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Hyacinth Bucket
Hyacinth Bucket ("Bouquet") (Patricia Routledge)
The main protagonist, if you want to call her that. Hyacinth Bucket (or "Bouquet" as she prefers) is a pompous middle-class woman living in The Midlands with her husband Richard. Determined to be a Grande Dame, Hyacinth's snobbish ways make her come off as a Jerkass. Her numerous attempts to climb the ladder of classes often fail due to her own incompetence, the unexpected appearance of her lower class family members, or other reasons.
- Berserk Button: It's pronounced "Bouquet"! That doesn't stop even her from forgetting on occasion, as seen in one of the Christmas Episodes.
- British Stuffiness: When she gets mad, she almost always tries to conceal it, though she usually fails.
- Can't Hold Her Liquor: As demonstrated by a glass too many of the Dowager Lady Ursula's home-goose wade-berry mine.
- Butt-Monkey: She is considerably unlucky, as all of her attempts at climbing the social ladder are often thwarted by random things such as her less-than-refined relatives. She is often the butt of many jokes because nobody likes her except for Elizabeth and her family (with the exception of Onslow).
- Catchphrase:
- When on the phone, she says "The Bouquet residence, the lady of the house speaking." This is to imply that there are servants who might have answered the phone in her stead.
- When Elizabeth goes for the wrong seat in the kitchen: "No, not there, dear. I like to face the window."
- When Daisy and Rose have problems with their father: "I'd have him at home, but he..."
- When one of her sisters calls: "It's my sister, [Daisy, Rose or Violet]. She's [not] the one with the Mercedes, sauna and room for a pony."
- For specific parties:
- "tea and light refreshments"
- "waterside supper with riparian entertainments"
- "outdoors-indoors luxury barbecue with finger buffet"
- "bon vivant buffet and al fresco munchiettes"
- When speaking of her home phone: "...my white, slim-line, push-button telephone with last-number redial."
- When answering said phone: "It's probably someone important."
- Church Lady: Commandeers all the Ladies' Guild activities but balks at the idea of getting her hands dirty. The Vicar tends to panic when he learns of her imminent arrival at the church.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Let's just say she lives in her own world apart from the rest of the cast.
- Daddy's Girl: One of her redeeming aspects is her open care for her father, despite him being an insane Dirty Old Man who completely contrasts with her attempts at grandeur.
- The Dreaded: People have been known to run and hide just knowing she's in the same building.
- Everyone Has Standards: In the first episode, she refuses to send Sheridan money when he says he'll pay her back after he robs his first bank.
- Fancy Dinner: Nothing excites her more than organizing a candlelight supper.
- Gone Horribly Wrong: A revenge scheme against Lydia Hawksworth in Series 5 ends with her and Richard being taken in for questioning over a Rolls Royce in front of not just Onslow, Daisy and Rose but also Lydia. Naturally, she tries to downplay the ensuing immediate embarrassment as much as possible.
- Grass is Greener: She holds Violet in higher regard than her other sisters and brags about her at every opportunity, due to having achieved a wealthy high class lifestyle she so greatly desires. Throughout many exchanges however, it becomes apparent that Violet's personal life is anything but blissful, and most of her rare onscreen appearances amount to her risking embarrassment for Hyacinth much in the same way as Rose, Daisy and Onslow.
- The Hilarity of Hats: The sillier her hat, the louder the canned laughter.
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Emmet is constantly terrified of Hyacinth: "She'll sing at me! She always sings at me!"
- House Wife: Say what you will about her: She does keep a clean house and she seems to be quite a good cook and gardener. Richard admits that this is a big reason he's stayed married to her all these years.
- Hypocritical Humor: This trope was meant for her. She frequently denies bragging about herself or her supposed social status after doing just that and states several times that she hates snobbery.
- I Am Very British: Speaks with received pronunciation despite the show being set in the West Midlands. Occasionally her regional accent slips through.
- Incoming Ham: Head for the hills! It's the Bucket woman!
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Demands "a very large whiskey" after an unfortunate incident on the back of a lorry.
- Informed Attractiveness: The Major, a commodore, a country yokel, and the Spanish Mr. Ferrini find Hyacinth irresistible, as does she herself. "It's as if he's never seen an attractive woman!"
- Innocently Insensitive: Hyacinth loves her family and is a very kind and outgoing person... it's just that she's also one of the most extremely overbearing people you can imagine, to the point where her ideas about what's best for others often clash with what they want to do, and most people are too polite to stand up to her.
- Insistent Terminology:
- Towards her last name, which she insists is pronounced like "bouquet", not "bucket".
- Also applies to Daddy's long-dead World War II commander, Colonel Dawlish. Whenever people refer to him as "Colonel" Dawlish, Hyacinth is always quick to respond with "Colonel? He finished up a Brigadier General, you know."
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: For all her social climbing, a lot of her pompous antics do have some sort of good intention. She is more inconsiderate and affectionately suffocating to Richard than intentionally abusive or callous and often attempts (badly) to improve his lifestyle in some manner. She also very earnestly loves her daddy and is infuriated by her relatives' occasionally neglectful treatment of him, and is implied to love her son devotedly (albeit to the extent of spoiling him).
- Know-Nothing Know-It-All: Often reveals herself to be this when she tries to make people think she's knowledgeable and sophisticated. One notable example occurs when Hyacinth organizes a pageant based on the English Civil War, with Richard as Charles I and herself as Charles' queen consort, Henrietta Maria, whom she believes was English, much to Emmet's great amusement.note
- Large Ham: Her emotions can be very put-on at times, or very badly concealed. She once shrieked that there was no doily under a container of cookies and scrambled to the cupboard to remedy this.
- Mama Bear: She doesn't approve of anything that would get her Sheridan into trouble.
- Narcissist: She either sees herself as the center of the universe or very much wants to get there.
- Never My Fault: Oh boy! The Cruise Special is a good example when she blames Richard for getting too late on the cruise. He was simply driving the car while she was giving instructions where to go.
- Nosy Neighbor: Just ask Emmet! She's constantly trying to get into his business, partly because he employs singing talent.
- N-Word Privileges: Implicitly extends them to Mrs. Councillor Nugent in regards to the pronunciation of her surname.
- Obnoxious Entitled Housewife: Whilst mostly a pretentious social climber, she also has shades of this. Her deluded attempts at appearing upper class have left a large number of people utterly terrified of her and attempting to avoid her at all costs. Her postman in particular goes out of his way to avoid her frequent and unrealistic demands that her posts receive first class status regardless of the stamp. She attempted to force her Henpecked Husband Richard to call the Chinese ambassador to force the local Chinese takeaway to change its phone number, due to it being only one number different from theirs and leading to people mistakenly calling them. At one point, when shopping for a new kitchen counter, she brought along a series of hard-to-clean foods which she deliberately tipped over the display model to see if it would stain. She even forces the Vicar to visit to consult him about whether to decorate her living room with angel Gabriel blue paint or Lucifer Red.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- In a series 2 episode, Hyacinth gets in the car with Emmet and doesn't sing at him once. Elizabeth notes that for that to happen, she must be in some kind of panic.
- You know she's genuinely angry when even she forgets how her name is supposed to be pronounced.
- Only Sane Man: Considers herself this among her family. Everyone sees her as the nutcase. Episodes tend to flip flop which side is closer to the truth.
- Pet the Dog: Has her moments when her more maternal, kindly attributes pay off. She may consider some of her actions this towards other characters, believing her services as a figure of higher social standards will benefit the lives of the less fortunate.
- Precision F-Strike: A mild one in the second episode when she complains to her relatives about the latest person to call her about Chinese food.Hyacinth: I was dealing with a wrong number. Some damn fool thinks I'm a Chinese restaurant...
- Pretentious Pronunciation: Hyacinth insists that her surname is pronounced 'Bouquet' (as in flowers). Her husband Richard—whose family name it actually is—is fine with being called 'Bucket' (provided that Hyacinth isn't around, that is).
- Rich Bitch: Hyacinth is a strange subversion; she acts like she's got high social standing, and wants to appear wealthy and cultured, criticizing other people's tendency to be "economical", but she and Richard are hardly millionaires.
- The Rival: Of Mrs. Barker-Finch, Lydia Hawksworth, and Delia Wheelwright, or so she insists.
- Running Gag:
- Every time she goes to visit her lower-class relatives, their dog barks at her as she walks up to the house, startling her and causing her to fall into a nearby hedge.
- She answers every phone with her Catchphrase: "The Bouquet residence, the lady of the house speaking!"
- She is often called by customers for the local Chinese takeaway (identified in a couple of episodes as the Green Lotus), since their numbers are only one digit removed. In one episode, she attempts to put an end to this by having Richard call the Chinese ambassador to get the company to change their number, to no avail.
- Selective Obliviousness: Few have her knack for not hearing what she doesn't want to hear.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: Why use "riverside" when "riparian" is so much higher-class?
- A Simple Plan: Hyacinth's plots to raise her social status.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Somewhat subverted. Hyacinth considers several of her neighbours to be rivals. The closest may be her brother-in-law Onslow, who she considers to be vulgar and lazy (which is true). She is terrified of him entering her house, concerned about what the neighbours would think, and that his mere presence will somehow rot the wallpaper. Yet, they have moments of understanding and can get on pretty well depending on the occasion. For instance, the cruise episode has Hyacinth display a rare moment of humility, congratulating Onslow for winning a luxury holiday on the said cruise ship, and dancing together.
- The people who keep ringing up to order Chinese takeaway may count as this.
- Small Name, Big Ego:
- In the final episode, she presumes to tell God how to pronounce her name, yelling to Richard, "Tell God it's 'Bouquet'!"
- In the Cruise Special, she frets about whether the crew has somehow left the captain stranded. Richard tells her it's unlikely they would have done that, to which she replies, "They left me!" Notice that she said "me" and not "us".
- Social Climber: She successfully rose from the working class to the middle class, but she remains dissatisfied and seeks to vault up the social ladder further still, always failing miserably and humiliatingly.
- Unsatisfiable Customer: She's actually once called the water treatment plant complaining that her water wasn't as bright and sparkling as she's accustomed to, and that she thinks her water has been used!
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: You feel sympathy for the people around her, but not much for her!
- Villain Protagonist: At her worst, she ends up working against other people, but the plots still tend to focus on her.
- White Gloves: Typically wears these outside of the house and occasionally uses them to check for dust in public places.
Richard Bucket
Richard Bucket (Clive Swift)
Hyacinth's long-suffering Henpecked Husband. Working as a local government official, Richard is forced into early retirement and becomes a Reluctant Retiree. He is Hyacinth's Bumbling Sidekick, chauffeuring her around and is often pushed about by her, although they still love each other.
- Archnemesis Dad: Seems this way with Sheridan, dreading every time his son makes a phone call, usually asking for money. This changes when Richard realises his son may be Ambiguously Gay.
- Awful Wedded Life: They compared his marriage to Hyacinth to being in the army. He said the army's better, since that's only for 20 years.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: As maddening as Hyacinth is to be around, she genuinely loves her husband and he evidently loves her as he continues to live with her and supports her on her hairbrained schemes, albeit reluctantly.
- Beware the Nice Ones: When Richard loses his temper, even Hyacinth stops what she's doing and listens to him.
- Bumbling Sidekick: He only tends to be clumsy when Hyacinth puts him in over his head, such as when she gives him too much to carry for a picnic or assigns him to do electrical work that's more complex than he can really handle.
- Butt-Monkey: When Hyacinth unintentionally abuses him, you laugh.
- Deadpan Snarker: When he fires off a one-liner, it's with this tone.
- Henpecked Husband: Does pretty much everything Hyacinth asks, no matter how unreasonable.
- Heroic BSoD: Upon learning he is to become retired, he spends much of the episode in a daze.
- Just Eat Gilligan: At times, you wonder why he doesn't divorce Hyacinth.
- Nervous Wreck: He tends to be this only when he knows his wife is up to something. Seeing as how her antics once extended as far as grand theft auto, he's got a point.
- Nice Guy: To enduring degrees., even Rose refrains from seducing him given how humble and good he is, also probably why Hyacinth fell for him
- No Accounting for Taste: One wonders how he got married to Hyacinth in the first place.
- Only Sane Man: Apart from the fact that he married Hyacinth, his nervousness, and reluctantly going along with some of Hyacinth's crazier schemes, Richard is perfectly sane. The fact that he can see the consequences of her schemes coming and she can't is a testament to that.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: You know Hyacinth's taking things too far when Richard loses his patience with her. The best part about it? Even Hyacinth herself is able to recognise it and drops whatever she's doing immediately.
- Reluctant Retiree: Upon learning he is to be let go, Richard breaks down in tears. It is, however, not so much the thought of losing the job as it is the thought of spending more time with his wife...
- Women Are Wiser: Inverted.
Onslow
Onslow (Geoffrey Hughes)
Hyacinth's brother-in-law and the husband of her sister Daisy. Onslow is a Lazy Bum who spends most of his time watching TV and drinking beer, with little interest in his wife's brooding antics and Hyacinth's snobbish attitude. However, he is actually Brilliant, but Lazy, very philosophical and intelligent. He lives in a council house with Daisy, her sister Rose, their father Daddy and the family dog.
- The Alleged Car: Onslow's beatup 1978 Ford Cortina that usually blasts out a burst of fumes whenever it starts up or stops. Hyacinth is usually against riding in the car unless it is necessary.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: He's sitting in front of the TV all day, but is very intelligent and eloquent when he wants to be.
- Catchphrase: "Oh, nice!"
- Deadpan Snarker: Sometimes he fires off his lines with a smile or a laugh, but usually when he makes a joke, it's with this tone.
- Everyone Has Standards: He may be a fat and rude slob, but still he rightly gets annoyed by Hyacinth's obnoxiousness, Rose's promiscuity and fickleness, and Daddy's outright weirdness and sleaziness.
- Genius Slob: He's described himself as "An idle buffoon who can spell!"
- Hidden Depths: Watches a lot of Open University programming and often humorously ponders major questions from science and philosophy.
- Irony: Despite clearly being a Scouse himself, Onslow apparently hates Liverpool FC, and was so mortified upon learning that Daisy is a lifelong fan of them (on their wedding night, no less) that he said she's lucky he didn't devorce her.
- I Need a Freaking Drink: Needs a beer or something stronger before having to spend any time with Hyacinth.
- Informed Attractiveness: Daisy finds Onslow's body fascinating. He can't understand why.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Lazy, obnoxious and slobbish, but he puts up with deranged family just as much. He is also thoroughly sympathetic towards Richard and occasionally attempts to provide some sort of escape from his oppressed life.
- Kavorka Man: At least according to Daisy, he tends to attract women despite being work-shy, bone-idle, and out of condition. This is even acknowledged by everyone else as unbelievable, even by Onslow himself.
- Lampshaded Double Entendre: Punctuated without fail by an Annoying Laugh.
- Lazy Bum: Spends much of his time sleeping or watching TV, in a vest and cap.
- Limited Wardrobe: He's almost only seen in his signature outfit, a worn out vest and a cap, but he does wear some fancy suits in the Cruise Special.
- Percussive Maintenance: Onslow turns on the TV by bashing the top of it.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: A more passive aggressive case, but he and Hyacinth constantly clash due to their very different lifestyles and occasional interfering nature (Hyacinth attempts to make Onslow more etiquette savvy, while Onslow attempts to break Richard free from Hyacinth's overbearing grasp).
- What Does She See in Him?:
- Hyacinth's attitude towards Onslow and Daisy, often pointing out Onslow's lazy behaviour. However, she is willing to accept and/or ask Onslow for help depending on the situation.
- In the 1993 Christmas Episode, Hyacinth is accidentally kissed by Onslow when she dresses in a Santa Claus outfit, Elizabeth having dressed in it beforehand. Hyacinth is so shocked, she drops her usual attitude and invites all her family and friends back to her house for dinner, realizing the meaning of Christmas is family and goodwill to all men.
- Another incident occurs in the cruise special, where Hyacinth thinks Onslow and Daisy have stowed away. She learns that they actually won a prize to a first class holiday on the QE2, much to her irritation. However, wishing to make amends for her shame, Hyacinth dances with Onslow during the ship's ball. Onslow then makes a quip about "eating with the crew", not realising what dining at the captain's table means, and Hyacinth laughs her head off.
Daisy
Daisy (Judy Cornwell)
Hyacinth's sister and Onslow's wife. She is similarly lazy to her husband, but more concerned about her father than he is. She often reads romantic novels, longing for the distant Onslow to show her some passion in their lives, often prompting her to make romantic passes at him.
- Cool Old Lady: She's much easier to be in the same room with than Hyacinth. In fact, people Hyacinth tends to try and impress seem to genuinely like Daisy and the family, even Onslow.
- Informed Attractiveness: Towards Onslow.
- Lazy Bum: She doesn't really have any more motivation to get a job or improve her life than Onslow.
- Love Makes You Crazy: Daisy becomes more erratic and bizarre about her desire for passion from Onslow.
- Only Sane Man: Compared to her other sisters, Daisy is perhaps the most sane.
- Romance Novel: Can usually be found reading one of these (and wishing Onslow behaved more like the heroes therein).
Rose
Rose (Shirley Stelfox in Series 1, Mary Millar in Series 2-5)
Shirley Stelfox
Mary Millar
Hyacinth's youngest sister. Still maintaining her looks, Rose is usually with a new man on an episodic basis. She has a stalker-like crush on Emmet and the Vicar.
- Abhorrent Admirer: To Emmet and the Vicar.
- Catchphrase: "Bog off Onslow!"
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Acts like one at times.
- Femme Fatale: Inverted, in that instead of betraying her men, her men betray her. Her number one complaint is that they always go back to their wives!
- Informed Attractiveness: Rose finds Emmet and the Vicar to be "dishy".
- Large Ham: When she's upset or high on something, she overacts!
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Her attempt to flirt with the Vicar while wearing a gothic-looking miniskirted nun costume gets brought up by his wife even well after the fact.The Vicar's Wife: Oh damn, it's the vampire sister!
- Really Gets Around: She has at least been engaged numerous times, and seen with countless men.
- Running Gag:
- Her attempts to flirt with the Vicar often clash with Hyacinth's social events.
- Going down to the living room to make an overwrought announcement about the end of a relationship and/or love life while wearing some ridiculous get-up to Daisy and Onslow, who couldn't care less.
- Declaring that she's "off men," only to get a new boyfriend one episode later.
- Serial Homewrecker: A number of Rose's boyfriends are married, and at one point in the show she laments that "they always go back to their wives in the end".
- Silver Vixen: Rose is a grand-aunt, has "friendly legs", and has no end of suitors.
Elizabeth Warden
Elizabeth "Liz" Warden (Josephine Tewson)
Hyacinth's next door neighbour and best friend. While she genuinely likes Hyacinth, she becomes a nervous wreck whenever invited over for coffee, spilling it all over the floor and usually destroying Hyacinth's prized china tea set. Her husband is working in Saudi Arabia.
- Butt-Monkey: Often becomes this if Richard is unavailable.
- Drop-In Character: Usually against her will.
- Extreme Doormat: Even when she tries to work herself up to saying "no" to Hyacinth, she can't do it.
- He Who Must Not Be Seen: Her husband who is only mentioned in the show, but is never named. Also her daughter Gail, who never appears.
- Just Eat Gilligan: She's love to turn down an invitation to coffee with Hyacinth, but she's often forced to attend Hyacinth's coffee invites regardless.
- Nice Girl: Similar to Richard, is kind and enduring to Hyacinth to applaudable degrees.
- Nosy Neighbor: Inverted. Elizabeth is “dragged” from her house by Hyacinth into her crazy schemes. Hyacinth plays the trope straight.
- Only Friend: Zig-Zagged. It sometimes appears she does try to defend her from unflattering comments made by Emmet, but she's also extremely flustered by Hyacinth and does rejoice just as much as Emmet and other characters, though less outwardly, whenever she manages to avoid her.
- Running Gag: Elizabeth's hilarious mishaps with the coffee, often caused by sudden sounds which cause her to jump. Hyacinth tries to combat her clumsiness by giving her a beaker, but it still does not work. Elizabeth uses a straw on one occasion to drink, but Hyacinth bins it.
Emmet Hawksworth
Emmet Hawksworth (David Griffin)
Elizabeth's brother who moves in with her after he had a shaky divorce. A talented musician, Emmet unfortunately attracts Hyacinth interest in theatre and she badly sings whenever she sees him. Emmet often hides indoors until he can flee to work.
- Berserk Button: Often occurs when Hyacinth drives him over the edge.
- Butt-Monkey: He almost never catches a break from Hyacinth no matter how he hard tries. Worst of all, he, like Elizabeth, can't say no to her face.
- Deadpan Snarker: The delivery of a lot of his barbs against Hyacinth is this, probably because he really believes they're true.
- Dreadful Musician: Sees Hyacinth as this.
- Kick the Dog: In "Singing for Emmet", after a disastrous rehearsal of a number from Annie Get Your Gun with Hyacinth's vocals, he snaps at Richard for no apparent reason.
- Lonely Piano Piece: Will play these when depressed by Hyacinth.
- Ominous Pipe Organ: Make that an ominous piano. Emmet will play the Funeral March melody to emphasize a doom and gloom moment.note
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: A one sided case compared to Onslow, but Emmet seems to be created for the purpose of a main character who far more openly and aggressively loathes Hyacinth, compared to the long suffering but sympathizing Richard and Elizabeth or passive aggressive Onslow. Granted she's usually far too deluded to notice.
Daddy
Daddy (George Webb)
The unnamed father of Hyacinth, Daisy, Rose and Violet. A World War II veteran, now a senile, Dirty Old Man who lives with Onslow, Daisy and Rose. He is in a world of his own, often sneaking out of the house to chase down women, join the foreign legion or go on some sort of madcap adventure before being retrieved by his family.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: At times, he thinks the war is still going on, and that he's still fighting in it. He once showed an apple to Richard, bit the stem off as though it were a grenade, and threw it into a pile of metal trash, which sent the lot of it tumbling down.
- Dad the Veteran: Often seen wearing his old military uniform, blowing his trumpet and taking orders from his long-dead commander Colonel Dawlish. He once prevented his family from entering their house, seeing them as Nazis, until Hyacinth put him straight.
- Determinator: When he thinks he's been ordered to defend his house to the last man, he put up a valiant defense until Hyacinth tries to talk some sense into him by walking up to him and saying loudly, "Daddy!"
- Dirty Old Man: Even apart from his sexual adventures, he's been known to ride a bicycle naked!
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": More like "Everyone Calls Him Daddy"; we don't even know what his name is!
- Groin Attack: Part of what happened to him in the canal in "Daddy's Accident".Richard: Where's the injury?
Hyacinth: Never you mind. - Lovable Sex Maniac: He's pretty obsessed with sex, to the point where it even got him into trouble once.
- Morality Pet: He's the only member of Hyacinth's family (apart from her rich sister Violet) whom she isn't embarrassed by as she's actually very proud of him for his service in World War II. She doesn't take kindly to anyone talking bad about him and hates to see him upset.
The Vicar and His Wife
The Vicar and His Wife (Jeremy Gittins and Marion Barron)
Introduced in episode two, the Vicar (or Michael) becomes another one of Rose's romantic interests, and is terrified of Hyacinth whenever she appears. He often refers to her as "The Bucket Woman". His wife is more able to deal with Hyacinth, but has a habit of mistaking the Vicar for having a fling with Rose.
- Catchphrase: "The Bucket Woman!"
- Cheshire Cat Grin: The Vicar's wife can't help break into one of these when Hyacinth mistakenly volunteers to clean the church hall toilets.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": We don't know what the Vicar's wife's name is.
- Innocent Bystander: They tend to get caught up in whatever antics Hyacinth is planning.
- Not What It Looks Like: The Vicar has a tendency to get tangled up with Rose just as his wife enters the room.
- Sexy Priest: According to Rose and, in his wife's opinion, a few too many other women.
- The Sociopath: In "The Senior Citizens' Outing", he vigorously suggests putting a couple of disreputable parishioners in the minibus with "the Bucket woman", promising to make up for it the following Sunday just as quickly.
Sheridan Bucket
Sheridan Bucket
Hyacinth and Richard's son. He never appears in the show aside from a couple of cameos where his face is unseen, and always calls his mother. He often asks for money, much to Richard's angry disgust. He attends college (a polytechnic school which is "of a university standard", according to Hyacinth — humorously, most of these polys did become unis later on), with a roommate called Tarquin. It is implied he may be Ambiguously Gay.- Ambiguously Gay:
- Hyacinth never wonders why her son dropped all of his lessons in college aside from designing clothes.
- Richard sincerely asks Hyacinth: "Do you ever wonder why Sheridan doesn't show any interest in girls?" As usual, Hyacinth is off in her own world and pays him no attention.
- The Faceless: We never see what his face looks like.
- Genre Savvy: Seems to know to talk only to his mother, who is far more willing to cave in to his relentless demands for money.
- The Ghost: He's rarely on screen, and even then, we don't see his face.
- He Who Must Not Be Seen: Most often, his only effect on the plot is when he calls his mother on the telephone.
- Spoiled Brat: Implied to have been and still is with the amount of money Hyacinth sends to him with every phone call.
Violet and Bruce
Violet and Bruce (Anna Dawson and John Evitts)
Hyacinth's third sister, who was mostly unseen except for a few appearances in the last season. Much respected by Hyacinth for having married a wealthy turf-accountant Bruce, her life isn't as idyllic as Hyacinth likes to make out due to her husband's penchant for women's clothes. Violet and Bruce both face divorce in the final season.
- Awful Wedded Life: Despite Hyacinth's attempts to insist otherwise. Bruce crossdresses, wears Violet's dresses, has an affair with his secretary, taking medication for his strange behavior, and has a passion for horses.
- The Ghost: Violet until Season 5, Bruce cameoing and did not get a proper talking role until the very last episode.
- Grass is Greener: Hyacinth holds Violet in high regard for accomplishing wealth and high society, however, it becomes increasingly apparent even before they appear that she and Bruce have their own dysfunctions to attend to. Violet also lacks Hyacinth's obsession with social climbing or embarrassment for their other siblings as a result of her stressful personal life.
- Meaningful Name: The sign at their front gate tell us that their house is called "The Paddocks." Appropriate for a horse-loving man with "room for a pony"...
- The Oldest Profession: Violet once phones Hyacinth to complain that Bruce has been "kerb crawling" - picking up prostitutes.
- Phrase Catcher: As Hyacinth tells the nearest person whenever Violet calls, she's the one with the Mercedes, the sauna, and room for a pony.
- Toilet Seat Divorce: The two nearly split up twice but they don't in the end.
- Unseen No More: They are mentioned throughout the series, but do not appear on-screen until the fifth series.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Bruce is shown and mentioned crossdressing on numerous occasions, although how wholesome he is is up for debate...
