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now that I have all but one program working on my pc now, and am happy with the upgrade (firefox and thunderbird are behaving better than usual, actually, and azureus and emule are doing their job, once i disabled the 3 firewalls that were bizarrely installed !!), I've had a few minutes to look at a very special set of downloads that finished overnight.
Sapphire and Steel Assignments 3 and 6 completed overnight. I LOVE them all.
They're all just as the voices in All Fall Down (Big Finish) would have me think, though I think Susannah Harker's Sapphire is a bit more sentimental, and Lumley's Sapphire is detached while still doing her 'duty' as the female, but that's possibly influenced by my experiences of Patsy in AbFab, the selfish drugged up hasbeen, kwim? Not so keen on her blonde wig either.
David McCallum's Steel is perfect, EXACTLY what i pictured David Warner doing in the audios, grabbing people, roughing them up and making things happen, not all special-skills'ed up, but the rough guy, hence his name, Steel.
And need I mention Silver? OMG. He's as superb in the 80s as he is on audio, as he is the same actor, played Poul in Robots of Death, played Mawdryn in Mawdryn Undead, and also had a small cameo in The Thirty Nine Steps (1978) - David Collings.
(All the best actors are named David Warner, David Tennant, David Collings, David McCallum, need I go on? If i ever have a son, i'm going to name him David. Yes.)
The show has atmos, mythos, the characterisations are deep and meaningful; the show absolutely REELED me in by having an almost total utter lack of action whatsoever, because its the STORY that counts, not the effects. I love a good STORY, not special effects, or action, or overacting and shouting like our beloved Mr Tennant...
Sapphire, Silver, and Steel - the elementals. Fascinating beings with curious and interesting powers, and I very much like what they represent, how they do what they do, their individual talents and relationships between each other, etc. Its a very original idea, very cerebral and intelligent, and it appeals to me very much. Well done P J Hammond. You can bet I'll download the other 4 episodes, yes.
I really like the series. I like 4 or 6 parts, or even 8 parts. I LIKE the pace, the total lack of pressing fantastic action, and the COMPLETE AND STARK CONTRAST to New Who, who wants you to get emotionally invested and the whole problem solved in 45 minutes. PAH.
*headdesk* at Rusty, who needs to know what REAL TV is like - Rusty, sit down and watch some Sapphire and Steel to learn how to pace a tv show, eh?
Sapphire and Steel Assignments 3 and 6 completed overnight. I LOVE them all.
They're all just as the voices in All Fall Down (Big Finish) would have me think, though I think Susannah Harker's Sapphire is a bit more sentimental, and Lumley's Sapphire is detached while still doing her 'duty' as the female, but that's possibly influenced by my experiences of Patsy in AbFab, the selfish drugged up hasbeen, kwim? Not so keen on her blonde wig either.
David McCallum's Steel is perfect, EXACTLY what i pictured David Warner doing in the audios, grabbing people, roughing them up and making things happen, not all special-skills'ed up, but the rough guy, hence his name, Steel.
And need I mention Silver? OMG. He's as superb in the 80s as he is on audio, as he is the same actor, played Poul in Robots of Death, played Mawdryn in Mawdryn Undead, and also had a small cameo in The Thirty Nine Steps (1978) - David Collings.
(All the best actors are named David Warner, David Tennant, David Collings, David McCallum, need I go on? If i ever have a son, i'm going to name him David. Yes.)
The show has atmos, mythos, the characterisations are deep and meaningful; the show absolutely REELED me in by having an almost total utter lack of action whatsoever, because its the STORY that counts, not the effects. I love a good STORY, not special effects, or action, or overacting and shouting like our beloved Mr Tennant...
Sapphire, Silver, and Steel - the elementals. Fascinating beings with curious and interesting powers, and I very much like what they represent, how they do what they do, their individual talents and relationships between each other, etc. Its a very original idea, very cerebral and intelligent, and it appeals to me very much. Well done P J Hammond. You can bet I'll download the other 4 episodes, yes.
I really like the series. I like 4 or 6 parts, or even 8 parts. I LIKE the pace, the total lack of pressing fantastic action, and the COMPLETE AND STARK CONTRAST to New Who, who wants you to get emotionally invested and the whole problem solved in 45 minutes. PAH.
*headdesk* at Rusty, who needs to know what REAL TV is like - Rusty, sit down and watch some Sapphire and Steel to learn how to pace a tv show, eh?
impressed
(no subject)
And yeah, it's the only show I've ever seen that follows that same old-skool Who structure, of multi-episode serials as part of a bigger premise. I think it works brilliantly: slow but gripping.
The fact that I adore David McCallum (and Jo Lumley's none too shabby either) helps, mind. :D
(no subject)
But seems to me New Who is designed for the ADHD-generation with a 5 second attention span. Which is part of why it annoys me so much.
I've never seen a pillow on strings be so threatening and suspenseful before in my life! My god that show is amazing!
David McCallum is growing on me, and I find I'm regarding David WArner's Steel as sort of a grumpy old man type instead of someone who's incredibly strong and a hard bastard enough to get things done. Might just be the format of the audios, and the fact that he isnt given much to do other than yell at people.
Lumley's Sapph is growing on me too, though i initially took her as a bit emotionally detached, or at least moreso than Susannah Harker's Sapph, I saw her crying last night - can't get more involved than that.
Silver is SPOT ON. Same mischevious flirt that ht was in the 80s, he is on audio. I love it. Superb. And I live David Collings too, he was hot as Poul, he's hot as Silver. Not so hot as Mawdryn with a huge brain on top his head, but still. Hehe :)
I'm gobsmacked with how much I love this series, and I wish tv makers today would look at this older stuff and see that it DID keep people engaged without having to be all actiony and effects in your face... Not everyone has ADHD and needs a story flung in hteir faces and rushing around and all that. Its ok to be slow and calculated, it works just as well as running about and explosions and screaming and stuff.
Sorry to rant at you :)
(no subject)
Mainly I love the fact that it remains so completely opaque as a format, which they'd never allow these days: we still have no real idea what the hell they were supposed to be doing. Love that lack of backstory: could go anywhere with those characters, and the performances are enough to keep you mesmerised.
Love David Collings - I think Silver's my favourite TV role for him, such a sneaky bastard.
(no subject)
David Collings is ginger - i'd never seen it / noticed until S&S. Couldn't tell in Mawdryn, ugh, with all that pulsating brain on top his head, and was too busy watching the eye makeup in Robots of Death to notice. His hair is lovely, just plain gorgeous, yes.
And the simplicity of S&S makes it wonderful. I am gobsmacked, impressed, and in awe. The audios were terrific, but the show is even better! :D
"Wait, I forgot! The door's been nailed shut!"
And I only just fully realised the difference in length and pacing between old and new Who yesterday - I'd been aware of it, but I watched Gridlock and thought "That was over awful quickly. And not a lot actually happened. Huh." Really, what happened to proper pacing? Because Inferno was seven episodes long and I loved every minute of it. And the S&S stories are more often than not six episodes long, and there's so much to the story that it fills the time nicely! There is more than one problem-solution in the story - this is where Rusty falls down. Old Who used to have a capture-escape-capture thing going on, and there's only ever one capture and escape in New Who :o(
Assignments 3 and 6? That'd be The Creature's Revenge and The Trap, right? I like those. TCR especially. Silver really is superb :o) I love watching Steel get just a wee bit jealous when Silver gets all flirty. Watch Doctor McDee Must Die (Assignment 4) - it's a very interesting murder mystery dinner party type thing. No Silver, unfortunately, but it's very good. What am I saying - they're all very good. I couldn't pick a favourite without listing all of them. The ones that don't have Silver or Lead in them are still brilliant, so I'm kinda stuck for favouritism :o)
I now need to hear the Big Finish ones :o)
Re: "Wait, I forgot! The door's been nailed shut!"
All 9 add up to 1.3 gig zipped, 1.4g not zipped. I could burn a DVD, it'd be easier!
I love Silver, he's such a flirt. Steel does get wonderfully jealous. I can't wait to see the rest of them! :D
There's a nursery rhyme in almost every audio, lol. They're really creepy. All Fall down centres around Ring a Ring of Roses, and the plague, its superb. Warner's Steel is a bit more crotchety, but i think that's explained away in The Passenger by how long its been since Sapph and Steel worked together - time has passed in between series and audios. Harker's Sapph is a bit more emotional and involved, IMHO. But all in all superb. Yes.
Re: "Wait, I forgot! The door's been nailed shut!"