Bob and Margaret is an adult animated sitcom created by David Fine and Alison Snowden and co-produced by Nelvana Limited and Channel 4 as a collaboration, both financial and artistic. The last two seasons were co-produced without Channel 4, but with continuing British involvement in the animation, cast, and screenwriting. The series was based on the Academy Award-winning short film Bob's Birthday, featuring the same main characters, which won the Best Animated Short Film Oscar in 1994. In Canada, it was the highest-rated, domestically made animated series ever when it aired in primetime on Global.
Premise The show revolves around a married British couple named Bob and Margaret Fish. They are a middle-class professional working couple of forty-ish with no children and two dogs named William and Elizabeth (named after regal, historical figures), who often serve as surrogates for children and are considered to be characters with personalities in their own right. The couple also work in healthcare settings; Bob is a dentist and Margaret is a chiropodist.
Bob and Margaret struggle with everyday issues and mid-life crises. Stories often revolve around the mundane, but in a way that is eminently relatable, from the trials of shopping to dealing with friends who annoy them but owe them a dinner. They are often seen enjoying various takeaways – various Asian dishes (such as curry and Chinese), and especially pizza – as they navigate their lazy, sedentary homelives.
In the first two seasons, Bob and Margaret live in England, in the South London community of Balham. For the third and fourth seasons, they move to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, allowing the writers to explore the humour of the culture clash. The move was mandated by the realities of funding after Channel 4 backed out, with certain Canadian grants and tax benefits being dependent on stories being physically based in Canada. As such, the transition was necessary to finance the show's continued production. Fine and Snowden chose to take an executive role on these latter two seasons, reviewing scripts and consulting, but not involved in as granular detail as they were for the first two seasons. Snowden continued to provide Margaret's voice, but Brian George replaced Andy Hamilton as Bob's voice.
Characters Main characters Bob Fish (voiced by Andy Hamilton in seasons 1-2 and Brian George in seasons 3–4): a British dentist working in South London in the district of Clapham. He is the husband of Margaret and his parents are Daisy and Cesal Fish. Bob's brother Peter is a successful world-class TV chef, and his sister Susan is a past divorcée and single mother. His father is deceased and only appears in flashbacks. His mother is still alive and very mean-spirited toward Bob but showers admiration and adoration on Peter. Throughout the show, Bob is portrayed as the kindest, most understanding member of his family, but there are times he is cocky and ignorant. In Season 3, he is forced to emigrate with Margaret to the Canadian city of Toronto in order to secure legal custody of their dogs William and Elizabeth. He later becomes the primary dentist at the Inner City Dental clinic. Margaret Fish (voiced by Alison Snowden): Bob's blonde wife, a British chiropodist working in South London. Her parents, Tony and Maureen Heslop, greatly adore her husband Bob but show little to no respect for their own daughter Margaret, who quietly resents them for it. She is caring and very passive, which leads other people to take advantage of her, but she learns to stand up for herself when the occasion calls for it. At one time she was accidentally classified as a terrorist by the London police department, who even attempted to assassinate her until they were informed that she was innocent. In Season 3, she is forced to emigrate to Toronto with Bob where she becomes the lead podiatrist at the Women's Clinic (and in order to secure legal custody of their dogs William and Elizabeth). Margaret has appeared in every episode with Bob.
British-based characters Daisy: Bob's mother. Peter (voiced by Steve Coogan): Bob's brother, a successful television chef. Neil and Moira (Neil voiced by Jamie Watson and Moira voiced by Doon Mackichan): Appears in season 1 ("Friends for Dinner"). Dorothy (voiced by Doon Mackichan): Appears in season 1 ("A Tale of Two Dentists"). Dr. Stanway (voiced by Steve Coogan): Appears in "A Tale of Two Dentists". Gerald and Charlotte (both voiced by Lily Snowden): Peter's children who appear in the episode ("For Pete's Sake") in season 1. Beany and Boney (Beany was voiced by Steve Brody): Two burglars from London. Bernard Wiggins (Voiced by Steve Coogan): Appears in season 1 ("The Dental Convention"). Kitty and Larry (Kitty voiced by Alison Snowden and Larry voiced by Jamie Watson): Appears in season 1 ("Neighbours"). Cathy and Ken (Ken voiced by Steve Brody): Cathy and Ken are an overbearing couple who were friends with Margaret back in London, but Bob despises them. Cathy often becomes annoyed by Ken's antics and becomes remorseful whenever something bad happens to him. They first appeared in the episode ("Blood, Sweat, and Tears") in season 1. Eden (voiced by Doon Mackichan): Eden (Edie) is Margaret's ex-secretary at her London chiropody clinic. Penny (voiced by Doon Mackichan): After the arrest of "Dorothy" (who was suspected to have been an accomplice in patient molestations), Bob's secretary at his former dental office in London, Penny becomes her substitute. She is characterised as a lazy, irresponsible and neglectful employee with an attitude problem. Penny (at her boyfriend's urging) was actually responsible for Bob and Margaret having death threats hurled at them from protesters in violence and being forced to flee London when the term got out that their dogs were being neglected. Mr. Perkins: Howard Perkins owns a flower shop and briefly hires Penny away from Bob. Rachel: Dr. Rachel Turbull is a clinical therapist and a former friend of Margaret. Her partner is Matt who runs an alcoholic-anonymous meeting to whom Bob makes all to lose their sobriety due to his depressing stories.
Canadian-based characters Melvin and Cookie Fish (Melvin voiced by Wayne Robson and Cookie voiced by Jayne Eastwood): Melvin and Cookie Fish are Bob's friendly Canadian cousins from the Toronto suburb of Mississauga; they both have carefree demanours and always have a positive, humorous view of life. The series depicts them as being proud Canadians who always need to compare Toronto to London (and once to New York, USA, as revealed in "Stranded in Toronto") with Toronto always coming out far ahead. They love and admire Bob and Margaret but unknowingly pester them on numerous occasions, for example playing their vacation videos about their visits to London, which turn up all the hilarious, humiliating moments of their taping Bob and Margaret at their worst times. The couple have two aggressive cats named Buster and Bailey. They first appeared in the episode ("The Discomfort of Strangers") in Season 1 and return as minors in the final two seasons. Heather (voiced by Vickie Papavs): Heather is a secretary at the Inner City Dental Clinic working in Bob's dental office in Toronto and has similar attributes to Penny in terms of facial expression, but she is gentle and less judgmental with a carefree demeanour. Ed, Patel, and Audra: Ed and Patel are two other dentists working at the Inner City Dental Clinic with Bob. Ed is a defined as a Canadian woodsman; Patel is an Indian hygienist who encourages Bob to take on challenges for success. In one episode, Ed and Patel fight when they and Bob head out on a camping adventure. Audra is Bob's other dental hygienist who works in his Toronto dental clinic. Robin (voiced by Yanna McIntosh): is a reflexologist working at the women's clinic in Toronto, who employs Margaret as the clinic's podiatrist. She appears to be of African-Caribbean descent. Guinevere Long (voiced by Tracey Hoyt): Guinevere is chiropractic intern at women's clinic in Toronto, seen as calm and friendly to Margaret. Trevor and Joyce: (Trevor voiced by Dwayne Hill and Joyce voiced by Robin Duke later Jayne Eastwood): Trevor and Joyce are Bob and Margaret's next-door neighbours in Toronto. Trevor is a lazy, alcoholic slob, and his wife Joyce is a hard-working smoker. The couple is mostly seen quarreling. Dr. Yosselhifer (voiced by Harvey Atkin): is the president of the Council of Canadian Dentistry. He is seen as ruthless, egotistic, and uptight towards Bob. Dr. Klein (voiced by Benedict Campbell): is a plastic surgeon who helps remove a suspicious beauty mole for Margaret. Ray and Tiffany (Ray voiced by Christian Potenza): Tiffany is Cousin Melvin's goddaughter, and Ray was her fiancé in "The Wedding." Gary: Trevor and Joyce's son, a former army cadet who has a crush on Bob's secretary Heather. Alice and Lyle: a divorced couple whose photograph package is accidentally mixed up with Bob's at the pharmacy. Angie and Cheryl: two young-aged delinquents and offenders who are sentenced to serve out their community service with Margaret. Mickey Musselman: is a business owner of furniture store and political candidate running for Alderman in Ward 9, he runs against Jimmy the Clown, Carl Schultz and Margaret in a local byelection. He is loosely inspired by former Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman. Elizabeth Roth: was a former candidate for Alderman in Ward 9. She relapses due to alcoholism prompting Margaret to take over her campaign. Tanya (voiced by Terri Hawkes): is a member of book club in which Margaret joins, she appears in the episode ("Book Club"). Hawkes also voices various roles in other episodes including "The Getaway", "The Candidate" and "Mastermind". TV Announcer (voiced by Mark Dailey)
Series overview
Season Episodes Originally aired DVD and Blu-ray release date Season premiere Season finale Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 1 13
16 February 2010 2 13
25 September 2005 17 July 2006 3 13
4 13
Episodes
Season 1 (1998–99) All episodes in Season 1 are directed by Jamie Whitney, Andrew Young and Jason Groh.