How have you two got on?

Mike: I first met Zeron at his screen test. As usual he rolled up at 'the last minute' (a few minutes late) in a cloud of raw energy. He was flustered but full of enthusiasm, which is something that everyone on the shoot has grown to love. We had half an hour or so to do our stuff in front of the camera and then went our separate ways. The next time we met up was when we heard that the first Lab Rat series had been commissioned, and the time after that we were filming together more or less immediately. Anyone can see from what I've said that we were pretty much thrown together but I think we make a great team.

We are very different: I love the countryside, whereas Zeron is a city boy, and I'm a scientist whereas Zeron is a stand up comic. I guess you could be forgiven for thinking that we had very little in common, but, in fact, we get on like a house on fire and always have. Part of it is because we have a mutual respect for each other, maybe born of our passion for our relative martial arts and in part because we are both naturally outgoing people.

Zeron's a great bloke; bright, brave, kind and giving. Although we have only known each other for a matter of months and most of that has been in the company of others in a very high pressure environment, we are firm friends. When filming Lab Rats, although the team work together for a great programme, there is very much a feeling of them and us - the experimenters and the lab rats.

Zeron: I call Mike the mouth on a stick because he talks to anyone and everyone. Many a time I had to drag him away from chatting complete strangers to death. He is a bloke of many complex sides. He'll sometimes say something just to deliberately rub someone up the wrong way. I have developed a look that I flash to Mike to tell him "can it"; And he will.

I am more relaxed and laid back than Mike who is a want-it-now bloke who can get ultra-excited for days about something, only to strangely hide his excitement and emotions once the cameras are rolling.

When it comes to meal times Mike is never, ever late. His belly is run by an atomic clock. And he is prone to finish every morsel of food on his plate, as well as clean off everybody else's!

But the thing I have learnt and love above all about Mike is that he will do anything for a mate. Right down to giving his last penny. I liken him to a British Bulldog with a heart of gold.

What's been the most interesting thing you've learnt whilst making Lab Rats?

Mike: You know, that one is incredibly difficult to answer because I feel as if I've pretty much done a BSc in 'Lab Rat science'. I learnt an enormous amount, but some things which stick out are when I discovered how incredible it is that pilots can control jet fighters under the physical pressures in which they work. I mean, they weigh as much as an elephant at 9G but still control millions of pounds' worth of fighting machine. In Sleep, I found out just how ill I could feel simply because I've had no shut-eye. In the Sperm show I found out that I wasn't infertile and in the Fear show I began to understand just how powerful phobias can be.

The series has stimulated me to re-visit my old biology textbooks and I hope that it inspires others to buy some new ones, or at least find out about the subjects that we looked at for themselves, perhaps through an OU short course or a foundation course.

Zeron: Women would make better fighter pilots because they can actually take more G's than a man. This is because of their fat displacement in their hips is a natural barrier to prevent blood being forced out of their upper body into their legs and away from the brain to cause G-loc. At the centrifuge centre female instructors were actually climbing into the machine and deliberately inducing G-loc!

Oh, and Mike's got bigger balls than me...

What have you found out about your body and it's limitations through the series?

Mike: To be honest I think that I know myself pretty well. There are things that frustrate me about both my body and my mind, but the flip side is that, like anyone, I also have a few strengths. I do know that there is no way I could ever be a world-class athlete, nor could I ever have been. I also know that I'm not a real hard man, especially emotionally, but I do have a fairly strong will; I do have stamina, and I am reasonably tough and resilient. I guess the programme has shown that I have similar strengths and weaknesses to many people. Like anyone out there, I'm unique, but I'm unique in a very average way, so I hope that viewers can relate to me - just a bloke dragged off the street. I could have been anyone.

Zeron: I've not got the bulldog mentality like Mike but I do regard myself as pretty fearless. I'm more the calculated bloke.

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Content last updated: 23/08/2005