"I'm With Stupid". Mark Benton, Paul Henshall and Ruth Jones in Keeley & Peak's Comedy.

I rate Mark Benton as one of the absolute best of the current crop of British Comedy Actors, easily. Although having taken part in both commercial and less obvious work in recent years, credibility clearly remains and he continues to slip between the two deftly - always great choices, but a couple of key shows stand out. Firstly, Benton appears in Craig Cash's hit Pub Sitcom 'Early Doors' and plays an annoyingly daft man (Sheldon) talking verbal garbage, often in heavy repetition, and makes the rest of the clientel look possitively gifted - great show. Secondly, Benton turns up as the "Wicker Shit" man (Mark) in Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer's stunning short road movie Sitcom 'Catterick', with obligatory dodgy teeth and odd hair - both these series are out there on R2 UK DVD already. Both are performances from a master.

You may also have seen him in the first of the most recent reincarnation series of 'Doctor Who'.

Now, although these two shows are opposite sides of the coin, shows from people with great histories and reputations for their comedy work, they're two different characters completely from the commercial end. Another oddity though is the upcoming 'I'm with Stupid', a continuation from the pilot episode I accidentally caught last year, in which Benton befriends Paul Henshall's character - a disabled wheelchair-bound young man, bitter and twisted to boot - in order to quickly access his sheltered accomodation at short notice as his life falls apart. In order to maintain the situation, Benton and Henshall battle their way daily through their friendship in a way which shows a desperate need to have one another around and yet shows a large amount of mutual hatred, plus the necessary desperation inherant in both their obviously lacking lives. Joining them for the series, which only seems to be three 60-minute episodes from what I can see, is Ruth Jones, most recently seen as Steve Coogan's girlfriend in 'Saxondale' as the sex mad ageing goth type Tommy likes to keep around, and also seen in 'Nighty Night' - Julia Davis's successor to the dark comedy throne post-'The League of Gentlemen'.

The adverts have begun to air, BBC Three is showing this soon, look out for DVD news at some point around here...

'I'm with Stupid' Introduction, Cast, Episode Synopses at the BBC Prees Office.
* Much more there on the individual actors involved, look to the links at the side of their page.

'I'm with Stupid' Original Announcement of the Show Commissioning at BBC News Entertainment, similar thing at Chortle too.
Mark Benton at BBC Comedy Guide.