Last Top 5

[thisbluespirit]

persiflage_1 asked for my Top 5 David Collings performances. It's a tough call and I had to separate them into TV and audio to make it fair:



1. Silver Sapphire & Steel (because Silver is still the shiniest)



2. Poul in Doctor Who (Poul was formative)



3. Bob Cratchit in Scrooge (it's an unusually cute and happy one for him, and his hair is in particularly fine form, also he sings with red headed children)



4. Richard Simons in The Shadow of the Tower (I'm not sure why with this one, but I think Prudence Fitzgerald got something extra out of him, particularly in ep3)




5. Level 7 because it was so cathartic, but there's also The Suicide Club which was kind of amazing. (Also I loved when he reappeared on Holby City a few years ago, because it could not have been more him even after 20 years off the telly. I'd be totally willing to believe the writer sent in the script with a note that said, "Is David Collings still around? This is for him.") Oh, and Cassius in Julius Caesar, Deva in B7, and being the dimmest fall guy ever as Anthony Babington in Elizabeth R. I giffed the Suicide Club here:



audio top 5:

1. The Doctor in Full Fathom Five (I have reservations about the story, but David Collings is amazing)
2. That one where he gets telephone revenge on a guy in a one-off play (I can't remember the name, Pers sent it to me)
3. Gabriel in Jago & litefoot (being delightfully villainous and vampiric)
4. Silver in Sapphire & Steel (especially Zero, which again I may have reservations about story-wise, but has so many great Silver moments and David Collings is awesome)
5. I do love his more understated performance as Legolas in Lord of the Rings but probably Tom Pinch in the BBC Martin Chuzzlewit will win here.

I'm not going to talk about the one where he had audio sex. MY EARS, my poor ears. /o\

Farewell Mr Collings:






from beccadg: Top 5 Time Travel Stories Any Medium

1. Doctor Who
2. Does Sapphire & Steel count? Because S&S
3. A Traveller in Time - Alison Uttley
4. Tom's Midnight Garden - Philippa Pearce
5. Back to the Future


Top 5 Plays by William Shakespeare

Oh, tough, I've never really tried rating them before. (Also I haven't finished watching my way through the BBC Shakespeare yet so some of them I don't know.)

1. Henry V
2. Twelfth Night
3. Much Ado About Nothing
4. Measure for Measure (I have feelings, I don't know, I just do! *fights people*)
5. Julius Caeasar. (I once hugged my BBC copy of this when I was very ill and I felt grateful for its existence but I was so ill I fell asleep like that and its cover plastic has now gone wibbly because I softened it with my love in a very literal way).

I feel bad about leaving RIII off though, as it is awesome, especially in the BBC Shakespeare version (which accounts for most of my Shakespeare watching). But top 2 still goes to the two I actually studied properly, despite my demon English teacher. Even he couldn't ruin Shakespeare too much.


Top 5 Cartoon Series From the 1980s

THis is basically another banana one because there is Dungeons and Dragons and then there's everything else, but hey, I shall try.

1. Dungeons & Dragons
2. Mysterious Cities of Gold (that was an epic ride when we were about 9 or so)
3. Visionaries (or was that just 1990s) - I do recall having a thing for that one, but it might have been early 90s
4. Ulysses 31
5. Um...? Oh, yes, Battle of the Planets. I know nothing about it now, but I adored it when I was six and it is a real thing that I didn't dream, despite nobody else my age ever remembering it when we talked children's TV. (Me: "So they had like bird helmets and one of them talked like a duck, and there was a robot and a really scary baddy!" EVeryone else: ??? *backs away slowly*)

Top 5 TV Shows With a Fantasy Theme

Which is tricky, because there's not much TV that is actually fantasy rather than SF; TV people are always so scared of magic things.

1. Once Upon a Time
2. The Librarians
3. Legend of the Seeker (I haven't rewatched this one since, which is always a telling thing, but I did enjoy it a lot when I did watch it)
4. Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Comments

[kalium]

I know nothing about it now, but I adored it when I was six and it is a real thing that I didn't dream, despite nobody else my age ever remembering it when we talked children's TV. (Me: "So they had like bird helmets and one of them talked like a duck, and there was a robot and a really scary baddy!" EVeryone else: ??? *backs away slowly*)

It's news to me, but I WISH I remembered it, because it sounds awesome!

[thisbluespirit]

It was apparently a Japanese anime that had been massively cut down, dubbed and possibly even the robot was sort of additional or something, to make it an English-language cartoon.

But, yeah, they flew ships and they each had different coloured helmets taht looked like bird beaks. And one of them could only talk like a duck.

It's very hazy in my memory but small me adored it even if maybe it was probably an older thing than I should have been watching back then! XD

ETA: Okay, Youtube has the intro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acOnskcyrtA

[sovay]

It was apparently a Japanese anime that had been massively cut down, dubbed and possibly even the robot was sort of additional or something, to make it an English-language cartoon.

I just saw someone on my other friendlist talking about this show. I'd never heard of it before, ever. What a weird zeitgeist.

[thisbluespirit]

That is random!

[beccadg]

The "Battle of the Planets" form of "Science Ninja Team Gatchaman" was pretty child friendly. The company that edited it, dubbed it and added the robot made it child friendly. The later "G-Force: Guardians of Space" edit and dub of the series was more adult, but it tried to strike a balance between being a more faithful translation and being a "kids show" that left it unpopular with fans of both "Battle of the Planets" and "Science Ninja Team Gatchaman." I'm a second-generation anime geek, and I was 45 in February. My parents were big into the series that made it into the U.S. in the '60s and '70s. The first shows I was into on my own were ones that made it into the U.S. in the '80s and '90s. Voltron and Sailor Moon will always be loves of mine.

[theseatheseatheopensea]

Aww, Silver is indeed the shiniest! <3

Henry V is probably my second favourite Shakespeare play! (my #1 is Richard II).

Julius Caeasar. (I once hugged my BBC copy of this when I was very ill and I felt grateful for its existence but I was so ill I fell asleep like that and its cover plastic has now gone wibbly because I softened it with my love in a very literal way).

<3

[thisbluespirit]

Richard Pasco and David Collings are an amazing team up, okay! XD

[persiflage_1]

I'll have to double check that one-off audio. I've also forgotten the name and I'm too lazy to get off the bed and turn the laptop back on to check it now.

[thisbluespirit]

Ha, no worries - if I wasn't lazy myself I'd have gone found the memory stick it's sitting on!! XD

♥

[persiflage_1]

#2 is Money with Menaces. Which, intriguingly, is up on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78cJj8k3BQU

(I am NOT laughing at you lamenting your poor ears with regard to the audio sex!)

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, thanks! ♥

[persiflage_1]

Welcome. ♥

[jaxomsride2]

I remember Battle of the Planets with Jason, Princess and 7 zark 7. When I got older I learnt it was a bowlderised version of a Japanese anime with the "cute" robot thrown in to pad out the show as they cut a lot out as it was "too adult".

I also remember Ulysses 31, Dungeons and dragons and Visionaries. I didn't see Mysterious Cities of Gold until my daughter was growing up - she loved that cartoon.

[thisbluespirit]

Mysteries Cities was just amazing!

[lycomingst]

Could you talk about Measure for Measure? Because it's a favorite of mine and I'd like to know what other people see in it.

[executrix]

Measure for Measure is my favorite too! No wonder it's set in Vienna, it's the most Freudian of Shakespeare plays.

Maybe because it gets no love, I really like The Unfortunate Comedy (All's Well)--Helena is SO THIRSTY that she won't let mundane reality get in her way.

[thisbluespirit]

It's a been a long while since I watched it now, but I really enjoyed it - I liked the Duke and his weird incomprehensible plotting, and sympathised with Isabella a lot, plus it had Servalan and Tim Pigott-Smith was particularly good as Angelo. (And being as Servalan was Mariana was totally going to get stabbed after the credits rolled).

I mean, I wrote fic, which is me talking about things more properly: https://archiveofourown.org/works/590829

[executrix]

AND Veron Kasabi is Juliet!

[beccadg]

a) I've never given S&S a proper watch, even though I've always meant to for David McCallum, but from what I've heard about it I'd say it counts.

b) Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing are in my top three. My first love is Hamlet, but I love those two very much as well.

C) If by "Visionaries" you mean "Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light," that was 1987, not a 90's series. It would totally count if that's what you meant.

d) "Battle of the Planets" was a real thing that you did not dream. It maybe that some people you've tried to talk to about it have been confused by the choice of the title you chose to refer to it by. It has a very... checkered... history. It was originally in Japan "Science Ninja Team Gatchaman." There have been two different English language releases of it that were edited and translated differently one titled "Battle of the Planets" and the other "G-Force: Guardians of Space." If that wasn't confusing enough, there were two follow up series in Japan that were combined and released in English as "Eagle Riders."

e) I enjoyed The Librarians and Buffy. I couldn't get into Once Upon a Time or Legend of the Seeker.

[executrix]

My description of current life is "Up the Apocalypse Without a Buffy."

[beccadg]

Works for me. ;-)

[persiflage_1]

Ha, nice one!

[thisbluespirit]

I think I watched it when I was very young and I have quite a long memory, so I suspect it was too long ago for other people in my year to have remembered it! (Like, I can remember stuff from about 16 months old or so, even if not reliably).

And I did mean that Visionaries! I'm not 100% sure whether they showed it over here before 1990 (or that I saw it), but I thought it must be near enough to count.

[beccadg]

Like, I can remember stuff from about 16 months old or so, even if not reliably.

Oh! I don't think I remember much before the age of four. That would certainly explain other people in your year not remembering it!


And I did mean that Visionaries!

Cool!

I'm not 100% sure whether they showed it over here before 1990 (or that I saw it), but I thought it must be near enough to count.

That's okay--when I said "From the 1980s"--what I was looking for was cartoons that aired during the 1980s. That way all that mattered was that the shows were on the air in the 80s. They could've originally been broadcast before 1980, like the original release dates for "Battle of the Planets" are 1978 to 1980, or they could've been released in the 80s, but not seen by you until later. It's all good. :-)

[thisbluespirit]

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<i.Oh! I don't think I remember much before the age of four. That would certainly explain other people in your year not remembering it!</I>

I'm pretty sure I must have been 5 or 6 when I was watching it, but it is possible it could have been before that. Whenever it actually was, it seems to have been long enough ago to have been forgotten or never watched by the rest of my year when we comparing notes at uni.

<i> They could've originally been broadcast before 1980, like the original release dates for "Battle of the Planets" are 1978 to 1980, or they could've been released in the 80s, but not seen by you until later. It's all good. :-)</I>

Hee, well, that's okay then!

[moon_custafer]

The Lost Room (2006) was a three-part mini-series that threw around the word “quantum” a lot to handwave what was happening, but I’m just as happy to consider it urban fantasy (police detective gets mixed up in a secret subculture of people hunting down “Objects” possessed of idiosyncratic powers, all of which originally came from a mid-century motel room that was cut out of the universe one day in the early 1960s).

[sovay]

that threw around the word “quantum” a lot to handwave what was happening, but I’m just as happy to consider it urban fantasy

I would definitely count Slings & Arrows among my top fill-in-the-blank fantasy shows. I mean, a ghost is realism in Shakespeare, but.

(Most of the shows that I think of as fantastic but non-sf are animated, but I will stand by The Terror as well. Or if live-action is not a prerequisite, add Gravity Falls.)

[beccadg]

Since I only said "TV Shows"--not "Live-Action TV Shows"--Gravity Falls works (along with Dungeons and Dragons, and Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light).

[sovay]

Gravity Falls works (along with Dungeons and Dragons, and Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light).

Awesome. I'll also add Kyousougiga, then.

[sovay]

Farewell Mr Collings

That pair of gifs is well done.

2. Mysterious Cities of Gold (that was an epic ride when we were about 9 or so)

I saw that! Also a redubbed anime I had no idea what it was I had even seen until I was an adult, at which point the fact that it turned out to be technically based on a novel by Scott O'Dell made the steampunk even weirder! (I saw very little TV as a child that was not PBS or the Children's Television Workshop except on the one day a week when a friend of my mother's would pick me up after school because of my parents' work schedule and I would hang out with her children until dinnertime or so and they watched mainstream American cartoons and it was really confusing.)

2. The Librarians

I saw one episode of this, greatly enjoyed it, unsurprisingly imprinted on Jenkins, and have not managed to see any more.

[thisbluespirit]

That pair of gifs is well done.

Thank you! ♥

I saw that!

Oh, that's cool. I don't think I've ever found someone from the US who had - but people my sort of age from the UK and Australia still get very excited at its mere mentions. XD

I saw one episode of this, greatly enjoyed it, unsurprisingly imprinted on Jenkins, and have not managed to see any more.

Jenkins is the best no matter how many episodes you watch! ♥

[sovay]

I don't think I've ever found someone from the US who had - but people my sort of age from the UK and Australia still get very excited at its mere mentions.

It definitely aired here! And I have met other people who have seen it, although more since the advent of social media. I thought for years it was called Children of the Sun because of its theme song. I'd be fascinated to see the original version sometime. I still haven't read the Scott O'Dell, but I understand it's not as weird (read: not so much with the post-apocalyptic nuclear ancient civilizations), and therefore may or may not.

Jenkins is the best no matter how many episodes you watch!

That is very heartening to me.

[thisbluespirit]

It definitely aired here! And I have met other people who have seen it, although more since the advent of social media.

That's cool. I had just noticed that whenever we had any of these cartoon discussions that nobody from the US seemed to have any memory of that one - so whether it was patchily shown or a bit niche or something, I don't know. It was event telly in the UK when I was 10! I had to write down what happened for my bff who was in hospital one of the weeks it was on. (And then she went and watched it while she was in hospital and my work was wasted! People are so ungrateful. XD)

That was the best sing-a-long theme song ever, though: "Children of the Sun, someday soon your time is gonna come... la la la la la la..."

That is very heartening to me.

I like everyone else too, but they're not Jenkins. <3

[liadt]

Big 10! I have a friend who was a fan so I know it second hand.

My top 5 Shakespeare is different, lol.

I found a 'Midnight is a Place' interview recently if you haven't seen it. It does touch on child death though.

[thisbluespirit]

A Midnight Is A Place interview? Yes, please, Liadt! I would be interested.

My top 5 Shakespeare is different, lol.

Yes, I think mine is a bit random, based a lot on what I was forced to study for A-Level and also which BBC ones I liked. Although not entirely that, or RIII would probably #1. I think your list would have more Henry VIs in it!

[liadt]

Thank you <3 Yet again things have an added extra of rubbishness, like we need anymore:(((

It's all too easy to guess my top 4 Shakespeare;p

Here you go: Page one and two. And Jo Kendall too which is quite exciting for an ISIRTA fan.

[thisbluespirit]

*hugs* Honor Blackman was pretty awesome! It was sad news - I suppose at least she made it to 94!

Here you go: Page one and two. And Jo Kendall too which is quite exciting for an ISIRTA fan.

Oh, my goodness, after the dearth of info on him when I was first looking that is so much in one article I think I might fall over. But how sad! I'd no idea that he and his first wife had lost two children. Thank you for sharing! Where did you get it from?

[liadt]

94 and natural causes which is something I guess!

I didn't know either so it was a bit of a shock! The int is from 'TV Times' (where else) as I decided to complete my tour of 70's TVT. It was at the front of the magazine where they don't usually put kid's TV articles or do them the same as adult ones so I wonder if someone at TVT was a fan?

[thisbluespirit]

Has the TVT still not coughed up any JM? Prejudice, I call it!! XD (Like, what about The Hidden Truth and Frontier?!)

But thanks so much for sharing. I passed the link onto sovay as well. You are a trooper!!

94 and natural causes which is something I guess!

I think most of us would have to agree! BUt, yeah, 2020 was being bad enough without losing Cathy. ♥

[liadt]

TVT loves JM not! If only he'd done 'Crime & Punishment' then he would have had an int in the next decade;p When I went through the late 60's issues I think the best was a pic in the TV guide for 'Frontier' and I don't have any early 60's issues so 'The Hidden Truth' will have to stay hidden. TVT is less good the further it goes back. In the 60's they'll put a show on the front cover and then inside there is a short paragraph with a sentence from the producer, pah!

I've put the scans on the DC comm too so hopefully others can find it.

Yes, I am a trooper to negotiate the weird world of TVT!

[thisbluespirit]

I know, you sent me the Frontier stuff! I just hope and hope and hope still. Bah, though - he was apparently the main attraction in Frontier and it was quite a big deal. *sighs* And I have some newspaper things that are clearly snippets from longer press releases, so if I could only have magical access to a lot of popular magazines of the time, or just the Radio Times, I'm sure I'd find something!

Yes, I am a trooper to negotiate the weird world of TVT!

You are! ♥

[liadt]

Aw, maybe the BNA will one day once they run out of newspapers or BBC genome will add full copies of 60's RT's now we're in a new decade (come on beeb!).

[thisbluespirit]

Their project doesn't even include all the newspapers! (If they get more money they can damn well do some 20th C Bridgwater Mercury! XD)

... not that I wouldn't want the magazines as well. *sighs witsfully*

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, Liadt! I just heard about Honor Blackman. My commiserations. ♥