List of Keeping Up Appearances characters

Synopsis

This page is a list of main characters for the British sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, which was from 1990 to 1995.

Hyacinth and her family

Hyacinth Bucket

The show's protagonist is the social-climbing snob Hyacinth Bucket (who insists that her surname is pronounced 'Bouquet' with the accent on the second syllable). Hyacinth's primary aims in life are to impress people, particularly those of the upper classes, and to give the impression that she is of high social standing, despite her fairly average status. Those around her despise her snobbery, but she is a genuinely kind-hearted and loving person. Hyacinth tries to avoid her poorer relatives (Daisy, Onslow, Rose and Daddy) and to hide the fact that she was born into the working-class in order to maintain her vaunted social status, but she loves her family dearly (especially in the times of the year it gets dark early) and will rush to their aid in times of need. If people were to find out, she would immediately revert from pretentious middle-class woman putting on airs and graces to working-class social climber, since in English society no one can fully escape the social class one was born into. This facet of the show often miss notice by persons not familiar with the intricacies of English hierarchical society.