Ghosts
Welcome to Button House
Ghosts is a BBC One supernatural sitcom about Alison and Mike Cooper, a cash-strapped young couple who unexpectedly inherit Button House, a crumbling country estate. Their dream of a fresh start is complicated by the fact that the house is crowded with the ghosts of people who died there across the centuries, each trapped in the era-specific clothes they died in. After a near-fatal fall, Alison alone can see and hear them. What follows is a warm, character-driven comedy as the living couple and the long-dead residents, from a caveman and a Regency poet to a scout leader and a trouserless MP, learn to share one very haunted home.
Start a quizAt a glance
- First aired
- 15 April 2019
- Last aired
- 25 December 2023
- Created by
- Mathew Baynton and Simon Farnaby and Martha Howe-Douglas and Jim Howick and Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond
- Channel
- BBC One
- Series
- 5
- Episodes
- 34
- Set in
- Button House, a crumbling English country house
- Quizzes
- 3
Ghosts quizzes
How did they all die, and what happens at Button House? A fiendish round for Ghosts devotees.
The living, the dead and everyone in between. How well do you know the residents of Button House?
From Alison and Mike moving in to the arrival of baby Mia, how well do you know life at Button House?
Ghosts cast and characters
Alison Cooper
Played by Charlotte Ritchie
A young woman who unexpectedly inherits Button House from a distant relative. After a near-fatal fall from a window she is the only living person who can see and hear its ghosts.
Mike Cooper
Played by Kiell Smith-Bynoe
Alison's husband, full of grand plans for the house but less good at carrying them out. He can't see the ghosts, but comes to accept they are there and often tries to talk to them.
Thomas Thorne
Played by Mathew Baynton
A melodramatic Regency Romantic poet who was shot dead in a duel in 1824. He falls hopelessly in love with Alison the moment he sees her.
Pat Butcher
Played by Jim Howick
A cheerful, relentlessly polite leader of a scout-style youth group, killed in 1984 when one of the boys in his care accidentally shot him through the neck with an arrow.
The Captain
Played by Ben Willbond
A stern Second World War army officer who was stationed at Button House and never saw frontline combat. He considers himself leader of the ghosts and plans everything like a military operation.
Kitty
Played by Lolly Adefope
An excitable, naive Georgian noblewoman who wants to be friends with everyone. She died in 1780 from the bite of a venomous spider.
Julian Fawcett
Played by Simon Farnaby
A disgraced Tory MP who died in a 1993 sex scandal without his trousers on. As a poltergeist, he can nudge small objects with a finger if he concentrates hard enough.
Lady Fanny Button
Played by Martha Howe-Douglas
The pompous Edwardian lady of the manor, pushed out of a window by her unfaithful husband in 1912. She relives her fall every day, and her scream serves as the house's morning alarm.
Robin
Played by Laurence Rickard
A caveman and the oldest ghost, killed when lightning struck the tree he was hiding in from a bear. He speaks broken English, can flicker the lights, and is wiser than he first appears.
Ghosts facts and FAQs
- When did Ghosts first air?
- Ghosts first aired on BBC One on 15 April 2019. It ran for five series, and the final episode was a Christmas special shown on 25 December 2023.
- How many series (seasons) and episodes of Ghosts are there?
- There are five series (seasons) of Ghosts and 34 episodes: 30 regular episodes plus four Christmas specials, one each year from 2020 to 2023. A short 2023 Comic Relief sketch with Kylie Minogue isn't included in that count.
- Who created and wrote Ghosts?
- Ghosts was created and written by Mathew Baynton, Simon Farnaby, Martha Howe-Douglas, Jim Howick, Laurence Rickard and Ben Willbond, who also play the main ghosts. The six previously worked together on Horrible Histories and Yonderland.
- What is Ghosts about?
- Ghosts is a sitcom about Alison and Mike Cooper, a cash-strapped couple who inherit a crumbling country house full of ghosts from across history. After a near-fatal fall, Alison can see and hear them, and the living and the dead are forced into an unlikely house share.
- Where is Ghosts set?
- Ghosts is set at Button House, a fictional country house in England, and its grounds. The ghosts are people who died on the estate over thousands of years, from a caveman to a 1990s MP, and they cannot leave it.
- Where was Ghosts filmed?
- Ghosts was filmed at West Horsley Place, a Grade I listed house near Guildford in Surrey, which plays Button House. In a twist worthy of the show, the house was unexpectedly inherited in 2014 by the broadcaster Bamber Gascoigne.
- Is Ghosts UK the original?
- Yes, the BBC's Ghosts (2019-2023) is the original, and the American Ghosts on CBS is a remake that premiered in October 2021. When CBS later showed the British series in the US, it was billed as Ghosts UK.
- Is there a Ghosts film?
- Yes, a feature film continuing the series, Ghosts: The Possession of Button House, is released in UK and Irish cinemas on 23 October 2026. The main cast return, with Simon Hynd directing.
Awards and recognition
BAFTA TV Award nominations for Scripted Comedy (2021, 2023) and Writer: Comedy (2021)
Comedy of the Year at the Comedy.co.uk Awards 2023
Best Returning TV Sitcom at the Comedy.co.uk Awards (2021, 2023)