Mike and Angelo S8E9 (1996) - FULL EPISODE

The Big Flap. Mike makes friends with Jodie, the girl who's just moved in next door, and Katy invites her to join them on their planned camping trip. Unfortunately, there's a strict and over-protective father on the scene ready to scupper all the fun. Can he be won round by charm, politeness, and/or blatant trickery? Meanwhile, Angelo's having trouble with his animatronic pterodactyl. This episode was originally broadcast on Thursday, 29th February, 1996. Every so often in kids' television, the moral of the story is aimed at the parents watching, and in many ways that's the case here. That said, it does help to underline that the relationship between a parent and child is two-way, drawing attention to the needs and motives of each - and subtly stresses that neither is inherently evil, even if the other seems objectively wrong to both involved. Or perhaps I'm looking too deeply. What I do know is that it starts with some of the classic madcap action we've come to expect, there are plenty of good gags along the way, all combined with some state-of-the-art 90s video effects that I honestly can't get enough of. The Confucius lines and the bluff about having two dads take on entirely different significances these days, but no harm intended or done (I hope). I love Katy's phone calls, where we somehow instantly know exactly what's said without hearing anything, while the attitude of Jodie's father gets right to that childhood feeling of powerlessness and injustice that I've mentioned here before and I'd better not mention too often again if I don't wan't people to assume I have "issues"! By far my favourite thing about this episode, though, is the casual revelation that the whole street has this particular house down as a bunch of weirdos, to the point that they would send sympathy cards. There I was thinking they'd somehow managed to keep the madness a secret all these years... Unfortunately, at this point, everything is going to take a very depressing turn. The part of Mr Miller is played by William Chubb, who is still acting, but a quick Google brings up a series of sombre pieces about his late wife, the journalist Cassandra Jardine (e.g. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/telegraphchristmasappeal/12043702/Our-new-Christmas-ritual-is-visiting-thecemetery.html). Brace yourself, though, for the pretty devastating news that Vanessa Cavanagh, who plays Jodie, tragically died at the age of 18 in a car accident back in 2002. At the time of her passing, Vanessa was apparently on the brink of big things in the music industry, and earlier that year she'd made it through to the final 50 in the first series of Pop Idol. Very sad indeed. You can read more here: http://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/news/232976.online_pill_service_launched/ I hope this episode can stand as some sort of tribute. Many thanks to Grant for providing this recording. (To the best of my knowledge, the contents of this video have never been available commercially anywhere in the world. Please also note that I don't monetise any of my uploads. Nevertheless, if you are a copyright holder and have an objection, please don't hesitate to contact me.)