Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, The

1 9 9 3 – 1 9 9 5 (UK)
12 x 30 minute episodes

Following on from Vic Reeves’ Big Night Out, the inimitable Vic Reeves (born Jim Moir) and Bob Mortimer now shared equal billing on their surreal new series for BBC1.

New characters included Uncle Peter (Charlie Chuck), a mentally unstable big-haired genius who created an unusual language and was in constant fear of being sent back “to t’dark place”;  Jack Dent and Eric Potter, who were always up to no good in a series of 60s style public information film spoofs; the aggressive donkey jacket-wearing Bra Men who accused everyone they met of “inspecting our charms”; eccentric folk duo Mulligan (Vic) & O’Hare (Bob) who sang songs such as Frustrated by Weeds; the “Booze For t’Baby” man who wandered around in a brown mac, and frequently asked Bob and Vic if they had “any booze for t’baby?” to which the duo would reply “You can’t give a baby BOOZE!“; Chris Bell, a scruffy, belligerent Cockney, played by Vic; and The Stotts (returning from Vic Reeves Big Night Out).

Popular segments included a great send-up of 70s glam rock posters Slade at home (in their council house); “Le Corbussier et Papin” which featured Vic and Bob as two extraordinarily flatulent Frenchmen, in a series of sketches that were filmed in the style of arty French comedies, and spoof adverts and parodies of current TV shows such as Countryfile, Masterchef and Antiques Roadshow.

Patrick Allen narrated many of the sketches and segments.

Episodes usually closed with the song Let’s Have A Little Bit More, which saw the pair enthusing about various smells, from “Pol Pot’s Dungarees” to “Lulu’s Hairdos.” 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.

In 1999 the two revived the format under the name Bang Bang It’s Reeves and Mortimer.

Vic Reeves
Bob Mortimer
Charlie Chuck
Patrick Allen
Charlie Higson
Paul Whitehouse
Mark Williams
Rupert Bates
Mike Wattam
Matt Lucas
Bob Bryan
John Thomson
Trevor Peacock
Peter Dickson
Caroline Aherne
Morwenna Banks

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