Lucas North Faces His Torturer on Spooks

For lucky TV viewers in the UK, Spooks season 8 has already begun airing. And the latest episode - 4 - focuses on Lucas North's literal torturous past.

For viewers in North America, where Spooks season 8 won't be airing for awhile yet, try this link on You Tube.



















In this episode, Lucas (Richard Armitage) faces down the man who was his torturer for four of the eight years he survived in a Russian prison.

















Truly the stuff of both nightmares and fantasies, to once again stand before someone who tortured you would take 'mindblowing experience' and totally redefine it.

Torture scenes in films and television put me in a cold sweat. I feel physically sick when I sense one is coming in the story, and sitting through one is an ordeal.

If it's real news footage, like the scene in the Vancouver airport of Robert Dziekański's last excruciating moments after being Tasered by RCMP officers - I can't watch and I have to put my hands over my ears. I can't stand the screaming.

The handling of the Lucas North torture storyline on Spooks thoroughly examines the post-traumatic effects this has on the remainder of that person's life. Lucas is shown as being unable to sleep unless he returns to the hard floor, unable to prevent unrelated stimuli from provoking break-through memories from surfacing, and struggling to prove to his MI-5 superiors that he doesn't retain any Stockholm Syndrome feelings towards his former Russian captors.























CLICK HERE to watch a clip from Spooks season 7 featuring our first glimpse into Lucas' torture memories. WARNING: contains waterboarding footage.

The Silver Chair

Today on my bus ride home from work, I found myself dreaming of The Silver Chair.

After The Horse and His Boy, it's my favorite of the Chronicles of Narnia. And if all goes well, it will be the fourth of the film adaptations of that series.


Of course, in my dreams Prince Rilian and his enchanted persona, the Black Knight would be played by Richard Armitage.








What say you?

Season 3 of Robin Hood at Last

After an agony of waiting, BBC's Robin Hood finally began broadcasting across the pond on BBC America and BBC Canada.















I freely admit I've already watched the entire season 3 on You Tube. When it was first broadcast in the UK in the spring, kindly souls uploaded it for those of us who were frothing at the bit to get a look at Sir Guy.














The season 3 uploads disappeared from You Tube as the North American broadcast neared.














But there's nothing like being able to watch the full episode on TV, as opposed to the tiny version in ten-minute segments on You Tube. However, I am eternally grateful to those angels who allowed me to see it when it first aired. *kiss*

Things have gotten a lot darker in Nottingham since our heroes and villains returned from the Holy Land. Gisborne has a lot of mental sorting out to do after taking Lady Marian's life at the end of season 2.

"Frankly, I sort of despise him for what he did," the actor says. "But it's also interesting when a character can start to take responsibility for his actions and have an opinion of himself, almost as if he is stepping outside his body, and that's really what Gisborne does this season: He steps out of his old shell and starts to become somebody new because of that action." - John Crook, No more Mr. Nice Guy














Robin is understandably out for revenge.













The sheriff puts Much through the mill when Prince John demands more tax money.














Guy is not so easily bullied now that he's looked into his own abyss.















Not so easy being sheriff, is it, Vasey?















Robin's band acquires Friar Tuck and villager Kate.


















Little John and Allen a Dale soldier on despite their own sorrows.

What becomes of Guy when his father figure turns his back on him? You'll have to catch the next episode to find out.

I'd Like to Be Trapped In Spooks For a Month

Fleur de Lisa has a prompt blog called Manic Monday. Her prompt from last week is still up, and I thought I'd use one of her two questions:

If you had to be trapped in a TV show for a month, which show would you choose?

Hmm...

Let me think.

Spooks. Definitely Spooks.

MI-5 for those of us in North America.

First of all, I can never get enough of the opening credits.




It's so subtle.





You have to watch closely.





The good guys are dark and the bad guys are gray.





And for three seasons, it featured one of my favorite characters ever:

Adam Carter, played by Rupert Penry-Jones.





And let's not forget one of my favorite female characters ever:

Ros Myers, played by Hermione Norris.

It's Authentic Historical Costumes For Me, Or Nothing

I'm a huge historical fan, both in books and in film & television. When I worked on my own student films, I was a real stickler for authenticity, even on my no-budget budget.

So it's almost physically painful when I watch a show based in an actual time period that tries to 'modern up' the look. Unfortunately, the costume designer for the first two seasons of BBC's Robin Hood did just that.

Frances Tempest was a big fan of making Lady Marian look like a 2000's chick.

WHY?!?



















What the heck is this? It does not evoke medieval to me in any way, shape or form.






















This is about the best costume Ms. Tempest gave us for Lady Marian.






















Robin Hood wasn't too bad - she kept his costume fairly simple.

















The Sheriff of Nottingham didn't fare too badly - I always liked his ceremonial ermine costume.

















But if there was something that made my teeth grind in frustration during every episode, it was this hideous swirling detail on Sir Guy's shoulders.
















This was a fantastic scene between Lady Marian and Guy of Gisbourne - but there it is again! That shoulder swirl detailing. *clutching my head*























As long as it was covered up by his leather cloak, I could handle Guy's costume. The leather tunic wasn't bad if not for that 1980's rock star vibe.

But this season, Ms. Tempest was replaced as costume designer by Howard Burden.

Let the bells ring throughout the land!


















See? It's not so hard to give a medieval woman a medieval gown.

















Sir Guy's sister has arrived on the scene, along with a new look for Gisbourne.

















Sir Guy is not the man he was when we last saw him in season 2.
















It's fascinating to note that Guy has acquired a more armoured look, as he is an emotional wreck for season 3.

















I love the simple tunic and leather wrist guards.

















And he seems to have traded in those trademark leather pants for this pair of more textured pants. I like the rugged feel to this new look.

















Thank you, Howard Burden for Sir Guy's magnificent new costume. Season 3 is now airing in the UK, and I'm still waiting to see it over here in Canada. But I've seen segments thanks to YouTube!

And no more teeth grinding for me.

Five No-Fail Inspirations When I Write

This past weekend I had three days off, and all to myself. It's not often I get such a luxury. And what did I do with those three days?

I wrote 4000 words of my English-gardener-transported-to-Van-Diemen's-Land story.

Since I 'cast' all of my characters, once I've got them settled in my mind, writing about the English gardener means having Ewan McGregor on the brain. I often turn to a file of photos I've got on my computer featuring my inspiration actors. Most of the time they're still shots from different films they've been in, with the actor caught up in an emotion that's central to the major scenes from my own story.

And watching scenes from the films themselves really helps. I 'download' the way the actor moves, the way he speaks - and my own character just takes off inside my mind.

Here's a little peek into my inspiration for the five stories I've got on the go. Not all at once, of course. They take turns.

















The first character who came to me was Guthrie Carmichael, a Scottish gamekeeper on an earl's estate in the 1820's. Once I felt I knew him well enough, I cast him as English actor Sean Bean.

My character has similar coloring to Sean Bean, but Guthrie has gray eyes instead of Sean Bean's blue ones. And I don't let the actor's English nationality get in the way of my character's Scottish background.

Here's a backstory poem I wrote from Guthrie's point of view. It really gets to the heart of his motivation:

Gold That Burns



The second character who came to me is Robbie Flynn, the English gardener in 1840's Cheltenham. I cast him as Scottish actor Ewan McGregor.

You see how I don't let the actor's nationality affect the way the character comes to me... English-actor-inspires-Scottish-gamekeeper, Scottish-actor-inspires-English-gardener.

In a bizarre bit of trivia, the estate where Guthrie the Sean-Bean-gamekeeper is employed is set near Crieff in Scotland. This was worked out before the gardener story came to me, before I started looking up info about Ewan McGregor. And yet Crieff is where Ewan McGregor hails from.

Here's a backstory poem from Robbie's point of view:

For Helen He Would Do It


The next character that came along was Jock MacKeigan, a highland clansman fighting the English in 1746. I cast Scottish actor Robert Carlyle for this character. First match of actor nationality to character background!

A very recent poem posted for last week's Poetry Train gives a glimpse into Jock's tough, fearless fighter:

Take One More With Him



















A magnificent character who came to me is the Dark Ages vampire, Peredur. By the time Peredur came to me, I already knew he would be 'played' by Gerard Butler. Peredur is Welsh, but Scottish Gerry will do fine. Just fine.

Although I didn't specify that this poem was from Peredur's point of view, I think I can share this secret with you now:

The Red Joy At Last


Last but emphatically not least is my latest arrival, Scorpius, chamberlain of Lady Elinor's keep. He appeared to me in the guise of English actor Richard Armitage. Scorpius is a paranormal/fantasy character, so Richard's English background is a total plus.


Here is Scorpius' backstory poem:

How Can I Ache For What I Never Had

Who are your favorite inspirations?