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Lurking Musings

~ Musings of a newly published writer

Lurking Musings

Category Archives: TV

The GQ of Downton Abbey

28 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Film, Musings, TV

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Clash of the Titans, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, Father Octavian, Game of Thrones, Geek Quotient, Hugh Bonneville, Iain Glen, Jessica Brown Findlay, Maggie Smith, Misfits, Penelope Wilton, Red Dwarf, Robert Bathurst, Ser Jorah Mormont, Shaun of the Dead


This is something I think may well become a regular feature of this blog, mainly because it seems to be something I do naturally whenever I watch something on TV. The basics are simple – take a non geek TV show or film and analyse the proportion of the cast who happen to have been involved in something else with geek credentials.

I have decided to name this concept the Geek Quotient. In fact, in the tradition of Mathematicians the world over, I would propose that it be dubbed the Lascelles Geek Quotient because my ego needs feeding. You can shorten it to LGQ if you like, or even GQ but with that option you risk both being confused with a popular fashion magazine and being glowered at by my ego.

The equation is rather simple:

Divide the number of actors in the cast who have been in geeky related shows by the total number of cast members.

So, why have I chosen Downton Abbey for the debut of this exciting new concept in geek mathematics? Well, I am of the opinion that this show will likely score high based on a rather cursory glance at the cast list.

For those who don’t know, Downton Abbey is an ITV period drama set in Yorkshire in a period (currently) between the sinking of the Titanic and the advent of the 1920s. It follows the inhabitants of the eponynmous stately home, both the noble family that owns it and their many servants, as they live through such horrific historical events as the first world war and the appearance of the telephone. As is normal for such period dramas, the cast is replete with quality British actors of the type who also often get roles in sci fi and fantasy both in the UK and Hollywood. Some are even rather better known for their geek roles than their involvement in this show…

Maggie Smith as Thetis in Clash of the Titans

Now, my calculation of Downton’s GQ is 0.633 based on examining the 49 cast members listed on ImdB and determining that 31 of them have a link to some geek TV show or film. This is assuming that ‘Geek TV show or film’ is defined as something with overt supernatural or science fiction elements. Pirates of the Carribean counts, for example, whereas Hornblower (which many of the cast do have roles in too) does not. This is not a surprising result given that the cast includes Maggie Smith (with credits as far back as the original Clash of Titans films and, of course, her recent geek cred from the Harry Potter films), Iain Glen (who is notable as Ser Jorah Mormont in Game of Thrones as well as Father Octavian in Doctor Who) and Penelope Wilton (excellent as Prime Minister Harriet Jones  in Doctor Who, not to mention Shaun’s mum in Shaun of the Dead) but also has

The beard makes him completely unrecognisable…

a number of people who have done one off guest appearances on various shows. For example, Jessica Brown Findlay, who plays the youngest daughter, was in one episode of Misfits and Hugh Bonneville, who plays Earl Grantham, was almost unrecognisable behind a massive beard as a pirate in a recent episode of Doctor Who. Out of all of these, many of which I spotted without recourse to the internet, one truly took me by surprise. For much of the series, I looked at the actor who played Sir Anthony Strallen (Robert Bathurst) and tried to work out where I had seen him before. Turns out he actually played the role of Todhunter in Red Dwarf as well as Prince Henry in the original series of Blackadder…

Todhunter

Sir Anthony Strallen

So, there you have it. Do you think I have the calculation of this correct? Do you know of any other films or TV shows which might beat this score? Feel free to comment below…

[Vampire Month] Being Human: Making History

20 Tuesday Mar 2012

Posted by D.A Lascelles in TV

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Being Human, reviews, Vampires


My next Being Human review is now live…

http://www.cultbritannia.co.uk/2012/03/20/being-human-making-history-review/

[Review] Being Human 1955

13 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Guest posts, Reviews, TV

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Tags

Being Human, Cult Britannia, guest blogging, guest posts, horror, reviews


My review of this week’s Being Human episode (Being Human: 1955 which so sounds like it should be a spin off series…) is now up for all to read on the Cult Britannia website. Feel free to pop over there and leave a comment saying what you thought of the episode or leave a comment or two here.

After a couple of comments on last week’s review, you may like to know that this week’s is guaranteed spoiler free. It is, however, still high in polyunsaturated comedy ritual magic which studies* have found may be linked to some disease or other. I suggest a diet of fish high in Omega 3s to overcome this.

*Well, vague, wibbly wobbly concerns turned into tabloid hysteria. Comedy ritual magic may also have caused the current ‘snowpocalypse’ according to some bloke I met in the pub yesterday. If a second bloke confirms it, I’ll be sure to let the Daily Mail know…

Review – Being Human: Eve of the War (SE4 Ep 1)

06 Monday Feb 2012

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Reviews, TV

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

BBC3, Being Human, horror, reviews, Vampire, Werewolf


As you are all well aware by now (well, at least I hope you are…) I’ve done regular reviews of self published books over at the epublish a book site. I also occasionally on this blog comment on films, TV and other SFF stuff that I hear about and have an opinion on. Well, now I have expanded that small empire of reviewage into something a little bigger. A sort of medium sized, semi detached empirette with a bigger garden and room for an extension…

In other words, I am now doing reviews for Cult Britannia, a website all about British cult TV, and my first review can be seen if you click the direct link below:

http://www.cultbritannia.co.uk/2012/02/06/being-human-eve-of-the-war-review/

As things currently stand, I will be doing reviews of the first two episodes of Being Human series 4 at least. I may be doing reviews of other episodes in the series and possibly reviews of other shows and general opinion articles as things progress. Feel free to pop on over there and see what I had to say about episode one and leave a comment if you disagree with me (or even if you agree with me…).

A good writer goes to war

26 Saturday Nov 2011

Posted by D.A Lascelles in Musings, TV

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Tags

Coupling, Doctor Who, Plotting, reviews, Russel T Davies, Steve Moffat


This week there were three important things going on. Two of them were important mainly to Americans while the other is an occasion which is often under-celebrated but is still dear to the hearts of all British Sci Fi geeks (and geeks worldwide, of course).

I speak, of course, of Thanksgiving, the anniversary of the Assassination of JFK and the anniversary of the first ever broadcast of Doctor Who. The last two are inextricably linked because, as legend has it, the BBC had to delay the broadcast of An Unearthly Child (episode one of the first series of Doctor Who) when the news of the Presidential assassination broke. Also, there was a photograph of the Doctor in Dallas at the time of the assassination shown in an episode of the new series, which ties the two together even closer*. As far as I am aware, Thanksgiving has nothing whatsoever to do with Doctor Who, though I can imagine at some point in the future there could potentially be a Pilgrim/Turkey/Superbowl themed episode in which the Doctor faces an alien horde of American Football players. Well, it could happen.**

So, to celebrate the anniversary, I decided to re-watch ‘A Good Man Goes to War’, the mid series climax of series six which set things up for the second half of series six. It was while watching this that I began to have some ponderings.

Now, I am aware that Stephen Moffat’s take on Who has not been as popular with some as it might have been. There has been a lot of noise on the internets about how Matt Smith is not as good as David Tennant (almost as much as there was about David Tennant not being as good as Christopher Ecclestone… and frankly, every Doctor and companion since William Hartnell has had their supporters and decriers) and I can imagine that some of the weirder elements of Moffat’s stories to date might confuse and annoy some viewers. However, I am personally of the opinion that he is the best man for the job of showrunner on this franchise. I shall explain why.

Moffat has an almost unique skill with storytelling. It is obvious in almost everything he does. I would almost hazard a guess that he sees the structure of story in a different way to the majority of writers and uses this to his advantage. Even as far back as Coupling, the quirky sitcom he wrote way back in 2000 and which ran for 4 years, he was showing a strange way of plotting and presenting his stories for television. Coupling showcased stories running in parallel on split screens, real time progression similar to that seen on 24 and other little touches such as replaying scenes from the PoV of different characters. There were in this mix some elements of non-linear storytelling too – touches which might not have seemed relevant on initial glance by the viewer but which later, when other elements are brought to light, take on a whole new meaning. Moffat would sometimes spend an entire episode building up to a joke, taking a throwaway comment from the start of the story and imbuing it with comedic meaning later. Not all of these touches were unique – some of them were seen in other comedy shows such as Father Ted and the IT Crowd – however, Moffat made good use of them. He also demonstrated in Coupling an ability to really understand human relationships and write a damned good romance plot without mawkish sentimentalism or over the top drama. Whether it was the occasionally rocky long term relationship between Susan and Steve (a couple with names frighteningly similar to him and his wife…), the doomed and often unrequited affairs of ubergeek, Jeff, or the ‘we’re just friends, honest’ romance between Patrick and Sally he managed to make the viewers feel connected to the people involved. It hurts when Jeff got rebuffed because he said something inappropriate and you felt sorry for Steve when he gets dumped (again) for something he said or did.

These are the skills that Moffat brought to the episodes he wrote during Russel T Davies’s reign as showrunner of Doctor Who. The benefit of those skills is quite clear in episodes like The Girl in the Fireplace and Blink, both considered to be among the best episodes of any Doctor Who series ever. He pulls out all the stops in those skills in series 5 and series 6 when he pulls together an elaborate pair of series long stories in which elements seemingly appear randomly but are, in fact, important parts of an overall scheme which does not make sense until the final episodes. Some think that it was ambitious of Russel T Davies to run storylines that ran entire series instead of sticking to standalones, Moffat has gone one better and threaded a single story (the mystery of River Song – warning, SPOILERS) through not only two series he has managed himself but also at least two episodes (Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead) in a series he was not in charge of. Some of that story is running in reverse and there are bits of it scattered all over the place in little clues and tid bits. That level of plotting takes, I think, an exceptional mind capable of managing to organise many different threads under what is almost certainly a very high pressure circumstance.

Now, not to say there are no faults to be seen here. Sometimes he goes too far with the silliness (though even the most ludicrous of his plots, such as ‘A good man goes to war‘ and ‘The Big Bang‘ where incredibly silly things are done to time and space, he seems to pull it off with panache and have us believing it is all possible). Some of his elements are overused, such as the Weeping Angels (a great idea but better in small doses) and I do worry that someday he may try to be too clever and lose all his audience. However, overall, everything he has written so far for the series has not suffered for these flaws and I hope that this continues to be the case.

So, say what you like about Matt Smith as the Doctor. I personally like him and think he does a great job but I know some don’t. He, however, is not entirely to blame for the success of the current run of Doctor Who. I lay that fault entirely at the feet of a man who clearly sees the patterns of time and space in much the same way as The Doctor does, especially where they relate to storylines and plot and bizarre surprises.

* Series 1, episode One – Rose. The conspiracy theorist has a photo which places Christopher Ecclestone in the crowd at Dallas.

** If anyone in the BBC wants me to write this episode, you may contact me through this blog. I am always willing to oblige in these matters 🙂

Being a Brit

17 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by D.A Lascelles in TV

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Adelle De Witt, Anthony Stewart Head, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, Eliza Dushku, Firefly, Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion, Olivia Williams, Rupert Giles, Sarah Michelle Gellar


I feel I should warn you – this post is at risk of getting a little fanboyish. I think it is only fair that you get this warning because, as I am sure we are all aware, there are dangers inherent in second hand fanboyishness and it is my civic duty to ensure that you are saved from it.

Now that the ‘official government health warning’ is out of the way, I can get on with what I want to talk about today. Joss Whedon.

There, see, look what happened. The moment I say his name someone squeals and faints. It’s only relief I was not planning to talk about Nathan Fillion… Oh, bugger… Er, I’ll wait until the paramedics have sorted everyone out before I continue.

So, yes, Joss Whedon. I don’t think I need to bother with any introductions. I suspect that anyone with any claim to a semblance of geekdom is at least aware of the name of someone who is possibly one of the more influential people in geekery. He brought us Buffy the Vampire Slayer and revolutionised perceptions of horror while demonstrating that Sarah Michelle Gellar and Eliza Dusku look really hot in leather pants. He brought us Firefly and showed us that you do indeed get cowboys in space and that Nathan Fillion looks hot in cowboy duds. He created Dr. Horrible and showed how success is possible even without the big business backing and that Nathan Fillion looks hot in skintight t-shirts. He brought us Dollhouse and demonstrated that Eliza Dusku looks really hot in leather pants. Oh, and there was some quite profound lesson about equality, slavery and not treating people like objects in there too.

So, needless to say, he has had an influence and there has been much said about his attitude to strong women (‘Why do I write strong female characters?’), his feminist ideals both positively (Joss Whedon on Feminism) and negatively (A Rapist’s view of the world), his ability to subvert stereotypes (Mal’s best moments)  and concerns that he intends to kill off all the much loved Avengers characters in the upcoming film (‘What to expect when expecting Joss Whedon’s Avengers’ – pay especial attention to the comment about a major death in act 3).

What I want to talk about is his attitude to the British. In particular the English. You see, from the point of view of us over here in this tiny little kingdom of ours, the US has a strange opinion of us. ‘English’ accents are either very RP (to the extent that you would believe everyone is related to the Queen and went to the same elocution teacher) or so cockney that ‘within the sound of Bow bells’ can be interpreted as being as far away from London as Northumberland. We are invariably the bad guys in most Hollywood portrayals. As Eddie Izzard does say on one of his stand up tours, we are the only ethnicity it is still OK to demonise. I often find myself cringing whenever I see a British character portrayed on screen by American writers and directors and while many great actors do their level best to keep the side up they often end up mired in the cliches.

Now, Joss Whedon is guilty of these crimes. I am not denying that. His English characters (Buffy’s Rupert Giles, Dollhouse’s Adelle De Witt , Firefly’s Badger among others) display a cornucopia of stereotypes from the aforementioned RP accent to a liking for tea. However, the portrayals often come across as more than the stereotypes. I am not sure why this is, it seems hard to analyse the reasons for it. Perhaps it is due to the great acting talent that is employed in these characters (because it cannot be denied that there is some talent here). Perhaps it is how that talent is directed or how well it is written. However it comes about, English characters in Joss Whedon productions seem to acquire a vitality and depth which is often lost in other portrayals of ‘Englishness’ in American productions. Rupert Giles, for example, is overtly the stiff upper lipped English academic stereotype but as you delve deeper into his character you see the tearaway teenager he once was, before he became a Watcher, and the dodgy demon summoning occultist he was at University. Then there is the fatherly affection he has for the Slayer which is very understated but still present in every scene Anthony Stewart Head has with Sarah Michelle Gellar. Some of these elements come out in occasional, teasing flashes and you come to realise that the ‘bumbling librarian’ is actually a very clever front based on expectations.

Adelle De Witt is similar. On first viewing she is cold, efficient and immoral; all played excellently by Olivia Williams. Willing to serve in a role that is actually a high class, glorified Madam in a very expensive brothel. There are hints she does this for wealth and power – the connections to the Rossum corporation clearly guaranteeing both. However, as Dollhouse progresses, we see cracks in the Ice Maiden facade. They first appear in the first season episode Echoes (episode 7) when a drug causes all characters involved to reveal snippets of their secret inner selves and from that point on more and more of the ‘inner De Witt’ comes to the fore. As the series progresses we see less of the ice maiden, a common stereotype for strong English women, and more of the concerned mother who cares for all under her charge. As season two progresses, you see her face her demons and choose a side in the upcoming conflict between Rossum and the rest of the world, finally picking a side based on moral grounds rather than profit. In De Witt’s case, I believe it is a case of having to repress her natural instincts in favour of succeeding in a career and then facing a situation that even she cannot ignore.

Perhaps what we have here is a combination of Whedon’s desire to approach genre stereotypes and subvert them – showing the viewer an unexpected outcome to the one they expect – combined with an ability of skilled actors and writers to really get under the skin of these characters and  give them a great deal of depth. It applies to all the characters portrayed in the Whedonverse but I think it is especially relevant to his English characters because it is so rare to see them portrayed as being more than the stereotype. Also because, you know, I’m English and I like to see some role models of our greatest stereotypes done well.

And note, not once did I mention that his greatest British creation, the Cockerny Vampire Spike, is played by an American… 🙂

I am also wondering what we might expect in The Avengers. Will we get some interesting, British characters added to the Marvel universe?

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