Rex the Runt is a British adult stop-motion comedy television series primarily consisting of a television show and two short films produced by Aardman Animations and Egmont Imagination for BBC Bristol, with EVA Entertainment co-producing the first series. Its main characters are four plasticine dogs: Rex, Wendy, Bad Bob and Vince.
Rex was first introduced as a minor character in Ident (1989), a short film directed by Richard Starzak for the Lip Synch series.
Thirteen ten-minute episodes of the series aired over two weeks on BBC Two from December 1998.
Series 1 (1998–1999)
Series 1 was broadcast over Christmas 1998, originally airing in the prime-time family slots, most likely owing to Fox's The Simpsons also airing in the same time slot, but after several outraged letters complaining about language and content in show, the last few episodes were shown in later time slots.
"'Note:"' "Episodes are ordered by their production number, not by their original air date."
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! style="background: #CCCCFF" width="3%" | # Production Number
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| align="center"| 1 || 1 || "Holiday in Vince" || The Runts try to cure Vince of his Random Pavarotti Disease (a Tourette syndrome-like singing of phrases of opera) by miniaturising a submarine to go on a journey through Vince's brain.|| 21 December 1998
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| align="center"| 2 || 6 || "Adventures on Telly, Part 1" || After their television gets broken, the Telly Man wants them to cover for him while he is fixing the family's TV. First, they need to find money to start their adventure, which causes Bad Bob to Rob a bank. || 23 December 1998
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| align="center"| 3 || 7 || "Adventures on Telly, Part 2" || The Runts are short of money again, and lend themselves to Dr. Dogg's animal experiments. NOTE: This episode is an expanded version of the pilot "North by North Pole". || 24 December 1998
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| align="center"| 4 || 8 || "Adventures on Telly, Part 3" || After accidentally destroying the Earth, the Runts head towards a black hole. || 25 December 1998
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| align="center"| 5 || 2 || "Bob's International Hiccup Centre" || Bob loses his comic timing, so he turns to medicine. || 21 December 1998
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| align="center"| 6 || 5 || "Easter Island" || The Runts' helicopter crash lands on Easter Island, where they meet visiting aliens who resemble the local statues. || 23 December 1998
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| align="center"| 7 || 3 || "Too Many Dogs" || After Rex's house is stolen, the Runts go back in time to recover it, and meet parallel versions of themselves. || 22 December 1998
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| align="center"| 8 || 11 || "The Trials of Wendy" || Wendy is arrested after shooting Vince. After she is proven not guilty, she starts to make a name for herself, causing Rex the Runt to get cancelled by the Telly. || 30 December 1998
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| align="center"| 9 || 4 || "Stinky's Search for a Star" || The Runts enter a talent contest hoping to win enough money to pay the gas bill. || 22 December 1998
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| align="center"| 10 || 12 || "Under the Duvet" || The Runts visit the University of Love under their bed, while Vince falls in love with a vacuum cleaner. || 31 December 1998
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| align="center"| 11 || 9 || "Johnny Saveloy's Undoing" || Wendy joins Johnny Saveloy's following. || 27 December 1998
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| align="center"| 12 || 10 || "The City Shrinkers" || The Runts win Birmingham in the lottery. After shrinking it with their shrinking gun, Bad Bob and Wendy go on a city-shrinking craze. || 29 December 1998
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| align="center"| 13 || 13 || "Carbonara" || Rex is accidentally run through a sausage mincer, and must avoid the attentions of a hungry Vince. || 1 January 1999
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Series 2 (2001-2005)
Series 2 was aired between 23 September 2001 to 16 December 2001 on late nights. Each episode was then repeated the following Sunday, after CBBC on BBC Two.
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| align="center"| 1 || "Mouse in Me Kitchen" || Upon returning home, Rex finds that his kitchen has been occupied by a mouse.|| 23 September 2001
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| align="center"| 2 || "Wendy's Hot Date" || Wendy gets a date with a handsome dog, who is also called Rex. || 30 September 2001
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| align="center"| 3 || "Patio" || The garden ants object when the Runts lay down a patio. || 7 October 2001
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| align="center"| 4 || "A Crap Day Out" || A new garden centre is opening, and Bad Bob needs a new shed. || 14 October 2001
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| align="center"| 5 || "Slim Bob" || Bad Bob consults Dr. Dogg about weight loss. || 21 October 2001
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| align="center"| 6 || "Private Wendy" || Vince, Wendy, Rex and Bob join the army. || 28 October 2001
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| align="center"| 7 || "Rocket Raymond" || The inhabitants of a distant planet believe that Rex is their hero, Rocket Raymond. || 4 November 2001
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| align="center"| 8 || "The Plasticene Gene" || Dr. Dogg cons Rex out of his ear, and later clones Vince. || 11 November 2001
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| align="center"| 9 || "Wendy's New Hairdo" || Wendy gets a Nobel Peace Prize nomination for her truth drug. || 18 November 2001
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| align="center"| 10 || "Bob Joins a Gang" || Bad Bob joins a not-so-bad gang. || 2 December 2001
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| align="center"| 11 || "Wayne the Zebra" || With Rex on holiday, Bob is left in charge of a production involving "The Beast of Crannock Moore", but can his choice for the star character, Wayne the Zebra, fulfil expectations? || 9 December 2001
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| align="center"| 12 || "Hole in the Garden" || Bad Bob's lawn mower crashes through the garden and lands in Australia. || 16 December 2001
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| align="center"| 13 || "The Art of Cooking" || Bad Bob steals Rex's food creations and enters them in an art exhibition. || 19 April 2005
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Cast
Main cast
- Andrew Franks as Rex (series 1)
- Colin Rote as Rex (series 2)
- Kevin Wrench as Bad Bob (series 1)
- Andy Jeffers as Bad Bob (series 2)
- Elisabeth Hadley as Wendy
- Steve Box as Vince
- Paul Merton as Doctor Dogg
- Arthur Smith as Arthur Dustcart
Guest stars
These include:
- Morwenna Banks as Mrs. Bloomers & Voice ("A Holiday in Vince") ("Adventures on Telly Part 1")
- Judith Chalmers as Judith Poodle ("A Holiday in Vince", "The Trials of Wendy")
- Bob Holness as Mr. Formal ("Adventures on Telly, Part I")
- Eddie Izzard as Melting Blob Man ("Adventures on Telly, Part III"), and Easter Island Head Aliens ("Easter Island")
- Kathy Burke as Kylie Mandelbrotska ("Adventures on Telly, Part III", "Rocket Raymond", "Wendy's New Hair Do")
- Antoine de Caunes as Stinky Basil ("Too Many Dogs", "Stinky's Search for a Star", "Bob's International Hiccup Centre"), and French Delegate ("Bob's International Hiccup Centre")
- June Whitfield as Judge Pikelet ("The Trials of Wendy")
- Simon Day as Constable Funnyname ("The Trials of Wendy", "Stinky's Search for a Star", "Bob Joins a Gang")
- Pam Ayres as Aunty Brenda ("Under the Duvet", "Slim Bob")
- Stanley Unwin as Mr. Wangle, Accountant to the Stars ("Johnny Saveloy's Undoing")
- Bob Monkhouse as Johnny Saveloy ("Johnny Saveloy's Undoing", "The City Shrinkers")
- Tommy Cannon as Tiddles the Destroyer ("Mouse in Me Kitchen")
- Graham Norton as Osvaldo Halitosis ("Patio") and the Plants ("A Crap Day Out")
- Bobby Ball as Wayne ("Wayne the Zebra")
- Phill Jupitus as Morris the One-Gloved Mouse ("Mouse in Me Kitchen"), The Ants ("Patio") and Sergeant Major ("Private Wendy")
- Jonathan Ross as Handsome Rex ("Wendy's Hot Date") and Awards Announcer ("Wendy's New Hairdo")
- Loyd Grossman as himself ("The Art of Cooking")
- Peter Sallis as Wallace from Wallace & Gromit ("Adventures on Telly, Part 1")
Production
As previously mentioned, Rex the Runt consisted mainly of two short films that were entirely animated by Richard Starzak during his free time. The animation from these shorts were very crude and bizarre, and featured different designs for the gang. At the time, the team at Aardman had never known about these films, and did not discover them until a year later, as they found potential to turn these shorts into a series.
The show was originally going to be on Saturday Zoo as comedy skits for the show, the main idea being that it was "like a cartoon strip". Soon after, the BBC got interested in the series. From here, the episodes slowly got longer, until the 10-minute episodes that it eventually used.
Underdog also has a friend named Cindy.
Reception
On IMDb, Rex the Runt received a rating of 7.9/10 from 367 users.
Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times praised the series for its inventive humor, sharp parody and distinctive claymation style, comparing its consistency and complexity to the American cartoon The Simpsons. Mitchell highlighted the show's blend of absurdist storytelling, media satire, and domestic comedy, noting that the first volume of episodes from its DVD release is particularly strong, while he found the second volume not as strong as the first. He regarded the series overall as a clever and often "brilliant" example of Aardman Animations' work, distinguished by its adult‑leaning humor and interconnected narrative structure.
Merchandise
Rex the Runt was eventually popular enough to have its own merchandise. Some known items of merchandise include:
- Rex the Runt's Rainy Day Companion, a book written by Kevin Wrench and Andrew Franks
- Five Rex the Runt plushies, the characters being Rex, Wendy, Bad Bob, Vince and also Vince wearing his chicken bib and holding cutlery (as he is seen in Carbonara)
- Several DVDs released in different countries (with a few episodes from Season 2 being featured on "Aardman's Darkside", a DVD containing some of Aardman's "darker" material)
- A bag in the shape of Vince
- Limited edition Rex the Runt-themed "Starburst Juicy Gums"
- A T-shirt with the logo and main cast on it
- A video game named Rex the Runt: Lost Marbles, based on the episode "A Holiday in Vince", in which Rex, Wendy and Bad Bob must go inside Vince's body to collect marbles and cure his "Random Pavarotti Disease".
- Several toys exclusive to Japan such as a figurine of Wendy and a keychain of Rex wearing a crown.
Cancelled content
There were many things that never happened, owing to the series ending so quickly. The series' creator, Richard Starzak, hoped to be able to do the following: