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Ghosts: Mrs. Button's facial expressions literally hurt, says Martha Howe-Douglas

Martha Howe-Douglas confirmed that it takes a lot of muscle to be as disappointed as Mrs. Button

Still image of Lady Buttons in Ghosts
Image credit: BBC

Sometimes, when playing a constantly disappointed Edwardian ghost, there's a cost. Martha Howe-Douglas, who plays Mrs. Button on the hit BBC sitcom Ghosts chatted about those costs to a packed Main Stage audience at this weekend's MCM Comic Con.

Panel moderator Ed Templer pointed out that he loved Mrs. Button's intense facial expressions - especially in series five, and went on to ask Howe-Douglas "Do they hurt?" In response, Howe-Douglas responded, "Yeah. They really hurt. In the first week of filming, I always forget how much it really hurts my neck to contort so much... I've looked back at series five and thought "maybe you've gone too far."

Laurence Rickard, who plays caveman Robin, then chimed in, "I like the walk, how the walk developed. When you walk in and say 'Alright Look everybody listen to me,' it looks like her hip's dislocated. It's gone so far."

But that isn't all that Mrs. Buttons brings to the show, "Theres also a bunch of non-verbal noises," Matthew Baynton, who plays poet Thomas, chimed in. "If you happen to be next to Lady Button in a scene, you just get this constant soundtrack of [shocked noises]."

Truly, there is nothing like a digruntled Victorian ghost.


Ghosts has become a phenomenon in the UK, America, and around the world. With CBS's third season of Ghosts underway, get to know your favorite apparitions with a guide to how the ghosts of Ghosts died, where to watch both Ghosts shows, a guide to the casts of Ghosts, why BBC's Ghosts ended, and learn about the other Ghosts the original show planned but never used. We even have some thoughts on why the American Ghosts has its own worthy charms.

Ad you can watch full convention panels with both the cast of BBC's Ghosts and CBS' Ghosts exclusively here on Popverse.