Oliver "Ollie" Plimsolls is the head of travelling theatre company Legz Akimbo.
Inspiration[]
Legz Akimbo is based on all the companies the League worked with as young actors.
Oliver Plimsolls is a real person that Reece worked with in Theatre in Education - The "proper actor" persona was used by Reece when he left, but he wasn't malicious like Reece is in Series 1.
Appearances[]
Series One[]
The fourth episode begins with the troupe trying to find their way to Royston Vasey. They get lost two times - initially due to the construction of the New Road, then again at the roundabout.
They arrive at the school to perform their play about teenage homosexuality called "Everybody Out!". During Ollie's opening speech to the children, it is revealed that Phil has landed a professional acting job. They begin to explain the themes of the play. This soon sends Ollie into a rant about how much he dislikes lesbians, mainly due to the fact that his ex-wife, Linda Plimsolls, left him for another woman. The play is performed - much to the children's disinterest - until it ends abruptly with Ollie snapping at Phil over him leaving the troupe for his new acting job.
Due to this outburst and Ollie's previous behaviour, Dave announces that he intends to leave Legz Akimbo as well. Ollie, in shock, goes offstage to be sick.
Series Two[]
In the final episode, Legz Akimbo try to get into the town while the army is in control, but in the end they are used to entertain the sick in a community hall. The Play is called No Home 4 Johnny, and focuses on homelessness. When they present the characters for the audience to ask questions to before they begin, it's clear that they are out of their depth with grown adults.
The play is performed, but not very well - the Mayor quickly leaves, only to be chased after by a angry mob.
Series Three[]
In the Third Episode, Ollie is rehearsing his latest issue play - Vegetable Soup - at The Salmon of Knowledge, in London. They decide to try improvising in the real world - he angrily attempts to get Dave to act as a Deaf-blind person in a cake shop (showing his own lack of empathy/knowledge regarding the issues he presents). As this is going on, Phil (in-character) falls out of his wheelchair in the street. A passer-by alerts Ollie, who then goes on another rant and refuses to help. Ollie ends up being headbutted by the passer-by, which breaks his nose.
Near the end of episode, Geoff, now on the run from the police, takes the Legz Akimbo van. Ollie attempts to chase him down in a wheelchair, but is ultimately unsuccessful.
Anniversary Specials[]
Ollie is seen making a speech at an award show. It turns out to be a dream, and he's revealed to actually be a drama teacher - Phil and Dave appear and Legz Akimbo re-forms to present a show to Ollie's students, all of whom are enthusiastic about the performance (and Ollie's work overall). He then awakens again, revealing the last sequence to also have been a dream, and he enters his classroom to a set of students who quite clearly do not care for the subject.
Live Shows[]
Drury Lane[]
Ollie appears in Act One to present his new play about the North, Scumbelina.
..Are Behind You![]
Act One has Ollie revealing he is creating a Commu-nativity using local people after being refused a grant. He misses the rehearsals due to stalking Linda and her new lover. He plays an angel in the dress rehearsal, and ends up stopping the show to go on yet another rant (this time about the quality of the set), only to end Act One by being crushed under the scenery.
Live Again[]
Act One has Legz Akimbo presenting their new play about Stranger Danger.
Behind the Scenes[]
- "Go to Joan Glover", the song that Ollie sings, was used in college by the League as a warm-up song; they used it because they disliked it.
- The Sweater Ollie wears in Series Two was the one that Reece wanted to wear for Series One, but for some reason it couldn't be used.
- The Mask of Winter in No Home For Johnny was based on the one they used in the Canal Cafe Show.
- The Salmon of Knowledge is the Canal Cafe Theatre where the League first preformed.
- Bessie, the name of the van, came from Doctor Who.
- In one of the live shows programs was a fictional email address belonging to Ollie - one fan, upon finding out it was fake, created an account and spoke to other fans in character on forums.
- While there are no deleted scenes, there are bloopers for the Third Series scene in London in which a man helps Mark, not realising that there was cameras (and that he didn't actually need help).
Trivia[]
- In the Local Book for Local People, his surname is actually spelled Plimsoles. Despite this, in the BBC iPlayer subtitles, it has been spelled Plimsolls. Alongside this, the Live Again! album spells his name Oli Plimsoles. (There is absolutely no consistency in this aspect, though the album does have a lot of the names spelled incorrectly, so I presume it's intentional?)