Um wenigsten noch in richtigen Jahr 100 Jahre James Joyce: Ulysses, das Jahrhundertbuch, das mich wie die meisten Leute schon interessiert, jedoch ohne die Kraft aufzubringen, es zu lesen (ich blättere gelgentlich etwas darin herum) zu begehen, schaute ich endlich einmal wieder Joseph Stricks die Unverfilmbarkeit der Vorlage souverän ignorierende todesmutige Verfilmung an. Sie spielt zur falschen Zeit am rechten Ort, der trieb- anfeindungs- und eifersuchtsgeplagte Leopold Bloom in Gestalt des herrlichen Milo O’Shea irrt einen Tag lang durch Dublin, wie einst Odysseus durchs Mittelmeer, und gönnt seinem schwermütigen nicht-so-richtig Helden bei beherzter formalen Versponnenheit soviel Verständnis, daß ich annehme, es sei eine angemessene Würdigung. Die Meinungen gehen da allerdings weit auseinander zwischen grandios interessantem Filmexperiment und völlig mißglückter Literaturverfilmung. Der Film wurde jedenfalls nicht zum irischen Nationinalheiligtum erklärt, sondern durfte im Gegenteil wegen Unterwanderung der öffentlichen Moral in Irland erst über 30 Jahre nach seiner Entstehung gezeigt werden. 

Happy Birthday Scottish actor Richard Wilson.

Born Ian Colquhoun Wilson,July 9th 1936 in Greenock, he went on to study science there before completing his National Service in Singapore with the Royal Medical Army Corps. Wilson was a late convert to acting as he worked as a research scientist in Glasgow until the age of 27. He then trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London. Before his most famous role as Victor Meldrew, he participated in theatre productions in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Manchester. He also directed several plays.

After several bit parts in TV shows including The Sweeney and Some Mothers Do Have 'Em' in 1978, he portrayed a regular character in the show A Sharp Intake of Breath'with David Jason between 1977 and 1980. This was followed by lead roles in the show High and Dry in 1985, and Hot Metal in 1988. It was in between these two series that I first noticed Richar Wilson in the fantastic BBC Scotland series Tutti Frutti with a host of other Scots, including Robbie Coltrane, Maurice Roëves and Katy Murphy, Richard was Eddie Clockerty, the group's devious and exploitative manager, I remember fondly the scenes he shared with Kate Murphy as his lippy secretary Miss Toner.

Wilson then won his most famous role as Victor Meldrew, although he initially turned down the part as he was younger than the character, in the sitcom One Foot in the Grave. The line 'I Don't Believe It' became the character's catchphrase, the show ran for ten years before they finally bumped him off

After One Foot in the Grave, Wilson enjoyed roles in 'High Stakes' and Life As We Know It' in 2001. Between 2002 and 2004, he appeared in several TV movies including Jeffrey Archer: The Truth and King of Fridges

Wilson returned to a recurring TV show in the form of Born and Bred' between 2004 and 2005 and has since made the transition from a grumpy old man to a wise, old apothecary in Merlin, which debuted in 2008 and finished in 2012. Since then he has been picky with his roles and not appeared in too many shows, however a wee look at Indb tells me he has two projects on the go just now, Everything I Ever Wanted to Tell My Daughter About Men also stars Alan Cummings and How Sweetly it turns.

Richard has devoted his time to working for the gay rights campaign group Stonewall he is also a patron for the Scottish Youth Theatre and has been a long-term supporter of the charity Sense.

Wilson was planning to reprise the iconic character of Victor Meldrew for one night only at The Edinburgh Fringe a few years back but in the run-up to the event the actor suddenly fell ill and had to pull out.

It was later revealed he suffered a heart attack but remembers nothing of it. He told BBC Radio 2′s Graham Norton:

“I had a heart attack and fell off a balcony. I don’t remember a thing about it.The great thing about the accident – I’m going to mention because I’d love to know who it was – the great thing about the accident is that there was a doctor walking by, and if he hadn’t been walking by, I wouldn’t be talking to you now"

The veteran actor is still working, latest roles have been in Around the World in 80 Days in 2021, A new film, Sweetly It Turns is next for Wilson.

“Hunter” s5e16 (1989)

Investigating deaths at a ranch populated by mostly awful people, it feels like Hunter & McCall have crossed over into a soap opera.

The guest cast is strong, particularly Maurice Roëves and Amy Benedict.

Great ending. I really had no idea who did it.

9/10

Maurice Roëves - IMDB

Stotz v. Stotz: A Love Story

Stotz v. Stotz: A Love Story For the American Anglophile, there’s always a bit of thrill spotting a British actor from shows they have seen through the years in an American show.   Seeing Jane Merrow in ‘Hart to Hart’ or Katherine Woodville in ‘Mannix’ was always a pleasant bonus in what would otherwise be a fairly pedestrian episode. As detailed in these pages before, there have been periods where this kind of cross-pollination flowered, and the mid-80’s were such a time.  The 4th Season episode of ‘Magnum P.I.’ titled ‘Holmes Is Where the Heart Is’ had a particularly strong British flavor to it.  The guest lead was none other than Patrick Macnee, for whom the Tour has expressed our adoration before.  Also in the cast however were Michael Billington, best known for readers of these pages from the UFO, and, more importantly for the purposes of this post. Maurice Roëves.  Billington and Roëves played ‘Men from the Ministry’ types who were looking for Macnee to bring him back into care (Macnee’s character is nuts). The career of Maurice Roëves touched Doctor Who but once, but it was with monumental impact, and that was as the psychotic gun-running Stotz in The Caves of Androzani.  It was Stotz who the Davison Doctor was yelling/pleading with at the end of a very memorable episode 3 of Caves. That episode of ‘Magnum’ aired March 8, 1984, the very same night episode 1 of Caves aired on BBC1.  In our daydreaming, we imagined this Roëves-a-palooza airing opposite each other on competing channels. Was this character actor serendipity enough of a reason to re-watch The Caves of Androzani all over again?  What do you think? Tags and categories: Roundel Roundabouts, Peter Davison, The Caves of Androzani, Patrick Macnee via WordPress https://ift.tt/uAQFHpR October 01, 2023 at 07:00AM

Michael Fassbender in Macbeth (Justin Kurzel, 2015)

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Paddy Considine, Sean Harris, Jack Reynor, Elizabeth Debicki, David Thewlis, David Heyman, Maurice Roëves, Brian Nickels, Ross Anderson. Screenplay: Todd Louiso, Jacob Koskoff, Michael Lesslie, based on a play by William Shakespeare. Cinematography: Adam Arkapaw. Production design: Fiona Crombie. Film editing: Chris Dickens. Music: Jed Kurzel.

Translating a play from its theatrical mode into a cinematic one is never easy, but Justin Kurzel and his screenwriters, Jacob Koskoff, Michael Lesslie, and Todd Louiso, do several smart things in their adaptation of Macbeth. They open the film with a scene not in Shakespeare's play, the funeral of a small child presumably born to Macbeth (Michael Fassbender) and his Lady (Marion Cotillard), an extrapolation from Lady Macbeth's later claim that she has "given suck" to an infant. It establishes the sense of unsettling loss and grave disorientation that feeds the Macbeths' ambition. The film also scraps the witches' cauldron scene, its "double, double, toil and trouble" and "eye of newt" incantations, which can become ludicrous even in a well-done modern production, turning the witches into Halloween hags instead of the eerie prophets Shakespeare portrayed. In their place, the witches become three peasant women, one of whom has a baby in her arms, accompanied by another child. They seem indigenous, gifted with the air of prophecy attributed to those close to the land. Another problematic element of the play, the movement of Birnam Wood to Dunsinane, which can look silly on stage, with soldiers carrying branches in their hands, is resolved into something terrifying: Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane in the form of ashes and sparks, after the forest is set fire to by the troops of Macduff (Sean Harris) and Malcolm (Jack Reynor). This also creates a hellish landscape for the final duel of Macbeth and Macduff. There are some other touches that, though cinematic, don't work quite so well. Lady Macbeth's line, "screw your courage to the sticking place," is turned into a kind of dirty joke: an encouragement for Macbeth to penetrate her sexually. The banquet scene and the appearance of Banquo's ghost (Paddy Considine) are awkwardly staged. The lady's sleepwalking scene is shorn of its witnesses, and despite Cotillard's fine performance, it becomes a disjointed monologue in which she returns to the scene of the original crime, the murder of Duncan (David Thewlis). And worst of all, I think, the fear that speaking Shakespeare's verse aloud could become "stagey," leads Kurzel to reduce much of the dialogue and soliloquies to murmurs and whispers. The "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech is barely coherent when Macbeth mutters it as he hauls Lady Macbeth from her deathbed. Fassbender and Cotillard are formidable actors, but they have been done a severe disservice by not allowing them to use their voices to full effect.

The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

Director - Michael Mann, Cinematography - Dante Spinotti

"Great Spirit, Maker of All Life. A warrior goes to you swift and straight as an arrow shot into the sun. Welcome him and let him take his place at the council fire of my people. He is Uncas, my son. Tell them to be patient and ask death for speed; for they are all there but one - I, Chingachgook - Last of the Mohicans."

s t a r t r e k t h e n e x t g e n e r a t i o n created by gene roddenberry The Chase [s6ep20]

Maurice Roëves

(via x)

Doomwatch: The Devil's Sweets (1.7, BBC, 1970)

"You are conditioning them to react to, um, a chequerboard stimuli."

"Yes."

"With food reward?"

"Yes."

"How traditional. Well, hardly experimental."

"Pavlovian psychology was never a dead end! It's not just the nibble and the bell, the rat lost in a maze..."

"More advanced."

"Obviously."

"Mmm, obviously."

Dammit, Magua.

Movie: The Last Of The Mohicans.

Judge Dredd (1995)

In today's review, I'm reacquainted with the crime-filed streets of Mega-City One. As I attempt a #positive review of the 1995 action blockbuster adaptation Judge Dredd #SylvesterStallone #ArmandAssante #RobSchneider #JürgenProchnow #MaxvonSydow

Despite how bleak the current affairs of humanity are, it is always fun to pontificate how worse those who come after us will have it. The same struggles we face now amplified by 100 combined with the worries the future can bring. One comic took a darkly humorous look at current society in a future setting and made a satirical critique that remembered to back up its unique world with great action…

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Happy Birthday Scottish actor Ron Donachie.

Born Ronald Eaglesham Porter in Dundee on April 26th 1956  Ron might not be a household name, but is a weel kent face on our screens during the last 40 years or so.

He was educated at Madras College, St. Andrews and Glasgow University, from where he graduated with an M.A (Hons.) in English Literature and Drama in 1979. After a year working as a navvy, he joined the 7.84 theatre company for the play One Big Blow, in which the cast mimicked a traditional, colliery band by singing in six part harmony. The success of the play led to the formation of the acapella band The Flying Pickets, who had a Christmas number one in 1983. Donachie’s decision not to stay with the band and thereby missing out on their success has been described by him as “one of my more brilliant career decisions.”

Throughout the 1980s, he was a prolific theatre performer all across the British Isles,  now largely vanished repertory system. This afforded him the opportunity to act in many classical plays which are now rarely performed due to budget constraints and closed theatres. During this period, he appeared in over twenty plays at the Glasgow Citizens’ Theatre. Like many performers with similar experience, he considers this the happiest, most fruitful and most influential phase of his career.

That’s not to say he wasn’t on TV in the 80’s, firstly I would like to say he probably appeared in more episodes of Taggart than any other person, except the regular cast, clocking up five appearances all as different characters between 1987 and 2006.

The first thing I remember Don in was the brilliant Tutti Fruiti, with Robbie Coltrane, Richard Wilson and Maurice Roëves, he was also in 15 episodes of the old Scottish soap, Take the High Road as Duncan Strachan.

The 90’s saw his TV career really take off, parts in Taking over the Asylum, The Governor, Cracker and Looking after JoJo, as well as playing the Master at Arms in the Oscar winning film Titanic.

Into the new century and I think some of us will recall Don, in what I think is his most well known role as DCI Andrew Ross in the long running cop soap The Bill. Then Silent Witness, The Auf Wiedersehen Pet, and Stone of Destiny to name but a few. Ron also appeared in four episodes of the Edinburgh police drama Rebus, he had previously played the title role in the BBC Radio 4 dramatizations of the Ian Rankin books.

In the past few years Game of Thrones fans will have known him as Rodrik Cassel, or if you like last weeks birthday boy James James McAvoy in Filth, Don played the part of Hector. He was in casualty for a number of episodes, The brilliant mini series The Loch, and Deadwater Fell with David Tennant. Don also appeared in the Bruce bio-film Outlaw King as Robert Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow.

Ron was recently in the Aberdeen cop drama Granite Harbour and we will see him later this year in the gritty prison drama Screw, which was filmed in part in Glasgow.

“Baywatch” 052 (1992)

Cheesy fun.

Baywatch does its version of The Little Mermaid, in a story where a princess comes ashore (from a yacht!) to see what life is like among ordinary people.

Laura Harring (Mulholland Drive) is the princess and Maurice Roëves (Danger UXB, Doctor Who) is the man chasing her.

First of 2 episodes where Peter Kiwitt has a writing credit. First of 9 episodes directed by Parker Stevenson.

The a-story is Mitch-centric. And Hobie is heavily involved, too, as the princesss charms both of them. The b-story gives some nice material to Richard Jaeckel as Ben.

No sign of Summer, Matt, Stephanie, or Garner in this one. And Slade is pretty much gone from the show, at this point.

CJ appears in a couple of filler scenes. An excuse to get Pamela Anderson into a really small bikini. She almost doesn’t appear in uniform in this episode.

While the story is cheesy, it is earnestly done. Good performances and music. And the action sequence (chase) at the end looks great.

8/10

The Importance of The Caves of Androzani

The Importance of The Caves of Androzani

It won’t come as a great shock that many of us at the DWC are big fans of Robert Holmes; we’ve talked about him a lot in the past, and no doubt will again in the future. Although not his final Doctor Who story, The Caves of Androzani is certainly one of his best, and the circumstances that surround it, the development of the Doctor and Peri that had to take place within it, and the overall…

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