Other major characters introduced during the first series are Kate Harvey (Dulcie Gray), Jan's sensible and supportive mother, the suave, scheming millionaire businessman Charles Frere (Tony Anholt) and the wealthy but unhappy Urquhart family.
By virtue of being produced during the mid to late 1980s, Howards' Way gives much insight into Thatcherite values, in its portrayal of the years of boom and bust, of individual aspiration and enterprise, and the conspicuous consumption of wealth.