Cast and Crew of Lead Balloon

Lead Balloon

  • Released on October 04, 2006
  • Comedy

Lead Balloon is a British television series produced by Open Mike Productions for BBC Four. The series was created and is co-written by comedian Jack Dee and Pete Sinclair. It stars Dee as Rick Spleen, a cynical and misanthropic comedian whose life is plagued by petty annoyances, disappointments and embarrassments. Raquel Cassidy, Sean Power and Tony Gardner also star. The first series of six episodes was broadcast on BBC Four in 2006, with the first episode achieving the highest ratings for a comedy on the channel. Repeats of the series were run on BBC Two and BBC HD, bringing it to a larger audience. A second series of eight episodes aired on BBC Two in November 2007, and a third series began airing in November 2008. A fourth and final series commenced broadcast on 31 May 2011 on BBC Two and ended on 5 July.

Comparisons were made by critics to the successful American comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm, and positive comments were made about Lead Balloon's characters, particularly Magda, the Eastern European housekeeper. The first series was released on DVD in November 2007. The show's theme tune is a cover version of "One Way Road", written by Noel Gallagher and performed by Paul Weller.

Lead Balloon ran for 5 seasons.

Main Cast of Lead Balloon

Tony Gardner

Tony Gardner

Tony Gardner was born on January 10, 1964 and is currently 60 years old.

Anna Crilly

Anna Crilly

Anna Crilly was born on January 1, 1975 and is currently 49 years old.

Raquel Cassidy

Raquel Cassidy

Raquel Cassidy was born on January 22, 1968 and is currently 56 years old.

Secondary Cast of Lead Balloon

Robbie Coltrane

Robbie Coltrane

Anthony Robert McMillan (March 30, 1950 - October 14, 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish ...

Rob Jarvis

Rob Jarvis

Rob Jarvis is an actor.

Matthew Marsh

Matthew Marsh

Matthew Marsh was born on July 8, 1954 and is currently 70 years old.

Bruce Mackinnon

Bruce Mackinnon

Bruce Mackinnon (born 17 October 1978) is an actor and writer who has appeared in various television programmes and f...

Ingrid Oliver

Ingrid Oliver

Ingrid Oliver is a British actress and comedian, and one half of the comic double act Watson & Oliver, alongside Lorn...

Ralph Ineson

Ralph Ineson

Ralph Michael Ineson (born 15 December 1969) is an English actor and narrator. Known for his deep, rumbling voice, hi...


Crew of Lead Balloon

Discover the backstage crew of Lead Balloon →