Friday, January 25, 2008

How Very Dare YOU!

Derek, who first appeared in series two, is a man who shows several signs of being gay (combining some mannerisms of famous gay British comedians such as Kenneth Williams and Frankie Howerd), but seems to be in denial about his sexuality and becomes extremely offended and defensive when people assume he is gay.

To his dislike, these occurrences are frequent, due to the fact he behaves in an extremely effeminate way. His most famous catchphrase is "How very dare you!", along with the overuse of the word "dear". This can be seen in another catchphrase; when asked about his sexuality he replies "Who, dear? Me, dear? Gay, dear? No, dear!". When offended, Derek states how he and his mother have been doing an action relative to the person Derek is insulted by. For example, in one sketch with Bonnie Langford, he rants "25 years my Mother and I have been following your career and you come out with this!?" Derek also uses the word "impertinent" to describe the person who has unintentionally offended him. He also frequently says "What on earth are you insinuating?" when the person he is talking to makes a comment on how they think he is gay. Another well-known catchphrase is "I've never been so insulted!"

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