Arise, Sir Baldrick!
I am utterly delighted that Tony Robinson is getting a knighthood. Not, I hasten to add, primarily because of his roles in "Blackadder", though that has been important to me. On reading Vegetius, I burst into uncontrollable giggles when I realised that the best translation of his repeated "Sollertia est" was "It is a cunning plan", which led me to adopt the gender-neutral (because third declension adjective) "Sollers".
No, the true reason is that he is, and has been for decades, the best bloody story-teller on screen. My daughters were still at school when he did a wonderful re-telling of the "Iliad", and he has continued to be excellent.
"A fo ben bydd bont" - "whoever is a leader should be a bridge". He has been a wonderful bridge to history to immense audiences; it takes a first class actor to ask for the umpteenth time for an explanation of crop markings, and each time sound as if he really wants to know, when by then he probably knows more than I did in the exam answer that helped get me the V. Gordon Childe prize.
In addition to Time Team, he has involved himself in historical programmes where he interprets the past and brings it to life, including the "worst jobs" series that must have had an element of masochism - not just the pongs, but having to overcome a dislike of heights that I sympathised with; I couldn't have done it.
None of this is the reason (at any rate on paper) why he got the knighthood, but this is why I'm so glad.
This entry was originally posted at http://sollers.dreamwidth.org/32892.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
No, the true reason is that he is, and has been for decades, the best bloody story-teller on screen. My daughters were still at school when he did a wonderful re-telling of the "Iliad", and he has continued to be excellent.
"A fo ben bydd bont" - "whoever is a leader should be a bridge". He has been a wonderful bridge to history to immense audiences; it takes a first class actor to ask for the umpteenth time for an explanation of crop markings, and each time sound as if he really wants to know, when by then he probably knows more than I did in the exam answer that helped get me the V. Gordon Childe prize.
In addition to Time Team, he has involved himself in historical programmes where he interprets the past and brings it to life, including the "worst jobs" series that must have had an element of masochism - not just the pongs, but having to overcome a dislike of heights that I sympathised with; I couldn't have done it.
None of this is the reason (at any rate on paper) why he got the knighthood, but this is why I'm so glad.
This entry was originally posted at http://sollers.dreamwidth.org/32892.html. Please comment there using OpenID.