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| The Red Door | |
|---|---|
| Episode information | |
| Episode No. |
4 |
| Series |
1 |
| Original airdate |
Friday, February 17, 2006 |
| Roy's Shirt |
Pacman (level 256) |
| Cast and crew information | |
| Writer(s) |
Graham Linehan |
| Director(s) |
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| Producer(s) |
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| Main cast | |
| Guest stars | |
| Chronology | |
| Previous episode | |
| Next episode | |
The Red Door is the fourth episode of the first series of The IT Crowd and first aired on Friday the 17th 2006 on the UK TV channel, Channel 4.
Brief overview
What lies behind the mysterious red door in the IT Department? What has happened to Moss' new mug? And why is Roy in danger of becoming known as a 'desk rabbit'?
Plot synopsis
The episode begins with Maurice Moss (Richard Ayoade) proud of the fact that he has gotten a new mug, and has personalised it with a picture of himself on the base to ensure that it never goes missing again. Roy Trenneman (Chris O'Dowd) grows annoyed of Moss's boasting and asks if he can see the picture. Moss lifts the cup to show Roy the base, however, he discovers there is no picture and the mug does not actually belong to Moss. Jen Barber (Katherine Parkinson) exits her office of the IT Department and confronts her two colleagues about the hygiene standard of the office.
She tries to convince them to tidy it up and to clean the window, which Roy claims is not actually a window. Only then does Jen notice a strange red door at the back of the department. Roy and Moss immediately block her view of the door and convince her that it is only a storeroom and there is nothing interesting behind it.
Then, a female worker from an upper floor calls about a problem with her computer. Roy realises that the woman is Samantha (Susannah Wise), a former love interest of his who now thinks that he is sexually frustrated. He goes to her floor and finds a note on her computer monitor, telling him to fix it as soon as possible and that she does not want to speak to him. Roy gets to work on the computer and soon realises that her computer is unplugged. He crawls under the desk, then plugs it in. As he tries to get out from under the desk, Samantha enters the office and sits at her computer, blacking Roy's exit. He tries to escape from the other side, but another woman (Cordelia Bugeja) sits down, trapping him. Not wanting to confirm Samantha's suspicion of him as a pervert, Roy tries to remain undetected.
Down in the basement, Moss gets a text message from Roy, asking for his help. Jen reassures him that he should get upstairs and help Roy as soon as possible. As soon as he is gone, Jen rushes to the red door. She opens it and screams when she discovers a vampiric man standing behind it.
Meanwhile, upstairs, Moss spots Roy under the desk and rushes over to the window. He tries to convince the women that there is something amazing at the window and that they must come and see it, but they aren't convinced, and Roy remains under the desk. Moss abandons him and heads back down to the basement.
In the room behind the red door, Jen discovers that the man is in fact Richmond Avenal (Noel Fielding), the once Second-in-Command of Reynholm Industries who was demoted to work in the tiny room behind the red door after he had become a goth. He now dwells in the tiny storeroom, looking after some abandoned mainframe computers. He also reveals that he only exits the room to get supplies and drinks from a mug with a picture of Moss on the base. Jen leads him out of the room and into the IT Department, where he is fascinated by nearly everything he sees. Moss returns and spots Richmond, and asks why he is out of his room. Jen insists that he is going to remain outside of the room, and when she learns about Roy, she hurries up to rescue him, leaving Moss alone with Richmond.
Upstairs, Jen attracts the women's attention by saying there is a sexy builder outside, taking his shirt off. The women rush to the window to see a disgusting hairy builder staring back at them. It gives Roy just enough time to crawl out from beneath the desk and run out of the room. Jen then reveals to Roy that she discovered Richmond and that he is now outside. Roy rushes down and tries to shoo Richmond back into the room with a broomstick.
Meanwhile, Jen runs into Denholm Reynholm (Chris Morris), her boss, on her way to the basement, and talks to him about Richmond, and how he should be promoted back to his original job. Denholm considers this and is seen drinking from yet another of Moss's mugs. Jen returns to the basement where Richmond reveals that he has not gotten on with Denholm since Denholm's father's funeral, where he gave Denholm's grieving mother an album by dark-wave band, Cradle of Filth.
Despite this, Jen organises Richmond and Denholm to meet the next day, and Denholm agrees to have Richmond back as Second-in-Command. However, Denholm changes his mind seconds later and only agrees that Richmond should not be forced to be trapped in his room. Jen and Richmond return to the department, where Moss has finally gotten round to cleaning the window. As soon as the light touches Richmond, he scampers off to his room again, screaming.
The episode finishes with Moss in the canteen, looking through the hundreds of cups, which are all identical, trying to find his missing cups, which is still in the possession of Richmond and Denholm.
Behind the scenes
- At Denholm's father's funeral, Richmond gives Denholm's mother a Cradle of Filth CD, and recommends the track 4, "Coffin Fodder". The only real Cradle of Filth album that "Coffin Fodder" features on is Nymphetamine, on which it is actually track 9. It is, of course, possible that Richmond burned his own CD, however.
- When asked why he was demoted to work in the IT Department, Richmond says that he had been asking himself that question for "four long years". As the episode is set in 2005, this means this occurred in 2001. However, later in the episode Richmond revealed that he was demoted because he attended Denholm's father's funeral in full goth makeup and gave Denholm's mother a Cradle of Filth CD, with the track "Coffin Fodder" featured on it. This song was not released until in September 2004, meaning that the funeral took place sometime between 2004 and 2005. It is possible that Richmond was demoted in 2001 and then attended the funeral some years after, although this seems unlikely.