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
Main characters
Bob Fish (voiced by Andy Hamilton in seasons 1-2 and Brian George in seasons 3–4): a British dentist working in South London in the district of Clapham. He is the husband of Margaret and his parents are Daisy and Cesal Fish. Bob's brother Peter is a successful world-class TV chef, and his sister Susan is a past divorcée and single mother. His father is deceased and only appears in flashbacks. His mother is still alive and very mean-spirited toward Bob but showers admiration and adoration on Peter. Throughout the show, Bob is portrayed as the kindest, most understanding member of his family, but there are times he is cocky and ignorant. In Season 3, he is forced to emigrate with Margaret to the Canadian city of Toronto in order to secure legal custody of their dogs William and Elizabeth. He later becomes the primary dentist at the Inner City Dental clinic.
Margaret Fish (voiced by Alison Snowden): Bob's blonde wife, a British chiropodist working in South London. Her parents, Tony and Maureen Heslop, greatly adore her husband Bob but show little to no respect for their own daughter Margaret, who quietly resents them for it. She is caring and very passive, which leads other people to take advantage of her, but she learns to stand up for herself when the occasion calls for it. At one time she was accidentally classified as a terrorist by the London police department, who even attempted to assassinate her until they were informed that she was innocent. In Season 3, she is forced to emigrate to Toronto with Bob where she becomes the lead podiatrist at the Women's Clinic (and in order to secure legal custody of their dogs William and Elizabeth). Margaret has appeared in every episode with Bob.
British-based characters
Daisy: Bob's mother.
Peter (voiced by Steve Coogan): Bob's brother, a successful television chef.
Neil and Moira (Neil voiced by Jamie Watson and Moira voiced by Doon Mackichan): Appears in season 1 ("Friends for Dinner").
Dorothy (voiced by Doon Mackichan): Appears in season 1 ("A Tale of Two Dentists").
Dr. Stanway (voiced by Steve Coogan): Appears in "A Tale of Two Dentists".
Gerald and Charlotte (both voiced by Lily Snowden): Peter's children who appear in the episode ("For Pete's Sake") in season 1.
Beany and Boney (Beany was voiced by Steve Brody): Two burglars from London.
Bernard Wiggins (Voiced by Steve Coogan): Appears in season 1 ("The Dental Convention").
Kitty and Larry (Kitty voiced by Alison Snowden and Larry voiced by Jamie Watson): Appears in season 1 ("Neighbours").
Cathy and Ken (Ken voiced by Steve Brody): Cathy and Ken are an overbearing couple who were friends with Margaret back in London, but Bob despises them. Cathy often becomes annoyed by Ken's antics and becomes remorseful whenever something bad happens to him. They first appeared in the episode ("Blood, Sweat, and Tears") in season 1.
Eden (voiced by Doon Mackichan): Eden (Edie) is Margaret's ex-secretary at her London chiropody clinic.
Penny (voiced by Doon Mackichan): After the arrest of "Dorothy" (who was suspected to have been an accomplice in patient molestations), Bob's secretary at his former dental office in London, Penny becomes her substitute. She is characterised as a lazy, irresponsible and neglectful employee with an attitude problem. Penny (at her boyfriend's urging) was actually responsible for Bob and Margaret having death threats hurled at them from protesters in violence and being forced to flee London when the term got out that their dogs were being neglected.
Canadian-based characters
Melvin and Cookie Fish (Melvin voiced by Wayne Robson and Cookie voiced by Jayne Eastwood): Melvin and Cookie Fish are Bob's friendly Canadian cousins from the Toronto suburb of Mississauga; they both have carefree demanours and always have a positive, humorous view of life. The series depicts them as being proud Canadians who always need to compare Toronto to London (and once to New York, USA, as revealed in "Stranded in Toronto") with Toronto always coming out far ahead. They love and admire Bob and Margaret but unknowingly pester them on numerous occasions, for example playing their vacation videos about their visits to London, which turn up all the hilarious, humiliating moments of their taping Bob and Margaret at their worst times. The couple have two aggressive cats named Buster and Bailey. They first appeared in the episode ("The Discomfort of Strangers") in Season 1 and return as minors in the final two seasons.
Heather (voiced by Vickie Papavs): Heather is a secretary at the Inner City Dental Clinic working in Bob's dental office in Toronto and has similar attributes to Penny in terms of facial expression, but she is gentle and less judgmental with a carefree demeanour.
Ed, Patel, and Audra: Ed and Patel are two other dentists working at the Inner City Dental Clinic with Bob. Ed is a defined as a Canadian woodsman; Patel is an Indian hygienist who encourages Bob to take on challenges for success. In one episode, Ed and Patel fight when they and Bob head out on a camping adventure. Audra is Bob's other dental hygienist who works in his Toronto dental clinic.
Robin (voiced by Yanna McIntosh): is a reflexologist working at the women's clinic in Toronto, who employs Margaret as the clinic's podiatrist. She appears to be of African-Caribbean descent.
Guinevere Long (voiced by Tracey Hoyt): Guinevere is chiropractic intern at women's clinic in Toronto, seen as calm and friendly to Margaret.
Trevor and Joyce: (Trevor voiced by Dwayne Hill and Joyce voiced by Robin Duke later Jayne Eastwood): Trevor and Joyce are Bob and Margaret's next-door neighbours in Toronto. Trevor is a lazy, alcoholic slob, and his wife Joyce is a hard-working smoker. The couple is mostly seen quarreling.
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.
Currently, the show ever streamed on Tubi.