7.2 /10 1 Votes
6.8/10 Created by Carl Gorham First episode date 20 April 1998 | 7.6/10 IMDb Genre AnimationDark comedy Country of origin United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Written by Carl GorhamMichael HattGavin Rodgers Directed by Season 1:Steve ResselSteve LoterCathy MalkasianSeason 2:Peter WesternRoger MainwoodKim Burden Composer(s) Peter BaikieMat ClarkJason McDermid Cast |
Stressed Eric is a British cartoon series that was produced by Absolutely Productions for the BBC Two television channel in the United Kingdom and Television New Zealand. The series revolves around Eric Feeble, a middle class man who is always stressed, because of his family, work, co-workers, etc.
Contents

Overview

Eric Feeble is 40 years old and still upset over his divorce two years ago. He lives in a middle class London house and is always being kept under extreme amounts of pressure and stress from all aspects of life, represented by a throbbing vein in his temple. His two children, Claire and Brian, plague him with fear and worries every day. Claire is a frail six-year-old who is allergic to a large range of things such as wheat, ponies, and spices; Brian is a ten-year-old with learning problems who has been kept back three straight years in school, has an oral fixation, and has pica. The family's au pair housekeeper, Maria, is an eighteen-year-old Portuguese woman with a serious drinking problem who, despite Eric's frequent attempts to keep her under control and focused, seems to be passed-out drunk for hours at a time. His ex-wife, Liz, left him for a Buddhist but insists on phoning him up incessantly, which merely adds to his growing stress level. The next-door neighbours, the wealthy, successful and snobbish Perfect family, provide him a constant and painful view of what his life could have been.

Eric's workplace is absolutely no escape from his everyday problems. His boss, Paul Power (known as PP), is loud, rude and demanding; he has demoted Eric from Assistant Manager to a low-level clerk in an office sandwiched between the janitor's closet and the men's toilets. His secretary, Alison, is completely useless, spending all her "working hours" making and taking personal phone calls and shrilling rudely at Eric when he requests her attention.

At the end of almost every episode, as the climax of events cause Eric's stress to reach breaking point, the throbbing vein emerges from his temple and wraps itself around his neck, strangling him.
Main characters
Major characters
Voice cast
A US adaptation for NBC replaced Mark Heap's voice with that of Hank Azaria.
TV history
The show was first broadcast on BBC2 in April 1998 and ran for two series.
Stressed Eric continued when Hibbert Ralph produced the second series. The second series was animated by Varga Studio instead.
Series 1
- Nativity - 20 April 1998
- Sex - 27 April 1998
- Pony - 11 May 1998
- Hospital - 18 May 1998
- Potato - 1 June 1998
- Tidy - 8 June 1998
Series 2
- Cricket - 31 August 2000
- Bursting - 6 September 2000
- Team - 13 September 2000
- Tent - 20 September 2000
- Crush - 27 September 2000
- Au Pair - 4 October 2000
- Drool - 11 October 2000
DVD Release
The Complete Stressed Eric Collection was released on DVD in the UK on 2 May 2011, with the following Special Features: