Lead Balloon
Lead Balloon

Lead Balloon

7.630m20064 seasons
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.

Cast

No reviews yet. Be the first to review!

Episodes

Season 1 — 0 / 6 watched

Add to your list to track episode progress.

Rubbish

2006-10-04 · 30m

Rick fronts a lame government TV recycling campaign which backfires spectacularly. He falls out with café-owner Michael over a homemade fruitcake, and has a full-on row with unhinged baby-present shopkeeper Maureen.

Wayne

2006-10-11 · 30m

A teaspoon crisis in the Spleen household leads Rick to petty theft. Meanwhile, Rick's sleep is disturbed by the paperboy, Wayne, who is very punctual, very noisy and has a brain the size of a walnut.

£5000

2006-10-18 · 30m

Rick gets in a punch-up at an awards ceremony and ends up with a black eye. Marty is preparing to pitch a programme to the BBC and Michael is delighted that Rick has accidentally sponsored him a small fortune for his Skipathon.

Allergic

2006-10-25 · 30m

Rick discovers he may have inadvertently killed one of Britain's best-loved entertainers, but he's preoccupied by a missing shoe-organiser. Meanwhile Rick prepares for upcoming appearance on topical news panel show Bullet in the News.

Pistachio

2006-11-01 · 30m

Rick buys himself a scooter but worries that it makes him look gay. Hosting the Air Conditioning and Climate Control Awards goes disastrously, and a trip to the local dry cleaner ends in a heated argument.

Fatty

2006-11-08 · 30m

Rick is publicly humiliated on TV by daytime chat-show host Adam Green. He also has an unfortunate encounter with an acquaintance at the gym, and Ben manages to destroy Rick's brand new DVD player by taking the back off.

More Like This

The Larry Sanders Show
7.8

The Larry Sanders Show

1992

Gilligan's Island
7.4

Gilligan's Island

1964

All in the Family
7.8

All in the Family

1971

First of the Summer Wine
6.0

First of the Summer Wine

1988

That Girl
6.2

That Girl

1966

The Beverly Hillbillies
6.9

The Beverly Hillbillies

1962

Chico and the Man
6.0

Chico and the Man

1974

Astronauts
7.0

Astronauts

1981

The Jeffersons
7.3

The Jeffersons

1975

Girls On Top
5.4

Girls On Top

1985

The Bob Newhart Show
7.6

The Bob Newhart Show

1972

Recommended

Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out
8.0

Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out

2005

Shifting Gears
6.6

Shifting Gears

2025

Episodes
7.2

Episodes

2011

The Jeffersons
7.3

The Jeffersons

1975

Key & Peele
7.7

Key & Peele

2012

French & Saunders
7.4

French & Saunders

1987

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
6.8

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

1968

Second City Television
7.8

Second City Television

1976

A Bit of Fry & Laurie
7.9

A Bit of Fry & Laurie

1989

Good Mythical Morning
6.9

Good Mythical Morning

2012

Sanford and Son
7.5

Sanford and Son

1972