Alistair Deacon

Alistair Deacon is a book publisher, having inherited the company from his father. He is married to Judith Deacon.

Alistair is a wealthy publisher that befriends Lionel Hardcastle and Jean Pargetter whilst publishing Lionel's book. He meets Jean when Lionel brings her to a party that he hosted that he invited Lionel (with a guest) to in order to meet people that would help with the launch of Lionel's book, My Life in Kenya.

Alistair's father started the publishing firm in 1947 with a 500 pound loan from Richard Hardcastle.

Personality
Alister is often called "a bit flash" by the other characters, but also "well-intentioned." At the beginning of the series, he pushes Lionel to wear flashier clothes, pose for a risqué book cover, and divulge personal stories in order to sell his book. This occasionally backfires, like when Lionel's lecture is crashed by an anti-hunting group who, because of Alistair's hyperbolic and misleading promotion of the book, believe he's killed elephants.

Alister has a high-optimism, high-powered, high energy, sales-person approach to life. He throws money around, drops names, and flirts chronically, though again, he does these things good naturedly, which makes his over-the-top personality more endearing than ingratiating.

While Judy ends up being the love of Alistair's life, he alternately dates Jean, Judy, and Sandy throughout the series. He first attempts to seduce Jean, which she rebuff's over several episodes. His attempts to gain Jean's affections, along with Judy's attempts to gain Lionel's, puts Judy and Alistair in close contact and they eventually grow fond of each other and have an on-again-off-again relationship. The tensions around Judy and Alistair's relationship usually revolve around Alistair's flirtatious attitude towards the opposite sex and his busy schedule that causes him to often be absent. Before their marriage, Judy claims that Alistair is afraid of commitment and "lacks depth."

When Alistair realizes that he's begun to age ( women are turning him down more often, he's referred to as older or not young ) he becomes afraid. His depression and worry over losing his 'zing' is short lived, though it resurfaces from time to time. At one point he proposes to Judy because he believes he needs something to stop him from "becoming a husk" of himself as he ages and enters a new time of life.

Alistair's character arch involves moving past the idea that his worth is limited to being the 'big man on campus.'

Alistair shows himself to be very thoughtful towards the other main characters of the show. Jean says, he's, "been very good to this family, " and everyone looks to him as a friend, though Lionel grumbles about their opposing personalities often. He is frequently seen to drop everything to help out any member of the group when they are in need. He gives advise, makes arrangements, and supports the characters throughout the series.

Alistair's catch phrase is "hey, hey" and is used to convey a myriad of ideas.

Relatives
Lionel Hardcastle (Step-Father-In-Law)

Jean Hardcastle (Mother in Law)

Judith Hanson (Wife)

Sandy Edwards (Mate)