Johnny Vegas - Ideal

JOHNNY VEGAS returns as Moz, the hapless, small-time dope dealer in Ideal, BBC Three’s highest rated* original comedy series since Little Britain. Hailed as having just about everything great script, characters and actors and Johnny Vegas at his best, by the Observer and very funny indeed by the Daily Telegraph, Ideal mixes pathos and dark humour to brilliant effect. Moz has no ambitions beyond spending a quiet life dealing cannabis to a small group of friends and acquaintances. However, there are pressing issues to be resolved. His long term girlfriend, Nicki, is about to give birth, but the father could be any one of three men. Is Moz really about to become a dad for the first time and, if so, will imminent parenthood force him to rethink his choice of career? His days as a dealer may already be numbered, as local copper and Moz’s chief dope supplier, PC, is in line for a promotion which will cut off Moz’s supply. To make matters worse, gangster and regular client, Psycho Paul, is keen to involve Moz in a get-rich-quick kidnapping scheme and he won’t take no for an answer. Meanwhile, events take a sinister turn when the body of Craig, murdered by masked hit man Cartoon Head, turns up in the local chippy’s deep fat fryer. And there’s a new neighbour called Judith who has designs on Moz’s body dead or alive.British TV. Ideal is written by Graham Duff and is a co-venture between BBC Comedy North and Baby Cow Productions. Following on from the Ideal Christmas Special, series two is funnier and quirkier than ever. Despite being set within one flat, Ideal boasts an impressive array of stunts, effects and pyrotechnics.Not to mention the most bizarre hallucination sequence ever screened on BBC Comedy North is based in Manchester and aims to develop the next generation of comedy talent in the North of England. Baby Cow Productions was co-founded by Steve Coogan and Henry Normal primarily to nurture new comedy talent while giving its founders more creative control over their own shows. Since exploding on to the scene in 1999 they have recently expanded with the opening of Baby Cow Manchester. Its mission: to bring more northern based talent to the fore. Baby Cow’s credits include Nighty Night; Marion & Geoff; Sensitive Skin; Posh and Becks’ Big Impression and The Mighty Boosh. Kenton Allen, the BBC’s Creative Head of Comedy Talent and BBC Comedy North, says, Ideal sums up exactly what BBC comedy is about.

It is an original, provocative and genuinely funny series, delivered by a creative team which isn’t afraid of the risk taking which is inseparable from innovative and ground breaking programming. Henry Normal, co-founder of Baby Cow and Executive Producer says: This show gets better and better.

Graham Duff has created a world deceptively simple but loaded with comic invention. Ideal is Johnny Vegas at his best. Following the great tradition of Manchester comedy from Paul Calf, The Royle Family and Shameless, Ideal is packed with truth, wit and warmth.

Ideal is to be premiered on broadband a week ahead of its transmission. Audiences will be able to watch the comedy when they want to on the BBC Three website (www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree) and catch up if they’ve missed an episode. All episodes will be available to view for up to seven days after the final programme of the eight-part series transmits on BBC Three.

In addition, sneak preview sketches will be available to download on video-enabled mobile phones and to view on the BBC Three website. These trail services are part of the BBC’s TV Plus project to exploit the opportunities that new technologies offer to extend a programme’s life beyond the traditional linear broadcast.