"Duck Ahoy"

Almost puts me in mind of the Thames ident.

Season 3 episode 6 (episode 51 overall)

 Original broadcast date: 26 November 1990

Writer: Brian Trueman

Additional voices: Sviatoslav/Belvedere Boldmunton/Prizegiver: 

                              Jimmy Hibbert

                              Dmitri/Starting official: Brian Trueman

Joke credit: Nautical Consultant – Davy Jones

Travel location: Glotz and Glitz (castle not used to get to Glitz)

Castle transport visual used, though different.

This is one episode I remember trying to draw in my big sketch pad. When it was originally broadcast I seem to recall trying to duplicate the backgrounds with some characters of my own at the time (including a posh crab in a hot pink three piece suit). This is also one I recall not enjoying as much as others upon rediscovering it a decade later. However, after having not watched it again for a while I discovered I enjoyed it much, much more when I got it on DVD to the point where I believe it’s one of the funniest episodes in terms of character interaction and exchanges. It’s written by Brian (Nanny!) Trueman who didn’t write as many for this series as he would have done for Danger Mouse and Wind in the Willows at this stage (he wrote those shows almost single-handedly!) but when he does write one for the vampire duck and co, you know it’s going to be a well-structured and with several in-context call-backs. And single-handed is the name of the game here with Duckula entering a yacht race.

Missed it by that much!

The visual gags are good, it’s got a lot of great exchanges between Igor and Duckula in particular and the whole episode comes off as a cross between a sitcom and a classic blackout cartoon. It’s also one of a handful of episodes where the spooky element is absent entirely, leaving us to concentrate purely on character exchanges and the situation to move things along, without any horror tropes at all.  

The episode starts with the castle typically making a perfect landing just shy of land so the three have to float ashore in an inflatable Loch Ness Monster swim ring. Igor intones that drowning would have been preferable.

Seeing a poster advertising a yacht race Duckula not only wants to win the prize ($40,000 Grubian Kratschliks) he wants to show up some rich snob in a speedboat. Igor of course thinks his master has no chance until he makes an ill-advised joke about building a yacht. That of course is cue for the Count to immediately spy a ‘Build Your Own Yacht Kit Shop’ and have at it.

After some low-key (but painful) Three Stooges style buffoonery as they try and get the thing built and repaired, Duckula finally sets out on the race against the ‘nouveau-riche hooligan’ only to find that his servants have snuck along in the yacht. This could either be through a sense of duty or because they don’t seem to be able to trust Duckula to go off on his own (they did the same in ‘BeauDuckula’) – so it’s rather sweet and cynical at the same time.

I won’t describe every joke as it would just be a reiteration of what we see and hear on screen, but here are a few standouts for me.

•  Duckula distracting Nanny by imitating a doorbell, causing her to try and answer the door – which is, of course, still underwater.

• The ‘launching ceremony’ which involves Nanny throwing a can of ‘Grubian Cola’ at the bow, because a bottle of champagne is clearly out of their range. The can destroys the boat anyway!

• Duckula refusing point-blank to cheat until Nanny breaks the sail. ‘Spoken like a true Duckula!’ says Igor with delight.

• Boating puns on such nautical words as tug, clew (Nanny hasn’t got a -) and break(ing) out the spinnaker. Regular fans will be expecting a gag on spinach (given Duckula's love of vegetables) but it’s teased at and then subverted.

• A series of gags involving the fragile yacht and a Wile E. Coyote-esque slingshot. At one point the finishing flag slingshots them right back to the start. Even Igor eventually relents in confidence of this style of cheating

The yacht destroyed, Duckula and Igor speed under the finishing flag using Nanny as a means of transport. This is a nice callback to earlier in the episode when Igor jokes that they could use Nanny in absence of a yacht.

"Igor? Why don't we cheat?"

Despite being painted as the ‘baddie’ due to his snobbish behaviour throughout the episode, the yachting chappie wins the race fairly and gets the prize money, whereas Duckula gets given a consolation prize – a swim ring which the snob promptly pops sending Duckula into the sea.

The episode ends, much as it started, with Duckula humiliated, wet and wearing a Loch Ness Monster swim-ring! Poor sod. He technically did cheat, but I still think he deserved a better prize.

A gentle and refreshing counterbalance of an episode to watch after what would have been a really creepy and eerie one the week prior (‘There Are Werewolves at the Bottom of our Garden’) and fun to see an outing that takes place in a bright upbeat environment, just for a change, despite the cynical ending – this IS Duckula after all.

Music
"Shock Horror (B) - Track 30"- "A build your own yacht kit shop!"

"Skeleton in the Cupboard" (Arnold Steck 22 minutes in) - Building the yacht.
"Shiver Me Timbers" (Gareth Ranwyn Walters) - Duckula in yacht.

"Trade Winds" (Gouriet/Phillips) -track 11) - Lets cheat.

Trivia

• One of the few episodes that does not feature Transylvania.
• Episode ends on Duckula's scream.
• The prize cup is called the President Dinchinya Gold Cup. Presumably a fictitious Eastern European leader.
• According to Igor an unemployed hedgehog has more money than they have! Nanny takes this literally of course and suggests they tap him for a loan.
• Dmitri and Sviatoslav make two appearances.
  
• We barely see the castle in this episode. Half of it is underwater and the only time we see the inside is for the clock bats scenes. The bats seem dry at least.
• The word ‘nouveau-riche’ is used again. It’s a minor running thread throughout the series.
• A very rare instance of Igor laughing at his own jokes.
• The snobby guy is identified as Belvedere Boldmunton. First name also used in 'Igor's Busy Day.'
• Igor still doesn't seem to be too keen on sea voyages (see 'The Mutinous Penguins') 
• One of many episodes to have the word 'duck' in the title. 
• Nanny doesn't break any doors or walls in this episode. She does however, break the yacht. But that's hardly her fault! 
• This is one of about a 3rd of the series' episode not to be released on any media until the DVD sets.
   

Goofs and Nitpicks

• The prize money increases by 10 thousand Kratschliks by the end. Maybe it was a bonus to add insult to injury or perhaps someone misprinted the poster.
  
• The starting official says his fist line in Brian’s voice, but he’s voiced by Jimmy when he reappears at the end of the episode.
• When Nanny has the broken yacht door on her head, it vanishes when the shot changes to a backwards view of the yacht between shots. The shots are intercut with close-ups of Igor and Duckula so it’s forgivable.

Backgrounds-wise, it’s fun to see what they come up with when they don’t have creepy gloomy stuff to do. I love all the lines used for depth and to break up areas to avoid any flatness (eg. the workshop where they build the boat). There isn’t a huge variety of backgrounds in this one obviously as it’s mostly set on the ocean so instead we get some cute boat designs.

Well, it's exactly what it says on the tin, er, sign. More muted colours used for the further away shop.

Brian's love of Looney Tunes style gags comes into play with the Acme Giant Slingshot (suitable for yachts).

The soundtrack is mainly nautical sounding whistling tunes and some cues that would not sound out of place in a Carry On film. The clock bats theme is 'Vamp Til Ready' by Wally Asp and is available here.