Set in Blackpool over one long weekend, Funland plunges you into the black heart of the resort town, bringing the saucy seaside postcard screaming into the twenty-first century. Join the characters on a mysterious journey where nothing is quite what it seems: Carter Krantz (Daniel Mays) arrives in Blackpool to avenge the death of his mother. Without a penny to his name and carrying only a fragment of paper containing the words Ambrose Chapel, he is sucked into the most disturbing of mysteries. The dysfunctional Woolf family are at the heart of everything that happens in Blackpool: there's Shirley Woolf (Ian Puleston-Davies), a borderline psycho; his mother, the evil and manipulative Mercy (Judy Parfitt); and his foolhardy wife Connie (Frances Barber). Also in town are the Suttons, Dudley (Kris Marshall) and Lola (Sarah Smart), hoping for a dirty weekend to spice up their marriage. Little do they suspect that their stay in the Shangri-la guesthouse will turn their world upside down... their lives will never be the same again. Who's who in Funland: Carter Krantz Daniel Mays plays the young hero. "Carter can be this young, charismatic guy but there is another side to him, a more demonic and violent side. He's very instinctive and unpredictable. He's able to seduce people, scare people, please people and trick people at any given time. As an actor I have to decide when and where to reveal his true character." Mercy Woolf
Judy Parfitt plays the head of the Woolf family, a manipulative and powerful woman. "Mercy is totally ruthless, she will do anything to get what she wants and she is so detached from any sort of real emotion. If she does show any emotion then it is only in the hope of manipulating someone to do what she wants them to do! She’s totally different to me as I think I'm about as frightening as Minnie Mouse!" Shirley Woolf
Ian Puleston-Davies plays Mercy's son — a borderline psycho. Shirley is caught in the middle of two formidable women, his wife Connie and his mother Mercy. He is struggling to juggle the roles of loving family man and Blackpool hard man: "He's trying his best to be the perfect husband and father," explains Ian, "But Shirley has had such a dysfunctional upbringing that I think he's incapable of feeling true love." Connie Woolf
Frances Barber plays Shirley's third wife — a strong-willed but rather foolhardy woman. "Shirley is a sex addict and Connie knows he sleeps around," explains Frances. "She has to permanently look her best because she is insecure that he will disappear with a younger model. She's had her boobs done, her nails done, her hair highlighted… everything. Even sitting at home she's in an extravagant outfit of stockings, suspenders, basque, feather boa... everything to wait for Shirley to come home. I imagine she spends all day at the beauty salon, at the tanning salon and in the hairdressers. It's an exhausting existence, but she knows she has to do it to hang on to her husband. You do see women like that, who are in their forties and dress like they're in their twenties. She’s a footballer's wife twenty years on!" Liam Woolf
Kenny Doughty is dim-witted Liam Woolf, Shirley's son, who is keen to impress his father but always seems to get it wrong. "The background to Liam is that he's just spent some time in Manchester, after his grandma Mercy gave him some money to start a band, but he blew it all on drugs. So Shirley bought him back to Blackpool and is now trying to make a man of him by sending him to collect protection money." Ruby Woolf
Emily Aston plays the outrageous but lovable daughter of the Woolf family. "The brilliant thing about Ruby is she's got front. She is a strong character who tells it like it is, but underneath, she's actually quite vulnerable. She’s conscious of her weight, she's just longing to be with someone and she doesn't like being on her own." Dudley Sutton
Kris Marshall is Dudley Sutton, a nice but dull man who arrives in Blackpool to spice up his marriage. "I met this guy while I was on holiday in the queue for my breakfast one morning!" laughs Kris. "He was wearing these awful sandals and long shorts and he just looked like a fish out of water. He had a bad razor rash and a bit of a pot belly and so I was stood in the queue trying to copy his gait and sticking my belly out when he turned round and caught me looking at him! But the guy was absolutely perfect and I decided to model Dudley on him." Lola Sutton
Sarah Smart plays Dudley's wife who comes to Blackpool looking for some excitement but gets more than she bargained for! "Lola is really straight, really shy, I think is the best way to describe her is as a sexual anorexic, she's really uptight about sex. Dudley brings her to Blackpool for a romantic weekend but the guesthouse that they stay in isn't the nicest of places. They're trying to make the best of it but then Dudley loses a game of poker and it all goes completely wrong!" Rev Onan Van Kneck
Roy Barraclough plays the Mayor of Blackpool. "He's running his mayoral campaign to clean up Blackpool but underneath it all he's as corrupt as all hell!" explains Roy. "He’s a fun character to play because all his schemes always come to nothing and he’s just made to look an absolute fool! He’s very pompous and full of his own self-importance which makes it very funny when things go wrong for him." Ambrose Chapfel
Mark Gatiss is Ambrose Chapfel, a repressed Dutch taxidermist. "I didn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb if the rest of the episode was very naturalistic," says Mark. "But I wanted him to have hair like Purdey from The Avengers and an Amish beard, he looks quite gnomish really. And then the costume designer created this fabulous denim smock which is absolutely stuffed full of these strange taxidermy instruments." Vienna Keen
Beth Cordingly portrays an enigmatic and beautiful lap-dancer at Mercy's Club. "I've had to get used to walking around on set in just a bikini! The cast have all been really supportive which helps and the costume that I wear is amazing – false eyelashes, fake tan, hair extensions and amazing make-up which all really helps me feel the part and I don't feel like me at all!" Funland is on... Monday 24 October 2005 at 22:30 on BBC Three
Sunday 30 October 2005 at 22:00 on BBC Three | 
