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My Hero




  Caption Ardal O'Hanlon as Thermoman, Emily Joyce as Janet Dawkins
  Format Live Action / Sitcom
  Runtime 30 mins
  Creator Paul Mendelson
  Starring Ardal O'Hanlon (Series 1-5), James Dreyfus (Series 6, unaired) Emily Joyce , Lill Roughley , Tim Wylton , Hugh Dennis , Geraldine McNulty , Lou Hirsch , Philip Whitchurch
  Country United Kingdom
  Network BBC
  First Aired February 4 , 2000
  Num Episodes 43


For the Foo Fighters song, see My Hero (song)


''My Hero'' is a British Comedy about a Superhero named Thermoman from the planet Ultron. He is the Alter Ego of George Sunday (played by Ardal O'Hanlon ), who has a romantic relationship with Janet Dawkins (played by Emily Joyce ). They later marry and have children. It debuted in February 2000 on BBC One , and has had five series with a total of forty-three regular episodes as of 2005 , including an additional Christmas special, broadcast in December 2000.

In September 2005 , it was announced that there will be a sixth series, but with James Dreyfus taking over from Ardal O'Hanlon in the lead role.

In 2002 , the third series was released on DVD , including actor biographies and Out-takes . Re-runs air in the UK on UKTV Gold . In the United States, this show is shown regularly on select PBS stations, and on BBC America .


CHARACTERS


George Sunday/Thermoman


George Eamon Sunday is an Irish shopkeeper and the Alter Ego of Thermoman, a world famous superhero. He owns a health food store but tries to avoid attracting customers in order to avoid attention. Only his closest friends know his true identity. The reason he appears to be an idiot is because he is unfamiliar with Earth Culture . His speech and behaviour create much of the Humour in the show. He is played by Irish comedian Ardal O'Hanlon .


Janet Dawkins


Janet Charlotte Dawkins Sunday is the voice of sanity, a nurse in the Northolt Health Centre. Based on the dates used in the episode "Time and Time Again," Janet was born in either 1969 or 1970 . She first meets Thermoman when he rescues her from certain death after she fell into the Grand Canyon whilst on holiday. Although she loves George/Thermoman, she is frequently exasperated and confused by his behaviour. She is played by Emily Joyce .


Ollie


Apollo 11 "Ollie" Sunday is the son of George and Janet, and was born at the end of Series 2. He also has superhuman powers, although they are somewhat limited. He takes more of a back seat in Series 5, as he fights the Sibling Rivalry wars with his sister Cassie. His Voice is supplied by Finlay Stroud .


Cassie


Cassandra “Cassie” Sunday is the newest member of the Sunday family, born at the beginning of the fifth series. Her only superpower is that she can see into the future. This proved to be of little use as she once thought that the whole Northern Hemisphere was dead when they were really asleep. This led to chaos as everyone flocked to Australia, in the Southern Hemisphere, as they were still awake/alive. She is Voiced by Madeline Mortimer .


Piers


Dr. Piers Crispin is Janet's boss and " Britain 's favourite TV doctor," though he is not a good doctor (in the episode "Shock, Horror!", he accidentally revealed to Janet that he faked his A-Level results to get into medical school) and is more concerned with his television career. To boost his image he has tried things such as releasing his own health drink, sponsoring a tiger cub in Bangladesh (because it was cheaper than sponsoring a child and the tiger was more Photogenic ), writing a book, supporting a healthy eating campaign in schools, and even appearing on '' I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here! ''. His catchphrase in the early series was "I am always here". The narcissistic character is played by actor/writer Hugh Dennis .


Arnie


Arnie Kowalski is George's cousin, originally a superhero himself, called '''Polarman''', he lost his powers because he began charging for his services. In one episode he got his powers back from the Ultron Council, and became the new hero in town, as it were, making George feel redundant. He had them taken back off him though, when he was caught stealing from the people he saved, and for just stealing the Crown Jewels because he felt like it. In Series 1 he lived in New York , where he owned a Café , but moved to Las Vegas in Series 2, where he owned a Casino and to Northolt in Series 3, where he has remained ever since. Currently in a relationship with Mrs. Raven, he is played by Lou Hirsch .


Mrs. Raven


Mrs. Raven, played by Geraldine McNulty , is the Sadist ic and Misanthropic Receptionist in Northolt Health Centre. She has a romantic relationship with Arnie, has triplets from a previous relationship, and despises them no end. Mrs. Raven often says snide comments about people while they are present and seems to pride herself on scaring away potential patients. She often gets the better of her boss Piers Crispin, usually through Blackmail or similar methods.


Mr. and Mrs. Dawkins


Stanley Dawkins ( Tim Wylton ) and '''Ella Dawkins''' ( Lill Roughley ) are Janet's parents. Mrs. Dawkins is a typical Mother-in-law and thinks Janet should have married Piers and hasn't quite got over it. She dislikes George, believing him to be an idiot and loser. Janet's father, Stanley, humorously complains all the time about his wife and is rather suspicious of George and all other men who are anywhere near his daughter. He seems to be a bit more tolerant of George, as he's had a few good times with him.


Tyler


Tyler ( Philip Whitchurch ) is Janet and George's crazy neighbour (his brain was fried by hallucinagenics in the 1960's. He knows of George's real identity, but often seems to have his own, even more bizarre ideas and theories about the universe. For instance, he often claims that Gandalf , Frodo , and other Fictional Character s are staying in his flat. George initially denied Tyler's claims that he is Thermoman, but from Series 2 onwards, he just accepted that Tyler knows (mainly because no one would believe him, and gave him a job as his assistant in his health shop, replacing his original assistant from Series 1, Avril. He is often left to look after the kids, but more often than not, they end up looking after him. Tyler often refers to George as "Master", and occasionally calls Janet "Mistress" as well. In Series 2, Episode 3, Girlfriend, it is revealed that he can speak Ultronian, and in Series 5, Episode 5, Nothing to Hide, he reveals that he knows Leonardo Da Vinci .

He is the only human that is resistant to George's memory erasing thermoblast (done by George sticking his index finger on his forehead). George attemped this twice, to no effect (Season 1, Episode 1, Pilot and Episode 4, Thermoman's Greatest Challenge). This is possibly due to the fact that Tyler is "outside reality" as we know it (in Series 4, Episode 4, All in the Mind, when George gains telepathy (The ancient power of mascara) and reads Tyler's mind, all he hears is a gentle blowing wind.

In Series 5, Episode 9, Big Bother, when Martin gives Tyler some pills, he stops believing he sees Gandalf for a time, because he thinks that he IS Gandalf (including white robes and false beard).


Avril


Avril ( Moya Brady ) surname was never mentioned was George's nervous assistant in his health shop in Series 1. She only appeared in Series 1. Tyler took her job from Series 2 onwards. She had a crush on George and blamed his quirks and constant visits to the toilet (which is really to change into Thermoman) on poor treatment from Janet.


EPISODE LIST


See List Of My Hero Episodes


CONTINUITY ERRORS AND POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS


  • In most episodes, George erases people's memories when they find out he's Thermoman (as he did to his own memory in Series 3, Episode 10, "A Day to Remember") by placing his finger on their forehead and removing the memory with a gentle "thermo-blast". But in Series 1, Episode 3, "Mission Impossible", he erases Piers' memory by looking straight into his eyes, and erased his entire medical knowledge as well as the fact that George is Thermoman. And as an added side effect, Piers' hair fell out. (However, this could possibly not be an error and is in fact the reason he uses the finger technique on other occasions. Furthermore, since he does both when trying - and failing - to erase Tyler's memory in the pilot episode, this may simply have been a mistake.)


  • In Series 3, Episode 7, "Little Green Man," it is established Ultronians turn green when they become Jealous , but, in Series 2, Episode 5, "Nemesis," George is clearly jealous, yet he doesn't turn green.


  • In Series 2, Episode 2, "Parents", George says that he is 842 years old. But in the opening scene of Series 3, Episode 4, "The Older Man", George is celebrating his 327th birthday. And in Series 4, Episode 2, "The Living Dead", he's under 65. This may be explained by the fact the Ultronian bodies need to be exchanged every 327 years, so he may actually be 842 years old, while his body is younger.


  • In Series 1, Episode 4, "Thermoman's Greatest Challenge", George keeps having recurring nightmares in which Janet dies and he is powerless to stop it. He knows that he was dreaming on this occasion. But in Series 5, Episode 10, "Night Fever", he has recurring dreams featuring people he knows who are in danger, particularly Mrs. Raven. On this occasion he can't tell the difference between dreams and reality.


  • In Series 5, Episode 1, "The Foresight Saga", George says that Ultronian women have only one superpower, namely Cassie's ability to see into the future, but in Series 2, Episode 3, "Girlfriend", George's fiancee Xil arrives from Ultron and clearly has superpowers (e.g. telepathy, super strength). However, this could just mean that the women develop their powers later in life than the men, and George was only referring to what Cassie will be able to do at the immediate moment.


  • In Series 2, Episode 3, "Girlfriend", Xil, as George's fiancee, could force him to marry her and he only got out of it when Janet discovered she was actually Arnie's fiancee. However, when he found out, Arnie tried to convince her to marry him, but was unsuccessful. Couldn't he have forced her to marry him just as she had tried to do with George?



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