Ideal is a British comedy

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

-drama

Drama

Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

, or dark comedy

British dark comedy

British dark comedy refers to a comedy containing gloomy or disturbing elements, produced in Britain. One of the most successful British dark comedies is the League of Gentleman, coming in at number 41 in the BBC Britain's Best Sitcom.-2000s:...

 originally broadcast on digital channel BBC Three

BBC Three

BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...

, created by Graham Duff

Graham Duff

-Life and Work:Graham Duff is an English writer, actor and producer. He was born in Blackburn, Lancashire and currently resides in Brighton on the south coast of England. He attended and graduated from the University of Brighton. His work for TV and radio is typified by intricate plotting, large...

 and produced by BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 Comedy North and Baby Cow Productions

Baby Cow Productions

Baby Cow Productions Ltd is a UK comedy television production company established in 1999 by Steve Coogan and Henry Normal based in London and Manchester. It has since diversified into radio, animation and film. In 2008, BBC Worldwide bought a 25% stake in the company...

. It stars Johnny Vegas

Johnny Vegas

Johnny Vegas is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his angry rants, portly figure, high husky voice and support of St Helens rugby league club. More recently he has moved into dramatic acting.-Early life:He was born in St Helens, Lancashire, the youngest of four children of Laurence...

 as small-time cannabis

Cannabis

Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...

 dealer

Illegal drug trade

The illegal drug trade is a global black market, dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.A UN report said the...

 Moz.

It is set in Salford, Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

, chosen because Duff was familiar with the area having done many stand-up gigs there during his youth. Most of the series takes place in Moz's flat

Apartment

An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...

 and revolves around the eclectic array of characters who visit Moz to buy cannabis, socialise or both.

The closing theme is "Song of the Oss" from the album Nuada: Music Inspired By the Film the Wicker Man composed by British band Candidate

Candidate (band)

Candidate are an indie band from the United Kingdom, whose music has been described as folk rock, "full of gentle, dark soundscapes" and an "overflowing sink".-Members:* Joel Morris - vocals, acoustic guitar...

. The series also features a number of tracks by Californian hip hop group Ugly Duckling

Ugly Duckling (hip hop group)

Ugly Duckling is an American hip hop group that formed around 1993 in Long Beach, California. Ugly Duckling's members include Dizzy Dustin , Young Einstein and Andy Cat . They took the name Ugly Duckling because they felt like outcasts on the Southern California hip hop scene of the mid-1990s...

.

It was broadcast on BBC3 in the UK, on entertainment channel 3e

3E

3E or 3-E may refer to:*3e, general entertainment channel operated in Ireland*3rd meridian east*Third edition in the Editions of Dungeons & Dragons*NY 3E, alternate name for New York State Route 104*OK-3E, abbreviation for Oklahoma State Highway 3...

 in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and on ABC2

ABC2

ABC2 is a national public television channel in Australia. Launched on 7 March 2005, it is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's television division, and is available nationally to digital television viewers in Australia...

 in Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

First broadcast in 2005, seven series have been shown; the most recent ended on 30 June 2011.

Characters

• Moz (Johnny Vegas
  Johnny Vegas
  Johnny Vegas is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his angry rants, portly figure, high husky voice and support of St Helens rugby league club. More recently he has moved into dramatic acting.-Early life:He was born in St Helens, Lancashire, the youngest of four children of Laurence...
  
  ): a small-time cannabis dealer who has been dealing for a number of years from his bedsit in Salford which he used to share with his girlfriend Nikki but now shares with his new girlfriend Jenny. He deals only in the many varieties of marijuana and sees himself as 'providing a crucial service to the community'. Moz doesn't enjoy drug dealing very much. Whenever there's a knock at the door, it always seems to be the client Moz least wants to see. Moz rarely sets foot outside the front door of his bedsit and seems to have no concept of keeping the flat tidy. Ideally he'd like a quiet and worry-free life but always seems to end up getting entangled in the problems and crimes going on around him. As the series progresses, his life becomes complicated. At the end of the first series and throughout the second he suffers from guilt over his role in Craig's murder. At the climax of series two he falls off the roof of his flat and breaks his leg. At the beginning of the third series his leg is in plaster and during the series Moz is plagued by born again Christian builders renovating his flat after a fire; he pretends to share their faith but this backfires when they persuade him to propose to Nikki. In the finale of the third series Moz is attacked by Alan (one of the builders) who has discovered Moz's real occupation. In series four Moz engages in an affair with long-term customer Jenny and finds himself caught in the middle of a gang war. In the first episode of series five Moz says that he has gone straight and given up dealing but not using drugs. He is arrested for supplying heroin and then attempts to skip bail and leave for Portugal. In series 6, Moz is still not dealing drugs. Moz gets caught up in Psycho Paul's organ trading business and gets kidnapped by the Chinese mafia.

• Nikki (Nicola Reynolds): Moz's girlfriend for the first four series. She and Moz have a love/hate relationship, with Nikki constantly nagging Moz about the state of the flat. As the series progresses it becomes apparent she is cheating on him
  Infidelity
  In many intimate relationships in many cultures there is usually an express or implied expectation of exclusivity, especially in sexual matters. Infidelity most commonly refers to a breach of the expectation of sexual exclusivity.Infidelity can occur in relation to physical intimacy and/or...
  
  . At Moz's birthday
  Birthday
  A birthday is a day or anniversary where a person celebrates his or her date of birth. Birthdays are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with a gift, party or rite of passage. Although the major religions celebrate the birth of their founders , Christmas – which is celebrated widely by...
  
   party she has sex with Moz, PC and Kuldip and becomes pregnant. When the baby is born it becomes clear that Kuldip is the father. After a while Nikki can't stand living with Moz anymore and moves out. In the second series Nikki moves in with Sangita and they become involved, which Moz chooses to deny completely. In series three Nikki and the baby live with Moz again (although the baby is seldom seen). The baby causes her to suffer from sleep deprivation, until she is having hallucinations involving Moz's head on the shoulders of a bodybuilder and as her baby. In the fourth series whilst Moz is having an affair with Jenny, Nikki rekindles her affair with PC, ultimately leaving Moz for him in the series finale.

• Cartoon Head aka Golova Sharzh (James Foster
  James Foster
  James Foster may refer to:*James Foster *James Foster , English mason and architect in Bristol*James Foster , English cricketer...
  
  , series one / David Sant
  David Sant
  David Sant is a Spanish English actor and voice actor. He was born in Catalonia, Spain. He is best known for the role of Cartoon Head from series two of the British television show Ideal and is also known for playing the title role and the other male characters in the season 5-6 revival of...
  
  , series two): a man who never speaks and always wears a mask resembling a cartoon mouse. Cartoon Head doesn't value life at all; it is revealed during the first series that he is a hitman
  Hitman
  A hitman is a person hired to kill another person.- Hitmen in organized crime :Hitmen are largely linked to the world of organized crime. Hitmen are hired people who kill people for money. Notable examples include Murder, Inc., Mafia hitmen and Richard Kuklinski.- Other cases involving hitmen...
  
  . Although he has had several telephone conversations with Psycho Paul and Moz, he never utters a word on screen. Cartoon Head's mask has been superglued to his face by his boss, Stemroach, and it is impossible to remove: the details of this encounter are never revealed. At the end of the first series Moz realises that Cartoon Head, who is one of his most loyal customers, is actually the man behind the notorious "Hand-Job Murders". When the hitman turns up at Moz's flat high on LSD at the end of the first series, he mis-interprets what Moz says and shoots Craig dead, providing a story arc for series two. The left ear of the mask is cut off by Steve in the seventh episode of series three but it has been reattached with sticky tape by the following episode. Following a battle that rages throughout series four, Cartoon Head becomes leader of the Triad. His brother is Nikoli and both are actually Russians. Cartoon Head was a student at Salford University to study to become a doctor but dropped out after Freshers week. At the end of the seventh series Cartoon Head is shot by his wife, whom he is cheating on. It is unknown whether he survives.

• Craig / Steve (Seymour Leon Mace): the weird and annoying loner Craig wasn't originally one of Moz's regular clients but after someone has recommended Moz as a good dealer to him, he keeps pestering Moz to let him visit the flat. At one point he even throws a tin of dressed crab through Moz's window to try and gain his attention. Moz is eventually worn down and agrees to deal to Craig. In the seventh episode of series one Craig brings a carrier bag full of weed to Moz's flat to boost Moz's diminishing stocks and the two of them quickly become friends. Moz remarks that he and Cartoon Head should "take him (Craig) out" clubbing but Cartoon Head, who is high on LSD, misinterprets this and shoots Craig. At the end of the first series, Craig's identical twin Steve arrives to look for his brother and fuels Moz's paranoia
  Paranoia
  Paranoia [] is a thought process believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety or fear, often to the point of irrationality and delusion. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of conspiracy concerning a perceived threat towards oneself...
  
   and guilt over the murder of Craig. Steve turns up at the start of series two. He visits Moz's flat looking for his missing brother Craig but ends up joining Stemroach's gang, not knowing that it was fellow gang member Cartoon Head who killed his brother. Steve is exploited by the rest of the gang - he always gets the bad jobs and is often physically abused. The rest of the gang find him very annoying but tolerate him. In the seventh episode of series three, Steve takes control of the gang after a short manic outburst which has both Psycho Paul and Cartoon Head uncharacteristically terrified. His role as leader is short-lived as he feels unable to maintain his status and he resigns in the following episode. When Steve admits that he doesn't actually have violence in him, his fellow gang members turn on him and gouge out his left eye with a spoon as a result of which he wears an eye patch. In the fourth series Steve remains loyal to Psycho Paul despite his previous injury, as Paul promises to one day return his preserved eye. In the final episode of series four he kills Stemroach by throwing the glass-encased eye into his forehead, and then quits the gang. In series 6 he accidentally shoots himself in the stomach after Psycho Paul tells him the gun wasn't loaded. He is dismembered by Dr.Persil after his death.

• 'Psycho' Paul Nevin (Ryan Pope): originally a rival dealer to Moz, Psycho Paul now works with Cartoon Head. He appears in series one as a more violent and successful dealer. Shortly after PC busts Psycho Paul and gives all his weed to Moz, Psycho Paul finds Moz and threatens to kill him unless the weed is returned. Throughout the show, Psycho Paul bullies Moz (or "Morris", as he calls him), often slapping him and pressuring him into helping him out with his plots. Paul gives up dealing in order to move into the shadier and more lucrative worlds of kidnapping, pornography and other gangster activities. Moz doesn't want to get involved in his plans but finds it difficult to refuse Psycho Paul without causing offence and thus risking repercussions. In series five he becomes the leader of a rival gang with Steve and Xavier to the triad and they move into human trafficking, this leads the them helping Nikoli into the country with his helper, believing them to be young Russian girls who they can put to work for them when they turn Steve's flat into a brothel. 'Psycho' Paul also always carries his trademark Phillips screwdriver until later into the show when he 'upgrades' to an electric screwdriver.

• PC Phil Collins (Tom Goodman-Hill
  Tom Goodman-Hill
  Tom Goodman-Hill is an English actor of radio, film, stage and television.Born as Tom Hill and raised near Newcastle upon Tyne, he qualified as a teacher before turning to acting. During his time in Newcastle, he regularly acted in amateur performances at the People's Theatre...
  
  ): Moz's mate and also his chief supplier. PC is a police constable
  Constable
  A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
  
   for the Greater Manchester Police
  Greater Manchester Police
  Greater Manchester Police is the police force responsible for law enforcement within the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester in North West England...
  
  . He supplies Moz with weed which has been seized from other dealers during raids. PC is a useful contact for Moz, tipping him off as to what the latest police activity is - information which proves vital when the CID
  Criminal Investigation Department
  The Crime Investigation Department is the branch of all Territorial police forces within the British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces, to which plain clothes detectives belong. It is thus distinct from the Uniformed Branch and the Special Branch.The Metropolitan Police Service CID,...
  
   plan to raid the flat. They are close friends, at least initially; PC has been sleeping with Nikki and after she gets pregnant at Moz's birthday party, he falls in love with her, offering to take care of her and the baby and drunkenly challenging Moz to a fight. PC has had a number of affairs with Nikki. Moz remains oblivious to their first affair until PC tells him while drunk. A complete coward, PC does everything he can to avoid arresting people. PC also dodges the offers of promotion he's received as he doesn't want any more responsibility. In the finale of the second series he is stabbed by Stemroach's gang but takes his revenge by blackmailing Moz into setting up Stemroach in series three. Following these events he is upset to discover that Moz has allowed Brian to be his best man. There are no direct references to PC's real name until series four, episode two where it is revealed that he is called Phil Collins: he hates the name because he shares it with the singer
  Phil Collins
  Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
  
   and so calls himself by his initials (which are also his job title). He originally shared the flat with Moz when the duo moved to it together as a 'bachelor pad' in 1993. At the end of series five he moves into Moz's empty flat after being kicked out his flat by Nikki.

• Troy (Tony Burgess
  Tony Burgess
  Tony Burgess is the author of several books including the novel Pontypool Changes Everything. Other works include People Live Still in Cashtown Corners, Ravenna Gets, The Hellmouths of Bewdley, and Caesarea...
  
  , also co-writer): Moz's half-brother. In the second series he comes to stay at the flat and then proves hard to remove, hiding from his wife in Moz's airing cupboard
  Cupboard
  A cupboard or press is a type of cabinet, often made of wood, used indoors to store household objects such as food, crockery, textiles and liquor, and protect them from dust,vermin and dirt....
  
  . Troy loves late 1980s/early 1990s club music and is also a poor-quality DJ
  Disc jockey
  A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
  
  . For a while he runs a pirate radio
  Pirate radio
  Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
  
   station ("Troy FM") from the airing cupboard but the bad wiring caused him continual problems, finally culminating in an explosion. It is strongly implied that Troy suffers from mental illness; several references are made to him having been sectioned
  Involuntary commitment
  Involuntary commitment or civil commitment is a legal process through which an individual with symptoms of severe mental illness is court-ordered into treatment in a hospital or in the community ....
  
   under the Mental Health Act
  Mental Health Act 1983
  The Mental Health Act 1983 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which applies to people in England and Wales. It covers the reception, care and treatment of mentally disordered persons, the management of their property and other related matters...
  
  . He is very touchy about the topic of his wife and becomes upset when people talk to him about it. In one episode he moves out of Moz's flat to go back to her, only to return in the next episode with bruises. He is a complete contrast to Moz; loud, not very conscientious, egotistic
  Egotism
  Egotism is "characterized by an exaggerated estimate of one's intellect, ability, importance, appearance, wit, or other valued personal characteristics" – the drive to maintain and enhance favorable views of oneself....
  
   and most notably a lot smaller than his brother. Moz sees him as a pest at times yet sometimes betrays fraternal affection. It was Troy who accidentally shot Stemroach in 1993 and caused him to lose his voice - if it wasn't for Moz stepping in front of the gun Stemroach was aiming at Troy, Troy would have been killed.

• Kuldip (Ronny Jhutti
  Ronny Jhutti
  Ronny Jhutti is a British actor. He has appeared on television many times, including Shameless, EastEnders, Holby City, Ideal and Doctor Who ....
  
  ): a former close friend of Moz. A relatively successful DJ (which Troy resents), he has a regular slot as a DJ at the local nightclub. He often boasts to Moz about the number of white label
  White label
  White label records are vinyl records with adhesive plain white labels affixed. Test pressings, usually with Test Pressing written on the label, with catalogue number, artist and recording time or date, are produced in small quantities to evaluate the quality of the disc production...
  
   records he has in his box. He is a frequent visitor to Moz's house in the first series but plays a relatively minor role until he has sex with Nikki during a party. He only appears in the second series to find out that he is the father of Nikki's baby, Sanjeev. In series three he returns from Barcelona to pursue Nikki and it is revealed that she has been writing to him every week and sending him photographs of their baby.

• Judith (Joanna Neary): moves in across the hall from Moz at the start of series two. She is a timid, demure necrophilia
  Necrophilia
  Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia or necrolagnia, is the sexual attraction to corpses,It is classified as a paraphilia by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The word is artificially derived from the ancient Greek words: νεκρός and φιλία...
  
  c who is constantly saying "sorry". She soon becomes the dealer's potential love interest; they are mutually attracted but he is disgusted at the idea of her having sex with dead bodies. Judith experiments with drugs with Moz; on one occasion she overdoses him with cookies filled with magic mushrooms, taking advantage of his unconscious body to have a pseudo-necrophiliac encounter. This proves to be a turning point for her. Timid Judith wants to fit in and be normal but it soon becomes clear that she has various interests and hobbies that border on the socially unacceptable. Moz first starts to get worried when Judith begins working at an undertakers and is seen dragging body-shaped sacks into her flat. To add to the problem, Judith develops an obsession with Moz, sculpting a giant clay model of Moz's head in her flat and starting to alter her appearance to look more like Nikki in a blatant attempt to try and steal Moz from her. After an unfortunate accident, she ends series three with a wasp mask stuck to her head and proves stubbornly persistent. Her mask gets Cartoon Head interested in her and for a while they become a couple, although he starts to ignore her when she has it removed by a doctor. She finds out that she is pregnant by Cartoon Head who is in denial. In the final episode of series four Judith has the wasp mask stuck back on and says "I'm not sorry" (she then apologises for this) and Cartoon Head is happy again. In the first episode of series five it is revealed that Judith used the wrong type of glue. Judith sleeps with Marco as revenge on Cartoon Head who is having an affair and reveals that she is pregnant. At the end of the episode she is forced to move in with Cartoon Head.

• Jenny (Sinead Matthews
  Sinead Matthews
  Sinead Matthews is an English actress.She was born in Coventry. She attended Coventry's Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School and Language College, and studied A-level Drama at Stratford Upon Avon College between 1996 and 1998. She graduated from RADA in 2003, and made her television debut in the 2004...
  
  ): a dim-witted young adult who becomes Moz's girlfriend near the end of series four. In her first appearances, she is a childminder
  Nanny
  A nanny, childminder or child care provider, is an individual who provides care for one or more children in a family as a service...
  
   and regularly brings several children along with her when she visited the flat to buy drugs from Moz. She is also friendly with Nikki and gets pregnant at about the same time by Felix, one of the "children" for whom she is supposed to be responsible. Jenny seems to live in her own world, frequently forgetting the names of her wards and sometimes even leaving them behind. In the third series she gives birth but the baby is taken into care by social workers after continually being foisted on other people. When Jenny regains custody, she is not sure that the right baby has been returned to her but concludes that she likes the new one better. In series four, Jenny and Moz begin an affair which Jenny has difficulty keeping secret. When the secret comes out, she moves into the flat as Moz's new girlfriend. In the final episode of the series she is accidentally shot in the crossfire of a gang war between Stemroach and Cartoon Head and appears to bleed to death in Moz's arms. At the start of series five she is in a coma, seeing the world as a song and dance routine. She wakes from her coma to find Moz having sex with a call-girl. She attempts to skip bail with Moz at the end of series 5. She leaves Moz in Series 6 after he prevents her from becoming a lap-dancer, and becomes a community support officer in Series 7.

• Felix (Des O'Malley): the teenage father of Jenny's baby. Although he was one of her wards when the baby was conceived, he is almost as old as her. He appears to be somewhat overwhelmed by the idea of fatherhood and still has childlike tendencies: after the baby is born, he seldom appears. Although seemingly more intelligent than Jenny, he is indifferent to everything.

• Stemroach (David Bradley
  David Bradley (actor)
  David Bradley is an English character actor. He has recently become known for playing the caretaker of Hogwarts, Argus Filch, in the Harry Potter film franchise.-Life and career :...
  
  ): the sinister gangland boss who employs Cartoon Head and Psycho Paul as his henchmen. He is ruthless; PC, Moz and even Psycho Paul are afraid of him. It seems that he has a wife and a girlfriend; he reports that when the girlfriend gives birth, his wife has gone 'up the wall' over the news. He is arrested in series three after PC and Moz set him up but he is released on bail and subsequently takes full advantage of Moz's debt to him. As a result of being accidentally shot in the throat by Moz's brother Troy, he has no vocal chords and talks through a hand-held throat speaker. Stemroach regularly reminds Moz that he is in his debt and thus the flat is often used for gang activity. He is killed by Steve in the final episode of series four after once again threatening to kill Moz.

• Brian (Graham Duff
  Graham Duff
  -Life and Work:Graham Duff is an English writer, actor and producer. He was born in Blackburn, Lancashire and currently resides in Brighton on the south coast of England. He attended and graduated from the University of Brighton. His work for TV and radio is typified by intricate plotting, large...
  
  , creator and writer of the show); a very camp and flamboyant homosexual. Brian is one of Moz's oldest friends. He visits Moz regularly, accompanied by a different boyfriend every week. He is known for the line 'Inn't he scrummy?' He often talks to Moz about his bedroom antics, something the dealer would definitely rather not hear. During the first series, Brian's boyfriends become increasingly feminine, the last one being a butch woman. In the third series he finally falls in love and proposes to his current boyfriend but has his heart broken when he is dumped. Moz attempts to cheer him up by allowing him to be his best man, despite Derrick's hints that he would like the role and to PC's chagrin. His boyfriend turns out to be the registrar and they are happily reunited but by the fourth series they are no longer together and Brian is back to his promiscuous ways. In the series four flashback episode it is revealed he used to be straight. In series 5, he was revealed to have fathered a child with a woman who later became a lesbian and then had a sex change. He slept with his son, without knowing they were related. He then goes on a date with his now transgendered ex, who allegedly still has breasts. In series 7 he runs a brothel in Judith's old flat with Carmel.

• Colin (Ben Crompton
  Ben Crompton
  Ben Crompton is an English actor, best known as one of the stars of the BBC sketch show Man Stroke Woman. In addition he appears as Colin in the BBC Three sitcom Ideal with Johnny Vegas. He also appeared in the 2002 film All or Nothing , the TV series Clocking Off, and the TV movie Housewife, 49...
  
  ): a bouncy, childlike petty criminal who is usually on probation
  Probation
  Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
  
  , as he frequently reminds people. Although he is meant to be keeping out of trouble, he is of Moz's most regular customers. He isn't particularly clever, though he is somewhat crafty. Often he is a tedious annoyance to Moz. Colin often tries to sell stolen goods to Moz and regularly succeeds in stealing small items from the flat. In series three Colin starts dating a call girl
  Call girl
  A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who is not visible to the general public; nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency...
  
   called Carmel. She had amnesia at the time, which makes it easy for him to convince her they used to be together. Colin joins Psycho Paul's gang in series four.

• Carmel (Hanne Steen): a Spanish escort, who is caught up in Stemroach's kidnapping and loses her memory
  Amnesia
  Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
  
   in the process. Colin manages to convince her that she is his girlfriend. In the final episode of series four it becomes apparent that they are actually a couple and the two of them leave, apparently to start a new life in Spain.

• Sangita (Sunetra Sarker
  Sunetra Sarker
  Sunetra Sarker is an English actress, most notable for her role as Dr Zoe Hanna on Casualty.Sarker has a degree in Information Systems for Business with French from Brunel University....
  
  ): one of Moz's regular customers for a period. She suffers from multiple sclerosis
  Multiple sclerosis
  Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
  
  . When Moz first meets Sangita he makes repeated verbal faux pas about her condition. Sangita is Nikki's best friend; during the Christmas episode Sangita convinces Nikki to leave Moz and move in with her and the two begin an affair. In revenge for this affair, Moz starts to remind her that she is going to die soon.

• Yasuko (Haruka Kuroda
  Haruka Kuroda
  Haruka Kuroda is a London based Japanese actress who is widely known for performing the voice of Noodle, the Japanese guitarist in Gorillaz, the cartoon band created by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. She was born in Kyoto, Japan....
  
  ): a bubbly and naive Japanese woman with a cleaning compulsion
  Obsessive-compulsive disorder
  Obsessive–compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety, or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions...
  
  ; she always has a packet of Wet Wipes on hand to clean anything she can. Despite this image, Yasuko has a wild past and during the series it is revealed that she has taken part in a ménage à trois
  Ménage à trois
  Ménage à trois is a French term which originally described a domestic arrangement in which three people having sexual relations occupy the same household – the phrase literally translates as "household of three"...
  
   with Nikki whilst backpacking in Thailand
  Thailand
  Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
  
  , on the basis of this, she turns up at Moz's flat seeking accommodation. She has a relationship (culminating in marriage) with Moz's dull green-fingered friend Derrick with whom she enjoys spending time down on the allotment. In series four, Yasuko reveals some self-defence
  Martial arts
  Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
  
   skills when forced to fight Chen and Tony.

• Derrick (Alfie Joey
  Alfie Joey
  Alfie Joey is a British comedian and radio presenter. He currently co-presents the BBC Newcastle breakfast show.He has featured in numerous radio and television shows, such as Mitch Benn's Crimes Against Music and Ideal...
  
  ): another regular customer whose obsession with vegetables Moz finds very boring. Although now quite scruffy and covered in dirt, Derrick once used to be a smart, suit-wearing businessman, when his uncle died and left him an allotment
  Allotment (gardening)
  An allotment garden, often called simply an allotment, is a plot of land made available for individual, non-professional gardening. Such plots are formed by subdividing a piece of land into a few or up to several hundreds of land parcels that are assigned to individuals or families...
  
  , Derrick developed a passion for gardening and became the laid back man he is now.

• China (Natalie Gumede
  Natalie Gumede
  Natalie Gumede is an English actress and former dancer. She is best known for playing China in BBC Three's Ideal who, along with her friend Asia , is one of Moz's regular clients. Her character featured in the pilot episode, and was a regular in the first three seasons...
  
  ): who, along with her friend Asia (Rebecca Atkinson
  Rebecca Atkinson
  Rebecca Atkinson is an English actress and model. She is best known for playing Jamie Maguire's wife, Karen Maguire in Channel 4's Shameless, and she has been in the show since the inception...
  
  ), is one of Moz's regular clients. Although the duo often don't have enough money to pay, Moz feels benevolently towards them and lets them get away without paying. China starts visiting with different boyfriends in tow (including Psycho Paul for a period) so Moz stops giving her free drugs. In order to solve this problem, China starts acquiring rich boyfriends to fund her habit and by series four she is employed as a prostitute by Carmel's ex-boyfriend/pimp.

• Silicon Valets : Lee and Jason together are Silicon Valets, a pop group of indeterminate quality and style, who drop by to buy drugs and brag about their success. They fail to pick up on Moz's insults about their musical quality. They do achieve some success, with "living in a metal thing" getting to number 12 in the charts
  UK Singles Chart
  The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
  
  . They used the severed hand which Moz found for the front cover of their first album. The band split up in series 7 after musical in differences.

• Lee (Andrew Lee Potts): in the third series when he is caught snorting cocaine in Moz's bathroom by the born-again Christian builder Alan, who attempts to forcefully baptise him and nearly drowns him in the process. Alan seals him inside Moz's hot water tank, and when he awakes, he doesn't know where he is. He remains there until series four, finally being released when the flat's boiler is changed. Following his release, he has a tendency to hallucinate. He starts to believe he is the Messiah
  Messiah
  A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
  
   and this delusion is compounded by the fact that Alan and Marco, thinking he has come back from the dead, start following him as his disciples. When the band split up he ends up with just the naming rights for Silicon Valets and Jason gets everything else.

• Jason (Tim Fallows): a member of the same boy band
  Boy band
  A boy band is loosely defined as a popular music act consisting of only male singers. The members are expected to dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances. More often than not, boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on...
  
   as Lee. When Lee goes missing, Jason is left to try and do everything in the band himself. He is relieved to have Lee back but is clearly a bit uncomfortable about his friend's new persona. He starts a new band in series 7 and retains all the rights for merchandise and money from Silicon Valets, leaving Lee with just the name.

• Kim and Miko (Jessica Peh and Haruka Abe
  Haruka Abe
  is a Japanese actress currently based in London, UK. She moved between New York, London and Tokyo with her family as a child and spent most of her teenage years in Japan before moving to London where she trained at Rose Bruford College in South East London....
  
  ): Yasuko friends who are members of a Japanese girl band
  Girl group
  A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
  
  . They do not seem to speak much English but giggle a lot. They are kidnapped by 'Fist' in series four. He lets them go in series five. When asked where they were, they reply that they were "just next door", in Japanese.

• Tanya (Emma Fryer
  Emma Fryer
  Emma Fryer is a British stand-up comedian, actress and writer from Coventry, best known for playing Tania in BBC Three's Ideal, Janine in E4's PhoneShop and Gaynor in BBC 2's Home Time, which she co-wrote with Neil Edmond....
  
  ): Colin's sister and also baby Sanjeev's health visitor. This does not please Nikki as Tanya is Moz's flirtatious ex-girlfriend. It isn't long before Tanya is trying to seduce Moz. Her voice sounds as though she is perpetually stoned. Tanya is a kleptomania
  Kleptomania
  Kleptomania is an irresistible urge to steal items of trivial value. People with this disorder are compelled to steal things, generally, but not limited to, objects of little or no significant value, such as pens, paper clips, paper and tape...
  
  c and as a result a lot of Moz's flat's contents ends up on eBay after each of her visits. She is caught stealing by Moz's mum in a series three. In series four, she appears to have a relationship with Psycho Paul. She makes occasional appearances throughout each series. In series 7 she becomes Jason's manager after Silicon valets split up.

• Alan (Peter Slater
  Peter Slater
  Peter Slater is an Australian ornithologist, wildlife artist and photographer.Slater grew up in Western Australia and moved to North Queensland in 1966. He began photographing birds from an early age, has won numerous awards in international exhibitions, and was made an Artiste of the Fédération...
  
  ): the foreman of the builders who renovate Moz's flat after the fire. He's a very hard-line born again Christian: this causes Moz to try and keep up a pretence of being a devout Christian in an attempt to conceal what he really does for a living. Alan started out as a permanently cheerful man: however, after being horrifically stung by a swarm of wasps (Moz's fault) and discovering Moz's job, he turns into a completely different man. After nearly murdering Lee by sealing him in the flat's water tank, he goes on a rampage, attempting to kill both Moz and Brian in the process. In the fourth series Alan isn't seen much, except for when he is shown following Lee, believing him to be 'the saviour'. In the final episode of series four, he ends up hung up on Fist's wall: in series five he attempts to escape from the evil priest: eventually he does so, only to be killed by a stab-wound to the neck inflicted in self-defence by Carol, Keith's blind girlfriend.

• Marco (Andrew Lawrence): Alan's assistant builder. He speaks in a very high voice and is quite nervous around other people and he is known for the line "Ignore Me". When Alan disappears, Marco becomes head builder and his brother Jake becomes the deputy. The inept duo often break things and the things they do manage to fit soon fall off the wall or break. In the first episode of series five, Marco loses his virginity to Judith.

• Reverend Jeff "Fist" Fistwick (Graham Duff): a man simply known as "Fist" moves in next door to Moz in series four. His flat is usually dark and unlit and Fist seems to spend a lot of time watching people come and go, seemingly with sinister intent. Psycho Paul and the Low Triad in series four attempt to get him onto their side although it remains unknown which gang he has joined or if he has even joined one at all. Fist dresses in black, wears a black ski mask all the time and has buck teeth: he has the word "Fist" tattooed on the knuckles of one hand. In spite of his malevolence, Kim and Miko who are kidnapped by him, find him amusing. The show credits him 'As Himself'. It is revealed in the final episode of series four that he is a reverend and he subsequently crucifies Alan. The part is played by Graham Duff and is later revealed by the builder Alan, who seems to know him, to be one 'Vicar Fistwick'. It was noted by Moz's step-dad that they shared a cell in Strangeways and there's nothing that would scare him, though he ends up terrified of a scuttling noise, which is a 'Hand' with a tail. In the final episode of series 5 Fist is revealed to be Jenny's "uncle Jeff". He is described by Jenny as a "nutter".It is revealed in series 6 that Fist has a lover which is a pug named Frank.

• Chen (Hon Ping Tan): a member of the Low Triad, initially working for Min Yin Low. Chen often uses to violence to get what he wants and ensure they don't forget his message. While Chen and his gang-partner Tony spend most of the series winning the gang war, they end the series tied up as hostages in Moz's bathroom. In the fifth episode of series four they return to reveal that the Triad has been taken over by Cartoon Head and Chen is reduced to being Cartoon Head's henchman. Chen is killed by Troy with a bazooka at the end of series 6.

• Tony (Dan Li): also a member of the Low Triad, initially working for Min Yin Low. Tony and his fellow gang-member Chen visit Moz at the start of series four to try and persuade him to spy on Stemroach through Psycho Paul's gang. War between the Triad and Paul's gang breaks out and Moz is in the middle of it. At first the Triad easily have the upper-hand and continually intimidate those in the flat. When Yasuko reveals some hidden self-defence skills the tables turn.

• Keith (Mick Miller): absent for 12 years, Moz's long lost stepfather Keith returns in series four, hoping to offload some stolen widescreen televisions. Keith is a compulsive liar, although he does eventually keep his promise of delivering the widescreen TV his son paid for. In series five, Keith moves into Judith's old flat (next door to Moz) with his new girlfriend, a blind woman called Carol, whom he's told he's in his thirties. In episode four of series five he reveals he shared a prison cell with Fist in Strangeways.

• Xavier (Michael Kofi): a member of Psycho Paul's gang. He is infatuated by how comfortable one of Moz's chairs is.

• Dawn (Julia Davis
  Julia Davis
  Julia Davis is an English comedy writer and performer, best known for writing and starring in the BBC Three comedy Nighty Night.-Background:...
  
  ): Jenny's mum who has cataract
  Cataract
  A cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light...
  
  s. She feels peoples faces to see what type of life they live and can "reads" people's tea leaves. In series five she has a relationship with Moz's stepfather Keith.

• Jake/Dinos (Dylan Edwards) & (Sam Fletcher): Conjoined Twins who appear in series 5 as one of Brian's new boyfriends. Their names are a nod towards Graham Duff's personal heroes, the artists Jake and Dinos Chapman
  Jake and Dinos Chapman
  Iakovos "Jake" Chapman and Konstantinos "Dinos" Chapman are English visual artists, often known as the Chapman Brothers, who work together as a collaborative sibling duo...
  
  .

• Carol (Jo Enright
  Jo Enright
  Jo Enright is an English stand-up comedian and actress who has appeared in a number of television and radio comedy programmes.-Biography:...
  
  ): Keith's blind girlfriend who moves into Judith's old flat with Keith in series five. She kills Alan by stabbing him in the neck with a pair of scissors on his escape from Fist's flat.

• Tilly (Janeane Garofalo
  Janeane Garofalo
  Janeane Garofalo is an American stand-up comedian, actress, political activist and writer. She is the former co-host on the now defunct Air America Radio's The Majority Report. Garofalo continues to circulate regularly within New York City's local comedy and performance art scene.-Early...
  
  ): Moz's new neighbour in flat 6. Tilly is a beautiful, witty, artistic American girl, who runs a small designer clothes shop called ‘Just Perfect’. Her confrontational couture makes Vivian Westwood look like a special needs Laura Ashley
  Laura Ashley
  Laura Ashley was a Welsh fashion designer and businesswoman. She became a household name on the strength of her work as a designer and manufacturer of a range of colourful fabrics for clothes and home furnishings....
  
  . She is constantly introducing him to new things and he slowly falls for her. She also wants his sperm for her new top design. In series 7, it seems that Brian has developed an obsession with her and her clothes.

• Mr. Rupani (Vincent Ebrahim
  Vincent Ebrahim
  Vincent Ebrahim is a South African actor of Indian ethnicity. Born in 1951, he studied drama at the University of Cape Town. He is the brother of South African actress Vinette Ebrahim, who is best known for playing the role of Charmaine Beukes in the Afrikaans soap opera Sewende Laan.After...
  
  ): Moz's landlord, as well as the landlord of the other flats in the block. Mr. Rupani is a successful Asian businessman who is very strict with his tenants and is constantly reminding Moz that pets and children amongst other things are "Not allowed". In series 2, Mr. Rupani is kidnapped by Psycho Paul, Cartoon Head and Steve. He is brought to Moz's flat for a few hours but is blindfolded so never realises his kidnappers.

• Jess (Elinor Crawley): Nikki's sister/daughter.

Guest stars

Guest stars have included Graham Fellows

Graham Fellows

Graham David Fellows is an English comedy actor and musician, best known for creating the characters of John Shuttleworth and Jilted John.-Early life:...

 (as Dr Persil), Sean Lock

Sean Lock

Sean Lock is an English comedian and actor. He began his comedy career as a stand-up comedian. He won the British Comedy Award in 2000 in the category of Best Live Comic, and was nominated for the Perrier Comedy Award. He is also well known for his appearances on television and radio...

 (as Natalie/Nathaniel, Brian's transgendered partner), Mark Radcliffe

Mark Radcliffe

Mark Radcliffe is an English broadcaster who has worked in various roles for the BBC since the 1980s and remains one of Britain's most recognised DJs. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music, where he hosts an afternoon show five times a week alongside Stuart Maconie, called...

, Jason Manford

Jason Manford

Jason John Manford is an English comedian, television presenter and actor.- Early life :Manford was born to an Irish family in Salford, Greater Manchester, a son of Sharon , who is a Catholic and Ian Manford. He grew up in poverty in a terraced house in Manchester...

 (as Jack), Mark E Smith (as Jesus Christ), Paul Weller

Paul Weller

Paul Weller is an English singer-songwriter. Starting with the band The Jam , Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council...

, Kara Tointon

Kara Tointon

Kara Louise Tointon is a British actress, best known for playing Dawn Swann in BBC soap opera EastEnders. Tointon was the 2010 winner of BBC television series Strictly Come Dancing.-Early life:...

, Barry Adamson

Barry Adamson

Barry Adamson is a British rock musician who has worked with rock bands such as Magazine, Visage, The Birthday Party, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the electronic musicians Pan sonic and Depeche Mode. Adamson created the seven-minute opus "Useless " remix for the latter band in 1997...

 (as Brian's hitman boyfriend), Alan Yentob

Alan Yentob

Alan Yentob is a British television executive and presenter who has worked throughout his career at the BBC.-Early life:...

 (as himself) and Rula Lenska

Rula Lenska

Rula Lenska is an English actress. Best known for her work in the United Kingdom, she is remembered in the United States for a television advert that presented her as a celebrity, even though she was not widely known in the US at the time the advert was produced.She has appeared extensively on...

 (as the Red King).

Episodes

Each series of Ideal has a different coloured title sequence.
Series 1 was sepia

Sepia (color)

Sepia is a dark brown-grey color, named after the rich brown pigment derived from the ink sac of the common cuttlefish Sepia.The word sepia is the Latinized form of the Greek σηπία, sēpía, cuttlefish.-Sepia in human culture:...

;
the Christmas special was red;
Series 2 was blue

Blue

Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...

;
Series 3 was green

Green

Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...

;
Series 4 was purple

Purple

Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue, and is classified as a secondary color as the colors are required to create the shade....

;
Series 5 was red

Red

Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...

;
Series 6 was yellow

Yellow

Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, with no significant stimulation of the S cone cells. Light with a wavelength of 570–590 nm is yellow, as is light with a suitable mixture of red and green...

 and Series 7 is bondi blue.

Series One (2005)

#	Title	Writers	Original air date

Series Two (2006)

#	Title	Writers	Original air date

Series Three (2007)

#	Title	Writers	Original air date

Series Four (2008)

#	Title	Writers	Original air date

Series Five (2009)

#	Title	Writers	Original air date

Series Six (2010)

#	Title	Writers	Original air date

Series Seven (2011)

#	Title	Writers	Original air date

Awards

In November 2006, Ideal received the award for Best Comedy Programme at the Royal Television Society

Royal Television Society

The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...

 North West Comedy Awards.

DVD release

A box set of series one (excluding the Christmas special episode) was released in the UK on November 7, 2005. It includes the following extras:

• Making of Ideal
• Out-takes
• Deleted scenes
• Commentaries from Johnny Vegas (Moz), Graham Duff (creator, writer, Brian and Reverend Fistwick) and Henry Normal
  Henry Normal
  Henry Normal is an English comedian, television producer, poet and writer. He is Managing Director of Baby Cow Productions Ltd which he set up with Steve Coogan....
  
  (executive producer).

The second series (including the Christmas special) was released on DVD on February 19, 2007, the third series on June 9, 2008, the fourth series on April 13, 2009, and the fifth series on July 19, 2010. The sixth series was released on October 11, 2010. The seventh and final series was released on July 25, 2011.