Bob and Margaret is an adult animated sitcom created by David Fine and Alison Snowden and co-produced by Nelvana Limited and Channel 4 as a collaboration, both financial and artistic. The last two seasons were co-produced without Channel 4, but with continuing British involvement in the animation, cast, and screenwriting. The series was based on the Academy Award-winning short film Bob's Birthday, featuring the same main characters, which won the Best Animated Short Film Oscar in 1994. In Canada, it was the highest-rated, domestically made animated series ever when it aired in primetime on Global.
Contents
Premise
The show revolves around a married British couple named Bob and Margaret Fish. They are a middle-class professional working couple of forty-ish with no children and two dogs named William and Elizabeth (named after regal, historical figures), who often serve as surrogates for children and are considered to be characters with personalities in their own right. The couple also work in healthcare settings; Bob is a dentist and Margaret is a chiropodist.
Bob and Margaret struggle with everyday issues and mid-life crises. Stories often revolve around the mundane, but in a way that is eminently relatable, from the trials of shopping to dealing with friends who annoy them but owe them a dinner. They are often seen enjoying various takeaways – various Asian dishes (such as curry and Chinese), and especially pizza – as they navigate their lazy, sedentary homelives.
In the first two seasons, Bob and Margaret live in England, in the South London community of Balham. For the third and fourth seasons, they move to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, allowing the writers to explore the humour of the culture clash. The move was mandated by the realities of funding after Channel 4 backed out, with certain Canadian grants and tax benefits being dependent on stories being physically based in Canada. As such, the transition was necessary to finance the show's continued production. Fine and Snowden chose to take an executive role on these latter two seasons, reviewing scripts and consulting, but not involved in as granular detail as they were for the first two seasons. Snowden continued to provide Margaret's voice, but Brian George replaced Andy Hamilton as Bob's voice.
Characters
Lead characters
Bob Fish (voiced by Andy Hamilton in series 1 & 2 later Brian George in series 3 & 4)
Margaret Fish (voiced by Alison Snowden)
Recurring characters
Daisy Fish (voiced by Anna Wing in series 1 & 2 later Deb Filler in Series 3 & 4)
Peter Fish (voiced by Steve Coogen)
Beany and Boney
Cathy and Ken (voiced by Sarah Hadland and Steve Brody)
Eden (voiced by Doon Mackichan)
Penny (voiced by Doon Mackichan)
Mr. Perkins
Melvin and Cookie Fish (voiced by Wayne Robson and Jayne Eastwood)
Heather (voiced by Vickie Papavs)
Ed, Patel, and Audra (Patel voiced by Brian George)
Robin (voiced by Yanna McIntosh)
Guinevere Long (voiced by Tracey Hoyt)
Trevor and Joyce (voiced by Dwayne Hill, Robin voiced by Robin Duke later Jayne Eastwood)
Dr. Yosselhifer (voiced by Harvey Atkin)
Series overview
Episodes
All episodes in Season 1 are directed by Jamie Whitney, Andrew Young and Jason Groh.
Telecast and home media
The programme was shown in the UK on Channel 4 and Ftn, in the US on Comedy Central, and in Germany and France on Arte. Comedy Central only showed the two "London" seasons. The third and fourth "Toronto" seasons were eventually shown (almost two years after Comedy Central showed the final second-season episode) on the pay network Showtime.
Bob and Margaret formerly aired on Locomotion, and Adult Swim in Latin America. In Brazil, Cartoon Network aired its four seasons on the Adult Swim block. The London seasons also get shown in the United Kingdom, currently on Channel 4. It also had a brief run years later on the Canadian YTV. In December 2013, biTe started to air this series (until the rebrand to Makeful on 24 August 2015).
Home media
Two VHS tapes of the series containing three Series 1 episodes each were released in 1999 by Video Collection International under their Channel 4 Video imprint.
The entirety of Series 2 was released on DVD in July 2006 by Maverick Entertainment.
In 1999, Season 1 was released on six VHS volumes by Paramount Home Entertainment containing two episodes each.
In Canada, the series has seen DVD releases by Kaboom! Entertainment (now Phase 4 Films). Season 2 was released in 2005, and Season 1 was released in February 2010. Both releases are two-disc sets containing all 13 episodes of each season.
The show currently streams on Tubi.