My Hero (series 3)

My Hero Series 3
No. of episodes	10
Release
Original network	BBC1
Original release	7 June – 23 August 2002
Season chronology

The third series of British television comedy My Hero ran from 7 June 2002 to 23 August 2002. The series featured ten episodes, and the entire main cast reprised their characters from series two. The series was broadcast on BBC1, and was again overseen by series creator Paul Mendelson. The series was released on VHS and DVD in the United Kingdom on 7 October 2002 in Region 2 format. The VHS was as a double box, whereas the DVD version was 2 separate volumes each containing 5 episodes. On 14 May 2012, The Complete Third Series was released as a double pack, becoming the first series of the show to ever be released on DVD.

Episodes

#	Title	Writer(s)	Director	Original air date	Code
1	"Baby Talk"	Paul Mayhew-Archer, Paul Mendelson	John Stroud	7 June 2002 (2002-06-07)	ICEB783X
George and Janet are struggling to cope after the birth of their first child, Ollie. And to make matters worse, George is teaching him to sniff out tidal waves and forest fires. Janet's parents are also due for a visit, to meet their first grandchild, so how will they keep the secret from them? Meanwhile, Tyler attempts to teach Ollie about his version of the Solar System - but Ollie is already intelligent enough to know that Tyler's tales are nothing by fantasy, rather than fact. As George and Janet battle with Ella and Stanley over the raising of their child, Ollie escapes.
2	"Zero Tolerance"	Paul Mayhew-Archer, Paul Mendelson	John Stroud	14 June 2002 (2002-06-14)	ICEB784R
Life at the health centre takes an unexpected turn when a gun-wielding maniac shows up, demanding access to the drug cabinet. Mrs. Raven isn't given the chance to deal with this addict, as George enters to save the day, and doesn't even have to call on Thermoman to do so. Soon, George becomes known as the local hero, rather than a superhero. He is being celebrated all over town, and is even asked to join the local neighborhood watch scheme by Janet's father, Stanley. Will his new-found popularity with his in-laws last?
3	"Pet Rescue"	Paul Mayhew-Archer	John Stroud	21 June 2002 (2002-06-21)	ICEB785K
Janet's parents, Ella and Stanley, have the decorators in to redecorate their living room, so Janet offers to watch their dog, Biggles, something that George isn't too thrilled about. But George is committed to bonding with Biggles, so he buys an ear-piece from Ultron which allows him to talk to animals. George discovers that Biggles, whose real name is Malcolm, dislikes Ella and Stanley - and he also explains the other reason as to why dogs sniff bottoms. Thus, Thermoman goes on a mission to reunite Biggles with his mum - and rescue him from a one-way trip to the vet.
4	"The Older Man"	Paul Mayhew-Archer, Paul Mendelson	John Stroud	28 June 2002 (2002-06-28)	ICEB786E
It's George's 327th birthday, and on his home planet, he's a mere spring chicken. However, the lease on his earthly alias begins to expire, and he starts to age rapidly. In a state of desperation, George resorts to extreme measures in a bid to turn back the clock, including using time-bending tunnels to try to regress his age. Eventually, however, he is forced to get a new body from the Ultron council. Meanwhile, Piers hires a new nurse at the health centre, Hayley, but her lack of knowledge about medicine, and attempts to make the centre more youth-orientated with music posters fail to impress.
5	"Puttin' on the Writs"	Paul Alexander, Simon Braithwaite	John Stroud	5 July 2002 (2002-07-05)	ICEB787Y
Mrs. Raven has a run-in with a stack of wayward trolleys at the supermarket, and is pushed over the edge of a multi-story building. Once again, it's Thermoman to the rescue. But when he refuses Mrs Raven's kind offer of Battenberg cake in return for saving her life, retribution is swift - she claims to have been badly injured in his 'rescue attempt' and threatens to sue him. Meanwhile, Janet's father, Stanley, has had enough of Ella's nagging and has decided to move in with Tyler. It appears to be a perfect arrangement, but Ella misses the old fool. Will that be enough to make her apologize for the first time?
6	"Shock, Horror!"	Paul Alexander, Paul Mendelson, Paul Mayhew-Archer	John Stroud	12 July 2002 (2002-07-12)	ICEB789L
Baby Ollie has a fever, so George has to turn his attention away from saving the world to come home and check on his son. All of the dashing about begins to turn George a little bit careless, and before long, a journalist called Kevin Trent takes advantage of the situation, and takes a picture of George as Thermoman, believing that Janet is having an affair with Thermoman. Meanwhile, Mrs. Raven keeps falling asleep at work, because the triplets are suffering from insomnia. In a desperate attempt to get some rest, she plans to build a shed in her garden so she can lock them up when it gets too much. The problem is, that the shed costs money, and she needs a reference from Piers for a part-time job.
7	"Little Green Man"	Ian Brown, James Hendrie	John Stroud	2 August 2002 (2002-08-02)	ICEB788S
Janet thinks George is taking her for granted after he catches her in a compromising position with the handyman, and appears not to be bothered by the issue. Thus, Mrs. Raven advises Janet that she needs to work harder at making George jealous. But it turns out that all Janet needs to do is share a bit of Arnie's carrot cake - part of the wedding rituals on another planet, and George is beside himself. He literally turns green with envy, and now even Mrs. Raven thinks Arnie has been unfaithful to her.
8	"Mine's a Double"	Paul Alexander, Simon Braithwaite	John Stroud	9 August 2002 (2002-08-09)	ICEB791A
George has to attend a superheroes conference, which means leaving Janet home alone with the baby. The Ultron Council provides Janet with "George clone", with the unlikely name of Hilary, to keep her company. While Hilary looks like the real thing, his character couldn't be more different. Hilary talks and dresses like a gangsta rapper, and is given to nights out on the town with Piers and, oddly enough, romantic dinners with Ella. Suspicious of Hilary's actions and behaviour and embarrassment towards Janet, George has Arnie to check up on him while he writes a report on him, but Hilary, hearing this, subsequently frames George for theft.
9	"A Little Learning"	Paul Mayhew-Archer, Paul Mendelson	John Stroud	16 August 2002 (2002-08-16)	ICEB790F
George is devastated when Ella and Stanley ban him from their anniversary party. Quite reasonably, they don't want him embarrassing them in front of their friends with his stupidity. Admittedly, George's attempts to make new friends—via the calling cards he finds in telephone booths — backfire somewhat, but when he eats some magic pork scratchings, which increase his brain power, miraculous effects occur. Suddenly George is an intellectual genius, and can charm the birds off the trees—so much so that not only do Ella and Stanley invite him to their party, they ask him to make a speech. For Janet, however, the new thoughtful George is insufferable, constantly correcting grammar and acting too superior to her.
10	"A Day to Remember"	Paul Mayhew-Archer, Paul Mendelson	John Stroud	23 August 2002 (2002-08-23)	ICEB792T
It's a bad day for Earth when George accidentally erases his own memory, and fails to remember that he is Thermoman. For Janet, however, it is a dream come true. George is now the model husband, who volunteers to change nappies and takes the baby for walks in the park. However, their new domestic bliss isn't set to last. A meteor is headed straight for Earth, and in twenty-four hours, all life will be obliterated. It's up to Arnie, Janet and Tyler to retrain George to use his powers to prevent disaster. But it is a frantic race against time — will Thermoman return to save the Earth?

See also

• List of My Hero episodes
• My Hero (Series 1)
• My Hero (Series 2)
• My Hero (Series 4)
• My Hero (Series 5)
• My Hero (Series 6)

References

• My Hero at the BBC Comedy Guide.
• My Hero at Big Bear Films home page
• My Hero at BBC America.
• My Hero at IMDb
• British TV Comedy Guide
• My Hero episode guide and forum at TV.com
• My Hero at the British Sitcom Guide
• My Hero News, episode guide and interviews at downthetubes.net

My Hero
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 re-runs 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

• My Hero at IMDb