Series synopsis
My Hero is a British comedy sci-fi & fantasy television series that premiered on BBC One on February 4, 2000. It ended on September 10, 2006. It was created by Paul Mendelson. It stars Ardal O'Hanlon, James Dreyfus, Emily Joyce and Philip Whitchurch.
My Hero is a BBC sitcom created by Paul Mendelson. The programme ran for six series, first broadcast in February 2000, and concluding in September 2006. The series follows the antics of the dim-witted superhero "Thermoman", portrayed by Ardal O'Hanlon in series one to five and by James Dreyfus in the final series. The series was regularly directed by John Stroud. In the UK, the digital channel Gold regularly re-runs the programme, although the last series has yet to appear on the channel. In the ...
Premise
My Hero is a BBC sitcom created by Paul Mendelson. The programme ran for six series, first broadcast in February 2000, and concluding in September 2006. The series follows the antics of the dim-witted superhero "Thermoman", portrayed by Ardal O'Hanlon in series one to five and by James Dreyfus in the final series. The series was regularly directed by John Stroud. In the UK, the digital channel Gold regularly re-runs the programme, although the last series has yet to appear on the channel. In the United States it was shown on PBS and, briefly, BBC America. In Australia, UKTV offered re-runs of the first three series, while BBC Entertainment provided repeats for Scandinavia.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Ardal O'Hanlon as George Sunday / Thermoman
- James Dreyfus as George Monday / Thermoman
- Emily Joyce as Janet Dawkins
- Philip Whitchurch as Tyler
- Lou Hirsch as Arnie Kawolski
- Tim Wylton as Stanley Dawkins
- Lill Roughley as Ella Dawkins
- Hugh Dennis as Dr. Piers Crispin
Supporting cast
- Geraldine McNulty as Mrs. Raven
- Finlay Stroud as Ollie Sunday (voice)
- Riley Bassoli as Ollie Sunday
- Kyle Bassoli as Ollie Sunday
- Jean Luca Dora as Ollie Sunday
- Laura Dethier-Chapman as Ollie Sunday
- Lucy Dethier-Chapman as Ollie Sunday
- Madeline Mortimer as Cassie Sunday (voice)
- Sarah Gower as Cassie Sunday
- Claire Gower as Cassie Sunday
Guest cast
- Pat Kelman as Ultron Postie
- Charlotte Hudson as Irish Newsreader
- Shola Adewusi as Mrs Denton
- Anna Niland as Mrs Blake
- Jodie Scott as Arnie's Customer
- Jacqui O'Hanlon as Mrs. Biggs
- Mary Farragher as TV News Woman
- Timothy Gleed as Mr. Olgive
- Rory Lewis as Mr. Jackson
- Joan Linder as Mrs. Poslette
- Kevin Shewfelt as Waiter
- Marcello Walton as The Pope
Episodes
This series spans 7 seasons with 55 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 0 | 5 | December 22, 2000 | March 16, 2001 |
| Season 1 | 6 | February 4, 2000 | March 10, 2000 |
| Season 2 | 6 | May 14, 2001 | June 18, 2001 |
| Season 3 | 10 | June 7, 2002 | August 23, 2002 |
| Season 4 | 10 | August 8, 2003 | October 10, 2003 |
| Season 5 | 10 | January 7, 2005 | March 25, 2005 |
| Season 6 | 8 | July 21, 2006 | September 10, 2006 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Christmas George tries to get into the spirit of Christmas by creeping into the houses of Janet's parents, Mrs Raven, and her boss Piers on Christmas Eve dressed as Santa to leave them all presents. This doesn't go down as well as he had planned, and Christmas dinner is a bit of a miserable affair until George appears with the real Father Christmas who has a special present for everyone (except Piers, who, thinking it was a joke, only asked for a jigsaw puzzle while Tyler got two first class tickets to the Caribbean that he wanted). |
December 22, 2000 |
| 2 | Season 5 Out-takes | |
| 3 | Season 6 Out-takes |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
My Hero Janet does not realize that the Irish hypochondriac who's come to see her at the health centre is actually the famed superhero Thermoman, who saved her life while she was vacationing in Arizona. |
February 4, 2000 |
| 2 |
Guess Who's Coming to Lunch As George and Janet are now an item, things move on for them and it's time to meet Janet's parents. But Janet's mother knows what she wants for her daughter - smooth, oily Dr. Piers, not weird George. Janet is a bag of nerves and even more so that George says and does the oddest things, sometimes at the worst moment imaginable. |
February 11, 2000 |
| 3 |
Mission Impossible Thermoman faces his biggest challenge yet. After Janet washes his superhero outfit in biological detergent which make him itch, an book from his home planet says that he mustn't have sex more than once a month. But worst of all, Piers knows George's secret. |
February 18, 2000 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Parents Thermoman reveals his double identity to Janet's parents, in an attempt to gain their favour, but her mother can't keep a secret. |
May 14, 2001 |
| 2 |
Girlfriend A curvaceous Ultronian appears, claiming to be George's fiancee. Xil learns to speak English when speaking to Tyler, she realises that she can learn from him. She does so and picks up his (local) accent. Meanwhile, Mrs Raven asks for a better deal for the job she does, Piers decides to let her go instead. |
May 21, 2001 |
| 3 |
Car Piers get a new Mercedes. George works hard to buy Janet a car and Arnie gets his powers back. |
May 28, 2001 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Baby Talk The arrival of a little bundle of joy with superhuman powers has made life even more stressful for George and Janet. Meanwhile, Dr Piers's TV career appears to be on the up after he appoints a new agent |
June 7, 2002 |
| 2 |
Zero Tolerance George takes the law into his own hands when he joins a neighbourhood watch scheme |
June 14, 2002 |
| 3 |
Pet Rescue George is puzzled by the British love of pets - until his mother-in-law's dog explains it all. However, talking to animals is not normal behaviour, and the conversation lands George in hot water |
June 21, 2002 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
A Sporting Chance George has some initial trouble getting to grips with the notion of sport when he is asked to join a cricket team, to help Piers out. Mrs. Raven gets intimate with Tyler after becoming convinced that he is her hero Thermoman. Ella belittles Thermoman - when he fixes her house after an incident and other people's houses as well - as not doing a perfect job. But Thermoman gets his revenge. |
August 8, 2003 |
| 2 |
The Living Dead George gets himself a new life insurance policy and then kills himself to claim the cash. Now he has to figure out how to come back from the dead with Janet's help, or at least, Janet has to help him sort out another mess - yet again! This is easier said than done, as Janet has to fend off colleagues and family trying to get her married off again and with things like Tyler on the loose and George spread out in a coffin in the room, things are not going to be easy to solve, until a plan is hatched for the funeral. |
August 15, 2003 |
| 3 |
Taking the Credit Its spend, spend, spend, as George finds out about credit cards. Janet to the rescue, as she uses baby Ollie's powers to predict future lottery numbers to pay for George's spending habit, |
August 22, 2003 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
The Foresight Saga George and Janet have a new addition to the family: Cassie. She can see into the future. However, shortly after birth, she has horrible premonitions that everyone on the Northern hemisphere is going to die! Meanwhile, Piers enters for ""I'm A Celebrity: Get Me Out Of Here!"" |
January 7, 2005 |
| 2 |
Illegal Aliens George and Arnie become the subject of an investigation by the Immigration Department. |
January 14, 2005 |
| 3 |
The First Husband's Club When George buys a car and ups the offered price and then takes reponsibility for an accident that was obviously Piers' fault, Janet trys assertiveness training, which promptly fails. Piers is frustrated by his lack of success with women and, when Mrs. Raven tricks him into thinking that a patient is his next date, he starts up a men's group to combat women. George is highly impressed by this, and trys it out on Janet, who is having none of it until George controls her mind and she becomes the perfect wife. He quickly does it to Ella and the other women. Piers then finds a girl who doesn't slap him and changes his mind about women. George then puts everyone back to normal. Meanwhile, Casey gets a job as directory enquiries and the speaking clock to save up for a doll's house. |
January 21, 2005 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Footloose Desperate for money after the health shop is closed, George takes part in a poker game on Ultron, but ends up losing all his body parts, aside from his foot and his soul. When he is placed into a new body, Janet has problems coping with the change. |
July 21, 2006 |
| 2 |
Heres One I Made Earlier Janet and the children are having trouble adjusting to George's new body, and things just get worse when George learns he had a secret love child. Meanwhile, Janet plans a meeting with an old boyfriend. |
July 28, 2006 |
| 3 |
My Kingdom for a Cat Desperate for Janet's affections, George asks Ella's cat what makes him so endearing. He discovers it's the cat's essence, so he starts extracting it and spraying himself with it. |
August 4, 2006 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | BBC One |
|---|---|
| First aired | February 4, 2000 |
| Last aired | September 10, 2006 |
| Runtime | 30 minutes |
| Status | Ended |
| Schedule | Friday at 20:30:00 |