Ripping Yarns: The Curse of the Claw
I suspect that our culture has a thing about newness and novelty, which naturally the classic TV blogosphere contradicts directly by not feeling the need always to be watching something new or blogging about the latest thing. When periodically I worry whether I will ever run out of cult TV to watch and blog about here I remind myself that I can of course blog about everything all over again if necessary, since it isn't necessary to have new classic TV continually found in a TV station in Ghana. There is nothing wrong about writing about an established 'canon' of TV shows. There is also nothing wrong with noticing the shows that I don't tend to write about here, and Ripping Yarns is one of them.
I'm not sure how it has somehow managed not to appear here, but this is an omission which needs to be corrected instanter. In the unlikely event that any readers of this blog haven't heard of the show, of course it was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones, and parodies the gung ho, boy's own genre of literature between the wars. A similar sort of parody may of course be found in the wonderful cartoons and books of Glen Baxter, and if you don't follow him on social media, you should go away and do so immediately.
The Curse of the Claw is a first series episode, broadcast in 1977, about a curse brought on to Sir Kevin Orr by the gift of a claw taken from the Naga tribe of Burma, by his Uncle. Kevin runs away with the claw on the Greasy Bastard in an attempt to return the fateful claw to the tribe.
And this is one of those occasions when I will say that you should put down this blog and watch the show instead because it will improve your life much more than reading my witterings.
I love the confusion of Burma for Birmingham ('Burma is a town in the Midlands, in Warwickshire'). I love the way Grover the butler is a dirty old man. I love Uncle Jack's approach to his incredible illnesses: 'Those are buboes, my boy'). I love the way Sir Kevin doesn't notice that the majority of his crew are women, and offers to rub something on the Chief Petty Officer's strange growths on his chest. I love the way the Naga tribe lose some people on the way to his house by getting on the wrong train (should've changed at New Street, obviously).
If you particularly want a criticism, it may be that if you're watching this for the plot, it may not be that coherent, but if you're watching this for the plot, you've missed the point, I'm afraid. The plot does actually work out because the claw has a final trick to play.
You really should watch this show. It's all over the internet if you want to try before buying, but I have read that the authorised releaases have extras, although I don't know what they are. It's not something you'll often hear me saying, but the guest cast in this show (which changes in every episode) really are one of the things that make it. I think the reason is that the guest cast are all top notch actors and are therefore so good that you notice their acting rather than their celebrity.
In other news I have a new profile picture, and this time I'm wearing a shirt. Just kidding, of course I'm not wearing a shirt, that would be ridiculous.