To The Manor Born - Cast

Cast

To the Manor Born's cast is led by Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles as Audrey and Richard. The other main cast members in the original series are Angela Thorne (playing Audrey's old friend Marjory), Daphne Heard (Richard's mother, Mrs. Polouvicka), John Rudling (Brabinger the butler), Michael Bilton (Ned, the odd-job man) and Gerald Sim (the Rector). Rudling was absent in the 1979 Christmas special and for much of the second series, being temporarily replaced as butler by Ned. The off-screen reason for this absence was Rudling's ill health. He died in 1983. Angela Thorne had worked with Keith before when she had played Lady "George" Truscott in a 1977 episode of The Good Life. Gerald Sim, who appears as the Rector in To the Manor Born, also played vicars in many other sitcoms including Keeping Up Appearances, Love Hurts and The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. Michael Bilton played Basil Makepeace, a main character in the first four series of the sitcom Waiting for God in the 1990s before his death in 1993.

Peter Bowles had been asked some years earlier to play Jerry Leadbetter, the husband of Keith's Margo, in The Good Life. Owing to prior commitments, Bowles turned down the role, but had he played Jerry, it is unlikely he would have been offered the part of Richard; as Bowles later said, "there's no way I could have played Penelope Keith's screen husband in two separate sitcoms". However, in 1987 Bowles replaced Geoffrey Palmer as Keith's screen husband in the ITV sitcom Executive Stress.

Aside from the main cast, the original series features many recurring characters, who are either estate workers or members of Audrey's social circle. Celia Imrie, who makes two appearances as Polly, later became famous for her work with Victoria Wood, including a lead role in dinnerladies, as well as lead roles in Kingdom and After You've Gone.

The 2007 Christmas Special features four of the original cast members: Penelope Keith, Peter Bowles, Angela Thorne, and Gerald Sim. New characters include Alexander Armstrong as Adam fforbes-Hamilton, Audrey's nephew-by-marriage and godson; Alan David as Emmeridge, Audrey and Richard's outspoken butler; and Michael Cochrane as Archie Pennington-Booth, a neighbouring landowner. While the Rector makes only a brief appearance, the other three original characters are main characters throughout and are credited in the opening credits.