Lead characters • Ian Deasey (
Griff Rhys Jones): A cheerful ex-soldier who struggles to adjust to his dull pre-war life and forms a comedy team with his army pal, Dick Dobson. Ian is known for singing humorous songs. • Dick Dobson (
Martin Clunes): An irresponsible ex-soldier who always gets into scrapes and has to be rescued by Ian. He is an excellent piano player and forms one half of the comedy duo Dobson and Deasey. • Janet Deasey (
Amanda Redman): Ian's beautiful wife who grows dissatisfied with her husband's desire to become a comedian and begins an affair to stave off boredom. • Hedda Kennedy (
Samantha Janus): A beautiful dancer, who is desperately searching for her American husband, believed to be missing in action. She works in various establishments of Rudy Lorimer's as a singer and dancer. She later becomes a film actress. She is good friends with Ian and Dick and lives next door to their London rooms. • Moreton Stanley (
Les Dawson): A corpulent short-tempered comic who makes improper advances to Hedda. • Rudy Lorimer (
James Faulkner): A disreputable businessman who continually ensnares Dick in his shady business ventures. Lorimer is an alias; his real name is not known.
Supporting characters • Alan Deasey (Luke Marcel): Ian and Janet's only child, he is a perceptive, sensitive boy vulnerable to teasing. When his father returns from the war he hardly recognises him. • Annabel (Tilly Blackwood): Janet's best friend, Annabel is engaged to be married to Dr. Pollock. • Edith (
Liz Fraser): Janet's mother who dispenses advice freely. • Dr. Jeremy Pollock (Harry Burton): Annabel's fiancé who develops an interest in Janet. He has a fondness for
Gilbert and Sullivan musicals. • Oliver Lee (
Don Gilet): Hedda's American
GI friend who assists her in her search for her missing husband. Oliver plays the saxophone at a London jazz club. • Frank Parsons: (
Tony Melody) Ian's boss at the council. • Ottie Pond (
Roberta Taylor): The producer of "Radio Playtime", a BBC Radio children's programme. • Keith Koster (
Jeremy Child): The notoriously difficult ventriloquist star of "Radio Playtime", Koster seems to believe that his dummy is actually sentient. • Claudette (Colleen Passard): Dick's wife who he marries only to help her gain entry into the UK. Originally from France, she is a prostitute who works for Rudy Lorimer. • Moira Stanley (
Pat Keen): Moreton Stanley's wife who also serves as his manager. • Mrs. O'Callagan (Barbara Ashcroft): The duo's Liverpool landlady who takes a shine to Dick much to his horror. • June (Cinnamon Bone) • Inspector Wareham (
Richard Cubison) • Camera (
John Clegg) • Ralph (
Richard Lintern) • Roy (Timothy Knightley) • Walter (Peter J. Morton) ==Episodes==