Review of Count Duckula: The Complete First Series

Introduction

"Castle Duckula, home for many centuries to a dreadful dynasty of vicious vampire ducks - The Counts of Duckula. Legend has it that these foul beings can be destroyed by a stake through the heart or exposure to sunlight. This does not suffice however, for they may be brought back to life by means of a secret rite that can be performed once a century when the moon is in the eighth house of Aquarius." So begins each episode of `Count Duckula`, a favourite of mine when I was at infants` school. The most recent reincarnation of the Count during the eighth house of Aquarius saw a mix up with tomato ketchup replacing blood with the result that Count Duckula is a vegetarian vampire duck with a penchant for broccoli sandwiches.

The series surrounds the adventures of the titular count, his butler Igor and nanny who is helpfully called Nanny. This, in itself, doesn`t allow for much in the way of episode variation but thankfully Castle Duckula has a teleportation device and the Count has his nemesis by the name of Dr. Von Goosewing.

Video

This is presented in the original 4:3 (1.33:1) aspect ratio in which it was broadcast, the transfer is nothing to write home about but `Count Duckula` was never about superb visuals and lifelike animation.

Audio

A perfectly fine DD 2.0 mono soundtrack.

Features

I can`t comment on the quality of the extra features because the review discs were the first two discs of the three-disc set, which contain the episodes, the third disc has interviews, a drawing guide and a photo gallery.

Conclusion

Nostalgia can work in one of two ways: something you have fond memories of can date terribly and make you wonder what you saw in it in the first place or, in the case of `Count Duckula`, it can appear to be as good, if not even better than when you first experienced it. I enjoyed `Count Duckula` when I was seven or eight years old but wasn`t sure how watchable it would be some eighteen years on.

As with the TV show `Duckman`, most, if not all, of the titles are puns, word-plays and references to popular culture such as `No Sax Please, We`re Egyptian`, `Transylvanian Homesick Blues` and `The Vampire Strikes Back`, that only adults will appreciate. There are also many `Dracula` parodies, for instance his nemesis who goes by the name of Dr. Von Goosewing, which ensure that adults will enjoy this as much as children.

As the voice of Count Duckula, David Jason is excellent, providing the character with all of his energy and spark; Jack May`s voice is perfect for the droll Igor, who is determined to get Duckula to perform in a manner in which his ancestors would be proud, and Brian Trueman couples his role of series creator with the voice of dim-witted Nanny.

I wasn`t expecting to enjoy `Count Duckula` as much as I did, but found myself watching all 26 episodes, running at over nine hours, in one go!