The Upper Hand (TV series)

Setting

Characters

• Charlie Burrows - A former footballer whose career was curtailed by injury, Charlie is also a single dad to daughter Joanna since his wife Debbie's death. Down on his luck and living in a deprived area of London, Charlie takes a housekeeper's job in Henley-on-Thames in the hope of giving Joanna a better life. Confident, charming and something of a joker, he is a contrast to the more serious Caroline and helps to loosen her up over time. A running joke is that, while Charlie sees himself very much as a traditional man, he enthusiastically embraces a stereotypically female job and its tasks.
• Caroline Wheatley - A successful advertising executive who, while confident in the business world, struggles in her personal life. Separated from her unreliable husband, Caroline shares her life with her son Tom and her young-at-heart mother Laura, who constantly tries to find her daughter a man. She is somewhat buttoned up, but begins to take a more relaxed approach to life under Charlie's influence.
• Laura West - Caroline's glamorous and young-at-heart mother who lives in an annex of her daughter's house. Something of a man-eater, she dates a string of different men throughout the course of the series. It is Laura who initially hires Charlie, mainly because of his looks, but when she spots the chemistry between him and Caroline she does everything she can to encourage a relationship between them. Although Laura frequently makes cracks at Caroline's expense, she genuinely loves her daughter and can be very protective of her.
• Joanna Burrows - Charlie's daughter; an outgoing, confident girl who is something of a tomboy in early episodes, but becomes more typically "girly" as she reaches her teens. She initially resents Caroline, finding her stuck-up, but comes to appreciate having a woman around as she goes through puberty. Just as Caroline is influenced by Charlie, Jo's confidence rubs off on Tom somewhat.
• Tom Wheatley - Caroline's son, whom she over-indulges somewhat to compensate for the lack of his father's presence. Although academically intelligent beyond his years, Tom is socially naive and struggles to make friends. He comes to see Charlie, who encourages him in more typically "boyish" pursuits such as football, as a father figure, as well as becoming close to Jo.

  Minor and recurring characters

• Michael Wheatley - Caroline's unreliable estranged husband; a documentary maker who spends most of his time in the jungle. The two briefly attempt a reconciliation, but this fails when Michael struggles to settle down. He later remarries and plans to fight for custody of Tom, until his much younger wife, Tiffany, decides she is not ready for motherhood.
• Nick Murray - Joanna's maternal grandfather, who has a difficult relationship with Charlie, having never believed him good enough for his late daughter Debbie. A somewhat shady character, Nick spends time in prison for fraud; the revelation which of upsets Jo, who had been told by Charlie that her grandfather had moved to Spain.
• Auntie Pat - Charlie's godmother; a lively, kind-hearted woman with a habit of pinching people's cheeks in greeting.
• Al - Auntie Pat's uncle. A former young offender, he attempts to turn his life around by training as a hairdresser. Charlie takes him under his wing, but is less keen on having him around when he spots an attraction between Al and Jo.
• Katie
• Tom An easily confused handyman who has a brief affair with Laura.

  Theme tune

Episodes