Bob Mortimer

The idea behind Chain Reaction, if you haven't listened (why?), is that last week's interviewee becomes next week's interviewer, so we get a long list of famous people (usually comedians or actors) interviewed by a similar person who they admire or have worked with. Each person's interview technique is very different, so the show is hit and miss. The last two week's programmes, which featured Bob Mortimer interviewing Vic Reeves, and then Vic Reeves talking to Olivia Colman, have been tricky listens. I love Reeves and Mortimer but they don't do interviews, really. When they were together it was funny but utterly random; when Reeves talked to Colman, I had to switch off. He had no questions; he didn't really listen to the answers. Argh! It was frustrating.

This week, Colman talked to Sharon Horgan, and I enjoyed the whole show. Colman managed to take the mickey out of the interviewing process ("Do you have a favourite sibling? Do you have a favourite child?") and also get revealing answers. Revealing of both Horgan and herself, which made up a bit for the week before. So we learned that Colman can't cope with too much to do (and then her husband points out that what she's worrying about could be done in a hour), that Horgan prefers writing to acting, and that despite being born in England she considers herself Irish - "it's very important to me that I'm Irish". The chat brought out the contrast between Horgan's career-minded pragmatism and Colman's family-comes-first attitude. As well as both women's wit. Colman was a great host. Give her a show. Nurture the "talent". Manage it.

Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer to announce UK tour

Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer are about to announce their first UK tour for well over a decade. The Poignant Moments Tour will mark 25 years of R&M and will be a mixc of classic characters and new material.

Radio Times review

Bob Mortimer may well be in trouble with his wife after this broadcast. He has told her that he works from 9.30am to 4pm with his comedy cohort Jim Moir (Vic Reeves). He now confesses to Reece Shearsmith that they stop feeling funny around 2pm and he has a nap in a car park.

Such endearing revelations are all part of this show's appeal -- it gets great stories because the interviewees feel comfortable enough to share.

Radio Times review

For a while, Bob Mortimer isn't having much luck with his pet hates. Nobody seems to share his very specific dislike of shop assistants who put your change in your hand on top of the receipt, or his aversion to wrapping food in bacon.

But when he rails against the unripe fruit sold in supermarkets, suddenly the audience is with him, bursting into applause, and host Frank Skinner is onside, too. That's the thing with the micro-annoyances aired on this show - they're merely a leaping-off point for celebrity small talk. Also airing grievances are Rachel Riley (Essex girl stereotypes; officious people in uniforms) and Mrs Brown actor Brendan O'Carroll, who for some reason hates small pedal bins.

Radio Times review

Reece Shearsmith looks rather dour as he explains to his interviewer, Adam Buxton, that his looks have helped cast him as the villain/psychopath/character-most-likely-to-run-amok in the sketches of The League of Gentlemen. Is he angry in real life asks Buxton? Not really, he says. If anything, he thinks he has gone soft in his middling years.

He confesses to looking back at a sketch where a vulnerable character is bullied by teenage girls and thinking that he'd crossed the line, that the cruelty had outweighed the laughs. Push him a little harder though and he is soon chuckling over the Sardines episode of last year's Inside No. 9, which he co-wrote with fellow Gentleman, Steve Pemberton. Inspired by a cupboard in the office they share it involves 12 bodies squashed together -- and some child abuse. It does not sound funny but, as Shearsmith points out, it's the dark drama that has made his comedy so different.

Next week he gets to be the interviewer and Bob Mortimer answers the questions.

Radio Times review

Once again Vic Reeves, Bob Mortimer and friends do their best to erase that troublesome line between a TV show where very funny people muck about and a sitcom. Either can be hugely enjoyable, but there are times when you wish House of Fools would put a bit more sit into its com.

You always get the sense that any given scene could have been more or less improvised, or maybe rustled up in rehearsals an hour before the recording. It's all so good in its slightly shambolic state, you wish they'd taken the trouble to sharpen it up.

Even so, for Vic 'n' Bob enthusiasts there's delirious pleasure here as Norwegian nerd Erik goes on a date and mad neighbour Julie opens a bistro.

Comedy greats Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer may be getting on a bit now but they've definitely not lost their touch as their surreal sitcom House Of Fools returns for a second series .

They're older and wiser, but as funny as ever.

The show is set in the home of old friends 'Vic' and 'Bob' where the gags come fast and furious, as do the pratfalls.

"It's an old-fashioned sitcom with people falling over and word play," explains Vic, "but there are also good stories with peaks and troughs."

This season sees their sexy neighbour Julie (Morgana Robinson) opening a bistro, Bob's strange son Erik (Daniel Simonson) getting a girlfriend, and more hilarious visits from their lothario pal Beef (Matt Berry).

It's the brand of comedy that made Vic and Bob famous in the 90s with their anarchic panel show, Shooting Stars.

"We needed barriers to keep the fans back," recalls Vic, 56.

"But now we are the oldest comics working," Bob, 55, adds. "And there's less drink involved."

"I have a Snowball 10 minutes before filming ends. That's about as rock 'n' roll as it gets, but this is probably the most fun we've had. I'm really proud of it."

Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer on House of Fools

To celebrate its return, TVO sat down with the main cast during the filming of Series Two to discuss the show. Today, we bring you our catch-up with the legendary duo at the centre of it all: Reeves and Mortimer.