The Other Side's Version of Middle Earth

Not only have I been immersed in all the coverage about "The Hobbit" movie and the first joint appearance of the main cast, but I've started to listen to an audio-book of the unabridged version of the tale in my car. (Unfortunately not read by Richard Armitage...but maybe in the future?)

So searching for new news I stumbled upon this article in Salon.com about a different version of the events in "The Lord of The Rings".  What if the other side, the dark side, the evil side, wrote their own version of the story:

That's the philosophy behind "The Last Ringbearer," a novel set during and after the end of the War of the Ring (the climactic battle at the end of "The Lord of the Rings") and told from the point of view of the losers. The novel was written by Kirill Yeskov, a Russian paleontologist, and published to acclaim in his homeland in 1999. Translations of the book have also appeared in other European nations, but fear of the vigilant and litigious Tolkien estate has heretofore prevented its publication in English.

 To read the entire article in Salon.com click HERE.

Of course it's understandable that Yeskov's book is apparently also controversial with Tolkien fans. No one wants to see their heroes destroyed.

But thanks to the Internet, these days there's always someone that will make the information available to the curious, and so it was that last year Yisroel Markov posted his English translation of the "The Last Ringbearer". To go to his site and read his version of tales from the Mordor side, click HERE

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