The Mighty Boosh: Season 1

A bizarre and hilarious comedy adventure about Howard and Vince, two zookeepers at the dilapidated ‘Bog Fossil's Zoo-niverse'

You'll laugh, but you won't know why...

Howard and Vince, two workers in a run-down zoo, are often called upon to put their jobs before their pride. That means dressing up as animals and sitting in cages because their boss, American entrepreneur Bob Fossil, can't afford any real animals. Vince accepts the situation happily, quite in contrast to his grandiose, tweed-wearing colleague. But their jobs involve much more than just dressing up. From battling mutant animals engineered in a secret laboratory underneath the zoo, to fighting a kangaroo to raise money for their dilapidated workplace, Howard and Vince always find themselves at the center of some very strange events.

Killeroo - Dixon Bainbridge asks Bob Fossil to set up a highly illegal and shady kangaroo boxing match between the terrifying ‘Killeroo'... and Howard. Howard thinks that by winning the fight he will impress the Head of Reptiles, Mrs Gideon. Vince enlists his uncle, a bare-knuckle fighter with a very strange accent, to help with Howard's training.

Mutants - All is not well at the Zoo-niverse. Animals are disappearing one by one. Things go from bad to worse when Joey Moose, one of the zookeepers, goes missing. When Mrs Gideon reports that her python is also on the missing list, reported stolen, Howard is determined to save the day. Howard and Vince stumble across Dixon Bainbridge's secret laboratory and the terrible truth behind his ‘experiments' comes to light.

Bollo - Bollo, the eldest and most respected gorilla at the Zoo-niverse is gravely ill. Bob Fossil persuades Howard to dress in an ape suit, replacing Bollo, so that he can continue accepting sponsorship money for the gorilla. Everything's going smoothly until the Grim Reaper arrives and mistakenly takes Howard to Ape Hell instead. Vince sets off to rescue Howard and they run into trouble when they encounter the Ape of Death who is plagued with problem hair..

Tundra - In an attempt to compete with daring adventurer Dixon Bainbridge, Howard and Vince set off in search of the Egg of Mantumbi - with the assistance of Gary Numan. Into the whiteness, the nothingness of the Arctic Tundra, the boys come face to face with hideous ice demon Black Frost. Luckily, Vince has befriended a polar bear.

Jungle - Dixon Bainbridge, owner of the Zoo-niverse, is intent on selling to the highest bidder. There's a road being built through it and ‘if the animals won't work on it, they'll be underneath it'. Howard and Vince embark on an arduous trip deep into the Jungle Room, in search of the only man they think can help save the zoo - Howard's hero, Tommy Nookah.

Charlie - Howard is hell-bent on a career as a serious writer in the hope that he will improve his chances with Mrs Gideon. However, when famous publisher Hamilton Cork arrives at the Zoo-niverse, he decides to publish Vince's literary efforts about a pink bubblegum character called Charlie. Meanwhile, Bob Fossil has embarked on a new breeding programme for the pandas.

Electro - Vince is convinced that The Human League invented music. According to Vince, Howard's past career as a jazz trumpeter does not measure up. When Vince is offered a chance to join a new band, ‘Kraftwork Orange' with Johnny Two Hats and the Electro Girls, he's intent on leaving everything behind, including Howard.

Hitcher - Bob Fossil has a big problem at Zoo-niverse. Ivan the bear has developed some very anti-social habits and attacks Fossil. After Naboo saves his life, Fossil arranges a place for Ivan at an Animal Offenders' Institute. All he has to do is find a couple of idiots to drive Ivan there in the clapped-out old Zoo-niverse van. All Howard and Vince have to do is get there and back, in one piece, without falling foul of the Hitcher.

Written by Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding, Rich Fulcher
Directed by Paul King, Steve Bendelack
Produced by Alison McPhail, Spencer Millman, Ted Dowd
Executive Produced by Henry Normal, Steve Coogan, Mark Freeland, Lindsay Hughes
Original Music by Julian Barratt
Cinematography by John Simmons, John Sorapure
Film Editing by Gary Dollner, Mark Everson, Alan Levy, Adam Windmill
Costume Design by Annie Hardinge, June Nevin

"...endearing, daft and so refreshingly clean that one can imagine children loving it as much as cult comedy enthusiasts" The Times

"...it really works. It's funny and fast, referential but endearingly innocent." Time Out

"The Mighty Boosh hadn't been running for more than five seconds before I was giggling, but I couldn't be sure what about. It helped that Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding's pilot for BBC3 had been very funny. But there was also something winning about the combination they made as their alter egos, Vince Noir and Howard Moon. Underneath all the surreal top-dressing it was quite conventional, a double-act in which one is self-important and full of aspirations, and the other is silly and mischievously undermining... but, whenever Barratt and Fielding were on screen together alone, it was funny." Independent

"This new comedy series could be described as Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer meet Rene Magritte ... a show that can be best summed up as wacky, wild and weird. In the past, Barratt has said that the idea behind their comedy is to make people "think ‘what is going on?' It's good to give people a jolt. If they're expecting one thing, it's important to give them something else." They certainly subvert normal comic expectations here." Independent

"It's all strangely likeable, being vaguely reminiscent of The Goodies, and so refreshingly clean that one can imagine children loving it as much as cult comedy enthusiasts." The Times

"If you like your comedy on the surreal side then you won't want to miss this new series." Observer

"Surreal, stylish and funny, The Mighty Boosh (as Barratt and Fielding call their partnership) could prove a hit for BBC3, especially with its youthful target audience. They may even enjoy, in time, a crossover success onto BBC2, like the recent and popular transfer of Little Britain" Sunday Times

"The dynamic works well - would-be rock star Fielding is a preening dandy while the taciturn Barratt is a tragic, misunderstood quiet man, and the material is impressive for favouring imagination over cheap or cynical laughs." Guardian

"The first tickle of a new obsession being formed is a powerful thing, and it happened to me this past week when I happened to catch The Mighty Boosh on BBC America's late-night comedy lineup ... The creators/writers/stars Julian Barratt (Howard) and Noel Fielding (Vince) are a kicky twosome, and their show ... is like a Sid and Marty Krofft production engineered by Frank Zappa. But its delight in fantastic plots, genre parody, warped songcraft and quick-witted off-road conversations ultimately vaults The Mighty Boosh ... into some rare atmosphere between sitcom and sketch." Los Angeles Weekly

"It's not only utterly unbleak, it's actually rather charming. And it features lots of great monkey dancing." Philadelphia Weekly

• The Mighty Boosh, BBC