Lucy Wildegreen-Waugh — Sir Victor and the late Lady Lavinia’s daughter. Young Lucy (Seasons 1-2) was played by child actor Millie Stubbs. She was then recast, returning from boarding school as a glamorous blonde played by Carol Gleeson (Seasons 4-13) Lucy had a tumultuous marriage with artist-poet Aubrey Waugh. She finally demanded a divorce, only to be widowed in the Season 11 explosion. Thrown forward into the 1970s, Lucy joined the new C Squad, becoming a secret agent. She was written out of Season 14 with no explanation provided on screen for Lucy’s absence. Carol Gleeson did not return for either of the 1980s reboots, though Young Lucy as a child appeared in flashback footage in the clip show “Blast From the Past.”
Aubrey Waugh (Seasons 6-11) — Lucy’s disreputable, unreliable Bohemian husband. He cheated on her multiple times, with several actresses, lady scientists, time-displaced travellers, vampires and on one memorable occasion: a talking rosebush. Played by Leslie Bluff.
Dr Abigail Wildegreen — Sir Victor & Lady Sophia’s daughter, born during episode 6A. Played between Seasons 6-10 by a variety of convenient babies, small creepy child actors and for two episodes, a china doll in Lady Cradoc’s collection. Did not appear in Season 11 despite never being formally written out of the show. Was later retconned to have been “at boarding school” when the Season 11 explosion took place. Abigail returned as a recurring character after the time jump (Seasons 12-14), now a cranky archaeologist in her 50s played by Beatrix Smythe. Abigail was revealed to be Agent A, the secret boss of Cramberleigh Central in the final episode. She returned once more in Tales of Cramberleigh: The Curse of Auntie’s Mummy. Smyth was asked back for Return to Cramberleigh, but had a schedule conflict with her regular role in All Creatures Great and Small.
Lady Cradoc/Aunt Phyllida — recurring character (Seasons 1-7), main character (Seasons 8-12), recurring character (Seasons 13-14). A character once described as “if all the aunts in the PG Wodehouse novels ganged up on you over tea.” Played by the legendary Joan Buckingham, who also played Daphne Cradoc and X-C-5 the Android in Return to Cramberleigh.
Henry Cradoc — main character Seasons 2-4, played by Rupert More. Son of Lady Cradoc. Constantly falling in love with showgirls and otherwise getting into alarming scrapes. Source of the ‘Cousin Henry’s Terrible Fate’ meme of the early 2020s.
Mayfair the butler — Seasons 1-5. Played with great butlerish charm by Winchester Sinden, who went on to play fifteen further iconic butlers during his long career. He just had that sort of face.
Bones the butler/Alfie Bones — Seasons 6-14 & Return to Cramberleigh. Played by Angus Thames. Transformed into a vampire in Season 10. Survived the Season 11 Explosion because of being a vampire. His talents include discretion, biting and espionage.
Evans — Seasons 3-13, played by Brian Henley Leech. A young footman with a Welsh accent, regularly on hand for scrapes and shenanigans, often getting in trouble with Mayfair the butler. Was constantly falling in love with ladies above his station, while never noticing that every scullery maid ever hired was swooning at his feet. Promoted to chauffeur in Season 9 with the family purchase of a new Rolls Royce. Survivor of the Season 11 explosion, Evans benefited from the Seventies Spy reboot of the show, serving as the ‘wheels’ for C Squad. Confessed his romantic feelings for Lucy Wildegreen-Waugh in the penultimate episode of Season 13, only to be kidnapped by a Russian submarine, thus failing to show up at their first date.
Rosamund Radcliffe-Swythe — Seasons 5-9, played by Jackie Eliot (credited as Jacqueline Eliot). Daughter of Lady Sophia, stepdaughter of Sir Victor, sister of Ichabod and Rudolf, stepsister of Lucy, half sister of Abigail. Rosamund was written out after her wedding, the implication being that she and her new husband Dr Swythe moved to a base on Mars after successfully saving Cramberleigh from several attempted alien invasions.
Ichabod Radcliffe — Seasons 5-10, played by Val Munro. Son of Lady Sophia, stepson of Sir Victor, brother of Rosamund and Rudolf, stepsister of Lucy, half-brother of Abigail. Excellent on horseback. Val Munro insisted on doing his own stunts, which led to no less than three major injuries during his time on the show. Ichabod left Cramberleigh with the Von Mont family at the end of season 10, after falling in love with Scarlet Von Mont (or, as speculated wildly by fans, with Carmillo Von Mont). It was left open as to whether Ichabod had been turned as a vampire, but no one develops a widow’s peak and a taste for velvet jackets over a weekend without supernatural intervention.
Rudolf Radcliffe — Seasons 5-11, played by Barnaby Hadoke. Son of Lady Sophia, stepson of Sir Victor, brother of Rosamund and Ichabod, stepbrother of Lucy, half brother of Abigail. The elder and least interesting of Lady Sophia’s children, Rudolf was often a bit of a bully, and famous for saying the wrong thing at dinner parties. He was killed with many other family members in the explosion at the end of Season 11.
Mrs Merryday the cook — Seasons 7-10, played by Dame Irene Porter. Co-creator of Cramberleigh, Porter collaborated on the original pilot script with her friend and colleague Joanna Wetland, but was unavailable to play Lady Ann as originally intended. She later joined the cast as Mrs Merryday, a minor supporting character with five different food-related catchphrases. Like Joan Buckingham with Lady Cradoc, Porter played the character ‘aged up’ as she was only thirty when she began the role.
Dr Bernard Swythe — Season 9, played by Dirk Sparrow. A Scientist from the Ministry sent to Cramberleigh to investigate a series of suspicious events leading up to the Invasion from Mars. Marries Rosamund in the final episode of the season.
Carmillo Von Mont — Season 10, played by the later Hammer Horror star Giles Omerod. This mysterious gentleman buys Farrington Farm, builds a castle on the grounds, and along with his two sisters Mrs Grey and Miss Scarlet Von Mont, starts biting all the neighbours. Half of the popular Carmillo/Ichabod slash fandom, often referred to as Calmbod.
Sheena Swythe — Seasons 12-14 and Return to Cramberleigh, played by Jackie Eliot. Grand-daughter of Rosamund, this secret agent is assigned to Cramberleigh Central and C Squad. She befriends Mrs Waugh (technically her step-great-aunt) and Evans in particular. Her role in Season 12 is often to explain the quirks of the 1970s to these hapless time-displaced Edwardians. Always gets the best outfits.
Mr Knight — a gentlemanly secret agent (recurring Seasons 12-13, main cast Season 14). Played by Bartlett Mayhew, who also made guest appearances as Captain Antony Knight of the Bow Street Runners in Full Moon Over Whitechapel (1982) and Agent K in three episodes of Return to Cramberleigh (1985). Iconic for wearing a bowler hat, and for forming part of three out of the five most popular fandom pairings: KnightWaugh, DeadKnight and DeadKnightWest.
Dead Desmond — a secret agent with the ability to return from the dead. Played by Garfield Morse. Desmond was introduced in Season 14 as a recurring character, and later became a series regular in Return to Cramberleigh along with his grandson Colin, played by the same actor. In the final episode, R3M Swan Song, Colin falls down the grand staircase and is killed, only to discover he has his grandfather’s talent. Morse also plays Sgt Darwin Deadly of the Bow Street Runners in Full Moon Over Whitechapel (1982)
Caligula West — recurring popular villain (Seasons 12-14), played by Gareth Kerr. This charming, sinister politician and scientist is the leader of the Romedroids, a robotic army of creepy doppelgängers. His motive is always to bring about the return of the fallen Republic of Rome, and also make long and intense eye contact with anyone who tries to thwart him. A proposed spin-off was mooted and failed to be picked up in 1983, to the dismay of all fans who were certain it would have been a better show than Return to Cramberleigh. Gareth Kerr returned to play the character alongside Agent K for 3 episodes of Return to Cramberleigh in 1985, but despite the promo teaser suggesting otherwise, did not appear in R3K “Romedroids Forever” (1986) — in a surprise twist, Caligula West’s daughter Drusilla (played by Juliet Knyves) took over his criminal empire. Gareth Kerr wrote a novel about the backstory of his character, The Rise and Fall of Caligula West (Random House, 1992). It is incredibly hard to find a copy, but if you stumble across one in a second hand bookshop, it will almost certainly be signed.
Episode Guide
XX - Unaired Pilot (1964) 1 episode
Sir Victor brings a bride home to Cramberleigh. Lady Cradoc is doing something mysterious in the library.
Shot on location.
Season 1 (1965) 13 episodes
1903-1905: Sir Victor Wildegreen brings his second wife Lady Ann home to Cramberleigh as a new bride — she must compete with his quirky family and strange servants, especially Aunt Phyllida who disapproves of Ann and everyone else around her.
1A The New Lady Wildegreen
This episode was a revised version of the unaired pilot, restructured for sound stages rather than location shooting. The greenhouse scenes were cut short, with some of the dialogue reused elsewhere. Also lost: the courting scenes set in “London” (originally filmed in Nottingham) where Sir Victor convinced Ann to become his bride. The maid Gladioli’s part was substantially rewritten over the entirety of Season 1 to “add an air of Gothic mystery” that the new story editor, Aldis Whitby, was keen to bring in.
1B Halcyon Days
1C Governess in the Attic
1D A Maid For All Seasons
1E In Pursuit of Happiness
1F Where Butlers Fear To Tread
1G Summer 1904
1H The Crimson Pimpernel
1I A Picnic in the Parlour
1J Your Obedient Servant
1K A Surfeit of Aunts
1L The Lady Swoons
1M Green Baize
Season 2 (1966) 13 episodes
1906-7: Lady Phyllida’s chaotic son Cousin Henry joins the Wildegreen household.
