Pádraig Judas O'Leprosy and Rodraig Spartacus O'Leprosy (born 1941) are the central characters of Irish television series A Scare at Bedtime, created and performed by Ciaran Morrison and Mick O'Hara. More recently, the brothers have presented The Podge and Rodge Show, a chat show in the same vein, and Podge & Rodge's Stickit Inn, set in a pub. Morrison and O'Hara also created and perform the characters of Zig and Zag, Bronx Bunny, and Teddy T. Character history Origins Podge originally appeared as a "villain" character on the children's programming block, The Den. He was introduced in 1990, as an ordinary puppet that Zag (of Zig and Zag) had found in a box amongst the rubbish behind an old joke shop. Dubbing the puppet "Podge," Zag used him to practice ventriloquism, and would put on the "Podge and Zag" show, which a jealous Zig usually interrupted. During one of these shorts an unidentified voiceover can be heard saying to Zag, "aren't you a smelly stupid ugly alien". The character of Podge was then revealed to be alive to the audience, with the ability to speak and move. He also acted as an antagonist to Zig, often bullying him, or encouraging him to commit acts of nuisance such as stealing a bike. Other characters, such as Zag and the presenter Ray D'Arcy remained oblivious to Podge's true nature for some time; Podge can occasionally be seen to be moving in the background during continuity announcements between programmes, or be seen scheming on his own, and letters and pictures would pour in from the viewing children trying to let them know that the little puppet was evil. Eventually, after Zig finally told Zag and Ray the truth, Podge made a power play and took over the programme for a day, revealing that he had been brought to life by a magician, but then sealed away when he turned evil. Podge also possessed some magical powers of his own that he'd learned from the magician, and turned one of the crew members into a teapot. He was finally dealt with when the magician arrived at the end of the programming day, hypnotized Podge (who the magician called "Albert"), and took Podge away. As a recurring villain Following his initial "story arc," Podge became a recurring presence on The Den over the next six years, causing trouble by using one of many paper-thins disguises