| Victor and Hugo | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Victor and Hugo: Bunglers in Crime |
| Format | Animated series |
| Starring | Jimmy Hibbert David Jason Brian Trueman |
| Composer(s) | Dave Roylance |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 30 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV Network (CITV) |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Original run | 6 September 1991 – 29 December 1992 |
Victor and Hugo, Bunglers in Crime is an animated series made by Cosgrove Hall for Thames Television and screened on CITV from 6 September 1991 to 29 December 1992 and is a spin off from Count Duckula.
The series centres on the exploits of two bumbling French criminals - the eponymous brothers of the title. Despite referencing the French author Victor Hugo in their names, neither brother was particularly intelligent.
The plot of each episode dealt with Victor and Hugo and their English-based business "Naughtiness International" being hired by crime figures to steal something. Victor would come up with a "meticulous plan" to achieve this goal, which was routinely botched by Hugo. The episodes would traditionally end with the brothers imprisoned.
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The taller of the brothers, Victor was also clearly the leader of "Naughtiness International". Victor's two most striking characteristics were his fedora hat (worn all the time) and his manicured moustache, which enabled him to appear suave. Victor's English was significantly better than Hugo's, however, he was constantly at risk of spoonerisms. Despite his anger whenever Hugo bungled one of his schemes, he secretly cared about his brother, as seen in the episode "Dummy Run", when he thought that Hugo had frozen to death. Victor was voiced by Jimmy Hibbert.
Victor's little brother, Hugo always wore a beret and looked like a burglar (right down to his ever-present eye-mask). Always subservient to "My Victor", Hugo was often the butt of slapstick comedy. While his intelligence and English skills were notably inferior to Victor's, Hugo was able to make sense of some of his brother's spoonerisms, and he would often describe their chosen profession as "criminiminals". Hugo, despite the notable handicap of a lack of ability, was always given the job of driving the van. Hugo's voice bears a striking resemblance to the Goon Show character Bluebottle, and the two characters often make similar exclamations. Hugo was voiced by David Jason.
A talking parrot with attitude, Interpoll lived in Victor and Hugo's van and provided a voice of reason in rapid-fire Cockney English. It is not saying very much to comment that Interpoll was by far the most intelligent of the group. Aside from residing in the van constantly, Interpoll was also able to function as a telephone - his beak was put to the person's ear. Victor also used him to dial out by pressing his chest like a keypad. In one episode, Hugo used Interpoll as a makeshift pair of scissors. Interpoll was also voiced by David Jason.
The token "English country family" from which the brothers would often have to burgle, the Hobbes-Suttclyffes lived at Hobbes-Suttclyffe Hall, where Lord Hobbes-Suttclyffe kept his elephant gun and his wife hosted dinner parties.
A small dog played a very important role in every episode. At various points - often when the plot appeared to be flagging, this dog would run up one of Victor's trouser legs, remove his underpants and run off with them down his other leg. This running gag also appeared at the end of every episode, prefaced by the statement by a glum Victor that "At least in here, nothing else can possibly go wrong!". Hugo particularly enjoyed the appearances of the dog, often muttering "good doggie!". In production material from the studio, the dog's name is given as Baskerville (as in the Sherlock Holmes tale The Hound of the Baskervilles), although, he is never referred to as such on screen.
Penelope was Hugo's pet earwig who lived in a matchbox. Hugo would always affectionally refer to her as 'My Penelope'. Penelope did not actually speak, instead communicating by squeaking, and rarely came out of her matchbox. On the rare occasions, that she did come out, she looked like a small grey bug with blonde hair and a dress.
Despite his French name, Meccaneaux was a working-class accented English rat who was frequently called by the brothers to repair the van (generally, after Hugo's driving had caused an accident) and, on occasion, to provide other forms of technical expertise - such as the building of the Concrete Destruction Ray (known by Victor as the "Discreet Correction Ray"). Meccaneaux was almost unintelligible, due mainly to his habit of interrupting his own trains of thought as he went along and punctuating certain observations with laughter. On one occasion, Hugo politely asked Victor what the mechanic had just said, only to be met with the response "he say...he say...I am not sure what he say.". He would also appear very quickly at the scene of the accident once requested over the radio by Victor.
Most episodes began with the brothers on the run from having committed another crime. However, as the opening dialogue continued, it always became apparent that Hugo had done precisely the wrong thing. One episode, for example, has Victor asking Hugo about how he thought they went in robbing "The Duke of Battersea's Home". Hugo's response is "The Duke of Battersea, he is having a lot of doggies, yes?", to which Victor corrects him, "The Duke of Battersea, he is having a lot of doggies, no! That was the Battersea Dogs Home!" Similarly, an episode begins with a news broadcast about the theft of the Christmas lights from Piccadilly Circus. Over this report, we hear Victor telling Hugo that, "I said 'Pull up the van at the lights in Piccadilly Circus.', not 'Pull down the lights in Piccadilly Circus and put them in the van.'!"
With only one exception, the brothers receive their latest commission (around which the plot of the episode revolves) by telephone. The phone is located in the van and Victor answers it - as Hugo is engaged in driving (badly). In one episode, Hugo attempts to assume superiority in the partnership and answers the phone himself. The standard greeting on the phone is "Hello, this is Victor of Victor and Hugo: Naughtiness International, no crime too big, no crime too small. How may I help you?", delivered in the cod-French accent adopted by Victor. Hugo's alternate rendering begins, "Hello, this is Hugo of Hugo and Victor: Naughtiness International, no big small crime too..." before trailing off.
In his capacity as the brains of the partnership, Victor would devise a "meticulous plan" and explain it to Hugo - who at one point refers to it as a "ridiculous plan". Hugo would then repeat it back to Victor in a garbled form, full of spoonerisms and other puns. One example of this, is the plan to steal a quick-growth formula from Professor Peak at St Spooner's Hospital in order to let a criminal mastermind grow an army of giant ants to devour the world. Hugo renders this as "We peek at the spoon in the hospital and grow quickly a professor's formula for devouring ants.". Invariably, the plan goes awry. This is usually flagged by Victor's question of "Hugo, did you perform a particular action?" Hugo's response takes the form of, "Yes" (at which Victor looks pleased) "And no" (at which he looks crestfallen) "But mainly...no" (at which time something exceedingly dangerous occurs).
Generally as a result of the dangerous omission by Hugo, the brothers are arrested and jailed. Victor takes this opportunity to explain that "At least in here, nothing else can possibly go wrong!" - at which point the dog steals his underpants.
Much of the humour of the series came from catchphrases. Among these were:
The opening sequence features the two brothers preparing to blow up a safe as the theme music is sung. Unfortunately for them, the explosion propels the safe through the ceiling and, in the confusion, they both run out of what is revealed to be an upper-storey window.
Having fallen to the ground, they enter their van and prepare to drive off. Victor, laughing, tells Hugo "You know Hugo, it will be alright this time. Nothing can go wrong!" Hugo responds "Yes Victor, I know!" and begins to drive. At this point, the van falls to pieces and the brothers escape that disaster only to find their way blocked by police cars. They turn around and are immediately hit by the falling safe, the door of which falls off to reveal Hugo making his alternative suggestion of the title - "Hugo and Victor. That's what I think, anyway.".
Season One:
Season Two: