Smashie and Nicey - Character Profile

Character Profile

"Smashie and Nicey" are two disc jockeys working at Radio Fab FM, a parody of BBC Radio 1. Each sketch would involve the two talking a stereotypically, obsessively self-regarding disc jockey shpiel: reminiscing about their careers, modestly shrugging off their many works of "chairidee", and generally being bland and irrelevant, before putting on their favourite record, You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet by Bachman–Turner Overdrive. The characters reference a stereotype of late 80s Radio One DJs, in that they are egotistical, bland, and out of touch with their younger listenership.

Quasi-Australian-accented ageing rocker Dave (short for, it was eventually revealed, Davenport rather than David) Nice was a mixture of the then Radio 1 Rock Show presenter Alan Freeman (whose radio persona deliberately bordered on self-parody) and Simon Bates, with elements of Dave Lee Travis and Tommy Vance. Nice was portrayed as more aggressive and angry than Smash, liking heavy rock and being very opinionated. In the 1994 TV special Smashie and Nicey: The End of an Era he was shown to be a misanthropic alcoholic, and of ambiguous sexuality. Later he was outed as gay, and in later years became more aggrieved and bigoted, complaining about immigrants.

Mike Smash was loosely based on Tony Blackburn, although he resembles Noel Edmonds and Mike Read in appearance, his vocalisation had similarities to Mike Read and pop star Cliff Richard. His DJ persona is shown as more lightweight and chirpy than Nice, although he is revealed as a troubled individual in private. The television special introduced elements of Noel Edmonds and Jimmy Savile into Smashie's character, with the Nice character played out similar stories to those from the lives of Mike Read, Bill Grundy and Kenny Everett. In the 1994 TV special, reflecting real events at Radio One, The DJs were sacked from Fab FM, in a manner that deliberately mirrored Simon Bates' and Dave Lee Travis' departure from Radio 1, being replaced with young, 'irreverent' DJs. They were banished to "Radio Quiet" and left to reminisce about the good old days and try to pretend to themselves that they were still a powerful cultural force.