Rab C Nesbitt is a cantankerous loud mouthed drunk who rages at anything that moves and tries to get as much to drink as possible. He spends a lot of time in the local nick. He mostly makes life miserable for his wife Mary and sons Gash and Burney.

Mary is Rab's long suffering wife who sometimes lives in a world of her own, dreaming of a better life where Rab cannot lay his hands on her family allowance books and the man of her life doesn't break wind and force her head under the duvet to smell it.

Mary remarkably puts up with Rab's rants and seems to do a great job of looking after her two kids Gash and Burney.

Jamesie Cotter is Rab's best friend, he spends his time with Rab getting drunk at the Two Ways pub after escaping a row with his evil wife Ella.

Gash is Rab and Mary's oldest son, he likes to spend his time vandalising council property and supplying alcohol and drugs while constantly fighting with his little brother Burney.

Burney is Rab and Mary's youngest son who is terminally deranged, i.e. he says things like ''look I twiddle my dinger, I need understanding". He fights quite often with his brother Gash and has to put up with his downtrodden mother and his alcohol tank of a dad.

Ella is Jamesie's acid tounged, rather unattractive wife who does nothing but moan and scowl at him just to pass the time.