Lead Balloon
Characters
Rick Spleen (Jack Dee)
A disillusioned stand-up comedian and writer, Rick Spleen's career has not gone the way he planned. Hosting corporate events, appearing on second-rate daytime chat shows and fronting cheap sell-through DVDs was not what he dreamed of as a young man.
Worse still, he's stuck with a lousy stage name that he chose 20 years ago. Rick combines a mass of neuroses and petty grievances with a terrible propensity for lying.
Marty (Sean Power)
Marty is Rick's quick-talking American writing partner. It's not easy working with Rick, but winding him up and feeding his neuroses helps to relieve the frustrations.
But what annoys Rick most is the fact that Marty is invariably the one who comes up with the funniest lines.
Mel (Raquel Cassidy)
An agent to c-list stars, Mel is Rick's unflappable long-term partner. Only someone as calm and philosophical as Mel could survive life with Rick. Her dry sense of humour and independence helps her to shrug off all the very worst of his excesses.
Sam (Antonia Campbell Hughes)
Rick and Mel's laid-back, feckless daughter. Although she is fond of her parents, she rarely communicates with them, unless it's to ask them for money to subsidise her college life.
Ben (Rasmus Hardiker)
Sam's even more laid-back boyfriend, Ben, is possibly the least-motivated human being on the planet. He ambles through life cheerfully doing nothing.
Michael (Tony Gardner)
Michael is the local wholefood cafe owner who appears to be somewhat unhinged. He came to the business via a high-powered job in the City, followed by six months' intensive therapy at a rehabilitation centre in Dorset.
Magda (Anna Crilly)
Rick and Mel's Eastern European daily help combines a surly and depressive nature with a talent for winding Rick up.
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