Hitcher (television episode)

Hitcher (television episode)

Directed by  Paul King Written by    Julian Barratt                        Noel Fielding Air Date         6 July 2004

Series One Episodes: Killeroo Mutants Bollo Tundra Jungle Charlie Electro Hitcher All episodes: 1 • 2 • 3

Hitcher is the eighth and final episode of Series One, based on Hitcher from the radio series.

Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

After Ivan the Russian Bear hears Vince and Howard entertaining schoolchildren with Jazz-Funk, he becomes angry and escapes from his cage, so Bob Fossil arranges for him to be taken to the Animal Offenders Institute. All Howard and Vince have to do is get there and back, in one piece, without falling foul of The Hitcher.

Spoilers end here.

Songs featured

• "Particle" – A Jazz-Funk song heard at the start being played by Vince and Howard, and at the end played by the Hitcher.
• "Cars (song)" by Gary Numan - played in the van by Vince.
• "The Hitcher" – a rap performed by the Hitcher, after having trapped Howard in his box. )

Minor characters featured

Ivan the Bear

Ivan is a Russian dancing bear with a profound dislike for jazz and slap bass, and goes into a rage on hearing such music. He seems to share Vince's love for Gary Numan, and his only spoken lines are to sing along with the chorus of "Cars." According to Fossil, he is a communist. Howard and Vince are charged with transporting him to the Zoo for Animal Offenders after he breaks free from his cage at the Zooniverse and attacks Fossil. He becomes enraged and breaks free from the transport van when The Hitcher begins playing jazz fusion, and his subsequent attack on The Hitcher saves Howard and Vince from certain doom.

Bryan Ferry

Played by Julian Barratt painted up and with a strap on chin, made to look like the collage of Ferry seen in an earlier animated segment. Ferry apparently raised Vince in the forest, although there is some suggestion that this strange fellow is only a Ferry impersonator. Naboo points out that the "Ferry" seen here looks more like Terry Wogan.

Others

• Columbo, Jahooli the Leopard, Kalooli, The Monkey King - Characters that feature in Vince's Jungle story.
• Jim and Jackie Piper - (Fulcher & Brown) The Hitcher's evil sidekicks, who contribute a verse to the Hitcher rap.
• The Nazi Turtle - "A fresh-water fascist" in the Hitcher's zoo.
• The Ku Klux Goose - Another feature of the Hitcher's zoo.
• Trevor Robinson - A Shire horse with over 37 unpaid parking tickets, and evil hooves. Trevor Robinson is also the name of the director of (Un)natural Acts.

Trivia

• Noel Fielding's father, Ray Fielding, can be seen on his T-shirt throughout the episode. He later appeared playing Chris De Burgh in The Priest and the Beast and Party.
• The hat worn by Noel in the episode is the same one worn by Johnny Depp when he appeared on The Fast Show.

External links

• "Hitcher" at the Internet Movie Database