Character Relationship Map: What About Dick?

Characters

• Deepak Rushdie Obi Ben Kingsley (played by Suzy Eddie Izzard) — protagonist

  Deepak Rushdie Obi Ben Kingsley is first presented as a figure who warns that The Piano may cause the collapse of the British Empire, though his warning is dismissed. Later, he appears as a visiting p...

• The Piano (played by Eric Idle) — supporting

  The Piano functions as both narrator and apparent witness, describing how everyone has touched, played, and struck it. Found near the military attacks and later discovered by Dick on a beach, it becom...

• Dick (played by Russell Brand) — supporting

  Dick is the central mystery of the later story. He is confined to the Royal Hospital for the Extremely Mad and cannot remember anything since the Shagistan massacre. Aunt Maggie visits him, while Deep...

• Helena (played by Sophie Winkleman) — supporting

  Helena is Emma's sister and lives with Emma and Aunt Maggie in Kensington. She is portrayed as flirtatious and troubled, contributing to the household's unstable and absurd emotional atmosphere. Her r...

• Aunt Maggie (played by Tracey Ullman) — supporting

  Aunt Maggie is the eccentric guardian figure in the Kensington household shared with Emma and Helena. She pursues unconventional medical and sexual interests, establishing the story's absurd tone. Lat...

• Emma (played by Jane Leeves) — supporting

  Emma is one of the sisters living with Aunt Maggie in Kensington. Emotionally repressed, she is drawn to fantasies involving submission, domestic service, order, discipline, and restraint. Her convers...

• Inspector McGuffin (played by Billy Connolly) — supporting

  Inspector McGuffin investigates the disappearance of The Piano and other objects as part of the missing-furniture division. He believes The Piano may unlock Dick's memories because it was connected to...

• Sergeant Ken Russell (played by Jim Piddock) — supporting

  Sergeant Ken Russell encounters The Piano during the military episode in Shagistan and is ordered to transport it to camp for a regimental fancy-dress ball. After the instrument becomes linked to the...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Sergeant Ken Russell → The Piano (Professional Assigned Carrier) — Ken repeatedly transports the piano under military orders.

  The officer orders Sergeant Ken Russell to take The Piano back to camp, and Ken later brings it into the hospital.

• Inspector McGuffin → Dick (Professional Investigator And Subject) — McGuffin treats Dick as a crucial source of evidence.

  Inspector McGuffin investigates the mystery and believes the piano may unlock Dick's memories.

• Deepak Rushdie Obi Ben Kingsley → Dick (Professional Psychoanalytic Helper) — Deepak applies psychoanalytic expertise to Dick's memory problem.

  Deepak is presented as a visiting professor of psychoanalysis and joins the attempt to help Dick.

• Aunt Maggie → Helena (Family Aunt And Niece) — Aunt Maggie is part of Helena's family household.

  Helena lives with Emma and their eccentric Aunt Maggie in Kensington.

• Aunt Maggie → Emma (Family Aunt And Niece) — Aunt Maggie is Emma's older family guardian or household relative.

  Emma and Helena are stated to live with their eccentric Aunt Maggie in Kensington.

• Emma → Helena (Family Sisters) — Emma and Helena share a family relationship and the same household.

  The plot explicitly introduces Emma and Helena as sisters living together in Kensington.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Inspector McGuffin → Sergeant Ken Russell (Alliance Investigative Coordination) — Their actions converge around recovering and using the piano.

  McGuffin believes the piano is needed for the investigation, and Ken brings it into the hospital.

• Aunt Maggie → Deepak Rushdie Obi Ben Kingsley (Alliance Help-Seeking Association) — Both participate in the effort surrounding Dick's treatment.

  Aunt Maggie visits Dick, and Deepak joins the attempt to help him at the hospital.

• Dick → The Piano (Narrative Finder And Memory Trigger) — The piano is directly linked to Dick's lost memories and mysterious past.

  The Piano was found by Dick on a beach, and McGuffin believes it may unlock Dick's memories.

• Deepak Rushdie Obi Ben Kingsley → The Piano (Conflict Warning And Threat) — Deepak identifies the piano as a potentially catastrophic force.

  Deepak warns that The Piano may bring about the collapse of the British Empire.

• Sergeant Ken Russell → Dick (Alliance Intermediary) — Ken's action supplies the object believed necessary to help Dick.

  Sergeant Ken Russell brings The Piano into the hospital while the investigation seeks to recover Dick's memories.

• Inspector McGuffin → The Piano (Narrative Investigative Evidence) — The Piano is the central object in McGuffin's investigation.

  Inspector McGuffin investigates the disappearance of The Piano and believes it may unlock Dick's memories.

• Aunt Maggie → Dick (Social Visitor And Patient) — Aunt Maggie personally visits Dick during his hospitalization.

  In August 1929, Aunt Maggie visits Dick at the Royal Hospital for the Extremely Mad.

Story Analysis

An absurd imperial mystery links a sentient piano, violent attacks, and Dick's lost memories.

Plot Progression

1. The Piano's Imperial Prologue — The Piano introduces the live radio story and frames the decline of the British Empire. Kensington's eccentric household establishes the film's absurd emotional world.
2. A Warning in Shagistan — Sergeant Ken Russell discovers The Piano near the troops. Deepak warns that it may destroy the empire, but the warning is dismissed before the piano is transported.
3. Violence and Vanishing Objects — Comic transportation misunderstandings give way to attacks connected with the piano. Inspector McGuffin begins investigating the missing instrument and related objects.
4. Dick's Hospital Mystery — Aunt Maggie visits Dick at the hospital, and Deepak joins the effort to help him. McGuffin connects the piano to Dick's missing memories.
5. The Unanswered Memory — Ken brings the piano into the hospital, but Dick still cannot remember the period after the Shagistan massacre. The surviving dialogue ends with the investigation unresolved.