Hyacinth Gibson

Hyacinth arrives in Hollingford as a genteel widow, once a governess, now poised to become Mr. Gibson's second wife. She is all soft manners and pretty phrases, endlessly concerned with appearances, comfort, and what is 'proper' — a woman who has learned that charm is easier than substance, and uses it accordingly.

Francesca Annis makes her a marvel of controlled shallowness: never a villain, just relentlessly, comically self-interested, prizing her own ease over anyone else's feelings while believing herself the picture of refinement. The performance finds real comedy and quiet cruelty in someone who mistakes vanity for virtue, and never once tips into caricature.