"Hi-Duck"

Hello, fowl.

Season 2 Episode 5 (episode 31 overall)

Original broadcast date: 10 October 1989

Writer: Jimmy Hibbert
Additional voices: Pilot/Gaston/2nd/3rd announcers/Male Customs Officer/Female Customs Officer/Sandra: Jimmy Hibbert
1st Announcer/Man with gun: Brian Trueman
Pierre: David Jason
Check-in girl: Ruby Wax
2nd male Customs Officer/Captain Slobodan Woktakovny: Jack May

Travel location: Cluj Airport and Nice - almost (not via castle)

Castle transport visual not used.
Joke Credit: Runway - Del Shannon

This outing for the trio is just pure sitcom style stuff from start to finish. The spooky theme is entirely absent (apart from a brief joke couple of jokes) and we're treated to how our trio cope in the 'real world' for the duration. It's a really funny episode, because the humour doesn't let up for an instant thanks to the performances of the character actors. It's amusing to see the trio away from the castle and away from the spooky trappings of a conventional plot and coping with 'normal' people and situations with varying degrees of success.

Well, that-is-what-I-think anyway! Maybe I'm just biased because Gaston and Pierre make another appearance, so we're basically getting two episodes for the price of one.

The opening scene shows the Count and his servants making their way to the airport to catch a plane for a holiday in Nice. Remember the trailer from 2 episodes in the 1st season? Well say goodbye to it because it gets completely wrecked here! Maybe the animators hated drawing it as it moves a lot more than the castle in animation terms. Anyway, good to see it again, always do love those creepy automobiles like what you'd see on 'The Munsters' or 'Wacky Races.' Duckula and Igor's barely-feudal bickering is especially good here too.

They make a wrong turning (on Duckula's insistence) which not only results in the damage of their transport but also means they enter the airfield and get pushed along by a landing plane. This is a fun turnaround scene as Nanny, being in the rear seat is all too aware that there shouldn't be an 'airy-plane' right behind them, whereas Duckula and Igor don't notice - at least not immediately. It's not often Nanny is more informed than the other two.

The plane crashes into the the airport along with the three of them while Gaston and Pierre check in. As usual, Pierre's slowness means Gaston loses his temper until Pierre points out Gaston had the tickets all the time anyway. I've sure we've all been in situations like this before one way or the other. What I'm less familiar with is hi-jacking a plane, for this is what the French felons are planning to do. What they fail to have thought out though, is why they would hi-jack a plane that's going their way anyway! More on this bit later.

Soon after, Duckula and co. check in (I wonder how he got a decent photo for his passport?) and more wacky hijinks ensue when Nanny takes the check-in bint's 'on the conveyor belt' line literally and ends up on the luggage carousel. Duckula follows, which also highlights his ignorance. Igor is surprised at first, but happy when he realises that 'With any luck, we'll miss the plane!' They don't miss it, but they do have a few more amusing scenes involving airport security before they board. Duckula makes some bad jokes about checking bags (and spotting and striping them) that no-one but him finds funny. This is a thing David Jason's characters tends to do - laugh embarrassingly at their own jokes. Delboy Trotter, Granville, Hugo and Mr. Toad have done so too at least once, if memory serves. Igor's insistence in not having his bag checked works on a few levels. He's either playing up his cantankerous old man card - which he does use on occasion, genuinely thinks that checking his bag would be a bad idea, or is trying to make a scene in order to avoid taking the flight.
 
Officer: We don't check your bag, you don't go on the plane.
Igor: That suits me quite admirably!
Duckula: Igor! I order you to have your bag checked!

While all this is going on, Gaston and Pierre are playing secret spy type games with their contact. They need to pick up a gun after having been through security, but end up having to make do with a replica instead. A replica of a water pistol. The Biggles-like contact isn't even honest about it, it's a real water pistol, that goes off in Gaston's face! How dangerous. Pierre gets a few good lines in this scene too, one involving what sounds like a mild sex joke!

Pierre: A man, he feels my person with his hands
Gaston: And why does he do that?
Pierre: Because....you know?...Because.....Why does he do that?

Finally it's time to board the plane and take off. Nanny has trouble fitting through the door (a running gag, given a different spin in this story), Duckula has trouble flirting with the stewardess and Igor has trouble breathing when Nanny sits next to him. The pilot also has trouble with the 'bally shoe ignition' caused by Nanny leaping around the plane and causing turbulence while trying to catch a 'birds'-eye (haha) view of Castle Duckula. Indeed, much of the laughs here come from Nanny's reactions and puzzlement to just how an aeroplane works.

Elsewhere on the plane, Gaston is prepping Pierre for the hijacking. Like any good crime boss, Gaston lets Pierre do the dirty work, though that is probably a bad idea anyway, which makes one wonder just who the stupider one is. It's Pierre of course, but Gaston has plenty of dumb moments coupled with a short temper, which doesn't help. It's interesting to note though, that he is less vain and conceited than Victor would be in his subsequent series. Gaston comes across mostly as an angry and frustrated man, while Victor - as well as being this - also gives off many vibes of snooty superiority. It's even noticeable in their appearance. Gaston's outfit is more casual and less garish than Victor's loud spiv-like appearance. It's possible this superiority complex was added to accent Victor's role as the elder brother to Hugo, whereas Gaston and Pierre are never identified as being related. Although they do both have bent noses.

Pierre and Hugo's differences are more subtle and I'll examine them in another post.

It's at this point that the pay-off to Pierre's rehearsing happens. Throughout the episode he's been shouting 'TAKE THIS PLANE TO -!' before being silenced by Gaston. He finally gets his chance to do it for real and whispers it. He has to be told that now is the time not to be quiet. He aims the (water) pistol at the panicky stewardess and demands that the plane be taken to Nice. Which is where it's going anyway. It's not made explicit whether Pierre has bungled this or whether Gaston botched it up much earlier by going on the wrong plane or even booking the wrong flight. Perhaps they just wanted to pretend to hi-jack like big-time international crinimals? Whichever way, it's a mess, so Gaston takes the initiative and pretends to hold Pierre hostage. There's also another sly sexy joke here too. Or maybe I just have my mind in the gutter.

Gaston: Pierre, you have perhaps forgotten something?
Pierre: (grinning at stewardess) No, no Gaston, I don't think that I have.

Gaston hands him the gun.

Pierre: (disappointed) Oh yes, I have forgotten something.

Thankfully Duckula comes to the rescue - albeit by accident. He gets shunted out of his chair by a curious Nanny who's trying to see what's going on, knocking Gaston off his feet and all landing in a heap. The pilot congratulates Duckula for a 'bold and noble action' and the stewardess also changes her tune, smothering Duckula in kisses, resulting in yet another sly sex joke.

Stewardess: (kissing Duckula) Oh how can I thank you?
Duckula: Well you just keep doing that for a while, I'll think of something.

It seems all is well: The baddies have been thwarted, Duckula's a hero and he's off to a holiday in Nice......right? WRONG. The plane now must turn back to hand over the villains to the police at the point of departure so all the Count has to look forward to now is a lengthy court case. One of the few times Duckula is a hero, it's by accident and he still gets his reward snatched away at the last minute! Poor sod. The lesson here is: don't be a hero - even by accident. Oh well, at least Igor is happy. 

Very funny episode, in my opinion and the spookiness taking a complete break allows for a lot of funny relatable humour and scenes. It usually pops into my memory when travelling by air. I've heard some say that this episode, given it's air crime theme, would never be allowed had the series been made a couple of decades later, but I don't see the problem. Gaston and Pierre are idiots and not-very-good crooks anyway, while clearly portrayed as being in the wrong. 

Recently when we travelling by air I saw a flight  advert with used 'realistic' bird people and then this episode popped up on my live YouTube feed the next day. Pretty appropriate!

Music
The same cue plays to introduce the episode and when Igor gets his bag checked. Unsure the source as of yet. That galloping music I taped off of that Vincent Price film plays again during the ground level plane crash. The music throughout the luggage carousel scene plays in the Danger Mouse episode 'Bigfoot falls' too.
'Jack O'Lantern - Feux Follets' (Roger Roger) Luggage/carousel scene.
'Twelve String Ties No. 4' (John Churston) underscores Gaston's 'This is it Pierre!' when they approach customs.
'Whodunit No. 1' (Ivor Slaney) is heard when Gaston and Pierre do their spy bit with their contact. 
'Music for Anglo Saxes' (Alan Bristow) is heard when Duckula tries to chat up the stewardess and when she smooches him near the end.
'Girl of my Dreams' (James Clark) is heard on the 'plane.
'Romance at Midnight' (Johnny Pearson) when the stewardess minces along the aisle.
'Whodunit No. 2' (also Slaney) plays when Pierre 'threatens' the stewardess.
'Crossed Swords' (Dudley Matthew) plays when Gaston takes Pierre sausage - I mean hostage.
'Untitled Melody' (track 19 - Robert Osborne Pagan) Plane returns/ending


Pans and backgrounds
There's a lot of pans in this one, especially near the beginning and here they are. Clicking on these, as with any image on this blog, will enlarge them.

Unusually, we open pan from the right.....

... and then pan from the left from ground level. The village in the foreground is redrawn to aid the pan through the trees.

This one cross-dissolves twice, so I can't quite get the full thing.

 

Spot the bird-type bird house. The flowers almost look printed on with paint stamps.

I've been in Igor's position before.

I love Igor's expression here, coupled with the fact that Nanny shouts a question in his face.

This is a clever way to change backgrounds in mid shot. The plane covers the whole screen as it lands.

Some cloud effects animation is used when we see the castle  from the plane and some lightening to close off with.

Animation drawing from G&P's first scene.

Trivia

• Another episode with the word 'duck' in the title.
• Episode doesn't start with a scream, but ends with one.
• Although the exterior of the castle is seen a few times, the interior isn't. 
• First identified appearance of Cluj. It is a city in Romania also known as Cluj-Napoca. It is close to the Transylvania motorway and the airport was founded on the 1st of April 1932. How fitting for the Count to use something founded on April Fool's Day.
• Third and final appearance of the trailer. It gets mostly destroyed.
• Duckula alliteration gag when referring to the castle - 'dark, dismal dreary and darn it I just want to get away from it all!' 
• 2nd time the trio go on a plane. The first time was when they commandeered (stole?) a flying doctor's mini plane in 'Down Under Duckula.' This is the first time they've been on a regular multi-passenger plane though. Nanny says she's never seen an airy-plane this close before.
• Second appearance of French crinimals, Gaston and Pierre.
• Another episode featuring Ruby Wax. She plays the check-in girl, but interestingly, not the stewardess.
• The flight they need to catch is TVA-3987. TVA is for Transylvanian Airlines. A few other fictitious airlines feature.
• Like the previous episode, 'The Incredible Shrinking Duck', this episode is set in July. It also uses the same music cue at one point: the excitable one during the plane crash/running back to the tiny castle.
• Gaston calls Pierre 'brain of a turnip!'. Victor would later take this type of insult and run with it. Normally his insults of this nature tied in to whatever the theme of the scene was. For example 'brain of a mailbag!' when the theme was a prison (prisoners sew mailbags).
• The suitcase Duckula rides carries a bra and a pair of false teeth!
• Jimmy Hibbert also plays a customs officer in a sketch from 'Teach Yourself Gibberish'.
• Igor's bag contains a portable guillotine, fold-away iron maiden, collapsible rack, thumbscrews and travelling gallows. Nothing suspicious in there! Incidentally, Iron Maiden had one of their songs ('The Number of the Beast') introduced by series narrator Barry Clayton.
• We get to see Nanny's skeleton when she goes through customs and her bad arm looks OK! Not all disabilities can be seen, folks.
• Rare instance of Jack May voicing more than two characters, even if one only has one line.
• When Duckula is frisked he drops a magnet, a toy truck, a wind-up key, a slingshot and an alarm clock.
• Gaston and Pierre would later board a plane as Victor and Hugo, in their episode 'Dummy Run.'
• Some aeronautical terms are used: Ballast coefficient (of or relating to material used to provide balance) starboard (right hand side facing forward) and turbulence - I think we all know what that means. The flight apparently will take 2 and a half hours, which is spot on according to a search I did. An altitude of 36,000 feet is also accurate.
• Pierre mistakes the word 'hostage' for 'sausage.' Nanny would do the same with 'hostage' and 'ostrich' in 'Alps-A-Daisy' when the duo kidnap her.
• Pay close attention to the dialogue when Nanny causes the turbulence. It's deliberately re-used when she struggles to see what the crooks are up too, but different line readings are used. Actual messages can be made out over the PSS too including '..engineer to maintenance please.' and '...proceed to gate 5.'
• One of the few episodes never to be given an official release on any media, until the UK DVD sets. 
• Storyboard artist is credited to a guy called Nobby Clark. This was the name of a mentioned character in 'Only Fools and Horses' as it happens!
• The joke credit is a reference to the song 'Runaway' by Del Shannon. Del was also the name of David Jason's character in 'Only Fools and Horses.'

Goofs and Nitpicks

And since this is an episode about 'normal' people, here's my wife and I if we appeared on the show. And I still don't like flying.

• Miniscule wee colour error on the 1st pilot's hand - I'm really reaching here.
• The customs officer's eye is coloured as Igor's for a brief moment. 
• The search officer's collar and tie flicker off for a split second. More reaching.
• Not so much an error per se, but this quick shot makes Gaston look like he's leaning forward quite a lot as we can see the passengers in the next chair.