Designated Driver - Re-Review #22
Parker! Really I think I love this character too much, but he’s such an individual, I personally think it’s hard not to.
So, this episode was so so hilarious to rewatch.
i’m still a little unsure as to why Alan is sleeping on the floor... considering he tends to fly in his sleep, I’m going to say that he rolls out of bed often so the floor seems easier to sleep on.ms easier to sleep on to save the fall.
“Alan, get up!”
“What is it?”
“We need you. Now.”
Thinking there was a rescue to go to and ending up at Lady Penelope’s is just classic. I would so love love love to have seen the other Tracy brothers driving lessons. I have my own theories - like I reckon Gordon’s was a nightmare and John and Virgil would have been very good at the ‘perfect gentleman’ part, and Scott would have been a speed merchant - but if anyone would like to make those potential visions come true (I don’t mind in what form) then go for it!
“Has The Hood redirected a comet towards the Earth? An underground earthwork in the Tokyo subway system? Oh, a fusion reactor about to melt in - I’m guessing here - Belgium?”
“Bigger than all of those things.”
Alan has such an imagination. Although they probably are all based in fact if we’re being honest.
“Driving lessons, are you serious?”
“hOh, yes, Mr hAlan, Sir. hI’ve taught hall the Tracy brother’s to drive, hand your father hand hall ‘is brother’s before ‘im. hAnd ‘is father hand hall... hoh no, wait ha minute, hI’m not quite that hold.”
“Great, Parker. Hey, do you teach Parking? Ha-ha.”
“No lip hat Parker’s Motoring School, hif you please, Mr hAlan, Sir.”
“Nobody drives FAB One hexpect me.”
Prepare to swallow those words, Parker...
And now we get to Parker! His acting is even more superb than I thought it was.. There’s kinda hints towards TOS ‘Lord Parker’s ‘oliday’ in here. Not obvious, and nothing big, but the whole idea of Parker acting like a high born.
“So, where (h)are we (h)off to today, Tracy?”
“I dunno, London?”
“Jolly good. (h)I (h)imagine (h)I’ll be meeting Baron (h)and Baronness ‘(H)igh-Falutin’, hand their cousin, Cecila Von-Posh Face.”
I wonder if Parker has based them on real people Lady Penelope’s met? I reckon he has. By the way, for anyone wondering, I’ve transcribed the h’s in brackets because you can tell Parker is trying not to say them with his high, posh voice.
“Thank you so much, Tracy.”
“Mmm-hmm.Very good, Parker. Beautiful deportment. But if you’re going to be playing me, you may as well go the whole dog. You know, for authenticity’s sake.”
“Yes, M’Lady.”
There’s is nothing that can lessen my love of this particular scene.
“When do we get to do the, you know, real driving?”
Yeah... I reckon Scott was the same.
I love this shot just because it makes it look like Sherbet is about to do the driving! Poor Parker though with his broken arm. That wasn’t one of your best moments, Alan.
“You just broke my h’arm, Mr hAlan, Sir.”
“Sorry!”
Now to introduce Sylvia Anderson’s little cameo character. She plays, drum roll please... Lady Sylvia. Not that much of a difference I know, but she’s very well picked for a voice actor and the character is perfectly well designed to fit in with Lady Penelope. it’s a nice little tribute over all and one that couldn’t have come any sooner, considering life and death.
“By the way, Parker, Lady Sylvia is coming for tea today.”
“You’re great hAunt, Ma’am? Lady Sylvia Creighton-Ward, coming for tea?”
“Yes, Parker. You know that drink we pour out of pots and cups.”
Anyone else get the feeling Parker has a thing for Lady Penelope’s great Aunt?
“hI ‘appen to like hantiques. Lady Sylvia for hexample.”
Oh, yeah, there we go.
“You keep TEA in kitchen?”
“Yes, Aunt Sylvia, where else would it be?”
I completely adore this cross-talk going on about tea and TEA. It made for such a nice twist to the episode.
The next characters we meet are this episodes villains, bad guys, whatever you want to call them’s...
And we’re seeing here some elements similar to TOS ‘Brink of Death’ with the attempted robbery at Lady Penelope’s Stately ‘ome (and the car looping around the well element, but we’ll get to that). Terry, the blonde with the top hat. And Bill, the red-head with the beanie.
“Young geezer” - I wonder how Alan would feel about that name...
“So, where’s the treasure?”
“What treasure?”
“Don’t call it treasure! We’re not pirates.”
“Well what would you call it?”
“Well... er... valuable um... stuff.”
“Oh, that sounds rubbish! Where’s the ‘valuable stuff’? You see? Not frightening.”
“It is if you say it frighteningly. Where’s the valuable stuff?”
“They don’t look frightened.”
Of course they don’t mate, they’re both super spies and way more bad-ass than you could ever hope to be...
“What about just valuables? Forget the stuff?”
“Suppose.”
“Where are your valuables?”
“Still think treasure sounds better.”
Considering they managed to get you sat down and debating that... yeah, super bad-ass.
Lady Penelope trying to put them off the scent and Lady Sylvia messing up all of those attempts was absolutely classic comedy.
“Treasure!”
“Valuables!”
“Either way, something that’s worth a lot of money!”
And money makes the world go round!
“He’s the fourth richest man in Europe.”
Hmm... nice to know just how much money this family is sitting on.
“Bill, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“I hope not, Terry, because you are stupider than a bag of rocks.”
Let’s leave that argument there shall we.
“Oh this is a dumb idea, ‘Mr Clever-than-a-bag-of-rocks’ man.”
Yeah... or not.
“No hone steals FAB One.”
“Now you’ll realise, you burglar chappies that you’ve met your- match.”
Yeah, you should have been prepared to have to eat those words again.
Now this is how to do afternoon tea.
And this is so how to do an awesome car chase. It had a little bit of everything: stalling; circling; bumper-crashing; cut-offs; wheel spins; running out of petrol; getting stuck on a roof; a bit of bog standard jet-powered engine flight, and just your every day flight and TEA. You know, just the bog standard Italian Job style affair.
Yeah, yeah just your usual car chase, nothing to see here.
I love that Alan gets to drive FAB One and Scott seems so upset by this! I’m guessing maybe he’s now been made the second best driver of the Tracy brothers?
“Wow! Even I never got to drive FAB One.”
And apparently no one drives anymore in 2060. Ha, well, Parker does a good job, and hey, if no one drives, we’ll definitely be reducing global warming so there could be a chance for us all yet!