Today is:
"You'll
believe a baby can fly!"A light-hearted romantic comedy in which an alien superhero often takes everything rather literally...
Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
No, it's health-food shop-owner George Sunday (Ardal O' Hanlon), alias the world's
most famous superhero, Thermoman. Trouble is, Thermoman is not too familiar
with Earth customs, so he is often embarrassingly honest and tends to take everything
too literally.
When he falls in love with nurse Janet Dawkins (Emily Joyce), his behaviour
appears most peculiar to her family and colleagues. Thermoman met Janet when
he rescued her from the Grand Canyon, but since then his mission to save the
world from destruction often comes in the way of his earthly romance.
Day-to-day, the couple have to overcome the conflicts that arise from Thermoman's
double life. Did Janet really have to put his suit in the wash on the day when
an abandoned space station was on course to destroy Grimsby? Should George stay
for lunch with Janet's parents or fly off to stop an erupting volcano? Will
George's life be worth living if he flies off?
Even Thermoman can't be in two places at once, and his continually disappearing
in and out of the toilet in Janet's tiny suburban flat or at the surgery is
not easy to explain.
Season One
Screened February - March 2000 on
BBC1 (Fridays, 8.30) and BBC Choice
Regular Cast:
George Sunday/ Thermoman - Ardal O’Hanlon
Janet Dawkin -Emily Joyce
Dr Piers Crispin - Hugh Dennis
Mrs Rave - Geraldine McNulty
Tyler - Philip Whitchurch
Stanley Dawkins - Tim Wylton
Ella Dawkins - Lill Roughley
Arnie - Lou Hirsch
Avril - Moya Brady
| My
Hero First UK tx: 4 February 2000 Written by: Paul Mendelson & Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud Ratings: 7.1 million (29.4% audience share) |
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| Guest stars: Mary Farragher, Timothy Gleed, Charlotte Hudson (Newsreader) Rory Lewis, Joan Linder, Jacqui O'Hanlon, Kevin Shewfelt and Marcello Walton | ||
| It's just an ordinary day at the Northolt surgery. Dr Piers Crispin (Hugh Dennis), the publicity-mad TV doctor, still fancies Janet almost as much as he fancies himself, Mrs. Raven (Geraldine McNulty), the sarcastic receptionist, is still frightening patients and Janet's mother has dropped in to wonder why her daughter is bent on passing up such an eligible husband as Piers. Janet, however, is trying to get back to normal after her recent holiday, during which she was rescued by Thermoman when a freak gust of wind blew her into the Grand Canyon. (Piers is jealous that she was in the news rather than him.) Janet has fallen for Thermoman but never expects to see her superhero saviour again, so when an odd hypochondriac Irishman called George Sunday visits her at the health centre, at first she doesn't make the connection. | ||
Blink and You'll Miss it: |
Disasters: | Romantic references: |
| • Rescues
Janet from the Grand Canyon • A meteorite the size of Texas • A meteor heading for Belgium |
• Janet asks George is he does everything at the speed of light... • George tells Janet he has met 9,842 women prettier than her and and over 21,000 cleverer, but to him, she is perfection |
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| Memory Wipes: Tyler (failed) |
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Memorable quotes |
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| Guess
Who's Coming To Lunch? First UK tx: 11 February 2000 Written by: Paul Mendelson & Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud Ratings: 6 million (24.2% audience share) |
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| Guest Stars: John Guerrasio (Arnie's customer in his greasy New York snack bar -- brave man!) | ||
| George Sunday has moved in with his new girlfriend, nurse Janet Dawkins, though why on earth she is attracted to the peculiar Irishman is beyond her colleagues. Piers can't wait for Janet to introduce George to her parents, knowing that George is bound to make the wrong impression. Janet's mother, Ella, disapproves of everything Janet does and her father, Stanley, is pathologically protective of his little angel so, understandably, both George and Janet are very nervous when her parents arrive for Sunday lunch. George is under strict instructions to try to behave normally, but he can't resist helping to cook the chicken and heat the soup with his breath. After that disaster, George decides not to use his special powers to extinguish the burning oven gloves. | ||
| Blink and You'll Miss it: • In Guess Who's Coming to Lunch and several other episodes, George flies from Northolt to New York via the Arabian Peninsula. •When George returns from Etna, it's still daylight outside, even though Janet is in bed and her mother had called round at 10:30 at night. Also, the shot of ThermoMan directing traffic is captioned "Live from Mt Etna", but it's still daylight at there, too! •Where's the mirror? Arnie greets George without seeing him (George is behind him) but Arnie has lost his superpowers. •George accidentally blows the bedroom door into the living room ("wee bit overexcited, there" as a response to Janet's come-on) but Xil in Girlfriend blows it into the bedroom. So which way is it hung? •George says his (invented) brother is called Eamonn, but in one season four episode he says his (invented) brother is called Seamus. •George says his (invented) father is called Patrick, but his real father's name is revealed in Old Man Riverdance as Seamus. •George sets fire to the sofa, but the same sofa and throw-over is there for the rest of seasons one through four! |
Disasters: | Romantic references: |
| • Mount Etna erupting • Earthquake in Nevada • Unspecified disaster in Zimbabwe • Something brewing in the Andes |
"When I say I'm tired, I'm not too tired." - Janet Janet: I thought it was another earthquake! George: There could well be! |
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Memorable Quotes: |
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| Mission
Impossible First UK tx: 17 February 2000 Written by: Paul Mendelson & Paul Mayhew-Archer Directed by: John Stroud Ratings: 5.6 million (22.4% audience share) |
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| Guest Stars: Michael J. Reynolds (Doctor) Margaret Towner (Mrs. Chipchase), Jilly Bond, Sue Carpenter (TV Interviewer), Heather Coombs, Sue Elliott-Nicholls, Charlotte Hudson (Newsreader) and Pamela Ruddock | ||
| Thermoman is called upon to save
Grimsby from being destroyed by an abandoned Russian space station. Unfortunately,
he has his own domestic disaster to deal with first. He's got Marmite
over the front of his Thermo-uniform. It may be 100 per cent Thermomium
and resistant to fire, flood, toxic waste and nuclear attack, but the
Marmite won't shift. Janet insists on washing his costume, which not only makes him late for his rescue mission but makes him itch like crazy due to an allergic reaction to the washing powder. Piers becomes suspicious when he sees Thermoman scratching himself on a news bulletin and seconds later George appears in his surgery scratching all over. He insists on giving George a medical, and when he discovers George has two heart beats and superhuman eyesight, threatens to reveal Thermoman's double identity live on television unless George leaves Janet. A brainwipe seems to be the only answer. |
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| Blink and You'll Miss it: • In Mission Impossible Arnie's superhero suit is purple, but when he gets his powers back in Car, it's blue. • George says that he cannot eat anything containing caffeine because it will make his blood leak out through his skin, but in Wedding he eats raw coffee granules straight from the jar with Janet (it's one of her pregnancy cravings) and also with Arnie. •George says that he cannot eat anything containing dairy produce because of his chronic mucus problem, but he ate Spaghetti Carbonara (which contains cream) at the bistro with Janet in My Hero. •Mrs. Raven calls Piers Dr. Crippen. •Piers' hair falls out when ThermoMan erases his memory, forcing him to wear a wig on TV, but in subsequent episodes, his hair is OK. |
Disasters: | Romantic references: |
| • Earthquake in Peru • Abandoned Russian space station heading for Grimsby • Avalanche (unspecified) |
• Both Janet and George are upset about the rule in the Guide to Living with a Superhero that says they must confine themselves to once a month | |
| Memory Wipes: Piers (complete memory wipe) |
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Memorable Quotes |
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| Thermoman's
Greatest Challenge First UK tx: 25 February
2003 Directed by: John Stroud Ratings: 5 million (20.5% audience share) |
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| Guest Stars: Malcolm Mudie, Hilary Sesta, Fergus Webster and Stuart Wright | ||
| Thermoman's repeated visits to the health centre to save Janet from a wasp sting or a spider are baffling patients and staff. Piers thinks he's made a new celebrity friend and invites him to be guest of honour at the fund-raising party he has organised to boost his own public image. Janet's parents insist both George and Janet attend the party so that George can personally thank Thermoman for saving Janet from falling into the Grand Canyon. Not easy, given that George is Thermoman. George hatches a cunning plan which involves him meeting Thermoman in the toilets, but the fake rendezvous doesn't quite go as planned. | ||
| Blink and You'll Miss it: • Ella sees George in the shower and hints that he's a "big boy", but in Parents Janet says a couple of things are bigger "his lungs and, for some reason, his navel, otherwise he's like Dad" to which Ella replies "You poor thing". Also, a scan done in a season four episode reveals him to be a "big boy". •George says he's focussed, not thinking about Janet at all but of course he must be just by mentioning her name. |
Disasters: | Romantic references: |
| • Saves Janet from a spider • Forest fire in Mozambique • Ecological disaster in the Amazon |
• George says he likes that thing that Janet does with her tongue | |
Memory Wipes: |
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| Memorable Quotes Ella: Do try to wear something nice. Janet is wearing her little black dress. Ella: Janet, did you have to wear that old thing? Janet is wearing her
little black dress. Janet comes off the telephone from Ella and says to George |
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| Old
Man Riverdance First UK tx: 3 March 2000 Directed by: John Stroud Ratings: 5.1 million (20.1% audience share) |
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| Guest Stars: Peadar Lamb (Seamus), Anya Sitaram (Newsreader) and Charlotte Hudson (Newsreader, uncredited) | ||
George receives
a visit from his father, the original Thermoman, who
now resides in the Dunrescuin home
for retired superheroes in
Florida. (He shares a room with the Invisible Man, who is no
longer invisible, but al the residents have to pretend
he is). George's father, [Earth name] Seamus (Peadar Lamb),
is unhappy that
his
son is
co-habiting
with
an Earth
girl. Apart from the smell, she is interfering
with his work. |
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| Blink and You'll Miss it: • George destroys the TV when angrily switching it off, but later he watches A Touch of Frost, but Janet says she would prefer to watch Ground Force • George says Janet (and all earth women) smell like a dead sheep to Ultronian noses, but in Guess Who's Coming to Lunch? he says she smells prettier than a cinnamon and apple pie. •Janet says she never uses the F-word, but during the recording of the eighth episode of season four, Emily Joyce did! (She said a retake was due to Ardahl's f***-up, not hers -- and got one of the biggest laughs of the recording session) •When describing Invisible Man, what does Janet look at out of the window? •Mrs Hewitt is the only patient in the entire season to see one of the other doctors. Mrs. Raven tells her "you can go through now" but she doesn't go to to either Piers' or Janet's office (In season one, the staff at the Northolt Health Centre are: Dr. P. Crispin, Dr. J. Plumb, Dr. R. Drew, Nurse J. Dawkins and Receptionist Mrs. Raven) |
Disasters: • New Guinea: flash floods • Guatemala - forest fire • Cuba - volcano • 747 with engine failure at 35,0000 ft (fake to fool Seamus) |
Romantic references: |
| • George says his Dad will be loving Janet just like he does, apart from the bedroom bit | ||
| Memory Wipes: Ella, Stanley, Mrs. Raven, Avril and Tyler |
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Memorable Quotes Janet: George, if your father does let us stay together, and we have children, what would they be like? Human or Ultronian? George: Hmm... Probably a bit of both. In human terms, brilliant! In Ultronian terms, seriously retarded! |
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| The
Party's Over First UK tx: 10 March 2000 Ratings: 5.7 million (22.7% audience share) |
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| Guest Stars: Trés Hanley (Carol) and Emma Pike | ||
It's Janet's 30th birthday, but
an earth girl hitting the Big 3-0 means nothing to the Ultron male.
So when Janet says she
doesn't want to discuss it and then
changes her mind, poor George isn't quite sure what to do. As always, he turns
to his cousin Arnie for advice. |
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| Blink and You'll Miss it: • George says Ultronians don't count their age: you're Young, Getting On A Bit or Nearly Dead. Then in Parents he says he's 842 years old, but in The Older Man he's 327. • Mrs. Raven calls Piers Dr. Cripped. • The rhyme in the Birthday Card Mrs Raven gives to Janet: Wishing you much joy and fun On this your special day. For when you pass the big 3-0, Your looks will fade away. |
Disasters: | Romantic references: |
| • Something's going to blow! • Earthquake in San Francisco (fake to fool Janet) |
• George says he is terrific at all that lovemaking business | |
Memorable Quotes Tyler: (to Mrs. Raven) When can I see you again?
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Jump to: Season Two • Season
Three • Season Four • Season Five • Season Six
Web Links
• BBC
-- Official Episode Descriptions
