Monthly column on the arts

David Porter  |  Features
Date posted:  1 Jul 2001
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Launched with relatively little kerfuffle, BBC2's new imported cartoon series God, The Devil and Bob features God (said to resemble Gerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, but to my eye a dead ringer for Steven Spielberg) and the Devil (played as camp and English).

God has become disillusioned with humanity and wants to wipe it out and start again (there goes Genesis 8:21, for a start). The devil objects: they decide that if one human being can demonstrate that humanity is worth saving, God will abandon his plan. The devil chooses the human being at random - Bob, a family man, fond of beer, pornography and sport.

The show was created by American TV giant NBC, nine of whose affiliates promptly refused to screen it. Possibly they were put off by NBC's promises of dance nights in hell, a beer-swilling God, and a girlfriend for God. BBC2, however, had no such scruples.

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