The stars of BBC Three sitcom Peacock have discussed the similarities between their new characters and their former roles on acclaimed pirate radio comedy People Just Do Nothing.

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Andy 'Seapa' Mustafa and Steve Stamp currently star as personal trainer Andy Peacock and his most valuable customer Jonathan, but longtime fans will remember them as MC Grindah and Steves respectively in their previous show.

While decidedly different in subject matter and tone, the actors acknowledged some similarities between their roles in an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com.

"It’s playing on that male ego with both characters, but Grindah hides it a lot more and Andy it's a lot more to the surface," began Mustafa. "He's a lot sweeter, I think. His heart is in the right place but he goes about things the wrong way."

Stamp agreed: "He’s trying. He's actually on a journey of self growth and trying to improve his life, whereas Grindah would never admit that anything was wrong, and insist that he’s the best and everything’s fine."

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As for his own character, Peacock co-creator Stamp joked that both Jonathan and Steves are "very chiselled", before drawing a parallel on the nature of their personality types.

"I guess Jonathan is much more of a grown-up than Steves – Steves is obviously in a world of his own," he explained. "Jonathan is a bit more normal but he definitely has this sort of submissiveness still.

"By the end, when he's in Andy’s videos, I think that's where there's a bit of a similarity with Steves. When he’s being forced to wear stuff he doesn’t want to wear and he’s being roped into things."

The cast of People Just Do Nothing
People Just Do Nothing cast Jack Barnes/Roughcut TV

Stamp added: "But Jonathan is just a bit of a loser in a way, whereas I see Steves as more of a hero because he's outside of society and the norms of reality."

Peacock follows a personal trainer who feels threatened when a younger, stronger rival begins outpacing him at work, while he also tries to get a grip on his ailing love life.

Alongside Mustafa and Stamp, the sitcom also stars Lucien Laviscount (Emily in Paris), Thomas Gray (Absolutely Fine), Susan Wokoma (Year of the Rabbit), Callie Cooke (The Stranger), Mandeep Dhillon (After Life) and Sophia Di Martino (Loki).

Peacock premieres tonight at 10pm on BBC Three. Stream all episodes now on BBC iPlayer. Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.

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