About "I'm With Stupid"

Following the success of the pilot in 2005 BBC3 ordered six new episodes of "I'm With Stupid". Mark Benton (Early Doors, Northern Lights, The Nationwide Ads) heads the cast in a series which "explores disability in a funny and truthful way". Benton plays Sheldon, a homeless man who strikes up an unlikely relationship with Paul, a wheelchair user, played by Paul Henshall (Holby City, A Thing Called Love).

Paul and Sheldon are both feeling rejected by society and each has something that the other wants – Sheldon offers friendship to Paul who is lonely and despondent while Paul provides Sheldon with a bed for the night, taking him away from the streets where he has been sleeping rough.

Sheldon enters the weird and wonderful world of Bramble Lodge, the sheltered accommodation where Paul lives and discovers that the community is rife with gambling, scheming and unrequited love.

Alan Martin plays Graham who uses a Voice Communication Aid, Kevin Davies plays Syd and Cherylee Houston plays Dorothy. Other cast includes Ruth Jones (Nighty Night, Fat Friends) who plays Jean, the warden at the sheltered accommodation where Paul lives, and Steve Edge (Peep Show) plays Sergeant Swithenback.

I'm With Stupid is written by Danny Peak, whose career took off when he won the BBC Talent: New Sitcom Writers Award in 2002. Danny went on to write episodes of Two Pints of Lager and A Packet of Crisps and My Hero. He has had the writing bug all his life but always wanted to write for television.

The idea for I'm With Stupid originally came from 23-year-old writer Peter Keeley, who drew on his own experiences when he became the story consultant on the series. Keeley has Cerebral Palsy and has used a wheelchair from an early age. Having won competitions as a teenager for his scriptwriting at Manchester's Contact Theatre, Peter is currently studying Creative Writing at Manchester University.

I'm With Stupid is produced by BBC Comedy North which is based in Manchester and aims to develop the next generation of comedy talent in the North of England. Executive producer is Kenton Allen and the series producer is Jon Mountague.