Ooh dear, now how did THAT happen?
It can't be true, man!
But it is. I have just learned of the passing of Brian Trueman at the age of 92, so I'm kind of writing this in a mad haze. Maybe I'll edit it later or maybe not, who knows. While there's a lot to be said for fine-honing one's writing, sometimes it's good to just get raw feelings out and leave them as they are.
I'm not going to get all maudlin here. I am however going to take the opportunity to put down why I enjoyed his work so much and in my own humble way, attempt to learn from and emulate all the aspects of it that appeal to me. Also, as if re-animating a vampire corpse, I'm going to resurrect this blog, however briefly!
Growing up, I imagine a lot of children, when asked who their idols were, might have listed the names of popular singers, footballers and movie stars. However, I was one of those strange kids, who most likely would not even recognise these celebrities. Nine times out of ten, my heroes were nothing more than names that flashed by on a television screen in the credits of my favourite programmes. Names belonging to people of whom I had minimal knowledge, beyond those brief flashes. One of those brief flashes and by default one of those names, was Brian Trueman. A brief flash/name best known to fellow Duckula fans as the writer and voice behind countless episodes and characters for this series, Cosgrove-Hall in general and beyond.
His writing and acting, for whatever reason, just ticked all my boxes. Stupid puns and dry observations, a perfect balance of high and low comedy, whilst never losing sight of the strong characterizations. Plus he was no stranger to serious drama and the poetic as exemplified with his work on "The Wind in the Willows." I find myself laughing at his humour and enjoying his stories even more as an adult than I did as a child. A testament to his work in that I just keep coming back for more and receiving it in spades. Despite working on what were ostensibly children's shows, Brian didn't believe in talking down to children which made him the perfect fit for Cosgrove-Hall. I may be paraphrasing from the man himself here but I am of the opinion that children will always come up to meet you halfway. But if you talk down to them, getting anyone above that level is impossible. No-one appreciates being talked down to. It could be argued that in some cases, his scripts were in danger of leaving children behind! Perhaps this is why I enjoy them so much as an apparent 'grown-up' now.
Brian worked on virtually all the studio's series, from Jamie and his torch, to Victor and Hugo and their bungling. During this time, he shared and then passed the baton onto fellow writer/actor Jimmy Hibbert who continued in the same tradition and penned many of the finest entries in the Duckula series in particular.
I have always admired his ability to craft a joke out of thin air and have it snowball into a bigger and better joke that is not only funny in it's own right, but moves the plot along too. Examining his work, I came to notice how a string of seemingly unrelated blackout gags become connected, building on and advancing from what came before. Jokes that, while funny on their own, become even better when combined with others. His plots also tended to be the most rounded, where things didn't just happen to fill twenty minutes and then suddenly end, not that there's anything wrong with that if it's good stuff, mind you.
As for the wealth of voices he created, it's something of an achievement in itself that they all came out of the same throat. Like many voice actors, Brian was no stranger to 'acting against himself' especially on some series, such as "Jamie & The Magic Torch" where he played EVERYONE. Cosgrove-Hall shows also benefitted from allowing the actors to record together where possible, resulting in brilliant performances across the board.
We all have to go sooner or later though and 92 is a very good innings, for want of a better cliché. As with a lot of my heroes growing up, I used to make the somewhat gloomy assumption that they had all been dead for years anyway. Perhaps this was some form of resignation to the fact that most of the people I looked up to were those previously mentioned flashes on a TV screen. As flashes, they therefor could never even exist in any real sense, much like the cartoon characters they were responsible for. So sometimes it comes as a surprise to hear that someone I admire is a real person, as human as the rest of us. I remember when fellow Duckula cast member Jack May passed on in 1997, many letters of condolence were sent in to the Radio Times, mine among them. None mentioned Igor. If mine had gotten published, there would have been at least one.
So now I'm going to do a Count down (hehehe!) of some of my favourite episodes and characters that Mr. Trueman contributed to this series. Now I know credits of TV shows and movies are not always 100% reliable, but after having enjoyed Cosgrove-Hall shows for several decades, I think I've managed to pick up on the odd writers' and actors' trope here and there (hear that Wikipedia?) but because this is a Duckula-centric blog, I will be concentrating on that series, However, I will add in other stuff too where I can in a piece of fan art.
So, in no particular order (I hate top ten lists) here we go. I had to whittle it down somewhat. In any case, the rest of this blog will contain the relevant reviews.
No Sax Please We're Egyptian - Required reading. You can't really skip this one. It sets the tone for the entire series. A classic.
Arctic Circles - Wonderfully explores the relationship between Duckula and Igor, mixing the comic with the tragic.
Whodunnit? - A very silly Agatha Christie style parody. Checks off all the character types and has a super collection of group effort sketch style set pieces.
The Show Must Go On - Just laugh-out-loud stuff and a great example of the 'snowball' jokes I mentioned earlier. The Crow Brothers on top form.
The Rest Is History - Very spooky and with high stakes (pun intended) and drier humour. Certainly one for the Duckula lore-ists.
The Ghost of McCastle McDuckula - Set in Scotland so of course it's good! Trueman's sitcom pacing at it's finest.
Manhattan Duck - Another fine sitcom with culture clashing at it's fore and a rare episode with a happy ending!
Characters
Rory McDuckula
Utter class twit supreme. Half of a brilliant double act against Jimmy Hibbert's only marginally less twitty Denzil. Lots of air and drawn ite (out) vowels. A tickety-boo performance? Oh RA-ther!
Genuinely creepy performance with just the right touch of the pompous hammy actor type to add a bit of humour. One of the series most memorable villains.
A regular on the series, this Slavic sounding bat (the green one) would generally take the role of 'joker' to Sviatoslav's 'straight-man.' Had a great laugh - literally!
What more needs to be said? No-one else could have portrayed the lovable old hen quite the same. Brian added just the right balance of silliness, warmth and pathos. Worth noting, she evolves vocally as a character after the first handful of episodes, displaying a greater range of emotion. A classic character all round and brings comedy and sweetness to a spooky series.
In a perfectly timed tragicomic twist worthy of the Count himself, all Count Duckula episodes on YouTube appear to have been blocked. Probably due to ITVx apparently showing them recently. Regardless, I'm sure fans can find some way of seeing their favourite ones way or another. I know I intend to. Just don't expect to see "Open To The Public" broadcast any time soon.
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| Will probably update this with an inked version later. |
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| Here it is! |
L to R: Nanny and Dmitri (Count Duckula), Wordsworth (Jamie and the Magic Torch) Stiletto (Danger Mouse) Weasel Henchman (The Wind in the Willows), King Arthur (Alias the Jester), Ponsward the butler and a newsreader (Victor & Hugo: Bunglers in Crime)
Thanks again Brian. You taught me that Fluffykins and Willesden Green were funny words.
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