"Long hours combined with fury do not produce the best work..."
Staying in the same sort of era of TV, if nothing else:
Day Four: Beatrice Eliott (Stella Gonet) (from BBC 1990s drama The House of Eliott in which two sisters found a fashion house in the 1920s.)
"Just because I'm your wife doesn't mean I'm still your receptionist!"
As Jack is telling people before too long, Beatrice is amazing. Up until the start of the series she had been held back by her repressive father who saw no point in educating girls and valued Bea too much as a housekeeper to allow her to marry. Always being spirited, the thing that kept her from marching out anyhow, was her younger sister - her mother died when she was 13, leaving the baby Evangeline in her care.
It's no wonder then that she values her new-found independence so highly, she has trouble when she considers anything that might threaten it. On finding herself penniless, orphaned, with no education to fit her for any occupation, she sets out to earn her fortune and proves herself to be rather too good a receptionist to Jack Maddox, obtains a place at a London fashion house - and storms out again - and then manages, with Evie, to set up The House of Eliott in a world that finds a business run by a woman a thing bound to fail. She and Evie prove the world wrong.
For a woman who thought all her chances in life had passed her by, this definitely makes her awesome. There are other characters who are scared of her, including her pompous and patronising cousin Arthur, because she can be ferocious when she chooses. Plus, Bea is responsible for bringing Evie up, and, clearly, did a pretty fantastic job.
And, yay, would you believe there is a beautiful tribute vid here that tells some of her story from S1:
(It is a little sadder than I would have chosen for Bea, but does fit perfectly that bittersweet side of her story - and Jack's. She may be inclined at times to sacrifice him to the business, but meeting her seems to inspire him to find his sense of purpose, instead of hiding from memories of the war in an aimless society life).
Beatrice:Jack Maddox, you have hidden depths of appalling sentimentality.
Jack: So you don't want me to carry you over the threshold?
Beatrice: No I don't! ...We'll see.
(And, yes, you can see that not only do I think Stella Gonet is great in this, but Bea/Jack is one of my very few OTPs that I never want messed with. Ever. And fic for them would be lovely, yes?)
With an honourable mention for the crusading Penelope Maddox (Francesca Folan) who makes Bea more than a little jealous by having done all the things that she was never able to do.
Jack, on Penelope: "She blew in, flogged me some tickets for a charity ball, downed a quick glass and then shot off to some meeting for emancipated vagrants, or was it homeless feminists?"
Actually, it's full of strong female characters - I could talk about Madge, and Evie, and Tilly, too, while I'm at it... Maybe even Aunt Lydia!
Day One: Soolin (B7)
Day Two: Dayna Mellanby (B7)
Day Three: Michelle of the Resistance (Allo Allo)
Day Four: Beatrice Eliott (Stella Gonet) (from BBC 1990s drama The House of Eliott in which two sisters found a fashion house in the 1920s.)
"Just because I'm your wife doesn't mean I'm still your receptionist!"
As Jack is telling people before too long, Beatrice is amazing. Up until the start of the series she had been held back by her repressive father who saw no point in educating girls and valued Bea too much as a housekeeper to allow her to marry. Always being spirited, the thing that kept her from marching out anyhow, was her younger sister - her mother died when she was 13, leaving the baby Evangeline in her care.
It's no wonder then that she values her new-found independence so highly, she has trouble when she considers anything that might threaten it. On finding herself penniless, orphaned, with no education to fit her for any occupation, she sets out to earn her fortune and proves herself to be rather too good a receptionist to Jack Maddox, obtains a place at a London fashion house - and storms out again - and then manages, with Evie, to set up The House of Eliott in a world that finds a business run by a woman a thing bound to fail. She and Evie prove the world wrong.
For a woman who thought all her chances in life had passed her by, this definitely makes her awesome. There are other characters who are scared of her, including her pompous and patronising cousin Arthur, because she can be ferocious when she chooses. Plus, Bea is responsible for bringing Evie up, and, clearly, did a pretty fantastic job.
And, yay, would you believe there is a beautiful tribute vid here that tells some of her story from S1:
Click to view(It is a little sadder than I would have chosen for Bea, but does fit perfectly that bittersweet side of her story - and Jack's. She may be inclined at times to sacrifice him to the business, but meeting her seems to inspire him to find his sense of purpose, instead of hiding from memories of the war in an aimless society life).
Beatrice:Jack Maddox, you have hidden depths of appalling sentimentality.
Jack: So you don't want me to carry you over the threshold?
Beatrice: No I don't! ...We'll see.
(And, yes, you can see that not only do I think Stella Gonet is great in this, but Bea/Jack is one of my very few OTPs that I never want messed with. Ever. And fic for them would be lovely, yes?)
With an honourable mention for the crusading Penelope Maddox (Francesca Folan) who makes Bea more than a little jealous by having done all the things that she was never able to do.
Jack, on Penelope: "She blew in, flogged me some tickets for a charity ball, downed a quick glass and then shot off to some meeting for emancipated vagrants, or was it homeless feminists?"
Actually, it's full of strong female characters - I could talk about Madge, and Evie, and Tilly, too, while I'm at it... Maybe even Aunt Lydia!
Day One: Soolin (B7)
Day Two: Dayna Mellanby (B7)
Day Three: Michelle of the Resistance (Allo Allo)