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Nanny McPhee
"When you need me, but do not want me, then I must stay. When you want me, but no longer need me, then I have to go."
Played by: Emma Thompson
The eponymous nanny; a mysterious woman who babysits unruly children and gives them life lessons. She has many supernatural aspects to her, including a stick that she can bang on the ground to make magic, and warts that disappear after the children learn lessons.- Ambiguously Human: Given her supernatural powers, it's unclear whether she's even human.
- Babysitter from Hell: Downplayed. She ends up changing the kids' lives greatly for the better, yet she still gives out pretty extreme punishments, such as confining them to bed all day and making them think they were endangering their baby sister.
- But Now I Must Go: Part of "the way she works" is that she must leave when she's wanted but not required.
- Catchphrase: Has several tag lines:
- "Hmm..." to be evasive.
- "I did knock" when someone doesn't see her come in.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Her punishments involve things like making children unable to control their bodies and making them share beds with animals.
- Deadpan Snarker: Her default mode.
- Dark Is Not Evil: She's intimidating and wears all black, but she works to improve people's lives.
- Magical Nanny: As well as being literally magical, she always greatly improves her charges' behaviour and their parents' home lives.
- Meaningful Name: The "Phee" suffix in her surname looks like an alternate spelling of the word "fée", which means fairy in french. Fitting, considering her Ambiguously Human nature and tendency to operate on Exact Words.
- No Full Name Given: We never learn her first name. But if she does have one, chances are it's Matilda.
- The Power of Love: She cannot affect "affairs of the heart" with her magic, "even if [she] wanted to".
- Psychic Powers: She somehow learns the Brown children's names just by looking at them, and is able to read the entirety Evangeline's book with only a glance at the cover.
- Radish Cure: Some of her punishments involve giving the children too much of what they wanted (for instance, when the Brown children want to sleep in, she glues them to their beds all day).
- Really 700 Years Old: Decades passed between the first film and the sequel, yet while Aggy is a baby in the first film and an old woman in the second, Nanny McPhee didn't age at all.
Cedric Brown
Played by: Colin Firth
A hapless widower and father of seven, whose aunt-in-law is insisting he remarry.- Butt-Monkey: His wife is dead, his aunt-in-law insists he remarry or else some of his kids will be put in the workhouse, he's often on the butt end of his kids' antics, and his kids think he never listens.
- Empty Chair Memorial: He keeps his wife's chair empty as a memorial.
- The Lost Lenore: A big part of his character is the fact that his wife died.
- Papa Wolf: He loves his children more than anything, despite all the mayhem they cause, and this is shown many times throughout the film:
- He doesn't want Lady Adelaide Stitch to take one of his daughters away from him, tells Chrissie to run away when his aunt-in-law is distracted by the donkey, and chases her carriage when he believes Chrissie is the one Adelaide is taking away.
- He's willing to marry a woman he outright describes as dreadful in order to keep the family together.
- When Selma gets fed up with the children’s antics and roughly grabs Chrissie and Sebastian, he protectively pulls them out of her grasp.
- Pushover Parents: Part of the reason he needs Nanny McPhee.
Simon Brown
"I'm going to put MY best clothes on... the pig!"
Played by: Thomas Brodie-Sangster
The eldest, the brattiest, and the de facto leader of the Brown siblings.- Borrowed Catchphrase: When he goes to Nanny McPhee to ask for help and notices that she's in her room after he tried using the magic from her stick.Simon: I did knock.
- Bratty Half-Pint: While all of the children are naughty, he takes the cake in that he's often the one to come up with the schemes and he has a smart mouth.
- Exact Words: When he's told to put on his best clothes because his great-aunt is visiting, he decides he's indeed putting on his best clothes... but on the pig.
- The Leader: Since he's the eldest, his siblings often look to him for leadership and he usually comes up with the ideas for their mischievous schemes.
Tora Brown
Played by: Eliza Bennett
The second-eldest Brown child, and the eldest daughter.- Big Sister Instinct: When the Brown siblings are deciding which of the girls should go live with their great-aunt Adelaide, Tora says she should go because she's the oldest, so her younger sisters wouldn't have to.
- I Don't Think That's Such a Good Idea: Is often the one least on board with her siblings' plans, like she doesn't want to put the clothes on the animals, and she berates Eric for making a bomb.
- Not So Above It All: For all she seems the most responsible sibling, she laughs along with the others at Nanny McPhee's issue that she and the other kids tidy up the kitchen and go to bed, showing that she's not that less naughty than the rest of them.
- Only Sane Woman: Tora is the first to catch on that something about this new nanny is ever so slightly off.
Lily Brown
Played by: Jennifer Rae Daykin
The third-eldest of the children, who is teaching Evangeline to read.- Bookworm: She reads a lot and is teaching Evangeline to read.
- Drama Queen: Lily acts like she's a heroine in a tragic story and is the first to lament what she and her have to put up with.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's a lot more rambuctious than her more reasonable older sister Tora.
Eric Brown
Played by: Raphaël Coleman
The fourth-oldest, and smartest, of the Brown kids.- Bookworm: Like Lily, he's commonly seen reading.
- Creepy Child: He's once seen building a bomb, and Tora says to him, "You're not building another bomb, are you, Eric?", indicating that he's done this before.
- Deadpan Snarker: Notably towards Simon and Evangeline.
- Little Professor Dialogue: Says a few large words, such as "emphatically" towards the end.
- Not So Above It All: He may be smart, but he's still naive enough to form his opinions on stepmothers based on books, and to think a Gender-Blender Name counts as rude.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: A very intelligent kid, and the only of the Brown siblings to wear glasses.
Sebastian Brown
"Could you maybe bring me some secret toast and jam? ... All right, forget the jam; just some secret toast!"
Played by: Samuel Honywood
The fifth-eldest Brown sibling, and the youngest of the boys.- Big Eater: Despite his size, he seems to be always hungry.
- Toilet Humor: While the other children can also be gross, he's the one who came up with the worms-in-the-sandwich idea and named himself "Bum".
Christianna "Chrissie" Brown
Played by: Holly Gibbs
The second-youngest of the children.- Daddy's Girl: Aggie aside, Chrissie is the child most often seen clinging to her father, and he in turn is distressed to the point of chasing Aunt Adelaide's carriage when he thinks Chrissie is being taken away.
- Damsel in Distress: Chrissie is the one Cedric seems to worry most about should he be sent to debtors' prison, since he's not sure where she would go (options being another family, who might consider her too old to adopt, or the workhouse). It's also Aunt Adelaide's decision to take Chrissie that gets the children to ask Nanny McPhee for help, and causes Cedric to run after the carriage screaming her name until he discovers she wasn't the one taken.
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Memorial Character: Chrissie is named after the Nurse Matilda books' author, Christianna Brand, who passed away in 1988. - Only Known by Their Nickname: Over the course of the story, she's almost exclusively referred to as Chrissie, and is only called Christianna twice, once by Nanny McPhee and the second by her father.
Agatha "Aggie" Brown
"Poop bum!"
Played by: Hebe and Zinnia Barnes
The youngest Brown child, a baby who carries a rattle she got from her mother.- Baby See, Baby Do: She commonly imitates her older siblings.
- Baby Talk: She can only say a few words, and some of them she can't pronounce (like she says, "behave" as "beehive" and "measles" as "measig").
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Like her sister Chrissie, Aggie is only called "Agatha" about once or twice during the entire film.
- Third-Person Person: The one time she refers to herself, it's in third person ("Aggie go!").
Evangeline
Played by: Kelly Mac Donald
The kindly, illiterate maid, who is being taught to read.- Good Stepmother: Becomes this in the end, to Cedric's children.
- Never Learned to Read: Because she had grown up poor, Evangeline reached adulthood not knowing how to read: she's trying to change that though, having Lily teaching her how to read and trying to make the most of her time at Lady Adelaide's home to become more educated.
- Nice Girl: One of her main traits is her virtue; she feels sorry for the children and is there for them when they're sad.
- No Full Name Given: Her last name is never revealed, though it temporarily became Stitch when she was adopted by Adelaide, and she likely changed it to "Brown" when she married Cedric.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: To the point where the children barely recognize her in a nice dress.
Lady Adelaide Stitch
Played by: Angela Lansbury
Cedric's snobby aunt-in-law (she is his late wife's aunt) (so the kids' great-aunt), who keeps threatening Cedric to remarry or else "steps will have to be taken".- Does Not Like Men: Or rather, boys. She insists that the child she adopts be a girl, since she apparently can't bear the thought of having a son.
- Exact Words: She tells in a letter to Cedric that she intends on "easing your [Cedric's] financial burden" with her visit. Adelaide just doesn't care to tell that she plans to get one of his daugters to come live with her in her mansion.
- Evil Uncle: Well, aunt, and it's downplayed — she never does anything bad directly to her nephew-in-law, but she does threaten him, and she's arrogant and doesn't have much, if any, regard for the kids.
- This is exploited during the film when she wants to take away one of Cedric's daughters. One of the reasons the kids' plan of sending Evangeline to go live with her works is because she cares so little about her grand-nephews that she doesn't even know their names, and she isn't even aware that she doesn't actually have a grand-niece named Evangeline - the latter could have lied about her name to pass as one of Cedric's daughters, but she doesn't even need to do that.
- Grande Dame: An aristocratic old lady that prides herself in always keeping her word.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The entire plot of Cedric almost marrying Mrs. Quickly happens because of her. When Adelaide gets fed up with Selma's antics and asks Cedric why he chose such an awful woman, Cedric points out that with the short deadline she gave him, Selma was the best woman he could find.
- Grumpy Old Man: Or in this case, grumpy old woman. She's very easily angered and complains a lot, and she's a senior citizen.
- I Gave My Word: Promised her departed niece that she would help her family in any way possible. She routinely pats herself on the back for being so "charitable".
- Irony: Claims to not drink milk because it's bad for one's health... and then proceeds to ask for six sugar cubes for her tea, because that surely is more healthy than milk.
- Not So Above It All: Downplayed, but it's there. When Selma unintentionally hits her with cake, she doesn't participate in the food fight herself, but has her servant throw a big piece of cake at Selma on her behalf.
- Rich Bitch: A wealthy lady with a mansion, who's a snob and is uncaring towards her great-nieces and great-nephews.
- Sweet Tooth: Asks for six sugar cubes in her tea.
Mrs. Blatherwick
"There'll be snow in August before I have more trope examples than the rest!"
Played by: Imelda Staunton
The grumpy cook, who doesn't let the kids in the kitchen.- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: When the kids cause mischief in her kitchen and have her bound and gagged to the kitchen table, she yells a muffled "Please" at Nanny McPhee to get her to stop the kids.
- Apron Matron: She's the Brown family's cook, and used to be in the armed forces.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: A mild example, since for all her gruff treatment of Evangeline (even calling her a lump), Mrs Blatherwick does seem to care about her in her own way, and has tears of joy in her eyes when Evangeline marries Cedric.
- Catchphrase: Frequently says, "I have it in writing!" regarding the no-kids-in-the-kitchen rule.
- Fiery Redhead: Has bright red hair and is a very lively woman.
- Jaw Drop: She's shocked when she sees Evangeline back in the house well-dressed and educated due to being adopted by Aunt Adelaide.
- Lethal Chef: Played with, as she's normally a decent cook in the Brown house. When the kids are magically ill with measles, Nanny McPhee reminds her she was a cook in the army and at her suggestion, she makes them a disgusting soup from day old potato peelings and turkey.
- Mad Libs Catchphrase: Besides "I have it in writing", her other catchphrase is "There'll be snow in August before [blank]."
- No Full Name Given: Her first name is unrevealed.
Selma Quickly
"I'm your mother now."
Played by: Celia Imrie
The main villain; a widow three times over who wants to marry Cedric.- Abhorrent Admirer: Cedric is handsome enough that she thinks of him as decent enough arm-candy. He on the other hand wants to marry her out of pure necessity.
- Affably Evil: Not so much evil as just being a bad egg, but she does try to present herself as a friendly and affectionate woman. Emphasis on the "try".
- Canon Foreigner: She doesn't exist in the original books.
- Cartwright Curse: Lost three husbands before the events of the film.
- Child Hater: Even before being subjected to the childrens' pranks, she can't get away from them fast enough.
- Delusions of Beauty: A little bit. She sees herself as fashionable and attractive and has gone through three husbands already. She easily believes that Cedric just wants to get in her pants.
- The Dreaded: She's this to the morticians.
- First-Name Basis: She tries to invoke this by having everyone call her "Selma", but they refuse to do so.
- Gold Digger: What pushes her to accept Cedric's marriage proposal is knowing that she'll have the opportunity to get closer to Adelaide's fortune.
- Impossibly Tacky Clothes: Everything she wears comes in lurid shades of green, pink or orange that clash dreadfully with her hair.
- Kick the Dog: When she confiscates baby Aggie's rattle and snaps it in two.
- Leitmotif: Certain background music plays whenever she's around.
- Light Is Not Good: She wears bright colours, talks in a doting manner and has blonde hair, but she's bad news.
- Professional Butt-Kisser: She immediately tries to kiss up to Aunt Adelaide when she meets her, and it works.
- Wicked Stepmother: While she doesn't get to actually become the children's stepmother, she comes close, and she's mean to them, especially when she breaks Aggie's rattle.
Mr. Wheen and Mr. Jowls
Played by: Derek Jacobi (Mr Wheen) and Patrick Barlow (Mr Jowls)
Two doofy morticians who Mr. Brown works with.- The Prankster: They keep trying to scare Mr. Brown by emerging from coffins.
- Those Two Guys: Never seen apart.
Pets
Several animals that live around the place: a pig, some chickens, two basset hounds, and a donkey.
- Nearly Normal Animal: Once enchanted, the donkey can dance and once blows its nose, but mostly still continues to behave as a normal donkey.
- No Name Given: None of their names are revealed.
- Pet Dress-Up: At one point, the children dress them in the girls' formal attire to disguise them as girls.
Mrs. Brown
Cedric's first wife and the mother of his seven children. Died at some point before the events of the film.
- Death by Adaptation: She's still alive in the book the first film was adapted from.
- Death by Childbirth: Implied, because Aggie is still an infant in the film.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Implied to have been a loving mother and wife and is fondly remembered by her husband and children.
- Good Parents: Downplayed; she's remembered this way, but some lines of dialogue imply she was kind of a Pushover Parent too.
- Ill Girl: She had a frail health at least during the last months or years of her life.
- The Lost Lenore: She's this to Cedric, who still talks to her empty chair.
- Missing Mom: To her children.
- Tragic Keepsake: The rattle Aggie holds most of the time was hers.
- Winds Are Ghosts: A couple of times, Nanny McPhee bows to Mrs. Brown's empty chair and its trimmings move with the wind, implying that Mrs. Brown's spirit is there.
