''A Scare at Bedtime'' (also known as ''Podge and Rodge: A Scare at Bedtime'') is an Irish television show, produced by Double Z Enterprises and broadcast by RTÉ, featuring the two puppets

Podge and Rodge Pádraig Judas O'Leprosy and Rodraig Spartacus O'Leprosy (born 1941) are the central characters of Irish television series '' A Scare at Bedtime'', created and performed by Ciaran Morrison and Mick O'Hara. More recently, the brothers have presen ...

as the hosts of a spooky tales and urban myths comedy show. It ran from 1997 until January 2006. ''A Scare at Bedtime'' was originally commissioned by

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...

to fill a ten-minute gap that was left before the 23:00

News News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to event ...

due to the short running times of American shows that preceded it. This show took its name from the nightly

1 show called '' A Prayer at Bedtime'', which overlaid the text of a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

prayer over serene images with

choral music A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

playing. ''A Scare at Bedtime'', first aired in 1997, is close to being the polar opposite of this, with extremely adult content, lewd jokes and slightly obscene anecdotes being related by the two puppets and 'Tales of Caution' acted out in live action segments. Podge's origins on '' The Den'' is ignored, as the backstory gradually established on ''A Scare at Bedtime'', presents Podge and his identical twin brother Rodge to be both in their sixties, and living in Ballydung Manor, a converted

insane asylum The lunatic asylum (or insane asylum) was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. The fall of the lunatic asylum and its eventual replacement by modern psychiatric hospitals explains the rise of organized, institutional psychiatry ...

for most of that time, with a lunatic nurse that they call "Granny" who practices the dark arts (since she is dating Satan, whom they refer to as the "quare fella" throughout the series) . They were also then given full names also: Padraig Judas O'Leprocy and Rodraig Spartacus O'Leprocy. Each episode follows the same pattern: Rodge, the dumber of the two, arrives home. Originally the pair would get into bed but in later seasons they sat at the kitchen table. They talk about what Rodge was doing, with Podge usually insulting him. This leads Podge on to telling a story (acted out by live actors) about some people (whose names are usually sexual innuendos, e.g. Chris Peacock, Ulick McGee, Neil Down, Mickey Scratcher and Inspector Bush) who inevitably come to an unpleasant end. Rodge interrupts the story with stupid comments and/or reference to

masturbation Masturbation is the sexual stimulation of one's own genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. The stimulation may involve hands, fingers, everyday objects, sex toys such as vibrators, or combinat ...

. It ends with Podge punishing Rodge for no reason.

have mimicked Irish folk duo

Foster and Allen Foster and Allen are a musical duo from Ireland consisting of Mick Foster and Tony Allen. In their 47-year career, they have released over 52 albums, many of which entered the UK Albums Chart. Along with "A Bunch of Thyme" (entering the Irish ch ...

. The characters are called " Fester and Ailin'" and were seen on ''An Audience with Podge & Rodge'' satirically arguing with Foster and Allen, with each claiming the other copied their act. Fester states: "Ailin' here came out of the womb with that accordion on him". Fester and Ailin' also claim that Foster and Allen's song "Bunch of Thyme" was in fact a stolen copy of their original work "Bunch of Lesbians". Fester and Ailin's songs featured in the series included "Tropical Diseases", "The Monkey Song" and "Doing the Wife's Sisters on the Sly" as well as the classic yuletide number ''"There's a Dead Man Up The Chimney"''. The show has run for nine series as of January 2006. The programme has aired in both the UK and Ireland on

RTÉ Two (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

, Tara TV,

UK Play Play UK was a television channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom as part of the UKTV network of channels. Play UK broadcast all day on the digital platforms, but on the Sky Analogue platform on the Astra 19.2°E satellite system it broadcas ...

and the

Paramount Comedy Channel Comedy Central is a British pay television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated. This channel is specific to audiences within the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is aligned with the original US versi ...

. ''A Scare at Bedtime'' was nominated in the Best Entertainment Programme category of the Irish Film and television Academy Awards in both 1999 and 2000. Winning the

IFTA Ifta is a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany. Since 1 January 2019, it has been part of the town Treffurt Treffurt () is a small town in the western region of the Wartburgkreis district which belongs to the ...

for Best Entertainment Programme in 2000. 'A Scare at Bedtime Collection' is an eight disc DVD box set of all nine seasons of 150 episodes (including fifty never for sale before) that was released to coincide with Halloween 2010.

TV specials

''Podge & Rodge's Christmas Log'': A half-hour Christmas Special featuring clips from the series broadcast on

RTÉ 2 (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...

in December 2002. ''An Audience with Podge & Rodge'': An hour long precursor to '' The Podge and Rodge Show'' was broadcast on

on 26 December 2005 with guests

Ray D'Arcy Raymond Michael D'Arcy (born 1 September 1964) is an Irish television and radio presenter currently on his second stint at state broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He once presented a self-titled weekday morning radio programme on ...

and

Amanda Brunker Amanda Brunker (born 12 June 1974) is a novelist, journalist and columnist for the Irish ''Sunday World'' tabloid newspaper, and former Miss Ireland. After attending Mount Temple Comprehensive School she turned to modelling, entering and winning ...

. Music from Ding Dong Denny O'Reilly and VT inserts from various Irish personalities including

Gerry Ryan Gerard Ryan (4 June 1956 – 30 April 2010) was an Irish presenter of radio and television employed by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He presented '' The Gerry Ryan Show'' on radio station RTÉ 2fm each weekday morning from 1988 until ...

Nell McCafferty Nell McCafferty (born 28 March 1944) is an Irish journalist, playwright, civil rights campaigner and feminist. She has written for ''The Irish Press'', ''The Irish Times'', ''Sunday Tribune'', ''Hot Press'' and '' The Village Voice''. Early li ...

, PJ Gallagher, Mary Black with their memories and opinions of Podge and Rodge. There were also clips from ''A Scare at Bedtime''. The show was filmed in front of a studio audience of skeletons and one man and his dog.

Awards

Irish Film and Television Academy Awards: * Best Entertainment Show – 1999 Nomination * Best Entertainment Show – 2000 WON

Home releases

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scare at Bedtime 1997 Irish television series debuts 1990s Irish television series 2000s Irish television series Irish comedy television shows Irish television shows featuring puppetry RTÉ original programming Television series about dysfunctional families