Roger Mellie
| Roger Mellie | |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Viz |
| First appearance | July 1981 |
| Created by | Barney Farmer and Lee Healey |
Roger Mellie ("The Man on the Telly") is a fictional character featured in Viz magazine. His catchphrase is "Hello, good evening and bollocks!", satirising David Frost's catchphrase "Hello, good evening, and welcome". The character first appeared in Issue 6 in July 1981 and (like many other characters in Viz) is a foul-mouthed and obnoxious misogynist who manages to maintain a career as a television presenter. He is shown working on various TV networks and channels, the fictional Fulchester Television (FTV) and the BBC being his primary employers. He is the ostensible author of Roger's Profanisaurus (), a parody of Roget's Thesaurus.
Viz's founder and main contributor Chris Donald has said that the character of Roger Mellie was inspired by the off-screen behaviour of Rod Griffith, a 1980s Tyne Tees Television presenter but that Mellie is actually nothing like Griffith in fact and other presenters have been worked into the character, including Look North presenter Mike Neville. One issue gave Roger's name as "Roger Michael Neville Mellie".
An animated TV series was released on VHS and also broadcast on Channel 4 in 1991, with Peter Cook providing the voice of Roger, and Harry Enfield doing all of the other voices. Roger also appeared in the 1991 Viz video game as the commentator for all the races.
Born Roger Edward Paul Mellie in 1937 in North Shields, Roger was educated at Fulchester Mixed Infants, Bartlepool Grammar School, and the Oxford Remand Centre. He began his broadcasting career as a cub reporter on the news with Robert Dougall and shot to fame doing genital mutilation routines at the London Palladium. Recruited by Fulchester Television he became a popular TV personality and established his own production company, MellieVision. He often stays at his favourite lap-dancing club until gone three in the morning but lives in Fulchester with his 17-year-old Thai wife and 15 Staffordshire Bull Terriers. He has had five previous wives (two 'accidentally' murdered) and is undischarged bankrupt, a hopeless alcoholic, extremely sexist, right-wing bigot and a recovering cocaine addict.
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