The cult BBC sitcom Ideal is coming to iPlayer…13 years after its finale aired on BBC Three.
Ideal starred comedian Johnny Vegas as small-time cannabis dealer Moz, and followed the misadventures between him and the strange clientele visiting his flat in search of weed.
Written and created by Graham Duff (who also starred as pal Brian), the series ran for seven seasons, between 2005 and 2011 – before being axed by the BBC to make way for new shows.
‘The reason given was that the new channel controller wanted to make a clean sweep,’ creator Graham said at the time.
Since then, fans have had to pay to get their fix, with the series living on in old DVD copies or via rental on Amazon and YouTube. However, neither Graham or Carry on Glamping star Johnny have given up on their creation.
Graham has revealed that Ideal is headed back to the BBC, who will be adding all seven series to iPlayer for audiences to revisit and fall in love with all over again.
Graham shared the news on Facebook last week, writing: ‘I’m very happy to be able to say all 53 episodes of IDEAL will soon be available to stream on BBC iPlayer.’
He continued: ‘This show was an absolute joy to write and film, and it was an honour to work with some amazingly gifted human beings. More news to follow…’
Accompanying Graham’s post was a screenshot of the BBC iPlayer front page, which shows an advertisement for the show, along with the promise ‘coming soon.’
In the comments below, fans were quick to celebrate the happy news.
‘Ended too soon. There was still plenty life left in it. Genius script writing. The characters were all so well written, all unique each with their own catchphrases,’ wrote the Facebook user Mark Lawton.
‘Brilliant! I have a few DVDs but it’ll be nice to watch it from the beginning again,’ said Paul Clarkson.
‘Absolutely scrummy. 😋 I don’t believe there’s ever been a legal way of watching the show in the US, but I somehow managed to cobble together a collection back in the day. IMDb continues, cruelly, to list the film as “in development”,’ noted Peter Nunes.
Earlier this year, star Johnny Vegas also teased that Ideal could be returning to screens in one way or another.
Posing for a picture with Graham back in June, Johnny wrote on Facebook: ‘A joy catching up with #IDEAL creator, writer, actor & all round scrummy genius Graham Duff.’
He continued: ‘TV might deny our past 7 series existence, but we are still plotting on getting the band back together. Nicely-nicely indeed. I am Moz, hear me/us roar, then cough, then hit the bong 🙏🏼❤️’
Could Ideal’s return to iPlayer hint at a reunion for Moz, Brian and the gang?
In the comments below his post, Johnny continued: ‘The love felt from all of you dedicated #IDEAL fans has us genuinely overwhelmed.
‘I’m giddy! 🙏🏼 We weren’t teasing. We’re fighting to get it easier to access on streaming platforms, and if tv has had its fill of us, then we’ll fight to perform it live ❤️’ added the Taskmaster Season 10 star.
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