Gus Hedges

"Well, obviously I don't have an opinion - I am a support module. But it would be very easy to find ourselves standing on buttered ball bearings over this piece. While I feel passionately in no punches pulled, hard-hitting journalism, do you feel in any real sense that we ought to be wary of running any unsubstantiated stories if we are to avoid a faeces and fan situation."

- Gus talking about a controversial story in Sex, Lies and Audiotape

The unctuous Chief Executive of the company, yes-man to Sir Roystan Merchant, and an unwavering supporter of then Conservative Prime Minister John Major. A management stereotype, complete with clichés and clumsy metaphors, he swiftly transforms GlobeLink from a serious news network to a ratings-chasing tabloid channel. He talks in barely comprehensible management jargon, and is notable for such phrases as, ''“Are we cooking with napalm? You bet!” In light of what he refers to as his "hands-off" role, he frequently prefaces his interference in editorial matters with the opening, “Now, as you all know, I’m not here…”'' He is disliked and distrusted by the staff, who are unafraid to treat him with contempt.

Outside of office life, Gus is a very lonely man — although he is far too afraid to admit this, even to himself. He has no real friends, and his occasional attempts to make friends at work often fail, largely because of his inability to behave like a human being rather than an "executive management module". Some of these personality traits stem from his childhood. One episode features his older brother who, it later transpires, was clearly his parents’ favourite and Gus has terrible feelings of inadequacy.

He is very sexually inexperienced and fears advances from women. He is also afraid of illness — particularly mental illness — and thoughts of his own mortality terrify him. Despite his executive position, he fears that he has not really achieved anything or made a mark, and worries that he will be quickly forgotten; on one occasion, he complained that what other people did to win promotion or to improve their job prospects he had to do to stay in his current position.

Gus is alleged to have been based on Channel 4’s controller at the time, Michael Grade, although the original idea was first pitched to the BBC, with Channel Four only picking up the series after the BBC refused to broadcast it. In series six it becomes clear that Gus has absolutely no life beyond GlobeLink and working for Sir Roysten and cannot come to terms with the station’s closure. The final scene of the last episode sees a host of furniture-removal men clearing the fire-damaged office with Gus sitting miserably on his chair with a gloomy expression on his face