"Down Under Duckula"

Strewth mayte.

Season 1 episode 8 (episode 8 overall)
Original broadcast date: 25 October 1988

Writer: Jimmy Hibbert
Additional voices: Bruce/Dmitri: Brian
                              Trueman
                              Norm: David Jason

                              Bill Platypus/Sviatoslav: 

                              Jimmy Hibbert

                           

Travel location: Australia

Castle transport visual used



Duckula decides to take Nanny to Austria to see a psychiatrist, but they all end up in Australia where Duckula gives away the magic clock to a wallaby rancher. Now there's a weird synopsis if I ever saw one.

It starts off like a Three Stooges short, but only in the sense that the start has no bearing at all on the main bulk of the episode. There's a reason for this. That reason being that the castle's hearing is obviously as crumbly as the rest of it - Austria? Australia? Close enough.The set-up scene involves Nanny somehow mistaking Towser for Duckula's lunch.

Duckula: That thing doesn't look as if it's even dead, let alone a vegetable!

This is enough to convince Igor of Duckula's suggestion that Nanny needs her head examining. Igor suggests a brain transplant using a small cabbage from the larder. He doesn't actually believe it would work, but gleefully expounds of  'all the fun we could have trying!' I really love this joke, probably a bit too much. I'm a sick man. 

At Igor's advice, the Count sets the castle for Vienna, Austria. Anyone who's been paying attention to the title card will realise that this isn't where the castle ends up and once there, a fair dinkum cobber by the name of Bill Platypus shows up to ask exactly why a 13th century example of middle-European architecture appears to have materialised on his 'wallaby patch.'

It's fun to observe that Duckula gets more angry than Bill does. Bill has every right to ask what on Earth is going on, but Duckula rants and raves at the stupid castle with far more aggression. The delivery David Jason gives as he kicks the castle wall and hurts his foot is great. Sounds so futile and painfully real. What also sounds painful, whether you're a wallaby or not, is having a castle land on you. But thanks to the miracle of travelling vampire homes, the critters have ended up in the kitchen. This sort of thing would also happen in "Bombay Duck" to the villain and his slave, so I guess it's some kind of build-in safety device the castle has for when it transports. So don't fret, if the castle lands where you're standing, you'll just end up inside it's lower levels rather than ending up flat as a pancake. This is contradicted in a comic if I recall correctly, where Von Goosewing and or another character got squashed by it.

Nanny clearly hasn't been watching enough Sylvester the cat cartoons, as she thinks the wallabies wrecking the kitchen are giant mice and panics. This clues in Bill who by now seems to be getting on quite well with the Count. He rounds up the errant creatures and corals them out. He seems to imply one of them is drunk too, which I think is funny. He spots the clock on the way out and makes a not-very-subtle hint that his Uncle Rodney (you plonker!) would love such a thing. Duckula gladly takes the hint and gives him the clock as an apology for almost crushing his livestock. He then bids him farewell with a hope to see him again soon. He will do. Quite soon.

Because, unfortunately, out of all the things Duckula could have donated to some down under rando, the cuckoo/bat clock happens to be rather important if he ever wants to get the castle off of Bill's wallaby patch as promised. This raises an interesting idea. Next time he's fed-up with Transylvania, Duckula could simply transport the castle somewhere he likes, and hide the clock off-limits so it stays in place for a longer than a day. Worth a shot? Too risky? At any rate, Igor informs his master of his little generous mishap and together the brainstorm how to get the timepiece back, with the butler doing most of said 'storming.

Back out back in the outback (ho ho), Bill is starting to realise just why Duckula wasn't that keen on the clock to begin with. Dmitri and Sviatoslav start their act, with an Australian bent this time, sending poor Bill crazy in the process. Doesn't help that his jeep decides to run out of petrol and conk out at this point. Should've topped up before you left Bill! Even if it was just 200 miles. He sends out a call for help on his radio, which transmits to a flying doctor's aeroplane. Duckula and co. hear said distress call and basically steal the aeroplane to go to the rescue! Seriously, they're not seen asking to borrow it and it's clearly not abandoned or anything! A sign on a nearby wall says "Flying Doctor, back soon" so maybe Duckula hoped to return it before it was noticed. Big laughs here come from Nanny conversing with Bill over the radio.

Bill: What's your present position?
Nanny: Well I'm sitting down at the back and Duckyboos and Mr. Igor are up in the front.
Bill: No, no, no, I mean where are you?
Nanny: In the plane.
Bill: AND WHERE'S THE FLAMING PLANE!?
Nanny: Now don't you go taking that tone of voice with me. Mr. Grumpy never gets his way!

I like how, to Nanny's way of thinking, all this makes perfect sense.

There follows a funny sequence in which Duckula tries to fly an aeroplane, unlicensed, for the first time. He almost rams them all into a mountainside, loops the loop and all the rest. My favourite part is an off-colour off-screen joke.

Nanny: I think I'm going to be sick.
Igor: I have been.

Eventually, Duckula lands the plane (badly, but intact) and seems none the worse for wear. Unlike his servants, he actually enjoyed it. He meets Bill on the ground and gets the clock back before he even has to ask for it. Bill even offers to pay him! Sharp-eared viewers will notice that the two bats have been joking to each other in the background throughout all of the previous scenes with the stranded Bill and they show no signs of stopping. No wonder Mr. Platypus went troppo. They decide to syphon the petrol out of the plane and into Bill's, frankly tiny, jeep so he can drive them back to the castle. Must have been a bit crowded! But as Nanny and Igor undoubtedly think, preferable to another flight. So off they go, presumably leaving a puzzled flying doctor to return from his lunch break to wonder why his plane's been nicked and abandoned in the middle of the outback!

Duckula bids Bill farewell once again, with the hope of meeting again and once again and Bill drives off. The clock is restored and the castle returns. Upon arrival in Transylvania, Duckula decides he's hungry so he heads off to the kitchen. The wallabies are back however and eating everything. Clearly they snuck back in while everyone was away on the rescue. Looks like the Count will be meeting Bill once again sooner than he thought!

An upbeat kind of episode and quite action-packed towards the end, although of course there is the usual despair and frustration woven through. A good one to watch if you want to see the clock bats actually get involved in the story, which doesn't happen very often. It should be noted that they appear to live in a world of their own; a world of terrible jokes. They never react appropriately or converse with any other characters. Or maybe they just don't care.

Music

"Shadowed" (Peter Francklyn/Robert Gill)- opening narration.
"Memories of Vienna" (Alfred A. Ralston - track 18) Off to Austria/arrive in Australia.
"Vamp Til Ready" (Wally Asp - track 88) Dmitri and Sviatoslav.
"Police Car Chase" (Jack Beaver) - aeroplane flight. 
"The Gay Fusilier" (Waltzing Matilda) - (John Leach) is also heard while Bill drives (Dmitri sings it too) Here's one used in Danger Mouse ("Bad Luck Eye Of The Little Yellow God", "Oddball Runaround") as well - Track 5.
"Down Under" (Wilfred Burns and Wally Kent) Track 8 - Aeroplane take-off.
"Mini Mischief" (Johnny Pearson) track 6 - Wallabies in the kitchen. 

Pans and Backgrounds

Backgroundswise, there's not a huge deal of variation after a certain point, mainly being pans of sandy outbacks and then some sky. Quick for production! Almost all pans are to indicate movement of the jeep and plane. The predominant feel is one of yellows and some greens.

Oh look a hidden Mickey Mouse! Or maybe that should be a hidden Danger Mouse.

Trivia

• Another episode with the word duck in the title, technically. Down Under of course, refers to Australia. I knew someone once who didn't know that phrase - they were from Australia! Down is also another word for feathers.
• Episode starts and ends on Duckula screaming. 

  

  Since this episode is a bit batty, here's some badges I made.

• This is the closest Duckula ever gets to meeting Towser. Igor allies his suspicions by saying he's a wereweird-looking dog.
• Bruce and Norm cameo in 'Around the World in a Total Daze' along with a couple of Aussie backgrounds. They're also seen drinking tinnies. Croikey! Booze in a kids' show? 
• Norm was also the name of one of the workmen from 'Restoration Comedy.'
• Duckula alliterates again, once in response to Igor's brain transplant suggestion "dangerous, drastic, difficult and do you think it would work?", once on arrival "Vienna, city of song, schnitzels, psychiatry and searing heat" and also when describing the flight - "Exciting, elating, exhilarating and excuse me Igor that's my hand you're holding."
• Bill may apparently be a platypus or it may just be his surname, but he resembles the regular people on this show anyway so it's a moot point.
• Duckula tries to guess Bill's name when he assumes he is in Austria. One of the names he tries is Heinrich, who was 'introduced' in the prior episode as Von Goosewing's assistant. He also tries Fritz, which is what Goosewing used as a fake name in 'Dear Diary' and which he calls Igor in 'Vampire Vacation.'
• Igor speaks in German to Bill in an attempt to communicate. Rough translation: "Good morning, my good sir. May we get past, please?"
• Bill refers to Duckula as 'blue', the Australian for friend, mate etc. Both Jimmy Hibbert's characters in this episode are coloured blue as are Bruce and Norm.
• There's a fair smattering of more Aussie slag to be heard, mostly authentic: 'Come the raw prawn' (be disagreeable), 'bangers/barbie' (sausages/barbecue), drongo and galah (basically idiot - the latter also being an Australian cockatoo) 'Starve the lizards!' (exclamation of surprise and alarm), 'dill-headed' (dill meaning idiot), 'acting silly as a cut snake' (self-explanatory), 'sucking a pineapple' (having a fair crack of the whip) and bonzer (very good). Oddly enough, according to my source, choccy bickie is also Australian slang! Followers will know they're quite popular on this show. I have absolutely no idea what a kadoover or a wherryba are nor a dangalooza and Oskaloosa is a city in Iowa, USA.
• Bill is one of the few genuinely nice people Duckula runs into in the series and makes friends with. All the more impressive since Bill has every right to be angry at Duckula near the start. This also happened another time Duckula gave away/sold the clock, albeit not to the same customers. In my memory, I must have conflated the two episodes as I remember Mr. Platypus being quite unpleasant which is most certainly not the case. Mr. Schussboomer on the other hand...
• Bill is one of a handful of other characters seen in Castle Duckula's kitchen.
• Bill refers to his wallabies by male names, even though they all appear to have pouches!
• Bill's uncle is called Rodney. Rodney was the name of Delboy's younger brother on "Only Fools and Horses." Most fans will be aware that Delboy was also played by David Jason.
• Duckula mistakes the word 'horologist' as having something to do with horror. Hugo mistook the same word as meaning something dirty in "Tempers Fugit" (Victor & Hugo).
• Duckula would later give away the clock again (for money) in 'Manhattan Duck.'
• One of the bats' jokes references Australian outlaw Ned Kelly.
• Like Mr. Toad (also playd by David Jason) Duckula flies an aeroplane (badly), goggles and all. He also wears goggles in 'The Vampire Strikes Back' and 'Autoduck.' 
• "The Flying Doctors" was an Australian drama show that would have been on the air at the time this episode was made.
• Duckula erroneously refers to the Wright brothers and their plane as William and Oscar and their Kitty-Cat. Igor, of course, corrects him. Duckula also references Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen AKA The Red Baron. 
• Nanny turns green during the flight, resembling her role as The Nannox in "A Christmas Quacker."
• 1st time Nanny uses the recurring phrase "My poor old heart!"
• The narrator spoofs the song "Home on the Range" at the outro.
• This episode was released on the "More Children's Summer Stories" VHS in 1989.

Goofs and Nitpicks 

• Very minor background scroll during Bill's driving. Seriously being a whingin' pommie dag here!