Madame
Deephole, Violet Goodgrip and Major Grondlepuss attempt to free
Crispin Caelys from captivity. Cilla Hammond and Galileo Gamak
are obliged to participate in the Galactovision Song Contest.
And Maureen Blades finally catches up with her lover...
Like
any decent double entendre, the title of this episode has
more than one meaning beyond its lewd connotations. It refers
to the reluctant performance that awaits Cilla (Anna Karen)
and Gamak (Mark J Thompson), as well as to the breaking and
entering that is carried out by Madame D (Jacqueline Pearce),
Violet (Alison Taffs) and the Major (Thompson). Some of the
Madame's - ahem - "gadgets" prove extremely useful in the
liberation of Caelys (Niall Stuchfield)!
My
suspicions about the similarity between Thompson's Cindy Rellar
and Panakol Floorunner voices in the previous instalment have
proven to be correct. Once again, writer/director/producer/performer
Thompson has turned the disadvantage of an absent former cast
member (in this case Sammie Winmill as Cindy) into an exciting
plot point. On a similar note, the threat of the alien Retsabs
is maintained without the participation of Jan Chappell (who
used to play Sharliken), thanks to a story development that
owes a great deal to Doctor Who's monstrous Wirrrn.
This
CD also sees the return of musical numbers, something that
we haven't had since Part Five. With a song contest going
on, the performers have the perfect excuse, don't they? This
Eurovision spoof invites the almost obligatory impersonation
of Terry Wogan, in the form of Kerry Logan (Thompson again).
Unfortunately, this is not one of the series' better impressions.
This
is a relatively minor glitch, however, and it doesn't really
detract from the appeal of all the other colourful characters,
including the ever-wonderful Jacqueline Pearce as Madame D
and a dual role by Sarah Sutton. It won't take any forcing
at all to get me to insert the next disc (I said "disc") into
my CD slot!
Richard
McGinlay
|
