Remember when I said that the cliff-hanger ending to Series1, episode 5 did little for me as a child because, even then, I knew full well
that truly major characters like Badger and Fox were never going to be killed
off? Well, guess what? They actually did kill off Badger in Series
2. In fairness, he wasn’t really so much
of a major character by this point. He’d
had an important arc in the winter portion of Series 2, when he was injured and
taken in by the Warden, but once the thaw arrived Badger became much more of a
side character – the focus switched mainly to Fox’s quarrel with the blue foxes
and the adventures of Fox’s son Bold upon leaving White Deer Park, and the
writers were clearly struggling to keep Badger relevant in all of this. So a complete and utter exit was the way to
go.
Actually, Badger’s death is quite a curious one in that,
unlike Mole’s death, it had no precedent in original novels (where, if I recall
correctly, Badger made it to the very last page). The series had absolutely no obligation to
kill him off, and yet they did so anyway.
As noted, I suspect that Badger’s declining relevance in the post-winter
narrative was a significant factor, but I’d also speculate that Badger’s death
was intended to tie in with one of the dominant themes of Series 2, concerning
youth, aging and the gap between the older generations and the young. One of the key narrative questions deals with
whether or not the respective offspring of Fox and Scarface will choose to
continue the wars of their fathers, or if the new generation represents an
opportunity for peace and renewal. While
Friendly (who really wasn’t) sides very firmly with his father, Fox runs into
conflict with Bold and Charmer, who each have their differing perspectives upon
the feud with Scarface and how best to approach it.
The altercations between Fox and Bold get so nasty that Bold chooses to
disown his father altogether and live outside of White Deer Park. Fox later accuses Charmer of treachery when
he learns that she and Scarface's son Ranger are secretly on friendly terms, and observes that
“the young don’t seem to honour the Oath as we did.” Badger’s death, however, prompts Fox to
reflect upon his own waning youth and his need to learn how to grow old
gracefully. In that sense, it’s a much
more meditative death than was typical for the series (I’ve acknowledged that,
in Series 1 in particular, death was simply a nasty fact of life for the
Farthing Wood animals, and they generally didn’t have time to dwell upon it any
more deeply than that) and it did enable a nice moment of contemplation between
Fox and Vixen.
All the same, I get the impression that the production team
rather regretted their decision to kill off Badger come Series 3, because they
introduced a new badger character, Hurkel, who was clearly designed to be his
replacement (or, at the very least, to enable the series to keep alive its
iconic imagery of a badger carrying a mole on its back, as Mossy was seldom far
from him). Shadow, a female badger
introduced in Series 2 during Bold’s arc, was likewise solidified as part of
the main cast in Series 3 in order to fill a few of the roles that were Badger’s
in the last couple of novels (such as getting sick after drinking poisoned
water). I’ve mentioned earlier that I
didn’t much care for Series 3 and I don’t want to labour that point too much,
but I found Hurkel to be one of the most thoroughly unappealing characters that the show
had to offer. Meanwhile, the decision to have Shadow return as a main character reeked
of the kind of “they were popular, let’s have more of them” mentality that
made the third series feel like the product of extensive focus group-led
retooling (though Rollo was an even more disastrous example). When Badger died, he left a void in the
series that could truly never be filled.
Oh, and as I’ve alluded elsewhere, I suspect that Mole’s death
was shifted forward from where it occurs in the books in anticipation of Badger’s
death. If Badger had been the first to
go then there would have been no way to have included the whole aspect of him mistaking
Mossy for his father. Mole’s exit and
Mossy’s entrance also fit in nicely with the series' wider themes of birth, death, aging and renewal.
Shortly before Badger’s death, Fox had managed to alienate
him by verbally attacking him when Badger had suggested that the two of them
were getting past being able to deal with Scarface (the result of misinterpreting a statement made by Vixen). As a
result, Badger hasn’t been spending a lot of time with Fox lately. Mossy goes to visit to him in his sett, to
find Badger in a somewhat listless state, although he does respond to Mossy and
greet him as “Mole”. Mossy seems quite
prepared to drop the deception altogether at this point and confesses to Badger that
he’s not really Mole, but realises that Badger isn’t completely with
it. Disturbingly, he’s rambling about
being back in Farthing Wood with his long-departed family, which can't be a good sign. As he continues, he seems to forget about
Mole altogether and speaks only of his badger ancestors.
Horrified, Mossy hurries to Fox, Vixen and Friendly and
informs them that Badger may not have much time left. The four animals head back to Badger who,
still recognising Fox, assumes that he’s there to persuade him to leave his
home and his family in Farthing Wood, which he refuses to do. Fox attempts to make his peace with Badger
before it’s too late and apologies for his recent unkindness. This prompts Badger to deliver his
haunting last words: “A fox worried about kindness? I must be in Heaven.” With that, Badger chuckles to himself and
finally passes away.
HORROR FACTOR: 5. This death certainly came as a shock to those
viewers who had read the books in advance and assumed that Badger's immortality was guaranteed,
though as Farthing Wood deaths go it was easily one of the most peaceful.
NOBILITY FACTOR: 10. Badger’s time had simply come.
TEAR-JERKER FACTOR: 10. Apologies to all you Bold fans
out there, but for my money this is easily the most heart-breaking death of the entire
series. They went all-out in assaulting
the heartstrings with this one and by jove, they succeeded. I sob my eyes out every time.
RATING: 25
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