Mortimer guests on Painting Birds With Jim And Nancy Moir

Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer are reuniting on screen for the first time in four years. 

Mortimer will be the guest on the Christmas edition of Vic’s Sky Arts show Painting Birds With Jim And Nancy Moir.

In the series, made under his real name, Reeves and his wife visit beauty spots across the UK to indulge his passion for capturing wildlife on canvas.

In the episode, the Moirs visit Penshurst Palace and Gardens in Kent, near Mortimer’s home, where Jim paints a robin that his comedy partner could use as a Christmas card.

But Mortimer admits the robin is not his favourite bird because it's 'a bit of a hooligan’.

Moir agreed, calling them ‘territorial little brutes – when you hear a robin singing its sweet song it’s probably saying "get out me garden or I'll kick your face in".'

His painting is based on a rough sketch that Mortimer draws – and Moir describes as ‘a pigeon with an Arthur Scargill haircut’.

And of the finished work, Moir admits: ‘It's not a robin in the traditional sense...’

In the show, due to air at 8pm on December 22, the pair also discuss outdoor fashions and their favourite meals.

They have not appeared on screen together since the revival of Vic and Bob's Big Night Out, which last aired in 2019.

Earlier this year, Moir sparked some sadness among fans when he admitted he ‘never really speaks’ to Mortimer any more, but said they did occasionally meet up.

They have reportedly been working on their long-awaited film The Glove, about two friends searching for Michael Jackson’s mythical training glove. But there has been no news on it for more than a year, since Succession’s Brian Cox was announced as jointing the cast. 

Mortimer will also be seen on BBC Two over Christmas with a festive edition of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing in which he, Paul Whitehouse, and dog Ted travel to Scotland to fish the rivers Dee, Tay and Ericht and to take part in traditional Hogmanay celebrations.

Published: 6 Dec 2023