Where Are They Now? The Cast of 'Men Behaving Badly'
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the TV comedy Men Behaving Badly. It debuted February 18, 1992 on ITV, moved to the BBC after two series, and finished its run there in 1998.
In case you’re not familiar with this laddish sitcom, Men Behaving Badly is the story of two flat mates trying to navigate their way through adult life in nineties London. Often politically incorrect and misogynistic, occasionally slovenly, and always looking for an excuse to get drunk, Gary (Martin Clunes) and Tony (Neil Morrissey) never seem to learn that a bit of sensitivity and carefully thought out actions would go a long way in improving their situation, particularly with the ladies.
However, as mentioned earlier, a few decades have passed since we first met these immature men and their puzzlingly enduring lady friends. Let’s catch up with the careers of the cast of Men Behaving Badly since entering the 21st century.
Martin Clunes
After Men Behaving Badly, Clunes moved on to embody the role he will no doubt be remembered for throughout his career – Dr. Martin Ellingham aka Doc Martin. As an abrasive GP with a blood phobia and zero social skills, Clunes has won legions of fans and has transformed the shooting location for the series, Port Isaac in Cornwall, into a tourist attraction.
This versatile actor is not a one trick pony by any means. He’s portrayed a besotted funeral director in William and Mary, a disillusioned business executive in Reggie Perrin and famed author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the PBS mini-series, Arthur & George. He’s also appeared in a great number of TV animal and travel documentaries.
Neil Morrissey
Morrissey has been busy as well since leaving his Tony Smart persona behind. He’s voiced Bob in Bob the Builder, had a starring turn in Waterloo Road and appeared as a corrupt cop in all three series of the BBC police thriller Line of Duty.
2016 was a prime year of drama roles for Neil who played British Intelligence officer Harry Palfrey in The Night Manager. PBS viewers may also recognize him as grieving, angry father Harding Redmond from series two of Grantchester.
Caroline Quentin
After playing Gary’s long-term girlfriend Dorothy for six years, Quentin took on more dramatic roles in the late nineties and beyond. For three seasons she played investigative journalist Maddy Magellan who teamed up with a magician named Jonathan Creek (Alan Davies) to solve mysteries. Caroline followed that up by starring as single mother DCI Janine Lewis who struggles to simultaneously raise four children and lead a high-profile police unit in Blue Murder.
More recently her credits have included Dancing on the Edge, Dickensian and a guest appearance on Doc Martin in 2015 as local vet Angela Sim. Quentin also hosts a series called Restoration Home which follows owners of historic buildings as they restore them into 21st-century dream houses.
Leslie Ash
Ash, who played upstairs neighbor and ambivalent object of Tony’s affection, Deborah, has probably had the least steady career since Men Behaving Badly ended its run. She first played a district nurse in the ITV drama Where the Heart Is, then a police officer in Mersey Beat and finally a hospital CEO in Holby City.
Over the past decade or so Leslie has suffered from a number of medical issues and a botched plastic surgery procedure which have forced her to put her career on hold. Here she talks about her long road to recovery.
Harry Enfield
Finally, I didn’t want to omit the actor who played Dermot, Gary’s original roommate BT (before Tony). Leaving Men Behaving Badly after only one series, Harry Enfield went on to be a part of the puppet satire series Spitting Image and a variety of other sketch comedy programs. He played Nicholas Hoult’s father Jim Stonem in the teen drama Skins and Jack Whitehall’s dad in the sitcom Bad Education. He currently stars as Prince Charles in a Channel 4 soap opera parody called The Windsors.
I’m afraid if you wanted to check out this classic 90's comedy and cast again (or for the first time), none of the conventional streaming services are currently offering Men Behaving Badly. Alas, I think it may have left Acorn TV or Hulu not that long ago. However, if your library is anything like mine, they can probably help you get your hands on this sitcom that celebrates behavior which, to be honest, doesn’t seem all that outrageous these days.
