James Dreyfus

James Dreyfus
Born	(1968-10-09) 9 October 1968 France
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1993–present
Notable work	The Thin Blue Line (1995–96) Gimme Gimme Gimme (1999–01) Mount Pleasant (2012–)

James Dreyfus (born 9 October 1968) is an English actor. He is most notable for his roles on television sitcoms The Thin Blue Line as Constable Kevin Goody, and Gimme Gimme Gimme as Tom Farrell. He is most recently known for his role as Reverend Roger in Mount Pleasant.

Early life and career

He was born in France but moved to England at an early age and was educated at Harrow School and then trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. His parents divorced when he was very young. He is gay.

In 1998, Dreyfus won the Best Supporting Performance in a Musical Olivier Award for his work in The Lady In The Dark at the National Theatre. In the same year he was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award for his performance as Cassius in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar at the Birmingham Rep.

Career

Dreyfus' first television break came with the BBC comedy series Absolutely Fabulous.

Dreyfus has created some memorable comedy characters, particularly on British television, including Constable Kevin Goody in Ben Elton's sitcom The Thin Blue Line and Tom Farrell, the gay flatmate of Linda (Kathy Burke) in Gimme Gimme Gimme. Dreyfus played opposite Bette Midler in the short-lived American sitcom Bette.

In November 2004, Dreyfus played Carmen Ghia in the London premiere of Mel Brooks' musical The Producers, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He played the role for 10 months until August 2005.

He played Thermoman in the BBC One comedy My Hero, a role he took over in the sixth series from Ardal O'Hanlon. Although the same character, he used the name George Monday, as opposed to Ardal O'Hanlon's character's name, George Sunday. After disappointing ratings, the show was axed.

Dreyfus also starred as Mr. Teasy-Weasy in the 2004 comedy film Churchill: The Hollywood Years.

In March 2006, he returned to the West End stage in a revival of Michael Frayn's comedy Donkeys' Years at the Comedy Theatre alongside Samantha Bond, David Haig and Mark Addy. He left in August of that year to prepare for his new lead role as the Emcee in a West End revival of Cabaret. In 2008 he appeared in revival of Simon Gray's The Common Pursuit at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

From September 2009 to January 2010 he appeared in Breakfast At Tiffany's at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London.

In January 2012 he appeared in the Midsomer Murders episode "A Rare Bird" as Ralph Ford.

Since 2012 Dreyfus has been appearing as Reverend Roger in the Sky Living series Mount Pleasant.

In February 2015 Dreyfus is to appear on stage in Harvey, directed by Lindsay Posner. The production opens at Birmingham Repertory Theatre and runs until 21 February, before a UK tour and the West End.

In January 2016, he appeared as Dr Herdal in "The Master Builder" at the Old Vic Theatre.

Selected works

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Thin Ice	Greg
1995–96	The Thin Blue Line	Constable Kevin Goody	TV series (14 episodes)
1995–96	Absolutely Fabulous	Christopher	TV series (2 episodes)
1996	Boyfriends	Paul
1999	Notting Hill	Martin
1999–2001	Gimme Gimme Gimme	Tom Farrell	TV series (19 episodes)
2000	Gormenghast	Professor Fluke	TV
2000	Bette	Oscar	U.S. TV series (18 episodes)
2004	Fat Slags	Fidor	TV
2004	Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London	Gordon
2005	Willo the Wisp	Voice
2006	Colour Me Kubrick	Melvyn Prescott
2006	My Hero	George Monday / Thermoman	TV series (8 episodes)
2007	Cabaret	Emcee	West End theatre production
2007	Double Time	Lawrence Nixon/George McCabe
2007	Nina and the Neurons	Felix (voice)
2009	Casualty	Rory	TV
2011	The Sarah Jane Adventures	Harrison	TV
2012	Midsomer Murders	Ralph Ford	TV
2012	Holby City	Felix	TV
2012	Whitechapel	Ripperologist Charlie Cross	TV
2012–present	Mount Pleasant	Reverend Roger	TV
2013	Shameless	School Inspector	TV
2013	Dandelion & Burdock	Dandelion	TV
2015	Father Brown	Binkie Cadwaller	Episode 3.10 "The Judgment of Man"

External links

• James Dreyfus at IMDb

James Dreyfus
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Paul Mendelson
Written by	Paul Mayhew-Archer
Directed by	John Stroud
Starring	Ardal O'Hanlon Emily Joyce Hugh Dennis Geraldine McNulty Lou Hirsch Philip Whitchurch Lill Roughley Tim Wylton James Dreyfus
Opening theme	"My Hero" Theme
Ending theme	"My Hero" Theme
Composer	Philip Pope
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	51 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Geoffrey Perkins Marcus Mortimer Sophie Clarke-Jervoise
Producers	John Stroud Jamie Rix
Editors	Mykola Pawluk Graham Hutchings
Camera setup	Multiple-camera setup
Running time	30 minutes
Production company	Big Bear Films
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	4 February 2000 (2000-02-04) – 10 September 2006 (2006-09-10)

My Hero is a British television sitcom, created by Paul Mendelson, and produced for the BBC between 2000 and 2006. The series follows the exploits of an alien superhero known as "Thermoman" - a multi-powered superhero who originates from the planet Ultron - during his time between missions after falling in love with a British nurse he rescued. Although incredibly intelligent amongst his kind, Thermoman is unfamiliar with human life, which not only leads others to consider him dim-witted and idiotic, but also causes problems due to his many misunderstandings.

The main role of Thermoman was portrayed by Ardal O'Hanlon up until 2005, before he was replaced by James Dreyfus for the final series. The cast itself remained largely unchanged throughout its broadcast history, and included Emily Joyce, Lill Roughley, Tim Wylton, Lou Hirsch, Hugh Dennis, Geraldine McNulty, and Philip Whitchurch. Unlike most British sitcoms, Mendelson co-wrote episode scripts with a large team of writers. Each series also featured a varying number of episodes, with the first and second series containing six episodes, series three through five containing 10 episodes each and series six containing 8 episodes, with a Christmas Special for 2000.

Despite its viewing figures going into decline by the time of Dreyfus' appearance, the show remained a regular feature on British television, being regularly repeated on Gold in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the series was shown on PBS and, briefly, BBC America. In Australia, UKTV offered reruns of the first three series, while BBC Entertainment provided repeats for Scandinavia. Three of the six series have been released on DVD; two on Region 1 DVD and one on Region 2. Fans have since petitioned the BBC to release the complete series on DVD.

Premise

The series focuses on the life of George Sunday, a man who comes off as idiotic, but who in reality is a superhero from the planet Ultron known as "Thermoman", who serves to safeguard humanity and the Earth, and Janet Dawkins, a British nurse who works at a local surgery in the London town of Northolt, whom George falls in love with after saving her life. The series focuses on the couple's efforts to cope with numerous problems that occur to them during their relationship, including dealing with Janet's obnoxius parents and the self-centered doctor whom she works for, and George's many misunderstandings of human culture, societial values and traits.

After the second series, the writers added in additional elements surrounding the couple being married and having children of Ultronian origin - capable of speech, intelligence and super powers for their infant age - and coping with issues surrounding their family lives. In the sixth series, George loses his old body, and replaces it with a new one that he gives the alias of George Monday, taking up work as a doctor alongside Piers at his surgery.

Cast

George Monday, as portrayed by James Dreyfus

Janet Dawkins, as portrayed by Emily Joyce

• Ardal O'Hanlon as George Sunday AKA "Thermoman" (Series 1–5) - A dim-witted superhero, intelligent on alien matters, but completely unable to understand human society and values.
• James Dreyfus as George Monday AKA "Thermoman" (Series 6) - George's new alias after losing his old one due to financial troubles, who shows some intelligence but is still misunderstanding human culture.
• Emily Joyce as Janet Dawkins - A British nurse and George's lover, who often struggles with the alien aspects of his life and people.
• Lill Roughley as Ella Dawkins - Janet's obnoxious mother.
• Tim Wylton as Stanley Dawkins - Janet's mildly obnoxious father.
• Lou Hirsch as Arnie Kowalski - George's cousin, and a former superhero who was stripped of his powers for abusing them. Initially written to living in the US, the third series saw writers relocate him to Northolt and develop a relationship with Mrs. Raven.
• Hugh Dennis as Dr. Piers Crispin - A self-centred, pompous TV doctor who runs his own surgery in Northolt and regularly looks for ways to increase his fame and popularity.
• Geraldine McNulty as Mrs. Raven - Piers' surgery receptionist, a vindictive, sadistic woman with a cruel liking for basking in other people's misery.
• Philip Whitchurch as Tyler - George and Janet's next-door neighbour, who suffers delusions and hallucinations that cause him to mix up fictional elements, most from science-fiction, fantasy and conspiracy theories, with real-life. He is the only one to know of George's real identity. After the first series, the writers gave him more prominence, including being George's assistant at his shop.
• Moya Brady as Avril (Series 1) - George's assistant in his shop. The character was written out after the first series.
• Pat Kelman as the Ultron Postie (Series 3–6) - Ultronian postman who delivers correspondence to George on Earth
• Finlay Stroud as Apollo "Ollie" Sunday (Series 2–6) - George and Janet's son. He is highly intelligent in human life, compared to his father, with his superpowers.
• Madeline Mortimer as Cassandra "Cassie" Sunday (series 5–6) - George and Janet's daughter, highly intelligent, possessing the power of premonition and foresight.

Episodes

Main article: List of My Hero episodes

Series	Episodes		Originally aired
			First aired	Last aired
1	7		4 February 2000	22 December 2000
2	6		14 May 2001	18 June 2001
3	10		7 June 2002	23 August 2002
4	10		8 August 2003	10 October 2003
5	10		7 January 2005	25 March 2005
6	8		21 July 2006	10 September 2006

Home media

In the United States, the series has been released on DVD via BBC Video; "Season One" was released on 16 January 2007, while "Season Two" was released on 7 August 2007. The sets are now currently out-of-print and no subsequent seasons have been made available on region 1.

In the United Kingdom, Series Three was the only series to receive a home video release. The "Complete Series 3" was released on VHS on 7 October 2002 via IMC Vision, while two DVD sets, "Volume 1" (episodes 1–5 of Series 3), and "Volume 2" (episodes 6–10 of Series 3) were also released on 7 October 2002. A DVD set containing "Complete Series 3" was additionally made available from IMC Vision on 14 May 2012.

As of 2024, it has not been announced if My Hero will receive any subsequent series releases, or a complete series box set.

Series one and two of My Hero became available to stream in the UK via BritBox from 10 March 2022. Seasons 1 & 2 as well as the additions of Seasons 3 & 4 was added to BritBox via ITVX as of 18 February 2024

See also

• Mork & Mindy

External links

• James Dreyfus at IMDb