As Ghosts returns with its fifth and final series on BBC One, some fans might appreciate a handy recap on what we know about the deceased characters – so did they all die?
The series has given us lots of clues along the way on how our favourite Ghosts characters died, but what do we know so far? And who are we still in the dark about?
Here’s what we know about the characters in Ghosts, and how did they die?
***Warning: contains spoilers from ALL series of Ghosts including series 4***
Pat Butcher
Pat Butcher, played by Here We Go star Jim Howick, was the first ghost whose back story we learnt back in series one.
We knew that Pat was a scout leader, thanks to the very obvious uniform that he died in. But the third episode of series one told us what exactly happened the day he died on the grounds of Button House.
The episode opened with a flashback to 1984 – the day Pat died. Pat was leading a group of scouts in an archery activity before passing a bow and arrow to one over-eager scout.
Just before Pat could explain his scout safety instructions, one of his scouts shot an arrow right through Pat’s neck! A horrifying (but admittedly funny) scene saw Pat attempt to remove the arrow and drive himself to the hospital. But then he crashed into a tree just outside Button House.
Pat’s lack of closure came from never saying goodbye to his beloved wife Carol. He even asked Alison to kill her so they could be together again.
At the end of the episode, a tear-jerking moment saw Alison speak to the Butcher family, and she told Pat that his grown-up son Daley had named his son after him.
Pat excitedly watched over his grandson and, while this might not have been the moment to take Pat “up to the big white light” as Mary coins it, it still gave him some closure.
Ghosts: How did they die? Thomas Thorne
The next Ghost story we heard was Thomas Thorne. The Regency-era ghost who can’t help his obsession with Alison had a whole episode dedicated to him back in series two.
On October 10 1824, we saw a flashback to Higham House. That’s right – the home hasn’t always had the Button name!
Episode 4 of series 2 revealed that Thomas loved Lord Higham’s daughter, but believed that Higham forbade the match between him and his daughter. After hearing one of the Lords of the house speak lowly of Lord Higham’s daughter, Lady Isabelle, he challenged him to a duel. But his duelling partner cheated, shooting Thomas, before Higham’s daughter professed her love for Thomas.
Or at least that’s how Thomas recalled it anyway. Robin and Mary gave us a slightly different account of the events! It turns out that Thomas (Mathew Baynton) had misheard the Lord’s comments. He was talking about Mary Shelley, the writer, not Lady Isabelle.
However, the Lord did cheat the duel and killed Thomas. But Lady Isabelle never came to say goodbye to Thomas, and that’s why he never got his closure. Even worse, Thomas’ own cousin betrayed him, telling Lady Isabelle that Thomas never loved her and subsequently marrying her himself.
And his name? Thomas Button. That’s how the household got the Button House name! And actually means that Thomas and Alison are related, which makes his crush on her even weirder.
A moment at the end of the episode showed that Thomas could not get rid of Isabelle’s letter, no matter what he did. Will he ever be able to get closure from her and go up to the ‘big white light’? We’ll soon find out!
How did Lady Fanny Button from Ghosts die?
While we previously saw Lady Button’s death in the very first episode of the show, the Christmas Special gave us more insight into her death.
In series 1, it was revealed that Lady Button was pushed out of the bedroom window by her husband George after she discovered him having a threesome with their groundsman and butler. That’s rough!
But the 2021 Christmas Special gave us more insight into Lady Button’s life, and it wasn’t as clean and proper as she makes it out to be. Fanny (Martha Howe-Douglas) was a spinster for many years, who wanted to help her gambler father with his business.
Fanny was married off to the wealthy George Button to get her family out of trouble, as he had gone rather “wayward”. We can assume the Buttons accepted the marriage to stop George’s romances with men, and Fanny’s lack of real love is why she never really got closure.
Julian Fawcett MP
Julian, the sleazy MP, died in a rather uncomfortable position… We know this due to his lack of trousers!
His death was fully revealed in series three. In the 2020 Christmas Special, we saw that Julian was not a great husband or father. He was never home and often cheated on his wife.
But when Mike’s sister visited with her newborn and often crying baby, we realised that Julian’s lack of closure might be over his guilt over being a terrible husband and dad.
He was haunted by memories of lying to his wife about why he wasn’t home. But, by the end of the episode, he realised Mike’s baby niece could see Julian in his ghost form!
A heartwarming moment saw him look after the baby while Mike’s sister finally got some sleep. He told the other ghosts he regretted not spending time with his family. At the end of the special, Julian searched for his daughter, Rachel. He found out she became an MP, following in his footsteps!
While he was upset she was a member of the Green Party, he still got some closure. But it wasn’t until the second episode of series three that we really saw how Julian (Simon Farnaby) died. A flashback revealed he attended a party at Button House where he had a heart-attack mid-intercourse.
He found it hard to accept the fact that he even was a ghost, never mind get closure, so it looks like it will be a while before Julian heads into the big white light.
Who did Humphrey Bone die in Ghosts?
We already knew Humphrey (Larry Rickard) had had a pretty rough death due to his head not being attached to his body!
We also knew that Humphrey had been around for quite a while. The second episode of series three revealed he had been around since the Elizabethan era.
A documentary was filmed in the Button House which revealed Sir Humphrey Bone had a rather important role in history. He was married to a French woman named Sophie, who spoke no English and showed no love for Humphrey no matter how hard he tried.
Sophie was more interested in creating a plot against Queen Elizabeth I. When the plot was discovered, Humphrey nobly held back the Queen’s guards to let his unloving wife escape.
She gave him a kiss on the cheek before fleeing. As Humphrey tried to flee himself through his fireplace, two decorative swords fell off the mantlepiece and decapitated him. As the Guards discovered the scene, they took credit for his death and he was remembered in history as the mastermind of the plot.
Will Humphrey have to get closure from his unloving wife before he can move on to the light?
Ghosts: How did they all die? Kitty
Kitty (Lolly Adefope) was a noble Georgian woman who is loved by audiences for her naive and child-like innocence. But perhaps this naivety had something to do with her death.
In series three, episode five, we saw flashbacks to Kitty’s life, where she was adopted by a loving father. She had one sister, born to her adopted parents, who was constantly jealous of Kitty.
While the episode didn’t reveal exactly how Kitty died, we can guess it had something to do with her sister’s actions. She previously set up Kitty to break one of their mother’s beloved ornaments.
Kitty’s father blamed her and Kitty finally realised that maybe her sister was involved in her death. Will we finally find out how Kitty died in series 4?
The Captain
Throughout the series, The Captain (Ben Willbond) has dropped various clues about his role as a Captain in World War Two. But series two, episode three, revealed heartbreaking clues behind his death.
The Captain was stationed at Button House as commanding officer of a troop during WWII and had a close relationship with Lieutenant Havers. He revealed that landmines were planted under Button House, which perhaps had a role in his death.
His close friend Havers transferred to the front, and The Captain was clearly devastated. There was a lingering moment that hinted that the two were more than just friends.
Towards the end of the episode, a flashback showed The Captain burying a letter to Havers along with a bomb, which Mike accidentally set off.
A flashback at the end of the episode saw The Captain waved off by his beloved Havers, who presumably died in the front. Several moments in the series have seen him almost admit his love for Havers, and maybe that’s when The Captain will finally get his closure.
How did they die in Ghosts? Mary
Mary (Katy Wix) was always the ghost most reluctant to speak about her death. And, for a long time, her burnt appearance gave us a clue on why that was.
We got a hint back in series two that Mary was accused of witchcraft and burned to death, but we didn’t know why.
However, in series 4, we finally found out what really happened to her. She was falsely accused of witchcraft and Mary shared “she took the wrap for someone else”. However, we didn’t get the details beyond this because Mary was suddenly sucked off!
She finally stood up to Alison and the other ghosts and said she wouldn’t take the blame anymore for something that she didn’t do. In episode 4, Mary suddenly went up to the big white light and finally found peace.
Ghosts: How did they die? The caveman Robin
For the longest time, we didn’t know anything about Robin’s death. It had been so long that we’d assumed he might’ve forgotten! But, in the series 4 finale Robin (also played by Larry Rickard), finally revealed what happened to him.
When Alison and Mike brought a huge bear statue into Button House to wow the guests, Robin instantly hated it, shouting “not again!” We saw flashbacks to Robin’s life as a caveman, pointing out to his fellow cavemen that there was a bear print on their track. But they ignored him, and when they finally saw the bear, they forced Robin to fight with it!
While Robin momentarily escaped the bear by hiding in a tree, he then got stuck in the mud under the tree. And then struck by lightning. Turns out the bear didn’t kill Robin at all, but he still blames it for his death.
Maybe Robin will get “sucked off” when he makes peace with a bear-like creature… Or the humans that forced him to fight it. We hope the final series of the BBC comedy will finally give us the answer…
Which deaths do we not know about?
We don’t yet know the full details of how The Captain or Kitty died.
Hopefully, the fifth and final series will finally reveal the full story of one of these ghosts – or hopefully both of them!
We DO know that this series is 6 episodes. And BBC Comedy has also confirmed there will be one more Ghosts Christmas special in 2023.
The Ghosts team posted on social media: “The final series of Ghosts starts on Friday… But there might be one last present under the Christmas tree this year #BBCGhosts.”
The fifth and final series of Ghosts starts Friday, October 06, 2023 at 8:30pm on BBC One and will be available as a boxset on BBC iPlayer.
Ghosts returns with series 5 on Friday, October 6 2023, at 8.30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. All previous series are available on BBC iPlayer.
Which death would you like to learn about next in Ghosts? Let us know what you think on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.