Game On (UK TV Series) - Characters

Characters

• Matthew Malone (Ben Chaplin for the first series, subsequently Neil Stuke) – acutely agoraphobic and slightly insane. It is implied that shortly before the start of the series, Matthew's parents died in a car accident, meaning that he fears the outside world and has inherited his flat and enough money to need never work. Even passing his front door causes a panic attack but he always thought of himself as a cool guy; he had a surfboard despite his condition. Loves to use the word "tosser" and the phrase "double hard bastard" and in an ongoing gag throughout the entire series would mock his flatmate Martin for being ginger. Despite describing himself as a "double hard bastard," he secretly enjoys things that could be characterised as "effeminate," such as 1940s "love story" movies and Emmerdale Farm.
• Martin Henson (Matthew Cottle) – a tangerine haired banker without attitude, Matthew's slave and source of entertainment. His sister is Claudia, and by extension, is a few years younger than Mandy, and has known Mandy since they were kids.
• Mandy Wilkins (Samantha Janus) – ambitious career girl who finds herself going nowhere except to bed with an endless stream of men (northern by preference). Many of the men she sleeps with, she is not particularly attracted to, and there are hints throughout the series that she is simply addicted to sex (she tries during the second series to abstain from sex entirely). In early episodes there were running gags involving Mandy's history of childhood bedwetting (which did not cease until she was 13). Despite earning a degree at university, she is stuck in temporary secretarial jobs, and envies her best friend Claudia, who did the same things Mandy did but is going places.
• Clare Monahan (Tracy Keating) – Martin's Irish girlfriend in the second series and then his ex. She meets Martin and initially makes a deal with him to lose her virginity, not knowing that he was also a virgin. They start dating and eventually break up due to Martin's inability to trust her around other men, and irreconcilable life paths (Clare wanted to travel the world while Martin did not). She appears in five episodes of series two, and four episodes of series three. Actress Tracy Keating also makes a further appearance in the final episode as a different character, a woman who Martin pursues because she looks like Clare. Keating plays this part with an English accent.
• Archie Glenister (Crispin Bonham-Carter) – Mandy's boss, lover and groom to be in the third series. Dies unexpectedly on his wedding day to Mandy.
• Jason (Mark Powley) – Mandy's friend from college (the one she never had sex with). A psychotherapist who poses as Mandy's cousin to try and help Matt overcome his agrophobia. Appears in three consecutive episodes of series two.
• Marco – Mandy's Italian tutor who she struggles to resist in her short-lived dabble with celibacy. Appears in two consecutive episodes of series two.
• Stoat (Eddie Marsan) – Mandy's ex-boyfriend from school. Only appears in one episode, but is later revealed to have fathered the daughter she gave away as a teenager.
• Claudia Henson (Rebecca Lacey) – Martin's older sister, and Mandy's best friend. Although frequently referred to throughout all three series, she actually only appears in one episode of the first series when her and Mandy go clubbing, and never shares any scenes with Martin.