匚卂尺ㄥ reviewedJanuary 26, 2025
Ideal is the most unique sitcom you are ever likely to see. It is innovative, messed up, surreal and very filmic. Set in just three flats in one landing, the show still feels like an epic, due to it's style and themes.
The main 'hub' of the character's is Moz's flat, Moz being the lazy but well-natured weed dealer played brilliantly by Johnny Vegas. The show concentrates on the seemingly endless stream of customers and guests that are forever knocking on Moz's door.
But this is where it gets troublesome. Trying to explain Ideal's storyline is a herculean task. It's soap-esque storylines to do with which character is cheating on who and which character will turn traitor next are mixed with the most bizarre plots and people. Before you say 'Wait, I hate soaps so why would I watch this?' let me say that you would not find a mute hitman with a glued-on mouse mask called Cartoon Head in Corrie.
The character's are the real stars, and drive the comedy. Whether it's the screwdriver-wielding Psycho Paul, the flamboyant gay bachelor Brian "Oooo, innhe scrummy?" or the useless small-time thief Colin "I'm on probation!" you will be drawn in to this world.
What makes this show really stand out is how it starts like a gloomy kitchen-sink Mike Leigh-style show and ends up as an off the wall surrealist piece, still keeping some realism but getting nuttier every episode (this is a show that can turn in to a full-blown musical at the blink of an eye). The hallucination moments, sometimes accompanied by CGI elements are fascinating. In what other situation comedy would you see a dream sequence in which a bird scuttles out of a bullet wound and picks out a 'worm' from the wound, which is actually the shot person's intestines?
Graham Duff, the writer of the show, created something totally unique and wonderful in Ideal. The scriptwriting is impeccable and it is a massive shame that he was forced to end it when he did. Axing the show was a huge error of judgement on a misguided BBC3 controller's part, and the show ends on a big cliffhanger to which will never be unhung. Apparently they didn't want a hugely creative series to keep on going and instead make room for a load of old cobblers. It's fantastic and should never have been discontinued.