The Comic Strip Presents

[nbc%INF.RL.AC.UK@mitvma.mit.edu]

Well Kate certainly chose an unusual start to her acting career.
The "Les Dogs" episode of The Comic Strip Presents was shown last
night and to my mind was one of their most bizarre and elliptical
shows ever. One always expects the unusual when the Comic Strip are
involved but this episode was more convoluted than usual. Three of
the Strip's regulars (French, Saunders and Planer) were totally absent
with guest artists dominating the show (see full cast list posted
earlier), which added to the sense of strangeness.

The plot (sic) is hard to describe in a way that would make much
sense on paper (cathode) and while Kate was featured from start to end,
it was only in the last 5 minutes or so that she actually spoke.

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                         Synopsis

A proclamation on TV by a Leader that cars (later TVs are mentioned)
will be banned. People runs into the streets and into their cars.
On a deserted road a limo has crashed with a van carrying a punk
group (Les Dogs). The chauffeur of the limo is dead, a business
man (Victor) in the limo walks away and ends up in a wedding reception
at a hotel where two sets of motley guests listen in stoney silence
to the best man's speech.

The groom (Jeff), face covered in chocolate, kisses and licks the face
of his bride (Angela) [Yes it was Kate being thus defiled!] much to
the chagrin of the bride's father who stands up and besmirches the
groom and his family. Provoked by this the groom's father launches
his own verbal tirade against the bride and her family. This is
the cue for an all out gun battle to commence between the male guests
on either side. The women retire to a side room and the caterers
continue to serve drinks amid the ensuing mayhem. The bride's
mother persuades the French punk group Les Dogs, booked to provide
the music, to play by grabbing the leader's private parts and making
him an offer he couldn't refuse!

Meanwhile the business man is asked to take the wedding
photographs as the hired photographer has vanished. His attention
grabbed by the beautiful bride, he agrees and takes photos of the
bride and groom on the lawn. He tries to free the bride from the
groom's embraces and clean up her face.

As the wedding guests are slaughtered one by one the bride and groom
open their presents which include a series of vulgar speaking dolls
which cause the bride to laugh [the same laugh that is on L&A - oops
sorry]. The two set of parents sit and lament the death of their
relatives and decide to blame the caterers for the fracas.

The bride is then seen in a side corridor where she suddenly faints.
Victor follows her and, claiming to be a doctor, carries her into
the honeymoon suite. With the bride still unconscious he cleans
his muddy feet in the bidet. Suddenly he spots a young child in the doorway.
He is no longer in a hotel room but in a house. A woman, Angela,
rushes in and they discuss their affair [finally Kate gets to speak
her first words]. They are about to kiss when Victor finds himself
back in the hotel with Angela still on the bed.

The two families try and enter but Victor disuades them. [my memory
goes a bit blank here ] Somehow we are back in Angela's house
where the husband greets his father who has come to spend Xmas.
Victor is brought into the room and referred to by everyone as Uncle
Victor. The father says that this will be their best ever Xmas.
Angela says something or other.

Back in the hotel room again the bride awakes and Victor bends
down to kiss her. Her eyes become two beams of light - headlights
of a car. There is a loud crash.

*********************************

It was a bit confusing towards the end with all the switches but
I think the above is roughly correct. It was only in the flash
forward (or backwards depending on how you look at it) scenes
at the end that Kate spoke: before that she was
only required to smile and react to other people - which she did
most ably. Kate came across very well on her debut and hopefully
it will encourage her to do more. As the beautiful Angela she
made a nice contrast to the obnoxious Jeff (Danny Peacock) and
the fact that she was speechless for the majority of the film
added to the sense of surrealness of the film. In the "domestic"
scenes there was less attempt to make Kate appear glamourous
through the use of make-up and she looked much as she does in
recent newspaper photos.

I am sure there where a lot of meaningful references in the film
but on the first viewing I was fascinated to see what Kate would
do - and whether she would ever get to speak!

Be seeing you,
	     Neil
--
Neil Calton                            UUCP:   ..!mcsun!ukc!rlinf!nbc
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory,        NSFNET:
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