that most of her family are dead. Sharon now lives alone with a cat, which she hasn't bothered to name and to which she only speaks to tell it to get off the sofa. Her cold exterior melts only once, when she is passionately kissed by a kissogram who is taking a break in the smoking room after visiting the woman he is actually there to see. She disappears 'stage left' after him, with Janet remarking, "That's not love – that's pure naked lust!" Monique Coyne (Sunetra Sarker) A career driven, dynamic woman whose only vice seemed to be smoking. She was introduced in episode one as an external candidate for manager, in competition with Barry. Monique was chosen over Barry and was shown to be good at 'the game,' interacting with Sharon seemingly as equals. Her aptitude frightened Barry when she fixed the coffee machine following Clint's failed attempt. Monique's only other appearance was in episode eight at Lilian's birthday party, where she confused and was condescending to Barry. In the final episode, Monique is mentioned to have been poached and leaving for another firm in New York, which only confirms Barry's suspicions that she was a disloyal ladder-climber. Monique would not be considered a main character as she only appeared physically in two episodes. However, she could not be classified as 'unseen,' therefore existing as one of the rare characters in the series to appear more than once, yet not belonging to the core ten actors. Unseen characters The series frequently derives humour from references to unseen characters, partly due to its single location structure: Ben 'from the Post Room' The unwitting object of Robin's lust who, in Robin's eyes, is clearly a closeted gay man, despite having a girlfriend (later his fiancée). A running joke is made of the fact that his face is never seen on screen (e.g. his appearance in a snowman costume, and Lilian accidentally cutting his head off in a photograph), although his voice is heard once, when he is played by series writer Brian Dooley. It is revealed in the final episode that Robin's suspicions were correct; however, Ben was fooled by Robin's over-compensation, and believes him to be homophobic. Tess Pownall Lilian's co-worker and close friend. She is recently widowed but does not seem overly upset by this, planning a holiday with Lilian and even organising a disco and bouncy castle