The Fourth Wall
I picked up that 'Historical Spies' prompt that's been making the round... and it kinda got weird.
The Fourth Wall
13 hour-long episodes per season, not sure what channel it would be on.
Opening Theme: Paperback Writer - The Beatles
Tagline: Sooner or later, all walls fall down...
Mike Glass is an historical novelist and an outspoken critic of cults. He has his reasons for the latter position: his sister Lacey used to be a member of a drug-using cult called the Four Walls of Babylon. When she eventually left the organization, its members continued to harrass her and her family until Lacey, depressed and desperate, took her own life. Mike has dedicated himself to causing trouble for the cult ever since, and has unapologetically made them the opium-trafficking villains in his series of Victorian spy novels, the Adventures of Sir Nicholas Garland.
An attempt on his life by the cult leaves Mike in the hospital, but he wakes up in 1854, being tended by a woman he at first takes for Lacey - until she identifies herself as Kate Garland, sister of Sir Nicholas. Trapped in what he's always thought was his own fictional world, he comes to believe that if he can expose and discredit the cult now, in the 19th century, he may save Lacey. And while in the past Mike has awakened as Sir Nicholas, in the present Nick has awakened as Mike. The result is two concurrent storylines as Mike and Nick both try to outwit the cult, Nick trying to get used to the 21st century and Mike trying to make use of what he's already decided about the plot and characters of his next book. An increasingly supernatural flavour creeps in as evidence grows that the cult's leader has powers he's not letting on.
MIKE GLASS/SIR NICHOLAS GARLAND (Nathan Fillion)
"I guess I was doomed to snap sooner or later."
Mike is a bit of a recluse, though mostly out of necessity: the Four Walls have tried to silence him before. He is somewhat cynical, tending to beleive that people as a whole are foolish and easily manipulated, but stonily resolute in his own determination to do the right thing, whatever the consequences. Sir Nicholas is a character Mike admits to having based on himself, but with a good helping of Victorian optimism and far more courage. Nick finds the twenty-first century to be a gratifying illustration of scientific progress, but at the same time staggeringly decadent and often just downright bizarre. His inability to get the hang of driving a car provides something of a running joke - another is found in Mike's difficulting in faking a British accent.
LACEY GLASS/KATE GARLAND (Maggie Gyllenhaal)
"This is not what I meant when I said you ought to attend more parties, Nick."
We only see Lacey in flashbacks, where she seems to be a timid, withdrawn young woman, her spirit having been broken by the cult. Kate, by contrast, is cheerful and vivacious, perhaps more like Lacey was before the Four Walls got to her. A hopeless romantic, Kate's hobby is matchmaking, and she is always on the lookout for a nice young lady her brother could settle down with - but she's also sharply intelligent, invariably wins at card games, and has an uncanny instinct for when people are lying. She is very much devoted to Brandon, and was heartbroken to discover his connection to the Four Walls, keeping it secret from Nick/Mike for weeks.
JAMES BRANDON (James Purefoy)
"You're the sanest madman I've ever met."
Kate's fiance and Nick's good friend, Brandon began as a friend and partner whom Mike was depending on, but then grew increasingly troubled and distant. Kate kept his secret for a long time, but eventually confessed to Mike her discovery that Brandon is addicted to opium and deeply in debt to the Four Walls. This has distressed Mike on several levels, as it is not a development he had planned for the book and suggests that he cannot use his plot as a guide to future events. Furthermore, Brandon was sociable and charming, an expert at moving in Victorian society, and was a great help with Mike's attempts to fit in - without him, Mike has been thrown back on his own acting ability and fears it may not be up to the task. Brandon does not yet have a 'modern' counterpart, but fan speculation is rife, especially since the introduction of Mei Long.
ABBY KERTZER/MARY-JANE KELLEY (Christina Hendricks)
"I'm not the type to argue with anybody's right to define themselves... when I was little, I tried to define myself as a mermaid."
Abby is a fan of Mike's books, who came to him for help in convincing her mother to leave the cult. She's rather scatterbrained and a bit of a conspiracy theorist, but earnest and well-meaning. Holding a conversation with her can be an unnerving experience, as she always gives the impression of only half-listening while her mind is a million miles away. She is the only person who seems willing to believe that Nick is who he says he is, although it's possible she thinks he's just playing a part. Mary-Jane is an intriguing young Irishwoman who claims that the Four Walls have, for unknown reasons, targeted her family. Mike initially trusts her because of her resemblance to Abby - but it soon begins to look as if she may be a spy.
GRACE WARREN/QUEEN VICTORIA (Polly Walker)
"Don't thank me - I'm a lawyer."
Grace is a stern, humorless lawyer determined to see Ned Powers in jail - she has represented the prosecution both times he's been brought to court, and both times has lost. She and Mike are good friends (they seem to have dated in the past, but this apparently didn't work out), and Mike intentionally based his Queen Victoria on her. The Queen is shrewd and deeply concerned with morality; she wants the Four Walls rooted out for many reasons: they are trafficking opium, they are complicating Sino-British relations, and she considers them Satanists, corrupting the Empire's promising young men. She knows, however, that they have powerful friends in the government, and so rather than try to attack them openly, she has put Sir Nicholas on their trail.
NED POWERS/BASIL MARCH, EARL OF CASTORSHIRE (John Simm)
"You have nothing to fear, save the things that dwell in your own innermost heart."
The charismatic leader of the Four Walls, Ned quietly gets his followers hooked on assorted drugs, while Basil sells opium and has both good friends and bitter enemies in the far east. While Ned seems to be merely a sadist who enjoys having people utterly dependant on him, Basil appears to have bigger plans involving a colonial takeover of China and some degree of sorcery... or so things stood until the first season finale, when a tantalizing hint was thrown out to indicate that Ned/Basil is aware of what's going on in both worlds, and knows that Mike and Nick are each in the wrong one.
INSPECTOR JUNE KIM/MEI LONG (Fann Wong)
"Of course you always have a choice - but there's some choices you just can't make."
June Kim is a detective who seems eager to help Mike and Grace get information about the Four Walls - midway through the season, however, it is revealed that she is being blackmailed by Ned, who has threatened to reveal some unspecified unsavory incident in her own past if she will not oblige him by feeding his enemies misinformation. Mei Long is one of Basil's contacts in China, an enigmatic noblewoman. She was introduced only after June's corruptance was established, and little is known about her yet. She writes her name with characters that mean 'sleeping dragon'.
The Fourth Wall
13 hour-long episodes per season, not sure what channel it would be on.
Opening Theme: Paperback Writer - The Beatles
Tagline: Sooner or later, all walls fall down...
Mike Glass is an historical novelist and an outspoken critic of cults. He has his reasons for the latter position: his sister Lacey used to be a member of a drug-using cult called the Four Walls of Babylon. When she eventually left the organization, its members continued to harrass her and her family until Lacey, depressed and desperate, took her own life. Mike has dedicated himself to causing trouble for the cult ever since, and has unapologetically made them the opium-trafficking villains in his series of Victorian spy novels, the Adventures of Sir Nicholas Garland.
An attempt on his life by the cult leaves Mike in the hospital, but he wakes up in 1854, being tended by a woman he at first takes for Lacey - until she identifies herself as Kate Garland, sister of Sir Nicholas. Trapped in what he's always thought was his own fictional world, he comes to believe that if he can expose and discredit the cult now, in the 19th century, he may save Lacey. And while in the past Mike has awakened as Sir Nicholas, in the present Nick has awakened as Mike. The result is two concurrent storylines as Mike and Nick both try to outwit the cult, Nick trying to get used to the 21st century and Mike trying to make use of what he's already decided about the plot and characters of his next book. An increasingly supernatural flavour creeps in as evidence grows that the cult's leader has powers he's not letting on.
MIKE GLASS/SIR NICHOLAS GARLAND (Nathan Fillion)
"I guess I was doomed to snap sooner or later."
Mike is a bit of a recluse, though mostly out of necessity: the Four Walls have tried to silence him before. He is somewhat cynical, tending to beleive that people as a whole are foolish and easily manipulated, but stonily resolute in his own determination to do the right thing, whatever the consequences. Sir Nicholas is a character Mike admits to having based on himself, but with a good helping of Victorian optimism and far more courage. Nick finds the twenty-first century to be a gratifying illustration of scientific progress, but at the same time staggeringly decadent and often just downright bizarre. His inability to get the hang of driving a car provides something of a running joke - another is found in Mike's difficulting in faking a British accent.
LACEY GLASS/KATE GARLAND (Maggie Gyllenhaal)
"This is not what I meant when I said you ought to attend more parties, Nick."
We only see Lacey in flashbacks, where she seems to be a timid, withdrawn young woman, her spirit having been broken by the cult. Kate, by contrast, is cheerful and vivacious, perhaps more like Lacey was before the Four Walls got to her. A hopeless romantic, Kate's hobby is matchmaking, and she is always on the lookout for a nice young lady her brother could settle down with - but she's also sharply intelligent, invariably wins at card games, and has an uncanny instinct for when people are lying. She is very much devoted to Brandon, and was heartbroken to discover his connection to the Four Walls, keeping it secret from Nick/Mike for weeks.
JAMES BRANDON (James Purefoy)
"You're the sanest madman I've ever met."
Kate's fiance and Nick's good friend, Brandon began as a friend and partner whom Mike was depending on, but then grew increasingly troubled and distant. Kate kept his secret for a long time, but eventually confessed to Mike her discovery that Brandon is addicted to opium and deeply in debt to the Four Walls. This has distressed Mike on several levels, as it is not a development he had planned for the book and suggests that he cannot use his plot as a guide to future events. Furthermore, Brandon was sociable and charming, an expert at moving in Victorian society, and was a great help with Mike's attempts to fit in - without him, Mike has been thrown back on his own acting ability and fears it may not be up to the task. Brandon does not yet have a 'modern' counterpart, but fan speculation is rife, especially since the introduction of Mei Long.
ABBY KERTZER/MARY-JANE KELLEY (Christina Hendricks)
"I'm not the type to argue with anybody's right to define themselves... when I was little, I tried to define myself as a mermaid."
Abby is a fan of Mike's books, who came to him for help in convincing her mother to leave the cult. She's rather scatterbrained and a bit of a conspiracy theorist, but earnest and well-meaning. Holding a conversation with her can be an unnerving experience, as she always gives the impression of only half-listening while her mind is a million miles away. She is the only person who seems willing to believe that Nick is who he says he is, although it's possible she thinks he's just playing a part. Mary-Jane is an intriguing young Irishwoman who claims that the Four Walls have, for unknown reasons, targeted her family. Mike initially trusts her because of her resemblance to Abby - but it soon begins to look as if she may be a spy.
GRACE WARREN/QUEEN VICTORIA (Polly Walker)
"Don't thank me - I'm a lawyer."
Grace is a stern, humorless lawyer determined to see Ned Powers in jail - she has represented the prosecution both times he's been brought to court, and both times has lost. She and Mike are good friends (they seem to have dated in the past, but this apparently didn't work out), and Mike intentionally based his Queen Victoria on her. The Queen is shrewd and deeply concerned with morality; she wants the Four Walls rooted out for many reasons: they are trafficking opium, they are complicating Sino-British relations, and she considers them Satanists, corrupting the Empire's promising young men. She knows, however, that they have powerful friends in the government, and so rather than try to attack them openly, she has put Sir Nicholas on their trail.
NED POWERS/BASIL MARCH, EARL OF CASTORSHIRE (John Simm)
"You have nothing to fear, save the things that dwell in your own innermost heart."
The charismatic leader of the Four Walls, Ned quietly gets his followers hooked on assorted drugs, while Basil sells opium and has both good friends and bitter enemies in the far east. While Ned seems to be merely a sadist who enjoys having people utterly dependant on him, Basil appears to have bigger plans involving a colonial takeover of China and some degree of sorcery... or so things stood until the first season finale, when a tantalizing hint was thrown out to indicate that Ned/Basil is aware of what's going on in both worlds, and knows that Mike and Nick are each in the wrong one.
INSPECTOR JUNE KIM/MEI LONG (Fann Wong)
"Of course you always have a choice - but there's some choices you just can't make."
June Kim is a detective who seems eager to help Mike and Grace get information about the Four Walls - midway through the season, however, it is revealed that she is being blackmailed by Ned, who has threatened to reveal some unspecified unsavory incident in her own past if she will not oblige him by feeding his enemies misinformation. Mei Long is one of Basil's contacts in China, an enigmatic noblewoman. She was introduced only after June's corruptance was established, and little is known about her yet. She writes her name with characters that mean 'sleeping dragon'.