Most of the characters in this gallery of grotesques are based on real people. Here, the population of Royston Vasey is unmasked:
Tubbs and Edwards:
The incestuous, serial-murdering owners of the "local shop for local people", who constantly admonish unwelcome visitors not to "touch the precious things", are based on a real-life shopkeeper. "About five years ago, the four of us were down in a place near Brighton," says Reece Shearsmith. "We went into the local shop for a look around and the woman working there had an `I've got a gun upstairs' look on her face. She kept staring at us all the time, almost daring us to touch one of her crappy snowstorms. She is Tubbs and Edwards. If you want to go to the actual shop, it's in a small seaside town called Rottingdean".
Incidentally, Tubbs and Edwards were worked on in rehearsals for quite a while, but never really clicked until someone came up with the idea of giving them scary looking upturned noses.
Barbara:
The town's pre-operative transsexual cab driver is based on a real magician.
"She would be doing her magic act and halfway through would always stop and start telling the audience about the operation she was about to have," says Shearsmith. "We just turned her into a cab driver."
Papa Lazarou:
Perhaps the scariest of all the locals, Papa "you're my wife now, Dave" Lazarou, the black-and-white-minstrel ringmaster is based on Shearsmith's and Pemberton's ex-landlord. "He was very odd," says Shearsmith. "He would never speak to me, only to Steve. If the phone rang and I answered it, he would say: `Hello, Steve.' That became "hello, Dave'.
Mayor Frank Vaughn:
The only character not played by one of the League. It's a bit of an in-joke, in that the Mayor is played by "blue" comedian, Roy "Chubby" Brown, whose real name is Royston Vasey. The Mayor died of a nosebleed in the last series.
Hillary Briss:
This is the evil butcher who serves up "special things". Not based on a real person, the joke here is that "briss" is the word for the Jewish circumcision ceremony. Yes, I know it's disgusting.
Pauline:
The fascistic Restart officer, who has an unhealthy obsession with pens, is based, handily enough, on Shearsmith's real-life Restart officer. "She was my officer in Wood Green in 1992. Obviously not every- thing about them is the same, but yes, there is a real-life Pauline out there somewhere."
Mark:
Pauline's dim sidekick. "I grew up near a mental hospital," says Mark Gatiss.
Herr Lipp:
The child-molesting German exchange teacher was inspired by Steve Pemberton's experience in Germany. Taken ill and rushed to hospital, he was visited by a chaplain who was morphed into Herr Lipp. Interesting fact: the doctor who treated him was called Dr Sick.
Reverend Bernice Woodall:
Simple. The misanthropic agony aunt is based on Denise Richards, the agony aunt on TV's Richard and Judy. "We all just find Denise very scary" says Shearsmith.
Val and Harvey Denton:
The disgusting couple with weird twin daughters, who are obsessed by towels and toads, are based on Dyson's experience of staying with relatives. "You know that sort of thing where relatives try to make you feel at home and tell you to do what you want," he says. "Well, I went out one night and got back late only to find the door bolted. We got Val and Harvey out of."