was murdered by the side of a road.

----
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: 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.
* SelectiveGravity: Since they evidently died mid-flight, the German pilots are stuck hovering in place several hundred feat in the air, at eye level with the window of a flat Alison and Mike considered moving to.
* SurpriseCreepy: 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.
* YouCanSeeMe: The minor ghosts often react with surprise and excitement whenever Alison sees them.
[[/folder]]

->'''Played by:''' Lolly Adefope

* AmbigiouslyHuman: 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.

* FriendlyGhost: One of the friendliest and was the one who was quite cheery and hopeful when Alison and Mike moved in.

* TheAlcoholic: 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 drunk for the rest of his, well, afterlife. He's greatly cheered up by this.

* EvilSoundsDeep: He's not exactly ''evil'', but he's the most morally grey of the main ghosts and has by far the deepest voice.
* HiddenDepths: He got a First from Cambridge (assuming he earned it honestly), where he also boxed. After [[spoiler: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]].

* MindOverMatter: The only ghost who can move objects, though he can't manage anything heavier than a coffee mug or anything he's not touching. It also requires an enormous amount of concentration, though he seems to be getting better with practice.

* ShoutOut: Has the ability to affect physical objects but with great difficulty, like Sam Wheat in the movie ''Film/{{Ghost}}''.

* ADayInTheLimelight:
** The pilot episode ''Who Do You Think You Are?'' puts a lot of emphasis on her struggle with the Captain over her nightly ritual and explains how she died.
** "He Came!" also explores her past (specifically, her relationship with her mother).

* BerserkButton: A very mild one, but his death is a very touchy subject for him. He resents the fact that he died too soon and is forced to watch his family grow old without him, and has lashed out whenever he's reminded of this.

* HeCleansUpNicely: Meta-example in that Laurence Rickard is actually attractive when not in his Robin makeup.
* HiddenDepths: Talks about living in a community where they were all polyamorous and raised their children together in ‘peace and love’. He's also extremely smart, being a master at chess and does crossword puzzles as a hobby.
* HulkSpeak: Robin died before humans had fully developed proper speech production centres in their brains; while he's 'existed' long enough to develop a fairly impressive intellect and to learn English, he has immense trouble articulating himself.

* ReallyGetsAround: The other ghosts are dumbfounded when he reveals that he was in a polyamorous relationship with at least ''30'' other people when he was alive (either that or he was the potential father of at least 30 children). When Pat, Julian and Fanny disapprove, he points out how each of ''their'' marriages ended up with someone cheating on their spouse and being murdered in Fanny's case, and he finds monogamy ridiculous.

* YouNoTakeCandle: Coming from a time before the speech center of the brain fully evolved, Robin speaks like this, despite being quite intelligent.

* GrammarNazi: The upper-class Captain is not impressed with Mary's country way of speaking, which turns words into plurals.

* MysteriousPast: All of the ghosts to some extent, but there's no visual clue as to how he died, and we don't even know his ''name''. Although Series 2 does reveal he was part of a regiment that was stationed at Button House during the Second World War, and that [[spoiler: he was in love with his second in command]].

* FakeMixedRace: Possibly. Whatever Adefope's ancestry, she doesn't look biracial. Kitty, however, is implied to be the illegitimate daughter of a white man whose wife took a adoptive role towards her. None of this is stated, though. Kitty could have been adopted by both parents, or her father could have been married to a black woman, had Kitty with her, was widowed, and then, married her sister's mother.

* HiddenDepths: While majorly ignorant of a lot of things, Kitty does show knowledge of who Mary Shelley was and is supportive of Thomas' poetry, even calling it ahead of its time. She's also shown in Season 2 to be an avid reader with a fondness of the romance genre.

* MysteriousPast: Of all the ghosts, she's perhaps the one we know the least about. We can surmise from her dress that she came from the Georgian era and was wealthy, but we don't know anything about her family except that she had a neglectful sister, we don't know how she fits into the history of Button House, and in the show itself there's very little that hints as to how she died [[spoiler: although judging by the way she vomits from excitement at one point, she might have been poisoned]]. (Supplementary material has hinted that someone 'engineered her untimely demise'.) Series 3's ''Something To Share?'' goes into more detail; her sister was, indeed, cruel, and constantly reminded Kitty that their mother isn't Kitty's real mother. Their father, however, treated them both equally.

* OnlySaneMan: Along with Robin, he is this to the other ghosts. He's not really involved in any drama, is always level-headed (which is rather ironic, considering), and he possesses a very progressive mindset for someone from his era.

* TheComicallySerious: Her calm, placid manner is a great juxtaposition with just how much she manages to creep out the other characters.

* MagicAIsMagicA: The living can her her song, but nothing else she says, though the ghosts have a go at getting her to converse to the tune.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: She's nowhere to be seen in series 3, probably because the actress has aged too much to continue playing the character.