"There's a cave one and there's an army one and there's one with no pants on..."
— Alison to Mike, Gorilla War
Alison Cooper is the wife of Mike Cooper and joint owner of Button House, which she inherited from her distant aunt Heather. Alison could not see ghosts at first, until Julian, cheating MP who is the only ghost that can touch things, pushed her out of a window. This incident technically killed her for a few minutes, however she ended up in an induced coma and was revived. Because she technically did die, she came so close to death and possibly even becoming a ghost that she earned the ability to see the dead. Alison is portrayed by Charlotte Ritchie.
Since her accident, she often behaves strangely as a side effect from her interactions with the ghosts. When she first realized her new ability she was flooded with anxiety and nervousness which has since faded. It has become common for her to simply repeat what Fanny is saying, especially when speaking about the history of the house or polite society; something Mike has become increasingly aware of.
Biography[]
Alison (maiden name unknown) married Mike Cooper at some point before the start of the series; they'd been dating since either towards the end of or just after their school lives, after her previous boyfriend Kevin McMahan broke up with her. Due to being unable to afford a house they'd been searching for a new flat to live in with the aid of Dave, though why they left their previous one is not known. When she first receives the phone call from the solicitor she hangs up on him, as they couldn't afford a house to live in. Though is phones again and freezes, open-mouthed upon hearing she'd inherited a house from whom Alison describes as her great aunty. After meeting with him and learning the house she'd inherited was in fact Button House, she and Mike eagerly decided to quit their jobs and renovate it into a hotel.
Shortly after she and Mike arrive at the house the resident ghosts decide to try and get rid of her, this results with Julian pushing her from a second story window where she lands harshly. Unaware that the other ghosts are outraged by this she is taken to hospital where she temporarily died and was quickly brought back by doctors, Alison was then placed into an induced coma for two weeks in order to help her recover and presumably better monitor any brain swelling. Once allowed to return home she looked mostly unharmed apart a few scratches on her face and a neck brace, it is her return to the house which reveals the ability her near-death experience had given her; she sees Julian and says he should be wearing a hard hat. While Mike tries to comfort her, Alison freaks out thinking she's gone mad as the ghosts - curious to see if Alison can really see and hear them - all gather around her. Thinking it was hallucinations Mike takes her back to the hospital for treatment where she speaks to an older doctor, he disagrees that it is hallucinations and explains that because she'd been so close to death herself she could now see ghosts. When questioned as to why he'd think such an outlandish thing he reveals to her that he is in fact dead and promptly backs through the chair and a cabinet when the real doctor enters; this makes her scream 'The doctor's dead!'. Alison refuses the medication the doctors offer her as she decides the ghost doctor was correct and returns to Button House where she angrily demands the ghosts to tell her what they want so the can be left alone, they were able to reach a peaceful arrangement and, while rocky at times, found a way to co-habit the house; even if Thomas' overwhelming love for Alison grates on her and none of the ghosts would leave her alone
In order to make money for the repairs Mike and Alison have to come up with money-making schemes, one of these is to allow a film crew in to record 'The Life Of Byron' in Free Pass. They worry about the strength of the floor but Alison also finds herself distracted by Toby Nightingale, who is her marital 'free pass', even though he keeps calling her 'Abigail' and clearly isn't a nice person.
Upon learning that Barclay Beg-Chetwynde - their neighbor - has a claim to their driveway she invites him to dinner in an attempt to keep him sweet, she then employs the ghosts to help her prepare for it by asking Fanny what to wear and serve, getting The Captain to help them shoot a pheasant, and having Mary aid them in cooking it. She then grows angry with the ghosts when they try to conduct Robin's Moonah Ston Ritual and embarrass her in front of the Beg-Chetwyndes and as a result she leaves them watching Friends upstairs in an attempt to get rid of them. When Mike stupidly agrees to pay Barclay twenty thousand pounds for the access rights, Alison tries to get them out of it, by using a ghosts to cheat at poker but, as the ghosts there still mad at her and busy watching friends, the only ghosts available was Mary. However, as Mary is illiterate and doesn't gamble - her plan fails and they are left thinking they'll have to pay double, forty thousand, money they very clearly don't have; ultimately it is Julian who solves all of this for her when he tells her about Barclay's secret Fiji bank account. Terrified that Alison would expose him Barclay backs out of the whole thing and insists he'd sign over access rights for free.
Having run out of money by Getting Out, Alison and Mike have been forced to get jobs and continue the renovations at night. The ghosts are annoyed about all the work going on at night but only the Captain wants to do something about it and attempt to get rid of them, the others had all become rather fond of the couple; especially Kitty who believes Alison to be her best friend and sister. Alison and her husband are then faced with Fiona Legge - a property buyer for Herrington Hotels - who is interested in Button House, with the renovation work having become far too much for novices like the Coopers to handle they finally decide to sell the house and get themselves a real house with no ghosts. Unbeknownst to them Fiona is quite intent on cheating them out of as much money as possible, in fact the only one to notice this is the Captain who makes it his mission to reveal her corruption and make sure Alison stays despite his previous want for her to leave. Using Kitty as his messenger he gets Alison to contact Fiona and have her take a look at the basement so they could install swimming baths down there and not have to drop the price, this in turn reveals the plague pit that the Plague Ghosts were tossed into and has Fiona running away in terror never to return. Surprisingly Alison isn't as angry as Mike about the loss of the sale and simply accepts that they will have to stay.
By The Grey Lady, Alison has become more at ease around the ghosts and has fitted them into her daily routine; she times Cap's morning run, puts football matches on for Pat, writes down the answers for Robin's crossword, puts on music for Thomas and lets Julian use her laptop. Still strapped for cash, the Coopers decide to charge the ghost hunters admittance when a photograph of Fanny is posted on Twitter, however, the ghosts refuse to be paraded about like a circus and leave Alison and Mike to fake all the activity. Eventually their lie is revealed and they have to refund everybody who payed and the ghost hunters then label the haunting of Button House as a hoax.
Alison treats herself to a rare night out with some friends in Bump In The Night and sneaks out the house when the ghosts are doing music club thinking they'd never notice she was gone. She has to repeatedly reassure her husband that the ghosts wouldn't do anything to hurt him and had little interest in messing with him before she can actually leave. Later she gets a frantic phone call from Mike who insists the ghosts have gone rogue, she tells him to be quiet and stick his phone out the wardrobe door, since she knows he's hiding in there, and listens to Cap telling her about the burglars. Alison quickly relays the information to Mike then starts trying to get herself home, she is unable to get a taxi and hitch-hiking brings her face to face with a girl who got murdered while hitch-hiking, so she ends up getting a ride in a limo from a hen party. When Alison is dropped off she rushes through the woods towards Button House only to find Barclay Beg-Chetwynde and his dogs have a shotgun on the burglars and the police arrive.
With Sam's and Clare's wedding in jeopardy by snow in Perfect Day it is left up to Alison to try and make it the best wedding she can with the aid of the Captain as unofficial wedding planner. When Clare gets cold feet the ghosts help her to track Clare down and talk her round which doesn't take too long, although, Mike overhears her telling of how she went through similar worries when she married him and later finds out he's let it all slip to Sam. Though angry and irritated by her husband's irresponsibility she doesn't have time to deal with it and instructs him to keep everybody else calm while she spoke to Sam who comes around just as quickly as Clare. She and Mike then make up during the party afterwards as they hug, kiss and sway to the music. Alison does have to throw cake at Clare though due to Mary's superstition that something bad would happen if she did not, Alison gets away with this my making it look as though the kids had accidentally hit Clare with a piece of cake.
More of her background is explored in The Bone Plot when Alison reluctantly agrees to feature in a historical documentary that is being filmed at Button House. It is revealed that Alison's father died when she was five-years-old, and her mother passed away "more recently". Her father happened to be somehow related to her distant relative, Lady Heather Button.
In A Lot to Take In, she was shocked when a young woman named Lucy showed up to claim that she is her half-sister which gradually made her become ecstatic. However, in I Love Lucy, she began to doubt Lucy when her solicitor advised her to obtain DNA evidence to prove that Lucy is really her sister for the sake of her inheritance. She was relieved when Lucy made it clear that she had no interest in the inheritance and just wanted to bond as sisters (though it offends Lucy and causes her to leave).
The truth begins unraveling in Part of the Family when Alison reconciles with Lucy who informs her that she's been conned which resulted her losing all her money. This prompts Alison to offer Lucy her savings, until it is discovered by the ghosts that Lucy is in fact a con artist who had been scheming to steal Alison's money. After being warned by the ghosts, Alison and Mike confronted Lucy with the evidence. She was hurt by Lucy's deception, though she is comforted by her husband. It is then when Alison realizes that ghosts are already like a family to her, and she considers Kitty as the sister she never had.
Appearance[]
Alison is a white woman somewhere in her late twenties to early thirties with brown hair and green eyes. She usually dresses rather casually in jeans, t-shirts and jumpers though will go to the effort when the occasion calls for it. She has a tattoo[1] and a nose piercing.
Personality[]
Alison is a kind and considerate person for the most part. She's also the more cynical one in her and Mike's relationship. While Mike can be childish, she is left to play the adult. She does her best to keep those around her happy but can often lose her temper, normally with the ghosts. Alison has been known to set aside her own needs in favor of pleasing her family and friends. She's far more reserved about the renovations to Button House than her husband and was the first to accept failure on turning it into a hotel. However, that didn't stop her quickly thinking of something else to do with the house.
Quotes[]
- "You should be wearing a hard hat." — Who Do You Think You Are?
- "The doctor's dead!" — Gorilla War
- "I'm not going to kill your wife, Pat!" — Happy Death Day
- "Ah, Thomas it's fine, you're part of the family." — About Last Night
- "That's what I thought, a torn thing of peas and a frozen lasagne." — Moonah Ston
Trivia[]
- She has been mistakenly called Annabel by Barclay Beg-Chetwynde and Abigail by Toby Nightingale.
- She doesn't like shellfish.[2]
- Alison plays chess with Robin occasionally.
- When they first enter the basement Alison has Mike sing to make it less frightening, in actuality it only makes it worse.
- While house shopping she and Mike view a penthouse where she finds two Luftwaffe officers floating in mid air. Though they are extremely pleased to see her and shout 'hello' at her Alison is less keen and backs away from the place quickly.
- She has insulted both The Captain by calling him 'Major-General Can't-Sing’ in reference to the Pirates of Penzance song he sings, and Robin by referring to him as 'Captain Cave-prick' and 'Budget Tarzan'.
- According to Ghosts: Brought to Life, the first idea for the show's main character was a porter who was startled and accidentally killed by ghosts haunting a hotel, becoming the newest ghost himself.
- She can sing and play the piano.
- Her American counterpart is Samantha Arondekar.
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