a b Fox, Killian (16 October 2022). "The Satsuma Complex by Bob Mortimer review – the sleuth is out there". The Guardian . Retrieved 18 October 2022. In October 2015, Mortimer underwent triple bypass surgery, which led to the cancellation of the first leg of the Reeves and Mortimer 25 years tour. [33] On the day of his hospital admission, he married Lisa Matthews, his girlfriend of 22 years, under a special marriage licence express from London. They have two sons, named Harry and Tom. [34] Here, our titular hero Demon Copperhead is born to a drug-addicted, teenage, trailer-park mother.He has to battle everyone and everything to make something of himself. But this is so much more than a clever literary exercise. And so begins Gary's quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life..."

The story is "about a bloke who's wife leaves him but maybe she's been taken, he's got to find out" Mortimer told The One Show. "On the way he utilises a very long shoe to solve the mystery" If you are in the North America, look out for US/Canadian flag icons on popular product listings for direct links. The comedian first revealed that he was writing a second novel in May, following the success of his debut The Satsuma Complex. He told Kathy Burke on her Where There's A Will, There's A Wake podcast, that he would not be reviving his semi-autobiographical, disaffected legal assistant character Gary Thorn from the first novel.And so begins Gary's quest, through the estates and pie shops of South London, to finally bring some love and excitement into his unremarkable life... Also in 2005, Mortimer voiced the character of Father Nicholas in the animated BBC Three series Popetown. The show was not broadcast by the channel, for fear of offending Catholic viewers, though it saw a DVD release later that year. [20]

The book is focused around a 30 year-old legal assistant at a firm of solicitors in London. Mortimer himself worked as a solicitor before becoming a comedian. Wallop, Harry (5 October 2009). "Churchill dog to star in 22 pantos. Oh Yes". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 7 July 2019. Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer webchat – as it happened". The Guardian. 16 June 2015 . Retrieved 13 November 2020. It is the comedian’s first novel and is the subject of a murder mystery (Picture: Simon and Schuster) Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19thed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p.452. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

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Mortimer co-wrote the BBC Three sketch comedy Tittybangbang with Jill Parker. The programme starred Lucy Montgomery and Debbie Chazen, with Tony Way, and ran for three series between 2006 and 2007. In 2005, Mortimer hosted his first major TV series without Reeves, a comedy panel game for BBC One, called 29 Minutes of Fame, which featured regular guests such as Jo Brand. In 1997, in collaboration with Chris Rea, Mortimer recorded Rea's hit " Let's Dance" with his favourite football team, Middlesbrough. The single reached No. 44 in the UK Singles Chart. [16] With his status as national treasure assured, Bob Mortimer can expect a lot of goodwill for his debut novel, an amiable crime thriller.

Mortimer's publishers Simon & Schuster could offer no reason to British Comedy Guide for the name change. However, it seems likely to be chiefly alliterative, as satsumas tend to be sold as tangerines in the States. The story includes many of the usual crime thriller topes – from a possible femme fatale to the calmly intimidating nemesis – but also so many sweetly surreal peculiarities that it could only have been written by Bob Mortimer. In October 2015 the pair cancelled the first leg of their live tour, 25 Year of Reeves and Mortimer: The Poignant Moments, after Mortimer underwent an emergency triple heart bypass. [15] Happily, The Satsuma Complex doesn’t feel like a rush job to capitalise on the bestselling exploits of its author’s peers. As in his television work, Mortimer conveys an infectious joy in his own oddity, and, as his recent bestselling memoir And Away… showed, there’s a sweetness to his worldview that makes his writing gently poignant. And although I can’t imagine non-fans emerging anything other than baffled, those who are used to his brand of weirdness will find that the book works well as a thriller, too. Like Spike Milligan, the only vintage comic whose fiction is still read, Mortimer has managed to use a novel as a vehicle for his distinctive comedic voice.Gary also likes to engage in chit-chat with the squirrel he encounters in the park every day, imagining the other side of the conversation. He doesn’t have many mates, see: a couple of blokes he watches football with maybe, or the occasional exchange with the cantankerous old woman next door.

I thought if I did the same character, I'll just write the same book," he said. "So I thought, you know, go do something different." verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ The Satsuma Complex is being published in the US on Tuesday but with its name changed to The Clementine Complex. In April 2015, Mortimer took over from the late Rik Mayall as Bombardier Bedford, the mascot of Wells Bombardier Beer. Dent, Karen (27 February 2008). "Reeves enjoys a Big Day Out with apprentices". The Journal. Archived from the original on 29 June 2009 . Retrieved 28 February 2008.The two later created a one-off pilot for a sitcom called The Weekenders in 1992, followed by the sketch show The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer in 1993, and Shooting Stars, a comedy panel show that first aired in December 1993. After being commissioned, Shooting Stars ran for five series between 1995 and 2002, with a special anniversary edition broadcast in December 2008. A sixth series was broadcast in late 2009, followed by a seventh series in mid-2010, and an eighth in 2011. Gary Thorn is in the middle of investigating a serious criminal case in south London involving police corruption, domestic violence, possibly even murder, when he stops in the street to speak to a passing squirrel. He tells the squirrel what he’s planning to do next and the creature, as ventriloquised by Gary, tries to talk him out of it. “I would think around that decision a bit deeper than you obviously have,” it says. Nevertheless, marooned like desert islands in an endless ocean of guff, there is a smattering of truly sumptuous passages of writing. Sadly, they’re not arranged in any kind of structure that might approximate a story. (Paul Connolly)