Better late than never! 18 characters whose late arrival lifted TV shows

Welcome. Nice of you to finally join us. Hope it was worth the wait. Yes, sometimes a late addition can improve a drama or comedy so much it becomes hard to imagine the show without them. Not every series gets the casting chemistry spot-on straight away. A select few of our favourite TV characters weren’t even on the show when it launched. We’ve selected 18 characters whose gamechanging arrival in later seasons lifted the whole show and added to its legacy. Behold the super-subs who came off the TV bench and scored a winner … Alexis Colby – Dynasty She has become the 80s super-soap’s signature character, which makes it even more surprising that Joan Collins’ archetypal diva didn’t arrive until the second season. When executive producer Aaron Spelling brought in Collins as the sharp-tongued ex of tycoon Blake Carrington, ratings went stratospheric. Dynasty would have been way less camp and culty without Alexis’s glam wardrobe, dastardly schemes, string of husbands and catfights with nemesis Krystle (Linda Evans). Spike – Buffy the Vampire Slayer The peroxide-haired, leather-coated bloodsucker sauntered into Sunnydale in season two and stole fans’ hearts. Victorian poet William “Spike” Pratt was intended to be a temporary villainous counterpoint to soulful vampire Angel (David Boreanaz) but he proved so popular that he stuck around. Played with cocky charisma by James Marsters, the Billy Idol-alike was equally skilled at fighting and verbal sparring. Spike’s trajectory from villain to ally to Buffy’s love interest led to showrunner Joss Whedon calling him the “most fully developed” of all his characters. Alfie Solomons – Peaky Blinders Once the Shelby crime family swaggered in slo-mo beyond their patch of Birmingham, they needed new adversaries and allies. Step forward scenery-chomping Tom Hardy as eccentric, rambling Alfie, leader of a Jewish gang in north London and runner of an illegal distillery under the Camden Town arches. The fan favourite, who popped up in five seasons of Steven Knight’s saga, got cancer and was shot in the eye but somehow survived. “Shalom, Ar-fur!” Leon Black – Curb Your Enthusiasm In early seasons of Larry David’s majestic cringe-com, the only character to have our gaffe-prone antihero’s back was his hangdog manager, Jeff. That all changed in season six, when Larry took in a family of Hurricane Katrina refugees – including sex-mad, potty-mouthed Leon (JB Smoove). The freeloading lodger became LD’s spiritual soulmate and unlikely partner-in-crime. Leon’s fast-talking energy made him the perfect foil, while enabling the resurgent show to explore race and class in fresh, funny ways. Leon also coined such bon mots as “long ball Larry”, “topsy-turvy that motherfucker” and “tap dat ass”. Amy Farrah Fowler – The Big Bang Theory Alongside Melissa Rauch’s Bernadette, who also joined full-time in season four, Mayim Bialik’s Amy helped reinvigorate the CBS geek-com. The brainiac duo not only broke up the male-skewed sausage party of the first two seasons but neuroscientist Amy gave nerd-in-chief Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) new narrative impetus by becoming his longsuffering girlfriend – and eventual wife. That 31-page “Relationship Agreement” clearly worked. The fact that Bialik was a neuroscientist in real life only made it more pleasing. Constable Shane Bradley – Blue Lights “Smashy-smashy, breaky-breaky.” When the Belfast cop drama called in backup for its second series, actor Frank Blake – previously best known as Marianne’s abusive brother in Normal People – was first on the scene. As cocky constable Shane, he initially seemed like an ambitious rank-climber, while shamelessly flirting with patrol partner, Annie. Yet the camaraderie at Blackthorn police station softened Shane’s hard edges and he has become a pivotal member of the response team. The latest season saw him not only get the funniest lines but one of its most heart-rending storylines. One word: Westlife. Dr Frasier Crane – Cheers The beloved Boston bar successfully introduced several regulars during its 11-year run, notably Kirstie Alley’s Rebecca and Woody Harrelson’s Woody. But by far its most inspired addition was Kelsey Grammer’s stuffy psychiatrist. Joining in the third season as Diane’s boyfriend, Frasier was both a love rival for Sam and a pompous intellectual contrast to beer-guzzling schlubs Cliff and Norm. He proved so popular that his role was expanded and he landed his own superior spin-off, Frasier. Incredibly, the snobbish shrink has now been on our screens for more than 40 years. Brienne of Tarth – Game of Thrones Gwendoline Christie’s armour-clad cult heroine didn’t show up in Westeros until Ned Stark had lost his head. Arriving in the fantasy saga’s second season, she became a firm fan favourite by being a hard-as-nails warrior, honourable knight and one of the few characters in the Seven Kingdoms who was unambiguously good. In a genre that is often reductive in its portrayal of women, Brienne became a rare feminist icon. Also, she fought a bear. Benjamin Linus – Lost Several standout characters joined the twisty fun as the plane crash saga unfolded, including down-the-hatch dude Desmond and double-dealing Juliet, but creepy Ben was the best. Tipping up in season two, Emmy-winning Michael Emerson’s mercurial nerd initially posed as a crashed hot air balloonist. Once he had infiltrated the Oceanic flight 815 survivors’ camp, Ben was unmasked as the leader of the hostile Others. His cold-blooded betrayals and soft-spoken evil added human villainy to go with the supernatural mysteries and smoke monsters. Hot Priest – Fleabag “I love you.” “It’ll pass.” He was nowhere to be seen in the 2016 debut series but during the follow-up three years later, Andrew Scott’s flirtatious Catholic priest became a bona fide phenomenon. With his gin-in-a-tin, “thing for foxes” and Irish twinkle, the charismatic cleric made a worthy love interest for Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s tragicomic protagonist. Significantly, he was also the only character to notice her fourth-wall-breaking. Kneel! Chloe O’Brian – 24 Hard to believe that Kiefer Sutherland didn’t shout “Dammit, Chloe!” until Day 3 of the real-time thriller. Soon after her arrival at CTU, data analyst Chloe became Jack Bauer’s most loyal confidante, sticking her neck out for our maverick hero on many occasions. Played by comedian Mary Lynn Rajskub, nobody was better at sarcastic scowling while wearing a headset and typing fast. She appeared in 125 episodes, second only to Sutherland himself, eventually becoming a Lisbeth Salander-style goth hacker. A real-life homeland security surveillance tech initiative was even named Project Chloe in her honour. Newman – Seinfeld It’s equally hard to believe that it was three seasons before Jerry Seinfeld snarled “Hello, Newman” through gritted teeth. The voice of the odious mailman, originally provided by co-creator Larry David, was heard in season two of the megahit sitcom but Newman didn’t become a physical presence until the following year. Now played by Wayne Knight, the best buddy of Kramer and arch foe of Jerry quickly became a cult figure. With an unquenchable but unexplained hatred for our hero, Seinfeld described him as “Lex Luthor to my Superman”. Their neighbourly feud would unfold across the next seven years. Chris Finch – The Office “How can I hate women? My mum’s one.” The beauty of The Office – and many great sitcoms – is that its characters are stuck going nowhere. But episode three of the peerless mockumentary saw a new addition to the stagnant staff at Wernham Hogg paper merchants of Slough. Sales rep Chris Finch (Ralph Ineson) allegedly had an IQ of 142, read a book a week and once threw a copper kettle over a pub. Brent described boorish, bullying “Finchy” as his best mate but was invariably the butt of his cruel jokes – until the climactic Christmas special, when he finally grew a pair and told Finchy to fuck off. A proper air-punch moment. Jack McCoy – Law & Order The New York legal procedural has been in near-constant rotation for the past 35 years, with Sam Waterston’s district attorney its most recognisable stalwart. Yet despite being the longest-serving character with 19 seasons under his smart leather belt, John James McCoy Jr didn’t join until the NBC fixture’s fifth year. The unyielding “Hang ’Em High McCoy” grew so popular that Waterston was declared a “Living Landmark” by New York City’s architectural heritage board. Dobby – Peep Show Big Suze, Sophie, American Nancy, neighbour Toni, Russian Elena … love interests for loser flatmates Mark and Jez came and went across nine series but Isy Suttie’s endearingly geeky IT worker, Dobby – AKA “the anxious self-hating man’s crumpet” – surely should have been a keeper. When she met David Mitchell’s Mark in the JLB canteen during series five, they recognised each other as kindred misfit spirits. Cue Mark convincing himself she was “the One” and royally ballsing-up their relationship. Again. But hey, everything’s cool in Dobby Club. Mike Ehrmantraut – Breaking Bad Mike was invented by happy accident. Breaking Bad’s second season finale was supposed to feature sleazy lawyer Saul Goodman but actor Bob Odenkirk was busy filming a guest role in How I Met Your Mother. Instead, writer Vince Gilligan created a new character to clean up after Jane’s death. Jonathan Banks’s hard-bitten underworld fixer was intended as a one-and-done but deadpan ex-cop Mike made such a big impression he returned for season three and became a key part of the Albuquerque ensemble, even reuniting with Odenkirk for the spin-off Better Call Saul. Richard Splett – Veep Armando Iannucci’s White House satire was populated by power-hungry backstabbers. Sam Richardson’s cheerful campaign aide, who arrived in season three, was a relative ray of sunshine. Affable and optimistic, if not always entirely competent, Richard even happily donated sperm for Catherine and Marjorie’s baby – probably writing about it on his oft-mentioned blog, splettnet.net. He became an accidental politician, failing upwards to become governor of Iowa, a successful president and Nobel peace prize winner. Not bad for a “Paddington Bear-looking fuck”. Ruth Evershed – Spooks Seconded to MI5 from GCHQ during series two, intelligence analyst Ruth (Nicola Walker) soon became a vital member of the spy squad, sharing a simmering unrequited romance with Section D chief Harry Pearce (Peter Firth). This made it all the more poignant when Ruth was forced to fake her own death to avoid being falsely jailed for terrorism. Later rising from the grave and returning to the Grid, she persuaded Harry to retire so they could live together – then was killed while saving his life. I’m not crying, you’re crying. Who are your favourite TV latecomers? Which cast additions gave an existing show fresh legs? Please let us know in the comments below …