TV Review: Vic & Bob's Big Night Out, BBC4, Episode 2

It’s great that this new Vic and Bob series has had such fantastic reviews. Almost everyone has celebrated the fact that they are clearly having bags of fun revisiting some of their old classic characters and catchphrases.

A few people have, however, said that it is not quite the same seeing two middle-aged men fannying about like they did twenty-five years ago. In which case they ought to avoid this episode in which the duo do something I’ve rarely seen comedians do. They don’t just dust off old lines, at one point they actually do an old much-loved routine, pretty much word-for-word. 

I guess you could view their Mulligan and O'Hare revival in various ways. Were they short of material? Were they so fond of it they couldn’t resisting doing it one more time? Either way the studio audience loved it. Particularly when Bob's wig nearly slipped off, which I think was a new touch. Though if you’ve never seen it before I’m not sure what you’ll make of it.

Anyway, enough of the theorising, there were plenty more highlights this week. From a song about Kanye West and Drake’s underpants falling down (pictured) to excerpts from new albums from Robert Winston and Andrew Neil. For long-standing fans there is also a Micky Rourke-Lard-for-Laughs-style cameo from Tom Hanks – “the world’s number one stirrer”.

This is not all shameless nostalgia though. There’s also a new ghost hunting sketch in which Vic senses a “cold column of air like a giant Calippo.” They also have lots of giggles with modern camera trickery, changing their faces and sending a fireball across the stage. But most of all this is two blokes mucking about with dodgy wigs, catching up with Mulligan and O’Hare and having a daft laugh.

Vic & Bob's Big Night Out, BBC4, Wednesdays at 10pm.

Picture: BBC/Sophie Mutevelian

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