The Reluctant Vampire, a six-part BBC series adapted from Eric Morecambe’s 1982 children’s book and its 1983 sequel The Vampire’s Revenge, brings a gag-packed, perfectly cast comedy to teatime viewing. Written by Neil and Rob Gibbons, the duo behind recent Alan Partridge incarnations, the show keeps the books’ warmth and daftness while adding their own comic touches, with jokes for parents tucked in but the brothers’ signature cruelty safely stowed away.
A vampire family with a secret
The story follows an undead royal-ish family living in a gothic castle, temporarily usurped generations back when the patriarch choked on a scab. Victor (Tom Davis) revels in hunting and draining humans, while his wife Valeeta (Sian Clifford) shares a hot-to-trot vibe with Gomez and Morticia from The Addams Family films. Their son Vernon (Gabriel Nagy, in his first major screen role) loves vampire life and can identify blood vintages with a single sip.
But Vernon is the second son – the spare to the heir, Valentine (Lenny Rush, 17, whose age only highlights his astonishing talents). Valentine is not a good vampire: his fangs haven’t come in, he dislikes blood, and he can’t fly or turn into a bat. Valeeta eventually admits the truth – that he is a human baby she rescued from a fire while Victor was away in Carpathia and raised as her own. “You were going to eat me, weren’t you?” sighs Valentine. “Maybe a little bit, at first,” she agrees.
A perfectly cast supporting crew
Misunderstandings lead Victor to believe Val is ready for his initiation ceremony, and the struggle to conceal the truth from him and the increasingly suspicious Vernon begins. Underneath runs a gently developing friendship with Gertie (Ellie-May Sheridan), whom Val meets while fleeing villagers led by her father (Charlie Cooper).
Bill Bailey and Ross Noble play gargoyles Guy and Gary, effectively the castle’s CCTV cameras if they were easily distracted. Asim Chaudhry appears as Igon, and Joe Wilkinson plays Wilf the werewolf, a send-up of a certain type of man who insists, “No one ever talks about the yeti’s love of literature or his wonderful baritone!” The series also includes a ham-sandwich-based homage to Morecambe’s finest hour, courtesy of Eddie Braben.
A labour of love
The Reluctant Vampire has a stacked cast, a gag-packed script, and the air of a labour of love – of Eric, of the tradition he worked in, and of comedy as something for all. The series aired on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer.
