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Summary[]

Terror is the second episode of the third series. It was first broadcast on 13 January 1995. It's Halloween and Richie and Eddie decide to go trick-or-treating with a homemade cattle prod and a limited supply of replacement Halloween tights.

Plot[]

It's Halloween morning, and Eddie marches into the dining room proudly hailing the arrival of the Spot the Ball competition in the local paper. Checking their results, they discover they have lost to Terry Venables. After a round of food-related double entendre somebody knocks and Eddie opens the door to three children dressed in Devil costumes. Eddie doesn't understand the concept of trick-or-treating, and ends up getting stabbed in the genitals with a large plastic trident, which remains embedded in him as he staggers back into the flat. Richie believes the incident to be the result of one of his many drink-related hallucinations, and whisks him up a special hangover cure from a selection of household products. Eddie passes out after ingesting it through his nostrils, knocking Richie out as he falls with the trident still stuck in him.

Later on in the evening, Richie barges into the lounge wearing a Devil costume with plans to conduct his own version of trick-or-treating with the assistance of a homemade cattle prod and a talking Halloween banana (Eddie wearing a banana costume as it happens...) The plan is demand cash only instead of sweets. The cattle prod has the curious effect of giving Richie diarrhoea whenever it is fired, causing him to change into a new pair of tights. The pair head out into town and encounter the Three Small Devils who stabbed Eddie earlier on. Richie decides to give them a good kicking, however both come off worse with both left beaten, bruised and mugged. Undeterred, they head down Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi Cul-de-sac and knock on number 9. Richie is annoyed to find that Spudgun answers the door, who refuses to give Richie any money but demands drugs off him. The cattle prod misfires again, resulting in another change of tights for Richie, who weaves his way home to change leaving Eddie and Spudgun to have a smoke and a drink.

Richie returns shortly after and fouls himself again, ruining his last pair of tights. The pair then decide that a party at the flat would be a good idea, and ask Spudgun to bring along all his friends. Later on back at the flat, Richie is trying to make the flat look all "shit-yer-pants-scary," and asks Eddie whether he has hollowed out his pumpkins. In the absence of any said vegetables down the local grocers, Eddie has put together a batch of "Exploding Carrots," which when lit explode rather violently. Richie on the other hand has cooked up a batch of "Sprouts Mexicane." Only Spudgun and Hedgehog turn up, much to Richie's dismay.

Since trick-or-treating was so horrendously unsuccessful, Richie decides to raise the Devil in hope of trading his soul for a 25 year sex session, and ropes in Eddie, Spudgun and Hedgehog as his "acolytes." Richie forces the boys to endure a conjuring ceremony which involves eating "The Sprouts of Evil." All of them pass out after eating them, and awake to find that they all now have incendiary flatulence. The doorbell rings and Richie opens the door to a teenage girl whom he believes to be the Devil, when in fact it is Doreen Hedgehog, Dave's daughter.

The episode ends with Spudgun farting fire onto the box of Exploding Carrots, blowing them up.

Guest Stars[]

Steven O'Donnell as Spudgun

Christopher Ryan as Dave Hedgehog

Paul Ballard, Mohammed George and Simon Coray as The Three Small Devils

Lisa Coleman as Doreen Hedgehog

Quotes[]

Trivia[]

  1. A poster for Roger Taylor's album 'Happiness?' can be seen on a wall on Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi Cul-de-sac.
  2. The main body of the cattle prod prop is electrical component of a concrete lamp-post, complete with rusted rebar and bits of concrete attached. Concrete lamp-posts in the UK are now very rare, as most were replaced with metal ones over the course of the 1990s and 2000s.
  3. Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi Cul-de-sac is one of many politically charged place names in Bottom, in keeping with the politically-referential humour of Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson. Mangosuthu Buthelezi was a South African politician and Zulu tribal leader, and at the time of Bottom's production was the Minister of Home Affairs for South Africa.
  4. The episode features more fire and explosions than any of the eighteen produced. 
  5. Lisa Coleman (Doreen Hedgehog) later went on to be a main character in the long-running medical drama Casualty. Adrian Edmondson later starred in the Casualty spin-off Holby City.
  6. The episode features the only scene in which Spudgun is seen without his pal Dave Hedgehog, when Richie and Eddie knock on Spudgun's door whilst trick-or-treating. The two however later appear together in the final act of the episode.
  7. Richie's reference to Eddie having "...the D.T.s..." early in the episode refers to the common withdrawal symptoms experienced by alcoholics. D.T.s stands for 'delirium tremens', a series of rapid symptoms which include confusion, shaking, and hallucinations.

Fluffs (read before adding to this section)[]

  1. It seems unusual that anyone would be trick-or-treating at 8.30 in the morning, however this is Bottom and anything is possible!
  2. The batch of Exploding Carrots do not have smiley faces or tapers on like the one Eddie uses as an example.
  3. When Eddie ingests Richie's special hangover cure through his nostrils, there is a tube visible on his wrist, presumably part of the apparatus that would drain the glass and give the impression that he has snorted it all up.

Continuity[]

  1. The plastic skeleton toy from "Culture" makes an appearance as a component of Richie's "pencil tangle."
  2. Eddie's blood alcohol level of 90% is mentioned again, after first being mentioned in "Parade."
  3. The worried reaction on Eddie's face when it is declared that only virgin's blood is capable of raising the Devil contradicts earlier claims that Eddie is not a virgin. In "Contest", Eddie claims to have slept with Ethel Cardew. Also, in "Digger", he claims to have had sex with Lady Natasha whilst waiting for the ambulance to arrive to treat Richie's heart attack.

External Links[]

Terror on the IMDB

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