The Upper Hand is a British television sitcom broadcast by ITV from 1 May 1990 to 14 October 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom Who's the Boss?. As in the former series, affluent single woman Caroline Wheatley, raising her son with the help of her mother Laura West, hires a housekeeper and a man called Charlie Burrows applies for the job. Premise Down on his luck, former footballer Charlie Burrows (Joe McGann) moves from a deprived area of London to leafy Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire to make a better life for his daughter Joanna (Kellie Bright), by taking a job as housekeeper for well-off advertising executive Caroline Wheatley (Diana Weston). Although Caroline is unsure about employing him, her man-eating mother Laura West (Honor Blackman) talks her into it. Soon the two become friends, Caroline's son Tom (William Puttock) comes to see Charlie as a father figure, and Joanna enjoys having a female influence in her life. Both Caroline and Charlie repeatedly attempt to find love elsewhere, denying their blossoming feelings for each other. For years they lead the viewer on a "will-they-won't-they" chase that lasts until the end of the sixth series when the pair marry. After initial plans to end the series there, ITV commissioned a seventh series featuring Charlie and Caroline as husband and wife, which went beyond the premise of the original American version. Cast and characters Main Charlie Burrows (Joe McGann) - A former footballer whose career was curtailed by injury, Charlie is also a single dad to daughter Joanna since his wife Debbie's death. Down on his luck and living in a deprived area of London, Charlie takes a housekeeper's job in Henley-on-Thames to give Joanna a better life. Confident, charming and something of a joker, he is a contrast to the more serious Caroline and helps to loosen her up over time. A running joke is that, while Charlie sees himself very much as a traditional man, he enthusiastically embraces a stereotypically female job and its tasks. Caroline Wheatley (Diana Weston) - A successful advertising executive who, while confident in the business world, struggles in her personal life. Separated from her unreliable husband, Caroline shares her life with her son Tom (whom she over-indulges) and her young-at-heart mother Laura, who constantly tries to find her daughter a man. She is somewhat buttoned-up, but begins to take a more relaxed approach to life