List of characters from Nebulous

"Nebulous" is a BBC Radio 4 science fiction-comedy written by Graham Duff and produced by Nicholas Briggs. The programme follows the adventures of K.E.N.T., the Key Environmental Non-judgemental Taskforce, a desperately underfunded Government organisation dedicated to protecting the environment and doing laundry in a post-apocalyptic world following a terrible eco-disaster known as the Withering.

K.E.N.T.

Professor Nebulous

Played by Mark Gatiss, "Boffo" Nebulous is the protagonist of "Nebulous", a brilliant scientist and the unappreciated leader of K.E.N.T. whose downfall is a direct result of his destruction of the Isle of Wight while he was moving it slightly to the left by 10 kilometres to give it more sun on Janril 57, 2069. He is often prone to going off on long metaphorical tangents while discussing the current crisis, only to stop himself and say "I'm drifting" when he goes too far. Nebulous's past is shown by brief flashbacks triggered by the word "clown" (Or, at least, words that sound like 'Clown'; on one occasion a flashback was just triggered by the word 'Cloud'). Nebulous's scientific bent and serious demeanour are explained by Nebulous's parents who both forced him to become a circus clown at the expense of his scientific studies. Although his reputation has suffered greatly due to the destruction of the Isle of Wight, Nebulous has made several prominent discoveries in his career, such as a cure for blindness and a sandwich that cures cancer (Marmalade and cucumber, apparently). He also has an evil twin brother called Professor "Spiffo" Nebulous, who is his physical double apart from having a moustache, being somewhat overweight, and lacking both thumbs (Due to a freak Game Boy accident).

Paula Breeze

Played by Rosie Cavaliero, Paula Breeze is the ditsy assistant to Professor Nebulous, although how she qualified for a position in such an organisation given her apparent lack of any degree at all is a mystery. Paula is constantly pursuing her infatuation with Nebulous, despite him not noticing; any attempts that may actually "get" anywhere are always ended by her own idiocy. Although she commonly comes across as an infatuated idiot, she is clearly devoted to Professor Nebulous, and has managed to come up with some relatively good ideas when under pressure. It was recently revealed that she is actually a human/Atlantean hybrid and the heir to the throne of Atlantis- having grown up in an orphanage, she apparently assumed that the nuns were her real parents and she had forty-five brothers and sisters-, but she turned down her mother's offer to take the throne at the time to remain with Nebulous.

Rory Lawson

Played by Graham Duff, Rory Lawson is Professor Nebulous’ other assistant, the self-professed ladies’ man of the team (although his only successful romantic liaison was when he and Paula were both drunk) who handles the more physical side of operations. Having taken an evening class in Media Studies and Applied Thinking, Rory yearns for the covert ops action and explosive confrontations of a top profile Government Agent but has to make do with aiding the team in cleaning clothes and repairing tumble driers. He appears to be somewhat more intelligent than Paula, having apparently blown up Buckingham Palace during his chemistry class at school. His catchphrase is "Bollocks!...Sir".

Harry Hayes

Played by Paul Putner, Harry Hayes is the fourth member of K.E.N.T., responsible for technological development. He was badly injured when Professor Nebulous disintegrated the Isle of Wight. He was rebuilt by the Professor and lives his life in constant agony while trundling around in a wheelchair constructed from old kitchen units. Harry often ends up reminding everyone that while most members of K.E.N.T. have minor problems, he suffers more than anyone. He is also afflicted by a faulty electronic voice box that plays his voice at an unbearablely high volume, but Nebulous's guilt over the accident prevents him from asking Harry to turn it down. Each episode features him saying, at least once, "UNLIKE YOU, PROFESSOR, I NO LONGER HAVE THE LUXURY OF [Insert bodypart of choice here] "; so far, he has claimed to have lost his chin, mouth, nose, eyes (With his optical scanners apparently processing the information and presenting it as a pie chart for some reason), hands (He initially claimed to retain one but more recently has stated that he only has a mechanical grabber), toes (all ten, which he now keeps in a jar), both legs, heart, fingers, nerves, head, brain (Replaced with a chip that apparently causes him headaches) back (although he does have a hunch) and arse. However, he does still have his inner ear, albeit with his inner ear now an outer ear located on his neck). Commonly, Harry remains at K.E.N.T. HQ during the team's missions, although he has departed it on some occasions, such as when he reinvented the vacuum cleaner. Despite his betrayal of the team at the end of series one to aid Doctor Klench, Harry has been forgiven by Nebulous in series two.

Gemini

Gemini, played by Julia Dalkin, is the AI of K.E.N.T. and the narrator of the title sequence and the ending credits. Although supposed to have the combined intelligence of three Oxford dons and a supply teacher, Gemini has failed a number of times, at one point switching off K.E.N.T.'s oxygen supply. The name suggests that there is a counterpart somewhere, but the only reference to this counterpart so far has been a brief comment about Gemini's evil twin, sent to K.E.N.T. on a weekend exchange program.

ir Ronald Rowlands

Played by Graham Crowden, Ronald Rowlands is a Minister with Unusual Portfolio, K.E.N.T.’s attaché to the Government. Rowlands always pronounces Nebulous's name as 'Nebros' (IPAEng|ˈnɛbrɒs "neb-ross") and cares little for K.E.N.T., commonly stating "I'd like to do what I can, but afraid I can't" and would be perfectly happy to close the organisation down if given the opportunity (This would appear to be a result of the destruction of the Isle of Wight, as he was perfectly happy to help Nebulous's younger self when Nebulous briefly time travelled into his own past).

Other characters

Erica Flazenby

Played by Julia Deakin, Doctor Erica Flazenby is the rival and former love of Nebulous who is currently the director of L.O.U.G.H.B.O.R.O.U.G.H. The two met while at the Oxford University Islands and shared an apartment for a year, before breaking up under unrevealed circumstances, although their conversations when they reunited would suggest that deeper feelings remain on both sides. At the last moment, Erica Flazenby’s name was changed from Erica Moody to its present form; the error remained in the press release from the BBC announcing the series debut. [ [http://www.tertiary.consoleroom.btinternet.co.uk/news.htm#041202 BBC Press Release] , "The Tertiary Control Room", 2004-12-02.]

Doctor Klench

Played by David Warner, Dr Joseph Klench is the archenemy of Professor Nebulous and K.E.N.T. whom the Professor describes as "a chap who came to a crossroads in life and took a turning marked evil. He put his foot to the accelerator and he’s not stopping". His plans to date have included destroying the world with a stolen fragment of the sun, luring a sentient cactus to Earth, destroying the Intergalactic peace conference while in Nebulous' body, trapping Nebulous in the past at the moment he destroyed the Isle of Wight, and provoking a war between the surface world and Atlantis, although all five attempts have been thwarted by the Professor. Klench also parodies the Master from "Doctor Who": like the Master he miniaturises his enemies, although— unlike the Master— rather than killing them, he carries them around in his suitcase to remind him of his power.

Nebulous's parents

Played by Matt Wolf and Julia Dalkin, Nebulous's parents appear only in flashbacks (Although a shape-shifting alien recently posed as Nebulous's father while trying to escape a prison ship): in each episode Nebulous has a flashback to his childhood, in which his parents wanted him to become a clown and ignored such major scientific discoveries as his cure for blindness. Nebulous commonly awakes from these flashbacks saying "I shall not clown". To date, only Nebulous's former fiance Erica Flazenby has demonstrated an awareness that Nebulous has these flashbacks, as he commonly attempts to pass them off with such comments as "Haven't you ever seen a man collapse before?" without admitting that he has a problem. The evidence would also suggest that only Erica is actually aware of Nebulous's difficult relationship with his parents; although Paula is aware of Nebulous's childhood in the circus after a time-travelling experience took them back to the Professor's childhood, she appears unaware of the full details of what his life was like as he grew up. It was recently revealed that they had two other children, Spiffo and Mofo Nebulous- with the Nebulous we know being 'Boffo'-, but Mofo was killed by Spiffo during a knife-throwing 'trick' while they were children and Spiffo was later sentenced to an infinite life sentence in Biros Optimum Security Prison (How the parents reacted to this is unknown). Subsequent episodes revealed that they eventually disowned Nebulous due to his continued interest in the sciences, and he apparently has never seen them since

References