It’s a hot summer in London. You can see the sights, get some grub, walk around. Perhaps even pick up and smell some flowers. Not if you’re dressed in a dalmatian costume though. Definitely not if you’re dressed in a dalmatian costume. If you do that, there’s a high chance you’ll be accosted by another individual dressed in a brown dog costume. And woe betide you if you continue to sniff said flower obliviously as he approaches in slow motion. At that point, it’ll be too late. He’ll have picked up the vase with the flowers already and smashed it on your bonce before making a quick getaway.
So, the situation described above probably wouldn’t happen (never be too careful though). After seeing this scene for the first time on a Best of Trigger Happy TV Series 1 DVD, however, my lungs were sore with laughter. What could be funnier for an eleven-year-old than watching some harmless violence take place between two individuals dressed in dog suits? And all this chicanery to the tune of some jarringly relaxing French music, at that? Slow motion has always been a draw for me in terms of comedy; even when you have a good idea of the carnage that’s about to go down, watching it happen slowed down somehow makes it even more amusing. That dalmatian-dressed guy is just minding his own business, then along comes an aggressive pooch to ruin his day. Baring in mind how many reshoots it must have taken to get this sequence done correctly, it’s still funny to watch passers-by continue on their journeys as the dalmatian-guy lies motionless on the floor. Maybe they’re aware of what’s going on at this point, or maybe they’re just cold-hearted individuals who have limited sympathy for people dressed in dog suits. Who knows?
Over the series, these attacks change format. The dalmatian might put up a decent display with nun chucks before receiving a simple bonk on the head from the brown dog. The dalmatian might get attacked while just waiting for a bus, dunked in water barrel on a public street, or even tied to a chair and knocked over. What’s important, though, is that dalmatian-guy gets his revenge. As we all know, the best response to violence, is, of course, violence. When brown dog is expecting to have a relaxed pint in a pub, dalmatian strides in from the entrance and thwacks him with a nun chuck. When brown dog thinks he can have a leisurely walk on the pavement, dalmatian guy exits his car teaches him otherwise. Brown dog wants a relaxing game of pool? No siree Bob. Brown dog wants to swagger across a road with no grief? No dice. Brown dog gets yeeted through a load of cardboxes for what he did to dalmatian-guy. Brown dog tries to take refuge in a phone box? It ain’t happening. As Edmond Dantes teaches Fernand Mondego in The Count of Monte Cristo, revenge is a dish best served violent (this isn’t how this revenge plays out in the novel at all, but I felt like getting in a Dumas reference here nonetheless).Yes, I realise that it’s Dom Jolly and another guy in the dog suits, but I’d thought I’d string together an engaging narrative. Ultimately, the astute use of music in these scenes combined with over-the-top violence and the generally nonchalant response of onlookers makes these moments thoroughly entertaining and re-watchable. On that subject, if you fancy watching any of these fights, they’re easy to find on YouTube.