Pound
for pound, Cabin Pressure might be
the most engaging scripted radio program I’ve ever listened to – not that I’ve
listened to tons of scripted radio programs, but still. The characters are fantastic, the situational
comedy is absurd, and the voice-acting is topnotch. Honestly, it’s so good that I don’t have a
single quibbling wish that it could be a live-action show instead. It’s spectacular just the way it is. I don’t need to see Benedict Cumberbatch or
Roger Allam, for example, to count Martin and Douglas’s relationship among the
best odd-couple duos around.
Their
respective situations and personalities create a perfect storm for humor. Martin, the captain, is eternally, insecurely
nervous but just-shy-of-frantic to prove his mettle. He’s fastidiously by-the-book, prone to
losing his head in a panic, and desperate to be seen as a capable pilot and
figure of authority. Meanwhile, first
officer Douglas is a seasoned (read:
jaded) veteran of the skies who’s a natural voice of reason and can
pilot with ease. He’s been flying long
enough that he’s not overly invested in the rules, and he remains unflappable
under almost any circumstance. Nearly
everyone who encounters Martin and Douglas automatically assumes Douglas is the
captain and sometimes even argues the point with them, which of course delights
Douglas and infuriates Martin.
So, we
have an agitated stickler and a laidback rule-breaker, with the latter
allegedly subservient to the former.
This leads to all manner of power struggles, with Douglas pulling
countless stunts just to mess with Martin and watch him squirm, while Martin
flails in his efforts to keep Douglas contained. Douglas naturally responds by being
uncontainable, and the more Martin pushes him, the more he pushes back – in one
instance, he introduces Martin over the intercom as the French “Captain Martin du Creff,” forcing Martin to keep up the
pretense in all his cabin addresses.
But
they’re more than just two diametrically-opposed pilots trapped in the same
cockpit. They’re also friends, in a
fashion, and their shared penchant for silly travel games helps the hours to
pass by on long boring flights. Whether
they’re going as long as they can using words of only one syllable, cramming a
cabin address with Hitchcock references, or wondering if they could fit 100
otters on the plane, they keep one another sharp and entertained. Though they often complain about each other,
I doubt either would have nearly as much fun with any other co-pilot.
Martin has authority, but no confidence. Douglas has confidence, but no authority. The other two principle characters fit this paradigm as well, as Carolyn has both confidence and authority, and Arthur has neither confidence, nor authority.
ReplyDeleteWell said - very true on all counts.
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