"You'll believe a baby can fly!"
A light-hearted romantic comedy in which an alien superhero often takes everything rather literally...
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's health-food shop-owner George Sunday (Ardal O' Hanlon), alias the world's most famous superhero, Thermoman. Trouble is, Thermoman is not too familiar with Earth customs, so he is often embarrassingly honest and tends to take everything too literally.
When he falls in love with nurse Janet Dawkins (Emily Joyce), his behaviour appears most peculiar to her family and colleagues. Thermoman met Janet when he rescued her from the Grand Canyon, but since then his mission to save the world from destruction often comes in the way of his earthly romance.
Day-to-day, the couple have to overcome the conflicts that arise from Thermoman's double life. Did Janet really have to put his suit in the wash on the day when an abandoned space station was on course to destroy Grimsby? Should George stay for lunch with Janet's parents or fly off to stop an erupting volcano? Will George's life be worth living if he flies off?
Even Thermoman can't be in two places at once, and his continually disappearing in and out of the toilet in Janet's tiny suburban flat or at the surgery is not easy to explain.
Season One
Screened February - March 2000 on BBC1 (Fridays, 8.30) and BBC Choice
Regular Cast:
George Sunday/ Thermoman - Ardal O’Hanlon
Janet Dawkin - Emily Joyce
Dr Piers Crispin - Hugh Dennis
Mrs Rave - Geraldine McNulty
Tyler - Philip Whitchurch
Stanley Dawkins - Tim Wylton
Ella Dawkins - Lill Roughley
Arnie - Lou Hirsch
Avril - Moya Brady
Season One
My HeroFirst UK tx: 4 February 2000
Written by: Paul Mendelson & Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 7.1 million (29.4% audience share)
Guest stars: Mary Farragher, Timothy Gleed, Charlotte Hudson (Newsreader) Rory Lewis, Joan Linder, Jacqui O'Hanlon, Kevin Shewfelt and Marcello Walton
It's just an ordinary day at the Northolt surgery. Dr Piers Crispin (Hugh Dennis), the publicity-mad TV doctor, still fancies Janet almost as much as he fancies himself, Mrs. Raven (Geraldine McNulty), the sarcastic receptionist, is still frightening patients and Janet's mother has dropped in to wonder why her daughter is bent on passing up such an eligible husband as Piers. Janet, however, is trying to get back to normal after her recent holiday, during which she was rescued by Thermoman when a freak gust of wind blew her into the Grand Canyon. (Piers is jealous that she was in the news rather than him.) Janet has fallen for Thermoman but never expects to see her superhero saviour again, so when an odd hypochondriac Irishman called George Sunday visits her at the health centre, at first she doesn't make the connection.
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• In My Hero and ThermoMan's Greatest Challenge Janet has got a car: a blue hatchback in both cases. But she says she hasno hope of getting one in season two's Car. Then again, she has got one in season three's Puttin' on the Writs: and again, it's a blue hatchback.
• George knocks down lampposts when Janet initially rejects him, but he's not supposed to do any harm.
• Just what did Janet used to do with her serviette?
• Arnie gives George a glass of milk, but George can't have dairy products as they make him vomit on account of his chronic mucus problem: as he tells Janet in Mission Impossible.
• George sets fire to the wicker chair near the flat door, but it is unmarked later in the episode and in subsequent episodes.
• The ThermoMan in the title sequence is not Ardahl O'Hanlon (except for the bit where he smiles to camera). It is a stuntman called Eddie.
Disasters:
Romantic references:
• Rescues Janet from the Grand Canyon
• A meteorite the size of Texas
• A meteor heading for Belgium
• Janet asks George is he does everything at the speed of light...
• George tells Janet he has met 9,842 women prettier than her and and over 21,000 cleverer, but to him, she is perfection
Memory Wipes:
Tyler (failed)
Memorable quotes
Janet's mum Ella doesn't think much of Janet's uniform...
Ella: I've told you before that outfit does nothing for you.
Janet: I'm a nurse.
Ella: Then at least accessorise.
Message left by Ella on Janet's Answering Phone:
Wear something presentable and don't do that thing with you serviette.
Guess Who's Coming To Lunch?
First UK tx: 11 February 2000
Written by: Paul Mendelson & Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 6 million (24.2% audience share)
Guest Stars: John Guerrasio (Arnie's customer in his greasy New York snack bar -- brave man!)
George Sunday has moved in with his new girlfriend, nurse Janet Dawkins, though why on earth she is attracted to the peculiar Irishman is beyond her colleagues. Piers can't wait for Janet to introduce George to her parents, knowing that George is bound to make the wrong impression. Janet's mother, Ella, disapproves of everything Janet does and her father, Stanley, is pathologically protective of his little angel so, understandably, both George and Janet are very nervous when her parents arrive for Sunday lunch. George is under strict instructions to try to behave normally, but he can't resist helping to cook the chicken and heat the soup with his breath. After that disaster, George decides not to use his special powers to extinguish the burning oven gloves.
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• In Guess Who's Coming to Lunch and several other episodes, George flies from Northolt to New York via the Arabian Peninsula.
• When George returns from Etna, it's still daylight outside, even though Janet is in bed and her mother had called round at 10:30 at night. Also, the shot of ThermoMan directing traffic is captioned "Live from Mt Etna", but it's still daylight at there, too!
• Where's the mirror? Arnie greets George without seeing him (George is behind him) but Arnie has lost his superpowers.
• George accidentally blows the bedroom door into the living room ("wee bit overexcited, there" as a response to Janet's come-on) but Xil in Girlfriend blows it into the bedroom. So which way is it hung?
• George says his (invented) brother is called Eamonn, but in one season four episode he says his (invented) brother is called Seamus.
• George says his (invented) father is called Patrick, but his real father's name is revealed in Old Man Riverdance as Seamus.
• George sets fire to the sofa, but the same sofa and throw-over is there for the rest of seasons one through four!
Romantic references:
• Mount Etna erupting
• Earthquake in Nevada
• Unspecified disaster in Zimbabwe
• Something brewing in the Andes
Memorable Quotes:
"When I say I'm tired, I'm not too tired." - Janet
Janet: I thought it was another earthquake!
George: There could well be!
Janet is wearing her karate suit.
Ella: The way you dress, Janet.
Janet: It's karate.
Ella: I don't care what it is -- you won't get a man that way.
and later, with Janet still in her suit:
Ella: Janet, it's not too late. You grow your hair, smile, go to Laura Ashley.
Later still, Janet is wearing a cream scoop-neck T-shirt, a long cream cardigan and a black flowered skirt.
Ella: Now why can't you dress like that every day?
Janet: BECAUSE I'M A NURSE!
• More quotes on WikiQuote
Mission Impossible First UK tx: 17 February 2000
Written by: Paul Mendelson & Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 5.6 million (22.4% audience share)
Guest Stars: Michael J. Reynolds (Doctor) Margaret Towner (Mrs. Chipchase), Jilly Bond, Sue Carpenter (TV Interviewer), Heather Coombs, Sue Elliott-Nicholls, Charlotte Hudson (Newsreader) and Pamela Ruddock
Thermoman is called upon to save Grimsby from being destroyed by an abandoned Russian space station. Unfortunately, he has his own domestic disaster to deal with first. He's got Marmite over the front of his Thermo-uniform. It may be 100 per cent Thermomium and resistant to fire, flood, toxic waste and nuclear attack, but the Marmite won't shift.
Janet insists on washing his costume, which not only makes him late for his rescue mission but makes him itch like crazy due to an allergic reaction to the washing powder. Piers becomes suspicious when he sees Thermoman scratching himself on a news bulletin and seconds later George appears in his surgery scratching all over. He insists on giving George a medical, and when he discovers George has two heart beats and superhuman eyesight, threatens to reveal Thermoman's double identity live on television unless George leaves Janet. A brainwipe seems to be the only answer.
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• In Mission Impossible Arnie's superhero suit is purple, but when he gets his powers back in Car, it's blue.
• George says that he cannot eat anything containing caffeine because it will make his blood leak out through his skin, but in Wedding he eats raw coffee granules straight from the jar with Janet (it's one of her pregnancy cravings) and also with Arnie.
• George says that he cannot eat anything containing dairy produce because of his chronic mucus problem, but he ate Spaghetti Carbonara (which contains cream) at the bistro with Janet in My Hero.
• Mrs. Raven calls Piers Dr. Crippen.
•Piers' hair falls out when ThermoMan erases his memory, forcing him to wear a wig on TV, but in subsequent episodes, his hair is OK.
Romantic references:
• Earthquake in Peru
• Abandoned Russian space station heading for Grimsby
• Avalanche (unspecified)
• Both Janet and George are upset about the rule in the Guide to Living with a Superhero that says they must confine themselves to once a month
Memory Wipes:
Piers (complete memory wipe)
Memorable Quotes
Ella: (About George): "I asked him how much television he watches and he said 'the whole screen'."
• More quotes on WikiQuote
Thermoman's Greatest Challenge
First UK tx: 25 February 2003
Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 5 million (20.5% audience share)
Guest Stars: Malcolm Mudie, Hilary Sesta, Fergus Webster and Stuart Wright
Thermoman's repeated visits to the health centre to save Janet from a wasp sting or a spider are baffling patients and staff. Piers thinks he's made a new celebrity friend and invites him to be guest of honour at the fund-raising party he has organised to boost his own public image. Janet's parents insist both George and Janet attend the party so that George can personally thank Thermoman for saving Janet from falling into the Grand Canyon. Not easy, given that George is Thermoman. George hatches a cunning plan which involves him meeting Thermoman in the toilets, but the fake rendezvous doesn't quite go as planned.
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• Ella sees George in the shower and hints that he's a "big boy", but in Parents Janet says a couple of things are bigger "his lungs and, for some reason, his navel, otherwise he's like Dad" to which Ella replies "You poor thing". Also, a scan done in a season four episode reveals him to be a "big boy".
• George says he's focussed, not thinking about Janet at all but of course he must be just by mentioning her name.
Romantic references: • Saves Janet from a spider
• Forest fire in Mozambique
• Ecological disaster in the Amazon
• George says he likes that thing that Janet does with her tongue
Memory Wipes:
Tyler -- but it took a while to find it
Memorable Quotes
Ella: Do try to wear something nice.
Janet: Yes, I'll wear my little black dress.
Ella: Janet, it's not a funeral. I thought I taught you how to sparkle.
Janet is wearing her little black dress.
Ella: Janet, did you have to wear that old thing?
Janet is wearing her little black dress.
Ella: I've always said how perfect it is, haven't I darling?
Janet: No, you said did I have to wear that old thing.
Janet comes off the telephone from Ella and says to George
Janet: She wanted to tell me how much she liked my earrings this evening, and my coat and my shoes and my bag.
George: See, one word from ThermoMan and she's a changed woman.
Janet: Then she said couldn't I do something about my hair: it looked awful.
• More quotes on WikiQuote
Old Man Riverdance
First UK tx: 3 March 2000
Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 5.1 million (20.1% audience share)
Guest Stars: Peadar Lamb (Seamus), Anya Sitaram (Newsreader) and Charlotte Hudson (Newsreader, uncredited)
George receives a visit from his father, the original Thermoman, who now resides in the
Dunrescuin home for retired superheroes in Florida. (He shares a room with the Invisible Man, who is no longer invisible, but al the residents have to pretend he is). George's father, [Earth name] Seamus (Peadar Lamb), is unhappy that his son is co-habiting with an Earth girl. Apart from the smell, she is interfering with his work.
On planet Ultron, a father's word is law, or risk inter vention by the all-powerful Ultron Council a prospect George doesn 't relish having seen what they did to his cousin Arnie.
Having given the couple two days to try to prove him wrong, Seamus decides George must leave. But Janet has a plan: if Seamus meets her own parents and hears how much they disapprove of George, this should make Seamus jump to George's defence. Fine in theory; in practice the parents bond in mutual disapproval of their offspring's relationship. There is only one thing to do. If George wants to stay with Janet, he must renounce his superhero status...
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• George destroys the TV when angrily switching it off, but later he watches
A Touch of Frost, but Janet says she would prefer to watch Ground Force
• George says Janet (and all earth women) smell like a dead sheep to Ultronian noses, but in Guess Who's Coming to Lunch? he says she smells prettier than a cinnamon and apple pie.
• Janet says she never uses the F-word, but during the recording of the eighth episode of season four, Emily Joyce did! (She said a retake was due to Ardahl's f***-up, not hers -- and got one of the biggest laughs of the recording session)
• When describing Invisible Man, what does Janet look at out of the window?
• Mrs Hewitt is the only patient in the entire season to see one of the other doctors. Mrs. Raven tells her "you can go through now" but she doesn't go to to either Piers' or Janet's office (In season one, the staff at the Northolt Health Centre are: Dr. P. Crispin, Dr. J. Plumb, Dr. R. Drew, Nurse J. Dawkins and Receptionist Mrs. Raven)
Disasters:
• New Guinea: flash floods
• Guatemala - forest fire
• Cuba - volcano
• 747 with engine failure at 35,0000 ft (fake to fool Seamus)
Romantic references:
• George says his Dad will be loving Janet just like he does, apart from the bedroom bit
Memory Wipes:
Ella, Stanley, Mrs. Raven, Avril and Tyler
Memorable Quotes
Janet: George, if your father does let us stay together, and we have
children, what would they be like? Human or Ultronian?
George: Hmm... Probably a bit of both. In human terms, brilliant! In
Ultronian terms, seriously retarded!
• More
quotes on WikiQuoteThe Party's Over First
UK tx: 10 March 2000
Ratings: 5.7 million (22.7% audience share)
Guest Stars: Trés Hanley (Carol) and Emma Pike
It's Janet's 30th birthday, but an earth girl hitting the Big 3-0 means nothing to the Ultron male. So when Janet says she doesn't want to discuss it and then changes her mind, poor George isn't quite sure what to do. As always, he turns to his cousin Arnie for advice.
It's decided that George should throw Janet a surprise birthday party (although George doesn't quite understand the concept). Disguised in a hat and sunglasses, George visits the health centre to invite Janet's work colleagues to the party.
George flies Janet over to New York to meet Arnie which should keep her out of the way while her friends and parents get the party swinging in Northolt. Piers arrives with Zoe (a runner from his TV show who he's paid to accompany him) while Mrs Raven is busy fighting off amorous advances from Janet's fried-brain neighbour, Tyler. All seems to be going smoothly when George flies off to collect Janet, but on arrival, he accidentally spills the beans about her surprise party. Can George can come up with the perfect solution?
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• George says Ultronians don't count their age: you're Young, Getting On A Bit or Nearly Dead. Then in Parents he says he's 842 years old, but in The Older Man he's 327.
• Mrs. Raven calls Piers Dr. Cripped.
• The rhyme in the Birthday Card Mrs Raven gives to Janet:
Wishing you much joy and fun
On this your special day.
For when you pass the big 3-0,
Your looks will fade away.
Romantic references:
• Something's going to blow!
• Earthquake in San Francisco (fake to fool Janet)
• George says he is terrific at all that lovemaking business
Memorable Quotes
Tyler: (to Mrs. Raven) When can I see you again?
Mrs. Raven: When Hell freezes over!
Tyler: Tuesday it is, then.
2000 Christmas Special
My Hero Christmas
First UK tx: 22 December 2000
Ratings: 4.2 million (19% audience share)
Thermoman becomes completely confused about the meaning of Christmas. Well, who wouldn't these days?
George tries to get into the spirit of Christmas by creeping into the houses of Janet's parents, Mrs Raven and her boss Piers on Christmas Eve dressed as Santa to leave them all presents. This doesn't go down as well as he had planned, and Christmas dinner is a bit of a miserable affair -- until George appears with the real Father Christmas who has a special present. for everyone.
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• George steals Piers' present of perfume to Janet and gives it to her himself.
• Did George really set fire to the warehouse of ThermoMan figures?
Romantic references:
• Office party in Melbourne: two people trapped naked in a cupboard
• Manchester: three mums fighting over the last Pokemon
Season 2
Screened May - July 2001 on BBC1 (Monday, 8.30, repeated Sunday afternoons) and BBC Choice.Episode titles kindly supplied by Paul Mendelson
Parents
First UK tx: 14 May 2001
Directed by: John Stroud
Guest Stars: Jill Benedict (Audrey), John Halstead (Tom) and Philip Cumbus (Teenager)
Janet reveals George's secrets to her parents, with near-disatrous consequences. A great start to the new season.
George ruins Janet's parents amateur dramatic performance by shouting out as if it's a panto, so Janet tries to deflect their anger by telling them the truth that he is really superhero ThermoMan. Although Janet's mum and dad now love him, life gets more complicated when everyone knows, particularly when Mrs Raven tries to offer him her body (dressed like Marilyn Monroe!).
"The New second series of the underrated superhero comedy. It's still focused on his non-superhero half of his life and that's generally why those who liked it liked it quite a lot." (The Radio Times)
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• The play put on by NADS (Northolt Amateur Dramatic Society) starring Stanley and Ella is Dead Men Tell No Tales.
• George says Mrs. Raven "looks lovely today" then explains that Janet has told him it OK to lie to be polite, but the whole of Zero Tolerance is based on him not lying and not understanding why people tell white lies.
• Mrs. Raven breaks Piers jaw in six places, but in subsequent episodes, he's OK.
• Why does the CD of The Mikado jump straight to "Three Little Maids"?
Disasters:
• Botswana - flooding
• Down under - pit evacuation
• Flooding in Bolivia (false alarm)
Romantic references:
• Ella asks Janet if George is "as other men".
• George, on the phone, tells Stanley that he is "just
lying here, while Janet kisses my nipples".
Memory Wipes:
• Ella's friend, Audrey
• Belinda Lloyd and 1407 others members of the Northolt Womens' Circle
• Mrs Raven
• Ella and Stanley
Memorable Quotes
Ella: They're saying it's the NADS' best production yet!
George: The NADS?
Piers: Yes. The good old Northholt Amateur Dramatic Society.
George: But... that's GONADS!
• More
quotes on WikiQuoteGeorge: The NADS?
Piers: Yes. The good old Northholt Amateur Dramatic Society.
George: But... that's GONADS!
Girlfriend
First UK tx: 21 May 2001
Written by: Paul Alexander & Simon Braithwaite Directed by: John Stroud
George has failed to tell Janet that he is already engaged - to a six-foot warrior princess back on Ultron, Xil.
When she arrives to claim him as her rightful husband, Janet, who had just been complaining things were getting predictable, is horrified. Her mother, informed this newcomer is from Ireland, is ecstatic - at last her daughter will be free of George.
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• Xil says the same "Ultronian" words to Tyler three times, but he replies with completely different answers to three obviously completely different questions. Furthermore, although she doesn't speak English, she understands Tyler's replies to her questions.
• Why does nobody query Xil's obviously alien outfit?
• Why do Ella and Mrs. Raven assume Xil is George's fiancée on sight, with no other evidence?
• Arnie offers to be George's Best Man when he marries Xil ("Given any thought to your Best Man?"), but wants to be paid in Wedding at George's wedding to Janet. ("I'm choked that you should ask me to do this and not offer to pay me")
• Janet catches George and Xil doing mutual nose-fondling which is supposed to be the true sign of friendship between an Ultron male and female : but George doesn't like Xil.
• Is there a time mistake? Xil wants Zanalar with George, which is supposed to be on the eve of the wedding, but the next day Janet catches them nose-fondling, then the next day is supposed to be the wedding.
• Piers says one of his new private patients is the Mayor, a raving hypochondriac, but Mrs. Raven knew about him being on antibiotics at the reception in Mission Impossible, so wasn't he already a patient?
• The necklace that George gave to Janet is made of Thoridium.
Romantic references: • Xil demands Zanalar from George: the pre-wedding mating ritual. To which Janet retorts "you are never to have sex with that she-demon, ever".
Memorable Quotes
George (about Xil): Actually, I feel a bit sorry for her. It's not hard
to see why she's come. Poor girl.
Janet: Poor girl?!
George: Yeah, you only have to look at her. Honestly, how is a girl who looks like that ever going to find a husband?
Janet: George, here on Earth, a girl who looks like that could get anyone as a husband!
George: Really? Even with those long, shapely legs? And those boring, perfectly spherical breasts? What a ridiculous planet this is!
• More
quotes on WikiQuoteJanet: Poor girl?!
George: Yeah, you only have to look at her. Honestly, how is a girl who looks like that ever going to find a husband?
Janet: George, here on Earth, a girl who looks like that could get anyone as a husband!
George: Really? Even with those long, shapely legs? And those boring, perfectly spherical breasts? What a ridiculous planet this is!
Car
First UK tx: 28 May 2001
Written by: Paul Alexander & Simon Braithwaite Directed by: John Stroud Guest Stars: Deborah Winckles, Eva Marie Bryer, Randal Herley and Andy Greenhalgh
George is working hard in the health shop to save money to buy Janet a much-needed car. And Arnie is given back his powers to help George with his superhero work. But can he be trusted? Well, he steals the crown jewels on his first day. What do you think?
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• George asks Arnie what the time difference is between Earth and Ultron and Arnie says 95 light years, but a light year is a measurement of distance, not time.
• Arnie wants to know "who is that mean momma", but he's already met Mrs. Raven in
The Party's Over when George took her with Janet's family to Arnie's café in New York : and Janet hints that they slept together "she's going to wake up with Arnie, which is worse".
•George says Arnie is his oldest friend, but in Zero Tolerance he says he's not and he's only known him for a couple of centuries. Also in Girlfriend Arnie refers to them being betrothed when they were six.
•The lady in the shop with a gallstone is holding her left side, but gallstones cause pain on the right side and the lady with water retention doesn't pay for her remedy!
Disasters:
• Tidal Wave (unspecified) (PolarMan)
• Shipwreck (Unspecified) (PolarMan)
• Typhoon in Nicargua
• St Petersburg (Unspecified) (PolarMan)
• Guatemala (Unspecified)
• Arctic (unspecified)
Memorable Quotes
Arnie's various jibes to Mrs. Raven (who he adores!)
- Who is that mean momma?
- Oh, it's your perfume, I thought it was the drains.
- Ain't I seen your face before, swivelling through 360º?
- Ah shaddup and give that hole in your face time to heal up.
- That is one ugly broad.
- Either you need a shave or it's a fool moon again.
- You bet your ugly arse.
Mrs. Raven's jibes at Arnie (who she adores)
- Yankee doodle, don't come in here with that dead rat under your nose.
- You can talk: you look like something Mrs. Godzilla scares her kids with when they won't eat their supper.
- Why don't you just climb back up your tree and milk your tiny coconuts.
- I hate Americans.
- You useless string of rancid cat vomit.
- Yankee doodle, don't come in here with that dead rat under your nose.
- You can talk: you look like something Mrs. Godzilla scares her kids with when they won't eat their supper.
- Why don't you just climb back up your tree and milk your tiny coconuts.
- I hate Americans.
- You useless string of rancid cat vomit.
Nemesis
First UK tx: 4 June 2001
Written by: Gary Lawson & John Phelps Directed by: John Stroud Guest Stars: James Holmes (Rovi Grubelddim)
George has to contend with an old school friend who takes over Piers' body to create an Earth-born superhero who will put him out of business. Highlights of this episode are the final battle, which only goes to show you it is possible to have a superhero battle on a BBC budget and make it convincing!
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• In Nemesis and in Pregnant why didn't George go green when he saw Janet kissing Piers in Nemesis ("Now I'm really jealous") and in Pregnant (when Janet was doing all the superhero work) like he did in season three's Little Green Man? Both times he said he was jealous; in Nemesis he had to look it up.
• Why does Piers end up naked when George defeats Rovi at Chang Ching?
• How did the paper get the picture of "ThermoMoon", when George had only just found out that Janet was pregnant and he only went to Tajikistan to deal with an earthquake then straight to Arnie's?
• Piers offers to do the filing in this episode, but he wouldn't know how to as Mrs. Raven informs him in Girlfriend that she doesn't file alphabetically, but by how irritating people are cross-referenced with how many times she has been rude to them on the phone.
• The car Piers "flicks" at Janet is M768DLD
Disasters:
• Saving yaks from an avalanche• Mudslide in Paraguay (MiracaleMan)
• Forest Fire (MiracleMan)
• Cardiff (unspecified)
Memorable Quotes
George has just been scared by Mrs Raven, who has turned up in his
health food shop
Mrs. Raven: Did I scare ya?
George: You always scare me, Mrs. Raven.
Mrs. Raven: The triplets are giving me bother again.
George: Oh, right. Well, I've got just the thing for headaches...
Mrs. Raven: No, I want something to deal with the triplets!
George: Mrs. Raven! I've told you before, I can't sell chloroform over the counter!
• More
quotes on WikiQuoteGeorge: You always scare me, Mrs. Raven.
Mrs. Raven: The triplets are giving me bother again.
George: Oh, right. Well, I've got just the thing for headaches...
Mrs. Raven: No, I want something to deal with the triplets!
George: Mrs. Raven! I've told you before, I can't sell chloroform over the counter!
Pregnant
First UK tx: 11 June 2001
Written by: Paul Mendelson & Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Guest Stars: John Rapley (Mr Jenks), John Oliver (Man from the BBC), Betsy Pennington (Arnie's Customer), Jodie Scott (Arnie's Customer), Sharlene Whyte (Arnie's Customer) and Lynette Clarke (Patient)
When Janet discovers she is pregnant,Thermoman is over the moon and gives her special powers to protect herself and the unborn baby.
Disasters:
• Earthquake in Kazakhstan
• Sewage works explosion in Bolivia
• Florida - Hurricane Hilary (Janet)
• Azerbaijan (unspecified) (Janet)
• Volcano in Bali (Janet)
Romantic references:
• George says "you know how you smile at me when you turn off the TV, even though I haven't said anything funny" to which Janet replies "yes, I know the process"
• Janet says "Let's go flying : we could be the first people to join the mile-high club without a plane".
Wedding
First UK tx: 18 June 2001
Written by: Paul Mendelson & Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Guest Stars: Paul Gregory (Vicar), Gareth Anderson, Sydney Golder, Gabrielle Hamilton, Petina Hapgood and George Keeler
Janet's dad is insisting that her baby be born in wedlock, and Thermoman's bosses on Ultron are of the same mind.
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• Stanley says he's been married to Ella for 35 years, but in
A Little Learning they celebrate their Ruby 4oth Wedding (note : Olly is still only nine months old in season four).
• Tyler says Dan Dare is his uncle but in Zero Tolerance he says he knows that Dan Dare is a fictional figure. (Then again, Tyler will say just about anything, so maybe we should just ignore this...)
• George and Janet's wedding was at St. Luke's Church.
Disasters:
• Alabama - tornado blows a church clean away
Season Three
Here's a BBC
Press release about season three:
New series, new baby… My Hero returns with a ThermoTot!
Superhero with a difference, ThermoMan, alias mild-mannered health food shop owner, George Sunday, returns for a brand new series of the romantic comedy, My Hero (starts Friday 7 June, BBC ONE). But this time he's got competition in the superhero stakes - from his own baby son.
Life is getting more and more stressful for George and Janet Sunday. Keeping George's alter ego secret from the outside world (and Janet's parents) is hard enough but with a new baby in the house who, to put it mildly, takes after George rather more than Janet, it's becoming impossible.
Baby Ollie has all the characteristics of a pint sized superhero - he can talk like an adult, fly like a turbo-charged bird and has ambitions to study at Cambridge University - and he's not yet two weeks old. To make matters worse, George is teaching him to sniff out tidal waves and forest fires… It's impressive stuff but at the same time highly embarrassing for Janet. Like all new mums, she wants to show off her baby but how does she explain his rather special characteristics - especially to her parents and friends?
Says Ardal O'Hanlon (George Sunday): "There are some great special effects and comedy moments which focus on the strain of keeping a secret and trying to behave normally in front of other people - like Janet's parents - when in reality the situation is anything but. The introduction of the baby adds a whole new dimension to the series because not only do you have the tensions of keeping George's alter ego secret, you have the additional issue of a baby - and an out-of-control one at that!"
Meanwhile, still in residence at the Health Centre are smarmy GP, Dr Piers Crispin, who has designs on a tv career because curing the sick isn't his thing, and bellicose receptionist Mrs Raven, who hates the patients and doesn't have much time for her boss either.
Says Hugh Dennis (Dr Piers Crispin): "Dr Piers is an self-obsessed, incredibly vain egomaniac with no interest in anything except himself - he's a brilliant part to play!"
My Hero is created by Paul Mendelson and co-written with Paul Mayhew-Archer.
Ardal O'Hanlon and Emily Joyce star as George and Janet Sunday; Hugh Dennis as Dr Piers Crispin; Geraldine McNulty as Mrs Raven and Janet's long suffering parents are played by Tim Wylton and Lill Roughley. Twin babies played Ollie in this season, voiced by Finlay Stroud; Laura and Lucy Dethier-Chapman.
New series, new baby… My Hero returns with a ThermoTot!
Superhero with a difference, ThermoMan, alias mild-mannered health food shop owner, George Sunday, returns for a brand new series of the romantic comedy, My Hero (starts Friday 7 June, BBC ONE). But this time he's got competition in the superhero stakes - from his own baby son.
Life is getting more and more stressful for George and Janet Sunday. Keeping George's alter ego secret from the outside world (and Janet's parents) is hard enough but with a new baby in the house who, to put it mildly, takes after George rather more than Janet, it's becoming impossible.
Baby Ollie has all the characteristics of a pint sized superhero - he can talk like an adult, fly like a turbo-charged bird and has ambitions to study at Cambridge University - and he's not yet two weeks old. To make matters worse, George is teaching him to sniff out tidal waves and forest fires… It's impressive stuff but at the same time highly embarrassing for Janet. Like all new mums, she wants to show off her baby but how does she explain his rather special characteristics - especially to her parents and friends?
Says Ardal O'Hanlon (George Sunday): "There are some great special effects and comedy moments which focus on the strain of keeping a secret and trying to behave normally in front of other people - like Janet's parents - when in reality the situation is anything but. The introduction of the baby adds a whole new dimension to the series because not only do you have the tensions of keeping George's alter ego secret, you have the additional issue of a baby - and an out-of-control one at that!"
Meanwhile, still in residence at the Health Centre are smarmy GP, Dr Piers Crispin, who has designs on a tv career because curing the sick isn't his thing, and bellicose receptionist Mrs Raven, who hates the patients and doesn't have much time for her boss either.
Says Hugh Dennis (Dr Piers Crispin): "Dr Piers is an self-obsessed, incredibly vain egomaniac with no interest in anything except himself - he's a brilliant part to play!"
My Hero is created by Paul Mendelson and co-written with Paul Mayhew-Archer.
Ardal O'Hanlon and Emily Joyce star as George and Janet Sunday; Hugh Dennis as Dr Piers Crispin; Geraldine McNulty as Mrs Raven and Janet's long suffering parents are played by Tim Wylton and Lill Roughley. Twin babies played Ollie in this season, voiced by Finlay Stroud; Laura and Lucy Dethier-Chapman.
Shot December 2001 through January 2001. This season comprises 10 epsiodes and develops the problems with a superhero baby! Screening info is for BBC1.
Baby Talk
First UK tx: 7 June 2002
Written by: Paul Mendelson & Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 5.8 million (26.2% audience share)
Guest Stars: Patrick Driver (Mr Cracknell), Peter Cadden, Nicky Callanan and Adam Woodroffe
Most parents can't wait to show off their newborn, but this one flies, talks and does the hoovering! How on earth do George and Janet explain that away?
Life is becoming increasingly stressful for George and Janet Sunday. Keeping George's alter ego secret from Janet's parents is difficult enough but with a new baby in the house who, to put it mildly, takes after George rather more than Janet, it is becoming impossible.
The baby has all the characteristics of a pint-sized superhero -- he can talk like an adult and fly like a turbo-charged bird.To make matters worse, George is already teaching him to sniff out tidal waves and forest fires. With Janet's parents due any minute to see their new grandchild for the first time, these are far from desirable qualities.
Meanwhile, over at the Health Centre, Dr Pier's TV career starts to look up when, out of desperation, he appoints Mrs Raven as his agent. But she proves rather too good at her new job, reporting: "I've got you the National Lottery at eight and Clive Anderson is humiliating you at 10." What with this and a guest appearance on Carol Smillie's new show, Waiting Rooms, Dr Piers is in serious need of resuscitation.
• Read a review of this episode on The Guardian web site (registration required): Go
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• Janet's hair has noticeably grown (overnight) from Wedding when she gives birth to Olly, (who is only one day old "he wasn't born yesterday : Yes he was, that's the trouble") on what is supposed to be the next day.
• Ella asks why George and Janet have been keeping her Grandson from her and Stanley says they've missed Janet as they haven't seen her since the birth : but Olly was born yesterday.
• How have George and Janet got enlarged photos of Olly just one day after he was born, which would be a Sunday as they were married and Olly was born on a Saturday?
• When Olly goes missing just before the tea-party on Saturday, ThermoMan calls for Pontius on the first search, but Benjamin on the second. And how did George and Janet manage to stall her parents from seeing Olly for a whole week?
Disasters:
• Earthquake in Tibet• Man hurls himself off cliff (unspecified)
Memorable Quotes
Arnie's various jibes to Mrs. Raven
- How ya been, my ugly little bat out of hell?
- Go catch rabies.
- Phantom of the Opera.
Mrs. Raven to Arnie (who she adores)
- Pig swill.
- Crawl back to your trough.
- I'd rather live with a dead skunk.
Zero Tolerance
First UK tx: 14 June 2002
Written by: Paul Mendelson & Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 5.9 million (27.7% audience share)
Guest Stars: Paul Child (Craig), Simon Wright (Male Customer), Heff Mirza (Pilot), Jonathan Jones (Co-Pilot), Mark Heal (Store Detective), Jonathon Finlay, Jack Stevenson, Nadia Townsend, Eileen Davies, Jonathan Wills and Pat Kelman (Ultron Postman)
Life at the health centre takes an unexpected turn when a desperate man turns up waving a gun and demanding access to the drugs cabinet. "You handle this, Mrs Raven!," screeches Dr Piers. But Mrs R, who is more than capable of dealing with a gun-toting addict just by glaring at him, isn’t given the chance. Enter George Sunday, who disarms the gunman and saves the day -- and doesn’t even have to call on his alter ego,ThermoMan, to do so.
Being a local -- rather than super -- hero is an unusual experience for George. He is fêted in the Northolt Courier and invited to join the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme by none other than his father-in-law, Stanley. However, will George’s new-found popularity with his in-laws last? Or will his zealous adherence to telling the truth at all times -- even when Stanley is caught speeding put him back in the dog house again?
Meanwhile, superbaby decides he wants to read Physics at Cambridge ... Quantum Physics!
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• It took Mrs. Raven 55 seconds to make Olly cry, not 31 as George says. (OK - now we are being picky)
• Janet asks George why he can't transform in her office, but she knows from Pregnant that he has to transform in the bathroom / toilet.
• George says Olly can do Physics at Ultron University with potty training as a subsidiary, but at the very end of Baby Talk, he declares Olly potty trained.
• The lady who brings the goods back to the shop says they were £24.99, but Arnie only wrapped one note onto his wad.
Disasters:
• Forest fire in Venezuela
Romantic references:
• Janet and George discuss little white lies about performance in bed.
Memory Wipes:
Piers and Mrs raven when George disarms the druggie
Memorable Quotes
Piers: I stopped a little vandal this week spraying “poser” on
my brand new customised Porsche.
George: Oh yes, I saw that. And on the other side he'd written "Useless toss-"
Piers: Yes, thank you George! So I hauled him down to the police station. A small struggle, but I managed to get the better of him. And did they charge him? No, they did not!
Honestly, these 5-year-olds can get away with murder!
• More
quotes on WikiQuoteGeorge: Oh yes, I saw that. And on the other side he'd written "Useless toss-"
Piers: Yes, thank you George! So I hauled him down to the police station. A small struggle, but I managed to get the better of him. And did they charge him? No, they did not!
Honestly, these 5-year-olds can get away with murder!
Pet Rescue
First UK tx: 21 June 2002
Written by: Paul Mayhew-Archer
Ratings: 6 million (30% audience share)
Guest Stars: Pat Kelman (Ultron Postman, late because of privatisation), Fi Lovett, June Bailey and Donna Berlin. Anyone know where Malcolm the Dog and friends came from?
Why do we British love our pets so much? George can't understand it, until his mother-in-law's dog Biggles (who prefers to be called Malcolm) explains it all to him. But talking to animals gets him into big trouble...
Ella and Stanley have the decorators in, so Janet has volunteered to look after their dog, Biggles -- much to George’s disgust. According to him, all dogs are "a breeding ground for fleas". And Mrs Raven doesn't help when she pronounces darkly: "Other people’s pets always die on you..."
However, George is determined to overcome his aversion and bond with Biggles. When he sees an ad in Superhero Monthly for a super power which will allow him to talk to animals, it's too good an opportunity to miss. In no time at all, he's discovered that Biggles's real name is actually Malcolm. In fact, the dog hates the name Biggles and he's not too keen on Ella and Stanley, either.
"What's wrong with them?", asks George in his new Dr Dolittle mode.
"How long have you got?", sighs Biggles. He confides that he was taken away from his mother when he was just a pup and Ella forces him to wear a tartan coat.
But George is'’t a superhero for nothing. Enter ThermoMan on a mission to reunite Biggles with his long-lost mum and rescue him from a one-way trip to the vet.
Meanwhile, at the Health Centre, Dr Piers finally snaps and sacks Mrs Raven for driving away his patients. However, when she starts haunting the surgery and bad-mouthing the practice to anyone who'll listen, surely it’s only a matter of time before he's begging her to come back again?
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• George says he's not human, but in the first ever episode he tells Janet he is the same species as her.
• Malcolm (Biggles) understands what Janet is saying and replies to George, but it is George who is using the "inter-species interpreter".
• Mrs. Raven says the doctor took one look at her yesterday and said her supposed bubonic plague was probably just a cold, but in the next scene Piers says she hasn't been in for a couple of days.
Disasters:
• Saving someone from a crocodile
Romantic references:
• Janet and George have to refrain from intimate contact until Biggles goes home.
• Janet says when Biggles ran back to the flat they were awake but it wasn't the best time.
• Janet says "right, where were we?" George says "I was touching you just there" Janet says "Oh yes, so you were..."
Memorable Quotes
Janet: We're looking after Biggles, Mum and Dad's
dog, for a couple of weeks.
Mrs. Raven: How old is it?
Janet: About five, I think.
Mrs. Raven: Not much of an innings is it?
Janet: Innings?
Mrs. Raven: Well, it's gonna die, isn't it? Every time you look after someone's pet, they always die and they never forgive you.
Janet: It's not going to die, Mrs. Raven.
Mrs. Raven: Where is it now?
Janet: With George.
Mrs. Raven: How old is it?
Janet: About five, I think.
Mrs. Raven: Not much of an innings is it?
Janet: Innings?
Mrs. Raven: Well, it's gonna die, isn't it? Every time you look after someone's pet, they always die and they never forgive you.
Janet: It's not going to die, Mrs. Raven.
Mrs. Raven: Where is it now?
Janet: With George.
Mrs Raven: It's gonna die. Painfully, probably.
Janet: Mrs. Raven...
Mrs. Raven: Do you know, I looked after my cousin's
cat once. The next day, it was run over and killed. My cousin never forgave
me.
Janet: It's hardly your fault if someone... You were driving the car, weren't you?
Janet: It's hardly your fault if someone... You were driving the car, weren't you?
Mrs. Raven: I hated that cat.
The Older Man
First UK tx: 28 June 2002
Written by: Paul Mendelson & Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 5.2 million (26.1% audience share)
Guest Stars: Alex Thorne (Young George), Alison Senior (Hayley Thorpe), Jimmy Gardner (Old George), Mark A Brighton (Bob), Jack Sandle, Julie Foulds, Maryann Turner, Audrey Smith and Natasha Kaplinsky (Newsreader). Note: Natasha Kaplinsky is co-anchor on BBC Breakfast.
It's George's birthday - and, at 327 years old, he's a mere spring chicken in Planet Ultron terms. But the lease on George’s earthly body has run out and he's starting to look his real age rather rapidly…
"I’m just the same guy inside", he says to a horrified Janet. But all Janet can see is the bald head, the paunch and the triple chins. This is not the man she married!
Enough is enough and an increasingly desperate George has to resort to extreme measures in a bid to turn back the clock. He needs a new body -- but the options are fit, strong and young -- or a reject. Which one will he choose?
Meanwhile, the Health Centre staff are on the verge of revolt when Dr Piers employs sexy Nurse Haley to job share with Janet. Both Mrs Raven and Janet are dubious about her nursing skills - and with good reason. And to add insult to injury, Nurse Haley's plans for the transformation of the Health Centre include Robbie Williams' posters on the wall, hip hop music in the background and, worst of all, a new trendy image for Dr Piers. It's up to Mrs Raven to ensure that the surgery gets back to normal...
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• George's earthly body has expired at 327 years old but there are several references to George not having been on earth long.
• Hayley is employed because Janet wants to spend more time with Olly, but when she is sacked, why isn't she replaced?
• Why does Janet have to carry baby George to the bathroom to go and find the reject body when he can still fly? And why, just before that, does he ask Janet to pick him up?
Romantic references:
• George winks at Janet and says "We'll have an early night"
• Mrs. Raven advises Hayley to "drink plenty, or you won't enjoy Part 3"
• The replacement George calls Janet a lesbian.
Memorable Quotes
Arnie (to a rapidly-ageing George): There is one thing
you can do, George. But it's very risky.
George: What?
Arnie: You can go through... The Flaming Time Tunnels of Tarxis.
Tyler: Been there, done that, got the T-shirt!
George: What?
Arnie: You can go through... The Flaming Time Tunnels of Tarxis.
Tyler: Been there, done that, got the T-shirt!
[Tyler opens up his jacket
to reveal a T-shirt underneath reading "I
went through The Flaming Time Tunnels of Tarxis"]
Arnie: It reverses an Ultronian's aging process by re-jiggin' the age hormones. Many Ultronian women use it instead of a face lift.
Arnie: It reverses an Ultronian's aging process by re-jiggin' the age hormones. Many Ultronian women use it instead of a face lift.
George: Oh, yes, I remember. Who's that famous Ultronian?
Arnie: Her Earth name is Joan Collins. She's been through so many times, she's got a season ticket.
Arnie: Her Earth name is Joan Collins. She's been through so many times, she's got a season ticket.
Puttin' on the Writs
First UK tx: 5 July 2002
Written by: Paul Alexander & Simon Braithwaite
Guest Stars: Richard Dixon (Estate Agent), Jade Clarke (Trolley Assistant) and Jonathan Wills (Newsreader)
It’s just an ordinary morning in a supermarket car-park until Mrs Raven has a run-in with a stack of wayward trolleys and is tipped over the edge of the multi-storey building… It’s ThermoMan to the rescue -- but when he refuses Mrs R's kind offer of Battenberg cake in return for saving her life, retribution is swift! "You’re suing him for £5 million?!" asks an aghast Janet.
"He grabbed my arm and sprained it, causing trauma, distress and potential loss of earnings should I ever wish to ski competitively" says Mrs R in her defence.
But it’s George who has to come up with a defence as the case is about to come to court. And with barristers costing £500 a day, George will have to turn his attention away from saving the world, in order to save the household finances instead…
Meanwhile, Stanley Dawkins has had enough of Ella's nagging and has moved in with Tyler. It looks like being the perfect arrangement as Stanley enjoys the heady excitement of putting his feet on the table and drying his underpants on the radiators! "I haven’t had this much fun since National Service", he says gleefully. Ella misses the old fool -- but will it be enough to make her apologise for the first time since decimalisation?
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• Janet's coat is not in sight when George freezes the shopping, but he only reaches into the boot to get her, now frozen, coat.
• George doesn't need a bathroom to transform to save Mrs. Raven.
• Has Stanley taken early retirement? In The Party's Over he said he was 61.
• Janet walks into the door-jamb when accompanying Ella to Tyler's to "apolololologise" to Stanley.
• In her "cross-examination" Janet says ThermoMan knew Mrs. Raven and considered her a friend before the incident, but if that were so, Mrs. Raven would know that George was ThermoMan.
• When George removes the scorpion from Mrs. Raven's shoulder she says "I knew you wouldn't know what to do when faced with a poisonous insect", George says "I usually say Good Morning Mrs. Raven" : but a scorpion is an arachnid, not an insect.
Disasters:
• Patagonian village from a herd of rampaging wildebeest• Yaks on fire at London Zoo
Romantic references:
• Janet says "Our baby was conceived in this flat," and George replies "Or possibly in the lift, or in the car or on that pedalo..."
Arnie's jibe to Mrs. Raven (who he adores!)
- Lemon Lips.
Mrs. Raven jibe at Arnie (who she adores)
- Pond Scum.
Shock, Horror!
First UK tx: 14 July 2002
Written by: Paul Mayhew-Archer
Guest Stars: Dominic Coleman (Kevin Trench), Natasha Kaplinsky (Newsreader), Kathryn Hodges (hurricane reporter) and Gus Brown (location reporter)
Baby Ollie has a temperature so George, instead of concentrating on saving the world, keeps zooming back to the flat to check on the baby.
But all this dashing about is making George careless and it's not too long before an unscrupulous journalist takes advantage of the situation and obtains pictures of George in his ThermoMan guise...
Suddenly it's all over the papers that Janet is having an affair with ThermoMan. How will the Sundays get out of this one and keep ThermoMan’s true identity a secret at the same time?
Meanwhile, Mrs Raven keeps falling asleep at her desk because the triplets have insomnia. "When they had the flu, it was the happiest day of my life", she laments.
In a desperate bid to get some peace, Mrs R plans to build a shed in her garden so she can lock them away when it gets too much. But sheds cost money. How will Mrs R cope when she's forced to be nice to Dr Piers in return for a reference for a part-time job? And how far will Dr Piers go to milk the situation?
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• George says in his entire life he's only been sick for five minutes and that was a slight sniffle (It was malaria, says Janet) but in My Hero he's got a throat infection and a rash from wearing tights. He also can't buy Janet flowers in that episode, because he suffers from hayfever and there are other references to hayfever, such as when he's talking to the hooker in The Party's Over. Then, in Mission Impossible, he says he cannot eat dairy products because of his chronic mucus problem.
Also in Girlfriend, Arnie reminds him they had Regalian flu that summer, so they were engaged by proxy. Then, in an episode of season four, he's got a serious condition in both hearts.
• Mrs. Raven wants a reference from Piers because her former employer still hasn't got back the use of his hands, but in A Day To Remember, she says she's worked for Piers for 12 years.
• The photo of Olly as a baby that was on the table in Puttin' on the Writs in landscape format is on the windowsill in portrait format and again in A Day to Remember it's in landscape on the table.
• Tyler reads from the paper that George was seen eating pasta by candlelight with Graham Norton, then "that's ridiculous, you don't even like pasta", but George ate spaghetti carbonara on his first date with Janet in My Hero ("delicious, no cheese for me").
Disasters:
• Hurricane in Florida
Romantic references:
• Mrs. Raven says to George "Just imagine, she's been married to you, but is being seen to by the hunk in trunks."
• Arnie calls Janet "the broad who's been shtupping the alien"
Memorable Quotes
): Take yesterday, for example. You had to deflect that comet from the Earth, put out that forest fire, and rescue those hostages. And what did you do?
George: I rescued the comet, blew the hostages into the fire, and I threw up.
The series then took a break, perhaps due to the Big Brother finals and to allow for schedule changes that might be caused by Commonwealth Games coverage. The show returned on Friday 2 August.
Little Green Man
First UK tx: 2 August 2002
Written by: Ian Brown and James Hendrie
Guest Stars: William Buckhurst (Pete), Rosie Fellner (Carole - Piers fiance!), Selina Cadell, (Doctor Evans), Andrew Dennis, Dylan Charles, Phil Nice and John Hunt
Janet thinks George is taking her for granted. After all, most husbands would react rather badly after discovering their wife in a compromising position with the handy man... George's response is merely ‘Why should I be jealous of a human when I can do it 15 times a night?’
Mrs Raven reckons Janet has to work harder at making George jealous. But it turns out that all Janet has to do is innocently share a bit of Arnie's carrot cake -- a heinous crime on Planet Ultron. George is beside himself with jealousy and keeps turning green -- literally -- while Mrs R gets the wrong end of the stick and thinks Arnie has been unfaithful to her.
It's all an unholy mess -- not least for Arnie who is in genuine fear for his life from a vengeful Mrs R! George and Janet resort to marriage guidance in a bid to sort out their problems -- but it seems George has to grow up in more ways than one before his marriage can get back on track...
• Read Dawn Ploughman's report on the recording of this episode on the World of Ardal O'Hanlon site: Go
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• Who fixes the window after Pete the glazier flees when George finds him in an innocent but compromising situation with Janet?
• George blows out all the TV Monitors in the bookies, but no-one notices!
• The sequence of coins falling from a fruit machine in Arnie's bar is the same as that in the 2000 Christmas episode.
• George asks Janet not to put him in Olly's cot as he is using his head as a teething ring: but Olly already has a full set of teeth and has had since Parents.
• Why does George need a stepladder to go to the loo, if he can sleep in mid-air (as in Old Main Riverdance) and still has his powers, but can't fit into his helmet to use them.
• Piers orders a 24 carat diamond set in a white gold ring (and one for Carol), but that would be enormous!
• How do they explain away Arnie going green at the very end of the episode when he sees Mrs. Raven sharing a piece of cake with George?
• Terazite is the only known antidote to super-attraction.
Memorable Quotes
Carole: Fantastic news! Hey
There! Magazine
say they'll print our wedding photos! And, if we get a bottle of Wash & Go
into every shot, they'll split the profit!
Piers: Fab! So, we've got Pot Noodle doing the catering, booze courtesy
of Heineken, and the cake's being made by Utterly Butterly!
Mrs. Raven: (Sarcastically) Oh, how romantic! So, will it be a white
wedding?
Piers: Certainly not! It'll be Orange... unless I can do a deal with
Vodafone!
Mine's A Double
First UK tx: 9 August 2002
Written by: Paul Alexander and Simon Braithwaite
Guest Stars: Laurie Brett (Female Customer), Tim Steadman, Bobby Bragg, Chris Bowen and Pat Kelman (Ultron Postman)
He looks like George, he sounds like George, he even kisses like George as Janet discovers when Hilary, George's identical clone from Ultron, arrives when George goes back to his home planet for a surperhero refresher course. Havoc, of course, ensues...
George has to attend a Super-Hero Conference which means leaving Janet at home alone, minding the baby. In their wisdom, the Ultron Council provides a 'George clone' with the unlikely name of Hilary to keep Janet company. But while Hilary looks just like the real thing, his character couldn't be more different...
Hillary talks and dresses like a gangster rapper and is given to nights out on the town with Dr. Piers and strangely romantic dinners with Janet's mother, Ella.
Janet is thoroughly annoyed with the impostor, especially since everyone else thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread! And there is a sinister side to the wayward Hilary, When he dresses up as ThermoMan to steal a bike, ThermoMan's reputation is smeared and the Ultron Council is forced to deprive George of all his superpowers. It's looking more and more like Hilary will usurp George's position for good, but he hasn't bargained on some formidable opposition from a desperate Janet!
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• Arnie sets up SundayTrading.com, but it's still available as a web site.
• How can Arnie use his contacts on Ultron to check out Hillary, if he's lost all his powers?
• George blames the cuts on his face on the power shower but in Mission Impossible, Janet states that they don't have a power shower (George got the Marmite off his costume with a power shower in Niagara Falls).
Memorable QuotesMrs. Raven jibe at Arnie (who she adores)
- Gargoyle Head.
A Little Learning
First UK tx: 16 August 2002
Written by: Paul Mayhew-Archer and Paul Mendelson
Guest Stars: Pauline Whitaker (Sue), Ysobel Gonzalez (Crystal), Natasha Kaplinsky (Newsreader), Lorraine Hilton and Graeme Eton
George is devastated when Ella and Stanley ban him from their 40th wedding anniversary party. Quite reasonably, they don't want him lowering the tone and embarrassing them in from of their friends! The situation calls for some drastic action. Admittedly George's attempts to make new friends via the calling cards in telephone booths backfire somewhat but when he obtains some pork scratchings which increase his brain power, miraculous effects occur. Suddenly George is an intellectual genius and can charm the birds off the trees, so much so that not only do Ella and Stanley invite him to their party, they ask him to make the speech!
But for Janet, the new thoughtful George is insufferable. Plus his super hero work is being affected. When ThermoMan is called into action, he starts pondering whether people should be left to stand on their own two feet, with disastrous results. Something has to be done and George is forced into a detox programme to regain his former stupid self. But there's a high price to pay, that speech at Ella and Stanley's party still has to be delivered...
Arnie's jibes to Mrs. Raven- I didn't know they let dogs in shops.
- Rin Tin Tin.
- Dearest Darling Spawn of the Devil.
Mrs. Raven jibe at Arnie (who she adores)
- Bacteria Boy.
A Day To Remember
First UK tx: 23 August 2002
Written by: Paul Mendelson & Paul Mayhew-Archer
Guest Stars: Jonathan Wills (Newsreader), Anya Sitaram (TV Reporter, uncredited) Michael Fish (Weatherman, uncredited), Mary Mitchell and Dan Austen
It's a bad day for planet Earth when George accidentally erases his own memory, to the extent he can't remember who ThermoMan is, let alone that he is ThermoMan. For Janet it's a dream come true. George turns into a model husband who volunteers to change nappies and take Ollie for strolls in the park, a first in the Sunday household! But this new-found domestic bliss isn't set to last. A meteor is headed for Earth. In 24 hours all life will be obliterated and Dr. Piers will never again be able to bore viewers rigid on breakfast TV.
Frantic attempts are made to avert the impending disaster, including an appeal on tv news for ThermoMan to help, but where is he? George is actually in his own front room, being re-trained in superhero techniques by Arnie, Tyler and Janet. But it's a desperate race against the clock. Can George remember how to use his superpowers or is life on Earth and Dr. Piers tv career doomed?
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• The newsreader says that Australia has gotten rid of all its emergency services, but they can clearly be heard in the background behind the on-the-spot reporter.
• Why is the world dependent on ThermoMan to save it from the meteorite when there are other SuperHeroes? In Guess Who's Coming to Lunch Janet tells George "Don't you go anywhere near a toilet or an Ande : let one of the others deal with it for once".
• ThermoMan has to head the meteorite at an angle. First, Arnie says an angle of 71.9623°, but when ThermoMan is about to head it the angle changes to 71.96423°.
• The Land Rover used to retrain George as ThermoMan is JTJ777W and the Mercedes truck is M652CGC.
Disasters:
• Hurricane in Brazil• Drought in China
• Earthquake in Russia
• Meteorite that will eradicate all life on Earth
Memory Wipes:
His Own!
Piers poem is:
Be not ashamed to shed your final tears,
As on this day eternal darkness nears.
But worry not, we'll meet again
In a place beyond all fear.
I'm Piers Crispin and I am always here.
Arnie's jibes to Mrs. Raven
- Elephant Woman.
- I keep leaving you out, but the garbage men won't take you.
Mrs. Raven jibe at Arnie (who she adores)
- Weevil Boy.
- You're only here because you're too big to flush.
Season Four
Regular Cast: George (Ardal O'Hanlon); Janet (Emily Joyce); Ella (Lili Roughley); Stanley (Tim Wylton); Mrs Raven (Geraldine McNulty); Piers (Hugh Dennis); Tyler (Philip Whitchurch); Arnie (Lou Hirsch); Ollie (Jean Luca Dora is the baby but voiced by Finlay Stroud)A Sporting Chance
First UK tx: 8 August 2003 • Recorded 20th December 2002
Written by Paul Mayhew Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 5.19 million (26.67% audience share)
Guest Stars: Anna Niland (Mrs Blake), Jon Cartwright (Cricket Umpire), Michael Elliott and Natasha Kaplinsky (Newsreader)
Being a peace-loving Ultronian, George knows nothing about sport or the psychology of sport. So when Piers asks George to join his Sunday League cricket team to make up numbers George hasn't a clue what he's being asked to do. But he's soon calling on his superpowers when the going gets tough -- scoring an amazing 24 runs in just four balls.
"The success goes to his head and he suddenly becomes horribly competitive," Emily Joyce told What's on TV (2-8 August 2003 edition). "Janet forces him to choose between rubbing his opponents' faces in the mud and staying married to her."
Meanwhile, can this be? Mrs. Raven and Tyler have an affair because Mrs Raven thinks Tyler's ThermoMan? What will Arnie say?
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• When Janet checks on Tyler she rings the doorbell of his flat -- which sounds like someone knocking on the door!
Flat Design Changes
• The Ethnic Masks in the flat change in season four. Previously they were narrow and dark wood, but now they are broader and lighter.
• The Sofa Throw in seasons one through three is white with large and small red flowers (except for a scene when Janet and George are sleeping on the sofa, in which it is missing) but it changes in season four.
• The Dining Chairs In seasons one through three the dining chairs have green squabs, but they have blue squabs now.
•The Wicker Chair In seasons one through three there is a wicker chair underneath the picture by the door, but it's gone in season four.
• The Curtains In seasons one through three they are red with narrow yellow and green stripes, but they change to red with red squares this season.
Disasters:
Sundays in Britain - people doing DIY!Plus some assorted unnamed disasters that force George to abruptly leave the cricket match on several occasions
Memory Wipes:
Mrs Raven
Living Dead
First UK tx: 15 August 2003 • Recorded 29th November 2002
Written by: Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 6.26 million (30.79% audience share) - beating A Touch of Frost and No. 4 rated show for the night Guest Stars: Sarah Crowden (Mrs Clark), Michael Fenton Stevens (Vicar), Peter Rylands and Femi Houghton
Meanwhile Mrs Raven takes up hypnotherapy - to her own financial advantage, of course...
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• Piers gives the wrong address when appealing on TV for Janet to marry him. He gives out 59 Waverley Court but the "real" address is 59 Linden Court. (This error didn't go to air: it's been corrected in post production)
Memory Wipes:
None, but Mrs. Raven thinks she's seeing things!
Taking the Credit
First UK tx: 22 August 2003 • Recorded 21st February 2003
Written by: James Cary Directed by: John Stroud
UK Ratings: 6.4 millions (31.09% audience share)
Guest Stars: Tammy Mendelson (Checkout Girl), Peter Harlowe (The Lord High Arbiter), Neil Warhurst, John Kirk, Jenny Ayres and Pat Kelman (Ultron Postman)
George has not quite got the hang of managing domestic finances. Never having seen a credit or debit card before, he goes on a massive spending spree, mightily impressed with a Welfare State that literally gives him money to do so. Janet finds out what has been happening when the bills arrive, by which time they are heavily in debt.
Selling their belongings and the flat only scratches the surface of the debt, and Janet is forced to take advantage of nine-month-old OllieÕs super-talent to correctly predict the Lottery numbers.
Such an abuse of Ultronian super-powers, however, draws Thermoman to the attention of the Lord High Arbiter of Abuses of Power Ð a sadistic, avenging judge, feared throughout the cosmos for putting wayward superheroes to the swordÉ
All in the Mind
First UK tx: Friday 29 August • Recorded 13th Dec 2002
Written by: Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
UK Ratings: 6.19 million (27.81% audience share) Guest Stars: Elisabeth Dermot-Walsh (Charlotte), Mary Keegan (Mrs Tott), Susan Gifford (Heather Seller), Dick Bradnum (Perfume Seller), Natasha Kaplinsky (Newsreader), Paul Mohan and Patricia Grant
George is asked by the Ultron Council to write a progress report on humanity. All seems to be going well: apart from the French, George is pleased with what he finds – until his new mind-reading powers reveal the true nature of human thought. He's disgusted at the human capacity for deception and wicked behaviour. The unpleasant thoughts of Stanley, Ella and Mrs Raven, in particular, leave George in a state of despair.
His sense of honesty forces him to write a damning report and the Ultron Council condemns the human race to death by laser. Only Janet can save the world by giving her sanctimonious husband a tongue-lashing.
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• Natasha Kaplinsky is one of the 10 people saved by the Ultron Council from the destruction of Earth (along with Angelina Jolie and Gerri Halliwell)
Disasters:
The near-destrcution of Earth by the Ultron Council Not many: Stanley and Ella just think about killing each other!
Virus
First UK tx: Friday 5 September 17th January 2003
Written by: Paul Mendelson and Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
UK Ratings: 6.49 million (28.22% audience share) Guest Stars: Tony Aitken (Mr Lawrence), Natasha Kaplinsky (Newsreader), Michael Moylan and Philip Brodie
On a trip to Ultron to request some leave to take Janet and Ollie on holiday,Thermoman picks up a rather nasty space virus which is fatal to humans.
Unfortunately, on his return to Earth, he passes the virus on to Janet, Stanley, Ella and Mrs Raven, and Thermoman has to neutralise the virus with a Thermo kiss of life. During this brief exchange of bodily breath, however, he accidentally passes on his super powers. Stanley and Ella become Faldo Man and Dorothy Perkins and are harmless enough, if a little selective in whom they save, but when Mrs Raven transforms into The Raven and terrorises the world with spiteful acts of mischief Ð such as dumping Disney World in Siberia Ð Thermoman is forced to suck his super powers out again.
Mayor of Northolt
First UK tx: Friday 12 September • Recorded 6th December 2002
Written by: Trevelyan Evans and Pete Sinclair Directed by: John Stroud
UK Ratings: 6.32 (27.88% audience share)
Guest Stars: Claire Vousden, Phoebe Sweeney (Dominique), Ben Craze, Mark Davison, Patrick Duggan, Dominic Borrelli and Donald Pelmear
A faulty streetlight outside Stanley and Ella's bedroom is keeping them awake at night, but getting the council to mend it is proving impossible. George stands for mayor, promising to fix the streetlight if elected, only to find that his opponent is the over-confident Piers, whose mistake is to treat George as a joke candidate with no chance of winning. George wins unanimous approval when the voters respond positively to his refreshingly honest approach.
Unfortunately, the pressures of mayoral office put an unreasonable strain on his marriage and his resignation follows his election within 24 hours.
Big
First UK tx: 19 September 2003 • Recorded 31st January 2003
Written by: Gary Lawson and John Phelps Directed by: John Stroud
UK Ratings: 6.19 (27.% audience share) Guest Stars: Finlay Stroud (Ollie, aged 8, who also plays the voice of Ollie in the series), Kurtis O'Brien (Ollie, aged 10), Damian Hunt (Ollie, aged 17), Emma Pierson (Doctor Chelsea), Elspeth Rae (Olivia), Miranda Bell (Marjorie Wallace), Jessica Claire, Bruce Mackinnon, Howard Karloff and Barry Martin
Ollie's half-human, half-Ultronian physiology causes a few problems when he starts to grow at an accelerated rate. In 24 hours, he grows from a nine-month-old baby into a 19-year-old boy with a "serious" girlfriend. Janet and George are distraught at being robbed of the pleasure of watching their only son grow up, especially when he turns into a girl. They employ the services of an eminent Ultronian GP (Galactic Practitioner), Doctor Chelsea, to cure their son who, despite his impeccable qualifications, looks and sounds like Britney Spears's irritating kid sister.
But can even the youthful-looking Dr. Chelsea's cure stop him getting older... and is there a more sinister cause for his illness and its bizarre effects?
The Consultant
First UK tx: 26 September 2003 • Recorded 10th January 2003
Written by: James Cary Directed by: John Stroud
UK Ratings: 6.21 (26.66% audience share)
Guest Stars: Sarah Flind (Large Woman), Pat Kelman (Ultron Postman) and Lloyd Notice
Arnie turns consultant when the Ultron Council sends him to check up on Thermoman's performance. Arnie conducts a time-and-motion study on George and demands that Thermoman be fully accountable for his actions. A plethora of customer-satisfaction forms quickly hampers Thermoman's ability to rescue the victims of natural disasters -- or, as Arnie prefers to re-classify them, "clients".
Arnie's regime puts pressure on George to such a degree that he starts making mistakes, the worst of which sees him bring an armed ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) home ! He can't disarm it because he's so stressed. Luckily, Tyler can -- it's amazing what you can find on the Internet.
Fearing for the world's safety, George retires, only to return to active duty when Work Experience Boy makes a hash of replacing him.
The Family Way
First UK tx: 3 October 2003 • Recorded 14th February 2003
Written by: Trevelyan Evans and Pete Sinclair Directed by: John Stroud
UK Ratings: 6.51 (26.99% audience share)
When George becomes pregnant with a surrogate baby that he's carrying for a childless couple on Ultron, leaving Janet confused. What is her role now that George is mother? And why does she feel as though she wants to keep the baby when it's born, when her first Ultronian baby, Ollie, is such a handful?
This emotional rollercoaster for the unconventional parents-to-be comes off the rails and crashes when the biological parents arrive to claim their baby. But, in the end, letting the infant go is the only option - once Janet and George see what the little thing looks like.
Time and Time Again
First UK tx: 10 October 2003 • Recorded 7th February 2003
Written by: Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
UK Ratings: 7.17 (29.52% audience share)
Guest Stars: Scarlett May (Young Janet), Peter Gallagher (Large Man), Hannah Waddingham (Miranda), Jeanne Mockford, Lochlann O'Mearain and Natasha Kaplinsky (Newsreader)
Unfortunately, their interference in the space-time continuum has catastrophic consequences.
When they return to the present day, they discover that everyone is deliriously happy - everyone but George, who's not in the picture. Janet is married to Piers and has several beautiful children, Ella and Stanley are in love,Tyler is co-habiting in a stable relationship and Mrs Raven is a saint. George decides that it's time to return to Ultron and stay there for ever, until Arnie persuades him to turn back the clocks one more time and fight to get his life back.
Production Information
• Titles: TSI Design
• Music: Philip Pope
• Casting Director: Tracey Gillham
• Associate Producers: Jed Leventhall and Barrie Westwell
• Production Accountant: Allan Davies
• Production Buyer: Terence Black
• Art Director: Jo Sutherland
• Studio Manager: Ray Gearing
• Location Manager: Julia Morpeth
• Video Effects: Framestore- CFC
• Visual Effects Designer: Andy McVean
• Costume Designer: Janet Benge
• Make-up Designer: Mandy Furlonger
• Camera Supervisor: Chas Watts
• Vision Mixer: Peter Phillips Lighting Director: Derek Constable
• Sound Supervisor Richard Bradford • Dubbing Mixer: Adrian Smith
• Editor: Mykola Pawluk • Production Co-ordinator: Suzanne Facenfield
• Production Secretary: Cass Hill • Script Supervisor: Frances Mable
• Stage Manager: Sarah Daman • First Assistant Director: Julie Sykes
• Line Producer: Murray Peterson • Designer: James Dillon
• Executive Producers: Sophie Clarke-Jervoise & Marucs Mortimer
• Producers: Jamie Rix and John Stroud
• Director: John Stroud
Season Five
MY HERO'S NEW BABY DAUGHTER CRASHES ONTO BBC ONE3/12/04, BBC Press Release sent to me by actor Lou Hirsch (thanks Lou!): This January a brand new series of the hit comedy MY HERO comes to BBC One - and there's a new addition to the family. Baby Cassie arrives in the world brandishing Janet's (EMILY JOYCE) appendix. Unlike her brother Ollie, she can't fly but she can talk and she can see into the future. Unfortunately her predictions are sometimes a little off beam…
Superhero with a difference Thermoman, alias
mild-mannered George Sunday (ARDAL O'HANLON), is still struggling to
keep his alter-ego secret from the outside world. The Sunday marriage is
looking rosy until the camera in George's eye is dislodged and Janet
learns the horrifying news he has been filming family life for the
past six months. 'The Sunday Reality Show' is breaking all records on
Ultron, and Arnie (LOU HIRSCH) and Mrs Raven's (GERALDINE McNULTY)
slightly cheaper and altogether more disgusting Red Hot Channel isn't
doing badly either!
Meanwhile, unaware that her grandchildren are
super-intelligent, Janet's doting mother Ella (LILL ROUGHLEY) decides
that George and Tyler's (PHILIP WHITCHURCH) idiotic behaviour is
stunting Ollie and Cassie's development and she takes them home with her
until George and Janet can prove they are good parents. They do this by
attending classes hosted by the smarmy Dr Piers Crispin (HUGH DENNIS)
who has set up a group for young single mothers in a predatory attempt
to find himself a girlfriend...
Defrocked superhero Arnie is under investigation
and he and George are soon threatened with deportation as illegal
aliens. Luckily, George has flown too low over the North Pole and become
magnetic - dragging the immigration officer's car into the path of a
plummeting meteorite…
George sets off on a crimebusting campaign to save
the lawless Earth and rescues the stolen Mona Lisa. But when Stanley
(TIM WYLTON) accidentally destroys it, they get Leonardo to paint a new
original…and that's because Leonardo is from Ultron I mean who other
than an Ultronian could have designed helicopters in the 15th Century?
George decides to filter the Internet for his
children and reads the whole lot in an hour. Arnie then has to download
George's clogged up brain in order to get rid of all the rubbish -
mainly about Britney Spears. Reinvigorated, George offers to do the same
for friends and family, but in haste he gets the brains mixed up and
downloads them into the wrong bodies …
In a bid to further all things ecological,
Thermoman is charged with saving human life with the help of a minky
whale. But he also saves a deadly organism which threatens to wipe out
the human race. The only cure is a prolonged period of freezing, so when
Thermoman moves the Earth just a little bit further away from the sun,
he triggers another ice age…
MY HERO is created by Paul Mendelson and written by
Paul Mendelson, Paul Mayhew-Archer, James Cary, Daniel Peak, Pete
Sinclair & Trevelyan Evans. The series is directed by John Stroud
who also produces with Jamie Rix. The Executive Producers are Marcus
Mortimer for Big Bear Films and Sophie Clarke-Jervoise for the BBC.
Keeping it in the family, seven-year-old FINLAY STROUD supplies the
voice and mouth for baby Ollie whilst eight-year-old MADELEINE MORTIMER
is baby Cassie. NATASHA KAPLINSKY guest stars.
MY HERO is a Big Bear Films Production for BBC One.
DEVELOPMENTS
-- Olly is now 14 months old, speaks 107 languages, and according to Janet speaks better English than she does.
-- His sister is six-month old Cassie (remember Ultron pregnancies only last 6 days) has some powers - she can't fly, but she can talk and she can see the future.
• For some information on the recording of Season Five visit Lou Hirsh's web site: www.louhirsch.com
Regular Cast: George (Ardal O'Hanlon); Janet (Emily Joyce); Ella (Lili Roughley); Stanley (Tim Wylton); Mrs Raven (Geraldine McNulty); Piers (Hugh Dennis); Tyler (Philip Whitchurch); Arnie (Lou Hirsch); Ollie (Finlay Stroud); Cassie (Madeline Mortimer)
The Foresight Saga DEVELOPMENTS
-- Olly is now 14 months old, speaks 107 languages, and according to Janet speaks better English than she does.
-- His sister is six-month old Cassie (remember Ultron pregnancies only last 6 days) has some powers - she can't fly, but she can talk and she can see the future.
• For some information on the recording of Season Five visit Lou Hirsh's web site: www.louhirsch.com
Regular Cast: George (Ardal O'Hanlon); Janet (Emily Joyce); Ella (Lili Roughley); Stanley (Tim Wylton); Mrs Raven (Geraldine McNulty); Piers (Hugh Dennis); Tyler (Philip Whitchurch); Arnie (Lou Hirsch); Ollie (Finlay Stroud); Cassie (Madeline Mortimer)
First UK tx: 7 January 2005
Written by Paul Mendelson and Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 5.66 (23.43 Audience Share) 3.94 Multi Channel Homes 24.97 Share MCH
Guest Stars:
Receptionist - Kerry Godliman
Kerry is a comedienne who has also appeard in Holby City and Casualty. Read an interview with her in The Edgware Times: Go)
Midwife - Lorraine Benloss
Lorraine has appeared at the Hackney Empire in the lead role of The Truth about Shirley: read a review
Brad - Max Rishoj
Based in New York, this was one of Rishoj's first TV roles: he has done a large amount of theatre work. View his resume
Inge - Anna Lindgren
Swedish actress. Film credits include Maybe Baby and The Invisible World)
Australian Newsreader - Daniel O'Grady
Credits include The Bill and an episode of the sitcom Birds of a Feather
Special Guest - Natasha Kaplinksky
BBC Breakfast anchor (and ace ballroom dancer!)
George and Janet’s second child is born brandishing Janet’s appendix. Apart from being able to talk she possesses a very special gift – the ability to predict the future. This proves a mixed blessing, however, when baby Cassie foresees the imminent death of everyone in the Northern Hemisphere. The pressure is on Thermoman to avert catastrophe.
Comments: This opening episode had little BBC promotion. It was not the best of openings, although the explosive delivery of baby Cassie was quite funny. I always find ThermoMan works better when there isn't as much superhero stuff and there was a lot of it this episode. Still, there are some great lines and the cast perform to their usual great ability. Not enough from Mrs Raven, though!
This season sees George add a room to the flat which is great for the kids (watch out for some sibling rivalry to come!), but some of his fixtures and fittings could have been put up with more care, as Ella finds to her cost -- as does George. Piers findes being a celebrity is not all it is cracked up to be when he finally gets onto "I'm a Celebrity, get Me Out of here" and discovers the snakes he's put in a tank with aren't aniamatronic as Mrs Raven led him to be...
Disasters
• Cassie's predictions lead George and company to believe the northern hemisphere is going to be destroyed -- but it turns out Cassie can't distinguish sleep from death.
Illegal Aliens
First UK tx: 14 January 2005
Written by Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 5.42 (22.83 Audience Share) 3.78 Multi Channel Homes 24.90 Share MCH
Guest Stars:
Mr. Allison - Jonathan Keeble
Credits include Judge John Deed, Doctors and a TV presenter in the film Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Hugo Blissett - Oliver Taylor
Mr. Blake - Scott Baker
Credits include Smack the Pony, Kiss Me Kate and Pie in the Sky, assuming I have found the right Scott!
with Eira Griffiths, Tom Bennett and Caroline Parker
After Mrs Raven has a bust up with a patient (whose husband also happens to be an immigration officer, Mr Alison), George and Arnie find themselves under investigation, to find out if they are 'illegal aliens'. Without documentation proving their right to stay in the country the situation seems hopeless, until Tyler has an unexpected stroke of genius.George becomes magnetic - then anti-magnetic - and he and and Arnie are subjected to an investigation by , an immigration officer', after Mrs Raven upsets his wife.
Piers finds a son he didn't know he had and Mr Dawkins realises thhat Northolt is not Bangkok ("More's the pity"...)
Review: This proved a much better episode -- no need to introduce all the characters again, that was done last week -- so it's straight into some great vitriol from Mrs Raven and daft antics that are the result of Thermoman's work. There's some great visual effects sequences and a terrific twist ending. The whole cast are on top form in this epsisode.
Blink and You'll Miss it:
• Mrs Raven has learnt sign language -- badly.
• We see Arnie's Ultronian passport
• Cassie is a Barbie fan
• Ollie is seen reading a gigantic law book titled Lex Civitas in his playpen
• Natasha Kaplinsky's name is in the credits - but she doesn't appear. Will she get paid?
Disasters:
• George becomes magnetised after flying over the North Pole and anything metal near him -- including a neighbour's car -- is attracted to him. When Tyler's earrings cause george and Tyler to kiss Janet explains the incident as a sponsored snogathon to her bemused parents.
• George flies backwards over the North Pole to demagnetise himself... and starts to repel everything metal
Memory Wipes:
None, but George causes Mr. Blake, a neighbour to have stomach trouble to distract him from what's going on with his car...
Mrs Raven's best Lines?
Janet: Would you like to give something?
Mrs Raven: Why not?
Janet: That's nice!
Mrs Raven: Because I'm mean, that's why not.
Mrs. Raven: There's nothing tacky about one night stands - I love them!
Mrs Raven: According to our records we've only got one patient with days to live and that's Mrs Pettifer.
Mrs Pettifer (in the surgery waiting room): I've only days to live...
Mrs. Raven: There you are Mrs Pettifer! I wouldn't bother with the doctore, you get off home.
Mrs Raven: Ever person who comes up this desk, I'm going to give a big sloppy kiss... because I'm going down with flu! Starting with you Dr. Crispin!
Dr. Crispin: Get off me you mad bat!
Mrs Raven: Why not?
Janet: That's nice!
Mrs Raven: Because I'm mean, that's why not.
Mrs. Raven: There's nothing tacky about one night stands - I love them!
Mrs Raven: According to our records we've only got one patient with days to live and that's Mrs Pettifer.
Mrs Pettifer (in the surgery waiting room): I've only days to live...
Mrs. Raven: There you are Mrs Pettifer! I wouldn't bother with the doctore, you get off home.
Mrs Raven: Ever person who comes up this desk, I'm going to give a big sloppy kiss... because I'm going down with flu! Starting with you Dr. Crispin!
Dr. Crispin: Get off me you mad bat!
The First Husband's Club
First UK tx: 21 January 2005
Written by Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 4.76 (20.04 Audience Share) 3.27 Multi Channel Homes 21.68 Share MCH No 8 in Top 10 Entertainment Shows for the week
Guest Stars:
Man Selling Car - Nick Paggett
Mrs Osborne - Deddie Davies
Wendy Williams - Joanne Heywood
Cheryl - Jo-anne Stockham
Wendy Williams - Joanne Heywood
Linda - Suki Smith
Special Guest - Natasha Kaplinsky
With Clare Louise Oliver, Jon Blake and Peter Barnes
As Janet increasingly despairs that George continues to get walked over by people who take advantage of his good nature, Piers provides help for George's lack of assertiveness in the form of a militant Men's group, that seeks to give its members back some authority from women. The group is not very successful until George starts using Ultronian mind control.
Meanwhile, Cassie takes up various telephone jobs from her cot to finance the purchase of a doll's house -- directory enquiries and the speaking clock. Mrs Raven continues to delight in making Piers life a living hell without him realising she is responsible.
Blink and You'll Miss it:
Mrs Raven's memory test... and don't stop watching the credits for a last laugh at Doctor Piers Crispin.
Disasters:
Tyler sets a wood on fire.
Memory Wipes:
None, but George uses Ultronian Mind Control (which should only be used as a last resort) to control Janet and to get her to do what he wants. And then Janet's mum to help out Janet's dad. And then the wives of the husbands in the men's group. And even the news reader...
Romantic references:
Both Janet and Mrs Dawkins become Stepford Wives... but can't make any real decisions...
Mrs Dawkins (to Stanley)... "And how many chips would you like?"
Stanley Dawkins: Chips?
Ella: Please -- I need to know!
Stanley: I've no idea! A normal portion...
Ella: A normal portion... How many is that?
Stanley: Well, I dont know - 27!
Ella: 27 it is my darling...
PAUSE as George and Arnie, watching, confer...
Ellas: Crinkle cut or straight?
Cassie Come Home
First UK tx: 28 January 2005 (This was the first episode of Season Five to be recorded)
Written by Daniel Peak Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 4.63 (20.02 Audience Share) 3.20 Multi Channel Homes 21.37 Share MCH No 5 in Top 10 Entertainment Shows for the week
Guest Stars:
Social Worker - Yasmin Wilde
Special Guest - Natasha Kaplinsky
With Sophie Rickman, Shivani Ghai and Jessica Wong
Synopsis by Paul Wood: Ella has big news - she's going to be a Justice of the Peace and a Magistrate. She starts throwing her weight around about the way Janet and George are educating and bringing up the children and threatens them with Social Services.
Later, Arnie turns up to celebrate Olly's birthday - to protests from Janet. "It's not his birthday, says Janet - he's 14 months old".
George explains 14 months old on Ultron is equivalent to 18 years on Earth, so Arnie's got a boozy party planned.
Unfortunately, Ella catches Olly with a can of beer and a cigar and she and Stanley take the children away from Janet and George -- it's either that or Social Services -- and forces Janet to join Piers' Single Mothers Parenting class, which is of course, totally useless - but we do get a very interesting insight into Piers' childhood, which explains a lot.
Mrs Raven tries to persuade Ella to take her children, too and even tries to bribe her.
Olly "escapes" but Janet convinces George to take him back rather than make things worse, but he ends up on the roof of Ella and Stanley's house with Olly -- much to Stanley's dismay.
Arnie advises George to become Thermoman and demand that the kids are returned to their parents, but just as Ella is twisting his words, Social Services turn up and agree with her.
But Olly and Cassie turn the tables on Ella and Stanley and the kids are returned to Janet and George, while Ella and Stanley have to attend Piers' Grandparenting class!
Nothing to Hide
First UK tx: 4 February 2005
Written by James Cary Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 4.83 (20.66 Audience Share) 3.53 Multi Channel Homes 23.57 Share MCH No 6 in Top 10 Entertainment Shows for the week
Guest Stars:
Detective Symes - Ray Burdis
Ray played Nick Tyler in the comedy Three Up, Two Down and he was also " Gary" in the BBC's Manchild. He's also a Director and Producer Lins: www.bbcamerica.com/genre/comedy_games/manchild/manchild_actor_ray_burdis.jsp)
PC Dobbs - Paul Bigley
Paul played the Stage Manager in the film, Shakespeare in Love, the cook in the TV Movie Shackleton and guest appearances in TV shows such as Sharpe, Men Behaving Badly and Hippies
Leonardo da Vinci - Guido Adorni
Guido's numerous TV credits span at least three decades including guest appearances in the 1960s action series Danger Man, Lovejoy, The Bill, Wycliffe and many more
Special Guest - Natasha Kaplinksky
With Michael Hobbs, Trevor Georges and Joe Marshall
Thermoman liberates the stolen Mona Lisa from the clutches of an art thief, but comes under suspicion from Scotland Yard when he cannot explain the picture's presence in his flat.
Brain Drain
First UK tx: 11 February 2005
Written by Daniel Peak Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 4.89 (21.11 Audience Share) 3.40 Multi Channel Homes 15.89 Share MCH No 9 in Top 10 Entertainment Shows for the week
Guest Stars:
NHS Inspector -- Souad Faress
Souad's credits include the film My Beautful Laundrette and Corontaion Street, and the role of solicitor Usha Gupta in the Radio 4 serial, The Archers. She is also a playwright: one of her short stories, written in the voice of Cleopatra of Egypt after her death has been transmitted on Radio 4. Souad also performed at the British Museum during the Cleopatra exhibition in 2001.
Angry Patient --Laurence Howarth
Laurence is the writer of the Radio 4 sitcom Rigor Mortis, starring Peter Davison, and is one half of double-act Laurence and Gus, whose debut show at Edinburgh in 2004r, A History of the World in Five and a Half Sketches was a total sell-out and won the Dubble Award. More info on Laurence on the Comedy CV web site: www.comedycv.co.uk/laurencehowarth
Read an interview with Laurence Howarth from the Croydon Guardian
With Andrea Harris, Benedict & Joel Want and Brandon & Jordan Hursit
George and Arnie discover a way to filter out prejudices in people's brains.
Fear and Clothing
First UK tx: 25 February 2005 (My Hero not screened 18/2/05 -- one hour EastEnders shown)
Written by Trevelyan Evans and Pete Sinclair Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 4.75 (20.63 Audience Share) 3.23 Multi Channel Homes 21.22 Share MCH
Guest Stars:Charles Spink -- Trevor Cooper
Trevor's credits are diverse, including A Very Peculiar Practice, Doctor Who (Takis in Revelation of the Daleks) and Lovejoy. Read an interview with Trevor about his life as an actor and his work on Doctor Who and Star Cops on the Kaldor City web site.
Special Guest -- Natasha Kaplinsky
See info above
With Steve Malik and Sarah Crook
Even superheroes get scared, but when George becomes a nervous wreck around Friday 13th, the consequences are unsettling for everyone. George starts to doubt his own invincibility and gives in to fear, his body begins to react in an alarming way -- by simply disappearing. While Piers and Mrs Raven plot their latest money-laundering scam, Arnie is worried that Thermoman’s days may be numbered.
Notes
• In the scene where George breaks a mirror and cuts his hand -- which really worries him because, of course, ThermoMan cannot be cut -- Ardahl really did cut his hand. (Thanks to Paul Wood for this)• In a scene where Tyler is listing "don'ts" -- don't walk under ladders, etc) Emily forgot her lines and blurted out "don't f**k up on camera". But, of course you won't see this -- until, possibly, a future late night out-take programme! (Thanks to Paul Wood for this)
How Green Was My Ollie
First UK tx: 4 March 2005
Written by James Cary Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 5.17 (21.64 Audience Share) 3.56 Multi Channel Homes 22.87 Share MCH
Guest Stars:
Headmaster - Geoffrey Whitehead
A prolific television actor fo over 30 years, with appearances in shows as diverse as Z Cars and Young Indiana Jones, Geoffrey also played Sherlock Holmes in a 1980 production of the Victorian sleuth. He is a member of the BBC Radio Rep Drama Company.
Ultron Postie - Pat Kelman
Pat has made numerous appearances as the Ultron Postman: view his official web site: www.patkelman.com
Patient - Steve Malik
Special Guest -- Natasha Kaplinsky
Big Bother
First UK tx: Friday 18 March 2005 (pre-empted 11/3/05 by Comic Relief Night)
Written by Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 5.32 (23.98 Audience Share) 3.28 Multi Channel Homes 23.05 Share MCH Number 6 in Top Ten Entertainment Shows
Guest Stars:
Martin - Con O'Neill
Con's TV appearances include guest roles in Murder City, Doctors and Heartbeat, as well as appearances in films such as The Last Seduction II.
Ultron TV Technician -- Lorna Gayle
An accomplished stage actress, Lorna played Noreen in The Knight's Tale episode of the BBC mini series The Canterbury Tales
Special Guest - Natasha Kaplinsky
With David Summer, Max Digby and Natasha Joseph
Janet is fuming when she discovers that George has been secretly filming her for the Ultronian reality show ‘Ther-mowatch’. With the camera in his right eye, George is so preoccupied with his new career he doesn’t notice when the producers turn the tables on him and he ends up in Reality TV hell.
Nightfever
First UK tx: 25 March 2005
Written by Daniel Peak Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 5.48 (23.77 Audience Share) 3.54 Multi Channel Homes 23.22 Share MCH No 6 in Top 10 Entertainment Shows for the week
Guest Stars:
Mrs Raven -- Peggy Batchelor
The founder of the Ridley School and Studio for the Performing Arts, Peggy is in her late 70s and says she is delighted to be returning to acting after a break of nearly 30 years. Her recent credits include numerous stage performances and Radio 4 drama roles.
She played "The Kingmaker " the online Doctor Who drama Death Comes To Time in 2002 (read an interview about that role on the BBC web site) and was in the cast of Black Milk by Vassily Sigarev, which played at Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court Theatre in 2003.
Peggy was in the original cast of some of the BBC's early radio serials, including Dick Barton and PC 49. Just recently, she has been performing Sybil (a portrait in words of Dame Sybil Thorndike, devised and presented by her grand-daughter Diana Devlin, and Peggy Batchelor). This work has previously been performed at the National Portrait Gallery, London and the Palace Theatre, Westcliff-on-Sea.
Special Guest -- Natasha Kaplinksky
With Cheryl Alleyne and Michael Elliott
George is having nightmares – something completely unknown to an Ultronian – but they are so vivid he’s loosing his grip on reality. Things are becoming increasingly weird, then George makes the announcement that he is leaving Janet for Mrs Raven… has he gone totally mad? (Because George can't distinguish dreams from reality, he gets the shock of his life when he wakes up next to Mrs. Raven...)
Notes
The season ends on a high note with a polished script from Daniel Peak, featuring George's worst nightmare -- being in bed with Mrs Raven -- the arrival of Mrs Raven's mother (who is even more vicious than Mrs Raven, if such a thing is possible), and Tyler acting like a woman because he thinks he's had a sex change. There's also a great couple of scenes as George's troublesome subconcious manifests itself into other Geroge's, including George in a dress. Great fun!
Production Information
• My Hero created by Paul Mendelson
• Script Consultant (on episodes they don't write): Paul Mendelson, Paul Mayhew-Archer
• Titles: TSI Design
• Music: Philip Pope
• Stunt Performer (Cassie Come Home): Adam Kirley
• Stunt Co-ordinator (Cassie Come Home): Paul Heasman
• Wire Effects: Bob Schofield
• Casting Director: Tracey Gillham
• Associate Producers: Jed Leventhall and Barrie Westwell
• Production Accountant: Allan Davies
• Production Buyer: Terence Black
• Art Directors (various episodes): Jo Sutherland, Dick Lunn
• Studio Managers (various episodes): Ray Gearing, Aidan Boulter
• Location Manager: Julia Morpeth
• Video Effects: Framestore-CFC
• Visual Effects Designer: Andy McVean
• Costume Designer: Janet Benge
• Make-up Designer: Mandy Furlonger
• Camera Supervisor: Chas Watts
• Vision Mixer: Peter Phillips
• Lighting Directors (various episodes): Derek Constable
• Colourist: Phil Gadd
• Sound Supervisor Richard Bradford
• Dubbing Mixer: Adrian Smith
• Editor: Chris Wadworth
• Production Co-ordinator: Nila Karadia
• Production Secretarie: Cathy Durbin, Liz Oliver
• Script Supervisor: Frances Mable
• Stage Managers (various episodes): Sarah Daman, Pauline Gaunt
• First Assistant Director: Julie Sykes
• Production Manager: Suzanne Facenfield
• Designer: James Dillon
• Executive Producer for the BBC: Sophie Clarke-Jervoise
• Executive Producer for Big Bear: Marucs Mortimer
• Producers: Jamie Rix and John Stroud
• Director: John Stroud
Season Six
A new series, and a new superhero. Having gambled away his old body during
a poker game, Thermoman has a brand-new look.
James Dreyfus (Thin Blue Line;
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme; Hell's Kitchen) steps into the Ultron wonder's super-powered
tights to save the world from more disasters, as well as dealing with the domestic
chaos that surrounds wife Janet (Emily Joyce) and their two super-intelligent
children.
But there are a few teething problems – not least
when it comes to his family.
Will Janet ever get used to the new-look George and love him as she did before? How long will he have to sleep on the sofa? To everyone else, of course, he's just a new lodger, but what happens when an old admirer decides to whisk Janet away?
JAMES DREYFUS DONS THERMOMAN'S TIGHTS FOR A BRAND NEW SERIES OF MY HERO
22/8/05 Press Release: Big Bear Films are proud to announce that the 6th series of their hit BBC ONE Comedy MY HERO will be going into production in September.
And with the new series, a brand new superhero JAMES DREYFUS (Thin Blue Line; Gimme, Gimme, Gimme; Hell's Kitchen) will be donning Thermoman's tights and saving the world from more disasters, as well as dealing with the domestic chaos that surrounds wife Janet (Emily Joyce) and their two super intelligent children.
As usual, Hugh Dennis, Geraldine McNulty, Lill Roughley, Phil Whitchurch, Lou Hirsch and Tim Wylton co- star and the series will be transmitting in Spring 2006.
The series will be produced by Jamie Rix and John Stroud, with Marcus Mortimer and Sophie Clarke-Jervoise as Executive Producers. It will be directed by John Stroud.
THE CHANGING OF THE
HERO EXPLAINED...
Here's the full text of a leaflet being given out at recordings of season five of My Hero (see recording dates below) explaining how Thermoman is now a compleletly different person.
The leaflet was issued to explain the change of actor to the live audience. The season is being shot out of order and the "changeover" episode has yet to be recorded.
Special thanks to My Heroproducer John Stroud for supplying the text and Paul Woods for letting us know about it.
Here's the full text of a leaflet being given out at recordings of season five of My Hero (see recording dates below) explaining how Thermoman is now a compleletly different person.
The leaflet was issued to explain the change of actor to the live audience. The season is being shot out of order and the "changeover" episode has yet to be recorded.
Special thanks to My Heroproducer John Stroud for supplying the text and Paul Woods for letting us know about it.
Welcome to MY HERO
As you may have read in the press Thermoman has undergone a transformation, and here's how it happened...
George Sunday is introduced to poker by Arnie and loses the shirt off his back whilst playing in a big game on Ultron. In fact that's not strictly true. He keeps his shirt and loses his back, along with his hands, his feet, his poker face and his testicles, which he gambles away in the ninth game trying to get his tonsils back. The long and the short of it is that after the game there is only one part of George's body left his soul. And this looks remarkably like a tea bag, so much so that Tyler accidentally brews up with George.
A temporary body is sent down from Ultron to house the soul and Janet is confronted with a husband who looks nothing like the old George. Not only that, but he behaves rather differently as well. The five spoons of sugar and dash of brandy that Tyler has added to his tea have made the new George hyperactive and extremely badly co-ordinated.
Janet is not happy. This strange looking man is not the man she married, even if he is the old George underneath. She throws him out of the bedroom and makes him sleep on the couch. It doesn't matter what 'new George' says to convince Janet that he's still the same person underneath, she cannot see past the new body. Even the children, Cassie and Ollie, who don't see anything different in their daddy, can't persuade Janet to love the new George.
And so, to the outside world - to Janet's parents, Stan and Ella, and Dr Piers Crispin and Mrs Raven at the Health Centre - new George is a completely different person. Janet explains that her husband has gone away, and that this new man, not George Sunday but George Monday, is her lodger. It gets worse for Janet, however, when Dr Crispin announces that the practice needs a new doctor. George Monday teaches himself medicine by flicking through a medical encyclopaedia and gets the job. Now Janet not only has to live with this stranger who shares her memories, but has to work with him as well.
A relationship has never been so strained...
***
So who is playing our new hero? None other than the wildly funny James Dreyfus, who you'll meet in a minute.
Thanks for coming and enjoy the show!
SEASON SIX RECORDING DATES
The recording dates for Series Six were as follows, all at Teddington TV Studios. The episodes are not always recorded in the order in which they are finally broadcast.
Tuesday 18th October 2005
Wednesday 26th October 2005
Sunday 6th November 2005
Sunday 13th November 2005
Friday 2nd December 2005
Friday 9th December 2005
Friday 16th December 2005
Friday 23rd December 2005
REGULAR CAST
George Monday (James Dreyfus); Janet (Emily Joyce); Ella (Lili Roughley); Stanley (Tim Wylton); Mrs Raven (Geraldine McNulty); Piers (Hugh Dennis); Tyler (Philip Whitchurch); Arnie (Lou Hirsch); Ollie (Finlay Stroud); and Cassie (Madeline Mortimer)
Footloose
First UK tx: 21 July 2006
Written by Daniel Peak Storyline by Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 3.46 (20.43 Audience Share) 2.43 Multi Channel Homes 18.23 Share MCH
Number 3 in Top Ten Entertainment Ratings for the week
Guest Stars:
Special Guest: Ardal O’Hanlon. Ardal is seen busking to raise money. Mrs Raven injects him with a syringe to stop him. (How did she break his skin?)
Ultron Postman: Pat Kelman
With Eddie Connor (Man on Phone), Jamie Deeks (Jamie also appeared in The Office) and Phil Cole
When George pops back to Ultron for a game of poker he loses more than the shirt off his back – he loses his back to a mysterious woman we never see called Siobhan, as well as the rest of his body. James Dreyfus dons Thermoman's tights and is immediately thrown into saving the world from more disasters.
He also has to deal with the domestic chaos that surrounds his wife, Janet, who finds herself living with a man she's never even seen before. George tries to return to married life, becoming a doctor at the surgery (the health shop has gone bust) and all seems lost until the children return, immediately accepting the change.
Disasters
Well, Thermoman losing his body in a poker accident, for a start!
Here's One I Made Earlier
First UK tx: 28 July 2006
Written by Paul Mayhew-Archer and Andrea Solomons Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 3.20 (18.49 Audience Share) 2.02 Multi Channel Homes 15.70 Share MCH
Number 8 in Top Ten Entertainment Ratings for the week
 |
| Perdita Avery as Meredith Lovechild in Family Affairs |
Guest Stars:
Leo: Timothy Bateson (Timothy's TV credits include Heartbeat, Midsommer Murders and My Family; he is also an accomplished film and theatre actor. Click here for some pictures of Tim in different roles, part of the Official Hinge and Bracket web site)
Dexter: Ben Willbond (Ben is an accomplished comedian, well known for his Edinburgh Fringe performances playing middle class twits and more)
With Frank Taylor; Shola Adewusi (Ms Denton, a patient who tries to help another without much help from Mrs Raven or Dr. Crispin - she's also appeared in The Bill and Bad Girls); and Perdita Avery (Piers psychotic fiance; a graduate of the Arts Educational Schols of London, Perdita's credits include Family Affairs - as Meredith Lovechild - and an acomplished performance in Noel Coward's Hay Fever as the ice maiden, Myra Arundel, at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe).
Janet and George find it hard adjusting to George's new body. It's like starting their relationship all over again -- a task not helped by unearthing skeletons in both of their cupboards: in George's case, it's a love child (located by Arnie, whose taken a job at the Galactic Child Support Agency) and in Janet's, an old boyfriend who's tracked her down through Friends Reunited! Meanwhile Doctor Crispin has gotten engaged to a stunningly beautiful woman who loves him unconditionally. No, really. She really loves him. Loves him so much she wants to be with him until he dies... even if she has to make sure she's the one who kills him!
Disasters
George takes some Ultronian Gender Pills and turns into a woman to try and experience Janet's feelings about his body change, with disastrous consequences... and not just for George. Someone needs rescuing from a car accident.
Look Out For:
The kids joking about their parents in Turkish... and Cassie reading Anna Karenina!
My Kingdom
for a Cat First UK tx: 4 August 2006
Written by Katie Douglas Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 3.88 (20.03 Audience Share) 2.62 Multi Channel Homes 18.02 Share MCH
Number 5 in Top Ten Entertainment Ratings for the week
Ultron Postman: Pat Kelman
 |
| My Kingdom for a
Cat writer Katie Douglas. Photo: David Higham Associates. Katie's other credits include shows for the BBC and other channels, and After You've Gone, a new comedy series for the BBC. |
Special Guest: Sophie Raworth. BBC News presenter Raworth manages to keep a straight face as Piers takes on the mannerisms of a cat, and maintains a fine tradition of news reader cameos on My Hero
George is still desperately trying to get Janet to fall back in love with him, as the comedy following the adventures of superhero Thermoman continues. In an effort to endear himself to Janet (and to sleep in the bedroom rather than on the sofa), George seeks advice on what really makes her happy. And who better to ask than a cat?
Everything is working well until George's cat-like tendencies go a touch too far and he coughs up a hairball and grows a tail and whiskers to match.
Episode Notes:
My Kingdom for a Cat, was, story-wise, largely on a par with some of My Hero's best episodes of past seasons. It was written by Katie Douglas, a prize-winning writer who has several original TV projects in development according to her agent, including a new comedy show for My Hero producers Big Bear, entitled Me and Mr Bones.
Katie has written for TV, stage and radio and done writer attachments at the National, the Everyman, Paines Plough (also Future Perfect Scheme) and was awarded the prestigious Pearson Award in 2006. For the screen she writes both drama and comedy.
We wondered just how many takes were required, knowing how difficult cats can be.
"Ah, the hidden mysteries of television," series producer and director John Stroud says,"And superglue. (No, we didn't, honestly...)
"I can't remember the exact number," he admits, "but I do remember the cat causing fewer retakes than some of the actors!"
Disasters
George turning into a cat: floods in North Africa (which George only deals with after being persuaded to get out of his bed with a promise of a can of tuna).
Sidekick
First UK tx: 11 August 2006
Written by Jon Brown Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: Not available: show not in Top 75 shows
Guest Stars:
Lula/Thermowoman - Hannah Waddingham
Special Guest - Sophie Raworth
With Dan Mersh and Tim Faulkner
As George agrees to take on more of Piers's patients – so that the doctor can practice his golf swing – and Thermoman duties continue to call, he decides to reduce his workload and free up some time to concentrate on winning back his wife.
He sets about fashioning a Thermoman sidekick out of one of his ribs with a little help from Arnie. What emerges is a beautiful, statuesque, 6ft blonde called Lula – leaving Janet even less impressed than before.
When George is demoted to "Sticky Tape Boy" as a result of Lula's efficiencies at her job, he realises something has to be done – because he's at risk of losing his livelihood as well as his wife.
Not for Prophet
First UK tx: 18 August 2006
Written by Gary Lawson and John Phelps Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: Not available: show not in Top 75 shows
Guest Stars:
Local Vicar: I recognise him from somewhere!
Female Patient: Ruth Leah
Good Looking Man: Chris Ellis-Stanton
An accomplished sportsman who chose to become an actor, Chris has voiced many commercials for local and national radio, and has previously appeared in My Hero.
Riley And Kyle Bassoli
Three-year-old twins playing Ollie
Sarah And Clare Gower
One-year-old twins playing Cassie
Special Guest - Sophie Raworth
George is determined to prove his devotion as a father, so, unable to get Cassie into a local Church of England pre-school after a disastrous interview with the local vicar, he decides to set up an Ultronian faith school to give his daughter a taste of Ultronian culture – much to Janet's despair.
After apparently bringing Piers back to life thanks to the power of the Ultronian religion Wa-Tu-Ma-Hey-Go-Fla, much of the population of Northolt is converted to the new faith, leading to George convincing himself – and an impressive crowd of followers – that he must be The Chosen One.
Things get a little difficult when Piers (whose brush with death was the result of Mrs Raven testing various new drugs on him) and Mrs Raven provoke a schism in the new religion...
This episode features some wicked barbs about organised religion and the interview with the local vicar is a gem. It goes so badly - not helped by George speed reading the Bible -- he calls an exorcist thinking George is a vessel for Satan...
Disasters
Piers is killed by Mrs Raven's illicit drug experiments (well, she has to get the money for her fur coats somewhere). George - as George, not Thermoman - call on the faith of Wa-Tu-Ma-Hey-Go-Fla to bring him back to life (accidentally bring part of one of Mrs Raven's coats back to life first).
Dermoman
First UK tx: 25 August 2006
Written by Daniel Peak Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: 3.35 (17.15 Audience Share) 2.24 Multi Channel Homes 15.29 Share MCH
Guest Stars:
Cinema Usher: Adrian Christopher
Ticket Seller: Kim Benson
Ultron Postman: Pat Kelman
Special Guest: Sophie Raworth
Synopsis: George has been caught breaking the speed limit by the Ultronian Police, having been flying faster than light, and has to re-sit his superhero theory test. Janet tells him he has to pass, otherwise he will lose his licence and get sent back to Ultron.
Tyler blames Janet for George’s vigour as she has been making him sleep on the couch, but to help him burn off his excess energy she simply suggests George joins a gym. Thinking oiling up his pecs might win him Janet’s favour, he ends up completely muscle-bound. The only way to regain his normal shape is by taking reverse steroids – but, unfortunately, they have some unexpected side effects.
With a boil the size of a third eye and the attitude of a surly teenager, George's antics push Janet even further away and his behaviour means he runs the risk of being sent back to Ultron permanently...
Top of the Table
First UK tx: 1 September 2006
Written by James CaryDirected by: John Stroud
Ratings: 3.21 (16.45 Audience Share) 2.14 Multi Channel Homes 14.48 Share MCH
Guest Stars:
Ultron Postman: Pat Kelman
Special Guest: Sophie Raworth
With: Robert Craigs and Kenneth Collard
Old George’s position as second-best superhero in the Galaxy has prompted new George, with Arnie’s help, to market Thermoman-branded merchandise, including Thermo-suits and loo rolls! Meanwhile, George hopes that the new Superhero Assessment of Total Saves league table will prove that he is the same George and that Janet will therefore accept him as her husband -- but he's shocked and worried when he sees he has only come 14th!
He decides to take some serious action – saving thousands of extra lives – to get back to the top where he belongs and ensure Janet's affections are secured.
Disasters
George deciding stopping people smoking and drinking causes all sorts of disasters including people setting fire to forest just to breathe the smoke. Tyler suffers several personal disasters, not least of which is being squashed by an overweight, burger-munching ThermoMan.
Believe
First UK tx: Sunday 10 September 2006
Replaced in BBC schedule by Out Take TV on Friday night which achieved a 4.86m audience - a 24.61 audience share
Written by Gary Lawson and John Phelps Directed by: John Stroud
Ratings: Not available: show not in Top 75 shows
Not a surprising when a show is moved without warning and its regular viewers aren't told when it will be shown. Plus, the switch of lead actors finally proved a disaster.
George has been a one-man wrecking ball all week as his super-powers seem to have deserted him. He's even dropped a Bavarian village whilst saving it from a mudslide thus destroying three other villages. Janet insists he sorts himself out, but he doesn’t know what is wrong and hopes it’s just a temporary blip. However, he then playfully throws baby daughter Cassie up into the air – and through the ceiling!George's body is beginning to malfunction in the final episode of the superhero comedy. Dropping villages, smashing through walls and involuntarily punching people are not part of Thermoman's job description, so Arnie is forced to carry out a full body MOT. The results? George's Confidometer is extremely low.
A crash course in self-help literature boosts George's confidence enormously, but he turns into the life counsellor from hell – and a big-headed Ultronian is no good to anyone...
Disasters
Dropping villages, smashing through walls and involuntarily punching people...
Production Information
My Hero created by Paul Mendelson
Script Consultant: Paul Mendelson (Footloose, Here's One I Made Earlier, My Kingdom for a Cat, Sidekick, DermoMan,Believe ); Paul Mayhew-Archer (Here's One I Made Earlier, My Kingdom for a Cat, Sidekick, Believe, DermoMan )
Titles: TSI Design
Music: Philip Pope
Wire Effects: Bob Schofield
Stunt Co-Ordinator: Paul Heasman (Believe)
Casting Director: Tracey Gillham
Associate Producer: Jed Leventhall
Production Accountant: Allan Davies
Production Buyer: Katrina Duce
Art Director: Jo Sutherland
Studio Manager: Lisa Lancaster (Footloose); Ray Gearing (Here's One I Made Earlier, My Kingdom for a Cat,Sidekick)
Location Manager: Julia Morpeth
Video Effects: Jellyfish Pictures
Visual Effects Designer: Chris Lawson (Here's One I Made Earlier); Peter Kersey ( My Kingdom for a Cat)
Compositor: Charlotte Merrill (Footloose)
Costume Designer: Sally Plum
Make-Up Designer: Mandy Furlonger
Camera Supervisor: Chas Watts
Vision Mixer: Peter Phillips
Lighting Director: Derek Constable
Sound Supervisor: Richard Bradford
Dubbing Mixer: Glenn Calder
Editor: Mykola Pawluk
Production Co-Ordinator: Nila Karadia
Assistant Co-Ordinator: Liz Oliver (Eiriona Jackson, Sidekick, Believe)
Script Supervisor: Bernadette Darnell
Stage Manager: Sarah Daman
First Assistant Director: Julie Sykes
Line Producer: Suzanne Facenfield
Designer: James Dillon
Executive Producers For BBC: Jon Plowman, Paul Mayhew-Archer
Executive Producer For Big Bear Films: Marcus Mortimer
Producers: Jamie Rix, John Stroud
Director: John Stroud
Faints
SEASON ONE• My Hero: Mrs. Possett faints when she sees George knocked down by Piers' car and then again when she sees him in Janet's office.
• The Party's
Over: Janet faints when she sees all her family transported
to Arnie's café in
New York for her 30th birthday.
SEASON TWO
• Parents: Stanley and Ella faint when George demonstrates he is impervious to pain and injury by pushing a wooden spoon through his head. Also, Tyler goes catatonic in the shop when he says he didn't tell Ella that George was ThermoMan.
• Wedding: Piers faints when Olly says he's ready to be born.
SEASON THREE
• Zero Tolerance: Piers and Mrs. Raven both faint when George realises he has been shot by the druggie.
• The Older Man: Ella
faints when Janet says she's living with George's Grandfather.Plus Janet faints
when George shows her his tongue: out of his right ear!
• A Little Learning:
Ella faints when she sees two Georges and two Janets at the surgery (actually
the
real George and Janet and clones of each of them
: George's used
by Hillary and Janet's used by Quaaltak, Vice President of the Ultron Council,
who has come to investigate Hillary's misdeeds).
Season
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3
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4
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Ella
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Janet
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1
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Mrs. Raven
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1
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1
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Piers
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2
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0
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Stanley
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Tyler
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