Page Notes
Episode published on Sunday 24th of April, 2016.
The receptionist wasn't always a pantomime dame. It took a few iterations of the script (and the art) to come to the decision. Originally, the script just called for a man in drag, highlighting the lack of female personnel at Detulux HQ. However, Sam didn't really get the gag and I had to explain that receptionists are stereotypically women so I thought it was funny to have the receptionist just be a man pretending to be a woman. The joke didn't really work and came off as being a bit transphobic (especially with the receptionist we had in the first draft of the art!) so I proposed we'd go to the full extreme and have an actual pantomime dame sat on the front desk.
It's funny how the creative process works sometimes.
Tagged:
D.P. Slymme,
Harry the Detulux Receptionist,
Inspector Jacques Russo,
Location - Detulux HQ,
Location - Paris, France,
Max Valerion,
Sebastian Paine the CEO of Detulux
Comments
Transcript
Title - 96: "An Inspector Calls"
Subtitle - vii. "Lobby Snob"
(In the Detulux waiting room Inspector Russo paces up and down, now wearing a tan trenchcoat and a brown fedora in accompaniment to the brown suit we saw him wearing in the first strip of this chapter. Several police persons, some in full body armour, sit around on the seating in the room looking bored. The room itself is covered with cobwebs, cracks in the wall and various marks. All flat surfaces are covered in dust. One wall features the Detulux logo on it and, sat behind a desk, is what appears to be a lady in a frilly polka-dot dress. Russo turns to this receptionist, hands on his hips.)
Russo: Can't we just go on upstairés?
(On closer examination, the receptionist is actually a man with a big moustache. He's wearing his regular henchman uniform under the garish dress, as well as a terrible permed wig and heavy makeup. His sunglasses are cocked to one side on his Detulux cap. The receptionist adjusts one of his fake breasts.)
Receptionist: Er...no, dearie. (Pointing to a fake plant in the corner that's covered in cobwebs, dust and spiders) Can I suggest you just wait here and admire our plant?
Russo: Ai 'ave already seen eet! Eet eez not even reahl!
(Pain and Slymme enter the room, coming in from the rain. Pain sticks out a hand in greeting.)
Paine: Ahh, I must apologise for keepin' you waitin'.
(Russo shakes Paine by the hand.)
Russo: Eet eez fine.
(Russo gestures to a magazine he's been holding the entire time, entitled "DOMESTIC APPLIANCE MONTHLY" and featuring a picture of a washing machine on its front cover.)
Russo: Ai 'ave been readeng zum maga-zeens een your charmeng waiteng ruhm.
Paine: Indeed?
Russo: Oui. Curiouz-lee, all of zese maga-zeens date back to la nineteen-zeventees.
Paine: Uh-huh. Really?
(Russo runs his finger across the reception desk in disapproval.)
Russo: In fact, your entire waiténg ruhm is covered in dust. Eet eez almozt as eef eet eez nevair uzed!
Paine: Ah must have serious words with our cleaners. Ah assure you that we use this waitin' room all the time!
(Russo rolls up the magazine and tucks it into his trenchcoat.)
Russo: Hmm. Regardlez, ai would lik to kep zis. Eet eez zo uld zat eet might bé wairth zumtheng online! A cullectair's item, maibe.
(Russo then acknowledges the receptionist, who smiles earnestly.)
Russo: Eet eez 'igh-lee unusual zat you decided to 'iyaire a pentomime damé as yur recepshé-oneest.
(Paine looks confused. Russo points a hand at the receptionist, who smiles awkwardly.)
Paine: What?
Russo: Zis eez clair-lee a man een drag.
Receptionist: Ahem!
(Paine, for the first time since he entered the room, notices the receptionist and recoils slightly at the sight.)
Paine: Oh bloody hell-
(Paine scratches the back of his head while coming up with an explanation.)
Paine: Ah mean, well ahm sure it's just because it's not pantomime season. Whaddaya think panto dames do the rest of the yea-ah?
Episode tagline: Domestic Appliance Monthly was sadly discontinued in 1986. And nothing of value was lost.
