- Ben Trotter: A romantic musician and writer who has fallen for Cicely Boyd, the most beautiful pupil at the adjoining girls' school.
- Philip Chase: Best friend of Ben. He is heavily into progressive rock and attempts to form a band named "Gandalf's Pikestaff".
- Doug Anderton: A passionate writer and opinionated young man, Doug attempts to transfer the socialist values of his father Bill to his mostly middle-class school.
- Claire Newman: Closest female friend of Benjamin, Philip and Doug, and the younger sister of Miriam. She has bitter feelings about religion due to the Christianity forced upon her and her sister by their ill-tempered father.
- Colin Trotter: In middle management at British Leyland's Longbridge plant. He interacts obliquely with Derek Robinson or "Red Robbo" as he was dubbed by the media.
- Sheila Trotter: Ben's mother.
- Paul Trotter: Ben's younger brother.
- Lois Trotter: Paul and Ben's sister. She attends the adjoining girls' school.
- Malcolm: Amiable guitarist and self-professed 'Hairy Guy' Malcolm is Lois's boyfriend, whom she met when she answered his personal ad in the newspaper.
- Bill Anderton: Shop steward at the Longbridge factory and an active Union man, he begins an affair with one of his colleagues, Miriam.
- Irene Anderton: Bill's wife and Doug's mother.
- Miriam Newman: The attractive secretary at the Longbridge factory.
- Sam Chase: Philip's dad, who works as a bus driver; friend of Ben, Philip and Doug.
- Barbara Chase: Wife of Sam and mother of Philip, she begins an affair with Miles Plumb, her son's art teacher.
- Miles Plumb: The flamboyant art teacher at King William's, the school the teenagers attend.
- Cicely Boyd: The most beautiful girl at the adjoining girls' school. She is the object of many of the boys' affections, particularly Ben Trotter's.
- Sean Harding: Attends King William's. Harding is viewed as a practical joker. He writes letters to the school newspaper, The Billboard, under the pseudonym Arthur Pusey-Hamilton.
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