And in his eyes, at least, Viz now works the old magic better than before. It's "rarely been better," he says.

Biscuits Alive! – some biscuits that mysteriously come to life to help their boy owner out of some trivial problem. Darling's ludicrous ham acting style and overbearing personality result in him gaining only bit (walk-on) parts at best; at worst, his only theatre employment is cleaning the theatre's toilets. In several episodes, Darling ends up having to perform in pornographic films, yet he often has trouble remembering his lines and so has the need for a prompt from a lowly stage hand. In one episode, to his delight he is offered the "leading role" in " Cyrano de Bergerac", and goes all out to produce himself as the ideal leading man, complete with a huge nose. However, when he appears it turns out that the "role" he thought he was in is actually to play the opening "roll" on the kettledrum for the opening announcement. He passionately believes in promoting the cultural value of theatre, is ecstatic at any chance to show off his self-proclaimed (and utterly non-existent) acting talent (once even in a prison, where he comes (horribly) to grief). [10] In another episode he is interviewed by "Michael Perkinson" (a blatant reference to another very famous interviewer) and with every question he reveals more and more how much of a total and utter failure he is. Closet Casey Jones - A strip about an American train driver who fancies married women but secretly fancies muscular men. Afternoon tea with Mr Kiplin – About Mr Kiplin (a parody of cake manufacturer Mr Kipling) inviting someone over for tea but because he eats so much cake, he eventually vomits for the whole night. Diane Abbott and Costello – A strip where Diane Abbott and Lou Costello are guest presenters of Question Time, but argue over the seating plan, with Costello constantly misunderstanding Abbott's instructions in the style of his famous routine Who's on First?

NEW ISSUE OUT 03/12/2023

Biffa Bacon. A violent juvenile delinquent who's frequently physically abused by his parents for trivial reasons. PC Hopper, Bent Copper – a corrupt police officer who often takes bribes and is frequently shown beating a confession out of a suspect. Fru T. Bunn – a "Master Baker" who makes his own sex dolls out of gingerbread and then attempts to have sex with them. Often he actually succeeds, only to be discovered in the last frame by his wife and daughter (Little Chelsea - ref to the Chelsea Bun)!!

Jamie Bond 007 – A child parody of James Bond. Rather than go with the plot that Jamie is just a regular child who is delusional about his secret agent alter ego and that his next door neighbour is not really a global villain out for world domination. The latter is indeed revealed to be one, whose plot Jamie foils and then makes his escape with the story's Bond girl.The following is a list of recurring or notable one-off strips from the British adult spoof comic magazine Viz. This list is by no means complete as with each issue new characters/strips/stories are introduced. The beauty of Viz; the reason why it was always way out in front was that there was no pre-conceived master plan. It wasn't contrived. It grew organically and the same small team stayed with it. Champion the Wonder Arse – Young Chip McCain had befriended a magnificent wild hairy arse named Champion, which roamed the plains around the little town of Windy Creek in Arizona. Like Dennis the Menace, the Bash Street Kids and Roy of the Rovers before them, Viz's very own roll-call of stars - Billy the Fish, Buster Gonad, Roger Mellie and Biffa Bacon - were becoming household names.

PC Blouse – a police officer who is ineffective at his job because he is weak and cowardly and is also not taken seriously by the public. Laurie Driver – the schizophrenic long-distance driver of an articulated lorry, who murders female hitchhikers and dumps their bodies by the roadside. Initially the strip focused on Laurie's serial killing, but later strips show him having other vices such as drinking on the job or involvement in people smuggling.

Captain Oats – a one-off strip lampooning the real Antarctic explorer Captain Lawrence Oates. An explorer obsessed with pornography and masturbation, he is depicted skiing across the icy wastes, dragging a wardrobe on its own set of skis upon which is hidden his stash of pornographic magazines. However, his efforts to masturbate are continually frustrated by the presence of his companions. Eventually he gives his famous line "I'm just going outside, I might be some time', and ends up in the latrine with his fingers freezing off. Dench's Benches – A strip where Dame Judi Dench lounges all over a pair of park benches and chases away a man who wanted to sit on one of them.

Vernon Dakin, aka Big Vern is a character in the British comic Viz, first appearing in 1982 as a parody of 1970s London mobsters. He was devised by Viz founder Chris Donald, and is today drawn by Simon Thorp. From its humble inception as a photocopied rag with a print-run of 150, it won prime placing in almost every newsagent in the country. The Pie-Eyed Piper – A parody of The Pied Piper of Hamelin where the titular piper is so drunk he even makes the rats get drunk. That includes many of the pale, and some now defunct, imitators such as Smut, Zit, Poot and Ziggy, which jumped on the Viz bandwagon during its golden days. Billy Britain – a right-wing ultra-nationalist resembling Enoch Powell who appeared in two very early strips. Chris Donald considers him an early prototype of Major Misunderstanding. He also made a one-off reappearance in the September 2002 issue satirising the issue of asylum seekers, where after he spends the strip making several futile attempts to round up illegal immigrants, the local authorities turn his home into a detention centre for refugees.Pop Shot – Real name: Gerald. A man who is almost always naked, although not showing anything - he always 'fig-leaf's' himself - sporting a stereotypical 1970s pornstar moustache, afro and chest hair, who always finds himself accidentally slipping into the language of a porn film while performing everyday activities, much to the annoyance of his wife. The strip always ends with his wife spontaneously having sex with a complete stranger, with Gerald left out of the proceedings. One Cut Wally – a gents' barber who gives all his customers exactly the same haircut even when they asked for something else. Lonely Sidney Sidebottom – A one off strip from the early 1980s (also featured in The Big Hard One annual) about a single man who has difficulties talking to women.