Lead Balloon

Jack Dee 'happy' with BBC sitcom

Stand-up comedian Jack Dee says he's not as nervous about the new series of BBC Two sitcom Lead Balloon as he was when the show was first aired on TV in 2006.

Grumpy glory

Jack Dee says the US is keen to look at his sitcom, Lead Balloon, but he has no intention of trying his luck in America.

Jack back with Lead Balloon

Comedian Jack Dee is back on TV for a third series of his sitcom, Lead Balloon. The Press And Journal finds out how similar he is to the character, Rick Spleen, and asks what his children think of his comedy projects.

Once again, Jack Dee gets that sinking feeling

As Jack Dee returns for a new series of Lead Balloon, he tells The Telegraph about being miserable and getting that sinking feeling.

Jack Dee Interview

TV Scoop interviewed the star of the show in the run up to the third series.

Thursday nights will be sad and hollow now the series has ended. I shall miss the saintly wisdom and tolerance of Rick's partner, Mel, and the unworldly abruptness of Michael, the cafe owner who makes Basil Fawlty look like Michael Palin.

Lead Balloon may seem increasingly formulaic - you find yourself waiting for the scenes with the café owner, the au pair and the monosyllabic daughter - but it remains one of the funniest things on the box.

Off The Telly Review

Shorn of the excesses of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Lead Balloon reveals traces of true brilliance. Perhaps it would be more palatable to many if they actually did admit the link instead of constantly denying the obvious.

Sadly for Jack Dee, he's created a character that is impossible to side with. Look at David Brent for example. He's odious, stupid and distasteful... but somewhere, underneath all that hideousness lies a heart. Where Brent clearly wants to please everyone all the time, Dee's Spleen is, in short, a horrible human being.

Jack Dee's back with a second series of his (written with Pete Sinclair) hugely enjoyable BBC2 sitcom Lead Balloon.

Dee's portrayal of cantankerous, middle-aged comedian Rick Spleen has more than a touch of a media-class Tony Hancock to it - a character whose talent for digging himself into holes is second only to a grave-digger's.

One of the main joys of Lead Balloon is its small cast of supporting characters, comprising Rick's supremely patient wife (Raquel Cassidy), staggeringly vague daughter Sam (Antonia Campbell-Hughes), their permanently unheppy Polish home help Magda (brilliantly played by Anna Crilly) and his far-smarter co-writer Marty (Sean Power).

Even as minor a role as over-familiar local cafe owner Michael (Tony Gardner) is a perfectly formed, fully drawn character.

Every one of them was on top form, producing a just about flawless half hour of delightfully miserablist comedy. Lead Balloon is sure to go down well again this winter.