Although they pay respect to the creators (Rik Mayall), when it comes to high-octane kids’ TV gameshow mayhem, Dick & Dom – aka Richard McCourt & Dominic Wood – are giants standing on their own shoulders. No wonder the generation who watched them on CBBC never quite grew out of it… hence their autumn UK live tour of In Da Bungalow, and their chat to Carl Marsh.
If ever there was a time to bring back Dick & Dom In Da Bungalow, it’s now, but it’s not going on our TV screens – it’s live on tour. I always remember it having humour for children and adults when I watched it with my nephew 20 years ago…
Dom: I think part of the magic of it is that it wasn’t put out there to be fun for kids. It was just put out there to be funny. And if you liked it, you liked it. So it didn’t matter what age you were, it just kind of worked.
How’s the tour going to work? As an evening event it’s likely past the bedtime of the younger ones – themed more for adults reliving their youth?
Dick: Yeah, it’s at 7pm, but we’re not going to try and change it up or do anything different. It’s still going to be the family-friendly version of the TV show. So it is probably mainly for the kids that grew up with the Bungalow – you know, 20, 30-somethings. But they might now have their own kids, and it’s totally fine to bring them along and introduce them to it.
Dom: Just because it’s seven o’clock on a weekday doesn’t mean we’re gonna be staggering around with pints, swearing! It’s going to be the same show that people will love and remember fondly from all those years ago… but it’s just going to have some kind of slightly different energy to it. When you watch it in the audience, people may have been fans beforehand; they’re going to come along, and they’re just going to be chomping at the bit to relive those memories, as will we. We can’t wait.
The show always reminded me of ITV’s 70s/80s show Tiswas – albeit with much more regard for health and safety!
Dom: Our influences for Dick & Dom In Da Bungalow definitely came from programmes like Tiswas, but also from people like Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson: just anything that was breaking the rules and anything that put its feet very close to the line, but never jumped off. I think that’s really important. If you want to make programmes that are memorable to people, you’ve got to, I think, appeal to not just a blanket appreciation, but you’ve got to get some people to love it, obsessively, and some people to hate it. And I think then you’re gonna have an exciting show. It would be boring just to do everything on one base level.
Finding that delicate balance is true, but also turning those who hated it into fans and vice versa!
Dick: That’s true. But hopefully, this time around, everybody’s there to just… I think – me and Dom were talking about it – that the timing is quite right because you know everything’s so serious at the moment. And the world’s in a bit of a mess. And I think everyone needs a bit of silliness, a bit of light-hearted relief. And going back to things from your childhood always makes you feel kind of, you know, fluffy and nice inside. So that’s the plan.
Dom: And don’t forget: when people were let’s say between eight and 12, watching Dick & Dom In Da Bungalow, they didn’t have any on-demand TV, no tablets, no smartphones, and no social media. They had none of that toxic world we now have to deal with daily. It was freedom and just laughing with your family on a Saturday morning. Everyone loved it.
So, to be able to shake off the shackles of all this chaos that we now have to live with, day in, day out. And to sit in a theatre for a few hours and just let go… it’s going to be a therapy session, to be honest!
Dick & Dom In Da Bungalow Live, New Theatre, Cardiff, Sun 25 Sept.
Tickets: £31. Info: here
words CARL MARSH
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