Ectoplasm
GenreSituation comedy
Running time30 minutes
Country of originUnited Kingdom United Kingdom
Language(s)English
Home stationBBC Radio 4
StarringDan Freedman
Nick Romero
Sophie Aldred
Peter Donaldson
Owen Oakeshott
Colin Guthrie
Written byDan Freedman
Nick Romero
Produced byHelen Williams
Original release11 July 
1 August 2000
No. of series1
No. of episodes4
Audio formatStereophonic sound

Ectoplasm was a 2000 BBC Radio 4 comedy series written by and starring Dan Freedman and Nick Romero. Unlike the other radio work of Freedman and Romero, this series features single, coherent stories in each episode; certain motifs do, however, appear in all of the tales, e.g. Theremin's murder attempts.

Plot

The stories follow the adventures of Lord Zimbabwe (Romero), a "walker in the ether", or occult investigator; his friend and collaborator Doctor Lilac (Freedman), a German scientist who has invented various machines, including a time machine and a teleporter, and who breaks into megalomaniacal ravings at inopportune moments; Theremin (Peter Donaldson), Zimbabwe's butler, an abusive, murderous, incompetent servant who refuses to carry out any of Zimbabwe's instructions; and Schrödinger, a semi-corporeal cat that exists in a superposition of quantum states of life and death (cf Schrödinger's Cat), and who is sexually attracted to women. Each adventure is initiated by a request by a different woman (all played by Sophie Aldred) for Lord Zimbabwe to help her.

Humour

As is characteristic of Freedman and Romero's work, much of the humour is derived from puns, although Theremin's abuse, Doctor Lilac's experiments (he is about to perform a bizarre experiment when Lord Zimbabwe first approaches him in each show; for example giving a woodlouse PMT) and interrupted diatribes, and Lord Zimbabwe's use of strange similes ("The secret to success, my dear Doctor, is like the aftermath of a Bombay banquet: one must keep going.") all contribute. Recurrent motifs include telephone calls from Sherlock Holmes seeking advice, and references to evil shape-changing pixie creatures (Agatha Christie's character Hercule Poirot appears in one episode; he blames all crimes on these pixie creatures.)

The influence of Douglas Adams's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" can be detected, as in the doctor character, reminiscent of the HHGG psychiatrist.

Each show ends with Lord Zimbabwe saying "I think we handled that rather well," and Theremin answering "I couldn't agree less, sir."

Episode list

EpisodeTitleFirst broadcast
1The Curse of Tutancommon11 July 2000
2The Case of the Missing Lost Soul18 July 2000
3The Affair of the Baddie's Niece25 July 2000
4The Adventure of the Stupid, Ignorant Americans1 August 2000
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