Bodger & Badger

Bodger & Badger
Created by	Andy Cunningham
Starring	Andy Cunningham
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	9
No. of episodes	124
Production
Production locations	Studio portions: BBC Television Centre (all series, mostly studio TC7), Location portions: Chessington World of Adventures (series 4), Hanwell, Acton and Ealing (series 5-7), Brighton and Hove (series 8 & 9).
Running time	15 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC One
Release	13 September 1989 (1989-09-13) – 29 March 1999 (1999-03-29)

Bodger & Badger is a BBC children's comedy programme written by Andy Cunningham, first broadcast in 1989. It starred Cunningham as handyman Simon Bodger and his four-year-old talking badger companion. The programme was spawned from some appearances the double act made in 1988 as part of the Saturday morning BBC1 children's programme On the Waterfront. ^[1]

Plot

The programme followed the exploits of Simon Bodger and his puppet companion, Badger, a four-year-old badly-behaved but friendly and cheerful badger with a proclivity for mashed potato and huge mess. The first four series focused on Bodger's jobs as a handyman and his attempts to hide Badger from his superiors. Series 1 was set at Troff's Nosherama, a café where Bodger worked as a cook. Series 2 and 3 were set at Letsby Avenue Junior School. Series 4 was set at Chessington World of Adventures, a real theme park in Surrey.

From series 5, the character Mousey was introduced, a six-(five in her debut)-year-old puppet mouse with a fondness for cheese. The show was now set at Bodger's rented home and later his B&B hotel. Series 5-7 rarely mentioned Bodger's employment, suggesting he was now unemployed. The later series still focused on Bodger's attempts to hide Badger from figures of authority, his landlady from Series 6-7 and the tourist information officer in series 9. These later episodes increased the slapstick humour with prominent comic sound effects and incidental music.

Theme song

The programme had a memorable theme song sung by children. The music was composed by Peter Gosling and the lyrics written by Andy Cunningham. Various edits of the song were used over the years, with the full version used on the end credits of some episodes from 1989 to 1991. ^[2]

Characters and cast

Main characters

• Simon Bodger (Andy Cunningham) - Simon Bodger is a handyman who has had various jobs throughout the series. However he is of a nervous disposition which causes him to be clumsy, make silly mistakes (including many misunderstandings) and from the trouble that comes from Badger's antics, he repeatedly keeps getting sacked. In the first series he was working as a cook for Troff's Nosherama. He got sacked after Badger accidentally revealed himself to praise Mr Troff for giving Simon the job of chef. In the second and third series he was a caretaker at the Letsby Avenue Junior School. This is not far from Troffs' Nosherama, as the Letsby Avenue football team are referenced in the first episode of series one. In the fourth series he was a handyman and zookeeper at Chessington World of Adventures. In the fifth, sixth and seventh series he was seemingly unemployed and renting a flat, occasionally working as a casual handyman to his landlady, Mrs Dribelle. In the eighth and ninth series he was temporary manager of a Bed and Breakfast while a relative who owned it went on a round-the-world trip. All businesses Bodger worked for are, of course, fictional. Badger is his anthropomorphic talking pet and best friend, although all the trouble that Bodger ends up in is usually down to Badger. Regular gags usually involve Badger covering Bodger in mashed potato or some other messy substance, either intentionally or accidentally.
• Badger (voiced by Andy Cunningham, operated by Andy Cunningham + others) - Badger is named after what he is - a badger (although he often responds to being called "Badge"). He is anthropomorphic - he has the ability to talk (with a South London accent) and wears smaller versions of human clothes (including his trademark red beret and red and white patterned neckerchief) and is obsessed with mashed potato, which he likes to play with as well as eat. Because he has a low, booming voice, his laugh sounds like that of the boxer Frank Bruno. He gets Simon into trouble much of the time by playing around with mashed potato because some of the characters do not know about Badger, so instead Simon gets the blame for Badger's mishaps. It is Badger's continual childlike inability to behave himself that gets him into trouble with Simon, with Simon having not only to take the blame for many of Badger's antics, but also to try and keep Badger's existence a secret. Nevertheless, Badger is still a very good friend to Simon and tries to help him out in every way he can, although Badger usually misunderstands a situation or can take things literally. Despite this, however, Badger still exhibits the natural instincts of a badger. For example, he will eat various items that he isn't supposed to in situations when it isn't helpful. On two occasions he has eaten smashed up cake at completely inappropriate times and on another he ate a biro pen when Bodger got one out to fill out a job application form. He can also run very fast (badgers can run up to 19 mph) and can frequently be heard scuttling away from any given situation or location. He has many catchphrases (mostly South Londoner and Cockney slang, although he never uses rhyming slang) including (but not limited to): shouting "MASHED POTATO" when he comes across his favourite food and using the word "wotcha" when greeting someone. He will also use hippy slang when expressing admiration for something, using expressions such as "far out!", "cosmic!" and "groovy!". When expressing an emotion he frequently follows the word (sometimes slang expressions) for said emotion with "potatoes", e.g. "soppy potatoes" or "sad potatoes" and he is frequently heard singing the words "mashed potato" to the melody of football chant Here We Go, e.g. "Maaaaashed po-tay, mashed potay, mashed potay-ay-ay, mashed potay, mashed potay, mashed potayyyy-to".

It is not known for certain how Bodger originally met Badger although the opening titles for the first three series suggest that they met when Bodger was purchasing a ticket to make a journey on a London Underground train and Badger (when a fully grown adult Badger) stole the ticket, only to meet him again on the train. In this sequence, Bodger first expresses dismissal of the event only to look puzzled by what has just happened a moment later. A later episode (after those titles stopped being used), however, suggests that Simon Bodger started looking after Badger when he was a badger cub, but it is possible that Badger's age is 4 years old.

There were several different Badger puppets used throughout the series - all looked very similar bar their ear sizes and the width of the two stripes down Badger's face and snout. The distance between Badger's eyes also varied throughout the show's run and the beret on the series one Badger puppet wasn't very flexible. In all other series it had more flexibility so it could swing round as Badger moved and talked. Badger's clothes changed regularly, but this was designed as a feature of the puppets. The puppet's eyes themselves also changed - always googly eyes around two to three inches in diameter with pupils varying in size but around an inch in diameter. On some puppets the pupils could reach the bottoms of the eyes, in others, the pupils swing about in a "cradle" in the middle of the eyes.

• Mousey (voiced and operated by Jane Bassett) - Mousey is an anthropomorphic talking mouse who lives under the floorboards of the flat that Bodger rents from Series 5–7. She and Badger are great friends, both constantly getting up to mischief. Mousey also has a favourite food it is apparent she is addicted to, namely cheese (although in real life mice aren't as fond of cheese as is commonly believed). Mousey's presence is only known by Bodger in the first episode of Series 5 when he sets traps to try to catch her. After Badger makes friends with Mousey, he deceives Simon into believing Mousey has gone from the house. When Bodger and Badger move to Puddleford to run their hotel in Series 8, Mousey moves with them and takes up residence in the airing cupboard rather than under the floorboards. Even though Badger is known to several of the human characters, Mousey is kept a secret from everyone, although Mrs Dribelle spots her on two occasions in Bodger's flat and Mrs Melly on one occasion when she tries to capture her while she is disguised as a rare bird (this being in order to fool Miss Piper, a birdwatcher staying at Bodger's hotel). Mousey appears to be a fan of royalty, especially in the episode "Mrs. Dribelle and The Queen" where she thinks she's going to live in Buckingham Palace with the Queen, unaware that it is actually Mrs. Dribelle in disguise. When Mousey speaks, it is clear Badger understands her perfectly, however in episode 1 of series 5 it is implied Bodger can only interpret her language as the normal squeaking of a field mouse or house mouse. Jane also appeared on-screen throughout series 5 to 7 as various different minor supporting characters before landing a regular character role in the programme in series 8 and 9 as Bodger's local milkwoman Millie. Mousey was a smaller character than Badger, but still needed her mouth and both front legs to move (although the puppet's mouth movements were limited). This limited the minimum size she could be made to, as only a hand would fit inside her and be able to operate all three things. The size of the puppet in comparison to a real mouse has no effect on the scenes she is in, however. A puppet of the bottom half of Mousey, made to the same scale was also made for occasions where Mousey's rear end was to be seen, although this was very rare. Like the other puppets in the programme, she has googly eyes. Although mice can run very fast in real life, the limitations of the puppet ( - or rather, puppets, the character being played by two glove puppets - one for each end) mean that she is often seen on screen struggling to move slowly across floors on all fours (moving fast running the risk of the operator's hand being seen), yet can move perfectly well when not on all fours (usually either under the floorboards, next to a surface such as a table or in her airing cupboard). It is possible that Mousey's age is 5 years old in her debut and she turns 6 for the rest of the series.

Series 1

• Mr Hector Troff (Roger Walker) - The arrogant and tight-fisted owner of the restaurant in Series 1. He has no knowledge of Badger's presence (although he keeps glimpsing him but putting it down to his over-active imagination) until the final episode of the series. His character is based on that of Arkwright from Open All Hours - there are several similarities between the two characters, mainly a desire to improve their respective businesses while wanting to spend as little money as possible in doing so.
• Mavis (Joanne Campbell) - An out-of-work singer who worked as a waitress at the restaurant with Bodger and was friendly with both Bodger and Badger. She returned, having made her fame and fortune in the singing profession, for one episode during Series 2 when she visited Bodger and Badger at Letsby Avenue Junior School.

Series 2 and 3

• Mrs Daphne Trout (Lila Kaye) - The cruel and overweight Headmistress of Letsby Avenue Junior School, where Bodger worked in Series 2 and 3. She was referred to as 'Fish-face' by Badger and the school children. She enjoyed insulting Bodger and Miss Moon, being nasty to the children and going down the cake shop. She was sent back to Teacher Training College by Chairman of the School Board of Governors Mr Valentino after she tried to get Miss Moon sacked in the third series and also for being unable to read. It is revealed in the episode following her departure that she became the new Chair of the School Board of Governors. She appeared briefly in the final episode of Series 3 in a flashback to when she was still Headmistress, when she messed up the class photograph as her weight caused the bench to collapse.
• Miss Geraldine Moon (Selina Cadell) - The warm-hearted but dim-witted Deputy Head of Letsby Avenue Junior School throughout Series 2 and 3. She was friendly with Bodger, but not enough for him to let her know about Badger. She was briefly the acting Headmistress after Mrs Trout was sent back to Teacher Training School, but returned to her old post when Mrs Bogart took over as Headmistress. As a teacher she was incompetent - she never made the children do any work and just let them play games all day when she was acting Headmistress. She repeatedly sees Badger, but soon passes it off as overwork or some other stress-related mental health issue when she experiences other things that can't be explained (usually caused by Badger).
• Mr Valentino (Rudolph Walker) - Chairman of the School Board of Governors of Letsby Avenue Junior School, who appeared in two episodes in Series 3. He sends Mrs Trout away to retrain as a teacher after he realises she is an incompetent Headmistress.
• Mrs Prunella Bogart (Richenda Carey) - The elegantly dressed, nasty-tempered Headmistress who replaced Mrs Trout in Series 3. She is Mrs Trout's sister and she brought along her spoiled nephew, Eamon, who wanted to replace Bodger as the school handyman. Like Mrs Trout, she is lazy and prefers to delegate as much of her work as possible to Miss Moon (who is frequently too kind and cowardly to stand up for herself), despite the fact that she is the Headmistress, and spends most of her time in her office eating chocolate, confiscating the children's chocolate, or at the chocolate shop. She is nicknamed 'Mrs Bogey' by Badger and is always looking for ways to make quick money. In many ways, she is similar personality-wise to her sister Mrs Trout.
• Eamon Trout (Philip Herbert) - Mrs Trout's spoiled son, and therefore Mrs Bogart's nephew. He wanted Mrs Bogart to fire Bodger so he could be the school handyman, but he was quickly scared away by Badger and the children.

Series 4

• Mr Lionel Beasley (Jon Glover) - Bodger's superior at Chessington World of Adventures in Series 4. He tries to imply he is an educated professional, and excellent at his job. He knows of Badger's presence at the park and is constantly trying to catch him, although he does not know he is Bodger's pet.
• Holly (Sophie Worters) - A friendly girl who spends a lot of time at Chessington in Series 4. She is good friends with both Bodger and Badger and dislikes Mr Beasley just as much as they do.

Series 5, 6 and 7

• "Boss" & Courtney (Penelope Nice and Ashley Artus) - Two villainous thieves who attempt to burgle Bodger's flat in Series 5. Posing as two council officers upgrading home security, they try to steal a valuable Ancient Egyptian statue which belongs to Bodger's aunt. They fail, thanks to Badger who tricks the dim-witted Courtney into believing that it is a cursed statue that throws 'Ancient Egyptian mashed potato' if tampered with.
• Mrs Cecilia Dribelle (Carol MacReady) - The extravagantly dressed businesswoman from whom Bodger rents his flat in Series 6 and 7. She has a distinct dislike for animals (apart from cats) and forbids her tenants from keeping pets, resulting in Bodger having to constantly hide Badger whenever she visits. She dislikes Bodger intensely and tries everything she can think of to evict him, she also expressed a dislike for pop music in one episode. She is fond of cakes and biscuits, and likes to profit from silly ideas. She is nicknamed 'Mrs Dribble' and 'Dribbly Bibbly' by Badger. She drives around in a car which varied in different episodes with the registration plate 'DRIB 1' and has a cat called Fluffykins. In her early episodes she is made aware of Badger's presence by her sidekick, Elton, but never actually sees him as Elton's plans to catch Badger always fail. She eventually decides that Elton is imagining Badger. However, she has spotted Badger herself on several occasions - in one episode she saw Badger when she got knocked out, mistakenly thinking that Badger was her pet cat Fluffykins. Another was when Fluffykins had disappeared and Badger was inside the cat box pretending to be Fluffykins. Another time was when Badger was hiding behind a picture frame which Mrs Dribelle thought was a picture of a Badger. After spending the majority of Series 6 trying to find ways to evict Bodger, Mrs Dribelle later employs him as her handyman in Series 7. Later on she allowed her niece, Vicky, to stay in the first floor flat above Bodger's after she evicted Alec Smart. After Vicky left to go touring with a band, Mrs Dribelle temporarily moved into the vacant flat while her house was being decorated.
• Elton (Joe Cushley) - Mrs Dribelle's dim-witted sidekick. He is a hardman who always wears a woolly hat with badges and a denim jacket. He knows that Bodger has a badger in the flat after Badger hits him on the head with a frying pan. He is incredibly stupid and is always trying to prove to Mrs Dribelle that there is a badger in the flat by all means possible, but he never succeeds. In one episode he dressed up as Mrs Dribelle's mother to trick Simon into believing Mrs Dribelle had nowhere to live, so that she could get Simon to move out of the flat. However Badger, who could see Elton's underpants underneath his skirt, knew it was Elton so he tried to show Simon the underpants. First he pulled the lever when Elton was sitting on the bed which made the bed go back, but it still did not work so Badger thought of another way to show Simon the underpants by turning the vacuum cleaner on, which sucked up the skirt Elton was wearing. Simon then saw the underpants and realised it was Elton. Even though Mrs Dribelle features in Series 7, Elton did not feature after Series 6. He was last seen in the episode 'Badger's Party' where he was attacked by children who were St John Badger Scouts.
• Daphne (Jane Bassett) - A friend of Mrs Dribelle's, who appears in the Series 7 episode 'Cuckoo'. After Simon sells Mrs Dribelle an old Grandfather Clock (which is also a cuckoo clock) for £50, she tries to sell it to Daphne - who is an antiques dealer - for £500. At first Daphne does not believe her when she is told that is a "Grandfather Cuckoo Clock" - however when Mousey, disguised as a cuckoo, comes out of the clock and squirts mashed potato on Mrs Dribelle, Daphne starts to laugh at Mrs Dribelle, telling her that she is the one that's cuckoo if she thinks she's going to pay £500 for the clock. Mrs Dribelle gets angry and shoves a pie in her face - the two ladies then have a food fight.
• Alec Smart (Ricky Diamond) - The sly and untrustworthy tenant who moves into the flat above Bodger's in Series 7. He was always thinking up schemes to make money, often tricking Mrs Dribelle and Bodger in the process. He sucks up to Mrs Dribelle while secretly trying to scam her. In the episode 'Mrs Dribelle's Big Day' he asks her to marry him, with the intention of getting his hands on her money. After Mrs Dribelle discovers his plan, she throws him out of the flat. A year later when Bodger and Badger move to Puddleford at the beginning of Series 8 to run a hotel, they are horrified to discover that Mr Smart is their next door neighbour once again. He is also running a hotel, but never seems to have any guests and is always trying to steal Bodger's or trying to outshine his rival in every despicable way possible. He was last seen in the episode 'Doggone' when he kidnapped China the dog in order to obtain a reward for finding him. As he is not seen or mentioned again in the series, it is assumed that he moved away from Puddleford.
• Vicky (Sally Ann Marsh) - Mrs Dribelle's niece. She was supposed to have been an accountant, but Vicky had dreams of being part of a band. She moves into the upstairs flat after Alec Smart is thrown out. She is supposed to work for her auntie, but she is always secretly auditioning for jobs as a drummer. She hides her drum kit in the bath when Mrs Dribelle visits as she disapproves of it. Vicky and Badger got on very well as they both love mashed potato. She ended up going on tour with a travelling band as a drummer. Vicky only appeared in Series 7.
• Luigi - An Italian badger who travelled from Italy and stayed at Bodger and Badger's flat during Series 7 (the puppet design for this was very similar to Badger's). He had several arguments with Badger over which was the better food - spaghetti or mashed potato. At first Bodger did not know about Luigi's presence. After he found out about Luigi, Bodger allowed him to stay at the flat a while. Luigi only appeared in one episode. This meant use was made of the programme's requirement to have more than one Badger puppet at a time, should one get damaged in a stunt and be out of action for some time being repaired. A small blue trilby hat was wedged over the spare puppet's red beret and the clothes were changed (as all the Badger puppets were designed to be).

Series 8 and 9

• Millie (Jane Bassett) - A milkwoman in Puddleford who is a friend of Bodger and Badger in Series 8 and 9. She helps out Bodger and Badger on numerous occasions, mainly allowing use of her milk float to carry customers around, such as picking Mr Wilson up from the station. She shares their dislike of Mr Smart and Mrs Melly. She owns a dog named China, who is friends with Badger.
• China - A dog originally owned by the Hutchins family in Series 8 but later belongs to Millie in Series 9. It is unknown how he became Millie's pet or why he is no longer with the Hutchins. He worked with Badger and Mousey to cause chaos with mashed potato around Puddleford. He likes annoying Mrs Melly by barking loudly outside her office. Of the three puppets used in the series, China is the first that puppeteer Andy Cunningham got, claiming to have bought him at a magician's show in Brighton in the 1970s. He is a "Benji the Adorable Puppy" puppet, whom Andy christened "China" following Cockney rhyming slang ("China" being short for "china plate", meaning "mate"). However, of the three that were used on the series, China was the only one purchased ready-made - all versions of Badger and Mousey were made for Andy Cunningham by a personal friend of his. Before Bodger and Badger, Andy used China in children's party acts he used to perform in the London area, while another puppet he owned (also made for him by the same person who made the Badger and Mousey puppets), a foul-mouthed talking rat called Magritte (which never appeared in the series) would be used for entertaining at events where a more adult audience was in attendance. Again, China (and Magritte) used googly eyes.
• Miss Prunella Peake (Valerie Minifie) - One of Bodger's first hotel guests in Series 8. She was bad-tempered and miserable and was rather rude and quite threatening to Bodger. She also was nicknamed 'Old Peaky' by Badger. She leaves his hotel in disgust after finding mashed potato in her bed and is immediately pounced on by Mr Smart, who tries to seduce her into staying at his hotel instead. She soon sees through him, however, and returns to Bodger's hotel. She later becomes obsessed with the legend of the lost pirate treasure, and along with Mr Smart, ends up digging up half of Puddleford beach trying to find it. On her final day in Puddleford she enters a fancy dress competition with Bodger and wins thanks to Badger and Mousey.
• Mr Tucknott (Bill Thomas) - A bank manager who stayed in Bodger's hotel in Series 8. He is quite cheerful but appears to be long-suffering and quite nervous about his job, and becomes particularly worried when trying to write a speech in the episode 'Mashy Record Breakers'.
• Mrs Bobbins (Jo Warne) - Stayed in Bodger's hotel in Series 8 at the same time as Mr Tucknott. She is very bubbly and appears to like Bodger, but is not aware of Badger's presence, even in the episode 'Big Bear' when Badger poses as a large teddy bear which she bought for her granddaughter and she tries to wrap him up in wrapping paper.
• Mrs Sharona Melly (Carole Boyd) - The bossy, bad-tempered Tourist Information officer from Series 9. She was also nicknamed 'Mrs Smelly' and 'Smelly Melly', due to her forename beginning with 'S', and appearing as 'Mrs S Melly'. She is highly suspicious of Bodger and believes that he is hiding something in his hotel, although she never actually finds out about Badger. She refuses to recommend Bodger's hotel to tourists because he accidentally covered her in mashed potato when she visited his B & B. She dislikes people having fun on the beach outside her office and will do anything to prevent it. She has a lot of trouble with China the dog, who is always hanging around her office. She often looks for quick ways to make money, such as when she attempts to catch a valuable bird and charge people to see it, and when she believes Bodger has won the lottery she buys him lunch and starts being nice to him in the hope that he will share some of his winnings with her.
• Miss Piper (Hilda Braid) - A short-sighted birdwatcher who featured in only one episode. She stayed in Bodger's hotel in Series 9 while trying to spot a rare and valuable bird on the cliffs above Puddleford. However, she makes the mistake of telling Mrs Melly about it, who tries to catch it to make some quick money.
• Mr Malcolm Wilson (Matthew Woolcott) - A trainee bank manager who stayed in Bodger's hotel in Series 9. Like most of the characters, he too despises mashed potato as he is involved in an unfortunately large number of incidents where he ends up covered in it. In one episode he even accidentally tasted it in his cereal. He is a bit of a cry-baby, who gets upset over the slightest things, one of the most notable being when he is late for a job interview after Mrs Melly confiscates his clothes while he is swimming in the sea.
• Mr Bill Gripper (Roger Liddle) - Another hotel guest from two episodes in Series 9. A school P.E. teacher who had a crush on Mrs Melly and challenged Mr Wilson to a running race along the sea front, which he lost (thanks to Badger).

Crew

• Andy Cunningham - Creator / Writer of most of the episodes.
• Wayne Jackman - Other Writer
• Jane Bassett - Other Writer of most of the episodes.
• Pierre Hollins - Other Writer
• Claire Winyard - Director (series 2)
• Judy Whitfield - Executive Producer, Producer (series 1)
• Greg Childs - Producer (series 2)
• Christine Hewitt - Producer (series 5–8)
• Sue Morgan - Producer (series 9)

Popularity

A performance at a 'Mashed Potato Night', 2006.

In 2000 and 2001, all episodes of Bodger and Badger were repeated on archive children's programming strand CBBC on Choice on the BBC Choice digital TV channel. Additionally, they were broadcast on CBeebies in 2002 but then disappeared from schedules until 2005 when the CBBC channel began a repeat of series 6–9. Since 2008 it has not been shown at all, although recorded episodes have surfaced on the internet and exist on YouTube.

Bodger and Badger has enjoyed something of a cult status, particularly among teenagers and young adults who grew up with the programme. It has also found popularity amongst students, tuning into daytime repeats. As such, it has led to a popular tour of UK universities; 'Mashed Potato Theme Nights' were held at various universities, including Hull, Aston, Warwick, Bath, Buckinghamshire New and Aberystwyth. A DVD, 'Bodger and Badger: Live', was released on 6 November 2006.

Bodger and Badger have also since appeared in other venues, most notably in the kids' field at Glastonbury Festival, where a routine aimed primarily at children is also cleverly^{[ according to whom? ]} seeded with knowing in-jokes about the festival and the people attending it.

In 2007, two adverts were filmed for instant mashed potato brand Smash, the first in a planned series of adverts for a new marketing campaign featuring the two characters and playing on Badger's love of mashed potato. However, whilst the first two adverts were completed and shown at trade fairs, as well as some industry literature featuring the characters released, the ad campaign was ultimately dropped and never aired, due to the BBC still owning the rights to the Bodger and Badger name and concept, which would conflict with the BBC's obligation to not use any of its programmes or stars to promote commercial properties.

Andy Cunningham died of duodenal cancer on 5 June 2017, aged 67. ^{[3] [4]}

An account called "Bodger's Badger" was set up in September 2022. ^[5]

Series and episodes

Series One (1989)

Series 1 featured Bodger and Badger working in Troff's Nosherama, a run-down café with pretensions to being a restaurant. While Bodger worked in the kitchens as a chef, both he and Badger made friends with the waitress, Mavis. Troff's Nosherama was run by Mr Troff who was very arrogant, tight-fisted and stubborn. Troff had no idea of Badger's presence until the end of the last episode in the series.

It was not known during production whether another series was to be recommissioned, hence the last episode of this series is titled "The Final Episode".

The closing titles of this series at first featured specially-shot clips of the cast (in character) then a specially-shot clip of Badger over the technical crew credits. This changed gradually through the series, slowly incorporating repeated clips of cast members (in character) from earlier in the episode, although these were occasionally interspersed with the specially-shot clips, with the latter gradually being phased out. The specially-shot clip of Badger over the technical crew credits remained, however.

All transmission data is taken from the BBC Genome project.

This series was repeated on 8 consecutive Tuesdays from 13 February to 3 April 1990 on BBC1 at 3:50 pm.

#	Title	Original Air Date and time
1	"Bodger is Chef"	13 September 1989 (1989-09-13) 4:05pm
Simon Bodger must win a cookery contest to get the Chef's job at Troff's Nosherama.
2	"The Badgers Are Coming"	20 September 1989 (1989-09-20) 4:05pm
Badger ends up inside a cake.
3	"The Health Inspector"	27 September 1989 (1989-09-27) 4:05pm
The Health Inspector pays a visit to Troff's Nosherama where she thinks she's seeing badgers.
4	"Portrait of Hector"	4 October 1989 (1989-10-04) 4:05pm
Mr Troff decides the Nosherama needs a new Welcome sign. Mr Troff thinks Mavis is the artist, but in fact it is Badger.
5	"Auntie Warnty"	11 October 1989 (1989-10-11) 4:05pm
Mr Troff’s Australian aunt comes to visit the Nosherama.
6	"Adrian Loud Warbler"	18 October 1989 (1989-10-18) 4:05pm
Adrian Loud Warbler invites Mavis to lunch to discuss a singing job. Unfortunately he takes her to the Nosherama!
7	"The Robot"	25 October 1989 (1989-10-25) 4:05pm
Bodger is in danger of being replaced as chef at the Nosherama when a salesman shows Mr Troff a new 'Shove-a-Chef.'
8	"The Final Episode"	1 November 1989 (1989-11-01) 4:05pm
Bodger and Badger are left in charge of the Nosherama, but things do not quite go according to plan with a wedding cake for the wedding party of two mountaineers. Fortunately, Mavis and Badger have an idea when Bodger accidentally crushes the cake...

Series Two (1991)

Series 2 and 3 featured Bodger and Badger working at Letsby Avenue junior school; Simon worked as the caretaker, Badger made friends with the school children and crawled around the air vents - a method of transport he found most useful to keep hidden from the school's teaching staff. Letsby Avenue's headmistress in this series was the overweight and nasty Mrs Trout, there was also the friendly and ditsy deputy head Miss Moon.

This series was the first to be broadcast in NICAM stereo sound. It also had a copyright date of 1990.

All transmission data is taken from the BBC Genome project.

This series was first repeated on Mondays from 6 to 27 April 1992 except the bank holiday 20 April. It then switched to Thursdays on 30 April and 7 May 1992. It then began Monday and Thursday repeats from Monday 11th to Thursday 21 May 1992, before moving again to three consecutive Mondays 1 to 15 June 1992. All except the final episode were repeated on BBC1 at 3:50pm. The final episode was repeated on BBC2 in the same timeslot, owing to sports coverage on BBC1. This was the first time Bodger and Badger had been broadcast on BBC2.

#	Title	Original Air Date
1	"Letsby Avenue"	9 January 1991 (1991-01-09) 3:50pm
Bodger applies for the handyman's job at Letsby Avenue Junior School, but will he get it?
2	"Abracabadger"	16 January 1991 (1991-01-16) 3:50pm
Will magic be enough when Miss Moon sees Badger? Class Four come to the rescue.
3	"The Bare Mayor"	23 January 1991 (1991-01-23) 3:50pm
Mrs Trout announces that the mayor is coming to visit the school, but Badger gets the wrong end of the stick.
4	"The Skeleton"	30 January 1991 (1991-01-30) 3:50pm
Mrs Trout purchases a skeleton for the school, but at the expense of any school trips.
5	"Mr Woberts The Watcatcher"	6 February 1991 (1991-02-06) 3:50pm
Mrs Trout thinks the school has rats, so she calls in a ratcatcher.
6	"The Hairy Fairy"	13 February 1991 (1991-02-13) 3:50pm
Mrs Trout's birthday cake from the cake shop mysteriously disappears shortly after Badger opens it, so Simon makes a miniature mashed potato statue of the headmistress as a replacement. Miss Moon spots this and thinks the fairies have cast a spell on Mrs Trout.
7	"The Wonky Window"	20 February 1991 (1991-02-20) 3:50pm
Bodger and Badger attempt to repair a wonky window in Mrs Trout's office, without much success.
8	"Mr Crusher and the Ninja Zombies From Mars"	27 February 1991 (1991-02-27) 3:50pm
Class Four are not impressed with Miss Moon's pixie prancing in PE class. However, they soon discover that the new PE teacher is a lot worse.
9	"The Burglar"	6 March 1991 (1991-03-06) 3:50pm
Bodger and Badger mistake Mrs Trout for a burglar when she puts on a costume for the Mayor's Fancy Dress Ball. But it is not long before a real burglar breaks in to steal the school trophies.
10	"Snowflakes in Hawaii"	13 March 1991 (1991-03-13) 3:50pm
It's Hawaiian Day at Letsby Avenue. But the fun day proves not to be, when Mrs Trout cancels the coal delivery.
11	"Mavis and the Fingerpoppers"	20 March 1991 (1991-03-20) 3:50pm
Mavis from Troff's Nosherama, who is now a pop star, comes to visit Simon at the school. Everyone is excited to have a pop star on the premises, even Mrs Trout. Mavis hypnotises Badger into singing "Old MacDonald Had A Farm".
12	"School's Out"	27 March 1991 (1991-03-27) 3:50pm
As the end of term approaches, Bodger and Badger reminisce about their year at Letsby Avenue. Note: This was the first episode to feature clips from previous episodes.

Series Three (1991)

Series 3 is still set in Letsby Avenue junior school, but Mrs Trout was fired halfway through the series and Miss Moon became the new temporary headmistress until Mrs Bogart (Mrs Trout's sister) took over as headmistress, when Mrs Trout became a school governor. Like the previous series, Badger's presence was knowledge to everyone in the school except the school teaching staff. From this series, the closing credits were edited down to contain only one verse of the theme song. This practice of edited down credits was to continue until the end of the series, with new surrounding graphics for series 9. The repeats of clips featuring characters for the actor credits continued, however, the specially-shot clip of Badger over the technical crew credits was gone, the number of credited technical crew roles having been dramatically reduced, so this portion of the end credits consisted entirely of random clips from earlier in the episode (in chronological order).

Transmission information is taken from the BBC Genome project.

The first ten episodes of this 12-episode series were repeated on consecutive Tuesdays from 6 April to 8 June 1993 at 4:05 pm on BBC1. The repeat run was not completed owing to shortening of the afternoon CBBC strand in subsequent weeks for Wimbledon and other various sporting events and there being no available slots in the weeks after those.

#	Title	Original Air Date
1	"Mr Valentino and the Rubber Bottom"	1 October 1991 (1991-10-01) 3:55pm
Mr Valentino, the chairman of the school's Governors, has dinner with Mrs Trout who gets a rubber bottom.
2	"William Tell"	8 October 1991 (1991-10-08) 3:55pm
Mrs Trout writes, directs and stars in the school play, "William Tell". But will everything be all right on the night? Not likely with Bodger and Badger about.
3	"The Head's Anniversary"	15 October 1991 (1991-10-15) 3:55pm
Badger decides to enter Mrs Trout's poetry competition.
4	"The Golden Alarm Clock"	22 October 1991 (1991-10-22) 3:55pm
Mr Valentino decides to award Miss Moon a golden alarm clock for not missing a day's school. Mrs Trout is not happy.
5	"The New Moon"	29 October 1991 (1991-10-29) 3:55pm
Miss Moon gets a thump on the head and a new view of life. Badger shows her that mash potato is fun to play with.
6	"Eamon and the New Headmistress"	5 November 1991 (1991-11-05) 3:55pm
As Mrs Trout has been sent back to teacher training college to learn how to read, the new headmistress Mrs Bogart arrives. She brings along her loathsome nephew, Eamon, to replace Bodger as the school handyman, so Badger and the children try to scare him off.
7	"The Mashed Potato Gun"	12 November 1991 (1991-11-12) 3:50pm
A new communication system is set up in the school and Badger makes a mashed potato gun. From this episode this series moved to 3:50pm on original transmission.
8	"The Difficult Test"	19 November 1991 (1991-11-19) 3:50pm
Mrs Bogart is determined to make Class 4 sit a difficult test. However, with so many interruptions (mostly from Bodger who is trying to have a fire drill), will it ever happen?
9	"The Head's Twin Sister"	26 November 1991 (1991-11-26) 3:50pm
Mrs Bogart will stop at nothing to get hold of Bodger's competition winnings, even posing as her own hard-up identical twin sister!
10	"The Baby"	3 December 1991 (1991-12-03) 3:50pm
Miss Moon has agreed to look after her neighbour's baby for the day. Badger, Rocky and Vicky trick Mrs Bogart into eating laxative chocolate.
11	"The Doubling Box"	10 December 1991 (1991-12-10) 3:50pm
Mrs Bogart is charging for lost property and keeps stealing the children's possessions to top up on takings. Badger does what he can to stop her.
12	"The Class Photo"	17 December 1991 (1991-12-17) 3:50pm
Badger is having a bath because it's time for the class photograph. When the photographer is cancelled, Miss Moon asks Bodger to help out.

Series Four (1993)

Series 4 featured Bodger and Badger working at Chessington World of Adventures, a theme park in Surrey. Bodger was the caretaker there, and Badger made friends with a girl called Holly who frequently visited the theme park. Owing to her mother being a staff member there, Holly was free to visit whenever she liked. Bodger's boss was Mr Beasley, who was nasty and obsessed with rules. Beasley kept trying to catch Badger to try to get Bodger chucked out.

Series 4's episodes were cut down to 10 minutes, instead of 15. This is the least-remembered series of all. It is the hardest to obtain copies of. This series was repeated on Mondays and Tuesdays, with an occasional gap of one week, from March to June 1996, commencing the week following the end of the original transmission of series 6. The opening titles to this series and the remaining series were edited short, so that by this point, the full verse of the theme song is not heard in both opening and closing titles (instead concentrating on one verse each). The opening titles now only contain clips from episodes in the series, with no material specially shot for the opening titles. The practice of having clips from earlier in the episode of actors appearing in character over their credits in the closing credits sequence was gone, with random clips from the episode appearing in chronological order throughout the closing credits sequence. This would remain the normal fashion of episode credits for the series until the end (with a surrounding graphics change for series 9).

All transmission data is taken from the BBC Genome project.

#	Title	Original Air Date
1	"The Arrival"	13 September 1993 (1993-09-13) 3:55pm
Bodger starts a new job as handyman at the Chessington World of Adventures theme park, where no pets are allowed. But Badger is determined to join Bodger, and together the pair meet Holly who hangs about a lot in the park - for free - because her mum works in the kitchens. All seems well until Badger realises that he has not seen any mashed potato in the park.
2	"Mr Beasley's Barrow"	20 September 1993 (1993-09-20) 3:55pm
Mr Beasley tries to catch Badger, who is still at the theme park, but is confused as Bodger, Holly and Badger have great fun tricking him.
3	"The Tapirs"	27 September 1993 (1993-09-27) 3:55pm
Badger makes friends with some unusual animals, the tapirs.
4	"The Elephant's Trunk"	4 October 1993 (1993-10-04) 4:00pm
Bodger fixes the elephant's trunk and Badger tries to hit Mr Beasley with mashed potato. From this episode onwards this series moved to 4:00pm.
5	"A Hard Day's Knight"	11 October 1993 (1993-10-11) 4:00pm
Bodger dresses up as a knight, while Badger tries his paw at flying and Holly rescues him.
6	"The New Clothes"	18 October 1993 (1993-10-18) 4:00pm
Mr Beasley is issued with a new uniform, but Bodger manages to ruin most of it with the help of Badger and some mashed potato.
7	"The Dragon"	25 October 1993 (1993-10-25) 4:00pm
Holly wins a watch at Bodger and Badger's unconventional ball tossing stall, but Mr Beasley takes it from her. Badger thinks of a novel way of getting it back.
8	"Wet Paint"	1 November 1993 (1993-11-01) 4:00pm
Mr Beasley sits on a painted bench and tries to reprimand Bodger for not following orders. Instead, Head Office allow Bodger to run the ice-cream cart.
9	"Catapult"	8 November 1993 (1993-11-08) 4:00pm
Mr Beasley has finally mastered a plan to catch Badger using a catapult.

Series Five (1995)

Series 5 to 7 featured Bodger and Badger living in a rented bedsit flat (Exterior scenes were filmed at No. 78 Grove Avenue, Hanwell in London). This was the beginning of the show's most popular and best-remembered period, series 5–7. Badger met his new friend Mousey in Series 5, a mouse who lived under the floorboards. She became a permanent fixture of the programme from that point onwards. Just as Bodger tries to keep Badger's presence hidden from figures of authority, Badger in turn kept Mousey's presence a secret from Bodger, because Bodger tried to get rid of Mousey in the first episode of Series 5 by setting traps.

These episodes reverted to the 15-minute format.

All transmission data was obtained from the BBC Genome project.

From this series onwards, no repeat transmission data will be provided on this article, as the show's success beginning with this series meant that the show would be repeated much more regularly from this point onwards than it previously had been, leading to many more repeat dates for each individual episode.

#	Title	Original Air Date
1	"A Mouse in the House"	9 January 1995 (1995-01-09) 4:00pm
Bodger and Badger are living in a new flat. They think they're alone until Badger makes friends with a mouse who lives under the floorboards.
2	"Under The Floorboards"	16 January 1995 (1995-01-16) 4:00pm
Badger finds it hard to visit Mousey under the floorboards, so he thinks of a plan to get under.
3	"Wash Day"	23 January 1995 (1995-01-23) 4:00pm
After their new washing machine blows up, Bodger and Badger have to go to the laundrette. Badger causes chaos as usual and the pair accidentally leave Bodger's washing in the laundrette.
4	"Mr Selby's Pictures"	30 January 1995 (1995-01-30) 4:00pm
When Bodger accidentally paints a shop sign back to front, Badger finds a quick solution with an electric saw.
5	"Ancient Egyptian Mashed Potato"	6 February 1995 (1995-02-06) 4:00pm
Bodger has trouble with two burglars, "Boss" and Courtney, who try to steal a valuable Ancient Egyptian statue which belongs to Bodger's aunt. Badger decides to scare the burglars off by being the ghost of the Egyptian statue.
6	"Rent Money"	13 February 1995 (1995-02-13) 4:00pm
When the rent money goes missing, Bodger and Badger are told to move out. Nothing can help them get their flat back - except Mousey.
7	"Here Comes Raymond"	20 February 1995 (1995-02-20) 4:00pm
Bodger's old school friend - the greedy Raymond Tompkins - comes to stay, and Badger declares war to scare and get rid of him.
8	"Twin Brother"	27 February 1995 (1995-02-27) 4:00pm
Bodger rations the mashed potato, so Badger invents a twin brother in order to get double his portion.
9	"Mashy Mouse"	6 March 1995 (1995-03-06) 4:00pm
When Bodger decides to borrow a cat to get rid of the mouse in the house, Badger and Mousey have to find a way of showing him he was imagining things.
10	"Seaside"	13 March 1995 (1995-03-13) 4:00pm
Badger wants to go to the seaside but the weather forecast is bad, so he decides to make his own seaside - in the bathroom.
11	"Cosmic Potatoes"	20 March 1995 (1995-03-20) 4:00pm
Badger and Mousey trick Bodger into believing that Martians are under the floorboards.
12	"One of Those Days"	27 March 1995 (1995-03-27) 4:00pm
Badger makes a huge amount of mashed potato and then has to find places to store it, then Bodger's computer goes wrong after Badger and Mousey have a go on it.
13	"Mad Mash Bash"	3 April 1995 (1995-04-03) 4:00pm
During a race with Mousey, Badger bangs his head and loses his memory. Mousey helps him to remember by reminding him of all of the adventures they have had.

Series Six (1996)

Bodger, Badger and Mousey are still living at the same flat as featured in series 5. This series mainly featured the pair having problems with their new landlady, Mrs Dribelle, and Elton her sidekick who did all her dirty work. Mrs Dribelle did not allow her tenants to keep animals in her properties, so Bodger always had to hide Badger whenever she came to the flat. In between the transmissions of series 6 and 7, on Friday 28 June 1996 on BBC2, the characters of Bodger and Badger were special guests in an episode of CBBC's gameshow "To Me, To You", presented by the Chuckle Brothers.

All transmission data was obtained from the BBC Genome project.

#	Title	Original Air Date
55	"Mrs Dribelle!"	15 January 1996 (1996-01-15) 3:55pm
Bodger and Badger come face-to-face with their new landlady, the fearsome Mrs Dribelle, whose main objective is to get Bodger out of the flat.
56	"Badger in the Box"	22 January 1996 (1996-01-22) 3:55pm
Mrs Dribelle sends her nasty assistant, Elton, to intimidate Bodger into leaving the flat. After Badger hits him on the head with a frying pan, Elton is determined to catch him and get Bodger thrown out for breaking the rule of "No animals allowed."
57	"Potty"	29 January 1996 (1996-01-29) 3:55pm
Badger finds Bodger's cactus very amusing as it has been planted in a potty. After an unexpected bump on the head, Badger drives Bodger mad by thinking he's Super Badger.
58	"Lottery Lunacy"	5 February 1996 (1996-02-05) 3:55pm
Bodger thinks he has won the lottery, after leaving Badger in charge of writing down the numbers. He later regrets a rude phone call to Mrs Dribelle when he discovers he has not won the lottery after all. Note: An episode of ChuckleVision with the same title aired eight days later.
59	"Mrs Dribelle's Mother"	12 February 1996 (1996-02-12) 3:55pm
In an attempt to get Bodger out of her house, Mrs Dribelle pretends to have a sick mother (Elton in drag) who needs his room!
60	"Pussy Cake, Pussy Cake"	19 February 1996 (1996-02-19) 3:55pm
Fluffykins (Mrs Dribelle's cat)'s birthday cake is delivered to Bodger and Badger's address. Badger is determined to prove to Mousey that the cake is not a real cat, and ends up destroying it. They then create a substitute cake out of mashed potato, Liquorice Allsorts and baked beans.
61	"Diet"	26 February 1996 (1996-02-26) 3:55pm
When Badger gets stuck in his badger flap, Bodger decides it's high time he went on a mash-free diet with a healthy dose of exercise, much to Badger's displeasure.
62	"Badger's Bed"	4 March 1996 (1996-03-04) 3:55pm
After finding more of Badger's mashed potato in his clothes drawer, Bodger buys Badger a new bed that turns out to be a baby's cot. Meanwhile, Elton is still determined to catch Badger and show him to Mrs Dribelle. Note: Location work for part of this episode was shot in and around Ravenscourt Park, Goldhawk Road, West London.
63	"The Countess of Skegness"	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11) 3:55pm
Bodger loses his rent money and tries to make amends by washing Mrs Dribelle's car, but unintentionally covers it in mashed potato after getting the water buckets mixed up. Later on, Mrs Dribelle's attempt to welcome the Countess of Skegness gets ruined thanks to Badger.
64	"Overdue"	18 March 1996 (1996-03-18) 3:55pm
Bodger receives a letter from the library saying that he has an overdue book and now must return it. Unfortunately, Badger lent it to Mousey who converted it into a mattress.
65	"Badger's Party"	25 March 1996 (1996-03-25) 3:55pm
Mrs Dribelle tries tricking Bodger with a document to get him out of the flat. Fortunately, thanks to Badger, Bodger signs the other side of the document saying that he can stay in the flat for as long as he wants. Now Badger has to stop Elton from getting it back.
66	"Around the World with Badger and Mousey"	27 March 1996 (1996-03-27) 3:55pm
Before Badger and Mousey set off on their round-the-world trip, they take a look back at some of the adventures they have had that year.

Series Seven (1996–1997)

Bodger, Badger and Mousey were still living in the same flat as in series 5 and 6. After series 6, though, series 7 returned to the format of more everyday adventures and various people moved into the flat upstairs, including a slimy trickster called Mr Smart and Mrs Dribelle's niece, Vicky. Mrs Dribelle herself lived in the upstairs flat temporarily while her house was renovated. Some of the sound effects used are shared from the Sonic the Hedgehog games. This was the longest-running series, running for six months with a clip show halfway through the series and another at the end.

During this series, on Friday 14 March 1997 (Comic Relief day 1997), Bodger and Badger were special guests in a special Comic Relief-themed episode of the CBBC game show "The Friday Zone", entitled "The Red Nose Zone".

All transmission data is taken from the BBC Genome project.

#	Title	Original Air Date
67	"Jungle Fever"	9 September 1996 (1996-09-09) 3:55pm
Bodger has become Mrs Dribelle's handyman, and she gives him the task of looking after her plants and doing plant removing. Meanwhile, Badger causes chaos by turning the house into a jungle and the garden into a desert.
68	"Catnapped"	16 September 1996 (1996-09-16) 3:55pm
Someone threatens to kidnap Mrs Dribelle's cat Fluffykins. Bodger agrees to look after the cat while she finds a detective, so Mousey leaves home in protest.
69	"Here Comes Smarty Pants!"	23 September 1996 (1996-09-23) 3:55pm
Mrs Dribelle has a sneaky new tenant, Alec Smart, who always has plenty of dishonest money-making schemes. When he notices Bodger's expensive camera, Mr Smart tricks him into swapping it for some false stain remover. Badger then comes up with a clever idea to get it back.
70	"Funny Money"	30 September 1996 (1996-09-30) 3:55pm
Mr Smart starts forging money by simply photocopying £50 notes, which he intends to use by buying the house off Mrs Dribelle. Badger tries to cheer Simon up with practical jokes.
71	"Wet Paint!"	7 October 1996 (1996-10-07) 3:55pm
Mr Smart comes up with another devious scheme in selling Mrs Dribelle a painting, which turns out to be more of Badger's doing with mashed potato.
72	"Gnome From Gnome"	14 October 1996 (1996-10-14) 3:55pm
Mrs Dribelle's garden gnomes are going missing. The culprit, of course, is Mr Smart who is stealing all the gnomes in the area hoping to make a profit. Badger and Mousey make a mashed potato satellite.
73	"Mrs Dribelle's Big Day"	21 October 1996 (1996-10-21) 3:55pm
Mr Smart pretends to be the wealthy "Baron of Billericay" and proposes to Mrs Dribelle with a fake ring. Now Bodger must stop her from making a big mistake.
74	"World Badger Day"	28 October 1996 (1996-10-28) 3:55pm
Badger is bored so he decides to make a holiday of his own called "World Badger Day" - a time when everyone has to be nice to all badgers (and mice).
75	"Mrs Dribelle and The Queen"	4 November 1996 (1996-11-04) 3:55pm
Mrs Dribelle is going to a pageant dressed as the Queen and Bodger gets roped into being her servant for the day. Mousey thinks she'll be going off to live in Buckingham Palace.
76	"Wotcha Vicky!"	11 November 1996 (1996-11-11) 3:55pm
Badger makes a new friend when Mrs Dribelle's niece, Vicky, moves in upstairs. She is a drummer and loves mashed potato, but Mrs Dribelle is constantly making her miserable.
77	"Radio Competition"	18 November 1996 (1996-11-18) 3:55pm
Bodger and Badger help Vicky write a song for the radio, but the words do not come out as expected and Mrs Dribelle ends up winning. NOTE: This was the last episode of Bodger and Badger to be repeated on BBC1, on Friday 29 September 2006 at 3:25pm. CBBC Channel repeats continued until 2008.
78	"Monkey Trouble"	25 November 1996 (1996-11-25) 3:55pm
Vicky goes to the market and gets a drumming job, where she has to dress up as a gorilla. So Bodger and Badger go to the market, but the gorilla outfit annoys Mrs Dribelle. Note: This episode predated the Cadbury Drumming Gorilla advert by eleven years.
79	"Say Cheese!"	2 December 1996 (1996-12-02) 3:55pm
When Mousey chews through Mrs Dribelle's best dress, there's trouble ahead.
80	"Vicky is a Hit"	9 December 1996 (1996-12-09) 3:55pm
Vicky applies for a job as a drummer and prepares to go for an interview. But she needs Bodger and Badger's help to make sure Mrs Dribelle does not know.
81	"Mashy Christmas Everybody"	16 December 1996 (1996-12-16) 3:55pm
Badger and Mousey celebrate Christmas and remember some of their adventures that year.
82	"Mashy Music"	1 January 1997 (1997-01-01) 8:20am
Vicky does not get the drumming job, so she sells her drum kit. Badger and Mousey buy it and try to cheer her up by forming a band, but they need a drummer. This episode was unusual in that it had its first transmission in a morning slot, instead of the usual afternoon slot. This was because BBC1 only had a morning CBBC strand on this date.
83	"Good Luck Vicky"	6 January 1997 (1997-01-06) 3:55pm
Mrs Dribelle tries to make Vicky work on her last afternoon, but she has other plans.
84	"Too Close For Comfort"	13 January 1997 (1997-01-13) 3:55pm
Mrs Dribelle moves into the flat upstairs and Bodger sticks her wallpaper on with mashed potato by mistake. Then Badger and Mousey pretend to be ghosts to frighten her.
85	"The Mashy Mushtake"	20 January 1997 (1997-01-20) 3:55pm
Badger and Mousey get things mixed up, including Mrs Dribelle's beauty cream and some mashed potato.
86	"While The Cat's Away"	27 January 1997 (1997-01-27) 3:55pm
Badger and Mousey try to trap a cat burglar that has broken into the flat.
87	"Mrs Dribelle's Dancing Partner"	3 February 1997 (1997-02-03) 3:55pm
Mrs Dribelle is learning to dance so her friend Hubert can take her to a ball. In desperate need of practice, she forces Bodger to help her out. Meanwhile, Bodger's shower is not working, so he has to use Mrs Dribelle's while she's out.
88	"Vote For Me - Or Else!"	10 February 1997 (1997-02-10) 3:55pm
Mrs Dribelle stands for the town council election - but will anyone vote for her?
89	"Cuckoo"	17 February 1997 (1997-02-17) 3:55pm
After Bodger inherits a grandfather clock, Badger and Mousey decide to turn it into a cuckoo clock.
90	"The Mash Baaa-sh"	24 February 1997 (1997-02-24) 3:55pm
When Badger cannot sleep, Mousey suggests that he count sheep. Meanwhile, Bodger has an important meeting with Mrs Dribelle which goes horribly wrong when he leaves without his trousers.
91	"On The Blink"	3 March 1997 (1997-03-03) 3:55pm
Bodger gets a letter telling him the video he sent of himself reading poems is going to be on the programme 'Say Cheese', but he runs into problems trying to watch it on TV and things are made worse when Badger records over the original footage of what he sent in.
92	"Pasta Masha"	10 March 1997 (1997-03-10) 3:55pm
Badger has a visit from his Italian friend Luigi, a fellow badger who enjoys hurling spaghetti.
93	"Clay Days"	17 March 1997 (1997-03-17) 3:55pm
Bodger enters a pottery competition, but he does not expect Mousey to be in the pot.
94	"The Time Masheen"	24 March 1997 (1997-03-24) 3:55pm
Badger and Mousey travel back in time to relive some of their favourite adventures.

Series Eight (1997–1998)

Series 8 and 9 featured Bodger and Badger running a Bed & Breakfast hotel in the fictional seaside town of Puddleford (location filming for series 8 and 9 took place around Brighton). Various guests stayed at the hotel over the course of the two series and again Bodger kept Badger's presence a secret from all of them. Guests included two Spanish flamenco dancers, Miss Peake (a bad-tempered school teacher), Mr Tucknott (a dim-witted bank manager), the bubbly Mrs Bobbins, Miss Piper (a mad old woman) and Mr Wilson (a pathetic trainee bank manager). In Series 8 the characters of Millie the Milkwoman and China the dog were introduced, who featured in the show until the very end. Millie was friends with Bodger and knew about Badger, as he was friends with her dog, China. Series 8 also featured the return of Mr Smart, as he ran the B&B next door to Bodger's. Smart never seemed to have any guests staying at his hotel and was always trying to steal Bodger's. This was the first series to use the 1997 BBC branding and the last series to use the cream-coloured background for its title card and end credits.

All transmission data is taken from the BBC Genome project.

#	Title	Original Air Date
95	"A Smart Start"	15 December 1997 (1997-12-15) 4:00pm
Bodger, Badger and Mousey arrive in Puddleford to run the Seagull's Rest Bed and Breakfast. But they had not counted on the sneaky Alec Smart running the hotel next door to theirs.
96	"Well Spotted"	22 December 1997 (1997-12-22) 4:00pm
Mr Smart is trying to steal all of Bodger's hotel guests, but Badger and Mousey have other plans and use spots of red paint to get them back.
97	"Peace and Quiet"	5 January 1998 (1998-01-05) 4:00pm
An unpleasant guest named Miss Peake comes to Seagull's Rest for a nice quiet holiday, but Badger's antics make it impossible.
98	"The Extra-Terrestrial Toothbrush"	12 January 1998 (1998-01-12) 4:00pm
After a horrid stay from the night before, Miss Peake decides to leave Seagull's Rest and go somewhere else. Mr Smart immediately pounces on her and tries to persuade her to stay at his hotel. Bodger decides to make a trifle to make it up to her. When the trifle starts moving around in the kitchen, Bodger and Miss Peake think it has been taken over by aliens - but Badger knows better.
99	"Hat Ahoy!"	19 January 1998 (1998-01-19) 4:00pm
Miss Peake's sun hat goes missing because Mousey decides it's perfect for a boat, so Bodger and Badger have to get it back.
100	"Seaweed Bay"	26 January 1998 (1998-01-26) 4:00pm
Badger and Mousey lead Miss Peake and Mr Smart on a wild goose chase as they hunt for the legendary "Pirate treasure of Puddleford."
101	"Fancy That"	2 February 1998 (1998-02-02) 4:00pm
Bodger and Millie persuade Miss Peake to enter the fancy dress competition on the last day of her holiday at Seagull's Rest.
102	"Water Laugh"	9 February 1998 (1998-02-09) 4:00pm
Bodger and Badger try to compete with Mr Smart's amazing garden decorations for the upcoming gardening competition.
103	"The Potato Patch"	16 February 1998 (1998-02-16) 4:00pm
Badger has his eye on Mr Smart's potatoes - and when Smart cheats Bodger out of £20, Badger puts more than his eye on the potatoes.
104	"Doggone"	23 February 1998 (1998-02-23) 4:00pm
Badger finds a lost dog called China, so he, Bodger and Millie decide to return him to his owner. However, after hearing about the reward for finding the dog, Mr Smart tries to steal China for himself.
105	"Automashic"	2 March 1998 (1998-03-02) 4:00pm
New guests Mr Tucknott and Mrs Bobbins arrive at Seagull's Rest which is being taken over by robots who sound uncannily like Badger and Mousey.
106	"Mashy Record Breakers"	9 March 1998 (1998-03-09) 4:00pm
Who do you think holds the record for making the biggest mess with mashed potato? Meanwhile, Mr Tucknott gets nervous about writing a speech to perform in front of the other bank managers.
107	"Big Bear"	16 March 1998 (1998-03-16) 4:00pm
Is Mrs Bobbins' toy bear really a toy bear - or is it Badger in disguise?
108	"Mash Cash"	23 March 1998 (1998-03-23) 4:00pm
Badger and Mousey cause chaos when they think Mr Tucknott has stolen Mrs Bobbins' money, but he is only trying to help.
109	"Splosh!"	30 March 1998 (1998-03-30) 4:00pm
Badger and Mousey form their own fire brigade and rig up fire extinguishers (ceiling-hung balloons full of mashed potato) in the hotel.

Series Nine (1998–1999)

Series 9 continued with the setting of series 8, with Bodger still running his hotel with Badger and (unwittingly) Mousey in tow. In this series the character of Mrs Melly (nicknamed Mrs Smelly by Badger and Mousey) was introduced, the bossy tourist information officer who stopped people from having fun on the beach outside her office. She hated Bodger and refused to recommend his B&B to tourists although she was kind to him in one episode - "Hundreds And Thousands". The opening titles changed this series and no longer featured the Bodger & Badger logo.

Andy Cunningham revealed in an interview for a book that Bodger and Badger ended its ten-year run in 1999 when the Head of BBC Children's Programmes - Christopher Pilkington (who had commissioned the show in 1989 and championed it since then) - left his post and the programme was not renewed by his successors - Andy said that he was not surprised by this, but he didn't reveal why. He mentioned that he didn't mind this anyway as he said he was struggling for inspiration for things to do with mashed potato towards the end of the show's run. Reference Vaux, Garry (2012). Legends of Kids TV 2. UK: GJB Publishing. pp. 59–60. ISBN   9780956334374.

All transmission dates were obtained from the BBC Genome project.

#	Title	Original Air Date
110	"Hello Mrs Melly"	14 December 1998 (1998-12-14) 3:55pm
The mean-spirited Mrs S. Melly is the new Tourist Information Officer in Puddleford, and immediately takes a dislike to Bodger. To make matters worse, Badger has left the hotel in a mess when she comes round for an inspection.
111	"Poster Potatoes"	21 December 1998 (1998-12-21) 4:00pm
After Mrs Melly refuses to add Seagull's Rest to her Good Hotel Guide, Bodger and Badger decide to do some advertising of their own. This episode was moved to 4:00pm owing to an episode of Due South being scheduled earlier that day.
112	"A Twitch in Time"	4 January 1999 (1999-01-04) 3:55pm
Miss Piper, an elderly birdwatcher, comes to stay at Seagull's Rest hoping to spot a rare bird. Unfortunately, she reveals this to Mrs Melly, who has an idea to catch the rare bird so she can charge people to see it.
113	"A Whale of a Time"	11 January 1999 (1999-01-11) 3:55pm
Bodger decides to make a video advertising Seagull's Rest. But it all goes wrong when Badger and Mousey want to make their own film.
114	"The Great Escape"	18 January 1999 (1999-01-18) 3:55pm
Trainee Bank Manager Mr Wilson comes to stay at Seagull's Rest. Unfortunately, he gets locked in the bathroom when he has a serious interview to go to, thanks to Mousey.
115	"Hundreds and Thousands"	25 January 1999 (1999-01-25) 3:55pm
Mrs Melly mistakes Bodger's telephone conversation for winning the lottery and starts being nice to him, thinking he's won hundreds and thousands of pounds.
116	"Mr Wilson's Bathing Trunks"	1 February 1999 (1999-02-01) 3:55pm
Mr Wilson has a job interview to attend, but beforehand he decides to go for a swim. Things go awry when Mrs Melly takes his clothes away while he's swimming and refuses to give them back.
117	"Green Potatoes"	8 February 1999 (1999-02-08) 3:55pm
Bodger's new green towel gets ruined thanks to Mousey, so Badger makes another one by covering a white one with green paint, but they had not counted on Mrs Melly using it.
118	"A Mashy Romance"	15 February 1999 (1999-02-15) 3:55pm
P.E teacher Mr Gripper arrives to stay at Seagull's Rest. He comes across Mrs Melly and immediately falls in love with her. Meanwhile, Badger and Mousey bottle mashed potato soup, some of which ends up in a sun tan lotion bottle.
119	"China Comes To Stay"	22 February 1999 (1999-02-22) 3:55pm
Millie leaves China with Bodger and Badger to look after him for a day.
120	"Pop"	1 March 1999 (1999-03-01) 3:55pm
While watching a film on the TV, Bodger receives a Sodastream fizzy pop machine in the post and sets about making fizzy pop, but Badger and Mousey decide to make fizzy mash with Millie's empty milk bottles. When the corks shoot off the bottles, Bodger and Mr Wilson believe it's gunshots and that the hotel is being raided by bank robbers.
121	"Ready, Steady, Go"	8 March 1999 (1999-03-08) 3:55pm
A bullying Mr Gripper challenges Mr Wilson to a running race around the sea front, but when Badger and Mousey see him cheating, they decide to stop him from winning.
122	"Mrs Melly Investigates"	15 March 1999 (1999-03-15) 3:55pm
After finding rabbits in another hotel in Puddleford, Mrs Melly decides to find out once and for all what is happening at Bodger's hotel. Badger thinks Mrs Melly is a burglar and sets all the anti-burglar devices off.
123	"Puddleford Day"	22 March 1999 (1999-03-22) 3:55pm
It's a special day of dressing up in Puddleford, as it's the day when Queen Elizabeth I visited their town, only Badger has other plans for this day including ruining Mrs Melly's poem.
124	"Mashy Museum"	29 March 1999 (1999-03-29) 3:55pm
Badger, Mousey and China show a various amount of items that remind them, of memories from the previous episodes, of how much fun they had.

References

1. Hayward, Anthony. "Andy Cunningham obituary", The Guardian , London, 12 June 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
2. Vaux, Garry (2012). Legends of Kids TV 2. UK: GJB Publishing. p. 58. ISBN   9780956334374.
3. "Bodger and Badger star Andy Cunningham dies aged 67". BBC News. 7 June 2017.
4. "Bodger and Badger star Andy Cunningham dies aged 67". ITV News. 7 June 2017.
5. McGroarty, Adam (10 July 2022). "Bodger's Badger: The Folkestone singer bringing back a childhood TV favourite". Kent Live. Retrieved 18 January 2023.

External links

• Comedy Guide - Bodger and Badger at bbc.co.uk
• Bodger and Badger Episode Guide
• Bodger and Badger at IMDb
• Bodger and Badger are back