Other principal characters include Saxondale's Welsh girlfriend Magz (Ruth Jones), and his naïve assistant, Raymond (Rasmus Hardiker).

Morwenna Banks, Mark Williams, Greg Davies, Ben Miller (who script-edited the series and directed the first episode) and Liza Tarbuck also appear.

According to a BBC press release, over the course of the series Saxondale "gets his eyesight improved by a prostitute, almost befriends a celebrity, kneecaps an annoying hippie... and experiments with women's makeup.

[1] Middle-aged pest-controller Thomas "Tommy" Gregory Saxondale (Steve Coogan) is the survivor of a hostile divorce who now lives with his girlfriend, Magz.

Tommy speaks with an East Midlands accent and occasionally refers to his Nottingham heritage, though he and Magz live in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

In his line of work, as well as pharaoh ants, mice, and occasionally moths, Tommy has to battle with snowboarders, pigeon-loving activists, and people who talk about property prices.

She is Welsh and is the proprietor of a shop where she sells "shocking" T-shirts and posters, which she designs herself, often depicting cultural icons smoking drugs.

Thus, while Tommy enjoys talking about himself, training him in the mysterious and deadly art of pest control, and sharing a few life lessons, Raymond has little choice but to listen.

Overtly flamboyant with a Mancunian accent, he is a stereotype of youth culture, personified by his preference for loud, fast electronic/dance music, an unwillingness to work and a promiscuous and carefree lifestyle.

A calm and good-natured man, he frequently finds his patience tested by Tommy's unenthusiastic attitude towards therapy and his disruptive and aggressive behaviour within the sessions.

"[7] In his 2015 autobiography Easily Distracted, Coogan revealed that he preferred Saxondale to Alan Partridge due to the character having greater depth.

The 1975 Rush album Caress of Steel and in particular the song "The Necromancer" (Part III: Return of the Prince) is referenced both musically and as a theme in Episode 6, Series 2, with Tommy and Magz discussing it at the end of the show.

In another episode, Tommy claims that "Spirit of Radio" is the first song of Hemispheres while discussing a pest extermination contract- in reality, the track features on Permanent Waves.