"My name is Professor Ian Duncan and I would like to rap for you. Drop a beat! My name is Ian Duncan and I'm here to say, I'm going to rap to the beat in a rapping way! I've got a real big penis and I drink lots of tea..."
- Professor DuncanDr. Ian Duncan is a character in the NBC/Yahoo! sitcom Community. He is played by John Oliver.
Ian is a psychology professor at Greendale, and was born in Birmingham, England and grew up on 52nd street in the Islington district of London. His mother was a native of Lincolnshire from a town called Scunthorpe where she worked as a whore at a Stansbury pub with her thumbless sister. Duncan's father was absent for much of his childhood, a fact which haunts him to this day. It is alluded to that he left England after his parents divorced and came to America with his grandfather when he was very young. He eventually became a psychologist and settled down in Colorado where he was hired by Greendale's psychology department. Duncan started drinking heavily and his addiction caused him to run into some legal problems. At one point after driving drunk he tried to order chalupas from an emergency call box on a highway. Jeff Winger at the time was still a practicing attorney and managed to get Ian off the hook. The two became drinking buddies and years later when Jeff enrolled at Greendale he unsuccessfully tried to call upon the favor Ian owed him. Although Duncan was present during Jeff's first and second year at school, he took a leave of absence before his friend graduated. He spent that time back in England taking care of his mother who was ill. Duncan returned to his position at Greendale a few years later and reconnected with Jeff, who had since become a member of the faculty.
In spite of his personal accomplishments, Duncan appears to be very lonely. Perhaps as a consequence of this, he has developed an on-again, off-again drinking problem ("Pascal's Triangle Revisited"). He is indiscreet about his problem, frequently showing up to his classes inebriated ("The Psychology of Letting Go") and often outright telling students and faculty of his condition. While he at times lectures Jeff on his ethical choices he contradictorily makes a few ambiguous decisions himself. This includes attempting to exploit Abed's mental breakdown for a book deal ("Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas") and taking an Anthropology class he is substituting for and turning it into a BYOB party ("Applied Anthropology and Culinary Arts"). However, on occasion he has demonstrated the ability to do what's right despite the pressure to do the opposite. This was shown when he refused to help Jeff cheat on his tests ("Pilot") and when he didn't take advantage of Britta when she was emotionally vulnerable("Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality").
Biography
Season 1
At the start of the Fall 2009 semester at Greendale, Ian reunited with his old friend Jeff Winger, who was also his lawyer several years ago. Jeff was now disbarred and enrolled at Greendale and asked Duncan to help him cheat to earn a legitimate degree. Duncan refused, unwilling to let Jeff continue his dishonest ways, and unsuccessfully tried to teach him a lesson. In class, Duncan attempted to validate his "Duncan Principle" theory during one of his psych labs. However he found his efforts hindered by an unexpected participant, Abed Nadir. As part of the faculty he served on a tribunal made up of him, Dean Pelton, and Ben Chang to deal with Britta Perry who had cheated on her Spanish exam. The outcome had him volunteering to provide Britta free therapy to deal with her neuroses. Throughout the rest of the school year he had an antagonistic relationship with Ben Chang. By the end of the year Chang had been fired due to his teaching credentials having been faked. He was now a student at school and Duncan took great delight in taunting him. At the end of the year transfer dance Duncan found himself suspended by Dean Pelton when he made a drunk spectacle of himself. Since he was no longer officially on staff, Duncan got assaulted by Chang.
Season 2
In the study group's second year at a Greendale, Duncan is reinstated and finds himself unexpectedly teaching Anthropology. He is forced to take over the class they after the original teacher, Professor June Bauer, is forced to go sabbatical after attacking a student. Because he knows nothing about the subject, his teaching style was limited to showing the class various YouTube videos and assigning them dozens of dioramas to create. At Christmas time, Abed has a mental breakdown and Duncan is called in to try and therapize him. During the semester, he exploits the restraining order he put on Ben Chang, played piano for the Study Group when they briefly replaced the Glee Club who died in a bus accident, and watched a (European) football game at Jeff's apartment on Valentines Day. For a brief time he was sober but quickly fell off the wagon by the end of the year.
Season 3
Professor Duncan is not seen during Season 3, but a book he authored is seen shown being held by Britta Perry who declared her major to be Psychology.
Season 4
In the study group's fourth year at school, Professor Duncan didn't make an appearance. However, he is mentioned twice on two different occasions. When the group takes a hot air balloon ride that goes horribly wrong, Troy suddenly asks if anyone's noticed how long it's been since they've seen Duncan. Towards the end of the school year, the study group flashes back to their time before attending Greendale. Jeff recalls how after being disbarred he was inspired to go back and earn a legitimate degree after encountering Chang. He had been handing out fliers for the school and Jeff asked him if his old client Ian Duncan still worked there. Chang told Jeff that Duncan had tenure there while also referring to him as a "drunken limey
Season 5
Ian Duncan returns to Greendale after some time away and joins the Save Greendale Committee. He reveals his absence was due to having to go back to England to take care of his sick mother. Upon his return he joins the investigation into the campus assailant called the "Ass Crack Bandit." He creates a useless psychological profile on the perpetrator and ends up becoming one of the bandit's victims. When Abed hosts a campus-wide game of Hot Lava, Duncan participates, hoping to win the $50,000 prize. He ends up being eliminated by Jeff and Annie when he tries to take Britta out of the game. Duncan and the Save Greendale Committee come up with a theme for the mid-term dance. He later asks Jeff's help in trying to woo Britta. He decides to not take advantage of a depressed Britta and hangs out with Jeff instead. When Jeff accidentally ends up in a coma he imagines Duncan as the cartoon character of "Xim Xam" in his G.I. Joe fantasy. Duncan and the committee celebrate prematurely after a city inspector gives Greendale a positive assessment. School board members Carl and Richie prepare to sell the school to the Subway corporation. Most of the staff, including Duncan, is laid off to make way for the new Subway employees. Buzz Hickey and Duncan commiserate over their unemployment and find they have a few things in common. Duncan meets up with the committee in a last ditch effort to prevent the sale of the school. They learn of a map which leads to a hidden computer lab which may hold the school founder Russell Borchert's lost wealth. While searching for the entrance way to the lab, Duncan electrocutes himself after grabbing exposed wires. He suffered some post traumatic confusion but later regained enough of his senses to celebrate with the rest committee after they succeed in saving the school.