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29 October 2014
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Ideal Ìý
Nicola Reynolds as Nicky

Johnny Vegas makes Ideal return to Â鶹ԼÅÄ THREE


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The cast

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Moz's rag-bag assortment of clients are played by some of the best up-and-coming comic acting talent in the UK, many from the North West of England.

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Nicki is played by Nicola Reynolds

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Nicki is Moz's strong-willed and feisty live-in girlfriend. Moz endlessly disappoints her and they're always on the point of breaking up.

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But Nicki is now pregnant and – unbeknownst to Moz – the father could be any one of three men. Does this spell the end of their relationship for good?

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About Nicola Reynolds

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Born in Pontypridd and brought up in Cardiff

Age 33

First role was playing Little Billy Goat Gruff on stage in Bolton

First TV job was in Coronation Street as a policewoman: "I had to arrest Jim MacDonald for beating up his wife, Liz"

Has previously appeared in Little Britain and Â鶹ԼÅÄ TWO's Murder alongside Julie Walters.

Nicola is also a regular in CÂ鶹ԼÅÄ's long running The Story of Tracy Beaker

Became best friends with Johnny Vegas when they had to do a dodgy sex scene in Sex Lives of the Potato Men: "It meant we got to know each other pretty well and very quickly!"

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PC is played by Tom Goodman-Hill

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PC is a Police Constable who supplies Moz with the hash and weed he's busted from other dealers.

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He seems to spend very little time on the beat, preferring to waste his afternoons smoking bongs with Moz. He's also secretly in love with Nicki.

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About Tom Goodman-Hill

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Born in Enfield but brought up in Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Age 37

Qualified as a secondary school teacher but hated every minute

First job was in An Inspector Calls in the West End

Appeared with Sean Connery in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

He played Ben in the Â鶹ԼÅÄ ONE comedy The Worst Week of My Life and also guest-starred in The Office as Ray

Has already had his obituary written, courtesy of Johnny Vegas, who describes him as: "A phenomenal drinker…"

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Judith is played by Joanna Neary

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Judith moves in as Moz's nervy new neighbour and potential love interest. Judith wants to fit in and be normal but it soon becomes obvious that she has various interests and hobbies that might border on the socially unacceptable.

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About Jo Neary

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Born in Coventry and raised in Cornwall

Age 33

Nominated for the Perrier Newcomer Award in 2004 for her solo comedy character show, Joanna can also be seen in the new series of Green Wing

Most memorable Ideal moment: "Being crammed in a doorway with Johnny Vegas. As he pressed his stomach against mine, he said, "anything you fancy, help yourself"

Would like to be remembered for making up the word 'Twonk', an insult which combines a range of unprintable words

Is an expert knitter

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Jenny is played by Sinead Matthews

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Jenny is the childminder from hell who regularly turns up at Moz's flat to score hash, often with her infant charges in tow. She seems to live in her own little dream world and has zero sense of responsibility.

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About Sinead Matthews

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Born in Coventry

Age 25

Her first job was in the Mike Leigh film Vera Drake and she recently played opposite Matthew Macfadyen in Pride and Prejudice

Is a mean dancer and can do the Samba, Foxtrot and Flamenco

"If I wasn't an actress, I'd be an astronaut. Anything to do with space, stars and planets fascinates me."

Despite appearing in several episodes of Ideal, all Sinead's scenes were shot in just two days between stage commitments

Consequently, her nickname with the rest of the Ideal cast was 'West End Wendy'

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Stemroach is played by David Bradley

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Stemroach is a sinister gangland boss who employs Cartoon Head and Psycho Paul as his henchmen. He's vicious and ruthless and, due to a lack of vocal chords, talks through a hand-held throat speaker.

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About David Bradley

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Born in Yorkshire

Age 63

David is one of Britain's most in-demand character actors.

Although he is perhaps currently best known for his role as Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films, he has a long and impressive array of stage, film and TV credits, having appeared in Blackpool, Wild West and Our Friends in the North

He was most recently seen in Sweeney Todd playing Todd's father

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Psycho Paul is played by Ryan Pope

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Psycho Paul is Moz's rival hash dealer. In the new series, he tries to embroil Moz in a dodgy kidnapping plan. Of course, Moz doesn't want to know. But is it possible to refuse Psycho Paul without causing offence and risking life and limb?

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About Ryan Pope

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Born in Manchester

Age 32

First acting job was in a film to promote The Who's comeback Quadrophenia tour

He had to dress up as a Mod and ride around on a Lambretta

He's been on a world tour with the RSC, which called at Hong Kong, San Francisco and Ellesmere Port

He's been a catwalk model for Prada. He got to keep the suit he was wearing but managed to leave the trousers on a tube train

He recently played policeman Chris Church in Â鶹ԼÅÄ THREE's disturbingly funny thriller Funland, which will be shown again on Â鶹ԼÅÄ TWO later this year

He is engaged to actress Sally Carman who has appeared in Shameless

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Colin is played by Ben Crompton

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Colin is a bouncy, childlike scally. Although he's constantly reminding everyone that he's on probation, this doesn't seem to stop him turning up at Moz's flat and trying to off-load an endless stream of stolen goods.

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About Ben Crompton

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Born in Manchester

Age 31

Best known for playing Barney Watson in Paul Abbott's Clocking Off

He also recently starred in Â鶹ԼÅÄ THREE's Man Stroke Woman

If acting dries up, he'd like to be a 'foot fairy' (his description for a chiropodist) like his auntie in Dorset

Ben on Johnny Vegas:"He plays Swing Ball on his own, drinks herbal tea, speaks Received Pronunciation and won't look you in the eye."

Prefers pubs that serve real ale and still have spittoons.

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Asia is played Rebecca Atkinson

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Asia is a perennially cocky, stereotypical fashion student, who is inseparable from her best friend, China.

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She only flirts with Moz in order to get dope without having to pay for it – a strategy that normally works, despite Moz's normal rule of 'no cash, no hash!'

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About Rebecca Atkinson

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Born in Salford

Age 22

Won the Miss Dance of Great Britain title in 2003 after being put through her paces in ballet, tap and jazz

Is a qualified beauty therapist and was close to opening a salon, specialising in acryllic nails, before her acting career took off

Shameless was her first big break but she was worried that, at 19, she would be too old to play 15 year old Karen (who has an affair with Frank Gallagher)

She can also be seen in Life on Mars (Â鶹ԼÅÄ One) with John Simm

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Cartoon Head is played by David Sant

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Cartoon Head is the menacing hit man who was responsible for the death of Craig in the first series of Ideal.

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He is never seen without his cute yet sinister cartoon mouse mask and never utters a single world – something which reinforces his general air of pure evil!

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About David Sant

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Born in Catalonia in Spain

Age 38

Hates Spanish theatre. "My finest moment was standing up, shouting 'Rubbish!' and walking out"

He's a member of the highly acclaimed physical comedy theatre company Peepolykus and also provides a whole range of voices for the much loved children's show, Pingu

Met his wife in London and has lived there for 15 years

A fact about David that not even his closest family know; "I'm married!"

If he wasn't an actor, he would be a rollercoaster designer.

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Yasuko is played by Haruka Kuroda

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Yasuko suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and always has a packet of Wet Wipes on hand to clean everything and anything.

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Yet despite her squeaky clean image, Yasuko has a wild past, having shared a threesome with Nicki whilst backpacking in Thailand.

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About Haruka Kuroda

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Born in Kyoto, Japan

Age 28

When not in Ideal, Haruka supplies the voice for Noodle – a character in Damon Albarn's multi-million selling cartoon pop band, Gorillaz

Is qualified to teach Stage Combat so is a dab hand with sticks, swords and her bare hands.

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Ian is played by Neil Bell

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Ian is a policeman who visits Moz's flat to install hidden cameras for a surveillance operation but manages to mess up the whole thing, with disastrous results for all concerned.

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About Neil Bell

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Born in Oldham

Age 33

His first audition was for world famous film director Danny Boyle - he got the part but never made it to the screen. His role was left on the cutting room floor. However he does feature heavily in Shane Meadows' multi-award winning Dead Man's Shoes

Finest moment: "I gate crashed the wrap party for the first series of Ideal – even though I wasn't in it. I was hoping to meet Johnny there but he'd already gone so I ended up standing around awkwardly; with cast and crew members asking me what I'd done on the show and why didn't they remember me!"

Would like to be remembered as "He always got a round in!"

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Steve is played by Seymour Mace

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Steve is Craig's brother who befriends Moz and Cartoon Head as he tries to find what has happened to his brother. Little does he know that Cartoon Head shot Craig at the end of the first series.

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About Seymour Mace

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Born in Newcastle but now lives in Manchester

Seymour used to be a clown

He counts Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper and Tony Hancock amongst his heroes

Was City Life Comedian of the Year in 2004

Seymour has also worked for the Natural Theatre Company as a street performer on various international projects

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