Ideal (TV series)
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| Ideal | |
|---|---|
 Moz, the star of Ideal. |
|
| Genre | Comedy |
| Creator(s) | Graham Duff |
| Starring | Johnny Vegas Nicola Reynolds Graham Duff Seymour Mace |
| Country of origin | UK |
| No. of episodes | 17 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC Three |
| Original run | 2005 – present |
Ideal is a British sitcom originally broadcast on digital channel BBC Three, created by Graham Duff and produced by BBC Comedy North and Baby Cow Productions. It stars Johnny Vegas as small time cannabis dealer Moz.
The entire series takes place in Moz's flat (and occasionally the hall outside in series 2) and revolves around the eclectic array of recurring characters that come to visit Moz to buy drugs, socialize or both. In an interview with the programme's creator Graham Duff, he says that the show is not about the weed culture, but about how people's lives come together over a common interest; how Moz has a lot of friends, but only sees little snippets of their lives, or only sees one side of them.
There are no main characters except for Moz (and possibly his girlfriend Nicki), characters come and go with each episode. There are some recurring characters, such as PC and Troy, but all the characters are supposed to be equally integral to the plot.
Contents |
[edit] Broadcast dates
The first series originally aired on BBC Three from 11th January to 1st March 2005. It has since been repeated on BBC Two, and is currently being repeated on BBC Three.
The second series ran between 4th March and 2nd May 2006 on BBC Three. A special Christmas episode also aired on 27th December 2005.
During the second series, episodes were made available on BBC Three's web site a week before their initial TV broadcast, in common with several other BBC Three comedy shows.
On 18th November 2006 Ideal received the Best Comedy award at the RTS North West Comedy Awards.
Filming for series three began on 23rd November 2006
Series 3 began on BBC3 on Thursday 22nd March 2007
[edit] Characters
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
- Nicki: (Nicola Reynolds): Moz's girlfriend. As the series goes on it becomes apparent she is cheating on him with multiple men, at Moz's birthday party, she has sex with three men (including Moz) and thus falls pregnant. She does not know who the father is and one of the men she had sex with was the asian Kuldip meaning if it his baby it would be apparent. In the second series, Nicki moves in with Sangita, and rumours are that they are involved with one-another, which Moz chooses to deny completely, perhaps through jealousy, or because he misses Nicki so much.
- Cartoon Head: (James Foster, series 1 / David Sant, series 2): A man who never speaks and always wears a mask resembling a cartoon mouse (hence his name). It is revealed as the first series goes on that he is in fact a hitman. The irony with Cartoon Head, is that he has had several phone conversations with Psycho Paul and Moz, yet he never utters a word on screen. It is also revealed in the second series that Cartoon Head's mask is fixed on his face, and impossible to remove, it is also known that Cartoon Head and Psycho Paul's boss (referred to as 'Stemroach') gave him his mask.
- Craig / Steve: (Seymour Mace): A recurring annoyance in the first series blatantly bugging Moz to sell him weed (going against Moz's standard conventions of selling to friends). In the last episode of the series he shows up at Moz's flat with a carrier bag full of weed just as Moz's supplies are low. He and Moz strike up a friendship, however the acid-high Cartoon Head then shows up at the flat. Moz remarks about how Craig is his friend now and that they should 'take him out'. Cartoon Head taking the wrong meaning from this shoots Craig. Steve is Craig's twin brother who is a recurring character in series 2 and fuels Moz's paranoia and guilt over the murder of Craig.
- Psycho Paul: (Ryan Pope): Originally a rival dealer to Moz, Psycho Paul now works along side Cartoon Head. He first appeared in the early part of the first series as a rival (and more successful, partly because Moz won't deal to anyone, and Paul dealt in more than just a couple of types of weed) dealer. Shortly after PC busted Psycho Paul and gave all his weed to Moz, Psycho Paul hunted Moz down, and threatened to kill him if he didn't give him back his weed. All 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.
- PC: (Tom Goodman-Hill): As the name implies, PC is a police constable for Greater Manchester Police, except not quite as one would expect. He is the man responsible for giving Moz all his weed (generally, he gives Moz what the police take from other dealers during raids) and it is thought that they are very good friends (despite PC being one of the people having sex with Nicki at Moz's party). There are no direct references to PC's real name, perhaps to secure his identity, him being a policeman etc, nobody could report him as no one knows his real name. PC is one of the few characters who appears in every episode, and is important to most plot development.
- Troy: (Tony Burgess, also co-writer): Moz's brother is a strange character to say the least. In the second series he lives in Moz's airing cupboard, as he is in hiding from his wife. He is very touchy about the topic of his wife, and gets very upset when people talk to him about it. He once moved out of Moz's flat to live with his wife, only to return the next episode with bruises. He is a complete contrast to Moz; He is loud, not very conscientious, somewhat egotistical and most notably a lot smaller than his brother. He loves Late 80's/Early 90's Club music and runs his own pirate radio under the name DJ Troy. Moz does not have much tolerance for him, and is often very tetchy around him, he sees him more as a pest at times, yet at others seems to love him in a brotherly fashion. Troy is also a sub-standard DJ
- Kuldip: (Ronny Jhutti): A relatively successful DJ (much to Troy's annoyance) who was a frequent visitor to Moz's house in the first series however only appeared in the second to find out that he is the father of Nicki's baby.
- Judith: (Joanna Neary): A very timid-acting neighbour of Moz. She acts and dresses in a very demure fashion yet she hides a dark secret of her being a necrophiliac. She is very fond of Moz, as is he to her, however he is disgusted at the idea of her having sex with dead bodies. Judith experiments with drugs with Moz and generally acts more open when she is high (as seen in an episode when she is high with Moz on white widow), she has however made the accident of overdosing Moz with cookies filled with magic mushrooms.
- Jenny: (Sinead Matthews): A very estranged and seemingly dim-witted teenager. Although pregnant she often overlooks the dangers of taking drugs and visits Moz on a reasonably regular basis. She is also a friend of Nicki.
- Felix: (Des O'Malley): Father of Jenny's baby, he appears to be slightly overwhelmed by the idea of fatherhood and still has childlike tendencies himself. He is seemingly more intelligent than Jenny.
- Stemroach: (David Bradley): Terrifying 'Boss' of Cartoon Head and Psycho Paul, and heads quite a few illegal schemes. PC, Moz, and even Psycho Paul are afraid of him. It seems that he has a wife and a girlfriend (who had recently gave birth) and the wife went 'up the wall' over the news.
- Brian: (Graham Duff, creator and writer of the show): A very flamboyant homosexual who visits Moz regularly, often accompanied by a different boyfriend every week. He is known for the line 'Inn't he scrummy?'
- Colin: (Ben Crompton): A petty criminal who always seems to be on probation. He isn't particularly clever, though he is somewhat crafty. Often he is a tedious annoyance to Moz.
- Carmel: (Hanne Steen): A Spanish escort that was caught up in a kidnapping and lost her memory in the process. Colin has convinced her that she is his girlfriend.
- Sangita: (Sunetra Sarker): A very close friend of Nicki. Sangita convinces Nicki during the Christmas episode to leave Moz and to move in with her. It is suggested that the two are having an intimate relationship with one another. Sangita also suffers from multiple sclerosis.
- Yasuko: (Haruka Kuroda): A bubbly and naive Japanese woman with a cleaning compulsion. She had apparently encountered Nicki during a menage-a-trois in Thailand, on the basis of which she turns up at Moz's flat seeking accommodation. Eventually, she marries Moz's stultifyingly dull green-fingered friend, Derrick.
[edit] Episode list
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
[edit] Series one
- The Rat: Nicki is getting fed up with Moz not paying her enough attention, PC turns up with a delivery, and a strange man wearing a cartoon mask lets himself into the flat. Moz also has to contend with a couple of unwelcome visitors, in the shape of a rat and rival dealer Psycho Paul.
- The Seduction: While Nicki is away, Moz tries to play - by attempting to seduce one of his new customers after seeting her at a nightclub where his best mate Kuldip is a DJ. However, the rat (from the previous episode), has other ideas...
- The Boyfriend: Colin (who's still on probation) tells Moz about the body found across the road with its hand cut off, China's got a new boyfriend, and Nicki returns.
- The Affair: Moz gets rid of his stalker and China has split up with her boyfriend. Meanwhile Colin tries to flog some stolen goods (even though he's still on probation) and then steals the photos of Nicki.
- The Backpacker: A face from Nicki's past arrives unexpectedly wanting to stay, the polaroids from behind the bathroom cabinet go missing and re-appear, and Moz is selling red weed.
- The Party: It's Moz's birthday, and all Nicki has bought him is a sandwich and some chocolate, so she decides to throw him a party in the flat.
- The Pregnancy: The severed hand makes a return. Moz's stalker (Craig) is back, and spends some quality time with Cartoon Head. Nicki takes a pregnancy test.
- The Body: Cartoon Head shoots Craig. Nicki tells Moz she's pregnant.
- Xmas: An Ideal Xmas where Moz's mam turns up with a karaoke machine, Nicki snogs a woman in the bathroom while reminiscing about the two men she shagged there less than 9 months ago and the murdered Craig's twin brother sucks his killer's nipple.
[edit] Series two
- The Stag Do: Nicki's moved in with Sangita while Moz has a nervous new neighbour, Judith. Derrick and Yasuko are due to get married and Moz is asked to be best man. Cartoon Head has a special surprise for the stag do.
- The Landlord: Moz's landlord is coming to visit at the most inopportune time.
- The Hydroponics: Moz might be falling for his new neighbour Judith while being haunted by the ghost of Craig.
- The Séance: A plain clothes policeman gets trapped in Moz's loft, pensioner Mrs. Coneybear from downstairs performs a séance and Judith's secret is revealed.
- The Boss: Psycho Paul's gang have a kidnap plan that they need Moz for. He won't help until he receives a visit from their boss, Stemroach.
- The Guest: A succession of unwanted guests turn up at Moz's door while a kidnap victim remains in his flat.
- The Delivery: Moz is tipped off by PC about a drugs bust and now has to remove all evidence from his flat. Nicki goes into labour.
- The Money: Moz's life is in turmoil: Nicki's just given birth to a well-tanned baby; he gets raided by the police; PC gets drunk and wants to fight him; Stemroach and gang turn up to pay him less than expected and manage to stab PC in the process; Judith offers herself to him and they end up on the roof as his flat burns below them.
[edit] Series Three
Series Three begins on BBC Three on Tuesday 20th March 2007, with the first episode available to watch now on the station's website.
[edit] On DVD
A boxset of series 1 (excluding the Christmas special episode) was released in the UK on 7th November 2005. It includes the following extras:
- Making of Ideal.
- Outtakes.
- Deleted Scenes.
- Commentaries from Johnny Vegas (Moz), Graham Duff (creator, writer and Brian) and Henry Normal (executive producer).
The 2nd series was released on DVD on the 19th February, 2007 1.
[edit] Trivia
- The title of the series is a play on 'I deal'.
- 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.
- Moz often plays The Getaway on the PS2
- In the first episode of Series three, a picture on a mobile phone shows David Sant (Cartoon Head) without the mask, whether this is cartoon head or a Joke is unknown.
[edit] References
1 Amazon.
