An expert in gas, Dr Paul Hamilton arrived one year ago at the Royal Australia Observatory from the damp, grey climes of London, as a shy, nervous yet clever astronomer. In London, he'd been a lecturer in astronomy specialising in the gaseous components of the universe, but he'd never actually worked in the field despite his impressive research record.

Series two sees Paul plagued by putting his foot in his mouth when things are going badly and shooting himself in the foot when they're going well. He's good natured but a walking disaster area. However, thanks to the encouragement of his colleagues (who are now more like his family), he seems to be finding his feet in the outback and, remarkably, in life...

Paul has moved from nervous novice to someone who now always steps up in a crisis, mostly when he's the very worst person to do so. He sees himself as a leader and self-appointed second-in-command of the Observatory.

Rachel Mann possesses that knockout combination the average woman loathes and all men crave: beauty and brains. Her commanding intellect and confident sexuality initially left poor Paul a blithering mess. How things have changed...

In series one there was little doubt that Paul didn't stand a chance with Kat, the pair's relationship is now one of equals and the unrequited simmer between them may well start to boil before the end of the second series.

Paul's new found sense of adventure and his ability to dust himself off and keep trying after any set back has not gone unnoticed by Dr Mann.

Professor Pip Cartwright heads the Royal Australian Observatory in the Outback town of Unagatta. She's extremely competent and has been the undisputed leader of the Observatory team for over 15 years – but Pip also lives life to the full, she likes a drink and a laugh and has an eye for the younger men (Pip is involved in an open relationship with the local Aboriginal mechanic Bill, who is several years her junior).

Everyone is equal in Pip's eyes. She's loyal and open-minded as long as the work is getting done - but cross her at your peril! The Professor, who has always been there for her staff, needs her 'work family' to return the favour and pull her through when the going gets tough in series two though.

Mike French is a child prodigy who re-wrote the time space acceleration theory at the age of 11. He also has issues with his mother.

Mike is a genius and should know a thing or two about the way the world works. Sadly he had little time for anything approaching a normal childhood and is a naïve, emotionally repressed 20-something instead. Mike's going through a kind of delayed puberty and it falls to Paul and the team to mentor him through the murky waters.

Nuclear physics is a doddle for Mike – but when it comes to passing his driving test or talking to girls, he needs as much help as he can get!

At the one time a brilliant conventional scientist and a hippy chick who lets the astrology columns guide her life, Dr Jude Wardlaw is an amusing mass of contradictions. Her colleagues might all be professional stargazers, but Jude is the only staff member truly at one with the universe.

In one way Jude is probably the most normal person at the RAO. She's kind-hearted, bouncy, outspoken and wryly funny. Jude and Mike have a competitive brother/sister relationship going on. Unlike him though, Jude's really lived. She studied at Princeton, trekked in Nepal and even served time in a Thai prison!

Jude believes in science, but she also believes in karma - and of course true love. She's going to find out that opposites do indeed attract when she meets a local farm boy in the second series.

Max is the unpredictable, rage-ridden head technician at the Royal Australian Observatory. He's in his late 40s, has a loose screw, a heart of gold and partakes in anger management classes.

Max is the man with his hand on the tiller of the ship: it's his job is to guide the telescope and woe betide anyone else who touches his baby. Pip is the only one who can really control him – even if she does have to resort to forced medication to do so.

Despite his rough exterior and threatening demeanor Max would never admit it, but he has a soft centre and would kill for any of his colleagues.

Bill is Pip's much younger Aboriginal boyfriend, Paul's spiritual guide and the local mechanic in town. It comes out later that Bill has even more strings to his bow: champion camel jockey, qualified marriage celebrant, couples' counselor and masseur, to name but a few!

Bill can play the ancient tribal mystic to the hilt when it suits him, but at heart he's a practical man of simple pleasures. His priorities are an easy life, earning a quick buck and attempting to drag Paul into as many of his scams as possible.

In an observatory staffed by tightly-wound intellectuals, Bill is a laid back breath of sanity about the place.