Mike Bubbins’s creation drops Tony Mammoth, a swaggering secondary-school PE master, into present-day Cardiff after an Alpine avalanche froze him solid in 1979. The six-part first series (BBC Two, April 2024) watches him reclaim his old job, baffled by mobile phones, mindfulness and non-smoking staffrooms, while forming a makeshift family with fellow teacher Mel (Sian Gibson), her teenage son and the school’s unflappable caretaker Roger Buck (Joseph Marcell). Shot on location in the Welsh capital, each 29-minute episode mines the same question: can a man who measures fitness in pints and press-ups still command respect when safeguarding forms outnumber rugby balls?
BBC Wales initially ordered only three episodes; ratings and critical warmth earned a swift second run, expanded to nine instalments plus a Christmas special, filmed in summer 2025. Bubbins, a stand-up known for hyper-specific 70s nostalgia, wrote the character as a deliberate counter-weight to reactionary 70s sitcom patriarchs: Mammoth’s closest ally is Black, his headteacher a woman, his moral code boiled down to loyalty and sportsmanship rather than flag-waving. The result is a culture-clash comedy that lands its punches on both eras, letting modern mores look as odd to him as his unreconstructed swagger looks to them.
The ensemble widened for the second batch: Al Roberts arrives as Mel’s tentative new boyfriend, Dylan Malyn as her nephew and line manager, shifting the domestic dynamic Mammoth depends on. Composer Mike Post supplies a swaggering theme that could have introduced a 1979 BBC sports programme, grounding the fantasy in affectionate pastiche rather than mockery.
Production Details
BBC Two / 2 Seasons / 7 Episodes / 2024 - Present
Created by: Paul Doolan, Mike Bubbins
Showrunner(s): Josh Cole
Writer(s): Mike Bubbins, Paul Doolan
Producer(s): Luke Mason
Cinematography: Trevelyan Oliver
Main Cast
Mike Bubbins as Tony Mammoth
Sian Gibson as Mel
Joseph Marcell as Roger Buck
William Thomas as Barry
Mali Ann Rees as Lucy
Joel James Davison as Theo
David Ajao as Young Roger
Chloé Delanney as Skiier
Lucy Walters as Linda
Cellan Wyn as Delivery Driver
Benedict Hurley as News Reporter
John Weldon as Mr. Cowley
