Sitcoms about flat sharing have always proved popular over the years. In the '70's we had 'It's Awfully Bad For Your Eyes, Darling', 'The Liver Birds' and 'Man About The House'. In the '80's, we were given 'The Young Ones' and 'Girls On Top' whilst the '90's gave us 'Bottom', 'Men Behaving Badly' and, of course, 'Game On', written by Bernadette Davis and Andrew Davies. It is rather similar in style to Simon Nye's previously mentioned 'Men Behaving Badly', with two men sharing a flat and vieing for the attention of an attractive female. Whilst not garnering the same amount of popularity of the earlier show, it was nevertheless well enough received to run to three series.
The head of the house is Matthew Malone ( played first by Ben Chaplain then by Neil Stuke ), a he-man type whose main interests are women and surfing. However, he is never able to fulfil his interests as he suffers from agoraphobia, a condition which was brought on following the death of his parents.
His two flatmates are Martin Henson ( Matthew Cottle ), a well-meaning young man who is usually unsuccessful with the opposite sex, due to his lack of confidence and Mandy Wilkins ( Samantha Womack, credited here as Samantha Janus ), a blonde bimbo who is unable to secure a steady relationship or hold down a steady job. She is, however, not averse to jumping in the sack with those who ask her, with the obvious exceptions of Martin and Matthew. Martin later dated Irish nurse Claire ( Tracey Keating ) and fathered her child, however his clingy nature broke them apart. Mandy started a relationship with her boss Archie ( Crispin Bonham Carter ) and later became engaged to him, however he is unexpectedly killed on their wedding day, leaving Mandy devastated.
'Game On' was overall very much a curate's egg. The crude and bold nature of the programme made it an acquired taste ( I don't think even Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson's 'Bottom' relied so heavily on the word 'shag' ). The cast performed well. Ben Chaplain played Matthew in the first series but was replaced for the remainder of the show's run by Neil Stuke. Matthew Cottle ( who also starred in 'Get Well Soon' ) was perhaps the funniest out of them all as Martin.
Samantha Womack these days is probably best remembered for her role as Ronnie Mitchell in the BBC's long running soap 'Eastenders'.
The head of the house is Matthew Malone ( played first by Ben Chaplain then by Neil Stuke ), a he-man type whose main interests are women and surfing. However, he is never able to fulfil his interests as he suffers from agoraphobia, a condition which was brought on following the death of his parents.
His two flatmates are Martin Henson ( Matthew Cottle ), a well-meaning young man who is usually unsuccessful with the opposite sex, due to his lack of confidence and Mandy Wilkins ( Samantha Womack, credited here as Samantha Janus ), a blonde bimbo who is unable to secure a steady relationship or hold down a steady job. She is, however, not averse to jumping in the sack with those who ask her, with the obvious exceptions of Martin and Matthew. Martin later dated Irish nurse Claire ( Tracey Keating ) and fathered her child, however his clingy nature broke them apart. Mandy started a relationship with her boss Archie ( Crispin Bonham Carter ) and later became engaged to him, however he is unexpectedly killed on their wedding day, leaving Mandy devastated.
'Game On' was overall very much a curate's egg. The crude and bold nature of the programme made it an acquired taste ( I don't think even Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson's 'Bottom' relied so heavily on the word 'shag' ). The cast performed well. Ben Chaplain played Matthew in the first series but was replaced for the remainder of the show's run by Neil Stuke. Matthew Cottle ( who also starred in 'Get Well Soon' ) was perhaps the funniest out of them all as Martin.
Samantha Womack these days is probably best remembered for her role as Ronnie Mitchell in the BBC's long running soap 'Eastenders'.