Kingdom (TV Series) - Characters

Characters

The characters are described by Wheeler as "three families"; Peter's relations, his colleagues, and the populace of Market Shipborough.

• Peter Kingdom (played by Stephen Fry) is Cambridge graduated lawyer and one half of Kingdom & Kingdom, a practice he ran with his brother Simon, who disappeared six months before the series began. Peter is respected and regarded as compassionate by the local community. Fry describes him as "kind and empathetic", "on the side of the ordinary people" and as being "lonely and isolated" and not revealing his true emotions. Phyllida Law describes Peter as "into the community like one of those old French village priests".
• Beatrice Kingdom (played by Hermione Norris) is Peter's half sister, who arrives in the first episode after leaving rehabilitation. She is described by Wheeler as intended to be the "ultimate annoying little sister". By series two, she is successfully controlling her mental illness with medication and has become more responsible and reliable. Norris's second pregnancy (with her daughter, Hero) was worked into the series storyline; Beatrice is portrayed as promiscuous in the first series, and takes several pregnancy tests in the second series, which all come up positive. Beatrice goes into labour in episode five of the second series, and asks Simon to be present at the birth. The identity of Petra's father is initially not known, and Simon tells Peter he "will totally flip" when he finds out. It is later revealed her father is a local philandering judge. Petra is played by twin girls in the third series. Their mother answered a casting call for young twins in a local newspaper.
• Lyle Anderson (played by Karl Davies) is a trainee solicitor at Kingdom & Kingdom during the first series. At the end of the second series, he qualifies, and is offered and accepts a partnership in the practice. Lyle is a somewhat comic character often having bad luck, whether he misses out on a potential relationship or gets hit by a golf ball. The writers created a running joke for the character, where he gets wet in almost every episode, from falling in swimming pools to landing in dikes.
• Gloria Millington (played by Celia Imrie) is a legal secretary who is recovering from the death of her husband a year before the first series. She has a young son (played by Angus Imrie, the actress's son) and is "the sister he (Peter) deserved" but never had. Gloria is antagonised by Beatrice during the first series, but the two become friends after a day out together.
• Sidney Snell (played by Tony Slattery) is a smelly local and a frequent client of Peter who often finds ways to sue the local council. Slattery described Snell as an "everyman anti-hero", with Wheeler calling him an "unlikely guardian of Market Shipborough" on account of his numerous attempts to stop building work. Snell develops a close friendship with the recently-widowed Gloria in the first series. To emphasise his unwashed state, the wardrobe department rotated Snell's costume only once in the first series.
• Aunt Auriel (played by Phyllida Law) is Peter's aunt and confidante. She lives in a retirement home on a large country estate.
• Nigel Pearson (played by John Thomson) is introduced in the second series as the captain of Market Shipborough's cricket team. Peter investigates Nigel after discovering he has not honoured sponsorship contracts made with several local businesses. Nigel confides in Peter that his marriage is breaking down - his wife (played by Rachel Fielding) is having an affair with Simon, and he returns the money owed. Nigel returns as a regular cast member in the third series, now working as a relationship counsellor.
• Simon Kingdom (played by Dominic Mafham) was an unseen character (with the exception of some photographs) in the first series, with the final episode revealing that he had fled to Dublin, apparently to escape large debts. In the second series he returns to Market Shipborough and is charged with faking his own death. At the end of the second series he disappears after fleeing from a mafia-type gang during a storm, and it is revealed at the start of series three that he now really is dead, the opening scene showing Peter, Beatrice and Auriel standing at his grave.

Thomas Fisher plays Ted, a local yokel who is the landlord of the local pub and a friend of Sidney Snell. Gerard Horan plays DC Yelland, who is in charge of prosecuting the Simon Kingdom case but also sometimes appears on other matters. Both Ted and Yelland's roles are expanded in the second series. In the first series, Maryann Turner plays a recurring minor character referred to only as "Mrs Thing", whom Peter is constantly trying to avoid. Simon's pregnant partner, Honor O'Sullivan (played by Kelly Campbell), is introduced in the final episode of the first series. By the second series she has given birth to baby Daniel and is living with Beatrice and Peter, where she develops an attraction to Lyle. She leaves after Simon returns.

Guest appearances in the first series are made by Richard Wilson (as Peter's old university tutor in episode four), Robert Bathurst (as a cross-dressing husband in episode five), Lynsey De Paul as Shelia Larsen, who drowns in her own swimming pool, Joss Ackland (as an Auschwitz survivor in episode six), and Rory Bremner (as a vicar, also in episode six). Bremner, known more for satire than acting, has joked that he played the vicar "as" Michael Howard and Rowan Williams and that his character's name was "Jane", due to an error in the script. Wilson returned for the second series, which also includes roles by Lucy Benjamin and Richard Briers, and Diana Quick. Local residents appear as background extras and in crowd scenes. Guest stars confirmed for the third series include Pippa Haywood, James and Oliver Phelps, June Whitfield, Peter Sallis, Colin Baker, Sandi Toksvig, Jack Dee, Sophie Winkleman, Anna Massey and Jaye Griffiths.