This is a List of characters featured in the 1990 BBC situation comedy You Rang, M'Lord?. Set in the 1920s, the series, written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, featured a large cast of recurring characters, both above and below stairs. Other non-household characters include friends of both the family and the servants, the staff of the Union Jack Rubber Company and various others.
The Meldrum Family Colonel George, Lord Meldrum MC (Donald Hewlett) - The master of the house, Lord Meldrum is a respected member of the gentry. In the early 1890s he had married the only daughter of Lord and Lady Southwick and they had raised two children prior to his wife's death. He first started his fortune when he married his wife. In 1915 he had been conscripted as a Colonel into the British Army and had served in the Infantry on the Western Front. He has old-fashioned Victorian values, with a respectable title and position in society. However, his reputation is threatened by his affair with Lady Agatha, the wife of Sir Ralph Shawcross, and it is usually left to Alf to help him cover this up. He claims to deeply love Agatha, and is left heartbroken after she breaks off their affair. Despite his considerable wealth, he pays his workers poorly, and it is often hinted that he once employed slave labour in Africa. Captain The Honourable Edward "Teddy" Meldrum (Michael Knowles) - Teddy is Lord Meldrum's younger brother. Little is known about his past life apart from he tried to seduce the 16-year-old dormitory maid at Eton, when he was 19. During the First World War, he had been conscripted as a Captain into the British Army and had served in the Infantry on the Western Front. On September 16, 1918, Teddy fought in the Battle of Amiens, where, whilst leading his men forward was wounded by getting shot in the head by a piece of shrapnel fired from a heavy gun (referred to by everybody as a "bonk on the head"). Teddy was knocked unconscious and fell into a shell hole. Later he was discovered by and carried back to a nearby Hospital by Alf and James. By 1927 the Honourable Teddy is still unmarried and living in his brother's house. Due to the head wounds that he sustained in the war, he has a lust for servant girls, has had relationships with 5 previous maids (Maggie, Amy, Bella, Violet and Ethel) and has fathered children to them all (6 in all, the last one had twins!): he cannot resist their "shiny, scrubbed faces" and "scent of carbolic soap". After Ivy starts working in the house, he is also smitten by her, though she frequently resists. He is being forced by his brother to marry Madge Cartwright, the heiress to a soap dynasty, although is more interested in her maid, Rose. When Poppy elopes to Gretna Green to marry Dickie Metcalfe, Teddy takes the idea and elopes with Rose with the same intention, but this fails. Teddy eventually does marry Rose and raises a family with her. Following the loss of the family fortune, Teddy becomes a successful car salesman. He often says 'bally cheek!' and 'oh hang!'. Cecily "Cissy" Meldrum (Catherine Rabett) - Cissy is Lord Meldrum's elder daughter. Attractive, she dresses in a masculine style, takes part in men's sports and activities, such as flying (she is a qualified pilot), and her feminine "chum" Penelope is a frequent house guest. Thus, although never explicitly stated, there are many suggestions that Cissy is a lesbian, the many clues to which are not entirely obvious to her father. Cissy is a pleasant character, who shows genuine concern for the family and servants alike, often giving away feminine items such as dresses and make-up to Ivy (whom she shows an attraction to in early episodes, frequently winking at her). Cissy is also the member of the family who has genuine concern for the servants, making her very popular. She often socialises with her younger sister Poppy, but the two regularly bicker because of their differing attitudes. She proclaims herself a socialist and stands as a candidate for the United Workers Party, winning a seat on the council through Alf's machinations. Cissy eventually takes charge of the ailing Union Jack Rubber Company and forms a workers' co-operative (like they do in Russia) in an attempt to save the business. Poppy Meldrum (Susie Brann) - Poppy is Lord Meldrum's younger daughter (and by far the less grown-up of the two), born during Queen Victoria's funeral (2 February 1901, meaning she is 26), is a spoiled and unpleasant character who attends 'wild' parties with her friend, Jerry (John D. Collins). She is quite a snob about her position in society, often ready to remind those lower of her position, although at other times she confesses to feeling trapped by her class. Throughout the series, she is attracted to the footman, James Twelvetrees, whom she delights in leading on, despite being aware of the problems it could cause for him. She has an on-off relationship with Jerry, who she abandons when she meets Dickie Metcalfe, who is in fact a confidence trickster and is after her money. When George refuses to allow her to marry Metcalfe, she elopes with him to Scotland, but they are intercepted by the family and the servants after Lady Agatha reveals who Metcalfe really is. She eventually agrees to marry Jerry only after the family lose their fortune as she realises she will have to downgrade her lifestyle if she doesn't. Lady Lavender Southwick (Mavis Pugh) – Lady Lavender is Lord Meldrum's mother-in-law and she resides with her parrot, Captain, in the second bedroom of the house. She is very wealthy and has interests in many businesses including a large number of shares in the Union Jack Rubber Company. Lavender was born into an aristocratic family in the early 1850s, we are given to understand that she led a somewhat promiscuous youth, having many affairs, including with Boris the Crown Prince (later King) of Dalmatia (Davy Kaye). She then became involved with a young army officer called Captain Cedric Dolby (Maurice Denham), the two later became engaged, but separated shortly before he was sent off to fight in the Zulu war. After the death of her husband, Lord Southwick, Lady Lavender moved in with her daughter and son-in-law, becoming increasingly reclusive and senile, and enjoyed throwing plates of food at Ivy. Lavender had a habit of calling the staff different names. Ivy would be called "Ethel", Alf would be called "Capes" and Henry would be called "Steven". Lavender was very generous to the servants, giving them a suitcase with £10,000 in it, the family jewels, business company shares, and her bed. In the end it was Lavender who saved the Union Jack Rubber Company from collapse by selling her jewels and signing it over to Cissy.
Servants Alf Stokes (Paul Shane) Butler - Alf Stokes is the scheming butler of the series. Alf is Ivy's father and is still married to Ivy's mother, despite their separation. Alf was a Private in the British Army on the Western Front, along with James Twelvetrees. After coming across the Honourable Teddy unconscious in a shell hole, Alf, believing him to be dead, attempted to mug him, much to James' disgust. After realising Teddy was alive, Alf decided to carry the wounded Teddy back to the field hospital as a way of saving his own life. This act secures Alf the job as butler nine years later at Lord Meldrum's house, after being forced to return to service after a failed career in showbiz. Alf and Ivy clearly and deeply love each other. Throughout the series, Alf devises a number of schemes to scam Lord Meldrum out of his money and possessions, although these usually fail. This dishonest aspect of his character was often an asset to Lord Meldrum; on a number of occasions Alf was required to create diversions for Sir Ralph. Alf also has a relationship with Mrs Lipton through the series, although it is revealed he did this just to borrow money from her. After the Meldrums' decline, Alf returned to showbiz, together (though just temporarily) with his daughter, Ivy. James Twelvetrees (Jeffrey Holland) Footman - Stern, upright, and often described by Alf Stokes as "pompous and po-faced", James Twelvetrees is the complete opposite of Alf. His act of helping Alf carry the wounded Honourable Teddy to hospital during the war secured him a job in the Meldrum household, although he would never admit this to the other servants, and by 1927 he has been with them for nine years. He has a tendency to snobbishness, frequently siding with the gentry instead of his own class and can be harsh towards anyone that he considers socially inferior to him, particularly Mabel and Henry; in spite of this, his devout Christian upbringing has left him with a keen sense of right and wrong, leading him to loan Mabel £1 to pay her rent when he realises that she is in danger of being evicted, and his embarrassment at having a burglar for a father leads him to claim that his father is - instead - a preacher. James' infatuation with Poppy Meldrum, and her manipulative habit of leading him on before reprimanding him for over-familiarity, left him contemplating resignation at times. He is shown to be desired both by aristocratic ladies (including Lady Agatha Shawcross) and housemaid Ivy; although he does not reciprocate Ivy's feelings, he does demonstrate a protective, guiding attitude towards her. After the Meldrums' financial losses, James (and most of the other staff) lose their jobs, but he uses his savings of around £227 17s. 9d. (according to Alf's stealthy browse through James' Post Office savings book) to rent a boarding house on the coast, and hires Ivy as his partner to run it. Ivy Teasdale (Su Pollard) Maid - Ivy is the well-meaning but rather naive maid, the daughter of Alf. Her father secured her the job as maid after he was appointed as butler, by forging her references. Ivy was born in Rotherham, 1902 (meaning she is 25). Her familial relationship with Alf is largely a secret, but she is forced to tell Henry when he spots the two alone in her bedroom, and later tells James when she needs his help to get Alf out of trouble. Despite her honesty, she is often persuaded to take part in her father's schemes. In the series, she has to avoid the advances of the Honourable Teddy, whilst also trying to attract the attention of James, who does not reciprocate her affection. She provokes various feelings in the Meldrum household; Poppy's jealousy of her friendship with James leads her to loan Ivy a dress for a party, only to spoil it by "accidentally" spilling wine over it, whereas Cissy treats Ivy more equally (and, judging by a conversation with her "chum" Penelope, initially seems to find her physically attractive), and because she is often fooled by the "eccentric old lady" persona, Ivy frequently finds herself used as target practice whenever Lady Lavender gets a sudden urge to throw unwanted plates of food across the room. After losing her job due to the Meldrums' financial problems, she joins a seaside variety act with her father, but later she decides to start a new life as James' partner in his boarding house.