''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 as the hosts of a spooky tales and urban myths comedy show. It ran from November 24, 1997 until January 9, 2006. ''A Scare at Bedtime'' was originally commissioned by

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

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

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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 The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

prayer over serene images with

choral music A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

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 ''

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'' 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, insane asylum or mental asylum was an institution where people with mental illness were confined. It was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from and eventually replace ...

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 a form of autoeroticism in which a person Sexual stimulation, sexually stimulates their own Sex organ, genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of han ...

. It ends with Podge punishing Rodge for no reason. Podge and Rodge have mimicked Irish folk duo Foster and Allen. 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 (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Republic of Ireland, Irish Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, television, RT� ...

, Tara TV, UK Play and the Paramount Comedy Channel. ''A Scare at Bedtime'' was nominated in the Best Entertainment Programme category of the

Irish Film and Television Awards The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is an all-Ireland organisation focused on film and television. It has about 1000 members, and is based in Dublin, with branches in London and Los Angeles. The IFTA now holds separate ceremonies for the ...

in both 1999 and 2000. Winning the

IFTA Ifta is a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Al ...

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 (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

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 and Amanda Brunker. 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 people, 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 1 ...

, Nell McCafferty, Foster and Allen, PJ Gallagher,

Mary Black Mary Black (born 23 May 1955) is an Irish folk singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both traditional folk and modern material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland. Background Mary Black was born into a m ...

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 2000s Irish television series Irish comedy television shows Irish television shows featuring puppetry RTÉ original programming Television series about dysfunctional families