Comments | lost_spook: Non Spoilery Guide to Enemy at the Door

lost_spook

Non Spoilery Guide to Enemy at the Door

Nov 03, 2013 13:55

I said I'd made a post about Enemy at the Door, and here it is. (I'm thinking of doing some more fandom manifesto type posts for old TV I've watched, because they're fun and possibly even useful, if only to inform people of things to avoid. :-D)

So, what is it? Enemy at the Door is a 1978-80 UK drama series about the German Occupation of the ( ( Read more... )

fandom manifesto, wwii, alfred burke, quotes, 1970s, picspam, bernard horsfall, martin jarvis, james maxwell, simon cadell, libraries, enemy at the door

Comments 18

liadtbunny November 3 2013, 15:45:31 UTC

A nicely written post. Old TV is the best at being depressing! I can imagine Anthony Head got the nescafe job after casting read he was in EatD;p

lost_spook November 3 2013, 16:38:47 UTC

Thank you! And old TV is the best depressing TV. It does it without being too serious about it. New TV does depressing and wants you to admire it for its daring. Old TV just shrugs and says "so, isn't this what life is like?" Or, at least, the good stuff does. :-)

Hmm, the Nescafe thought is a cunning one, although Anthony Head might be one of the few people who doesn't get to drink any tea or coffee in it. POssibly. He probably does. Everybody has tea or coffee at some point, even German generals visiting the Island to conspire against Hitler!

liadtbunny November 4 2013, 16:20:09 UTC

Yes, you're right I hadn't thought about it like that before; new TV is like this is DEPRESSING & old TV is more understated and I have to give in and watch some comedy 2 days later because I thought I'd get over old TV angst and I hadn't. I need to get out more. Or watch shows with less tea drinking & stop screen capping mugs.

Tea: it's how we won the war(!).

lost_spook November 4 2013, 17:42:55 UTC

Aw. Sneaky old TV, it really is quite terrible. I hope the comedy helps!

Or watch shows with less tea drinking & stop screen capping mugs.

It really is just as well you didn't want EatD back, after all, in that case. Although you get tea cups, not mugs - people are posh in the 1940s, even when they haven't got actual food to eat that isn't parsnip.

Thread 12

sallymn November 3 2013, 20:24:53 UTC

Ooooh, I'm tempted, oh yes.

And I first came across Terence Hardiman as the second Father Abbot in the Cadfael series, an incredibly good and decent man and one of my favourite characters, so it was a culture shock and a half when I first ran across him as a baddie...

lost_spook November 4 2013, 08:50:22 UTC

Yes, be tempted! It doesn't look anything special, watching it, but some of the writing just raises it above what you would expect and it's got a good cast that responds to that.

Heh, I must have seen him in Cadfael - but I expect by that time, I was only wondering if perhaps they were going to try a plot twist of making the abbot evil, because, look, Terence Hardiman! (I rewatched his episode of this, and then was watching Wish Me Luck, and he turned up as another Nazi in that!) John pointed that out to me, over on Dreamwidth, too, and says he's not evil in Sleeping Murder, either, which I've also definitely seen.

clocketpatch November 4 2013, 01:33:59 UTC

You were talking about this before and it sounded awesome. I'll have to check if it is on itunes...

lost_spook November 4 2013, 09:05:52 UTC

I have no idea whether it would be! It is probably far too obscure and it is not an obvious cult or exciting thing. But it really does have some excellent writing in it, though in most ways it looks and probably is typical fare for the period ( ... )

dimity_blue November 5 2013, 22:11:37 UTC

low on battles, big on tea.

It sounds like it might well be sponsored by a tea or coffee company. It's also already on my Amazon wishlist and that is entirely your fault. Or maybe it's my fault for being easily intrigued by old TV. Either way, this sounds so good.

(There is probably something in which Terence Hardiman is not a Nazi, the demon headmaster or some other villain, but this is not it.)There is - Cadfael! He played the second abbot, Abbot Radulfus. Which amused me as Michael Culver played Prior Robert who'd been angling for the abbot's job until Radulfus turned up. Terence Hardiman and Michael Culver were testy with each other in Secret Army too, so I just imagine Michael Culver being all, "Not him again!" when Terence Hardiman turned up to be the abbot. It's a lovely scene in Cadfael when Abbot Heribert says he's no longer the abbot ( ... )

lost_spook November 7 2013, 13:13:56 UTC

Heh, I don't really think it was sponsored by a tea/coffee company! But they have to drink ersatz tea and coffee and they all comment and complain about it a lot. :-)

And, yes, everybody has reminded me about Cadfael. And don't worry, it did make sense! I only watched some Cadfael ages ago and don't recall all that much about it, but I've read the books several times each.