Neil Pye | |
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Gender |
Male |
Family |
See list of Pye family members |
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Dislikes |
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Nickname(s) |
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Relationship status |
Single. |
Portrayed by |
Neil Wheedon Watkins Pye is a clinically depressed, pacifist, vegetarian and environmentalist hippie working towards a Peace Studies degree. He is victimized by his housemates (including Rick and Vyvyan) and forced to do all the housework, including shopping, cleaning and cooking. He is never acknowledged for it unless something goes wrong.
Personality[]
Neil is pessimistic and believes everyone and everything hates him, although he does have two hippie friends, one also named Neil and another named Warlock. This actually makes him the second most sociable character behind Vyvyan. He dislikes most forms of technology, except for televisions and video recorders and speaks out for vegetable rights and peace. He is also a chronic insomniac, believing that sleep causes cancer. He is shown in Boring simply standing by the window all night waiting for dawn. In that episode, Rick says he kept him awake all night when they shared a room. Neil angrily tells Rick then that sleep gave you cancer. On the times Neil does sleep he is just as prone to sleeping the day away as the others.
Neil wants the others to feel sorry for him or acknowledge his presence. His attention seeking ranges from banging himself on the head with a frying pan, being at the other flatmates’ beck and call all day long and repeatedly attempting suicide. He claims “the most interesting thing that ever happens to me is sneezing”, but when it happens it results in a big explosion.
In the pilot episode Demolition, Neil is shown to have suicidal tendencies, attempting to kill himself at least three times. However, this was not carried through for the rest of the series with the exception of Sick, in which Mike reminds Neil that he has "always wanted to die." He also contemplates killing himself in Boring. He is not very serious about it this time but digs a grave anyway in case he decides to.
Family and background info[]
- In the episode Sick, Neil’s parents are revealed to be upper middle class, conservative Tories who look down on Neil for starring in such a disreputable comedy series.
- As established in Neil’s Heavy Concept Album, Neil comes from Twickenham (his name punning on Eel Pie Island).
- His middle names are revealed in Neil’s Book of the Dead.