Lives: Tawny House, Manor Road.

Age: Late twenties

Appearance:  6’4” tall, broad shouldered and fit. He has thick wavy fair hair and green eyes.

Kester is a good-looking man with a warmth and affection for all women no matter what their age. He flirts almost unconsciously with an open smile, which talks of playful teasing rather than any seriousness on his part. When annoyed he has a way of looking through people before speaking that can be unsettling. He is sometimes selfish with the occasional stubborn streak but is still a very likeable man.

Family: Father:     Christopher

            Mother:    Ruth

            Sister:       Imogen        

            Brother:    Ellis

            Grandmother: Harriet

Background: Kester, the eldest child of Christopher and Ruth James, was born in London and was bought up by a succession of au pairs and nannies while his parents pursued their acting careers. Ruth would parade her children for the cameras if an opportunity presented itself where she could appear to be a devoted mother but otherwise she remained aloof and detached and he came to resent her for it. His siblings embraced her every ambition for them but the then quieter and more sensitive Kester knew from a very early age that the last thing he wanted to do was to follow in his parent’s footsteps.

His happiest times were during school holidays when he would spend time with his grandmother, Harriet, in Milliwick, the only place where he felt he could really be himself. Initially labelled a difficult child by his mother for refusing to consider the idea of stage school, she was infuriated when he rejected a modelling contract too. His grandmother intervened on his behalf, angry that her own son could not or would not stand up to his wife and tell her that Kester had every right to choose his own path in life. There was a major confrontation between Ruth and Harriet resulting in the petulant Ruth scornfully telling her mother-in-law that if she thought she could make a better job of raising him, she could take him on and then she would realise what a troublesome and difficult child he was. Harriet took her at her word and after a long talk with both of his parents when tempers had cooled, suggested that if Kester wanted to, he could live with her on a permanent basis. Ruth was happy to agree and Kester was delighted.

He settled in well, attending local schools and filling the house with the noise of his friends. When Kester announced his intention to become a plumber, Harriet again took his part against her appalled daughter-in-law, telling her that with her own many contacts in the world of show business; he could very well become ‘Plumber To The Stars’. Ruth did not appreciate Harriet’s flippant and somewhat sarcastic attitude to her snobbery but could do little to change his mind in the face of his grandmother’s unstinting support.

Kester took an apprenticeship and learned his trade. He worked hard for the same company for the next few years and was happy in what he was doing. Then, with Harriet’s financial backing, he started his own business and although not prone to conceit, took a certain pleasure in knowing that during his first year of trading he earned more than his siblings put together.

Currently: Kester still lives with his grandmother but has moved from the main house to the annexe so that each can have can have some privacy. She scolds him often for saddling himself with an old woman but as far as he is concerned, he enjoys her company and by not moving to a house of his own he is able to keep an eye on her and somehow repay the kindness she has shown him. His plumbing business has done well and he now employs two other men to cope with the workload but there are many ladies in the district that are disappointed when it is not the boss that turns up at the door. Still determinedly single, Kester has yet to meet the girl he would want to settle down with.

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KESTER JAMES

Plumber