However, we did learn a lot more about Mr. Jelly (Reece Shearsmith) and how he lost his hand. Far from being a gross accident or, the once kindly children's entertainer simply went for an operation to cure RSI and "complications" meant his surgeon (Adrian Scarborough) had to remove his hand. Mr. Jelly consequently slipped into depression and, while learning how to use a prosthetic hand, taught the surgeon his entire act. Unfortunately, the surgeon found his true calling and became Mr. Jolly, the man who took Jelly's hand and his entertaining career. Interestingly, after a "clown fight" in a playhouse full of plastic balls, scramble-nets and slides during the present-day scenes, Mr. Jolly notices that the Mr. Jelly has misread the blackmailer's letters and they're actually addressed to him. So, Mr. Jelly is innocent and a red herring in all this?
Elsewhere, Joy Aston's (Dawn French) creepy plan to transform demonstration doll "Freddie" into a real boy, by feeding him blood-bags stolen from hospital, appears to have started working! Off-screen, her plastic baby threw his food bowl on the floor during an argument with her husband George (Steve Pemberton). We also learnt that the root cause of Joy's fantasy is the loss of their son Paul.
In London, David (Pemberton) and Maureen Sowerbutts (Shearsmith) are becoming effective if unconventional serial-killers; Psychoville's version of Tubbs and Edward from The League Of Gentlemen, really. Maureen still incorrectly believes David's "bad murder" was a real crime, and unwittingly indulging her son's darkest fantasies by helping him kill all the Murder & Chips troupe's "witnesses". This entails dressing up as female beauticians and electrocuting a woman by clipping jump leads to her lips and conducting 250v through her office chair.
The least interesting subplot belonged to panto dwarf Robert (Jason Tomkins), who gets revenge on the cruel prank played on him by Debbie (Daisy Haggard) by using his telekinesis to knock her out inside a glass coffin during a matinee performance. When the climactic moment comes for the Prince (Christopher Biggins) to kiss and awaken Snow White from her sleep, Debbie fails to stir and the pantomime ends on an embarrassing note.
Finally, miserly Oscar Lomax (Pemberton) and his arch-enemies, conjoined twins Chealsea (Alison Lintott) and Kelly-Su Crabtree (Debbie Chazen), all arrive at the home of the family that own the rare Snappy beanie toy they all covet. Each has brought a suitcase of money to hand over to the owners, unaware that Snappy has gone missing and the owners are planning to trick blind Oscar by giving him a stuffed sock instead.
To be honest, beyond the Mr. Jelly storyline with its explanatory flashback, this week's stories weren't very absorbing or particularly funny. Joy and Oscar's were especially lackluster, while Robert's was reduced to one limp scene. Was it really a great revenge to have Debbie essentially miss her cue in front of an audience of cub scouts, anyway? I expected something a lot more twisted from the minds of Shearsmith and Pemberton. The Sowerbutts were also less interesting here, although their disgusting mealtime habits did provide the episode's standout moment, with Maureen chewing up a sausage for her grotesque son to eat! Bleuch.
Still, at least we got notable progression with Psychoville's overarching storyline, after the mysterious man in black sent his "victims" a video parcel: taped footage of David singing a tune from Joseph & His Technicolour Dreamcoat with a group of mental patients. Interestingly, Oscar was providing the music on a piano, while Joy and the ratty surgeon/Mr. Jolly looked on. There was no sign of diminutive Robert, however -- unless I missed him. It seems that all (or most) of the characters are connected through shared time at an asylum, and all had a hand in killing a woman there? Or covered up someone's death, at any rate.
Overall, I'm hopeful this was just a blip and the quality will be restored next week. Episode 3 was just a bit forgettable, with many storylines feeling like they were treading water, or appearing to hit creative dead-ends. Psychoville needs to start developing each storyline into more interesting territory, now that we're au fait with each character's quirks and set-up.
2 July 2009
BBC2, 10pm
written by: Reece Shearsmith & Steve Pemberton directed by: Matt Lipsey starring: Reece Shearsmith (Mr. Jelly/Maureen Sowerbutts/Brian), Steve Pemberton (Judge Pennywise/David Sowerbutts/Oscar Lomax/George Aston), Dawn French (Joy Aston), Janet McTeer (Cheryl), Daisy Haggard (Debbie), Adrian Scarborough (Mr. Jolly/Surgeon), Jason Tomkins (Robert), Liza Hammond (Kerry), Christopher Biggins (Himself), Daniel Kaluuya (Michael Fry), Alison Lintott (Chelsea Crabtree), Debbie Chazen (Kelly-Su Crabtree), Elizabeth Berrington (Nicola), Robert Portal (Prosecutor), Tom Godwin (Mime Artist), Margaret Cabourn-Smith (Kate), Dominic Colman (Colin), Aaron Smith (Ian Dalton), Nick Holder (Bob Dalton), Alex Kelly (Karen Dalton), Emma Nansonr (Mum), Will Ashcroft (GP), Steve Morphew (Stage Manager), Big Mick (Grumbly) & Maxwell Laird (Snoozy)
