30 September 2003 10:14 [link]
imaginary noises
I'm watching Fimbles on BBC2. Well, "watching" is perhaps too strong a word for it. Fimbles is on one of the TVs in front of me, and it catches my eye occasionally.
But - and this is the crucial bit - the sound is off. The sounds is always off, and I've never actually heard Fimbles. And so I find myself imagining the dialogue, and the voices. There's a sort of froglike character, whose voice is that of a duck, and whose dialogue goes something like "quack quack quack". And then there are the Fimbles themselves, who are all frankly interchangeable, and who all speak like George from Rainbow.
FROG THING: Quack, quack quack.
A FIMBLE: Oh-ho, Zippy!
[FROG THING hides behind Edvard Munch-inspired tree.]
ANOTHER FIMBLE: Hoo-hoo, hoo-hoo.
MIGHT BE THE FIRST FIMBLE: Oh-ho, Zippy!
[FROG THING re-appears.]
FROG THING: Quack, quack!
PROBABLY A THIRD FIMBLE: Ah-ha! Uh-hoo. Geoffrey!
FIMBLES: [unison] Oh-ho, Zippy![ALL sing a song.]
FROG THING: Quack.
[Fin. Fade to credits.]
As you can tell, I don't actually remember much of what George used to say on Rainbow.
The fact that I sit at work facing banks of TVs with no sound on means that most of my thoughts about television are just about the visuals. I recall seeing a particular promotional piece for some show or other many, many times and then being somewhat surprised when finally I happened to see it when watching TV at home it and discovered it came with sound.
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