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Rob Brydon is Dr Paul Hamilton
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Dr Paul Hamilton's arrival at the Royal Australia Observatory from the damp, grey climes of London sets the scene for Supernova's quirky plotlines.
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Until now, he's been a lecturer in astronomy, specialising in the gaseous components of the Universe, but he's never worked in the field despite his impressive research record.
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He's 38, unmarried and stuck in a very deep rut also inhabited by his nagging, humourless girlfriend Ruth and a cat he detests.
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Paul is shy, nervous and clever, prone to putting his foot in his mouth when things are going badly, and shooting himself in the foot when they're going well.
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But Paul is also a dreamer, and takes a chance by applying for a job at a leading-edge observatory in outback Australia. It's a place where his tweed jackets look out of place, and so does he.
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But Paul desperately wants to fit in, and develops surprising relationships as Supernova unfolds.
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Youthful Professor Mike French hero-worships him – a new and unsettling experience for geeky Paul.
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Jude develops a crush on him – a development that goes completely over Paul's head.
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Pragmatic local mechanic Bill is Paul's unusual choice as spiritual and emotional advisor.
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And he casts the unattainable Rachel as his perfect woman, despite the obvious fact that she's completely out of Paul's league, and already engaged to an astronaut.
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This new world, and the challenges and characters it holds, both terrifies and exhilarates Paul. He is at the frontier of science, optimistically pushing cutting-edge theories one moment, tormented by romantic insecurities the next.
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But amid the heat, flies, high-end science and bewildering set of colleagues, Paul slowly begins to find the man he could be.
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Rob Brydon made his first trip to Australia to take on the role of Paul.
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The series is the biggest commitment he's made to anything he didn't have a hand in creating, as he explains: "I read the script and could immediately imagine playing the part of Paul. Sometimes you get scripts and you can't see what you could draw on, but I could imagine this role and how Paul would feel.
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"I knew Matt Lipsey was directing, and we'd worked together before (on Human Remains) – that's one reason I decided to do it. He has a very softly, softly approach that makes you feel really comfortable.
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"And ten weeks in Australia was very tempting: I'd only heard good things about it."
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Brydon says he's "not an actor in the 'traditional' sense," and made the most of the opportunities Supernova presented to improvise.
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"Paul certainly evolved as I met the other actors. I felt I got to know him more, and that I could bring out other aspects of him. There are parts of Paul that are headstrong and petulant, even a bit full of himself.
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"I don't have any great technique, but my most successful stuff is where I improvise, and I had the space in Supernova to do that."
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Brydon describes Paul as a man ready to break free.
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"Paul is an astronomer who has worked in theory all his life, lecturing. He's frustrated – he's always wanted to see the Universe, to do things rather than just teach them or read about them. He's in a relationship that's going nowhere, and having a bit of a midlife crisis. He needs a change.
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"Paul isn't a 'take charge' kind of guy, but he's trying to be – even though he's full of neuroses and insecurities. He's not at all like me!"
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Nor does Brydon resemble Paul in his methods for attracting women.
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"Ironically, the only time Rachel is interested in him is when he's been sleeping with a biker, and when he challenges a local tough guy. Not like me – I'm a lover, not a fighter!
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"He seems to be attracted to women who tell him what to do – he's like a little puppy with them. But in his infatuation with Rachel, he misses that Jude is taken with him. Rachel isn't the right woman for him, but Jude is probably too much of a space cadet. He needs someone in between."
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Brydon ranks Barry Humphries and Bert Newton among his favourite Australian comedians, and is a fan of the television comedy Kath and Kim.
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"It's a wonderful satire of suburban life," he says.
He was amazed by the informality of Australia:
"It's just so laid back. We went to the Blue Mountains one day, and outside the fire station there was a sign saying 'Fires about – give us a shout'.
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"On the news, there will be a report of a pile-up and they'll say a couple of 'ambos' are on the scene. A current affairs report will talk about businesses going 'down the gurgler'. You'd never get that kind of approach in Britain."
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But his expectation that he'd feel a world away from home wasn't realised.
"When I'm in London and speak to friends in Australia or New Zealand, they seem so far away. But when you're there, it doesn't seem far at all.
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"As Bill Bryson says, you expect to see camels on the side of the road. I expected to feel homesick. But it's like Britain in so many ways – Sydney is just like London on steroids and Prozac. And the difference there is the sun is always shining."
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Award-winning actor Rob started his career as a radio presenter for 91Èȱ¬ Wales, and presented on local television and radio for six years.
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During that time, he performed occasional comedy pieces, among them a character who would become one of his best-known figures, Keith Barret. Whilst at the 91Èȱ¬, Rob joined the Bath-based improvisational comedy group 'More Fool Us', where he met Julia Davis - with whom he would go on some years later to make the award-winning Human Remains.
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Leaving Cardiff for London, Rob worked mostly as a voice artist on animations and commercials until his role as the traffic warden in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels prompted him to make a short video of comic characters he had created.
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The video, Rob Brydon - An Extremely Unlucky Traffic Warden, finished with Cardiff cabbie Keith Barret chatting cheerily to a camera fixed to the dashboard.
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Rob's television credits include The Keith Barret Show, Marion & Geoff, Human Remains, Cruise of The Gods and Black Books.
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Marion & Geoff, the dark comedy based on a divorced cabbie coming to grips with his wife's new relationship, was a breakthrough in his career, and in 2000 he received a British Comedy Award for Best Newcomer, a Royal Television Society Award for Best Newcomer, the South Bank Award for Best Television Drama and the Broadcasting Press Guild of Great Britain Best Entertainment Award for the programme.
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He followed this with a British Comedy Award in 2001 for Best Actor for Human Remains, and a Banff TV Festival 2001 Award for Best International Comedy for the same show.
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As well as the feature film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Rob appeared in the critically-acclaimed film 24 Hour Party People, and will be seen in two films to be released in 2005, Mirrormask and Tristram Shandy.
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He recently completed a 60-date UK stage tour, and is a regular guest on radio and
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