Line #48 WesternAnimation/MonkeyDust


1	[[quoteright:222:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/MonkeyDustShowPoster_1413.JPG]]
2
3	->'''Paedofinder General''': So! You confess that for nine months you imprisoned a naked child in your stomach before forcing him backwards through your genitalia for your own sick amusement!
4
5	''Monkey Dust'' is a British, edgy BlackComedy, animated TV show comprising of short sketches of recurring characters. It showed between 2003-2005.
6
7	Themes throughout the show deal with paedophilia, murders, drugs, gay cottages, suicides and {{a\|rsonMurderAndJaywalking}}dvertising.
8
9	[[AC:Notable characters include:]]
10	* Ivan Dobsky: "The Meat Safe Murderer," a wrongly convicted man held in prison for ~25 years who has become completely dependent on the prison's rules, structure and brutality. Once released with [[PsychopathicManchild the mental age of a four-year-old]], he's unable to adapt to the changes since the [[TheSeventies 1970s]], and is confused by the new currency and fashions, so he turns to his old friend "[[CompanionCube Mr. Hoppy]]" ([[Literature/{{Flatland}} a space hopper]]) for advice which almost always results in a murder and being back in prison.
11	* Divorced dad (with Timmy): Divorced father gets custody of his son for the night and tries to impress and please Timmy with his outdated knowledge of this son. Timmy will then go into a long list of why Roger (his mother's new boyfriend) is so great. Ends with the father committing suicide shortly before Timmy admits that he really loves his dad and Roger isn't that great after all. Also, Roger [[spoiler:is implied to be Timmy's biological father]].
12	* Internet Paedophile: An old, heavy smoking man attempts to lure a young girl to meet up to him under the guise of 13-year-old Benji. Often, he doesn't get the latest slang and lets slip his true age, or says something unusual to make the girl lose interest. He eventually meets up with the young girl... [[spoiler:[[FlockOfWolves who turns out to be another paedophile]]]].
13	* Geoff the first-time cottager: For those not in the know, a "cottage" is a public toilet where homosexuals meet for unattached sexual encounters, like oral. Geoff wants to be a "cottager," and is a bit nervous about the whole "sucking off another man's cock" for the first time. His inexperience in this activity leads him to fail in spectacular, embarrassing ways.
14	* Omar, Abdul and Shafiq, the incompetent terrorists: A group of British-born Muslims intent on bringing death to the infidels and to the decadent west. However the young bombers seem more interested in sports and TV programs than blowing themselves up. For them, terrorism is more of a leisure activity.
15	* The Classically Trained Actor: An everyday man called Guy who has the monotone voice and speech of a voice-over or a phone-answering-machine (even while having sex, being drunk, or angry). He usually does voiceovers too, but is often forced to do mini-cabbing because of financial reasons. He is married, and has two friends, one who does SugarBowl voiceovers in children's shows, and an old guy who does suspense-voices, like the ''"It was his destiny..."'' voice-over in western movies.
16	-->'''Random caller:''' ''[misunderstood by the answering 'machine' voice menu several times after being in a waiting loop for the whole evening]'' Listen, can I just talk to a real fucking person?!\
17	'''Guy:''' I am a real, fucking, person.
18	* The {{Paedo\|Hunt}}finder General: A parody of ''Film/WitchfinderGeneral'' where a ghoulish, frightening man dressed in a cloak and a pointy hat goes around convicting and executing potential paedophiles on little grounds and with no authority or non-circumstantial evidence... and having his actions [[VillainWithGoodPublicity applauded by onlookers]]. Often a TakeThat against the British media, especially the tabloids.
19	* Noodles the Rabbit: A fairly transparent WesternAnimation/BugsBunny {{Expy}} hired by a biochemicals company to test chemicals on, since his AmusingInjuries always [[NegativeContinuity heal instantly]], letting them use him again, and again, and again.
20	* Clive: A man who is always late home and [[ItsBeenDone uses the plots of famous fictional stories]] as excuses for his wife, who always sees right through them. Eventually he gives in and admits the truth, which is always some revoltingly degrading and over-the-top sexual practice.
21	* David Baddiel: He resents the implication that as a famous comedian he's any less qualified to perform any given task than a trained professional.
22	----
23	!!This program provides examples of:
24
25	* AbominationAccusationAttack: This trope is the Modus Operandi of the Paedofinder General.
26	* AbortedArc: The Broody Woman sketches have no real conclusion. [[spoiler: After stealing a man's sperm and believing she successfully inseminated herself the final sketch has Mandy in a breastfeeding class with a cat, seeming to imply that she wasn't successful.]]
27	* AbsurdlyLongWait: As part of the show's BlackComedy approach to a CrapsackWorld, one scene has people waiting at a bus stop with a display reading "NEXT BUS: 3 MONTHS".
28	* AllGaysArePaedophiles: Deliberately invoked by the Paedofinder General when one skit has him accuse a gay couple of being paedophiles solely because they're gay. When he makes his rationalisation, he even states the trope name verbatim.
29	* AmazingTechnicolorPopulation: The {{Paedo\|Hunt}}finder is green, for some reason.
30	* AmusingInjuries: Described by Ivan Dobsky as why he said 'he dunnit'. His confessions were signed under extreme, and creative duress.
31	-->"I only said I done it so they would call off the monkey tattooist."
32	* AmericaWonWorldWarII: As see in the parodied Hollywood production of Ann Frank.
33	* AnachronismStew: Par for the course, mocked in the Crusades segment with a modern day cap present, modern day stereotypical accents, references to American football and other Americanisms.
34	** The film of Ivan Dobsky's life depicts musket-wielding Napoleonic redcoats occupying Ireland in 1974, and features UsefulNotes/RichardIII as the King of England.
35	* AnvilOnHead: Deconstructed in the final Noodles the Rabbit sketch where Noodles decides to turn the tables on the doctor that has been experimenting on him by dropping an anvil on his head. Unlike Noodles, the doctor is not subject to CartoonPhysics and AmusingInjuries and Reality swiftly ensues, much to the horror and grief of his colleagues witnessing his death.
36	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: The Tony Blair segments in Series 3, where he makes various outrageous promises, on the lines of "A fluffy kitten for every small child, with a pink bow. Named Mittens. ... Everyone's neighbors to be Tom and Barbara, out of ''Series/TheGoodLife'' ... The blind to see and the lame to walk ... Pubs that stay open after eleven."
37	* ArtShift: Several different animation companies worked on different sketches so the art style shifts with each new sketch.
38	* ArtisticLicenseHistory: InUniverse with the film version of Ivan Dobsky's life. He is now the {{Oir\|eland}}ish "Patrick O'Dobsky", having been sentenced to prison by Richard III for "a ''million yaaahs''", where he is raped in the shower (Ivan disputes this part because in the actual event, there were more rapists and "they were not so tender and loving") and his only friend is his wisecracking pal Mr. Skatey (which earns an annoyed look from the actual Mr. Hoppy). Then the warden is changed to a blonde woman, who for some reason is still called ''Mr.'' Drummond, who then has sex with Ivan (which infuriates the real Mr. Drummond) and gives him a key to escape prison, after which he defeats Richard III with one punch, thus freeing Ire-land.
39	* BadLiar:
40	** Clive isn't just ''bad'' at lying, he's so outrageously bad that he gives Literature/BaronMunchausen a run for his money.
41	** Inverted in when he is actually kidnapped by aliens. They splash him with alcohol and put lipstick on his collars, believing this to be Earthling tradition. When he gets home, he doesn't even bother trying, as he [[CryingWolf doesn't have a good track record]].
42	* BathroomStallGraffiti: Which notably gets the First Time Cottager in trouble with the trading standards agency, for incorrectly advertising a "red hot quarter pounder."
43	* BerserkButton: Don't try and seperate Ivan Dobsky from Mr. Hoppy. Unless you have a death wish.
44	* BewareTheNiceOnes: Ivan Dobsky is a childlike man who was falsely accused of a terrible crime, but just because he didn't actually commit the Meatsafe Murders doesn't mean that he isn't capable of acts of incredible violence should the situation call for it (which is generally when someone tells him he'd have to do something terrible to get sent back to prison).
45	* BlackComedy: It rivals WesternAnimation/SouthPark in terms of how dark it can get... and blows it away with how depressing it can get.
46	%%* BloodyHilarious
47	* BritainIsOnlyLondon:
48	** Subverted and parodied by the sketch Curtisland, which mocks films like Notting Hill and Bridget Jones' Diary for presenting hyper idealised images of Britain.
49	** Also parodied in the "Essex Man/London Man" sketches, where two identical men argue over the respective merits of Essex and London. The joke is that due to London "overspill" into neighbouring Essex, most of the UK considers them to be pretty much part of a whole.
50	* BullyingADragon: Harry Ferris, the Canal Killer, meets up with Ivan Dobsky after they are both released from prison. Harry scoffs that the Meatsafe Murders were "pussy" and decides to bring Ivan down to the Canal and try to kill him. [[spoiler:Long story short, things don't go as planned for Harry.]]
51	* CompanionCube: Mr. Hoppy, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_hopper space hopper]], for Ivan Dobsky, the Meatsafe Murderer (only he never done it). Mr. Hoppy however seems to have a mind of his own (making friends other than Ivan and even somehow growing arms and driving a vehicle at one point). An 70s Expy of Ivan, who actually did do his crime, [[SelfDeprecation gets his own "Mr. Pogo Stick" as a parody of their parody]].
52	* ConvictedByPublicOpinion: The whole point of the Paedofinder General.
53	--> By the power vested in me by hysterical Daily Mail readers, I find you... GUILTY OF PAEDOPHILIA!
54	* CrapsackWorld: The scenes where Clive [[http://www.kontraband.com/videos/25723/Monkey-Dust-Clive/ slowly walks home]] through the decaying streets of modern Britain are so monumentally depressing they make the most cheerful of viewers suicidal.
55	** The back-cover of the DVD actually refers to it as a "twilight-shrouded nightmare world".
56	* CrapsaccharineWorld: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ5-KB49u0k intro]] presents modern-day Britain as this.
57	* DarkerAndEdgier: Series 3, almost impossibly, manages this to a certain extent. A lot of the material is more overtly satirical, and much gorier.
58	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: "There's some momma's son out there, cryin' for his momma!"
59	* DissonantSerenity: The classically-trained actor, who does the same emotionless voiceover voice during everything from fierce argument to wild sex.
60	* DwindlingParty: "Roy of the Roasters" has members of Warchester F.C. getting arrested for rape, grevious bodily harm and drug possession on the way to an away match, until Roy Rogers is the only one left. He still manages to win 9-10.
61	* EEqualsMCHammer: Seen on the board when Geoff takes a Cottaging 101 class.
62	* {{Eagleland}}: There are some magnificent examples of how America portrays itself in Hollywood films.
63	** Especially the film-parodies "produced by Jerry Bruckheimer", ''[[CrossesTheLineTwice Anne Frank]]'' and ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEVJ_48YgTg The Crusades]]'' (both featuring a healthy wallop of AnachronismStew)
64	* EvilBrit: Seen in the parodies of Hollywood films, notably with a very British Hitler whose location is 'The British Reich'.
65	* FaceFramedInShadow: The side of the room Clive's wife is on is always dimly lit, leaving her face mostly in shadow.
66	* FanDisservice: Fran Chappell
67	* FishOutOfTemporalWater: Ivan Dobsky, from being stuck in prison since the 70's and then suddenly released because the verdict was overturned in light of DNA evidence proving he never done it.
68	* FlockOfWolves: The Elderly Chatroom Paedophile's victim turns out to be another Elderly Chatroom Paedophile.
69	%%* {{Gorn}}
70	* HarmlessVillain: Omar, Abdul and Shafiq, the incompetent terrorists
71	* IdenticalGrandson: In the Director sketch set in the future, the Director's grandson looks just like him except with hair.
72	* ItsBeenDone: Clive.
73	* ItsForABook: In the final episode we see the Paedofinder General browsing a child porn site. He claims to be doing "research."
74	* InsaneTrollLogic: To call the Paedofinder's tortured reasoning to rationalize his accusations of people being paedophiles logical fallacies would be greatly generous. When a woman is getting pictures of her newborn baby developed, he accuses her of being a paedophile due based not only on the "child pornography" she's created, but also to "harbouring a small child inside your womb for 9 months before forcefully pushing him out through your urethra for [[YouMonster your own sick amusement]]!"
75	--> '''''Paedofinder General:''' Your innocent daughter! Did you not induce your friend "Mister Whippy" to give her a sixty-nine?''
76	--> '''''Father:''' It's a NINETY-Nine. (Note: A soft-serve ice cream cone with chocolate flakes)''
77	--> '''''Paedofinder General:''' A NINETY-NINE!? Like a Sixty-nine, but thirty worse!''
78	** That same segment has him concluding that because French kissing is kissing with tongues, French Cricket is therefore "Cricket with tongues," and this relates to paedophilia... somehow.
79	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: By the fifth Ivan Dobsky skit Mr. Jennings is sick of the routine and goes through the process of releasing Ivan from prison as fast as he can.
80	--> '''Ivan Dobsky:''' I'm gonna miss you, Mr. Jennings! I've been here twenty-seven year!
81	--> '''Mr. Jennings:''' Yes, yes, Ivan. You didn't do the Meatsafe Murders, DNA's proved you innocent, hundred and thirty thousand pound compensation, 70s memorabilia and one space hopper. Now fuck off.
82	* LeFilmArtistique: Jean Boileau's ''Le Chapeau Du Mon Oncle''
83	* LimitedWardrobe: Clive's wife never changes out of her bathrobe, except for her final appearance where she goes out to meet a friend in a turtleneck and a long jacket.
84	* MailOrderBride: A series of sketches focus on a mail order bride who legitimately loves all her husband's interests, but is kicked out when she reveals she wants fall in love before having sex.
85	* TheMagazineRule: A recurring sketch in Series 2 Episode 3 has magazines like Electricity Board Magazine, Travelcard Buyer, Directions Magazine (for those asking for directions), a magazines for widows, [[OverlyLongGag a magazine for people who give money to the homeless, and one for people who receive money given to the homeless.]]
86	* MisplacedRetribution: Whenever Ivan Dobsky is conned out of his money and wants to go back to jail he'll always murder some innocent person instead of the person who stole his money.
87	* NegativeContinuity: Taken to extremes. One sketch features a character that commits suicide each week. Another features a character who, every week, is released from prison after being locked up for 25 years for a crime he didn't commit.
88	* NoNameGiven: Clive's long-suffering wife is never named.
89	* {{Oireland}}: Occurs in the Hollywood parody films complete with Leprechaun outfits.
90	** Done best in the Diary of Anne Frank parody, in which the Hollywood studio turns the Jews into raucous Irish, and Nazis into the British. Featuring the line "Ah, we Jews like the craic too much" and Hitler as a CampGay Brit who actually calls the Nazi's "The British Reich". Also, "Patrick O'Dobsky" was sent to jail by the King of England...who's apparently [[ArtisticLicenseHistory Richard III]].
91	--> "That's for IRE-LAND!"
92	* PaedoHunt: The Paedofinder General. Also, the sketch about a literally Paedohunting mob that happens to be completely bereft of competency. Though the man they randomly select as a paedophile based on the fact that he's...wearing a hat...turns out to actually "Quite fancy (His) 15 year old niece".
93	* PoliceAreUseless:
94	** Parodied in a sketch where the police refuse to help a woman who has been burgled because "95% of burglars are never caught", despite the fact that the thief is literally still in the room.
95	** Also in a recurring sketch in season 1 consisting of a media outlet interviewing an officer and a step-father about the ongoing investigation as to the step-daughters whereabouts. The step-father keeps slipping up, leaving blatant hints to murdering her each sketch.
96	--> "May I just say a few words to express how very relieved I am, that someone has been blamed, [[ThatCameOutWrong er]], ''correctly,'' I have no doubt, for this hideous murder! To kill your own child is a terrible thing! ...... as is this!"
97	* RecycledINSPACE: Some of the running-gags are taken here--the cab-driver in Series 2 ''literally'' goes to the third moon of Jupiter.
98	* TheRenfield: Has a cameo--named 'Renfield', no less!--in Episode 11.
99	* RetiredMonster: The kindly old German grandfather, who used to be a [[TheDreaded widely feared]] Nazi war criminal. So much so, that upon entering a retirement home for the first time, all of the elderly tennants start screaming in terror and having traumatic flashbacks. This apparently has happened at every single retirement home he's been to.
100	* {{Retirony}}: Shows up in the [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Jerry Brickhammer]] films "The Crusades" and "They All Come Home", where the same Mook is (respectively) "gonna come home to that farm in Iowa with the wife and Junior [who's on the way]" and "I'm getting married in the morning."
101	* RunningGag: Each set of sketches has this to some extent.
102	* ShoutOut:
103	** To ''Series/BrassEye'' in the Dr Fox sketch of the first series finale.
104	** The Paedofinder General takes his name from ''Film/WitchfinderGeneral'', a 1968 film starring Creator/VincentPrice.
105	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Arguably, the entire series is way off the deep end of the cynicism side of this scale.
106	* SlowLoadingInternetImage: Used when a pervert was trying to get an image to masturbate to, but it turned out that the young girl he was talking to had just sent a picture of her pet rabbit.
107	* SpiritualSuccessor: This was the closest thing to an animated version of ''Series/{{Jam}}'' until ''WesternAnimation/TheShiveringTruth'' came out over a decade later.
108	%%* SnapBack
109	* StationIdent: Mocked (of course) by two men dressed in red having anal sex while the announcer proudly states over the backing of up-beat classical music "You're watching BBC 1".
110	* TheStoic: Clive's wife just sits in a chair with a blank expression as he gives his excuses. The most emotion she shows is when she's crying in bed in the first episode's montage.
111	* SuddenNameChange: For some reason Mr. Jennings from the Ivan Dobsky sketches was renamed to Mr. Drummond in series 3.
112	* TakeThat: While The Paedofinder General is this towards the media scare regarding PaedoHunt in the British press at the time, on separate occasions he mentions "[[UsefulNotes/BritishNewspapers The Sun" and "The Star]]", two tabloids notorious for this mentality, especially the latter.
113	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodSandwich: Whenever Clive Pringle arrives home late (except for his final two appearances) there's an uneaten plate of bangers and mash on the table.
114	* ThrowTheDogABone: After two series of accidents, mishaps and general abuse, Geoff ends up [[spoiler:accidentally bumping into and discovering one of his co-workers is also a cottager. He finally manages to do it, [[ShaggyDogStory decides he doesn't like it]], and they just cuddle each other, happily]].
115	* TokenMinority: Lafayette, the one black guy in "The Crusades".
116	** Whether intentional or not (but seeing as they generally do their research, it is) the colour he wears is a real flag; a white cross on a black flag. It's the county flag of Cornwall.
117	* ToonPhysics: {{Deconstructed}} with Noodles, who is used for animal experimentation. The ultimate deconstruction comes in his last appearance where he [[spoiler:graphically crushes the chief scientist's head, killing him and orphaning his children]].
118	* TranslationMatchmaking: In Russia, it's called ''[[Animation/ThirtyEightParrots 38 Monkeys]]''.
119	* UncleTomfoolery: "Mister Skatey", from the film version of Ivan Dobsky's life.
120	-->'''Mister Skatey:''' Sheeit! We in the white man honkey prison! Sheeeit, motherfucker!#
121	* VillainSong: One of the Paedofinder General's segments has him sing a rendition of Fire by Arthur Brown while he executes a whole nightclub that he perceives to be paedophiles.
122	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Despite murdering many random people on the basis of InsaneTrollLogic, the Paedofinder General seems to be beloved by the public at large, who applaud his massacres cheerfully and ask for his autograph.
123	* VitriolicBestBuds: The London/Essex guys. We see them sharing a bed in the Nocturne for S2E1.
124	* VocalDissonance: The classically trained actor, who sounds like he is doing a voiceover regardless of his personal circumstances. He also has 'cheerful insurance' guy and 'deep action movie voice over' guy
125	** The trainee pilots. The hideously deformed one with the terrible exam scores gets the job because of his reassuring voice.
126	* WhereWereYouLastNight: Turned into a recurring gag with Clive, a character who disappears from his wife for extended amounts of time (usually an evening, sometimes as long as years) and, when questioned as to his whereabouts repeats the plot of a film, book or (in one memorable episode) nursery rhyme. The actual explanation is typically something immensely revolting, humiliating and sexual.
127	-->'''Clive:''' And that, darling, is what really happened.
128	-->'''Mrs. Pringle:''' That's actually the plot of "Hotel California" by the Music/{{Eagles}}. Where have you been, Clive?
129	-->'''Clive:''' ...I've been spit roasting a hooker with your dad.
130	* WouldHurtAChild: Despite shamelessly invoking ThinkOfTheChildren, the Paedofinder General has no qualms about ''hanging'' the children of one of his targets, on the basis that "[[TheChainOfHarm Most victims of abuse grow up to abuse others!]] It's like werewolves."

Context WesternAnimation / MonkeyDust