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phantasticworks · 2 years

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Shiny Things/Paper Rings (iydlmp bonus fic)

Hello all!! back again with some more iydlmp bonus content! if you haven't read the original fic this one will probably make absolutely zero sense, so i recommend reading iydlmp first! also this turned out a lot shorter than i thought but I just thought you guys would like some phil pov and what better place for it than the part where dan was mad at him :')

read on ao3

Summary: Phil and Martyn have a day out...

This Phil POV bonus fic occurs during Chapter 22 of the main fic, If You Don't Love Me, Pretend. This fic picks up after Phil leaves the apartment the morning after Jaiden's trip to A&E and gives some insight into what Phil was thinking during this chapter.

Word Count: 2.9k

Warnings: none

He’s not sure how it happened, but this whole morning has definitely gone horribly wrong.

Phil sighs, shaking his head as he makes his way downstairs to where the Uber is waiting. He’s trying not to think about the way Dan had turned away from his touch just a moment ago, his stomach churning with the thought that he might’ve made Dan uncomfortable somehow. Despite Phil’s best efforts to push it away, his head is spinning, trying to come up with some explanation for Dan’s behavior, some mistake he’d unknowingly made that set him off. But it doesn’t do more than give him a low-grade migraine and he eventually decides that it’s not worth making himself sick over. He can still fix this.

The look on Dan’s face when Phil had tried to kiss him earlier floats back into his mind, and he swallows hard, his stomach sinking.

He can still fix it. Right?

~~~

“Took you long enough,” is the first thing out of his brother’s mouth when he meets him at the shops.

“Yeah, well,” Phil says, shrugging. He doesn’t meet Martyn’s eyes, instead just scuffs his shoe against the uneven bricks beneath their feet.

Martyn seems to hesitate, like he’s reassessing the situation, and Phil briefly hates him and how perceptive he is. “Are you alright, buddy?” he asks gently.

Phil nods, then shrugs. He finally forces himself to make eye contact, giving Martyn what is likely an unconvincing smile. “I’m fine. Are we gonna go eat? Shop? What are we doing?”

“I’m… I’m not sure. Are you sure you’re okay?” Martyn asks.

“Yep. Just tired,” Phil lies through his teeth.

There’s a beat of silence in which Martyn seems to be studying him closely, narrowed eyes and all. He must be disappointed at what he finds, because his shoulders drop and he sighs. “Alright,” he says, sounding resigned. “You don’t have to tell me, but… I’m here if you need to talk, okay?”

Damn him for being such a good brother.

Phil rolls his eyes despite himself. “I know that. C’mon. Let’s get inside somewhere, it’s bloody freezing.”

Martyn’s spirits seem lifted enough now that Phil’s speaking in full sentences, so he turns to lead them off down the street. “Do you have anyplace specific you’re wanting to go?” Martyn asks. “Because I’ll be honest, mate, I haven’t a fuckin’ clue where I’m headed.”

Phil almost chastises him for the swear, just like he’d do to Dan at home, but with a start he realizes his kids aren’t with him. That’s so unusual these days, unless he’s at work, that it takes him a second to process it. “Er…” he stalls, trying to come up with a response to whatever the hell his brother just said, even though he wasn’t really listening.

Just then, they pass by a familiar sign posted above a shop. Something nudges Phil’s memory and he absently reaches to check that his wallet is in his pocket. It is, of course, and his feet slow in front of the shop.

“Actually…” he says slowly.

Martyn stops, a little belatedly, and he has to backtrack a few steps to remain in front of Phil. “What?” Martyn says, looking around. He spots the sign of the shop they’ve stopped in front of and his eyes go comically wide. “Uh… didn’t you two already get the prop rings, or whatever?” He asks, glaring at the jeweler sign like it’s personally offended him.

Phil twists the silver band on his ring finger of his left hand. “Yes,” he replies simply, eyeing the ring display at the front window.

“Then…” Martyn says slowly.

And honestly, Phil knows he’s already connected the dots, he truly isn’t that daft. But he sees no reason to deprive him of the answer he’s fishing for.

“This isn’t going to be a prop ring.”

There’s a beat of silence, and before Martyn can protest or anything, Phil marches towards the store, a decisive pep in his step.

“Welcome to Goldsmith’s, how may I assist you?” the cheerful sales associate asks as soon as Phil steps inside.

“Phil,” Martyn hisses from behind him.

Phil ignores him. “Hello,” he greets the associate. “I’m looking for an engagement ring.”

The girl smiles brightly. “Well, congratulations, sir! This is a very exciting chapter of your life, so I’d be happy to help you find what you’re looking for.”

“Great,” Phil says with a smile. He ignores the pointed stare Martyn is sending his way.

“We have a wide selection of engagement rings and bands to choose from, but let me show you to some of our more popular sellers,” the sales associate is saying as she leads them to a case towards the front.

Phil stops her with a short laugh. “Actually, I was hoping I could see your more unique styles. My fian- partner-“ he clears his throat. “My partner is very particular, and I know he’ll want something different, something unique.”

The attendant smiles. “It’s great that you know that! Makes my job a lot easier,” she laughs.

Phil smiles, shaking off his brother’s hand when he tries to grab Phil’s arm. The sales associate is showing them to another case when Martyn starts to whisper.

“Are you sure about this? Like, absolutely positive?” He sounds paranoid, and Phil can’t believe someone else is more nervous about this than he is. “This is a huge decision, Phil, and the two of you aren’t even really-“

“Don’t,” Phil says, sharper than intended.

Martyn snaps his mouth shut, but looks at Phil with a guilty frown.

“These are some styles that either aren’t “in-style” right now, or just aren’t very popular,” the sales associate explains, pulling out a jewelry tray for Phil to examine.

“This one is nice,” Phil says absently, tapping on a rather simple one that has three stones embedded in the simple white gold band. He glances at Martyn, who’s studying the rings with something like confused curiosity. Phil nudges him. “What do you think?”

Martyn glances between him and the ring a couple times, then shrugs. “I don’t know… I reckon Dan would like something a bit flashier, actually.”

Phil smiles, relieved that Martyn’s actually helping now and not questioning his decisions. “Yeah, true.” He looks at the others, letting his gaze linger on the more ornate ones a little longer, waiting for some sort of sign to hit him, but it doesn’t happen.

A moment or two passes where none of them speak, giving Phil the quiet time to study the rings carefully. And study is all he can really do, since none of them really stand out to him. “Is there…”

The sales associate must be all too familiar with this, because she’s quick to pick up on his train of thought. “You know, I think I have another drawer in the back, give me just a moment.”

Phil nods, smiling in relief now that he doesn’t have to actually voice his opinion on the rings he’d been shown so far.

She’s barely been gone a minute when Phil feels Martyn’s hand on his arm. He sighs. “Martyn,” he starts, turning to tell him, kindly, to bugger off.

“Hey,” Martyn interrupts him. He’s smiling a little, which wasn’t the expression Phil was expecting to see. “You really love him, huh?”

Phil drops his gaze to the ring he’s already wearing, the one he’s so emotionally attached to now that he can’t bear to imagine ever taking it off. “I… yeah. Yeah, I really do.”

Martyn is quiet for a moment. “Have you always? Or is this like… a new thing?”

Phil levels him with a look, one brow quirked in disbelief. “You’re really going to ask me that?”

“Well…” Martyn shrugs, then laughs when he sees the dumbfounded look Phil is giving him. “Okay, yeah, yeah. I mean… you have been rather obvious from the start.”

Phil has to laugh at that. “God, I know. No idea how Dan didn’t realize it sooner. I guess we were both just so deep in denial that we didn’t know how to deal with ourselves.”

“Does he? Realize it now, I mean?” Martyn asks softly.

Just then, before Phil gets the chance to reply, the sales lady returns with another drawer of rings.

“These are some of our more unique choices, mixed in with some newer pieces that haven’t done as well as we thought they would,” she says, setting the tray down and stepping back to give him the space to survey them.

“Dan would love that,” Phil remarks, mostly to himself.

“Which one?” Martyn asks.

Phil shakes his head, still studying them closely. “No, I just meant like, getting a ring that no one else wants. Adopting it, saving it from the depths of jewelry hell and all that.”

Martyn laughs, and Phil smiles. “Fair enough.”

The sales associate begins explaining some other options she can present if he doesn’t like these, but it’s while she’s talking that he sees it. It’s flashier than he’d prefer for himself, with a somewhat feminine style. It’s white gold, Dan’s favorite, with simple diamonds twisted on the band leading up to the center, where the main diamond sits.

It’s perfect.

“Can I see that one?” Phil asks, pointing to the ring that is absolutely, perfectly Dan.

The sales associate smiles and nods. “This one has been here for a month or so. It’s the only one we’ve got, but we can get it resized if you decide you like it.” She hands the ring to him carefully, then steps back to give him a chance to look it over and consider it.

Phil clutches the ring gently, holding it up close to his face to inspect it. It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect. He can already imagine slipping it on Dan’s lovely digit, the face he’d make when Phil really, properly proposes.

He’s so deep in the fantasy that he doesn’t even realize the sales associate is speaking to him until his brother pinches his arm.

“Ow!” Phil yelps, turning to glare at Martyn with little thought to the other person standing there.

“I’m sorry, but she’s trying to ask you a question, mate. At least pretend to pay attention,” Martyn says with a roll of his eyes, smiling apologetically at the sales lady when he’s done being dramatic.

“I’m so sorry,” Phil says to her immediately. “I was… sorry, what were you saying?”

The girl smiles kindly at him. “I take it this is the one?“ she says, nodding to the ring.

Phil takes one last look at it, then nods. “Yeah, this is definitely the one. He’ll love it.”

She smiles. “Lovely. I was just asking, do you happen to know what his ring size is?”

“Well, actually- oh, here, I guess I shouldn’t be the one holding onto this,” he says, handing the ring back as he starts digging in his pocket. He pulls out his wallet and takes a second to rummage around, finding what he’s looking for in record time. “Oh, here it is. We actually bought some jewelry here not too long ago and we both got a copy of the receipt,” Phil explains, sliding it over to her.

The sales associate picks it up, scanning the information quickly. “Oh, this is perfect. Since you’re already in our system I can look up the purchase and we can figure out his size. I’m assuming we’ll definitely need to resize this, correct?”

Phil glances at the ring again, and nods with a laugh. “Oh, definitely. That wouldn’t even fit on his pinky.”

She laughs along with him, then closes the case, the ring still clutched safely in her hand. “Alright. If you’ll just follow me, I’ll pull your account up on the computer and we’ll get the rest squared away!”

~~~

Less than half an hour later, Phil and Martyn step back out on the streets, a new receipt in Phil’s pocket, the estimated pick-up date circled on it in red ink.

“Is this what you had planned for today?” Martyn asks as they begin strolling off towards some other shops.

Phil laughs at that. “No. What I had planned for today was snuggling my boyfriend and my kids.”

Martyn gives him a look. “Boyfriend, eh? So it’s official, then?” he asks, a mischievous smirk on his face.

Phil can feel his face flush when he realizes what he’s just said. “Well… I call him that sometimes. In my head.”

Martyn isn’t polite enough not to laugh at him. “Oh, so Dan isn’t aware of this new development?”

There’s an awkward pause as Phil tries to think of a realistic lie, but it’s filled with Martyn cackling, then pretending to cover it up with a cough. “He knows that there are… feelings happening. I think.”

“You think?” Martyn basically squawks. “Jesus, man. Why don’t you just tell him you fancy him? You know he feels the same.”

He gestures them towards a candy shop then, and Phil is helpless to refuse. He follows behind Martyn slowly, trying to gather his thoughts.

“Well… I mean, I guess I think I know how he feels, but I… I’m not sure.”

Martyn had stopped to hold the door open for him, but at that he pauses, turning to give Phil a blank stare. “Mate,” he deadpans.

“What?” Phil says defensively. “Open the door, it’s freezing out here.”

Martyn rolls his eyes, but waves Phil through, following behind him closely to continue the conversation. “Don’t be daft. Or, at least be less daft, if you can manage that.”

“Thanks, Mar, you’re such a beaming ray of kindness today. I’ve missed our bonding times,” Phil says, and he hopes his voice is dripping with sarcasm.

“You know you did,” Martyn teases. Phil can’t even deny that. He did.

“Whatever,” he says, mindlessly strolling the store, his hands tucked firmly in his pockets to keep him from buying anything.

“I’m serious, though,” Martyn says after a minute, tucking a box of licorice under his arm, likely for their father. “I think you both would feel better if you just had a conversation about it, yeah?”

Phil’s quiet, thinking about it. Of course, Martyn is right. “I know,” he says, rather than admitting it in so many words. “And, God, I’ve already bought a real ring, haven’t I? I’ve got to say something. Surely he’ll say no if I just propose out of nowhere. And-”

“I doubt it,” Martyn interrupts his rambling, examining some chocolate oranges.

Phil blinks. “Doubt what?” He says, suspicious.

Martyn shrugs. “I doubt he’d say no. Knowing the two of you, he might actually prefer it if you just propose, so neither of you have to actually talk like functioning human beings.”

And this, Phil thinks, is where Martyn clearly doesn’t know Dan very well. “Oh, no. Dan loves to talk. He loves a good serious chat. We have them with the kids all the time.”

Martyn glances at him then, smiling a little. “He’s a good dad?” he asks.

Phil sighs wistfully, wishing again that he’d said no to his brother and just stayed home to snuggle with his grumpy-Dan and their kids. “The best,” he says truthfully. He hesitates then, debating on whether or not he should share this next part with his brother.

“What is it?” Martyn asks, Phil’s anxiety and hesitation far too easy to read for someone who has known him his whole life.

Phil chews his lip in contemplation, but sighs. It would be good to get a second opinion on this, he figures.

“Dan asked me to adopt the kids with him.”

Martyn drops the box of licorice.

Phil winces at the noise, and they both glance at the shopkeep, who gives them a tired once-over before going back to his coffee and tablet.

“He what?” Martyn whisper-shouts, leaning back down to retrieve the box.

“He asked me to adopt-”

Martyn flaps his hand. “Shut up, I heard you. I just…” He stares at Phil, his eyes wide. “That’s a lot, man. That’s a big responsibility.”

Phil knows he doesn’t really mean it like that, but he bristles anyway at the insinuation that he maybe can’t handle that responsibility. He feels like he’s been doing just fine so far, though.

“I know that,” he says, a little defensive. “We know that. I just…” he trails off then. This may not even be something Martyn understands. He and Cornelia have Evan, but… still. This is a little different.

“Just what?” Martyn says, his voice soft.

Phil sighs. “They’re my kids, Martyn. And as odd as it sounds, Dan is my family. With or without them, he’s… He’s my person. And he’s the only person I’d want to have a family with.”

Martyn is silent, glancing at Phil for only a minute before going over to the counter to pay for the candy. Phil trails after him, feeling a little like he’s in trouble, even though he hasn’t even done anything. Martyn can’t crucify him for a crime he didn’t even commit, he thinks bitterly.

They head out of the shop, and Martyn pulls out his phone and glances at the time. “You feel like doing a little bit of Christmas shopping?”

~~~

Later that evening, when Phil is eating dinner at the table by himself, a message pops up from his brother. They’d abandoned the conversation about Dan and the kids at the candy shop, and Phil had honestly thought Martyn was angry with him. The message clears his conscience of that, at least.

Martyn: Talk to Dan. If you guys can ever get your shit sorted out, I think those kids would be thrilled to have you guys as forever parents.

Martyn: Also, you owe me for lunch

~~~

#phan #phanfic #phanfiction #iydlmp #if you don't love me pretend #iydlmp bonus fics #bonus content #foster phanfic #foster parent au #parent!phan #bbc producer!phil #school counselor!dan #chapter 22 bonus #phil pov

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mariocki · 2 years

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Second City Firsts: Glitter (BBC, 1976)

"Everybody wants a piece of you, stuffed and hanging on the wall with your mouth open! They may get my body but they won't get my head."

#second city firsts #glitter #single play #classic tv #bbc #tony bicât #toyah willcox #phil daniels #dixie dean #noel edmonds #doremy vernon #colin chisholm #tara prem #nick bicât #with the bbc centenary now in full swing (?) bbc4 have opened up their archives just a crack to let a few choice morsels plop #out on Wednesday evenings for us hungry fans of old tv‚ including a clutch of Second City Firsts (catch them on iplayer while you can)#SCF was a kind of experimental youth answer to Play for Today; produced at Pebble Mill in Birmingham (the titular #second city) and concentrating on first time writers (the firsts aspect) the series is notable for being the first step on the road to #success for many famous faces both in front of and behind the cameras; Julie Walters had her first screen role for the series‚ as did Toyah #Willcox here‚ and Ian McEwan wrote for the series before publishing his first novel. the survival rate of these individual plays is patchy #(28 of the 53 survive) which isn't unusual for single play strands in this era‚ and perhaps especially when there were fewer big names #attached. seeing the survivors hasn't been too easy either so I'm grateful for the opportunity from bbc4 #Glitter was the work of writer director Tony Bicât and starred Toyah in her screen debut opposite Phil Daniels (already something of a #known face thanks to a string of well regarded teen roles (inc. 4 Idle Hands)‚ and the two would be reunited in a couple of years and gain #immortality in 1979's Quadrophenia. there are thematic links between that film and this play too‚ not least in the generational conflict at #play and the idea of music as something quasi religious in effect‚ but this doesn't reach the heights of The Who. actually it's slightly #silly; a girl's dream of being on top of the pops made manifest‚ complete with awkward cameo by Noel Edmonds (game for a laugh #apparently‚ but certainly no actor). it's experimental‚ in the way that sixth form creative writing projects are experimental; I don't know #any of Bicât's other work but I'm afraid on the strength of this I'm not much tempted to seek them out. but that's the single play #they can't all be winners and they can't all launch careers; but then Toyah ended up doing ok in the end anyway

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phanfictioncatalogue · 1 month

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AO3 Fics (11) Masterlist

part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, part six, part seven, part eight, part nine, part ten

a night to remember (ao3) - grievingwarwidow

Summary: roxie, who prefers the label exotic performer over stripper, is a star amongst people who are out when the sun goes down. who better for a close-minded phil who has despised what he labels as lowlifes to suddenly obsess over than Roxie himself?

aka the one where phil gets pathetically hung up on dan, better known as roxie and is desperate to get to know him better.

cat bells (ao3) - N_Chu4Ever

Summary: The catboy photoshoot, except it all goes weirdly wrong because Phil accidentally bought Dan a magic cat costume off the internet. Oops.

Chips (ao3) - philsmeatylegss

Summary: Dan struggling with the concept that all healthy couples should fight.

Charmed (ao3) - hygge

Summary: Dan doesn’t understand Valentine’s Day. That is until he’s given an anonymous card with someone’s phone number in it. It takes months of talking with this anonymous person to learn who they are, and it ends up being the person that Dan least expects.

Come Over (ao3) - Mysticallykai

Summary: Dan and Phil's relationship is beginning to bloom, but Dan is terrified to let Phil into his home so he keeps pushing him away. He however, slowly learns that Phil is someone who will make his house a home.

Based loosely off of "Come Over" By Noah Kahan

dan and philly's wet moments (ao3) - heartsopenminds

Summary: Phil loathes hiring people to come and fix stuff around the house - he never imagined that watching someone power washing a patio could be so much fun though.

Daniel Howell: The Man Behind the Clown Mask (ao3) - danhoweiis

Summary: Rising to fame in the mid-2010’s, YouTube star and self proclaimed professional internet clown, Daniel Howell has had quite the repertoire of careers, from BBC Radio 1 DJ, to author of 3 best selling books. After the success of his last two global tours, Dan is taking to the stage yet again. In an exclusive interview with GQ magazine, I was given the opportunity to follow Dan on the UK leg of his tour and see what it takes to produce a sell out show and maybe find out the key to his success.

Danisnotadom (ao3) - Sinninghowlter

Summary: Dan's not a dom. Everyone swears up and down that he is, insists he is domming his boyfriend and is too good to take it in the ass.

Phil's not a sub. Everyone thinks he is, everyone thinks his baby is in charge. What they don't know is his hardcore boyfriend is actually a princess.

domino’s pizza (ao3) - orphan_account

Summary: dan can’t stop thinking about calling phil ‘daddy’ again, but his anxiety makes it feel impossible to communicate his desires with phil. but phil always knows when something’s up, and dan can’t bear to keep things from him.

Electronics and the Phil’s that break them (ao3) - Fictropes

Summary: The first time’s an accident, a proper accident— a Phil forgot how to hold his cup and now he’s watching his coffee seep into his keyboard type accident.

Guilty Pleasure (ao3) - ThoughtaThought

Summary: Dan and Phil meet at a BDSM club and decide to play. Dan is a rigger and a masochist. Phil is a sadist and a rope bunny. It’s perfect.

hard launch at last (ao3) - calvinahobbes

Summary: “Maybe the exact right moment won’t ever present itself.” Dan can feel himself hurtling towards some cosmic revelation as they stand here on a sandy beach in Portugal, the ocean bringing out the blue in Phil’s eyes.

hard times, baby (ao3) - queerofcups

Summary: For some people, their jumps came with a task. Figure it out, finish it and your past self would just fade away. That's not Dan. He's not sure why his past self is here. But he's got some theories.

I Don't Love You (ao3) - Raspberrysaxophone

Summary: Dan and Phil work in an office and are (unfortunately) sharing a desk. Phil is often away on business or working from home so they are never there at the same time. They both get frustrated with how the other one organises the shared space and tell each other that through notes

- or -

Dan and Phil hate each other, but soon Dan realises that he is developing a crush on him. What will a New York business trip (where they are sharing a room xxx) do to their relationship?

Knight of Wands (ao3) - dapg_otmebytheballs

Summary: Dan does not believe in fate and destiny and fortune-telling. Dan finds the idea of fortune-telling at the same time exciting and terrifying. He definitely doesn’t believe in it though. But he’s starting to have doubts.

Dan watches Phil do tarot readings and learns something about fate.

knight of wands (ao3) - dizzy

Summary: Some days are just boring.

(And some aren't.)

Neighbourly Nook (ao3) - wednesday_ukiru

Summary: The stranger had a dimple on his cheek that appeared when he laughed.

“I’m Dan,” he said, extending his hand. Phil reached for it with extreme eagerness, their knuckles knocking together in a particularly painful way, and they both winced, but Dan immediately broke into a smile. “I don’t know why I offered you a handshake, I never know how to do them.”

nylon is for delicate work (ao3) - Anonymous

Summary: A forensic linguist meets a lawyer in Rawtenstall.

Sunshine on the street at the parade (ao3) - ForeverJustAnEmoKidAtHeart

Summary: Dan and Phil meet at a Pride Parade.

The Philver Scream (ao3) - UnorthodoxSavvy

Summary: While Dan's career in the FBI is taking off, Phil is left behind to pick up the pieces of his life after his brother's death. However, he finds himself plagued by strange nightmares that he can't explain. Soon, people around him start dying. Can Dan and Phil's partnership survive the mounting body count?

'tis the damn season (ao3) - pasteldanhowells

Summary: Dan is the coffee shop regular at the shop Phil just started working at. Phil quickly learns that Dan is a bit of a Grinch who refuses to try the shops' holiday drinks, or anything new really. Phil's determined to change Dan's mind about the holiday drinks.

to let the light in (ao3) - cityofphanchester

Summary: Searching for a fresh start after a decade of dead ends in London, Dan becomes obsessed with a storytelling show on Rossendale Radio and a voice that hasn't been broadcast in years.

Two Man Team (ao3) - Nefertiti1052 (Succubusphan)

Summary: This is the story of two struggling friends who after many trials and tribulations find their way back to each other and build the life they've always dreamed of.

Or how Phil changed his life by talking to random strangers on the internet.

Wagon Wheel (ao3) - SylvesterLester

Summary: Is there enough room in Wagon Wheel for Phil's saloon and Sheriff Howell's city-slickin' ways?

when it feels like nothing else matter, will you put your arms around me? (ao3) - commonemergency

Summary: “Sorry.” Phil says.

His father wraps his arms around him, and the embrace feels warm. It’s an embrace that he hasn’t felt in a long time. It’s like when he was a kid and something scary happened and his father just held him like nothing could ever hurt him because his father was there protecting him.

“It’s okay.” His father quietly whispers into his hairline. “It’s okay.”

He didn’t know how to tell him all the things that he wanted to say, like: I don’t know how to stop my thoughts from spiralling out of control. What if the medicine makes it worse? What do we do if things don’t get better? How do I live in a world that doesn’t have my dad in it?

“Let’s just enjoy right now.” His father says, and he doesn’t let go of him.

"You look at my face a lot" (ao3) - natigail

Summary: Phil has a pretty new eyebrow slit but Dan decides that he could use a little make-up to highlight it. They end up in bed with Dan hovering close to Phil's face trying to do a good job while he's also trying not to ravish him or get (too) sappy.

your love is my drug (ao3) - antiadvil

Summary: Phil wakes up with a migraine.

#phanfictioncatalogue #phan #phanfic #phanfiction #dan and phil #masterlists #ao3 #ao3 masterlist

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pers-books · 6 months

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October 30, 2023

As over 800 episodes of Doctor Who land on BBC iPlayer on 1st November, they will all sit in one place – The Whoniverse. Closely followed by the first original Whoniverse series...

The Whoniverse

Welcome to the world where you can find every Doctor, every companion, and terrifyingly, hundreds of monsters that have appeared in Doctor Who. From the 1st November, The Whoniverse will become the official name, and dedicated home, for all shows within the orbit of Doctor Who which will live on BBC iPlayer.

Tales of the TARDIS

These Doctor Who legends step back into character to reflect on their adventures and in the process they discover something new, leaving viewers with a new insight into the story of each timeless pair.

With new scenes written by Showrunner Russell T Davies, and previous Doctor Who writers Phil Ford and Pete McTighe, TALES OF THE TARDIS allows fans to rediscover the stories they love whilst inviting new viewers to explore the vast mythology of the Doctor.

Russell T Davies, Doctor Who Showrunner says:

“The word Whoniverse was invented by fans, so it’s time to give it official status. And TALES OF THE TARDIS is one of the greatest delights of my career - to see old Doctors and companions reunited, still fighting the good fight, is a perfect way to celebrate the Doctor’s 60th birthday!”

Dan McGolpin, Director of iPlayer and Channels added:

“I’m delighted to welcome TALES OF THE TARDIS exclusively to BBC iPlayer, the home of Doctor Who, which is consistently one of our most popular programmes every single week of the year. TALES OF THE TARDIS will sit within The Whoniverse and features brand new and incredibly moving scenes with well-loved characters; it will be a fantastic starting point for a new generation to discover some of the most classic episodes and a joyous way for longstanding fans to catch up with old friends.”

TALES OF THE TARDIS is a Bad Wolf and BBC Studios production for BBC iPlayer. Executive Produced by Russell T Davies, Jane Tranter, Julie Gardner, Phil Collinson and Joel Collins. It is produced by Scott Handcock and directed by Joshua M. G. Thomas. The episodes are written by Russell T Davies, Phil Ford, and Pete McTighe.

#TV: Tales of the TARDIS #BBC Whoniverse #Doctor Who #Fifth Doctor #Sixth Doctor #Seventh Doctor #Clyde Langer #Jo Jones #Steven #Vicki #Peri Brown #Dorothy 'Ace' McShane #Tegan Jovanka #Jamie McCrimmon #Zoe

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phatcatphergus · 24 days

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the tab list during miracle minute and still now going into d&d is crazy

pac, piso, phil, mrbeardstone, tommy, jack, and dan fucking clancy

and all his friends in the room with him too <3

It’s got to be so amazing watching him do this.

He had a radio interview with the freaking bbc today and got 3k subs in 4 minutes. He’s been producing top notch shows and events and raising awareness for multiple charities all while live the entire time. It’s genuinely amazing and I know that everyone is so fucking proud of him

#Dan Clancy fr a hardcore tubbling now #tubbo #tubathon day 35 #tubathon #anon asks

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denimbex1986 · 4 months

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'Sixty years is but the blink of an eye for a time-traveller like The Doctor. But for a television series, a Diamond Anniversary is an extremely rare and impressive occurrence.

BBC’s Doctor Who recently celebrated such a milestone with three one-hour specials which, for the first time, streamed globally on Disney+.

Russell T Davies, fresh from his success on ’80s AIDS miniseries It’s A Sin, returned to the show he brought back so successfully in 2005 to the BBC. Bolstering his team are returning producers Julie Gardner and Phil Collinson, and Jane Tranter, the woman who was instrumental in bringing back Doctor Who in 2005. Bad Wolf, the company founded by Tranter and Gardner in 2015, currently produces the show with BBC Studios.

Another big returning name return was David Tennant, who played the 10th Doctor from 2005-2010 and who also returned for the show’s 50th Anniversary in 2013. Beloved by fans and audiences alike, Tennant’s Doctor was a big ratings draw.

Though, it’s not all returning past glories for Doctor Who. There is a new actor portraying the Time Lord, Ncuti Gatwa, who is taking over the titular role with the the forthcoming season 14, and who made his debut with the specials. The Rwandan-Scottish actor made a name for himself as gay teenager Eric Effiong in the Netflix comedy series Sex Education and recently starred as “Artist Ken” in Barbie. His first full season debut in the TARDIS will come in spring 2024, with a premiere date yet to be set.

Not only that, powerhouse streamer Disney+ is now on board to broadcast these new episodes across the world (with the exception of the U.K. and Ireland, where it still airs on BBC)...

What Happened in the 60th Anniversary Specials?

Showrunner Davies brought Tennant back with a cosmic bang and a galactic-sized nod to fan service with an adaptation of a Doctor Who Weekly comic strip first published in 1980.

The first of the three specials, “The Star Beast,” was a 60-minute romp that wonderfully evoked the Tenth Doctor-era, complete with cutesy alien The Meep (think The Mandalorian’s Baby Yoda, but bigger and hairier) and the return of much-loved companion, Donna Noble (played by Catherine Tate, The Office).

Last seen in the Tenth Doctor’s finale in 2010, Donna’s return posed a fatal conundrum for the Doctor: If she remembered her past with the Doctor, she would die. Thankfully, writer Davies had a workaround, meaning that the 60th anniversary celebrations did not result in the death of a companion but, in fact, allowed Donna to live unharmed and enjoy some further adventures in time and space with her best friend.

The main question, though, was just why the Fourteenth Doctor, played by Tennant, had the same face and body of the Tenth Doctor, also played by Tennant. This was an unprecedented move in the history, or Whostory, of the show. Special number two, “Wild Blue Yonder,” traveled to the end of the universe and delved into the uncanny, but still posed the query as to why that particular face returned. (It’s a good face, we weren’t complaining).

Fans would have to wait until the third and final special, “The Giggle,” before the mystery was finally revealed. And it was all down to Donna. She surmised that he changed his face and then found her to “come home.” The Doctor commented, “I’ve never been so happy in my life,” as he sat with the Noble family, not fighting aliens and enjoying a spot of lunch.

The Final Special Had More Up Its Intergalactic Sleeve

Aside from the return of fan favorite Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) and ’80s-era companion Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford), there was an even bigger returnee waiting in the wings.

Making an all-singing, all-dancing return to Doctor Who was the formidable villain, The Toymaker. Played by Neil Patrick Harris (best known for portraying Barney Stinson on the CBS series, How I Met Your Mother), the Toymaker made his debut opposite the First Doctor (William Hartnell) in the 1966 four-part serial, “The Celestial Toymaker.”

The character was originally played by English actor Michael Gough, who would go on to play Bruce Wayne’s butler Alfred in the four Batman films directed by Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher. Though, it’s hard to picture Gough pulling off NPH’s manic routine to The Spice Girls’ 1997 hit, “Spice Up Your Life”.

And then there was the first appearance of the new Doctor, Gatwa. But this was no simple regeneration, as seen in Doctor Who so many times previously. Just as the return of a previous actor to play a new regeneration of the Doctor was unprecedented, Davies debuted another new element in the show’s mythology: “bigeneration.” This left fans shocked as the Fourteenth Doctor, seemingly regenerating as per usual, actually split into two, revealing Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor and Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor standing, looking at one another just as surprised as the millions of Whovians watching across the globe.

What is Bigeneration and What Does it Mean for the Future?

As is explained in the behind-the-scenes show Doctor Who Unleashed, “instead of a new body taking over from the old body, the new body separates from the old body, and both are left alive.”

This means that there are two distinct Doctors roaming the universe at the same time. While it might take some time for Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor to pick up the keys to his TARDIS and start planet-hopping, as he seems quite happy to kick back in England for a while, it’s possible — nay, highly likely — that the Gatwa and Tennant Doctors will meet again.

For the time being, though, Davies has stated that there are “no plans” for a Fourteenth Doctor return, adding that he’s “parked” on Earth with Donna Noble for a “happy life.”

Interestingly, Davies has also suggested that this has even bigger implications for Doctor Who. This bigeneration has created a new timeline where all previous incarnations have been affected, with every Doctor continuing to exist after their own regeneration. Davies may be joking when he refers to this as a “Doctorverse,” but he has established “The Whoniverse” (bringing in previous spinoffs such as Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures) so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that audiences could witness various team-ups featuring Gatwa with previous Doctors at any moment. Or, perhaps more spinoff series could be on the way featuring the past Doctors on their own...'

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georgefairbrother · 9 months

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Remembering British film director and writer Sir Alan Parker CBE, who passed away July 31st, 2020, aged 76.

Born to a working class family in Islington, North London he made his early reputation as a pioneer of creativity in television advertising. He formed a creative partnership with David Puttnam and went on to become one of his generation’s most accomplished film directors.

He directed Jack Rosenthal’s television play, The Evacuees, for the BBC (BAFTA and International Emmy), and his first international cinema success was Bugsy Malone (1976), a musical gangster pastiche featuring a cast of children, including Jodie Foster, Scott Baio, Andrew Paul (The Bill), Bonnie Langford and an uncredited Phil Daniels. He said that he wrote Bugsy Malone out of frustration, as his work was constantly being rejected on the grounds of being 'too parochial'.

He went on to create a commercially successful, diverse and at times controversial body of work, including Midnight Express (written by Oliver Stone: they didn’t get on), Fame, Pink Floyd-The Wall, Mississippi Burning, The Commitments, Evita and Angela's Ashes. His final feature film was The Life of David Gale in 2003.

According to his official website;

"...In all, his films have won nineteen BAFTA awards, ten Golden Globes and ten Oscars...In January 1998, Parker took up his post as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the British Film Institute and in August, 1999 he was appointed first Chairman of the UK Film Council; a position he held for five years...In November, 1995, Parker was awarded with a CBE by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the British film industry and he received a knighthood in 2002. He is also an Officier des Arts et des Lettres, awarded by the French Government..."

He was also fascinating to listen to on the subject of the film industry generally, and gave a number of entertainingly grumpy interviews over the years. In the mid 1980s, his Thames TV documentary, A Turnip Head’s Guide to the British Film Industry, which according to his own website ‘lambasted the British film establishment and film critics’, seemed to upset just about everyone but won the British Press Guild award for the year’s best documentary.

He was interviewed by Warner Brothers executives as a potential director for the first Harry Potter, however during a teleconference (from his kitchen table at home) didn’t seem to express enough interest or gratitude at being asked. When a Warner exec told him that lots of directors would just love to do it, Parker said, 'Well go and ask them, then', and that was the end of that.

In conversation with David Puttnam for a BFI function, Alan Parker explained why he gave up making films, and talked a little about his art and drawing.

"…I’m out of it, I’ve had enough, I think it’s time for someone else to do it. I get more pleasure out of doing my art…I’ve been directing since I was 24, and every day was a battle, every day it was difficult, whether you’re fighting the producer who has opinions that you don’t agree with, the studios or whoever it is, because film, unlike art, pure art, film is hugely expensive, and the moment it gets expensive, you have people you have to serve…I’ve been punching out, all my life…to fight for the work…for our right to make our movie, the way we want to do it, and that’s hugely difficult, because it seems that you’re forever punching out. There comes a time, when you think, I don’t want to do that…I showed (a friend) one of my art works, and he said, who’s your audience here? Because that’s what film people think. I said the audience is me, and that’s all I care about, if someone likes my art, fine, if they don’t, fine…If they don’t like my movies, I want to kill ‘em…"

He was Michael Parkinson's first guest on Desert Island Discs in 1986, (a great interview) and featured once again 14 years later talking to Sue Lawley.

#social history #working class history #film history #british cinema #british film directors #alan parker #mississippi burning #the commitments #british film writers #british film history

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my-chaos-radio · 11 months

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youtube

Release: January 9, 1981

Lyrics:

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord

And I've been waiting for this moment, for all my life, oh lord

Can you feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord

Well, if you told me you were drowning

I would not lend a hand

I've seen your face before my friend

But I don't know if you know who I am

Well, I was there and I saw what you did

I saw it with my own two eyes

So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you've been

It's all been a pack of lies

And I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord

Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord

Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord, oh lord

Well I remember, I remember don't worry

How could I ever forget

It's the first time, the last time we ever met

But I know the reason why you keep this silence up

No you don't fool me

The hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows

It's no stranger to you and me

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord

Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord

I can feel it in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord

Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord

Songwriter: Phillip David Charles Collins

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh lord

And I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord

I can feel it in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord

Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord, oh lord

I can feel it in the air tonight, oh lord, oh lord

Well I've been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh lord, oh lord

SongFacts:

"In the Air Tonight" is the debut solo single by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins's debut solo album, 'Face Value', in January 1981.

Collins co-produced "In the Air Tonight" with Hugh Padgham, who became a frequent collaborator in the following years. It reached No. 2 on the UK Singles chart behind the posthumous release of John Lennon's "Woman". It reached No. 1 in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Sweden, and the top 10 in Australia, New Zealand and several other European territories. It reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, but reached No. 2 on the Rock Tracks Chart, later certified gold by the RIAA, representing 500,000 copies sold. The song's music video, directed by Stuart Orme, received heavy play on MTV when the new cable music video channel launched in August 1981.

"In the Air Tonight" remains one of Collins' best-known hits, often cited as his signature song, and is especially famous for its drum break towards the end, which has been described as "the sleekest, most melodramatic drum break in history" and one of the "101 Greatest Drumming Moments". In 2006, the song was ranked at number 35 in VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of the 80s". In 2021, it was listed at No. 291 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Collins wrote the song amid the grief he felt after divorcing his first wife Andrea Bertorelli in 1980. In a 2016 interview, Collins said of the song's lyrics: "I wrote the lyrics spontaneously. I'm not quite sure what the song is about, but there's a lot of anger, a lot of despair and a lot of frustration." In a 1997 BBC Radio 2 documentary, the singer revealed that the divorce contributed to his 1979 hiatus from the band Genesis, until they regrouped in October of that year to record the album Duke. Originally, Collins was going to include the song on Duke, but it was rejected by the band. Tony Banks, however, says he never heard the composition.

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scotianostra · 2 years

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October 1st 1999 saw the sad death of Lena Zavaroni.

Lena was a Scottish child singer and a television show host. With her album Ma! He’s Making Eyes at Me at ten years of age, she is the youngest person in history to have an album in the top ten of the UK Albums Chart. Later in life she hosted TV shows and appeared on stage. She died at the age of 35 after a long battle with anorexia nervosa.

Born Lena Hilda Zavaroni November 4th 1963...( there is where it hits me, how young she was when she passed away, less than two years younger than myself, seeing it written is such a reminder of our own mortality)... in Greenock and grew up in the small town of Rothesay on the Isle of Bute with musical parents, who owned a fish and chip shop. Father Victor Zavaroni played the guitar, mother Hilda sang, and Lena herself sang from the age of two. Her Grandfather, Alfredo had emigrated from Italy.

She was discovered in the summer of 1973 by record producer Tommy Scott, who was on holiday in Rothesay and heard her singing with her father and uncle in a band. Scott contacted impresario Phil Solomon, which led to his partner Dorothy Solomon’s becoming Zavaroni’s manager.

In 1974 Lena appeared on Opportunity Knocks hosted by Hughie Green and won the show for a record-breaking five weeks running. She followed this with the album Ma, a collection of classic and then-recent pop standards which reached number eight in the UK album chart. At 10 years, 146 days old, Zavaroni is still the youngest person to have an album in the Top 10 and was also the youngest person to appear on the BBC’s Top of the Pops.

Zavaroni also sang at a Hollywood charity show with Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball in 1974, at which Ball commented, “You’re special. Very special and very, very good,” although some sources attribute the words to Sinatra. Following this, Zavaroni guest-starred on The Carol Burnett Show. She also appeared in The Morecambe and Wise Show, the 1976 Royal Variety Show and performed at the White House for US President Gerald Ford. Signed to the soul-oriented Stax Records label in the United States, Zavaroni did not make much of a chart impact Stateside despite the praise and television appearances, as her Ma album failed to chart and its title single made it only to number 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 during a four-week chart run in the summer of 1974.

While attending London’s Italia Conti Academy stage school, Lena met and became long-term friends with child star Bonnie Langford. The two starred in the TV special Lena and Bonnie.

Between 1979 and 1982, Lena had her own TV series on the BBC, Lena Zavaroni and Music, which featured singing and dancing, and included guests such as Spike Milligan, Elaine Stritch, and Les Dawson.

From the age of 13, Zavaroni suffered from anorexia nervosa. While at stage school, her weight dropped to 56 lb (4 stone or 25 kg). Zavaroni blamed this on the pressure placed upon her to fit into costumes while at the same time she was “developing as a woman.

She continued to suffer from anorexia throughout the 1980s, and in 1989 she married computer consultant Peter Wiltshire. The couple settled in north London but separated 18 months later. Also in 1989, Zavaroni’s mother, Hilda, died of a tranquilliser overdose and a fire destroyed all of her showbiz mementos.

After the breakup of her marriage, Zavaroni moved to Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, to be nearer to her father and his second wife. By this time, she was living on state benefits and in 1999 was accused of stealing a 50p packet of jelly, although the charges were later dropped.

Zavaroni underwent a number of drug treatments and received electroconvulsive therapy in an attempt to beat her anorexia. Her inquest was told that none of these had been successful in the long term. In addition she was suffering from depression and begged doctors to operate on her to relieve her depression. Although the operation would not cure her anorexia, she was desperate for it to proceed and threatened suicide (she also took a drug overdose) if it did not.

In September 1999 Zavaroni was admitted to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff for a psychosurgical operation. After the operation, she appeared to be in a satisfactory condition and after a week she was “making telephone calls, cheerful and engaging in conversation,” even asking her doctor if he thought there was any chance that she would get back on stage. However, three weeks after the operation, she developed a chest infection and died from pneumonia on 1st October 1999.

#Scotland #scottish #scots-italian #singer #entertainer.#tv star #history

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brian-in-finance · 2 years

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Video 📹

Karen Pirie

Lauren Lyle (Outlander) will take the lead role of Karen Pirie in a new ITV drama series from World Productions, the production company behind Line of Duty and Bodyguard.

True to Val McDermid’s iconic character, DS Karen Pirie is a young and fearless Scottish investigator with a quick wit and tenacious desire for the truth. Adapted by Emer Kenny (Harlots, Save Me Too), who also will play Karen’s friend, River Wilde, Karen Pirie costars Chris Jenks (Sex Education) as Jason “Mint” Murray and Zach Wyatt (Blithe Spirit) as DS Phil Parhatka. The series is based on celebrated crime author Val McDermid’s first “Karen Pirie” novel, The Distant Echo.

The first episode sees Karen tasked with reopening an unsolved murder case that has been the subject of a provocative true-crime podcast. When teenager Rosie Duff (Anna Russell-Martin, Casualty) was found brutally murdered in the Scottish university town of St Andrews in 1996, suspicion fell on the three drunken students who were discovered at the scene of the crime, claiming to have found her body: Sigmund “Ziggy” Malkiewicz (Jhon Lumsden, Pancake), Tom “Weird” Mackie (Jack Hesketh, Besa), and Alex Gilbey (Buom Tihngang, Death In Paradise). But with a lack of forensic evidence, no charges were brought and the investigation floundered. Twenty-five years on, someone appears to be willing to risk everything to keep the secrets surrounding the case hidden. Do the three men know more than they previously revealed? How flawed was the original investigation? And can Karen uncover the truth of what happened to Rosie that fateful night?

Additional cast members include Michael Schaeffer (The Salisbury Poisonings) as Tom “Weird” Mackie senior, Ariyon Bakare (His Dark Materials) as Alex Gilbey senior, and Alec Newman (Unforgotten) as Sigmund “Ziggy” Malkiewicz senior. The series is filmed across Scotland.

Karen Pirie has been commissioned for ITV by Head of Drama Polly Hill. Drama Commissioner Huw Kennair-Jones oversaw production from the channel’s perspective. The program is executive produced by Simon Heath, World Production’s CEO, Emer Kenny, and Val McDermid; directed by Gareth Bryn (Line of Duty, Hidden); and produced by Clare Kerr (The Nest). Karen Pirie is produced in association with, and distributed by, ITV Studios. BritBox International will be the exclusive home to the series in North America.

https://thebritishtvplace.com/2022/06/britbox-announces-new-commissions-with-itv-and-bbc-including-death-in-paradise-spinoff/

Remember… we are going to make Karens cool again.

#Tait rhymes with hat #Good times #Glass Magazine #50th Issue #11 July 2022 #Karen Pirie #ITV #2022 #Instagram story #Instagram #My screenrecording

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whileiamdying · 2 years

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Karajan: a new film – and the controversy continues

Tom Service The Guardian London, UK Thu 4 Dec 2014 @ 03:00 EST

The conductor – who led the Berlin Philharmonic from 1956 to 1989 – is the subject of a new BBC documentary. But he remains an enigmatic figure, whose musical approach sounds a false note in today’s world.

📸 Visionary? Conductor Herbert von Karajan in 1976. Photograph: Bettmann/Corbis

Herbert von Karajan. He’s both an icon and an enigma in the story of 20th century music. Baton aloft, hair expertly coiffed, shot in soft-focus lighting from the left (he insisted he was photographed from what he thought was his best side), he is the familiar face of millions of records, videos, laserdiscs, and now DVDs and downloads, the person who arguably did more to turn symphonic music into a commodity in the postwar era. He is also the despotic maestro of imperialistic ambition, who wanted to conquer every available media possibility and turn them into publicity-generating – and commercially lucrative – opportunities for him and his orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic.

But Karajan the man remains elusive: a conductor who didn’t – and possibly couldn’t – form friendships with the musicians he led for more than 30 years, whose political past (he was a member of the Nazi party) was a dark halo over his reputation throughout his life, and whose music-making itself, for all its gigantic success, has now become a legacy that most of today’s conductors openly repudiate. Karajan’s approach, they say, represents an ideology in which the superficial gloss, finish and perfection of orchestral sonority is an end in itself, a one-size-fits all solution for repertoires from Bach to Berg, from Mozart to Mahler, which ironed out the expressive edges of everything he conducted. Simon Rattle, for one, has talked about how he was “slightly repelled” by the Karajan sound when he heard it in the flesh for the first time, and he’s just one conductor who feels that Karajan – “the emperor of legato” – belongs to a musical world that has no place in today’s orchestral culture.

It’s all of those myths, cliches, and phenomena that John Bridcut’s new film – Karajan’s Magic and Myth, broadcast on BBC4 on 5 December – interrogates, in the BBC’s first commissioned film on the conductor, 25 years after his death. There are some fascinating moments: interviews with musicians from the Philharmonia in London in the early 1950s, from the Berlin Phil, fellow conductors Nikolaus Harnoncourt (who played as a cellist for Karajan in the Vienna Symphony Orchestra) and Mark Elder, and a handful of the starry soloists he worked with in the later stages of his career, Placido Domingo, Anne-Sophie Mutter, and Jessye Norman.

Most illuminating of all are the glimpses you’re given of a man and musician who didn’t conform to the one-dimensional caricature he has become for some: far from a dead-eyed perfectionist, Karajan actually ignored obvious imperfections, such as a magnificently obdurate fluffed note from the fourth trumpet in one of his recordings of Strauss’s Alpine Symphony, in favour of the overall sweep of a longer take in the studio – or possibly because it was cheaper not to patch it up.

Karajan’s undoubted vanity comes over as one of the strongest indictments of his personality: not just the whole left-side-is-my-best-side thing, but making sure that his principal flute James Galway wasn’t visible in his films, because Karajan didn’t like Galway’s facial hair. Conversely, he didn’t like baldness either in himself or his orchestral players, and he made follicly challenged musicians wear wigs for the filmed sessions – even if they were often invisible since the camera focused for the vast majority of the time on Karajan and his closed-eye conducting, and on the instruments rather than the actual players.

But the biggest issue of all, the question of how Karajan actually produced the performances he did, remains unanswered in Bridcut’s film, as it does in the other Karajan documentaries that have been made. There are the crazy facts of his contract with the Berliners – that they were to be at his beck and call around the clock whenever he was in Berlin, summonable at a moment’s notice for a recording, rehearsal, or film session – but even accounting for Karajan’s famed magnetism and charisma on the podium, it’s hard to completely understand how he was able to command such complete authority over his musicians and orchestral culture all over the world.

It’s possible that Karajan is a phenomenon that today’s musical culture just couldn’t tolerate (although the fetishisation of the conductor figure continues unabated; just think of the adulation, marketing and hype around Gustavo Dudamel, for example), but the other side of it is the sheer scale of Karajan’s achievement. In rejecting Karajan’s recordings, we risk underestimating both the sheer intensity and indelible power of the sound world he created, and the sophistication of what he was doing musically. He also made visionary use of the latest media.

A few examples: watch his films with Henri-Georges Clouzot, rehearsing and performing Schumann’s Fourth Symphony and Beethoven’s Fifth. Karajan and Clouzot turn the art of orchestral rehearsal and music analysis into sensual filmic experiences. Of course, Karajan is performing for the cameras, but the substance of what he is saying when he tutors the hapless student conductor is rivetingly insightful, as is his forensic, multi-dimensional explosion of the start of Schumann 4.

These are suggestions (and there are others in the surprising amount of Karajan rehearsal footage on YouTube) of an essential approach to music-making, a way of building an orchestral score and a symphonic sound world from the bottom up, so that the symphony or opera or tone poem is generated from the basics – and the bass lines – of its harmonic momentum.

Karajan seemed to feel each piece he conducted as a single sweep of musical momentum made up of interconnecting lines of melody and harmony. His closed eyes, by the way, aren’t only about a mystical communion with an internal world of the music (and an incomprehensible mode of communication for Simon Rattle, and most other conductors), but a way of recalling the score, which, it’s said, he could see in his mind’s eye, turning the pages in his imagination. He had to keep them shut, otherwise he would lose his concentration.

But it’s his physical gestures that really tell this story of what he’s doing. So often, Karajan is reaching down with his hands, moulding and kneading a kind of sonic plasma that seems to begin somewhere beneath his podium, in the bowels of the earth – or at least with the Berlin Phil’s double bass players – and emerges upwards with volcanic force. That’s why his Bruckner, his Brahms, his Sibelius, his Wagner is so thrillingly powerful, because the music seems to be made of elemental energy, not simply orchestral sonority.

Well, that’s how it seems to me when Karajan is at his best – you can hear that too, in Karajan’s essential years with the Philharmonia in the 1940s and 50s; the Beethoven cycle they made together is arguably the most exciting of all his Beethovenian surveys. And it’s worth remembering how radical Karajan’s experiments with music and film were: yes, the fixed rows of musicians seem uncomfortably like a musical-modernist version of a Riefenstahl-like sense of order and abstraction, but they are achieved with a remarkable sense of filmic possibility, and with the essential idea that classical music on film should not simply be a filmed version of concerts, but a new medium, a new kind of experience.

The best of all is a film that Karajan didn’t like, directed not by the maestro himself but by Hugo Niebeling. It’s a version of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, made in 1968, in which the cinematography is as powerful an interpretation of the piece as the performance, so that you feel the storm and the stream, the architecture and the physicality of Beethoven’s music with your eyes as well as your ears. Forty-six years after it was made, it’s a film that is infinitely more radical than the vast majority of classical music films made today.

A quarter century on from his death, Karajan remains a seismic figure in classical music, and even in a film of the range of Bridcut’s, the man himself remains hard to fathom. But as a new generation of listeners discover his legacy, especially in China and Japan, where his records still sell as the acme of classical music, he’s an unavoidable presence. In the questions that his life and music-making pose, you might not like him, but you have to deal with him. The Karajan controversy continues.

Karajan’s Magic and Myth is on BBC4 at 730pm on Friday 5 December, and then on iPlayer until 4 January.

#Herbert von Karajan #Berlin Philharmonic #Jessye Norman #Gustavo Dudamel #Placido Domingo #Anne-Sophie Mutter #Henri-Georges Clouzot #Hugo Niebeling #Bruckner #Brahms #Sibelius #Wagner

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listeningtask · 9 months

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Listening Task II – Wall of Sound

Wall of Sound (also known as Spector Sound) is a music production technique developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Studios in the 1960s. Spector, despite his infamously bad reputation, is regarded as one of the most influential and successful record producers in the history of popular music and has worked with The Beach Boys, The Ronettes, The Righteous Brothers, Beatles, etc. The technique involved recording multiple musicians in a tightly spaced room, essentially an echo chamber, playing the same parts simultaneously to create an unusually dense, heavily saturated, and layered sound that was sent through speakers and record the reflections through the microphones. The intention was to “exploit” the space and capture the natural reverberation of all sound as it bounces the walls of the room. Spector was able to give the recordings a lush and enveloping quality, contributing to the "wall" effect from which the production technique derived its name. Recordings were done in mono and translated very well on radios and jukeboxes of the era. (Quinn 2019)

youtube

In 1964, Spector explained: "I was looking for a sound, a sound so strong that if the material was not the greatest, the sound would carry the record. It was a case of augmenting, augmenting. It all fit together like a jigsaw."

The combination of reverb, dense arrangements, and multiple instruments contributed to the Wall of Sound's distinctive and iconic sound signature. It became one of the defining features of Spector's productions and left a lasting impact on the music industry.

Reference list

BBC (14 April 2009) ‘Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound’, news.bbc.co.uk, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6467441.stm.

Buskin R (2020) Classic Tracks: The Ronettes ‘Be My Baby’, Soundonsound.com, https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-ronettes-be-my-baby.

Quinn S (2019) Phil Spector and the Wall of Sound, jewlscholar.mtsu.edu, https://jewlscholar.mtsu.edu/items/aaa0c7e1-6d73-4c83-be9e-2cfbd1bdfc97, accessed 25 July 2023.

#Youtube

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ausetkmt · 11 months

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Astrud Gilberto, the Brazilian bossa nova singer best known for The Girl from Ipanema, has died aged 83.

One of Brazil's biggest stars of the 1960s and 70s, she recorded 16 albums and worked with artists ranging from Quincy Jones to George Michael.

Her version of The Girl From Ipanema sold more than five million copies and helped to popularise bossa nova.

Sofia Gilberto, the artist's granddaughter, broke the news of her death on Instagram.

"I'm here to bring you the sad news that my grandmother became a star today, and is next to my grandfather João Gilberto," wrote Sofia, who is also a musician.

"She was a pioneer and the best. At the age of 22, she gave voice to the English version of Girl from Ipanema and gained international fame."

Paul Ricci, a New York-based guitarist who collaborated with Gilberto, also confirmed the news on Facebook.

"I just got word from her son Marcelo that we have lost Astrud Gilberto," he wrote. "He asked for this to be posted.

"She was an important part of ALL that is Brazilian music in the world and she changed many lives with her energy. RIP from 'the chief', as she called me."

The BBC has contacted Gilberto's representatives for official confirmation.

Brazilian Bossa Nova and Samba singer Astrud Gilberto and her band performing at SOB's nightclub in New York in 1993

Born Astrud Evangelina Weinert in Bahia, she moved to Rio de Janeiro at an early age and took musical inspiration from her mother's side of the family, where "almost everyone played an instrument".

In her mid-teens, she fell in with a group of young people she described as a "musical clan", whose members included the famous singer Nara Leao and acclaimed guitarist João Gilberto, who helped create bossa nova.

Astrud and João married a few months after meeting, and it was their relationship that accidentally gave rise to her recording career.

Uncredited vocals

In 1963, she accompanied her husband to New York to help him as a studio translator while he cut an album with jazz legend Stan Getz.

When the band came to record the English lyrics for The Girl From Ipanema, they needed a vocalist - and Gilberto shyly suggested she could handle the task.

"Producer Creed Taylor said he wanted to get the song done right away and looked around the room," engineer Phil Ramone told Jazzwax in 2012.

"Astrud volunteered, saying she could sing in English. Creed said, 'Great.' Astrud wasn't a professional singer, but she was the only victim sitting there that night."

Although she had little time to prepare, Gilberto's detached but sultry vocals perfectly captured the vibe of a "tall and tan and young and lovely" girl who turns the heads of everyone she passes.

The song was an instant hit and went on to win the Grammy Award for record of the year.

Gilberto wasn't credited on the track (which was released under the name Stan Getz and João Gilberto) and she only received the standard $120 session fee for her performance.

However, it was the springboard for a successful solo career, beginning with 1965's The Astrud Gilberto Album, where she re-joined Ipanema's co-writer, Antonio Carlos Jobim, to record a suite of Brazilian standards.

Speaking to The Independent last year, her son Marcelo claimed that Gilberto struggled with the objectification she received from the press, and often had to fight misogyny in the music industry.

Writing on her website in the early 2000s, Gilberto recalled how several people had claimed responsibility for her success with Ipanema, with Stan Getz saying he had rescued her from being a "housewife".

"Nothing is further from the truth," she wrote. "I guess it may them look 'important' to have been the one that had the 'wisdom' to recognize talent or 'potential' in my singing… I suppose I should feel flattered by the importance that they lend to this, but I can't help but to feel annoyed at the fact that they resorted to lying!"

In the 1970s, she began writing her own songs, as showcased on albums like Astrud Gilberto Now (1972) and That Girl From Ipanema (1977).

On the latter, she achieved a lifetime ambition by recording one of her songs, Far Away, as a duet with legendary jazz trumpeter Chet Baker.

Alongside recording, she developed a second strand to her career, acting in the films The Hanged Man and Get Yourself a College Girl and recording the soundtrack for The Deadly Affair, arranged by Quincy Jones.

In the early 1980s, Gilberto formed a group that featured her son Maeclo on bass and toured the world, but she largely avoided playing in Brazil, where she felt she had not been afforded the recognition she deserved.

"Brazil turned its back on her," Marcelo told The Independent. "She achieved fame abroad at a time when this was considered treasonous by the press."

In Europe, she recorded an album of samba classics with James Last; and George Michael sought her out to duet on a version of Desafinado for charity album Red Hot + Rio in 1996.

She recorded her final album, Jungle, in 2002, after which she announced an indefinite hiatus from public performance, having previously said that being "close to the public was frightening".

The singer devoted most of her later years to campaigning against animal cruelty, but the legacy of her first recording lived on, with everyone from Frank Sinatra and Madonna to Amy Winehouse and Nat King Cole offering their own interpretations of Gilberto's performance.

#Astrud Gilberto: The Girl from Ipanema singer dies at 83 #bossa nova #Brazil #Jazz

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