"Prince Duckula"

He got a promotion?

 Season 4 Episode 4 (episode 62 overall) 

Original broadcast date: 26th January 1993

Writer: Jimmy Hibbert
Additional voices: Mr Quentin/Mikhail/

                               Guard/Sviatoslav/

                               Chef: Jimmy Hibbert

                           Stage hand/Prince Otto: David Jason

                    Bettina Bott/Nadja Gacha: Ruby Wax

                    Leonid/Dmitri/Soldiers: Brian Trueman

                     Count Popalotovit: Jack May

                    

                   

Travel location: Ducklovia 

Joke Credit: Make Up - Anne B. Frenz

Castle transport visual used.

Revolutionaries notice the Count's strikingly similar appearance to their country's dictator and decide to use him in a ploy to gain control of their country.

This is a pretty deep plot and quite political too, for a purported kids' cartoon. It's supposedly based on the novel "The Prisoner of Zenda" by Anthony Hope. Having not read this novel, I cannot say for certain, but it seems this is yet another literary reference this series has tackled. There are a few political nods here and there throughout this show, but this one is the most overt. I wonder if that was part of the reason Sky TV gave this one such a generic synopsis when I watched the show back in the early 2000s? All the others got a plot summary, this one just got something like "cartoon fun with the vampire duck." "Prince Duckula" is certainly an interesting look into the lives of those in this Transylvania's neighbouring countries. Fans of Duckula and Igor's banter though, will be disappointed since there's none of that this week and precious little with Nanny either, though they do briefly interact with who they believe to be Duckula near the end. It's mainly a solo ride for Duckula this time as he interacts with the guest characters with some chuckles as Igor and Nanny do likewise on their own.

The episode opens at the TVTV (Transylvanian Television) station in Cluj where Duckula has been mistakenly granted an interview on "In Conversation." Seems the guy who booked him only looked at his initials and thought he was getting Clint Douglas. Mr. Quentin from "Prime Time Duck" gives the booking guy a tongue lash while Bettina Bott prepares for the Count's interview. The show goes out and Duckula comes across as incredibly boring despite his claims otherwise. Such a shame that the TV cameras seem to have neutered his usual exuberance! 

Meanwhile, in snowy Ducklovia, a bunch of revolutionaries are plotting, while one fiddles with the telly, trying to get a picture. There's some pretty funny jokes about badly executed revolutionary activities and this little gem about misunderstood socialism and selfishness, hinting that maybe these guys are as bad as the 'enemy.' Very 'alternative comedy' which would of course have been quite current, at least during the time of production.

Mikhail: We must strike now, if we are ever to live in a democratically run state -

Leonid: Run by us.

Mikhail: Yes - run by us!

Their komrade Nadja gets the telly working and they are all at first unsurprised at what appears to be Prince Otto Von Ducklov being interviewed. Of course it isn't, it's Duckula, which then gives Nadja an idea. So the next day she shows up at Castle Duckula with the intention of tricking the Count into believing that she wants to cast him in a movie. Of course, Duckula immediately falls for this so he takes the castle to Ducklovia where the 'film' is to be shot. Nadja's real intention is of course to use Duckula as a stand-in for the real Prince and have him appear to renounce the throne.

Ducklovia itself is a stand-in for middle-Eastern European countries with dodgy governments. Snow is everywhere and the palaceguards are all distinctly military and spiky-helmeted. Duckula is now in an equally militaristic costume so as to look even more like the Prince. This allows him to gain admittance to the palace with ease. To bolster his new role, Nadja has instilled him to try out method acting and 'become the character' so to speak. This explains why he acts like a pompous Prince throughout his interactions with the other residents of the real Prince's palace. This way no-one suspects anything is amiss, though they do have to be careful that both of them are not seen at the same time. I imagine that would also be a good cost-cutting excuse were this shot in live action! Still, there's no problem with that in a cartoon.

Meanwhile the real Prince, unlike the Count, is in no mood to appear in front of a camera. No broadcast to the nation until after some afternoon beddy-byes! David Jason comes up with a sort of Toad of Toad Hall voice for Prince Otto, only more petulant. His 'Igor' (a chancellor, and presumably the one who does all the real work) is likewise voiced by Jack May in a slow Russian-esque drawl. The 'broadcast to the nation' part is good too, because it ties in with the film crew idea that is part of the communist plot. By the time the 'film crew' are in and about the palace, the Prince is sound asleep so it's off to the dungeon for him! Thankfully for the revolutionaries, Duckula doesn't get a good look at him while they do this and now it's time for him to rehearses his speech; the speech that will hand over power to the masses. Duckula is impressed with the script but I wonder how he would react to this if he weren't convinced it were all just pretend? He has enough trouble with peasants back home and he doesn't even use his nobility to make their lives tough. Prince Otto doesn't seem to care either way, or perhaps the peasants of Ducklovia are also overreacting. We'll never know for sure, but it's fun to speculate.

By this stage Igor and Nanny are playing party-pooper parent figures again. They don't seem to be aware that there is a devious plot afoot, but they do at least know that Duckula is getting in over his head once again. After gaining admittance to the Prince's palace they (well Nanny, with Igor following) break through all the walls looking for him much to the amazement of the Prince's staff. I love the scene at the front door which involves Nanny sticking up for Mister Igor as he just tries to ask a polite question. Igor may be sinister, but he does know how to be civil and respectful and we all know Nanny can't stand rudeness. Any time she brings up "Mister Manners" always gets a chuckle from me. Jimmy Hibbert uses a very similar Ruffles type voice for the uncouth guard.

Guard: Look. Go away. Push off before I gets nasty.

Igor: I shall get nasty in a minute. I told you we have come to take -

Nanny: Well, that's what I calls downright rude! You just leave this to me Mr. Igor!

Crashes door in and corners the terrified guard.

Nanny: I can see you're going to have to have a chat with Mr. Manners!

After a prolonged search they eventually do find the Count. In a sense. Well, they actually find the Prince. In the dungeons. But since he looks exactly like 'Duckyboos' and is (understandably) acting like a haughty Prince, Igor and Nanny assume that it is indeed their master, getting overly involved in his own 'acting' as he so often is. A nice bit of added humour for long-term fans since by now we now how much of a ham Duckula can be, even though, as far as we know, the Prince is always like this. So naturally Igor and Nanny think he's getting carried away again. Therefor they do just that. Carry him away (after a Nanny cuddle) and protest that he stop talking in that 'silly voice.'

By now though the palace guards have gotten over their initial shock. A Sergeant orders sone guards to run and grab the .... Prince? Well yes, it is actually the real Prince while the fake one is on the balcony about to ruin everything! The real Prince manages to stop everything just in time though and Duckula cries that everything is spoiled as his great speech in interrupted. He is still convinced this is all just a movie. He reacts with shock to the Prince's appearance. However, I suspect Duckula's real troubles will just be starting now though. It would be difficult to explain that no he really didn't want to overthrow a government he knew nothing about and I also suspect the 'film crew' will deny all knowledge of the deal, if they haven't already scarpered anyway. Once again, Duckula's naivety and poor luck have left him holding the bag.

Good fun, and quite a 'deep' episode in terms of the political drama aspect, so I suspect this may have been the reason is was saved for later in the run. However a slightly rushed ending and the lack of any banter between Duckula and his servants (as mentioned earlier) lets it down a little though. Oh well you can't have everything! Also notable for being the second episode to feature a lookalike, so depending on which one you saw first, that may colour your judgement. Hey it happened to Fred Flintstone three times! An unusual entry for the series, mostly in a good way.

Music

"Hollywood Heyday" (track 10 - Gareth McLean Hughes) Landing in  Ducklovia

"Vamp Til Ready" (Wally Asp) Dmitri and Sviatoslav

"The Glory of Prussia" (Alfred Kluten) Soldiers

"Rock-a-bye Baby A" (Richard Allen Harvey/Brian Douglas Gulland) - Nanny hugs the Prince.

The part where the guard opens the door to Duckula in disguise is heard on the TV set in "Prisoner Cell Block H" episode 100 at about just under the 31 minute mark.

Pans and Backgrounds

Lots of colour on the new setting including a fair bit of paint spatter on areas like marble flooring and the kitschy TV backdrops. Despite the snow, it still remains a colourful, Russian flavoured episode for the most part. 

Trivia

• Episode doesn't start on a scream, but ends on Duckula's.
• As mentioned earlier, this episode may have been inspired by "The Prisoner of Zenda" a 1894 novel by Anthony Hope. The major difference being the that the doppelganger in the book is aware of what he is doing and is doing so to help the king. The novel takes place in the fictitious Ruritania, which was used as a place name in "Alps-A-Daisy" one episode prior.
• Another appearance of the city of Cluj. 
• Second appearance of Mr. Quentin and Bettina Bott and TVTV.
• Ducklovia appears to be named after its ruler, which should give you some idea of the nature of the place. It also sounds a little like the expression "love a duck!"
• Duckula mispronounces creme de la creme as 'cream de la cream.'
• Only episode where Ruby Wax plays two characters. Nadja is the second of her characters to sit in Duckula's chair after Lucretia Overeezi. 
• Clint Douglas is probably a portmanteau nod to Clint Eastwood and Kirk Douglas.
• "In Conversation" may be a parody of a then-current talk show, but has since become the name of a real one. If the studio clock is to be believed, it goes out live at 3pm Eastern Transylvanian standard time as Igor might say. Although Nadja says 'last night' the following day.
• Quentin says "the show must go on" which is the title of another episode.
• Anyone who has not seen "Prime Time Duck" might be confused as to how Duckula shows up on TV. Heavy make-up!
• Duckula and Miss Bott do the the 'may I call you - No.' bit again here and also does it with Nadja later on. So this marks the only time it is done twice in one episode, which ties in with that earlier tidbit.
• Duckula refers to draughts by the American name, checkers. He also admits to cheating.
• Another appearance of the magic coffin, but no verse.
• Although Nadja calls the Count 'darling' when she first visits the castle, he doesn't react until she calls him it again when they arrive in Ducklovia. He doesn't seem to hear her properly the first time in fairness.
• Second episode where a Duckula look-alike shows up, the other being "The Count and the Pauper." It also happens to Mr. Toad in "A Tale of Two Toads."
• Four of Jimmy Hibbert's characters have moustaches. In fact two of them look similar too. Perhaps intentional, for the scene where Igor says 'Ah, there you are.' Perhaps not.
• Jack May gets to play a Count in this, as did Igor himself in "Prime Time Duck."  The Prince has a von in his name, like Von Goosewing and Otto has been used as a character name in "Chorlton and the Wheelies" and "Danger Mouse" (ep. "There's A Penfold In My Suit") as well as referenced in "Igor's Busy Day." And at least once source suggests that Otto was used as Von Goosewing's first name in the Marvel comics.
• The assumed names of the revolutionaries are a reference to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 
• Dmitri makes reference to Bela Lugosi (Igor did the same in "The Lost Valley") and his joke doesn't tie to the plot this week.
• The second to last appearance of the clock bats, both of which appearances are prefaced my a moustachioed  bloke reacting in confusion to a red-suited Duckula.
• In one shot, the Prince's teddy bear looks like Alf! (Alien Life Form)
• The Prince is depicted with a monocle on his left eye on his desk emblem. We do not know what his hairstyle looks like.
• Duckula mentions Oscar and Emmy awards.
• Final episode to have Duckula's name in the title.
• One of a handful of episodes where Duckula is not in his regular attire for the majority of the time.
• The gag credit is a pun on 'make up and be friends.'

Goofs and Nitpicks

• Current prints of this episode feature a little tape noise during, appropriately enough, the behind the scenes...scene.
• Leonid's beak gets misaligned a wee bit a couple of times at the start. Duckula's once during the fireplace scene.
• The two male revolutionaries voices switch over briefly when they first meet Duckula.
• The main doors of the palace change design slightly, assuming it is the same entrance.