No Heroics USA: Cast

Not many people watched ITV2's No Heroics last year (because it was on ITV2), but creator Drew Pearce probably doesn't care now, because he's helping Jeff Greenstein (Will & Grace) remake his superhero comedy for ABC.

No Heroics Plays Superheroes for Laughs

An interview with Drew Pearce on the famous technology website Wired.com

ITV2's new comedy No Heroics is fast, funny and a little ingenious: a collection of very British superheroes gather in a pub to compare war wounds and see who is most famous after a day of fighting crime. Like Heroes, then, but with cheese and onion crisps. Their superhero suits are a bit rubbish.

Patrick Baladi's Excelsor is the smarmy frontrunner, but Drew Pearce, the creator/writer, established an engaging collection of pretenders to the throne: The Hotness, a sexually inadequate 'cape' with a penchant for heat; Electro-clash, who let a shop owner get shot and suffer from his injuries because he was sexist; Timebomb is Spanish, depressed, unhinged; She Force is a superhero with the twittering insecurities of Carrie Bradshaw.

No Heroics is a sitcom about superheroes, set mainly in a bar where they all sit around drinking too much, talking about sex, and revealing their deep personal inadequacies. It is quite a nice idea, certainly a much better idea than My Hero, the one with Ardal O'Hanlon as Thermoman, but so far Drew Pearce's script is too ready to fall back on the drink and the sex every time it needs a laugh. It needs a good script editor to sort it out.

What do superheroes do on their days off? If they're British they go to the pub of course - a shabby boozer called The Fortress with a strict door policy: No Capes. No Powers. No Heroics.

As the first sitcom to be commissioned for ITV2, No Heroics comes out fighting and boasts a gaggle of sitcom veterans as costumed crusaders.

Being Brits they're all ever-so-slightly rubbish, and probably none more so than The Hotness/Alex, played by the appropriately named Nicholas Burns. What this man can do with a ready meal is nobody's business.

Then there is Patrick Baladi as Excelsior/Delvin who can fly, and who rates the most headlines in New Power Express, the Superheroes' magazine.

They are all fame-obsessed and can often be found glued to their own TV channel, The Power Hour, to see if they get any mentions.

Claire Keelan is Electroclash/Sarah, who can speak to machines, She-Force/Jenny (Pulling's Rebekah Staton) is super-strong, except when it comes to men, where she's a push-over.

And James Lance's hero is a gay Spaniard called Timebomb/Don and can see one minute into the future.

The brainchild of comic book fanatic Drew Pearce, the affectionate yet satirical tone is gauged just right to appeal to super-nerds and regular viewers, and is packed with tiny details to reward aficionados. But you need Supersight to spot them. Or a pause button, maybe.

On Location: No Heroics

Broadcast Now talks to Drew Pearce and Ben Gregor about how they got their slacker superheroes out of the pub and onto the screen.

Drew Pearce Interview

The Geek Syndicate website interviews writer/ creator Drew Pearce.

Eureka!: No Heroics

A short interview with creator Drew Pearce about the commissioning process for No Heroics (Registration may be required to view the article).