Alien Humour

by **Clya Brown** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 8:42 pm

I've just been reading the thread on the Mysterons vs the Daleks (also in this section), which notes that the Daleks are master tacticians. No question about that: the link below indicates the extent to which Daleks can improvise when faced with an enemy of unexpectedly formidable capabilities. I suspect that even the Borg would have difficulty adapting to the extent of recycling threats from Monty Python movies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfNfDiqAF9Q.

Putting that little giggle aside for a moment, I suspect this sketch illustrates a deep truth concerning the nature of humour (also apparent in Captain Black's altercation with the Clangers at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTDYbwrj8vQ). A friend of mine once told me that humour is all about conflict and resolution. A scenario is presented that is familiar to you, so you immediately create in your head an expectation of how it will be resolved. Conflict is then created by the scenario being played out in a completely different way, confusing you - and then delighting you when you recognise the new scenario that is taking shape. Try this one for size: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZ-lJpL2oVg. See what I mean?

Finally, since this section is actually devoted specifically to the Mysterons as opposed to any other alien species, has anyone seen this before? It appears that Kinggodzillak has been uploading Harmony Angel's home video collection to YouTube (possibly after being translated into Japanese for her by Jabba the Hutt): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UViZdmEZzbc.

by **Kambei** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 12:30 am

OMG! That clip of Captain Black and the Clangers is brilliant. LMAO :grin:

But being a big Cybermen fan as well, I was wetting myself watching the Call Centre skit. I know exactly how that Dalek feels! :grin:

by **Clya Brown** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 9:48 am

Yes, the Cybermen call centre one held a certain topical poignancy for me, having just incurred a cracked windscreen on account of the cold spell a couple of weeks ago, and spending the next five days trying to get through to the RAC-approved repair service. Unfortunately the Mysterons don't offer this brand of retrometabolism as a commercial service - at least not in the budget-price range. I suspect the Clangers could have repaired it faster.

Website · by **Sage** » Sat Feb 24, 2007 1:36 pm

LOL excellent

by **gojohnniegogo** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 3:28 pm

Gotta say, of all the youtube Captain Scarlet parodies I've seen, this is one of my big favourites!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyhGTmOb2Jc

by **Clya Brown** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 10:45 pm

Regrettably it would seem that two of the links supplied above ("Captain Black vs the Clangers" and the Japanese intro to Captain Scarlet) have been removed by YouTube: if you try to follow them now all you get is a message saying "This video has been removed due to terms of use violation". I think I'll desist from venturing an opinion about that action, but it's difficult to avoid the conclusion that creating pastiches of Scarlet material and posting them online is likely to incur some legal department's wrath, so would-be amateur videomakers had better beware.

by **gojohnniegogo** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 10:53 pm

It's a shame if someone can go to all the trouble of spending 'x' amount of time trying to create something interesting and entertaining - for other people's pleasure. But of course the powers that be just love to spoil everybody's fun. Boo hiss. Fair enough when it's somebody blatantly trying to break copyright or even make money out of it, they should suffer the consequences.

by **Clya Brown** » Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:32 pm

Agreed. Whilst I can understand perfectly that people need to protect their financial interests, it's difficult to see who is being injured by the production of something as brilliantly funny as the Black/Clangers sketch; indeed, when the only possible consequence is the generation of a wider awareness of both TV series - with resulting benefits in terms of sales of DVDs and videos - then for someone then to step in and demand that it be withdrawn seems to display a certain lack of financial acuity.

Oh well: if that's the way they want it, fine: it's their material, and nobody can argue that they don't have the absolute right to specify how it's used. But perhaps they might consider this: public interest in these shows is perpetuated in no small measure by a substantial body of dedicated fans - and demanding that those same fans mind their P's and Q's when celebrating the genre amongst themselves through laughter and parody may possibly not be the brightest way to maintain that fanbase.

by **Parker Gabriel** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:26 am

Then again, didn't the Mysterons give vent to THEIR sense of humour when they blew up the Second National Bank just as the maybe-designer of its security system and his probable-test robbers were attempting to steal the gold it contained?

Face it. The Mysterons most likely had no idea where the Heart of New York even was before the robbery attempt went down. They must have figured it would be a real gas to allow Earthmen to pretend to be their agents and lead them right TO it!

by **Marion** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 11:59 am

'Heart of New York' is a really strange episode, IMO. There seems no rhyme or reason for the Mysterons to want to blow up a bank - they've never shown any interest in being moralistic before.
It is also - it seems to me - rather an insult to describe the 'heart' of a great city like New York, as being a bank. It suggests a certain mercenary nature, if nothing else.
All that messing about with 'pretending to be Mysterons' makes very little sense either. How could the robbers know Spectrum would evacuate the city? (I admit my recollection of it is hazy, haven't watched it for a while, but I don't think the Mysteron threats are generally made public.) I'm not sure they were 'test robbers' either - although it gives a new angle to the story if they were.
We do get to see Captain Magenta in very fetching sunglasses though, so it isn't all bad!

by **Parker Gabriel** » Sun Dec 16, 2007 8:17 pm

As I wrote in my speculative treatise Mysteron Psychology, the Mysterons do have a sense of justice. As for the proposal I made that these were test-robbers, I was referring to a practice that security-system designers sometimes employ to test exactly how effective their designs actually are. They recruit people to attempt to break into a place whose security system they have designed, and if it stops the breaker-in, it works. If not, it's got some sort of hole somewheres, and oh well, back to the drawing board!

Dead Ringer, where Captain Magenta's likeness (in order to re-create him, the Mysterons deliberately cause only his clinical death rather than irreversibly terminating his brain functions--they've obviously learned a few things since they lost Captain Scarlet) takes over the original Patrick Donaghue's old syndicate amd tries to assassinate the WGPD Supreme Commissioner nominee, begins with an account of Captain Magenta having recruited Captain Scarlet for just that practice. It makes sense that the designer of the security system for the Spectrum Vaults would do the same. But he'd also probably have some sort of beef with Spectrum if he felt it had shortchanged him on his commission--specifically, if he was convinced that it had paid him only a pittance to set up the security system for guarding financially worthless material. Security-system designers don't always have selfless motives, as we're forced to remember.