Thursday 16 December 2010

Episode 20 - Going for Gold

Granny Gold pushed her pointed yellow glasses up her nose and took a sip from the cup of tea that was permanently stuck to her hand. Where was Brandon? And why hadn't she heard the bloodcurdling screams that usually followed a fatal disaster? Surely by now the whole Plastic family should be at the bottom of the abyss in a horrible heap, preferably a two-dimensional one.

She peered out of the schoolroom window and a grimace spread across her face as she saw Mary Plastic hurrying up the road, closely followed by Brandon. Behind them strode Ray Plastic and Richard. They were deep in conversation.

Furiously Grany Gold rapped on the window and Brandon looked up. His face filled with fear but he hurried towards her. She ushered him in quickly and closed the door.

"I am extremely disappointed in you, Brandon! In fact, I hesitate to call you my grandson. Can you not commit a simple mass murder when I ask you?"

Brandon looked back sulkily. "Dad turned up. He told Grandad not to come back. He said you were evil."

"Mmm..." Granny Gold stroked her whiskered chin. "He's cleverer than I thought." She grabbed Brandon by the collar. "But you are stupid! What's that brain of yours filled with?"

"Plastic?" Brandon choked.

"I've trained you to be one of the nastiest, most villainous children Plastic St has ever had. What a waste of time and energy. Hours of lesson plans - for nothing." Granny Gold grabbed a thick lever-arch file titled 'How to be Horrid' and threw it on the floor. Worksheets and diagrams scattered everywhere. She would never get to draw up Lesson 149: First Steps to Fraud now.

"I'm sorry, Granny," Brandon mumbled.

"Sorry?" Granny screamed. "Sorry! Saying sorry isn't in the manual, is it? Apologising isn't in your curriculum! Get out of my sight."

Brandon took a step backwards.

"My sight isn't that bad!"

Brandon ran out of the door.

"Go forth and commit evil!" Granny Gold yelled after him.

"I'm going to the Battle of the Bands!" Brandon called back, still running in case she tried to stop him.

Granny Gold pursed her lips as she watched her grandson disappear. The Battle of the Bands, eh? A big deal. Probably the biggest event in Plastic St. Everyone would be there.

Knees clicking in protest, she knelt down on the floor and began to go through the scattered worksheets. Somewhere here was exactly what she needed. It would be perfect. After all, she didn't need to bother about keeping Brandon out of things. He had gone soft. If this idea worked she would be rid of them all, and the Plastic house and all of Plastic St would be hers.

"Ah! Here it is!" She held the handwritten A4 sheet in the air triumphantly. It was lesson 35: How to Build a Bomb in Ten Easy Stages using only a Hearing Aid, an Electric Toothbrush, an Incontinence Pad, a Pair of False Teeth and Some Handy Household TNT.

Granny Gold smiled.


* PLASTIC ST WILL BE BACK IN THE NEW YEAR - A VERY PLASTIC CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE! *

Friday 10 December 2010

Episode 19 - Talk to the Hand

Ray got up and peered down into the abyss. There was an old man down there, waving an outrageous pair of novelty glasses. Brandon had been telling the truth! Again that boy had been able to bring Ray back into the here and now, to make him face reality instead of wondering if he was the victim of some crazed experiment.

"Okay, we need a rope and a line of very strong people. Mary, stand aside."

"I will not, you chauvinist!" Mary said hotly, clutching a hand to her unborn child.

"I'll get your kids," Brandon suggested. The evil plan Granny Gold had tasked him with was beginning to come together. The Plastic family would die, horribly, and he, Granny and Grandad could move into their lovely house with a toilet, television, and fake hob, all with realistic sound effects. He rubbed his hands in glee. Soon the whole family would be tumbling over the edge. Screaming, hopefully. He had always loved making people scream.

"Wait!" called out Richard.

Brandon's face darkened. Could his father have figured out the plan? Richard had always thought the worst of him, and had even made Brandon move in with Granny Gold. It was all because he didn't have ginger hair like the rest of the family. And because he had set fire to his sisters' bedroom. But it wasn't fair!

"It's very kind of you and your wife to offer to rescue my father, but I simply can't let you," Richard said to Ray. "I'm Richard Gold, by the way."

Ray held out his hand. "Ray Plastic. Pleased to meet you. And this is Mary."

They shook hands. Richard looked puzzled. "New, are you? Strange, I feel as though we've always known each other."

"I have that feeling too," Ray said. "About everything, really. I wonder, do you ever feel like there's nothing else out there, like we're just lumps of moulded material, bent to another's will -"

But Richard had already approached the edge of the abyss and was leaning over it.

"Dad! You know I love you, don't you?"

"What?" Grandad Gold bellowed.

"I love you!"

"I know you're above me, that's the whole problem! Would somebody please help me up?"

"No, Dad. You don't understand. This is your chance - your chance to walk away from Mum. She's evil! Evil, I tell you! Walk away - and don't look back!"

Grandad Gold stood alone in that great empty space, like a small children's figurine left on a giant carpet. "But I love her," he said simply. "And there's nowhere left to turn."

"But there is, Dad! There's always hope! We can get you counselling - you can join a self-help group."

"Spouses Of Dangerous Enigmatic Matriarchs," Mary suggested.

"Mary says SODEM!" Richard called down.

"No, son, there's literally nowhere to turn." Grandad gestured with his arm. "It's empty down here. So please can I come back up? Your mother does make a nice cup of tea, for all her faults. And I did want to see the Battle of the Bands. Satan Rising by Gore Hell Vandals is sick!"

Brandon and Mary looked at each other. They were both competing that night, Brandon as drummer with the teenage tearaways Gore Hell Vandals, and Mary with her post-menopausal girl group Uterus.

"Uterus are going to win," Mary growled.

"They can't if you're not there," Brandon growled back. He made a grab for Mary and suddenly they were teetering on the edge of the abyss, each trying to push the other over.

"Stop!" Richard shouted. "Brandon, we must play tennis before you die! At least one game!"

Brandon paused and stared at his father. "What's with the weird priorities, Dad?"

Richard swallowed nervously. How could he tell Brandon he suspected he was the result of Wendy's foolish fling fifteen years ago with Goran the professional tennis player?

Mary took the opportunity to duck out from under Brandon's arms. Pushing a concerned Ray away, she checked her watch. "Battle of the Bands starts in ten minutes and I'm not letting Uterus down." She marched back up the road, Brandon running after her making a rude gesture while frantically practising his drum solo at the same time. Ray and Richard exchanged resigned glances, sighed, and followed.

Alone again, Grandad Gold cleared his throat. "Hello? Hello up there? Where is everyone?"

Suddenly a huge dark shadow appeared over him and he was lifted high into the air by what looked like five enormous pink sausages. Before he could wonder what was happening, he was set down gently on the edge of the road leading back to Plastic St.

Grandad Gold brushed himself down. "Humph," he said to himself. "That was handy."

The giant hand behind him paused, as though considering giving the old man a slap, but then seemed to think better of it and rose slowly back into the air and out of sight.

Monday 6 December 2010

The Return of Plastic St!

Hold your tongues, gossip-mongers! And may you be fitted with scold's bridles if you tell false tales! Can it really be true? Can Plastic St be returning? We sneaked an interview with creator Lou Treleaven to find out the truth...

Lou: Yes, all the rumours are correct. Plastic St is returning.

Us: I hadn't actually asked you anything yet.

Lou: Yes, yes - I told you, stop pestering me! It's true, all right? This siege by the paparazzi has to stop.

Us: Siege? I just bumped into you in the Co-Op.

Lou: And you can leave my private life out of this as well!

Us: So tell us, as we're here, why did you choose now to come back with more Plastic St?

Lou: Well, as you know, Dame Margaret Montgomery, who plays Granny Gold, has been in rehab, trying to cope with her sudden unexpected success. She was just plucked off the street you know, an obscure, everyday granny -

Us: Ahem. We already revealed in a previous interview that that was a publicity stunt.

Lou: All right, Dame Maggie wanted more cash. Okay? I've had to remortgage my house. But now we're back. The grasping old hag.

Us: Did anyone else have a pay rise? I always thought the vet should have had a bit more to do. He's in the opening credits, after all.

Lou: Yes, but they were filmed when we still had a budget.

Us: So there'll be no special effects this season, then?

Lou: Not quite, but watch out for explosions, special guest stars and... the hand of God!

Us: God? Doesn't He count as a special guest star?

Lou: Not according to Granny Gold's contract.

Us: Fair play.

Halt those ducking stools, the rumours are true! Come back soon for the first of the new episodes, Plastic fans!