Lead Balloon
- TV sitcom
- BBC Two / BBC Four
- 2006 - 2011
- 27 episodes (4 series)
Sitcom starring Jack Dee as Rick Spleen, a grumpy misanthropic stand-up comedian whose life is plagued by let downs and embarrassment. Also features Raquel Cassidy, Sean Power, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Rasmus Hardiker, Tony Gardner and Anna Crilly
Streaming rank this week: 3,141
Episode menu
Series 1, Episode 3 - £5000
Further details
Back at home, he fails to find sympathy from Madga (who recommends putting vodka on it) or from Marty (who is more worried about a show they are pitching to the BBC).
Meanwhile, his partner Mel points out that Rick has mistakenly pledged a vast amount of money to café owner Michael for a forthcoming sponsored charity event.
Rick tries to wangle his way out of the sponsorship with various ploys, and ends up succeeding - but in an unintended and catastrophic way.
Broadcast details
- Date
- Wednesday 18th October 2006
- Time
- 10:30pm
- Channel
- BBC Four
- Length
- 30 minutes
Cast & crew
| Jack Dee | Rick Spleen |
| Raquel Cassidy | Mel |
| Sean Power | Marty |
| Antonia Campbell-Hughes | Sam |
| Rasmus Hardiker | Ben |
| Tony Gardner | Michael |
| Anna Crilly | Magda |
| Ian Ashpitel | Graham McLean |
| Owen Brazendale | Community Support Officer |
| Jack Dee | Writer |
| Pete Sinclair | Writer |
| Alex Hardcastle | Director |
| Alex Hardcastle | Producer |
| Addison Cresswell | Executive Producer |
| Andrew Beint | Executive Producer |
| Lucy Lumsden | Executive Producer |
| Russell Beeden | Editor |
| Gordon Whistance | Production Designer |
Press
Jack Dee's new sitcom Lead Balloon has gone down like anything but. It is so successful it has grown too big for BBC4. It will now be broadcast on BBC2 as well.
Whatever channel it's on, Lead Balloon is well worth watching. It is a delectable comedy of everyday embarrassment, and as such feels exquisitely British. But in fact America did it first, with Larry David's sublime Curb Your Enthusiasm. Lead Balloon is such a good rip-off of Curb Your Enthusiasm that you sometimes forget it's a fake: the set piece in each episode where Jack Dee, aka Rick Spleen, retreats into a private fantasy, such as shooting the postman, or hand carving missing letters on a christening mug, is a superb innovation.
But more often, unfortunately, Lead Balloon shows awkward joints where Curb Your Enthusiasm has invisible seams. Larry David is a fundamentally good man, driven to obnoxious behaviour; Rick Spleen is just an obnoxious man. The same goes for the guest actors in each episode of Lead Balloon: they tend to go looking for confrontation, rather than finding it creep inexplicably upon them. Lead Balloon is a more callow creation than CYE. I don't feel bad about saying so. To make a show as derivative as Lead Balloon is to invite comparisons.
Hermione Eyre, The Independent, 22nd October 2006