- Hello, I wish to register a complaint... Hello? Miss?
- What do you mean, miss?
- Oh, I'm sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint
- Sorry, we're closing for lunch
- Never mind that, my lad. I wish to complain about a parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique
- Oh yes, the Norwegian Blue. What's wrong with it?
- I'll tell you what's wrong with it. It's dead, that's what's wrong with it
- No no, it's resting... look!
- Look my lad, I know a dead parrot when I see one and I'm looking at one right now
- No, no sir, it's not dead. It's resting
- Resting!?!
- Yeah, remarkable bird the Norwegian Blue, beautiful plumage, innit?
- The plumage don't enter into it - it's stone dead
- No, no - it's just resting
- Alright then, if it's resting I'll wake it up: "Hello Polly! I've got a nice cuttlefish for you when you wake up, Polly Parrot!"
- There! It moved!
- No he didn't. That was you pushing the cage
- I did not
- Yes you did. Hello Polly, Polly! Polly Parrot, wake up. Polly! Now that's what I call a dead parrot
- No, no it's stunned
- Look my lad, I've had just about enough of this. That parrot is definitely deceased. And when I bought it not half an hour ago, you assured me that its lack of movement was due to it being tired shagged out after a long squawk
- It's probably pining for the fjords
- Pining for the fjords, what kind of talk is that? Look, why did it fall flat on its back the moment I got it home?
- The Norwegian Blue prefers kipping on its back. Beautiful bird, lovely plumage
- Look, I took the liberty of examining the parrot, and I discovered that the only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been nailed there
- Well of course it was nailed there. Otherwise it would muscle up to those bars and voom
- Look matey, this parrot wouldn't go voom if I put four thousand volts through it. It's bleeding demised
- It's not. It's pining
- It's not pining, it's passed on. This parrot is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet its maker. This is a late parrot. It's a stiff. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. If you hadn't nailed it to the perch, it would be pushing up the daisies. It's run down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an ex-parrot
- Well, I'd better replace it then
- If you want to get anything done in this country you've got to complain till you're blue in the mouth
- Sorry guv, we're right out a parrots
- I see. I see. I get the picture
- I've got a slug
- Does it talk?
- Not really, no
- Well, it's scarcely a replacement, then is it?
- Listen, I'll tell you what, tell you what, if you go to my brother's pet shop in Bolton he'll replace your parrot for you
- Bolton eh?
- Yeah
- Alright
- Er, excuse me. This is Bolton, is it?
- No, no it's, er, Ipswich
- That's Inter-City Rail for you (leaves)
- I wish to make a complaint
- I don't have to do this, you know
- I beg your pardon?
- I'm a qualified brain surgeon. I only do this because I like being my own boss
- Er, excuse me, this is irrelevant, isn't it?
- Oh yeah, it's not easy to pad these out in thirty minutes
- Well I wish to make a complaint. I got on to the Bolton train and found myself deposited here in Ipswich
- No, this is Bolton
- If this is Bolton, I shall return to the pet shop
- I understand this IS Bolton
- Yes
- Well, you told me it was Ipswich
- It was a pun
- A pun?
- No, no, not a pun, no. What's the other thing which reads the same backwards as forwards?
- A palindrome?
- Yes, yes
- It's not a palindrome. The palindrome of Bolton would be Notlob. It don't work
- Look, what do you want?
- No, I'm sorry, I'm not prepared to pursue my line of enquiry any further as I think this is getting too silly
