Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Please consider supporting me at patreon.com/LindsayHoliday
The eerily beloved British comedy Ghosts was first adapted into an American supernatural sit com. It has now appairated into 3 more adaptations in Germany, France and Australia. In each version, half of a modern, living couple inherit a historic mansion. After moving in, the woman has a brush with death, which allows her to see dead people. The spirits, thrilled that a living person can interact with them, quickly incorporate her into the various rivalries, romances and hijinks which have been simmering over centuries of co-haunting. High-spirited hilarity ensues. The element which makes this show particularly special for history lovers is that each ghost met their demise in a different era. And people from the past are brought to life, or rather after-life in a unique and humanizing way. Some of the characters are archetypes of classic ghost stories, like the gray lady and headless specter. But all typify important cultural touchstones from the history of each country they are set in. Where the phantoms converge and differ across versions says a lot about how each country views its own history. Let’s take a look at the spectral ensemble from each series, and compare them to each other, and to real history.
Ghosts UK
Button House is West Horsley Place in Surrey
Robin
The Basement Ghosts
Sir Humphrey Bone
Mary Guppy
Katherine ‘Kitty’ Higham
Thomas Thorne
Lady Stephanie ‘Fanny’ Button
The Captain
Patrick ‘Pat’ Butcher
Julian Fawcett MP
Ghosts US
Thorfinn Thor
Sasappis
Captain Isaac Higgintoot
Henrietta “Hetty” Woodstone
Alberta Haynes
Susan “Flower” Montero
Peter “Pete” Martino’
Trevor Lefkowitz
Ghosts Germany Ghosts DE
Donnerhall House is Bergerhausen Castle in Cologne
Urs
Claudius
Griet
Friedrich Dorn
Adelheid
Svenni
Joachim
Ghosts France Ghosts FR
Château de Mérudeaux is Château de Vaugien outside of Paris
Tayac
Albos
Berthe
Comtesse
Marie-Catherine de Mérudeaux
Augustine Montfleury
Georges Peyrache
François Laval
Daniel ‘Dani’ Quignon
Roland Givorant
Ghosts Australia Ghosts AU
Gideon
Joon
Eileen
Miranda
Lindy
Satan
Check out the History Tea Time Podcast:
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/7iW8gOI5wb5TNFAIhBd9Om?si=46aeeacd64214ac0
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-tea-time/id1619978406
Follow me on Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091781568503
Instagram: instagram.com/historyteatimelindsayholiday
Music: Dreams of the Ancestors by Asher Fulero
For business inquiries, please contact LindsayHoliday@ellify.com
Please consider supporting me at patreon.com/LindsayHoliday
The eerily beloved British comedy Ghosts was first adapted into an American supernatural sit com. It has now appairated into 3 more adaptations in Germany, France and Australia. In each version, half of a modern, living couple inherit a historic mansion. After moving in, the woman has a brush with death, which allows her to see dead people. The spirits, thrilled that a living person can interact with them, quickly incorporate her into the various rivalries, romances and hijinks which have been simmering over centuries of co-haunting. High-spirited hilarity ensues. The element which makes this show particularly special for history lovers is that each ghost met their demise in a different era. And people from the past are brought to life, or rather after-life in a unique and humanizing way. Some of the characters are archetypes of classic ghost stories, like the gray lady and headless specter. But all typify important cultural touchstones from the history of each country they are set in. Where the phantoms converge and differ across versions says a lot about how each country views its own history. Let’s take a look at the spectral ensemble from each series, and compare them to each other, and to real history.
Ghosts UK
Button House is West Horsley Place in Surrey
Robin
The Basement Ghosts
Sir Humphrey Bone
Mary Guppy
Katherine ‘Kitty’ Higham
Thomas Thorne
Lady Stephanie ‘Fanny’ Button
The Captain
Patrick ‘Pat’ Butcher
Julian Fawcett MP
Ghosts US
Thorfinn Thor
Sasappis
Captain Isaac Higgintoot
Henrietta “Hetty” Woodstone
Alberta Haynes
Susan “Flower” Montero
Peter “Pete” Martino’
Trevor Lefkowitz
Ghosts Germany Ghosts DE
Donnerhall House is Bergerhausen Castle in Cologne
Urs
Claudius
Griet
Friedrich Dorn
Adelheid
Svenni
Joachim
Ghosts France Ghosts FR
Château de Mérudeaux is Château de Vaugien outside of Paris
Tayac
Albos
Berthe
Comtesse
Marie-Catherine de Mérudeaux
Augustine Montfleury
Georges Peyrache
François Laval
Daniel ‘Dani’ Quignon
Roland Givorant
Ghosts Australia Ghosts AU
Gideon
Joon
Eileen
Miranda
Lindy
Satan
Check out the History Tea Time Podcast:
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/7iW8gOI5wb5TNFAIhBd9Om?si=46aeeacd64214ac0
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/history-tea-time/id1619978406
Follow me on Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id=100091781568503
Instagram: instagram.com/historyteatimelindsayholiday
Music: Dreams of the Ancestors by Asher Fulero
For business inquiries, please contact LindsayHoliday@ellify.com
