Ideal is set in Salford, Greater Manchester, chosen because Duff was familiar with the area, having done many stand-up gigs there during his youth. Most of the series takes place in Moz's flat and revolves around the eclectic array of characters who visit Moz to buy cannabis, socialise or both. The opening and closing theme is "Song of the Oss" from the album Nuada: Music Inspired By the Film the Wicker Man composed by British band Candidate. The series features a number of tracks by Californian hip hop group Ugly Duckling and Pizzicato Five.
Ideal was broadcast on BBC Three in the UK, on entertainment channel 3e in Ireland and on ABC2 in Australia. First broadcast in 2005, seven series have been shown; the most recent ended on 30 June 2011. After the seventh series, Ideal was cancelled by the BBC. Following the announcement, writer and creator Graham Duff wrote to fans "As some of you may have heard, the BBC have decided against commissioning an 8th series of Ideal. The reason given was that the new channel controller wanted to make a clean sweep. It is a source of both pride and frustration that, at the point of cancellation, Ideal was attracting its biggest ever audiences, its highest profile guest stars and its best ever reviews. And the show is now being screened in more countries than ever before – from America to Finland and beyond".
Characters
Moz (Johnny Vegas): a small-time cannabis dealer who has been dealing for a number of years from his flat in Salford which he used to share with his girlfriend Nicki but now shares with his new girlfriend Jenny. He deals only in the many varieties of marijuana and sees himself as 'providing a crucial service to the community". Moz rarely sets foot outside the front door of his apartment and seems to have no concept of keeping the flat tidy.
Nicki (Nicola Reynolds): Moz's girlfriend for the first four series. She and Moz have a love/hate relationship, with Nicki constantly nagging Moz about the state of the flat. Nicki can be very assertive and openly opposed to several of Moz's more distinctive shortcomings.
Cartoon Head aka Golova Sharzh, Russian for Cartoon Head. (James Foster/David Sant) a man who never speaks and always wears a mask resembling a cartoon mouse.
Craig / Steve (Seymour Leon Mace): the irritating loner Craig wasn't originally one of Moz's regular clients but after someone has recommended Moz as a good dealer to him, he keeps pestering Moz to let him visit the flat.
'Psycho' Paul Nevin (Ryan Pope): originally a rival dealer to Moz, Psycho Paul now works with Cartoon Head.
PC Phil Collins (Tom Goodman-Hill): Moz's mate and also his chief supplier. Collins is a police constable for the Greater Manchester Police. He supplies Moz with weed which has been seized from other dealers during raids. He is a useful contact for Moz, tipping him off as to what the latest police activity is - information which proves vital when the CID plan to raid the flat.
Troy (Tony Burgess, also co-writer): Moz's half-brother.
Kuldip (Ronny Jhutti): a former close friend of Moz. A relatively successful DJ (which Troy resents), he has a regular slot as a DJ at the local nightclub. He often boasts to Moz about the number of white label records he has in his box.
Judith (Joanna Neary): moves in across the hall from Moz at the start of series two. She is a timid, demure necrophiliac who is constantly saying "sorry". She soon becomes the dealer's potential love interest; they are mutually attracted but he is disgusted at the idea of her having sex with dead bodies.
Jenny (Sinead Matthews): a dim-witted young adult who becomes Moz's girlfriend near the end of series four.
Felix (Des O'Malley): the teenage father of Jenny's baby.
Stemroach (David Bradley): the sinister gangland boss who employs Cartoon Head and Psycho Paul as his henchmen.
Brian (Graham Duff, who is also creator and writer of the show); a very camp and flamboyant homosexual.
Colin (Ben Crompton): a bouncy, childlike petty criminal who is usually on probation, as he frequently reminds people.
Derrick (Alfie Joey): another regular customer whose obsession with vegetables Moz finds very boring.
China (Natalie Gumede): along with her friend Asia, is one of Moz's regular clients.
Asia (Rebecca Atkinson): friend of China's, who finds Moz repulsive.
Silicone Valets (pronounced "Silicone Valleys"): Lee (Andrew-Lee Potts) and Jason together are Silicone Valets, a pop group of indeterminate quality and style, who drop by to buy drugs and brag about their success.
Reverend Jeff "Fist" Fistwick (Graham Duff; uncredited and in a mask): His flat is usually dark and unlit and Fist seems to spend a lot of time watching people come and go, seemingly with sinister intent.
Chen (Hon Ping Tan): a member of the Low Triad, initially working for Min Yin Low.
Tony (Dan Li): also a member of the Low Triad, initially working for Min Yin Low.
Each series of Ideal has a different coloured title sequence. Series 1 was sepia; the Christmas special was red; Series 2 was blue; Series 3 was green; Series 4 was purple; Series 5 was red; Series 6 was yellow and Series 7 is bondi blue.
Series 1 (2005)
No. overall
No. in series
Title
Written by
Original release date
1
1
"The Rat"
Graham Duff
11January2005(2005-01-11)
2
2
"The Seduction"
Graham Duff
18January2005(2005-01-18)
3
3
"The Boyfriend"
Graham Duff
25January2005(2005-01-25)
4
4
"The Affair"
Graham Duff
1February2005(2005-02-01)
5
5
"The Backpacker"
Graham Duff
8February2005(2005-02-08)
6
6
"The Party"
Graham Duff
15February2005(2005-02-15)
7
7
"The Pregnancy"
Graham Duff
22February2005(2005-02-22)
8
8
"The Body"
Graham Duff
1March2005(2005-03-01)
Special
No. overall
No. in series
Title
Written by
Original release date
9
-
"An Ideal Xmas"
Graham Duff
27December2005(2005-12-27)
Series 2 (2006)
No. overall
No. in series
Title
Written by
Original release date
10
1
"The Stag Do"
Graham Duff
14March2006(2006-03-14)
11
2
"The Landlord"
Graham Duff
21March2006(2006-03-21)
12
3
"The Hydroponics"
Graham Duff
28March2006(2006-03-28)
13
4
"The Séance"
Graham Duff
4April2006(2006-04-04)
14
5
"The Boss"
Graham Duff
11April2006(2006-04-11)
15
6
"The Guest"
Graham Duff
18April2006(2006-04-18)
16
7
"The Delivery"
Graham Duff
25April2006(2006-04-25)
17
8
"The Money"
Graham Duff
2May2006(2006-05-02)
Series 3 (2007)
No. overall
No. in series
Title
Written by
Original release date
18
1
"The Night"
Graham Duff
20March2007(2007-03-20)
19
2
"The Christians"
Graham Duff
27March2007(2007-03-27)
20
3
"The Pyramid"
Graham Duff
3April2007(2007-04-03)
21
4
"The Nest"
Graham Duff
10April2007(2007-04-10)
22
5
"The Bath"
Graham Duff
17April2007(2007-04-17)
23
6
"The Set-Up"
Graham Duff
24April2007(2007-04-24)
24
7
"The Crabs"
Graham Duff
1May2007(2007-05-01)
25
8
"The Wedding"
Graham Duff
8May2007(2007-05-08)
Series 4 (2008)
No. overall
No. in series
Title
Written by
Original release date
26
1
"The Pains"
Graham Duff
28April2008(2008-04-28)
27
2
"The Past"
Graham Duff
5May2008(2008-05-05)
28
3
"The Vodka"
Graham Duff
12May2008(2008-05-12)
29
4
"The Secret"
Graham Duff
19May2008(2008-05-19)
30
5
"The War"
Graham Duff
26May2008(2008-05-26)
31
6
"The Birthday"
Graham Duff
2June2008(2008-06-02)
32
7
"The Television"
Graham Duff
9June2008(2008-06-09)
33
8
"The Future"
Graham Duff
16June2008(2008-06-16)
Series 5 (2009)
No. overall
No. in series
Title
Written by
Original release date
34
1
"The Healer"
Graham Duff
11May2009(2009-05-11)
35
2
"The Temptation"
Graham Duff
18May2009(2009-05-18)
36
3
"The Red Bag"
Graham Duff
25May2009(2009-05-25)
37
4
"The Documentary"
Graham Duff
1June2009(2009-06-01)
38
5
"The Chance"
Graham Duff
8June2009(2009-06-08)
39
6
"The Passports"
Graham Duff
15June2009(2009-06-15)
Series 6 (2010)
No. overall
No. in series
Title
Written by
Original release date
40
1
"The Business"
Graham Duff
17August2010(2010-08-17)
41
2
"The American"
Graham Duff
24August2010(2010-08-24)
42
3
"The Kill"
Graham Duff
31August2010(2010-08-31)
43
4
"The Poster"
Graham Duff
7September2010(2010-09-07)
44
5
"The Lapse"
Graham Duff
14September2010(2010-09-14)
45
6
"The Accident"
Graham Duff
21September2010(2010-09-21)
46
7
"The Ear"
Graham Duff
28September2010(2010-09-28)
47
8
"The Housewarming"
Graham Duff
5October2010(2010-10-05)
Series 7 (2011)
No. overall
No. in series
Title
Written by
Original release date
48
1
"The Police"
Graham Duff
26May2011(2011-05-26)
49
2
"The Debtors"
Graham Duff
2June2011(2011-06-02)
50
3
"The Brothel"
Graham Duff
9June2011(2011-06-09)
51
4
"The Paintings"
Graham Duff
16June2011(2011-06-16)
52
5
"The Love"
Graham Duff
23June2011(2011-06-23)
53
6
"The Red King"
Graham Duff
30June2011(2011-06-30)
Awards and nominations
In November 2006, Ideal received the award for Best Comedy Programme at the Royal Television Society North West Comedy Awards.[2]
DVD release
A box set of series one (excluding the Christmas special episode) was released in the UK on 7 November 2005. It includes the following extras:
Making of Ideal
Out-takes
Deleted scenes
Commentaries from Johnny Vegas (Moz), Graham Duff (creator, writer, Brian and Reverend Fistwick) and Henry Normal (executive producer).
The second series (including the Christmas special) was released on DVD on 19 February 2007, the third series on 9 June 2008, the fourth series on 13 April 2009, and the fifth series on 19 July 2010.[3] The sixth series was released on 11 October 2010. The seventh and final series was released on 25 July 2011.
Film
A film based on the TV series was planned. The last update was this in June 2012. Baby Cow executive Henry Normal told Chortle: "It's going to be set in the same place, with many of the same characters. We even bought the physical set from the BBC, our co-producers on the TV series. We are aiming for it to be quite a dark psychological comedy-thriller". As of 2025, there has been no word of the film being in production.[4]
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