History Characters / Ghosts

This is the characters page from the 2019 TV series ''Series/{{Ghosts}}''.

* 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 demeanour 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 scam as the photo of Alison’s father is fake and she is only here for the money.

* 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.

* 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.

* ScoutOut: The writers are very careful ''not'' to identify the youth organisation as the Scouts. The uniform is similar but different and the organisation is never given a name.

[[folder:Lucy '''(unmarked spoilers for Series 3)''']]

-->'''John:''' [[BlackComedy You killed my whole family, mate.]]

* TheAlcoholic: He laments not being able to drink now that he's dead.

* 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 weirdoes!"''

* 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.]]

* TimeAbyss: No one knows exactly how long Robin has been around, but it could be anywhere between a thousand to even 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.

* TimeAbyss: No one knows exactly how long Robin has been around, but it could be anywhere between tens of thousands to even millions 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.

* 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 robed. However it turns out to scam as the photo of Alison’s father is fake and she is only here for the money.

* {{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 lay on beds. At one point, [[LampshadeHanging Pat lampshades that the mechanics don't make much sense.]] Living people unknowingly passing through them is noted to be especially uncomfortable for them.

* RememberTheNewGuy: The ghosts we meet in the 21st century are merely the ones that haven't passed onto Heaven yet. Over the centuries, Button House has actually been populated with far more ghosts than we have seen. As they are among the oldest ghosts, Robin and Mary occasionally reference friends that have since moved onto the afterlife.

* 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 'caught with his trousers down'.

A young 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.

* MysteriousStranger: Series 3's arc mainly centres around Alison and the ghosts trying to investigate the veracity of her story.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Sometimes, their antics aren't even verbally acknowledged. For instance, the Civil War soldier follows Alison and Lucy around while muttering about which side won the war.
* SurpriseCreepy: The hitchhiker girl cheerfully asks if Alison was murdered too, which is a surprisingly dark moment even for this series.

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. They all find a purpose in unlife by protecting Alison, the only person who can see and interact with them.

* FriendlyGhost: Aside from that one time Julian attempted to ''murder'' Alison which kickstarted the whole story, they're all pretty harmless and friendly.

* {{Intangibility}}: They can all walk through walls and phase through objects, much to their own frustration, yet they are able to sit down on chairs and lay on beds. At one point, [[LampshadeHanging Pat lampshades that the mechanics don't make much sense.]] Living people unknowingly passing through their bodies is noted to be especially uncomfortable for them.

* NosyNeighbour: He frequently shows up to pry into the Coopers' business, often with some ulterior motive in mind.

[[folder:General]]

* FantasticMundane: The reality that ghosts exist and are everywhere quickly becomes a trivial fact of life for the main characters.

An eccentric UpperClassTwit who lives in (and owns) a village nearby to Button House who initially comes into conflict with the Coopers over the rights to their driveway. He appears as a recurring nuisance throughout the series.

* UnknownRival: The normally unfailingly loving Kitty immediately hates Lucy and plays a pivotal role in exposing her fraud, but since Kitty's a ghost, Lucy has no idea she exists.

!!The Ghosts

[[folder: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. They all 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 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 all walk through walls and phase through objects, much to their own frustration, yet they are able to sit down on chairs and lay on beds. At one point, [[LampshadeHanging Pat lampshades that the mechanics don't make much sense.]] Living people unknowingly passing through their bodies 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.
* 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.
* RememberTheNewGuy: The ghosts we meet in the 21st century are merely the ones that haven't passed onto Heaven yet. Over the centuries, Button House has actually been populated with far more ghosts than we have seen. As they are among the oldest ghosts, Robin and Mary occasionally reference friends that have since moved onto the afterlife.
* 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: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.
* {{Catchphrase}}: "Damn your eyes!"
* 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.
* 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.
* GrammarNazi: Tends to be this whenever Mary or Robin misspeak.
* 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.

[[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.
* ComicSutra: He regularly baffles his fellow ghosts with descriptions of obscure sexual acts such as the "Himalayan Campsite" and the "Norwegian Picnic".
* 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]].
* 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 weirdoes!"''
** 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 or anything he's not touching. 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.]]
* 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 'caught with his trousers down'.

[[folder:Lady 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: 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.
* 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. flying 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''.
* 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]].
* 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.
* PrimAndProperBun: Her hairstyle is one commonly found in the Edwardian Era.
* ProperLady: She likes to think she is.
* 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''.]]
* 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.
* UnfortunateNames: Some crass comedy is mined from her name being "Fanny".
* UnwantedSpouse: Was this to her husband.

[[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''.
* 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.
* 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.
* FriendlyGhost: One of the friendliest and was the one who was quite cheery and hopeful when Alison and Mike moved in.
* 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.
* 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 organisation as the Scouts. The uniform is similar but different and the organisation is never given a name.
* TeamMom: Both towards his youth group and the other ghosts.

[[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.

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

[[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.
* GrammarNazi: The upper-class Captain is not impressed with Mary's country way of speaking, which turns words into plurals.
* 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.
* 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]].
* 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]].
* 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:Katherine ("Kitty")]]
[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kitty_2.png]]
->'''Played by:''' Lolly Adefope

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.
* 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.
* FriendlyGhost: One of the nicest ghosts in the group.
* 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.
* 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.
* 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.
* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: As a black Georgian noblewoman she's probably inspired by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dido_Elizabeth_Belle Dido Belle]].
* WomanChild: The most childlike of the ghosts.

[[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.

* 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.
* 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: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.]][[quoteright:238: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.
* CraniumChase: Get separated from his body quite often and since it doesn't have ears, it can't exactly hear his instructions.
* 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.
* 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: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.
* 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 whole family, 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.

* LockedInARoom / InvisibleWalls: 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.

[[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.]]

* 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.

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.

* ChewingTheScenery: She is second to Thomas when it comes to chomping down the scenery.

* SuicideAsComedy: Seeing as the Captain thought she threw herself out of the window, his comments come across as this.

* 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 want him to be completely impersonal with their elderly customers.

* HiddenDepths: As revealed by "A Lot to Take In," Mike is a people person. He even quits his job on day one for being too impersonal with their elderly customers.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: She has a set of superstitions and beliefs that's baffling to the whole lot (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.