Monster TV: The Egg of the Dinosaur (1999) - FULL EPISODE

Описание: So who remembers Monster TV? Not me, and to be honest I know nothing about it, but piecing things together, it looks like it's a comedy revolving around young Billy who runs a television channel from his own home. And what's its main attraction? Why, the monsters who are living there with him, of course! Naturally, we also need a baddie, so Medusa-a-like Vera Venom is on hand to try to sabotage proceedings. This particular episode sees archaeologists Sir Henry Duggit and Drusilla Fogg keen to explore under the house to search for a dinosaur nest or something. Originally broadcast in 1999 [EDIT: possibly Friday, 17th December, I'm told in the comments], so the main target audience is, was, and always will be those born in the late 80s or early 90s.

The first thing that strikes me about this is that the parents are not only in on it all, but active participants in the scheme. So often, half the jokes are derived from trying to cover up an impossible-to-keep secret, but not here. The second thing to strike me is that - and I admit I'm coming at this from a very particular standpoint - the baddie is as green as Grotbags and has more than an air of T-Bag about her. Maybe it's just me, but personally I suspect that's a deliberate move on the part of the creators. Yet the most striking thing of all that I noticed is just how far-fetched it seemed for anyone to be able to broadcast to any sort of audience from the comfort of their own home back then. Nowadays, everybody's doing it using everyday equipment.

You may recognise Sam Green as the friend from Big Kids, or Anna Nicholas as the the woman slightly too nice to Victor for Margaret's liking in One Foot in the Algarve. Sadly, Anna is no longer with us, and neither is guest star Sam Kelly, who of course was Warren in Porridge and Captain Hans Geering in 'Allo 'Allo! I say "Of course", but actually I got through the whole episode without recognising him.

Anyway, this is all I've ever seen of this show, and there's scope for it being quite entertaining, but it didn't quite grip me like I thought it might. I wonder whether there's anyone out there with fond memories of it - I'd be surprised if there isn't.

Grateful thanks to Ben for providing this recording - please take the time to check out    / benriggers   when you get the chance.

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