Daddy (Keeping Up Appearances)

"Daddy" is a fictional character in the British comedy television series "Keeping Up Appearances", first broadcast in the 1990s. He is the father of the central character, the social-climbing snob Hyacinth Bucket, and one of the two actors who portrayed him is George Webb.

The character has very few lines. He is heard speaking in only a few episodes, and in some he is either sleeping or just muttering to himself. He is not seen in many of the episodes, despite many of the plots involving him.

Character biography

"Daddy" has four daughters: Hyacinth, Daisy, Violet and Rose. He lives with Daisy, her slob of a husband Onslow and the man-eating Rose in a run-down council house.

Daddy is a senile old man and a Walt who frequently thinks World War II is still on, enjoys dressing up in costumes and relishes pinching women's bottoms. Onslow calls him a "dirty old man" but to Hyacinth he is "just a touch senile in the nicest possible way". His condition means he is unpredictable and behaves bizarrely. Sometimes he believes himself still to be a soldier in World War II, or an outrageous characters such as the masked crime fighter "Captain Midnight". On one occasion he dresses up as a spaceman; he also enjoys playing with trains (as implied in series one). In the final episode of series two, the old man steals Richard's car, resulting in a car chase between him and Onslow, who is driving the rest of the family. His unusual behaviour often causes him unwittingly to sabotage one of Hyacinth's social climbing endeavours by embarrassing her and ruining her attempts at impressing the upper classes.

Daddy occasionally, without any thought, proposes marriage to women at the over-60s club he attends, and gets caught up in various relationships. In a series two episode, Daddy takes himself off to the register office to be married. On arriving he falls asleep. Frequently he goes missing, sending Hyacinth into a panic.

Daisy and company often turn to Hyacinth for help when their father is being problematic; however they occasionally prefer not to tell her, knowing "she'll go mad".