Reviews from a caffeinated window #1

(Editor’s note: I assure you Frilly doesn’t do drugs, he’s just bonkers!)

Chocky (1984)
Reviewed by FrillyShirtCyberman

The gist of it:
Nice kid Matthew Gore enjoys his birthday with a friend and his family on the cool eighties London. Next day, during class, a weird CSO smoke tunnel jumps around the children, checking them for cooties. Since Matthew is the only one who has heard of Head and Shoulders, this extraterrestrial Tunnel o’Smoke (TM) decides to enhance him (sans steroids).

It’s either the spirit of Roger Waters or some proof that schools in England are liberal about pot.

At first, Matthew is a bit at odds with Chocky, since she/it considers Earth’s technology old-fashioned and stupid. With time, both start getting on like good friends and Matthew gets more and more skilled in everything ranging from science to arts. Heck, he even destroys a videogame with his l33t haxx0r abilities. Then again, maybe it was an 80’s Xbox.

Thanks for ruining another childhood, Bill Gates…

Working more and more as a Gestalt (see? I read Theodore Sturgeon!), Chocky helps Matthew get better grades, draw better and manages to make him understand what Cricket is all about, so now there is little to no doubt that it is an intelligent being. The whole family go for a few days of chillax at a friend’s cottage. A boat hits the jetty where Matthew and his sis are fishing, but Chocky manages to help Matthew save his sister and himself from drowning.

Remember kids, don’t drown unless half and hour has passed since your last meal.

Everyone congratulates Matthew, but he’s angry that he gets recognition when Chocky is doing all the work and things go belly up when he’s kidnapped outside school. He reappears in Hell (filmed in Birmingham) and is taken back to Surrey (purgatory).

You are in a spot o’ bother, you yampy rugrat!

By the end, Chocky appears to Matthew’s dad, who is trusting his son all the way. She/it explains to dad that Matthew will be in danger as long as she keeps visiting him. She waves goodbye with a smokeful goodbye. Matthew now delves into art and it’s getting very good at it. His dad re engraves the medal he had for rescuing his sister by naming Chocky as the saviour of both kids. Matthew smiles and then the music is cued.

This scene always gets me.

Rant:

I have fond memories of this series, as i saw it a year before going to England for the first time in my life. I kinda identified with being the weird kid who is a bit goofy but still a nice boy, so I guess that’s why i rank it high on my nostalgia factor.

Some parts of this show kept in my mind, like the painting of Chocky’s world, the medal of honour thing and the being kidnapped by nasty scientist stuff. I also had this vague idea that it had good acting. Revisiting it again on DVD didn’t changed my mind, I’m happy to report! Special kudos for Andrew Ellams (Matthew) for carrying the show on his shoulders. And his dad, actor James Hazeldine, does a great job too. I haven’t watched “The Omega Factor” series he was in, but I think it would be a good buy.

The little sis (Zoe Hart) is a bit of a cypher, but does what she can with her lines. Glynis Brooks voice is excellent and conveys the alien emotions perfectly. My bugbear would have to be the mum (Carol Drinkwater) acts like a desperate one, always afraid that her son is bonkers, so I guess the actress does convey this properly. Or she’s just a real bitch. She gets a bit tiresome (hey, where’s the love for your kid? What’s next, no wire hangers?) by ep 4, but still does a good job.

Gee, darling… could you stop being such a bitch with Matthew?

This first series never lets down, and I can honestly say it never felt padded. A great show based on the works of one of sci-fi’s greatest, Mr. John Wyndham.

Frillyrating: