Roddy Oliver

First appearance
 Last appearance
 Portrayed by
 Aliases
 Occupation
 Spouse(s)
 Significant other(s)
 Children

**Roddy Oliver** is the primary protagonist of The Ghost Hunter, played by William Theakston and later Robin Kermode. Roddy is a kind hearted and well meaning boy who, along with his sister Tessa Oliver, stop at nothing to keep their friend William safe from the Ghost Hunter.

## Early life

Roddy was born around 1988 (In "Trapped in Time", Bex states Roddy was in Year 9 in 2002. That would mean he was in Year 7 in 2000, set pre-June 2000. Thus, we can conclude that Roddy started secondary school in September 1999 at the age of 11.) to Colin and Janice Oliver. Judging from comments he made about the area and local characters, he had lived in Little Henlock for most of his life, and started attending Beeches School in September 1999, where he was in the Austin house.

## Meeting William (2000)

One night in spring 2000, Roddy was awoken in the early hours of the morning by William Povey, a Victorian ghost who informed that he was being hunted by a ghost hunter. Initially, Roddy was frightened of William, but grew more comfortable around him.

Roddy grows very close to William, and takes him to school, where William grows angered by Roddy's treatment at the hands of Wally Crabbe, causing him to use his powers to attack Wally, to Roddy's dismay.

Roddy introduces sister Tessa to William, who he takes to school the next day disguised with the smell of garlic. Roddy hypothesises the ghost hunter is school caretaker Old Nosey, then later that it may be science teacher Mrs Justin due to her owning a large number of jars. Ultimately both these theories are proved wrong.

At the village fête Roddy causes local media interest when a photograph taken of him on horseback appears to show William in the background. This piques the interest of Mrs Croker, the new sweet shop proprietor and the real ghost hunter.

Roddy partakes in a basketball game which he wins by 27 points to 26. After the match, he accidentally leaves one of William's shoeshine brushes in the changing rooms, which is stolen by Wally Crabbe. This angers William, but Roddy recovers the brush and the two make friends again when he protects William from Mrs Croker, who tries to spray ghost immobilising vapour on him at a visit to the Oliver's home.

Roddy and Tessa later discover that Mrs Croker had in fact kidnapped previous sweetshop owner Mrs Humphries and detained her in the back room, when she was "rescued" by Croker's assistant De Sniff.

After Croker's arrest, William concludes it is no longer safe for him to stay with Roddy and he leaves during the night, and Roddy and Tessa spend hours searching for him. William returns when he realises no one else can see him. Roddy and Tessa volunteer at the sweet shop to spy on De Sniff. Tessa is kidnapped by De Sniff and Roddy and William search for her at the caravan park, saving William's life from Mrs Croker who is herself searching for him at the Oliver's house.

Roddy goes on a school trip to Chillwood Castle and takes William with him, where they meet Eric, another ghost. William decides to stay with Eric for the Annual Ghost Meeting, which, unbeknownst to them, is being gatecrashed by Mrs Croker and De Sniff.

Roddy warns the ghosts at the meeting of Croker's visit, and is initially thrown out by Lord Chillwood, but later is proved right and witnesses Croker's fall, apparently to her death, from the battlements. After this, he is accepted by the spectral community. William says his goodbyes to Roddy and joins the fellow ghosts of Chillwood, and Roddy believes that is the end of the story.

## Personality

Roddy has second sight and hearing, something that is rare according to William - only 1 in 100,000 have both. He supports Manchester United. Roddy is often left to cover the tracks of others. For example, explaining the newly polished shoes in his house to his parents as the result of a sponsored shoe-shine. Just like many young people with siblings, Roddy is prone to irritating his sister, but he is clearly very affectionate towards her, often going out of his way to save her. He is shown to be level-headed and responsible, warning Tessa from investigating Mrs Croker's hideout. Roddy also has a difficult relationship with cantankerous school caretaker Old Nosey and his nephew Wally Crabbe.

## References

1. ↑ Series 1, Episode 3, Caught!
2. ↑ Series 1, Episode 1, Ghost In The Bedroom
3. ↑ Series 1, Episode 2, Who Is The Ghost Hunter?
4. ↑ Series 1, Episode 5, Chillwood Castle