Another Richard Armitage Challenge! Social Distancing Edition #11

Which episode did you watch more than five times?

This is more what episode haven't you watched more than five times!  

In all the years I've been an Armitage fan I've watched most of my favorite RA series at least five times I would say, counting also The Hobbit trilogy.  Not all at one sitting, but through the years.  I mean I've already watched The Stranger three times. 😄😄

But I'll narrow it down to my two favorite series: North and South and Spooks (MI-5).

Episode 2 in North and South and the proposal scene.  I love the proposal scene between John and Margaret and also John's scenes with his mother.

Also if you have the DVD there is an extended version of the proposal scene.

Spooks Season 8, Episode 4 is my favorite.  Lucas North encounters his primary torturer during his years in a Russian prison camp. But we find out that Lucas and Oleg have a complicated relationship.  Frenemies forever?

The episode also has moments of Lucas' relationship with Harry, with Ros, and his love affair with CIA agent Sarah. 

Another Richard Armitage Challenge! Social Distancing Edition #5

Least favorite episode of your favorite show?

My least favorite episode of my favorite show SPOOKS(MI-5) is Season 9, Episode 1, and that first scene at the end with Lucas North and Vaughn.

That is the moment my favorite show betrayed me and I hate the SPOOKS writers for it.  Even now after years have gone by, I still do hate them. 

Lucas North (Richard Armitage) is my favorite spy.  But I've been a fan of SPOOKS since Season 1 and Tom Quinn (Matthew Macfadyen).  We were lucky here in the US to watch S1 on the new  (at the time) A&E network shortly after the show premiered in the UK. I really felt betrayed by the writers in Season 9.


There might still be Richard Armitage fans, new fans, that have never watched SPOOKS, so I won't spoil it for them.  

And the final episode of Season 9?  Let's just say, we only saw a hand.  

Another Richard Armitage Challenge! Social Distancing Edition #4

What's your favorite episode of your favorite show?

What is my favorite show?  

North & South for me is in its own category.  It is my Star 🌟 my Sun🌞.  It is the first time I saw Richard Armitage, the moment I discovered Richard Armitage, and it helped me in one of the darkest moments of my life some years ago, and continues to be a place I go to when I need to seek comfort and solace.

This is all an introduction to say that, putting North & South in a forever #1 in my heart 💖category, my favorite show is:

SPOOKS (MI-5)

My favorite Spooks episode is from Season 8, Episode 4.

Lucas North (Richard Armitage) was in a Russian prison for 8 years and in this episode his prison torturer, Oleg Darshavin (Emil Hostina), shows up in London looking for Lucas, Lucas North.

It's a very emotional episode and great interaction between the two actors, Richard Armitage as Lucas and Emil Hostina as Oleg. There is a love/hate relationship between the two of them.  We also see some of the pain, physical and emotional, that our favorite spy, Lucas, endured for those many years. 

Of course we also have the wonderful MI-5 team working together, both supporting Lucas but also doubting Dashavin, Harry, Ros, Ruth, Tariq, and Lucas. What a wonderful ensemble. I love them all.

Yes, we get also get Lucas' love, Sarah Caulfield (Genevieve O'Reilly).  I'll confess I didn't really want Lucas to rescue her. Really, what were they thinking with this character. Lucas deserved a better love.  But yes also in this episode you know that Lucas should not trust this woman and you know she will break his heart before the end of the season.

Day 29 - 31 Day Film Challenge

A Show You Would Love to See as a Film

At one time I wanted to see Spooks (MI-5) as a movie, starring the actors in the photo above

Didn't quite happen that way

I haven't seen Spooks The Movie yet - but I will. 

I really believe that there are some stories that are best told on Television, in a longer format than in film. Especially today when many good films aren't given the time for audiences to hear about them and find them at the movie theater. 

New Project for Richard Armitage - Clearance - Directed by Aku Louhimies and New Spooks Interview from Empire

Thank you to Richard Armitage for letting us know of your exciting new project.

@akuurban check out 'Frozen Land' and '8 Ball' by Aku Louhimies. His work is extraordinary. Excited to be on board with his next adventure.

— Richard Armitage (@RCArmitage) May 13, 2015

"Clearance tells the story of a hardened mine clearance expert Ray (Armitage) and his pregnant partner (Harris), who are kidnapped in South Sudan by a notorious warlord. To secure their freedom, Ray is forced to cross a vast minefield to retrieve a mysterious case for the warlord. The film is set to begin shooting in South Africa in November." The Hollywood Reporter



And Interview on Empire: Spooks an Oral History with many of the cast including
Richard Armitage:

http://www.empireonline.com/spooks/

What a morning!  

In honor of Richard's new film project, my favorite song, from one of my favorite Finnish Mysteries (RAID):

Lucas Comes Back ----Maybe

How many times have I said, and thought, that we only saw a hand, and was it even Lucas' hand?

http://whiterosewritings.blogspot.com/2011/02/lucas-north-our-bobby-ewing-or-bob.html


Now there is hope:


"Then there is Richard Armitage who has gone on to do so well…” When asked if he is likely to come back, the response was rather tantalisingly ambiguous. “Well, we just saw a hand didn’t we? Who knows? He’s doing so incredibly well and he’s got lots of things lined up. So yes, I can see some actors stepping back into it further down the line..."

Film and TV Now Interview: ‘Spooks: The Greater Good’ Director Talks Character Revivals, Kit Harington & Sequels

http://www.filmandtvnow.com/film-and-tv-now-interview-spooks-the-greater-good-director-talks-character-revivals-kit-harington-sequels/

Great mentions of Richard Armitage as Lucas North in Spooks movie reviews:

Richard Armitage (Robin Hood, The Hobbit, Strike Back, Into the Storm) gets his own separate mention because he’s Richard Armitage, who makes everything awesome when he turns up. This is particularly true when he’s playing Adam’s successor, Lucas North, who was possibly Spooks‘ most complicated character and gave the show a shot in the arm when he was hired in series seven. If your show can go from Matthew Macfadyen to Rupert Penry-Jones to Richard Armitage, you are doing something very right.
 http://community.ew.com/2015/05/04/spooks-movie-and-series/ via @EW

and when we see Lucas again, let it redeem Season/Series 9:

From VODzilla:

 Season 9, Episode 7/8
Richard Armitage’s twisty back-story became even more twisty in this almost laughable two-parter, which revealed that Lucas wasn’t Lucas at all: instead, he was an imposter who killed Lucas and stole his identity. It’s to Armitage’s credit that he sold the stupidity, right up to a final rooftop showdown with Harry. The appearance of Game of Thrones’ Jorah Mormont was a bonus.

 http://vodzilla.co/blog/features/spooks-a-look-back-at-the-bbcs-spy-series/

William Blake Revisited - Richard Armitage as Francis Dolarhyde in Hannibal US TV Series

Richard Armitage as Lucas North in Spooks (MI5) - my screencaps from Season 7

And on November 28 Richard favorited an article on Twitter about William Blake:

Philip Pullman: William Blake and me http://t.co/JBJpXJ92FY via @GuardianBooks pic.twitter.com/U6tpJRL8by
— The Guardian (@guardian) November 28, 2014

He loves to give us hints, but we never get them do we?  I thought he was thinking about Lucas. Maybe because I'm always thinking about Lucas! LOL

I've been going to Google for information on this new character, since I've never watched any of the Hannibal movies or the TV show (though I like Mads Mikkelsen and Anthony Hopkins). The character Richard will play is based on a book published in 1981 so he has been around for a while this Red Dragon. The book is part of the Hannibal Lecter book series by Thomas Harris (spoilers about the character at the link below):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dragon_%28novel%29

Horror is not my thing, and I have no plans to read the book, or books, but I'm so happy he's been cast as this character.  I know he will put his own special stamp on the Tooth Fairy serial killer and I know he will find the human being (as difficult as that is for some to think about) in this character. 

I love when actors challenge themselves, and challenge us as fans to watch something we never would have before.  I love when actors are brave to risk taking on a role, a character, that is hated and feared.  Less typecasting can mean a long and busy career.

I hope it also means that he finally, finally, breaks through the American entertainment industry wall so next time I mention Richard Armitage in my office I don't get blank stares in return. I'll break out the bottle of California Pinot Noir the minute he's on a US talk show.  If he's on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon I'll take a bath in California Pinot Noir. 

Dear Richard - the adventure continues.  Thank you for always, always, surprising us. Expect the Unexpected.

Pic from Fanpop

My MI-5 Men

Spooks  (or MI-5 in the US) is one of my favorite TV shows of all time. I first started watching on the A&E Network. For several years at the start they were a network to watch for new or newer UK shows. 

Later lovers of Spooks in the US had to become intelligence officers themselves to figure out where to find the series and when it was on. PBS in my area at least is notorious for moving the series around from prime time to midnight time with no notice. 

I'm having my own Spooks marathon this evening watching my favorite spy Lucas North. 

So happy that my favorite spies are doing so well these days.

Two Examples:

Richard Armitage - Lucas North

The Hobbit Trilogy and The Crucible 

David Oyelowo -  Danny Hunter

Selma and A Most Violent Year

"Colleagues are OK"

If you want to know more about Spooks (MI-5) click HERE

More about the wonderful cast click HERE

I have to admit I'm a bit underwhelmed by news of the new Spooks film that should be out spring 2015. I'm glad Harry (Peter Firth) is still around and it also stars Kit Harington.  


(Pics from Google Images)

Goodbye to Friends and Reflections on Life as an Actor

Very sad today to read two tweets, one from Graham McTavish and the other from Jed Brophy, about the end of Hobbit Filming:


"Jed Brophy: 
The finish Line is in sight. There will be tears. It is hard to describe how this experience has been. The body knows though, i feel the years today. Uncountable Ocs have felt the wrath. Last days in middle Earth . I have been so very fortunate.xxjedi"

"Graham McTavish:
The finish line is in sight, 3 more days. we have said farewell to some of my dwarven brothers. So proud to have shared this with them."

I was already feeling sad, expecting that the "goodbyes" for them were coming soon, and thinking of their sadness but also their satisfaction for a job well done, and thinking of Richard Armitage of course, wondering how he's feeling.

Then also this morning I read an article in The Guardian by Michael Simkins:

Paul Bhattacharjee and Cory Monteith deaths: is acting today just too tough?

and reflected on this quote from the article:

"And that's the problem. Despite the undoubted camaraderie, the laughs, the jollies and the sense of tribalism that attends any acting project, the profession remains a notoriously lonely one. Friendships are intense but brief; when the gig ends or the curtain runs down, you can soon find yourself back home staring at your mobile and wondering if any of it really happened. Memories are short, time moves on, fame is transitory. Look at the number of stars who were once regular guests on Mavis Nicholson's show, all of whom are now nothing more than clues in old Puzzler books. Who's Mavis Nicholson? Exactly."

  

I know in my heart it won't be that way for the dwarves cast and for the rest of the cast, they will remain friends forever, but it won't be the same. They all have busy lives, families...and reunions are great, but it will never be quite the same again as those 18 plus months working together. 

We've been so lucky, the fans, to have such a wonderfully charming cast, most willing to share with us the experience through Twitter and Facebook.  Lucky to have Peter Jackson sharing the VLogs with us too.

(I was also lucky to meet almost all of them on an unforgettable night last December - and they are truly that charming in real life too.)

I'm still thinking about the Simkins article.  You see, it was about the difficult profession of acting.  

It was also about an actor who died recently:

"Paul Bhattacharjee was a supremely gifted performer, liked and respected in equal measure. That's no small achievement in itself – but he also seemed as secure as any individual can be in the precarious business of acting. When his body was discovered near cliffs in East Sussex last week, having disappeared during rehearsals for a new play at the Royal Court, the news sent shockwaves through the acting profession."

I knew Mr. Bhattacherjee mostly for one role, in one of my favorite TV series, in an episode I've seen over and over through several years:

Through the years of watching UK television I recognized his face a few times beyond Spooks. I wish I would have seen him on stage.  I wish I would have cared to find out more about him when he was alive.,

I've been thinking of all the actors and actresses I've seen in my life, from starring roles to small parts, and how much enjoyment and solace they've brought to my life. The article makes me even more sad today. But also today, at work, when I looked at my "unglamorous" life, I was very grateful for it.

"People often ask me what the essential difference is between professional actors and amateurs. Their presumption is invariably that it's to do with talent. But in fact the only defining difference is whether you have the stomach for the lifestyle – one in which rejection, disappointment and despair are part of your daily routine. The statistic is often trotted out that 92% of the profession is out of work at any one time. Yet, as the case of Bhattacharjee suggests, even if you're in the 8%, it's harder than ever to make ends meet. Theatre has never been particularly well-paid (unless you're prepared to walk the treadmill of a long West End run), and the glory days of TV repeat fees are long gone, a victim of the multi-channel era in which traditional contracts have been shredded into a thousand bespoke arrangements and sub-clauses." (The Guardian - M.Simkins)


All day after reading the article I've also been thinking of other quotes:

"There was a time when I thought, and my agent thought, it wasn't going to happen for me.We both sat down and I actually said I don't know if I can stay in this state. The interesting roles have only come since I got into my 30s. But I didn't know that was going to happen." (Richard Armitage - The Daily Record Interview)

"I’m a bit of an all or nothing kind of guy. To be honest, I had no blind faith in myself. I don’t think I could have stayed around as a jobbing kind of actor." Richard Armitage (The Daily Record, I rarely turn down work after years of struggling … , October 24, 2009, Richard Armitage Central)

There are days when as a fan I am also extremely grateful.

I do recommend if you're interested in acting or love movies or theater, or have a favorite actor or actress, whoever they may be, (doesn't have to be my favorite actors of course), that you read the entire article by Mr. Simkins.  He is also an actor.

See link below:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2013/jul/23/paul-bhattacharjee-cory-monteith-acting?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

A Bit More Armitage Humor - Part Deux

There are many things I admire about Richard Armitage but I adore his sense of humor.  


So, I made another one of my videos, this one a follow-up to "A Bit of Armitage Humor" with more clips about the funny and adorable side of Armitage:

Part Deux: A Bit of Armitage Humor

Hope it brings everyone a smile on a  cold late autumn day.

As a bonus, I'm also posting one of my favorite RA interviews. OK, true confessions, I love all of RA's interviews, but this is one of my favorites, from the audiobook "Sheriff Got Your Tongue?" from 2006: 

Adios to Spooks

One of my favorite TV series of all time, Spooks (or MI5 in the US) will air its last episode tonight in the UK. I've watched it from the start, and that's not an easy thing to do if you live in the US. I miss Tom Quinn, Adam Carter, Ros Myers, and most of all Lucas North. But the heart of the show has always been Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) - good job Harry!


As the old saying goes,  all good things come to an end.


So today an old video/slideshow of mine to say my goodbye's to Spooks.

Why Spooks? Why?

I was lucky to be able to watch Episode 2 of Spooks (MI-5), Series 10, late last night. (Thank you friend M, for making it possible, and Ricrar for alerting me about last night's episode!).  I was shocked that another beloved character has passed on to Spooks Heaven (I won't give it away here, but the news is already out there).  But I was also not shocked because after all, this is Spooks,and as an old fan of the series,I've come to expect characters to depart in all sorts of ways. I was happy though to see that it was a heroic death and we could all have good memories even if with a tear in our eye. (*Also, I was reminded of the real life spy death that inspired last night's episode.)


But then this morning, thanks to RichardArmitageNet.com, there is this radio interview clip with Nicola Walker and Peter Firth (see link below), and Nicola talks a bit about how Richard Armitage dealt with the reversal of his character, Lucas North.


http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/latestnews.html


So here I am, angry again, so very angry again, about what the Spooks writers did in Season 9 to the heroic character of Lucas North we grew to care for and admire from Season 7 and Season 8. It wasn't very original, or original at all, to make Richard Armitage play another villain, when he had just played a villain in another BBC series, Robin Hood. (Though I confess I love Guy of Gisborne, who had the reverse story arc, starting as a villain and ending as a hero. Thanks to Richard Armitage he was the most complex character in the Robin Hood series.) Even Ros (Hermione Norris) who was not the most loyal of spies on the Grid for most of the character's career in Spooks was allowed to die a hero. So why Spooks writers, why? If Lucas had to go, because it was time or because Richard Armitage was cast in The Hobbit, why not let the character die a heroic death? 


We need more heroes in this world.

Thank you to RichardArmitageNet.com

*The Real Life Death-by-Umbrella** of Georgi Markov: In 1978 Bulgarian dissident writer Markov was killed on the streets of London after a ricin pellet was fired into his leg by means of an umbrella. His death was ordered by Bulgarian Intelligence. The real life case was referenced in Sunday's episode of Spooks in a scene with Sacha Gavrik. You can read the details HERE.  I  also thought the Spooks writers were inspired by the story of Alexander Litvinenko, a real life former agent of the KGB and later FSB. He had left with his family for the UK and lived in London. He died as a result of radioactive poisoning administered in a mysterious way after meeting with two former KGB agents. It is still an unresolved case.  Yes, truth is stranger than fiction.














** Thanks to The Compleat Sean Bean for inspiring the title :)

Gisborne on the Grid

Richard Armitage and Lara Pulver in Spooks (MI-5)

Lucas North

Erin Watts - Spooks

My favorite brother and sister act

Richard Armitage and Lara Pulver as Guy of Gisborne and his sister Isabella  in Robin Hood

My Remedy for Lucas North Withdrawal

Spooks Season 10, the final season, starts in the UK tomorrow. I've been feeling a bit nostalgic about Lucas North (NOT John Bateman) and the only solution today for me was to make a video. I don't know why a video, just what I needed to do. I thought about Lucas and Beth, the good times, because Sophia Myles is also not returning to Spooks for Season 10.


When will we see the new and last Spooks or MI5 season in the US? Who knows? My local PBS station is repeating Spooks Season 5, I catch it once in a while late on Sunday. I know not all PBS stations show Spooks/MI5. So I might have to wait for the DVD as always.

I'll miss Spooks/MI5 and Harry and Ruth.  I still miss Lucas. 

The song is from the Finnish TV series RAID, the singer is Mari Rantasila.  I just like the song. 

How was your day Lucas?

A day in the life of my favorite spy, Lucas North:

May 21, 2011 - This Just In - Lucas North finds True Love

Lucas North: Our Bobby Ewing? Or Bob Newhart?

As a longtime fan of the UK series Spooks/MI-5  I’m used to twists and turns and surprises.  It’s something I expect and love about the series.  But I can’t understand why the writers decided to detroy the wonderfully conflicted, damaged, yet heroic, character of Lucas North, played by Richard Armitage, in Season 9 of the series.  Now at the end of the series we didn’t actually see the END of Lucas North/John Bateman.  I propose the following scenarios of how to bring Lucas back and erase the injustice of Season 9.

Scenario #1:

I've recently been reading about the planned remake of the popular American series “Dallas” and the saga of the Ewing Dynasty and the return of many of the regulars of the original series, including Patrick Duffy who played younger son Bobby Ewing

Confession time, I was a regular viewer of “Dallas” (1978-1991) and remember how sad I was when Patrick Duffy left the series at one point (1985) and if my memory is correct, he seemed to have died at the end of the last season episode that year. The following year the series pursued a story line of mourning Bobby and going on to introduce new characters.  Duffy was off to pursue other interests (you can read more about it here) but found the grass was indeed not greener on the other side.  Imagine the audience’s surprise when the following season opens and we hear a shower, and see Bobby’s wife, Pam (Victoria Principal), drawing back the shower curtain, and who is standing there! Bobby Ewing ! Alive! Yes, ladies and gents, seems Bobby’s death and the previous season was only a dream, Pam’s dream, and she wakes up a year later to find her man was only taking a shower all that time. 

I know, you’re asking yourselves right now, what does this all haveto do with Lucas North and Spooks (MI-5)?  Well, I have a proposition to put forth to the Spooks writers of how they can erase the error of turning lovely hero Lucas into John Bateman.

 Let’s just imagine this scenario as Spooks Season 10 opens.  We see a woman waking up from a bad dream and pulling off the covers from her bed.  We hear a shower.  The woman looks puzzled and walks toward the bathroom.  She opens the door, and we can clearly see the silhouette of a body through the glass shower door and hear and see the water.  The woman walks toward the shower, and slides back the glass door and a tall man with a busily tattooed back and black hair appears before our eyes. The man turns around, smiles, gives the woman a smoldering blue eyed stare, and says in a deep chocolate velvet voice, “Good Morning”.

     

So here’s my question and poll for my fellow Lucas North fans. Who would you pick as the woman that slides open the shower door (see poll on the right).   

Feb 14:  The Winner of the poll is Beth.

Read a great post on Phylly's Faves about Lucas North and Bobby Ewing's shower scene:

http://phyllysfaves.blogspot.com/2010/11/spy-vs-spy.html

Scenario #2

Legendary American comedian Bob Newhart has had a long and successful career in U.S. television as the star of several successful situation comedy series.  Shortly after his beloved series “The Bob Newhart Show” (1972-1978) ended he was back on our TV screens in another quirky comedy series, “Newhart” (1982-1990).  (Did I mention I was a tiny toddler when I was watching all these old TV shows?).   To this day the last episode and ending of the “Newhart” show in 1990 is considered to be one of the best endings in series television.

 

To understand what happened at the end of “Newhart” you have to know that  actress Suzanne Pleshette was greatly loved as Bob’s wife Emily in the “The Bob Newhart Show”,  and that another actress, Mary Frann, played Bob’s wife in “Newhart”.  I think rather than explaining what happens, watch the video below to see the end of the “Newhart” series :

So what is the scenario for Spooks’s Lucas North?   Let’s imagine a beginning rather than an ending.  Series 10 opens and we enter a darkened bedroom and see a couple sleeping.  The camera pans to the woman in bed, clearly in the midst of a nightmare.  The woman is suddenly awake, frightened, and turns to the sleeping man beside her and shakes him awake.  The man is wearing a black, so called “wife beater” shirt, but on his neck we can clearly see a tattoo with the words “Dum Spiro Spero”.  As he turns around to face her, she says “You’ll never believe the dream I just had about you”:

So on to poll #2 and a second chance to make a selection. Who is the woman in bed next to the man in black?  See column on the right side below the newest column post for polls.

Feb 14:   The Winner of the Poll is Beth

Thank you for voting!

A disclaimer: This is just fun speculation about ways to bring back the Lucas North of Season 7 and 8 to Spooks and I hope it’s taken in that spirit. 

Richard Armitage caps thanks to RichardArmitageNet, theyearzero.com, armitagefanblog.com, other images and clip thanks to Google Images, YouTube

  

The Eyes Have It

Yes, I'm playing with videos again.

My parents were great fans of Ella Fitzgerald and I grew up listening to her music. A voice like no other. I still uphold the family tradition and listen to Ella, especially when feeling blue. Listening to her version of the song "Angel Eyes" I thought about how television is such an intimate medium and how great actors use the slightest change in their eyes to convey so much emotion.

Of course when thinking about actors and the "eyes as a window to the soul" I thought of Richard Armitage and Lucas North, the role he played so vividly in the series "Spooks" (MI-5).  Below is my video tribute to Mr. Armitage and his expressive eyes:



Thank you for watching.

My Interest in William Blake's Birthday

I saw today on Roger Ebert's Blog that it is William Blake's Birthday!

I knew vaguely about William Blake from my college days, but just recently I became interested in finding out more about his work because of this man:

So thanks  to Spooks (MI-5) and the character of Lucas North, played by RICHARD ARMITAGE  now I know more about Blake's work and find his artwork especially interesting:

William Blake (1757-1827) was a fascinating figure and ahead of his time.  Find out more about him HERE.

(photos from RichardArmitageNet)

Spooks/MI5 and Lucas North

BBC series Spooks (MI-5 in the US)  recently finished airing  the last episode of Season 9 in the UK.  In the US you can catch old episodes of the series on select PBS (Public Television) stations.

Richard Armitage starred in Series 7, 8, and 9 of Spooks (MI-5) as Lucas North.  Below is a small video to remember this very complex character and the complex actor that played him so well:



They've already announced there will be a 10th season of Spooks next year.