[4] The Den name returned for six weeks from November 2020 on RTÉ1, reuniting members of the original cast in a Sunday-evening variety-show format, predominantly aimed at families living through the country's ongoing Covid-19 lockdowns.

[5] Zig and Zag later transferred to Channel 4; Podge and Rodge moved onto adult comedy programming on RTÉ (including their own talk show); while Dustin went on to represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest, among other media appearances.

Taking a cue from CBBC's Broom Cupboard format, Dempsey's Den was broadcast live from a tiny, single-camera presentation studio at RTÉ Television Centre, used mostly for in-vision continuity.

He was joined in 1987 by adolescent alien brothers Zig and Zag - hailing from the planet Zog, and recognisable by their zogabongs, spring-like antennae - who initially sought to 'collect jokes', and often utilised their roles and alternate personae on the show as a means of exploring human popular culture.

The trio would later be joined by the brothers' extraterrestrial pet dog Zuppy, initially cast as a boisterous, mildly destructive counterfoil to Zag's more gentle nature, and later becoming a non-verbal staple of the strand's various incarnations.

Unaware that he was due to be slaughtered, cooked and consumed for that year's Christmas dinner, Dustin won the Irish public's affections with his inner-city Dublin accent and gregarious demeanour.

Unable to bring themselves to kill the now-popular bird, the show's crew accepted him as one of their number - although subsequent part-time employment as 'a builder' became one of many running jokes, including the seemingly never-ending completion of off-screen neighbour Mrs. Murphy's gate.

Following her election as the first female President of Ireland in 1990, Mary Robinson made her first official media appearance in the role on The Den, being ushered into studio by show producers while waiting for an interview with RTÉ's current-affairs department.

This would foreshadow several storyline election campaigns by Dustin over the course of the decade - invariably running for the Fianna Fowl party - which in turn led to the character's rise to infamy among Irish voters and political observers as a spoilt-vote candidate.

The show's studio set changed annually; a running joke reflecting the storyline 'nuisance' status experienced by the Den crew within the state broadcaster's internal hierarchy, and a subtle commentary on its funding of young people's output.

Locations included Number 10 Celebrity Square, in which Dustin set up a chip van for a period (1992-1993), a building site, a treehouse (1995-1996), a caravan (1996-1997), a smelly shed (1997-1998), a big bus (1998-1999), a hair salon called On The Noggin (1999-2000) and a spaceship.

In September 1992, Zig and Zag joined Channel 4's The Big Breakfast in the UK, eventually leaving The Den after the 1992-1993 season to spend more time appearing live on British and European television.

Initially making silent cameo appearances at the end of a broadcast day for eagle-eyed viewers, Soky was a gentle, child-like creature that immediately imprinted upon D'Arcy upon being discovered, referring to him thereafter as 'Mammy Ray'.

Popular among the strand's very young viewers, Soky's behaviour and humour often reflected the perspectives of a human toddler, including a fondness for comfort items, such as his blue bucket.

[3][4] Following a popular Comic Relief special reunion episode in June 2020, on 22 September 2020, RTÉ confirmed the return of The Den as a new weekend family show, reuniting Ray D'Arcy with Zig and Zag and Dustin the Turkey.