Judging by the average age of people in the audience, many of those who enjoyed Dick & Dom in da Bungalow when it aired on the BBC in the early Noughties were already adults. There was, though, a smattering of youngsters near their bedtime – good to see, as one of the most enjoyable elements of the weekend morning BBC children’s show, presented by Richard (Dick) McCourt and Dominic (Dom) Wood, was its anarchic attitude to rules.
Whether a generation of schoolteachers would feel so fondly towards McCourt and Wood is another matter. They were plagued by their charges playing Bogies, a game where D&D fans would shout the word randomly at increasing volume. Kids love bogies and shouting; teachers less so.
To mark the 20th anniversary of the TV programme's debut in 2002 (somewhat delayed by Covid) – Dick and Dom have devised a two-hour show that includes some of the games and characters from the TV version, having taken the sensible precaution of killing off most of the characters in a clever skit at the start. They do, however bring back Diddy Dick and Dom (puppet versions of themselves talking in high-pitched voices), and are joined by the magnificent Ian Kirkby as Geordie copper DI Harry Batt, who injects some hard-man grit into an otherwise very silly show.
On the night I saw the show, the old favourite of Bogies set the tone for the evening as the audience waited for the duo to come on stage; they began their own game and, when called upon to join in other games throughout the evening, joined in wholeheartedly.
They also loudly cheered on the six Bungalow Heads on stage – audience participants in Dick and Dom's silly games – who are now adults rather than children as in the TV series, and who were all happy to make fools of themselves while getting wet, looking foolish and having custard pies thrust in their faces as they played Two-Word Tango, The Pants Dance, Musical Splatues and What a Sweaty Flap, among others. Oh it's all marvellously silly.
In a show so dependent on audience participation, there’s a chance that it could all fall apart. But on the night I saw it – at the Brighton Dome – the audience were up for it, and added to the general sense of controlled mayhem, as on the BBC.
The pace slipped towards the end but no matter. The children probably need calming down, and there’s only so much healthy nostalgia to be had for the adults. It ends, as with the TV show, with everyone on stage covered in gloop. Good, messy fun.
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