With 53 episodes, Ideal had an amazingly long run for a sitcom that never quite entered the national consciousness – but even so creator Graham Duff felt it was denied the ending he wanted when it was cancelled in 2011 in its prime.
This 20th anniversary stage version is supposed to achieve that closure, but it also set many years after the end of the TV series. Not that anything has changed. Johnny Vegas’s Moz is still a low-level drug dealer confined to his depressing Salford flat, even if he is facing competition from rivals doing doorstep deliveries on scooters. Psycho Paul is still psycho and Brian is still cruising the gay nightclubs and speaking largely in double entendre.
The big news is that Moz is now shacked up with fiancée Liza (Lucy Farrett), universally accepted as being way too good for him. ‘To look at you, you’d think you’d be dating a mega munter,’ Brian (Duff) tells him with typical tact.
Meanwhile, it’s shady business as usual for Psycho Paul, who we first meet casually unpacking a holdall full of severed body parts brought to him by Cartoon Head, the mute headcase whose permanently-attached mouse mask provides the show’s key visual identity.
The balance between dark humour, Moz’s humanity, and the appalling gangland goings on was key to Ideal’s cult success, but it seems uneven here. Psycho Paul’s used to horrors, but when the most atrocious thing befalls Moz, he almost carries on regardless too.
On only its second night in Salford – where else could this tour start? – the production also struggles with pacing, especially over scene changes, and is blighted by crackling mics and certain actors forgetting their lines. The ad-libs around the fluffs go down well, of course, especially as the cast have such a strong chemistry, but the panto-style mucking about is slightly at odds with the (admittedly twisted) kitchen-sink setting of the show. Meanwhile, Paul’s surreal psychotic episodes look as cheaply produced as they are.
However, it’s great to see the characters back again, and even those who never saw the original TV will be won over by the intriguing oddballs who fall into the orbit of Everyman Moz.
As Psycho Paul, Ryan Pope is as chillingly intimidating as ever, at peace with the demons that haunt him. He’s revived his Bonnie & Clyde romance with femme fatale Tanya, Emma Fryer’s languid monotone as creepy as it is seductive. And Ben Crompton is back as her brother, the endearingly dim small-time crook Colin, who’s fresh out of prison and very keen to get back, craving institutionalisation again.
Despite such larger-than-life characters, Jo Neary is a scene-stealer the meekly apologetic neighbour, Judith, whose civility might be concealing a more unpredictable streak and who isn't averse to the odd illicit substance.
Two more old cast members return on audio, which seems more like an Easter Egg for the old fans than to advance the plot, with the tapes again ruining the pacing: Tom Goodman-Hill (the horrific Darrien in Baby Reindeer) reprises his role as the friendly local cop, and Nicola Reynolds as Moz’s ex, Nicki.
It’s all a lot rougher around the edges than would be, well, ideal – but strong performances of great characters go a hell of a long way.
» Ideal tour dates
