We learn a few things about what links the characters together in this episode, although the information is delivered in an uninteresting way, with Mr. Jolly (Adrian Scarborough) just telling his rival Mr. Jelly (Reece Shearsmith) about his past as a doctor at the Ravenhill Institute, governed by tyrannical sadist Nurse Edwina Kenchington (Eileen Atkins), whom we see via flashback used to torture the characters now being blackmailed. The fearsome Kenchington is clearly the woman each character had a hand in murdering to end their suffering, so both clowns are now on a quest to find the former Ravenhill patients and see if they've also received letters, suspecting they're from an unhinged patient or an aggrieved member of staff.
The episode's most successful storyline belonged to Joy (Dawn French), whose demonstration doll Freddie appears to be coming to life. There are some creepy scenes of Joy's baby monitor suddenly picking up an eerie "mama", as the Pinocchio-style miracle soon turns into a Chucky-style nightmare, as Joy comes under attack from her plastic tot and is eventually pushed down the stairs. Amusingly, events are revealed to have been an elaborate ruse by Joy's husband George (Steve Pemberton) and his fancy woman Nicola (Elizabeth Berrington), who have concocted a twisted plan to sour Joy's fantasy and kill her so they can be together.
The Sowerbutts had a fun but flimsy story, with David (Pemberton) and Maureen (Shearsmith) luring "Murder & Chips" leader Robin (David Bamber) to a waxwork museum of infamous serial-killers, intending to make him their latest victim. It wasn't too plausible how naïve Robin is, or how he kept wandering off to split up the scenes, but the story was rescued by an comical sequence where the mannequins of murderers sprung to life (animated plastic a key ingredient this week!) and performed a song-and-dance number with David. The idea of John Reginald Christie, Jack the Ripper (Glenn Carter), the Boston Strangler and Ed Gein in a musical ditty was fantastic, it's just a shame the song was resolutely forgettable.
In Dudley, parsimonious Oscar Lomax (Pemberton) and the conjoined Crabtree twins (Debbie Chazen/Alison Lintott) are still trying to persuade the Dalton family's little boy to hand over his Snappy the crocodile beanie toy. There were a few nice gags here, most centred around Lomax and his blindness (like telling a heartfelt Titanic story to the wrong bedroom door), but my patience with the Snappy storyline is growing thin. Thankfully, things develop in the end when Lomax's home-help Michael (Daniel Kaluuya) successfully gets Snappy and runs away with the Crabtree sisters -- even if there didn't appear to be any motivation for him cheating on Lomax. Or has he been in league with the Crabtree twins from the start?
The worst subplot was the continuing story of dwarf actor Robert (Jason Tomkins), who leaves after a panto performance to visit the unconscious leading lady Debbie (Daisy Haggard) in hospital -- reenacting a scene from Sleeping Beauty by awakening her with a kiss, discovering she has amnesia, and embracing the opportunity to convince Debbie he's her boyfriend. That can't last, can it. It's difficult to really engage with this story now, as Debbie's so dislikeable that I just feel frustrated by Robert's blinkered feelings towards her (even after she embarrassed him publicly), and there's still been no attempt to explain or even reference his telekinesis. Tomkins performance was touching to begin with, but it's now slipped into quiet and tedious.
Episode 5 felt like a turning point as we approach the last two episodes of this series, but I'm still not convinced this serialized style fits Shearsmith and Pemberton's writing. A part of me suspects Psychoville would work better as a string of self-contained stories focusing on different characters each week. Or perhaps as a comedy-horror anthology; sort of The League Of Gentlemen meets Ripping Yarns?
To wit, beyond Mr. Jelly, none of the characters seem particularly concerned about the mysterious letters they're receiving (the latest containing a big key), and many of the stories don't justify the time dedicated to them -- particularly Lomax's desire to get his hands on Snappy and Robert's unrequited love for his panto's Snow White. The Sowerbutts' plot is intentionally simplistic fare, but the Shearsmith/Pemberton double-act and their character's juicy dialogue sees it through, while Joy's story is proving itself more robust than I expected with this episode's twist.
Overall, I'm definitely enjoying Psychoville (eating up each installment's handful of excellent moments, while relishing the performances and ear for dialogue), but I'm concerned that the bigger picture isn't all that interesting, and disappointed that the stories aren't as compelling as they should be. While publicizing the show, Pemberton and Shearsmith were keen to make clear their intention to create a show that, like 24, you ache to watch the next episode of immediately after one finishes -- but it hasn't achieved that ambition for me. Right now, I'm interested to see how everything is resolved (fingers crossed for surprises along the way), but I can't help wishing many of these individual plots were stronger and the laughs more regular.
16 July 2009
BBC2, 10pm
written by: Reece Shearsmith & Steve Pemberton directed by: Matt Lipsey starring: Steve Pemberton (George Aston/Oscar Lomax/David Sowerbutts), Reece Shearsmith (Brian/Mr. Jelly/Maureen Sowerbutts/John Reginald Christie), Dawn French (Joy Aston), Eileen Atkins (Nurse Kenchington), Daisy Haggard (Debbie), Adrian Scarborough (Mr. Jolly), Christopher Biggins (Himself), David Bamber (Robin), Jason Tomkins (Robert Greenspan/Blusher), Lisa Hammond (Kerry), Daniel Kaluuya (Michael Fry), Debbie Chazen (Kelly-Su Crabtree), Alison Lintott (Chelsea Crabtree), Elizabeth Berrington (Nicola), Nick Holder (Bob Dalton), Alex Kelly (Karen Dalton), Aaron Smith (Ian Dalton), Daniel Miller (AA Man), Huw Edwards (Himself), Maxwell Laird (Snoozy), Big Mick (Grumbly), Natalie Barrett (Nurse), George Asprey (John George Haigh), Eric Loren (Albert De Salvo), Glenn Carter (Jack the Ripper) & Carol Fletcher (Choreographer)
