The Sir Bernard Moore Show: Tape-recorded adventures around the fictional village of Hobsick

Have You Heard? is where the Pod Bible team meet the people behind the podcasts you may not have heard of yet. This time we are talking to Jim and Joseph Dethick, creators of The Sir Bernard Moore Show…

Who are you and what’s your podcast about?

We are the Dethick Brothers (Jim and Joseph) from rural Derbyshire, and we are the creators of The Sir Bernard Moore Show, which follows the unemployable, misunderstood, drunk gobby zombie Sir Bernard Moore and his Uncle Elliot Francois Campey on their tape-recorded adventures around the fictional village of Hobsick in 1992. It is a quintessential British sitcom with its streaks of absurdity, surrealism and farce and endearing yet often flawed characters. The show has a big heart and offers what we think is a unique comic perspective on the power of community and friendship.

What was the first podcast you ever listened to?

This is no doubt most unusual but we haven’t actually ever listened to any other podcasts. We don’t have smartphones and the whole concept of podcasts is quite new to us. For an audio comedy we’re more likely to be listening to a vinyl record of The Goon Show. In a way, being so unaware of what other people are making now has probably given this show a sound and direction which is quite out of the ordinary. People have told us that it sounds like nothing else.

Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?

We originally come from a filmmaking background but have always done our own sound design, sound effects and music, so to make that transition from a visual to audio medium was quite smooth. There are so many freedoms you can have in creating a world with sound that you just can’t do visually on a limited budget, so this realisation opened up many possibilities. For a very long time we had improvised characters and comic sketches and songs as a means to creating ideas for films, but had always put certain characters on the back-burner until we felt old enough to play them, and focused enough to do the ideas justice. When we realised we can have control over what we put out, and where and when, it was a revelation. The time just felt right.

Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

The bulk of our inspiration comes from real life and real people – we lived in a busy guest house for 27 years and had people from all over the world staying and interacting with us. We met literally hundreds of people whose stories, quirks and unique voices helped us to create characters and fully flesh them out in realistic ways. We became keen observers, and honed the skills to translate what is just day-to-day conversation into comic material.

Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?

It would be an undiscovered comedy genius called Dave Smith, from the environs of Chesterfield. We made a short comedy film with him ten years ago called Spotlight on Pork and his improvisational ability is astounding. He has a natural and formidable comic timing. If only we could persuade him to come out of retirement and sit in front of a microphone with us.

Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?

Episode 3 of series 1, ‘A Hobsick Odyssey: Discoveries of the Then and Mysteries of the Now’. It’s an almost 2 hour-long feature which goes into a lot of character detail relating to backstories and personal histories, and we think it’s the show at its very best. Though it was released as episode 3 of 8, it was actually the last one that we recorded, and it says a lot of the things that make the characters really come alive, and delves deep into the comic world. It’s also a largely improvised episode which was recorded on location and features a number of songs – it’s really a blueprint for how we’d like to make series 2.

Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?

Everything we have produced is all linked from our website: temperancepictures.com, which is the name of our production company. All of our comedy work, music and films are on there, as well as a bit about our background and what we’re doing at the moment. You can also find us on YouTube: @thesirbernardmooreshow, where each episode is accompanied with some rather wonderful character photographs.

Listen to The Sir Bernard Moore Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other popular podcast apps >>