FROM THE ARCHIVES: The Final Slice - Part II (2010)

Welcome to the final episode of From The Archives. We've reached the final instalment of my student comedy writings, and we're finishing on a high with the second part of The Final Slice.

When I set up Part I last week, I said that the writing process for The Final Slice was a little trickier than the writing on The Case of the Brown Ruby or Murder on the Titanic. Even with a great central concept, the jokes just didn't come quite as easily as before, and a lot of the writing sessions felt a little lacklustre. For all the great moments where we laughed or got inspiration, a lot of the time it did feel like we were having to force the script along. We got there in the end, but it was a feeling more of relief than of pride or satisfaction.

In spite of this, I stand by my comment last week that The Final Slice contains some of my best work. I'm really proud of this storyline for two main reasons. One is that the parody came together so well, with all the cheesy puns hitting the mark and the twist on Inception working really well. I particularly love the means by which Battenberg defeats the villain: it's both affectionate towards Inception and takes that film's concept to its absurd conclusion. Special props goes to Tom on this front, for his inclusion of Hans Zimmer's score and his hilarious take on the film's use of Edith Piaf.

The other reason I love this episode is the deepening of Battenberg & Schnepps' relationship. In the first two spin-offs, the dynamic was that Battenberg was the proud leader who took all the credit, while Schnepps does all the hard work and ends up saving the day. This time we see the duo separated, with Schnepps seduced by power and Battenberg humbled by Schnepps' success. By the end there's a real sense of parity and respect established between them that didn't exist before, and I find that really heartwarming.

One other aspect I'd like to go into is why The Final Slice never aired on radio. As Tom was putting the episodes together, I planned to play them on Mix and Match with Mumby, the show I hosted on Lionheart Radio every Thursday afternoon. But in an act of misjudgement, I got cold feet, feeling that it would make the show seem in-jokey - and in doing so I did a great disservice to Tom, Seb and Alex. Listening back and making these videos has made me realise just how great we four really were together, and I'm happy that the shows are now available for everyone for all time.

So, without further ado, here is the final part of Inception with cheese, a.k.a. The Final Slice:

Daniel

P.S. Two years after writing a story involving a dream machine, I end up working for a company called Dream Machine. God's will, synchronicity or epic foreshadowing - you decide.