"The Zombie Awakes"

Season 4 Episode 7 (episode 65 overall) 

Original broadcast date: 16th February 1993

Writer: Jan Needle
Additional voices: Dr Quackbrain: Barry Clayton

                    Bunny: David Jason

                    Bunny/Peasant wife/Morpheus:

                                           Jimmy Hibbert

                   Peasant husband: Brian Trueman

                    

                   

Travel location: Bavaria (not via castle)

Castle transport visual not used.

Crazy psychiatrist Dr Quackbrain wants to study the dreams of a vampire. So he decides to use Duckula as his test subject.

This is a really REALLY creepy episode and in a very good way. It eschews comedy almost completely, although there are still some comedic moments peppered throughout, mainly from the actions and reactions of silly old Nanny and the attempts Duckula and Igor go to to wake her. The strange menace of the guest villain contrasts potently with the amusing 'business-as-usual' hijinks of the main three, further highlighting just how strong this episode is in its weirdness and creepiness factor. It makes you feel sympathy for the main characters, since they are almost totally powerless against a strong adversary. Since the main theme is that of sleep and dreams, there are some extended periods with little to no dialogue, which stands out on such a verbose series, with much of the talking being taken care of by the villain.

As is often the case for the series as a whole, this episode takes its cues from classic horror. In this case the early German expressionist film "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari." It's really fascinating to see how the makers dipped from not only the more ubiquitous horror wells (Dracula obviously) but some of the lesser known stuff too and it really does make for a powerful send-off to the series. I fully confess I had never heard of Caligari when I first saw this, even though I was aware of Dracula, Frankenstein and all that sort of stuff. Yet again, Count Duckula acted as a primer as well as being entertaining in his own right.

The story starts during the night, when everyone in the castle is sound asleep. The current Count is of course not your average vampire, so late nights aren't really his thing as a rule. His staff have obviously adapted to this. Unfortunately, even in his dreams he's not safe as he's having a nightmare. Igor is likewise having bad dreams, namely meeting the cute bunnies from "The Vampire Strikes Back" again. Nanny meanwhile dreams of.....nothing. Absolutely nothing. Still, preferable to a nightmare I suppose!  This intro scene is really good as it displays subversion and the comedy rule of three. 

We then leave the familiar castle to visit another, belonging to the guest villain of the episode, the crazy genius Dr Quackbrain. You can tell he's crazy because he converses with a sock puppet called Pinky that he himself controls. The funniest bit is when he accidentally flings the puppet away and seems upset, but then just shrugs it off. Barry Clayton himself gets his only chance in the series to play a character other than the narrator. He does a good job, since the character himself doesn't sound the same (Barry elects to use a Germanic crackling) but has the same sinister tones, imbuing the character with latent menace, not least of all because unlike the narrator, he is not just a passive observer, but one who can set the plot in motion. Despite the late hour, this crazy psychiatrist is not sleepy, but he has grown tired of observing the dreams of his slumbering subject - a zombie. I like how they've gone for the more classical depiction of a zombie, rather than the flesh-eating undead types we're used to, popularised by "Night of the Living Dead" where they are in fact, referred to as ghouls. The character's name is Morpheus too, which is a bonus joke for those paying attention (see the Trivia section)

The doc' decides that a vampire's dreams would be far more interesting to study than a zombie's. Judging by the never-ending road being displayed on his monitor, I'm forced to agree. Although a vampire's dreams might also be pretty horrific, the Doctor seems quite eager to find out. He consults the Yellow Pages and then sends his zombie off to 'collect' the Count from his home and bring him back.

But back in the castle, Duckula and Igor are having their own problems, namely a sleepwalking Nanny. Due to her sleepwalking, she's even less attentive about where doors and walls are and is breaking even more of them than usual. It's telling how this was saved for the last episode. It really does feel that this is The End for the castle and comes across as a lot less silly than the frankly mad ending to "Ghostly Gold."

Igor: If we don't wake her up soon, there won't be any castle left to have holes in!

They solve the problem with the 'special alarm clock.' I love jokes like this - where something ludicrous is played out as having a prior solution, indicating that this is not the first time they've had to deal with it. I also enjoy the war games plan of action motif throughout this scene, with Duckula playing a General or Admiral and Igor balking somewhat at not being promoted to Colonel by this stage. The war theme is carried further by Duckula and Igor hiding in a sound-proofed bunker before setting off the extremely loud alarm clock. This not only wakes Nanny, but some peasants in the village!

By now, the zombie servant has arrived at the castle and bungles the attempt to talk Duckula into returning with him. I love his deadpan gangly movements and the little raise of the hat he does as he enters. Reminds me of a cross between John Cleese and Stan Laurel. Quackbrain uses a remote hypnotic device installed in the zombie's hat to put the trio into sleepwalking state. Ironically, this only works on Duckula and Igor and not the braindead Nanny, who is finally awake by this stage and no longer sleepwalking! We're then treated to some more lovely background art and some thoroughly weird and chilling music as everyone walks the long distance to the villain's castle. The lack of any dialogue throughout just adds to the creepiness.

Now at the cubist castle, the Count is bid rest on the coach while the Doctor observes any dreams he might have on his triangular monitor. They continue with the scary vegetables from earlier and then move along to show cameos from past adventures. The Doctor finds this passingly interesting.

Quackbrain: Plenty of symbolism, but overall a little, shall we say, ordinary. 

Now it's time for some maliciousness as the Doctor 'injects' some nightmares into the Count's dreaming. Poor Duckula! He really is powerless in this one. In other episodes he has at least the option to run away and panic. Here, he's stuck in a dream world with nothing but nightmares.

Thankfully Nanny comes to the rescue by accidentally spilling a pot of tea over the control panel and then zapping both herself and Igor (who is still hypnotized) into the dream world. This cheers Duckula up somewhat. It's heart-warming to hear how happy and relieved he is to have Nanny and Igor by his side again to tackle any more nightmares. It's also interesting to note that when Nanny and Igor are around, they cannot see anything scary in the monsters Duckula sees, or they see them as something harmless instead. This could represent the fact that they're always looking out for him so nothing that threatens him is seen as a problem. A four-headed monster and a four-headed carnivorous plant (a reference to the four main voice actors?) turn into a harmless tadpole and a flower respectively. The cute bunnies also make a reappearance, just to annoy Igor some more and once more, he is powerless to do anything about that, because that is his nightmare. They appear genuinely threatening when Duckula first sees them too.

The Doctor decides everything is ruined and wakes them up, only to send them back into a trance once again. Again this doesn't work on Nanny who again, just goes along with it. I wonder if she really is that stupid or is actually clever enough to just play along? Quackbrain orders his slave to take them back home and lock them away. We now get a reversal of the long walking sequence we got earlier with some more great music as they all make their way back. They might have saved a bit of money by flipping the animation cels, but that wouldn't work on Nanny! Morpheus locking the door is such a great visual gag, since there's almost none of the door left making locking it pointless. But he was just doing what he was told!

Now that it's morning, there's a nod to the 'special alarm clock' from earlier as it goes off at the correct time and wakes everyone up. Amazingly, they all seem to have had a good night's sleep and can remember nothing of the recent events. It's subtle, but this little exchange shows real attention to detail as to how Nanny misses the point of almost everything.

Duckula: I slept like a top!
Nanny: Well I'm surprised it didn't make you giddy. 

Duckula: Hmm? What Nanny?
Nanny: All that spinnin' about!

Duckula: No Nanny, slept like a top, it's like a log, it's a figure of speech.

Nanny: Yes! Well at least I slept well.

We close off as we opened with silly old Nanny pottering about the castle, breaking things again, only this time whilst fully awake.

Like the black and white themes, this is a light ending to a dark episode as we're back, as we started, to business as usual at the castle. It kind of negates all the threats Quackbrain made but that's the only weak point and may have been part of the joke in that nothing will stop Duckula, Igor and Nanny from going about their usual routine, no matter what happens. It reminds me of the final episode of Father Ted with its montage of past hijinks and the promise of more to come, even if the audience won't be along for them. Similar here, in such that, despite the broken walls and broken dreams the series thrives on, there's something comforting about a place that never changes. It's a strong finale the the series, whether it was intended as such or not. I don't know how much these things were shuffled about, but it does seem likely that Barry Clayton's onscreen character may have been a little treat for devoted fans. 

Music

"Scream and Scream Again" (Tim Souster) - Dreaming Count/Awake.

"Finger of Fear" (Frederic Bayco) Dr Quackbrain's first scene.

"Agents Anonymous" (Keith Papworth) - Trying to wake Nanny.

"The Haunted Piano" (Frank Samuels, track 23) - Messy hall.

"Exorcist" (Chris Payne) Trek to the Doctor's castle.

"On The Humorous Side" (Ivor Slaney) - Spring cleaning.

The rest of the soundtrack is great moody horror shlock, but sadly I cannot ID any of that as of yet. Some of it can be heard elsewhere in the series and in other C-H shows. I have a copy of the music used when Duckula's nightmare is invaded by his staff, but I do not know of an online source. It is also used in "Dr Goosewing and Mr Duck." The theme used for Colonel Willoughby is heard three times, twice in succession. The music that plays when the heroes arrive at the weird castle is also heard in the Danger Mouse episode "The Statue of Liberty Caper", the Victor & Hugo episode "Pie In The Sky" and fellow Count Duckula episode "The Return etc."

Pans and backgrounds

Weird stuff abound this time as the visuals take on the look and feel of German expressionism.  Deliberately limited colour on both Quackbrain's castle and on the Doctor himself. Even the stars in the sky are more stylised than usual. Superb details on the more familiar castle as it gets even more wrecked than usual along with several exterior shots make this a beautiful looking episode all round. 

Oo-err on that first one.

Note the reuse on the bottom two.

LOVE that star. The top right reminds me of Ren & Stimpy's "Black Hole."

Trivia

• As mentioned, the entire episode is a spoof homage to the 1920 German expressionistic silent film, "The Cabinet of Dr Caligari" (directed by Robert Wiene) right down to the weird angles on the background art, the sleepwalking motif and the crazy doctor. All of the scenes at Quackbrain's castle are rendered in black and white too.
• Episode opens on snoring and ends on crashing sounds. The Count does scream though as he has his nightmare at the start.
• This is the only episode where Barry Clayton plays an onscreen character rather than just the narrator. The credits reflect this. I don't know whether or not he recorded with the rest of the cast. His role as narrator precludes this from being necessary, however his role as Dr Quackbrain is interesting in that he never interacts directly with the other characters, (apart from briefly with Nanny) since they're all asleep or absent. I think he was recommended for the show by Brian Trueman himself who worked with him on "It's Trueman!" a title which he wasn't happy with. "It wasn't about me, it was about the people!"
• Dr Quackbrain is one of a handful of characters in the series to wear a top hat. He is also one of three characters and one of two villains seen in a wheelchair. At least in The Egg's case it was more obvious why he needed one.
• The couch ties in with Quackbrain's designation as a psychiatrist as well as a oneirologist. 
• The zombie's name is Morpheus which ties in with the theme of this episode. Morpheus is the Greek God of sleep and dreams.
• Dr Quackbrain consults the Yellow Pages to find Duckula's address. He is under V for vampires. Mattress testers, night watchmen and owl fanciers are other entries, which are also connected with the dark hours and/or sleeping.
• Harry Slime (also voiced by Jimmy Hibbert) uses the Yellow Pages for his master in the Avenger Penguins episode "Computer Chaos" as does the butler Kelp in the Victor & Hugo episode "Stone Me."
• Igor sleeps on a rack in the dungeon while Nanny sleeps nearer the kitchen. With Igor, it seems to be the same area as the 'gymnasium and sauna' from "Open To The Public." Nanny appears to have a picture of a relative on her bedroom wall. 

• 

  Above "One Stormy Night"
  Below "The Zombie Awakes"

  Duckula getting dressed is partly reused animation from "One Stormy Night" which is right from near the beginning of the series! Nanny also sleepwalked in that episode and does so again the Victor & Hugo/Count Duckula crossover episode "Treasure Haunt." Some animation from "One Stormy Night" shows up here too when Nanny goes to answer the door in her sleep, but it's been redrawn slightly. 
  
• The animation of the coach approaching and arriving at the village was first used in "Dear Diary" and again (partly) in "Dead Eye Duck." 
• Morpheus wears a bowler hat, as does Hibbert's regular character Sviatoslav. 
• The magazine "Psychiatry Today" may be a spoof on the real magazine "Psychology Today" founded in 1967.
• Duckula and Igor plan their campaign on a snooker table. Igor balks at not being referred to as a Colonel. Jack May has already played two Colonels in the series.
• The peasant is one of two Trueman characters to burst open a shuttered window on the same VHS tape. See below. He also gets away with using the word 'Hell!' Wonder if Nickelodeon censored that one?
• Among Duckula's dreams are references to prior episodes - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues", "Duck and the Broccoli Stalk" and "Sawdust Ring." The vegetable people, Mr. Stracciatella and Von Goosewing all appear. The symbols of clocks represent Duckula's fear of the castle returning home, spoiling most of his adventures. The monsters and the stake and hammer are self explanatory. In Igor's dreams, the bunnies from "The Vampire Strikes Back" makes appearances and Caractacus Doom has a similar nightmare about Planet Kute in the dream-themed episode of Avenger Penguins "Nightmare at Teatime."
• When Nanny gets zapped by the electric, we can see just why she wears a sling! There is a fracture at the midway point of her upper arm. After 65 episodes, we finally get an answer! One of her stockings also falls down a bit too, which is obviously well worth the wait.  
• Goosewing also appears on the Count's bedroom wall as a poster with darts on it.
• This is one of two episodes to credit Jan Needle as writer and the only one to give him sole credit.
• This episode was released on VHS along with "Astro Duck", "The Rest is History" and "Around the World in a Total Daze." As with the series proper, it was also the last episode on that tape.

Goofs and nitpicks

• Some close-ups of Quackbrain omit his coat, but its so close and dark it hardly matters.
• There's a brief incorrect cel of Igor shot in error while he tosses and turns in his bed.
• It is impossible to get from Bavaria to Transylvania and back in one night, by train much less by walking!