Meme-y time!

[mymetalphantom]

I should be doing something productive. I did this instead. elaby gave me these five things to write about:

Holmes/Lestrade, Tim Stamper, Clive Merrison, icon-making, Russian!Holmes-and-Watson.

Lots of writing!


Holmes/Lestrade – A love that does not hold up to close scrutiny and is mainly inspired by the fangirling of a lesser known character actor.

This was a ‘ship that slowly snuck up on me like a...sneaky thing. I try very hard to convince myself that it was born from canon, but really if I’m being brutally honest with myself it’s based mainly on Granada’s adaptations. Before Granada I had a hard time picturing Lestrade; he was unclear even a little bit blurry in my mind as I read canon, but since Granada he has been solidified finally and will always be Colin Jeavons now. He is the only actor who has ever totally influenced my view of a canon character. Now he and my mental image of Sherlock Holmes look bizarrely beautiful together when I imagine it and I am compelled to slash them.

I love the fact that their relationship is so combative. They disagree on almost everything and they’re constantly taking swipes at each other proving that, if nothing else, there is passion in their relationship.

However, this is not a ‘ship that, in my mind, can ever really end well. I have a love for angsty, totally dysfunctional romances. I always see this relationship as being mostly one sided, with Lestrade simultaneously being in awe of, slightly intimidated by, annoyed with and oddly attracted to Holmes. He never falls into the hero-worshipping trap that Watson occasionally gets caught in and, in fact, I would suggest that most of the time he doesn’t particularly like Holmes all that much. Holmes almost certainly has very little time for Lestrade in the early days. Somehow this relationship develops over time to the point where it is common practice for Lestrade to just pop over for a drink, as mentioned in SIXN. It is really no great leap of the slasher’s imagination to envisage a more intimate relationship.

I also feel this ‘ship makes great comedy. I may be incapable of writing fluff but I love to add a touch of humour to anything I write.




Tim Stamper – A love that goes against all my political principles and is, again, mainly inspired by the fangirling of a lesser known character actor.

Just before I start I just wanted to share the lol moment I had when listening to the commentary track on House of Cards. Producer Ken Riddington described Colin Jeavons as “a wonderful pair of eyes.” Oh Ken, you’re so right.

Anyway, yeah, Tim Stamper is horrid really. Everything I hate about a politician, a smug, power hungry, hard-right Conservative. In fact, give him a beard and he would be everything I loathe about humanity.

Yet actually I really love him.

He wasn’t in the first book. There is a vague mention of a junior whip but that’s about as close as it comes really. Stamper is totally Davies’s creation and at first rather serves as a narrative technique more than an actually character. When Urquhart is plotting the downfall of his political opponents in House of Cards, as the book is written in the third person, his actions and motivations are just explained very simply. However as film narrative doesn’t work in the same way there needs to a discussion about each character and what their flaws are so that the audience can stay informed, which is where Stamper fits in. Simple.

However, good characters that are well performed are hard to get rid of, short of sticking them in a car and blowing them up (and even then you must have a jolly good reason). So in the sequel Michael Dobbs took the character of Stamper and ran with it. Unfortunately he didn’t run very far with it and he dropped it somewhere around the middle of the story leaving adapter Andrew Davies to rewrite him for the programme. I don’t think Dobbs quite understood what Stamper was all about.

He’s in love with Urquhart, maybe not in the physical sense that most people understand but in an all consuming, spellbound sort of way. Just like Mattie and Sarah he’s seduced by the power that surrounds Urquhart but in a much more devastating way.

Sarah: He has my loyalty, I’m in love with him...
Stamper: Are you? I wonder if you understand the meaning of the word.

Well, maybe she does but doesn’t take it quite as far as you do, Tim. Love soon dies for Sarah when she finds out the true extent of Urquhart’s villainy. Her conscience and her heart do battle for a while but eventually her conscience wins out. Stamper on the other hand knows that Urquhart schemed his way to power (and was even complicit in it). He knows that he killed O’Neill and by the looks of it probably listened to the tape of Mattie’s death about a million times, yet love remained. He is without conscience. Maybe he crushed it to stay close to Urquhart. [/person canon]

Yet there is a limit to even Stamper’s adoration. After everything he does for Urquhart, scheming, plotting and covering up murders etc., Urquhart just kind of drops him. Stamper’s plotting is more about revenge than acquiring power and at the point when you hear about his plan, anyone who’s ever seen/read Richard III knows that Urquhart’s little Buckingham is gonna get it!

Stamper is complex. He’s horrible! Just listen to some of his lines! If House of Cards/To Play the King is ever shown before the watershed nearly all of Stamper’s lines are cut lol. Yet despite this you actually feel sorry for him. As a more twisted spectator I love the scenes where Urquhart and Stamper gang up on people. The death of their relationship is actually quite upsetting and even though I might not agree with him, I do think Urquhart treated Stamper worse than Collingridge treated Urquhart. Shame on you Francis!

I think that as a writer Andrew Davies is so-so. Some of his stuff is brilliant but occasionally he falls into the trap of writing in clichés. House of Cards is utterly brilliant and To Play the King is pretty good too. Tim Stamper is probably the best character that Davies has created.




Clive Merrison – The man whose voice I shall forever hear when I read Sherlock Holmes. Yes even in all your fics!

I first heard Clive Merrison’s Sherlock Holmes when I tuned in to BBC 7 on a whim and listened to The Hound of the Baskervilles. I was totally hooked from that moment. He has the perfect Holmes voice really; theatrical in some places but then so deliciously lackadaisical when Holmes is having one of his...less lucid moments shall we say. There’s also a sharp clarity in his voice that more than makes up for the fact that we cannot see when he’s giving someone a piercing look. He knows how to use silence very effectively too, which sounds stupid when I word it like that but I’m sure you catch my meaning. He knows precisely how long to draw a silent pause out for to keep you in suspense but not to bore you. The moment that springs to mind is in A Scandal in Bohemia, when Watson goes to visit him after a long absence. There are a few awkward pauses which make you wonder whether he’s actually pissed off at Watson and doesn’t want to talk to him. Then he quickly rattles of that list of observations and they both laugh and you realise that everything’s all right. Clever really. Radio acting is quite an art in itself.

That isn’t to say that he’s only a good radio actor. Au contraire, he’s a brilliant actor all round; another of those staple British actors who’s been in at least one episode of pretty much every long running British television programme and has been in hundreds of other programmes, films and plays. Off the top of my head I can recommend Reilly, Ace of Spies and The History Boys (where he plays the annoying headmaster so well I find myself cringing). Also any serial British Dramas you happen to be watching, eventually he’ll pop up in one of them (or all of them).

I have this wonderful idea for a radio drama and he would be perfect for the lead character. So perfect that any time I make notes on it I can hear him speak the lines. This does of course mean that it will never be written as anybody else playing the role would just disappoint me.

Oh, also he said that Patrick Troughton was sexy, therefore proving that Clive Merrison > the universe.




Icon-making – The obsessive need to decorate my life with fandom-y stuff.

Yes, icon-making really falls into that category along with having lots of posters dotted around the house and obsessively collecting pictures of any fandom I’m in.

I’ll watch a programme or film and I’ll see a really good shot and think, “um, that’d make a nice icon” and nine times out of ten it does (when I can be bothered to make screencaps). Then it’s just a matter of cropping it right and sorting out the colourisation. Screencaps from older programmes/films tend to be rather fuzzy in quality and bizarrely orange in colour, which is very annoying. My recent attempts to make icons from Granada’s Jeeves and Wooster have been frustrated by the odd quality of the caps I’m using. I will persist.

Most of the icons I make are for personal use on my own LJ (not that you aren’t welcome to pinch any or all of them of course) but occasionally if I think a batch are particularly good then I’ll post them somewhere. I haven’t made many icon posts really as my icons are only any good if I’m really feeling in the mood to make them because my artistic skills are pretty negligible. I mean, I’d love to be more artistic and I’ve always wanted to be able draw (if only to finally commit to paper the image of Sherlock Holmes in my head) but I was always better at the drama and music side of artistry.

I also tend to make textless icons. This is for two reasons. One, PSP is rubbish with text really. It’s often fuzzy or pixelated and generally quite horrible. Two, I never really know what to put. The point of a good icon is surely saying everything that needs to be said with a small picture. Sometimes people, rather than leave an icon without text, will crowbar some obscure text into it. It really isn’t necessary. That’s probably just a personal thing though.

Also, animated icons? More trouble than they’re worth. I’ve made precisely two decent ones after thousands of attempts.




Russian!Holmes-and-Watson – In which my love for Holmes, my Russophilia and my slashy tendencies combine.

Let’s start with Russian!Watson. Physically he is very much what I imagine Watson to be, although perhaps the Watson in my head is slightly broader. In personality though he is precisely how I imagine him. There is something strong and intense and actually rather intimidating about Solomin’s Watson; someone who is clearly very caring but doesn’t take any crap of anyone, least of all Holmes. He is the perfect partner for Holmes, which is why out of all the adaptations (with the notable exception of Bert Coules’s radio version which is perfect in my mind) the Russian Holmes and Watson have the healthiest relationship. It is a relationship sustained by a desire to be together rather than either character being dependent upon the other. I like this because, first and foremost, when you remove every other element, for me the stories are about two friends solving crimes.

Now, the Holmes of this version is also a more personable character. I would be tempted to say that maybe Vasily Livanov’s Holmes is a little bit too cute were it not for his aloofness and casual disregard for anything that doesn’t interest him. I would take that interpretation over say...Rupert Everett’s any day.

They are probably the most tactile of all the Holmeses and Watsons to grace the screen. They hug when they are pleased to see each other, there’s that whole scene in the carriage after Watson has been knocked unconscious, there are affectionate looks! Joy! Western versions of Holmes have always avoided this sort of closeness, confining those sorts of scenes to particularly dramatic moments. Perhaps mistakenly.

Plus, Livanov and Solomin? Both very easy on the eye. There, any depths you may have hitherto seen in my personality have been revealed as a mere facade. I am in fact incredibly shallow lol.


tl;dr? I really like those five things!

Comments

[janeturenne.livejournal.com]

I agree with pretty much everything you have to say about H/L. I was attempting to grab screencaps from NORW and SIXN the other day (I need a new Lestrade icon badly) and the extreme slowed-down-itude forced me into sudden awareness of the way Jeremy Brett and Colin Jeavons move around each other, and all I can say is oh LORD. It's utterly spellbinding-- they dance, I swear, sort of like magnets with the same polarization, moving in concert but always with distance between them. NORW, from about 8:10 to 8:32, was what really got me, but in other places too, the body language is breathtaking. I resist the urge to run off and write H/L only with the knowledge that the pairing rests in your competent hands :) *heads back to her W/L instead*

He is the only actor who has ever totally influenced my view of a canon character

Ditto! Rosalie Williams' Mrs. Hudson comes close, but even she doesn't own the character as completely as Colin Jeavons owns Lestrade...

And I absolutely understand and agree about Clive Merrison and silence. I once heard a professional actor say that the most difficult thing to do on stage is be still, and that he got his best reviews for a part with almost no lines because he managed to teach himself to do nothing. Same applies for radio-- it's got to be incredibly difficult to give in to keeping silent, even when nothing is the right thing to say, and Merrison does it brilliantly. And speaks brilliantly too, of course.

Also, for the Holmes slasher these adaptations are like a Christmas present

Yes. YES. Yes!

That is all :P

[alek-morse.livejournal.com]

/// Also, for the Holmes slasher these adaptations are like a Christmas present

Yes. YES. Yes! ///

Here is paradoxe... The interesting is that Russian fans of Brett/Holmes (true, they are not many ones) rather see slash flavour in the Granada series. Maybe, because Jeremy Brett.

Russian fans of Livanov and Solomin, as a rule, don't see that flavour.

...By the way, in his interviews Livanov always emphasizes their duo was so successful, because they didn't play friendship, but actually were the friends.

"An actor can play love-story convicingly, even if he is not love in a partner. Love can have not be mutual. But friendship is ONLY mutual..."

So, as you see, no any hint on slash...

[the-arethusa.livejournal.com]

Hi!

There is an interesting paradox there!

First off, the difference in cultural interpretations is what first sparked my interest in the Russian Holmes adaptations. On viewing them I found them to be in many ways, much closer to my own interpretation of canon than the Hollywood version, which is ironic considering Britain and America are supposed to be culturally more similar than Russia and Britain.

As I said in my post, the physical closeness between the two characters in the Russian version is a novelty for people who have been brought up on British and American versions. It is one of my favourite aspects of The Russian version.

If you're a slash fan you're going to see slash in physical closeness. It's just a matter of interpretation.

...By the way, in his interviews Livanov always emphasizes their duo was so successful, because they didn't play friendship, but actually were the friends.

I can well believe it! As I said in my post:

the Russian Holmes and Watson have the healthiest relationship. It is a relationship sustained by a desire to be together rather than either character being dependent upon the other. I like this because, first and foremost, when you remove every other element, for me the stories are about two friends solving crimes.

When I remove all the fannish elements, for me these stories are about friendship and the thing I most admire about Russia's version is the easy way in which both actors portray this friendship. In a more serious essay I would not mention the "slash" element as it's unimportant and very, very subjective. This was not a serious essay :)

[janeturenne.livejournal.com]

As a whole, actually, I think you're right-- there's more tension, more chemistry in Granada. But there's also very little touching, and, in particular, not a single hug (that I can recall... there's that sideways thingy at the end of GREE, but with Sophie on the other side, and anyway the appeal of that bit, to me, is the handholding. But I digress). Not a proper full on hug-hug, anyway, the kind that Livanov and Solomin do ALL THE TIME, and which are well-prized by fangirls the world over. And one cannot deny the scene in The Hunt for the Tiger with the taking off of the hat and scarf and oh goodness it makes me swoon.

[the-arethusa.livejournal.com]

And one cannot deny the scene in The Hunt for the Tiger with the taking off of the hat and scarf and oh goodness it makes me swoon.

Yes! I love that bit!

[the-arethusa.livejournal.com]

I was attempting to grab screencaps from NORW and SIXN the other day

I find it difficult to get good Lestrade caps. Most of the ones I made just looked rubbish...but then I really do suck at capping stuff.

I agree Jeremy Brett and Colin Jeavons really work well together. I love it in NORW when Lestrade starts to ask Holmes what he's playing at with the straw and water and Holmes waves his hand to make him speak lower. Lestrade just looks so annoyed at having the hand waved in his face. It's a small moment but it always makes me smile.

[janeturenne.livejournal.com]

I think it's just that much of the appeal of Colin Jeavons' portrayal is in the way he moves-- one might almost say a certain twitchiness. I definitely had trouble trying to cap him too.

[elaby.livejournal.com]

mainly inspired by the fangirling of a lesser known character actor.

And you've made me love him so darn hard. I'll be eternally in your debt for that XD

Now he and my mental image of Sherlock Holmes look bizarrely beautiful together when I imagine it and I am compelled to slash them.

The way you write them, it's no wonder *floats off on a little shippy cloud*

I always see this relationship as being mostly one sided, with Lestrade simultaneously being in awe of, slightly intimidated by, annoyed with and oddly attracted to Holmes.

I think you're totally right, and I love how all of those emotions come together. It makes for really interesting contemplation (not to mention fic!)

Producer Ken Riddington described Colin Jeavons as “a wonderful pair of eyes.”

Holy cow, his eyes. I just... *wibble* They're so expressive and dark and gorgeous. It doesn't even matter how old he is!

short of sticking them in a car and blowing them up

Meep o_o Poor Stamper! I love him too, for all the reasons you've said, in spite of his horribleness. Possibly because of his horribleness - what I appreciate about fiction is that I can love evil, awful characters in fiction and not feel obligated to love their real-life counterparts.

Just like Mattie and Sarah he’s seduced by the power that surrounds Urquhart but in a much more devastating way.

Yes! God, yes. He's really tragic, even though a viewer would have to think about it pretty hard to notice it. And "spellbound" is the most perfect word for it. Poor Stamper.

He is without conscience. Maybe he crushed it to stay close to Urquhart. [/person canon]

And now it's mine XD He would have to, in order to do what Urquhart asked him all the time - and you know he'd do exactly what Urquhart asked until he'd been thrown down one too many times.

anyone who’s ever seen/read Richard III knows that Urquhart’s little Buckingham is gonna get it!

Ahaha! *glomps you* You win for that analogy!

If House of Cards/To Play the King is ever shown before the watershed nearly all of Stamper’s lines are cut lol.

Hee! Really? I expect all the boobs in The Final Cut are omitted as well. There really isn't a watershed in American TV, as far as I know, because they'd never have nudity or swearing worse than "damn/hell/ass." At least not on network TV... HBO has whatever they want XD

The death of their relationship is actually quite upsetting

Considering Colin Jeavons's performance, it's no wonder. Ow.

There’s also a sharp clarity in his voice that more than makes up for the fact that we cannot see when he’s giving someone a piercing look.

YES. He's so, so amazing - you can tell what expression he's wearing by the tone of his voice. And you're right about his silences. They say so much, which I feel is an essential Holmes trait.

I NEED to see him in live action sometime!

I also LOVE your textless icons, because they're textless and awesome that way.

the Russian Holmes and Watson have the healthiest relationship.

That's a great point! They really do, and I think it's like you said - because Solomin's Watson holds his own and doesn't let Holmes push him around or make him feel bad (much).

It is a relationship sustained by a desire to be together rather than either character being dependent upon the other.

This makes it an utter delight to watch, especially in comparison with some of the other adaptations. Eee!

Western versions of Holmes have always avoided this sort of closeness, confining those sorts of scenes to particularly dramatic moments.

Yeah, and that makes me sad! In some of them, even the dramatic scenes don't get so much as an embrace. I love Livanov and Solomin's tactility.

Not too long; totally read! XD

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Ooh, also! Words for me! Please? I've done it once but they weren't words from you, so ^_^

[the-arethusa.livejournal.com]

Okay, but mine are also mostly for my own benefit ;) Starsky & Hutch, fanart, BBC Radio Holmes adaptations, Hamlet/Horatio, Star Trek. (which is more than five words but...meh).

[elaby.livejournal.com]

No, those are perfect! Thank you! *dances*

[the-arethusa.livejournal.com]

And you've made me love him so darn hard

WooHoo! That was totally my intention! Mind you he's not hard to love really, is he?

It makes for really interesting contemplation(not to mention fic!)

I have soooo many fic ideas that I just don't know what to do with myself! Where do I even begin?

Holy cow, his eyes. I just... *wibble* They're so expressive and dark and gorgeous. It doesn't even matter how old he is!

*wibbles along with you* I don't know why but I always find it rather amusing that he is actually older that Ian Richardson, especially since Urquhart is clearly meant to be the older one.


Well, I suppose not that many of Stamper's lines are cut (I love exaggeration!) but I find that the most memorable lines are the more vulgar ones so I miss them when they're not there.

In Britain you can use most expletives after nine o'clock (not the stronger ones though) and you can show certain amounts of violence and sex. After ten o'clock you can get away with pretty much anything as long as it's "artistically justifiable". I wouldn't change British television for the world!

I NEED to see him in live action sometime!

Here you go! Just skip to 6:10 if you don't want to watch the whole thing. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wN4LJg4OpNQ). Just a small role, but this is one of my favourite comedies.

[elaby.livejournal.com]

Mind you he's not hard to love really, is he?

Not at ALL XD I don't know if I love him because I love Lestrade and he plays the best Lestrade I've ever seen, or I love Lestrade because he's so darn good at playing him. Probably a combination.

I have soooo many fic ideas that I just don't know what to do with myself! Where do I even begin?

Anywhere would be great with me! XD

And eeeee, thank you! I will so watch that when I'm somewhere I can listen to it *in a coffee shop*

[the-arethusa.livejournal.com]

Probably a combination

Probably. I first saw him as Tim Stamper and just thought he was brilliant (horrible yes but so brilliant). Once I'd seen that it seemed like every programme I watched I was like "there's that guy again!" lol.

[happy-lizard.livejournal.com]

OK, I just sat here nodding and squeeing at the screen. I am absolutely in agreement with everything, especially about Tim Stamper and Holmes/Lestrade (not to mention my beloved CJ).

The only difference is you have put it much more coherently than I would have ever been able to.

[the-arethusa.livejournal.com]

Ah, there's so much CJ love going on here at the moment! It makes me very happy! *bounces*

Glad I could bring you some squee!

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