Morwenna Banks

Bang, Bang, It’s Reeves and Mortimer is a British comedy television series, the third by comedy double act Vic & Bob and their second in a sketch show format. Directed by Mark Mylod and produced by Alan Marke, it was first aired in 1999 on BBC2. While maintaining certain elements from The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, the show was very different in many ways.

As with the previous sketch show, a song kicked off the proceedings, and once again the duo sat at their trademark desk. However, the desk was almost completely bare, and had a transparent front, through which the moving form of a naked man could be seen. The studio set was different too, the huge R&M letters replaced with large representations of the pair behind warped glass. The duo’s humour had evolved too, their chat at the desk seemed more improvised, but also more obtuse.

There were also changes in the double-act dynamic. Vic’s character was frequently unhinged and waved guns and large blunt objects around with relish, while Bob played a slightly baffled innocent most of the time. As usual, however, they would tend to fall out very easily, which would result in one of their trademark slapstick fights, which grew more absurd, violent and freeform as the series progressed. One memorable instance involved Vic’s head becoming grotesquely mutated after a spin in a tumble dryer. Bob then gleefully set about the hunchbacked, pathetic Vic with a baseball bat.