The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer
Encyclopedia
The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer was a BBC TV sketch show written by and starring double act Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer. Its first series appeared in 1993 following the duo's move to the BBC
after parting company with Channel 4
. The show marked a continuation of Reeves & Mortimer's bizarre, anarchic and frequently silly comedy that they had first explored on Channel 4's Vic Reeves Big Night Out
, with a number of important differences.
Firstly, Mortimer
was now Reeves
's partner as opposed to his assistant on the previous programme. As well as getting his name in the title, he shared the trademark prop-strewn desk with Reeves.
With virtually all of the Vic Reeves Big Night Out
characters consigned to the past (only the Stotts survived, appearing in the second series), a whole range of new characters appeared. The show also featured pre-recorded sketches and a lavish studio set, laden with columns and pillars and in the centre the enormous letters R&M, from which the duo emerged at the start of each show.
The show would usually close with the song "Let's Have A Little Bit More," which saw the duo enthusing about the smells of things, from "Pol Pot
's Dungarees" to "Lulu's Hairdos."
("Austria, 1930, a young boy is challenged by his mischievous grandfather to attempt to throw a handbell at the local village idiot") before the studio set appeared and Allen introduced the duo ("Please welcome Libya's foremost air-conditioning engineers, Reeves & Mortimer"), after which the pair would sing a song before seating themselves at the desk to tell silly jokes, introduce the bizarre guests and endorse various Reeves & Mortimer products (such as the "Reeves & Mortimer Walk-Me-Home Cheddar" and "The Home Vibration Cowboy Unit").
A regular feature was a bizarre spoof of a then-current TV programme, such as Food & Drink, which saw host Chris Kelly
(Mortimer), whose face was a piece of toasted cheese and whose legs gradually became ridiculously long, boiling his head in a pot to "prepare a nice pot of tea," and Antiques Roadshow
, where a termite mound containing the singer Prince
was found inside a wardrobe. Perhaps the most bizarre was Noel's Addicts, an insane parody of a show hosted by Noel Edmonds
in 1992 about people's hobbies.
The duo would frequently promise a celebrity guest such as Burt Reynolds
, who turned out to be Vic in a bizarre outfit yelling about his book Coping With Stress, Cuban soap star Juan Nelly The Elephant (Vic), who kept intermittently turning into an electrical salesman, and Ian Crust, the Inventor of the Bag (Bob).
At the end of series one, Bob played a huge practical joke on Vic, who lapsed into a coma. After a rousing final song, Bob unplugged Vic's life-support machine.
Played by comedian Charlie Chuck
, Uncle Peter was a big-haired, battered-suit wearing lunatic with a bizarre gait and an unnerving habit of shouting incomprehensibly (his catchphrase was "DONKEY") He was in a band, which featured himself and an unidentified piano player played by Trevor Peacock
. The band saw Peter shout random nonsense before completely destroying his drumkit. Peter was always wary of being sent back "to t'dark place" by the duo.
The Bra Men - Pat Wright & Dave Arrowsmith
Two aggressive, donkey-jacket wearing men from the North East town of Hartlepool
, who get extremely upset at people for "lookin' at my bra" They accuse anyone, be it the postman, a traffic warden or a milkman of "inspecting our charms" and also get very angry if someone inadvertently comments that they're "flat-chested" Also, despite telling the unwitting person they're dealing with where to stick the items they have to give them, they usually just take them anyway. These two were reportedly based on men with whom Reeves worked in a factory.
Le Corbussier et Papin
Vic and Bob as two extraordinarily flatulent Frenchmen, in a series of sketches that were filmed in the style of arthouse French comedies (titles included "L'homme, L'homme, L'femme (La fenetre)"), accompanied only by whimsical music and the duo's deliberately dubbed on French-speaking voices (the French dialogue made virtually no sense.) They usually saw the pair riding along on their bicycles before encountering things which were deemed worthy of investigation (a kid's playground, where they got a roundabout spinning by the sheer volume of flatulence; a funfair where they attempted to fart-start a motorbike).
Slade In Residence
This series of spoof sketches saw the '70s glam rock group Slade
in their vymura-laden council house. Noddy (Vic), Jim (Paul Whitehouse
) and Don (Mark Williams
) were the three mischievous ones who were constantly arguing, wrecking the house and messing around with fireworks, much to the annoyance of the motherly Dave (Bob).
Mulligan & O'Hare
An unsettling and bizarre folk duo, possibly spoofing the style of Foster & Allen
. Mulligan (Vic) has breasts, presumably due to an incident with hormone replacement pills, while O'Hare (Bob) has a big beard and a very short temper. Mulligan and O'Hare first met at an African style picnic in 1963. They sing songs such as "Frustrated By Weeds" and "My Rose Has Left Me," the latter about O'Hare's ex-wife Rose, a bald woman who went "to Kenya with the bloke from Allied carpets." They have released ground breaking albums, such as The Onion Ring, Moods, Coffee Break, Pancake Day and Tittybiscuits and are well known for their instrumental cover versions of popular songs.
Otis Redding & Marvin Gaye
Vic and Bob played the soul music legends as the show's resident "agony aunts;" two tiny puppets who were on a TV in a cupboard, "sitting on the dock of the bay watching the ships coming in and going out again." Both spoke in a Teesside accent. Bob's Marvin gradually became increasingly more bored and unhappy as the series progressed, wanting to go "down the Grapevine to have a drink" but Otis and Marvin were always more than willing to offer expert advice on such matters as "how to deal with Guy Fawking of the leg."
Barry White
"The Walrus of Love" Barry White
was played by Vic as a huge puppet who had tiny little legs and spent his time seducing women with his smooth-talk, and cooking chopped liver. The women turned out to be a pineapple and a piece of copper pipe.
Jack Dent & Eric Potter
These two were always up-to-no-good in a series of '60s style public information film spoofs, set in the Country, the Factory and the Home. The narrator would frequently interrupt the duo in the middle of some nefarious activity ("Hey you?" "Who, us?" Yes, you...don't you know that the wallpapering of ploughs is prohibited under the country code?" "No." "Well, it is, for it can cause ploughright distraction leading to seed misplacement, so stop it") The narrator was revealed on each separate occasion to be a guitar-wielding spring onion, a crab and a man called Mr Porridge, whom the duo shot. These sketches used the voice of Patrick Allen, the voice over man for the series, and utilised his previous experience narrating public service films
The Booze For t'Baby Man
A man who wandered around in a brown mac, and frequently asked the duo if they had "any booze for t'baby?" to which they would reply "You can't give a baby BOOZE".
Whisky & Brandy Bolland
Two rather fey Scottish chaps who appeared in the Antiques Roadshow
spoof, investigating a wardrobe which contained "wee clothes, wee shoes...almost too wee." They eventually discovered a termite mound containing the singer Prince
living inside it. They had their suspicions before finding him, because he'd "only painted eighteen inches above sea level" Brandy (Vic) then removed the diminutive singer and booted him through a basketball hoop. Whisky (Bob) remained convinced that Brandy was in fact Dr Nemesis.
Greg Mitchell & Corky
Greg Mitchell was a puppet, the "gorgeous sandy coloured labrador" who was always wasting money on ludicrous things. His fey voice would give way to a guttural Cockney
bellow as he'd despairingly yell "My wife's gonna kill me" His friend Corky was a dodgy mongrel cum gangster
who stitched Greg up with a bungled bank robbery.
Derek & Chester
Two gruff, boozy men who appeared on the Food & Drink spoof reviewing the Lovely Brown Boozes, before Derek (Vic) let slip that his girlfriend Maggie had left him. They then appeared in Antiques Roadshow
wanting to get a ruined bottle of Babycham valued, before giving it generously to the Booze For t'Baby man.
followed by an upbeat song investigating the link between cottage cheese
and voodoo) and the same closing song (which originally appeared on the pilot for Vic Reeves Big Night Out
), but while the set was essentially the same, the desk was different (it had a slick, red surface, a metal body and a fox stretched across its entire length.)
While still fundamentally an offbeat programme (a party was deemed no good unless "two owls" attended) the second series had a less bizarre, more overtly slapstick
atmosphere to it, with Vic increasingly the buffoon to Bob's disapproving figure. Any disagreement was usually the cue for the duo's now-trademark fights with increasingly large frying pans and hammers.
The finale to each show would usually see a despairing Bob attempting to entertain the audience, whether singing "The Way We Were" on skis, singing "For All of Us" from within a glass bottle, playing "The British Countryside" on the flute or playing his enormous organ, which happened to contain a fully functioning pub. Vic would constantly barge in and ruin everything for Bob before the usual, rousing "Let's Have A Little Bit More" song would close the proceedings.
Reeves & Mortimer products were no longer advertised by the duo themselves, but in the form of "commercials." Products this time included the coffee-table books Dogs In Their Hats and Cats In Bomber Jackets, "Webster's Savoury Edible Tights" and "Papa's Nappies For Men."
Spoofs of then-current TV shows continued, including MasterChef spoof, with Vic as Lloyd Grossman with a huge bulbous head floating around the studio to the sound of bells, and the contestants including Morwenna Banks
as Joan Baptiste, who presented a faceplate in the form of Jesus Christ, with her own severed ears the speciality, Matt Lucas
as the victorious Quentin Mint, who presented a human backside with a side salad, and Bob as the hapless Lucas Bon'chomme whose replica cake of a shoe ("Cake like a shoe, it's a shoe-cake") turned out to be a real shoe, as did his "cakey-phone"
The Booze For t'Baby man continued his quest to find some booze for his baby, which eventually brought him a bottle of Babycham
for which he was moderately thankful.
Otis and Marvin were no longer on the dock of the bay but in their own home, where a constantly closing cupboard door and Otis's wayward moustache kept causing problems. Brown face paint was not present.
Le Corbussier et Papin continued to fart their way through more farcical situations.
Slade
went on a frequently disastrous camping holiday. First, Dave (Bob) got wrongly arrested for being a peeping tom, then Don's (Mark Williams
) arse caught fire, and finally Noddy (Vic), Jim (Paul Whitehouse
) and Dave were constantly attacked by bees.
Mulligan & O'Hare released two albums, Pancake Day (which earned them a South Bank Show profile, although presenter Melvyn Bragg
appeared to be more interested in his bicycle) and Coffee Break.
The Bra Men got more offended than ever when they appeared on Stars in Their Eyes
and Matthew Kelly
(Bob) commented on how well supported they were. They also went to Swiss Toni
's Used Cars to buy a car. Upon spotting a convertible, Swiss Toni
's comments that "I can picture you...driving along in the summer with your top down" were taken very badly. Swiss Toni
would later appear as a major character in The Fast Show
.
Some new characters joined them.
Councillors Cox & Evans
Two corrupt, obese, wig-wearing officials for the Aldington On Sea district council. They would try and advertise dodgy products such as "Fun Bins" and "the Service Post" before a flaw in the design would inevitably be revealed, leading to a violent fight, Evans (Bob) accusing Cox (Vic) of being a "fat bastard".
Tom Fun
A perpetually optimistic children's entertainer, played by Vic, who invented cheese along with his friend Mr Grapefruit Drink. He appeared in a Country File spoof detailing his walk along the Eskdale Way and how much drink, "snouts" and snacks he would take with him. Tom Fun would enjoy much more exposure in Reeves & Mortimer's 1999 series Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer
.
Chris Bell
A scruffy, belligerent Cockney, played by Vic. He first appeared in the Noel's Addicts sketch in series one as a man who collected horse-drawn nuts. He later was a guest on Stars in Their Eyes
as Rod Stewart
, and presented "Chris Bell's Fishing Report" on the Country File spoof, irritating a man trying to fish in a lake by knocking his tackle into the lake and then commandeering the rod before getting shot.
The Stotts
Returning from Vic Reeves Big Night Out
, Donald presented This Is Your Life
to Davey, who "wrote Jingle Bells," had "recently had a Vesta Curry" and fought in the "Flalakand War" where he went on the task force and ate a number of biscuits. The pair then hosted "Chittle Chattle Chit," where they interviewed Sting, reducing him to hysterics with questions like "If you got an itchy bottom at night, would you rub it on your wife's chin, point your bottom out of the window to blow it off with the breeze, or pick at it with your finger?" This idea of interviewing a guest returned in Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer
.
When the first series of the programme first made it to video titled "Red" & "Blue", it included extended versions of the episodes the way they were supposed to go out on TV, usually 7–10 minutes of new footage. When this DVD came out many were disappointed to find the episodes featured were the BBC edit versions. Series 2 was intact on the DVD release, mainly because it never had extended versions.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
after parting company with Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. The show marked a continuation of Reeves & Mortimer's bizarre, anarchic and frequently silly comedy that they had first explored on Channel 4's Vic Reeves Big Night Out
Vic Reeves Big Night Out
Vic Reeves Big Night Out was a cult British comedy stage show and later TV series which ran on Channel 4 for two series in 1990 and 1991, as well as a New Year special...
, with a number of important differences.
Firstly, Mortimer
Bob Mortimer
Robert "Bob" Renwick Mortimer is an English comedian and actor, who is best known for his double act with Vic Reeves...
was now Reeves
Vic Reeves
James Roderick Moir , better known by the stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian, best known for his double act with Bob Mortimer . He is known for his surreal and non sequitur sense of humour....
's partner as opposed to his assistant on the previous programme. As well as getting his name in the title, he shared the trademark prop-strewn desk with Reeves.
With virtually all of the Vic Reeves Big Night Out
Vic Reeves Big Night Out
Vic Reeves Big Night Out was a cult British comedy stage show and later TV series which ran on Channel 4 for two series in 1990 and 1991, as well as a New Year special...
characters consigned to the past (only the Stotts survived, appearing in the second series), a whole range of new characters appeared. The show also featured pre-recorded sketches and a lavish studio set, laden with columns and pillars and in the centre the enormous letters R&M, from which the duo emerged at the start of each show.
The show would usually close with the song "Let's Have A Little Bit More," which saw the duo enthusing about the smells of things, from "Pol Pot
Pol Pot
Saloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
's Dungarees" to "Lulu's Hairdos."
Series one
Series one of The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer established the format of the show. Each programme began with a bizarre introduction, narrated by Patrick AllenPatrick Allen
John Keith Patrick Allen was a British film, television and voice actor.-Life and career:Allen was born in Nyasaland , where his father was a tobacco farmer. After his parents returned to Britain, he was evacuated to Canada during World War II where he remained to finish his education at McGill...
("Austria, 1930, a young boy is challenged by his mischievous grandfather to attempt to throw a handbell at the local village idiot") before the studio set appeared and Allen introduced the duo ("Please welcome Libya's foremost air-conditioning engineers, Reeves & Mortimer"), after which the pair would sing a song before seating themselves at the desk to tell silly jokes, introduce the bizarre guests and endorse various Reeves & Mortimer products (such as the "Reeves & Mortimer Walk-Me-Home Cheddar" and "The Home Vibration Cowboy Unit").
A regular feature was a bizarre spoof of a then-current TV programme, such as Food & Drink, which saw host Chris Kelly
Chris Kelly (TV presenter)
Chris Kelly Chris Kelly Chris Kelly (born 24 April 1940, Cuddington, Cheshire, is an English TV presenter, producer and writer.-Education:Kelly was educated at Downside School, a Catholic independent school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse in Somerset, followed by the University of...
(Mortimer), whose face was a piece of toasted cheese and whose legs gradually became ridiculously long, boiling his head in a pot to "prepare a nice pot of tea," and Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Roadshow is a British television show in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979...
, where a termite mound containing the singer Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
was found inside a wardrobe. Perhaps the most bizarre was Noel's Addicts, an insane parody of a show hosted by Noel Edmonds
Noel Edmonds
Noel Ernest Edmonds, is an English broadcaster and executive, who made his name as a DJ on BBC Radio 1 in the UK. He has presented many light entertainment television programmes, including Multi-Coloured Swap Shop, Top of the Pops, The Late, Late Breakfast Show, Telly Addicts, Noel's Saturday...
in 1992 about people's hobbies.
The duo would frequently promise a celebrity guest such as Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
, who turned out to be Vic in a bizarre outfit yelling about his book Coping With Stress, Cuban soap star Juan Nelly The Elephant (Vic), who kept intermittently turning into an electrical salesman, and Ian Crust, the Inventor of the Bag (Bob).
At the end of series one, Bob played a huge practical joke on Vic, who lapsed into a coma. After a rousing final song, Bob unplugged Vic's life-support machine.
Characters
Uncle PeterPlayed by comedian Charlie Chuck
Charlie Chuck
Charlie Chuck is the stage name of British comedian David Kear.-Biography:Kear began his career as a drummer with various bands in the late-1970s and early-1980s, including a stint with the Small Faces and the Amazing Bavarian Stompers with whom he performed on an edition of the children's TV...
, Uncle Peter was a big-haired, battered-suit wearing lunatic with a bizarre gait and an unnerving habit of shouting incomprehensibly (his catchphrase was "DONKEY") He was in a band, which featured himself and an unidentified piano player played by Trevor Peacock
Trevor Peacock
Trevor Peacock is an English stage and television character actor. He was born in Tottenham, London, the son of Alexandria and Victor Edward Peacock.-Television and Film Career:...
. The band saw Peter shout random nonsense before completely destroying his drumkit. Peter was always wary of being sent back "to t'dark place" by the duo.
The Bra Men - Pat Wright & Dave Arrowsmith
Two aggressive, donkey-jacket wearing men from the North East town of Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
, who get extremely upset at people for "lookin' at my bra" They accuse anyone, be it the postman, a traffic warden or a milkman of "inspecting our charms" and also get very angry if someone inadvertently comments that they're "flat-chested" Also, despite telling the unwitting person they're dealing with where to stick the items they have to give them, they usually just take them anyway. These two were reportedly based on men with whom Reeves worked in a factory.
Le Corbussier et Papin
Vic and Bob as two extraordinarily flatulent Frenchmen, in a series of sketches that were filmed in the style of arthouse French comedies (titles included "L'homme, L'homme, L'femme (La fenetre)"), accompanied only by whimsical music and the duo's deliberately dubbed on French-speaking voices (the French dialogue made virtually no sense.) They usually saw the pair riding along on their bicycles before encountering things which were deemed worthy of investigation (a kid's playground, where they got a roundabout spinning by the sheer volume of flatulence; a funfair where they attempted to fart-start a motorbike).
Slade In Residence
This series of spoof sketches saw the '70s glam rock group Slade
Slade
Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...
in their vymura-laden council house. Noddy (Vic), Jim (Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse is a Welsh actor, writer and comedian. He became known for his work with Harry Enfield and as one of the stars of the popular BBC sketch show, The Fast Show. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was in the top 50 comedy acts voted for by comedians and comedy insiders...
) and Don (Mark Williams
Mark Williams (actor)
Mark Williams is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter and presenter. He is best known as one of the stars of the popular BBC sketch show The Fast Show, as well as for his role as Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter films....
) were the three mischievous ones who were constantly arguing, wrecking the house and messing around with fireworks, much to the annoyance of the motherly Dave (Bob).
Mulligan & O'Hare
An unsettling and bizarre folk duo, possibly spoofing the style of Foster & Allen
Foster & Allen
Foster and Allen are a musical duo from Ireland consisting of Mick Foster and Tony Allen.-History:Foster and Allen began back in the 1970s when Foster and Allen were playing in country music bands around Ireland...
. Mulligan (Vic) has breasts, presumably due to an incident with hormone replacement pills, while O'Hare (Bob) has a big beard and a very short temper. Mulligan and O'Hare first met at an African style picnic in 1963. They sing songs such as "Frustrated By Weeds" and "My Rose Has Left Me," the latter about O'Hare's ex-wife Rose, a bald woman who went "to Kenya with the bloke from Allied carpets." They have released ground breaking albums, such as The Onion Ring, Moods, Coffee Break, Pancake Day and Tittybiscuits and are well known for their instrumental cover versions of popular songs.
Otis Redding & Marvin Gaye
Vic and Bob played the soul music legends as the show's resident "agony aunts;" two tiny puppets who were on a TV in a cupboard, "sitting on the dock of the bay watching the ships coming in and going out again." Both spoke in a Teesside accent. Bob's Marvin gradually became increasingly more bored and unhappy as the series progressed, wanting to go "down the Grapevine to have a drink" but Otis and Marvin were always more than willing to offer expert advice on such matters as "how to deal with Guy Fawking of the leg."
Barry White
"The Walrus of Love" Barry White
Barry White
Barry White, born Barry Eugene Carter , was an American composer and singer-songwriter.A five-time Grammy Award-winner known for his distinctive bass voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring...
was played by Vic as a huge puppet who had tiny little legs and spent his time seducing women with his smooth-talk, and cooking chopped liver. The women turned out to be a pineapple and a piece of copper pipe.
Jack Dent & Eric Potter
These two were always up-to-no-good in a series of '60s style public information film spoofs, set in the Country, the Factory and the Home. The narrator would frequently interrupt the duo in the middle of some nefarious activity ("Hey you?" "Who, us?" Yes, you...don't you know that the wallpapering of ploughs is prohibited under the country code?" "No." "Well, it is, for it can cause ploughright distraction leading to seed misplacement, so stop it") The narrator was revealed on each separate occasion to be a guitar-wielding spring onion, a crab and a man called Mr Porridge, whom the duo shot. These sketches used the voice of Patrick Allen, the voice over man for the series, and utilised his previous experience narrating public service films
The Booze For t'Baby Man
A man who wandered around in a brown mac, and frequently asked the duo if they had "any booze for t'baby?" to which they would reply "You can't give a baby BOOZE".
Whisky & Brandy Bolland
Two rather fey Scottish chaps who appeared in the Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Roadshow is a British television show in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979...
spoof, investigating a wardrobe which contained "wee clothes, wee shoes...almost too wee." They eventually discovered a termite mound containing the singer Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
living inside it. They had their suspicions before finding him, because he'd "only painted eighteen inches above sea level" Brandy (Vic) then removed the diminutive singer and booted him through a basketball hoop. Whisky (Bob) remained convinced that Brandy was in fact Dr Nemesis.
Greg Mitchell & Corky
Greg Mitchell was a puppet, the "gorgeous sandy coloured labrador" who was always wasting money on ludicrous things. His fey voice would give way to a guttural Cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
bellow as he'd despairingly yell "My wife's gonna kill me" His friend Corky was a dodgy mongrel cum gangster
Gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
who stitched Greg up with a bungled bank robbery.
Derek & Chester
Two gruff, boozy men who appeared on the Food & Drink spoof reviewing the Lovely Brown Boozes, before Derek (Vic) let slip that his girlfriend Maggie had left him. They then appeared in Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Roadshow
Antiques Roadshow is a British television show in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom to appraise antiques brought in by local people. It has been running since 1979...
wanting to get a ruined bottle of Babycham valued, before giving it generously to the Booze For t'Baby man.
Series two
The second series appeared in 1995, and a few changes to the format of the first series had occurred. The unusual introductions followed by a song continued (a memorable example was a history of cheeseCheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
followed by an upbeat song investigating the link between cottage cheese
Cottage cheese
Cottage cheese is a cheese curd product with a mild flavor. It is drained, but not pressed, so some whey remains and the individual curds remain loose. The curd is usually washed to remove acidity, giving sweet curd cheese. It is not aged or colored. Different styles of cottage cheese are made from...
and voodoo) and the same closing song (which originally appeared on the pilot for Vic Reeves Big Night Out
Vic Reeves Big Night Out
Vic Reeves Big Night Out was a cult British comedy stage show and later TV series which ran on Channel 4 for two series in 1990 and 1991, as well as a New Year special...
), but while the set was essentially the same, the desk was different (it had a slick, red surface, a metal body and a fox stretched across its entire length.)
While still fundamentally an offbeat programme (a party was deemed no good unless "two owls" attended) the second series had a less bizarre, more overtly slapstick
Slapstick
Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated violence and activities which may exceed the boundaries of common sense.- Origins :The phrase comes from the batacchio or bataccio — called the 'slap stick' in English — a club-like object composed of two wooden slats used in Commedia dell'arte...
atmosphere to it, with Vic increasingly the buffoon to Bob's disapproving figure. Any disagreement was usually the cue for the duo's now-trademark fights with increasingly large frying pans and hammers.
The finale to each show would usually see a despairing Bob attempting to entertain the audience, whether singing "The Way We Were" on skis, singing "For All of Us" from within a glass bottle, playing "The British Countryside" on the flute or playing his enormous organ, which happened to contain a fully functioning pub. Vic would constantly barge in and ruin everything for Bob before the usual, rousing "Let's Have A Little Bit More" song would close the proceedings.
Reeves & Mortimer products were no longer advertised by the duo themselves, but in the form of "commercials." Products this time included the coffee-table books Dogs In Their Hats and Cats In Bomber Jackets, "Webster's Savoury Edible Tights" and "Papa's Nappies For Men."
Spoofs of then-current TV shows continued, including MasterChef spoof, with Vic as Lloyd Grossman with a huge bulbous head floating around the studio to the sound of bells, and the contestants including Morwenna Banks
Morwenna Banks
Morwenna Banks is a British comedy actress, writer and producer.Banks is perhaps best known in the UK as a cast member of the British Channel 4 comedy series Absolutely, where her best-known character was a schoolgirl who sat on the edge of a desk.She appeared as the Keeper of the Rules in the...
as Joan Baptiste, who presented a faceplate in the form of Jesus Christ, with her own severed ears the speciality, Matt Lucas
Matt Lucas
Matthew Richard "Matt" Lucas is an English comedian, screenwriter and actor best known for his acclaimed work with David Walliams in the television show Little Britain; as well as for his portrayals of the scorekeeping baby George Dawes in the comedy panel game Shooting Stars, Tweedledee and...
as the victorious Quentin Mint, who presented a human backside with a side salad, and Bob as the hapless Lucas Bon'chomme whose replica cake of a shoe ("Cake like a shoe, it's a shoe-cake") turned out to be a real shoe, as did his "cakey-phone"
Episodes
- Cheese (5 May 1995)
- Haircuts (12 May 1995)
- Toddlers (19 May 1995)
- Clothes (26 May 1995)
- Muscle Chemicals (2 June 1995)
- Flight 709 (9 June 1995)
Characters
Many of the characters from series one returned. Uncle Peter was as insane as ever, tormenting the duo with his tales of upgrading to "donkey" status in British Rail carriages, leaving his family heirlooms lying around on the desk and showing off his singing German owls.The Booze For t'Baby man continued his quest to find some booze for his baby, which eventually brought him a bottle of Babycham
Babycham
Babycham is the trade name of a light, sparkling perry invented by Francis Edwin Showering , a brewer in Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England; the name is now owned by Constellation Europe Limited. Launched in the United Kingdom in 1953, the drink was marketed with pioneering television...
for which he was moderately thankful.
Otis and Marvin were no longer on the dock of the bay but in their own home, where a constantly closing cupboard door and Otis's wayward moustache kept causing problems. Brown face paint was not present.
Le Corbussier et Papin continued to fart their way through more farcical situations.
Slade
Slade
Slade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...
went on a frequently disastrous camping holiday. First, Dave (Bob) got wrongly arrested for being a peeping tom, then Don's (Mark Williams
Mark Williams (actor)
Mark Williams is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter and presenter. He is best known as one of the stars of the popular BBC sketch show The Fast Show, as well as for his role as Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter films....
) arse caught fire, and finally Noddy (Vic), Jim (Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse
Paul Whitehouse is a Welsh actor, writer and comedian. He became known for his work with Harry Enfield and as one of the stars of the popular BBC sketch show, The Fast Show. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was in the top 50 comedy acts voted for by comedians and comedy insiders...
) and Dave were constantly attacked by bees.
Mulligan & O'Hare released two albums, Pancake Day (which earned them a South Bank Show profile, although presenter Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg FRSL FRTS FBA, FRS FRSA is an English broadcaster and author best known for his work with the BBC and for presenting the The South Bank Show...
appeared to be more interested in his bicycle) and Coffee Break.
The Bra Men got more offended than ever when they appeared on Stars in Their Eyes
Stars In Their Eyes
Stars in Their Eyes is a British television talent show that ran on Saturdays nights from 21 July 1990 until 23 December 2006 in which contestants impersonate showbiz stars...
and Matthew Kelly
Matthew Kelly
Matthew Kelly is an English television presenter and Olivier-award winning actor. Having been trained as a theatre actor, he first came to public prominence as a television presenter of ITV light entertainment shows such as You Bet! and Stars in Their Eyes...
(Bob) commented on how well supported they were. They also went to Swiss Toni
Swiss Toni
Swiss Toni is a fictional used-car dealer played by Charlie Higson, and also the title of a sitcom in which he is the main character. Swiss Toni is a 50-something car dealer going through a midlife crisis. To Toni almost any situation in life is best understood as being "like making love to a...
's Used Cars to buy a car. Upon spotting a convertible, Swiss Toni
Swiss Toni
Swiss Toni is a fictional used-car dealer played by Charlie Higson, and also the title of a sitcom in which he is the main character. Swiss Toni is a 50-something car dealer going through a midlife crisis. To Toni almost any situation in life is best understood as being "like making love to a...
's comments that "I can picture you...driving along in the summer with your top down" were taken very badly. Swiss Toni
Swiss Toni
Swiss Toni is a fictional used-car dealer played by Charlie Higson, and also the title of a sitcom in which he is the main character. Swiss Toni is a 50-something car dealer going through a midlife crisis. To Toni almost any situation in life is best understood as being "like making love to a...
would later appear as a major character in The Fast Show
The Fast Show
The Fast Show, known as Brilliant in the US, was a BBC comedy sketch show programme that ran for three series from 1994 to 1997 with a special Last Fast Show Ever in 2000. The show's central performers were Paul Whitehouse, Charlie Higson, Simon Day, Mark Williams, John Thomson, Arabella Weir and...
.
Some new characters joined them.
Councillors Cox & Evans
Two corrupt, obese, wig-wearing officials for the Aldington On Sea district council. They would try and advertise dodgy products such as "Fun Bins" and "the Service Post" before a flaw in the design would inevitably be revealed, leading to a violent fight, Evans (Bob) accusing Cox (Vic) of being a "fat bastard".
Tom Fun
A perpetually optimistic children's entertainer, played by Vic, who invented cheese along with his friend Mr Grapefruit Drink. He appeared in a Country File spoof detailing his walk along the Eskdale Way and how much drink, "snouts" and snacks he would take with him. Tom Fun would enjoy much more exposure in Reeves & Mortimer's 1999 series Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer
Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer
Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer was comedy double act Vic & Bob's third television sketch show. It aired during January 1999 on BBC2 in the United Kingdom...
.
Chris Bell
A scruffy, belligerent Cockney, played by Vic. He first appeared in the Noel's Addicts sketch in series one as a man who collected horse-drawn nuts. He later was a guest on Stars in Their Eyes
Stars In Their Eyes
Stars in Their Eyes is a British television talent show that ran on Saturdays nights from 21 July 1990 until 23 December 2006 in which contestants impersonate showbiz stars...
as Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
, and presented "Chris Bell's Fishing Report" on the Country File spoof, irritating a man trying to fish in a lake by knocking his tackle into the lake and then commandeering the rod before getting shot.
The Stotts
Returning from Vic Reeves Big Night Out
Vic Reeves Big Night Out
Vic Reeves Big Night Out was a cult British comedy stage show and later TV series which ran on Channel 4 for two series in 1990 and 1991, as well as a New Year special...
, Donald presented This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience including friends and family.Edwards...
to Davey, who "wrote Jingle Bells," had "recently had a Vesta Curry" and fought in the "Flalakand War" where he went on the task force and ate a number of biscuits. The pair then hosted "Chittle Chattle Chit," where they interviewed Sting, reducing him to hysterics with questions like "If you got an itchy bottom at night, would you rub it on your wife's chin, point your bottom out of the window to blow it off with the breeze, or pick at it with your finger?" This idea of interviewing a guest returned in Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer
Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer
Bang Bang, It's Reeves and Mortimer was comedy double act Vic & Bob's third television sketch show. It aired during January 1999 on BBC2 in the United Kingdom...
.
DVD release
The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer DVD (Region 2, UK), which contains both series' was released by 2 Entertain/Cinema Club on 3 April 2006.When the first series of the programme first made it to video titled "Red" & "Blue", it included extended versions of the episodes the way they were supposed to go out on TV, usually 7–10 minutes of new footage. When this DVD came out many were disappointed to find the episodes featured were the BBC edit versions. Series 2 was intact on the DVD release, mainly because it never had extended versions.