Original grumpy old man Jack Dee is back for a third series of Lead Balloon starting November 13th, BBC Two. TV Scoop caught up with the man himself at a special screening of the new series last week to talk about stand up and his inspiration for onscreen character, comedian Rick Spleen.

TV Scoop: What was the original inspiration for the series?
Jack Dee: Originally I was very interested in the writing room, usually back stage at TV shows, where you have a presenter or comedian with a bunch of writers. The dynamic there always really interested me. How the presenter could take the jokes, tell them and then later claim to have written them as well. I always found that quite amusing. But also the atmosphere in the writing room is quite amazing. I like the relationship where people are vehemently rude to each other but don't take offence. You can say the worst possible things to each other and it's not even registered.

TVS: What do you prefer, standup or sitcom?
JD: It's a really difficult one to answer. I like doing stand up an awful lot but I get to the point with stand up that if I do a long tour, I really can't go back to it, sometimes for several years because I want to do other things. I am drawn to stand-up but I'm really enjoying this because I'm exploring something I didn't know was there. And it's fun to do. Stand up is such a solitary thing, night after night in different hotels, whereas at least here you've got someone to talk to about the project.

TVS: How did you meet Lead Balloon co-writer Pete Sinclair?
JD: It was on Jack Dee's Happy Hour for BBC1. We kept in touch afterwards. Pete has written a lot for shows like Have I Got News For You and Spitting Image. He's obviously a bit older than I am. The good thing about our writing partnership is that we make each other better. My writing approach is just to start writing, getting things down on the page. Quite often Pete is the only person who can make sense of it. Pete's very good at finding some brilliant solutions for moments and finding the funniest path.

TVS: Lead Balloon really seems to have garnered a bit of a cult audience doesn't it?
JD: Yes it's quite gratifying. The only people I've only ever tried to target are people who share my sense of humour: what I find funny. It's quite black but with a streak of daftness that runs through it.

TVS: In the last series the relationship between Rick Spleen and his writing partner, Marty, was severely tested when Marty went to work on a movie in the US. Are we going to see the relationship between the two of them developed further in series 3?
JD: Yes. It's interesting. The two of them are like siblings, always arguing and fighting. The thing is with Rick is that everyone is better than him in some way. Mel (his wife) is more successful, Marty is funnier than him and Magda (the cleaner) is grumpier than him! There's a poignant moment in series 3 when Sam's (Rick's daughter) music career takes off. He's so proud in one way but it's also difficult for him because now his daughter is more successful than he is.

TVS: Do you think shows like The Office paved the way for Lead Balloon because the lead characters in both are both quite embarrassing and difficult to watch at times?
JD: I think stylistically The Office was influential on Lead Balloon because it showed that it was possible to be really funny without a laughter track or a live studio audience. But I don't think we were influenced by the content of The Office or the characters at all.

TVS: Comparisons have been made with Curb Your Enthusiasm? Do you think that's fair?
JD: Pete and I were really very surprised by those comparisons because it certainly wasn't a conscious thing. If anything our influence was much more British: Hancock and The Likely Lads, those relationships of warmth and dark and light. Curb is one of my favourite sitcoms of all time, but there is a huge difference. Larry David's character will go out looking for trouble whereas Rick will do anything to avoid it and still ends up in it.

TVS: It's kind of reminiscent of Shelley with Hywel Bennett...
JD: Yes I remember that one. It had some great lines in it, but I found it a tiny little heavy handed in that you were always aware that it was a written piece. I always like to try and get away from that feeling when I'm watching something. That's why I like Woody Allen so much, especially his early films where there's definitely a story being told but it doesn't feel at all written.

TVS: Rick does a lot of corporate work for big companies, what do you think of this type of comedy?
JD: I think it's really quite healthy when comedians have to sing for their supper.

TVS: Why are all the episodes of the new series linked when in the previous series they were all separate?
JD: The idea came about from writing the first episode. The director Alex Hardcastle really wanted to find out what happened next. Actually Pete (Sinclair, the co-writer) and I really relished it because it gave us a starting point for each episode. It was something we wished we'd done earlier.

TVS: There's a joke in the first episode about Rick having his own comedy series that lasts three series? How long do you think Lead Balloon will last for?
JD: It's difficult to say when the commissioning editor is in the room - it depends how drunk we manage to get him and whether anyone has got a piece of paper and a pen at the time!

TVS: There's a Christmas special this year, that must have provided some good material for perennial grump, Rick Spleen...
JD: Yeah you've got your situation right there and didn't take us to too long to come up with the idea of Rick going into Panto. It's perfect really because it's colourful and daft and also exactly the level that Rick's career is at and exactly the kind of thing he would do. He would manage to convince himself that appearing in Panto had huge integrity.

TVS: Was it a challenge to write given that the Christmas episode is a bit longer?
JD: Absolutely. We normally spend three weeks on each episode. But the Christmas one took six weeks and it's only 10 minutes longer. But I think we did it justice and it deserves it's extra time. It's a lovely compliment that they trust us with a Christmas special up against the Great Escape!