Fall of Eagles (mini picspam)

[lost_spook]

I've been watching the BBC's 1974 drama Fall of Eagles lately (in between the Shakespeare and things). Yes, guess whose IMBD I found it on? But when I saw that it was about the fall of the three big European royal houses at the turn of the century, I was immediately v interested. And then I saw that it had everybody ever in it, so I had to watch

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[lost_spook]

I don't know, because Patrick Stewart is clearly going bald there - it looks a bit fiddly to do. But then again, the hair/make-up is pretty good. And I don't know about David Collings's because they got a pretty good match on Denis Lill's beard. And there's no way he grew an epic thing like that for two episodes! The Master? A hairpiece!?!!! (Mind, watch out for About Time - their essays and 'in context' pieces are fab, their facts are sometimes dodgy. At least, according to Andrew Pixley in DWM, and even I've spotted things.)

Anyway, this series is quite cool and the casting is epic - it's not as good as Elizabeth R, but if you're in it for the history (and spotting the full quota of 1970s BBC actors) you might like it. Its cast is so epic that the back of the DVD has three lines of people 'starring' in it, without even mentioning that Michael Hordern is doing the narration. (It has narration, which feels v strange - ep 1 has a lot, and I was wondering if it was going to turn out to be more of a docu-drama, but it's much less intrusive after. And some of the ways they've threaded in contemporary images is quite cool. But it's a thing that definitely looks odd to modern eyes!)

[jjpor]

Good to know - I'll be on the lookout for their dodgy "facts" in future...although, I dunno, I find myself willing to believe the Delgado!"piece" calumny if only because I only just noticed a short while ago how *big* his hair gets (again, by his own standards) in his last couple of stories and now I can't help noticing it in fanvids etc. Must have been competing with Pertwee. ;D

Michael Hordern was the go-to guy for that kind of thing, wasn't he? I'm reminded of the Kubrick film Barry Lyndon, where he provides a particularly fine example. I'll be honest, though, the main thing intriguing me as I glance at your write-up again is the idea of Baker, C, playing a no-good Hohenzollern, hopefully in a similar style to his Blakes 7 appearance. ;D

[lost_spook]

They had me at David Collings, but throwing in Gemma Jones (you didn't stay to see how amazing she was in Spooks S6-7, more fool you ;-p), Patrick Stewart as Lenin (!) and then Colin Baker as presumably a Prussian prince... Well, yes. :-) Although I don't know when Colin Baker turns up. I'm assuming that he won't be quite as OTT as Bayban, though. But I'm sure he will like the uniforms and hats an things that seem to be obligatory.

Oh, I am useless at hair. They're probably right; I think I'll just not think about it, as I'll never be any the wiser unless it's really obvious or something. But I tended to end up not reading their facts sections because they were so dodgy. And if even I noticed, they must have been. I think part of it was the typos, rather than anything else.

[jjpor]

Colin Baker in a spiky helmet and a Hercule Poirot moustache would be quite enough to be getting on with, I feel. ;D And one of these days, I will catch up on post-Keeley Spooks, to be sure.

Well, as I say, last I time I saw Frontier in Space (or it might have The Time Monster, come to think of it), it literally jumped out at me. And then I read the hairpiece allegation and it all seemed to make sense... But yes, the essays are the best bits, I think. I splashed out on the second edition of the Three volume, and a bit later got the Two and Six/Seven ones. So...still more to get, but I've enjoyed them so far. Thanks very much indeed for recommending them (and sending me the original Three book!) in the first place. :) You're right about the typos, though.

[lost_spook]

The typos are pretty amusing. :-)

[jjpor]

Oh, and speaking of The Time Monster, Stu in that bears a striking resemblance to Mr Collings in the pictures above! :D