Patricia Routledge

Tireless social climber Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced "Bouquet," of course) returns with more hilarious high-class hi-jinks. The set, 'Hyacinth in Full Bloom', includes 4 discs sold individually: 'My Way or the Hyacinth Way', 'Hints from Hyacinth', 'Home Is Where the Hyacinth Is', and the Holiday disc, 'Deck the Halls with Hyacinth'. The set includes the complete first and second seasons as well as all of the Hoilday specials.

American sitcoms usually have a bland, likable central character who has to cope with obnoxious acquaintances--who usually provide most of the actual comedy. The British smartly put the comic personalities front and center, and Keeping Up Appearances has one of the best: The petty, pretentious, tyrannical Hyacinth Bucket (played by the impressive Patricia Routledge), a dowdy middle-class social climber with a piercing voice and an unshakable faith in herself.