used for the purchase of recreational drugs. Sam's slacker boyfriend Ben (Rasmus Hardiker) goes through numerous jobs and interests in the first series, such as taking a circus skills course, and a short-lived shelf-stacking job, however these apparent jobs require a recurring amount of forty pounds (which is gained from Rick through Sam's pleas), which may in fact be used to purchase recreational drugs, meaning the jobs and interests may not exist at all. Magda (Anna Crilly) is the Spleens' morose Eastern European housekeeper, who is often puzzled by British attitudes, language and, in her view, softness. She is a willing worker and generally suffers Rick's selfish eccentricities in sullen silence. Neighbour Clive (John Biggins) had a part in a single scene in the first series, but had a larger part in an episode of the second series; by the third series he had become a prominent character, concerned about the well-being of his elderly mother who is very delicate and has had problems with losing her cat and having teenagers throwing rubbish over her wall. Episodes Reception Immediately following the commission of the series, reviewers compared it to Curb Your Enthusiasm; a story in The Independent ran with the headline "Dee writes BBC's answer to Curb Your Enthusiasm". The Stage's Mark Wright called it "a curious oddity" and called comparisons to Curb "inevitable". Ian Johns of The Times "obsessed" over the similarities to Curb, though singled out Crilly and Gardner for their performances, and described Dee's characterisation of Rick as "turning childish pettiness into something almost endearing". A. A. Gill, in The Sunday Times, wryly praised the style of humour and the reaction it provoked in viewers. Hermione Eyre of The Independent on Sunday called it "a delectable comedy of everyday embarrassment", but "unfortunately, Lead Balloon shows awkward joints where Curb Your Enthusiasm has invisible seams"; the reviewer cited Larry David as being a good man driven to obnoxious behaviour, whereas Spleen is just obnoxious. Thomas Sutcliffe of The Independent named the series the best new comedy of 2006. When appearing on a panel of comedy judges at the 2007 Edinburgh International Television Festival, Frank Skinner, in response to The Vicar of Dibley and The Catherine Tate Show being voted the best comedies in a public poll, called it "the best sitcom that anyone from the comedy circuit has done [...] Obviously I was hoping it would be shit"