Bodger & Badger

Bodger & Badger is a BBC children's comedy programme written by Andy Cunningham, first broadcast in 1989.

These later episodes increased the slapstick humour with prominent comic sound effects and incidental music.

Additionally, they were broadcast on CBeebies in 2002 but then disappeared from schedules until 2005 when the CBBC channel began a repeat of series 6–9.

Bodger and Badger has enjoyed something of a cult status, particularly among teenagers and young adults who grew up with the programme.

Bodger and Badger have also since appeared in other venues, most notably in the kids' field at Glastonbury Festival, where a routine aimed primarily at children is also cleverly[according to whom?]

However, whilst the first two adverts were completed and shown at trade fairs, as well as some industry literature featuring the characters released, the ad campaign was ultimately dropped and never aired, due to the BBC still owning the rights to the Bodger and Badger name and concept, which would conflict with the BBC's obligation to not use any of its programmes or stars to promote commercial properties.

Series 1 featured Bodger and Badger working in Troff's Nosherama, a run-down café with pretensions to being a restaurant.

Letsby Avenue's headmistress in this series was the overweight and nasty Mrs Trout, there was also the friendly and ditsy deputy head Miss Moon.

Series 4 featured Bodger and Badger working at Chessington World of Adventures, a theme park in Surrey.

Bodger was the caretaker there, and Badger made friends with a girl called Holly who frequently visited the theme park.

[9] Bodger fixes the elephant's trunk and Badger tries to hit Mr Beasley with mashed potato.

Series 5 to 7 featured Bodger and Badger living in a rented bedsit flat (Exterior scenes were filmed at No.

This series mainly featured the pair having problems with their new landlady, Mrs Dribelle, and Elton her sidekick who did all her dirty work.

Mrs Dribelle did not allow her tenants to keep animals in her properties, so Bodger always had to hide Badger whenever she came to the flat.

[11] Bodger thinks he has won the lottery, after leaving Badger in charge of writing down the numbers.

[12] Bodger and Badger help Vicky write a song for the radio, but the words do not come out as expected and Mrs Dribelle ends up winning.

Guests included two Spanish flamenco dancers, Miss Peake (a bad-tempered school teacher), Mr Tucknott (a dim-witted bank manager), the bubbly Mrs Bobbins, Miss Piper (a mad old woman) and Mr Wilson (a pathetic trainee bank manager).

In Series 8 the characters of Millie the Milkwoman and China the dog were introduced, who featured in the show until the very end.

Andy Cunningham revealed in an interview for a book that Bodger and Badger ended its ten-year run in 1999 when the Head of BBC Children's Programmes - Christopher Pilkington (who had commissioned the show in 1989 and championed it since then) - left his post and the programme was not renewed by his successors - Andy said that he was not surprised by this, but he didn't reveal why.

He mentioned that he didn't mind this anyway as he said he was struggling for inspiration for things to do with mashed potato towards the end of the show's run.

[14] After Mrs Melly refuses to add Seagull's Rest to her Good Hotel Guide, Bodger and Badger decide to do some advertising of their own.