"A Family Reunion"

Only time Igor & Nanny get to appear in a title card!

Season 1 episode 26 (episode 26 overall)

Original broadcast date: 21 March 1989

Writer: Jimmy Hibbert
Additional voices: Postman/Uncle       
                              Vlad/Sviatoslav/

                    Dr. Von Goosewing:  Jimmy 
                                                       Hibbert

                    Auntie Lucretia/Dmitri: Brian 
                                                        Trueman

Joke credit: Fangs – Grinn & Bairitt (Transylvania 230)

Castle transport visual not used.

Something this show would do now and again is throw the viewer a curveball. There’s a hint of what’s to come in that this one doesn’t even have a punny title. It is intentionally less funny than is usually the case, though it still has plenty of humorous moments. Instead, 'A Family Reunion' puts the Count in a difficult and potentially dangerous situation, one where he could come to grief from several angles if he’s not careful. There’s a marked thread of tension and worry throughout which keeps us wanting the Count to be OK in time for the end credits – no such luck of course! In summation, it’s more darkly comic that just comic and not a typically happy way to close a first season. Though let’s face it, how many of Duckula’s adventures had happy endings? Not a lot!

 Duckula is chosen to host the annual family reunion which takes place on Hallowe’en. He hears about this via ‘a real live letter!’ hidden beneath in a pile of bills. Igor is overjoyed so naturally Duckula isn’t, they don’t often have happy moments at the same time. Writing to cancel the event is out of the question since, as Igor points out, ‘today is the 30^th’ and the family will be arriving soon anyway. He also points out that if Duckula’s relatives find out that he is a vegetarian, well – let’s just say it could be very unpleasant for the Count and he might find himself losing his head so to speak.

Whether Igor is providing this warning out of genuine faithfulness to his master’s well-being, or whether he is exaggerating to get Duckula to agree to go along with the vampiric fun and games isn’t made clear. Could be a mixture of both, but since his relatives come across as being pretty friendly and cheery I think it makes the former theory seem all the creepier. The fact that they would do away with a family member for being a ‘black sheep’ (or should that be ‘white sheep?’) so to speak, is genuinely unnerving, though no doubt they’d insist it was for his own good!

Outlandish colours are used on the relatives to give them an otherworldly feel. Igor gets to join in on the blood too, unless that's red wine of course. Somehow I suspect not.

Duckula bumbles his way through an initial gathering using a pair of false (and squint!) fangs, pretending he’s had too much blood to drink already and ‘accidentally’ dropping a glass when proffered. Worse of all though, he has to give his Auntie a kiss - the fiends! Igor, to his credit, doesn’t rub it in too much, (he always has his master's best interests at heart) but he does take a cheeky delight in helping him ‘keep up appearances.’

The fire effects are not disimilar to those used in 'Around the World in a Total Daze.'

 Escaping to his bedroom for a breather, Duckula wonders just how he’s going to get out of this one. We genuinely feel worried for him here – it’s not just a frustrating money matter he’s dealing with in this story, it’s the prospect of being forced to act like a regular vampire or get killed by his own family! We’re used to Goosewing’s attempts at vampire killing, but since we don’t know too much about these family members, it comes across as more of a genuine threat. Their avuncular behaviour just adds to the latent menace.

Now, I wonder how Goosewing gets any mail all the way out here?

Speaking of Goosewing, that’s who the Count decides to enlist the help of, as who better to rid a home of vampires than the self-proclaimed ‘greatest wampire hunter in ze vorld!’ This is where Duckula puts himself between the a rock and a hard place – on the one hand, if he stays home, he has to drink blood or risk being killed, on the other he has to work in close proximity with someone who wants to kill him anyway! Got to admire his bravery for making this choice despite how bungling Goosewing is at the best of times. Still, if I were in the Count’s webbed shoes, I’d do the same, since fooling the good Doctor isn’t too hard. 

For added safety though, Duckula adopts a paper-thin disguise and a crude Germanic accent. Again, well done on David Jason for this performance. Like any good voice actor, he makes it sound like Duckula attempting an accent rather than having him just sounding like a separate character. Von Goosewing isn't even fazed. Mind you, Duckula has no room to talk, he was (will be) taken in by Goosewing’s not-very-good disguise in ‘Around TheWorld In A Total Daze’ though he at least was a bit suspicious that time.

There follows a series of black-out gags to indicate the passage of time as the Doctor and ‘Doctor’ try to locate the vampires within the castle – a wasted effort as we will later find out. Goosewing of course manages to fall out of his airship several times, although Duckula has more sense. This doesn’t stop them from both falling fowl (clock bats eat your hearts out) of Nanny’s unwitting accidents such as slamming a door on them and then slamming a piano on them.

 The inventions presumably broken (and several bones too, were this not a cartoon) Goosewing decides to go back to basics and charge in with a stake and hammer to deal with the vampires. Of course, this isn’t bravery, it’s really just over-confident madness, but this is Von Goosewing we’re talking about. Duckula’s reaction to this idea is brilliant. It’s brief, but it’s all that’s needed. Part of him feels that this is a suicidal attempt (which it would be!) and also he seems unwilling to kill his family members, even if they would conceivably do the same to him.

 This brief little moment highlights some of the most positive qualities of the character. He’s not keen on his family certainly, since they’re technically monsters, but he can’t bring himself to murder them. This could be interpreted as a barely-acknowledged sense of familial loyalty, justifiable fear of overwhelming odds and his dislike for bloodshed and harming any living (or in this case, undead) thing in general. His cheeky but vainly hopeful line ‘we might just scare them away’ just adds to this theory. And Goosewing falls out of the door again.

 As the two sneak into the castle for the final time, we reach the closing scene where Igor’s reaction to the Count’s disappearance all week is treated like an angry father scolding his son. It’s not often Igor gets really angry, especially at his master, so much so that he even calls Von Goosewing a ‘wretched person’, whereas normally he has a kind of professional respect for him. This, in turn, is where we now feel sympathy for Goosewing. He assumes Duckula has been toying with him and has lured him into the castle. This is believable of course, since we already accept that vampires are traditionally devious and charismatic as well as being masters of disguise. It’s easy to understand why Goosewing would be outraged at being apparently fooled in such a way, since we also accept that he already believes the Count’s affable nature to be nothing more than pretence.

A lot of portraits to spot throughout this episode.

Backing off (quite a distance!) to charge, Goosewing runs right into Nanny and breaks his stake and hammer before leaving and falling off the cliff – again! The Doctor’s indignation and horror are comically Count(hoho!)er-balanced by Duckula’s reaction to getting caught out (Igor naturally sees through his rubbishy costume) as he just seems annoyed that everything’s been spoiled. He’s not even bothered by Goosewing’s threats of vengeance, as is generally the case.

We wrap up with a Jeeves-ish moment from Igor where he explains that the family left last week after he told them that Duckula had been confined with sickness for a week. Cue a rap on the door as the relatives return to pick up where they left off last week – Duckula screams as all his efforts have been wasted and he’s back to square one!

...unfortunately for Duckyboos.

A great episode to watch if you want to see a bit of relatable tension for Duckula and learn a bit about how his family works – bookend this with ‘The Rest Is History’ and you won’t go far wrong.

Musicwise, we get a goodly amount of (stake and) Hammer Horror-esque production music, including a pounding beat (when Goosewing suggests the final attempt) that is only used in this episode. It is, appropriately enough, 'Killer Squad' (track 35). Goosewing’s jolly Teutonic theme tune makes another appearance. The tune used for the Gremlin in the Danger Mouse episode 'Gremlin Alert' plays over the introduction of the relatives. It's 'House Hunting' (Keith Papworth).  The episode closes with a tune also used in the Victor & Hugo episode ‘Hyp-Not-Isn’t’ when V&H lose control of the drill - it is 'Barrage' by Jack Trombey. Some more tunes I can identify by name: 'Intense Danger' by James Clarke which plays during the Count and Doctor's first attempt to sneak around the castle and ‘Like Strange’ by Kenny Graham. This plays during their second attempt and their third and final attempt is underscored with 'Dispair' by Robert Gill. The bats theme is, as ever, 'Vamp Til Ready' by Wally Asp - track 88. 'Stealth by Night' (Track 24 Dick Walter), despite having the same title as a creepier cue also used in the series, is more jolly here and plays while Duckula looks through the mail.

The opening pan is pretty much the one we see at the header for this blog, though there aren't too many others. There are plenty of clear shots of the castle interior so here they are.

Trivia

• Episode begins and ends with the Count screaming.

• Duckula making a model of the Titanic is entirely appropriate given his run of poor luck, especially in this episode.
  
  
• The postbag is marked 'TPO' - Transylvania Post Office I'm guessing.

• The letter is sealed with a stamp reading ‘C.T.’ Wonder what that could stand for?
  
  
• The 'slit throat motion' joke is also done a few times in the Victor & Hugo episode "Woof and Tumble."
• The reunion is every 100 years and Igor says this will be his 8^th reunion. That’s in keeping with the time he would have come into the family service at around the 13^th century. Later in the episode, he claims to have been in service for approximately 800 years.

• Duckula does one of his alliterative descriptors - 'Disaster, doom, debacle and drat it all why me, why?'
  
  
• This episode has some fleeting similarity with the Ray Bradbury story 'Homecoming.' Vampiric family meeting up on All Hallow's Eve, black sheep in the family - but the similarity ends there as in that story, no-one wants to kill the not-very-good vampire, and that character wishes to become as vampiric as his relatives.
  
  
• Neither Don Diego nor Rory McDuckula seem to be in attendance - yet.
  
  
• In the Bugs Bunny short "Translvania 6-5000" a portrait on the wall is identified as "Aunt Lucretia."

• While tasting the blood, Uncle Vlad references Yugoslavia, Karlobag and Slunj, which are all places in Eastern Europe. The latter two are both in Croatia so his guess is close and then spot on. Igor offers Duckula a glass of Bulgarian Office Temp.
  
  
• Rare instance of Brian doing a female character who isn't Nanny. 

• The family motto is ‘Per Ardua Ad Sanguina’ meaning ‘Through Adversity to Blood’. There is some speculation that this may be a spoof of ‘Per Ardua Ad Astra’ meaning ‘Through Adversity to the Stars.’

• Uncle Vlad and Auntie Lucretia appear briefly in the 1^st Count Duckula annual. Don’t ask how they got their photos taken.  
  
  

• Rare instance of Sviatoslav making a joke and Dmitri finding it cringey. Don’t steal his act Sviatoslav, you’re the straightman! Also, a rare instance of their joke not tying into the theme of the episode.

• Another appearance of Von Goosewing’s cavern lab and airship and references to the ever-elusive Heinrich.
  
  
• Goosewing either mashes the names of the chemicals he's working with, or they're invented for comedic value, probably both. It is worth observing however, that chlorine dioxide is extremely explosive.

• Duckula-in-disguise claims he’s spent 5 days trying to find Goosewing. This means that the attempts to break into the castle take place over 2 days.

• Duckula’s assumed name is Doctor Ludwig Van Duckelhosen.
  
  
• One of only 2 occasions where a character other than Goosewing is seen in his airship. Duckula is the only regular character to hold this distinction.

• Goosewing gadget list: exploding chemicals, patent wide-beam multiple vampire exterminatorer, patent essence of garlic spray dispenseror and regular stake and hammer.

• Goosewing seems allergic to any mention of ….Castle Duckula. ‘AAWWK!’ This also happens to Beast Man whenever Skeletor mentions Castle Greyskull in a MOTU episode. (will edit this in)

• Duckula seems to imply that he may be immune to garlic. What with being a vegetarian, he probably likes it.

• When the piano falls on them, Duckula and Goosewing get squashed into their hats. The same would happen to another David/Jimmy double act, Victor and Hugo in their episode ‘Artful Dodgers.’
  

• Goosewing curse of the day: “Götterdämmerung und Lohengrin!” – both Wagnarian music dramas. I think we all know what 'dummkopf' means.

• 4^th and last instance of vampires who aren’t Duckula making an appearance. 
  
  
• Vincent James is credited as storyboard artist on this one. He would also illustrate several Duckula books and comics.
  
  
• Duckula refers to Goosewing as a 'crazy old coot' - a coot is a type of water bird.
   
• Some characters who look like designs for relatives appear in 'The Count Duckula Joke Book' by Jonathan Clements.
  
  
  

The ones on the right made it into this episode. The 'headbanger' has a moustache in the episode though.

Goofs and Nitpicks

• Duckula’s building kit misspells ‘build’ as ‘buld.’

• Duckula’s cape flickers off for a split second as he enters the living room. Barely noticeable!

• Minor seating continuity on the guest seated beside Auntie during a shot change.

• Brief colour error on Duckula’s thumb when he says ‘very clever indeed’ on the airship. Also Goosewing’s inner sleeve a couple of drawings if you want to be a major pedant.

• Nanny’s beak flickers off for a split second after she squashes Duckula and Goosewing with the door.