Chief Superintendent Charles Brownlow  played by Peter Ellis

First appearance    Funny Ol’ Business – Cops and Robbers (16/10/84)

Charles Brownlow was Sun Hill's stern Chief Superintendent for over 16 years. All image but very little substance, Brownlow was the ultimate politician whose worst nightmare was negative publicity. Shielded from the outside world by his long-suffering secretary Marion, he was a limited conventional, unimaginative man, unquestioningly sympathetic to whatever directive the Commissioner's office issued - regardless of whether or not it was practical or even desirable. So terrified was he of antagonising the local communities that he effectively shackled his own officers and lived in dread of mavericks such as Burnside bringing Sun Hill into disrepute. Brownlow felt more comfortable with the uniformed staff than he did with the CID officers. CID officers tended to go their own way too much. To Charles Brownlow that smacked of indiscipline. Good general behaviour, tidiness, and 'a proper demeanour', were what he looked for in his ideal policeman; qualities frequently lacking in the CID. As he became increasingly out out of touch with those at the sharp end, he began to lose their confidence and respect. Keeping within budget, producing tidy files and an impressive record, were his principal concerns. He didn't like making waves - and told bad jokes, badly. He cultivated acquaintances, not friends, among the local councillors and dignitaries. Brownlow was married, with two children. He lived in the home counties and played golf, as much for the contacts he could exploit as for the fun he got out of the game. It is unlikely, in fact, that he got any 'fun' out of it at all.

Brownlow had a brief stint in Area in 1994, and mellowed slightly on his return to the station in 1996. His fondness of the empty gesture was perfectly illustrated when he decided to eat in the canteen with the other ranks to show that he was a man of the people. It was an excrutiating experience for his staff although Brownlow, never able to admit a mistake, considered it to have been a valuable exercise in public relations. For all his faults he was essentially a decent, if somewhat blinkered, man and it was difficult not to feel some sympathy for him when he felt obliged to tender his resignation in the wake of the Don Beech corruption scandal that engulfed Sun Hill.

He returned briefly in May 2002 for the memorial service of the officers who died in the station fire the previous month.