"All In A Fog"

It's a real beef brother.

Season 1 Episode 9 (episode 9 overall) 

Original broadcast date: 1st November 1988

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

                           Sviatoslav/Cabbie/Mildred:

                           Jimmy Hibbert
                         Dmitri/Arthur: Brian Trueman

                         Hawkeye Soames: Jack May
                         Dr Potson: David Jason

Travel location: London, England

Castle transport visual used.

Duckula decides he wants to be a Sherlock Holmes style detective in London.

This is the first time in the series off-brand Holmes and Watson show up as well as being the only time their literary inspiration is mentioned. So we've got Dracula and Sherlock Holmes sharing the screen here! Without even looking this up, I wonder whether there are any classic (ie. old) movies that can boast that claim? I very much hope so. The closest I can think of offhand is the original story of "the Sussex Vampire" the only adaptation of which is one of the frankly more bizarre entries Jeremy Brett series. Oh and Jimmy Hibbert was in that briefly too, though a different episode. We've come full circle again.

We start the episode with the Count playing with his massive organ. No please, let us not nosedive the tone of this blog so late in the game. We're better than that here. The Dudley Moore-esque duck chats with his staff about solving mysteries and Igor gets in a good jibe about his master's lack of musical ability.

Duckula: Wearing earplugs during one of my recitals? That's almost an insult.
Igor: Ah, but what you were playing sir was almost music.

Because they've been going on about Sherlock Holmes, Duckula; with the typical logic of a child; decides that the only place to be a proper detective is London, England. He feels it ought to be Chicago when he reads about American detectives in "Private Beak." We get a gratuitous shot of the Union flag being hoisted and the castle takes off.

Naturally it lands in what I imagine is meant to Hyde Park (although it's never mentioned) but I like to think it is, just to get in another horror/literary nod. An officious parkie is swiftly dealt with by Igor's grisly threats. Admittedly that parkie could have been a little more polite, but really if it's crimes Duckula is on the lookout for, he need look no further than himself here! Parking a middle-European castle in a public park is a little bit naughty. Still, it allows us a rare moment of solidarity between Duckula and Igor. We also get a silly pun about Nanny mistakenly calling the thick fog a 'beef-brother', before Igor corrects to 'pea souper.' If Only Duckula had responded along the lines of 'Of course peas are super I love vegetables! But this is no time for dinner, we've got crimes to solve!' Come on Cosgrove-Hall. Invent that time machine and hire me in the mid 80s.

Castle-parking is not as naughty as stealing the crown jewels though and a couple of Cockney sparrows emerge from a sewer having done just that. Despite stealing the jewels easily, getting out of the tower has been their main problem, and they are now 47 years older than when they started out. Does this mean no-one noticed the crown jewels missing in all that time? Or did they replace them with fakes? Oh well it's only a cartoon. Duckula happens by after having gotten on a cab to the Tower  of London (fittingly, the cabby resembles a raven) and 'investigates.' That is, he helps them out of the sewer hole. Well it's actually Nanny that does it, after Igor has a go too. An amusing game of pass the parcel runs through this with the parcel being the loot. In a nice attention to detail, Igor gives the sack a suspicious glance and he holds it. It ends up with Hawkeye Soames and Dr Potson before returning to Nanny.

While all this is going on, Von Goosewing is testing out his newest invention. It's another airborne mode of transport, only this time in the shape of a gigantic vacuum cleaner. He's convinced that the typical London fog is actually the 'stilled essence of wampire.' In his defence, his vampire alarm wristwatch did go off earlier when he stumbled past Duckula in the fog. He may he a crackpot inventor, but his crackpot inventions do seem to work. Usually. I do get a kick out of the 'lets mock the crazy invention clichés' joke when he randomly presses buttons to get it going. 

Von Goosewing: Nope. That's the button for the small explosion. Let's hope I don't find the big explosion button. (BANG) What do you know? I found it.

Back with out main trio and Soames and Potson are questioning them while the real thieves scarper. This is typical of Soames. He always seems to hone in on the wrong person while passing by the real crooks. Then of course he will generally backtrack and claim he knew all along and that his error was a clever misdirection. This is an affectionate parody of the character of Sherlock Holmes of course, who always seemed to be in control of everything, even when others were baffled by his actions. The main difference is that Holmes is a great detective and is written as such. Then again, some critics have posited that Holmes is only as great as he is because the nature of the stories dictates that he will triumph and he comes across as all the more impressive in contrast to Watson. It might be interesting to see what transpired when Holmes messed up as he claimed has indeed happened in his career and what became of the unsolved cases. For that matter, the stories could easily be re-written with Soames and Potson for comic effect! There's a project for someone, if I don't get to it first.  It's also worth noting that despite being an obvious parody, Soames, although he smokes the gourd pipe, does not wear the deerstalker hat. Possibly this is done to avoid repetition, since Goosewing has already taken care of that department. Although when Victor impersonates Soames in "Hound of the Hobbes-Sutclyffes" he wears the deerstalker there. Though this could be a nod to Jimmy Hibbert's roles as both Goosewing and Victor as much as anything. 

Potson is of course in turn, is a parody of Watson although David Jason seems to be channelling the Nigel Stock school of acting and portrays him as bumbling fool rather than the original (and far less bumbling or foolish) incarnation from the stories. Potson is far more sycophantic than Stock though and constantly praises anything Soames does. This puts me in mind of an Alexei Sayle sketch where Sayle (as Watson) drives Holmes to distraction by overly adulating every little thing he does as some sort of marvel! Long-time fans of Cosgrove-Hall will get a little reward out of these characters' in their final appearance in the final Victor & Hugo episode "Do-In-Yourself" (also the final appearance of Jason and Trueman together) where Potson finally questions Soames' ability and is promptly told to shut up by both Soames and Victor! At any rate, the little game of pass the parcel (of incriminating evidence) reverses itself until it's noticed that there are no little old people to hand it back to. Off to chokey for our trio it seems! That's another difference between Soames and Holmes. Soames tends to make citizen's arrests. 

The Duckula tradition of destroying famous landmarks is in full effect here! Von Goosewing's machine sucks up not only the fog but everything else, including rest of the cast. This actually helps Duckula and company as the Tower of London starts coming apart which then allows them to escape upwards. Not that they have much say in the matter either way. Eventually Goosewing manages to set the thing in reverse, which spits everyone out. A chase ensues between Arthur and Mildred on a motorbike and Duckula, Igor and Nanny in the hansom (quite nice looking) cab. Soames and Poston, however are now stuck atop Nelson's column.

The ending is a bit strange though. A TV set crashes down from Goosewing's machine and they all stop to watch their own show, which tells of how Duckula missed out on being rewarded for his services. He cheers himself up by going back to playing with his organ - please no more!)

Some very smooth and expressive animation, especially in the second half. Goosewing, Soames and Potson get some nice bits of extra business there. Plus points to the cel painters for getting the pearly king and queen outfits right. That must have been a nuisance. The ending is a little bit weird though and would seem more at home in "Danger Mouse" or even "Victor & Hugo" at a stretch. A fun Victorian style romp of an episode overall though and one I enjoyed a lot more upon re-viewing for reviewing. I remember my brother chuckling at the bloodhound joke - so happy birthday to him for today! It's not foggy outside, but it is snowing.

Music

"Finger Of Fear" (Fredric Bayco) Intro.

"Hero Vs. The Villain" track 36 (Johnny Pearson)"To be a detective..."

"Rule Britannia (B)" (Dick Walter - track 8.2) Flag. 

"This England" (John Leach) London.

"Footsteps of Horror" (W. Merrick Farran) Lost in the fog.

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

"Mysterious Movement" track 29 (Sam Fonteyn) Under arrest.

"Galloping Gertie" track 2 (Sam Fonteyn) Motorbike and carriage chase.

"Salute to Thames" (Johnny Hawkswoth) Television.

That Duckula-specific harpsichord music plays too when Igor threatens the parkie and near the end. I've never heard it in any other show.

Pans and Backgrounds

By the very nature of this episode, it's difficult to get clear images of the background art, but the perpetual fog really adds a distinct flavour to this outing. They remind me of all those mid-century Hollywood films set in London, where it was perpetually the turn of the century. Which should be no surprise given the some of the wells this series went to for inspiration. Not many pans, although there is a pan of a fog-cleared street that would seem more at home in a late 70s Pink Panther cartoon, but there's too much movement for me to snip it together. And I've just realised that there's just less than a decade between those two cartoon concepts. Time really does seem more fleeting the older you get. I'll have to get round to nicking those crown jewels myself soon.

A cel from this episode. BG is is a repro' from 'Vampire Vacation.'

Trivia

• Episode begins and ends on bad organ music. Also ends on Igor's screams. He didn't get his earplugs in on time.
• Only appearance of the organ. However, is this the same one as used in the intro? The Phantom is also seen playing one in "A Fright At The Opera."
• Eagle-eared DePatie-Freleng fans may spot that little 'putt' sound effect as Duckula throws away the earplugs.
• Duckula seems to be a'were' of the werewolf in this episode and Nanny calls it 'wicked.' Early instalment weirdness. Or 'were'dness perhaps. It contradicts the episode immediately prior.
• The image of Duckula using the magnifying glass gets used a lot on promotional items. A 2000 VHS tape used it even when this episode was not on the tape.
• Duckula and Igor do a 'I told you not to mention (blood)' gag here, similar to the one used in "The Great Ducktective" which also features Soames and Potson.
• Another appearance of the magic coffin, but no verse is heard.
• The parkie makes reference to Duckula's 'yellow conk' which is what Nigel does in "The Lost Valley" except there, Nige' was being respectful.
• Von Goosewing inventions: Wristwatch vampire alerter, Patented Super-Duper Fog Collector. No references to the ever-elusive Heinrich nor any Germanic expletives.

• 

  Von Goosewing's flying vacuum machine as it appears in the annual.

  Dmitri and Sviatoslav appear twice. We also get a rare glimpse of the clock with its doors open, but without them there. And one where it's foggy.
• Danger Mouse's pillar box makes a cameo.  
• First appearance of Soames and Potson. Soames' hands and neck are coloured differently to his other appearances. This design trope is more common in the earlier episodes. Their colour schemes would be revised again on "Victor & Hugo" where Soames' role would be assumed by Brian Trueman. There is also a Sherlock Holmes story that features a character called Soames. It is called "The Adventure of the Three Students."
• Nanny actually admits to being stupid again. She does so in "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" also written by Reeves.
• Duckula makes mention of Uncle Merganser, who appeared in flashback in the first episode.
• Among the things Goosewing sucks up is a waxwork museum. The cast would visit one of these in London in "Mysteries of the Wax Museum" which again features Soames and Poston.
• Arthur makes mention of actor Robert Redford.
• The Thames TV theme is heard on the television set. Am I alone in never actually seeing this ident on Childrens' ITV, or indeed on TV in general? I only ever saw it on VHS tapes years after the fact. Oh well.
• Hawkeyed viewers will spot that the Big Ben clock tower has ended up in Castle Duckula at the end.
• Jimmy Hibbert is credited as script editor with additional dialogue credited to Chris Randall.
• Along with "The Mutinous Penguins", "One Stormy Night" and "Transylvanian Homesick Blues", this episode is included in a story book with images from the episodes used throughout.

Goofs and Nitpicks

• Brief colour error near the start on Igor's eyes and on Soames shoes later on - both obscured by fog. A brick briefly flickers off when Potson gets angry at the giant vacuum cleaner sucking them all away. Will that do? Really that's all I can find! They don't call me Mr Pedant for nothing. I have to pay them.