20 Years Of Muddy Puddles: Peppa Pig Series Five #2

Return to 50 Webs

Disclaimer#1: All images, characters and material is (C) 1990/1991 Walt Disney Company and is being used without permission. The webmaster has made sure that no money was made in the creation of this web page and that all material used here is used with the up most affection and respect to the Walt Disney Company and the Tale Spin Team.

Disclaimer#2:The views expressed here are solely the views of the webmaster and no one else. The webmaster has no intentions to change anyone's minds about a particular subject and respects the views of the viewers. Comments about this and other editorial can be E-Mail at gweagle@eastlink.caor signing the Cloudkicker guest book.

Twenty Years Of Muddy Puddles: Peppa Pig Series Five #2 Rant

Reviewed: 11/25/2018
Additional Commentary/Edited: 08/27/2024

Let The Queen's End Begin!

Okay fans; I have now decided to rant on this series full time, because I do in fact like this show enough that I can handle the best and worst of the Pig family from Great Britian. Okay; so we finally begin Series Five as we start as the gloves are finally off of this show as it turns from just a normal pre-school show into a legendary pre-school show. How do these episodes fare? Let's rant on shall we..?!

All the episodes are done by Neville Astley, Mark Baker and Phil Hall. Animation is done by Astely Baker Davies animation; with the two mentioned creators and Phil Davies.

Grandpa Pig's Greenhouse: First up is episode #224 on the animation paper as we begin this one on the white house on the hill as the car arrives and George and Peppa get out. At least they are not parking on the steepest part of the hill this time around. Peppa and George run down the hill towards Grandpa Pig's greenhouse with Grandpa Pig standing next to the greenhouse with a watering can. George then spots the BOUNCY BALL OF DEATH and grabs it. He kicks the ball and it bounces off the greenhouse and nothing shatters. This still causes Grandpa Pig to panic and cringe. See, his greenhouse is made of glass and it breaks easily. George kicked that ball hard and couldn't shatter it. Either George is weakass; or that glass doesn't break easily. (2024 Gregory Weagle Says: In other words, Grandpa Pig's panic is very sus at this point.) Grandpa Pig then throws the ball away and it bounces off Granddad Dog's greenhouse -- which looks like a Z-grade greenhouse complete with blackberry bushes -- glass door, and that doesn't break. Damn, glass is much tougher in England than it is in Australia. (More on that in the Australian holiday since I ranted on this episode out of order.) Granddad Dog comes out, protests this outrage and kicks the football/soccer ball (Oh; so that's what that rubber ball was?) at Grandpa Pig. However, Grandpa Pig catches it and proclaims that people in glass houses shouldn't be kicking footballs. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. Of course, this continues the really lame feud between Granddad Dog and Grandpa Pig. Granddad Dog is winning this one because his tomatos are clearly bigger than Grandpa Pig's. (Actually, Grandpa Pig threw the ball onto Granddad Dog's property first. I'm guessing that the area Grandpa Pig lives is the indepedent old folks' homes! I'll get my coat...) No; I'm not making any sexual jokes here; the tomatoes grown in Granddad Dog's green house are much bigger than the ones grown in Grandpa Pig's greenhouse. Then they snort, bark and smile because they are the best of friends. Then end this bickering angle, then! (By the way, both of them are wagging their tails in excitement which shows how much they are talking out of their asses. At least Danny Dog is doing it because he's excited only.) The pigs all head inside the greenhouse as Grandpa Pig explains why his greenhouse is literally a glass house, which is that it brings light in. Okay; good to know. Peppa notices a giant pot of basil plant as it's pronounced bas-il in Britian; instead of bay-sil here in North America. Grandpa Pig blows off Granny Pig because growing basil takes no skill to make. Dump seeds into soil and let it go. Doesn't that basically apply to a lot of plants?! Apparently; growing tomatoes takes hardcore skills. (As we will hear later, it doesn't. Grandpa Pig is sus.) However; they are small tomatoes as Peppa tastes one; and it's all a bunch of nothing. Something tells me, Granddad Dog's growing skills are much better than Grandpa Pig's. (Something tells me Grandpa Pig is very sus, if you know what I mean.)

In comes Granny Pig and it appears that they have finally killed the "x Ig" stutter angle for George dead as well. (No they did not, George just snorts most of the time. However, he does mispronounce their names a lot less often than usual.) Of course, Grandpa Pig has to inform Granny Pig that the tomatoes are not ready yet; but Granny Pig wants to make tomato salad right now. Granny Pig decides to pay Granddad Dog a visit after hearing about his tomatoes from Peppa Pig. Grandpa Pig is stammering in protest and of course he's a jealous old pig because Granddad Dog knows what he is doing, obviously. Grandpa Pig also doesn't like seeing ugly things, despite his ugly attitude towards them. Granny Pig calls for Granddad Dog, (Cuue (?sp); or something. If anyone knows the spelling of this, please let me know. (2024 Gregory Weagle Says: After some digging, I was able to confirm that Granny Pig said "Cooee", which is slang for "hey" in Australian! Also, a town in Tasmania.)) Out comes Granddad Dog as Granny Pig asks if she can borrow some tomatoes -- that was amusing -- and Granddad Dog accepts because they are too big and he has too many of them. (Borrow implies that they are renting something that they are going to eat. What are you going to give back in return other than poop?!) We head inside his greenhouse as it's much darker than Grandpa Pig's greenhouse. In other words; tomatoes require a lot less light and basil requires more light to grow. Grandpa Pig claims that the bigger is not better, Peppa eats the tomato and proves him wrong. Granddad Dog offers them to fill up the basket and even has a great recipe; but it requires basil, which he hasn't been able to grow. Oh; and just to make Grandpa Pig look even more like a toxic macho man, he simply threw seeds into a corner and winged it, just like the basil. And even with less grace than Granny to boot. Let nature take it's course, indeed! Everyone into Grandpa Pig's greenhouse as Grandpa Pig tries to save face, but Granny Pig cuts that off. Even Peppa nicely thinks that this verbal beating Grandpa Pig is taking has gone too far. When the troll think you have gone too far; it's time to stop! We head outside as Granddad Dog makes the Basil Tomato Salad at the picnic table using tomatoes and basil, DUH! Also, it contains olive oil, pepper and a pinch of salt. Everyone chows down on tomato salad. The male adults all praise each other and Peppa calls this the best salad ever as everyone laughs to end the episode at 4:30. This was just there, although Peppa's trolling control has improved since this show started. (Okay, this one had it's charm and was more entertaining on the second viewing, mostly due to both adult men being GEEKS OF THE WEEK, so *** 1/2 (70%).)

Molly Mole: This is episode #225 on the animation paper as the episode opens on the school house on the hill as all the cars arrive with parents and students as they head into the school hall. Sadly, it's all the big kids as they all sit down and Gigi Gazelle introduces us to a female mole anthro wearing a purple dress and cyan blue rimmed glasses. This of course is officially Molly Mole's debut. Molly is voiced by Rosie van Hulzen and this is her debut as a voice. Jen Pringle and John Sparkles voice her parents, nothing special. She also has Rebecca Rabbit's squeak sound effect, although that means nothing since Baby Alexander had Richard Rabbit's crying sound at first before moving to that siren wail Baby Alexander uses now. Molly Mole appears shy at first as Gigi tells Rebecca and Peppa to look after her and get her use to school life. (I know it's odd for Rebecca to be helping Molly when Peppa is the star, but later on it makes storyline sense.) Everyone runs out (already?) for fun and exercise at the playground, which has been rebuilt to make sure no concrete is present. (Also, Gerald has been written out by teleport. SUZY SHEEP~?!) Just in case Daddy Pig gets triggered, because you never know... (Kind of like bringing up "butts" when Mark Sanchez is around. At least I didn't fumble.) We head to the sand pit with the trio as Rebecca explains how a sand pit works and Molly Mole digs a U-shaped long hole and comes out the other side. This is so much better than Gerald's debut, that is for sure. Everyone is playing as the bell rings as Molly proclaims that moles are good at digging. That is true and they dig fifteen feet an hour. However, they only dig about three and a half feet tops below the surface. Molly Mole's digging skills have to be hyperboled quite a bit for the logic to work in this show as you'll see later on. Here come the parents as Mrs. Mole arrives along with Daddy Pig. Molly asks if Peppa can come to their house to play and Mrs. Mole accepts without question. Daddy Pig also accepts the terms and decides to pick her up later. Jump cut to the boring road stage left as Mrs. Mole is driving the car westward with Peppa and Molly in the back. They stop at Rebecca's home (which is a giant hill with holes in it) as Rebecca comes out. Geez; Mummy Rabbit's car is fast! Peppa is confused, as I was at first as Rebecca meets and greets the car. We discover that Molly Mole is Rebecca Rabbit's neigbour and this explains why Gigi was telling Rebecca to break her into play group, so to speak. (Yup. Also, this is the second direct neighbourhood friendship in the series, next to Grandpa Pig and Granddad Dog. Molly/Rebecca are much more friendly as neighbours than the pig and the dog.) Molly is actually living underneath Rebecca's house, which makes sense. Although they have to hyperboled this to make it work since rabbits dig six to ten inches. Always assume that inches equals feet plus more in this show. Namely Pedro's clown shoe feet. (Kind of like a minute in real time can easily be an hour in Peppa Pig time.)

The babyfaces minus Rebecca walk in through the gaping hole on the bottom base of the hill and there is a lot of dirt piles, with buckets, shovels and pick axes. Why do they need the pick axes and shovels when the moles are natural diggers? I can understand the buckets and dirt being there, though. Especially when in the next scene; Mr. Mole is in what will be Molly's bedroom digging the area with his bare hands. I guess even anthro moles have their limits. I love how he is doing all this digging and the room looks almost finished. (By the way, that doll in the background will be making an appearance in a future Peppa Pig episode.) Must be the new bathroom that is being installed. (I think Daddy Mole would go on to be a mail sorter in Peppa Pig Tales. Sadly, he is not Captain Emergency, which would have money if it was in fact true.) Mr. Mole turns around and we meet and greet for a while. Jump cut to Daddy Pig arriving at Rebecca/Molly's residence and parks on the hill like a moron. Daddy Pig jumps out and picks the top hole, yelling hello and out comes Mr. Rabbit as he explains that Molly is living underneath the house. Daddy Pig is confused; while Mr. Rabbit is excited about this. Out comes Peppa from the real entrance to Molly's house as she greets Daddy Pig. Out comes Molly Mole and Mrs. Mole for more meet and greet. They all go inside as Mrs. Mole explains the mess as they are building extensions and Daddy Pig is an expert on extensions. Yeah; I'll bet. I wouldn't ask Daddy Pig for advice if the extensions involve concrete though. Mrs. Mole declines as expected as they head to Molly's bedroom as Mr. Mole meets and greets Daddy Pig. Mr. Mole claims that he's almost finished as Daddy Pig asks if the ceiling is a concrete or metal lintel. (Lintel or lintol is a beam made of metal or concrete.) Mr. Mole is confused and asks what that is. (For once, the moles are the GEEKS OF THE WEEK~!) Mr. Mole's gimmick is that he doesn't want advice nor need it as they are digging holes for door; including one in the ceiling and Mr. Mole goes through the floor of the Rabbit's living room as everyone is sitting on the couch, or sofa or on the floor being themselves. They do not even sell the fact that Mr. Mole dug right through their own floor! (Even better, they have Grampy Rabbit as a picture frame on the wall! Wow, I missed that the first time. Sadly, it would be another Series or so before Grampy Rabbit is officially revealed as Miss Rabbit and Mummy Rabbit's father. Also, another rare appearance of Robbie and Rosie Rabbit!) A wooden step ladder was written in by teleport as Mr. Rabbit finally gets it and calls it a good idea. Of course! (There will be no Neighborhood Wars segment from this either!) It's time for tea and Mr. Mole comes back down for tea as there is even more meet and greets. Way too many in this episode! Everything's fine says Mrs. Mole as Mr. Rabbit leaves and Rebecca comes in. I just love that they now have a direct way to visit each other despite the previous way is only slightly less direct. Molly and Rebecca agree to be best friends. There is lots of squeaking and the rest of the babyfaces do the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30. A better debut for Molly; otherwise, this was very fun. *** 3/4 (75%). (Outside of Caves and Buried Treasure, this was the full extent of Molly Mole's involvement in this show.)

Move To Music: Here is episode #226 on the animation paper as the episode opens at the school house on the hill and then inside. The cow bell is ringing for some reason. Inside is all the big kids -- except for Gerald -- so I'm guessing this episode was produced before Gerald Giraffe's debut. The kids are dancing and giggling. Gigi Gazelle picks up a tape recorder and addresses the students as this is the time to use their imaginations to move to music, hence the episode title. Gigi turns on some classical music and the children's imaginations are so limited that they are more interested in accuracy in terms of instruments and music; but nothing abstract or creative. Gigi tells them to use their imaginations, not their brains, to paint a picture in their minds on what the music tells us and Rebecca Rabbit claims that it's like a cherry tree on a mountain swaying in the wind. Okay; that was creative, sort of. (This would have worked a lot better if there were wind sound effects to accent the music being symbolic of said tree. Doesn't work quite right without the wind.) Gigi likes this and wants the kids to be that tree in the wind standing on top of that mountain and swaying. All the kids do this while giggling, which taints the spot a bit; except for Pedro F'N' Pony. The clueless one just stand there and probably is thinking that this is too stupid for him. He is above this. (Pedro was jumping and giggling at the beginning of the episode, so this makes storyline sense.) Freddy is doing way too much as Gigi stops the music and doesn't even bother to notice Pedro's silent protest. Next piece of music is clearly a marching band with an overloaded tuba playing in the background. After a bit, the music stops and Pedro responds by claiming that this sounds like a cherry tree swaying in the wind on the top of a mountain. Pedro Pony's imagination is also clueless, and proves why applying imagination to the real world absolutely sucks some of the time. Pedro tries to claim that it's a quick version of the same spot. However, Danny Dog cuts him off and calls it the music of a marching band. (Pedro Pony is our GEEK OF THE WEEK~!) The kids all march to the beat; except for Pedro, although his head moving is a slight improvement from the previous spot. Then everyone got to the music chest and gets instruments and performs the music in time as a marching band. (At least Pedro "got it" this time.)

Gigi likes and then stops the music way too soon in my view. Time constraints; what can you do?! Everyone drops their musical band stuff on the ground. Gigi proclaims that she has the next piece of music and this one is really complex and beautiful and she wants the children to really think about this one. Gigi turns on the music and sounds like a classical music piece and then turns into space junk music, kind of like music from the Mother series. (Only much more chaotic, as if the tape player is broken. Oh wait..) The children come up with lots of good answers, including space and robots from the future. Meanwhile; Gigi is embarrassed because the tape recorder is screwing up the entire piece of music. Time to get a CD player Gigi; that tape recorder is clearly on it's last legs. The tape even more so. (I cannot call Gigi a geek here, because it's not her fault. Wear and tear to machines happens to everyone. Gigi didn't do anything stupid here. This is Donald Duck-equse bad luck on her.) The kids don't care and they perform alien and robot spots for my pleasure. Freddy's nose nearly bumps into Gigi; and this was the best part of this entire episode right there: The kids all being creative while Gigi cannot get the tape recorder to stop playing. Finally; somehow, she gets the tape recorder to work and everyone sighs and tells her that this music bores them. HAHA! Gigi claims that this is real music and it reminds her of a garden on a hot sunny day. It reminds me of music lessons in school, so Gigi has a better imagination than I at least. (Or if I'm hearing her correctly, the sounds of separation from a heterosexual relationship.) The kids want more space music; but Gigi calls it not music because the machine broke and then turns off the music and the kids groan. (Sod off Gigi! You must really hate Mother then, you geeky "vampire"!) Gigi admits that not everyone likes the same things as there is more wanting of the space music. Gigi decides to play more music and it's the Muddy Puddles song. (This would be the debut of the song on television!) If you cannot guess the kids' answer to this, you have no business reading this rant. DING! All the kids go outside and it's time to jump up and down in muddy puddles. In pre-school shows, it's the solution and cause of all your problems! Everyone jumps in muddy puddles, everyone loves to move to music, everyone does the backsplash laugh, everyone sings to the end credits as the episode ends at 4:30. This was a really fun episode and Gigi losing it with the tape recorder is so many buys! **** 1/2 (90%).

London: Next up is episode #227 on the animation paper as the episode opens with probably the best animated sequence of the entire series which is everyone is at London's famous train station. Yes; while there are various colors and whatnot, every spieces looks like the same type as all of the characters. Real cheap, guys. Mr. Lion also makes an appearance in a business suit and Mr. Labo also appears in tourist gear. (London is a really important episode in the entire post-Golden Era series in that there are a lot of crowd shots and many of the characters that appear will be major characters in the future in this series. The instant this episode starts on the bottom left is the official debut of Mummy Mouse and Mandy Mouse who would be at Playgroup until Series Six! Mr. Bull is also in on the bottom right. Also funny, Mr. Labo also appears in construction gear. SUZY SHEEP~?! Molly Mole, Zuzu and Zaza Zebra are absent from the main group.) All the kids, Miss Rabbit and Gigi have arrived from the train and there is lots of giggling. (Also of note: Pitch prototype for Pedro F'N Pony, Penny Pony makes her debut! Sadly, she'll never be anything of note since Pedro fills the role originally assigned in the pitch specs of this show. Also in the zoom out: Mr. Stallion and Mrs. Corgi which will become Grandpa Pig's rivals in future episodes! Mrs. Cow, Mr. Rhino and Captain Emergency all make appearances here along with Belinda Bear, Mr. Badger, and even a weird off-shoot of Officer Panda! I'm not going to change much or give additional commentary outside of the cameos because everything written here is what I would said as well.) Gigi is confused of where to start the tour and her pronouncation of London confuses me. (That pronouncation is still weird, but it didn't confuse me.) But wait; Miss Rabbit has a solution: Go find the Queen because she is friends with the Queen and now has connections to her after winning the award in a previous episode. Hopefully, she doesn't faint on command like last time. We head to Peppa Pig's version of Buckingham Palace which despite having a guard in stereotypical guard gear; the palace has a red button buzzer and an intercom.

Miss Rabbit pushes the red button and we hear the Queen on the other end. The real queen better hope there isn't one installed in the real Buckingham Palace; this could be abused, especially if Peppa's fans get any ideas. Oh; and everyone is wearing their boots. If you cannot guess the final spot right now; you have no business reading this rant. Miss Rabbit addresses herself and the Queen has the gate open and everyone comes inside, just like that. (This actually makes storyline sense since Miss Rabbit must have the right to see the queen when Miss Rabbit won the award for Industry back in the episode The Queen. There's nothing wrong with continuity in a reboot, but you have to be careful with it and this show is a mixed bag on that front.) Head inside the throne room as the Queen is knitting a yellow sock with a white toe on it as we meet and greet for a while. Apparently; the Queen in this world still has full rule, but it's limited to the city of London. This has to be a rib on something and I'm not sure what it is. Maybe I should ask Techdirt about it. (It's about the City of London Police who think they have more power than they actually do. Something about divine right of kings/god wannabeism methinks.) Anyhow; the Queen is providing the guided tour of London, because Miss Rabbit is her royal friend after all. Miss Rabbit is going to be the next Queen of England at this rate; and hopefully it means she'll never have to work again because that would finally kill the angle of her getting multiple jobs and give her actual rest she needs. (Good luck on that one, fools.) Everyone goes out of Buckingham Palace and there is a red double-decker bus. The kind you see in London; and some English cities in Canada. Apparently it's the #15 at Balham as a bus driver as he is not named. However, he is a gray bear wearing usher gear reading the newspaper. The Queen asks if she can borrow the bus and Mr. Driver thinks she is ribbing him, basically. Now; in any other story and with any other character, this would be a rib; but this is the Queen we are talking about and her word is LAW; so she shows off her crown and the bus driver not only agrees to let the Queen borrow the bus, the Queen is going to actually drive the bus. Now THAT is funny! (Did I mention that this Queen is awesome?! She'll bend the knee to little kids and do work like a commoner. Sometimes, Peppa's star power has it's good fortunes.)

Everyone gets in and everyone goes up to the top of the double decker bus as the bus driver salutes the Queen and the Queen rings the bell to signal that she's the tour guide for this tour. Who says the Queen doesn't do any work around here?! Our first stop is at Big Ben, which Edmond has to correct the Queen by claiming that the bell is Big Ben, not the tower. (By the way, on the bottom right corner, there is a taxi driven by Mr. Kangaroo of all people. SUZY SHEEP~?!) So, what is the tower's name? Edmond never addresses this. It's Elizabeth Tower, named after the Queen. I was hoping he would address this, just to blow everyone's mind watching it. I just love how the Queen decides to just walk up and join the group upstairs as Edmond declares himself to be a clever clogs and the Queen reacts like Edmond just said a swear word; but in disappointment, rather than anger. (I howled with laughter because it's a DUBBED ANIME STYLE swear phrase for smartass or clever dick!) Also; the Queen literally calls Edmond an elephant, thus making Gigi's comment in The Zoo even more hilarious. More on that later in this rant. Lots of stylized cross as Big Ben rings and the birds fly away. It rings three times, it's three o'clock. If it rings six times; it's six o'clock. Pedro Fucking Pony -- the epitome of clueless -- asks if it rings a hundred times and the Queen gleefully answers that one for me. (Then it would be broken. Wah-wah!) Pedro, meet common sense. Common sense, meet Pedro. I'll let you two get used to each other. (Pedro Pony once again is our GEEK OF THE WEEK~!) The Queen heads back to the driver's area of the bus as we head to Tower Bridge; which is an obvious draw bridge. However; Mrs. Grey Squirrel; a British police officer, stops the bus dead in it's tracks. (This is official debut of "I never loved an inanimate object I didn't want to ticket" Officer Grey Squirrel. She would be transferred to be partners with Officer "Why Does This Show Hate My Kids" Panda, literally in the next episode!) Wait; if the Queen word is law, then why doesn't the Queen just tell the officer to let her cross first? I guess even the Queen is not a jerk, which is an improvement, I guess.

A sailing boat heads towards the bridge on the river as the kids panic that it will crash into the bridge; but it's a drawbridge; so the bridge lifts up with ease and the sailing ship crosses the bridge, drawing awe from the kids. (By the way, the sailing ship is captained by Mr. Stallion!) Despite the ship being in the middle of crossing, the Queen demands to pass right now; but Mrs. Grey Squirrel refuses because another ship is sailing, even though we never see it. Couldn't they just redub the line saying that the ship hasn't finishing crossing yet and the Queen being impatient?! This is kind of dumb. The Queen has had enough of this "rule of law" crap and decides that the bus is crossing this bridge right fucking here, right fucking now. While the bridge is drawn straight into the air. Rule of law?! What's that?! Safety?! What's that?! Gravity?! Okay; you get the picture. Yes folks; the Queen is backing up the bus and drives away causing Mrs. Grey Squirrel to sidestep away. The Queen drives and ramps off the drawbridge high into the air, like she is in a ski jumping competition. Sadly; if she was a ski jumper, she would have gotten fully away with this. However; the bus is huge on it's own and it lands short of the mark; teetering in the middle on the other drawbridge side. Again; if the Queen is the ruler and this is not a democracy, why didn't she order Mrs. Grey Squirrel to tell the second ship to stop?! We tease them going into the river; but wait! (I believe this is one of the few times they teased legit danger on this show, where everyone could have been killed.) The Queen tells all the passengers to walk to the front of the bus. They all obey -- she is the Queen after all -- and this works as the bus drives down the ramp and away from Tower Bridge safely. This was also funny. (The Queen's teeth smile indicates she got away with one there.) We drive for a while after cheering. (Holy crap! Mr. Reindeer makes a cameo during this.) The Queen is ringing the bell and everyone is having a great time. You don't say! I'm sure enjoying this episode, although not as much as Simple Science. Pedro asks why most buses are not open like the London one. Of course, it begins to rain and Pedro finally gets it, which is a vast improvement from his usual cluelessness earlier.

The logical thing to do is go downstairs, which has as many places to sit as on top. Of course, this is Peppa Pig; so everyone brings out their umbrellas and giggles. Sure; it works. However; this is quite redundant if you ask me. (Even Miss Rabbit is wondering the same thing I am.) Next up is Trafalgar Square and the name plate on the front is analog compared to the digital ones used in most buses today. In fact; the bus has smart voice to tell you the location; which makes it much easier for me to get some shuteye on long trip before I reach the next destination since the destination is forty minutes long. (Now, buses can scan your digital ticket without the need of a paper ticket. How about that for advancement, former self?!) We head to Trafalgar Square, which is basically a concrete square with fountains, statues and a large building. (Don't say concrete, that makes Daddy Pig nervous!) The whole place is filled with...puddles! DING! You can guess the finish right now without even seeing it. Even the birds are splashing in puddles as Peppa offers the Queen a splashing good time. It's kind of sad when the Queen has already jumped in muddy puddles in The Queen. Queen's umbrella is the British Flag colors by the way as the Queen accepts and of course we get the always funny visual of the Queen jumping in puddles; and it appears the color stylist forgot to make the water blue and it looked muddy. Zoom out as everyone loves to jump in puddles; including the Buckingham Palace guard. Somehow; Mr. Bull, Mr. Rhino, Mr. Labo, Mr. Lion, Mrs. Cow along with Delphine Donkey and even Belinda Bear made the trip! (Delphine Donkey and Mrs. Cow were not shown here former self. Simon Squirrel, Mummy Wolf, and Mr. Stallion were there though. Also, George did not wear the British royal guard's uniform and hat at all during this episode. Someone must have photoshopped or AI'ed that one.) This ends the episode at 4:30. (Sadly, Buckingham Palace got cold feet again and we don't get the backsplash laugh from the Queen or anyone.) This was a great episode with wonky logic and an anticlimatic finish. This is the best Queen of England of all time! (Sadly, this would be the last time we would see The Queen in any form on Peppa Pig television.) **** 1/2 (90%).

The Police: Here is episode #228 on the animation paper as we head to the school house on the hill. Peppa, Danny, Suzy, Zoe, Freddy and Pedro F'N Pony are riding around the school on their bicycles; so more Queen music please. Gigi Gazelle is standing next to some pylon cones and a sign in blue with a white arrow in front of the school. Everyone stops at the front after having a good time as Gigi informs us that the BAD EPISODE POLICE are coming to arrest them for bad trolling! Oh wait; it's just the police here to talk about bicycle and traffic safety. My wet dreams don't matter. The kids then get into an argument about what the sirens sound for a British police car. This takes a long ass whomping time as Gigi is trying to tell them about today's lesson and then we hear a siren that sounds more like an American police car than a British police car. The police car arrives and out comes Mr. Panda (who made a short cameo in London) and Mrs. Grey Squirrel (the same one who was the bridge guard at Tower Bridge in London; only in yellow duds). Office Grey Squirrel is driving the car because the driver is on the right side of the car in Britian. (Oh goody, Peppa Pig's police force is here after four series' of lawlessness. Sadly, they do not arrest Pedro nor Gigi for carjacking in Pedro Is Late. Officer Panda does have twins, although that angle isn't until Series Six, and the running gag was that the show hated those kids. Sadly, now that I have thought about it, this show seems to hate Molly Mole and her family even more in hindsight. Grey Squirrel's gimmick is that she never found an inanimate object she didn't like to ticket. She apparently never adheres to anti-littering laws, although it's not as bad as the rabbit family nor Ma Beagle. Hello! Hello! Hello! Get used to that greeting, it's their catchphrase.) Mrs. Grey Squirrel is voiced by Judy Flynn and Mr. Panda is voiced by British comedian David Mitchell and according to Wikipedia (DANGER! DANGER!): Before his break into comedy, Mitchell worked as an usher at the Lyric Hammersmith theatre,[13] and in the cloakroom of TFI Friday among other jobs.[14] Mitchell's first project with Webb was in January 1995, a show about a nuclear apocalypse[15] entitled Innocent Millions Dead or Dying: A Wry Look at the Post-Apocalyptic Age.[16]

Webb later described it as being "fucking terrible".[12] After leaving university he and Webb began performing a number of two-man shows at the Edinburgh Fringe.[8] As a result of their performances at the Edinburgh Fringe, the duo were given the chance to write for Alexander Armstrong and Ben Miller and for series two of Big Train.[10] After minor work on The Jack Docherty Show and Comedy Nation,[17] their first break into television acting was in 2000, on the short-lived BBC sketch show Bruiser, which they primarily wrote, and starred in. The show also featured three time BAFTA winner Olivia Colman, who would become a regular cast member of Mitchell and Webb projects, and Martin Freeman, later of The Office fame. Other cast members included Matthew Holness and Charlotte Hudson. Additional material for the show was provided by various people, including Ricky Gervais and James Bachman.[18] In 2001 the two men were commissioned for a sketch show of their own, entitled The Mitchell and Webb Situation, which ran for six episodes on the now defunct channel Play UK.[10] The show was reasonably well received. Wessex Scene's Darren Richman said "what the series lacked in budget, it made up for in magnificent material" and went on to call it "far superior to the vastly overrated Little Britain" and "perhaps the greatest forgotten sketch show of modern times."[8] Eureka! TV, which released The Mitchell and Webb Situation on DVD in 2005, said that the show "gushes forth an hilarious stream of surreal and quirkily inventive sketches", as well as calling it a "cult success".[19] In the interview with Wessex Scene, Mitchell stated that he was "more proud of the way it turned out than annoyed that it was only aired on a small channel."[8] Mitchell and Webb's next project came in 2003, with starring roles in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, as flatmates Mark Corrigan and Jeremy Usbourne respectively.[20] The show originated from writers Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain's failed attempt to complete a team-written sitcom for the BBC; they had an old script that they wanted to revive and Mitchell and Webb helped out, with it eventually evolving into Peep Show.[7]

Despite low viewing figures (which almost got the show cancelled after series three)[21] the show was received to wide critical acclaim.[17] The British Sitcom Guide called it "without a doubt one of the best sitcoms of the decade."[20] Ricky Gervais has been cited as saying "the last thing I got genuinely excited about on British TV was Peep Show, which I thought was the best sitcom since Father Ted".[22] The BBC hailed Mitchell's performance in the series, citing that "As Mark Corrigan, David reached out to all those middle-aged men in a twentysomething's body, who believe drugs are boring and systems are necessary if society is to function at all."[10] Mitchell has stated that he empathises with Mark and enjoys playing him and that he "agrees with many of [Mark's] opinions."[8] Peep Show aired nine series, which makes it the longest-running sitcom in Channel 4 history.[23] In 2009, Mitchell won the British Academy Television Award for Best Comedy Performance for his work on Peep Show, after having lost in the same category the year before.[24][25] He was nominated again in 2010.[26] He won the award "Best Television Comedy Actor" at the 2007 British Comedy Awards,[27] and the pair shared the 2007 Royal Television Society Award for "Comedy Performance".[28] They were also jointly nominated for "Best Television Comedy Actor" at the 2006 British Comedy Awards.[29] Peep Show itself has also won the BAFTA for "Best situation comedy" in 2008,[30] and the British Comedy Award for "Best TV comedy" in 2006,[31] and retained it the following year.[27] It also won "Best TV Comedy" at the South Bank Show Awards,[22] and claimed a Golden Rose in 2004.[32] After the success of Peep Show, Mitchell and Webb returned to sketch comedy with their BBC Radio 4 sketch show That Mitchell and Webb Sound, which ran for five series.

The show was adapted for television and became That Mitchell and Webb Look. Producer Gareth Edwards described it as "the shortest pitch [he had] ever written".[12][33] The show ran for four series.[34] Towards the end of 2006 the pair made their first tour, with a show called The Two Faces of Mitchell and Webb.[35] The tour was criticised as just "a succession of largely unrelated scenes" by The Guardian's Brian Logan, who gave it a rating of two stars.[36] That Mitchell and Webb Look won them the BAFTA for Best Comedy Programme or Series at the 2007 awards,[37] and they earned a further nomination for it in 2009.[38] It was nominated for two British Comedy Awards in 2006: Britain's Best New TV Comedy and the Highland Spring People's Choice.[29] Their stage tour The Two Faces of Mitchell and Webb was nominated for the British Comedy Award for Best Stage Comedy,[29] and That Mitchell and Webb Sound won a Sony Silver Award.[39] Their first film, Magicians, was released on 18 May 2007. It was directed by Andrew O'Connor and written by Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain.[40] Mitchell played the role of a magician named Harry.[32] Later in 2007, the pair recorded a pilot BBC Radio 2 sitcom entitled Daydream Believers, in which Mitchell played Ray, a science-fiction writer.[41] The show was previously a one-off television pilot from Channel 4's Comedy Lab, and also starred Mitchell and Webb.[42] Mitchell and Webb's first comedy book, This Mitchell and Webb Book, was published in 2009.[43] A second book is in preparation.[44] They also wrote and filmed Playing Shop, a comedy television pilot for BBC2 about two men who operate a business out of their shed.[45] Although the BBC commissioners were happy with it, Mitchell and Webb scrapped it themselves, as they felt it was too similar to Peep Show.

A new pilot had been commissioned,[46] but the plan was later shelved.[47] Mitchell and Webb voiced a robotic duo in the Doctor Who episode "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship" in 2012.[48] In 2007 the duo fronted the UK version of Apple Inc.'s "Get a Mac" adverts, with Mitchell playing PC.[49] The adverts received much criticism. Writing in The Guardian, Charlie Brooker claimed that the use of Mitchell and Webb in the adverts was a curious choice. He compared the characters of PC and Mac in the adverts to those of Mark and Jeremy in Peep Show, stating that "when you see the ads, you think, 'PCs are a bit rubbish yet ultimately lovable, whereas Macs are just smug, preening tossers.'"[50] The British Sitcom Guide also criticised the pair for "selling their souls".[33] One journalist called the adverts "worse than not funny", and accused Mitchell and Webb of "an act of grave betrayal" for taking corporate work.[51] In an interview with The Telegraph, Robert Webb responded to the duo's critics, stating that "when someone asks, 'Do you want to do some funny ads for not many days in the year and be paid more than you would be for an entire series of Peep Show?' the answer, obviously, is, 'Yeah, that's fine.'"[51] In the same interview, Mitchell also said: "I don't see what is morally inconsistent with a comedian doing an advert. It's all right to sell computers, isn't it? Unless you think that capitalism is evil – which I don't. It's not like we're helping to flog a baby-killing machine."[51] In 2005, the duo were placed ninth on a list of the United Kingdom's best television talent,[52] and were named twelfth in a Radio Times list of the most powerful people in television comedy.[53] As well as his work alongside Webb, Mitchell has appeared on his own in several shows. He played technical expert Owen in the Radio 4 sitcom Think the Unthinkable in 2001.[10]

He played the surgeon Dr Toby Stephens in the BBC2 sitcom Doctors and Nurses.[10] In 2005 he played Kate's hapless secretary Tim in the BBC's updating of The Taming of The Shrew in its ShakespeaRe-Told series.[54] Mitchell appeared as various roles on the Channel 4 sketch programme Blunder. The show was not well received, with the British Sitcom Guide naming it as the worst thing that Mitchell did in all of 2006 in their "British Sitcom Awards" of that year.[33] He portrayed the recurring character of Dr. James Vine in the BBC sitcom Jam and Jerusalem.[55] Mitchell had a small part in the film I Could Never Be Your Woman, playing an English writer, also named David.[22] While in Los Angeles to record the part he decided that he did not like the area much, and preferred filming in Britain.[6] He wrote for series five of the BBC2 impressionist sketch show Dead Ringers,[56] and voiced Mitch in the Disney animated series Phineas and Ferb.[57] He also narrated the reality show Beauty and the Geek.[10] Following the success of Channel 4's Alternative Election Night in 2010, which Mitchell hosted with Jimmy Carr, Charlie Brooker and Lauren Laverne, the four presented 10 O'Clock Live, a series of live shows looking at the week's affairs. Mitchell has a solo segment entitled Listen to Mitchell. The show ran for three series.[58] Mitchell has presented four series of the online video show David Mitchell's Soapbox, a series of short monologues co-written with John Finnemore for ChannelFlip. In these monologues Mitchell has criticised a variety of subjects, including the BBC show Doctor Who [59] and 3D television.[60] Matt Warman of the Daily Telegraph suggested that the series could be a sign that new comedy will increasingly become available online, rather than on television.[61] The series has been released on DVD.[62]

He provided the voiceover for a £1 million government advert for FRANK, warning of the dangers of cocaine, as "Pablo the Drug Mule Dog";[63] and also for the Driving Standards Agency's "The Highway Code".[64] He writes columns for The Observer and The Guardian.[65] He also took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital at the O2 Arena.[66] In October 2009, Mitchell signed a deal with HarperCollins and its imprint Fourth Estate to write a volume of memoirs and a novel. The memoirs, Back Story: A Memoir, was published in October 2012 with the novel scheduled for 2013.[67][68][69] Mitchell plays William Shakespeare in the sitcom Upstart Crow, broadcast in 2016 as part of the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death.[70] There have been since two more series, with a Christmas special in 2017 and one due to be broadcast in 2018.[71] He also appeared as Mitch in Phineas & Ferb. He has 16 Writing credits, 34 Acting credits, 3 Soundtrack credits, 1 Producer credit (Back), 91 Self credits (at least six shows as himself as his most recent credits including QI) and 7 Archive Footage credits to his resume. The police get out and apparently saying hello three times in a row in clusters is the police's secret greeting in this show, which the children repeat. Basically; the kids ride their bicycles to demostrate their abilities to the police officers. Panda tells them to stop, they all do and the kids get praised. Next up is what to do when someone steps up in front of you and the kids ponder it over and one of the kids (I'm guessing it's Suzy; the video timing in this video is awful. (2024 Gregory Weagle Says: It was Peppa who said it former self.)) says to ring the bell. For people who walk; this is good. However, for vehicles, bells don't really save you from collisions. I guess it was walkers; because it was considered the correct answer and we move onto the ability to ring the bell. Pedro of course is clueless because horns work just as well, because you are making noise to inform people that you are in the area and to watch out! Sadly; Pedro got to test the horn and almost killed Panda's eardrums with it. How lucky Perdro was to not get arrested for assault there?! Mr. Panda leaves to the bottom of the hill and his hearing is fine.

We do some walkie-talkie promos with Mrs. Squrriel for a while since there is one more test. These walkie-talkies are called "special phones" by the narrator. Whhhhhyyyyyyy?! (I could understand if the narrator said that those special phones are called "walkie-talkies", but he doesn't here. This was not one of the narrator's better performances.) Mrs. Squirrel tells the kids that when she blows the whistle, she wants the children to bicycle down the hill and use their brakes to not bump into Mr. Panda. I give Pedro and Peppa the best chance of bumping into Mr. Panda, given their track records in this show; but I betcha no one bumps into Mr. Panda here. I check the video...See, I can book this crap! (And they would have gotten away with if it wasn't for this meddling ranter!) Of course; the problem with this is that Mr. Panda still moved on his own about twenty feet, thus tainting the spot. Mr. Panda calls for Gigi Gazelle to be on her bicycle because even TEACHERS have to do this! Gigi is trying to Gazelle her way out of this; but somehow she's on a bicycle and she is pushed down the hill by Mrs. Squirrel. I should point out that Gigi's bicycle is loaded with apple on the front basket of the bicycle. Gigi rings the bell and is actually enjoying this downhill biking and she puts on the brakes and somehow doesn't bump into Mr. Panda. Sadly; she loses points because the apples fell out of the basket when she stops. So close, so damn close. Real officers would be concerned about that; but Mr. Panda seems all right about this. (Well, Officer Panda at least didn't move this time, so this was an improvement!) Gigi tells the children to thank the officers for their service and they do as Freddy wants to be a police officer because she loves blowing whistles. Good thing it's not Peppa saying this because the last thing we need is a troll with authority. Oh wait...Freddy does a good job blowing Mr. Panda's whistle, so he has that down pat at least. There is more to being a police officer which include solving mysteries and riding cars with flashing lights. Mr. Panda likes Freddy, then turns around and doesn't WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE~! (That's not the funny bit, that's the tragic bit.) Mrs. Squirrel is so pissed off by this tree hurting her partner that she makes a note of it for a citation, even claiming that it's on a public highway -- where there's no highway to be seen -- and tickets the tree! That was the funny bit! (Get use to this, it's the gift that keeps on giving.) The police officer get back in their cars and speed away to end the episode at 4:30. Yes; the narrator literally says that everyone loves the police. YOU FUCKING LIAR~! (Cameos on the road: Mummy Elephant, Mummy Pony, Mummy Cat, Mr. Badger, Granddad Dog, Doctor Brown Bear, Doctor Hamster, Daddy Wolf, Mummy Wolf, Wendy Wolf (who has been in Playgroup in the past), Daddy Mole and Mr. Zebra, Mummy Sheep, Mr. Labo, Mr. Bull and two others I don't know. One of them might have been a prototype of Granny Sheep before they changed her design in Series Eight!) Also, Mr. Panda is driving this time. (Which doesn't sounds like a good idea. Maybe Officer Panda should be in concussion protocol.) I love this episode and the finish was hilarious. Sadly; the narrator was not hilarious at the end. *** 3/4 (75%).

The Zoo: Next up is episode #229 on the animation paper as the episode opens on a boring road with Gigi Gazelle driving the bus today filled with all the big kids. (Sadly, this will not end the Miss Rabbit multiple jobs gimmick. Just as I suspected, Molly Mole is nowhere in this episode either.) They are singing a variation of the Bing Bong Song; as they are all going to the zoo. (Oh, and there is even karoke lyrics for this, just to keep Ed Brayton mad in his coffin.) The bus stops in front of the zoo. Everyone gets out and Gigi couldn't resist saying: "Are you all ready to see all kinds of animals?!" BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh boy! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Now, THAT'S a rib if I ever heard one, Gigi. The irony and projection is completely lost on her. (Take a picture of that moment, it's all downhill from here concerning this episode.) Gigi then proclaims that they are going to meet wild animals. Which in hindsight, this might as well be a nice looking prison. (That is one nasty sick burn by former self.) Then she turns around and is scared to death because a lion had escaped, even though it's clearly a lion athro in a blue uniform wearing a blue hat. (I get the gag about lions eating gazelles and later crocodiles doing the same thing, but the mis-spieces angle is still bigotry in my view since they are part human.) It's Mr. Lion; who is voiced by Colin McFarlane and according to Wikipedia (DANGER! DANGER!): McFarlane portrayed Police commissioner Gillian B. Loeb in the critically acclaimed films Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. He has also made numerous appearances in the Doctor Who franchise, playing the character Moran in the "Under the Lake" and "Before the Flood" episodes of the ninth series [1] from 2015. In addition, he also appeared in the third series of Torchwood, Children of Earth, as the American military representative. His numerous TV credits include Judge John Deed, Jonathan Creek, Casualty, Death in Paradise, Father Brown and Holby City.[2] He has also appeared in two of the UK's most-watched soap operas. He starred as DCI Irving in EastEnders as part of the "Who Killed Lucy Beale?" storyline, and appeared on the 6 September 2010 episode of Coronation Street as a consultant neurosurgeon, Mr Jordan.

He has also made regular appearances in British TV comedy, in the shows The Fast Show, Randall & Hopkirk, Jeeves and Wooster, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, Harry and Paul and The Thin Blue Line. He played Inspector Norris in the Black Books episode The Blackout, Inspector Terrence Brown in the first episode of Dirk Gently and voiced the Judge in the 2016 revival of the sitcom Porridge. He also featured in the CBBC shows M.I. High and Hounded as the evil Dr Muhahahaha. He will appear alongside Matt Smith and Natalie Dormer in the action horror film Patient Zero, slated for release in September 2018. McFarlane's best-known voice roles include JJ and Skip in the original series of Bob the Builder, and as the narrator on the ITV gameshow The Cube. He has also voiced God and Goliath on Testament: The Bible in Animation, Jonah in the 1997 animated series Captain Pugwash, as well as Bulgy the Double Decker Bus and Beresford the Crane in Thomas & Friends: Journey Beyond Sodor.[3] In addition, he played the part of dictator Thadius Vent in children's animation Oscar's Orchestra, Elvis the horse in Iconicles, Sparky the dragon in Mike the Knight, and voiced several characters in the episode "The Sweater" of The Amazing World of Gumball.[citation needed]. He played US General Trent Stone in the 2014 original audio drama Osiris by Everybodyelse Productions. McFarlane has lent his voice to numerous video games, the earliest being Joseph D. Tenka in 1997's Lifeforce Tenka. He also voiced Greg in the Buzz! quiz game series, the character Avalon Centrifuge in the 2011 game LittleBigPlanet 2, and provided additional dialogue for Batman: Arkham Knight. He played "The Forgotten One", the central villain of the two downloadable content packs for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.[4] In 2013, McFarlane appeared with Lenny Henry in a critically acclaimed revival of August Wilson's Fences at the Duchess Theatre in London's West End. He debut in 1985 in the TV movie Dutch Girls as Mkwela and the TV series Dempsey & Makepeace as Det./Sgt. Watson. Crawl (Governor) and Legado en los huesos (Aloisius Dupree) are his most recent credits. He has 142 Acting credits, 8 Self credits and 2 Archive Footage credits to his resume.

It's been a while since I had a characater debut with a large resume to back itself up. It's also ten o'clock in the morning as the meet and greet ensues. Oh; and it's feeding time, too. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge! It's also quiet time as outside of the animals in their areas, there is no one else there. We do the grand tour and a lot of shock and awe ensues. It's what happens when you are sheltered a lot. Mr. Lion recklessly opens and shuts the gate to the tortoise's home. The tortoises climb trees and walk slowly. (The fact that one of them is in a tree is a clue Doctor Hamster never gets. Maybe it's time to talk to Mr. Lion, although he might mistake her for being an Illiop at this rate.) Apparently; walking slowly makes them live longer. I call woo on that one, sir. Pedro F'N Pony asks about their life span and it's a hundred years. Mr. Lion is probably talking about the average lifespan as some turtles live for 30 years and some tortoises live 150 years. In other words, hundred years isn't so far off the mark. Humans live an average of 60-100 years depending on their habits. (I'm about thirteen years away from average, former self. How very nice, how very evil.) Mr. Lion officially goes in to feed the tortoises lettuce. Sigh. To be fair; lettuce is not a bad choice, but it isn't the best value in health. There are better choices out there. It's not like feeding bread to ducks though, so I'm not annoyed by this. Tortoise eats up as Gigi talks about animals eating different stuff and Mr. Lion calls Gigi, Mrs. Wilderbeast. Gigi blows him off for it because she's a gazelle and Mr. Lion is another sexist prick who gets his animal spieces mixed up. That's probably why he only cares for animals and doesn't study them. Freddy asks about more animals and Mr. Lion has a surprise for them and the hint is that they live in water. This is the most subtle hint in the history of this show, without fail. The kids try to guess and they are all wrong because as they make it to the next area, it's a swimming pool with a giant iceberg in the signal that it's the penguins. However; there is nothing there as everyone is confused. Gigi sees bubbles in the water and a female crocodile comes up and scares Gigi. (This would be the first reptile anthro on the show and the only one at this point. TaleSpin had crocodile police officers I should note, along with a gangster named Trader Moe, natives and a treasure hunter.)

Luckly for her; it's an anthro crocodile, known as Mrs. Crocodile, who is voiced by Jo Brand and according to Wikipedia (DANGER! DANGER!): Brand was persuaded by agent Malcolm Hardee to begin a career in stand-up comedy, where she acquired the stage name the "Sea Monster". She was part of the British alternative comedy movement, working in London alternative comedy clubs in the mid-1980s, and appearing initially on the Saturday Live television show. She shared a flat with fellow comic and comedy club owner Ivor Dembina.[8] Brand's early style involved her delivering jokes in a bored monotone, one line at a time, with pauses in between. It drew heavily from pop culture and the media, with many jokes containing references to celebrities and public figures. Brand has said that she drank heavily before her first gig, was heckled throughout, and received no applause at the end of the set.[3] Her Doc Marten boots, large size and short hair led to false rumours that she was a lesbian.[9] In 2007, Brand narrated Laughter & Tears: The Les Dawson Story, a documentary tribute to Les Dawson, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 2 in October 2007. In 2010, Brand took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March. Brand played the Demon Dinner Lady in the 2011 British live-action film Horrid Henry the Movie. She also provided a voiceover for the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre's 2011 pantomime Aladdin. In August 2015, Brand judged the first ever Class Clowns competition at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, she also announced the winner at the Gilded Balloon on the night. Brand has written a feature-film adaptation to her novel The More You Ignore Me. She will also star in the film. In 1993, Brand became a resident panellist, along with Tony Hawks, on BBC monologue show The Brain Drain. Her transition into mainstream television continued when she starred in her own series on Channel 4, Jo Brand Through the Cakehole, co-written with comedy writer Jim Miller, who was already her main stand-up writer.

Brand has had several solo television series, and presented shows such as Jo Brand's Commercial Breakdown. She had a cameo appearance in a 1994 episode of Absolutely Fabulous entitled "New Best Friend", and also appeared on Star Spell, a spin-off from Hard Spell in 2004. Her television success continued with guest appearances on shows such as Have I Got News for You and QI, to the extent where she became the most frequently appearing guest on the latter, appearing in a total of 34 episodes. As a fan of Countdown, Brand achieved an ambition when she was invited to appear in the show's "Dictionary Corner" as the celebrity guest. She later became a friend of the host, Richard Whiteley, and after his death in 2005 attended his memorial service at York Minster. She has appeared on Countdown as a Dictionary Corner guest 88 times.[10] In 2004, Brand appeared in a special episode of What Not to Wear, where fashion gurus Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine gave her a makeover. On 25 March 2007, Brand appeared on Play It Again where she was required to learn how to play the organ in just four months. This was in preparation to perform Johann Sebastian Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor for an audience of 8,000 people at London's Royal Albert Hall on the second largest pipe organ in the United Kingdom. In order to practise her performance, she played Dear Lord and Father of Mankind – a favourite hymn of hers at a church service in her former village church in Benenden, Kent, and accompanied dancers at Blackpool Tower. Prior to this, her only experiences with musical instruments had been childhood piano and violin lessons.[11] Brand took part in the first celebrity version of Comic Relief Does Fame Academy. In 2007, she appeared as a celebrity contestant on Comic Relief Does The Apprentice. In 2009, she participated in Let's Dance for Comic Relief, another Comic Relief fundraiser, dancing as Britney Spears, reaching the final. She has also been a judge on the show. In January 2013, Brand took part in a special Comic Relief series of The Great British Bake Off.

Brand has been a fill-in host on The Paul O'Grady Show and The One Show. Brand co-created, co-wrote and co-starred in the BBC Four sitcom Getting On opposite Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine, for which she won the 2011 Best TV Comedy Actress BAFTA award. The series, directed by Peter Capaldi and Sue Tully, is a gritty and realistic satire on the current state of the NHS, set in a geriatric ward. In April 2009, Brand was as a judge with John Amaechi and Jeremy Stockwell on the BBC Two series The Speaker, charting the search for "Britain's Best Young Speaker".[12] In 2011, Brand presented Jo Brand's Big Splash, a television programme where she performed a stand-up routine and visited people with a love of water and it was produced by her production company, What Larks! Productions.[13][14] In January 2013 and 2014, Brand was a judge with Andy Banks and Leon Taylor on the ITV show Splash! . On 14 January 2014, Brand presented an episode of The Great Sport Relief Bake Off on BBC Two, a charity version of The Great British Bake Off. In February 2015, she also presented an episode of The Great Comic Relief Bake Off. She is the presenter of The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice, which premiered on 8 August 2014.[15] A second series aired from August 2015, third from August 2016 and a fourth from August 2017. In 2014, Brand co-wrote and starred as Rose in a comedy pilot for Sky Arts called Damned. The show was commissioned for a full series by Channel 4, airing in 2016; its second series aired in 2018. Since 2017, she has presented the Channel 5 series Jo Brand's Cats & Kittens. She debuted as a writer in Spitting Image in 1988. The More You Ignore Me (as a writer and played the role of Sandra), and Damned (among other Self appearances) as Rose is her most recent credits. She has 14 Writing credits, 14 Acting credits, 1 Producer credit, 194 Self credits and 15 Archive Footage credits to her resume.

Mrs. Crocodile has a bucket of fish and she takes care the penguins on the iceberg and everyone is in awe of this. Although penguins eat krill, squid and various forms of sea life, they do eat fish as well. Apparently; they live for the stereotype of catching food with their beaks. They also waddle and jump for a while as the kids giggle. The penguins also swim and we break logic as the glass lookout is somehow bigger than the entire fence at the front; despite the entire area appearing to be short in height. This is just terrible continuity by the animators here. (SUZY SHEEP~?!) Oh; and if you think I'm kidding about Mr. Lion's sexism: He calls Gigi Mrs. Wilderbeast, again. I wish Mrs. Crocodile snapped her mouth on Mr. Lion right there; but Peppa spots the next animal and it's....Mr. Giraffe because that is Gerald's Dad and he's one of the keepers of the zoo. (Hey, I get them credit; at least Daddy Giraffe has a job.) Geez; the irony is so thick, you couldn't cut it with a iron knife. (Now that was also a sick burn on former self's part.) Mr. Giraffe and company walk to the clear glass caged igloo area filled with a mini jungle. Daddy Giraffe asks the kids to guess the next animal and they guess all wrong because they hear a crack and out come the butterflies. (Danny Dog also scares Gigi Gazelle and wonders why he gets buried nowadays. Time to grow up a little more, you dogass!) The butterflies feed from the flowers as everyone is in awe. Now it's time for the anthros feeding time and it's lunch boxes for everyone! (Mrs. Crocodile and Mr. Lion are just being creeps with their teeth smiles. They want to eat this gazelle so badly.) Everyone rushes out with their lunch boxes and sit at picnic tables. The narrator proclaims that everyone loves feeding time at the zoo as the episode ends at 4:30, and we get to hear the zoo edition of the Bing Bong song at the end credits. (Also of note: The pigeons arrives pecking the ground and Mrs. Duck is back with yellow feathers again. WHAT?!) The beginning is well worth the price of admission, but the rest is anticlimatic and Mr. Lion is sexist. (Mrs. Crocodile is really cool as the first reptile anthro on the show, but I wish she had called Mr. Lion out on his bigotry. I don't care if that makes me woke. Gigi is a gazelle anthro, deal with it, bigots of the real world!) so *** (60%).

Canal Boat: This is episode #230 on the animation paper as the episode opens at the pirate house on the hill with the cyan blue car pointing down towards the hill. I hope that one day, the car would just go down the hill by itself and teach these adults to not park on the steepest side of the hill. We head into the living room as there is a giant cake on the coffee table featuring cyan blue icing and a boat topper with two candles. Oh; and it's Captain Daddy Dog's birthday as Daddy Dog blows out the candles and looks sad. So much so, even Danny Dog is asking him why. (Dammit, I forgot that Captain Dog also had a birthday; which makes him just the third adult in the series to have a birthday, before Peppa's Grandparents had one. How about that?!) Daddy Dog looked at the cake topper and it reminded him of the sea; because you see, he must adhere to the stipulations that he cannot sail the seas forever since he's retired. (Captain Dog is having professional wrestling vibes in sailing form!) Mummy Dog gives him a blue evenlope and Daddy Dog opens it to find a boat trip ticket. This makes Daddy Dog so happy that everyone runs out of the living room, out of the house and into the cyan blue car to drive down the hill. Daddy Dog's delusions are this is a sailing trip across the sea as we get a dream sequence -- with no indication that it's a dream-- of the poor Captain sailing towards an island and the South Pole. Yes, even in this cartoon world; the ice is the same warm ice Jim Cornette was demanding in the 1990's. (Already explained it in Around The World With Peppa in Peppa VS. The World. At least it's a dream, instead of the real thing in that 15 minute special.) He would love to see a whale as well, and this whale looks like every stereotypical whale you ever saw. We finally head to the canal as Daddy Dog is all confused. The canal boat is right in front of them and it's a motor boat with plants in pots -- including the dreaded CACTUS JACKS OF DOOM -- on top of the roof. (Damn Mick Foley, see what you have wrought?! No wonder Vince called the name sleazy, which is IMAX projection on his part.) We then discover that the canal boat is the one day boating trip and not a device used to get to the sailing boat on the sea, because a one day boating trip on the canal does not violate the stips, you see. These sailing trips not on a sea are like an emotional support dog to Daddy Dog; which the irony was not lost on me when I typed this. (By the way, even now; the kids are still wearing lifejackets and the adults are not. Sigh.) I also discover a birthday rule violation in progress as everyone gets on the canal boat first, except for Daddy Dog. Of course, everyone steps off to let Daddy Dog go on. Too late, you geeks! You must live with the rule violation that you did, because Daddy Dog still goes on second after you, even if you step off.

Daddy Dog gets on board after the rest return onboard and Daddy Dog wants sails; but canal boats do not have sails. Again; because if it had sails, it would violate the stips that Daddy Dog must not sail the seas forever. Mummy Dog pushes the green button on the wall next to the door leading into the cabin to start up the canal boat. Damn, for a boat expert, Daddy Dog has no idea how canal boats work. Maybe he should have returned to land sooner. Thankfully; he figured out how the lever (CLEVER CLOGS~!) works, so he pushes it and we are off to the slowest boating trip possible. We hear quacking and we see Mrs. Duck and her duckling swimming on the canal. Mrs. Duck maintains her white feathers from The Golden Boots in a neat bit of continuity. I would have been annoyed if they went back to her yellow colors after all that mayhem that ensued. (I think she does go back to yellow colors later in the series.) Mrs. Duck and her ducklings are going faster than the canal boat, which inspires Daddy Dog to have a race. Daddy Dog pushes the lever (CLEVER CLOGS~!); but Mummy Dog informs Daddy Dog that the canal boat cannot go any faster. Besides, it must go slower because there is a mountain up ahead and everyone panics. Except for Mummy Dog because they do need to slow down since there is a tunnel that goes through the mountain. Of course! Daddy Dog is loving this; and the kids love their echoing sound voices and giggles. Everyone but Mummy Dog assumes that the next mountain takes them through the mountain. However, Mummy Dog claims that they are going uphill and Daddy Dog is confused because there is no way to get up there. Even though there is a ladder and a brick barricade like wall which is the dead giveaway signal for a canal lock. Mummy Dog climbs the ladder and opens the canal doors to let in the canal boat. Mummy Dog finds the top right canal wheel and turns it -- after closing the canal doors and locking them tight -- to pour water and raise the canal boat to the top of the canal lock. Mummy Dog then opens the canal doors on the top right and hops back into the canal boat and we sail away again. Something tells me Mummy Dog used the money Daddy Dog got from sailing to create this in order to raise Daddy Dog's spirits. (Huge, if true.) They sail on the canal bridge overlooking a deep valley for fun as Peppa sings a song about canal boats and after that, Daddy Dog calls this his best birthday ever. Which is funny because, it would probably be his first with the family in a long while. The ducks swim in, the narrator sums it up nicely and Daddy Dog sings Peppa's song to end the episode at 4:30. I love how they are coming close to violating the stips and then pull away before they actually cross that line here. (Really fun episode! *** 3/4 (75%).)

Opening Moment #1: Same sequence only with a sun and more plants in the background, despite a lot of Australia being in the desert. SUZY SHEEP~?!

The Outback: Here are episodes #231-#234 on the animation paper as the episode opens on the Outback house on the hill, so there is no build up to the moment during the actual airing on television. (This also have some Australian style guitar riffs for music, I should note.) I'm going to hazard a guess that the build took place during the interludes in the movie known as Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience months before the debut on television. The Pig family walks up the hill with their summer gear -- which is all hats by the way -- and their luggage. Daddy Pig rings the door bell and out comes Mr. Kangeroo as he is shocked, SHOCKED I SAY to see Mr. Pig here. Daddy Pig calmly points out that they can drop by anytime to visit and didn't tell them. HAHA! If anyone recalls: Mr. Kangeroo and his family did the exact same thing to Daddy Pig and his family in Series Four. So, this was Daddy Pig's revenge on them basically. The teeth smiles give that point away even more so. Kylie Kangeroo -- who wears the same style of hat as Peppa's, only in different colors -- meets and greets Peppa, along with Mrs. Kangeroo complete with pouch which I believe houses Joey. Joey has Mr. Crocodile with lime green hat as he and George cosplay their plastic toys for a while. The guise of this is that Mr. Kangeroo and family were going to have a picnic and they invite the Pig family to come along. Jump cut to them walking towards the conveniently placed airplane. At least this one looks less like a submarine sandwich wrapper. Mr. Kangeroo is carrying a box of bottled water during this. Everyone hops into the plane and Mr. Kangeroo takes off into the sky. Peppa asks where this picnic spot is and Kylie states that it's a secret spot only accessible by airplane. Apparently; there is some law in Australia that prevents Peppa Pig from singing the lead because Kylie is invoking the TEDDY RUXPIN SONG OF DOOM. Peppa follows up by singing in kind with Kylie; and then everyone joins in; which is hilarious considering George can not speak complete sentences; so I'm guessing he's an awesome lip sync actor. So, then Peppa gets confused and asks what the Outback is. Mr. Kangeroo points out and they are flying over it now, which is kind of like a desert, but with lots of bushes, so it's not completely devoid of water. The airplane lands as Mr. Kangeroo calls it a magical place. I wish Suzy were here and say: "It's science, right?!" and Mr. Kangeroo says "Yes"; because that would have been money! There is a large tree in the middle of nowhere and the only one in miles says Mrs. Kangeroo. I find her saying miles a little off since I thought Australia used the metric system like most former British colonies. Then I realize that Mrs. Kangeroo was clearly born and raised before 1970 when Australia was using the imperial measurement system. Everyone gets out as Daddy Pig is already blushing because it's hot. Thus the need for the box of bottled water. Mr. Kangeroo warns Daddy Pig to conserve water; because water is limited in the Outback, and Daddy Pig just pours water over his head like a goddamn idiot. Mr. Kangeroo panics as Peppa tells Daddy Pig to drink it, not splash it. Daddy Pig is dumb! (Even in another country, Daddy Pig has to be the GEEK OF THE WEEK~!) Mr. Kangeroo is not worried -- well; it is only one bottle of water -- as Mummy Pig is looking for sticks to make a camp fire.

However, just because we are in the middle of nowhere, doesn't mean Mr. Kangeroo is an ancient old man because he has his BBQ ready to give the food some gas, BABEE! (Hey, is it any different from using the word dood like a Pinney from a Nippon Ichi Software game? Of course not! Also hilarious, the BBQ is literally named GAS!) We BBQ some corn for a while as Peppa proclaims that the stipulations for a picnic are that Mrs. Duck shows up. However, we are in Australia, so it won't happen. However; Mrs. Duckbill Platypus shows up and as usual, everyone feeds her just to annoy me. (Didn't anyone learn anything from The Golden Boots?! I'm expecting Kylie to be sobbing after her boots get stolen by Mrs. Platypus and I feel even less sorry for her than I do with Peppa!) I don't like corn on the cob as the families eat corn on the cob. After that it's time for a game of cricket; which Mr. Kangeroo claims he was born to play. Yeah; I'll bet! If you own a Nintendo Switch and have access to the eShop; there is an arcade game based on cricket called Big Bash Boom now available in North America. I believe this is the only time a cricket game was released in North America on a Nintendo platform. It's games like this that make me happy that Nintendo has their new policies in place; even if it runs the risk of overflooding the market with games. (This was written in 2018. It's now 2024 and there are six cricket games, two rugby games and even an Australian Rules football game released on Switch. Still, soccer is the lead sport with 89 games!) Anyhow; the rules of engagement for this cricket game are if someone catches the ball after hitting it, the batter is out. Demonstrated by Mr. Kangeroo and Kylie. Peppa has her turn and she whacks it so hard that they somehow teleported to the left of the tree and the ball gets stuck in the tree. Uh-oh! (More like: SUZY SHEEP~?!) If anyone has seen -- oh, four episodes --; this is the general signal that Daddy Pig is going to climb the tree. I wish Suzy was here, just to suggest that they chop the tree down. I would love to see Mr. Kangeroo's reaction to that. Everyone giggles and Daddy Pig actually lifts Peppa up so she can see the ball in the tree. The ball is stolen by a kwola; which Peppa mistakes as a teddy bear. Kylie corrects her of course. Peppa calls the kowla the sweetest animal in the world; and Mrs. Duckbill is sad. Peppa has to remind her that she is sweet too, and all is forgiven. Mr. Kangeroo grabs the box of water bottles because it's home time and Kylie offers Peppa to stay at her place for the night. Everyone cheers as we head back to the Outback house on the hill AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as Kylie and Joey are sleeping together in her room sharing the same bed. (By the way, the board on the wall features pictures of a boomerang, Madam Potato playing tennis and Polly Parrot! Please remember the boomerang for later.) George and Peppa are sharing a mattress on the floor as they exchange pleasure thoughts on the entire Outback picnic as Peppa asks if they can do more Australian stuff tomorrow. Kylie says that there are tons of stuff to do tomorrow and they all go to sleep as we zoom out to end part one at 4:30. This looks like an olive branch extention to the country for scaring the censors silly with Mister Skinnylegs more than anything else. As an holiday episode, it was just there so far. (Personally, I thought this was a cleverly fun episode with animal feeding, so I'll split the difference and go with *** (60%).) The ending contains colored backgrounds and various holiday items.

Surfing: Episode opens at the Outback house on the hill with generic surfing music of course! Mr. Kangeroo's RV is ready with surfboards on it. This surfboard has no secure ropes around it to keep sliding from the RV. Luckly; the RV is parked on a flat surface for the moment, but these Australian sure don't respect the laws of physics, that is for sure. (As opposed to anyone on this show, former self?! You are once again the GEEK OF THE WEEK~!) The front door opens and out comes Kylie Kangeroo, Peppa and George giggling. Peppa asks where they are going this time as the families are bringing out coolers and shoveling baskets. This is the universal signal that they are heading to the beach this time around. Peppa loves the beach as everyone gets into the RV. After Mr. Kangeroo asks if they are ready and everyone agrees that they are ready. It's time to go down the hill onto the Outback boring road,.which as I mentioned in the next rant, is much more exciting than the boring road in Peppa's country. We head to the beach filled with sea water, sand and palm trees. Not much different from the British beach in previous episodes. Peppa is in a full piece swimming costume, which is kind of dumb since they are wearing lifejackets -- known as lifevest in Britian and Australia -- anyway. (Still the adults are not forced to wear them either.) Kylie's swimming costume is purple and she has a white surfboard with three hearts drawn at an angle. Kylie explains how a surfboard works to Peppa. Peppa and Kylie run into the water with their surfboards. Peppa's surfboard is green with flowers on it. Kylie and Peppa bounce the surfboards for fun, to show how bouncy and floaty they are, I guess. Kylie gets on her surfboard and does the "ready, steady, go" bit. Kylie lets the wave raise her up, she surfs the waves and lands perfectly on the sand without incident. Peppa repeats the spot and gets the same result. (Peppa also says "brilliant" for the first time in a long ass whomping time.) They get up as Peppa proclaims that surfing is the best thing ever...and the narrator agrees with Peppa. The kids go back into the water for round two. Surfing fun and all; but it's not as impressive as cloud surfing. Although; letting a twelve year old surf the clouds without safety equipment isn't going to be allowed on Peppa Pig and thank the creators for small favors. Round two ends as the waves are getting too big for Kylie and Peppa. This means George is pretty much out of the running, because he's too little. (You mean too young; Mummy Pig?! It's amazing how TaleSpin was ahead of the curve in that department.). George at least looks disappointed and doesn't bawl his eyes out. Daddy Pig thinks it's home time; but Mr. Kangeroo thinks it's a joke. Of course!

You see; it's time for Mr. and Mrs. Kangeroo to surf the waves on their surfboards now. Mr. Kangeroo has a cyan blue board with a sun and a rainbow on it; while Mrs. Kangeroo is purple with a tidal wave on hers. Ready, steady, go! They surf the water, Kit Cloudkicker style. Mrs. Kangeroo -- the cheeky reckless parent -- has Joey in her pouch during this entire thing. The Pig family and Kylie are enjoying themselves as Mr. Kangeroo and Mrs. Kangeroo finish their surfing. The Kangeroo family offers Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig a go; Mummy Pig no sells the deal. (She remembered the last time she accepted and almost froze to death despite being in colder water.) Daddy Pig says yes to the deal; and then the waves screw him out of it by calming down. Everyone is disappointed; except George since he can go into the water now, as Mummy Pig points out. Daddy Pig grabs George and walks into the ocean. Daddy proclaims that George cannot surf; but he can sit on Daddy's big tummy; which George does. I betcha the waves come back and George surfs on Daddy Pig as a surfboard, that's the only way this makes any sense and is an awesome payoff. George is giggling and kicking his feet; which is the universal sign that the giant wave of death is coming. And "Crikey" to heck if I'm not right! Mrs. Kangeroo panics and Peppa calls for Daddy to listen as everyone chants wave. Daddy Pig; the dumbest pig in the area, waves to the crowd. George is smiling and don't care. Cooee~! Up comes the giant wave to sweep Daddy Pig towards the shoreline. George stands up and starts outclassing even the Kangeroo family in surfing. (Why am I surprised?! He was the perfect figure skater for crying out loud!) Daddy Pig plops onto the sand and everyone cheers for George. Even Mr. Kangeroo wants George to teach him that trick as everyone laughs and Peppa calls George the best. George giggles as we head back on the Outback boring road with the RV and the surfboards are still not tied down. The RV finally makes it to the Outback house on the hill as the Pig family gets out. Peppa loves this surfing thing as the Pig family wants to know what will happen tomorrow. Mr. Kangeroo is confused; because this means that they are staying another day tomorrow. Daddy Pig proclaims that he could stay here forever, which indicates to me that this was payback for last series. Oh; and Mrs. Kangeroo has work tomorrow and Kylie offers the family to join her on work tomorrow. Which is odd because this is the same writing crew and it was a movie, so the next episode has them repeating the spot in order to make sure everyone knew what was going on. Everyone does the backsplash laugh to end part two at 4:30. This was the best part of the holiday special; if only due to Daddy Pig being a surfboard for my amusement. **** 1/2 (90%).

The Great Barrier Reef: Episode opens on the Outback house on the hill as we zoom in for Day Three of the Australian holiday. Peppa and her family are at the kitchen table eating breakfast while Mr. and Mrs. Kangeroo are cleaning dishes. Mummy and Daddy Pig are having tea as everyone loves staying at Kylie's house and Daddy Pig wants to stay here forever. Not happening, Daddy Pig, not happening. (I'm surprised the family is totally no selling this.) Mrs. Kangeroo sadly, will not be able to play around today because she has a job to do; as she is a marine biologist. Hmmm; I wonder what Peppa's next adventure in Australia is going to be. Personally, I would never bother a marine biologist and her work; but this is Peppa Pig we are talking about here. Mrs. Kangeroo explains her job as she has a fish tank, only much more advanced than what we see with Goldie. There are also two different kinds of fish in the tank. Daddy Pig's creditability streak continues as he claims that the coral bridge and treasure chests are just props for human amusement. Remember that for later as Mrs. Kangeroo offers to bring the kids to her workplace. Peppa hyper references Daddy Pig's Office for a while, showing Daddy Pig at his table office answering the phone as Mrs. Kangeroo thinks her office is pretty fun, too. You don't say?! We jump cut to the Australian version of the boring road; it is much more exciting than the British one and not just because everyone is in an RV with Mrs. Kangeroo driving. Thankfully; Daddy Pig is not the map guy on the tour, that would have been no fun. The RV makes it to the beach and stops. Everyone gets out as Mrs. Kangeroo declares this beach to be her office; which confuses Peppa. Mrs. Kangeroo has a remote control, which looks similar to those you see in car door unlocking button controls. It's red as she introduces her yellow submarine complete with two JAWS OF HALF LIFE~! (This mean Mrs. Kangeroo is the second character to have a submarine, next to Grampy Rabbit. Maybe Mrs. Kangeroo can offer some tips on how to make Grampy's submarine more robust.) We hop into the submarine, close the glass dome and dive into the sea. I'm sorry; but the Dive Man jokes are too obvious for this show; so none will happen here. The bottom of the sea is the best artwork and animation in the entire series. I know it's not saying much; but by Peppa Pig standards; this was Disney Feature quality compared to the rest of the show. Peppa is in awe about this as the Kangeroo family explains what coral is and here's the Edmond version of this: Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically live in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Corals species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. Wikipedia is a clever clogs! Mr. Kangeroo explains that this is the Great Barrier Reef and Mrs. Kangeroo's job is to protect it from evil poachers. Or something to that effect.

Peppa of course wants coral and Mrs. Kangeroo no sells it. Look; don't touch! Basically; this turns into a moral lesson about not letting anyone take the coral or anything. Remember that one for later as well. We see the same fish from the fish tank in a school of fish mode for a while. The white/orange fish are clown fish; even though they look nothing like clowns. (Nor that horrible Youtube channel, thank goodness.) They look more like candyfish to me; although they don't taste like candy. POW! OUCH! Ummmm...We see a blue starfish and this one has a face and then a tiny red one, also with a face. Hmmm; who's been dumping Dora The Explorer artists into the Great Barrier Reef recently?! (Oooo, sick burn!) Daddy Pig spots a spiky green starfish, with a face. Then we see a giant version of Tiddles; which almost made me wonder if Peppa Pig is going to be a DLC fighter in Smash Ultimate. Of course not! They talk for a while as Mrs. Kangeroo is really starting to show off the place. Speaking about remembering what I said about Daddy Pig and the fish tank; there's the coral bridge for real. Daddy Pig admits in a roundabout way that he is wrong; but the treasure chest thing is still correct. George points to some area; and Daddy Pig is not correct about the treasure chest thing. The treasure chest is filled with gold coins and has a blue starfish planted on the side, which will likely be written out by teleport soon enough. Of course; Peppa has to remind Daddy Pig of his words as well. Daddy Pig is dumb. (Still the GEEK OF THE WEEK~!) Mrs. Kangeroo goes over to the chest and uses the JAWS OF HALF LIFE to pull it out of the ground. Now; if you recall, Mrs. Kangeroo said that nothing should be removed from the ground in the Great Barrier Reef. In fact; even Peppa Pig is pointing out the exact same thing I am right now! Mrs. Kangeroo does what I call an end-around to get herself out of her own words; by stating that natural things cannot be touched; but the treasure chest never belonged here in the first place, so it's perfectly all right to remove it. Of course! I'm not so sure about that; because when she spoke about the treasure going towards the cost of funding research; she smiled like she was selling it as a lie to justify her decision. Everyone cheers anyway and we jump cut back to the boring Outback road as the chest is closed and on the RV; with no secure ropes around it whatsoever. Somehow; this chest never moved nor slid down when they proceeded to go up the hill heading to the house and park on an angle. Physics in Australian Peppa Pig's world really are very wonky. (SUZY SHEEP~?!) Everyone gets out as Mummy and Daddy Pig are loving this holiday and Mr. Kangeroo asks if they will be going now. Mrs. Kangeroo rewords it and basically they assured that the Pig Family will stay home another day. Their teeth smiles tell the entire story. Still better than Monty though. Kylie and Peppa hold hands as Peppa loves this holiday and everyone does the backsplash laugh to end part three at 4:30. This was surprisingly fun for the most part; but the Kangeroo family needs to put their foot down once in a while. Luckly for them; tomorrow is Peppa's last day on holiday, so no worries. *** 1/2 (70%).

Boomerang: Here is the final episode of the holiday in Australia as the episode opens at the Outback house on the hill. (Yes, they reversed the house image to boot.) We zoom at the adults of the Pig family are trying to pack up in the bedroom; but George, Peppa and Kylie are playing in the suitcase and catching soccer balls. Mummy Pig suggests that they go into the garden while they pack and all the kids agree and we jump cut to the front door of the house and the kids run out without further incident. They go into basically the same area as the opening sequence as Peppa is sad because she has to leave; but Kylie has a present for Peppa as an offering. She shows the out of nowhere banana yellow packaged boomerang as Peppa mistakes the present as a banana. Of course; George thinks it's a dinosaur; but it's not sadly. (The fact that George is shocked by this is comedy gold.) It's a boomerang which Peppa calls a thing. Kylie thankfully explains what it is and what it does. Kylie explains the "magic" of the boomerang and Peppa grabs it declaring it impossible. (Because it is science, but Suzy Sheep said it's magic in doublespeak, so "magic" it is.) Then throwing it so wrong that it's not wrong to prove her point. Kylie claims that you got to throw it harder and lets George try it out. George drops the soccer ball and grabs the boomerang and tries to throw it. It's a worse throw than Peppa's throw. Peppa declares this thing doesn't work. Kylie claims that she isn't throwing it right and must throw it harder. Peppa grabs the boomerang and throws it so hard that the boomerang flies perfectly. It almost nails Daddy Pig and Mr. Kangeroo in the face before going around the house and back towards Peppa. Peppa catches it. Yes, it took only TWO attempts before Peppa got it right and somehow not break anything. (Please remember the breaking thingie for later in the episode.) Daddy Pig and Mr. Kangeroo appear at the garden as Daddy Pig asks what this thing is. Peppa explains what it does and Mr. Kangeroo decides to demonstrate the boomerang to Daddy Pig and Mr. Kangeroo throws it hard eastward and it disappears without a trace. Daddy Pig asks when it comes back and we hear a faint glass shattering sound and some pans banging. This is the universal signal of a boomerang breaking a glass window. Also known as Austalian baseball. (The foley guys couldn't create actual glass shattering?!)

The fools all walk and find the house which has the broken window clear as day. The front door opens to reveal a wallaby wearing a mustache, glasses and a blue shirt. His name is of course, Mr. Wallaby (thanks narrator!) who is voiced by Sam Simmons and according to Wikipedia (DANGER! DANGER!): Simmons has appeared on Conan, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Room 101, Adam DeVine's House Party, and is currently developing his own sitcom in the UK. Network appearances include NBC, BBC, Channel 4, ABC, and all other Australian networks. Previously, he was a regular host on Triple J as well as jtv interviewing bands, he developed his style of non-sequitur and surrealist humour. This led to his first television show, The Urban Monkey with Murray Foote, in 2009. In 2012, Simmons followed up with a sketch-style TV series Problems, with a tone more similar to that of his surrealist stand-up shows. He performed at TEDxSydney in 2014[2] and is now on a new a US pilot filmed in Albuquerque with David Quirk. Simmons described it as "a reality show about animals".[3] Simmons regularly appears on the comedy quiz show Dirty Laundry Live. In 2015, he won the Edinburgh Fringe Comedy award after being nominated 3 times previously. He also won the 2015 Barry Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. In 2017 he provided the voice of Mr Wallaby in Peppa Pig. He made his debut as a writer for The Ronnie Johns Half Hour in 2006. Squinters as Lukas was his most recent credit; along with several Self appearances. Letdown was his most recent writing credit. He has 8 Writing credits, 12 Acting credits, 34 Self credits and 1 Archive Footage credit to his resume. Mr. Wallaby gives back the boomerang as Mr. Kangeroo profusely apologizes for it, but Mr. Wallaby forgives him. Listen; I abide by the principal of: You broke it; you bought it. All Mr. Wallaby had to say is that no worries, I'll just send you the bill for payment later. That would make him a nice neighbour, while at the same time not let Mr. Kangeroo get away with his reckless actions as a consequence. (So in other words, this would not make a Neighborhood Wars segment is what you are saying, former self.)

Daddy Pig is given the boomerang and he decides to throw it towards the Outback house on the hill this time, which is a smart move. Daddy Pig throws it hard and the boomerange does it's thing perfectly. One small problem: Daddy Pig threw it way too high; no one can grab it on the rebound and the boomerang breaks the second window on Mr. Wallaby's house. The best laid plans and even Daddy Pig screwed it up. OUCH! (That boomerang is the GEEK OF THE WEEK~! Yes, even inanimate objects are not immune from this honor.) Mr. Kangeroo has the teeth smile on in that he wants to leave before Mr. Wallaby decides to sue him; but Mr. Wallaby grabs the boomerang and it's no worries; because it's his turn to throw the boomerange and according to Mr. Wallaby, you must throw the boomerang upright. Ooookkkkaaayyyy. Mr. Wallaby throws the boomerang hard and it looks like a perfect throw. It's perfect all right because Mr. Wallaby panics as no one can catch this one, either; and the boomerang breaks the final window as Mr. Kangeroo clearly wants to be somewhere else. Mr. Wallaby grabs the boomerang and Mr. Kangeroo asks about mending the windows; but Mr. Wallaby says no because this one was his fault this time. At least make Mr. Kangeroo pay for two of the windows. The kids and the dads return to the Outback house on the hill with Mummy Pig, Joey and Mrs. Kangeroo as we exchange notes for a while. Peppa is worried about Mr. Wallaby's windows and Mr. Kangeroo cuts Peppa off almost instantly on that one. Suddenly, Peppa gives up and the kids say yes and giggle. Of course! Kylie gives Peppa the boomerang as Peppa gets her luggage. Peppa and Kylie say their goodbyes and the Pig family walks down the same side of the hill as they walked up four episodes ago. The Kangeroo family giggles and says their goodbyes at the back door as the narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. This was fun; but Mr. Kangeroo is going to have a huge bill on his hands very soon. *** 3/4 (75%). (This will not be the last time the Kangeroo Family and Mr. Wallaby appear as there is the Christmas episode taking place in Australia with Father Christmas in a later Series episode. Tons of fun!)

THE REVIEW LINE

Not much else to say about these sets of episodes as none of them were terrible. London was the Queen driving the bus show and it's always a great visual. Surfing was the best part of the Australian holiday because of Daddy Pig being George's surfboard. Move To Music was really great, mostly for the broken tape recorder making Earthbound-equse music. The Zoo had an awesomely hilarious opening; but the rest was anticlimatic with too much sexism from Mr. Lion and the Police was mostly funny for Freddy's love of that police siren and Grey Squirrel's ticketing inanimate objects for my amusement. The rest was average to above average. So...

Thumbs up for London, Surfing and Move To Move; thumbs in the middle for the rest and I'll see you all next time.

Back to Other Rants Index!
Return to the Rant Shack!
Return to the Unofficial Kit Cloudkicker Homepage