The most prominent returning characters in The Old Contemptibles are Richard Jury and Melrose Plant. Some of the characters from Jury's personal and professional life — Wiggins, Racer, Carole-anne, Mrs. Wasserman, Jenny Kennington — appear less prominently in this novel. Also briefly appearing are many of Melrose's fellow inhabitants of Long Piddleton, including Marshall Trueblood, Vivian Rivington, and Theo Wrenn Browne.

The most vividly depicted characters who appear for the first time in this novel are the elderly and the young.

The elderly characters are Adam Holdsworth and Lady Cray, who meet at a "retirement home" called Castle Howe. Adam, age eighty-nine, is confined to a wheelchair but is mentally unaffected by age. Lady Cray arrives at Castle Howe as eager to be away from her family as Adam is from him; ironically, both believe that the institution provides better care and greater independence than their relatives. Lady...