Count Duckula

Count Duckula
Genre	Black comedy Comedy horror Dark fantasy
Created by	Brian Cosgrove Mark Hall
Based on	Danger Mouse by Brian Cosgrove Mark Hall
Directed by	Carlos Alfonso Chris Randall Keith Scoble
Voices of	David Jason Jack May Brian Trueman Jimmy Hibbert Barry Clayton Ruby Wax
Narrated by	Barry Clayton
Opening theme	"Count Duckula" by Mike Harding
Ending theme	"Count Duckula" by Mike Harding
Composer(s)	Mike Harding
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	65 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	John Hambley
Producer(s)	Brian Cosgrove Mark Hall
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	Cosgrove Hall Films Thames Television Nickelodeon
Distributor	Thames Television Nickelodeon (US)
Release
Original network	ITV (UK) Nickelodeon (US)
Picture format	PAL
Original release	6 September 1988 (1988-09-06) – 16 February 1993 (1993-02-16)
Chronology
Related shows	Danger Mouse Victor and Hugo
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Count Duckula is a British children's animated horror television series created by British studio Cosgrove Hall Films and produced by Thames Television for Nickelodeon and as a spin-off from Danger Mouse, a series in which the Count Duckula character was a recurring villain. Count Duckula aired from 6 September 1988 to 16 February 1993 across four series; in all, 65 episodes were made, each about 22 minutes long. All have been released on DVD in the UK, while only the first series has been released in North America.

A new version of Count Duckula appeared in the 2015 reboot series of Danger Mouse.

History

Count Duckula was created by British studio Cosgrove Hall Films as a spin-off from Danger Mouse. In 1984 Nickelodeon acquired the US broadcast rights to Danger Mouse, which became a hit for the channel. After a few years, the Nickelodeon management came to Cosgrove Hall wishing to co-produce a new series. After being shown a number of ideas, the then head of Nickelodeon, Gerry Laybourne, spotted a picture of Count Duckula in Brian Cosgrove's office, and said "that's the one I want". As the series went into production, one of the writers suggested he become a vegetarian, which added an even sillier concept to the series.

Spin-offs

Main article: Victor and Hugo

In a move mirroring Duckula's adaptation from Danger Mouse, the characters of Gaston and Pierre were reinvented and given a spinoff series as the now-human Victor and Hugo.

Count Duckula appeared in North American comics under Star Comics (an imprint of Marvel Comics) and introduced an additional difference between this incarnation of Duckula which separated him from his predecessors. Due to ketchup being used in the resurrection ceremony, this version of Duckula has ketchup, rather than blood, flowing through his veins. This was discovered when Duckula was given a blood test in order to get a passport into a fictional country which produced a salad which Duckula was obsessed with getting to eat. In the same issue, Duckula, Nanny, and Igor were photographed as a means of formal ID for said country; however, due to the classic stereotype of vampires not appearing in film, Duckula did not appear in the photo which was taken. Duckula also gained a romantic interest in the Star Comics run; Vanna Von Goosewing, who turned out to be the niece of his long time adversary Dr. Von Goosewing. The attraction was mutual, and the two continued their relationship through the majority of the series after their introduction, though Vanna didn't always appear in every issue of the book.

Plot

Castle Duckula, home for many centuries to a dreadful dynasty of vicious vampire ducks – The Counts of Duckula. Legend has it that these 'fowl' beings can be destroyed by a stake through the heart or exposure to sunlight. This does not suffice however, for they may be brought back to life by means of a secret rite that can be performed once a century, when the moon is in Eighth House of Aquarius... The latest reincarnation did not run according to plan....

— Opening narration

Several episodes explore the theme that each resurrection creates a new incarnation with little to no memory of its past life, the immediate past incarnation referred to as the current's "father". Thus, every incarnation is free to develop its own personality and pursue its own personal interests. The vampire is able to pose as a "dreadful dynasty, the counts of Duckula". The preceding generations included knights, sorcerers, scientists, artists, Egyptologists and even professional gamblers, all of whom are also secretly "vicious vampire ducks".

As the title sequence puts it, "the latest reincarnation did not run according to plan". The successful conclusion of the ritual, which was to be performed "once a century, when the moon is in the 8th house of Aquarius", requires blood, the source of sustenance for any vampire, but Nanny accidentally substitutes ketchup. Consequently, the newest version is not a blood-sucking vampire, but a vegetarian one. He is more interested in juicy carrots than hunting for victims. Igor is appalled. Even worse, his "new" master is obsessed with pursuing wealth and fame as an entertainer.

The stories often revolve around Duckula's adventures in search of riches and fame, assisted by the castle's ability to teleport around the world. Another regularly occurring theme is the repeated attempt by Igor to turn Duckula into a proper vampire. Some episodes feature Duckula's nemesis Doctor Von Goosewing (based on Dr. Abraham Van Helsing, the nemesis of Dracula), a vampire hunter who blindly refuses to believe the current incarnation of Duckula is harmless. There is also an array of bizarre, often supernatural foes, from zombies to mechanical werewolves. Another feature of the show is a cuckoo clock whose bat-like Borscht Belt comedian styled characters come out and make jokes about the current situation (or corny jokes in general). The clock is also a vital part of the castle's traveling mechanism, and it even has the ability to turn back time.

A series of annuals and monthly comics further detailing the adventures of Count Duckula and associated characters were released throughout the time that the series originally aired and for a short time afterwards.

Voice cast

• Count Duckula, played by David Jason
• Igor, played by Jack May
• Nanny, played by Brian Trueman
• Dr. Von Goosewing, played by Jimmy Hibbert
• Dimitri, played by Trueman
• Sviatoslav, played by Hibbert
• Narrator, played by Barry Clayton
• Various other characters played by Clayton, Hibbert, Jason, May, Trueman and Ruby Wax
• Theme song vocalists were Doreen Edwards and Mike Harding

Characters

Count Duckula

Count Duckula is a short green duck with black parted hair and the traditional vampire evening wear, and speaks with an American accent, despite being voiced by a British actor. He has no fangs, and his favourite food, as a vegetarian, is broccoli sandwiches.

He has a very modern outlook, and often despairs over the traditional vampire image he is expected to embody. He hates living in a dark, gloomy castle, and finds the behaviour of his servants to be depressing. Duckula frequently expresses frustration with Igor's attempts to change him back into a proper vampire and his lecturing Duckula as a disgrace and disappointment to the Duckula lineage. Although he retains some vampiric powers and qualities (such as teleportation and an image invisible to mirrors), he also possesses a lesser power, seen only once, which is the ability to create a lightning flash when angry. He often goes outside in the daytime without suffering any ill effects, but this is likely because of his not being a full "traditional" vampire, which do not do so as a result of the 1922 film Nosferatu, which introduced the idea that sunlight destroyed vampires into modern interpretations of vampires and vampirism in general. In the episode "Doctor Goosewing and Mr. Duck", Count Duckula briefly turns into a "proper" vampire, desiring blood from the villagers outside the castle (much to Igor's great delight), due to a serum slipped to him by von Goosewing that he presumed would make Duckula harmless, but he turns away from the door when he discovers that the sun is still out and is returned to normal by night.

Duckula's personality is good-natured and caring, always trying to help the villagers in need, often with mixed results. Despite his nobility, inherited castle, and devoted staff, he is often destitute to the point of being penniless, with several episodes pointing out that he struggles to pay essentials (such as claiming that he hasn't been able to pay his light bill since the day he was resurrected). As a result of being perpetually broke, Count Duckula is prone to short-lived obsessions, often forming the plots for episodes, such as attempting to become a blues musician in New Orleans or prospecting for gold.

The character differs considerably from his predecessor on the Danger Mouse series. In fact, the only similarities, other than the name, is they are both vampire ducks with ambitions in show business with little actual talent. The previous version was an evil villain, willing to blackmail and force his way into stardom (as opposed to the current Count, who merely tries to get in the legitimate way) and was fixated on being a TV star, rather than settle for fame in some other branch of entertainment. The original depiction of Duckula has far greater magical powers and makes more common use of them. He has a thick accent consisting of lisping, stuttering and occasional squawks. Most notably, he was not a vegetarian in the Danger Mouse version. In his very first appearance, he threatened to drink Danger Mouse's blood, only to be chased away by the sun. The Danger Mouse Duckula was destroyed and fell to ashes, resurrected during the 8th astronomical house of Aquarius. During his recent appearance in the 2015 reboot, the new Duckula is a mix of the original and the vegetarian version from his spin-off.

Marvel Comics (via their Star Comics imprint) produced a comic series based on Count Duckula, and introduced an additional difference between this incarnation of Duckula which separated him from his predecessors. Due to ketchup being used in the resurrection ceremony, this version of Duckula has ketchup, rather than blood, flowing through his veins. This was discovered when Duckula was given a blood test in order to get a passport into a fictional country which produced a salad which Duckula was obsessed with getting to eat. In the same issue, Duckula, Nanny, and Igor were photographed as a means of formal ID for said country; however, due to the classic stereotype of vampires not appearing in film, Duckula did not appear in the photo which was taken. Duckula also gained a romantic interest in the Star Comics run; Vanna Von Goosewing, who turned out to be the niece of his long time adversary Dr. Von Goosewing. The attraction was mutual, and the two continued their relationship though the majority of the series after their introduction, though Vanna did not always appear in every issue of the book.

Igor

Igor, the Count's butler, is a traditional horror servant based on the stock character Igor, and adds a decidedly dark streak to some of the show's humour. He greatly dislikes his master's behaviour, and often encourages him to act in a far more ghastly manner. Although he will generally obey Duckula's specific orders, he remains convinced that, if he could only talk Duckula into biting, maiming, torturing and otherwise brutalising people, he would return to the "good old days" of the previous counts who behaved more like evil vampires. Igor hates words such as "bless you," "nice," "good," and "lovely." Such words make him cringe, since he prefers the darker and more sinister side of life. In "Dr Goosewing and Mr Duck" when he accidentally drinks the carpet stain removal liquid created by Goosewing his personality changes to an overly sweet-natured demeanour and he becomes eager to help Goosewing destroy Duckula.

He is a hunched, balding, cultured vulture with a deep, slow voice and delights in the macabre. In the episode "Arctic Circles," he states that he has served for "seven-and-a-half centuries," indicating that Igor is himself either immortal, or extremely long-lived through some unknown means. It is unknown if the 7.5 centuries constitutes the totality of the 17-count Duckula dynasty, or if Igor has only served the most recent few incarnations. The episode "Dear Diary" implies that the Duckula dynasty is in excess of 2,000yrs old, by stating that exposure to sunlight would fry the extant count into "a 2,000 year old pile of dust." However the episode "The Rest is History" contradicts this, by implying that not only has Igor indeed been with the dynasty since the very first Count Duckula, he is also responsible for the first count becoming a Vampire, as a figure who is virtually identical to the modern Igor of the show in both appearance and voice conspires to have the first Duckula be bitten by a bat. The exact reasons for this are unknown, however his attempts are ultimately successful, much to the chagrin of the modern Duckula.

Nanny

Nanny is Duckula's nanny and housekeeper. She is an extremely large (in the episode "Alps-A-Daisy," it is revealed she is seven feet tall) and clumsy hen with a very strong Bristolian accent and her right arm inexplicably always in a sling, possessing incredible strength and inevitably messing up whatever task she is set to do. The episode "No Sax Please, We're Egyptian" reveals that Nanny's clumsiness actually resulted in the death of three former chambermaids of Castle Duckula, though this happenstance is quickly dismissed by the characters as they were only part-time employees. Nanny has a blind spot regarding doors, and often crashes through a door without opening it first, or (more commonly) walks right through the wall, especially a few feet off from the door's position. Not surprisingly, she is the one who mistakes ketchup for blood in Duckula's current resurrection. The episode "Prime Time Duck" reveals her first name to be Amnesia. Nanny may herself also be immortal, as (in the episode "Dear Diary") she's seen alongside Igor, serving the Count's great-grandfather, in a flashback set more than a century prior to the show's present day.

She is supremely unintelligent, completely unreliable, but utterly devoted to her "Ducky-boos," as she calls Duckula, and has a deep maternal affection for him, although her clumsiness often inadvertently causes him harm. A recurring gag is her inability to understand what people around her are talking about. She often mixes up words and takes insult at conversations not directed at her. She is very ditzy and motherly, sometimes hugging Duckula so tightly she nearly suffocates him. In "Dr Goosewing and Mr Duck" when she accidentally drinks the carpet stain removal liquid created by Goosewing she becomes extremely intelligent.

Castle Duckula

Count Duckula's home is an archetypal Transylvanian castle with all the trimmings: dungeon, torture chamber, library of macabre texts, laboratory, and more. The castle is also home to an often referred-to, but never seen, werewolf named Towser, which Duckula does not believe exists (he often refers to it as "the werewolf we don't have"). The castle can teleport to any place on earth (and beyond), but returns automatically at dawn, "Eastern Transylvanian Standard Time". The teleportation is activated when Duckula enters an upright coffin while he states where he wants it to take him (often, he will have to come up with a rhyme to activate it properly). The controls to this device are inside an old-fashioned cuckoo clock that hangs on the wall. The controls have two live mechanical bats, Dmitri and Sviatoslav, who are known for bad puns and jokes. Duckula himself, throughout the entire series never notices them except in the episode The Rest is History.

Dr. Von Goosewing

Dr. Von Goosewing is a mad scientist and vampire hunter, a spoof of Abraham Van Helsing. He is a goose that speaks in a German accent, and wears an outfit not unlike that of Sherlock Holmes. He pursues Count Duckula relentlessly, never able to comprehend that Duckula is actually completely harmless. He is a terrible scientist, often getting maimed by his own crackpot inventions, he is supremely unobservant, and often bumps into Duckula and converses with him for several minutes without realizing to whom he is speaking.

Von Goosewing appears to have an assistant named Heinrich (who never appears on screen). Von Goosewing often calls for Heinrich, and often blames his failures on him. In fact, "Heinrich" appears to be just a figment of Von Goosewing's imagination, an imaginary friend. However, the comic book version of the characters by Marvel reveal that Heinrich is actually his former assistant who is always complaining about his paltry wages.

The Marvel Comics run also introduced Vanna Von Goosewing, who was stated to be Von Goosewing's niece. Vanna and Duckula's reciprocal romance further infuriated Von Goosewing, as he now believed that Vanna was under some form of mental manipulation, assuming it to be the only reason she would have any interest in Duckula. This belief made him all the more intent on destroying Duckula as he now considered his mission to have a personal component to it, believing Duckula to be a threat to Vanna's safety. In an alternate universe depicted in the final issue of the comic, Von Goosewing is stated to have succeeded in destroying the counterpart Duckula of that reality, indicating it to be the reason why the 'regular' Duckula of the series had no reflection, and leaving Igor and Nanny without anyone to serve until the next time the resurrection ritual could be performed.

The Crow Brothers

The Crow Brothers are four criminally-inclined crows named Ruffles, Burt, Junior, and the masked brother (according to a comic in a Count Duckula annual). They typically scale the walls of Castle Duckula with the aid of climbing equipment. They are always seen hanging off one another with the use of bungee cords to climb the walls of whatever building they plan to scale. Their goal is to get at the treasure inside the castle, but they will rarely make it to the top.

Gaston and Pierre

Gaston and Pierre are a pair of French criminals and occasional villains. Although they are both undeniably incompetent, the arrogant Gaston is ostensibly the "brains" of the outfit. Gaston is a tall, thin, black stork, while Pierre is a short, stubby parakeet who sounds similar to Bluebottle from The Goon Show. The characters were adapted into non-bird form for yet another Cosgrove-Hall animated series, Victor and Hugo.

Pirate Penguins

A ruthless crew of piratical penguins originally hired by Count Duckula, this crew of seafarers turn on Count Duckula when his antics crash their ship. All of the penguins are typical pirate stereotypes, one of which is known as Mr. Mate and shouts that he will "bite their heads off!"

Narrator

The Narrator (Barry Clayton) opens and closes every episode. Episodes usually began with him describing Castle Duckula and its gloomy atmosphere, and close with him saying a phrase popularised in the 1950s and 1960s by American TV horror host John Zacherle, "Goodnight out there ... WHATever you are!" The Narrator finishes with maniacal laughter that leads into the end credits. Variants of The Narrator's closing line are also used to close certain programmes.

Relatives

Duckula has numerous vampiric relatives all over the world, who are more classic vampires than Duckula, possessing fangs, red eyes and evil personalities. Only a small number, such as Don Diego, show any affinity or friendship toward the benign Count Duckula.

They come from many different countries, such as Spain and Scotland, and their costumes represent their native cultures. The relatives include Don Diego, a Spanish vampire duck who makes his fun and games by burning down villages, and Rory McDuckula, a Scottish vampire duck who later makes himself an enemy of Duckula. "Uncle Bloodbath" is also mentioned a few times.

The Peasants

The town situated below Castle Duckula is home to many peasants who live in constant fear of the count, despite his harmless current incarnation. A recurring joke in the series and associated books is that "the peasants are revolting". Their local pub is called "The Tooth and Jugular,". The regulars are often seen singing a variation of the traditional song "One Man Went to Mow a Meadow!" replacing the words "mow a meadow" with "kill a vampire".

Episodes

Main article: List of Count Duckula episodes

This is an episode guide for the television series Count Duckula, made by Cosgrove Hall for Thames Television. They were first shown on ITV during its CITV output on weekday afternoons. Four series were made comprising 65 episodes which were shown between 6 September 1988 and 16 February 1993.

Series overview

Series		Episodes	Premiere	Finale	DVD
					Region 2	Region 1
	1	26	6 September 1988	7 March 1989	17 July 2006	4 October 2005
	2	19	12 September 1989	23 January 1990	26 March 2007	N/A
	3	13	22 October 1990	21 January 1991	3 September 2007
	4	7	5 January 1993	16 February 1993

Series One (1988–1989)

Note: All the episodes from Series 1 of Count Duckula were dated as 1987.

No. overall	No. for series	Title	Original airdate
1	1	"No Sax Please, We're Egyptian!"	6 September 1988 (1988-09-06)
Duckula, Igor and Nanny travel to Egypt in an attempt to recover an ancient artifact known as The Mystic Saxophone. Note: Dr. Von Goosewing makes a brief appearance inside the pyramid before his first appearance.
2	2	"Vampire Vacation"	13 September 1988 (1988-09-13)
Duckula travels to Spain to meet his pyromaniac cousin and fights the deadliest bull in Spain. Note: The first official appearance of Dr. Von Goosewing.
3	3	"One Stormy Night"	20 September 1988 (1988-09-20)
Chaos looms in the castle as Goosewing's Frankenstein monster awakens, Nanny hides in the attic, Duckula seeks a snack, Igor gets lost and a stone replica of Duckula's evil ancestor is resurrected!
4	4	"Transylvanian Homesick Blues"	27 September 1988 (1988-09-27)
Duckula, Igor and Nanny take a literal rollercoaster ride through time.
5	5	"Restoration Comedy"	4 October 1988 (1988-10-04)
Bored with the look of the castle, Duckula hires a designer to redecorate the castle with Goosewing not too far behind...
6	6	"The Mutinous Penguins"	11 October 1988 (1988-10-11)
Lost in the Arctic seas, Duckula, Igor and Nanny must survive bloodthirsty pirates, defrosted Vikings and Dr Von Goosewing in order to find their home.
7	7	"Dr. Von Goosewing's Invisible Ray"	18 October 1988 (1988-10-18)
Dr Von Goosewing, along with his new invisible ray, invades the castle in another attempt to kill Duckula.
8	8	"Down Under Duckula"	25 October 1988 (1988-10-25)
While in Australia, Duckula accidentally sells the clock to a wallaby owner and must retrieve it before dawn rises in Transylvania.
9	9	"All in a Fog"	1 November 1988 (1988-11-01)
Inspired to be a detective, Duckula travels to England to solve a mystery, filled with old criminals, a homage to Sherlock Holmes and Goosewing's Fog Machine.
10	10	"Castle Duckula: Open to the Public!"	8 November 1988 (1988-11-08)
Duckula has some money troubles and decides to open Castle Duckula to the public for some extra cash.
11	11	"The Ghost of McCastle McDuckula"	15 November 1988 (1988-11-15)
Duckula, Igor and Nanny, on holiday in Scotland hope to stay at the Glen Sparrows Hotel but Igor takes Duckula to see an old relative, in hope that it will transform him back to his old, evil blood-thirsty ways.
12	12	"Igor's Busy Day"	22 November 1988 (1988-11-22)
An engaged couple spent the night in Castle Duckula, which bores The Count and frustrates Igor.
13	13	"Autoduck"	29 November 1988 (1988-11-29)
Duckula tries to create a world record for the world's fastest car.
14	14	"The Vampire Strikes Back!"	6 December 1988 (1988-12-06)
Duckula meets his hero, space explorer Tremendous Terrance, and ends up being stuck on Planet Cute, much to Igor's displeasure.
15	15	"Hardluck Hotel"	13 December 1988 (1988-12-13)
Duckula goes to stay at a worn out and run down hotel for the weekend but he has cash problems and ends up doing all the work for the manager unaware that Igor and Nanny are also staying there.
16	16	"Hunchbudgie of Notre Dame"	20 December 1988 (1988-12-20)
Duckula, Igor and Nanny are involved in a series of art thefts in Paris mainly because of Gaston & Pierre who have the deeds to the castle. It's up to Duckula & Igor and the Police to solve the mystery.
17	17	"Dear Diary"	3 January 1989 (1989-01-03)
Duckula and Goosewing discover their grandfathers' diaries, and history is sure to repeat itself!
18	18	"Rent a Butler!"	10 January 1989 (1989-01-10)
Duckula sells Igor and Nanny to an agency to make some money. All goes well, until he is invited to dinner to the house where Igor and Nanny are serving.
19	19	"A Family Reunion!"	17 January 1989 (1989-01-17)
Duckula is chosen to host the family reunion but he's not too keen on the idea as he knows that his relatives will kill him if they discover that he no longer drinks blood and he despises being a vampire, so he decides to fake it.
20	20	"Jungle Duck"	24 January 1989 (1989-01-24)
Duckula unwillingly buys a set of encyclopedias and he, Igor and Nanny travel to the jungles of darkest Africa to find the Lost Temple.
21	21	"Mobile Home"	31 January 1989 (1989-01-31)
Thinking he is rebuliding the castle, Duckula accidentally sells it to The Crow Brothers in disguise, brick by brick!
22	22	"A Fright at the Opera"	7 February 1989 (1989-02-07)
During a night out at the Opera, Nanny is kidnapped by the famous Phantom, and it's up to Duckula and Igor (who assisted with the kidnapping) to save her.
23	23	"Dr Goosewing and Mr Duck"	14 February 1989 (1989-02-14)
Goosewing creates a formula for carpet stains removal that when accidentally drunk, the victim becomes the complete opposite of their original selves. Von Goosewing becomes a Vampire, Duckula becomes a real Vampire, Igor is loving and Nanny becomes intelligent.
24	24	"Town Hall Terrors"	21 February 1989 (1989-02-21)
A pair of frightened villagers enter the castle, who make Duckula decide to renovate his home, but he first needs a grant from the Town Hall.
25	25	"Sawdust Ring"	28 February 1989 (1989-02-28)
Duckula, Igor and Nanny join the circus. Note: Danger Mouse makes a brief non-speaking cameo in this episode as a member of the circus audience.
26	26	"Duck and the Broccoli Stalk"	7 March 1989 (1989-03-07)
Thanks to Goosewing's vegetable grower, Duckula, Igor and Nanny find themselves up a broccoli-stalk and into a giant's castle.

Series Two (1989–1990)

Note: All the episodes from Series 2 of Count Duckula were dated as 1988.

No. overall	No. for series	Title	Original airdate
27	1	"Ghostly Gold"	12 September 1989 (1989-09-12)
Duckula travels to the black mountains in the Yukon to find treasure and gold.
28	2	"Ducknapped!"	19 September 1989 (1989-09-19)
A ransom note is sent to Castle Duckula stating that The Count had been kidnapped, despite still being in the castle. He shows the note to Nanny, who thinks he HAS been kidnapped.
29	3	"The Lost Valley"	26 September 1989 (1989-09-26)
Duckula, Igor and Nanny go to watch a film called 'The Lost Valley' and get trapped inside the film. In the end of the film, they end up in the commercials.
30	4	"Incredible Shrinking Duck"	3 October 1989 (1989-10-03)
Von Goosewing tries shrinking the Castle to put in a glass snowglobe model, but he loses the snowglobe.
31	5	"Hi-Duck!"	10 October 1989 (1989-10-10)
Duckula, Igor and Nanny take an aeroplane to Nice, which gets hi-jacked by the bumbling French crooks, Gaston and Pierre.
32	6	"Prime-Time Duck"	17 October 1989 (1989-10-17)
Transylvanian Television arrive at the castle to feature it in a Television programme much to Igor's misery. However, Igor is cast as The Count and Nanny as The Countess, meanwhile, the real Count Duckula is cast as all the servants.
33	7	"Bloodsucking Fruit Bats of the Lower Amazon"	24 October 1989 (1989-10-24)
Igor attempts to have the family bat bite Duckula to turn him into a proper vampire again, but when it aspires that the bat is fully trained, he tricks The Count into going to the Amazon to find another bat.
34	8	"The Count and the Pauper – I Ain't Gonna Work on Maggot's Farm No More!"	31 October 1989 (1989-10-31)
Duckula is sick of life at the castle and plans to leave Transylvania, but during a walk, he bumps into Sid Quack – an incredible lookalike – and they both decide to swap roles for a while, Duckula as a hard working, underprivileged farm-boy, while Sid becomes a spoilt, rich Aristocrat.
35	9	"Arctic Circles"	7 November 1989 (1989-11-07)
Duckula travels to the North Pole and fires Igor for a penguin butler called Jyves.
36	10	"Transylvania Take-Away"	14 November 1989 (1989-11-14)
Duckula, Igor and Nanny head to China in search of missing treasure.
37	11	"Whodunnit?"	21 November 1989 (1989-11-21)
Duckula gets a letter stating that his Great-Uncle had died, when he goes to the reading of the will, it transpires that his uncle was murdered, and when The Count can't recall where he was on the night of the murder, he believes he killed him, confessing to Igor that he wants to be a true vampire again.
38	12	"No Yaks Please, We're Tibetan!"	28 November 1989 (1989-11-28)
The trio climb the Himalayas, despite warnings about a Yeti.
39	13	"Beau Duckula"	5 December 1989 (1989-12-05)
Duckula joins the French foreign Legion.
40	14	"Mississippi Duck"	12 December 1989 (1989-12-12)
Count Duckula and his servants travel onto a steamboat in the River Mississippi, where he tries to become a jazz trumpet player. However, this wasn't what everyone else on the boat had in mind...
41	15	"Amnesiac Duck"	19 December 1989 (1989-12-19)
Duckula falls down a hole in the castle's cellar causing amnesia, which leads to him lusting for blood once again!
42	16	"The Mysteries of the Wax Museum"	2 January 1990 (1990-01-02)
The Mad Scientist creates a robot doubles of Duckula, Igor and Nanny to rob the Bank of England.
43	17	"The Return of the Curse of the Secret of the Mummy's Tomb Meets Frankenduckula's Monster and the Wolf-Man and the Intergal-actic Cabbage..."	9 January 1990 (1990-01-09)
Duckula is chased by an alien cabbage, a werewolf, a mummy, Frakenstein's monster, Von Goosewing, and some angry villagers. Just an average day in Castle Duckula, then.
44	18	"The Lost City of Atlantis"	16 January 1990 (1990-01-16)
The trio find the Lost City of Atlantis.
45	19	"Bad Luck, Duck"	23 January 1990 (1990-01-23)
Duckula's attempts at showing Nanny that superstitions are complete nonsense cause him a lot of pain.

Series Three (1990–1991)

Note: All the episodes from Series 3 of Count Duckula were dated as 1989.

No. overall	No. for series	Title	Original airdate
46	1	"Private Beak"	22 October 1990 (1990-10-22)
Duckula becomes a private detective in Chicago.
47	2	"Astro Duck"	29 October 1990 (1990-10-29)
Duckula's new computer causes problems for TRASH (the Transylvanian Space Authority) and ends up landing the castle on the moon.
48	3	"Unreal Estate"	5 November 1990 (1990-11-05)
Duckula is fed up with the Castle crumbling around him so he decides to sell it, much to Igor's horror, in Hollywood. NOTE: This was in fact the pilot episode which like many of Cosgrove Hall was created as a test that wasn't meant to be shown to public, just for test audience, but was later made into part of season 3. As a result, the animation style is much different in most scenes (closer to "Danger Mouse" style), much of first half of the episode is spent on exposition and the very first scene with Von Goosewing shows him discovering from the news paper that Duckula was reincarnated. Duckula himself appears to be new to the fact of being a vampire (for example, is surprised by the fact he can teleport by will). The harmonica scene from the intro also appears in the episode in full version and proper context. [1]
49	4	"Bombay Duck (or 1,001 Transylvanian Nights)"	12 November 1990 (1990-11-12)
Duckula gets tricked by a fake Genie into going to India.
50	5	"There are Werewolves at the Bottom of Our Garden"	19 November 1990 (1990-11-19)
The castle's werewolf has escaped and it's up to Igor and Nanny to get it back before Duckula finds out. Note: This episode was aired as part of CITV's Old Skool Weekend Marathon.
51	6	"Duck Ahoy"	26 November 1990 (1990-11-26)
Duckula enters a boat race hoping to win the prize money and as usual, things don't go to plan.
52	7	"The Great Ductective"	3 December 1990 (1990-12-03)
Goosewing tries to frame Duckula for a relative's murder with the help of Detectives Soames & Potson.
53	8	"Dead Eye Duck"	10 December 1990 (1990-12-10)
Duckula becomes a deputy in the Wild West.
54	9	"The Show Must Go On!"	17 December 1990 (1990-12-17)
Duckula decides to become an actor and stages the story of Jack and the Magic Walnut at the castle with himself as Jack, Nanny as The Good Fairy, Igor as The Giant and The Crow Brothers as Mushrooms, Magic Elves and Wood Pixies.
55	10	"A Christmas Quacker"	26 December 1990 (1990-12-26)
Duckula is visited by both Father Christmas (otherwise known as Santa Claus) and Von Goosewing at the Castle on Christmas Day.
56	11	"The Rest is History!"	7 January 1991 (1991-01-07)
Duckula travels back in time to stop the first Count Duckula from becoming a vampire.
57	12	"00 Duck"	14 January 1991 (1991-01-14)
The Egg decides to steal Castle Duckula to take over the world.
58	13	"Mystery Cruise"	21 January 1991 (1991-01-21)
Nanny wins tickets to go on a cruise, but the trio become a nuisance for the other passengers.

Series Four (1993)

Thames Television ceased broadcasting on New Year's Eve 1992 to be replaced by Carlton Television. After 1992, Thames became an independent production company, making programmes commissioned from broadcasters. Although Thames Television produced the last seven episodes, It was still a requirement to have a ITV franchise to allowed such programmes onto the ITV network. Thames Television for Central Television presented for ITV.

When the third DVD boxset was released in the UK by Fremantle Media, the seven episodes which make up Series 4 were added to Series 3. All episodes that make up Series 4 were dated 1989.

No. overall	No. for series	Title	Original airdate
59	1	"Around the World in a Total Daze!"	5 January 1993 (1993-01-05)
Von Goosewing, with the help of world famous explorer, Sibellious Smogg challenges Duckula to a race around the world.
60	2	"Manhattan Duck"	12 January 1993 (1993-01-12)
Castle Duckula mistakenly lands in the middle of New York, on top of all places, a department store, and Count Duckula makes a bit of money by selling the contents of the house. The only problem is getting back the clock, an important part of the castle's travelling mechanism-has been sold too!
61	3	"Alps-a-Daisy!"	19 January 1993 (1993-01-19)
Duckula tries to impress a group of rich girls by winning all the winter sports.
62	4	"Prince Duckula"	26 January 1993 (1993-01-26)
After an accidental TV appearance, The Count is approached to play a Prince in a Hollywood film.
63	5	"Venice a Duck, Not a Duck!"	2 February 1993 (1993-02-02)
In Venice, the Egg plans to get his revenge on Duckula by asking all his adversaries from the past (minus Von Goosewing), to plan a nasty end for The Count.
64	6	"A Mountie Always Gets His Duck!"	9 February 1993 (1993-02-09)
Duckula travels to Canada to become a Mountie and to help an old friend, Geoffrey to arrest and lock up a French villain on the run.
65	7	"The Zombie Awakes!"	16 February 1993 (1993-02-16)
Dr Quackbrain lures Duckula to his dream machine for his greatest experiment, to peer inside the dreams of a real vampire (unaware that The Count is unlike any of his ancestors).

External links

• List of episodes at the Internet Movie Database.

Home media

DVD releases

The Count Duckula disks are in Region 0, PAL format. The first series was released on Region 1 DVD on 4 October 2005. Series 2, 3, and 4 have, as of 2024, not been released in North America. A Spanish format for Latin America was released.

Complete set

Title	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
Count Duckula: The Complete Collection	Not yet released in region 1	27 October 2008	1 May 2013

Individual series

Series	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
Series 1	4 October 2005 (as "The complete first season")	17 July 2006 (as "The complete first series")	11 October 2007 (as "From Duck Til Dawn", containing the first 18 episodes only)
Series 2	Not yet released in region 1	26 March 2007 (as "The complete second series")	Not yet released in region 4 but is released via Complete set DVD set
Series 3 & 4	Not yet released in region 1	3 September 2007 (as "The complete third series")	Not yet released in region 4 but is released via Complete set DVD set

Individual episodes

Title	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
Count Duckula: Vampire Vacation	Not yet released in region 1	14 October 2002	Not yet released in region 4
Count Duckula: The Vampire Strikes Back!	Not yet released in region 1	11 August 2008	Not yet released in region 4

VHS releases

During the show's original run, Count Duckula episodes were released on numerous VHS titles from Thames Video collection, often in a different sequence than what was shown in the TV.

VHS Title	Release Date	Episodes
Count Duckula (TV8036)	7 November 1988	No Sax Please, We're Egyptian, The Mutinous Penguins, One Stormy Night
Count Duckula: The Vampire Strikes Back! (TV8038)	7 November 1988	The Vampire Strikes Back!, Hardluck Hotel, Dear Diary
Count Duckula: A Fright at the Opera (TV8045)	7 November 1988	A Fright at the Opera, Hunchbudgie of Notre Dame, Dr. Goosewing and Mr Duck
Count Duckula: Jungle Duck (TV8050)	24 April 1989	Jungle Duck, Vampire Vacation, Igor's Busy Day
Count Duckula: Autoduck	1 May 1989	Autoduck, Rent a Butler, Mobile Home
Count Duckula: Transylvanian Homesick Blues	1 May 1989	Transylvanian Homesick Blues, Restoration Comedy, All in a Fog
Children's Favourites Vol.1	1 May 1989	The Duck and the Broccoli Stalk (Compilation VHS with Danger Mouse and The Wind in the Willows)
Children's Favourites Vol.2	1 May 1989	Castle Duckula: Open to the Public (Compilation VHS with Danger Mouse and The Wind in the Willows)
More Children's Summer Stories (TV8062)	5 June 1989	Down Under Duckula (Compilation VHS with Danger Mouse and The Wind in the Willows)
The Count Duckula Bumper Special (TV8079)	2 October 1989	Ghostly Gold, Prime Time Duck, The Incredible Shrinking Duck, Ducknapped!, Bloodsucking Bats of the Lower Amazon
Count Duckula: The Ghost of McCastle McDuckula (WP0020)	2 October 1989	The Ghost of McCastle McDuckula
Count Duckula: Mysteries of the Wax Museum (TV8083)	5 February 1990	Mysteries of the Wax Museum, The Lost Valley, Return of the Curse of the Secret of the Mummy's Tomb Frankenduckula's Monster...
More Children's Holiday Favourites (TV8094)	4 June 1990	Beau Duckula (Compilation VHS with Danger Mouse and The Wind in the Willows)
Count Duckula: The Great Ducktective (TV8102)	10 September 1990	The Great Ducktective, Private Beak, Whodunnit?
Count Duckula: Bombay Duck (TV8103)	10 September 1990	Bombay Duck, Mississippi Duck, Mystery Cruise
Count Duckula: O.O. Duck (TV8105)	10 September 1990	O.O. Duck, A Mountie Always Gets His Duck!, Manhattan Duck
Count Duckula: Bumper Special Volume 2 (TV8113)	10 September 1990	Xmas Quacker, Alps a Daisy, Unreal Estate, There Are Werewolves at the Bottom of the Garden, In Arctic Circles
Children's Picture House (NCH3000)	1 October 1990	Transylvanian Homesick Blues (Compilation VHS with Huckleberry Hound, Fireman Sam, Paddington Bear, and Barney)
Count Duckula: Astro Duck (TV8111)	1 October 1990	Astro Duck, The Rest is History!, Around the World in a Total Daze!, The Zombie Awakes!
Count Duckula: Lost City of Atlantis (WP0026)	1 October 1990	Lost City of Atlantis
My Little Count Duckula (ML0025)	1 July 1996	The Great Ducktective
Cult Kids Classics	2001	The Ghost of Castle McDuckula (Compilation VHS with 'Chorlton and the Wheelies', 'Danger Mouse', 'Jamie and the Magic Torch', 'Rainbow' and 'Button Moon')
Cult Kids Classics 2	5 March 2001	Venice a Duck Not a Duck (Compilation VHS with 'Jamie and the Magic Torch', 'Danger Mouse', Chorlton and the Wheelies', 'Rainbow' and 'The Sooty Show')
I Love Cult Kids	2002	The Great Ducktective (Compilation VHS with 'Danger Mouse', 'Chorlton and the Wheelies', 'Jamie and the Magic Torch', 'Rainbow', 'Cockleshell Bay' and 'Button Moon')
Classic Kids Collection	2002	Ducknapped (Compilation VHS with 'Chorlton and the Wheelies', 'Button Moon', 'Jamie and the Magic Torch' 'Danger Mouse' and 'Rainbow')

This VHS title appeared in 1990 but, at the time, the episodes contained were somewhat exclusive to video (the first was not televised until 1991, neither was the latter until 1993).

Count Duckula episodes were also released on special VHS compilations with episodes of other series. In 1989, the episode "Down under Duckula" was released on Thames' VHS title More Children's Summer Stories, with episodes from Danger Mouse and The Wind in the Willows. In 2001, in the twilight years of VHS, the episodes "The Ghost of Castle McDuckula" and "Venice a Duck, Not a Duck!" were featured on two cult kids' collection tapes, with episodes of Rainbow, Chorlton & the Wheelies, Button Moon and Jamie & the Magic Torch.

Comic

Between 1988 and 1991 Marvel Comics distributed 15 issues of Count Duckula comics.

Audiobooks

In the early 1990s at least two episodes were released in audiobook format on cassette tape with accompanying illustrated hardcover book featuring artwork from the original television episodes. They featured the original cast in new performances as they were edited considerably from the original television scripts for a shorter duration, removal of visual gags and the addition of new narration and character exposition where necessary. The "Restoration Comedy" episode was packaged with a small plastic Count Duckula figure in some territories.

• No Sax Please, We're Egyptian
• Restoration Comedy

Computer games

Alternative Software released a computer game based on Count Duckula called "No Sax Please, We're Egyptian!". In the game, Igor, Nanny and Count Duckula have decided to search the tomb of the great Pharaoh Upanatem (a pun on "up and at 'em") to find the mystic saxophone. What they do not know is that they have brought along some unwanted guests in the form of the Crow brothers.

The game was a basic jump and run platform-type game. At the start, the castle was transported to an ancient pyramid. Then, players had a set amount of time to go through the pyramid, evading the various baddies inside the pyramid, to retrieve the mystic sax before the Count's castle automatically returns to Transylvania, leaving the player stranded in Egypt.

The title of the game was a parody on the title of a British comedy play No Sex Please, We're British!.

The game was available for various 8-bit computers such as the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, & Amstrad CPC, and was also released as a "Kid's Pack" with other TV shows that Alternative Software turned into games, including "Postman Pat," "Sooty and Sweep," "Popeye 2," "The Wombles," and "Superted". Alternative Software was one of the few software companies of the 1980s that still survives today as an independent software producer.

There was also a Count Duckula 2 sequel in 1992.

See also

• List of vampire television series
• Vampire film

External links

• Count Duckula at IMDb
• Count Duckula at the Big Cartoon DataBase