The Rascally Big Town Robber is a thief that appeared in Brum and the Big Chase and Brum and the Big Town Race. He was played by Andrew Davenport, who is the writer for the second series along with other Ragdoll shows like Tots TV, Teletubbies and In the Night Garden.
In Brum and the Big Chase, where he robs everyone dancing in a conga line, including a policewoman's batton, a baby's toy, a pineapple and several other miscellaneous items from the mall, using his fake hands to quickly grab things. When cornered his coat is opened up revealing his theft and he runs off, using the various directions to his advantage. In order to lose his victims, he poses like a mannequin in a clothing store. Thinking that the coast is clear, he leaves the store only to realize that everyone finds him again. He then runs into a rug store where eventually, he tires out and falls to his knees. However Brum and the kids ambush him and knock him over and wrap him up in a rug like a burrito. Brum tells WPC Truncheon that "He's all rugged up." and is quickly handed over to her and chartered off to jail.
In Brum and the Big Town Race, he plans to steal the golden trophy to the Big Town Race even though the police are participating. He keeps out of Brum's sight and robs it while no one is looking along with a bag from the change-room and runs off with everyone chasing him again. He jumps over a wall to get away and then runs into a construction site where the police spot him. After leading them in several directions, he hides up in a lamp post with everyone at a lose as to where he's gone until Brum sees him. The Lollipop Lady uses her stick forcing him to hand back the trophy. He eventually drops it and it lands in Brum's seat. After that, he is arrested by the police.
Personality[]
In comparison to other baddies on the show, the Rascally Robber is quite placid. When conducting his first series of thefts on-screen he didn't take pleasure in it unlike other crooks like Big Bad's 2nd Girlfriend or The Shadow. Even when his theft was exposed he showed no emotion or shock but just fled. Throughout this chase he didn't get emotional or excited at all but was still eager to get away. Even when he was caught and arrested he placidly accepted his fate without much fear, anger or disgust. Despite his comparatively placid nature he does have an evil streak as shown by him grinning at the trophy. However, he still remained placid during that chase and when getting arrested for the final time. This shows that he's not going to be a troublesome inmate but will keep his nose clean on the inside while prison straightens him out.
Tactics and abilities[]
The Big Town Robber is sneakier than The Shadow as he can keep out of Brum's line of sight which no other baddie has done. He also maximises the amount he can grab by using prosthetic hands and conceals the items in his cloak. He also been rather inventive in how he uses his cloak to not only conceal his stolen items but himself as shown by him taking it off to run along with the runners to find out where the race was. When on the run he uses misdirection to confuse others like using complex environments to lose pursuers. He has even climbed over brick walls to lose pursuers. Most impressively he was able to lose the police in plain sight when trying to steal the trophy. Unfortunately, his environmental tactics backfired on him in both of his appearances. During the first chase he was ambushed by Brum and the children in a rug store who tied him up. In the second his attempt to hide from them by scaling a lamp caused him to get surrounded when Brum spotted him. However, he does not appear to be as physically viable as other baddies because at the end of his first chase he was visibly tired. Baddies like Big Bad and his 2nd girlfriend were able to sprint ahead of Brum despite wearing swimming overalls which had been soaked in the swimming pool that they jumped in. And when these two finally stole a speedboat to try and defeat Brum neither were physically taxed. This shows that he's more like Pickpocket Polly as he prefers to use stealth to lose pursuers.
Appearances[]
Trivia[]
- Brum saying "he's all rugged up" is a reference to how he's going to get banged up in prison.
- After his first arrest in Brum and the Big Chase he presumably escapes during the course as the episode after that is his second and final appearance Brum and the Big Town Race. This makes him the quickest to escape from jail.
- He is arguable more villainous than the Shadow as he has no problems robbing police and even babies, though the Shadow is more unkind to Brum.
- He is the only baddie to be able to keep out of Brum's sight and use prosthetic hands to grab things.
- He is the only thief in Series 2.
- He is loosely based off Mr. Bean.
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