Dick and Dom have reflected on 20 years since their hit children's TV programme first launched in the UK. Appearing on Steph's Packed Lunch on Channel 4, the comedy double-act – Richard McCourt and Dominic Wood – recalled how the volume of toilet humour on Dick & Dom in da Bungalow caused a string of complaints from angry parents and MPs at the time.
But the duo said taking "a lot of risks" was a key reason why the show found success. Da Bungalow ran for five series on the BBC between 2002 and 2006.
Recurring features on the live Saturday morning game show included cartoons, slapstick puppet sketches and "Bogies" – a game in which the pair took turns to shout "bogies" in quiet public places at gradually increasing volumes.
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Speaking to Steph McGovern, Wood, 44, said the programme would be unlikely to get commissioned today. He said: "It's a shame that that kind of thing isn't around anymore.
"I think the way kids view content has totally changed and everything's on-demand, everything's digital, everything's YouTube now. So I think even if you brought that kind of show back I don't know if it would really work."
He added: "We've always been a big fan of irreverent humour. But there is less and less [these days] because people are more and more scared of making challenging TV and theatre shows."
Da Bungalow regularly attracted more than a million viewers at its peak and was awarded two Baftas in 2004. Asked about how they made the show feel hilariously spontaneous, McCourt, 45, revealed that it was never rehearsed.
"It was literally turn up at the studio on a Saturday morning and go for it", he said. "We just had a bullet board on the side of the set that said 'Bogies', 'next game', 'cartoon' and we just ad-libbed round it."
Wood quipped: "It's a bit like this show really!"
The pair are set to go on a UK tour later this year to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Da Bungalow's launch. They said the live performances will be family-friendly and a "massive nostalgia-fest".
"It will be exactly the same as the TV show – same characters, same games, same music", McCourt said. "You'll just get that fuzzy feeling inside from your childhood."
Steph's Packed Lunch airs weekdays at 12:30 on Channel 4.
