This dark, surreal comedy series follows the lives of dozens of strange inhabitants of the small, fictional town of Royston Vasey. The diverse array of characters includes a xenophobic couple who run a local shop for local people, a transsexual taxi driver who likes talking to her customers about her conversion in great detail, a local Job Centre officer who hates the people she is assigned to train, and many other offbeat individuals, most of whom are played by the show's three writers, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, in various guises. The show's dark humour has made it a cult favourite, and is often credited for the rise of other British sketch shows, such as `Little Britain'.