Cast

Michael Benedict

Michael is the cartoonist who writes and illustrates the single-panel webcomic Duckpond, a trenchant political satire which follows the exploits of two cute little ducks. Michael is intelligent and good-natured and in most circumstances, he remains reasonable and level-headed. He has insecurities about his attractiveness to the opposite sex and about his creative integrity. Whilst it would be unfair to call him stupid, he can at times be a little dense.

Fears: dying alone, heights

Favourite food: pizza

Favourite film: Lord of the Rings

Favourite work of literature: The Colour Purple

Favourite classical composer: Mozart

Hates: people who spell his name wrong, the Jamster corporation, Scott McCloud, racists

Ambition: love and happiness

michaelandrewbenedict@yahoo.co.uk

Jack Finnigan

Jack is Michael's Hawaiian shirt-wearing flat-mate. He is reasonably smart but illogical, impulsive and also fairly eccentric, which he thinks is charming. He may be a genius, unless this description excludes people who think Ghost Busters was the best film ever. Jack is a writer but not a very good one.

Fears: spiders, commitment

Favourite food: sandwiches

Favourite film: Ghost Busters

Favourite work of literature: Catch-22

Favourite classical composer: Pachelbel

Hates: McFly, Girls Aloud, Atomic Kitten, ring tones on trains, monopolism, forums, health and safety regulations

Ambition: wealth and international success as an author

jacktimfinnigan@yahoo.co.uk

Charlotte Lloyd

Charlotte has been Michael's best friend since they were twelve, so it is fortunate indeed that they now live opposite one another in the same building. Charlotte is a sarcastic freelance journalist who writes extensively on gender equality in the Western World. She is also a big fan of Queens of the Stone Age. She sometimes loses patience with Jack, Michael and Bob's behaviour and considers it her duty to organise their lives through a combination of attentive listening, sardonic commentary and relentless nagging. Her efforts have thus far been fruitless.

Fears: dying alone, crabs

Favourite food: chocolate

Favourite film: Garden State

Favourite work of literature: Pride and Prejudice

Favourite classical composer: Elgar

Hates: Amy, make-up adverts, the Mattel corporation (esp. Barbie), Amy, Hilary Duff, sexism, Amy

Ambition: to change the world

charlotteemilylloyd@yahoo.co.uk

Amy Ravencroft

Every woman alive has met Amy. The world is full of Amys. Amy's the girl who got the job you didn't get. She's the girl who's dating your ex-boyfriend. She's your husband's secretary. She's not as smart or as resourceful as you but she has wealthy parents and she's curvy but has an almost non-existent waist depsite eating unhealthily and rarely exercising. And she doesn't hesitate to exploit any one of these factors in order to succeed where more deserving people fail. In short, she's the girl you love to hate. Amy is Charlotte's flat-mate and her hobbies include manipulating men and shopping.

Fears: standing out, crow's feet

Favourite food: chips

Favourite film: Legally Blonde

Favourite work of literature: Heat magazine

Favourite classical composer: Picasso

Hates: Mascara clumps, rebellious unmanageable hair, ugly people, the working class (esp. builders), carbohydrates

Ambition: to become the object of obsession

amyfelicityravencroft@yahoo.co.uk

Bob Skinner

Bob lives with Jack and Michael, although why they allow this when he contributes nothing to rent payments or to society at large apart from various odours and an untidy room is a mystery. Bob spends all of his time at his computer. He enjoys PC games, playing ROMs of really old console games on various emulators, forums, watching the trailers of films on-line and then writing a review of the film based on the trailer alone and everything related to the science fiction, fantasy and cult genres.

Fears: getting fat, the outside world

Favourite food: cheese and onion crisps

Favourite film: 300

Favourite work of literature: The Belgariad

Favourite classical composer: Nobuo Uematsu

Hates: trolls, the other kind of troll, player-killers, team-killers, sniper whores, spam, the other kind of spam, getting up, the sin of long loading times

Ambition: to level up

bobphilipskinner@yahoo.co.uk

Shivani Nayak

Shivani lives down the corridor and has assumed the role of Charlotte's second-best friend and confidante. She is a professional photographer. She loves photographing weddings even though the experience is ultimately a depressing one. She is currently working for Charlotte's newspaper and moved into Charlotte's building after they met at work. Her interests include art, poetry, cinema and sexuality. She is very self-assured and competitive to the point of obssession but, in spite of this, takes very little in life seriously.

Fears: losing an eye, getting shot, getting pregnant, getting shot in the eye whilst pregnant

Favourite food: pasta with prosciutto and parmesan cream sauce

Favourite film: When Harry Met Sally

Favourite work of literature: The poetry of Sylvia Plath

Favourite classical composer: Vaughan Williams

Hates: films with no plot, men with dillusions of charm, losing, air travel, swimming, unfiltered tap water, plagiarists, pineapple in savoury food

Ambition: to be appreciated as an artist

shivaninayak@yahoo.co.uk

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