Snug and Cozi

Snug and Cozi is a children's slapstick comedy series that aired on the British television station ITV from 1996 to 1997. The series broadcast 13 episodes and was produced by Scottish Television Enterprises.

Martyn Day directed the first series and Haldane Duncan directed the second series.

Format and premise
The show consists of ten-minute slapstick comedy style episodes for children's television. The principal characters Snug and Cozi are aliens from the planet Squidge. While traveling in deep space, their pink rocket is hit by an asteroid and knocked off course. They crash and land on Earth, where they are discovered by a girl named Emily, whom they befriend. She hides them in the garden shed at the bottom of her garden. Snug and Cozi speak a language called Squidge, which is gibberish to humans, but the occasional English word is recognizable.

Creation and pilot episode
The idea for the show was created by actor and film maker, Richard Vobes in 1994. With fellow actor Nigel Cooper, they produced a low budget pilot version of the show on 16mm film. The original concept explored the idea of aliens living in a potting shed on an allotment. When commissioned in 1996 by STV, the series was developed further to be included with a slight alteration in the name "cosy" to the spelling of Cozi in the title. The opening sequence was also modified but included some original animation footage of the rocket ship in the opening titles, depicting the scene of aliens crashing on the surface of Earth.

Vobes was never entirely satisfied with the TV series as he was not permitted to direct it, and many of the slapstick stunts in the scripts were either simulated or never executed. In an interview, he mentioned that the only stunt they were allowed to do was riding a bed down a hill and into a car wash (in the episode 'A New Home').

Characters

 * Snug, played by Richard Vobes, wears a yellow and silver spacesuit. Snug is more dim-witted than Cozi.
 * Cozi, played by Nigel Cooper, wears a red and silver spacesuit and has a moustache. Cozi is more intelligent than Snug.
 * Emily, played by Sarah Montgomery, is a 10-year-old girl who discovers Snug and Cozi after they had crashed on Earth. She decides to look after them and keep them away from other people by hiding them in her father's garden shed (series 1) or their summerhouse (series 2). Emily also takes Snug and Cozi on various trips, such as the seaside or her school sports day.

Popularity
The show received a 32% audience share on CITV when Britain had only four terrestrial channels. Though not widely remembered, it's available to watch on YouTube. Two series of 16 episodes aired before changes at ITV Network abruptly stopped the commission of a planned third series.

The Daily Record called the show a "big hit". The Times reported that alongside other shows, Snug and Cozi made Scottish Television's operating profit reach £3.3million, a record number.

Live shows and tours
Snug and Cozi made appearances on many other CITV programmes such as Wow in 1996, Scratchy & Co. in 1997 and Timmy Towers in 1998.

In 1998, Snug and Cozi appeared in a pantomime of Cinderella at the Doncaster Civic Theatre. Their roles were as Brokers Men. No one in the audience could really understand Squidge so Snug and Cozi ate dictionaries and suddenly were able to speak English.

Snug and Cozi also embarked on a Pink Caravan tour, performing shows across Britain in their pink caravan. However, there were not many gigs, and during one of the shows, the Rocket Car they used caught fire, leading the fire brigade to intervene and extinguish the flames.

Merchandise
The show has never been released on VHS or DVD. A Snug and Cozi CD called 'Pink Heads' was released in 1997. To promote the CD Snug and Cozi travelled to London, England to give the Prime Minister a copy.

Richard Vobes is writing a series of Snug and Cozi children's books.

Snug and Cozi was included in a book called The Legends of Kids TV written by Garry Vaux, where Richard talked about his time on the show.

Episode guide
Unbroadcast pilot (1994)

Series 1 (1996)

Series 2 (1997)