The Mimic

Martin Hurdle

Martin Hurdle is an unusual character. Until now, he's trundled through life without direction, hating his job but not really having any motivation to change it. Apart from work, Martin's days are filled by hanging out with his best friend Jean or by visits to the newsagents to see Neil. This is of course, is when he's not honing his exceptional talent to mimic voices, an incredible skill that he's decided to hide his entire life. That is, until now.

Series 2 sees Martin struggling. Having ditched his job in site maintenance to become a professional mimic, he is now finding paid work hard to come by.

Jean

Witty, warm and disarmingly honest, Jean is Martin's best friend and landlord.

Another slightly lost soul, she's keen to find a man and settle down. She is however, always there for Martin, listening to his voices and laughing at his jokes. But, as his live-in landlord she is also conscious of Martin's unfulfilled potential and his need to move on in life.

Neil

Neil is the local newsagent and Martin's only other 'friend'. Intense and generally terrified by the news, Neil's paranoia seems to flood his daily life.

As well as being alert to disaster and the latest world outbreaks, Neil is fascinated by Martin's mimicry - it often being the only thing that can bring a smile to his face.

At the start of Series 2, Neil takes over the role of being Martin's agent. He's useless at the job - the best he can do is get him a busking pitch.

Steven

Martin's 18 year-old 'secret son' Steven is ambitious and confident - seemingly the antithesis of his newly discovered father and exactly what Martin needs to shake up his life.

Brought up by his mother, Dionne, Steven works in IT and is keen to make an impression on his newly discovered dad. But as their relationship progresses there we recognise a fragility in young Steven that could see Martin becoming the father that they both hope he can be.

Series 2 sees Steven grieving over the death of his mother. He decides to go travelling the world.

Harriet (Series 2)

Jean sets up Martin with self-assured body language expert Harriet during Series 2, and the two start dating.

As Martin's relationship with Harriet becomes more serious, it starts to take on a peculiar quality as her obsession with his voices comes to the fore.

Will they end up getting married?

Dionne

Dionne was briefly Martin's lover when they were very young. When she became pregnant, she made the decision to bring her son Steven up alone and keep him a secret from Martin.

Toughened by the experience of single parenting, she was a strong mother to Steven. She died at the end of Series 1 of an illness and Martin and Steven visit her grave in Series 2. We still see Dionne briefly in Series 2 as she has left Steven some messages on video.

Chelsea

Martin worked with Chelsea in the maintenance department at a pharmaceutical company.

Despite being much younger than Martin (he observes that she is "so young she's never used a teapot"), Chelsea was soon Martin's team leader.

Martin left this job at the end of the first series, so doesn't see Chelsea so often. However, when Chelsea has a fall at work and successfully sues the company for lots of money, he does visit her in hospital.

Nigel (Series 2)

Nigel is another mimic who has been performing on the comedy circuit for many years. He has been making good money from the clubs so sees Martin as a threat.

It turns out that Harriet used to date Nigel... she clearly has a 'thing' for people who can do voices.