"One Stormy Night"

Writer's assistant: Snoopy off of Peanuts.

Season 1 Episode 3 (episode 3 overall) 

Original broadcast date: 20th September 1988

Writer: Peter Richard Reeves
Additional voices: Dr. Von Goosewing/

                            Creature/Sviatoslav: Jimmy Hibbert

                             Dmitri: Brian Trueman

                             Statue: David Jason  

Castle transport visual not used.

               

Duckula cannot sleep so he and everyone else end up wandering around the castle and having an unexpectedly eventful night. Not long before revisiting this episode for the review, there was a very appropriate display from the weather, so I was perfectly in the mood. 11th May in the UK? One VERY stormy night!

This one is an absolute classic, and the earliest example of what some might call a 'bottle episode' which, ironically would probably cost no less to make than a travelling episode. In fact, stories set in the Sahara or the Arctic would probably be cheaper! Certainly not the case were this a live action show. Sometimes the simplest premises are the best and the characters really do drive the plot. The main cast are all present, correct and all are given plenty of stuff to do with some subtle recurring bits to look out for. What's special about 'One Stormy Night' too, is that it's shot entirely in real time. There are no fades down or up to indicate passages of time, only some dissolves and cuts (with appropriate lightning effects) from scene to scene, taking the viewer back and forth between all the various characters' exploits. This really helps convey the feeling of a sleepless night, because the lack of fades reflects a lack of sleep. Of course, were the characters to actually get a good night's sleep, there'd be no story! 

We open unusually, in that Goosewing seems to have set up a secret lab' at the very top of Duckula's castle. Bringing down the enemy from within? In any case, it's one of the bravest plans he's done. It makes sense though, because this week he's doing his Victor Frankenstein impression (funny in hindsight, since Jimmy Hibbert would later go on to voice Victor in Victor & Hugo) and he needs his lab' to be close to the stormy skies. He's built a monster naturally, mercifully out of metal and not out of human remains. Goosewing may be crazy but he's not as immoral as Frankenstein! The scene starts with the Doc' apparently about to stab someone (presumably the Count) but then reveals he's simply cutting himself a sandwich. This gag, funny as it is, relates to a plot point for Duckula himself soon afterwards. However, despite the fact that lightning in horror films can give you life, the Doctor feels this won't be enough without a working fuse-box, so off he goes to find a fuse, warning his monster not to start on any destruction rampage until his return.

Meanwhile Duckula is getting a scary bedtime story from Igor, which seems to be scaring Nanny instead. Duckula and Igor share a rare moment of agreement believing the story to be a little silly. The storm doesn't show any signs of abating, so sleep is out of the question. Off Duckula goes to get a snack. Nanny goes with him because she's still scared and Igor takes a once way trip to the dungeons after the weight of a giant frightened hen is too much for the floorboards (see above). However, Igor is not alone in said dungeon. Seems a statue of an earlier incarnation of Duckula has been brought to life by a stray lightening bolt. This will also tie in with what happens to Goosewing's monster later. The statue, being an embodiment of one of the Count's past (un)lifes is, in his own words, 'nothing but completely evil!' David Jason's portrayal of a more traditionally evil vampire is as funny as it is hammy. He'll do the same again in a few of other episodes, with the award for the most creepy going to "Dear Diary." The statue sets out to cause mayhem. He soon runs into a likely victim with Von Goosewing, who utterly fails to recognise the startling resemblance the the statue has has to his target, addressing it as 'young lady.' The statue plays along with the offer to help find a fuse and leads the doc' back to the dungeons, where Igor is slowly regaining consciousness. Not quite gaining life in the same way the statue did, but similar! Igor then unwittingly saves Goosewing from having his head removed from his body (guillotine style) by the Duckula statue and then plots to help him try again. The Doctor flees for help from his creation, characteristically forgetting that he still needs a fuse for the fusebox.

There's a little confusion and distrust between Igor and the statue initially, but this is smoothed over when Igor is convinced that it is actually his master he is speaking too. Does Igor see in black and white? Or is it just the gloom of the dungeons? The statue is solid grey. It's interesting to note that the statue also seems to vaguely recall Igor, reaffirming the series-long motif that the old butler has been serving the Count for hundreds of years. Since the statue is essentially the spirit of an earlier Duckula only in stone form, this makes perfect sense. It would make no sense for the lightning to revive the corpse of any previous Counts, since that is essentially being used by the current Count. A nice way to get round being too gruesome and also a unique idea anyway!

While all this is happening, the current, and far nicer, Duckula is trying to convince the still-frightened Nanny that "The Thing That Ate Transylvania" was just a story book and there are no monsters of any sort in the castle. Kind of ironic considering he himself is a vampire, but also, unbeknown to him, technically untrue. Since Duckula has a non-organic döppelganger, so does Goosewing. HisCreature also gets zapped by lightning and comes to life. He is very unlike the Duckula statue though in terms of personality. He's been awake - well alive - less than a minute and he's already got a low opinion of himself as well as a headache. It's interesting to hear a less comical version of  the Goosewing voice. Like the Duckula statue I initially didn't recognise Jimmy Hibbert as the character, the metallic vocal filter making it even more tricky to identify. It's close in tone to his Sviatoslav voice, so kind of like a mixture of his two regular characters, played very straight. He'd do something similar-but-different again in as Dr. Von Gosling in "Dear Diary." The Creature moans about having a trashcan bottom for a head and then sets off to find an aspirin. Meanwhile Duckula and Nanny have split up under Duckula's theory that if there were a monster downstairs he cannot be upstairs. Nanny doesn't think hard enough to realise that he may be upstairs anyway and heads off!

By the time Von Goosewing gets back to his secret lab', a sleeping Nanny has already taken the place of his Creature on the table. He mistakenly believes her to be his Creature, now come to life, presumably forgetting what the original design looked like. Well, maybe lightning does that! Nanny (apparently) responds to his commands and starts sleepwalking around the castle with him.

In the kitchen, Duckula's sandwich-making exploits are hindered by the fact that he can't find any bread. Igor shows up and more confusion ensues between bread and spades. Igor is still under the impression that Duckula is evil and still wants to bury Goosewing alive, but naturally he doesn't reveal all this to the real Count (he assumes he'd already know this since it was his idea), so the scene still works. Igor, accepting Duckula's 'earlier good humour' was too good to last, heads off to locate some bread, although Duckula eventually gets fed up waiting and goes to look for him. Igor meets the statue again and is told to save time by starting on the digging while the statue fetches Goosewing AKA: "the main course." It's great how much of the plot unfolds simply by having characters wondering about from place to place, all with different motivations, either looking for the other, or bumping into each other by chance. This series tends to do this very well, similar to a classic farce.

Duckula now runs into his stony-faced twin. He immediately notices that the statue is grey and assumes it's because he's looking at his reflection in a dusty mirror. He has a little monologue to himself (with the statue, comically mimicking his actions), soliloquizing about how he apparently has too much responsibility. Typical young person! Although to be fair, being a harmless vampire, he does have a fair bit to worry about. It takes the statue to point out that, being a vampire, they/he have no reflections. It also seems the statue either doesn't recognise himself in Duckula or doesn't care, because now it's neck-biting time! The current Count flees in a panic, passing the Creature who is conversing with a suit of armour, assuming it to be another metal monster like himself. 

Duckula hides in his bed like a brave soldier! He may be far nicer than his previous incarnations, but it's worth observing that his lack of courage could stem from his vegetarianism, ergo his lack of bloodlust. Sometimes our 'evil side' needs to surface in order to help us survive. Although his love of money might be something that could give Igor some hope. Root of all evil and all that. He gibbers from under the blankets in a vein (pun intended) attempt to dissuade the rocky ruffian from entering. As I child I misheard his panicked line as "There's Laurel and Hardy on TV tonight now right this minute!" Which is as good an excuse as any for not wanting to be interrupted. Nanny, having become separated from her 'master' hears her real master's cries and comes to the rescue. So does the sun. Its rays reduce the statue to a pile of dust.

Day has broken and Goosewing is now wondering outside, still looking for his Creature - ie. Nanny. He falls down the hole Igor is digging, which is quite fitting since it was intended for him anyway. The noise Igor makes offscreen is really creepy as Goosewing tries to escape and the doc's screams also lead into Duckula's next line about his encounter with a monster - ie. the statue. The funny part here is that since he's describing how it evil it looked, he's basically describing himself, since they look alike. Of course, he also does the typically veinglorious (another pun intended) thing of saying how he would have showed the statue a thing or two, had Nanny not shown up. Nanny by this stage though, is convinced that Duckula was right all along and that monsters simply don't exist. This is cue for the miserable, monolithic man of metal to show up and give them a gruesome look at his split head. Duckula and Nanny flee once again, their panicked screaming mingling with that of Goosewing's as the Creature politely asks for a headache remedy. As someone who recently bashed his head quite badly, I can readily sympathise.

If you only ever see a handful of Count Duckula episodes, I'd recommend this be among them. The characters are strong enough to entertain without leaving their typical setting, or doing anything that calls in extra locales or too many characters, plus the Universal Horror atmosphere is laid on in spades. Or should that be in bread? There were several episodes in the series where the travelling castle motif is set aside and we instead concentrate on the main cast pottering about in the castle. "One Stormy Night" is one of the best of these. I remember play-acting this episode at school with my friends once. I was Goosewing and the big tree in the playground represented the tower where my lab' was. In great attention to detail, I fell out of that tree screaming. Goosewing would be proud. I had no parachute.

Music

"Barrage" (Jack Trombey) Opening.

"Vamp Til Ready" (Wally Asp) Clock bats.

"Finders Creepers" (Paddy Kingsland) "Young lady, excuse me."/Mirrored action.

"The Eternal Loser" (Paddy Kingsland) The Creature. 

"Fog Bound" (Ivor Slaney) Monster free zone.

"Jailbreak" (Robert Gill) Guillotine.

"Despair" (Robert Gill) Igor meets the statue.

"Berlin" (John Leach) Von Goosewing counting the steps.

"Hide and Seek"(Richard Allen Harvey) Kitchen.

"Shadowed" (Peter Francklyn) Nanny in the lab'.

"Big Bad Giant" (Paddy Kingsland) Nanny arises.

"Lumbering Giant" (Paddy Kingsland) Nanny sleepwalking.

"Vultures" (Dudley Matthews) Igor meets statue again.

"Hasty Departure" (Dudley Matthews) Duckula being chased.

Pans and Backgrounds

Wealth of great Gothic/Victorian horror scenes this time as we see a LOT of the castle, for obvious reasons. Wonder how many of these were inspired by specific shots from Universal Horror films? Have fun spotting any and say so if you can. The colours go from purples and dark blues to lighter tones and yellow after the sun rises.

Love that comedy hand. Adds just the right touch of humour to the horror.

Nice 'twinned' pan here of the two characters in repose.

The candlestick in the bottom right image is on an overlay which is not seen in all shots of this scene.

Trivia

• Episode doesn't start on a scream but ends on several.
• Episode opens on Goosewing as opposed to Duckula, Nanny or Igor. Heinrich is not mentioned, perhaps because VG now has someone else to talk to, his Creature. Though they never actually converse or even meet up.
• Igor wears reading glasses.

  

  Statue and Creature from the joke book.

  
  
• Duckula likens the thunder to 'giants bowling' which is appropriate given that there is a giants' castle right above their one. Igor reads Duckula a bedtime story in that episode as well.
• Von Goosewing inventions: Metal Creature. Looks just like his dad!
• Goosewing's Creature is made of metal and is the first of two Frankenstein's monster characters to show up. The second is in "The Return...etc." where it is a conventionally stitched together corpse.
• The Creature is also one of two metal monsters Goosewing invents. The other is Volfie from "There Are Werewolves..."  Three monsters overall, if you count the animated Duckula statue, even though that wasn't planned nor necessarily Goosewing's doing as it's not clear if his machinery is involved.
• Goosewing's exclamation of "by the wooden teeth of Otto Von Klinkenhoffen!" may be an "'Allo, 'Allo" reference, although the character there is called Erich, and Otto's surname is Flick. Erich is what Igor-disguised-as-Auntie calls Goosewing in "The Great Ducktective." Other than this, there are no Germanic expletives employed.
• Duckula is seen wearing Danger Mouse themed pyjamas. He also has a top hat and cane in his wardrobe, which he has used on at least two occasions.
• The artwork of the window in Goosewing's lab is also used in "Dr. Von Goosewing's Invisible Ray." The animation of the lightning/beam is not reused however, because it's going through the window in a different direction each time. See that review for a clearer shot of the art.
• Igor lands in, and later emerges from, a coffin. This means that each main cast member has voiced at least one character who does this.
• David Jason also voices a statue in the Danger Mouse episode entitled, simply, "Statues." A DM statue is also used there. 
• The statue is possibly of Count Duckula the 10th, although this is difficult to make out due to the gloomy lighting of the dungeons.

  

  From the first annual.

• The clock bats appear twice.
• The Creature looks in a mirror, Duckula thinks he himself is doing likewise later on.
• Duckula paraphrases the saying "a man has to do what a man has to do." He does the same in "Around The World in a Total Daze" and it is also done by Quiet Earp in "Dead Eye Duck."
• Igor's pose as he talks to the statue for the first time gets used a lot in promotional stuff.
• Duckula gets cucumber from the fridge. In the very next episode he claims not to like it. But then again, he is being threatened by vegetables in that instance. In the same scene, he claims berries give him heartburn.
• Duckula wants to eat a tomato, cucumber, lettuce, brie, onion, gorgonzola and ketchup sandwich.
• This may be a mistake, but I think it's more likely to be a wry joke. Duckula asks Igor to fetch some bread, but there is what looks like bread right next to the fridge and some in the toaster that he doesn't notice nor even look at! Could be a cake though, if the egg diagram on the packet is anything to go by.
• There are 2,723 steps from the dungeon to the tower, at least by the route Von Goosewing takes.
• Appropriately the "Vultures" music cue plays during a scene when Igor is onscreen.
• This episode was released on the very first Count Duckula VHS in 1988. I got it for Christmas that very year! Although I had taped it of the TV too, but that disappeared.

  
  
  

  This common promotional image is taken from this episode. (Sale 2001) 

• Along with "All In A Fog", "The Mutinous Penguins" and "Transylvanian Homesick Blues", this episode was transcribed into book format, including many images taken directly from the episodes using cel set-ups.
• A card game released by Waddingtons uses the Duckula meeting the statue scene on its box art. I had this one and the cards were giant sized with nice clear images of the characters and the clock. If I find it, I will update with photos.
  
  Goofs and nitpicks
• Even though it's only one image, the hands of the monster in the book may be miscoloured.
• Not really an error, but Nanny's hand seems to be tucked away into her sling just before Duckula asks her to come with him. Perhaps it was meant to move, but the drawing was not used.
• Possibly an archiving/restoration nitpick done more recently, but Goosewing's hand strobes slightly when he first meets the statue. Double exposure?
• Igor's fingers and shirt cuff colours are inverted briefly when in the kitchen. - I just noticed all these nitpicks were hand related. Got to hand it to me for that!