@eddiebinge reviews: Dame Edna’s Neighbourhood Watch (1992) TV
Eddie plays: Madge’s boyfriend (uncredited) in S01E05 (No IMDb listing)
Our first “unlisted” (on IMDb) review is for Eddie’s tiny role in early 90s comedy game show Dame Edna’s Neighbourhood Watch. We had no idea this role existed until Twitter’s eagle-eyed @AlanKerr6 tweeted Eddie asking: “I could have sworn I've just seen you as a Punk Rocker boyfriend of Madge's on Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch! Was it you?” Eddie confirmed that yes, it was, and we immediately sought it out. Thanks Alan!
The premise of Neighbourhood Watch, briefly, is Dame Edna Everage “randomly” selects audience members to play to win prizes modelled by stony-faced pensioner “Madge”. Dame Edna then surprises one contestant by bringing up a live feed of their home. Madge answers the door and, under Dame Edna’s instruction, snoops through their belongings for the nation to enjoy.
In episode five, Madge is accompanied by her much younger boyfriend (Eddie) who’s crashed the contestant’s sofa and is playing loud music. She brings him a beer before cuddling up on the sofa to smoke with him. “You should be ashamed of yourself, mixing with the dregs like that!” Dame Edna shouts, we presume to Madge. “You’re a nice young boy, you can find a nice girl can’t you?” And that’s the joke.
The music is turned off and Madge returns to her usual task of house-searching. As the credits roll, Madge and her toy boy wave goodbye.
Favourite moment:
(One of the only moments!)
Cuteometer rating: [4]
While he has a swastika drawn on his forehead and dons a ridiculous outfit, it’s baby Eddie! This was broadcast the same year as The Piglet Files (Eddie’s first speaking role) where he looks... pretty much the same! Like a lot of his early roles, in Neighbourhood Watch Eddie is once again typecast as a yob, uncredited, and has no lines. But we’re just so glad we got to see this! Seriously, thank you to @AlanKerr6!
It also has us both wondering: how many more of Eddie’s tiny TV roles like this one are forgotten, unlisted, and just waiting for somebody to point them out!
Bingo score: [0/9]
None!
Our rating: ★ ★ ★
This was such a fun discovery. Not exactly rare as we usually define it (as it’s available on US DVD import) but as it’s unlisted on IMDb and we’ve not seen mention of this role anywhere before, it counts as a gem to us.
Where to watch: Amazon (DVD) | YouTube (Eddie at 9.54 and end credits)