By Nia Edwards-Behi
Oh, Danger 5. I have some serious feelings about Danger 5. After the dizzyingly entertaining first series in 2012, 2014…er, I mean, 2015 has brought us an excessively wonderful second series. If I thought the first series was batshit, series two has laughed in my face as it tries to escape from its straight-jacket. If I thought the first series paid affectionate homage to film, TV and comics of the past, then series two is weeping lovingly into its collection of 80s paraphernalia. Danger 5 is solid proof that with passion, talent, guts and sheer nerdery, real televisual magic can happen.
For the uninitiated: Danger 5 is an Australian TV show about a group of super-spies whose sole mission is to kill Hitler. That sounds straight forward, but it’s anything but: the first series saw an alternate take on WW2, set in a version of the 1960s infused with the spirit of war comics, supermarionation, kaiju and surrealism. Danger 5 comprises of Claire, the uptight Brit; Ilsa, the amoral Soviet; Jackson, the gung-ho American; Pierre, the suave Frenchman; and Tucker, the nervous Australian. Their commander is the eagle-headed Colonel Chestbridge, who each week reminds them to kill Hitler, and in attempting to do so Danger 5 take on dinosaurs, missing countries, stolen landmarks, Stalin’s moustache, Japanese robo-pilots and a myriad other historical irreverences.
Series two reunites the team after two decades of separation – naturally no one has aged in this time – in the hazy, neon 1980s. I don’t think it’s necessarily essential to have seen the first series to appreciate the second, but it does help in the appreciation of some of the finest jokes, not least of all the inherent humour of Pierre’s re-casting. The other major new addition to series two is petulant high-school student Holly, subject of Hitler’s eugenic desires, and played to perfection by newcomer Elizabeth Hay. The cast is all-round brilliant, and while it’s Natasia Ritsic’s Ilsa that remains my firm favourite, Sean James Murphy almost steals the whole show as the suddenly unhinged Tucker.
The homage and parody of everything 1980s is absolutely pitch-perfect here. Several episodes are dedicated to individual genres, such as the cop movie (‘you’re a piece of shit, you goddamn piece of shit!’) and the high-school movie (an episode entitled ‘Johnny Hitler’), but the whole series is infused with the look and feel of 80s excess. And indeed, series two is most definitely more excessive than the first, befitting its setting entirely. This time there’s a lot more puerile humour (if Hitler randomly pissing on people doesn’t make you laugh, this might not be your, er, cup of tea), but if you enjoyed the tone of series one then that’s unlikely to put you off. It’s not just the detailing like costume and set design that pays homage to 80s film and TV, but the performances are spot-on too. Just as the over-dubbing of series one worked wonders to give it the relevant retro feel, the over-played performances of series two do the same: witness the New Yoik cops of episode 3, or David Ashby’s frankly heroic turn as the derailed and washed-up Jackson. The soundtrack is again a perfect accompaniment to all the on-screen action, and is once again composed by the show’s creator Dario Russo. At some of its finest moments the music seems to be channelling Andersson and Ulvaeus’ Chess – ‘Face Your Fears (Face Russia!)’ – and improving Christmas songs for everyone (‘Winter Boo Ba Boo’).
I don’t really want to review the series’ individual episodes, as I do think the best way to into something as madcap as Danger 5 is completely blind. To give something of a sense of how things progress, however, I can safely say that about half way through watching the series it dawned on me that the level of insanity was only going to increase, and so it did – I sat gawping for the majority of episodes 5, 6 and 7, thanks to the sheer concentration and pace of bonkers jokes and visual gags. Perhaps one way of demonstrating a fraction of just how surreal Danger 5 can be is through another of series two’s new additions: lion-headed muscle man Mckenzie. Officially Pierre’s bodyguard, McKenzie – who speaks only in Japanese – trains up a traumatised Tucker in the art of the ninja, gifts Pierre with expensive cars, mixes drinks and is let down by plot-convenient lion paws. McKenzie is the spiritual heir to Colonel Chestbridge, for sure, and almost certainly works as better demonstration of the tone of the surrealist humour than trying to explain just how much I laughed at a rubber ball that gives advice to Jackson.
When you realise that this series truly is taking in the full gamut of 80s referencing (oh yes, it really does go full sci-fi…and I’m not even giving you two guesses at what ‘Back to the Fuhrer’ might be all about), you might find yourself wondering if Danger 5 is completely jumping the shark. It does go places that I’m not sure any other TV show would, and I don’t mean that in a ‘ban this sick filth’ sort of way, either, I just remain completely baffled as to how the hell Russo and Ashby come up with some of this stuff. The fact that they really do successfully pull off their increasingly mad ideas is testament to their talents as writers and as a creative team. It’s also to the series’ producers’ credit that they have been allowed such free creative control of the programme.
The broadcast of Danger 5 series two was delayed in its native Australia due to an apparently sensitive political climate and certain things that happen in episode 1 (I didn’t even spot the contentious scene, it had to be pointed out to me), but it’s finally being broadcast at the moment in Australia. The full series DVD has just been released, and I’m reliably informed that the first series is finally available on UK Netflix. Seek Danger 5 out in any way you can, and if you can throw money at it somehow, all the better. Who knows what the future holds for Danger 5, but if any level of success for this show means either more Danger 5 or further Russo and Ashby projects, then I will do whatever I can do encourage that success. Danger 5 is a rare beast in an age of high-quality dramas and reality talent competitions and whatever the hell else is on TV now, and strangely an even rarer beast in a climate of dodgy rewindhouse nostalgia. Danger 5 does it right, does it ridiculous, and does it shamelessly. Long live Danger 5, and long may they keep killing Hitler.
Click here for more info on Danger 5’s broadcast in Australia. Seasons 1 and 2 are both available on Region 4 DVD, and various VOD platforms. The season 1 and 2 soundtracks can be downloaded from wherever it is you get your music from.