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‘Trelawny’ is the ‘national anthem’ of which English county? | mudcat.org: England's County Anthems
England's County Anthems
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 07:12 AM
Hi Mudcatters,
Whilst playing a gig in Shrewsbury, I had a idea for a band project (as you do...)
As we know that Trelawny is the county anthem of Cornwall and that the Lincolnshire Poacher is the unofficial anthem of Lincolnshire, my question is this:
Barring recent artificial attempts at creating an "official" anthem, what are the respective anthems - official or not - of England's Counties?
Prime example of artificial attempt is A Song for Devon whilst clearly Widdecombe Fair would be the county's first choice.
Other ones I have are:
Yorkshire - On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at
Sussex - Sussex By The Sea
I'd be particularly keen to find out what Kent's is!
Many Thanks
From: Paul Burke
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 07:24 AM
I suppose Lancashire's would be She's a Lassie From Lancashire, though Rawtenstall Annual Fair would be a contender. Derbyshire's is obvious. Would Nottamun Town do for Nottingham?
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 07:31 AM
I've a nasty feeling that 'Dorset is Beautiful' is ours......
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 07:35 AM
If the Wurzels didn't sing the Somerset one then I'll be a Hartlepool monkey's uncle
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 07:45 AM
Mrs Raffles suggests The White Cliffs of Dover for Kent ?
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 07:45 AM
Kent: Hopping Down in Kent
Some other thoughts:
Northumberland: Hesleyside Reel (or a song Dance To Your Daddy)
Yorkshire: Holmfirth Anthem
Oxfordshire: Old Tom Of Oxford
Lake District: Trip To Cartmel
Staffordshire: Flaxley Green
From: melodeonboy
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 07:49 AM
I'm not aware that Kent has one. If it did, I'd be very diappointed not to have heard of it by now.
If this be the case, am I allowed to nominate "Man of Kent" by Bob Kenward?
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 08:37 AM
Northumberland: Spirit of the Border (Tom Clough)
or Lindisfarne (Matt Seattle)
Tyneside: Dance to Your Daddy, or (I suppose) Blaydon Races
Durham: Durham Rangers
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 08:47 AM
Lots more choices than Ilkley Moor for Yorkshire--try the Dalesman's Litany or browse here Yorkshire Garland Songs !
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 08:49 AM
North Tyneside: Dance To Your Daddy, yes.
South Tyneside: Here's The Tender Coming
Durham: I've Got To Leave Old Durham Town (Roger Whittaker), no don't think so.
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 09:11 AM
Hopping Down In Kent - that one gets my vote
Rochester Recruiting Sergeant - written by Pete Coe, a good alternative.
Deserter From Kent - seems a bit too simple for my tastes.
Folkestone Murders - dark deeds. Too dark for an anthem.
Not in digitrad but worth mentioning is Men Of Kent:-
MEN OF KENT
If you're wanting me on Monday, then I won't be there
I'll be bound off to Maidstone afore to see the fair
With me pockets full of money and a heart that's full of joy
There's many a thing in Maidstone to please a country boy
CH> So come all you jolly fellows to Maidstone we will go
Never mind the weather, be it rain or be it snow
We'll sport and we will drink my boys 'till all our money's spent
And we'll prove to the world my boys, we're all Men of Kent
If you're wanting me on Tuesday you know where I'll be found
I'll be down by the alehouse that's on the edge of town
A-drinking of the Kentish ales to drive away the dust
And eating of the finest foods until I'm fit to bust
If you're wanting me on Wednesday I'll tell you where I'll be
I'll be down by the Medway, fair maidens for to see
I'll pick me one that's handsome and likes a bit of fun
And I'll relieve her of her maidenhead before the day is done
On Thursday and Friday I'll be drunk as I can be
With all my friends around me, as far as I can see
With a wench a-sitting on my knee and a tankard at my lips
And the beard that hangs beneath my chin a-soaking up the drips
Now when the fair is over and I have had my fill
I'll make my way back home again, I'm feeling rather ill
And to my home and farm again my weary legs I'll steer
And start saving up my money to come back again next year
So come all you jolly fellows to Maidstone we will go
Never mind the weather, be it rain or be it snow
We'll sport and we will drink my boys 'till all our money's spent
And we'll prove to the world my boys, we're all Men of Kent
Might as well do a "lyric add" huh?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 09:14 AM
I think I'd prefer Robin hood riding through the glen - after all everybody's heard of Robin and the Sherriff of Nottingham.
nottanum town - the meanings a bit obscure - even to people who sing it.
The football team in Derby is called the rams - so i suppose the derby ram would be popular choice .
i think however most folkies would prefer Hey Up me Duck! which just beautifully encapsulates a speech pattern and the industrial age gone forever. a songwriting achievment of the very highest order. It celebrates the greatness of the county better than any number of statues of industrialists.
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 10:03 AM
Martin asked what the anthems, official or unofficial, are. He didn't ask for suggestions for new ones, so it might help if we were to say whether we're providing information, wild guesses, or just nominations. At the moment the discussion seems to have turned into a poll for folk songs that might serve on the grounds that they happen to mention a county or a place in one, or to have been sung there at some point; all good fun, but a complete change of subject.
In many cases the official march of the county regiment is as close as you'll get to a 'county anthem'. On that basis, for Berkshire you have 'The Dashing White Sergeant', and for Wiltshire 'The Vly be on the Turmut'. There are others; perhaps somebody who knows about military music would like to help out.
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 10:50 AM
Surely the unofficial Kent anthem is "the Nutting Girl" - closely followed by the (title has eluded me) "Twistng, turning, wandering free, flows Medway Softly to the Sea" and maybe even Don Thompson's Medway song - and isn't there one about the Medway Queen as well? Or what about "Jolly boys of the Arethusa"?
Cornwall - now what's the title and who wrote it? Mike Nicholson and Peter Collins both sing it - is it called "Cornish Lads"?
I've not heard your last three suggestions, Dead Horse. Will you do them for us on Sunday afternoon the 25th Jan at the Nag's Head?
From: GUEST,Rafflesbear
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 04:24 PM
I'm inclined to go with Martin who originated the thread and Malcolm's interpretation, given that Martin came back and agreed with him having said originally that it was for a project.
On my pc Malcom says "the official march of the county regiment is as close as you'll get" which is at odds with "has decreed that is has to be some boring regimental militarism"
So - suspending the wit and imagination for this post only - I would suppose that a significant proportion of a county's population would at least recognise the song - not just us folkies, and when they heard the song they would feel that it belonged more to them than to people in other counties
It follows therefore (anyone still awake?) that people from outside the county are not in the best position to say what it should be. So not being best qualified for any of these counties these appear to me (note - Appear To Me) to be the best contenders so far
Cornwall - Trelawney
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 10 Jan 09 - 06:14 PM
'Dorset is beautiful' is the unofficial anthem of the county. It's true anthem, and the regimental song of the Dorset Regiment (before they became the Devon and Dorsets), is 'To be a farmers' boy'.
I've seen the Devon and Dorsets march down High West and High East Street, with bayonets fixed, to that tune, for the same reason... in common with most county towns, the county regiment has the right to march at certain times of the year, with bayonets fixed.
I can't remember why they were marching, I was about 3 or 4, but the Queen had visited earlier that day - I remember seeing the back of her head in a long black car. She was wearing a pink hat.
LTS
From: GUEST,Macca (Norcsalordie)
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 12:54 PM
Hiya guys, can I just clarify what we're looking for. We are, as Rafflesbear said, looking for songs (from cities and towns, not just counties) which can be considered the local anthem. The criteria is that people from that locality would consider it their own. For example, I wouldn't consider Threescore and Ten or The Dogger Bank to be the anthem of Grimsby even though both songs mention the town. Similarly Maggie May is generally accepted as the Liverpudlian anthem above many other songs from the city which mention Liverpool such as Leaving of Liverpool or Liverpool Lou.
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 01:27 PM
ok, here's an example of what we're after.
If there was an Olympics for english counties and a county won an event, what would be the song everyone heard as the medals are handed out?
If (and sometimes when) England wins a gold we get to hear "God save the queen", like it or not. Even if we'd rather hear "Land of Hope and Glory", we get "God save the queen".
It's a bit hypocritical to then say that Widdecombe Fair is the county anthem, when the council has officially elected it to be the awful D-E-V-O-N song, but(and I'm going out on a limb here) Devonshire people would feel better represented by Widdecombe Fair.
If you look up Yorkshire on Wikipedia (and other sites) it says that Ilkla Moor "is considered the unofficial anthem of the county" so we'll roll with that one.
Clear as mud?
Date: 12 Jan 09 - 03:20 PM
Okay I tried to post this 3 days ago but it disappeared up its own ********.
Ilkley Moor Baht 'at may be a good anthem for Ilkley or perhaps even the West Riding at a pinch, but it certainly doesn't represent anything to us North, East and South Riding folk. Yorkshire is a large and diverse county from Saddleworth to Middlesborough and all points south and east. A decent all-encompassing anthem is certainly long overdue. Peregrina and I were discussing something like Woody Guthrie's 'This Land is my Land' in the car yesterday on the way to a meeting.
The nearest thing I know to a Yorkshire anthem was originally adopted by the East Riding. It is a music hall song called originally 'My Pretty Yorkshire Lass'. It dates from the 1870s and was written by George Leybourne. As The Bonny Yorkshire Lass it is now used by various Yorkshire regiments as their march past.
I suppose there's always 'My Girl's a Yorkshire Girl'
If you are just looking for place anthems, I'm sure there has been a thread on this before because lots of Yorkshire towns have their own anthems.
From: BB
Date: 13 Jan 09 - 02:57 PM
'Trelawney' undoubtedly *was* the Cornish anthem, but certainly Roger Bryant's 'Cornish Lads' is now running it at least a close second in many Cornish pubs these days. I think present day Cornishmen actually identify with it in the here and now, as opposed to the historical 'Trelawney'.
Someone mentioned 'Where be that blackbird to?' as a possible Cornish anthem. It's more likely to be a Devon one (much more likely than any of the parlour songs mentioned above - and no, I'm not talking about 'Widecombe Fair'), as the use of the expression 'Where be to?' and such like is very much Devonshire dialect, rather than Cornish.
Barbara
Date: 20 Jan 09 - 07:41 AM
Now then....
Classed by whom?
I think that some of the same problems arise with seeking 'county anthems' for this kind of list as the old 'national musical instrument' thread-- namely the question of how identities and labels are created. By identities I mean how 'we'--for any given 'we'-- are pushed to define ourselves against, and in distinction to, others; by 'labels' I mean how others construct an image and a label for others, for 'them', when those others do not choose that label.
If you were going to do such an exercise for, say, the U.S., I am sure people from Texas might not want 'Yellow Rose of Texas', nor those from Virginia, 'Carry me back to Ol' Virginny'. Even though those choices might speak to outsiders, locals might see them as pandering to outsiders.
If you are going to go for only regionally produced words and tunes then you wouldn't you have to rule out Ilkley Moor as well anyway?
Yorkshire is the largest of the regions, and very diverse--it can hardly be represented by a single moor.
And it has a fantastic trove of far moor--I mean more--interesting songs here:
Yorkshire Songs at the Yorkshire Garland site
For my part, I've never yet heard 'On Ilkley Moor' sung in a Yorkshire folk club--maybe others like to think we all have flat caps, whippets and stand on moors eating wensleydale cheese all day!!! If so, come visit Yorkshire and see for yourself, or visit the Garland website instead.
Good luck with your project whatever you decide. (For myself, I would be far moor, I mean more, interested in a collection of regional songs that dug up and dusted off little known regional treasures from each county--imaginative choices, fantastically performed, with thoughtful and informative notes.)
| Cornwall |
Who won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest for the UK with their song ‘Save Your Kisses For Me’? | Cornwall is far more than just a county - and now it’s official - Telegraph
Cornwall is far more than just a county - and now it’s official
This week’s decision not only recognises our glorious past, but offers hope for the future
The Cornish are to be recognised as a national minority on a par with the Welsh, Irish and Scots, giving a fresh pride to hundreds of thousands of people Photo: Getty Images
By Petroc Trelawny
Comments
"Kernow a’gas dynnergh”, proclaims the sign on the down platform at Saltash station: “Welcome to Cornwall”. It’s a message that lifts my spirits every time I take the train over Brunel’s great Tamar bridge. I’m home: goodbye England, hello Cornwall.
The announcement by Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, that the Cornish are to be recognised as a national minority gives us parity with the Welsh, Irish and Scots. Some will interpret it as little more than window dressing – a late attempt to shore up the Liberal Democrat vote in a region that Ukip have found fertile.
The leader of Cornwall council accepts that our new status won’t bring any immediate financial or political benefits. But it is still a reason for great celebration: finally, Westminster has accepted that Cornwall is more than just another English county. Once we were a proudly independent trading nation, with our own language and royal line. Accounts of our history may have been clouded by romantic Arthurian legend, but Cornwall remains in many ways a foreign place, an untamed land projecting out into the Atlantic, with people, customs and language very different to those further north.
Abroad, when I explain where I am from, the inevitable response is: “So you are English.” “No,” I reply, “Cornish.” I’ll accept British, or European, but being described as English is something that rankles with most Cornishmen.
We are intensely proud of who we are, and where we come from. We revere the natural beauty of our land: the patchwork of fields of West Penwith; the gentle coves of The Lizard; sprawling, misty Bodmin Moor. We revel in our unique traditions: Flora Day in Helston; Mazey Day in Penzance; the ’Obby ’Oss parade in Padstow, a survivor of Celtic worship rituals. And we celebrate our distinguished antecedents: Michael An Gof, the St Keverne blacksmith and political rebel hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn; Bishop Trelawny, incarcerated in the Tower of London for sedition and immortalised in the Cornish anthem that bears his name; the great inventors Richard Trevithick, Humphrey Davy and Henry Trengrouse, whose lives reflect a rich industrial past.
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But glorious though our history is, this move is more about the future. When I was a child I earned pocket money cleaning a holiday cottage that my grandparents owned. The season was short, visitors arriving for simple holidays featuring Thermos flasks, ham sandwiches and the occasional cream tea provided by the local farmer’s wife. Now, Cornwall is a world-class tourist destination, with Michelin-starred restaurants, luxury hotels and champagne flutes as standard in today’s holiday lets. In pretty villages filled with weekenders’ cottages, the shops stock fresh pesto and organic brioche. Any remaining fishermen do a swift trade in lobster and picked crab meat.
The glamming-up of the tourist market has undoubtedly brought an injection of cash, but it can’t disguise the poverty that still exists south of the Tamar. Cornwall has the weakest economy in the country – in the latest government league tables it slipped below the South Wales valleys.
Yet, gradually, signs of change are appearing. High-speed broadband means Cornwall is now one of the best connected areas in Britain, encouraging media and design companies to relocate. The former RAF base at St Mawgan near Newquay has been relaunched as Aerohub, offering financial incentives and simplified planning rules for companies who locate there. A new interest in high quality meat, seafood, cheeses and vegetables has helped the agricultural and fishing sector. Frugi, a children’s clothes maker in Helston employing 50, has just won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise; Seasalt, another fashion company with 200 staff in Falmouth, picked up the same award last year.
Giving Cornwall and its people a real sense of identity can only help this ongoing development. Offered the choice between the increasingly random concept of the “United Kingdom”, or a progressive micro-region with a motivated, enthusiastic workforce, it’s clear what most investors will plump for. And let’s not shy away from raw emotion. Ireland has secured billions of dollars by persuading Irish-Americans to invest in the “old country”. Scotland and Wales have followed them. Why not Cornwall next?
In the 19th century, Cornwall was one of Britain’s great exporting regions, sending miners and machinery around the world; today, in America alone, two million claim Cornish descent. Reinforcing a sense of pride in being Cornish can only help when it comes to banging the collecting bucket.
Danny Alexander’s announcement looks like a goodwill gesture, unlikely to fan the flames of the minuscule Cornish independence movement. We are not now on the path to Cornish passports, nor indeed any form of devolution. But it is welcome none the less, for commercial reasons, and for the sense of fresh pride that will be enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of Cornish, at home and abroad. Kernow bys Vyken, Cornwall for Ever. Or to use a popular Cornish phrase, “proper job”.
| i don't know |
Who wrote the Athenian tragedy ‘Oedipus Rex’? | SparkNotes: The Oedipus Plays: Context
The Oedipus Plays
Plot Overview
Greek Theater
Greek theater was very different from what we call theater today. It was, first of all, part of a religious festival. To attend a performance of one of these plays was an act of worship, not entertainment or intellectual pastime. But it is difficult for us to even begin to understand this aspect of the Greek theater, because the religion in question was very different from modern religions. The god celebrated by the performances of these plays was Dionysus, a deity who lived in the wild and was known for his subversive revelry. The worship of Dionysus was associated with an ecstasy that bordered on madness. Dionysus, whose cult was that of drunkenness and sexuality, little resembles modern images of God.
A second way in which Greek theater was different from modern theater is in its cultural centrality: every citizen attended these plays. Greek plays were put on at annual festivals (at the beginning of spring, the season of Dionysus), often for as many as 15,000 spectators at once. They dazzled viewers with their special effects, singing, and dancing, as well as with their beautiful language. At the end of each year’s festivals, judges would vote to decide which playwright’s play was the best.
In these competitions, Sophocles was king. It is thought that he won the first prize at the Athenian festival eighteen times. Far from being a tortured artist working at the fringes of society, Sophocles was among the most popular and well-respected men of his day. Like most good Athenians, Sophocles was involved with the political and military affairs of Athenian democracy. He did stints as a city treasurer and as a naval officer, and throughout his life he was a close friend of the foremost statesman of the day, Pericles. At the same time, Sophocles wrote prolifically. He is believed to have authored 123 plays, only seven of which have survived.
Sophocles lived a long life, but not long enough to witness the downfall of his Athens. Toward the end of his life, Athens became entangled in a war with other city-states jealous of its prosperity and power, a war that would end the glorious century during which Sophocles lived. This political fall also marked an artistic fall, for the unique art of Greek theater began to fade and eventually died. Since then, we have had nothing like it. Nonetheless, we still try to read it, and we often misunderstand it by thinking of it in terms of the categories and assumptions of our own arts. Greek theater still needs to be read, but we must not forget that, because it is so alien to us, reading these plays calls not only for analysis, but also for imagination.
Antigone
Antigone was probably the first of the three Theban plays that Sophocles wrote, although the events dramatized in it happen last. Antigone is one of the first heroines in literature, a woman who fights against a male power structure, exhibiting greater bravery than any of the men who scorn her. Antigone is not only a feminist play but a radical one as well, making rebellion against authority appear splendid and noble. If we think of Antigone as something merely ancient, we make the same error as the Nazi censors who allowed Jean Anouilh’s adaptation of Antigone to be performed, mistaking one of the most powerful texts of the French Resistance for something harmlessly academic.
Oedipus the King
The story of Oedipus was well known to Sophocles’ audience. Oedipus arrives at Thebes a stranger and finds the town under the curse of the Sphinx, who will not free the city unless her riddle is answered. Oedipus solves the riddle and, since the king has recently been murdered, becomes the king and marries the queen. In time, he comes to learn that he is actually a Theban, the king’s son, cast out of Thebes as a baby. He has killed his father and married his mother. Horrified, he blinds himself and leaves Thebes forever.
The story was not invented by Sophocles. Quite the opposite: the play’s most powerful effects often depend on the fact that the audience already knows the story. Since the first performance of Oedipus Rex, the story has fascinated critics just as it fascinated Sophocles. Aristotle used this play and its plot as the supreme example of tragedy. Sigmund Freud famously based his theory of the “Oedipal Complex” on this story, claiming that every boy has a latent desire to kill his father and sleep with his mother. The story of Oedipus has given birth to innumerable fascinating variations, but we should not forget that this play is one of the variations, not the original story itself.
Oedipus at Colonus
Beginning with the arrival of Oedipus in Colonus after years of wandering, Oedipus at Colonus ends with Antigone setting off toward her own fate in Thebes. In and of itself, Oedipus at Colonus is not a tragedy; it hardly even has a plot in the normal sense of the word. Thought to have been written toward the end of Sophocles’ life and the conclusion of the Golden Age of Athens, Oedipus at Colonus, the last of the Oedipus plays, is a quiet and religious play, one that does not attempt the dramatic fireworks of the others. Written after Antigone, the play for which it might be seen as a kind of prequel, Oedipus at Colonus seems not to look forward to the suffering that envelops that play but back upon it, as though it has already been surmounted.
| Sophocles |
Who was the last boxer to fight and defeat Muhammad Ali, in December 1981? | Greek & Roman Mythology - Greek Tragedy
Ideal Tragic Hero
In his famous "Poetics," the philosopher Aristotle laid the foundations for literary criticism of Greek tragedy. His famous connection between "pity and fear" and "catharsis" developed into one of Western philosophy's greatest questions: why is it that people are drawn to watching tragic heroes suffer horrible fates? Aristotle's ideas revolve around three crucial effects: First, the audience develops an emotional attachment to the tragic hero; second, the audience fears what may befall the hero; and finally (after misfortune strikes) the audience pities the suffering hero. Through these attachments the individual members of the audience go through a catharsis, a term which Aristotle borrowed from the medical writers of his day, which means a "refining" -- the viewer of a tragedy refines his or her sense of difficult ethical issues through a vicarious experious of such thorny problems. Clearly, for Aristotle's theory to work, the tragic hero must be a complex and well-constructed character, as in Sophocles' Oedipus the King. As a tragic hero, Oedipus elicits the three needed responses from the audience far better than most; indeed, Aristotle and subsequent critics have labeled Oedipus the ideal tragic hero. A careful examination of Oedipus and how he meets and exceeds the parameters of the tragic hero reveals that he legitimately deserves this title.
Oedipus' nobility and virtue provide his first key to success as a tragic hero. Following Aristotle, the audience must respect the tragic hero as a "larger and better" version of themselves. The dynamic nature of Oedipus' nobility earns him this respect. First, as any Greek audience member would know, Oedipus is actually the son of Laius and Jocasta, the King and Queen of Thebes. Thus, he is a noble in the simplest sense; that is, his parents were themselves royalty. Second, Oedipus himself believes he is the son of Polybus and Merope, the King and Queen of Corinth. Again, Oedipus attains a second kind of nobility, albeit a false one. Finally, Oedipus earns royal respect at Thebes when he solves the riddle of the Sphinx. As a gift for freeing the city, Creon gives Oedipus dominion over the city. Thus, Oedipus' nobility derives from many and diverse sources, and the audience develops a great respect and emotional attachment to him.
The complex nature of Oedipus' "hamartia," is also important. The Greek term "hamartia," typically translated as "tragic flaw," actually is closer in meaning to a "mistake" or an "error," "failing," rather than an innate flaw. In Aristotle's understanding, all tragic heroes have a "hamartia," but this is not inherent in their characters, for then the audience would lose respect for them and be unable to pity them; likewise, if the hero's failing were entirely accidental and involuntary, the audience would not fear for the hero. Instead, the character's flaw must result from something that is also a central part of their virtue, which goes somewhat arwry, usually due to a lack of knowledge. By defining the notion this way, Aristotle indicates that a truly tragic hero must have a failing that is neither idiosyncratic nor arbitrary, but is somehow more deeply imbedded -- a kind of human failing and human weakness. Oedipus fits this precisely, for his basic flaw is his lack of knowledge about his own identity. Moreover, no amount of foresight or preemptive action could remedy Oedipus' hamartia; unlike other tragic heroes, Oedipus bears no responsibility for his flaw. The audience fears for Oedipus because nothing he does can change the tragedy's outcome.
Finally, Oedipus' downfall elicits a great sense of pity from the audience. First, by blinding himself, as opposed to committing suicide, Oedipus achieves a kind of surrogate death that intensifies his suffering. He comments on the darkness - not just the literal inability to see, but also religious and intellectual darkness - that he faces after becoming blind. In effect, Oedipus is dead, for he receives none of the benefits of the living; at the same time, he is not dead by definition, and so his suffering cannot end. Oedipus receives the worst of both worlds between life and death, and he elicits greater pity from the audience. Second, Oedipus himself and the Chorus both note that Oedipus will continue after the tragedy's conclusion. Unlike, for example Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, and Orestes (the heroes in the Orestia trilogy), Oedipus' suffering does not end with the play; even so, the conclusion also presents a sense of closure to the play. This odd amalgam of continued suffering and closure make the audience feel as if Oedipus' suffering is his proper and natural state. Clearly, Oedipus' unique downfall demands greater pity from the audience.
Oedipus fulfills the three parameters that define the tragic hero. His dynamic and multifaceted character emotionally bonds the audience; his tragic flaw forces the audience to fear for him, without losing any respect; and his horrific punishment elicits a great sense of pity from the audience. Though Sophocles crafted Oedipus long before Aristotle developed his ideas, Oedipus fits Aristotle's definition with startling accuracy. He is the tragic hero par excellence and richly deserves the title as "the ideal tragic hero."
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Who plays Freddie Krueger in the 1984 film ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’? | A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) - IMDb
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A Nightmare on Elm Street ( 1984 )
R |
| Horror | 16 November 1984 (USA)
Several people are hunted by a cruel serial killer who kills his victims in their dreams. While the survivors are trying to find the reason for being chosen, the murderer won't lose any chance to kill them as soon as they fall asleep.
Director:
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Title: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
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2 wins & 3 nominations. See more awards »
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Edit
Storyline
On Elm Street, Nancy Thompson and a group of her friends including Tina Gray, Rod Lane and Glen Lantz are being tormented by a clawed killer in their dreams named Freddy Krueger. Nancy must think quickly, as Freddy tries to pick off his victims one by one. When he has you in your sleep, who is there to save you? Written by simon_hrdng
16 November 1984 (USA) See more »
Also Known As:
Les griffes de la nuit See more »
Filming Locations:
$1,271,000 (USA) (9 November 1984)
Gross:
The words "Elm Street" are not spoken at all during the movie. See more »
Goofs
(at around 22 mins) When Nancy is by the bush with Rod, his hand and chest are covered with blood, but when he runs out and is surrounded by the police, which is supposed to be moments later, his chest is clean. See more »
Quotes
Produced by DJ Filipe Sheepwolf
Written by Freddy
The original and best of the Elm Street series!
8 December 2005 | by Gafke
(United States) – See all my reviews
The teenagers of Springfield, Illinois are having nightmares. Tina and her best friend Nancy learn that they're dreaming about the same creature, a hideously burned man in a dirty red and green sweater who bears an odd weapon; a glove with razor fingers. When Tina is brutally murdered in her bed one night, suspicion falls upon her volatile boyfriend Rod, who was the only other person in the room with Tina when she died. But Rod swears he didn't do it, and tells Nancy that he too has been suffering from terrible nightmares in which a knife- fingered man is trying to kill him. Nancy begins to suspect that something evil is happening within their dreams, and that perhaps the boogeyman is real. When Rod turns up dead in his jail cell, Nancy is convinced that a ghostly killer is stalking them in their sleep. Her mother, worried for Nancy's sanity, takes her to a dream clinic where her sleep patterns can be monitored. When Nancy awakens screaming from a nightmare with a bloody slash mark on her arm, she shows her mother and the doctor what she has pulled out of her dream: the battered fedora that the killer always wears. The hat bears a name tag: Fred Krueger. Nancy's mother recognizes the name and soon tells Nancy the story of a brutal child killer who had terrorized the town many years ago. When he was released on a technicality, Nancy's parents and the parents of the other nightmare-plagued children hunted Fred Krueger down and burned him alive. Fred Krueger is dead, but he's found a way to return and wreak vengeance upon the children of his killers. Nancy knows that she must find a way to stop him before he kills her and everyone else on Elm Street.
I just sat down and watched this movie again the other day and it's still damn impressive. The acting isn't always the greatest and it looks just the slightest bit dated, but it's still a really damn good movie. It's power lies in the fact that sleep cannot be avoided. In so many other horror movies, the victims are nothing more than vapid cattle wandering dumbly up the slaughterhouse chute and calling out: "Is anyone there?" as they go up. They purposefully get themselves into stupid and dangerous situations and therefore we feel no real pity for them when they are eviscerated. However, in A Nightmare On Elm Street, all the characters have to do to endanger themselves is to go to sleep. Even the most hardcore insomniac (like myself) knows that eventually, sleep will come for you; it is unavoidable. We cannot blame our cast for wandering around doing stupid things in their dreams, because how many of us have had dreams in which we show up for work naked? Very rarely are we in control of our dreams, and in A Nightmare On Elm Street, the only person in control is Freddy Krueger.
Robert Englund as Freddy is flawless. Before this movie was released, the boogeymen of horror films had always been hulking, silent, expressionless shapes usually hidden way behind masks. Not that there's anything wrong with that! But Englund gave us a new kind of Boogeyman - a smartass. Freddy is hideously burned, covered in scar tissue and has all the fashion sense of a wino, but he's cool. Not content to simply disembowel his screaming victims, Freddy has to tease them a little first, flirting, humiliating or showing off. He makes Tina watch him cut off his own fingers and smiles at her like a drunken uncle who's just pulled a coin out from behind her ear. He sticks his tongue in Nancy's mouth via her telephone. He doesn't waste his sense of humor on the guys in this film, but there's plenty of sequels in which he makes up for that.
This is such a great, innovative film, filled with pretty cool special effects, disturbing sound effects (including scraping metal fingernails and baby goats bleating in terror) and creepy music. The boiler room is an especially unnerving set, complete with hissing pipes and dripping chains. A young Johnny Depp and his feathery 80s hair make their debut in this film as well, and though his character is about half a million miles away from Captain Jack Sparrow, the raw talent is still very much in evidence here.
This remains the best movie of the Elm Street series, with a few good sequels and some really crappy ones. But Freddy is always worth watching.
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Mount Nanga Parbat is in which country? | Freddy Krueger | Elm Street Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
Kane Hodder (in Jason Goes to Hell )
Frederick Charles "Freddy" Krueger is a serial killer and the central antagonist of the Nightmare on Elm Street series. A family man on the surface, Krueger was actually the serial killer known as the "Springwood Slasher". When he was caught and subsequently released on a technicality, the parents of his victims chased him to a shack out back of the power plant he once worked at and burned him alive. Rather than succumb to death, Krueger was offered the chance to continue his killing spree after death, becoming a Dream Demon that could enter his victims' dreams and kill them in the dream world, which would thus cause their death in the real world. He is the main antagonist of the Nightmare on Elm Street film series, predominantly portrayed by Robert Englund , and more recently, Jackie Earle Haley.
Contents
Early life
Freddy as a child, as seen in Freddy's Dead
Amanda Krueger , a nun who worked at the Hathaway House, an asylum for the criminally insane, was accidentally locked in a room where one hundred maniacs were housed. They attacked and raped her repeatedly until she was found barely alive and ultimately pregnant. In September 1942, she gave birth to a boy named Frederick Charles Krueger, [1] who was placed with an abusive alcoholic named Mr. Underwood . [2]
Krueger's House
While in elementary school Freddy killed the class hamster and was bullied for being the son of a hundred maniacs. During his teenage years he would cut himself with a shaving razor for pleasure. He used the same razor to kill Mr. Underwood when he was beating him as revenge for all the times he abused him. [2]
Springwood Slasher
( Freddy vs. Jason )
Freddy's receive his powers from the Dream Demons.
As an adult, Freddy worked at the local power plant, and had raised a daughter with his loving wife . However, behind that peaceful facade, lay in his own twisted heart a seething and horrific desire for vengeance and retribution for what hell Springwood had inflicted on to him. Targeting the children of his former classmates now turned the populace of Springwood, Freddy's MO was to take his victims to his workplace's boiler room. He created a glove with fish knives on the fingers, and as he kidnapped children, he mangled and tortured them with it. With their remains thrown and spread throughout town, [3] his acts earned him the reputation as the serial killer named the Springwood Slasher. [4] He killed around twenty children before he was arrested. However, because the arrest warrant was signed in the wrong place and the judge drunk at the time of the proceeding, Krueger was released. The townsfolk were furious and took the law into their own hands. They cornered him in his lair and doused him in gasoline and set him on fire. While the building was burning, Freddy was approached by Dream Demons . Krueger took the offer from Dream Demons to continue his killing spree. He was allowed to roam the Dream World, where any damage he inflicted would cause death in the real world. [3]
Attacking Nancy
—Freddy Krueger
Freddy as a teenager
In A Nightmare on Elm Street , Freddy invaded the nightmares of Tina Gray , Nancy Thompson , Rod Lane and Glen Lantz . Tina became his first victim when he slashed her across the chest with his clawed glove, which did the same amount of damage to her in the real world, and throwing and dragging her around the room, killing her. Rod Lane was accused of killing Tina and was arrested. Freddy hung him with the sheets on his bed in his cell, making it appear as though he hung himself. Freddy kept stalking Nancy, who devised a plan with her boyfriend Glen Lantz to capture him. That night however, Glen fell asleep and Freddy pulled him into the bed and shot him upward in a fountain of blood. Nancy managed to pull him into the real world and set him on fire, but he killed Nancy's mother, Marge Thompson , by burning her to death. Nancy confronted Freddy a final time and turned her back on him, draining him of all his powers and destroying him. In the end he appears to trap Nancy in a dream world where she is trapped in a red and green striped car with Tina, Glen, and Rod, driving away.
Possessing Jesse
"Go ahead, Jesse. Try it on for size. Kill for me!"
—Freddy Krueger
In A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge , Freddy was unable to operate in his usual way, so he appeared in the nightmares of Jesse Walsh , who moved into Nancy's house five years after she defeated Freddy. He manipulated him and made him pick up his clawed glove, and would often possess him to kill his victims, which would briefly transform his body into Freddy's (interestingly enough, whenever Freddy appeared, he was not wearing his clawed glove; instead, knives were protruding from his fingers). In this method, Freddy killed Schneider , Jesse's coach who was always punishing him, and his friend Ron Grady . He then proceeded to kill seven guests at Lisa Webber 's party before Lisa got through to Jesse, who was able to fight Freddy from the inside, weakening him and using his power to set Freddy on fire; burning him and releasing Jesse unharmed. However, Freddy apparently returned to attack people in their nightmares, attacking Jesse and Lisa on the bus. Whether or not this was a dream sequence is unknown.
Stalking Kristen
"Welcome to wonderland, Alice!"
—Freddy Krueger
In A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master , Freddy managed to resurrect himself during a dream by Kincaid, involving Kincaid's dog, Jason, digging him up. He stabbed Kincaid dead and drowned Joey. When Kristen's mother gave her sleeping pills, Freddy threw her into the furnace, but as Freddy took her soul, she transferred her power to Alice Johnson . Freddy used Alice to get to more victims (who are not from Elm Street), by having her (unintentionally) pull them into the dream world and then him killing them. In this way, Freddy killed Sheila (making it appear as an asthma attack) and Alice's brother Rick . He later killed Debbie before Alice and her boyfriend Dan Jordan fought him, and Alice used a shard of stained glass window to reflect Freddy's evil back at him, causing the souls of his victims to tear him apart, destroying him and releasing them from him.
Come down to Papa! Freddy in his Dream Core
Revival and reuniting with Alice
"It's a boy!"
—Freddy Krueger
In A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child , Freddy was reborn through the spirit of Amanda Krueger, and began using Alice's dream power, to pull more victims into his dream world, and tried to control her unborn son, Jacob 's soul, to enable him to live in Jacob's dream world forever. He killed Dan, Greta Gibson , and fed Jacob with their souls, in order to turn him into a pure evil. Realizing this, Alice tried to find Amanda to bring Freddy back to hell. Later, he kills one of Alice's best friends, Mark Grey before Alice could defeat him. After Mark's death, Alice calls her another friend Yvonne , who survived from another Freddy's attack, to release Amanda's soul, and she enabled Jacob to use his power on Freddy to revert him back into an infant, where Amanda absorbed him. He was last seen attempting to claw his way out.
Leaving Springwood and death
—Freddy Krueger
Freddy is embedded with a pipe bomb by his daughter, Maggie
In Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare , Freddy killed all the children of Springwood except John Doe , whom he made forget about his past and sent him into the outside world so he could use him to get to his daughter, who is now called Maggie Burroughs , whom he intended to use to spread his influence outside Springwood. He also kept the adults of Springwood in mass psychosis. When three troubled teens named Carlos , Spencer, and Tracy traveled with John and Maggie to Springwood, and entered the house on Elm Street, Freddy killed Carlos and Spencer. John believed himself to be Freddy's son, but Freddy killed him by making him fall onto spikes. By this time, Freddy was so powerful that no one except Maggie, Tracy, and Doc remembered Carlos, Spencer, or John, as they were erased. Once Maggie figured out that she was Freddy's daughter, and Doc figured out that Freddy could be pulled out of the dream world (and subsequently killed), Maggie entered the dream world and pulled Freddy out. There, she inflicted several injuries on him before stabbing him with his own clawed glove and sticking him with a pipe bomb, which blew Freddy to bits and released the dream demons that gave him his power. However, while Freddy was dead and in Hell, he in unable to leave as everyone else do not know of his existence and therefore cannot fear him. This allows Springwood four years of peace.
Battle with Jason Voorhees
"Make them remember me, Jason. Make them REMEMBER WHAT FEAR TASTES LIKE!!"
—Freddy Krueger to Jason Voorhees under the guise of Pamela Voorhees
After his death, Freddy was stuck in Hell, unable to return to the Dream Realm nor real life, because no one remembered him and therefore was not afraid of him. Those who made contact with him were locked in Westin Hills (to avoid "infecting" the others) and given Hypnocil to prevent them from dreaming. However, in Freddy vs. Jason , Freddy discovered Jason Voorhees , another immortal serial killer, who had also been killed and sent to Hell (At the conclusion to Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday, Freddy pulled Jason's mask into Hell after his death). By disguising himself as Jason's mother, Mrs. Voorhees, he was able to bring Jason back to life to spread fear, so people would think he was back. Eventually Freddy was able to return when enough fear was spread across Springwood, but the one thing Freddy hadn't counted on was that Jason wouldn't stop killing, stealing one of Freddy's victims from him. However, he did manage to kill Mark Davis .
"Die, you little bitch!"
—Freddy Krueger
When Lori Campbell (whose mother he had killed earlier), Will Rollins , Kia Waterson , Charlie Linderman , Bill Freeburg , and Deputy Scott Stubbs went to Westin Hills to get Hypnocil, Freddy possessed Freeburg (who was high) to inject Jason with tranquilizer (though Jason killed Freeburg in the process). Freddy attacked Jason inside his dream, but was unable to kill him. However, he nearly succeeded in drowning him, until Jason woke up. Lori and the others were currently taking Jason to Crystal Lake to give him a home field advantage for a fight with Freddy. Eventually, Lori pulled Freddy out of the dream world and he fought Jason. Initially, the fight worked more in Freddy's favor, as his agility was enough to overpower the much slower and stronger Jason. Jason, however, soon gained the advantage until Freddy cut off his fingers, took his machete, and inflicted several injuries on him before Lori set them both on fire, causing an explosion that sent them flying into Crystal Lake. Before the explosion, Jason pulled off Freddy's arm.
Freddy survived, and tried to kill Lori and Will, but was stabbed by Jason using his own severed arm, and Lori decapitated him with Jason's machete. Afterwards Jason walks out of Crystal Lake holding Freddy's head. It looks as if Jason has won the battle but Freddy's head winks at the camera followed by his laughter as the screen goes black. So it appears Freddy has survived and will continue to kill another day.
Freddy Kills Lori (Alternate Ending #1)
Freddy was disguised as Will, who was having sex with Lori, but Freddy reveals his glove, and kills her.
Battle in Hell (Alternate Ending #2)
Freddy and Jason were going to continue their battle in Hell, but they get stopped by Pinhead from the, "Hellraiser" films, and says, "What seems to be the problem gentleman".
Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash
In Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash , Freddy is trapped inside Jason Voorhees ' head and wants to get out. He manages to learn of the Necronomicon Ex Mortis and once again uses the image of Pamela Voorhees to trick Jason. He uses Jason to bring him the cursed book, but had no idea that Ash Williams was going to be here in Crystal Lake which was renamed Forest Green. Ash learned from a group of kids at the new mega sized S-Mart about Jason himself. Ash thinks of him as some Deadite monster, so he goes to the Voorhees house himself to learn the truth. There, Ash finds the book and he along with a group of kids barely escape with their lives because Jason was hot on their trail.
The gang makes it back to the S-Mart, but Jason follows them and begins killing all of the store's shoppers. Ash and Jason tangle, but Ash is made a chump by Jason and he escapes with the book. The Necronomicon is brought to Jason's shrine to his mother where her severed head along with Freddy's severed head is as well. Freddy recites the chant "Klaatu Barada Nikto" to make himself all powerful again. He fully intends to get back to business in killing kids, but intends to deal with Ash first. Ash and the kids he is with fell asleep and Ash has a dream about being back at the same cabin where he lost his hand. However he had his hand back, but it soon morphs to look very similar to Freddy's bladed glove. Ash quickly retreats to a tool shed to get the chainsaw to lop it off at the wrist, but soon Freddy makes an entrance. Freddy manifests himself from the pools of blood that spat from Ash and he attempts to kill him.
Ash manages to escape by waking himself up, but he soon learns that whatever happens in the dream world also happens in the real world. One of the kids he was protecting learned that the hard way when Freddy killed him which made Ash incredibly sad and disgusted. They came up with a plan though to finally kill Jason and Freddy which is they went back to the Voorhees house. Using the book, Freddy gave himself the power to exist in both worlds, but also made Jason much smarter. Jason and Freddy's alliance ended with them again trying to kill each other, but Ash and another survivor finally managed to defeat them both. Freddy was sent to the Deadite dimension and Jason was trapped underneath a frozen Crystal Lake. However, Jason's eyes open one more time to prove that he can't be defeated...
Characterization
Powers and abilities
Freddy turns into " Super Freddy " after one of his victims turns into a superhero he created
Freddy can enter the dreams of anyone on Elm Street in Springwood (provided that there is enough fear of him), and whatever injuries he inflicts on them in the dream world will appear on them in the real world. This is how he kills his victims. He usually uses his clawed glove, but often manipulates the dream world around him, usually in accordance to a person's personality or fears. (For example, he turns Debbie, who hates bugs, into a cockroach and crushes her; injects Taryn, who has a history of abusing drugs, with heroin; smashes Jennifer's face against the TV, when Jennifer wanted to be an actress and appear on TV). He cannot be killed while he is in the dream world. In the dream world he has displayed various capabilities which include the ability to regenerate back lost body parts, shapeshifting and telekinetic powers, in the real world he has enhanced physical capabilities and is quite adept with his metal claws and can withstand an incredible amount of damage that no living human can take.
Weaknesses
Freddy cannot spread his influence beyond Springwood, unless he uses his daughter to get there. If he is killed, he cannot return if no one remembers him or is afraid of him. He can also be pulled out of the dream world, in which case, he is mortal, cannot use most of his powers (although he retains some of them like climbing up the ceiling or shapeshifting into his unburnt self, as evidenced in Freddy's Dead), and can die (though, as shown in Freddy's Dead and Freddy vs. Jason) he can withstand slightly more than regular humans do, as he suffers multiple injuries by Maggie and Jason and survives, when anyone else might have been killed by such injuries, but apparently can be killed by injuries serious enough as explosions or decapitation. Despite the fact that he sometimes uses it to kill his victims, Freddy appears to be afraid of fire (as it was by fire that he died his mortal death). Should an incident occur between Freddy and his dream demon masters, the demons have the capability of taking away Freddy's powers, rendering him in a weakened state. As stated and shown in The Dream Master, as he is a literal nightmare, he is also adversely weak against mirrors and reflections, as they come to recall his pain and torment that he has long inflicted on others.
Appearance
Freddy is easily recognizable by his red and green striped sweater, his clawed glove, his brown hat, and the burns to his face and body.
Films
"I'm gonna cut you in two!"
A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge
"You've got the body. I've got the brain."
"Go ahead, Jesse. Try it on for size. Kill for me!"
"You are all my children now."
"Help yourself, fucker!"
A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
"This is it, Jennifer. Your big break on TV! Welcome to prime time, bitch!"
"What's wrong, Joey? Feeling tongue-tied?"
"I said, 'where's the fucking bourbon?!'"
"Let's get high. What a rush."
"Sorry, kid. I don't believe in fairytales!"
"Yes. The souls of the children give me strength. Always room for more."
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Perhaps if there was more of me to spread around."
A Nightmare On Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
"You shouldn't have buried me. I'm not dead."
"Tell 'em Freddy sent ya!"
"How's this for a wet dream?"
"How sweet... Fresh meat!"
Die, you bitch!
Your eyes say "No, no." But my mouth says "Yes, yes."
"Not strong enough yet, though I will be soon enough, until then, I'll let Jason have some fun."
"Oh that's right, everyone forgot, that's why they weren't afraid anymore, that's why I needed Jason to kill for me to get them to remember, but now he just won't stop! That Hockey pock!"
"Hey, asshole! Up here!"
Trivia
Freddy is the only antagonist to be shown in so many and in every single sequel in its franchise. (Nightmare on Elm Street to Freddy vs. Jason)
Robert Englund is the only actor to play Freddy in every Nightmare related movie and the television show, (excluding the movie reboot).
David Warner was slated to play Freddy. Make-Up tests were done, but Warner had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts and Robert Englund was cast as a replacement.
Along with being a serial killer Wes Craven also wanted Freddy to be a child molester, but this idea was soon dropped. 26 years later however this character trait would be used for the Nightmare on Elm Street remake's version of Freddy .
His father is one of the unknowns residents in sanitarium.
It's highly possible that he is based on SUNDS (or Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome), a disease that, coincidentally, also involves a nightmare that would kill the victim... Even more coincident is that both use fear (Freddy uses it for power and SUNDS uses it to kill). The only difference between the two is that Freddy actually murders the victims while SUNDS simply "scares them to death"...
Wizard magazine rated Freddy the 14th greatest villain, [3 ] the British television channel Sky2 listed him 8th, [4 ] and the American Film Institute ranked him 40th on its " AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains " list. [5 ] In 2010, Freddy won an award for Best Villain (formerly Most Vile Villain) at the Scream Awards .
Wes Craven says his inspiration for the basis of Freddy Krueger's power stemmed from several stories in the Los Angeles Times about a series of mysterious deaths: All the victims had reported recurring nightmares and died in their sleep. [15 ] Additionally, Craven's original script characterized Freddy as a child molester , which Craven said was the "worst thing" he could think of. The decision was made to instead make him a child murderer in order to avoid being accused of exploiting the spate of highly publicized child molestation cases in California around the time A Nightmare on Elm Street went into production. [16 ] Craven's inspirations for the character included a bully from his school during his youth, a disfigured homeless man who had frightened him when he was 11, and the 1970s pop song " Dream Weaver " by Gary Wright . In an interview, he said, "When I looked down there was a man very much like Freddy walking along the sidewalk. He must have sensed that someone was looking at him and stopped and looked right into my face. He scared the living daylights out of me, so I jumped back into the shadows. I waited and waited to hear him walk away. Finally I thought he must have gone, so I stepped back to the window. The guy was not only still looking at me but he thrust his head forward as if to say, 'Yes, I'm still looking at you.' The man walked towards the apartment building's entrance. I ran through the apartment to our front door as he was walking into our building on the lower floor. I heard him starting up the stairs. My brother, who is ten years older than me, got a baseball bat and went out to the corridor but he was gone." [17 ]
Freddy's back story is revealed gradually throughout the series. In A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors , the protagonists learn that Freddy's mother, Amanda Krueger , was a nun who worked in Westin Hills mental hospital caring for the inmates. Freddy was conceived when she was accidentally locked inside over the Christmas holiday and gang-raped by a group of the inmates, thus making him "the bastard son of 100 maniacs". Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare depicts Freddy's traumatic childhood; he displayed sociopathic behavior at a young age and was often teased by classmates. He was adopted as a child by an abusive alcoholic named Mr. Underwood, who teaches him how to torture animals and inflict pain on himself . Freddy eventually murders him, with no apparent consequences, and becomes a serial killer. The film also reveals that when Freddy reached adulthood, he married a woman named Loretta, with whom he fathered a daughter named Katherine. After the birth of his daughter, he tried to lead a normal life, but his murderous nature eventually overcame him, and he murdered 20 children on Elm Street between 1963 and 1966. He later murdered his wife after she discovered the evidence of his child killings, which Katherine witnessed. She told the authorities and Freddy was arrested for the murder of his wife and the Elm Street children. In 1968, he was put on trial, but released on a technicality, leading to his death at the hands of the parents of his victims. In his dying moments, the Dream Demons came to him to offer him immortality in exchange for being their agent, which Freddy accepted. His daughter, Katherine, was later moved out of Springwood, adopted, and renamed Maggie Burroughs.
In Wes Craven's New Nightmare , Freddy is characterized as a symbol of something powerful and ancient, and is given more stature and muscles. [18 ] Unlike the six movies before it, New Nightmare shows Freddy as closer to what Wes Craven originally intended, toning down his comedic side while strengthening the more menacing aspects of his character.
The original script had Freddy's blades being fishing knives.
Throughout the series, Freddy's potential victims often experience dreams of young children, jumping rope and chanting a rhyme to the tune of " One, Two, Buckle My Shoe " with the lyrics changed to "One, Two, Freddy's coming for you", often as an omen to Freddy's presence or a precursor to his attacks.
Freddy has killed 45 victims onscreen.
Freddy was ranked #1 in FX's Horror magazine's Top 20 Horror Villains list in 2010.
Numorus Halloween coustumes have been made based on Freddy.
In other media
In The Simpsons episode Treehouse of Horror IX , after Bart , Lisa and Homer are killed in the opening sequence Freddy is shown on the couch with Jason, saying that the Simpsons should have been there by now (to which Jason, who does not usually talk, responds by saying "What are you gonna do?" before turning the TV on). Voiced by Robert Englund.
In The Simpsons episode Treehouse of Horror V Freddy Krueger appears in Moe's band of ghouls who came to take Homer out much to his dismay.
In The Simpsons episode Treehouse of Horror VI , in the second segment Nightmare on Evergreen Terrace, Groundskeeper Willie is portrayed as a Freddy Krueger-like villain. Like Freddy, Willie kills the children in their sleep but the result of being burned was over Homer 's failure to heed Willie's warnings of not turning up the thermostat, not by the angered parents of children he murdered. Eventually, he appears as a bagpipe spider and tries to kill Bart and Lisa and Groundskeeper Willie is killed by Maggie when she uses her pacifier to seal the vent on his spider body.
In a episode of The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange, Teddy Juicer is a parody of Freddy Krueger.
In Both Mucha Lucha Episodes called A Nightmare on Lucha Street And Fields of Screams There is a an evil wrestler from the dream world called Misterioso Grande. Myth has it that if he defeats you and steals your mask in the dream world, it's gone forever in the real one unless Misterioso Grande is defeated. In his debut episode he steals Penny Plutonium's mask resulting in her making a makeshift mask and missing several days of school. Rikochet, The Flea, and Buena Girl go to investigate and discover what happened. Rikochet agrees to enter the dream world to challenge Misterioso Grande for Penny's mask. They collide in an epic battle but Rikochet defeats him and all the masks he stole are returned to those he stole them from and he disappears seemingly never to be seen again. He returns for his revenge in "Field of Screams". where he escapes the dream world and steals nearly everyone at the school of lucha's masks. Rikochet, the Flea, and Buena Girl team up and once again defeat him this time for good. Misterioso Grande has immense powers in both worlds, a nod to Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare on Elm Street series. Also at the end of the debut episode, Penny's dog wore Misterioso Grande's mask implicating that Penny's dog is Misterioso Grande. He was voiced by Carlos Alazraqui, and Dee Bradley Baker.
Pennywise The Dancing Clown and Andre Linoge share many similarities to Freddy Krueger :
They all three are shape-shifters .
They all haunt the dreams of children and then kill them
They all appear to know their victim's worst fears.
They all are mind-breakers .
They all have insane personalities.
Lubdan the Leprechaun is similar to Freddy Krueger.
Horace Pinker shares many attributes with Wes Craven’s other infamous serial killer Freddy Krueger :
Both are serial killers who are executed and subsequently resurrected.
Both maintain their burn scars from their executions.
Both have the ability to travel into their victim's dreams and torment their victims there
Both have godlike power in their own worlds.
Both have to face their own biological children in battle, and are then defeated by them.
In the Robot Chicken episode That Hurts Me , Freddy is one of six horror movie villains on Big Brother; the others being Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Ghostface, Pinhead, and Leatherface. Freddy's sweater is shrunk by Ghostface when he puts it in the dryer. Freddy later replies "If Ghostface got voted out, take it from Freddy: It'll be a dream come true." He explains that the joke there is his use of the word "dream", as he kills people in their nightmares. However, he apparently changes his mind when Michael and Ghostface are on the block, and when asked to plead their case as to why they should not be evicted, Michael (unable to talk), stabs Freddy (which does no damage but annoys him). Michael got evicted in the end.
In the Robot Chicken episode I Love Her , Freddy appears with an alternate origin: Kathryn buys Freddy his infamous fedora and sweater from a school bazaar. However, the sweater itches Freddy and he creates a backscratcher to cope with the itching. Having enough of Kathryn's gifts, he goes to the school bazaar. The parents mistake him for a child abuser and attempt to lynch him, but he backs into a table with candles, causing the room to be set on fire. The Dream Demons approach Freddy, offering him the chance to be eternal as he is the angriest soul. Freddy accepts in order to rid himself of the fedora and sweater, but is disappointed when the Dream Demons do not say otherwise. Freddy mutters "Well, at least I have my complexion" as the room goes up in flames.
Coincedentally, Breckin Meyer (who portrayed Spencer in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare ) voiced the Dream Demon in this skit.
It is implied that there is a reference to the Nightmare on Elm Street series in Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, when a girl named Nancy (who shares the same name as the protagonist of the first film) has a nightmare about a monster trying to kill her, describing him as being "real just like on TV". As she does not live in Springwood, however, it is highly unlikely that this was actually Freddy, more of a regular nightmare and just a reference to Freddy.
A fan video (with real special effects) by Chris .R. Notarile, entitled The Nightmare Ends on Halloween , depicts Freddy in limbo after his death in Freddy vs. Jason. He asks Michael Myers to spread fear in Elm Street, which eventually leads to a fight between them. In the end, Freddy is cornered by Michael, Jason, and Leatherface, at the request of Pinhead, who is out to recapture Freddy for escaping from Hell, and his soul is torn apart.
Freddy also appeared in the South Park episodes Imaginationland Episode II and Insheeption .
Freddy is a playable character in the flash game Bloody Rage, which features several other characters, most of them superheroes, anime characters, and video game characters. Jason is also a playable character.
In the Family Guy episode The Splendid Source , Quagmire gives Freddy a joke to tell Peter in his dreams. Peter wakes up and says 'If you poop in your dreams you poop for real' an altered line from the 2010 remake, If you die in your dreams, you die for real.
On YouTube, there is a video in which Freddy calls some of the women in the movies the "bitch", causing someone on YouTube to believe he is a misogynist.
Freddy is a downloadable character in Mortal Kombat 9 .
Freddy was referenced in "Weird Al" Yankovic's "The Night Santa Went Crazy" with the lyrics: "And he slashed up Dasher just like Freddy Krueger!"
Freddy appears in the YouTube series "My Little Pony: Friendship For All" in the season five episode "A Nightmare in Ponyville". Here, Freddy haunts the dreams of Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Night Rider, Wingsaber, Dawn Raiser, Sugar Rush, Rob, his brother Mechswell, Derpy Hooves, Black Eye, Tough Luck and Combat Mare. Freddy kills Combat Mare by slashing her with his blades (in a similar fashion to Tina's death in the first film), Black Eye by turning into a snake and devouring him and Tough Luck by disembowlment (resembling the way Freddy kills Ron in the second film). Freddy himself is killed by Fighter Night when the latter beats up the former with Smash Punch, Vulcan Jabs, Tomoe Throw and Down Kick before finishing Freddy off with Rising Break, causing Freddy to explode and be destroyed. He is voiced by the show's creator, director, writer and editor, Dakota Woloschuk.
During 2007's Halloween Horror Nights: Carnival of Carnage at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood, Freddy was one of the sub-icons along with Jason Voorhees and Leatherface , while Jack the Clown takes the role as the main icon of the event. Freddy, along with the other two aforementioned horror movie villains appeared in the live show titled The Carnival of Carnage with Jack the Clown as the host.
Freddy Krueger also appeared in two of the HISHE episodes: How Scream Should Have ended and How Inception should have ended. In How Scream Should Have Ended: In How Scream should have ended, a guy is telling his friends 6 rules about how to outsmart and gain the upper hand against the killer, Ghostface. After he tells the 6th rule, Freddy appears and says: "I have a question; What do you do if the killer attacks you inside you're dreams?" And then reveals himself and attacks them and they start running and in How Inception Should Have Ended: Freddy Krueger also made a short appearance in Inception when everyone falls asleep and starts dreaming and are in the dream world, they see Freddy blowing a trumpet and they say "Cut that racket, Krueger!". Freddy replies by saying "Well, excuse me, I'm new at this!" and that was the part that the viewers saw him in.
While not appearing in any sense, Freddy is indirectly mentioned multiple times in the Call of Duty Black Ops Zombie Map "Call of the Dead", which features Robert Englund as one of the playable characters. Here are a few examples:
"Slicing and dicing and...hey, reminds me of a movie!" (Referring to Elm Street)
"Well, at least it isn't fire..." (Referring to Freddy's weakness to fire. This is said when Englund enters freezing water in the map)
"I am your worst nightmare!" (One of Freddy's catchphrases)
"Where's my glove when I need it?!" (Referring to Freddy's glove)
"Whew...thought I was never going to wake up." (Said after being revived from near-death)
In the Everybody Hates Chris episode "Everybody Hates Chain Snatching", Chris prevents Malvo from snatching Vanessa's gold chain, causing Malvo to threaten him to give him a new gold chain by tomorrow night or else he will be there when he least expects it, even in his dreams. During the cutaway, Malvo shows up wearing Freddy's fedora, sweater and glove, once again asking Chris where his chain is at.
In the YouTube comedy gaming web-series The Angry Video Game Nerd, the Nerd (played by James Rolfe) does a review of the NES game based on A Nightmare On Elm Street which is revealed to take place in the nightmare world as Freddy Krueger (played in a double role by James Rolfe and Mike Matei) forces the Nerd to play the game. The Nerd also clones himself to play in four-player mode and at the end of the review, Freddy begins to kill off the clones until only the original Nerd remains and is confronted by Freddy, who intimidates him and says that he is his own damn nightmare for playing shitty games and prepares to kill him until the Nerd defeats him by punching him in the face with the Power Glove.
Hip-hop duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince have a Nightmare on Elm Street-inspired song called A Nightmare on My Street, which even features Freddy on the track and makes references to the films, including Freddy telling Will Smith "I'm your DJ now, Princey!" after he kills DJ Jazzy Jeff.
Freddy's glove made cameo appearances in other horror movies, it made an appearance in Evil Dead II, Bride of Chucky, and Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday.
There is a Goosebumps book by R.L. Stine called, "A Nightmare on Clown Street" referencing the first movies title.
In the film Scream also directed by Wes Craven, Craven has a cameo as a janitor at Woodsboro High School named Fred who wears a sweater and fedora identical to Freddy Krueger. The sweater Fred wears resembles the one from the first A Nightmare on Elm Street as the sleeves are not striped.
References
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The Allan Border medal is awarded annually for which sport? | Steve Smith wins Allan Border Medal as Sean Abbott claims Bradman award
Steve Smith wins Allan Border Medal as Sean Abbott claims Bradman award
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Sean Abbott, the bowler Australia rallied around following the Phillip Hughes tragedy, was named the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year at the Allan Border Medal ceremony in Sydney on Tuesday night.
The prestigious prize was awarded to the 22-year-old fast bowling all-rounder who made his Twenty20 and ODI debuts for Australia last October but was thrust before the public eye a month later when he delivered the fateful delivery to Hughes, the recipient of the Bradman award in 2009.
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Big win: Steve Smith with the Allan Border Medal and the Test and ODI player of the year awards.
Photo: Getty Images
Stand-in captain Steve Smith won the Allan Border Medal, beating David Warner and Mitchell Johnson. Smith also claimed the Test player of the year award and the ODI player of the year award, completing a clean sweep in a remarkable season of personal success. The Belinda Clark Medal was awarded to Victoria and Southern Stars batter, Meg Lanning, ahead of Ellyse Perry, and Glenn Maxwell was named T20 player of the year.
Abbott thanked the cricket community after he won his prize.
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Man of the moment: Steve Smith and his partner Dani Willis before the presentations on Tuesday.
Photo: Getty Images
"I am thankful for the support of the Australian cricket family and wider community, as well as my own family, close friends and teammates, and especially my girlfriend Brier," he said in a pre-recorded message, as he was in Canberra preparing for the Big Bash League final.
"I feel privileged to receive such an award, especially after a couple of good seasons in a row on the field and some tough off seasons pushing myself to continually improve. I feel that this is a reward for a lot of good work and finally putting some consistent good performances together."
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Abbott's award was emotional. Smith's naming as the winner of the Border Medal was predictable. Less expected, however, was his naming as winner in both the Test and ODI categories.
"I thought I would be up there but I certainly didn't think I'd be collecting the one day, the Test and the AB Medal," Smith said.
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Allan Border Medal 2015 red carpet
"I've joined a pretty illustrious group of players that have come before me. I used to sit back as a kid and watch the Allan Border Medal and see some of my childhood stars appearing on the TV receiving these awards. To have received one now, it's a pretty amazing feeling to be honest."
Smith, who has stepped ably into the captaincy role vacated since Michael Clarke was injured, polled 243 votes for the medal, beating Warner with 175 and Johnson, who tallied 126.
He won the Test player award, marginally ahead of Warner, and the ODI gong ahead of Aaron Finch.
Smith said he was pleased for his NSW teammate Abbott.
"He's done terrific over the last little bit," he said.
"As a player and a person, he's come a long way in the past 12 to 18 months. He's a great kid, he always wants to get better and he bowls some pretty feisty spells at times."
Throughout the Border Medal voting period, from January 24, 2014, to January 10, 2015, Smith, 25, blossomed into an unorthodox but dominating right-hander in the middle order.
He was the leading run-scorer in Australia's year of Tests - which consisted of series wins against South Africa and India and a loss to Pakistan - with 1212 runs, marginally ahead of Warner's 1209.
Previous winners of the Allan Border Medal are Mitchell Johnson, Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Ricky Ponting, Brett Lee, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Steve Waugh and Glenn McGrath.
Gilchrist was named one of the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame Inductees, along with the late Victorian all-rounder Jack Ryder, a former Test captain and long-term selector.
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Whiteford, Stewart and Brabham are all corners on the Formula One Grand Prix circuit in which country? | Mitchell Johnson wins 2014 Allan Border Medal
Mitchell Johnson wins 2014 Allan Border Medal
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Mitchell Johnson's return to the elite ranks of the game in this country was formally acknowledged on Monday night when the born-again paceman added Australian cricket's highest individual honour to his ever growing trophy cabinet.
In a shock result, Johnson capped off a herculean summer by running down overwhelming pre-poll favourite Michael Clarke with his heroics in the Ashes, denying the captain from claiming what would have been a record-breaking fifth Allan Border Medal.
Adelaide strike out in BBL finals race
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Starc: Mitchell Johnson is an inspiration
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Fast bowler Mitchell Starc says Mitchell Johnson's return to the top has helped his own comeback to top class cricket.
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Pakistan's bowlers again tore through the Australian top order in Melbourne before a game high 72 runs from Mohammad Hafeez guided the visitors to a six-wicket win in the ODI clash at the MCG.
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Starc: Mitchell Johnson is an inspiration
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc says Mitchell Johnson's return to the top has helped his own comeback to top class cricket.
Clarke began the home Ashes with a commanding lead in the count, but Johnson's 37 wickets at 14 in the Ashes, in which he polled the most votes from players and the media/umpires and won three man-of-the-match awards, catapulted him from sixth to first.
Clarke, however, did not leave the gala ceremony empty-handed, winning his fourth Test Player of the Year award and his third in as many years since succeeding Ricky Ponting as skipper in 2011, holding on from a fast-finishing Steve Smith and Chris Rogers.
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Just reward: Mitchell Johnson holds his Allan Border Medal, the icing on what has been an incredible return to form.
Photo: Getty Images
It was a case of moving from the outhouse to the penthouse for Johnson, who was one of the Mohali four suspended for not doing their homework during the tumultuous series in India.
His career had also been at the crossroads in 2012 after a combination of poor form and serious injury.
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"It has been an amazing journey. Coming back from injury and having a lot of doubters I just knew in my own heart that if I had the opportunity again that I could make the most of it," Johnson said.
"I was very surprised [to win], very emotional. The emotions flow from what's happened in the past 12 months and even before that. All the hard work and the blood, sweat and tears that you go through, the ups and downs of a professional sportsman it all came out tonight. I didn't expect to win tonight, [I'm] very happy."
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"Coming back from injury and having a lot of doubters I just knew in my own heart that if I had the opportunity again that I could make the most of it": Mitchell Johnson.
Photo: Ben Rushton
The paceman finished no higher than third in any of the three international awards but was rewarded for being a part of the national team in every form of the game.
Although it was Johnson's Ashes form which ultimately secured him his maiden victory in the count, the paceman's strong performances in the ODI format, particularly in India in October and November, were invaluable.
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Allan Border Medal Awards Night for Australian Cricket 2014
Clarke played just 12 of 24 ODIs in the voting period as opposed to Johnson's 19 though the left-armer featured in only six Tests - the format given most prominence by the weighting of votes.
While Clarke missed the India tour due to a back injury, Johnson collected 21 votes, which proved vital given the final margin of 12.
Johnson said last year's Indian Premier League, when he first trialled his longer run-up in a game, was when he first felt like he was getting near his best - but it was not until the one-day series in England where his confidence and belief returned. "Seeing some of their players jump around on slower wickets was really thrilling for me and exciting," Johnson said. "I knew if I got the opportunity to play Test cricket again that I'd make the most of it. I'm very fortunate to get that chance again, I'm very thankful."
George Bailey, dumped from the Test squad earlier in the day, received a small consolation prize by beating James Faulkner for the One Day International award.
“It's been incredible,” Bailey said of the last 12 months. “It's disappointing not to be going to South Africa and I think I have come to terms with that.
“If you are going to play five Tests over a summer you would pick the five we played, it's been extraordinary.”
Aaron Finch was crowned the best Twenty20 player of the year, due entirely to his scores of 156 and 89 against England and India respectively in the four matches during the voting period from February 1 2013 to last Sunday.
In other awards, Cameron White's resurgence in the state arena secured him the domestic title, ahead of Marcus North and Phil Hughes, while Jordan Silk was adjudged the Bradman Young Cricketer of the Year, comfortably beating Ashton Agar and Travis Head.
Meg Lanning won her first Belinda Clark Medal, narrowly defeating Erin Osborne with Sarah Coyte and last year's winner Jess Cameron sharing third.
LIST OF HONOURS
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Who hold the Guinness World Record for survivor of the most broken bones in a lifetime? | Most broken bones in a lifetime | Guinness World Records
Most broken bones in a lifetime
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When
1975
Evel Knievel (USA, b. Robert Craig Knievel), the pioneer of motorcycle long jumping exhibitions, had suffered 433 bone fractures by end of 1975. In the winter of 1976 he was seriously injured during a televised attempt to jump a tank full of sharks at the Chicago Ampitheater. For the first time a bystander was also injured when a cameraman was struck and lost an eye. Knievel, who suffered brain concussion and two broken arms, decided to retire from major performances as a result. He, however continued to do smaller exhibitions around the country with his son Robbie, establishing him as his successor.
His abortive attempt to cross the 485 m (1,600 ft) wide and 180 m (600 ft) deep Snake River Canyon, Idaho, USA on 8 September 1974 in a rocket reputedly increased his lifetime earnings by US$6 million (then £2.54 million).
All records listed on our website are current and up-to-date. For a full list of record titles, please use our Record Application Search. (You will be need to register / login for access)
| Evel Knievel |
What was the first name of 18th Century English cabinet maker and furniture designer Chippendale? | Channing Tatum Prepping Evel Knievel Movie - MTV
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Gil Kaufman
07/11/2012
He's played G.I. Joe, an undercover cop and a male stripper in [article id="1688543"]"Magic Mike"[/article] , but Channing Tatum is in talks to suit up for one of the most physically challenging roles of his career: Evel Knievel.
According to the Hollywood Reporter , Tatum is in negotiations to star in and executive produce a movie about the legendary daredevil who captured the imagination of a nation in the 1970s with a series of outrageous, bone-crunching motorcycle stunts. Tatum's production partner, Reid Carolin, will write the screenplay for the as-yet-untitled film. The movie will be produced by Mike DeLuca and Dana Brunetti, who are also producing the [article id="1689287"]"Fifty Shades of Grey"[/article] adaptation.
The movie will be based on the 2008 book "Life of Evel" by writer Stuart Barker. Knievel, who died in 2007 at the age of 69, made a name for himself with a series of jaw-dropping motorcycle jumps, including a legendary failed attempt to jump across Wyoming's Snake River Canyon in a steam-powered rocket called the Skycycle X-2.
In addition to his iconic red, white and blue leather jumpsuits, Knievel also gained fame by earning a Guinness Book of World Records mark by being the survivor of the "most bones broken in a lifetime" (433). Though his 1974 Snake River gag was a failure, Knievel continued to pull off ramp-to-ramp jumps over buses, cars and other motorcycles through the late 1970s, often landing in a heap of broken bones and twisted metal.
Tatum will follow in the footsteps of the supremely tanned George Hamilton, who starred in the 1971 film "Evel Knievel," as well as Knievel himself, who was the star of the 1977 movie "Viva Knievel!"
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According to the WHO (World Health Organisation), which country had the longest life expectancy in the world in 2011? | 13 places that are world No. 1
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WHAT does it take to be number one? From the hottest place in the world, to the richest, to the biggest drinkers and the most sexually satisfied ... these places are ranked number one in the world for what they do best.
Here is a selection of the list of winners from Distractify .
The hottest place on Earth
The sizzling title of the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth goes to Death Valley, California where on July 10 1913 it hit a top temperature of 56.7 degrees Celsius.
The aptly named Death Valley, California.
The coldest place
On the high ridge of east Antarctica the temperature plunged to a brain freezing minus 94.7 degrees Celsius in August 2010.
The longest life expectancy
According to the World Health Organisation’s study from 2013, Monaco tops the charts for longest living citizens, with an average life expectancy of 87.2 years. Men in Monaco live an average 85.3 years, and women live to an average of 89 years.
Only the tough survive in Antarctica.Source:Supplied
The most sexually satisfied
Believe it or not, Switzerland is the most sexually satisfied country in the world. From its liberal views on pornography and prostitution, to sex education that starts in kindergarten, more than twenty per cent of the population considers their sex lives “excellent” according to a recent survey.
Leave it to the Swiss to heat things up in the bedroom.
The least sexually satisfied
Super conservative and the least sexually satisfied goes to the people of Japan. Only 15 per cent of Japanese reported having a fulfilling sex life and more than 45 per cent of its women said they were either uninterested or despised sexual contact.
45 per cent of Japanese women aren’t interested in getting between the sheets.Source:AFP
The wealthiest city
Maybe this is why Japan is so sexually unsatisfied, they’re too busy working. Tokyo takes the gong as the wealthiest city in the world with a GDP of $1630 billion.
The poorest city
Imagine living on less than $1 a day. That’s the sad reality for the people of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As the poorest country in the world it has a GDP of $59 billion.
The most caffeinated city
Maybe this is the secret to their good looks. The Swedes consume the most caffeine in the world averaging 388 milligrams of caffeine in their coffee per person per day. That’s almost five Red Bulls. Did someone say wired?
Perfecting the art of coffee in Sweden.
The drunkest city
They have to fend off those freezing temperatures somehow. Belarus knocks the rest of the world off its feet as the biggest drinkers. Each person above the age of 15 drinks on average 17.5 litres of pure alcohol per year.
The wettest place in the world
You’ll need a serious pair of gumboots and wet weather gear in this country. Mawsynram in India averages 11,871mm of rain per year, and in 1985 had a record 25,400mm.
Youngest country in the world
The people of South Sudan were formally recognised as an independent country in 2011, making it the youngest country in the world to-date. Unfortunately the young country is crippled by hunger and civil war.
The newly independent South Sudan.Source:AFP
Highest point in the world
Soaring 8848m into the sky, the famous and deadly peak of Mount Everest is the highest point on Earth.
Literally on top of the world.
Most expensive country to live in
Singapore has knocked Tokyo from first place to become the world’s most expensive city to live in. Purchasing a car in Singapore is around five times the cost of one in Australia and rent is seriously expensive.
Best to take public transport in Singapore.Source:Supplied
| Japan |
How many gold medals did Britain win in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games? | Singapore ranks world No. 4 for life expectancy, Singapore News & Top Stories - The Straits Times
The Straits Times
Singapore ranks world No. 4 for life expectancy
Published
Women here can expect to live to 85 years old, and men to 80: WHO
Salma Khalik Senior Health Correspondent
SINGAPORE has the fourth-best life expectancy rate in the world, latest World Health Organisation (WHO) figures reveal.
Average life expectancy at birth stood at 82 years in 2011, making it a joint fourth with Italy.
Women here can expect to live to 85 and men to the age of 80.
The top three countries were Japan - which has a female life expectancy of 86 and a male life expectancy of 82 - Switzerland and San Marino.
All three have an average life expectancy of 83, far outstripping the global average of 70. Sierra Leone fared worst with a mere 47 years.
Professor Chia Kee Seng, dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said Singapore now needs to focus on extending the quality of life through preventing and delaying the onset of chronic diseases and, where they exist, slowing down their progression.
The WHO report also compares current life expectancy to that in 1990 and 2000.
In 1990, Singapore was 29th in the world with an average life expectancy of 75; people in Japan and San Marino, a tiny country with a population of 33,000 people surrounded by Italy, were living until an average age of 79.
Dr Chia Shi Lu, a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health, said a "key factor" in Singapore's longevity "is the excellent child and maternal health services and childhood disease prevention programmes".
The Republic has one of the lowest infant mortality rates (2.59 per 1,000 live births) and maternal death rates in the world.
The MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, a doctor himself, added: "Health care in Singapore at both the preventive and therapeutic levels is reasonably accessible and of good quality."
Many people here are living beyond the average of 82. A Singaporean who was 60 in 2011 could expect to live another quarter century, according to the WHO.
Singapore is one of 13 countries where 60-year-olds can expect to live 25 more years. Only Japan fares better with an average of 26.
This, said Professor Chia, is a better yardstick, since total life expectancy is often driven by infant and child deaths.
As countries develop economically, this will fall, he said and "mortality from chronic diseases becomes the main driver".
He pointed out that countries with large rural populations generally have lower life expectancies as rural communities tend to have higher deaths among children.
Prof Chia said another measurement known as the Disability-Adjusted Life Years is becoming an increasingly popular yardstick. This takes into account quality of life, including the amount of time a person spends living with disability, such as being paralysed after suffering a stroke, he explained.
Parliamentary Secretary for Health Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim has been tasked with developing a Healthy Living Masterplan to encourage people here to exercise regularly, eat properly and keep chronic diseases under control.
He said: "I'm heartened by Singapore's improved ratings in life expectancy. As Singaporeans live longer, we also want to see them remain well so that they can enjoy their twilight years with their loved ones."
| i don't know |
The RAF flew 1 million Euros from the UK to which country in March 2013, as a contingency measure ‘to provide military personnel with loans’? | Cyprus Bailout: One Million Euros Heading To Island For British Military Personnel | The Huffington Post
Cyprus Bailout: One Million Euros Heading To Island For British Military Personnel
19/03/2013 17:03 | Updated 19 May 2013
350
PA/The Huffington Post UK
A plane carrying one million euros (£852,600) has been sent to Cyprus as a "contingency measure" to help troops and their families.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the RAF flight, which left on Tuesday afternoon, will provide people with emergency loans in the event that cash machines and debit cards stop working completely.
The MoD said it is determined to minimise the impact of the Cyprus banking crisis on "our people" and it will consider further shipments if required.
The announcement comes amid moves by the government today to re-assure British troops posted to Cyprus that they will be fully compensated for any plans to raid their savings.
The MoD said that as well as sending out the emergency fund, it is asking personnel if they would prefer this and future months' salaries to be paid into UK bank accounts.
It said in a statement: "An RAF flight left for Cyprus this afternoon with one million euro on board as a contingency measure to provide military personnel and their families with emergency loans in the event that cash machines and debit cards stop working completely.
"We will keep this under review and consider further shipments if required.
strong>Cypriots have been protesting the agreement to strip savings
"The MoD is proactively approaching personnel to ask if they want their March, and future months' salaries paid into UK bank accounts, rather than Cypriot accounts.
"We're determined to do everything we can to minimise the impact of the Cyprus banking crisis on our people."
The position of more than 3,000 British service personnel was thrown into doubt yesterday when Treasury Minister Greg Clark only went as far as saying that they would not suffer "unreasonable losses" as a result of the planned levy.
However, George Osborne told Cabinet that UK Armed Forces personnel and civil servants posted to Cyprus will be "compensated in full" for any losses as a result of the planned levy on savings.
| Cyprus |
In January 2013, the London Underground rail system celebrated which anniversary? | Europe: U.S. Operating Environment, Foreign Policy and International Interests
View 2015 Assessment
Recent events in Ukraine, a resurgent Russia, and the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq, Syria, and Libya have brought Europe back into the top tier of U.S. international interests. It is clear why the region matters to the U.S. The 51 countries in U.S. European Command (EUCOM) area of responsibility include approximately one-fifth of the world’s population, 10.7 million square miles of land, and 13 million square miles of ocean. EUCOM’s area has physical borders with Russia, the Arctic, Iran, Asia Minor, the Caspian Sea, and North Africa. Most of these areas have long histories of instability and a potential for future instability that could directly affect the security interests and economic well-being of the United States.
Some of America’s oldest (France) and closest (the United Kingdom) allies are found in Europe. The U.S. and Europe share a strong commitment to the rule of law, human rights, free markets, and democracy. Many of these ideas, the foundations upon which America was built, were brought over by the millions of immigrants from Europe in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. U.S. sacrifice for Europe has been dear. During the course of the 20th century, millions of Americans fought for a free and secure Europe, and hundreds of thousands died.
The economic ties are important as well. A stable, secure, and economically viable Europe is in America’s economic interest. Regional security means economic viability and prosperity. For more than 70 years, the U.S. military presence in Europe has contributed to European stability, which has economically benefited both Europeans and Americans. The economies of the 28 member states of the European Union, along with the United States, account for approximately half of the global economy. The U.S. and the members of the European Union (EU) are each other’s principal trading partners.
Geographical Proximity. Europe is important to the U.S. because of its geographical proximity to some of the world’s most dangerous and contested regions. To the south of Europe, from the eastern Atlantic Ocean to the Middle East and up to the Caucasus through Russia and into the Arctic, is an arc of instability. This region is experiencing increasing instability from demographic pressures, increased commodity prices, interstate and intrastate conflict, tribal politics, competition over water and other natural resources, religious tension, revolutionary tendencies, terrorism, nuclear proliferation, and “frozen conflicts” (i.e., conflicts in which active combat has ended but no real effort is made to resolve the conflict). The European region also has some of the world’s most vital shipping lanes, energy resources, and trade choke points.
The basing of U.S. forces in Europe generates benefits outside of Europe. Recent instability in North Africa, most notably ISIS operations in Libya, has shown the utility of basing robust U.S. military capabilities near potential global hot spots. For example, when ordered to intervene in Libya against Muammar Qadhafi, U.S. commanders in Europe were able to act effectively and promptly because of the well-established and mature U.S. military footprint in southern Europe.
The same can be said of the Baltic region in light of the crisis in Ukraine. Soon after Russia annexed Crimea and invaded eastern Ukraine, the U.S. quickly deployed 600 U.S. soldiers to the Baltics and Poland from U.S. bases in Italy. The F-15s and F-16s (including their crews, maintenance staff, fuel, spare parts, etc.) that the U.S. Air Force initially sent to the region after the invasion of Ukraine were deployed to Eastern Europe from U.S. air bases in the United Kingdom and Italy, respectively. Without this forward presence in Europe, these deployments would have been costlier and slower.
The Arctic. The 2015 Index of U.S. Military Strength identified the Arctic as an important operating environment in Europe. This has not changed in the 2016 edition. If anything, tension in the region is increasing as a result of Russian activity.
The Arctic region encompasses the lands and territorial waters of eight countries (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States) spread across three continents. Unlike in the Antarctic, there is no Arctic landmass covering the North Pole—just ocean. The region is home to some of the world’s roughest terrain and waters and some of its harshest weather. The Arctic region is rich in minerals, wildlife, fish, and other natural resources and, according to some estimates, contains up to 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil reserves and almost one-third of the world’s undiscovered natural gas reserves.
The region represents one of the world’s least populated areas, with sparse nomadic communities and very few large cities and towns. Although official population figures are nonexistent, the Nordic Council of Ministers estimates the figure to be 4 million 1 —making the Arctic’s population slightly bigger than Oregon and slightly smaller than Kentucky. Approximately half of the Arctic population lives in Russia, which is ranked 143rd out of 178 countries in the 2015 Index of Economic Freedom. 2 The melting of Arctic ice during the summer months presents challenges for the U.S. in terms of Arctic security, but it also provides new opportunities for economic development. Less ice will mean new shipping lanes, increased tourism, and further natural resource exploration. Many of the shipping lanes currently used in the Arctic are a considerable distance from search and rescue facilities, and natural resource exploration that would be considered routine in other locations in the world is complex, costly, and dangerous in the Arctic.
The economic incentives for exploiting these shipping lanes are substantial and will drive Arctic nations to press their interests in the region. For example, using the Northern Sea Route (NSR) along the Russian coast cuts the distance between Rotterdam and Shanghai by 22 percent and saves hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel costs per ship. Unlike in the Gulf of Aden, no pirates are currently operating in the Arctic, and piracy is unlikely to be a problem in the future. But there is still a long way to go before the NSR becomes a viable option. In 2014, a total of 23 ships made the journey over the top of Russia (compared with the more than 17,000 that transited the Suez Canal) and carried 274,000 tons of cargo. By comparison, in 2013, 71 vessels or 1,355,000 tons shipped along the route, indicating the unpredictability of future shipping trends in the Arctic. 3
Of course, the U.S. has an interest in stability and security in the Arctic because the U.S. is one of the eight Arctic nations. The American commitment to NATO is also relevant because four of the five Arctic littoral powers are in NATO. 4
Economic Turmoil. In recent years, the economic situation in Europe has brought turmoil and instability. Taken as a whole, the European region is undergoing a tumultuous and uncertain period that is epitomized by the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe’s southern countries. These countries have not made the structural reforms needed for long-term adjustment. The eurozone’s overall economic freedom is seriously undermined by the excessive government spending required to support elaborate welfare states. Economic policies being pursued by many eurozone countries hinder productivity growth and job creation, causing economic stagnation and rapidly increasing levels of public debt.
Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain have received multibillion-euro aid packages financed by their eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). European leaders are desperately seeking a way to keep the eurozone together without addressing the root causes of the crisis. Recipient countries have adopted stringent austerity measures in exchange for aid, but their populations oppose any spending cuts.
Many among Europe’s political elite believe that deeper European integration, not prudent economic policies, is the answer to Europe’s problem. However, there has been a public backlash against deeper political and economic integration across much of Europe. As a result, nationalism is on the rise in a way not seen since the 1930s.
A perfect example of the rise of nationalism across Europe is the January 2015 Greek elections. After campaigning on an anti-austerity platform, the far-left Coalition of the Radical Left, commonly known as Syriza, won the most seats and formed a small coalition with the right-wing Independent Greeks. It is also worth pointing out that the third highest number of votes was won by the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party.
At the end of 2014, economic growth in the eurozone was just under 1 percent, but economic activity is still well below the peak it reached in 2008 before the full onset of the financial crisis. Nor has this relatively meager economic growth translated into rapid job growth. Unemployment across the 19-country bloc stands at 11.2 percent, down from 11.8 percent at the end of 2013. At nearly 26 percent, Greece has the highest unemployment rate in the European Union; youth unemployment in the eurozone is 23 percent, reaching 51 percent in Spain and 42 percent in Italy. 5 Some members of the eurozone, such as Greece, are still on the verge of a sovereign default, while a few, such as the three Baltic States, have bucked the trend and are enjoying strong economic growth.
The potential impact of the current eurozone crisis on the U.S. makes European economic stability more important than ever. The eurozone crisis could turn into a security crisis. For example, political instability in Greece could spill over to other places in southeastern Europe—already one of Europe’s most unstable regions. Less than 24 hours after the Greek elections, the Russian ambassador to Greece was seen entering the headquarters of Syriza. 6 Greek–Russian relations could become close under the Syriza government at a time when European unity is required to stand up to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Syriza has also questioned whether Greece should remain in NATO. 7
American banks hold some eurozone debt and would take a hit in the event of any default, but the deepest effects would likely be felt through the interconnected global financial system. In a lagging European economy, for example, U.S. exports to European markets would start to fall off and would decline.
The economic case also illustrates the importance of the greater European region to energy security and the free flow of trade. Some of the most important energy security and trade corridors are on the periphery of Europe—as are some of the world’s most dangerous and unstable regions. European economies depend on oil and gas transported through the volatile Caucasus and several maritime choke points.
On top of these difficulties, Europe has been trying to deal with an immigration crisis, as the conflicts in Syria and Iraq propel large numbers of refugees westward in search of safety and a better life.
The South Caucasus
One of the most important energy corridors for Europe is through Turkey and the South Caucasus. Fortunately, Europe has a very strong partner in the South Caucasus: the Republic of Georgia. Georgia sits at a crucial geographical and cultural crossroads that for centuries has proven strategically important for military and economic reasons; today, its strategic location is also important to the U.S. and Europe. Georgia is modernizing key airports and port facilities, and a major railway project from Azerbaijan to Turkey through Georgia opened in 2015.
The transit route through Georgia provides one of the shortest and potentially most cost-effective routes to Central Asia. This is particularly important in meeting the need to bring alternative sources of oil and natural gas to the European market. In view of Russia’s willingness to use energy resources as a tool of foreign policy, this could not come at a more important time for Europe.
In 2015, construction began on two key natural gas pipelines: the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) and the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The TANAP will run 1,150 miles through the Caucasus and Turkey; the TAP will run from the Turkish–Greek border to Italy via Albania and the Adriatic Sea. It is expected that both will be completed by 2018. When constructed, both pipelines will link up with the existing South Caucasus Pipeline, which connects Turkey to the Azerbaijani gas fields in the Caspian Sea through Georgia. Together, all three pipelines will form the so-called Southern Gas Corridor. 8
Not to be outdone, Russia announced in early 2015 that its South Stream project has been cancelled and replaced by a so-called Turkish Stream pipeline that will bring Russian gas across the Black Sea to Turkey to then link up with TAP. Already, 10,000 oil tankers a year pass through the Turkish Straits. The Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan oil pipeline brings oil from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. These new pipelines reaffirm Turkey’s desire to serve as a regional energy hub.
Important Alliances and Bilateral Relations in Europe
The United States has a number of important multilateral and bilateral relationships in Europe. First and foremost among these relationships is NATO, the world’s most important and arguably most successful defense alliance. Other relationships, however, also have a strong impact on the U.S.’s ability to operate in and through the European region.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO is an intergovernmental, multilateral security organization originally designed to defend Western Europe from the Soviet Union. It is the organization that anchored the U.S. firmly in Europe, solidified Western resolve during the Cold War, and rallied European support following the terrorist attacks on 9/11.
During the Cold War, the threat from the Soviet Union meant that the alliance had a clearly defined mission. Today, NATO is still trying to determine its precise role in the post–Cold War world. The 1990s saw NATO launch security and peacekeeping operations in the Balkans when the European Union was unable to act. Since 2002, NATO has been engaged in Afghanistan, counterpiracy operations off the Horn of Africa, and an intervention in Libya that led to the toppling of Muammar Qadhafi.
Since its creation in 1949, NATO has remained the bedrock of transatlantic security cooperation, and it is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. With the NATO-led combat mission in Afghanistan finished and with an increasingly bellicose Russia on Europe’s doorstep, there is a growing recognition that NATO must return to its raison d’être: collective security.
The Russian threat is discussed in more detail in the next chapter; however, it is worth noting that many in NATO view Moscow as a threat. In a way that seemed inconceivable to Western Europeans before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea, it is now clear that NATO’s Eastern European members face legitimate security concerns: For those NATO members that lived under the iron fist of the Warsaw Pact or that were absorbed into the Soviet Union after World War II, Russia’s bellicose behavior today is seen as a threat to their existence.
Given the broad threat that Russia poses to Europe’s common interests, military-to-military cooperation, interoperability, and overall preparedness for joint warfighting are especially important in Europe, yet they are not uniformly implemented. For example, day-to-day interaction between U.S. and allied officer corps and joint preparedness exercises were more regular with Western European militaries than with frontier allies in Central Europe, although the crisis in Ukraine has led to new exercises with eastern NATO nations. In the event of a national security crisis in Europe, first contact with an adversary might still expose America’s lack of fluency with allied warfighting capabilities, doctrines, and operational methods.
Furthermore, NATO needs to shift training in Europe from counterinsurgency operations to collective security operations. For the past several years, training has focused on NATO’s counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan—and rightly so. Now that the NATO-led combat mission in Afghanistan has ended, the alliance should also get back to carrying out regular training exercises for its NATO Treaty Article 5 mission of collective self-defense. Regular training exercises are a key element of collective security and ensuring continued defense cooperation.
There are also non-military threats to the territorial integrity of NATO countries for which the alliance is completely unprepared. The biggest threat to the Baltic States, for example, may come not from Russian tanks rolling into a country but from Russian money, propaganda, establishment of NGOs, and other advocacy groups—all of which undermine the state. Russia’s aggressive actions in Ukraine have proven how effective these asymmetrical methods can be at creating instability, especially when coupled with conventional power projection.
The combat training center at Hohenfels, Germany, is one of a very few located outside of the continental United States, and more than 60,000 U.S. and allied personnel train there annually. U.S.–European training exercises further advance U.S. interests by developing links between U.S. allies in Europe and National Guard units back home. In a time when most American servicemembers do not recall World War II or the Cold War, cementing bonds with America’s allies in Europe becomes a vital task. Currently, 22 nations in Europe have a state partner in the U.S. National Guard. 9
Training Exercises. General Phillip Breedlove, Commander, U.S. Forces Europe, has described NATO forces as being “at a pinnacle of interoperability.” He further states that for NATO to sustain these levels of interoperability, “We need to continue to build the capabilities and capacities to be a credible and effective Alliance and we need to sustain our interoperability through rigorous and sustained training, education and exercises.” 10
In June 2014, the U.S. announced a $1 billion European Reassurance Initiative that is meant to bolster transatlantic security. A portion of the funding will “increase exercises, training, and rotational presence across Europe but especially on the territory of our newer allies.” 11 While the additional funding is a step in the right direction, it is not a long-term solution; the need to sufficiently fund training programs remains unresolved. Funding for this initiative was included in the Overseas Contingency Operation (OCO) budget—generally considered to be a budget for temporary, not permanent, priorities—a fact that did not escape the attention of NATO allies, with the Poles referring to it as “insufficient.” 12 The 2016 Defense Budget Proposal requested an additional $789 million for an extension of the European Reassurance Initiative but once again includes the additional funding as part of OCO funding. 13
Quality of Allied Armed Forces in the Region: A Declining Europe Means a Declining NATO
When it comes to effective international combined operations, the investments of U.S. partners matter just as much, and it is clear that Europe is not pulling its weight. Investment in defense across Europe has declined since the end of the Cold War. For most EU countries, the political will to deploy troops into harm’s way when doing so is in the national interest has all but evaporated. During the recent Libya operation, for example, European countries were running out of munitions. 14 In Mali and the Central African Republic, European countries were having difficulty scraping together mere hundreds of soldiers for training missions and static security operations in a semi-permissive operating environment.
As an intergovernmental security alliance, NATO is only as strong as its member states. Of NATO’s 28 members, 26 are European. European countries collectively have more than 2 million men and women in uniform, yet by some estimates, only 100,000 of them—a mere 5 percent—have the capability to deploy outside national borders. 15
Article 3 of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty, NATO’s founding document, states that members, at a minimum, will “maintain and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack.” 16 Only a handful of NATO members can say that they are living up to their Article 3 commitment. Defense spending has been decreasing over the years to the point that New York City spends more on policing than 14 NATO members each spend on national defense. Since 2008, Russian defense spending has increased 31 percent, while defense spending in Europe has decreased 15 percent.
In 2014, just four of the 28 NATO members—the United States, Estonia, Britain, and Greece—spent the NATO-required 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense. The U.K. is meeting the 2 percent benchmark because of expenditures on combat operations in Afghanistan. However, the current government has committed to the 2 percent benchmark only through the end of the current Parliament, and it is possible that even America’s number one ally will not meet the NATO threshold in 2015. 17
As a result of this lack of investment, even smaller campaigns like the 2011 operation in Libya floundered. What began as a military operation inspired by France and Britain had to be quickly absorbed into a NATO operation because the Europeans had neither the political will nor the military capability (without the U.S.) to complete the mission. Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates summed up Europe’s contribution to the Libya operation:
[W]hile every alliance member voted for the Libya mission, less than half have participated at all, and fewer than a third have been willing to participate in the strike mission. Frankly, many of those allies sitting on the sidelines do so not because they do not want to participate, but simply because they can’t. The military capabilities simply aren’t there. 18
The lack of defense investment by Europeans has also had a direct impact on recent overseas operations. At the height of the combat operations in Afghanistan, many European NATO members were having difficulty deploying just dozens of troops at a time. The Europeans’ contribution to the air campaign against the Islamic State has been meager considering the size of their air forces. When Europeans do send troops, many are often restricted by numerous nationally imposed limitations on their activities (commonly called “caveats”). In Afghanistan, examples included no flying at night or no combat patrols beyond a certain distance from a base that limits their usefulness to the NATO commander. 19 In the campaign against the Islamic State, the few European countries that are conducting air strikes will do so only in Iraq even though the terrorist group is very active (and has its headquarters) in Syria.
This lack of capability is mainly the result of a decrease in defense investment by the members of NATO since the end of the Cold War and a lack of political will to use military capability when and where it is needed.
Germany. Germany decreased defense spending by 800 million euros in 2014, remaining (at 1.3 percent of GDP) well below the NATO benchmark of 2 percent of GDP on defense spending. 20 In March 2014, the German government announced plans to boost defense spending by 6.2 percent or 1.2 billion euros over the next five years. 21 This is a much-needed increase as the German military struggles with equipment that is in disrepair or short supply. According to news descriptions of a Bundestag report, only seven of 43 German naval helicopters are flightworthy, and only one of four German submarines is operational. The report also states that only 70 of 180 GTK Boxer Armored Vehicles are fit for deployment. 22
(accessed March 18, 2015).The air force faces similar challenges; less than half of Germany’s fighter jets were ready for use, according to a 2014 parliamentary report. 23
The German forces participating in a NATO training exercise in Norway substituted broomsticks for machine guns that they did not have. 24 The units involved are assigned to the Spearhead force, which was created as a key element in NATO’s response to Russian aggression against Ukraine at the Wales summit. 25 German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen has admitted that Germany is currently unable to meet NATO’s readiness targets. 26
Germany will spend 240 million euros to keep dual-capable Tornado aircraft, an important piece of NATO’s nuclear deterrent, flying until 2024. 27 It is also, however, cutting procurement and decommissioning certain specific capabilities, a reality that will fall primarily on its Army and Air Force. Germany has announced procurement of 18 Sea Lion-variant helicopters and 82 tactical transport helicopters from Airbus, reportedly to compensate for cancelled and reduced procurement elsewhere. 28
At the United Nations in September 2014, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier called for greater German engagement in the world, but he focused principally on diplomatic rather than military engagement. 29 However, Germany has supplied weapons to Kurdish troops fighting ISIS in Iraq, including rifles and MILAN anti-tank guided missiles and Panzerfaust 3 rockets, 30 and the German Parliament has approved a maximum of 100 instructors to take part in training missions through January 2016. 31 Whether Germany decides to continue these training missions after January 2016 remains to be seen.
Germany is attempting to increase its military participation abroad, but cautiously. German trainers on the ground are not allowed to engage in offensive operations. Germany also has not taken part in the air campaign to bomb ISIS targets. In Afghanistan, 850 Germans remain as part of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission. A contributor to Baltic Air Policing, Berlin committed 500 troops to take part in NATO training exercises in Lithuania across 2015. 32
Hemmed in by public reluctance to support stronger military engagement overseas, and with little being done to build out real defense capabilities, Germany will continue to be an economic powerhouse with mismatched military capabilities.
France. Although France rejoined NATO’s Integrated Command Structure in 2009, it remains outside the alliance’s nuclear planning group. France’s defense budget is anticipated to stay at 1.5 percent of GDP in 2015. 33 While the country kept a NATO summit commitment to protect defense from further budget cuts, its defense spending remains well below 2 percent of GDP, and the government had to take unusual measures to fill a shortfall of 2.2 billion euros in its 2015 budget. “The French defense ministry is preparing to sell and lease back as many as six Airbus A400M airlifters and two or three FREMM multipurpose frigates this year.” 34 France withdrew the last of its troops in Afghanistan at the end of 2014, although all French combat troops had left in 2012. All told, France lost 89 soldiers and 700 wounded in Afghanistan. 35 In September, France launched Operation Chammal, the name given to the French contribution to the air campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq. In February 2015, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle joined the operation, halving the flying time needed for French fighters to strike targets in Iraq. Previously, all of France’s fighters had flown from bases in the United Arab Emirates or Jordan. 36 France has 12 Mirage fighter jets, one air-to-air refueling plane, and two maritime patrol aircraft in addition to the aircraft on the Charles De Gaulle involved in operations against ISIS. 37
Additionally, the French military is active in Africa, with over 3,000 troops taking part in anti-terrorism operations in Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger as part of Operation Barkhane. 38 France also has over 1,500 troops in Djibouti, along with Mirage fighters, 39
and troops in Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, 40 Ivory Coast, Central African Republic, 41 Gabon, and Senegal. 42
France remains politically and militarily dedicated to retaining an independent nuclear deterrent. In February 2015, President Francois Hollande reiterated the French commitment to maintaining this deterrent: “The international context does not allow for any weakness…. [T]he era of nuclear deterrence is therefore not over.” 43
However, a sputtering economy and an enormous debt are having a large impact on French defense, and even though the French military remains one of Europe’s most capable, cuts in personnel and extension of aging equipment will be a reality. A 2013 French white paper on defense called for reductions in forces, including the elimination of 24,000 jobs from the Ministry of Defense. 44
The political and economic importance of the defense industry in France serves as a strong impediment to even deeper cuts, but the government is still finding ways to reduce defense spending. The government has not cancelled key procurements, but it has cut orders, delayed payments, and renegotiated contracts on equipment. 45 So important is the defense industry that the government waited months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to suspend indefinitely delivery to Russia of two Mistral warships. Putin claimed that France’s not delivering the Mistrals “has no importance.” 46
Russia is reported to have told France that it no longer wants the warships, and negotiations on refunding money to Russia are ongoing. 47 In February 2015, France signed a deal with Egypt to export 24 Rafale fighter jets, the first foreign order for the planes. 48
The United Kingdom. America’s most important bilateral relationship in Europe is the Special Relationship with the United Kingdom. Culturally, both countries value liberal democracy, a free-market economy, and human rights at a time when many other nations around the world are rejecting those values. The U.S. and the U.K. also face the same global security challenges: a resurgent Russia, the rise of the Islamic State, increasing cyber attacks, and nuclear proliferation in Iran.
In his famous 1946 “Sinews of Peace” speech—now better known as his “Iron Curtain” speech—Winston Churchill described the Anglo–American relationship as one that is based, first and foremost, on defense and military cooperation. From intelligence sharing to the transfer of nuclear technology, a high degree of military cooperation has helped to make the Special Relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. unique. Then-Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Margaret Thatcher made clear the essence of the Special Relationship between the U.K. and the U.S. when she first met the then-President of the U.S.S.R. Mikhail Gorbachev in 1984:
…I am an ally of the United States. We believe the same things, we believe passionately in the same battle of ideas, we will defend them to the hilt. Never try to separate me from them. 49
Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the United Kingdom has proven itself to be America’s number one military partner. For example, Britain provided 46,000 troops for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. At the height of this commitment, the U.K. deployed 10,000 troops to one of the deadliest parts of Afghanistan—an area that, at its peak, accounted for 20 percent of the country’s total violence—while many other NATO allies operated in the relative safety of the North.
In 2010, the U.K. held its first defense review in 12 years. Due to the dire economic situation inherited by the Conservative-led coalition government, the U.K. announced defense cuts of close to 7.5 percent. Consequently, the British are cutting the size of their regular army by 20,000 personnel to 82,000, less than half the size of the U.S. Marine Corps. In addition, both the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy have removed an additional 5,000 personnel each from their rolls.
Even with recent defense cuts, the U.K. still maintains the most effective armed forces in European NATO. In recent years, it increased funding for its highly respected Special Forces. By 2020, the RAF will operate a fleet of F-35 and Typhoon fighter aircraft—the latter being upgraded to carry out ground attacks. The RAF recently brought into service a new fleet of air-to-air refuelers, which is particularly noteworthy because of the severe shortage of this capability in Europe. With the U.K., the U.S. produced and has jointly operated an intelligence-gathering platform, the RC-135 Rivet Joint aircraft, which has already seen service in Mali, Nigeria, and Iraq and is now part of the RAF fleet.
The U.K. recently purchased its seventh U.S.-built C-17 and has started to bring the European A400M cargo aircraft into service after years of delays. It has been reported that the decision to cut C-130s from the force structure might be delayed due to the niche capability this rugged and combat-proven cargo aircraft brings to special operations. The Sentinel R1, an airborne battlefield and ground surveillance aircraft, was originally due to be removed from the force structure in 2015, but its service is being extended.
The Royal Navy’s surface fleet is based on the new Type-45 Destroyer and the older Type-23 Frigate. It is expected that the latter will be replaced by the Global Combat Ship sometime in the 2020s. In total, the U.K. operates only 19 frigates and destroyers, which most experts agree is dangerously low for the commitment asked of the Royal Navy. Nevertheless, the Royal Navy still delivers a formidable capability.
The U.K. will not have an aircraft carrier in service until around 2020 when the first Queen Elizabeth-class carrier enters service. This will be the largest carrier operated in Europe. In total, two of her class will be built. Additionally, the Royal Navy is introducing seven Astute-class attack submarines as it phases out its older Trafalgar-class. Crucially, the U.K. maintains a fleet of 13 Mine Counter Measure Vessels (MCMV) that deliver world-leading capability and play an important role in Persian Gulf security contingency planning.
Perhaps the Royal Navy’s most important contribution is its continuous-at-sea, submarine-based nuclear deterrent based on the Vanguard-class ballistic missile submarine and the Trident missile. Currently, there are plans to replace the aging Vanguard-class boats, although the final decision is scheduled for 2016.
Turkey. Turkey has been an important U.S. ally since the closing days of World War II. During the Korean War, it deployed a total of 15,000 troops and suffered 721 killed in action and more than 2,000 wounded. Turkey joined NATO in 1952, one of only two NATO members (the other was Norway) that had a land border with the Soviet Union. Today, Turkey continues to play an active role in the alliance, but not without challenges. The low point in U.S.–Turkish relations came in 2003 when the Turkish parliament voted by a small margin (264 to 250) to deny the U.S. access to its territory for an invasion of Iraq. Under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has been a challenging partner for the West, but it remains an important partner and NATO member.
Turkey is vitally important to Europe’s energy security. It is the gateway to the resource-rich Caucasus and Caspian Basin and controls the Bosporus, one of the most important shipping straits in the world. Several major gas and oil pipelines run through Turkey. As new oilfields are developed in the Central Asian states, and given Europe’s dependence on Russian oil and gas, Turkey can be expected to play an increasingly important role in Europe’s energy security.
It is in America’s interest for Turkey to remain an important security partner. Turkey is home to Incirlik Air Base, a major U.S. and NATO air base. Turkey has largely been sitting on the fence in dealing with the threat from the Islamic State, but its military contribution to international security operations still sets it apart from many of the nations of Western Europe. The Turks have deployed thousands of troops to Afghanistan and have commanded the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) twice since 2002. Turkey continues to maintain more than 500 troops in Afghanistan as part of NATO’s Resolute Support mission, making it the fifth-largest troop contributor out of 40 nations. The Turks have also contributed to a number of peacekeeping missions in the Balkans, still maintain almost 400 troops in Kosovo, and have participated in counterpiracy and counterterrorism missions off the Horn of Africa. They also deployed planes, frigates, and submarines during the NATO-led operation in Libya.
Turkey’s 510,000-strong active-duty military is NATO’s second-largest after that of the United States. A number of major procurement programs in the works include up to 250 new Altay main battle tanks, 350 T-155 Fırtına 155mm self-propelled howitzers, six Type-214 submarines, and more than 50 T-129 attack helicopters. 50
With respect to procurement, the biggest area of contention between Turkey and NATO is Turkey’s selection of a missile defense system. In September 2013, Turkey selected China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation (CPMIEC) for a $3.44 billion deal to provide the system. NATO has said that no Chinese-built system could be integrated into any NATO or American missile defense system. U.S. officials also have warned that any Turkish company that acts as local subcontractor in the program would face serious U.S. sanctions because CPMIEC has been sanctioned under the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act. 51 After increased pressure from NATO allies, Ankara opened parallel talks with the European Eurosam, maker of the Aster 30, and the U.S. Raytheon/Lockheed Martin, offering the Patriot system. As of October 9, 2015, a final decision had not been made.
The Baltic States. The U.S. has a long history of championing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Baltic States that dates back to the interwar period of the 1920s. Since regaining their independence from Russia in the early 1990s, the Baltic States have been staunch supporters of the transatlantic relationship. Although small in absolute terms, the three Baltic States contribute significantly to NATO in relative terms.
Estonia. Estonia has been a leader in the Baltics in terms of defense spending. Although the Estonian Armed Forces total only 3,800 service personnel (including the Army, Navy, and Air Force), they are held in high regard by their NATO partners and punch well above their weight inside the alliance. Since 1996, almost 1,500 Estonian soldiers have served in the Balkans. Between 2003 and 2011, 455 served in Iraq. Perhaps Estonia’s most impressive deployment has been to Afghanistan: more than 2,000 troops deployed between 2003 and 2014 and the second-highest number of deaths per capita of all 28 NATO members.
Estonia has also demonstrated that it takes defense and security policy seriously, focusing its defense policy on improving defensive capabilities at home while maintaining the ability to be a strategic actor abroad. Over the next few years, Estonia will increase from one to two the number of brigades in the order of battle. The goal is to see 50 percent of all land forces with the capability to deploy outside national borders. Mindful of NATO’s benchmark that each member should spend 2 percent of GDP on defense, there is a planning assumption inside the Estonian Ministry of Defense that up to 10 percent (approximately 380 troops) of the armed forces will always be deployed overseas. Estonia is also making efforts to increase the size of its rapid reaction reserve force from 18,000 to 21,000 troops by 2022. This increase and modernization includes the recently created Cyber Defence League, a reserve force that relies heavily on expertise found in the civilian sector.
Latvia. Latvia’s recent military experience has also been centered on operations in Iraq and Afghanistan alongside NATO and U.S. forces. Latvia has deployed more than 3,000 troops to Afghanistan, and between 2003 and 2008, it deployed 1,165 troops to Iraq. In addition, Latvia has contributed to a number of other international peacekeeping and military missions. These are significant numbers considering that only 5,500 of Latvia’s 17,000 troops are full-time servicemembers; the remainder are reserves.
Latvia’s 2012 Defense Concept is an ambitious document that charts a path to a bright future for the Latvian National Armed Forces if it is followed closely and resourced properly. Latvia plans that a minimum of 8 percent of its professional armed forces will be deployed at any one time but will train to ensure that no less than 50 percent will be combat-ready to deploy overseas if required. The government has stated that the NATO benchmark of 2 percent of GDP in defense spending will be met by 2020, and spending will be increasing steadily until then. Each year, no less than 20 percent of the Latvian defense budget will be allocated to modernizing and procuring new military equipment. Latvian special forces are well respected by their American counterparts.
Lithuania. Lithuania is the largest of the three Baltic States, and its armed forces total 7,800 professional troops. Lithuania has also shown steadfast commitment to international peacekeeping and military operations. Between 1994 and 2010, more than 1,700 Lithuanian troops were deployed to the Balkans as part of NATO missions in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo. Between 2003 and 2011, Lithuania sent 930 troops to Iraq. Since 2002, just under 3,000 Lithuanian troops have served in Afghanistan.
Lithuania’s notable contribution in Afghanistan was divided between its special operations mission alongside U.S. and Latvian special forces and its command of a Provisional Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Ghor Province, making Lithuania one of only a handful of NATO members to have commanded a PRT. Although Lithuania does not meet the NATO goal of 2 percent of GDP spent on defense, like Latvia, it has pledged to do so by 2020.
Current U.S. Military Presence in Europe
At its peak in 1953, the U.S. had approximately 450,000 troops in Europe operating across 1,200 sites due to the Soviet threat to Western Europe. During the early 1990s, in response to a perception at that time of a reduced threat from Russia and as part of the so-called peace dividend following the end of the Cold War, U.S. troop numbers in Europe were slashed. Between 1990 and 1993, the number of U.S. soldiers in Europe decreased from 213,000 to 122,000, but their use actually increased. During that same period, from 1990 to 1993, the U.S. Army in Europe supported 42 deployments that required 95,579 personnel.
Until 2013, the U.S. Army had two heavy BCTs (Brigade Combat Teams) in Europe, the 170th and 172nd BCTs in Germany; one airborne Infantry BCT, the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Italy; and, one Stryker BCT, the 2nd Armored Calvary Regiment in Germany, permanently based in Europe. The deactivation of the 170th BCT took place in October 2012—slightly earlier than the planned date of 2013—marking the end of 50 years of having U.S. combat soldiers in Baumholder, Germany. The deactivation of the 172nd BCT took place in October 2013. In all, this meant that more than 10,000 soldiers were removed from Europe. These two heavy brigades constituted Europe’s primary armored force. Their deactivation left a significant capability gap not only in the U.S. ground forces committed to Europe, but also in NATO’s capabilities, a concern noted by the 2005 Overseas Basing Commission, which warned against removing a heavy BCT from Europe.
When the decision was announced in 2012 to bring two Brigade Combat Teams home, the Obama Administration said that the reduction in capability would be offset with a U.S.-based BCT that, when necessary, would rotate forces, normally at the battalion level, to Europe for training missions. This decision unsettled America’s allies because a rotational battalion does not offer the same capability as two BCTs permanently based in Europe. According to General Breedlove, “Permanently stationed forces are a force multiplier that rotational deployments can never match.” 52 Today, only 65,000 U.S. troops remain permanently based in Europe. 53
The U.S. is on pace to have only 17 main operating bases left on the continent, 54 primarily in Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Spain. The number of U.S. installations in Europe has declined steadily since the Cold War when, for example, in 1990, the U.S. Army alone had more than 850 sites in Europe. Today, the total number for all services is approximately 350. In January 2015, the Department of Defense announced the outcome of its European Infrastructure Consolidation review, which will see the closure of 15 minor sites across Europe. 55
The U.S. has three different types of military installations in the European Command’s (EUCOM)area of responsibility:
Main operating bases are the large U.S. military installations with a relatively large number of permanently based troops and well-established infrastructure.
Forward-operating sites are intended for rotational forces rather than permanently based forces. These installations tend to be scalable and adaptable depending on the circumstances.
Cooperative security locations have little or no permanent U.S. military presence and are usually maintained by contractor or host-nation support.
EUCOM’s stated mission is to conduct military operations, international military partnering, and interagency partnering to enhance transatlantic security and defend the United States as part of a forward defensive posture. EUCOM is supported by four service component commands and one subordinate unified command: U.S. Naval Forces Europe (NAVEUR); U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR); U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE); U.S. Marine Forces Europe (MARFOREUR); and U.S. Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR).
U.S. Naval Forces Europe. NAVEUR is responsible for providing overall command, operational control, and coordination for maritime assets in the EUCOM and Africa Command (AFRICOM) areas of responsibility. This includes more than 20 million square nautical miles of ocean and more than 67 percent of the Earth’s coastline.
This command is currently provided by the U.S. Sixth Fleet based in Naples and brings critical U.S. maritime combat capability to an important region of the world. Some of the more notable U.S. naval bases in Europe include the Naval Air Station in Sigonella, Italy; the Naval Support Activity Base in Souda Bay, Greece; and the Naval Station at Rota, Spain. Naval Station Rota will soon be home to four capable Aegis-equipped destroyers. In addition, the USS Mount Whitney, a Blue Ridge-class command ship, is permanently based in the region. This ship provides a key command-and-control platform, which was successfully employed during the early days of the recent Libyan operation.
The U.S. Navy also keeps a number of submarines in the area that contribute to EUCOM’s intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capacities. The British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, for example, frequently hosts U.S. nuclear-powered submarines. Docking U.S. nuclear-powered submarines in Spain is problematic and bureaucratic, making access to Gibraltar’s Z berths vital. Gibraltar is the best place in the Mediterranean to carry out repair work. Strong U.S.–U.K. military cooperation assists the U.S. in keeping submarine assets integrated into the European theater. The U.S. Navy also has a fleet of P-3 Maritime Patrol Aircraft and EP-3 Reconnaissance Aircraft operating from U.S. bases in Italy, Greece, Spain, and Turkey. They complement the ISR capabilities of U.S. submarines.
U.S. Army Europe. USAREUR was established in 1952. Then, like today, the U.S. Army formed the bulk of U.S. forces in Europe. At the height of the Cold War, 277,000 soldiers and thousands of tanks, armored personnel carriers, and tactical nuclear weapons were positioned at the Army’s European bases. USAREUR also contributed to U.S. operations in the broader region, such as the U.S. intervention in Lebanon in 1985, when it deployed 8,000 soldiers for four months from bases in Europe. In the 1990s, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, USAREUR continued to play a vital role in promoting U.S. interests in the region, especially in the Balkans.
USAREUR is headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany. The core of USAREUR is formed around two BCTs and an aviation brigade located in Germany and Italy. In addition, the U.S. Army’s 21st Theater Sustainment Command has helped the U.S. military presence in Europe to become an important logistics hub in support of Central Command.
U.S. Air Forces in Europe. USAFE provides a forward-based air capability that can support a wide range of contingency operations ranging from direct combat operations in Afghanistan and Libya to humanitarian assistance in Tunisia and Israel. USAFE originated as the 8th Air Force in 1942 and flew strategic bombing missions over the European continent during World War II. In August 1945, the 8th Air Force was redesignated USAFE with 17,000 airplanes and 450,000 personnel.
Today, USAFE has seven main operating bases along with 114 geographically separated locations. 56 The main operating bases are the RAF bases at Lakenheath and Mildenhall in the U.K.; Ramstein and Spangdahlem Air Bases in Germany, Lajes Field in the Azores, Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, and Aviano Air Base in Italy. As part of the European Infrastructure Consolidation process, RAF Mildenhall, which houses KC-135 Stratotankers and 3,900 American military personnel, is expected to close in the next few years. By 2020, RAF Lakenheath will be the home of two squadrons of F-35s, making it the first location in Europe for the USAF’s new fighter jets. 57 Approximately 39,000 active-duty, reserve, and civilian personnel are assigned to USAFE. 58
U.S. Marine Forces Europe. MARFOREUR was established in 1980. It was originally a “designate” component command, meaning that it was only a shell during peacetime but could bolster its forces during wartime. Its initial staff was 40 personnel based in London. By 1989, it had more than 180 Marines in 45 separate locations in 19 countries throughout the European theater. Today, the command is based in Boeblingen, Germany, and has approximately 1,500 Marines assigned to support EUCOM, NATO, and other operations, such as Operation Enduring Freedom. 59 It was also dual-hatted as the Marine Corps Forces, Africa (MARFORAF) under Africa Command in 2008.
In the past, MARFOREUR has supported U.S. Marine units deployed in the Balkans and the Middle East. MARFOREUR also supports the Norway Air Landed Marine Air Ground Task Force, the Marine Corps’ only land-based prepositioned stock. The Marine Corps has enough prepositioned stock in Norway to support a force of 13,000 Marines for 30 days, and the Norwegian government covers half of the costs of the prepositioned storage. The prepositioned stock’s proximity to the Arctic region makes it of particular geostrategic importance.
Crucially, MARFOREUR provides the U.S. with rapid reaction capability to protect U.S. embassies in North Africa. The Special-Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response-Africa (SPMAGTF) is currently located in Spain, Italy, and Romania and provides a response force of 1,550 Marines. 60 Spain recently agreed to allow the U.S. Marine Corps to station up to 3,000 Marines permanently at Morón Air Base. 61 This has been particularly important since the tragic events of September 2013 when the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three others were killed in Benghazi and due to the rise of the Islamic State terrorists in North Africa.
U.S. Special Operations Command Europe. SOCEUR is the only subordinate unified command under EUCOM. Its origins are in the Support Operations Command Europe, and it was initially based in Paris. This headquarters provided peacetime planning and operational control of special operations forces during unconventional warfare in EUCOM’s area of responsibility. In 1955, the headquarters was reconfigured as a joint task force, and it was renamed Support Operations Task Force Europe (SOTFE) and later Special Operations Task Force Europe. When French President Charles de Gaulle forced American troops out of France in 1966, SOTFE relocated to its current headquarters in Panzer Kaserne near Stuttgart, Germany, in 1967. It also operates out of RAF Mildenhall. In 1982, it was redesignated for a fourth time as U.S. Special Operations Command Europe.
Due to the sensitive nature of special operations, publicly available information is scarce. However, it has been documented that SOCEUR elements participated in various capacity-building missions and civilian evacuation operations in Africa; took an active role in the Balkans in the mid-1990s and in combat operations in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars; and, most recently, supported AFRICOM’s Operation Odyssey Dawn in Libya. SOCEUR also plays an important role in joint training with European allies; since June 2014, it has maintained an almost continuous presence in the Baltic States and Poland in order to train special operations forces in those countries. 62
EUCOM has played an important role in supporting other combatant commands, such as CENTCOM and AFRICOM. Out of the 65,000 U.S. troops based in Europe, almost 10,000 are there to support other combatant commands. The facilities available in EUCOM allowed the U.S. to play a leading role in combating Ebola in western Africa during the 2014 outbreak.
In addition to CENTCOM and AFRICOM, U.S. troops in Europe have worked closely with U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) to implement Department of Defense cyber policy in Europe and to bolster the cyber defense capabilities of America’s European partners. This work has included hosting a number of cyber-related conferences and joint exercises with European partners.
In the past year, there have been significant advancements in improving cyber security in Europe. EUCOM’s first Cyber Combat Mission Team (CMT) and Cyber Protection Team (CPT) recently reached initial operational capability. These teams will provide the U.S. with new capabilities to protect systems, information, and infrastructure. 63 EUCOM has also supported CYBERCOM’s work inside NATO by becoming a full member in the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence in Tallinn, Estonia.
NATO’s cyber defense capability is only as strong as its weakest member state. Considering that NATO members Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and NATO allies Georgia and Ukraine have been targeted by cyber attacks, U.S. interests are best served by ensuring that EUCOM and CYBERCOM work closely with NATO on this issue.
U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Europe
In addition to the French and British nuclear capabilities, the U.S. maintains tactical nuclear weapons in Europe. Until the end of the Cold War, the U.S. is believed to have maintained around 2,500 nuclear warheads in Europe. Unofficial estimates put the current figure at between 150 and 200 warheads based in Italy, Turkey, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. 64 All of these weapons are free-fall gravity bombs designed for use with U.S. and allied dual-capable aircraft.
Russia remains a potent nuclear weapons power—a fact that should concern both the U.S. and Europe. Encouraged by the Obama Administration’s policy of reducing the U.S. nuclear weapons inventory, some in NATO have suggested that American tactical nuclear weapons in Europe are a Cold War anachronism and should be removed from the continent. Inside the alliance, there has been an ongoing debate on the future of these weapons. This debate has been carried out under the auspices of NATO’s Deterrence and Defense Posture Review (DDPR).
The U.S. needs to ensure that tactical nuclear weapons remain part of the alliance’s nuclear strategy—an important and often overlooked part of alliance burden sharing. As the 2014 NATO Wales Summit Declaration stated:
Deterrence, based on an appropriate mix of nuclear, conventional, and missile defence capabilities, remains a core element of our overall strategy. As long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance. The strategic nuclear forces of the Alliance, particularly those of the United States, are the supreme guarantee of the security of the Allies. The independent strategic nuclear forces of the United Kingdom and France have a deterrent role of their own and contribute to the overall deterrence and security of the Alliance. 65
Key Infrastructure and Warfighting Capabilities
Perhaps one of the major advantages to having U.S. forces in Europe is the access it provides to logistical infrastructure. For example, EUCOM supports the U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) with its array of airbases and access to ports throughout Europe.
EUCOM supported TRANSCOM with work on the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), which supplied U.S. troops in Afghanistan during major combat operations there. For example, in 2011, when the security situation in Pakistan did not allow passage for NATO supplies, EUCOM’s Deployment and Distribution Operations Center moved 21,574 containers and 32,206 tons of equipment through Europe to Afghanistan over the NDN. EUCOM could not support these TRANSCOM initiatives without the infrastructure and relationships established by the permanent U.S. military presence in Europe.
Europe is a mature and advanced operating environment. America’s decades-long presence in Europe means that the U.S. has tried and tested systems that involve moving large numbers of matériel and personnel into, inside, and out of the continent. This offers an operating environment second to none in terms of logistical capability. For example, there are more than 166,000 miles of rail line in Europe (not including Russia), and an estimated 90 percent of roads in Europe are paved. The U.S. enjoys access to a wide array of airfields and ports. Major ports the U.S. military uses in Europe include Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Bremerhaven, Germany; and Livorno, Italy. The Rhine River also offers access into the heartland of Europe. As mentioned earlier, the U.S. also operates or has access to a number of key airfields across the continent.
More often than not, the security interests of the United States will coincide with those of its European allies. This means that access to bases and logistical infrastructure is usually guaranteed. However, there have been times when certain European countries have not allowed access to their territory for U.S. military operations.
In 1986, U.S. intelligence connected the terrorist bombing of a nightclub in West Germany to the Libyan government and responded with an air strike. Consequently, on April 15, 1986, the U.S. Air Force in Europe struck a number of Libyan military assets in retaliation. Because France, Spain, and Italy prohibited use of their airspace due to domestic political concerns, the U.S. aircraft flew around the Iberian Peninsula, which required multiple in-flight refuelings. 66
In 2003, on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the Turkish Parliament voted to prevent the U.S. from using Turkish territory to open a northern front. Thankfully, the U.S. had access to excellent logistical infrastructure in Italy. The 173rd Airborne Brigade had moved all of its equipment by rail to the port of Livorno for movement to Kuwait by sea. Despite the Turkish decision to refuse use of its country for offensive operations, the brigade was still able to move it all back rapidly by rail to Aviano Air Base so that it could be parachuted into Northern Iraq.
Some of the world’s most important shipping lanes are also in the European region. In fact, the world’s busiest shipping lane is the English Channel, through which 500 ships a day transit, not including small boats and pleasure craft. Approximately 90 percent of the world’s trade travels by sea. With the high volume of maritime traffic in the European region, no U.S. or NATO military operation can be undertaken without consideration of how these shipping lanes offer opportunity—and risk—to America and her allies. In addition to the English Channel, other important shipping routes in Europe include the Strait of Gibraltar; the Turkish Straits (including the Dardanelles and the Bosporus); the Northern Sea Route; and the Danish Straits.
Strait of Gibraltar. The Strait of Gibraltar connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean and separates North Africa from Gibraltar and Spain on the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula. The strait is about 40 miles long and approximately eight miles wide at its narrowest point. More than 200 cargo vessels pass through the Strait of Gibraltar every day, carrying cargoes to Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas.
The strait’s proximity to North Africa, combined with its narrowness, has presented security challenges for U.S. and allied warships. In 2002, Moroccan security forces foiled a plot by al-Qaeda to attack U.S. and U.K. naval ships in the Strait of Gibraltar using the same tactics that had been used in the USS Cole attack. A 2014 article in the al-Qaeda English-language publication Resurgence urged attacks in oil tankers and cargo ships crossing the Strait of Gibraltar as a way to cause “phenomenal” damage to the world economy. 67
The Turkish Straits (including the Dardanelles and the Bosporus). These straits are long and narrow—40 and 16 miles long, respectively, with the narrowest point in the Bosporus, which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, only 765 yards in width. Approximately 46,000 ships each year transit the strait, including more than 5,600 tankers. 68
The 1936 Montreux Convention gave Turkey control of the Bosporus and placed limitations on the number, transit time, and tonnage of naval ships from non–Black Sea countries that can use the strait and operate in the Black Sea. 69 This places limitations on U.S. Navy operation in the Black Sea. However, even with these limitations, the U.S. Navy had a presence on the Black Sea for 207 days in 2014. 70
The Northern Sea Route. As ice dissipates during the summer months, new shipping lanes offer additional trade opportunities in the Arctic. As mentioned earlier, the Northern Sea Route along the Russian coast reduces a trip from Hamburg to Shanghai by almost 4,000 miles, cuts a week off delivery times, and saves approximately $650,000 in fuel costs per ship. However, the full potential of the Northern Sea Route lies far in the future. In 2013, only 71 ships made the journey. 71
The Danish Straits. Consisting of three channels connecting the Baltic Sea to the North Sea via the Kattegat and Skagerrak seas, the Danish Straits are particularly important to the Baltic Sea nations as a way to import and export goods. This is especially true for Russia, which has increasingly been shifting its crude oil exports to Europe through its Baltic ports. 72 Approximately 125,000 ships per year transit these straits. 73
The biggest danger to infrastructure assets in Europe pertains to any potential NATO conflict with Russia in one or more of NATO’s eastern states. In such a scenario, infrastructure would be heavily targeted in order to deny or delay the alliance’s ability to move significant manpower, matériel, and equipment necessary to retake any territory lost during an initial attack. In such a scenario, the shortcomings of NATO’s force posture would become obvious.
Conclusion
Overall, the European region remains a stable, mature, and friendly operating environment. The main security and political challenges in the region derive from unfinished business in the Balkans or potential threats on Europe’s periphery in the Southern Caucasus and Russia. The Arctic remains peaceful, and the threat of armed conflict is low, but Russian designs on the region might someday threaten its stability.
America’s closest and oldest allies are located in Europe. The region is incredibly important to the U.S. for economic reasons. Perhaps most important, the U.S. has treaty obligations through NATO to defend the 26 European members of that alliance. This is especially important as Russia becomes more assertive in Central and Eastern Europe, increasingly utilizing economic, political, and diplomatic means in addition to military power to assert itself.
The biggest challenges facing the U.S. in the European region do not come from inside Europe but from around Europe. From North Africa, across the Levant, through the Caucasus and Russia, and into the Arctic, there is a region of unpredictability if not instability. These threats have potential to spill over into Europe itself. If the U.S. needs to act in the European region or nearby, there is a history of interoperability with allies and access to key logistical infrastructure that makes the operating environment in Europe more favorable than the environment in other regions in which U.S. forces might have to operate. However, the European nations’ diminishment of their military forces poses a substantial threat to all of this. NATO is only as strong as its member states, and while some have taken steps to increase defense spending, the situation remains a source of concern, especially in light of U.S. defense cuts.
Scoring the European Operating Environment
As noted at the beginning of this section, there are various aspects of regions within which the U.S. may have to conduct military operations to defend its vital national interests against threats. Our assessment of the operating environment utilized a five-point scale, ranging from “very poor” to “excellent” conditions and covering four regional characteristics of greatest relevance to the conduct of military operations:
Very Poor. Significant hurdles exist for military operations. Physical infrastructure is insufficient or nonexistent, and the region is politically unstable. In addition, the U.S. military is poorly placed or absent, and alliances are nonexistent or diffuse.
Unfavorable. A challenging operating environment for military operations is marked by inadequate infrastructure, weak alliances, and recurring political instability. The U.S. military is inadequately placed in the region.
Moderate. A neutral to moderately favorable operating environment is characterized by adequate infrastructure, a moderate alliance structure, and acceptable levels of regional political stability. The U.S. military is adequately placed.
Favorable. A favorable operating environment includes good infrastructure, strong alliances, and a stable political environment. The U.S. military is well placed in the region for future operations.
Excellent. An extremely favorable operating environment includes well-established and -maintained infrastructure, strong capable allies, and a stable political environment. The U.S. military is exceptionally well placed to defend U.S. interests.
The key regional characteristics consisted of:
Alliances. Alliances are important for interoperability and collective defense as allies would be more likely to lend support to U.S. military operations. Various indicators give insight into the strength or health of an alliance. These include whether the U.S. trains regularly with countries in the region, has good interoperability with the forces of an ally, and shares intelligence with nations in the region.
Political Stability. Political stability brings predictability for military planners when considering such things as transit, basing, and overflight rights for U.S. military operations. The overall degree of political stability indicates whether U.S. military actions would be hindered or enabled and considers, for example, whether transfers of power in the region are generally peaceful and whether there been any recent instances of political instability in the region.
U.S. Military Positioning. Having military forces based or equipment and supplies staged in a region greatly facilitates the United States’ ability to respond to crises and, presumably, more quickly achieve successes in critical “first battles.” Being routinely present in a region also assists in maintaining familiarity with its characteristics and the various actors who might act to assist or thwart U.S. actions. With this in mind, we assessed whether or not the U.S. military was well-positioned in the region. Again, indicators included bases, troop presence, prepositioned equipment, and recent examples of military operations (including training and humanitarian) launched from the region.
Infrastructure. Modern, reliable, and suitable infrastructure is essential to military operations. Airfields, ports, rail lines, canals, and paved roads enable the U.S. to stage, launch operations from, and logistically sustain combat operations. We combined expert knowledge of regions with publicly available information on critical infrastructure to arrive at our overall assessment of this metric. 74
For Europe, we arrived at these average scores (rounded to the nearest whole number):
Alliances: 3.6 (4) – Favorable
Political Stability: 4.2 (4) – Favorable
U.S. Military Positioning: 2.8 (3) – Moderate
Infrastructure: 4.2 (4) – Favorable
Leading to a regional score of: Favorable
Endnotes
Nordic Council of Ministers, The Arctic Human Development Report: Regional Processes and Global Linkages, ed. Joan Nymand Larsen and Gail Fondahl, January 27, 2011, p. 53, http://norden.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:788965/FULLTEXT01.pdf (accessed June 4, 2015). ↩
Terry Miller and Anthony B. Kim with James M. Roberts, Bryan Riley, and Ryan Olson, 2015 Index of Economic Freedom (Washington: The Heritage Foundation and Dow Jones & Company, Inc., 2015), pp. 369–370. ↩
Trude Pettersen, “Northern Sea Route Traffic Plummeted,” Barents Observer, December 16, 2014,
http://barentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2014/12/northern-sea-route-traffic-plummeted-16-12 (accessed March 18, 2015). ↩
The four NATO members are the U.S., Canada, Norway, and Denmark (Greenland). The non-NATO Arctic sea power is Russia. ↩
News release, “January 2015: Euro Area Unemployment Rate at11.2%, EU28 at 9.8 %,” Eurostat, March 2, 2015,
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/2995521/6664116/3-02032015-AP-EN.pdf/28d48055-3894-492d-a952-005097600ee0 (accessed March 19, 2015). ↩
Griff Witte and Karoun Demirjian, “Greece’s Leftist Government Sparks Fears of a Russian Beachhead in Europe,” The Washington Post, January 29, 2015, http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/greeces-leftist-government-sparks-fears-of-a-russian-beachhead-in-europe/2015/01/29/79cca26a-a7dd-11e4-a06b-9df2002b86a0_story.html (accessed March 19, 2015). ↩
Jonathan Marcus, “Could Syriza Win Tilt Greece’s Foreign Policy Towards Russia?” BBC, January 28, 2015,
www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31029940 (accessed March 19, 2015). ↩
EurActiv, “Russia Can Use Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, Commission Confirms,” March 6, 2015,
http://www.euractiv.com/sections/energy/russia-can-use-trans-adriatic-pipeline-commission-confirms-312688 (accessed March 18, 2015). ↩
United States National Guard, “State Partnership Program,” August 2014,
http://www.eia.gov/countries/regions-topics.cfm?fips=wotc&trk=p3 (accessed March 18, 2015). ↩
Joshua Kucera, “U.S. Navy Keeps Up Steady Black Sea Presence, Russia Keeps Watching,” EurasiaNet, February 10, 2015, http://www.eurasianet.org/node/71991 (accessed March 18, 2015). ↩
Trude Pettersen, “Fifty Percent Increase on Northern Sea Route,” Barents Observer, December 3, 2013,
http://barentsobserver.com/en/arctic/2013/12/fifty-percent-increase-northern-sea-route-03-12 (accessed March 18, 2015). ↩
U.S. Department of Energy, “World Oil Transit Chokepoints.” ↩
Danish Defence, “Facts & Figures,” September 18, 2014, http://www2.forsvaret.dk/eng/About/Facts/Pages/FactsFigures.aspx
(accessed March 18, 2015). ↩
One example of a very accessible database is World Bank, “Logistics Performance Index: Quality of Trade and Transport-Related Infrastructure (1=Low to 5=High),” http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/LP.LPI.INFR.XQ (accessed March 18, 2015). ↩
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Which Oscar-winning director staged the West End musical ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, which opened in London in June 2013? | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in West End debut - BBC News
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in West End debut
25 June 2013 Last updated at 19:54 BST
The stage production of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is the newest musical to launch in the West End.
Staged by the Oscar winning director, Sam Mendes, it has cost £10m to produce.
But will it live up to the hype?
The BBC's arts editor Will Gompertz reports.
| Sam Mendes |
Which Greek goddess featured on the new five-euro banknote in 2013? | Sam Mendes Drops Out of Broadway-Bound 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'
Sam Mendes Drops Out of Broadway-Bound 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'
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The stage musical adaptation of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which has been the subject of New York transfer talk since it opened in London in summer 2013, will get a new director before it reaches Broadway.
Sam Mendes staged the show in the West End at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where it overcame mixed reviews and is still running more than two years later. But he has confirmed that he will not continue as director of the musical on Broadway, where it is slated to arrive during the 2016-17 season.
Mendes' Neal Street Productions teamed with Warner Bros. Theater Ventures and Langley Park Productions on the show, which features a book by Scottish playwright David Greig and a score by the Hairspray team of composer Marc Shaiman and lyricists Scott Wittman and Shaiman. While Mendes reportedly made the decision to withdraw from the U.S. transfer as director some time back, he will remain on board as a producer and is expected to be involved in the choice of a replacement director.
Read More: Will 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' Follow 'Matilda' to Broadway?
"I knew I couldn't marry the time commitment to make a Broadway production with the development of my next projects for Neal Street," Mendes said in a statement. "So instead I'm continuing to serve as a producer as the show evolves for its new life in the U.S."
While nothing has so far been confirmed, the name circulating among theater pundits to step in as director is Jack O'Brien, the three-time Tony Award winner who collaborated with Shaiman and Wittman on Hairspray, a massive hit that ran more than eight years on Broadway, and on their musical adaptation of Catch Me If You Can, a critical and commercial disappointment that closed after only five months in 2011.
Post-London plans for Charlie have always been contingent on Mendes' schedule, given that he was finishing up on Skyfall while the show was in preparation and then plunged into Spectre soon after the musical opened in June 2013. His fellow producers on the show include Mark Kaufman for Warners, Kevin McCormack for Langley Park and Pippa Harris and Caro Newling for Neal Street.
Read More: 'Matilda': Theater Review
The extent to which the original production will be changed for Broadway remains to be determined once a new director is in place, as does the casting. Douglas Hodge, a Tony winner for La Cage aux Folles, originated the lead role of Willy Wonka in the West End. More detailed news concerning Broadway plans is expected to be announced in early 2016.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will be the second musical adaptation of a Dahl story to reach Broadway in recent years, following Matilda, which opened in spring 2013 and has gone on to gross $150 million, also launching a national tour.
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Which French city was was the 2013 European Capital of Culture? | European Capital of Culture 2013: Marseille & Kosice
You are here: Home / France / European Capital of Culture 2013
European Capital of Culture 2013
January 12, 2013 By Andrea
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It used to be that there was one European Capital of Culture per year until 2000 when they went a little crazy and made 9 different cities the ‘capital’. In recent years there have been two or three per year and last year was the first time I got to visit one of the capitals when I went to Guimarães in northern Portugal . The title of European Capital of Culture 2013 is held by both Marseille, France and Kosice, Slovakia.
France: Marseille-Provence
It’s not just the city of Marseille which is the Capital of Culture but also the surrounding area including Aix-en-Provence, Arles, La Ciotat, Martigues and Aubagne.
Marseille
Marseille doesn’t have the best of reputations and many tourists skip it in favour of nearby Aix-en-Provence or Avignon. Granted, port cities often have a seedy side to them but Marseille is a huge city with many interesting neighbourhoods, the historic Chateau d’If and Frioul Islands, and a unique foodie scene.
For starters, there is the Vieux Port, the oldest part of the city which is easily explored on foot. Lots of great cafes and restaurants are located here including Le Cafe des Epices where the chef prepares the menu based on what he finds at the local market that day.
Another of the main attractions is the Notre Dame de la Garde, a basilica set high on the hill overlooking Marseille and the islands off the coast. Even if you’re not interested in religious monuments it’s worth the steep walk for the view.
One of the purposes of being the European Capital of Culture is to highlight the richness and diversity of European culture. Marseille itself is extremely diverse. It’s a melting pot of French, Mediterranean and North African cultures which is seen in the relaxed lifestyle of the locals and especially in their cuisine. Typical dishes in the region include Bouillabaisse , aioli (garlic sauce), tapenade (olive spread), fougasse (a type of stuffed bread) and navettes (a very, very hard orange blossom infused biscuit). All that great food is often washed down with a glass or two of Pastis, a disgusting aniseed flavoured liqueur.
French film buffs might also enjoy a trip to Marseille as many well known French films have been shot around the city and you can easily spot the set locations. One of my favourite French directors, Robert Guédiguian, shot most of his films in Marseille including the award winning Marius et Jeanette and his series of films staring Ariane Ascaride and Jean-Pierre Darroussin.
The Marseille-Provence official website has a list of European Capital of Culture events in Marseille and the surrounding region.
Slovakia: Kosice
My only experience of Slovakia is a day trip I took from Vienna a few years ago. I’ve always wanted to go back to Bratislava and would love to see more of the country too. Kosice is in the east of Slovakia and I’m told a great way to get there is on a road trip from Budapest in Hungary to Krakow, Poland. That’s exactly how I plan to visit when I go later this year.
Things To Do in Kosice
My itinerary in Kosice includes:
Wandering the largest historical centre in Slovakia.
Experiencing the cafe culture with a little cafe hopping.
Indulging in my love of cocktails with Slovakia’s own Kosice Gold cocktail.
Taking a day trip to one of the nearby UNESCO listed castles.
Depending on when I visit I’ll likely take part in the Balloon Fiesta (5th to 9th June) or the Kosice Gourmet Fest (21st to 23rd June). Go to the VisitKosice website for more information on cultural events in Kosice in 2013.
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Who was announced as the new television Doctor Who in July 2013? | European Commission - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - The European Capitals of Culture for 2012 and 2013 are announced
Brussels, 12 May 2009
The European Capitals of Culture for 2012 and 2013 are announced
The Council of the EU is today designating Guimarães (Portugal) and Maribor (Slovenia) to be the European Capitals of Culture in 2012, followed by Marseille-Provence (France) and Košice (Slovakia) in 2013. This decision reflects the recommendation made in autumn 2008 by the selection panel.
Ján Figeľ, European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Youth, said: "I am delighted and congratulate the four cities on their designation as European Capitals of Culture. This title has a long-standing and excellent reputation, and to bear the title for a full year puts a city firmly in the spotlight. This creates an enormous potential for local development. I am pleased that the new selection procedure, which resulted in the designation of the 2013 capitals, generated vigorous competition and a lot of public interest, which is reflected in the great number of cities applying, and the high quality of their bids for the title."
Guimarães and Maribor: European Capitals of Culture 2012
Portugal and Slovenia are the EU Member States entitled to host the European Capital of Culture event in 2012. Portugal proposed Guimarães and Slovenia Maribor. On the basis of an overall evaluation against a set of criteria laid down in 2006 a panel of independent experts assessed these proposals and reached a consensus in the autumn of 2008 to recommend that the two cities host the European Capital of Culture in 2012. Consequently, the Council is designating today both cities as the 2012 European Capitals of Culture.
Marseille-Provence and Košice: European Capitals of Culture 2013
A new designation process was applied for the 2013 Capitals consisting of a two round competition managed by the Member State concerned. On the basis of the relevant criteria for the event, Marseille-Provence and Košice were assessed by the panel as the best applications submitted and won the competition in France and Slovakia respectively. Consequently, the Council is today designating Marseille-Provence and Košice as the 2013 European Capitals of Culture.
Preparing for the event
Today's formal designation is only the beginning of a process leading up to the year as a European Capital. The preparations lasting several years are decisive for the eventual success of the event. One of the keys to this success is a consistent commitment of state and municipal governments throughout, right up to the year itself, including financial contribution.
The event generates considerable cultural and socio-economic benefits, including positive effects on tourism. The scale of the event – lasting an entire year – is extremely challenging.
This is why there is now a monitoring and advisory process – organised by the European Commission – to help the cities during the preparation period. The monitoring panel will give constructive advice and seek to ensure that the commitments made at the selection stage are fulfilled. If these commitments and the recommendations of the panel are followed, then in line with the legal decision, the cities will be awarded the Melina Mercouri prize to reward them for the preparations of the event.
Following Vilnius (Lithuania) and Linz (Austria) this year, the next European Capitals of Culture will be Essen (Germany), Pécs (Hungary) and Istanbul (Turkey) in 2010, and Turku (Finland) and Tallinn (Estonia) in 2011.
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Which British footballer signed a 5 month contract with Paris St-Germain in January 2013, donating his salary to charity? | David Beckham to donate Paris St-Germain salary to children's charity | London Evening Standard
David Beckham to donate Paris St-Germain salary to children's charity
Thursday 31 January 2013 13:36 BST
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David Beckham to donate Paris St-Germain salary to children's charity
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French lesson: David Beckham at his press conference in Paris
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Generous: Beckham revealed he will give his salary to charity
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Paris crush: Beckham leaves the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital after his medical examination this afternoon
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On his way: Beckham posted this picture of himself on Facebook
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Beckham and bodyguards outside the Pitie-Salpetriere hospital
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French leave: Beckham is expected to commute to Paris
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David Beckham stole the limelight on transfer deadline day by signing for Paris St-Germain, immediately sparking speculation he could commute from London.
England’s most famous footballer, 37, confirmed a lucrative move to the French club after quitting Los Angeles Galaxy.
But just weeks after he and wife Victoria enrolled their three sons at a top London public school, and as the couple are still looking for houses in the capital, the footballer is not expected to uproot his family. It is believed he could stay for part of the week at a Paris flat, returning to London after matches.
Fashion designer Victoria is rumoured to be looking at opening a new boutique in Knightsbridge.
Beckham today revealed he had to turn down offers from Premier League clubs because he could not bear to face Manchester United.
He also said he would play without a salary at PSG, instead donating what he would have earned to a children's charity in Paris.
He has signed a five-month contract and confirmed the presence of Carlo Ancelotti and Leonardo, the head coach and sporting director, had persuaded him to join the wealthy French giants.
Beckham knows both men from time he spent on loan at AC Milan.
"I'm very lucky. I'm 37 years old and I got a lot of offers, more now than I've probably had in my career. I'm very honoured by that," Beckham said at a press conference.
"I chose Paris because I can see what the club are trying to do. I can see who the club are trying to bring in.
"It's an exciting city and now there's a club that's going to have a lot of success over the next 10, 20, 30 years.
"I'm very honoured I've been picked to be part of the future of PSG.
"Every club I've played for throughout the world I've been successful with.
"I was successful with Manchester United and always said I'd never want to play for another English club.
"I had a lot of history with Manchester United. It's the team I support and the team I dreamt of playing for.
"I'm very honoured by the offers I had from other Premier League clubs but I didn't want to play there unless it was for Manchester United."
It emerged this morning that Beckham, who won 115 caps for England and captained his country, was travelling to the French capital for a medical.
Beckham revealed the deal had been agreed in the early hours.
He said: "I think that this literally all happened at one o'clock this morning and was finalised when I got on the plane at 11 o'clock this morning."
He could not specify when he would be ready to play for his new club but, having had a spell of training with Arsenal recently, he said: "My fitness won't take long to get up to speed. A few weeks and I'll be up to speed."
Beckham explained his charitable gesture, saying: "I won't receive any salary.
"My salary will go to a local children's charity in Paris.
"It's something exciting and something I'm not sure has been done before."
Beckham said he had not identified a suitable charity yet, and could not announce how much they would receive, except to say it would be a "huge sum".
"It's something the guys will decide, but it's a very good figure," Beckham said.
"That's one thing we're very excited about, to be able to give a huge sum to a children's charity in Paris, it's very special."
Beckham was asked if the short-term deal would be his last as a player.
"I don't know if it'll be my last contract," he said.
"People always speculate that it'll be my last but they've done that for a number of years and I continue to play and sign new contracts.
"I want to continue to play as long as possible.
"My passion is football. When I play football it's not about the biggest contracts.
"I want to play for the biggest teams and with the best players.
"If I can continue to do that at the highest level, then who knows?"
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Which creature represented the year 2013 in the Chinese calendar? | David Beckham Gives PSG Salary To Charity
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David Beckham Gives PSG Salary To Charity
The former England captain will spend at least the next five months in Paris - but his "huge" wages will benefit a local children.
11:23, UK, Thursday 31 January 2013
Video: Becks Unveiled After Paris Arrival
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David Beckham will not receive a salary after signing a contract with Paris St Germain, but will instead see his wages paid to a children's charity.
As the former England captain was unveiled by the French Ligue 1 club at a news conference, he described the five-month deal as "unique".
"I won't receive any salary - we have decided my salary will go towards a local children's charity in Paris and that is one of the things we are very excited and proud to do," he said.
It was not immediately clear how much the as yet unidentified charity would receive, but Beckham said it would be a "huge sum".
Image Caption: Beckham posted a picture of himself flying to Paris on Facebook
The 37-year-old acknowledged that his French was poor and he would have to "brush up".
"I haven't spoken French for quite a few years, since I was at school so that is definitely a few years," he said.
When challenged to say something in French, he said simply: "Bonjour."
His wife Victoria will live in the UK during the five-month contract because of their children's schooling, he added.
Earlier, Beckham posted a picture of himself on a plane on his Facebook page and wrote: "On way to Paris, excited. I will update you all later."
Beckham left LA Galaxy in December after a six-year stint in America's Major League Soccer and is understood to have had a number of lucrative offers from around the world.
In recent days he has been training with Arsenal, but manager Arsene Wenger ruled out signing the former Manchester United midfielder, saying he "doesn't look at all to be in shape".
But during the news conference in Paris, Beckham said his fitness "won't take long to get up to speed".
Beckham, who played a record 115 outfield games for England, left Old Trafford for Real Madrid in 2003 before moving to the Galaxy in August 2007.
While he was in Los Angeles he had two stints on loan with Italian giants AC Milan.
Beckham said Carlo Ancelotti, who was in charge of Milan during Beckham's time there and is now manager at PSG, was one of the reasons he had been lured to the French capital.
"Carlo is one of the best managers I have played for. So It is exciting on a number of levels," he explained.
He added that he chose not to return to the Premier League because he would not play for any English club other than Manchester United.
Club president Nasser Al-Khelaïf said: "I am sure he will add big value to the club.
"I am sure we are going to win a lot of things with David and I am very happy to be sat here next to David to welcome him to PSG."
Beckham will be hoping to add the Ligue 1 title to his other three league successes in England, Spain and the US when he joins the big-spending club.
PSG's Qatari owners have invested more than £300m in players since buying the club in 2011.
Beckham, however, will be brought in on a free transfer as he is currently a free agent.
Meanwhile British clubs were involved in frenzied speculation as the January transfer window closed on Thursday night.
At 7:30pm, a total of £106,700,000 had been spent so far in the window.
Among the big signings included defender Christopher Samba's £12.5m transfer from Anzhi Makhachkala to Queen's Park Rangers and striker Danny Graham's £5m move from Swansea City to Sunderland.
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Who won the 2013 Tour de France? | Tour de France 2013
Froome: champion of the 100th Tour!
He was the dominant force in the 100th Tour de France and even though Christopher Froome lost 53 seconds to the winner of the final stage and 43 seconds to his nearest rival in the general classification, the Sky team sealed its second successive victory in the Tour de France at the end of the evening spectacle on the streets of Paris. The finish was around 9.40pm in the city of lights and the stars came out to shine: the four at the top of the sprinters classification had a drag race to the line to determine the winner of the 21st stage and it was Marcel Kittel who began the Tour as he...
| Chris Froome |
In 2013, Japanese scientists cloned what type of creature from a single drop of blood? | Tour de France: Who will win the White Jersey?
Tour de France: Who will win the White Jersey?
Thursday, 27 June 2013
It’s said the mark of a champion is to win the Tour de France right from the start. Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault are amongst those who came, saw and conquered the race in their first attempt. But most Tour winners take time to establish themselves and the Tour de France’s best young rider competition is a useful staging post and prestigious line for the CV. However a look at the past winners suggests the white flower of youth rarely blooms into a Tour de France winner.
Who will win this year? Here’s a brief analysis of the contenders, the rules and the history of this jersey. Plus there’s an explainer of what happens when a rider leads more than one competition in the Tour.
The rules are simple, the jersey is worn by the best rider on the overall classification born on or after 1 January 1988. This gives us a three way contest between Tejay van Garderen, Thibaut Pinot and Nairo Quintana. Each rider is a contender for the overall win so I’ll skim over the scenarios so as not to spoil the upcoming assessment of the contenders for the race overall.
Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) is first because he won the jersey last year on his way to finishing fifth overall in a ride at times delayed by trying to help Cadel Evans although arguably setting the tempo kept him fresher. Of the three picks, van Garderen is a genuine pick for the podium in Paris. He’s been fourth in Paris-Nice, third in the Criterium International and won the Tour of California. All is building well and he’s a steady rider, a smooth running diesel whose powers of recovery should suit the final week.
Nairo Quintana is the next pick. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking Colombian=Climber because he’s a versatile rider. Yes he can defy gravity in the mountains but he’s useful against the clock and won the Tour of the Basque Country thanks to the time trial. He will struggle in Stage 11 but can limit his losses.
Thibaut Pinot was 10th overall last year, not bad for the youngest rider of the race in his first go and a late entrant too. He took a stage win and then proved durable in the mountains, one of the few able to follow Chris Froome and Bradley Wiggins. His weaknesses are the time trial, positioning in the bunch and descending. But he’s got a steely side and with the right motivation he can stay out of trouble and again this year’s route means he’ll lose time on Stage 11 but will hope for a stage win and more in the mountains.
There are more than three candidates of course. Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) has shown he’s got what it takes. Ion Izaguirre is Euskatel-Euskadi’s rider. Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) is a big talent but should on team duty albeit with a few cards to play. OPQS bring Michał Kwiatkowski who had been targeting the Tour of Poland with ambitions to tame both the Passo Pordoi and a 37km solo time trial and if he’s good enough for that, he could be in pole-position for white too.
The History…. and The Scary Stats
Introduced in 1975. As Wikipedia puts it “on four occasions a cyclist has won the young rider classification and the general classification in the same year — Fignon in 1983, Ullrich in 1997, Contador in 2007 and Schleck (retroactively) in 2010.” Worryingly if you strip out these precious winners only two other riders have won white and yellow during their career, Greg LeMond and Marco Pantani which suggests the white jersey winner is not the revelation might imagine. Certainly it can reveal talent at the highest level but there’s a surprisingly poor correlation between winning white and winning the Tour in subsequent years.
The Hierarchy of Jerseys
If we imagine a rider takes a lead in all competitions, which jersey does he wear? The yellow of course but here is the order in which ASO rank the jerseys:
1st: the yellow jersey
3rd: the polka dot jersey
4th: the white jersey
This means a rider who leads the points and mountains competition would wear green whilst the best young rider leading the mountains competition would wear the polka dot jersey and so on. If a rider has two jerseys, one is given to the second-best rider in the competition to wear. They only wear it for the day and don’t get the podium ceremony nor a box of spare jerseys to give away. In the event that the world champion or national champion inherits a distinctive jersey of the Tour by default of second place in the competition they would not wear it because their champions jersey takes precedence.
MTB June 27, 2013 at 11:16 am
I’d like to mention Cameron Meyer, born on 11 January 1988 he’s just eligible for the white jersey competition.
I don’t expect him to win, but he’s been improving a lot and was the OGE leader for Tour de Suisse where he finished 10th. Could he make top 3 white, or is that out of the question?
I’m also interested in seeing how Michał Kwiatkowski goes too.
There is always the possibility that the white contest might be lot more nip and tuck than the GC!
Ben June 27, 2013 at 11:38 am
Depends how the other contenders go. I think it would take a few of those mentioned above to drop minutes in the gc to look for stage wins for Meyer to get a look in at top 3, I’d say 5th but not that high on the real gc would be a likely scenario
Matt June 27, 2013 at 4:44 pm
Right. I was thinking of him in the vein of “the mark of a champion is to win the Tour de France right from the start.” I have a soft spot for Fignon, so I want to mention him when I can!!
Ronan June 27, 2013 at 2:33 pm
The interesting thing here could be team orders. Quinatana, Tejay and Talansky could all be riding for a better placed teammate. Pinot should have support of his team, while Kwiatowski will have a free hand in the mountains. Could be a decisive factor on certain stages.
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Which actor, who played Tony Soprano on the US television series ‘The Sopranos’, died in June 2013? | James Gandolfini: master Soprano dies of suspected heart attack in Italy | Culture | The Guardian
James Gandolfini: master Soprano dies of suspected heart attack in Italy
Heart attack suspected in death of much-loved actor who starred as gangster family head in The Sopranos
Thursday 20 June 2013 02.40 EDT
First published on Thursday 20 June 2013 02.40 EDT
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The actor James Gandolfini , who played mafia boss Tony Soprano on the hit TV series The Sopranos, has died of a suspected heart attack in Italy. He was 51.
Colleagues and fans expressed shock after news broke late on Wednesday. "It is with immense sorrow that we report our client James Gandolfini passed away today while on holiday in Rome, Italy," said his managers, Mark Armstrong and Nancy Sanders. "Our hearts are shattered and we will miss him deeply."
Tributes flooded in for an actor who won three Emmys and showed that being fat, bald and playing thugs was no impediment to charisma.
"[James] was a genius. Anyone who saw him even in the smallest of his performances knows that," David Chase, who created The Sopranos , told TMZ.com. "He is one of the greatest actors of this or any time. A great deal of that genius resided in those sad eyes. I remember telling him many times: 'You don't get it. You're like Mozart.' There would be silence at the other end of the phone."
Gandolfini had been due to take part in the Taormina film festival in Sicily this weekend. Mara Mikialian, a spokeswoman for HBO, the network that made The Sopranos, told Reuters the cause of death might have been a heart attack.
Gandolfini was set to star in a new series for HBO, Criminal Justice, one of several projects in the works. His film credits included Get Shorty, The Mexican, Zero Dark Thirty and In The Loop .
A New Jersey native, Gandolfini worked as a truck driver, bouncer and nightclub manager in New York before he went to an acting class with a friend and got hooked.
"I'd also never been around actors before," he told Time magazine, "and I said to myself: 'These people are nuts; this is kind of interesting.'"
He made his Broadway debut in a 1992 revival of A Streetcar Named Desire with Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange.
The following year he played a philosophising, brutal hitman in the film True Romance, written by Quentin Tarantino , which paved the way for his lead role in The Sopranos, the gangster family saga that ran for six seasons from 1999. It swept awards and has been voted the best television show of all time.
Tony Soprano's struggles with his relatives, henchmen, psychiatrist and, above all, himself anchored the show and created a new type of anti-hero.
Deadline.com described his portrayal of Soprano as "the schlub we loved, the cruel monster we hated, the anxiety-ridden husband and father we wanted to hug in midlife crisis".
James Gandolfini at the Toronto film festival in 2006. Photograph: Warren Today/EPA
Joseph Gannascoli, who played Vito, said: "James is one guy who never turned his back on me. He was the most humble and gifted actor and person I have ever worked with."
Tony Sirico, who played Paulie, said the late star was one of his best friends. "He was there whenever I needed him. Not only did he help me with my career, but also in life, God bless him. He and I were always helping the troops, we even went to combat zones to visit the marines."
Hollywood took to Twitter to mourn its loss. "I'm truly heartbroken ... he is one of my all time favourite actors. Tragic loss," said Jonah Hill.
Colleagues and acquaintances said Gandolfini had been in high spirits and full of plans – including one for a tattoo. There had been speculation about a Sopranos movie involving the fictional family's Italian origins.
The actor is survived by his wife Deborah Lin, who gave birth to the couple's daughter in October. He also has a teenage son from a previous marriage.
The Sopranos showrunner discusses his 'soulmate', friend and colleague, who died last week – and Tony Soprano, the 'angry guy' they created together
Published: 26 Jun 2013
Sopranos star appears as a bar owner in crime drama Animal Rescue
Published: 27 Jun 2013
Following the death of American actor James Gandolfini, we take a look back at his career defining role as Tony Soprano in HBO's the Sopranos
Published: 20 Jun 2013
James Gandolfini will always be remembered for his role in The Sopranos, but he had a memorable film career, too. Peter Bradshaw recalls his best performances, from In the Loop to Killing Them Softly
Published: 20 Jun 2013
| James Gandolfini |
What is written on the sign on the mural by graffiti artist Banksy that was cut out of a wall in Tottenham, London in July 2013? | Tony Lip, who played 'Sopranos' mob boss, dies - CNN.com
Tony Lip, who played 'Sopranos' mob boss, dies
By CNN Staff
Updated 11:45 AM ET, Thu March 7, 2013
Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.
Actor Tony Lip was a cast member of "The Sopranos" and compiled a celebrity cookbook called "Shut up and Eat."
Story highlights
Tony Lip, born Frank Vallelonga,worked at the Copacabana club
He played the head of a New York crime family in 'The Sopranos'
He broke into movies as an extra in 'The Godfather' and had roles in other gangster films
He also put together a cookbook of recipes from Italian-American actors
Tony Lip, who played mob figures in the hit cable show "The Sopranos" and several critically acclaimed movies, died last week, according to a funeral home in Lodi, New Jersey.
Lip, whose real name was Frank Vallelonga, died on January 4, said an official with the Santangelo Funeral Home, which posted his obituary online. He was 82.
Lip was best known as the aging crime boss Carmine Lupertazzi in the hit HBO series "The Sopranos," where he appeared in 11 episodes. He played the leader of a New York crime family sometimes at odds with the series' main character, Tony Soprano. His character died in the hospital after having a stroke on a golf course.
He also was in the mob movies "The Godfather," "GoodFellas" and "Donnie Brasco."
He also compiled an Italian cookbook called "Shut Up and Eat" that featured recipes from stars of "The Sopranos" and from some famous New York-area restaurants.
Photos: Photos: People we lost in 2013
Photos: Photos: People we lost in 2013
People we lost in 2013 – Click through to see people who passed away in 2013.
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People we lost in 2013 – James Avery , who played Philip Banks on the TV show "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," died on December 31 at the age of 68, his publicist confirmed.
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People we lost in 2013 – Life magazine photographer John Dominis died at his home in New York City on December 30, according to LIFE.com . He was 92.
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People we lost in 2013 – Dr. John W.V. Cordice , the surgeon who operated on Martin Luther King Jr. after King was stabbed in Harlem in 1958, died on December 29 in Iowa. He was 95.
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People we lost in 2013 – Joseph Ruskin , who acted in 25 films and 124 television shows, died of natural causes on December 28 in Santa Monica, California, according to SAG-AFTRA. Ruskin was 89.
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People we lost in 2013 – Jeffrey Ian Pollack , left, who directed the popular 1990s films "Booty Call" and "Above the Rim" and produced "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," was found dead on December 23. He was 54. He's pictured with producer Benny Medina in 2007.
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People we lost in 2013 – Ned Vizzini , author of "It's Kind of a Funny Story," died December 19 of blunt impact injuries to the head, torso and extremities. Vizzini committed suicide, according to the New York City medical examiner's office, though the office did not immediately say how. He was 32.
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People we lost in 2013 – Al Goldstein , the foul-mouthed publisher of Screw magazine and a pornography pioneer who helped move raunch into mainstream American life, died December 19 in New York. He was 77.
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People we lost in 2013 – Actor Daniel Escobar , who played a teacher in "Lizzie McGuire," died from complications of diabetes in Los Angeles on December 13, according to his agent. He was 49.
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People we lost in 2013 – "Great Train Robber" Ronnie Biggs -- one of the most notorious British criminals of the 20th century -- has died, his publisher told CNN on December 18. He was 84.
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People we lost in 2013 – Ray Price , the Nashville star whose trademark "shuffle" beat became a country music staple, died on December 16, his agent said. He was 87.
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People we lost in 2013 – Oscar-winning actress Joan Fontaine died December 15, her longtime friend Noel Beutel said. She was 96.
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People we lost in 2013 – Actor Peter O'Toole , best known for playing the title role in the 1962 film "Lawrence of Arabia," died on December 14. He was 81.
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People we lost in 2013 – Tom Laughlin , the actor who wrote and starred in the "Billy Jack" films of the 1970s, died on December 12, his family confirmed. He was 82.
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People we lost in 2013 – Jazz guitarist Jim Hall , who played with the jazz greats of the 20th century and influenced the younger ones, died December 10, his family said. He was 83.
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People we lost in 2013 – Actress Eleanor Parker , nominated for three Oscars and known for her "Sound of Music" role, died on December 9, her family said. She was 91.
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People we lost in 2013 – Nelson Mandela , the prisoner-turned-president who reconciled South Africa after the end of apartheid, died on December 5, according to the country's president, Jacob Zuma. Mandela was 95.
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People we lost in 2013 – Bill Beckwith , co-host of HGTV's "Curb Appeal," died December 2 when his motorcycle collided with another vehicle in San Francisco. He was 38.
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People we lost in 2013 – Paul Walker , a star of "The Fast & The Furious" movie franchise, died November 30 in a car crash. He was 40.
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People we lost in 2013 – Paul F. Crouch , co-founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network, died November 30 at age 79, according to his website and the network's Facebook page.
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People we lost in 2013 – Comedian Jay Leggett , who produced a documentary about the joys of deer hunting, died of natural causes at the end of a deer hunt on November 23. He was 50.
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People we lost in 2013 – Officer Pat Rogers , featured on the TNT reality show "Boston's Finest," apparently took his own life on November 19, a police source said.
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People we lost in 2013 – Renowned psychic Sylvia Browne , a leader in the paranormal world who appeared regularly on television and radio and also wrote dozens of top-selling books, died November 20 in a northern California hospital, according to her website. She is pictured here with her granddaughter Angelia and son Christopher.
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People we lost in 2013 – The eldest daughter of Walt Disney, Diane Disney Miller , died on November 19, according a statement from the museum dedicated to the legendary animated filmmaker. She was 79.
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People we lost in 2013 – Nobel Prize-winning author Doris Lessing died at her London home on November 17, her publisher said. The British author was best known for "The Golden Notebook," which is considered by many critics to be one of the most important feminist novels ever written.
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People we lost in 2013 – Celebrity chef Charlie Trotter , whose namesake restaurant in Chicago received a long list of culinary honors over its 25 years of service, died shortly after he was rushed from his home to a hospital on November 5. He was 54.
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People we lost in 2013 – Lou Reed , who took rock 'n' roll into dark corners as a songwriter, vocalist and guitarist for the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist, died on October 27, his publicist said. He was 71.
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People we lost in 2013 – Actress Marcia Wallace died on October 25, her agent said. Wallace voiced the character Edna Krabappel on "The Simpsons" and is known for playing receptionist Carol Kester on "The Bob Newhart Show." She was 70.
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People we lost in 2013 – Basketball Hall of Famer Bill Sharman -- who won four NBA titles as a player, one as a head coach and five in his club's front office -- died October 25 in southern California, his former teams said. He was 87.
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People we lost in 2013 – Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams died of natural causes on October 21. He was 90. Adams, whose team started in Houston as the Houston Oilers, co-founded the American Football League, which eventually merged with the National Football League.
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People we lost in 2013 – Lou Scheimer , a pioneer in Saturday morning television cartoons with hit shows such as "Superman," "Fat Albert" and "He-Man," died October 17 at 84, according to his biographer. Andy Mangels helped tell Scheimer's story in the book "Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation."
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People we lost in 2013 – "Bum" Phillips , the former NFL football coach who led the Houston Oilers to glory and struggled with the New Orleans Saints, died October 18 at age 90.
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People we lost in 2013 – Rep. Bill Young of Florida, the longest-serving Republican member of the House, died on October 18 at age 82, his office's chief of staff said.
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People we lost in 2013 – Former U.S. House Speaker Tom Foley , 84, died at his home in Washington, his wife, Heather, confirmed on October 18. An earlier version of this gallery contained a photo incorrectly identified as Tom Foley. CNN regrets this error.
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People we lost in 2013 – Character actor Ed Lauter , who had small roles in movies and TV shows over four decades, died October 16 of mesothelioma, caused by asbestos exposure, his publicist said. He was 74.
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People we lost in 2013 – Jazz vocalist Gloria Lynne , whose career included dozens of albums, died October 15 of a heart attack, her son said. She was 83.
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People we lost in 2013 – Maxine Powell , who helped nurture the style of Motown artists such as Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross in the 1960s, died on October 14. The personal development coach for the legendary record label was 98.
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People we lost in 2013 – "MasterChef" runner-up Joshua Marks died October 11 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head. He was 26.
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People we lost in 2013 – Pulitzer Prize-winning author Oscar Hijuelos died on October 12, his agent said. Hijuelos was the first Latino to win the prestigious award for fiction for his 1989 novel, "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love." He was 62.
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People we lost in 2013 – Astronaut Scott Carpenter , the second American to orbit Earth, died on October 10, NASA said. He was 88.
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People we lost in 2013 – Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap of the Vietnam People's Army, a man credited with major victories against the French and the American military, died on October 4. He was 102.
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People we lost in 2013 – Photojournalist Bill Eppridge , who photographed Sen. Robert F. Kennedy moments after he was fatally shot in Los Angeles in 1968, died on October 3.
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People we lost in 2013 – American author Tom Clancy died October 2, according to a family member. He was 66.
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People we lost in 2013 – Hiroshi Yamauchi, who built Nintendo from a small card company into a global video-game empire before buying the Seattle Mariners, died September 19 in Japan. He was 85.
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People we lost in 2013 – Forty years after rising to the top of the boxing world and outdueling Muhammad Ali, Ken Norton , left, died at a Nevada medical facility after a stroke on September 18. He was 70.
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People we lost in 2013 – British rocker Jackie Lomax , who recorded with legendary stars but whose own career always seemed a degree removed from fame, died on September 15 at the age of 69. The singer-songwriter-guitarist enjoyed a 50-year career playing with many of music's biggest stars -- notably the Beatles -- but personal commercial success eluded him.
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People we lost in 2013 – Ray Dolby , the American inventor who changed the way people listen to sound in their homes, on their phones and in cinemas, died September 12 in San Francisco. He was 80. The founder of Dolby Laboratories had been suffering from Alzheimer's disease for a number of years and in July was diagnosed with acute leukemia.
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People we lost in 2013 – Ex-heavyweight champion Tommy Morrison died September 1, according to his former promoter Tony Holden. He was 44. Morrison defeated George Foreman in 1993 for the World Boxing Organization's heavyweight title. He also won fame for his role in "Rocky V."
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People we lost in 2013 – British broadcaster David Frost , best known for his series of interviews with former U.S. President Richard Nixon in 1977, died August 31. He was 74.
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People we lost in 2013 – Irish poet Seamus Heaney , who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1995, died on Friday, August 30, at a hospital in Dublin. He was 74.
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People we lost in 2013 – British cinematographer Gilbert Taylor, right, died in his home on the Isle of Wight on Friday, August 23. The man behind the visual style of movies such as "Star Wars" and "Dr. Strangelove" was 99. Here, Taylor and director Peter Brooks, left, film "Meetings With Remarkable Men" in 1979.
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People we lost in 2013 – CBS News correspondent Bruce Dunning died Monday, August 26, from injuries suffered from a fall. Dunning was 73.
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People we lost in 2013 – Muriel "Mickie" Siebert , the first woman to hold a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, died on Sunday, August 25, the Siebert Financial Corp. said. She was 80.
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People we lost in 2013 – Sid Bernstein , the promoter and agent who helped start the "British invasion" by bringing the Beatles to Carnegie Hall, died Wednesday, August 21, according to his publicist. He was 95.
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People we lost in 2013 – Marian McPartland , the famed jazz pianist and longtime host of NPR's "Piano Jazz" program, died Tuesday, August 20, of natural causes, according to her label. She was 95.
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People we lost in 2013 – Crime novelist and screenwriter Elmore Leonard , who was recovering from a stroke, died August 20, his literary agent said. He was 87.
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People we lost in 2013 – Actor Lee Thompson Young , best known for his roles on Disney's "The Famous Jett Jackson" and TNT's "Rizzoli & Isles," died August 19 at the age of 29.
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People we lost in 2013 – Actress Lisa Robin Kelly , one of the stars of TV's "That '70s Show," died August 14, according to her agent, Craig Wyckoff. Kelly was 43.
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People we lost in 2013 – British stuntman Mark Sutton died on Wednesday, August 14, after a parachuting accident in Switzerland. Sutton, 42, was well known for parachuting in as James Bond at the 2012 London Olympics.
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People we lost in 2013 – Gia Allemand appeared on season 14 of ABC's "The Bachelor." In a statement, her family said the 29-year-old's death apparently was suicide.
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People we lost in 2013 – Journalist Jack Germond died August 14, his wife, Alice, wrote in a note to friends. He was 85. Germond covered national politics for more than 50 years, including as a political analyst for CNN.
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People we lost in 2013 – Singer Eydie Gorme , best known for her 1963 song "Blame it on the Bossa Nova," died August 10 in Las Vegas after a brief illness, her publicist said. She was 84.
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People we lost in 2013 – Actress Karen Black , who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the 1970 film "Five Easy Pieces," died on Thursday, August 8, her agent said, after a long and public battle with cancer. She was 74.
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People we lost in 2013 – Sean Sasser , whose commitment ceremony on MTV's "Real World" in 1994 was a first for U.S. television, died Wednesday, August 7, his longtime partner told CNN. Sasser was 44.
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People we lost in 2013 – Jackie Gingrich , first wife of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and mother of his two daughters, died Wednesday, August 7, in Atlanta, according to the funeral home organizing her arrangements. She was 77.
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People we lost in 2013 – Margaret Pellegrini, who played the flowerpot Munchkin and one of the sleepyhead kids in the classic film "The Wizard of Oz," died at her home in Phoenix on Wednesday, August 7 after suffering a stroke, according to Ted Bulthaup, spokesman for the Munchkins. She was 89. Pellegrini was one of the last surviving Munchkins from the 1939 film.
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People we lost in 2013 – George Duke, seen here at the 2013 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in May, died in August at the age of 67. The legend was known for his phenomenal skills as a keyboardist, and his ability to bridge together jazz, rock, funk and R&B.
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People we lost in 2013 – Baltimore Colts defensive tackle Art Donovan , a charismatic player who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968, died Sunday, August 4. He was 88.
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People we lost in 2013 – John Palmer , a veteran reporter for NBC News, died Saturday, August 3, after a short illness, according to the network. He was 77.
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People we lost in 2013 – Michael Ansara , the character actor best known for playing three iterations of Klingon leader Kang in different "Star Trek" series, died Wednesday, July 31. He was 91.
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People we lost in 2013 – Ossie Schectman, the former New York Knicks guard who scored the league's first basket, died Tuesday, July 30. He was 94. NBA Commissioner David Stern called Schectman a pioneer, "Playing for the New York Knickerbockers in the 1946-47 season, Ossie scored the league's first basket, which placed him permanently in the annals of NBA history. On behalf of the entire NBA family, our condolences go out to Ossie's family."
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People we lost in 2013 – Actress Eileen Brennan , who earned an Oscar nomination for her role as the exasperated drill captain in the movie "Private Benjamin," died Sunday, July 28, at her Burbank, California, home after a battle with bladder cancer. She was 80.
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People we lost in 2013 – Former Major League Baseball pitcher Frank Castillo drowned while swimming in a lake near Phoenix, authorities said July 29. He was 44.
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People we lost in 2013 – Ecuador striker Christian Benitez , the top scorer in the Mexican league last season, died of a heart attack Monday, July 29, at age 27.
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People we lost in 2013 – Syndicated radio host Kidd Kraddick died Saturday, July 27, at a golf tournament in New Orleans to raise money for his Kidd's Kids Charity. He was 53.
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People we lost in 2013 – Musician JJ Cale died Friday, July 26, after suffering a heart attack . He was 74. Above, Cale performs at the Carre Theatre in Amsterdam in 1973.
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People we lost in 2013 – Virginia Johnson , the pioneering sex researcher who was part of a groundbreaking team with William Masters, died at age 88 on July 24, her family said. Masters died in 2001.
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People we lost in 2013 – Former world-class boxer Emile Griffith, who won five titles during the 1960s, died July 23 , the International Boxing Hall of Fame announced. He was 75.
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People we lost in 2013 – Actor Dennis Farina , a Chicago ex-cop whose tough-as-nails persona enlivened roles on either side of the law, died Monday, July 22. He was 69. Above, Farina shoots a scene as Detective Joe Fontana in "Law & Order" in 2004.
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People we lost in 2013 – Pioneer journalist and former senior White House correspondent Helen Thomas died Saturday, July 20, after a long illness , sources told CNN. She was 92.
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People we lost in 2013 – Jazz guitarist Carline Ray died at Isabella House in New York City, on July 18. She was 88.
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People we lost in 2013 – Cory Monteith, who played heart throb Finn Hudson in the Fox hit "Glee," was found dead in a Vancouver, Canada, hotel room Saturday, July 13, police said. He was 31.
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People we lost in 2013 – Douglas Englebart, the inventor of the computer mouse, died Tuesday, July 2, at his home in Atherton, California, according to SRI International, the research institute where he once worked. He was 88.
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People we lost in 2013 – Jim Kelly , a martial artist best known for his appearance in the 1973 Bruce Lee movie "Enter the Dragon," died on June 29 of cancer. He was 67. After a brief acting career, he became a ranked professional tennis player on the USTA senior men's circuit. Here he appears in the 1974 film "Three the Hard Way."
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People we lost in 2013 – Bert Stern , a revolutionary advertising photographer in the 1960s who also made his mark with images of celebrities, died on June 25 at age 83. Possibly most memorably, he captured Marilyn Monroe six weeks before she died for a series later known as "The Last Sitting."
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People we lost in 2013 – Alan Myers, Devo's most well-known drummer, lost his battle with cancer on June 24. Band member Mark Mothersbaugh said in a statement that Myers' style on the drums helped define the band's early sound.
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People we lost in 2013 – Singer Bobby "Blue" Bland , who helped create the modern soul-blues sound, died June 23 at age 83. Bland was part of a blues group that included B.B. King. His song "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City" was sampled on a Jay-Z album. Bland was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.
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People we lost in 2013 – Marc Rich , the commodities trader and Glencore founder whom President Bill Clinton pardoned on his final day in office, died June 26 at age 78 in Switzerland. Rich often was credited with the creation of modern oil trading. He lived abroad after being indicted in 1983 for tax evasion, false statements, racketeering and illegal trading with Iran, becoming one of the world's most famous white-collar criminals.
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People we lost in 2013 – Richard Matheson , an American science-fiction writer best known for his novel "I Am Legend," died June 23 at age 87. During a career that spanned more than 60 years, Matheson wrote more than 25 novels and nearly 100 short stories, plus screenplays for TV and film.
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People we lost in 2013 – James Gandolfini died at the age of 51, after an apparent heart attack. Gandolfini became a fan favorite for his role as mob boss Tony Soprano on HBO's "The Sopranos."
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People we lost in 2013 – Country music singer/songwriter Slim Whitman died on June 19, his son-in-law Roy Beagle told CNN. He was 90. Above, Whitman poses with his guitar at a press conference at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London, on February 22, 1956.
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People we lost in 2013 – Esther Williams , whose success as a competitive swimmer propelled her to Hollywood stardom during the 1940s and 1950s, died on Thursday, June 6 in California, according to her spokesman.
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People we lost in 2013 – David "Deacon" Jones , who is credited with coining the term "sacking the quarterback" during his stint as one of the greatest defensive ends in the NFL, has died.
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People we lost in 2013 – Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey died June 3 of viral pneumonia, his office said. Lautenberg, 89, had been the Senate's last surviving veteran of World War II.
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People we lost in 2013 – Actress Jean Stapleton , best known for her role as Archie Bunker's wife, Edith, in the groundbreaking 1970s TV sitcom "All in the Family," died at age 90 on Saturday, June 1.
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People we lost in 2013 – Ed Shaughnessy , the longtime drummer for "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," died May 24. He was 84.
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People we lost in 2013 – Ray Manzarek , keyboardist and founding member of The Doors, passed away of cancer on Monday, May 20. He was 74.
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People we lost in 2013 – NASCAR legend Dick Trickle died on May 16 of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 71.
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People we lost in 2013 – Popular American psychologist and television personality Dr. Joyce Brothers died at 85, her daughter said on May 13. Brothers gained fame as a frequent guest on television talk shows and as an advice columnist for Good Housekeeping magazine and newspapers throughout the United States.
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People we lost in 2013 – Jeanne Cooper , who played Katherine Chancellor, the "Dame of Genoa City," on "The Young and the Restless," died on May 8. She was 84.
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People we lost in 2013 – Ray Harryhausen , the stop-motion animation and special-effects master whose work influenced such directors as Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and George Lucas, died on May 7 at age 92, according to the Facebook page of the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation.
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People we lost in 2013 – Grammy-winning guitarist Jeff Hanneman , a founding member of the heavy metal band Slayer, died on May 2 of liver failure. He was 49.
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People we lost in 2013 – Chris Kelly , one-half of the 1990s rap duo Kris Kross, died on May 1 at an Atlanta hospital after being found unresponsive at his home, the Fulton County medical examiner's office told CNN.
Kelly, right, and Chris Smith shot to stardom in 1992 with the hit "Jump."
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People we lost in 2013 – George Jones , the country music legend whose graceful, evocative voice gave depth to some of the greatest songs in country music -- including "She Thinks I Still Care," "The Grand Tour" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today" -- died on April 26 at age 81, according to his public relations firm.
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People we lost in 2013 – Actor Allan Arbus poses for a portrait with his daughter photographer Amy Arbus in 2007. Allan Arbus, who played psychiatrist Maj. Sidney Freedman in the M*A*S*H television series, died at age 95, his daughter's representative said April 23.
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People we lost in 2013 – Folk singer Richie Havens , the opening act at the 1969 Woodstock music festival, died on April 22 of a heart attack, his publicist said. He was 72.
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People we lost in 2013 – Australian rocker Chrissy Amphlett , the Divinyls lead singer whose group scored an international hit with the sexually charged "I Touch Myself" in the early 1990s, died on April 21 from breast cancer and multiple sclerosis, her husband said. She was 53.
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People we lost in 2013 – Pat Summerall , the NFL football player turned legendary play-by-play announcer, was best known as a broadcaster who teamed up with former NFL coach John Madden. Summerall died April 16 at the age of 82.
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People we lost in 2013 – Comedian Jonathan Winters died on April 11 at age 87. Known for his comic irreverence, he had a major influence on a generation of comedians. Here he appears on "The Jonathan Winters Show" in 1956.
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People we lost in 2013 – Sir Robert Edwards , a "co-pioneer" of the in vitro fertilization technique and Nobel Prize winner, died April 10 in his sleep after a long illness, the University of Cambridge said. He was 87. He is pictured on July 25, 1978, holding the world's first "test-tube baby," Louise Joy Brown, alongside the midwife and Dr. Patrick Steptoe, who helped develop the fertility treatment.
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People we lost in 2013 – Annette Funicello , one of the best-known members of the original 1950s "Mickey Mouse Club" and a star of 1960s "beach party" movies, died at age 70 on April 8. Pictured, Funicello performs with Jimmie Dodd on "The Mickey Mouse Club" in1957.
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People we lost in 2013 – Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher , a towering figure in postwar British and world politics and the only woman to become British prime minister, died at the age of 87 on Monday, April 8.
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People we lost in 2013 – Designer Lilly Pulitzer , right, died on April 7 at age 81, according to her company's Facebook page. The Palm Beach socialite was known for making sleeveless dresses from bright floral prints that became known as the "Lilly" design.
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People we lost in 2013 – Film critic Roger Ebert died on April 4, according to his employer, the Chicago Sun-Times. He was 70. Ebert had taken a leave of absence on April 2 after a hip fracture was revealed to be cancer.
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People we lost in 2013 – Jane Nebel Henson , wife of the late Muppets creator Jim Henson and instrumental in the development of the world-famous puppets, died April 2 after a long battle with cancer. She was 78.
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People we lost in 2013 – Shain Gandee , one of the stars of the MTV reality show "Buckwild," was found dead with two other people in Kanawha County, West Virginia, on April 1. He was 21.
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People we lost in 2013 – Music producer and innovator Phil Ramone , right, with Paul Shaffer, left, and Billy Joel at the Song Writers Hall of Fame Awards in New York in 2001. Ramone died March 30 at the age of 72.
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People we lost in 2013 – Writer/producer Don Payne , one of the creative minds behind "The Simpsons," died March 26 at his home in Los Angeles after losing a battle with bone cancer, reports say. He was 48.
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People we lost in 2013 – Gordon Stoker , left, who as part of the vocal group the Jordanaires sang backup on hits by Elvis Presley, died March 27 at 88.
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People we lost in 2013 – Deke Richards , center, died March 24 at age 68. Richards was a producer and songwriter who was part of the team responsible for Motown hits such as "I Want You Back" and "Maybe Tomorrow." He had been battling esophageal cancer.
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People we lost in 2013 – Legendary publisher, promoter and weightlifter Joe Weider , who created the Mr. Olympia contest and brought California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to the United States, died at age 93 on March 23.
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People we lost in 2013 – Playboy magazine's 1962 "Playmate of the Year," Christa Speck Krofft , died March 22 of natural causes at the age of 70.
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People we lost in 2013 – Rena Golden , who held top positions at CNN, died at age 51 after battling lymphoma for two years on March 21.
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People we lost in 2013 – Harry Reems , the porn star best known for playing Dr. Young in the 1972 adult film classic "Deep Throat," died March 19, according to a spokeswoman at a Salt Lake City hospital. Reems, whose real name is Herbert Streicher, was 65.
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People we lost in 2013 – Bobbie Smith , who as a member of the Spinners sang lead on such hits as "I'll Be Around" and "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love," died on March 16 at age 76. Pictured clockwise from left, Spinners band member Pervis Jackson, Billy Henderson, Jonathan Edwards, Bobbie Smith and Henry Fambrough, 1977.
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People we lost in 2013 – Sweden's Princess Lilian , the Welsh-born model who lived with her lover Prince Bertil for 30 years before they were married, has died at the age of 97, the Swedish Royal Court said in a statement.
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People we lost in 2013 – Alvin Lee , the speed-fingered British guitarist who lit up Woodstock with a monumental 11-minute version of his song "I'm Going Home," died on March 6, according to his website. He was 68.
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People we lost in 2013 – Hugo Chavez , the polarizing president of Venezuela who cast himself as a "21st century socialist" and foe of the United States, died March 5, said Vice President Nicolas Maduro.
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People we lost in 2013 – Bobby Rogers , one of the original members of Motown staple The Miracles, died on Sunday, March 3, at 73. From left: Bobby Rogers, Ronald White, Smokey Robinson and Pete Moore circa 1965.
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People we lost in 2013 – Actress Bonnie Franklin , star of the TV show "One Day at a Time," died at the age of 69 on March 1 of complications from pancreatic cancer.
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People we lost in 2013 – Actor Dale Robertson , who was popular for his western TV shows and movies, died at age 89 on Thursday, February 28.
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People we lost in 2013 – Richard Street , former member of the Temptations, died at age 70 on February 27. Street, second from the left, poses for a portrait with fellow members of the Temptations circa 1973.
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People we lost in 2013 – Van Cliburn , the legendary pianist honored with a New York ticker-tape parade for winning a major Moscow competition in 1958, died on February 27 after a battle with bone cancer, his publicist said. He was 78.
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People we lost in 2013 – Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop died on February 25. He was 96. Koop served as surgeon general from 1982 to 1989, under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
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People we lost in 2013 – Damon Harris , former member of the Motown group the Temptations, died at age 62 on February 18. Harris, center on the stool, poses for a portrait with fellow members of The Temptations circa 1974.
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People we lost in 2013 – Lou Myers , a stage, film and TV actor who memorably portrayed Mr. Gaines on the comedy "A Different World," died on February 19 at the age of 75.
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People we lost in 2013 – Los Angeles Laker owner Jerry Buss died February 18 at age 80. Buss, who had owned the Lakers since 1979, was credited with procuring the likes of Earvin "Magic" Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. The Lakers won 10 NBA championships and 16 Western Conference titles under Buss' ownership.
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People we lost in 2013 – Country singer Mindy McCready was found dead on February 17 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. She was 37. During her career, McCready landed 14 songs and six albums on the Billboard country charts.
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People we lost in 2013 – Ed Koch , the brash former New York mayor, died February 1 of congestive heart failure at 88, his spokesman said.
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People we lost in 2013 – Patty Andrews , center, the last surviving member of the Andrews Sisters, died at her Northridge, California, home on January 30, her publicist Alan Eichler said. She was 94. Patty is seen in this 1948 photograph with her sisters Maxene, left, and Laverne.
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People we lost in 2013 – Baseball Hall of Famer and St. Louis Cardinals great Stan Musial died on January 19, according to his former team. He was 92.
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People we lost in 2013 – Baseball Hall of Fame manager Earl Sidney Weaver , who led the Baltimore Orioles to four pennants and a World Series title with a pugnacity toward umpires, died January 19 of an apparent heart attack at age 82, Major League Baseball said.
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People we lost in 2013 – Pauline Phillips , better known to millions of newspaper readers as the original Dear Abby advice columnist, has died after a long battle with Alzheimer's Disease. She died January 16 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at age 94.
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People we lost in 2013 – Aaron Swartz , the Internet activist who co-wrote the initial specification for RSS, committed suicide, a relative told CNN on January 12. He was 26. Swartz also co-founded Demand Progress, a political action group that campaigns against Internet censorship.
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People we lost in 2013 – Claude Nobs , the founder of the Montreux Jazz Festival, died aged 76 following a skiing accident.
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People we lost in 2013 – Richard Ben Cramer , the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer whose 1992 book "What It Takes" remains one of the most detailed and passionate of all presidential campaign chronicles, died January 7, according to his longtime agent. He was 62.
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People we lost in 2013 – Director and stuntman David R. Ellis died on January 7. He directed "Snakes on a Plane."
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People we lost in 2013 – Tony Lip , who played mob figures in the hit cable show "The Sopranos" and several critically acclaimed movies, died January 4, a funeral home official said. Lip, whose real name was Frank Vallelonga, was 82.
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People we lost in 2013 – Character actor Ned Wertimer , known to fans of "The Jeffersons" as the doorman Ralph Hart, died on January 2. He was 89.
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In July 2013, the Archbishop of Canterbury said he was ’embarrassed and irritated’ that the Church of England invested indirectly in which online company? | Wonga row: Archbishop of Canterbury 'embarrassed' over Church funds - BBC News
BBC News
Wonga row: Archbishop of Canterbury 'embarrassed' over Church funds
26 July 2013
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Media captionArchbishop Welby: "It was very embarrassing, there's no two ways about it"
The Archbishop of Canterbury said he was "embarrassed" and "irritated" that the Church of England invested indirectly in online lender Wonga.
It comes after the Most Reverend Justin Welby told Wonga the Church would try to force the firm out of business by helping credit unions compete with it.
But the CofE later admitted it invested in funds that provided money for Wonga.
Archbishop Welby told the BBC he wanted the Church's investment rules to be reviewed following the row.
Lambeth Palace said an independent inquiry would be launched into how "this serious inconsistency" occurred.
The amount of Church money indirectly invested in Wonga was about £75,000 out of investments totalling £5.5bn, according to the archbishop.
"It shouldn't happen, it's very embarrassing, but these things do happen and we have to find out why and make sure it doesn't happen again," Archbishop Welby told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
He said Church investment managers "didn't pick up" that they had put funds in a "pooled investment vehicle" which, through its investments, had bought into Wonga.
Real world
BBC Religion and Ethics: What do different faiths say?
The Church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group "recommends against investment" in companies which make more than 3% of their income from pornography, 10% from military products and services, or 25% from other industries such as gambling, alcohol and high interest rate lenders.
The Church also "reserves the right" not to invest in companies with "unacceptable" management practices, according to its website.
Archbishop Welby said the 25% level for firms which deal in high interest rate lending was "probably too high" and he would ask the advisory group to review it.
"I think we have to review these levels and make sure that we are consistent between what we're saying and what we're doing," he said.
But he said it was difficult to decide exactly which businesses were unethical, giving hypothetical examples of a clothes company which made socks for the military or a hotel which provided pornography through the TVs in its rooms.
He said the Church had to operate in the "real world", adding: "If you exclude any contact with anything that directly or indirectly at any point gets you anywhere bad, you can't do anything at all."
Gavin Oldham, of the Church's Ethical Investment Advisory Group, later said financial managers had been aware of the indirect Wonga investment and "more could have been done" with that information.
But he said the amount of money involved was a "tiny holding within that particular investment".
Payday firms offer short-term loans, often at high interest rates, and have been accused of leading people into more debt.
Media captionBen Thompson explains how credit unions work and how they compare to payday lenders
Archbishop Welby said he did not want to "drive legal payday lenders out of business" if that left people in deprived areas with no choice but to use "loan sharks".
This week, Archbishop Welby told Total Politics magazine he had met Wonga boss Errol Damelin and had "bluntly" told him "we're not in the business of trying to legislate you out of existence; we're trying to compete you out of existence".
Mr Damelin, in response, said he was "all for better consumer choice".
But, after the archbishop's comments were widely reported, Financial Times journalists looked into the Church's own investments and discovered links with Wonga.
The paper reported that the Church's pension fund, which claims to explicitly ban firms involved in payday lending, had invested in US venture capitalists Accel Partners - a company that led Wonga fundraising in 2009.
Jesus's example
Archbishop Welby, a former oil industry financial executive who sits on the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, has previously lobbied for a cap on high interest rates charged by loan companies.
BBC religious affairs correspondent Robert Pigott said the archbishop accepted that taking on payday lenders was a risky project which might not work.
But our correspondent said news that the Church had invested in funds that provided money for Wonga had "raised the stakes even further" and meant Archbishop Welby's plan "has to succeed".
London Mayor Boris Johnson - who was once criticised for accepting sponsorship of the Tube from Wonga - said there was "no doubt their rates are usurious".
"[The archbishop] is not turning over the tables of the money lenders, he's bringing in his own money lending tables," Mr Johnson added.
"It's a very interesting interpretation of the gospels."
Simon Hill, of anti-capitalist network Christianity Uncut, said: "What we do with our money is part of how we live out following Jesus, part of how we follow Jesus's example, of siding with the poor and actually put our money into things like renewable energy, social housing, things that, in itself, will help society."
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In August 2013, scientists in Florence, Italy opened a tomb in order to extract DNA, hoping to identify the model for which painting? | Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby vows to withdraw Church of England pension fund from Wonga | Daily Mail Online
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The Archbishop of Canterbury today admitted he was 'embarrassed' to discover that the Church of England had a stake in controversial payday lender Wonga.
The Most Rev Justin Welby has declared war on companies charging inflated rates of interest and vowed to expand credit unions to act as an alternative, in a move backed by the Government.
But yesterday it emerged that the CoE's pension fund invests in one of Wonga's key financial backers - and the Archbishop said today that the Church must 'ensure this doesn't happen again'.
Battle: Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has vowed to put Wonga out of business and even met with the payday lender's founder Errol Damelin (right) to tell him. But tonight it emerged the Church is linked to the firm
The fund, which claims to have an ethical investment policy that bans companies involved in payday lending, has a stake in Accel Partners, a US venture capital firm which raised funds for Wonga in 2009.
When asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme whether he was 'embarrassed' by the revelation, Mr Welby replied, 'Yes I am', adding: 'I was irritated for a few minutes, but these things happen.'
He vowed that the Church would withdraw its investment from Wonga, saying: 'It shouldn't happen - it's very embarrassing, but these things do happen. We have to find out why and make sure it doesn't happen again.'
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The Archbishop suggested that the CoE would revise rules allowing it to invest in companies which make up to a quarter of their revenues from lending at sky-high rates of interest.
'They shouldn't be invested in Wonga, we don't think it's a good thing,' he said. 'We have to review these levels and make sure that we are consistent between what we're saying and what we're doing.
'We think that the payday lenders charge vastly excessive amounts for the loans they make. This is something that really matters to me.'
Objections: Payday loan company Wonga charges 5,853 per cent annual interest rates on short term loans. To great embarrassment, the CoE’s pension fund admitted it invests in one of Wonga’s key financial backers
However, Mr Welby also insisted that mistakes such as this one are inevitable in world of investing, due to the complicated nature of the financial world.
'We've got to live in the real world, and living in the real world means that life is complicated and you can't escape the complexity,' he said.
Asked if the Church of England was breaking its rules, he replied: 'It's a perfectly valid point. Is a little sin intolerable?
'Sin is a bad thing by definition. Just for the record, I'm not in favour of sin.'
ANALYSIS by JAMES CONEY, MONEY MAIL EDITOR
By launching an attack on payday loan firms the Archbishop of Canterbury has sent a message that they are the scourge of the high street.
He clearly believes the Church could and should offer better help to the most financially in need.
But innovative as his plan is, it will never be the answer to this spiralling debt crisis.
Credit unions are too small, extremely localised and many aren’t well enough financed to cope with the soaring demand from those who want to borrow for just a few days.
They are bound by tight regulations, while many loan firms operate in the Wild West.
Rather, the Archbishop should point a finger of blame at the banks and encourage them to do more. Many are forced into the arms of payday lenders because the cost of short-term borrowing at the banks is so high.
Borrowing £200 in an unauthorised overdraft for ten days at one major high street bank would cost £87. That’s an interest rate, known as an APR, of 15million per cent.
With Wonga the same borrowing costs £26.05 at an APR of 5,853 per cent. Yet few have questioned why banks have been allowed to wash their hands of small borrowers.
It is little wonder those forced to look to less well-known firms found themselves in trouble. Last year 36,413 borrowers contacted debt charity StepChange because they were struggling with payday loans of an average £1,657. Just 12 months earlier, the number of complaints was half this amount and the size of the debt about a third less.
Thousands of customers have been allowed to take five or more loans and three-quarters of firms fail to check incomes of applicants.
The cowboys are ruining lives and it is going to take a new sheriff and a few good men such as the Archbishop to stop this scourge.
Some have suggested that Church should not be involved with the financial markets at all - the credit unions they are supporting charge annual interest rates of up to 80 per cent, far more than High Street banks.
But the Archbishop said the CoE should 'put our money where our mouth is', adding: 'We don't stand on the sidelines on some sort of great podium lecturing everyone else.'
He continued: 'I don't think capitalism is necessarily amoral - it can sometimes be immoral, but it is not of itself immoral.'
Although much of the debate has focussed on high-profile lenders such as Wonga, Mr Welby said that 'the worst people are not Wonga' and claimed his campaign was targeted more at loan sharks than professionally managed companies.
A Lambeth Palace spokesman said: ‘We are grateful to the Financial Times for pointing out this serious inconsistency of which we were unaware.
‘We will be asking the assets committee of the Church Commissioners to investigate how this has occurred and to review the holding.’
After Boris Johnson added his voice to those criticising what he called 'Wonga-nomics', calling the Archbishop's plans 'interesting and right', the lender hit back by insisting it was not an 'unacceptable business'.
In a statement setting out '10 commitments' to being a responsible body, Wonga said it agreed with much of what Mr Welby has said and vowed to prevent customers from racking up spiralling levels of debt.
The Archbishop's 'comment that he wants to "compete Wonga out of existence" has been interpreted by some as meaning we are an unacceptable business,' the firm said.
'Some have taken it a step further, saying we make unaffordable loans to the most vulnerable in society. We respectfully disagree.'
The company promised to be transparent about the price of its loans, carry out thorough credit checks, and freeze interest after two months to protect defaulting customers.
Ministers have been criticised for failing to cap interest rates, which can top 5,000 per cent a year.
But Chancellor George Osborne said he agreed with much of what the Most Rev Justin Welby is proposing. He told Channel 4 News: ‘I also agree that we’ve got to make sure that payday lending and the like is properly regulated, which it hasn’t been before.
‘I have huge amount of time and respect for Justin Welby. I personally appointed him to the Banking Commission because of his expertise.’
Lib Dem Business Secretary Vince Cable also backed the Church’s intervention, declaring: ‘The Archbishop of Canterbury has hit the nail on the head.’
He told Channel 5 News: ‘Credit unions are a better way of providing credit for people on a lower income who are not credit-worthy and can’t use banks.
‘We’ve got to have an alternative and the Archbishop is right not just to condemn abuse but to offer alternatives which are more ethical.’ The Archbishop wants credit unions to use church buildings across 9,000 communities to expand access to credit unions.
He has called for volunteers who have experience in finance to come forward and help run credit unions to compete with the £2billion-a-year payday industry. Credit unions are community based not-for-profit organisations offering loans, savings accounts and even mortgages.
Deadlock: Papiss Cisse has refused to wear Newcastle's new strip sponsored by loans company Wonga
They are usually linked to one community or industry, such as the Police Credit Union, and have been regulated by the Financial Services Authority since 2002.
Around one million Britons are members of the nation’s 500 credit unions. Firms such as Wonga have grown in popularity as banks tightened up their lending in the wake of the financial crisis.
In an interview with Total Politics magazine the Archbishop, a former oil executive, said: ‘I’ve met the head of Wonga and we had a very good conversation and I said to him quite bluntly “We’re not in the business of trying to legislate you out of existence, we’re trying to compete you out of existence”.
‘We’ve got to have credit unions that are both engaged in their communities and much more professional and the third thing is people have got to know about them. It’s a decade-long process. We’re putting our money where our mouth is, we’re starting a Church of England staff credit union.’
Wonga’s chief executive Errol Damelin said: ‘I’m all for better consumer choice. The Archbishop is clearly an exceptional individual and someone who understands the power of innovation.’
He said they discussed banking, financial services and the digital society and had a ‘meeting of minds on many big issues’.
The payday loan industry was referred last month to the Competition Commission for an investigation over concerns some lenders were trying to ‘distort’ competition.
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In the 2011 film , Captain America is ‘The First ‘what’? | Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) - IMDb
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Captain America: The First Avenger ( 2011 )
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Steve Rogers, a rejected military soldier transforms into Captain America after taking a dose of a "Super-Soldier serum". But being Captain America comes at a price as he attempts to take down a war monger and a terrorist organization.
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Storyline
It is 1942, America has entered World War II, and sickly but determined Steve Rogers is frustrated at being rejected yet again for military service. Everything changes when Dr. Erskine recruits him for the secret Project Rebirth. Proving his extraordinary courage, wits and conscience, Rogers undergoes the experiment and his weak body is suddenly enhanced into the maximum human potential. When Dr. Erskine is then immediately assassinated by an agent of Nazi Germany's secret HYDRA research department (headed by Johann Schmidt, a.k.a. the Red Skull), Rogers is left as a unique man who is initially misused as a propaganda mascot; however, when his comrades need him, Rogers goes on a successful adventure that truly makes him Captain America, and his war against Schmidt begins. Written by Kenneth Chisholm ([email protected])
The first Avenger See more »
Genres:
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action | See all certifications »
Parents Guide:
22 July 2011 (USA) See more »
Also Known As:
$65,058,524 (USA) (22 July 2011)
Gross:
Did You Know?
Trivia
This is Chris Evans ' sixth comic book movie after the two Fantastic Four movies, Push (2009), The Losers (2010), and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). He also voiced Casey Jones in TMNT (2007), also based on a comic book. See more »
Goofs
While iridium is somewhat rare compared to other elements, it is not particularly difficult to get hold of. It costs $580 per ounce in 2015, and buying the cylinder they show (approx 200 cubic centimeters) would cost approximately $90,000 and could be bought from numerous suppliers. See more »
Quotes
Search Team Leader : Are you the guys from Washington?
SHIELD Tech : You get many other visitors out here?
SHIELD Lieutenant : How long have you been on site?
Search Team Leader : Since this morning. A Russian oil team called it in about eighteen hours ago.
SHIELD Lieutenant : How come nobody spotted it before?
Search Team Leader : It's really not that surprising. This landscapes changing all the time. You got any ideas what this thing is exactly?
SHIELD Lieutenant : I don't know. It's probably a weather balloon.
Search Team Leader : I don't think so. You know we don't have the equipment for a job like this.
SHIELD Tech : How long before we can start...
[...]
See more »
Crazy Credits
"The Star-Spangled Man", the wartime inspirational song Captain America performs, is heard in the closing credits. See more »
Connections
Performed by United States Marine Band (as "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band)
Recording courtesy of "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band
Use of this recording does not constitute or imply endorsement by
the Department of Defense, U.S. Marine Corps, or U.S. Marine Band.
The terms U.S. Marine Band and "The President's Own"
are trademarks of the U.S. Marine Corps, used with permission.
See more »
Frequently Asked Questions
A Super-hero Rightly Interpreted for the Big Screen
4 August 2011 | by webspinner128
(United States) – See all my reviews
Like many comic-book fans I was expecting the worst from this movie. This is not because the character has any less depth than other super-heroes, but I knew that it would be extremely difficult to transition Steve Rogers to film in a serviceable way. The guy is called "Captain America" for heaven's sake.
Any comic-book reader would probably appreciate the ironies and idiosyncrasies behind such ostentatiously patriotic code-name, mostly because in print Cap has challenged the assumptions behind his symbolism, becoming a more conflicted and universal figure.
But its hard to translate any of this idiosyncrasy successfully in 2 hours. Fortunately the film, instead of getting to political, is more old-fashioned pulp like Indy or "Sky Captain," which thankfully never takes itself too seriously (which was one of the flaws of "Thor").
I had my doubts that Chris Evans could pull off the modesty and heart needed for the role, but I was wrong. As the Red Skull, Hugo Weaving was wonderfully evil in a nostalgic, serial-villain kind of way. Haley Atwell is a sidekick/love-interest with the rare quality of not being incredibly annoying, and Tommy Lee Jones is perfectly cast as Tommy Lee Jones.
The reason I found this to be a good movie was because I enjoyed it, plain and simple. It's well-photographed and well-acted. Like its titular hero, it modestly embraced its silliness, creating a charming B-movie experience.
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| Avenger |
Hellophobia is the fear of which country and its culture? | Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Search Team Leader :Are you the guys from Washington?
SHIELD Tech :You get many other visitors out here?
SHIELD Lieutenant :How long have you been on site?
Search Team Leader :Since this morning. A Russian oil team called it in about eighteen hours ago.
SHIELD Lieutenant :How come nobody spotted it before?
Search Team Leader :It's really not that surprising. This landscapes changing all the time. You got any ideas what this thing is exactly?
SHIELD Lieutenant :I don't know. It's probably a weather balloon.
Search Team Leader :I don't think so. You know we don't have the equipment for a job like this.
SHIELD Tech :How long before we can start craning it out?
[...]
Author: TourettesPersonal
from Philippines
Captain America: The First Avenger is a pretty decent film by its own merits. Showing the good old retro style and production design, since this film is directed by Joe Johnson who is capable of portraying the old times perfectly. Chris Evans did a great job as Captain America. Some of the action scenes are disappointingly unexciting but at least the CGI effects are eye candy. The movie ends with true patriotic heroism and full of heart. Definitely not new but it's still enjoyable.
The trope of Captain America: The First Avenger has been reused by so many superhero movies. A good guy who is a weakling became powerful then eventually saves the day. It's definitely not innovating even for the people who've never read the comics but it's a relic. Well made production design & the old fashion score. Most battle scenes are montages. The action scenes are large. It can be watchable but some of them are pretty bland and poorly directed.
The joys and the thrills mostly goes to the performances. Nothing goes wrong with Chris Evans. He did a decent job as Steve Rogers/Captain America. Hugo Weaving is fun to watch by his campiness and menace for the Red Skull. Tommy Lee Jones is the comic relief here. The special effects are everywhere. Skinny Chris Evans and the background of the 1940s. Well, they are good enough for this film.
Plenty of things worked in the end. Captain America: The First Avenger is a relic in its old fashion style but a little messy when it comes to the editing of the action scenes, but it's still enjoyable. Patriotic heroism, full of heart, Chris Evans, and decent production design. Marvel Studios and Joe Johnston really beats the awful 1990s version. The action could have been better but their flaws can be ignored. It's fun enough as a superhero movie.
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| i don't know |
11, Mafeking Parade is the address of the two main characters in which British television comedy series? | Bottom (Series) - TV Tropes
Born in the Wrong Century : Richie's common lament, which his cultural illiteracy fails to back up. He thinks Shakespeare and the French Revolution were in the same century -- the 13th .
British Brevity : The show ran for 18 episodes.
British Footy Teams : Eddie is mentioned several times as being a fan of Queens Park Rangers. Dick Head also played for them for a brief period, which ended in disaster after he turned out not to know such basic things as which goal to aim for.
Butt Monkey : Both of them, but especially Richie, to cartoonishly extreme levels. At various times, Richie has managed to inadvertently drink urine, break both his legs during the same episode (to the point that both are bent the wrong way at about 90º), fall down the stairs and end up with his head jammed in their disgusting toilet, drink tea with pig semen in it, inhale a dart and get it stuck in the back of his head, hand and bottom, get a tent pole stuck in his eye socket, suffer the most extreme and prolonged projectile vomiting ever seen on stage - I could go on.
Calvinball : Eddie's version is the card game 'One Card Slam' in which Eddie turns over a single card and demands twelve quid from Richie. Since Richie knows nothing about card games (to the extent of not spotting Eddie's five king poker hand) this works very well for Eddie.
Can't Hold His Liquor : Richie needs only one sip of scotch to either become drunk or begin thinking that he's drunk (which amounts to the same thing).
In the fourth live show he doesn't even take a sip, but still believes he is drunk.
One's tempted to conclude that it's all in his head. On one occasion, when he needed a stiff drink to settle his nerves, Eddie offered him a shot of Tizer (a soft drink, for non-Brits), which did the trick anyway.
In another episode, Richie tries to take a swig from an empty bottle Eddie already filled himself with and suddenly believes he's fallen into a drunken stupor, though it doesn't last.
Casanova Wannabe : Both characters. The only difference is that at least Eddie gets some tail once in a while. It was confirmed in "'s Up" that Eddie has had sex, and with someone Richie was trying to propose to.
Chainsaw Good : Richie reacts poorly to Eddie's reassurance that "all the birds love a scar", and cuts him down to size by chainsawing his legs off at the knee.
Characterization Marches On : Richie's penis size, and his resulting insecurity, are given scant mention in the TV show. The stage shows formally measured it at a 1/4 inch and applied the relevant jokes.
Christmas Episode : "Holy". Bizarrely though, this was actually originally broadcast in October.
Cloudcuckoolander : All of the recurring cast to some degree (barring only Dick Head), though Dave Hedgehog seems to be the biggest example.
Comically Missing the Point :
One episode has Richie and Eddie's landlord rope them into to minding his shop while he goes to a funeral, which naturally goes straight to Richie's head . He starts proudly going on about how England is "a nation of shopkeepers" and how that makes them better than countries like France and Italy, no doubt unaware that the saying was prominently used by Emperor Napoleon I. And he meant it derisively.
It's fair to say that whenever Richie claims expertise in a subject, applies his mental faculties to anything or infers some kind of noble role he has fulfilled in the past, he'll either get it completely wrong, fail miserably or be lying so feebly that practically nobody could buy his bullshit.
However, in this case Napoleon's phrase has been treated as Insult Backfire by many British politicians anyway, who praise the tradition of small business in the UK, so Richie wasn't exactly alone in drawing this interpretation.
This quote:
(doorbell rings insistently)
Richie: All right, all right! Take it easy, you bitch! I mean, Your Bitchness, I mean Lady Bi- (groans in frustration) Eddie, what do you call them?
Eddie: Jugs. What do you call 'em?
Eddie and Richie talk about church in "'s Up":
Eddie: When did you last go to church?
Richie: Well I don't have to go - I'm Church of England. What are you, Eddie?
Eddie: I don't know.
Richie: Well, what was your mother?
Eddie: A wrestler.
Richie: Well, maybe that's enough general knowledge for one day.
Another quote from "'s Up":
Richie: (to his landlord) Oh, great. Come in, sit down. Eddie, a cup of tea!
Eddie: Oh, yes please.
Eddie: [A]t least we got the duck.
(Holds up a rubber duck)
Richie: The duck?
Eddie: Yeah, it's made out of plastic!
Richie: Eddie, what in the name of Greek buggery is the use of a plastic duck?
Eddie: It floats in the bath. ("Floats" duck in Richie's face) Hello!
Richie: Why?
Richie: (exasperated) Why the duck?!
Eddie: It came free with the telly.
Richie: Eddie, everything came free with the telly, we were looting! Why didn't you get a free telly with the telly?!
Eddie: Well, then it would sink in the bath!
Continuity Nod : There are a couple:
The uneaten sprouts from the Christmas Episode make a comeback in the Halloween Episode .
In one episode we see Richie struggling to finish War and Peace , but he finally manages to do it in a much later one.
In "Carnival", Richie says it's the '80s and later in the same episode he says it's the '70s.
Counterfeit Cash : This doesn't work too well, since Eddie winds up creating triangular fake banknotes (he claims they're supposed to be Welsh), and others with pornographically detailed portraits. In a brief moment of lucidity (or further insanity) Eddie does mention that the pornographic notes are so barmen will be entranced with them long enough for him to get plastered. In fact it briefly works on Dick, until he comes to his senses and gets on the phone to Skullcrusher, London's most prolific forger. His counterfeits are nearly as bad as Eddie's, but it's not the quality of his counterfeits that makes him the biggest forger in London - more the fact that he crushes the skulls of any competing forger.
Crapsack World : Practically everyone in Richie and Eddie's horrible universe seems to be an unspeakably violent sociopath and/or completely insane. Their alternate Hammersmith is full of kebab shops serving dog, nude vicars running around with guns, deathtrap ferris wheels and travel agents who'll kill you horribly for not paying for your holiday promptly. And everywhere we see them go is dirty, grimy, run-down and miserable.
Double Entendre :
Frequently, in every episode.
Richie: [at camp site] Now, can we just get our equipment out? I mean get our tackle out? No, I mean, get our gear out. Oh God! You can't say anything without some dreadful double entendre lurking around the corner!
Richie frequently misunderstands innocent questions like "How's your sausage?" and "May I drink your juice?", and Eddie lampshades in the last episode.
Richie: Let's get the shopping list done. I'll just grab hold of my ballpoint.
Both: Oo-er!
Eddie: [explosion off screen] Oh no, Richie. No time for crap double-entendres now!
Eddie has a similar problem. Innocent questions from Richie are repeatedly interpreted as references to ill-fitting underpants or something similar.
Eddie: Have you got the crackers?
Richie: No, it's just the way my trousers are rucked up.
Double Triple Take : In the old page pic, Eddie's Reaction Shot is just ten seconds of him flicking his eyes up at Richie and down at Richie's new swimming trunks, trying to reconcile what he's seeing with the person it's attached to.
Eddie: ...Well, where are they?
Richie: That's the thing! They're so tight you can't actually see them... Why did you make me buy a thong, Eddie?!
Drunk with Power :
One episode sees Eddie and Richie put in charge of running their landlord's shop when he has to go to a funeral. Naturally, this goes straight to Richie's head, and as soon as he gets the white coat on he's threatening to punch old ladies, shouting abuse at a man who's just trying to buy champagne for his daughter's birthday and making Eddie wear his suit jacket back-to-front .
Another shows the two catching a burglar in their flat, who they sit on, tie to chair with Sellotape and try to poison. It completely backfires.
Evil Plan :
Dick Head is fond of these. In "Parade" he teams up with the local bookmaker and pawn merchant to scam the locals out of their cash and valuables. Then, in "Dough", he rats out Richie and Eddie's forgery operation to London's biggest forger, "Skullcrusher" Henderson, who demands a £5,000 tribute in order to avoid having to crush Richie and Eddie's skulls. Fortunately, Dick is running a pub quiz with the requisite £5,000 as a prize... unfortunately, it happens to be £5,000 of Skullcrusher's own forged cash, which turns out to be useless for paying off their debt. And they don't discover this until they've already given Dick £1,000 worth of gold teeth for their entry fee.
Richie often thinks he's come up with these, but few of them actually work because his own innate stupidity and inability to predict what people will do usually scuttle them.
Expy : Of the characters they played in Filthy Rich & Catflap . Also pretty similar to the characters they played in The Comic Strip Presents : Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door, The Young Ones and their "Dangerous Brothers" stage act. It's lampshaded by Rik in "Weapons Grade Y-fronts".
Richie: You er.... haven't changed your material much have you?
Extreme Omnivore : Eddie has eaten lard, straight from the pack, and washed it down with cooking oil, as well as yoghurt that was so old it sprouted grass.
Eddie: Who left this pot of cress in the fridge?
Richie: That's not cress, that's that yoghurt you started during the Gulf War.
Eddie: [eats it anyway] ...Doesn't taste like banana and peach...
Fire-Breathing Diner : They turn this trope into Fire Farting Diner thanks to Richie's "sprouts mexicain."
Flat-Earth Atheist : Eddie and Richie state their disbelief in God even when standing on His giant hand which materialised in response to their prayers. This, naturally, causes said hand to disappear in a Puff of Logic .
Forged Message : Richie receives birthday cards from himself every year - only he claims they are from grateful Soviet citizens, Sue Carpenter and the crew of the Ark Royal. Eddie barely manages to play along with the joke with his usual dripping sarcasm:
Eddie: ...and this one's from "The people of the Soviet Union, in grateful thanks to Comrade Richie."
Richie: It's in Russian.
Forgot to Pay the Bill :
In one episode, the TV rental money got spent elsewhere and Richie and Eddie had to resort to playing "put a piece of Sellotape on the fridge", "see how much custard you hold in your pants", and a rather violent game of chess.
Subverted in "Gas". Richie and Eddie have not forgotten to pay their gas bill; instead, they've been stealing from the neighbour's gas line so that they don't need to pay the bill.
Four-Temperament Ensemble : Richie (sanguine), Eddie (choleric), Spudgun (melancholic), and Dave Hedgehog (phlegmatic). Alternatively, Eddie could be seen as sanguine/choleric and Dave could be seen as phlegmatic/sanguine.
Fridge Logic : In��universe � Halfway through Contest Richie realises
that� ₤11·80note Eddie�s savings, which the pair have live from for the following two months.�₤1·50note Cost of a porn mag/art pamphlet Eddie bought as investment.≠30pnote What Eddie claims is leftover, the missing ten pounds sterling apparently went on a 1000-1 bet on Miss China in the Miss World Contest. See I Lied for where the money really went.
"Friends" Rent Control : Despite having lived on the dole since 1978, they're in no danger of being kicked out for non-payment. Even a flat as God-awful as theirs wouldn't drop the rent that low. Of course, Richie's Auntie Mabel is the one who pays the rent (quick, hide the fags).
Gainax Ending : Surprisingly this is how the "canon" of Bottom ended in the final stage show. After traipsing through (an extremely minimalistic depiction of) history in Eddie's time travelling toilet (The TURDIS) for half the show, the boys are trapped at the dawn of creation itself, where they are beholden unto a colossal pair of Y-Fronts which Richie claims are the origin point of existence. Eddie declares he's too confused to even start processing what is occurring. They then break into a reiteration of the previous show's Pants song, close curtain.
Gargle Blaster :
Eddie's concoction of brandy, meths (methylated spirit or denatured alcohol), Pernod, paint stripper, Mr Sheen, brake fluid and Drambuie.
Weapons Grade Lager which is made of industrial strength cleaners and the entire contents of the medical cabinet.
On one occasion, they attempt to make a vodka Martini without having any of the necessary ingredients on hand; they end up combining Pernod and ouzo with a spoonful of marmalade (since they don't have any glacé cherries) and salt on the rim of each glass. Eddie suggests naming it the Bloody Awful, or perhaps the Esther Rantzen — "It pulls your gums back over your teeth".
In "Terror," Eddie creates some homebrew which has the appearance and consistency of roofing tar, and has a habit of dissolving enamel and porcelain, requiring them to drink it out of steel pans.
A God Am I : Richie has on occasion managed to convince himself that the fact that he's still a virgin means he's the new Messiah, because he's being kept 'pure' due to being 'better than everyone in the entire universe'. As opposed to the rather more likely explanation that he's just a completely repugnant and unlikeable creep who no one in their right mind would ever want to sleep with.
Goshdang It To Heck : Despite regularly swearing like a trooper, Richie sporadically uses polite alternatives, presumably because he thinks it sounds posher.
Groin Attack : Inevitably shows up during the knock-down-drag-out fistfights.
Halloween Episode : "Terror". And fitting in with the unusual scheduling of their Christmas episode, this one was originally broadcast in January.
Hammer Space : Eddie's overcoat is capable of storing a seemingly unlimited variety of alcoholic beverages. Including a pint glass full of lager.
Heterosexual Life-Partners : Richie and Eddie. Oh, so much (except that Richie is arguably suicidally desperate). And they've been at it for decades, too.
Hideous Hangover Cure : Made from 7 raw eggs, washing up liquid, Domestos and ant spray, and apparently intended to be ingested through the nose.
Lethal Chef :
Just to show that there is no start to Richie's talents, he cooked Christmas dinner. His roast potatoes were carbonised, and broke the plate when he served them; the sprouts were closer to mash and he cremated the turkey. And the less said about his 'slap up grill for two' (with all the ingredients grown, found or foraged), the better. And whatever you do, don't try his sprouts Mexicain, a mix of sprouts, various spices and gunpowder.
Eddie isn't much better. Vodka margarine - with a couple of cans of hairspray for flammability.
Meaningful Name :
In the second live show Eddie pretends to be looking after a tortoise for Geoffrey Nasty. To make things worse for Richie who had presumably killed the tortoise, he points out that Geoffrey is a psychopathic penis remover and his nickname is simply "Ooh Fuck". He later admits he was joking to make Richie shit himself, which worked. Also it wasn't a tortoise at all.
Another in the second show is Mr. Big whom Eddie believes should be called "Mr. Absolutely Fucking Enormous, Violent, Ugly Psychopath and Surrounded by the Dead and Dying".
Skullcrusher Henderson, named after his favorite way of dealing with those who irk him.
Spudgun claims to have one. Give him a potato and he'll show you.
Mood Whiplash : At the end of the first live show Richie thanks Eddie for being his friend. Eddie looks at the audience with a touched expression on his face but then immediately brushes it off.
The Movie : The two main characters were transplanted into Guest House Paradiso , slapstick, simple plans and all. When it came out on DVD it was advertised as "The Bottom Movie", just to drive the point home.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast : Skullcrusher.
Never Gets Drunk : Eddie has only been drunk once, but he never sobered up. He is thus immune to inebriation.
Nobody Poops : Brutally averted numerous times, not least in the live show where Richie manages to have the "jappy-crappies" for three years and spends a good portion of the show with his back from knees to shoulders covered in explosive diarrhoea.
Richie: Is my skid mark showing?
Eddie: Not so much a skid mark, more a half-mile stretch of the Maginot Line. Alright: an emergency runway. In Bosnia. In winter. That's covered in shit.
No Communities Were Harmed : An unusual subversion, since Richie and Eddie are mentioned several times as living in the Hammersmith district of London. However, the district is constantly implied to be extremely run-down and violent, whereas the real-life Hammersmith is actually one of London's more affluent areas. Which is probably the reason Richie thinks he's part of the middle class. (Their road, sometimes called Mafeking
Terrace and sometimes Mafeking Parade, doesn't exist in Hammersmith, London. There are a couple of Mafeking Terraces elsewhere in the country.)
No Fourth Wall : Instances of this go from the occasional Aside Glance to lengthy monologues addressing the audience. It's even more blatant in the live shows; Richie and Eddie are completely aware that they're fictional characters on a stage, and have no problem insulting the audience's hometowns, threatening to fire crew members, and complaining that all their troubles are the fault of those fat ugly bastards who play them .
A lot of guest characters and minor characters share names with various well-known footballers of the day (Lineker, Grobbelaar, etc). The references are not always flattering.
Richie and Eddie sometimes watch Emmerdale and mention the series in their conversations.
Richie reads War and Peace in "Apocalypse" and finishes it in "Dough". Eddie, Spudgun and Hedgehog watch the film version in "Accident".
Example from an early episode: Richie and Eddie have been stealing from the neighbour's gas line; now they have to come up with a way to disconnect it without getting caught... the kitchen explodes into a fireball in the process.
Richie: What the bloody hell are you doing!?
Eddie: ...Just thought I'd burn it off.
Richie: What, your face?
Another when they try to steal a Falklands War veteran's leg to put the money on a three-legged, blind race horse whose jockey gets shot. The following plan of mugging people in the toilets to buy the leg back is foiled by the first victim - a police officer.
Averted when Richie get an apparent death curse from a fortune teller, which he believes was a plot by Eddie to steal the other half of his inheritance from auntie Olga.
In general, Richie and Eddie will inevitably let their fundamental stupidity, lack of foresight and inability to solve problems without violence bollocks up any kind of plan they make, no matter how seemingly straightforward and simple it should be.
Small Name, Big Ego : Richie. He's convinced he's better than everyone else, and on one occasion, he almost deluded himself into thinking he was "the new messiah."
Spiritual Successor : To The Young Ones and Filthy Rich & Catflap . It was also inspired by their West End production of Waiting for Godot .
Spot of Tea : A Running Gag with several disgusting variations, such as coagulated three-month-old tea, or elm tea.
Richie: The gypsies swear by it.
Eddie I bet they do; I bet they say "What the bloody hell is this?"
Another when the gas man comes to read their meter which is empty since they've been stealing from the neighbours
Richie: You must, you must, you must drink our tea! It's the best tea in London! Sit down and drink it! For about twelve minutes!
Also in the first live show, Eddie tries to kill Richie with a concoction of tea and goat poison.
Stock Yuck : The traditional British joke about Brussels Sprouts for Christmas.
Made worse by the fact that the sprouts in question are being served in October. The following October.
Richie: Yes, they were a bit... frisky...
And the hangover cure made of 7 raw eggs, washing up liquid, Domestos, Jif and ant spray.
In the third live show Richie offers Eddie some cocktails made of the most disgusting ingredients.
1) Gin, blood and porcupine shit (without the gin)
2) Coconut milk and napalm
3) Tree bark, sea water and porcupine urine
Richie: How about a nice, slow, comfortable....fist up the arse?
Eddie: [puzzled] Well... I've got a mother.
Lily: No, no no no, I meant to Adolf Hitler.
Eddie: Yes! That's her!
Richie's father, Oswald (as in Oswald Moseley) Richard, is all but stated to have been a Nazi sympathizer and traitor to Britain. Richie is, of course, far too stupid to realise this.
Tim Taylor Technology : If you compare a real-life cattle prod to Richie and Eddie's cattle prod from "Terror"[[note]](which is about four feet long, has to be carried via a shoulder strap and has enough batteries and wiring to power a medium-sized street), it's no wonder Richie keeps crapping his pants whenever he gets zapped by it.
Time Skip : Several in a row in "Carnival". Eddie proudly tells Richie that he knows how to hook up the video players he stole that morning. Cut to a week later, and Eddie has nearly finished unwrapping the components. Cut to the following Christmas, and Eddie is ready to open the instruction manual. Cut to Richie returning from his holiday the following summer, and Eddie is finally ready to fire up the VCR... except it doesn't so much fire up as blow up.
Too Dumb to Live : Obviously.
Trouser Space : Richie manages to steal a BBC camera this way. "There's plenty of space in my trousers... sadly."
The Unseen : Richie's relatives including at least two aunties and a sister, who is just like him (only with smaller jugs), and Ethel Cardew, Eddie's ostensible girlfriend who hasn't spoken to Eddie since the superglue incident . (Nor to anyone else either.)
There's also Fatty Amal who apparently owns the kebab shop across the street.
Toilet Humour :
There's a Running Gag in the series that Richie and Eddie shit themselves when they get in trouble.
In "Dough", Richie hides some encyclopaedias in a toilet cubicle and puts an "Out of Order" sign on the door. When he comes back, somebody is occupying the cubicle. Richie asks him if he didn't see the sign, and the man in the cubicle says he did but is out of order as well. This is followed by a series of loud fart and diarrhoea sounds. The man also thinks the books are in fact "posh loo paper".
In "Carnival", Richie trips on stairs and falls head first into the toilet. When he gets out, his head and face have brown stains everywhere.
Richie: "You bastard, Eddie! Why do you never flush the toilet?"
Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist : Both of them. The fact that Eddie, a deranged hyper-violent lecherous alcoholic known to drink brake fluid and Domestos, is actually the (marginally) less unsympathetic one gives you an idea what Richie is like.
Vitriolic Best Buds : For two people who spend most of their time beating the living crap out of each other, Eddie and Richie certainly are very inseparable. This is almost certainly because no one but the other would put up with them though.
Vomit Indiscretion Shot : The Movie Guest House Paradiso has one of the most revolting examples in the history of cinema.
| Bottom |
A group of which birds is known as a ‘Tidings’? | Bottom (Series) - TV Tropes
Born in the Wrong Century : Richie's common lament, which his cultural illiteracy fails to back up. He thinks Shakespeare and the French Revolution were in the same century -- the 13th .
British Brevity : The show ran for 18 episodes.
British Footy Teams : Eddie is mentioned several times as being a fan of Queens Park Rangers. Dick Head also played for them for a brief period, which ended in disaster after he turned out not to know such basic things as which goal to aim for.
Butt Monkey : Both of them, but especially Richie, to cartoonishly extreme levels. At various times, Richie has managed to inadvertently drink urine, break both his legs during the same episode (to the point that both are bent the wrong way at about 90º), fall down the stairs and end up with his head jammed in their disgusting toilet, drink tea with pig semen in it, inhale a dart and get it stuck in the back of his head, hand and bottom, get a tent pole stuck in his eye socket, suffer the most extreme and prolonged projectile vomiting ever seen on stage - I could go on.
Calvinball : Eddie's version is the card game 'One Card Slam' in which Eddie turns over a single card and demands twelve quid from Richie. Since Richie knows nothing about card games (to the extent of not spotting Eddie's five king poker hand) this works very well for Eddie.
Can't Hold His Liquor : Richie needs only one sip of scotch to either become drunk or begin thinking that he's drunk (which amounts to the same thing).
In the fourth live show he doesn't even take a sip, but still believes he is drunk.
One's tempted to conclude that it's all in his head. On one occasion, when he needed a stiff drink to settle his nerves, Eddie offered him a shot of Tizer (a soft drink, for non-Brits), which did the trick anyway.
In another episode, Richie tries to take a swig from an empty bottle Eddie already filled himself with and suddenly believes he's fallen into a drunken stupor, though it doesn't last.
Casanova Wannabe : Both characters. The only difference is that at least Eddie gets some tail once in a while. It was confirmed in "'s Up" that Eddie has had sex, and with someone Richie was trying to propose to.
Chainsaw Good : Richie reacts poorly to Eddie's reassurance that "all the birds love a scar", and cuts him down to size by chainsawing his legs off at the knee.
Characterization Marches On : Richie's penis size, and his resulting insecurity, are given scant mention in the TV show. The stage shows formally measured it at a 1/4 inch and applied the relevant jokes.
Christmas Episode : "Holy". Bizarrely though, this was actually originally broadcast in October.
Cloudcuckoolander : All of the recurring cast to some degree (barring only Dick Head), though Dave Hedgehog seems to be the biggest example.
Comically Missing the Point :
One episode has Richie and Eddie's landlord rope them into to minding his shop while he goes to a funeral, which naturally goes straight to Richie's head . He starts proudly going on about how England is "a nation of shopkeepers" and how that makes them better than countries like France and Italy, no doubt unaware that the saying was prominently used by Emperor Napoleon I. And he meant it derisively.
It's fair to say that whenever Richie claims expertise in a subject, applies his mental faculties to anything or infers some kind of noble role he has fulfilled in the past, he'll either get it completely wrong, fail miserably or be lying so feebly that practically nobody could buy his bullshit.
However, in this case Napoleon's phrase has been treated as Insult Backfire by many British politicians anyway, who praise the tradition of small business in the UK, so Richie wasn't exactly alone in drawing this interpretation.
This quote:
(doorbell rings insistently)
Richie: All right, all right! Take it easy, you bitch! I mean, Your Bitchness, I mean Lady Bi- (groans in frustration) Eddie, what do you call them?
Eddie: Jugs. What do you call 'em?
Eddie and Richie talk about church in "'s Up":
Eddie: When did you last go to church?
Richie: Well I don't have to go - I'm Church of England. What are you, Eddie?
Eddie: I don't know.
Richie: Well, what was your mother?
Eddie: A wrestler.
Richie: Well, maybe that's enough general knowledge for one day.
Another quote from "'s Up":
Richie: (to his landlord) Oh, great. Come in, sit down. Eddie, a cup of tea!
Eddie: Oh, yes please.
Eddie: [A]t least we got the duck.
(Holds up a rubber duck)
Richie: The duck?
Eddie: Yeah, it's made out of plastic!
Richie: Eddie, what in the name of Greek buggery is the use of a plastic duck?
Eddie: It floats in the bath. ("Floats" duck in Richie's face) Hello!
Richie: Why?
Richie: (exasperated) Why the duck?!
Eddie: It came free with the telly.
Richie: Eddie, everything came free with the telly, we were looting! Why didn't you get a free telly with the telly?!
Eddie: Well, then it would sink in the bath!
Continuity Nod : There are a couple:
The uneaten sprouts from the Christmas Episode make a comeback in the Halloween Episode .
In one episode we see Richie struggling to finish War and Peace , but he finally manages to do it in a much later one.
In "Carnival", Richie says it's the '80s and later in the same episode he says it's the '70s.
Counterfeit Cash : This doesn't work too well, since Eddie winds up creating triangular fake banknotes (he claims they're supposed to be Welsh), and others with pornographically detailed portraits. In a brief moment of lucidity (or further insanity) Eddie does mention that the pornographic notes are so barmen will be entranced with them long enough for him to get plastered. In fact it briefly works on Dick, until he comes to his senses and gets on the phone to Skullcrusher, London's most prolific forger. His counterfeits are nearly as bad as Eddie's, but it's not the quality of his counterfeits that makes him the biggest forger in London - more the fact that he crushes the skulls of any competing forger.
Crapsack World : Practically everyone in Richie and Eddie's horrible universe seems to be an unspeakably violent sociopath and/or completely insane. Their alternate Hammersmith is full of kebab shops serving dog, nude vicars running around with guns, deathtrap ferris wheels and travel agents who'll kill you horribly for not paying for your holiday promptly. And everywhere we see them go is dirty, grimy, run-down and miserable.
Double Entendre :
Frequently, in every episode.
Richie: [at camp site] Now, can we just get our equipment out? I mean get our tackle out? No, I mean, get our gear out. Oh God! You can't say anything without some dreadful double entendre lurking around the corner!
Richie frequently misunderstands innocent questions like "How's your sausage?" and "May I drink your juice?", and Eddie lampshades in the last episode.
Richie: Let's get the shopping list done. I'll just grab hold of my ballpoint.
Both: Oo-er!
Eddie: [explosion off screen] Oh no, Richie. No time for crap double-entendres now!
Eddie has a similar problem. Innocent questions from Richie are repeatedly interpreted as references to ill-fitting underpants or something similar.
Eddie: Have you got the crackers?
Richie: No, it's just the way my trousers are rucked up.
Double Triple Take : In the old page pic, Eddie's Reaction Shot is just ten seconds of him flicking his eyes up at Richie and down at Richie's new swimming trunks, trying to reconcile what he's seeing with the person it's attached to.
Eddie: ...Well, where are they?
Richie: That's the thing! They're so tight you can't actually see them... Why did you make me buy a thong, Eddie?!
Drunk with Power :
One episode sees Eddie and Richie put in charge of running their landlord's shop when he has to go to a funeral. Naturally, this goes straight to Richie's head, and as soon as he gets the white coat on he's threatening to punch old ladies, shouting abuse at a man who's just trying to buy champagne for his daughter's birthday and making Eddie wear his suit jacket back-to-front .
Another shows the two catching a burglar in their flat, who they sit on, tie to chair with Sellotape and try to poison. It completely backfires.
Evil Plan :
Dick Head is fond of these. In "Parade" he teams up with the local bookmaker and pawn merchant to scam the locals out of their cash and valuables. Then, in "Dough", he rats out Richie and Eddie's forgery operation to London's biggest forger, "Skullcrusher" Henderson, who demands a £5,000 tribute in order to avoid having to crush Richie and Eddie's skulls. Fortunately, Dick is running a pub quiz with the requisite £5,000 as a prize... unfortunately, it happens to be £5,000 of Skullcrusher's own forged cash, which turns out to be useless for paying off their debt. And they don't discover this until they've already given Dick £1,000 worth of gold teeth for their entry fee.
Richie often thinks he's come up with these, but few of them actually work because his own innate stupidity and inability to predict what people will do usually scuttle them.
Expy : Of the characters they played in Filthy Rich & Catflap . Also pretty similar to the characters they played in The Comic Strip Presents : Mr. Jolly Lives Next Door, The Young Ones and their "Dangerous Brothers" stage act. It's lampshaded by Rik in "Weapons Grade Y-fronts".
Richie: You er.... haven't changed your material much have you?
Extreme Omnivore : Eddie has eaten lard, straight from the pack, and washed it down with cooking oil, as well as yoghurt that was so old it sprouted grass.
Eddie: Who left this pot of cress in the fridge?
Richie: That's not cress, that's that yoghurt you started during the Gulf War.
Eddie: [eats it anyway] ...Doesn't taste like banana and peach...
Fire-Breathing Diner : They turn this trope into Fire Farting Diner thanks to Richie's "sprouts mexicain."
Flat-Earth Atheist : Eddie and Richie state their disbelief in God even when standing on His giant hand which materialised in response to their prayers. This, naturally, causes said hand to disappear in a Puff of Logic .
Forged Message : Richie receives birthday cards from himself every year - only he claims they are from grateful Soviet citizens, Sue Carpenter and the crew of the Ark Royal. Eddie barely manages to play along with the joke with his usual dripping sarcasm:
Eddie: ...and this one's from "The people of the Soviet Union, in grateful thanks to Comrade Richie."
Richie: It's in Russian.
Forgot to Pay the Bill :
In one episode, the TV rental money got spent elsewhere and Richie and Eddie had to resort to playing "put a piece of Sellotape on the fridge", "see how much custard you hold in your pants", and a rather violent game of chess.
Subverted in "Gas". Richie and Eddie have not forgotten to pay their gas bill; instead, they've been stealing from the neighbour's gas line so that they don't need to pay the bill.
Four-Temperament Ensemble : Richie (sanguine), Eddie (choleric), Spudgun (melancholic), and Dave Hedgehog (phlegmatic). Alternatively, Eddie could be seen as sanguine/choleric and Dave could be seen as phlegmatic/sanguine.
Fridge Logic : In��universe � Halfway through Contest Richie realises
that� ₤11·80note Eddie�s savings, which the pair have live from for the following two months.�₤1·50note Cost of a porn mag/art pamphlet Eddie bought as investment.≠30pnote What Eddie claims is leftover, the missing ten pounds sterling apparently went on a 1000-1 bet on Miss China in the Miss World Contest. See I Lied for where the money really went.
"Friends" Rent Control : Despite having lived on the dole since 1978, they're in no danger of being kicked out for non-payment. Even a flat as God-awful as theirs wouldn't drop the rent that low. Of course, Richie's Auntie Mabel is the one who pays the rent (quick, hide the fags).
Gainax Ending : Surprisingly this is how the "canon" of Bottom ended in the final stage show. After traipsing through (an extremely minimalistic depiction of) history in Eddie's time travelling toilet (The TURDIS) for half the show, the boys are trapped at the dawn of creation itself, where they are beholden unto a colossal pair of Y-Fronts which Richie claims are the origin point of existence. Eddie declares he's too confused to even start processing what is occurring. They then break into a reiteration of the previous show's Pants song, close curtain.
Gargle Blaster :
Eddie's concoction of brandy, meths (methylated spirit or denatured alcohol), Pernod, paint stripper, Mr Sheen, brake fluid and Drambuie.
Weapons Grade Lager which is made of industrial strength cleaners and the entire contents of the medical cabinet.
On one occasion, they attempt to make a vodka Martini without having any of the necessary ingredients on hand; they end up combining Pernod and ouzo with a spoonful of marmalade (since they don't have any glacé cherries) and salt on the rim of each glass. Eddie suggests naming it the Bloody Awful, or perhaps the Esther Rantzen — "It pulls your gums back over your teeth".
In "Terror," Eddie creates some homebrew which has the appearance and consistency of roofing tar, and has a habit of dissolving enamel and porcelain, requiring them to drink it out of steel pans.
A God Am I : Richie has on occasion managed to convince himself that the fact that he's still a virgin means he's the new Messiah, because he's being kept 'pure' due to being 'better than everyone in the entire universe'. As opposed to the rather more likely explanation that he's just a completely repugnant and unlikeable creep who no one in their right mind would ever want to sleep with.
Goshdang It To Heck : Despite regularly swearing like a trooper, Richie sporadically uses polite alternatives, presumably because he thinks it sounds posher.
Groin Attack : Inevitably shows up during the knock-down-drag-out fistfights.
Halloween Episode : "Terror". And fitting in with the unusual scheduling of their Christmas episode, this one was originally broadcast in January.
Hammer Space : Eddie's overcoat is capable of storing a seemingly unlimited variety of alcoholic beverages. Including a pint glass full of lager.
Heterosexual Life-Partners : Richie and Eddie. Oh, so much (except that Richie is arguably suicidally desperate). And they've been at it for decades, too.
Hideous Hangover Cure : Made from 7 raw eggs, washing up liquid, Domestos and ant spray, and apparently intended to be ingested through the nose.
Lethal Chef :
Just to show that there is no start to Richie's talents, he cooked Christmas dinner. His roast potatoes were carbonised, and broke the plate when he served them; the sprouts were closer to mash and he cremated the turkey. And the less said about his 'slap up grill for two' (with all the ingredients grown, found or foraged), the better. And whatever you do, don't try his sprouts Mexicain, a mix of sprouts, various spices and gunpowder.
Eddie isn't much better. Vodka margarine - with a couple of cans of hairspray for flammability.
Meaningful Name :
In the second live show Eddie pretends to be looking after a tortoise for Geoffrey Nasty. To make things worse for Richie who had presumably killed the tortoise, he points out that Geoffrey is a psychopathic penis remover and his nickname is simply "Ooh Fuck". He later admits he was joking to make Richie shit himself, which worked. Also it wasn't a tortoise at all.
Another in the second show is Mr. Big whom Eddie believes should be called "Mr. Absolutely Fucking Enormous, Violent, Ugly Psychopath and Surrounded by the Dead and Dying".
Skullcrusher Henderson, named after his favorite way of dealing with those who irk him.
Spudgun claims to have one. Give him a potato and he'll show you.
Mood Whiplash : At the end of the first live show Richie thanks Eddie for being his friend. Eddie looks at the audience with a touched expression on his face but then immediately brushes it off.
The Movie : The two main characters were transplanted into Guest House Paradiso , slapstick, simple plans and all. When it came out on DVD it was advertised as "The Bottom Movie", just to drive the point home.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast : Skullcrusher.
Never Gets Drunk : Eddie has only been drunk once, but he never sobered up. He is thus immune to inebriation.
Nobody Poops : Brutally averted numerous times, not least in the live show where Richie manages to have the "jappy-crappies" for three years and spends a good portion of the show with his back from knees to shoulders covered in explosive diarrhoea.
Richie: Is my skid mark showing?
Eddie: Not so much a skid mark, more a half-mile stretch of the Maginot Line. Alright: an emergency runway. In Bosnia. In winter. That's covered in shit.
No Communities Were Harmed : An unusual subversion, since Richie and Eddie are mentioned several times as living in the Hammersmith district of London. However, the district is constantly implied to be extremely run-down and violent, whereas the real-life Hammersmith is actually one of London's more affluent areas. Which is probably the reason Richie thinks he's part of the middle class. (Their road, sometimes called Mafeking
Terrace and sometimes Mafeking Parade, doesn't exist in Hammersmith, London. There are a couple of Mafeking Terraces elsewhere in the country.)
No Fourth Wall : Instances of this go from the occasional Aside Glance to lengthy monologues addressing the audience. It's even more blatant in the live shows; Richie and Eddie are completely aware that they're fictional characters on a stage, and have no problem insulting the audience's hometowns, threatening to fire crew members, and complaining that all their troubles are the fault of those fat ugly bastards who play them .
A lot of guest characters and minor characters share names with various well-known footballers of the day (Lineker, Grobbelaar, etc). The references are not always flattering.
Richie and Eddie sometimes watch Emmerdale and mention the series in their conversations.
Richie reads War and Peace in "Apocalypse" and finishes it in "Dough". Eddie, Spudgun and Hedgehog watch the film version in "Accident".
Example from an early episode: Richie and Eddie have been stealing from the neighbour's gas line; now they have to come up with a way to disconnect it without getting caught... the kitchen explodes into a fireball in the process.
Richie: What the bloody hell are you doing!?
Eddie: ...Just thought I'd burn it off.
Richie: What, your face?
Another when they try to steal a Falklands War veteran's leg to put the money on a three-legged, blind race horse whose jockey gets shot. The following plan of mugging people in the toilets to buy the leg back is foiled by the first victim - a police officer.
Averted when Richie get an apparent death curse from a fortune teller, which he believes was a plot by Eddie to steal the other half of his inheritance from auntie Olga.
In general, Richie and Eddie will inevitably let their fundamental stupidity, lack of foresight and inability to solve problems without violence bollocks up any kind of plan they make, no matter how seemingly straightforward and simple it should be.
Small Name, Big Ego : Richie. He's convinced he's better than everyone else, and on one occasion, he almost deluded himself into thinking he was "the new messiah."
Spiritual Successor : To The Young Ones and Filthy Rich & Catflap . It was also inspired by their West End production of Waiting for Godot .
Spot of Tea : A Running Gag with several disgusting variations, such as coagulated three-month-old tea, or elm tea.
Richie: The gypsies swear by it.
Eddie I bet they do; I bet they say "What the bloody hell is this?"
Another when the gas man comes to read their meter which is empty since they've been stealing from the neighbours
Richie: You must, you must, you must drink our tea! It's the best tea in London! Sit down and drink it! For about twelve minutes!
Also in the first live show, Eddie tries to kill Richie with a concoction of tea and goat poison.
Stock Yuck : The traditional British joke about Brussels Sprouts for Christmas.
Made worse by the fact that the sprouts in question are being served in October. The following October.
Richie: Yes, they were a bit... frisky...
And the hangover cure made of 7 raw eggs, washing up liquid, Domestos, Jif and ant spray.
In the third live show Richie offers Eddie some cocktails made of the most disgusting ingredients.
1) Gin, blood and porcupine shit (without the gin)
2) Coconut milk and napalm
3) Tree bark, sea water and porcupine urine
Richie: How about a nice, slow, comfortable....fist up the arse?
Eddie: [puzzled] Well... I've got a mother.
Lily: No, no no no, I meant to Adolf Hitler.
Eddie: Yes! That's her!
Richie's father, Oswald (as in Oswald Moseley) Richard, is all but stated to have been a Nazi sympathizer and traitor to Britain. Richie is, of course, far too stupid to realise this.
Tim Taylor Technology : If you compare a real-life cattle prod to Richie and Eddie's cattle prod from "Terror"[[note]](which is about four feet long, has to be carried via a shoulder strap and has enough batteries and wiring to power a medium-sized street), it's no wonder Richie keeps crapping his pants whenever he gets zapped by it.
Time Skip : Several in a row in "Carnival". Eddie proudly tells Richie that he knows how to hook up the video players he stole that morning. Cut to a week later, and Eddie has nearly finished unwrapping the components. Cut to the following Christmas, and Eddie is ready to open the instruction manual. Cut to Richie returning from his holiday the following summer, and Eddie is finally ready to fire up the VCR... except it doesn't so much fire up as blow up.
Too Dumb to Live : Obviously.
Trouser Space : Richie manages to steal a BBC camera this way. "There's plenty of space in my trousers... sadly."
The Unseen : Richie's relatives including at least two aunties and a sister, who is just like him (only with smaller jugs), and Ethel Cardew, Eddie's ostensible girlfriend who hasn't spoken to Eddie since the superglue incident . (Nor to anyone else either.)
There's also Fatty Amal who apparently owns the kebab shop across the street.
Toilet Humour :
There's a Running Gag in the series that Richie and Eddie shit themselves when they get in trouble.
In "Dough", Richie hides some encyclopaedias in a toilet cubicle and puts an "Out of Order" sign on the door. When he comes back, somebody is occupying the cubicle. Richie asks him if he didn't see the sign, and the man in the cubicle says he did but is out of order as well. This is followed by a series of loud fart and diarrhoea sounds. The man also thinks the books are in fact "posh loo paper".
In "Carnival", Richie trips on stairs and falls head first into the toilet. When he gets out, his head and face have brown stains everywhere.
Richie: "You bastard, Eddie! Why do you never flush the toilet?"
Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist : Both of them. The fact that Eddie, a deranged hyper-violent lecherous alcoholic known to drink brake fluid and Domestos, is actually the (marginally) less unsympathetic one gives you an idea what Richie is like.
Vitriolic Best Buds : For two people who spend most of their time beating the living crap out of each other, Eddie and Richie certainly are very inseparable. This is almost certainly because no one but the other would put up with them though.
Vomit Indiscretion Shot : The Movie Guest House Paradiso has one of the most revolting examples in the history of cinema.
| i don't know |
Extinct volcano Hallasan is the highest point in which Asian country? | Peanuts Travels: Mount Hallasan, Jeju, South Korea
Peanuts Travels
About Peanuts Travels
This blog shares my travel experiences esp in mountain trekking which I have developed a great interest since my 1st climb in Taiwan. Since then I
have been trying to climb more mountains whenever I can. And to couple my climbs with leisure travelling to places of adventure. The freedom of doing what
you want and where you want, is the true meaning of travelling.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Mount Hallasan, Jeju, South Korea
Just About Mt Hallasan
Mt Hallasan summit, crater
Mt Hallasan, being an extinct volcano, is the highest mountain in South Korea. Located right in the centre of Jeju Island, standing at a height of 1950m. Mt Hallasan was designated as a National Park on 24 March 1970 and as an area under the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in December 2002. There are 4 trails to trek at Mt Hallasan, namely Eorimok Trail, Yeongsil Trail, Seongpanak Trail, and Gwaneumsa Trail. Only 2 trails will lead to the summit which is a crater named Baeknokdam. All the trails start at different locations with some locations having inter-city bus service stopping at these start points. For the Seongpanak Trail, taking the road 1131 to the east will bring you to the start point. Gwaneumsa Trail, it will be road 1117 to the north. Eorimok and Yeongsil Trail, it will be the road 1139 to the west of Mt Hallasan. Mt Hallasan offers different spectacular scenery for each individual season. In winter, snow will cover the trail from the start point all the way to the summit. Our trek to Mt Hallasan was at the beginning of the winter months in early December 2009, and snow was already present even at the start point at an altitude of just 600m. The climb to the summit takes about 4~5hrs, depending which trail to take. Some prefer to take different routes for the ascent and descend. For us, we returned the same we came as our rental car was parked at the Seongpanak entrance.
Gimpo Airport, Flight to Jeju
Getting There
We took a night flight from Singapore and arrived at Incheon International airport the next morning at 6:30am. The entire airport looked deserted with very few planes on the tarmac. Temperature was cold at 0 degree Celsius on the outside. After clearing immigration and getting our bags, we made out way to the underground airport express train (AREX) to the Gimpo domestic airport. This AREX is a new train line linked to Gimpo airport and some stations in between. Plans are in placed to have this AREX extend all the way to the heart of Seoul. But as of now, to get to central Seoul using trains, you will need to change to a local subway at Gimpo airport which is linked to Seoul city. Of course there are always the buses and taxis at Incheon airport. Taxis will cost much more and so bus will be a better option for budget travelers. When we reached Gimpo airport, we immediately checked in our luggage and went for some Dunkin Donuts. Flights between Gimpo and Jeju are very frequent, almost in hourly interval. We boarded our flight at 10:25am and landed in the warmer Jeju Island around 12 noon. Once we entered the arrival halls, we made our way to our pre-booked rental car. English is still a problem for Koreans even serving in the tourism industry. But of course those that could speak very fluent will be those staffs stationed at the airport information counter. After so sign language and finger pointing here and there. We got the car number and proceeded to the outside car park to get our car. The rental car park lot is an actual airport car park. I had to pay for the parking fee when I tried to leave the car park area. I paid about 2000 won as the parking fee for the rental car.
Our rental car in Jeju
Driving on the right side was uncomfortable and stressful initially. But after some practice, I got the hang of it and the entire driving experience in Jeju wasn’t too bad. Jeju is considered to be a less traffic island, so the number of cars in the road is less. We took the scenic west bound route as recommended by the KTO (Korea tourism office) guidebook which plies along the coast. The average speed on the island is about 50km/h, esp. in the town area and you can only hit 70km/h on those bigger highways. The car has a GPS but it is in Korean and we spent quite a considerable amount of time trying to use it. In the end, we gave up and rely just on the maps that we got from the Singapore KTO for our 3 days self drive in Jeju.
Outside the Kitchen Oh Cafe
As we were driving along the west coast of Jeju, we were on the lookout for a place to have lunch. Surviving just on those donuts at Gimpo airport wasn’t enough. Many shops have signs in Korean which we didn’t understand. Of course we could just go in and point to their menu. But restaurants outside of the city area have little customers and we were not sure if they were really open for business. Then we came across a unique restaurant by the sea with the name “Kitchen Oh”. That sounded English and we just made a quick U-turn into the restaurant car park.
Pork Cutlet, yum yum
The restaurant has a few customers at that time and we were assured that they were open for business. The restaurant served Japanese food which is out favorite and we ordered tonkatsu (pork cutlet). We really took a long break at the restaurant, admiring the décor and the nice photographs the owner took and hanged on the walls. It was more like a simple boutique restaurant and after our meal; we took a walk down a flight of stone stairs all the way to the sea. It was cold with the strong winds and we didn’t stay too long before heading back to our car and continued our journey.
Finding our hotel wasn’t easy. We had booked our accommodation at the KAL hotel all the way in the south, near the Seogwipo City. We did some sightseeing along the west coast and by 7pm, we were still somewhere in the south-west area and it was already dark. In winter, daylight is short, sunrise is about 630am, and sunset is about 6pm. By 7pm, it was already pitch dark. We managed to reach our hotel at 8:30pm after spotted out hotel as we were driving along the south coast line. It was a tired day then because we did not catch any sleep on our 6hr flight from Singapore. So we just settle our dinner at the hotel café and off to sleep in preparation for the next day hike to Mt Hallasan.
Seongpanak Car Park
The next morning, we were late. The alarm that we set was still Singapore time, which is one hr later than Korea local time. We quickly changed into our hiking gear, drowned down a cup of install noodles, grabbed our prepared food and jumped into our car. Outside temperature was still cold, but much better than the temperature in Seoul. We hit the road and drove towards highway 1131, which leads all the way to Jeju-si in the north. This road also leads to our start point for the hike which is the Seongpanak Trail entrance. Once our car started to ascend higher on the mountain road, we could see cold accumulating at the sides of the road. Happy we were that we would be seeing snow for our climb. At 8am, we reached the car park of the Seongpanak entrance. There is a shop that sells some snacks and hiking stuffs. Didn’t go into the shop as we are eager to start the climb because we were an hour late. To ascent the summit, you must reach the Azalea Field Shelter by 12noon, and by 1:30pm, all visitors must leave the summit area.
Start of Seongpanak Trail
Trail near the start point
At the trail entrance, we bought entrance tickets (400won each) and paid for our parking (1000 won). The trail started off with a combination of rocks and snow. Grip on our hiking shoes were good enough at that point. But we do see many Korean hikers having a variety of shoes and type. Some has mini crampons attached to their hiking boots. And some just had their sports shoes. I wonder did they slip and fall down. For us, it was still okay at the beginning, but we climbed higher and the snow on the trail thickened, there were times we did some acrobat stunts to keep ourselves for falling. The trail was well marked and ropes were on both sides. Getting lost is of very slim chance and I would like to say the national park authorities really did a good job allowing visitor to appreciate the nature of Mt Hallasan and ensuring visitors’ safety.
Signboard on the 12noon timeline
The above is the signboard saying that we must reach the Azalea shelter by 12noon if we want to ascent the summit.
Snow covered forest grounds
For the 1st 2 hours, we hiked through forest of tall fir trees, with their leaves still in greens while the forest floor is covered with snow. At around 11:15am, we left the fir forest and entered into a wide opening and had an unblocked view of the summit. Another further walk of 15mins and we reached the Azalea shelter (Jindallabat shelter). There seemed to be some shop at the Jindallabat shelter, but we didn’t want to waste time to shop around or rest at the shelter. We carried on up the stairs towards the summit.
Reached the clearing near Jindallabat Shelter
Stairs leading to the summit
From this point onwards, we had an uninterrupted view of the entire Jeju Island, including the surrounding ocean. The feeling was like climbing Mt Fuji, a volcano-like landscape where you are exposed to the elements of strong winds and cloudless skies.
Clear view of Jeju island
Me, taking a breather
Ice flakes anyone ?
There were ice flakes attached to the wooden fence at the side of the stairs. The direction of the ice flakes pointing in the direction where strong cold winds blew the night below. After 1hr30mins, we reached the crowded summit, overlooking the crater below us.
At the summit
There were hordes of hikers at the summit as well, celebrating their climb over their hot coffee and lunch. As everyone needs to start their descend from the summit at 1:30pm, everyone was busy trying to capture every moment with their cameras and video-cam. There was a park ranger station at the summit, shouting out loud in Korean periodically at us. Even though we didn’t understand Korean, I guessed that he was reminding us to start out descent at 1:30pm. The national park has strict rules that all hikers must leave the park by the end of the day. Camping overnight or hiking in the night is prohibited. Maybe this is the way they keep the park safe and prevent hikers lost in the mountains.
Baekonkdam summit crater
The summit marker
After queuing for our turns for quite a while, we finally got out turn to take a picture with the summit wooden pole marker. After which, we found ourselves a nice spot to enjoy our long awaiting hot drink and snacks. Most of the hikers that start from the Seongpanak Trail will descend by the Gwaneumsa Trail. For us we took the same trail as our car was parked at out start point. The descend was less crowded and most of the time we have the entire trail to ourselves. As the trail was covered in snow at higher altitude, we took cautious steps while making our way down. Again we did some acrobatic stunts trying to maintain our balance. We took our own sweet time on our descend and reached the car park around 4:30pm. Throughout the entire climb, the sun was never above our heads, it just traverse across the sky from the 10am angle to the 4pm angle, giving the surroundings a warm sunset view. At the car park, we saw taxis dropping hikers and I thought they are going to do the climb illegally. In the end these hikers were just folks that descended using the Gwaneumsa trail and took a taxi to bring them back to the Seongpanak entrance to get their cars. It was still very cold at 2 degrees celsius and we just jump into our car, started the engine to warm ourselves up before driving downhill back to Seogwipo-si where our hotel was. It was 6:30pm and before we turned into our hotel, we stopped at a local Korean restaurant and ordered some local dishes. It was well? Quite spicy and in big proportions that I considered over ordered. Not my liking, but guess we were just too hungry to reject anything edible.
The rest of the stay in Korea is covered in another blog post. Jeju, Seoul Nov 2009
Personally I would rate this climb an easy but yet most enjoyable one. Making the ascend and descend all in one’s day trek, and able to sleep comfortably in our hotel to rest ourselves. The total ascend may be 1400m in just 4hrs, but it is not that tough because the trail is stretched over a 10km distance which gives hikers a gradual and consistent ascend, making it less tiring for hikers to enjoy the scenery and not panting all the way up to the summit.
Trekking Trail Information on Mt Hallasan
Seongpanak à Summit (Dongneung, East Ridge), 9.6km, 4hrs30mins one way.
Gwaneumsa Trail à Summit (Dongneung, East Ridge), 8.7km, 5hrs one way
Eorimok Trail à Witsaeoreum Shelter, 3.7km, 1hr30mins one way.
Yeongsil Trail à Witsaeoreum Shelter, 4.7km, 2hr one way.
Note: Only Seongpanak and Gwaneumsa trail is opened to the public to reach the summit.
| South Korea |
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games were hosted by which European city? | Hallasan Volcano - Hiking Jeju - ASocialNomad
July 6, 2016
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We’re on the island of Jeju off the south coast of Korea. It may be the favoured honeymoon destination of Korean couples, but we’re here to climb Hallasan Volcano. Jeju is compared often to a combination of Disneyland and Hawaii, but we haven’t found it remotely like either.
Jeju is home to the largest national park in Korea, and it’s also the highest, as here you’ll find Korea’s tallest mountain – Mount Hallasan topping out at 1950 metres and a number of extinct volcanoes, including the very picturesque Seongsan Ilchubong, which we visited yesterday.
The sunrise is supposed to be spectacular and so too are the views from the air, but we missed both and were just vaguely disappointed at the 3,300 KRW bus ride to the 2,000 KRW entrance fee to the 20 minute hike up to the top just to walk down again.
No wandering around the cone, just a saunter back down steps to see the famed Jeju women divers and watch a lone Octopus be caught, displayed and put on sale.
What it looks like from the air…
Today promises to be better. Today we are hiking Hallasan. There are two routes to the top of the mountain, Gwaneumsa which is 8.6 kilomtres and Seongpanak which we’re taking at 9.7km. We’re taking the Seongpanak route, because the entrance to the trail has a bus stop and Gwaneumsa doesn’t.
This National Park is free, which is a welcome relief after those pesky Chinese ones what threw us well over budget, and the website of both the Korean Tourist Board and the National Park itself are very clear that you MUST be at a certain check point by 12:30 in this shoulder season, and off the summit by 14:00. The trail is closed summit-bound at the final rest stop, some 2.7km from the summit at 12:30, so we set the alarm for 06:00.
I haven’t tried that hard to understand the bus system on Jeju. We have to get on the bus, which goes up the 5.16 road, which is also the 1136 road. Good eh? It turns out (when we give up and ask the bus driver) that we actually need the 780- 5.16 which was clear as mud from everything that we’d researched, but the trip is reminiscent of the road to Shangri-La and it’s clear that the speed bumps mean GO FASTER to bus drivers on Jeju Island.
It’s chilly as we arrive at the entrance to the trail – which is incredibly well signposted. You couldn’t miss it at all. And we set off. The parking lot is pretty quiet and there were only four others on the bus that we took who got off here. Perhaps all those hiking robots were here when the trail opened at 0530.
The trail here is a mix. There’s some boardwalk.
There’s some wooden stairs. There’s rocks.
And then there’s puked up pyroclastic flow. This is hardened nasty spiky painful lava. Yup, this is no walk up a dried streambed. This is a hike up a lava flow.
The signs tell us how much altitude we’re gaining. We started in the parking lot at 750 metres and the summit is at 1970 metres. Over 9.7 kilometres. The first 4 or so kilometres are “easy”. The next 2.9 km are “normal”. I wonder if that means normal for me or normal for a hiking robot???. And then the last 2.7km, the push to the summit is “difficult”. My last question stands.
NORMAL
The boardwalk is a welcome relief. This hike is giving not just my calves and thighs a work out, but the soles of my feet and my ankles too. I’m convinced I’ll sprain or break an ankle even before we get to the top. That’s if the lava doesn’t pierce a hole in the soles of my shoes.
That said. It’s a very pleasant environment. Most of the hike is within the treeline and there’s cover from the sun, although it’s not supposed to be completely clear today, there’s a lot of cloud cover. We top up our water from the “potable water” about two thirds of the way up.
We use the hut at the final station for a break and a biscuit – there is hot water and there are noodles for sale (take all your garbage with you) here and most people have taken off their shoes to rest, but we decide to lunch at the summit.
This is the point that you have to have reached by 1230. And we’ll need to be off the summit by 1400.
The hike is estimated to be 4.5 – 5 hours one way. Our round trip ends up taking us 8 hours and 5 minutes, which included a side tour to the Saraoreum Canyon and about 30 minutes of rest break.
The last 200 metres of altitude is hard work. The tree cover has gone and the clouds have disappeared. They’re now below us. It’s pretty warm now. Any steps are uneven, not secure and the rocks are the same.
Occasionally there are rope by the trail to haul yourself up on, but that just seems to make it harder. I’m not quite crawling up some of this like I did on the Great Wall of China , but it’s a tough last push.
But it’s worth it. There are perhaps 60 people at the summit, but it doesn’t seem overly crowded. There’s the hint of autumn in some of the trees in the crater and the crowd is generally quiet.
A quick lunch and then we make haste to get out of the sun and back down to the treeline.
My feet have not yet forgiven me (nearly two weeks later as I write this). If I thought that that uneven, pointed, solid volcano vomit was hard to walk on going uphill, then try walking down hill on it. This is where the hiking robots come into their own.
I reckon that they go so fast, so that their feet don’t even touch the lava. That’s why it doesn’t hurt them. Just the clack clack of their walking poles as they zoom past. During the rebuilding of Korea after the Korean War, the culture of “ppalli, ppalli” or “Hurry, Hurry” was used to drive the early finishing of building projects and so on. That “hurry, hurry” attitude is still embraced by today’s Koreans. No more so than the hikers. We only pass one couple of the way down (we passed perhaps 5 groups on the way up), yet we’re overtaken by 4 or 5, literally yomping down the mountain.
We take quite a few stops on the way down. Mostly as I embrace my inner Asian hiker and just stop in the middle of the trail, unable to see the next step or convince the soles of my feet that jumping down 30 centimetres is a good idea.
The hike in total was 21km. About 13 miles. Obviously 50% of it was up. Up from 750 m to 1970m. Generally these days we probably walk 4-5 miles (up to 8km) a day anyways. But this was a hard hike. Especially on the way back down, every step had to be thought about. And it hurt. It actually still hurts the soles of my feet.
It was a magnificent hike. Because it was so different. And I’d recommend it to anyone, but you’ll need thick soled shoes, plenty of time, a decent amount of water, strong ankles and a high pain threshold.
| i don't know |
In the US animated television show ‘The Simpsons’ which actress voiced Maggie’s first word, which was ‘Daddy’? | Maggie Simpson | Simpsons Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
[ show ]
Personality
Despite being the only member of the Simpson Family who can't speak, Maggie is in no way one-dimensional and has many different layers of personality. She appears to be somewhat detached from the rest of the Simpson Family and is described as "the forgotten Simpson" by Homer . When she, Bart and Lisa were shipped to a foster home (the Flanders) Maggie was the quickest to adapt and almost joined them until she noticed Marge . Perhaps Maggie's most strained relationship was with her father, Homer but due to his incredible laziness he neglected Maggie and when they do try to bond, Maggie sees her father as a kind of monster and actually tries to run away, she also developed a father-daughter relationship with Moe the bartender but the two still love each other and Maggie has more than once saved Homer's life. Not to mention she said her first word, "Daddy" after Homer tucked her in and kissed her goodnight meaning it's clear that she loves him as much as he does her.
Maggie's strongest relationship was with Marge after being transported to a foster family. Maggie almost joined the Flanders until she saw Marge once again "and became a Simpson again." At the beginning Maggie seemed to rely on Marge and the likewise but eventually she became fiercely independent as she was able to plan a Great Escape-style breakout from a daycare center to get her pacifier back, she was able to save her father from drowning and rescue Homer from a mad tow truck driver.
Despite being a baby, Maggie is likely to be the most mature member of the Simpson family . However, she keeps her intelligence a secret in order to be babied. This is first revealed when Marge gives her a new pacifier, and when Marge isn't looking she smokes it like a cigarette.
Even for a child her age, showed extremely violent mannerisms and a surprising amount of physical strength. She was able to lift up a mallet and bludgeon her father with it and accidentally shot Mr. Burns after he blocked out the sun. Maggie showed to be incredibly strong, able to drag a fully-grown man back to the shore and able lift up a shotgun.
Biography
When Marge became pregnant with Lisa, she and Homer bought their first home. Seven years later, Homer felt financially secure enough to quit his job at the power plant and take his dream job at Barney's Bowlarama . Soon after, Marge became pregnant with Maggie, and unable to support his new family member, Homer reapplied for his job at the power plant. Homer fell into a deep depression as a result, but when he held Maggie for the first time after she was born he loved her at first sight. He keeps all of Maggie's baby photos in his office to cheer him up at his work place.
Like average toddlers, Maggie is impressionable and easily influenced by what she sees around her. She once hit Homer on the head with a mallet, (Born 2010) shot a suction dart at his picture and brandished a pencil in imitation of Itchy and Scratchy . Despite her age, Maggie is a formidable sniper [10] and she shot the firearms off a group of mobsters in rapid succession with a rifle. [11] She was behind the attempted murder of Mr. Burns [12] and she fought Gerald during the St. Patrick’s Day riot, participating the republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. [13] When the family's house was being raided by an angry mob, she was able to smash her baby bottle and use it as a makeshift weapon, and she knocked out Russ Cargill , the head of the EPA with a rock when he was about to shoot Homer with a shotgun. [14]
Maggie is often frightened of her father's attempts to bond with her, even though she does love him. Instead, Maggie shows a much stronger devotion to her mother instead, possibly because Marge is always at home with her while Homer is mostly at work or at Moe's .
She is keenly aware of her surroundings, and can usually be seen imitating the flow of action around her. Like Bart , Lisa and Homer , she is not fond of spending time with her aunts Patty and Selma . It is also known that she dislikes Baby Gerald very much, despite apparently marrying him in one of the Simpsons Comics .
Looks
Maggie bears a strong resemblance to Lisa , suggesting that Maggie will look very much like her sister when she reaches age 8. Furthermore, she can play the saxophone amazingly well. Also, in a Christmas episode, The Simpson Family Christmas Photo Album reveals she is going to stop sucking her pacifier at 3 (which is very odd at that age) and at 8 she stopped wearing her bow, possibly because she stopped thinking it looked cute. Maggie casually wears a light blue one. At night, Maggie wears a white one instead of a blue ones. As a teenager,in Lisa's Wedding , she wears a blue jacket with a dark grey t shirt, red jeans, and black boots, with her pacifier hanging around her neck as a necklace. In
Maggie's Quotes
Although Maggie generally doesn't talk, due to her being a baby, there have been numerous occasions where Maggie has had words of spoken dialogue. Most of her speaking roles are not to be considered canon, however, with the only known true line of dialogue being the one said in Lisa's First Word .
"Good Night" from the episode " Good Night " - In the Tracy Ullman short, Maggie is heard saying this as the family goes to bed for the night.
"Alright!" and "Aaaah! We're doomed!" from the episode " Making Faces " - Maggie is seen talking in unison with Bart and Lisa twice. Once when they believe they can get their funny faces stuck the way they are, and again when seeing herself in the mirror.
"It's your fault I can't talk." in the episode " Bart vs. Thanksgiving " - In Bart's imagination sequence, he imagines his family members blaming him for everything. One of them is Maggie, telling him this via voice over.
"This is indeed a disturbing universe." from the episode " Treehouse of Horror V " - In the story "Time and Punishment", one of the alternate dimensions that Homer goes to involved, Groundskeeper Willie getting killed by Maggie, who says this in the voice of James Earl Jones .
"Nope." from the episode " Flaming Moe's " - Said by Maggie at the dinner table.
"Daddy." from the episode " Lisa's First Word " - Maggie's first canonical word.
"Daddily Doodily." from the episode " Home Sweet Homediddly-Dum-Doodily " - When being raised by Ned Flanders for such a long period of time, Maggie begins to talk like him.
"Very well, I'll drive! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha! I need blood!" from the episode " Treehouse of Horror IX " - At the end of the story "Starship Poopers", Maggie said this in the voice of Kang.
"Silence, man!" from the episode Treehouse of Horror X - said during the episode's couch gag in Kang's voice from the aforementioned Treehouse of Horror IX .
"Ma ma! Ma ma!" from the episode " Treehouse of Horror XV - Squealed by Maggie when Marge was reunited with her.
"Sequel?" from The Simpsons Movie - Maggie says this during the ending credits, much to the disappointment of the rest of her family.
"Throughout the ages, the finger painter, the Play-Doh sculptor, the Lincoln Logger, stood alone against the daycare teacher of her time. She did not live to earn approval stickers. She lived for herself, that she might achieve things that are the glory of all humanity. These are my terms. I do not care to play by any others. And now, if the court will allow me, it's nap time." in the episode " Four Great Women and a Manicure " - A speech made by Maggie in a story told by Marge .
"Ja!" and "Ja Ja!" from the episode Coming to Homerica - Repeated by Maggie multiple times, which is a Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, German, and Swedish word (meaning "Yes").
"Make purchase of the merchandise!" from the episode " Clown in the Dumps " - During the episode's couch gag, a bizarre, alternate version of Maggie animated by Don Hertzfeldt , makes this comment.
"I see trees of green, red roses too ..." from the episode " Every Man's Dream " - Maggie's first singing quote. She sings a blip of What a Wonderful World in Homer's dream.
"Maggie talk! Maggie talk! ... No one listen? Maggie never talk again." from the episode " Friends and Family " - The entire family was arguing and talking over each other and during the ruckus, Maggie said this and it went completely unnoticed.
"Da da!" from the episode " There Will Be Buds " - Maggie is thrown onto the bed and starts making non-eloquent baby noises, but is heard saying what sounds like this at the end of her little dialogue block.
Violent Mannerism
Maggie can be a violent child, especially for her age. Maggie once had a violent relationship with Homer after watching the violent mannerism acts from Itchy and Scratchy. She had hit him over the head with a mallet and later attempted to stab him with a pencil.
When Mr. Burns planned to cover up the sun, he was shot by Maggie while Mr. Burns was trying to steal candy from her. The citizens of Springfield deemed it 'an accident'. After figuring this out, it cleared Homer of all charges.
On another occasion, Lisa enlisted Maggie to be her fencing partner. However, when she unknowingly belittled Maggie, Maggie dueled her proficiently and quickly overwhelmed her, even slashing an M into Lisa's shirt, Zorro-style.
She later tried to shoot Mr. Burns again with a shotgun when he lost his memories, but was stopped by Lisa.
When the Mafia was going to kill Marge and Homer , Maggie shot them in the arms with an airgun thus making them unable to shoot.
In The Simpsons Movie , when the mob was attacking the Simpsons, Krusty told his monkey, Mr. Teeny , to take out the baby, referring to Maggie. She then broke her baby bottle making rigid spikes of glass, showing that she was ready to take him on; this scared Teeny who ran into Krusty's arms.
Also, later on when Russ Cargill was about to shoot Homer, she dropped a rock on to his head making him pass out. However her violent actions are illustrated as somewhat innocent or at least unintentional, but when she's protecting herself or someone she loves, she uses all her skills - fully aware.
Skills and Abilities
Maggie takes after her sister in many ways. Not only does she greatly resemble Lisa (looking exactly like her in a blue dress in flash-forwards to the future), she also is brilliant and musically inclined like her sister. Maggie can play the saxophone with great ability, despite the fact that she is only a year old. In " Lisa's Wedding " and most recently " Holidays of Future Passed ", it is implied that Maggie is a fantastic singer, again taking after her sister.
She also has, on numerous, numerous occasions, demonstrated that her agility—both mental and physical—is extremely advanced for her age. Once, Maggie organized the other infants in a daycare into a team to steal a key so they could take back their pacifiers. She figured out communication signals, gathered supplies, used the window-blinds string to pull herself into the ventilation shafts, used a Krusty Doll to lower herself into the room containing the Key (holding bottles to weight herself down and then dropping them so the string would retract), shot a suction-cup line across the room, slid across it with a hanger, and used the key to unlock the locker holding the children's pacifiers. Additionally, Maggie commonly moves along ropes with ease by hand-over-handing her way across them, such as when she tried to escape Homer when he was trying to bond with her by climbing across the clothesline. She usually keeps her intelligence a secret. (" A Streetcar Named Marge ")
She also once crawled all over town to her mother's favorite hangout locations trying to track down Marge . Maggie usually has a pretty good comprehension on her surroundings and has at times tried to point out the obvious to adults (mostly Homer) who are oblivious to what is going on. Maggie has spelled out E=MC2 with her blocks before and can change her own diapers. She has also used a fire extinguisher to put out burning curtains and has driven Homer's car. Maggie can also skateboard and has already said her first word despite being only a year old.
Although Maggie shows a natural inclination to weapons (see Maggie Simpson Violent Mannerisms|the above section for examples of her ability to defend herself), and aggression, she also has saved members of her family on various occasions, such as when she swam out to sea and saved Homer from drowning or when she saved Bart and Lisa from Groundskeeper Willie in Treehouse of Horror VI .
Maggie also seems to take after her father in bowling, as she has already bowled a perfect game (something it took Homer 39 years to do) at the age of 1.
Non-Canon Appearances
The contents of this article or section are considered to be non-canon and therefore may not have actually happened/existed.
Future
In the future, Maggie went on holidays to Alaska, which was warmer because of global warming. At this age she looks exactly like Lisa does currently. [15] Maggie is seen as a punk teenager. It is said that she has a beautiful singing voice and, according to Homer , never shuts up. (Ironically, whenever she tries to speak, she is always interrupted.) She also likes to play around a lot with her friends and family. It is revealed that she has a daughter named Maggie Jr. , who looks exactly the same as Maggie. [16] In " Holidays of Future Passed ", Maggie grows up to be a singer and has her baby while visiting family, but does not have any lines, as prescribed by the doctor. As an adult and teen,her hair is longer,typically with the first three spikes of her hair being worn forward and the rest styled back.
During some future episodes, it's implied that Maggie now has a relationship with her nemesis Gerald Samson . During Milhouse 's birthday party, they are kids and are seen holding hands and kissing [17] . In an episode set further into the future, they're seen drinking milkshake together while staring romantically at each other [18] .
Treehouse of Horror
In an alternate universe that Homer briefly visited, Maggie hit Groundskeeper Willie in the back with an axe and then spoke in James Earl Jones 's voice: "This is indeed a disturbing universe." [19]
In " Treehouse of Horror IX ", Maggie loses her legs and arms and grows green tentacles. Maggie's pacifier contacts the alien duo, Kang and Kodos . When the duo arrives at the Simpsons house, it is later revealed that Kang is Maggie's real father. Maggie then kills Homer .
In“ Treehouse of Horror XV ", Maggie is eaten by Mr. Burns, but is later rescued by her family.
Maggie as a teenager in Lisa's Wedding.
Behind the Laughter
Matt Groening first conceived the Simpson family in the lobby of James L. Brooks ' office. He had been called in to pitch a series of animated shorts, and had intended to present his Life in Hell series. When he realized that animating Life in Hell would require him to rescind publication rights for his life's work, Groening chose to go in another direction. [20] He hurriedly sketched out his version of a dysfunctional family, and named the characters after various members of his own family. Maggie was named after Matt Groening 's younger sister Margaret "Maggie" Groening. She often sucked on a pacifier and wore a sleep suit, two traits Groening used for Maggie. Then Maggie made her debut with the rest of the Simpsons clan on April 19, 1987 in the Tracey Ullman short " Good Night ". [21] Groening thought that it would be funny to have a baby character that did not talk and never grew up, but assigned any emotions that the scene required. Her comedic hallmarks include her tendency to stumble and land on her face while attempting to walk (though this has been downplayed in later seasons), and a penchant for sucking on her pacifier, the sound of which has become the equivalent of her catchphrase and was originally created by Groening during the Tracey Ullman period , and by Nancy Cartwright during the regular series.
During the show's opening credits, Maggie is run through a supermarket checkout scanner, which reads that she is worth $847.63 (a reference to the monthly cost of infant-rearing in 1989). In " The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular ," the scanner instead reads "NRA4EVER," a reference to the running joke that the show's creators are right-wing radicals. In the newer episodes her price has changed to $486.52 (possibly because of the change in the cost of infant-rearing). In the treehouse of horror XXIV couch gag , by Guillmero de Toro the scanner reads 666 instead.
Voice
With few exceptions, Maggie never speaks but is very participatory in the events around her, emoting with subtle gestures and facial expressions. Maggie has spoken in " Good Night ", the first short to air, after the family falls asleep. There was another time she had tried to talk in Making Faces short upon the task given by Bart and Lisa. On this occasion, Liz Georges provided the voice of Maggie. In " Bart vs. Thanksgiving ", Bart has a vision of what could happen if he returned home after destroying Lisa's centerpiece. In this vision, Maggie says to him telepathically: "It's your fault I can't talk!"
Maggie's first word spoken in the normal continuity of the series occurred in " Lisa's First Word ", when she was voiced by Elizabeth Taylor . Elizabeth Taylor's performance as Maggie was named the thirteenth greatest guest spot in the history of the show by IGN. James Earl Jones , who voiced Maggie in Treehouse of Horror V was in seventh place. She would later have brief dialogue in Treehouse of Horror IX , voiced by Harry Shearer using Kang's voice. In earlier episodes, Yeardley Smith did many of Maggie's squeaks and occasional speaking parts, although in later seasons her parts were done by Nancy Cartwright . Although she has spoken many times, she has only had two canonical speeches that were real within the series. Her first canon speech was in Lisa's First Word , and this word was "daddy" (as both Bart and Lisa grew up calling Homer his given name); however, only the viewers and not the family heard her say this (at least until the Father's Day clip show). Her second speech was in Coming to Homerica . This time, the family did hear her speak.
According to The Simpsons Movie , the first word the family heard Maggie say was "sequel?", in the ending sequence (unless one counts the Father's Day clip show as being canon). It was stated in the DVD commentary that she was voiced by Nancy Cartwright , who is also the current voice of Maggie in the series.
In Four Great Women and a Manicure , Maggie (voiced by Jodie Foster ) rallies her classmates with a stirring speech about injustice and creativity, though this is a non-canon story.
Heroism
Maggie has saved people's lives on a few occasions. Maggie saved Bart and Lisa from Groundskeeper Willie in Treehouse of Horror VI and she saves Homer from being killed by mobsters by shooting them down in Poppa's Got a Brand New Badge . Maggie has even saved her arch-enemy, Gerald from floating into space in a Simpson comic story called Bringing Down Baby. Maggie saved Homer a second time on The Simpsons Movie from Russ Cargill by smashing him on the head with a boulder. Homer also said "What a great little accident you turned out to be", which was referring to the fact that she was conceived at a time that none of her parents intended to , she also saved her father from drowning and from a tow trucker who kept him hostage.
Trivia
Maggie has had several rare occasions, where she's had lines of spoken dialogue (see "Maggie's Quotes" above). However, the only time where her dialogue was actually considered canon was in the episode " Lisa's First Word ", where she said "Daddy".
In this appearance, Maggie was voiced by Yeardley Smith , who also provided her voice when she made random baby noises in the first few seasons of the show, officially making Yeardley Smith her general voice actor.
Maggie has an oral fixation , meaning that she has the need to have something in her mouth at all times. In her case, she is obsessed with her pacifier and always has the need to suck on it. This is further proven in episode " Crook and Ladder ", where Marge took her passy away and she threw a rampage over it. She gave up her passy at the age of 3, but even after that, she still had a slight addiction. In " Holidays of Future Passed ", she was a full grown adult, and felt overwhelmed with stress, so she was given a passy to suck on, which successfully calmed her down.
A running gag affiliated with Maggie is for her to trip over her onesie when she walks.
Bart and Lisa generally address Homer by his first name as opposed to "Dad". Maggie is the only child not to follow this trend. This is not only because she can't talk, but also proven when her first word in " Lisa's First Word ", was "Daddy".
Maggie bears a strong resemblance to her sister, Lisa.
In episodes set in the future, Maggie is shown to get a job as a famous rock star and it was also mentioned that she has a beautiful singing voice. However, her voice is never heard.
In the episode Every Man's Dream , Maggie made her first and so far, only singing appearance, where Homer had a psychedelic dream where he taught Maggie to talk, and she sang a blip of the song What a Wonderful World . However, this was only a dream.
In " Lisa's Wedding " an episode in the future, Maggie is portrayed as a complete chatterbox who hogs the phone and always talks to her friends, to the point where it drives her parents crazy. Even still, she is left without dialogue in the episode, because every time she attempts to talk, it is creatively subverted
Maggie doesn't have very many appearances in her diaper.
Maggie enjoys playing internet poker.
Gallery
| Elizabeth Taylor |
Which British monarch founded The Order of Merit? | h2g2 - 'The Flintstones' - The TV Series - Edited Entry
2 Conversations
Flintstones, meet the Flintstones...
A whole generation of children grew up enjoying the antics of a cartoon Stone Age family and their friendly next-door neighbours. The Flintstones was created by animation legends William Hanna and Joseph Barbera , and the characters have since become some of the most well-known in popular culture.
Taking its inspiration from popular sitcoms (notably The Honeymooners , one of the biggest sitcoms on American TV at that time), The Flintstones was one of the first cartoons to be shown during prime-time television. For many years it held the record for being the longest-running cartoon series in American TV history, running for six years (or 166 episodes) between 1960 and 1966.
The action was set in the year 1 million BC. Despite being set in the Stone Age, The Flintstones characters live a modern American 1950s lifestyle, doing all the things that modern Americans would find familiar, and that is the main joke of the show. In the ultra-modern town of Bedrock, Cobblestone County, two families - the Flintstones and the Rubbles - live in neighbouring houses, which are fashioned out of rock. The husbands are best friends and keen ten-pin bowlers, and both are members of the Water Buffalo Lodge, a secret society similar to the Odd Fellows or the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes .
Each episode was broadcast in glorious colour (though many homes still had black-and-white television sets, colour TVs were becoming increasingly common in the US). With its parodies of modern life, appealing lead characters and frequent celebrity guest appearances (with the famous voices combined with the distinctive caricatured bodies in the Hanna-Barbera style), it proved to be a popular format.
Fred Flintstone
Fred is a Stone Age everyman. He is so bored with his job as a Bronto operator with a gravel company, owned by George Nate Slate, that when the bird siren sounds for the end of his shift, he jumps up and yells Yabba Dabba Doo at the top of his voice, before inserting his stone clock-in card into a dinosaur's mouth to be punched.
He is always trying to skip work and avoid his mother-in-law. He loves to spend time with his best friend and next-door neighbour, Barney Rubble, who he frequently ropes in to aid and abet in his scams. Fred is a keen ten-pin bowler and his distinctive bowling style earned him the nickname 'Twinkletoes Flintstone'. Fred likes to play pool as well as poker, reading Bedrock's newspaper, the Daily Slate, and lounging about the house. He is also partial to the occasional game of golf.
Fred owns a car, a Flintmobile and his bare feet can be seen running underneath in order to start it. The scenery in the background fairly flies past. Passengers often lend their own feet to the cause in moments when the car requires a little extra speed. Fred usually wears an orange and black animal skin with a blue tie, although he does dress up on special occasions.
Fred is a closet romantic and penned this love poem for Wilma:
I love thee Wilma, with hair like silk,
Lips like cherries, skin like milk,
Your shell-like ears, your dainty hands,
And eyes so black, like frying pans,
And when you in my arms are in,
My love how can you doubt?
I quiver just like gelatin,
And sometimes even break out.
You're a perfect peach, my love,
Together we're a pear (pair),
You're sweet, you're nice, you're paradise,
And all kinda stuff like that there.
Wilma Flintstone
Wilma is house-proud, with all the latest gadgets at her disposal, like her baby woolly mammoth vacuum cleaner and the pigasaurus garbage disposal. Her best friend is her next-door neighbour, Betty Rubble. Wilma and Betty have been known to disguise themselves as men in order to join their husbands' Water Buffalo lodge.
Wilma adored her errant husband, and no matter how many times Fred lets her down, she always forgives him. She's affectionate and has an infectious giggle. Wilma wears her red hair piled high on her head, while her string of pearls sets off her white fur dress splendidly. She's a fabulous cook, (her Gravelberry pies are legendary), and, though she has a slight build, she's strong enough to carry Brontosaurus fricassée (Fred's favourite meal) to the dining table.
Wilma likes to keep herself looking nice and she has a bird perfume dispenser as well as a stone-age equivalent of an Avon Lady , a representative of the Cave-In Cosmetics Company. She wore a mud face pack when Fred brought Stony Curtis home for a meal. Wilma's mother, Pearl Slaghoople, likes to visit as often as possible; her unannounced arrival guarantees one of Fred's famous scowls.
Pebbles Flintstone
Pebbles arrived, weighing six pounds 12 ounces, in the show's third series. The cute red-haired little girl could melt a heart of stone and she's the apple of her daddy's eye. Her favourite things are riding on Dino (see below) and playing with dolls. Her first words were Abba Gabba Goo. Pebbles and Dino get into all sorts of trouble, as Dino is often left in charge.
Barney Rubble
Barney has had several careers including quarry worker, furniture repossessor, travel agent, geological engineer, co-owner (with Fred) of 'The Drive-In' and (also with Fred) Private Investigator. In one episode he was even made Fred's boss at the quarry, which went down (with Fred) like a lead balloon.
Barney likes ten-pin bowling and loves jazz. Together with Fred, (usually his idea), Barney enjoys an after-work cactus juice drinking session with the boys at the Water Buffalo lodge. Later in the series Barney, along with Fred, becomes a part-time officers in Bedrock's police force.
Barney always has a smile on his face, a memorable chuckle and a cheery word for everyone, except when the court case involving the adoption of his son Bamm-Bamm (see below) wasn't going well and he became depressed and suicidal. Barney is most likely to say:
Uh, okay Fred.
Betty Rubble
Betty (née McBricker 1 ) liked to go shopping with her best friend Wilma and enjoyed playing bridge at the Bridge Club. Betty had an infectious giggle just like Wilma's, and the girls often shared a joke, usually about their men.
Betty and Barney wished on a falling star that they would have a child, and Bamm-Bamm was left on their doorstep. The Rubble family endured an unpleasant custody battle in court before they were allowed to adopt him.
Betty Rubble is an official 'babe'. In an Internet poll for Sexiest Cartoon Babes, Betty finished in second place to overall winner Jessica Rabbit . Despite Betty's obvious charms, it was another cast-member that the crew of Red Dwarf fantasised about:
[well] I would go with Betty...but I'd be thinkin' of Wilma.
- The Cat to Lister .
Bamm-Bamm Rubble
White-haired Bamm-Bamm amazes everyone with his super-strength abilities. He likes to bash the ground with his club, while yelling his own name, and helping his mother Betty clean the house by lifting furniture out of the way. His favourite hobby is riding his cave buggy (a prehistoric version of a dune buggy), and he also likes Dino-rides, taking turns with Pebbles.
Dino
Dino, a dogasaurus, is the Flintstone family's pet dinosaur, who acts, barks and thinks like a dog, and provides 'Dino-rides' for the children. Dino likes to bowl Fred over when he returns from work, taking a good long run-up, then licking his face. Fred always protests loudly but there are times when Fred kisses Dino in greeting or departing, instead of Wilma.
Dino's favourite foods are Dino-Gro and Shlump; he loves to sleep in Fred's favourite chair and his favourite hobby is fighting with Baby Puss. Dino and Fred swap minds, mannerisms and voices in one episode, ('Monster Fred'), courtesy of Len Frankenstone's personality-switching machine.
Other Characters
Baby Puss
Baby Puss is the family's pet sabre-toothed tiger. Although seen in the opening and closing credits (when Fred 'puts the cat out'), Baby Puss doesn't feature in many episodes.
Hoppy
Hoppy the Hopperoo was introduced in series five as the Rubbles's pet. Barney bought the green kangaroo-like creature for Bamm-Bamm but Fred disliked him, until the families were in danger and Hoppy went for help (parodying Skippy the Bush Kangaroo ). Hoppy enjoys carrying the children around in his pouch.
The Gruesomes
The Gruesome family first appeared in series five, episode number 123, moving into Tombstone Manor. They are a ghoulish clan who think they are 'normal' and the rest of the world is weird, and are based upon the monster sitcoms The Munsters and The Addams Family . The Gruesomes consist of green-skinned, vertically-challenged father Weirdly, voiced by Howard Morris sounding like Peter Lorre ; his wife, the tall, slim, pink-haired Creepella (voiced by Naomi Stevens); and their son, purple-haired 'Gobby' Goblin, who rarely spoke.
Look how he ignores us.
- Mrs Gruesome's proud boast about her son.
The family vehicle is a prehistoric hearse and the family pet is an enormous blue spider.
The Great Gazoo
The Great Gazoo first appeared in the last series. He's an alien from the planet Zetox, exiled to Earth as punishment for having invented a weapon that could destroy the universe. He's green, he floats, and he appears at the most inappropriate moments. He tries to help Fred and Barney, usually against their will, and often makes the situation worse. Only Fred, Barney, the children and animals can see him - apart from his leader, the Great Gazam.
Guest Stars
As already mentioned, the series often featured guest appearances by celebrities of the day (or at least sound-alikes), transported back in time to play Stone-age equivalents. Such guests included:
Samantha and Darrin Stephens appeared as 'themselves' - they were the witch and her human husband from the popular sitcom Bewitched .
Yogi Bear and Boo-Boo steal a picnic basket in one episode.
Flintstones Animal Appliances
The families own modern home appliances which are represented by talking animals. When Wilma steps on the foot of the pelican he opens the top of his beak to accept rubbish. It then complains to the viewing audience about what a hard life it's led.
Many animals were utilised in the course of the series, some more than once. For example, Wilma finds a few uses for a turtle: rubbing the heated shell on cloth makes a great iron, and a basket attached to the back of a turtle makes a superb shopping trolley. The tip of the pointed beak of a bending bird plays a record which, spun on the back of a turtle (resembling an old gramophone ), Fred and Barney use the turtle's back as a draughts board, and when cranked, the turtle's tail raises, which lifts the car, making it a perfect jack.
Who wouldn't love an octopus dishwasher? The octopus uses his many legs to wash, rinse and dry the dishes. Then there's the triceratops juicer, its nose horn squeezing the juice out of oranges and grapefruits, alongside the stegosaurus food processor, which chews vegetables and fruits to mush. A penguin in the freezer passes a character an ice cube, and a dragon acts as a coffee-maker.
Then there are the bathroom facilities. A mastodon sucks up water from a bucket and then sticks its trunk through a hole in the bathroom wall and blows, enabling the character to have a shower. Fred once caught a bee, put it inside a clam shell and then buzzed off his stubble.
There are modern conveniences at work too, like Mr Slate's talking bird intercom. As it relays messages, it also voices its own sarcastic comments to the audience.
Fancy a trip to Rockapulco? Book a ticket with Pteradactyl Airways and travel in style, strapped to the back of a flying dinosaur - although anything approaching from the rear of the 'plane' may think the passengers are food.
Bug Music
One episode,The Hatrocks and The Gruesomes stars a group similar to The Beatles - well they had very shaggy hair, which is probably just about where the similarity ends. The Hatrocks (a parody of The Beverly Hillbillies ) are scared by 'Bug Music' on the television; they end up blasting the TV to smithereens with their shotguns. The Gruesomes pipe 'Bug Music' into the Hatrocks' fridge and telephone, and Fred had an idea to get rid of the Hatrocks by dressing up as a member of the band and singing:
He said Yeah, yeah, yeah; She said Yeah, yeah, yeah; I said yeah, yeah, yeah; We said yeah, yeah, yeah; They said yeah, yeah, yeah... (Repeat.)
As the Hatrocks flee Bedrock to go to the World's Fair, they pass a billboard showing the same four Beatles-like band members advertising 'Bug Music' at the World's Fair.
Don Byron, an eclectic New York jazz clarinet player, has an album, entitled Bug Music. The album, released in 1996, has the following quotes in the sleeve notes:
The Beatles' music, though now thought of as mainstream and accessible, was portrayed (in the guise of 'Bug Music') as horrible. [...] 'Bug Music' has lived on for me as a fable of the public's subjectivity.
Flintstones Cast (Voices)
Alan Reed (1907 - 77) as Fred Flintstone. Alan created the catchphrase Yabba dabba doo! for his most famous incarnation Fred Flintstone and also supplied the voice of 'Boris' in Disney's Lady and the Tramp. His distinctive voice is still being used as archive sound for video long after his passing.
Jean Vander Pyl (1919 - 99) as Wilma and Pebbles Flintstone. Jean also voiced 'Goldie' in Top Cat and the 'Winsome Witch' in The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show and was a regular guest star in Petticoat Junction and Leave It To Beaver in the 1960s.
Mel Blanc (1908 - 89) as Barney Rubble 2 and Dino. Mel was a multi-talented voice artist who gave life to popular cartoon characters such as Woody Woodpecker, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Tweety Pie, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, and Pepe Le Pew.
Bea Benaderet (1906 - 68) as Betty Rubble (1960 - 1964). Bea was a regular guest on The Jack Benny Programme from 1952 - 55 and provided the voice for the old woman in the Sylvester and Tweety Pie cartoons.
Gerry Johnson as Betty Rubble (1964 - 1966). Gerry is a Special Effects Co-ordinator (Zardoz; My Left Foot) and also played Mrs Johnson in the TV series Bewitched.
Don Messick (1926 - 97) as Bamm-Bamm Rubble, Arnold the Newsboy and Hoppy the Hopperoo (1963 - 1966). Don's contribution to the world of animation is legendary, providing the voices for Scooby Doo, Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith from the TV series The Yogi Bear Show, Muttley, Professor Pat Pending, Sawtooth, Ring-A-Ding, Little Gruesome and Gravel Slag from the TV series Wacky Races . Pixie in The Pixie and Dixie Show, Astro (the dog in The Jetsons), 'Touché Turtle', 'Sebastian the Cat' from the TV series Josie and the Pussycats and he also voiced the Narrator in the animated cartoon The House of Tomorrow (1949).
John Stephenson as George Nate Slate (AKA Mr Slate, Fred's boss) (1963 - 1966). John also voiced Mr Slate in the subsequent made-for-TV movies (see below), and in the TV series Wacky Races he provided the voices for Luke and Blubber Bear.
Verna Felton (1890 - 1966) as Pearl Slaghoople (Wilma's mother) (1963 - 1966). Verna also provided the voices for Flora in Sleeping Beauty, Winifred in The Jungle Book, the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, and Aunt Sarah in Lady and the Tramp.
The Theme Tune(s)
The first two series' music was an instrumental tune called 'Rise and Shine'. The opening credits show Fred driving home from work, eventually passing a sign saying 'Welcome To Bedrock: POP 2500'. A policeman blows his whistle and signalled for Fred to stop. A red stegosaurus, covered in firemen, runs through the intersection. Fred then parks at a tailor's shop, walks up the back of a blue dinosaur which acts as stairs, and collects his dry-cleaning. He continues his journey and pulls up beside a street vendor, buying a Daily Slate from him. He parks his car in the garage, enters the house and takes a tray of sandwiches out of Wilma's hands before returning to kiss Wilma.
Dino, sat in Fred's chair, leaps out and lies down beside it. Fred sits in the pre-warmed seat and turns on the television. What's on the box? Fred - advertising the products of the programme's sponsors. Fred and Barney both advertised things such as cigarettes ; in those days, cigarettes were considered to be cool. The first closing sequence shows Fred turning off the TV set and covering the bird cage, enclosing it with a zipper. Fred puts out two empty milk bottles, turns out the light, turns the light back on, picks up the cat to put it out for the night, but gets locked out of the house by the cat, causing him to bang on the door.
Wilma! Come on, Wilma, open this door! Willllll-ma!
The Better-Known Theme
Flintstones...meet the Flintstones, they're a modern stone-age family,
From the town of Bedrock, they're a page right out of history.
Let's ride with the family down the street, thru' the courtesy of Fred's two feet.
When you're with the Flintstones, have a yabba dabba doo time, a dabba doo time,
You'll have a gay old time.
The most familiar opening sequence, with the 'Meet the Flintstones' theme song, was introduced in the third series. It opens with Fred sliding down the tail of his dino-crane as soon as the whistle signalling the end of the shift sounds, inserting his dinosaur clock-in card, collecting Wilma and the pets, and taking them to the drive-in, where the film 'The Monster' is showing. In the closing sequence they order giant ribs which the waitress props on the side of the car, tipping it over. Then, at home, Fred picks up the cat to put it out for the night, but gets locked out of the house by the cat instead.
'WILLLLLL-MA!'
Fred bashes on the locked door and wakes up the entire neighbourhood, as depicted by all the windows lighting up. Later credits included Barney and Betty Rubble and the children.
The closing credits had one line different from the opening song:
Flintstones...meet the Flintstones, they're a modern stone-age family,
From the town of Bedrock, they're a page right out of history.
Some day, maybe Fred will win the fight, and that, cat will stay out for the night.
When you're with the Flintstones, have a yabba dabba doo time, a dabba doo time,
You'll have a gay old time.
In 1994, the B52's re-recorded the Flintstones theme tune for the feature film. Changing their name to 'The BC-52's', the band's version, '(Meet) the Flintstones' reached number three in the UK singles chart.
Flintstones v Simpsons
The Simpsons finally beat The Flintstones's record for longest-running animated series with an episode first broadcast on 9 February, 1997. The introductory montage of its 167th episode ended with the Simpsons running towards their couch only to find Fred, Wilma and Pebbles Flintstone sitting there.
Four years earlier, in the episode 'Marge vs the Monorail', Homer Simpson paid his own tribute to The Flintstones by shouting 'Yabba Dabba Doo!' before leaping into his car and singing a reworking of that famous theme tune:
Simpson... Homer Simpson... he's the greatest guy in history... from the town of Springfield... he's about to hit a chestnut tree.
Spin-offs
The Flintstones had a life beyond the original series in spin-off shows, nine made-for-TV movies (which in reality were just extended episodes), and two live-action films.
After the end of the TV series The Flintstones, the characters were kept alive in a series of specials and spin-off shows, including 'The Man Called Flintstone' (1966) and 'The New Fred and Barney Show' (1979). 'The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show' (1971 - 76) focused on the Flintstone and Rubble kids as teenagers, which of course added a lot to what we already knew about the characters.
In the 1980s sequels, Captain Caveman and his son made guest appearances. Another animated sitcom that went in the opposite direction, into the future, was The Jetsons. The Flintstones meet the Jetsons was a story about the Jetson family who use a time machine to travel back to the stone age, meeting the Flintstones. This time Henry Corden voiced Fred Flintstone. He also voiced both Ed and Edna Flintstone, Fred's parents, in The Flintstones Kids.
In the subsequent made-for-TV movies, Pebbles attended Bedrock High School and was an excellent baseball player. She eventually married the boy-next-door, Bamm-Bamm Rubble, who had become a car mechanic. After their wedding, the couple moved to prehistoric version of Hollywood, Hollyrock, so Bamm-Bamm could realise his dream of becoming a scriptwriter. The couple had twins, a blonde-haired daughter named Roxy, who was as strong as her daddy, and an auburn-haired son named Chip. After Bamm-Bamm left home, Betty started a successful catering business with, you've guessed it, Wilma Flintstone.
The characters found their way into live action with two movies. The Flintstones (1994) starred John Goodman as Fred , Rick Moranis as Barney, Elizabeth Perkins as Wilma and Rosie O'Donnell as Betty. The casting of the legendary British actress Elizabeth Taylor as Wilma's mother Pearl was inspired as she was game for a laugh and played the role of harridan to perfection. Also starring was Halle Berry as the sexpot Sharon Stone 3 . Harvey Korman who played the Dictabird also voiced The Great Gazoo in the original TV series, and Colonel Slaghoople in the prequel. Director Brian Levant is a genuine fan of the cartoon series, and is said to own a large collection of Flintstones memorabilia. The film won a Blimp Award (in the Kids' Choice Awards, USA), a BMI Film Music Award and a Golden Screen Award in Germany.
The prequel, The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000), starred British actor Mark Addy as a younger Fred and Stephen Baldwin as Barney, enjoying their last experiences of single life before marrying Wilma, played by Kristen Johnston and Betty, played by Jane Krakowski , respectively. Fred and Barney had to compete with the amorous attentions of Chip Rockefeller (for Wilma) and Mick Jagged (for Betty).
You're awfully pretty when you smile, Miss Betty O'Shale.
Joan Collins played Wilma's mother Pearl Slaghoople, unfortunately earning her a Razzie 4 nomination for Worst Supporting Actress.
And Finally
Andrew Flintoff , the Lancashire and England cricketer , is nicknamed 'Freddie' after Fred Flintstone, due to the similarity between their surnames and alleged physical comparisons. (Flintoff is 6'4" (1.93m) tall).
1 The episode 'Bachelor Daze' states Betty's maiden name is McBricker, although in the second live-action movie it is given as O'Shale. 2 Daws Butler (who was the voice of Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear ) voiced Barney Rubble while Mel Blanc recovered from a car accident. 3 The actress Sharon Stone was intended to voice the part of her namesake but was contractually obligated to another film at the time. 4 Golden Raspberry Award.
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What is the name of the boy in Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Jungle Book’? | The Jungle Book (1994) - IMDb
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17 January 2017 4:34 PM, UTC
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Rudyard Kipling's classic tale of Mowgli, the orphaned jungle boy raised by wolves, and how he becomes king of the jungle.
Director:
Rudyard Kipling (characters from novel "The Jungle Book"), Ron Yanover (story) (as Ronald Yanover) | 4 more credits »
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Title: The Jungle Book (1994)
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Bagheera the Panther and Baloo the Bear have a difficult time trying to convince a boy to leave the jungle for human civilization.
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Mowgli, missing the jungle and his old friends, runs away from the man village unaware of the danger he's in by going back to the wild.
Director: Steve Trenbirth
A boy raised by wolves tries to adapt to human village life.
Director: Zoltan Korda
Pre-teen jungle boy Mowgli gets to human world and is pursued by P.T.Barnum circus scout Harrison who wants to take him to circus as curiosity. Harrison hires local grandee Buldeo for help ... See full summary »
Director: Dee McLachlan
Now your whole family can relive Disney's 'The Jungle Book', from Mowgli's point of view.
Director: Nick Marck
After a threat from the tiger Shere Khan forces him to flee the jungle, a man-cub named Mowgli embarks on a journey of self discovery with the help of panther, Bagheera, and free spirited bear, Baloo.
Director: Jon Favreau
In Missouri, during the 1840s, young Huck Finn fearful of his drunkard father and yearning for adventure, leaves his foster family and joins with runaway slave Jim in a voyage down the Mississippi River toward slavery free states.
Director: Stephen Sommers
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Storyline
An adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's classic tale of Mowgli the jungle boy who is raised by wolves after being lost when a tiger attacked an encampment and killed his father. Years later he finds himself re-united with his childhood love Kitty and back in the "civilization" of Colonial India which he finds far less civilized then his jungle haunts. The search for a lost treasure shows who the truly civilized members of society are. Written by Susan Southall <[email protected]>
Taglines:
From one of the greatest novels ever written comes a thrilling new motion picture classic. See more »
Genres:
Rated PG for action/violence and some mild language | See all certifications »
Parents Guide:
30 December 1994 (USA) See more »
Also Known As:
El libro de la selva See more »
Filming Locations:
The animals do not speak in this film adaptation. See more »
Goofs
When the doctor talks to several girls at the river, lemurs are visible. Lemurs occur naturally only in Madagascar. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Colonel Brydon : [narrating] Life is a spinning wheel, it has been said. With each spoke, a tale to be told. So keep silence along the banks, and I will tell you one of these tales; a story as enchanting as the jungle itself. It is about pride, and power, and treasure... and about fangs, and claws, and talons... but mostly, it is about love. My new command was at the edge of the world, surrounded by a million miles of jungle. With me was my daughter Katherine, whom everyone called Kitty. Leading us ...
User Reviews
Lusciously filmed, with slick pacing, good performances and terrific music; while just lacking the 1967 film's charm, it is truer to the book, worthwhile and very underrated
30 January 2010 | by TheLittleSongbird
(United Kingdom) – See all my reviews
I'd better start off saying how much I love the 1967 animated film. I just loved how original, funny and light-hearted it all was. This film doesn't quite have the charm of the 1967 film, and there are some parts like the animal mauling that I found rather intense. Wilkin's death comes to mind. But there is so much that compensates; it is actually truer to the book than the 1967 film was and it is definitely worthwhile. I also think it is very underrated, the look of the film and the music should've at least guaranteed a 7.0 rating on IMDb, and whether I bring this film up to people the general impression is that a)they haven't seen it, b)it is inferior to the 1967 film or c)they hate it full stop. I admit it I do prefer the animation, as I grew up with it, but I really like this version as well. The animals are very well trained, I liked how wise Baloo was and Shere Kahn gave a good amount of menace whenever he was on screen. The film looks absolutely stunning, the cinematography is striking, the forests are lush and the waterfalls are sparkling. The costumes are fabulous, Kitty's dresses are to die for, and Lena Headey I must say looked gorgeous. The music from Basil Pouledoris, who also composed the music for the Hunt For Red October, is sweeping and rousing, and the pace and direction are slick. The performances are fine too, Jason Scott Lee is likable as Mowgli, John Cleese is wonderfully benevolent as Dr Plumford, and Cary Elwes makes a suave, handsome and charismatic villain. In conclusion, very good and underrated film. 8/10 Bethany Cox
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Who was the first female US Attorney General? | Rudyard Kipling - Biography - IMDb
Rudyard Kipling
Jump to: Overview (3) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (1) | Trivia (19) | Personal Quotes (11)
Overview (3)
Joseph Rudyard Kipling
Mini Bio (1)
Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, Maharashtra, India, the son of John Lockwood Kipling, a museum director and author and illustrator. This was at the height of the "British Raj", so he was brought up by Indian nurses ("ayahs"), who taught him something of the beliefs and tongues of India. He was sent "home" to England at the age of six to live with a foster mother, who treated him very cruelly. He then spent five formative years at a minor public school, the United Services College at Westward Ho! which inspired "Stalky & Co.". He returned to India as a journalist in 1882. By 1890 he had published, in India, a major volume of verse, "Departmental Ditties", and over 70 Indian tales in English, including "Plain Tales from the Hills" and the six volumes of the "Indian Railway Library". When he arrived in London in October 1889, at the age of 23, he was already a literary celebrity. In 1892 he married Caroline Balestier, the daughter of an American lawyer, and set up house with her in Brattleboro, Vermont, where they lived for four years. While in Vermont he wrote the two "Jungle Books" and "Captains Courageous". In 1901 he wrote "Kim" and in 1902 "The Just So Stories" that explained things like "How the Camel Got Its Hump". From 1902 they made their home in Sussex, England. He subsequently published many collections of stories, including "A Diversity of Creatures", "Debits and Credits" (1926) and "Limits and Renewals" (1932). These are now thought by many to contain some of his finest writing, although his introspection may well have been influenced by the death of their only son in the First World War. Although vilified by some as "the poet of British imperialism" in the past, nowadays he may be regarded as a great story-teller with an extraordinary gift for writing of peoples of many cultures and classes and backgrounds from the inside.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Steve Crook <[email protected]>
Spouse (1)
( 18 January 1892 - 18 January 1936) (his death) (3 children)
Trivia (19)
After his son John was killed in battle during World War I, he worked for the War Graves Commission and created the inscription "A soldier of the Great War - Known Unto God" for the graves of soldiers who could not be identified.
Born at 4:53pm-LMT
In 1995 his poem "If ..". was voted England's favorite poem.
Notable poems include "If ...", "The White Man's Burden" and "Tommy Atkins"
His widow left their house, "Batemans", in Burwash, Sussex as a gift to the nation. It is now open to the public.
Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1907. He was both the youngest (42) and the first English-speaking writer to win the prize.
According to his widow, the name of the "Jungle Book" character 'Mowgli' is pronounced "MAU-glee", not "MOH-glee".
Wrote two short stories, "With the Night Mail" and "As Easy As A.B.C.", which are considered two of the earliest works of contemporary science fiction.
He declined the Poet Laureateship, the Order of Merit and a knighthood.
Children: Josephine Kipling, born December 1892; Elsie Kipling, born 1896; and John Kipling, born 1897.
He spoke Hindi as his first language, having been taught the tongue from the cradle by his Indian ayah.
Rector of St Andrews University, 1922-1925.
Became friends with a French soldier whose life had been saved when a copy of "Kim" he was carrying stopped a bullet.
Called his son John "Jack".
He was originally a strong supporter of Britain's involvement in World War I, but his attitude changed completely after his son John, a soldier in the British army, was killed in the Battle of Loos.
The youngest winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature at 42 years old.
He was the first Briton to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature.
Was a huge fan of Mark Twain and went out of his way to meet him when in America.
Used connections to get his son Jack a place in the army after he was rejected due to being severely short-sighted.
Personal Quotes (11)
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Who directed the 2001 remake of the film ‘Planet of the Apes’? | Planet of the Apes (2001) - IMDb
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Planet of the Apes ( 2001 )
PG-13 |
An Air Force astronaut crash lands on a mysterious planet where evolved, talking apes dominate a race of primitive humans.
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From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video
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Title: Planet of the Apes (2001)
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Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 10 wins & 26 nominations. See more awards »
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An astronaut crew crash-lands on a planet in the distant future where intelligent talking apes are the dominant species, and humans are the oppressed and enslaved.
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
A substance, designed to help the brain repair itself, gives rise to a super-intelligent chimp who leads an ape uprising.
Director: Rupert Wyatt
The sole survivor of an interplanetary rescue mission searches for the only survivor of the previous expedition. He discovers a planet ruled by apes and an underground city run by telepathic humans.
Director: Ted Post
Earth is invaded by Martians with unbeatable weapons and a cruel sense of humor.
Director: Tim Burton
A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier.
Director: Matt Reeves
In a futuristic world that has embraced ape slavery, Caesar, the son of the late simians Cornelius and Zira, surfaces after almost twenty years of hiding out from the authorities, and prepares for a slave revolt against humanity.
Director: J. Lee Thompson
The world is shocked by the appearance of three talking chimpanzees, who arrived mysteriously in a U.S. spacecraft. They become the toast of society; but one man believes them to be a threat to the human race.
Director: Don Taylor
Ten years after conquering the Earth, ape leader Caesar wants the ruling apes and enslaved humans to live in peace. But warring factions of apes led by a militant gorilla general as well as various human groups threaten the stability.
Director: J. Lee Thompson
When a corrupt businessman and the grotesque Penguin plot to take control of Gotham City, only Batman can stop them, while the Catwoman has her own agenda.
Director: Tim Burton
Ichabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate the decapitations of 3 people with the culprit being the legendary apparition, the Headless Horseman.
Director: Tim Burton
The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being the clownishly homicidal Joker.
Director: Tim Burton
A frustrated son tries to determine the fact from fiction in his dying father's life.
Director: Tim Burton
Edit
Storyline
It is the year 2029: Astronaut Leo Davidson boards a pod cruiser on a Space Station for a "routine" reconnaissance mission. But an abrupt detour through a space time wormhole lands him on a strange planet where talking apes rule over the human race. With the help of a sympathetic chimpanzee activist named Ari and a small band of human rebels, Leo leads the effort to evade the advancing Gorilla Army led by General Thade and his most trusted warrior Attar. Now the race is on to reach a sacred temple within the planet's Forbidden Zone to discover the shocking secrets of mankind's past - and the key to its future. Written by Tim1370
You'll be sorry you were ever born human See more »
Genres:
Rated PG-13 for some sequences of action/violence | See all certifications »
Parents Guide:
27 July 2001 (USA) See more »
Also Known As:
Return of the Apes See more »
Filming Locations:
$68,532,960 (USA) (27 July 2001)
Gross:
Did You Know?
Trivia
Along with Mars Attacks! (1996), this is one of only two films directed by Tim Burton to be shot in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio. See more »
Goofs
(at around 8 mins) When the chimp is taking off from the ship you see Leo with his hands behind his back. In the next shot you see them at his side. See more »
Quotes
Anne Ramsay 's character Grace Alexander is referred to as "Anderson" in the credits. See more »
Connections
Additional Production by: Paul Oakenfold and Povi
Additional Guitars: Emerson Swinford
(Tunbridge Wells, England) – See all my reviews
If one wants to remake a movie, the best option is probably to choose and original that was good, but not a great classic. Clearly, any attempt to remake a concept that failed first time around is fraught with danger, but an attempt to remake a classic runs the risk that one's film will be unfavourably compared with the original. The original 1968 film of 'Planet of the Apes' is one of cinema's great science fiction classics. More than an adventure story, it touches on some of the concerns of the late sixties- the fear of nuclear war, race relations- and also raises more fundamental issues about the relationship between man and nature, the relationship between religion and science, Darwinism and animal rights. It was therefore a brave move on Tim Burton's part to try and remake it.
The main concept of Tim Burton's film is basically similar to Franklin Schaffner's. An astronaut from Earth travels to a planet ruled by intelligent apes. Humans exist on this planet, but they are regarded as an inferior species, despised and exploited by the apes. There is, however, an important difference. In the original film, the apes are the only intelligent and articulate beings on the planet. Although they have only attained a pre-industrial level of civilization (they have firearms, but no power-driven machinery, and no means of transport other than the horse or horse-drawn vehicles), they are a far more advanced species than the planet's human inhabitants, who lack the powers of speech and reason and live an animal-like existence. In Burton's remake, humans and apes have similar powers of speech and intellect; it is only the apes' greater physical strength that enables them to dominate the planet and to treat the humans as slaves.
It was this ironic role-reversal, with apes behaving like men and men behaving like beasts, that gave Schaffner's film its satirical power. That film was advertised with the slogan 'Somewhere in the Universe, there must be something better than man!', and the apes are indeed, in some respects, better than man. Their law against killing others of their kind, for example, is much more strictly observed than our commandment that 'Thou shalt do no murder'. There is no sense that the apes are bad and the humans good. Even Dr Zaius, the orang-utan politician, is not a wicked individual; by the standards of his society he is an honourable and decent one. His weakness is that of excessive intellectual conservatism and unwillingness to accept opinions that do not fit in with his preconceived world view. (In this respect the apes are very human indeed).
Burton's film takes a less subtle moral line. It is a straightforward story of a fight for freedom. The villains are most of the apes, especially the fanatical, human-hating General Thade. The heroes are Captain Davidson, the astronaut from Earth, the planet's human population who long for freedom from the domination of the apes, and a few liberal, pro-human apes, especially Ari, the daughter of an ape senator. The apes are more aggressive and more obviously animals than in the original film; they still frequently move on all fours and emit fierce shrieks whenever angry or excited.
There are some things about this film that are good, especially the ape make-up which is, for the most part, more convincing than in the original film and allows the actors more scope to show emotion. (I say 'for the most part' because Ari looks far less simian than do most of the other apes- Tim Burton obviously felt that the audience would be more likely to accept her as a sympathetic character if she looked half-human). The actors playing apes actually seem more convincing than those playing humans. Tim Roth is good as the militaristic Thade, as is Helena Bonham-Carter as Ari. Mark Wahlberg, on the other hand, is not an actor of the same caliber as Charlton Heston, who played the equivalent role in the original film, and Estella Warren has little to do other than look glamorous. (Heston has a cameo role as an ape in Burton's film, and even gets to repeat his famous line 'Damn you all to hell').
Overall, however, the film is a disappointment when compared to the original, a simple science-fiction adventure story as opposed to an intelligent and philosophical look at complex issues. It tried to copy the device of a surprise ending but failed. Schaffner's famous final twist is shocking, but makes perfect sense in the context of what has gone before. Burton's makes no sense whatsoever.
Tim Burton can be a director of great originality, but with 'Planet of the Apes' he fell into the standard Hollywood trap of trying to copy what had already been done and remaking a film that never needed to be remade. It was good to see him return to form with the brilliant 'Big Fish', one of the best films of last year. 6/10
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| Tim Burton |
In 2012, who became the first German driver, since Hermann Lang in 1939, to win a Formula One Grand Prix in a German car? | Directed by Tim Burton
20th Century Fox
The plodding remake of Planet of the Apes offers proof of Hollywood's simian instincts: Monkey see old hit, monkey do remake. The movie, directed by Tim Burton, isn't laughably bad—but Battleship Earth-type laughs at its expense would make it less of a slog. It lacks the bite of Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel, the twilight-of-America sucker-punch of the 1968 film adaptation, and the maniacal graphic charge of even a messed-up Burton effort like Mars Attacks! (1996). It's just pointless.
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Reportedly, the impulse for this project (in the early '90s, before Burton was aboard) was to go back to Boulle's original, which turns out to be more fertile than I'd imagined. It's a Gulliver saga—a satire of contemporary mores disguised as a fantasy-adventure. Boulle's monkey planet isn't Earth but its funhouse-mirror image in the orbit of Betelgeuse, where evolution made a sort of U-turn: The dominant humans became complacent (too dull-witted, we learn, even to go to the movies!), while the apes—always more physically dexterous—began to speak and reason with acuity. By the time the astronaut protagonist, a twittily superior Frenchman, crash-lands, Homo sapiens have lost the power of speech and are useful largely for medical experiments. The apes strive to understand their origins by studying the brains of their less complex relatives.
In the late 1960s, screenwriters Michael Wilson and Rod Serling recognized the potential in Boulle's premise for a direct civil-rights parable: Hey, white American patriarch—see how you like being subjugated! While Franklin Schaffner's epic Planet of the Apes didn't bring out all the novel's ironies, it was fast, harshly funny, and bracingly in synch with its era: In the shadow of race riots and the Vietnam War, the confusion of right-wing WASP icon Charlton Heston as he's shackled and patronized by monkeys was priceless. (Heston, increasingly out of fashion, knew an opportunity when he saw one and began to specialize in end-of-civilization scenarios like The OmegaMan [1971] and Soylent Green [1973].) Of all the Apes films, the most Boulle-like is probably the Paul Dehn-scripted third, Escape From the Planetof the Apes (1971), in which the genial chimps Cornelius (Roddy McDowall) and Zira (Kim Hunter) travel back to our time and trigger fear of an ape planet. As Alex Abramovich has described in Slate, the series chronicled—and ended up championing—the kind of civil-rights militancy that would make Spike Lee blanch.
Working with such juicy material, it's astounding how little Burton and his screenwriters have done to add their own 21st-century stamp. Devoid of either contemporary resonance or Boulle-ian satire, the new Planet of the Apes is chiefly an occasion for special effects, endless chases, chaotic combat sequences, Rick Baker's intricate makeup, and the witty production design of Rick Heinrichs. The movie begins promisingly—not brilliantly, a bit lumberingly, but promisingly. On board a space lab, astronaut Mark Wahlberg attempts to train a monkey called Pericles for flight, trades barbs with a liberal female scientist who takes the animal's side, then foolishly gives chase in a shuttle when Pericles gets sucked into one of those space/time-rupturing electromagnetic storms that make so much of modern science-fiction possible. Many millions in (reportedly reshot) FX later, he finds himself in the company of humans in loincloths fleeing gorillas in full military regalia.
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Our first glimpse of the master race is a treat. Someone had the marvelous idea of having the apes move like—well, apes instead of hippity-hoppity humans: They lope, scamper at alarming speeds, and leap through the air and on top of their prey with a screeeech. How ingenious to have an ape city that's vertically oriented, to take advantage of those long arms and that zest for climbing and swinging. Baker's make-ups aren't that much of an advance on the great originals, but they have more textural details, and the faces are more impudently snouty. The gorillas, led by Michael Clark Duncan, are framed like Turkish generals: They wear burnished, cone-shaped helmets to accommodate their elongated skulls and issue orders in deep, plaster-cracking roars. Tim Roth plays a baddie ape called Thade, and when he doesn't get his way the movie stops for him (and his stuntman) to bark and howl and ricochet off the walls. Burton seems most in his element here—in the bits of ape schtick that give the actors a chance to show some personality. He has cast his girlfriend, Lisa Marie, as the bitchy sexpot young wife of the town's leading citizen, and one of the most memorable shots in the film is when she straddles her male and then bobs up and down in a spastic frenzy of foreplay. (I hope she got to practice that at home.)
Unfortunately, that bit is in the middle of what should be a thrilling scene—Wahlberg's escape from the city—and it suggests where Burton's heart really lies. The mechanics of action sequences don't interest him, and once the chases begin the story goes into a stall from which it never recovers. There's plenty of dead time to ask ourselves: What—and whom—are we rooting for? The dullard hero? Helena Bonham Carter plays a human- (i.e., animal-) rights activist, the counterpart to the female scientist in the first scene, and we wait for Wahlberg's character to register the irony of his situation—and maybe take advantage of how the apes underestimate him the way he once underestimated apes. But the character is an impenetrable slab of beef, and the actor never seems all there. He's so square that he makes Charlton Heston—who briefly pops up here as an ape—seem like Jack Kerouac.
Burton, whose sympathies have always rested with misfits, freaks, and madcaps, clearly doesn't know how to relate to this dumb jock or the people he leads. In a switch from the novel and original film, the planet's human denizens are able to speak, an innovation that manages at once to: a) kill the symmetry between Earth and the monkey planet; b) kill the humor in the apes' reaction to the hero's use of language; and c) make the humans seem unfathomably passive. What's the point of letting them speak if they have nothing interesting to say? They're not primitives, they're a chorus line of blanks. In one scene, a little ape gets a human child as a pet, and Burton holds on the blond, tear-stained girl's face in her cage. But there's no explanation for why a talking (and obviously despondent) human child would make a good plaything, and when she's freed the little girl is simply discarded from the film—a device, a pet.
Planet of the Apes has been designed and photographed (by Phillipe Rousselot) with real artistry, but in all the ways that matter it's hack work. The script cannibalizes famous lines from the first movie for easy, self-congratulatory laughs and even tosses in such gems as "Extremism in defense of apes is no vice." (A TV critic near me thought that was a howl—he repeated it to his colleagues.) The resolution of the ape/human conflict is like a bad week on Star Trek, and what follows is even stupider. Because the original had a killer punch line, this one does, too—actually straight from Boulle's novel, where it had been elaborately set up. Here, it doesn't make a lick of sense. Has Burton lost his wits? So close to Betelgeuse, he's a million miles from Beetlejuice.
David Edelstein is the chief film critic for New York magazine and a film critic for NPR’s Fresh Air.
| i don't know |
On 1st April 1977, bookseller Richard Booth declared which Welsh town to be an independent kingdom, with himself as monarch? | erickbonnier-pictures - Wales - Hye on Wye
books
Wales - Hay on Wye
Hay-on-Wye (Welsh: Y Gelli Gandryll), is a small market town and community in Powys, Wales, situated on the English border. Often described as "the town of books", it is the National Book Town of Wales.
The town lies on the east bank of the River Wye and is within the Brecon Beacons National Park, just north of the Black Mountains. The town is situated just within the Welsh side of the border with Herefordshire, England, which is defined by the Dulas Brook at this stretch. Where the brook joins the River Wye just to the north of the town, the border continues north along the river. Hay has approximately 1,900 inhabitants. The village of Cusop lies on the other side of the Dulas Brook and is in England. The nearest city is Hereford, county town of Herefordshire, some 22 miles (35 km) to the east. The town was formerly served by Hay-on-Wye railway station by the train services known as the Canney Creeper, which closed in 1963 under the infamous Beeching Axe.
Hay-on-Wye, like Builth Wells, has two Norman castles within a short distance of each other. It seems likely that Hay was fortified by William Fitz Osbern during his penetration of south-east Wales in the summer of 1070 when he defeated three Welsh kings. The history of the site then continues through the lordships of the de Neufmarchés, which was confirmed at the Battle of Brecon in 1093, and also the Gloucester/Hereford families until 1165, when the district of Brycheiniog passed into the hands of the de Braose dynasty of Marcher Lords. In 1230 Hay Castle passed to the de Bohuns and the local history, including the battle near Hay in 1231, is continued through the Mortimer Wars of the 1260s and the battle near Brecon in 1266 down to the death of Earl Humphrey de Bohun in 1298.
Lying close to St. Mary’s Church on the western edge of Hay-on-Wye is a small but well-preserved motte. The site overlooks a gorge and small stream, locally known as The Loggin Brook, that flows into the River Wye, which was undoubtedly one reason for the construction of a motte and bailey castle there. A recently levelled platform under the car park to the north east may have once have housed the castle's bailey. This little fortress was probably the work of William Revel, a knight of Bernard de Neufmarché who is usually referred to as Bernard Newmarch, and may later have been the seat for the manor or commote of Melinog. Other than this, the motte has no further recorded history.
The main fortress within Hay-on-Wye was situated on the great site commanding the town and river under the current ruins of the castle and mansion. This was undoubtedly the 'castello de haia' handed to Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, in 1121 with Sibyl de Neufmarché, the daughter of Bernard de Neufmarché. It is most likely that the keep stood by this time. It is therefore possible that this is the oldest Norman tower in Wales, dating to the onslaught of William Fitz Osbern in 1070. During the anarchy (1136–54) in the reign of King Stephen a series of charters were passed by the Gloucesters concerning the castle. In 1165 the last of Miles of Gloucester's male descendants was killed at nearby Bronllys Castle and Hay-on-Wye Castle passed into the hands of William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber and of New Radnor and Buellt. The de Braose dynasty were energetic lords and probably built the core of the gatehouse which now stands besides the keep. In the summer of 1198 a major English army formed here before marching off to victory at the Battle of Painscastle some four miles to the north.
In 1230 the last de Braose of Brecon, William de Braose was hanged by Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth and Brecon lordship with Hay-on-Wye passed into the hands of the de Bohuns. Taking advantage of this in 1231, Prince Llywelyn ravaged the lands of his de Bohun in-laws during which Hay-on-Wye town was burnt, although the castle survived the onslaught. The castle saw service in the Barons' War of 1263 to 1266, changing hands three times, once being surrendered to the great Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. With the conquest of Wales by King Edward I Longshanks life became more peaceful in this Marcher town.
Around 1401 both town and castle suffered damage by the forces of Owain Glyndŵr, although the castle was listed as defensible against the Welsh in 1403. The fortress later passed to the earls of Stafford, who were to become the unlucky dukes of Buckingham during the Wars of the Roses. The castle was repaired during the conflicts of the 1460s, although its military use would have been somewhat dubious against cannon.
In the 1660s, James Boyle of Hereford built a new mansion on the north side of the castle, while most of the curtain wall was demolished to improve the views. The mansion is now used for second-hand bookselling.
Since 1988, Hay-on-Wye has been the venue for a literary festival, now sponsored by The Daily Telegraph newspaper, which draws a claimed 80,000 visitors over ten days at the beginning of June to see and hear big literary names from all over the world.
On 1 April 1977, bibliophile Richard Booth conceived a publicity stunt in which he declared Hay-on-Wye to be an 'independent kingdom' with himself as its monarch. The tongue-in-cheek micronation of Hay-on-Wye has subsequently developed a healthy tourism industry based on literary interests for which some credit Booth. In 2005, Booth announced plans to sell his bookshop and move to Germany; on this occasion local MP Roger Williams was quoted as saying "His legacy will be that Hay changed from a small market town into a mecca for second-hand book lovers and this transformed the local economy".
| hay on wye |
What is the surname of brother and sister Samson and Sally in the novel ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’ by Charles Dickens? | erickbonnier-pictures - Wales - Hye on Wye
books
Wales - Hay on Wye
Hay-on-Wye (Welsh: Y Gelli Gandryll), is a small market town and community in Powys, Wales, situated on the English border. Often described as "the town of books", it is the National Book Town of Wales.
The town lies on the east bank of the River Wye and is within the Brecon Beacons National Park, just north of the Black Mountains. The town is situated just within the Welsh side of the border with Herefordshire, England, which is defined by the Dulas Brook at this stretch. Where the brook joins the River Wye just to the north of the town, the border continues north along the river. Hay has approximately 1,900 inhabitants. The village of Cusop lies on the other side of the Dulas Brook and is in England. The nearest city is Hereford, county town of Herefordshire, some 22 miles (35 km) to the east. The town was formerly served by Hay-on-Wye railway station by the train services known as the Canney Creeper, which closed in 1963 under the infamous Beeching Axe.
Hay-on-Wye, like Builth Wells, has two Norman castles within a short distance of each other. It seems likely that Hay was fortified by William Fitz Osbern during his penetration of south-east Wales in the summer of 1070 when he defeated three Welsh kings. The history of the site then continues through the lordships of the de Neufmarchés, which was confirmed at the Battle of Brecon in 1093, and also the Gloucester/Hereford families until 1165, when the district of Brycheiniog passed into the hands of the de Braose dynasty of Marcher Lords. In 1230 Hay Castle passed to the de Bohuns and the local history, including the battle near Hay in 1231, is continued through the Mortimer Wars of the 1260s and the battle near Brecon in 1266 down to the death of Earl Humphrey de Bohun in 1298.
Lying close to St. Mary’s Church on the western edge of Hay-on-Wye is a small but well-preserved motte. The site overlooks a gorge and small stream, locally known as The Loggin Brook, that flows into the River Wye, which was undoubtedly one reason for the construction of a motte and bailey castle there. A recently levelled platform under the car park to the north east may have once have housed the castle's bailey. This little fortress was probably the work of William Revel, a knight of Bernard de Neufmarché who is usually referred to as Bernard Newmarch, and may later have been the seat for the manor or commote of Melinog. Other than this, the motte has no further recorded history.
The main fortress within Hay-on-Wye was situated on the great site commanding the town and river under the current ruins of the castle and mansion. This was undoubtedly the 'castello de haia' handed to Miles of Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford, in 1121 with Sibyl de Neufmarché, the daughter of Bernard de Neufmarché. It is most likely that the keep stood by this time. It is therefore possible that this is the oldest Norman tower in Wales, dating to the onslaught of William Fitz Osbern in 1070. During the anarchy (1136–54) in the reign of King Stephen a series of charters were passed by the Gloucesters concerning the castle. In 1165 the last of Miles of Gloucester's male descendants was killed at nearby Bronllys Castle and Hay-on-Wye Castle passed into the hands of William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber and of New Radnor and Buellt. The de Braose dynasty were energetic lords and probably built the core of the gatehouse which now stands besides the keep. In the summer of 1198 a major English army formed here before marching off to victory at the Battle of Painscastle some four miles to the north.
In 1230 the last de Braose of Brecon, William de Braose was hanged by Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth and Brecon lordship with Hay-on-Wye passed into the hands of the de Bohuns. Taking advantage of this in 1231, Prince Llywelyn ravaged the lands of his de Bohun in-laws during which Hay-on-Wye town was burnt, although the castle survived the onslaught. The castle saw service in the Barons' War of 1263 to 1266, changing hands three times, once being surrendered to the great Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester. With the conquest of Wales by King Edward I Longshanks life became more peaceful in this Marcher town.
Around 1401 both town and castle suffered damage by the forces of Owain Glyndŵr, although the castle was listed as defensible against the Welsh in 1403. The fortress later passed to the earls of Stafford, who were to become the unlucky dukes of Buckingham during the Wars of the Roses. The castle was repaired during the conflicts of the 1460s, although its military use would have been somewhat dubious against cannon.
In the 1660s, James Boyle of Hereford built a new mansion on the north side of the castle, while most of the curtain wall was demolished to improve the views. The mansion is now used for second-hand bookselling.
Since 1988, Hay-on-Wye has been the venue for a literary festival, now sponsored by The Daily Telegraph newspaper, which draws a claimed 80,000 visitors over ten days at the beginning of June to see and hear big literary names from all over the world.
On 1 April 1977, bibliophile Richard Booth conceived a publicity stunt in which he declared Hay-on-Wye to be an 'independent kingdom' with himself as its monarch. The tongue-in-cheek micronation of Hay-on-Wye has subsequently developed a healthy tourism industry based on literary interests for which some credit Booth. In 2005, Booth announced plans to sell his bookshop and move to Germany; on this occasion local MP Roger Williams was quoted as saying "His legacy will be that Hay changed from a small market town into a mecca for second-hand book lovers and this transformed the local economy".
| i don't know |
Who became Vice-President of the USA in December 1973? | Vice President Agnew resigns - Oct 10, 1973 - HISTORY.com
Vice President Agnew resigns
Publisher
A+E Networks
Less than a year before Richard M. Nixon’s resignation as president of the United States, Spiro Agnew becomes the first U.S. vice president to resign in disgrace. The same day, he pleaded no contest to a charge of federal income tax evasion in exchange for the dropping of charges of political corruption. He was subsequently fined $10,000, sentenced to three years probation, and disbarred by the Maryland court of appeals.
Agnew, a Republican, was elected chief executive of Baltimore County in 1961. In 1967, he became governor of Maryland, an office he held until his nomination as the Republican vice presidential candidate in 1968. During Nixon’s successful campaign, Agnew ran on a tough law-and-order platform, and as vice president he frequently attacked opponents of the Vietnam War and liberals as being disloyal and un-American. Reelected with Nixon in 1972, Agnew resigned on October 10, 1973, after the U.S. Justice Department uncovered widespread evidence of his political corruption, including allegations that his practice of accepting bribes had continued into his tenure as U.S. vice president. He died at the age of 77 on September 17, 1996.
Under the process decreed by the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, President Nixon was instructed to the fill vacant office of vice president by nominating a candidate who then had to be approved by both houses of Congress. Nixon’s appointment of Representative Gerald Ford of Michigan was approved by Congress and, on December 6, Ford was sworn in. He became the 38th president of the United States on August 9, 1974, after the escalating Watergate affair caused Nixon to resign.
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| Gerald Ford |
If something is ‘aestival’ it belongs to or appears in which season of the year? | Remarks by the Vice President of the United States at the annual Heisman trophy dinner, December 13, 1973, 1973-1974. (Archival material, 1973) [WorldCat.org]
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Remarks by the Vice President of the United States at the annual Heisman trophy dinner, December 13, 1973, 1973-1974.
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The collection contains a letter from U.S. Vice President Gerald Ford donating a photocopy of his address to the Heisman trophy dinner; a photocopy of his reading copy in which he talks about Penn State's trophy winner John Cappelletti and coach Joe Paterno, and the symbolism of the Heisman trophy; and a press release reproducing the text of his speech.
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John Cappelletti; Joe Paterno; John Cappelletti; Joe Paterno
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In the University Archives/Penn State Room, University Libraries, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa. (MSVF/974-0011U).
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3 items.
Abstract:
The collection contains a letter from U.S. Vice President Gerald Ford donating a photocopy of his address to the Heisman trophy dinner; a photocopy of his reading copy in which he talks about Penn State's trophy winner John Cappelletti and coach Joe Paterno, and the symbolism of the Heisman trophy; and a press release reproducing the text of his speech.
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| i don't know |
The towns od Grimsby and Cleethorpes are in which English county? | Grimsby | English Towns
Street Map Our Photos
Grimsby (or archaically Great Grimsby) is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996. According to legend, Grimsby was first founded by Grim, a Danish fisherman, ‘By’ means ‘village’ in Old Norse and ‘city’ or ‘town’ in the modern Danish language and Norwegian language.
The town was previously titled “Great Grimsby” to distinguish it from Little Grimsby, a village about 14 miles (22 km) to the south, near Louth. People from Grimsby are called Grimbarians.
The town itself has a population of 87,574. It is physically linked to the adjoining town of Cleethorpes, and 11,000 of its inhabitants live in the village of Scartho which was absorbed into Grimsby before laws on the green belt were put in place. All three areas come under the jurisdiction of the same council, North East Lincolnshire. It is close to the main terminus of the A180, which ends in Cleethorpes. 22 January is Great Grimsby Day.
The River Freshney passes to the west of the town, towards the A46. The A46 terminates near Grimsby in Cleethorpes at the junction with the A16 just north of Oasis Academy Wintringham.
Grimsby was founded by the Danes in the 9th century AD, although there is some evidence of a small town of Roman workers sited in the area some seven centuries earlier. Located on The Haven, which flowed into the Humber, Grimsby would have provided an ideal location for ships to shelter from approaching storms. It was also well situated for the rich fishing grounds in the North Sea.
The name Grimsby probably originated from the Grim’s by, or “Grim’s Village”. This is based on Grim the Danish Viking, supposedly the founder of the town, with the suffix -by being the Old Norse word for village. For more on the legendary founding of Grimsby see the Lay of Havelock the Dane. This is only one explanation of the founding of Grimsby, and is completely unsupported, being a legend. There is however a Grim and Havelock Association which has produced evidence to back up the legend.
In Norse Mythology, ‘Grim’ (Mask) and ‘Grimnir’ (Masked One) are names adopted by the deity Odin (Anglo-Saxon ‘Woden’) when traveling incognito amongst mortals, as in the short poem known as ‘Grimnir’s Sayings’ (Grimnismal) in the Poetic Edda, so the intended audience of the Havelock tale (recorded much later in the form of The Lay of Havelock the Dane) may have implicitly understood the fisherman Grim to be Odin in disguise. The Odinic name ‘Grimr/Grim’ occurs in many English placenames within the historical Danelaw and elsewhere in Britain, examples being the numerous earthworks named Grimsdyke. Every other British placename containing the element Grim- is explained as a reference to Woden/Odin (e.g. Grimsbury, Grimspound, Grime’s Graves, Grimsditch, Grimsworne), so one may argue that ‘Grimsby’ is unlikely to have a different derivation.
Grimsby is listed in the Domesday Book, having a population of around 200, a priest, a mill and a ferry (probably to take people across the Humber, to Hull).
It also appears in the Orkneyinga Saga in this Dróttkvætt stanza by the Viking Rǫgnvald Kali (in translation):
We have waded in mire for five terrible weeks; there was no lack of mud where we were, in the middle of Grimsby. But now away we let our beaked moose [= ship] resound merrily on the waves over the seagull’s swamp [= sea] to Bergen.
During the 12th century, Grimsby developed into a fishing and trading port, at one point ranking twelfth in importance to the Crown in terms of tax revenue. The town was granted its charter by King John in 1201 The first mayor was installed in 1218.
Grimsby does not have town walls. It was too small and was protected by the marshy land around it. However, the town did have a ditch. In medieval times, Grimsby had two parish churches, St Mary’s and St James’. Only St James’, now known as Grimsby Minster, remains. St James’ shares with Lincoln Cathedral the folk tale of an Imp who played tricks in the church and was turned into stone by an angel (see Lincoln Imp).
In the 15th century, The Haven began to silt up, preventing ships in the Humber from docking. As a result, Grimsby entered a long period of decline which lasted until the late 18th century. In 1801, the population of Grimsby numbered 1,524, around the same size that it had been in the Middle Ages.
In the early 19th century, the town grew rapidly. The Great Grimsby Haven Company was formed by Act of Parliament in May 1796 (the Grimsby Haven Act) for the purpose of “widening, deepening, enlarging, altering and improving the Haven of the Town and Port of Great Grimsby”. Grimsby’s port boomed, importing iron, timber, wheat, hemp and flax. New docks were necessary to cope with the expansion. The Grimsby Docks Act of 1845 allowed the necessary building works.
The Dock Tower was completed in 1851, followed by The Royal Dock in 1852. No.1 Fish Dock was completed in 1856, followed by No.2 Fish Dock in 1877. Alexandra Dock and Union Dock followed in 1879. During this period the fishing fleet was greatly expanded. In a rare reversal of the usual trends, large numbers of fishermen from the South-East and Devon travelled North to join the Grimsby fleet. Over 40% of these newcomers came from Barking in East London, and other Thames-side towns.
The arrival of the railway in 1848 made it far easier to transport goods to and from the port. Coal mined in the South Yorkshire coal fields was brought by rail and exported through Grimsby. Rail links direct to London and the Billingsgate Fish Market allowed for fresh ‘Grimsby Fish’ to gain renown nationwide. The demand for fish in Grimsby grew to such an extent that, at its peak in the 1950s, Grimsby laid claim to the title of ‘the largest fishing port in the world’. Following the pressures placed on the industry during the Cod Wars, many Grimsby firms made the decision to cease trawling operations from the town. The sudden demise of the Grimsby fishing industry brought to an end a way of life and community that had existed for generations. Huge numbers of men were now made redundant, highly skilled in a job that did not exist, and facing the daunting prospect of finding work ashore; a complete change of life for a Grimsby trawlerman. The change in events, as seen in the case of Ross Group, allowed some firms to concentrate on other expanding industries within the town, such as food processing. Grimsby’s trawling days are remembered through the artifacts and permanent exhibits seen at the town’s Fishing Heritage Centre where the preserved 1950s trawler, Ross Tiger, is also to be found. Very few fishing vessels still operate from Grimsby’s once thriving docks, although the town does maintain a substantial fish market, ‘recognised as being one of the most important fish markets in Europe’.
The population of Grimsby grew from 75,000 in 1901 to 92,000 by 1931 but then remained fairly static for the rest of the 20th century.
The former Humber ferry, PS Lincoln Castle, moored was, since the mid-1980s, moored in Alexandra Dock. She was used during this time as a pub\restaurant, but despite the uniqueness of her design and status as Britain’s last coal fired paddle steamer at the time of her withdrawal, she was controversially broken up in 2010. Remaining berthed in the Alexandra Dock is the Ross Tiger, the last survivor of what was once the world’s largest sidewinder trawler fleet, which can be toured throughout the year as part of the Fishing Heritage centre.
During World War II, Grimsby’s status as a major port made it a focus of the German Luftwaffe.They used the Dock Tower as a landmark and refused to bomb it (the British Government discussed its demolition to prevent its use as a navigational aid). It was later revealed that had the German invasion been successful Grimsby would have been one of the first landing points in the north of England due to the combination of its location and its infrastructure.This was probably one reason why the town suffered significantly less bombing raids than neighbouring fishing port Hull whose geographical location would have made it harder to reach. However, Grimsby was still hit by numerous air raids during the war and 197 people were killed. Grimsby was also the first place in Great Britain to have the Butterfly Bomb used against it by the Luftwaffe in 1943, devastating many areas.
The Royal Dock was used as the UK’s largest base for minesweepers, to patrol the North Sea. Large numbers of trawlers were requisitioned by the Admiralty to serve as minesweepers for the Royal Naval Patrol Service. They were crewed in many cases by ex-trawlermen as well as men from the Royal Naval Reserve and Royal Navy volunteers. Trawlers would use the winches and warps used in fishing operations to tow a paravane through the water. This device, which acts similarly to a ‘trawl door’ in a trawl, carries the warp from the winch out and away from the ship. This warp then strikes against the mooring cables or chains that extend from the bottom of mines to their ‘sinkers’ on the sea bed. As the mine sweeper moves through the water, eventually the paravane at the end of the warp makes contact with the mines sinker cable. A steel cutting jaw in the paravane then parts the sinker cable and the mine is broken free. As the mine comes to the surface is can be shot at with rifle fire and armour piercing bullets from the crew of the minesweeper to sink it. Another role of the Royal Naval Patrol Service was anti-submarine work or ASDICS. This involves scanning the seas for submarine activity and deploying depth charges in suspect areas. According to Patrol Service Veteran Jimmy Brown in his 1994 book, the Patrol Service lost ‘over 500 vessels in all – a grim count that exceeded the losses in any other branch of the Royal Navy and totalled more than the combined losses of destroyers, sloops, corvettes, frigates, fleet sweepers, motor torpedo boats and motor gunboats.’ 2385 men lost their lives whilst serving with the Royal Naval Patrol Service. To ensure that the immense bravery and sacrifice made by these men aboard these ships is never forgotten a memorial, financed through the efforts of the Royal Naval Patrol Service Veterans, has been constructed by the Queen’s Steps at the lock pits. It is seen by all vessels that enter the port of Grimsby and sits in the shadow of the Dock Tower.
In reference to modern-day minesweeping, HMS Grimsby is a Sandown class minehunter (commissioned in 1999) currently in service in the Royal Navy. Grimsby class sloops saw service from the 1930s until 1966.
Great Grimsby formed an ancient Borough in the North Riding of Lincolnshire, Parts of Lindsey. It was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 and became a Municipal Borough in that year. In 1889 a County Council was created for Lindsey, but Great Grimsby was outside its area of control and formed an independent County Borough in 1891. The Borough expanded to absorb the adjacent hamlet of Wellow (1889), also the neighbouring parishes of Clee-with-Weelsby (1889), Little Coates (1928), Scartho (1928), Weelsby (1928) and Great Coates (1968). It had its own police force until 1967 when it merged with the Lincolnshire force.
In 1974, the County Borough was abolished and Great Grimsby was reconstituted (with the same boundaries) as the Grimsby non-metropolitan district in the new county of Humberside by the Local Government Act 1972. The district was renamed Great Grimsby in 1979. Local government in the area came under the review of the Local Government Commission for England and Humberside was abolished in 1996. The former area of the Great Grimsby district merged with that of Cleethorpes to form the unitary authority of North East Lincolnshire. The town does not have its own town council, instead there is a board of Charter Trustees. During 2007, in the struggle for identity, it was suggested that the district could be renamed to something like Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes to give a stronger indication of the towns the district consists of. This did not meet with favourable comment among local residents, and the Council Leader dropped the idea a year later.
Grimsby, Immingham and Cleethorpes, together form the economic area known as Greater Grimsby. The main sectors of the Greater Grimsby economy are food and drink; ports and logistics; renewable energy; chemicals and process industries and digital media.
Grimsby is indelibly linked with the sea fishing industry, which once gave the town much of its wealth. At its peak in the 1950s, it was the largest and busiest fishing port in the world. However as a result of the Cod Wars with Iceland this industry has been in decline for many years. It is still home to the largest fish market in the UK although most of what is sold is now brought overland from other ports or Iceland via containerisation.
Today, Greater Grimsby is home to around 500 food-related companies making it one of the largest concentrations of food manufacturing, research, storage and distribution in Europe. As a result the local council has promoted the town as Europe’s Food Town for nearly twenty years.
Grimsby is recognised as the main centre of the UK fish processing industry. In recent years, this expertise has led to diversification into all forms of frozen and chilled foods and consequently the town is one of the single largest centres of fish processing in Europe. More than 100 local companies are involved in fresh and frozen fish production, the largest of which is the Findus Group, comprising Young’s Seafoods and Findus and whose corporate headquarters are in the town. Young’s is a major employer in the area, with some 2,500 people based at its headquarters. From this base, Young’s has a global sourcing operation supplying 60 species from 30 countries.
Media interest has surrounded Traditional Grimsby smoked fish, which was awarded a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) by the European Union. This award safeguards the unique and specialist process of traditional fish smoking developed in the town. The traditional process relies on a natural method of slow smoking as opposed to the more widely used mechanical method. Producers that wish to call their product Traditional Grimsby smoked fish must adhere to strict quality standards laid down by the Grimsby Traditional Fish Smokers Group. As a regional food it has been commended by celebrity chefs Rick Stein, Mitch Tonks and Minister for Food and the Environment Jim Fitzpatrick in 2010.
Other major seafood companies include the Icelandic-owned Coldwater Seafood, employing more than 700 people across its sites in Grimsby and Five Star Fish, a supplier of fish products to the UK foodservice market. The £5.6 million Humber Seafood Institute opened in 2008 and is the first of its kind in the UK. Backed by Yorkshire Forward, North East Lincolnshire Council and the European Regional Development Fund, the HSI is managed by the local council and tenants include the Seafish Industry Authority and Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education. Greater Grimsby is a European centre of excellence in the production of chilled prepared meals, and the area has the largest concentration of cold storage facilities in Europe.
The food production and seafood heritage links are perpetuated in a UK 2006 Young’s television advertising campaign emphasising Grimsby as the source of its seafood products. In the campaign, Grimsby Docks are briefly shown, at dusk, lit and shot somewhat romantically. In 2008 this was followed up by further commercials paying reference to the town and its main industry as the company launched a range of Great Grimsby fish-based frozen meals.
The Port of Grimsby and Immingham is the UK’s largest port by tonnage. Its prime deep-water location on the Humber Estuary, gives companies direct access to mainland Europe and beyond. Benefiting from a prime deep-water location on the Humber Estuary, one of Europe’s busiest trade routes, it plays a central role in the commercial life of the UK. The port is operated by Associated British Ports (ABP), the UK’s largest and leading ports group. Grimsby and Immingham, and ABP’s 19 other ports, form a UK-wide network capable of handling every conceivable type of cargo.
The Environment Agency has awarded Sheffield-based telemetry company CSE Seprol a contract to supply flood warning devices for risk areas in East Anglia. CSE Seprol provides outstations that control the risk area’s flood warning sirens to alert local people of impending severe flooding. The control and monitoring of the sirens is linked by a Seprol S250 telemetry outstation to the Environment Agency’s Regional telemetry system.
The 18 sirens, at various locations around the flood risk area of Grimsby and Cleethorpes, should reach 25,500 households to warn them of portending floods. The sirens will only be sounded in the event of the Environment Agency issuing a severe flood warning for tidal flooding or if there is a likelihood of the sea defences being breached. The sirens make a variety of sounds, from the traditional wailing sound to a voice message. The alarms are said to sound like World War II air raid sirens, with an ‘all clear’ system in place.
In the event of flood siren activation, which can give up to six hours notice of pending floods, residents are advised to go indoors and listen to local radio stations BBC Radio Humberside or Viking FM.
Testing of the sirens takes place annually on 26 October, and residents are not required to take any action.
Places of interest and landmarks:
Corporation Bridge
People’s Park and Floral Hall
Waltham Windmill
Weelsby Woods
Welholme Galleries
Grimsby is the site of a Blue Cross Animal Hospital, one of only four in the country, the other three being situated in London. The Grimsby hospital was previously in Cleethorpe Road, but in 2005 it moved to a new building called ‘Coco Markus House’ in the town’s Nelson Street.
The award-winning Freshney Place Shopping Centre in the heart of the town boasts over 70 stores including Marks and Spencer, House of Fraser and BHS. It was originally constructed between 1967 and 1971 in a joint venture between the old Grimsby Borough Council and developers Hammerson’s UK Ltd. and was known as the Riverhead Centre (so named as the development was adjacent to where the two local rivers, the Freshney and the Haven, meet). Victoria Street is the main shopping street.
The Riverhead Centre development caused some controversy at the time as it followed the 1960s trend of replacing old architecture with new; in this case it involved the wholesale demolition of much of the old town centre including the historic Bull Ring (which is now where Wilkinson’s, the Halifax Bank and the St James Hotel are based) and streets going back many centuries including Flottergate (located at the present day entrance to Freshney Place between British Home Stores and the market), Brewery Street (located at the present day entrance to Freshney Place between the branch of Barclays Bank and the offices of the Cheltenham and Gloucester) and East St Mary’s Gate (no trace remains). During this reconstruction the ornate Victorian branch of the Midland Bank was demolished and rebuilt into a contemporary design that was incorporated into the new shopping centre. In 1985 Marks and Spencer purchased the local department store Lawsons and Stockdale whose frontage ran along Victoria Street; like the Midland branch this was demolished and a new store, linked to the centre, was constructed.
In 1990 the council agreed to sell the area around the shopping centre, used for surface car parking, to Hammerson’s UK Ltd. The development owner and Humberside County Council, the highway authority at that time, agreed to the sale of the area of Baxtergate, the road which ran to the rear of the shopping centre, between the shopping centre and the surface car park. Baxtergate was relocated alongside the River Freshney and became phase one of the Peaks Parkway. Hammerson’s UK Ltd began a £100 million redevelopment of the site which saw it double in size. The centre was also covered in a glass roof and (where the new extension was built) two multi-storey car parks were constructed at each end of the centre, effectively privatising, roofing and enclosing the old Top Town area of Grimsby. Servicing to the stores was made available from a first floor service area, accessible even by large vehicles, using a ramp at the western end. The ramp also provided access to the car park on the roof of the indoor market which is operated by the local council. In recognition of the design of the new facilities, the Royal Town Planning Institute awarded the scheme a commendation in 1992.
Other developments near the town centre include a new Tesco Extra (the second in the area), the Victoria Mills Retail Park which is home to several chain stores including Next and a B&Q Depot off the Peaks Parkway A16.
Unlike many other towns that have shopping facilities on their outskirts, these (and other similar developments) can be found in and around Grimsby’s town centre, making shopping far easier for pedestrians and public transport users, reflecting Grimsby’s relatively cheap central commercial land. Other major retailers include the supermarket chains Tesco, Marks & Spencers, Sainsbury’s, Asda on Holles Street and Morrisons. The Morrisons store is located just outside the town boundary, in the parish of Laceby, and is peculiarly known as Morrisons Cleethorpes. This is an anomaly arising from when the area was part of the now defunct Cleethorpes Borough. Most major supermarkets in the town have expanded somewhat in the last few years, including a massive extension built at Asda, and more recently another floor was built at Tesco at Hewitts Circus (although this store is technically in the neighbouring conurbation, Cleethorpes).
There are also a number of local, independent specialist stores and the Abbeygate Centre (off Bethlehem Street) is where many are located. Once the head office of local brewers Hewitt Brothers it was renovated in the mid-1980s and is home to a number of restaurants and designer clothing stores. The town also has two markets, one next to Freshney Place and the other in Freeman Street (B1213), itself once a dominant shopping area in the town with close connections to the docks but one that has sadly struggled since the late 1970s.
The area has a developed, if somewhat corporate, nightlife. Aside from the nightclubs in nearby Cleethorpes, the town centre has undergone a renaissance in the last decade. A number of national pub chains have redeveloped or opened new outlets, including a specially-built complex at the Riverhead which is home to three (originally five) such operations. Prior to the late 1960s many public houses in the area were owned by the local brewer Hewitt Brothers and gave a distinctive local touch but following a takeover in 1969 by the brewer Bass Charrington these have been re-badged (many times), closed or sold off; examples are the Yarborough Hotel.
Musical entertainment is found at the Grimsby Auditorium, built in 1995, on Cromwell Road in Yarborough near Grimsby Leisure Centre. The smaller Caxton Theatre is on Cleethorpe Road (A180) in East Marsh near the docks. The Caxton Theatre provides entertainment by adults and youths in theatre. A notable theatre company in the area is the Class Act Theatre Company run by local playwright David Wrightam. The company produces strong factual drama and premiere award-winning productions.
North East Lincolnshire Council have installed a Wi-Fi network covering Victoria Street in central Grimsby. The service provides access to the Internet for the general public on a yearly subscription.
The constituency of Great Grimsby is considered a Labour stronghold although Austin Mitchell held the seat in both the 1983 and 2010 general elections with a majority of less than 800.
Grimsby also has rail links via Grimsby Town railway station and Grimsby Docks railway station. There is a level crossing in the centre of the town across Wellowgate. TransPennine Express provide direct trains to Manchester Airport via Doncaster and Sheffield whilst Northern Rail operate services to Barton-upon-Humber (for buses to Hull) and a Saturday only service to Sheffield via. Retford. Lincoln and Newark are served by East Midlands Trains services which can go on to Nottingham on Sunday in the Summer months. The service to Cleethorpes runs at least hourly during the day, along a single track, passing stations at Grimsby Docks and New Clee.
Grimsby was home to two tramway networks: the Grimsby District Light Railway and the Grimsby & Immingham Electric Railway. The Grimsby Electric was a normal gauge tramway opened in 1912 between Corporation Bridge at Grimsby and Immingham. There was no physical connection with the railway system. The tramway served the town with a passenger service between Grimsby and Immingham until closure in 1961. It is claimed that once this was controlled by the Corporation, they were more interested in supporting the motorbus service, now number 45.
The Grimsby Light Railway opened in 1881 using horse drawn trams. In 1901, these were replaced with electric tramways. In 1925 the Grimsby Transport Company bought the tramway company and in 1927 moved the depot to the Victoria Street Depot, an old sea plane hangar. This system closed in 1937. The depot continues to be used by Stagecoach, though the old Grimsby Tramways livery is still visible on the front of the building.
Operating in the area until the 1950s was a network of electrically operated trolley buses which received their power from overhead power lines.
| Lincolnshire |
Venerdi is Italian for which day of week? | Lincolnshire County Public Records Resources and Information
Email Address:
[email protected]
You can contact the Cleethorpes, Grimsby and the North East Wolds office by calling (01522) 782040 or, for search room direct (01522) 526204 or by Email at [email protected]. You can contact the office for the rest of Lincolnshire by calling (01472) 323585 or by Email at [email protected] or by Fax at 01472-323581.
At the Cleethorpes, Grimsby, and the North East Wolds or Lincolnshire office you can find archives and reference books. You can also sit in on the talks and exhibitions that they hold in their lecture room. They also hold classes and events by other organizations. You can find censuses and populations lists, engineering records, English Civil War sources, births, marriages, and deaths for England and Wales from 1837-1983, Manorial records, friendly societies, title deeds, history of house, urban records, village history, Wills, Administrations, and inventories, women’s history, poor relief from 1601-1834, World Wars I and II, parish records, slave trade, electoral registers, adoption, Lincolnshire Regiment, maps and plans, and Quarter sessions records. This office is open Tuesday – Saturday from 10am – 4pm and are closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas day, Boxing day, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s day, Good Friday, Easter Monday and both May bank holidays and August bank holidays. They provide entry access to CARN (County Archives Research Network), which is issued to you on your first visit and is free. They also provide Reproduction services, printing your own photos without flash and a self-service reader printer.
At the office for the rest of Lincolnshire you can read the catalogues and indexes, find useful guides to topics, and look at documents. You can find family history here like census information, directories, electoral registers, Marriage indexes, memorial inscriptions and parish registers. They also have an online catalogue. This office is open Monday – Thursday from 9.30-12.30 (1Pm – 4Pm) and closed Friday – Sunday. They’re also closed on Bank Holidays. You must book in advance to visit their search room, but entry is free. They have wheelchair access and a minicom. They also provide Reproduction services and printing you own photos (by arrangement with staff).
Public Records Search
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‘Never Have Your Dog Stuffed and Other Things I’ve Learned’ is a 2005 autobiography by which US actor? | Summary/Reviews: Never have your dog stuffed :
Staff View
SUMMARY
He's one of America's most recognizable and acclaimed actors-a star on Broadway, an Oscar nominee for The Aviator, and the only person to ever win Emmys for acting, writing, and directing, during his eleven years on M*A*S*H. Now Alan Alda has written a memoir as elegant, funny, and affecting as his greatest performances.
"My mother didn't try to stab my father until I was six," begins Alda's irresistible story. The son of a popular actor and a loving but mentally ill mother, he spent his early childhood backstage in the erotic and comic world of burlesque and went on, after early struggles, to achieve extraordinary success in his profession.
Yet Never Have Your Dog Stuffed is not a memoir of show-business ups and downs. It is a moving and funny story of a boy growing into a man who then realizes he has only just begun to grow.
It is the story of turning points in Alda's life, events that would make him what he is-if only he could survive them.
From the moment as a boy when his dead dog is returned from the taxidermist's shop with a hideous expression on his face, and he learns that death can't be undone, to the decades-long effort to find compassion for the mother he lived with but never knew, to his acceptance of his father, both personally and professionally, Alda learns the hard way that change, uncertainty, and transformation are what life is made of, and true happiness is found in embracing them.
Never Have Your Dog Stuffed , filled with curiosity about nature, good humor, and honesty, is the crowning achievement of an actor, author, and director, but surprisingly, it is the story of a life more filled with turbulence and laughter than any Alda has ever played on the stage or screen.
Review by Booklist Review
Alda, Emmy winning star of television's M*A*S*H 0 as well as a writer and director, candidly details his turbulent childhood and the lessons he learned during his event-filled life in this breezy collection of remembrances and anecdotes. His father, Robert, was a fairly famous actor, and this led to a somewhat unconventional lifestyle (for the 1940s and 1950s anyway) for young Alan. Fondly, he remembers traveling around the country following his father's career and hanging out with unusual characters from his father's burlesque shows, while at the same time dealing with real adolescent troubles, such as encounters with bullies at the various schools where he never really fit in. He also shares details of the family's struggles with his mother's undiagnosed schizophrenia. Alda shows how he not only coped with these hurdles but also learned from them, as stories from his successful adult life round out the book. Refreshingly, this collection of biographical sketches is written in a good-natured and compassionate way. A large publicity effort is under way for this release, and Alda is a well-liked and well-known celebrity, so librarians should stock up. --Kathleen Hughes Copyright 2005 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
?My mother didn?t try to stab my father until I was six,? actor and author Alan Alda writes at the beginning of his autobiography. The child of a well-known actor, Alda (born Alphonso D?Abruzzo) spent his early years on the road with a burlesque troupe. The time spent on the stage wings, watching his father perform, made a profound impact on the youngster, igniting a desire to entertain others that has stayed with him his entire life. Just as profound was his mother?s losing battle with mental illness; Alda spent much of his adult life attempting to reconcile his resentment of her outbursts and unmanageable behavior coupled with her unbridled enthusiasm for life and encouragement. Fueled by a desire to learn and constantly question, Alda carves out his own path; he marries and starts a family while continuing to act and write. His enthusiasm for new experiences?improv, musical theater, television, film?enabled him to grow as an artist, resulting in better jobs. (Alda discussed his most famous role, as Hawkeye Pierce on M*A*S*H*, in 1985?s The Last Days of M*A*S*H*.) Humble to a fault, Alda spends more time discussing his formative years than he does on his Emmies and Oscar nominations, which he glosses over. A significant chunk of the final third of the book is devoted to an epiphany Alda had after a health scare in Chile. It runs a bit long, but Alda?s conversational style keeps the story on track. It?s a brief but entertaining autobiography tempered with humility and a depth rarely found in celebrity memoirs. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Life's little lessons, from an Emmy Award-winning actor/director who grew up with a schizophrenic mother and famed actor father. With a six-city tour. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
AUTHOR NOTES
Alan Alda played Hawkeye Pierce for eleven years in the television series M*A*S*H and has acted in, written, and directed many feature films. He has starred often on Broadway, and his avid interest in science has led to his hosting PBS's Scientific American Frontiers for eleven years. He was nominated for an Academy Award in 2005 and has been nominated for thirty Emmy awards. He is married to the children's book author/photographer Arlene Alda. They have three grown children and seven grandchildren.
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You can buy Alan Alda’s Never Have Your Dog Stuffed and Other Things I've Learned and
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In September 1990, Geoffrey Palmer resigned as Prime Minister of which country? | Sir Geoffrey Palmer | prime minister of New Zealand | Britannica.com
prime minister of New Zealand
Written By:
Prime minister of New Zealand
born
Sir Geoffrey Palmer, in full Sir Geoffrey Winston Russell Palmer (born April 21, 1942, Nelson , N.Z.), New Zealand Labour Party leader and prime minister of New Zealand for a year in 1989–90.
Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 2009.
Wolfgang K
Palmer was educated at the Victoria University of Wellington (B.A., LL.B.) and at the University of Chicago (U.S.). He worked as a solicitor for a Wellington law firm (1964–66) before turning to teaching, becoming a lecturer in political science at Victoria University of Wellington (1968–69), professor of law at the universities of Iowa and of Virginia (1969–73), and professor of English and New Zealand law at Victoria again (1974–79). After joining the New Zealand Labour Party in 1975, he was elected to Parliament in a by-election in 1979. He became personal assistant to the prime minister Wallace Edward Rowling and soon was deputy leader of the party (1983–89) and deputy prime minister and minister of justice and attorney general (1984–89).
When Prime Minister David Russell Lange , suffering serious setbacks in party loyalties and public opinion, resigned in August 1989, he nominated Palmer as his successor, and party leaders confirmed the choice. One year later, in September 1990, Palmer resigned for virtually the same reasons.
Palmer subsequently taught law at Victoria University and the University of Iowa , and in 1994 he cofounded a law firm. In 2005 he became president of New Zealand’s Law Commission, a government-funded organization that reviewed areas of laws and then made recommendations for changes to Parliament. Palmer was knighted in 1991.
Learn More in these related articles:
| New Zealand |
‘The Motherland Calls’ which commemorates the Battle of Stalingrad, is a statue in which Russian city? | Biographies - Premiers and Prime Ministers | NZHistory, New Zealand history online
Premiers and Prime Ministers
Page 3 – Biographies
Leaders of the nation
Find out more about the 39 premiers and prime ministers who have held office in New Zealand since 1856. Each biography links to a page with further information. The entries are in chronological order of term served.
Henry Sewell
Premier: 7–20 May 1856
Henry Sewell, our first premier, was more of a sojourner than a settler. Although he spent 17 years in New Zealand in three periods between 1853 and 1876, he never put down deep roots. More...
William Fox
Premier: 20 May–2 Jun 1856; 12 Jul 1861–6 Aug 1862; 28 Jun 1869–10 Sept 1872; 3 Mar–8 Apr 1873
William Fox headed New Zealand governments four times. A rug-puller rather than a bridge-builder, he was better at defeating governments than he was at leading them. More...
Edward Stafford
Premier: 2 Jun 1856–12 Jul 1861; 16 Oct 1865–28 Jun 1869; 10 Sept–11 Oct 1872
Edward Stafford was New Zealand's youngest leader and a stable influence on the early colonial government. He held the post of premier on three different occasions between 1856 and 1872. More...
Alfred Domett
Premier: 6 Aug 1862–30 Oct 1863
Alfred Domett is best remembered for establishing the Parliamentary Library and for his much-derided epic verse Ranolf and Amohia: A South-Sea Daydream. More...
Frederick Whitaker
Premier: 30 Oct 1863–24 Nov 1864; 21 Apr 1882–25 Sept 1883
Despite Frederick Whitaker’s advanced views on electoral reform, this two-time premier tarnished his reputation by land speculation and confiscation. More...
Frederick Weld
Premier: 24 Nov 1864–16 Oct 1865
Frederick Weld was only briefly premier, but the fact that he was a Roman Catholic showed how different New Zealand was to Britain (which has still never had a Catholic PM). More...
George Waterhouse
Premier: 11 Oct 1872–3 Mar 1873
George Waterhouse, who never stood for elected office here, was a premier on both sides of the Tasman, leading South Australia (1861-3) and New Zealand (1872-3). More...
Julius Vogel
Premier: 8 Apr 1873–6 Jul 1875; 15 Feb–1 Sept 1876
Although he spent just 18 years in New Zealand, journalist, businessman and politician Julius (Sir Julius from 1874) Vogel dominated this country's political scene. More...
Daniel Pollen
Premier: 6 Jul 1875–15 Feb 1876
Largely forgotten today, Daniel Pollen was considered a ‘safe man’ and a good administrator. In July 1875 he took over the premiership from the absent Sir Julius Vogel, although Harry Atkinson really ran things. More...
Harry Atkinson
Premier: 1 Sept 1876–13 Oct 1877; 25 Sept 1883–16 Aug 1884; 28 Aug–3 Sept 1884; 8 Oct 1887–21 Jan 1891
Harry Atkinson was premier four times – five if you count the ‘reconstitution’ of his first ministry a fortnight into its life. Like Edward Stafford, he was a stabilising force who transcended regionalism for national interests. More...
Sir George Grey
Premier: 13 Oct 1877–8 Oct 1879
Sir George Grey was our only politician for whom the premiership was an anticlimax. He had governed autocratically from 1845 to 1853 (greatly shaping our constitutional arrangements) and returned as governor in 1861. More...
John Hall
Premier: 8 Oct 1879–21 Apr 1882
John (later Sir John) Hall was a force in our politics for several decades. In the late 1880s and early 1890s he led the parliamentary campaign for votes for women. More...
Sir Robert Stout
Premier: 16–28 Aug 1884; 3 Sept 1884–8 Oct 1887
The careers of Sir Robert Stout and Sir Julius Vogel were so closely intertwined that Stout’s governments are usually referred to as Stout-Vogel ministries. Both men started their public lives in Otago and followed similar policies. More...
John Ballance
Premier: 24 Jan 1891–27 Apr 1893
John Ballance, who led the Liberals to power in 1891, was called ‘the rainmaker’ by voters relieved to see the return of prosperity. More...
Richard Seddon
Premier: 1 May 1893–10 Jun 1906
Richard Seddon’s nickname, ‘King Dick’, says it all. Our longest-serving and most famous leader didn't just lead the government – many argued he was the government. For 13 years he completely dominated politics. More...
William Hall-Jones
Prime Minister: 21 Jun–6 Aug 1906
Although William Hall-Jones merely warmed the seat while Richard Seddon’s designated successor, Sir Joseph Ward, returned from Europe, he was the first leader to enter office as prime minister, not premier. More...
Sir Joseph Ward
Prime Minister: 6 Aug 1906–12 Mar 1912; 10 Dec 1928–28 May 1930
Sir Joseph Ward, New Zealand’s political Lazarus, led governments nearly a quarter of a century apart. He entered Parliament in 1887 and used his interest in technology and business to strengthen the early Liberal Cabinets. More...
Thomas Mackenzie
Prime Minister: 28 Mar–10 Jul 1912
The Liberals were already yesterday’s men when they named Thomas Mackenzie as successor to Sir Joseph Ward. He only lasted three and a half months before being defeated in the House – the last New Zealand PM to lose power in this fashion. More...
William Massey
Prime Minister: 10 Jul 1912–10 May 1925
William Massey is our second-longest serving leader. Reviled by the left for crushing 1913 strikers with his ‘Massey’s Cossacks’, he kept most of the Liberals’ reforms, cleaned up the public service, increased home ownership rates and spent more on education, roads and electricity. More...
Sir Francis Henry Dillon Bell
Prime Minister: 14–30 May 1925
Sir Francis Bell was PM for only 16 days, but held several distinctions – he was our second-oldest PM (74), the first born in New Zealand, and the last to come from the Legislative Council. More...
Gordon Coates
Prime Minister: 30 May 1925–10 Dec 1928
Gordon Coates seemed unbeatable. Tall and handsome, this affable war hero embodied modernity – he was the ‘jazz premier’. In 1925’s presidential-style election voters were invited to take their ‘Coats off with Coates’. More...
George Forbes
Prime Minister: 28 May 1930–6 Dec 1935
George Forbes succeeded the dying Sir Joseph Ward, but his term in office coincided with the harsh economic and social climate of the 1930s Great Depression. More...
Michael Joseph Savage
Prime Minister: 6 Dec 1935–27 Mar 1940
Michael Joseph Savage, New Zealand’s first Labour PM, was probably also its best-loved. His avuncular image hung in the homes of the Labour faithful for decades. More...
Peter Fraser
Prime Minister: 27 Mar 1940–13 Dec 1949
Peter Fraser, New Zealand’s wartime PM, led the nation for nine years. He was respected rather than loved like his predecessor Savage. But he is rated by many experts as our finest PM. More...
Sidney Holland
Prime Minister: 13 Dec 1949–20 Sept 1957
The National Party's first PM came from a Canterbury political dynasty. His father, Henry, a mayor of Christchurch, entered Parliament in 1925. Sid's son Eric later followed his father into the House. More...
Keith Holyoake
Prime Minister: 20 Sept–12 Dec 1957; 12 Dec 1960–7 Feb 1972
‘Kiwi Keith’ Holyoake is our third-longest-serving leader. Although criticised for sending troops to the Vietnam War, he is now seen as ‘the most dovish of the hawks’, doing the bare minimum to keep America happy. More...
Walter Nash
Prime Minister: 12 Dec 1957–12 Dec 1960
At almost 76, Walter Nash was New Zealand’s oldest incoming PM and the last one born outside New Zealand. He had two wives, Lotty, and Parliament. He was still an MP when he died aged 86. More...
John (Jack) Marshall
Prime Minister: 7 Feb–8 Dec 1972
‘Gentleman Jack’ Marshall, for long – too long, he felt towards the end – Keith Holyoake’s deputy, spent mere months as PM. But he served Cabinet well for two decades. More...
Norman Kirk
Prime Minister: 8 Dec 1972–31 Aug 1974
In 1972 Norman Kirk broke National’s 12-year-long grip on the Treasury benches and became Labour’s first New Zealand-born PM. Two years later he became the fifth PM to die in office. More...
Wallace (Bill) Rowling
Prime Minister: 6 Sept 1974–12 Dec 1975
Norman Kirk’s death brought Bill Rowling to the prime ministership unexpectedly in August 1974. A member of an old Tasman Bay farming family, and a teacher by training, he had been finance minister since 1972. More...
Robert Muldoon
Prime Minister: 12 Dec 1975–26 Jul 1984
Rob Muldoon was one of our most polarising PMs. To supporters he was the voice of ‘the ordinary bloke’; to his opponents he was a dictatorial bully. More...
David Lange
Prime Minister: 26 Jul 1984–8 Aug 1989
Seven years and one stomach-stapling operation after entering Parliament in 1977, David Lange became PM just a month short of his 42nd birthday. More...
Geoffrey Palmer
Prime Minister: 8 Aug 1989–4 Sept 1990
Geoffrey Palmer, the hardworking, loyal deputy who became PM when David Lange resigned dramatically in August 1989, knew that Labour was doomed. ‘What I got from Lange was a hospital pass.’ More...
Mike Moore
Prime Minister: 4 Sept 1990–2 Nov 1990
In September 1990, just weeks from an election Labour seemed certain to lose, the caucus made Mike Moore New Zealand’s third PM in 13 months. More...
Jim Bolger
Prime Minister: 2 Nov 1990–8 Dec 1997
New Zealand’s most openly republican PM, Jim Bolger presided over major electoral reform and Treaty of Waitangi settlements. He also outflanked Cabinet opposition to funding the new national museum. More...
Jenny Shipley
Prime Minister: 8 Dec 1997–5 Dec 1999
‘This ain’t a damn beauty contest. If you come into politics to be popular, then you’ve picked the wrong sport’, Jenny Shipley declared. New Zealand’s first woman PM came to power in 1997 after staging a carefully planned coup against Jim Bolger. More...
Helen Clark
Prime Minister: 5 Dec 1999–19 Nov 2008
Jenny Shipley may have been our first female PM, but Helen Clark was the first elected one. In 2008 she became our fifth-longest-serving PM and the first Labour leader to win three consecutive elections. More...
John Key
Prime Minister: 19 Nov 2008–12 Dec 2016
John Key’s parliamentary apprenticeship before becoming PM was the shortest since David Lange’s. Like Lange, he was one of the few recent PMs without prior Cabinet experience. More...
Bill English
Prime Minister: 12 Dec 2016-
Coming soon
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Rivella is a soft drink which originated in which European country? | International - Englisch
International
General request
Rivella International Rivella beyond Switzerland's borders
We not only aspire to consolidate our position as one of Switzerland's strongest growing beverage manufacturers, but also set our sights on establishing ourselves in selected markets abroad. Our company currently generates around 25 percent of its sales outside of Switzerland. The gradual development of our export business is one of our strategic growth drivers.
We currently export Rivella to the following international markets:
Netherlands
We have been exporting Rivella to the Netherlands since 1957: consequently, not only is this country the oldest in the export market for the Rivella brand, it is also the largest and most important. Holland and its people have made a strong contribution to the growth of the soft drink brand: for example, Rivella Blau originated in Holland.
Germany
As for the Germans, they like Switzerland – and, of course, Rivella. Our beverages are popular as a high-value niche product, especially in Germany's state of Baden-Württemberg. We even have our own team working in this region, with its 10.5 million inhabitants.
Luxembourg
Since 1977, Rivella has been firmly established in Luxembourg's retail trade, catering sector, schools and at events where Rivella is a welcome and popular partner. We can thank the founder of Luxembourg's Cactus retail company for that much. He came across Rivella in Switzerland and wanted to be able to drink it back home. Since then, Luxembourg has become the country with the largest consumption per capita next to Switzerland.
France
The border regions, particularly Alsace, Lorraine and Franche-Comté, have been Rivella territory for many years. The Swiss soft drinks brand has a loyal and regular customer base, which should continue to increase in future.
Austria
Rivella enjoys a high profile and loyal fans in Austria, predominantly in the Vorarlberg region, which borders Switzerland.
Finland
| Switzerland |
A bonxie is what type of creature? | Cultural Geography - Simply Swiss
Simply Swiss
Cultural Geography
Switzerland is filled with varieties of cultural differences throughout the country. The amount of different languages, traditions, customs, and holidays makes Switzerland unique in its own way. One way Switzerland is different from any other countries in Europe is because the languages vary from parts of Switzerland, also the cultural geography also changes in the different parts of Switzerland. The culture of geography is influenced by neighboring countries, diversity, and the Alps. Beside the fact of the outstanding different cultural geography in Switzerland, it also has many other astonishing figures and things that makes Switzerland so different than any other country across the world.
Greetings in Switzerland:
To greet someone in Switzerland that you don't know very well or have never met before you do just a simple handshake. If you are greeting someone you are friends with you greet with the three kiss greeting.
Switzerland is filled with varieties of languages:
Swiss German: 64%
French: 23%
Italian: 8%
Switzerland is a federal state but there is no state religion, but the majority of people in Switzerland are Christian. Christianity in Switzerland started in the Roman Era. Roman Catholic was divided in the 16th century. Around 38% of people in Switzerland are Roman Catholic and the other percent of people are different kinds of Christians.
Holidays in Switzerland:
St. Peter and St. Paul is celebrated on June 29th it is a day honoring the death or suffering of people who are killed for religious beliefs, it is celebrated by a feast.
Assumption of Mary is a holiday celebrated on August 15th honoring the body taking up of Mary at the end of her life into heaven, it is celebrated by a feast or sometimes a festival.
The Swiss National holiday which is celebrated on August 1st it is the national holiday for Switzerland since 1994.
Christmas in Switzerland:
Christmas in Switzerland is very different than Christmas in United Sates, even though it shares Christmas customs and traditions with Germany and Austria. Advent calendars are a big part of Christmas. The advent calendar starts on the fourth Sunday before Christmas eve. Christmas trees are also a huge part of Christmas in Switzerland. Unlike the U.S. they decorate the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve evening. Also, the traditional Christmas feast is on Christmas Eve not on Christmas day. Many popular traditions for the holiday season are caroling also the traditional meal for Christmas consists of ham, potatoes, and dessert consists of Christmas cookies and walnut cake. Cookies are very popular in Switzerland especially around the holiday season each family has their own recipes and everyone cooks their own.
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Eddie Valiant, Judge Doom and Dolores are all characters in which Disney film? | Eddie Valiant | Disney Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
Eddie Valiant is a Californian private investigator and the protagonist of Disney / Touchstone 's 1988 hybrid film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit .
Contents
Background
Development
In Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, Eddie is a fictional Californian private detective hired by comic-book star Roger Rabbit to investigate the workings of Roger's corrupt employers, the DeGreasey Brothers. When Roger is found dead, and his final words having been censored out, Eddie is soon sent on the case of tracking Roger's murderers. This first incarnation of Eddie is a heavy smoker, has a beard and is active when the book is set ( 1981 ), rather than the later, more accepted incarnation of the character.
The 1988 film gave more insight into the character of Eddie, who was played by Bob Hoskins . He also does not smoke but is an alcoholic. He does not like Toons since Teddy was killed by one years ago.
Before Bob Hoskins was cast, many A-list actors were up for the role including Eddie Murphy and Harrison Ford who was Spielberg's choice but demanded too high a price. Bill Murray was also in consideration for the role, but ended up not having the opportunity to participate. This regret would lead him to participate in another animation/live-action hybrid film: Warner Brothers' Space Jam.
Personality
Eddie has a hard-boiled disposition, coming across as stubborn and cynical. He initially harbors a general distaste for Toons , since his brother, Teddy, was killed by one; since his death, Eddie stopped taking cases for Toons and began drinking heavily. Despite this, he retains his street smarts as well as his knowledge of Toon rules and culture.
Prior to Teddy's death, both brothers were (as shown in pictures) to be extremely fun-loving, and would do anything for a laugh. They were the only known humans who could ever out-funny a Toon.
Underneath his gruff exterior, Eddie proves to be a loyal comrade (aiding Roger in his time of need despite his own reservations), and harbors a soft spot for his girlfriend, Dolores . By the film's end, he gives up drinking, is finally at peace with Teddy's death when he defeats the evil Judge Doom , and has reconciled with the Toons.
Biography
Eddie and his brother, Teddy, were sons of a Barnum and Bailey circus clown (shown by the pictures on their desk in the film), who joined the police force; they graduated from the LAPD in 1925. They eventually started their own private investigation service, Valiant & Valiant , in 1934 , working largely on Toon cases such as the kidnapping of Donald Duck 's nephews in 1937 , and clearing Goofy of accusations of espionage in 1940 (both seen as newspaper clippings in Eddie's office).
However, during another investigation in the early 1940s, he and Teddy were chasing the unknown Toon form of Judge Doom who was robbing the First National Bank of Toontown (the home of all the Toons), during the chase, Doom dropped a large grand piano on them from 15 stories up, Eddie survived, only with a broken arm, but Teddy was killed. After his death, Eddie showed a great dislike for Toons, turned to the bottle, and disappeared from the public eye.
Since turning to alcohol, Eddie became a subject of ridicule among the police force.
Appearances
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
In 1947, R.K. Maroon of Maroon Cartoons paid Eddie $100 to photograph Jessica Rabbit , Roger Rabbit 's wife, quite literally "playing pattycake" with Marvin Acme , owner of Toontown and founder of the Acme Corporation . When Acme is murdered and Roger becomes the prime suspect of the case, Eddie teams up with Roger to find the killer, and, after a long search, he finds not only Acme's murderer, but the murderer of R.K. Maroon, and his own brother who turns out to be Judge Doom who is a Toon wearing a human mask, attempting to destroy all of Toontown to make a freeway for him to profit retirement from.
After defeating Doom and the Toon Patrol at Acme Warehouse, Eddie makes peace with Toons, avenging the death of Teddy at the hands of Doom and walks home with Roger, Jessica, and Dolores .
In the graphic novel of the film published in 1989 by Marvel Comics , Eddie is the narrator of the story, telling the film through his eyes and in the style of a detective story.
Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom
According to Roger Rabbit: The Resurrection of Doom, Eddie has given up drinking, but now tends to consume jellybeans quite a bit.
In the non-canon sub-sequel set after the film, Who P-P-P-Plugged Roger Rabbit?, Eddie is adamant to no longer take any Toon cases but is forced to do so when Baby Herman , Roger Rabbit's costar, is found dead.
Disney Parks
Eddie made what is probably his first appearance at a Disney park as a costume character in 2013 during the Disneyland Paris portion of the Disney Dreamers Everywhere events.
In the Walt Disney's World on Ice: 10th Anniversary show, Eddie makes an appearance in a scene where Roger brings Scrooge McDuck to meet him. They try to tell jokes to Scrooge to cheer him up.
Gallery
The Disney Wiki has a collection of images and media related to Eddie Valiant .
Trivia
Eddie's hard-boiled attitude seems to derive from Dick Tracy or other such detectives. In the 1988 film, he was made to portray the film noir detective character usually found in Humphrey Bogart or Alan Ladd , while maintaining the Dick Tracy attitude.
Although little or nothing is heard about the methods employed by Teddy, the items on his side of the desk in shots of the Valiant & Valiant office suggest that he was based more on Sherlock Holmes , judging by the tobacco pipe and magnifying glass on his desk.
Eddie looks like a composite of Peter Falk of the TV series Columbo and film private eye Philip Marlowe , wearing a shiny brown suit and beat-up fedora above a craggy face.
Eddie's character is somewhat different in the movie. Rather than being a smoker, he is an alcoholic and having no facial hair whereas, in the novel, he has a beard.
It should be noted that Bob Hoskins is British and has a Cockney accent, and Eddie was raised in California.
In early screen tests for the film, Disney veteran Pete Renaday portrayed Eddie.
| Who Framed Roger Rabbit |
Where are the ossicones situated on the body of a giraffe? | Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) - IMDb
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Who Framed Roger Rabbit ( 1988 )
PG |
A toon-hating detective is a cartoon rabbit's only hope to prove his innocence when he is accused of murder.
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Won 3 Oscars. Another 20 wins & 21 nominations. See more awards »
Videos
The scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for them.
Director: Joe Johnston
When Captain Hook kidnaps his children, an adult Peter Pan must return to Neverland and reclaim his youthful spirit in order to challenge his old enemy.
Director: Steven Spielberg
A martial arts master agrees to teach karate to a bullied teenager.
Director: John G. Avildsen
A troubled child summons the courage to help a friendly alien escape Earth and return to his home world.
Director: Steven Spielberg
In order to save their home from foreclosure, a group of misfits set out to find a pirate's ancient valuable treasure.
Director: Richard Donner
When two kids find and play a magical board game, they release a man trapped for decades in it and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game.
Director: Joe Johnston
After a bitter divorce, an actor disguises himself as a female housekeeper to spend time with his children held in custody by his former wife.
Director: Chris Columbus
In a desperate attempt to win a basketball match and earn their freedom, the Looney Tunes seek the aid of retired basketball champion, Michael Jordan.
Director: Joe Pytka
A troubled boy dives into a wondrous fantasy world through the pages of a mysterious book.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Charlie receives a golden ticket to a factory, his sweet tooth wants going into the lushing candy, it turns out there's an adventure in everything.
Director: Mel Stuart
A misfit ant, looking for "warriors" to save his colony from greedy grasshoppers, recruits a group of bugs that turn out to be an inept circus troupe.
Directors: John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton
Stars: Kevin Spacey, Dave Foley, Julia Louis-Dreyfus
When a street urchin vies for the love of a beautiful princess, he uses a genie's magic power to make himself off as a prince in order to marry her.
Directors: Ron Clements, John Musker
Stars: Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin
Edit
Storyline
'Toon star Roger is worried that his wife Jessica is playing pattycake with someone else, so the studio hires detective Eddie Valiant to snoop on her. But the stakes are quickly raised when Marvin Acme is found dead and Roger is the prime suspect. Groundbreaking interaction between the live and animated characters, and lots of references to classic animation. Written by Jon Reeves <[email protected]>
It's the story of a man, a woman, and a rabbit in a triangle of trouble.
Genres:
22 June 1988 (USA) See more »
Also Known As:
Dead Toons Don't Pay Bills See more »
Filming Locations:
70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)| Dolby (35 mm prints)
Color:
Did You Know?
Trivia
First Disney Hybrid film with both Live Action and Traditional Animation to be Rated PG by the MPAA, for the amount of Violence, Profane Language and Sex. It wouldn't been PG-13 had it come out after the 1980s when the MPAA got a slight bit more stricter for it's adult based content. See more »
Goofs
Just before Eddie Valiant goes into the Terminal Bar, sunlight reappears on a wall behind him, even though the sun has already set. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Mrs. Herman : Mommy's going to the beauty parlor, darling, but I'm leaving you with your favorite friend, Roger. He's going to take very, very good care of you, because if he doesn't... HE'S GOING BACK TO THE SCIENCE LAB.
See more »
Crazy Credits
At the end of the credits: "Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Tweetie Bird, Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Porky Pig, Acme, and all other Warner Bros. characters are trademark of Warner Brothers Inc. Copyright 1988 Warner Bros. Inc. used by permission." See more »
Connections
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The Oahe Dam is located in which US state? | Oahe Dam
Oahe Dam
by Katlyn Richter on March 28, 2012 · 1 comment
There is a Great Place in South Dakota that is located north of the Pierre and Fort Pierre communities. It creates the fourth largest artificial reservoir in the United States and one of the largest earth-rolled dams in the world. It’s the Oahe Dam.
Lake Oahe extends 231 miles from Pierre to Bismarck, N.D. Along Lake Oahe are 51 recreation areas which offer camping, picnicking, fishing, hunting, skiing, boating, birding, hiking, biking and other activities. Walleye, smallmouth bass, white bass, northern pike and perch are all common catches for anglers fishing on Lake Oahe.
Not only does the Oahe Dam provide great recreation along Lake Oahe, but it also supplies irrigation, conservation, and electric power to many Midwestern states.
The Missouri River today is much different than the muddy, winding waterway that Meriwether Lewis and William Clark once traveled some 200 years ago. Today, four massive dams, completed in the early 1960s, mitigated the river and created more than 900 miles of open water and 3,000 miles of shoreline. In addition, the dams have created a world-class freshwater fishery.
The Oahe Dam was authorized in 1944 by the Flood Control Act. Work began on the dam in 1948 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. By 1962, the Oahe Dam was functioning and producing hydoelectic power. The dam was dedicated on August 17, 1962, by President John F. Kennedy.
Visitors can view the Oahe Dam and Lake Oahe by following Highway 1804 seven miles north of Pierre. The Oahe Dam Visitor Center provides a complete history of Lake Oahe and the surrounding area. Exhibits feature the history of the construction of the dam and power plant and the natural history of Lake Oahe and the Missouri River.
The Oahe Dam Visitor Center, located above the dam, is open year-round with summer hours 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and winter hours 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Visitor Center features interactive displays and information about the Oahe Dam and the Missouri River. Tours of the power plant are available. Visitors can also tour the Oahe Chapel which was built in 1877, and relocated to its current location in 1964, after the dam was built. For more information call 888-386-4617 or go to http://www.sdgreatlakes.org/thelakes/lakeoahe/ .
| South Dakota |
In which English city was singer Robbie Williams born in February 1974? | Oahe Reservoir: Archeology, Geology, History (Oahe Dam and Oahe Reservoir)
Archeology, Geology, History>
OAHE DAM AND OAHE RESERVOIR
OAHE DAM is located in central South Dakota 1,123 miles above the mouth of the Missouri River and 6 miles northwest of Pierre, the capital of the state. The reservoir created by the Dam extends approximately 250 river miles upstream, to within a short distance of Bismarck, North Dakota.
The dam and reservoir take their name from Oahe Mission, established among the Dakota (Sioux) Indians in 1874. In the Dakota language the name is said to signify "a place to stand on." The mission chapel was built in Peoria Bottom within view of the future site of the Oahe Dam.
The Missouri River valley in South and North Dakota sustained heavy glaciation during late geological times. The river is now deeply entrenched, in some areas flowing as much as 600 feet below the uplands it drains. East of the river abundant evidence can be seen of glacial action particularly in the form of extensive, undulating deposits of boulder till. West of the river the topography is even more broken as a result of extensive erosion of the underlying bedrock. Probably the most notable of these is the Pierre shale, the source of the troublesome gumbo soil that plagues so much of North and South Dakota. The only major tributaries of the Missouri in this part of the valley enter it from the westthe Bad, Cheyenne, Moreau, Grand and Cannonball Rivers.
Oahe Reservoir Area, Missouri River, North & South Dakota. (click on image for a PDF version)
The vast uplands bordering the Missouri River support hardy, nutritious native grasses, which once provided pasture for enormous herds of buffalo and other large game, as well as food for upland birds and waterfowl. Bottomlands, often heavily wooded, provided winter shelter. Today, the region west of the river is primarily cattle-range country, while the east side is chiefly a small-grain producing region.
The climate of the region is one of great extremes, with hot summers and cold winters, often accompanied by severe winds and heavy rain or snow. Although the average annual precipitation is about 16 inches, there is wide variation from season to season.
Oahe Indian Mission in Peoria Bottom, a short distance upstream from Pierre. The chapel, built in 1877 by Rev. Thomas L. Riggs, missionary to the Sioux, has now been removed to a new location overlooking the Oahe Dam, to which it gave its name. The Riggs home (left) was built of native boulders in 1902. Photo: Courtesy of the U. S. National Park Service
The combination of soils, vegetation, and climate favored the occupation of the region by various native Indian peoples. Permanent earth-lodge villages were usually located on the lower terraces or "benches" in the immediate valley of the Missouri, though these early farmers frequently ranged far afield in pursuit of game. Along the river, timber and water were always available, as well as fertile sandy bottomlands that were suitable for gardening with simple tools.
Other less settled native peoples, who moved freely about the region following the migrating buffalo and other game, probably clung close to the Missouri and its tributaries for centuries. For both the settled villagers and the more venturesome buffalo-hunting tribes and bands, the introduction of the horsethrough trade with other Indian groups to the south and westand of the gunthrough trade with Whiteswere of major importance since they permitted still more extensive travel over the Plains as well as more efficient taking of game. Yet for these First Americans of the Northern Plains, as for the first Whites who followed them, the river was the chief geographic feature of the area.
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‘Through Thick and Thin’ is a 2011 autobiography by which UK television presenter? | Through Thick and Thin: My Autobiography: Amazon.co.uk: Gok Wan: 9780091938383: Books
By starryeyed on 10 Nov. 2010
Format: Hardcover
As a regular viewer of Gok's various television adventures I was always struck by how confident and full of beans this guy was, often envying his seeming endless ability to talk to anyone and everyone, without forgetting his championing of feeling comfortable in ourselves no matter what our shape or size. It must be said then, that reading his autobiography was a real eye-opener for me. Not knowing anything about Gok's life off-screen, I was very surprised to learn about all the struggles he faced as a child and as a young man. Gok's story is truly inspirational, breaking through the controversial lid that so often covers issues such as childhood obesity, mixed-raced families, eating disorders, and the isolation that we all feel at some point whilst growing up. I commend Gok Wan on his brutal honesty and open-heartedness in writing this book and allowing us all to share in his experiences. It is a lesson to us all that the life of a celebrity is not as perfect as it appears on the glossy exterior, and that even when you feel you can sink no lower there is always hope that things will get better.
An added bonus to Gok's wonderful account of his life is the personal recipes and letters that he scatters throughout the pages, which serve to let us into his heart just that little bit more. An absolute triumph of a book, Auntie Gok!
By Posy on 18 Oct. 2010
Format: Hardcover
The most heart-warming story of Gok's personal journey battling with confidence, overweight and eating disorder to become the man he is today, giving confidence to so many women as they worry about their own body shape and clothes choices. He has been strengthened by his loving family and their care for him shines through. He talks openly about his difficulties `coming out' and the acceptance of his family. I couldn't put the book down and had tears in my eyes more than once. Wish he had been next to me to give him a huge hug!
Keep on doing what you do so well Gok - speaking from the heart.
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By SarahB on 26 Oct. 2010
Format: Hardcover
I could not put this book down. Gok tells his story with such honesty and I shed many tears while reading his story. I forgot I was reading about a 'celebrity' I just wanted to read about the person. Gok's story about his problems with food and poor self esteem is one so many people can relate to and is told so frankly and honestly without ever being too self pitying. His love for his family is a constant in his life and comes across so strongly in the book. They sound such remarkable people. There are some lovely touches in the book such as the recipes at the beginning of some chapters. Then there are the powerful and moving letters to family and friends. I sobbed as I read the letter at the end to his father. This book is REMARKABLE and I strongly urge people to read it.
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By Laura on 25 Oct. 2010
Format: Hardcover
A friend gave me this book and although I am a fan I wasnt sure how I would fare reading a whole book about him, but it was fabulous. It tells Gok's story from the overweight, bullied young boy in Leicester to the star he is today, interspersed with some delicous family recipes!
It was moving and inspirational and I would recommend it to anyone who has suffered at the hands of bullies or battled with their weight and anyone that wants a damn good read.
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By Elizabeth Hanna on 16 Nov. 2010
Format: Hardcover
I have noticed that in the last couple of years there has been a flood of celebrity autobiographies on the market & quite honestly I have shied away from buying them as I feel it is just a celebrity trying to make some money. In fact, the last time I read an autobiography was some 20 years ago(In The Absence Of Angels by Elizabeth Glaiser. However, I have watched Gok's shows over the last couple of years & on a whim, decided to buy his book. I was really glad I did! For me, this has to be the best book I've read in 2010. I found it difficult to put down & by the time I reached the end of it, I wanted to find Gok & give him a big hug! It was such an entertaining & yet sensitively written read. I will definitely be buying more copies of his book to give to my girlfriends as Christmas presents this year. You have to buy this book & please Gok, how about a sequel to it in a couple of years time?!
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By Open Ears on 28 April 2012
Format: Paperback
This is not the type of thing I'd normally read as I feel it would be unusual for someone of close to my age to have enough life experience to be worthy of a whole book. However, I unexpectedly saw Gok Wan speak at the induction of a charity programme I'm involved in and he came across really well so I thought it would be worth a read.
A literary masterpiece it is not, but it's been a welcome change from reading longer and more involved novels. There are definitely some parts that I genuinely interesting, especially the first half about his early life and childhood away from the public eye. Wan freely admits that he has a very public persona that he "wears" when he is in front of a camera or audience and it's clear that this is what we see most of the time, hiding an underlying troubled past and a mass of insecurities.
The book itself reflected this - there was a definite shift once he started to write about the times since he's become a household name and it's almost as if the public persona completely takes over - there is little beyond that in the second half and the language is very much like the TV version. As such it feels lacking in emotion and a bit hollow. It also brought back all of things I didn't like about the "How to look good naked" show and made me feel even more uncomfortable that he persuades women to do things that I don't think he'd be prepared to. In a way it seems that the show is his own form of therapy.
Ironically the second half also seems to come with a drop in the quality of editing and proof-reading which is a bit of a pet hate of mine.
All of this said, in the final chapter, it all turns around again and the "heart" comes back. At the end of the day, while there were parts I've criticised, I couldn't put this book down!
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| Gok Wan |
In March 1977, India’s Missionaries of Charity chose Sister Nirmala to succeed who as its leader? | Through Thick and Thin by Gok Wan | Waterstones
Synopsis
With his infectious energy and charisma, Gok Wan has an incredible gift of making women feel more confident within themselves - but it's not until you read his own inspirational story that you find out where he got that gift from. Gok grew up on a Leicester housing estate, with a loving family who ran a Chinese restaurant. For his parents, food meant love - and Gok was so well loved that by the time he was a teenager he weighed 21 stone. Being Asian and gay as well, Gok felt lonely and out of place. He was an easy target for bullies and suffered terribly at their hands. In a moment of inspiration, he decided to reinvent himself with his first style makeover and a larger-than-life personality to go with it. But his next move was to lose a devastating ten stone in nine months. In "Through Thick and Thin", for the first time, Gok reveals all about that life changing period. The lessons Gok learnt during this time helped him bounce back to become a stylist to the stars, every woman's best friend and a national treasure. In this intimate memoir Gok tells his full story in his own words. Whether he's recounting the horrors of childhood bullying or riotous anecdotes about his loving family, behind the scenes in the fashion world or TV shows, Gok's voice jumps off the page with all the honesty, wit and warmth we've come to know and love him for.
Publisher: Ebury Publishing
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Who was US Secretary of State between 1997 and 2001? | US Secretary Of State legal definition of US Secretary Of State
US Secretary Of State legal definition of US Secretary Of State
http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/US+Secretary+Of+State
Related to US Secretary Of State: US Department of State , Hillary Clinton
Secretary of State
Holding one of the ranking positions in the president's cabinet, the secretary of state is the president's principal foreign policy adviser. In this pivotal role, the secretary undertakes the overall direction, coordination, and supervision of relations between the United States and foreign nations. The position is fourth in line of presidential succession. Like other cabinet members who implement the president's policies, the secretary heads a federal department: the State Department . As its director, the secretary oversees a vast network of U.S. offices and agencies, conducts negotiations with foreign governments, and often travels in the role of chief U.S. representative abroad. In 1997 then-president bill clinton named madeleine k. albright as the first female secretary of state. Four years later, President george w. bush named Colin L. Powell as the first black person to hold the office.
The position of secretary of state developed shortly after the founding of the nation in the late eighteenth century. In 1781 Congress created the Department of Foreign Affairs but abolished it and replaced it with the Department of State in 1789. Lawmakers designated the secretary of state as head of the State Department with two principal responsibilities: to assist the president in foreign policy matters and to be the chief representative of the United States abroad. Nomination of the secretary was left to the president, but the appointment was made contingent upon the approval of the U.S. Senate. The first secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson , served under President George Washington from 1790 to 1793.
Since the end of World War II , the U.S. foreign policy apparatus has greatly expanded, and its principal body is the State Department. The United States maintains diplomatic relations with some 180 countries worldwide as well as ties to many international organizations, and most of this diplomatic business flows through the State Department. The secretary is aided by a deputy secretary and five undersecretaries who serve as key advisers in political affairs; economic, business, and agricultural affairs; arms control and international security affairs; management; and global affairs. Additionally, the secretary has general responsibility for the U.S. Information Agency , the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, and the Agency for International Development.
The secretary is very important. Under the U.S. Constitution, the president has most of the power to set foreign policy; some of this power is shared by the U.S. Senate, which approves treaties as well as diplomatic and consular appointments. In practical terms the secretary of state generally becomes the architect of U.S. foreign policy by implementing the president's objectives. Not all foreign policy advice is given by the secretary, however. In 1947 the creation of the National Security Council provided the president with an additional advisory board (National Security Act of 1947, 50 U.S.C.A. §§ 401–412 [1982]).
Some secretaries have exerted enormous influence on U.S. policy—largely as a reflection of the president under whom they served. henry kissinger, who served as secretary of state from 1973 to 1976 under presidents richard m. nixon and gerald r. ford, had a leading role in shaping the nation's participation in nuclear arms treaties and in the Vietnam War . By contrast, Secretary of State George Schultz found his influence eclipsed by that of the National Security Council during the iran-contra scandal that rocked the presidency of ronald reagan in the mid-1980s.
Powell has maintained a particularly high profile during his tenure. Nine months after taking office, on September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked targets within the United States, causing the destruction of the World Trade Center towers in New York City and severe damage to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The United States immediately embarked upon a war against Terrorism , leading to an attack on the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. Powell played a pivotal role in foreign diplomacy by meeting with several world leaders regarding the United States' involvement in Afghanistan. Powell's presence was likewise visible in such controversies as the Palestinian uprising against Israel, where Powell called upon both the Palestinians and Israel to work for peace.
On February 5, 2003, Powell appeared before the United Nations , seeking to establish evidence that the nation of Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The presentation was a precursor to the United States' eventual attack on Iraq, which resulted in the overthrow of the regime of Saddam Hussein. Powell is viewed as a realist among the members of the Bush cabinet, and his conservative views of military action are seen as a counterbalance to those of Bush and other cabinet members. In this sense, Powell maintains an unusual position as a secretary of state—a former military leader who promotes restraint in the use of military force to resolve disputes.
Further readings
Powell, Colin L. "Remarks to the United Nations Security Council." U.S. Department of State. Available online at <www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2003/17300.htm> (accessed August 26, 2003).
U.S. Department of State. Available online at <www.state.gov> (accessed August 26, 2003).
Cross-references
| Madeleine Albright |
Thailand is divided into how many provinces? | Bill Clinton - U.S. Presidents - HISTORY.com
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Bill Clinton: Early Life and Education
Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas . He was the only child of Virginia Cassidy Blythe (1923-94) and traveling salesman William Jefferson Blythe Jr. (1918-46), who died in a car accident three months before his son’s birth. In 1950, Virginia Blythe married car dealer Roger Clinton Sr. (1908-67) and the family later moved to Hot Springs, Arkansas. As a teen, Bill Clinton officially adopted his stepfather’s surname. His only sibling, Roger Clinton Jr., was born in 1956.
Did You Know?
In 2001, Clinton became the first president to be married to a U.S. senator. Just days before he left office, first lady Hillary Clinton was sworn in as the freshman senator from New York.
In 1964, Clinton graduated from Hot Springs High School, where he was a musician and student leader. (In 1963, as part of the American Legion Boys’ Nation program, he went to Washington , D.C., and shook hands with President John Kennedy at the White House , an event he later said inspired him to pursue a career in public service.) Clinton went on to earn a degree from Georgetown University in 1968. Afterward, he attended Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship. In 1973, he received a degree from Yale Law School.
At Yale, Clinton started dating fellow law student Hillary Rodham (1947-). After graduating, the couple moved to Clinton’s home state, where he worked as a law professor at the University of Arkansas. In 1974, Clinton, a Democrat, ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives but lost to his Republican opponent.
Bill Clinton: Family, Arkansas Political Career and First Presidential Campaign
On October 11, 1975, Clinton and Rodham were married in a small ceremony at their house in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The following year, Bill Clinton was elected attorney general of Arkansas. In 1978, he was elected governor of the state. The Clintons’ only child, Chelsea, was born in February 1980. That fall, Clinton lost his bid for re-election as governor. Afterward, he joined a Little Rock law firm.
In 1982, he won the governorship again, and would remain in that office through 1992. While serving as Arkansas’ first lady, Hillary Clinton also worked as an attorney.
After winning the Democratic presidential nomination in 1992, Clinton, along with vice-presidential nominee Al Gore (1948-), a U.S. senator from Tennessee , went on to defeat the incumbent, President George H.W. Bush (1924-), by a margin of 370-168 electoral votes and with 43 percent of the popular vote to Bush’s 37.5 percent of the vote. A third-party candidate, Ross Perot (1930-), captured almost 19 percent of the popular vote.
Bill Clinton: First Presidential Term: 1993-1997
Clinton was inaugurated in January 1993 at age 46, making him the third-youngest president in history up to that time. During his first term, Clinton enacted a variety of pieces of domestic legislation, including the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Violence Against Women Act, along with key bills pertaining to crime and gun violence, education, the environment and welfare reform. He put forth measures to reduce the federal budget deficit and also signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, which eliminated trade barriers between the United States, Canada and Mexico . He attempted to enact universal health insurance for all Americans, and appointed first lady Hillary Clinton to head the committee charged with creating the plan. However, the committee’s plan was opposed by conservatives and the health care industry, among others, and Congress ultimately failed to act on it.
Clinton appointed a number of women and minorities to key government posts, including Janet Reno (1938-), who became the first female U.S. attorney general in 1993, and Madeleine Albright (1937-) , who was sworn in as the first female U.S. secretary of state in 1997. He appointed Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-) to the Supreme Court in 1993. She was the second female justice in the court’s history. Clinton’s other Supreme Court nominee, Stephen Breyer (1938-), joined the court in 1994.On the foreign policy front, the Clinton administration helped bring about the 1994 reinstatement of Haiti’s democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide (1953-). In 1995, the administration brokered the Dayton Accords, which ended the war in Bosnia.
Clinton ran for re-election in 1996 and defeated U.S. Senator Bob Dole (1923-) of Kansas by a margin of 379-159 electoral votes and with 49.2 percent of the popular vote to Dole’s 40.7 percent of the vote. (Third-party candidate Ross Perot garnered 8.4 percent of the popular vote.) Clinton’s victory marked the first time since Franklin Roosevelt (1882-1945) that a Democrat was elected to a second presidential term
Bill Clinton: Second Presidential Term: 1997-2001
During Clinton’s second term, the U.S. economy was healthy, unemployment was low and the nation experienced a major technology boom and the rise of the Internet. In 1998, the United States achieved its first federal budget surplus in three decades (the final two years of Clinton’s presidency also resulted in budget surpluses). In 2000, the president signed legislation establishing permanent normal trade relations with China.
Additionally, the Clinton administration helped broker a peace accord in Northern Ireland in 1998. That same year, America launched air attacks against Iraq ’s nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs. In 1999, the United States led a NATO effort to end ethnic cleansing in Kosovo.
In the midst of these events, Clinton’s second term was marred by scandal. On December 19, 1998, the U.S. House of Representatives impeached him for perjury and obstruction of justice in connection with a sexual relationship he had with White House intern Monica Lewinsky (1973-) between late 1995 and early 1997. On February 12, 1999, the U.S. Senate acquitted the president of the charges and he remained in office. Clinton was the second American president to be impeached. The first, Andrew Johnson (1808-75), was impeached in 1868 and also later acquitted
Bill Clinton: Post-Presidency
After leaving the White House, Clinton remained active in public life, establishing the William J. Clinton Foundation to combat poverty, disease and other global issues.
The William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, Arkansas, opened in 2004. That same year, Clinton released his autobiography, “My Life,” which became a best-seller. He also campaigned for his wife, who was elected to the U.S. Senate from New York in 2000. In 2008, Hillary Clinton ran for the Democratic presidential nomination but lost to Barack Obama (1961-), who named her secretary of state when he became president.
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Which is the only insect that can turn its head 360 degrees? | What is the ONLY insect that can turn its head?
What is the ONLY insect that can turn its head?
1 Answer
0
1) Some people are talking about 360 degrees: "The only insect that can turn its head 360 degrees is the praying mantis." Source: http://www.oddrob.com/bugfacts.asp I don't know if there are many other animals who can do this! 2) Others stay by 180 degrees: "The front portion of the thorax (prothorax), the region just behind the head, is also greatly elongated, forming a necklike structure; mantises are the only insects that can turn their heads to look directly behind them." Source: http://www.4to40.com/encyclopedia/index.asp Here we are talking about 180 degrees... "It has been shown that this insect is capable of stereoscopic vision, allowing it to accurately gauge distances as do most mammalian predators; it uses the extreme mobility of its head (a mantis can turn its head fully 180 degrees and their vision c
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| Mantis |
Who was the longest serving BBC Radio One Breakfast Show presenter? | Insects, Facts about Insects
Animal Class >> Arthropods
Insects
Insects belong to arthropod group and are the most diverse group of animals on the earth with more than million species. They are found in any kind of environment. There are approximately 5000 species of Dragonfly, 2000 species of praying mantis, 20,000 species of grasshopper, 170,000 species of butterfly and moths, 120,000 species of flies, 82000 species of true bugs, 360,000 species of beetle, 110,000 species of bees, wasp and ants. They possess segmented bodies supported by an exoskeleton, a hard outer covering made mostly of chitin. The body is divided into a head, a thorax, and an abdomen. The head supports a pair of sensory antennae, a pair of compound eyes, and mouth parts. The thorax has six legs (one pair per segment) and wings. The abdomen (made up of eleven segments some of which may be reduced or fused) has respiratory, excretory and reproductive structures. Most insects have two pairs of wings located on the second and third thoracic segments. Insects are the only invertebrates to have developed flight. Most insects hatch from eggs, but others are ovoviviparous or viviparous, and all undergo a series of moults as they develop and grow in size.
Facts about Insects
Pea crabs (the size of a pea) are the smallest crabs in the world.
The praying mantis is the only insect that can turn its head 360 degrees.
Earthworms have five pairs of hearts, close to the front of their bodies.
The praying mantis is the only insect that can turn its head 360 degrees.
Slugs have 4 noses.
The redback spider is one of few animals which display sexual cannibalism while mating.
The North American harvester ants can give people a nasty sting. They live in deserts, where they build volcano-shaped nests in the sand. the ants feed on grass seeds.
Coconuts are plentiful on the pacific islands where the giant robber crabs live. The crabs feed on dead animals, but they also like eating coconut up a plam tree and then drop it to crack it open. They scoop out the flesh with a claw.
A spider's web is not its home but a food trap. Orb webs, like this one, have sticky threads that trap the spider's insect prey. Some spider in tropical forests build huge orb webs nearly 6 metres across.
Locusts fly in huge swarms to find food. They may travel 5,000 kilometres, eating thousands of tonnes of green plants on the way. Desert locusts in Africa destroys vast areas of crops every year.
The most poisonous spider of all is probably the American black widow. The female is more dangerous than the male. Its bite is extremely painful and sometimes causes death.
Scorpions use their poison for attack and defence. Some kinds of scorpion have a sting that is so powerful it can kill people.
Some monarch butterflies fly from Canada to Mexico, where they mass together on trees to hibernate for the winter.
In Australia, termites build towers 6 metres high and 30 metres wide. Ten tonnes of mud are collected bit by bit by millions of insects. Soilder termite guard the mud castle, where the queen lays her eggs and is fed by worker termites.
Ants carry the caterpillars of the large blue butterfly into their nest. There, the ants feed on the sweet honeydew produced by the caterpillars, which in return feed on the tiny ant larvae.
Bumble bees live high up in the mountains in Europe, where they feed on the pollen and nectar of the flowers that grow there. Some insects even fly over the snowy peaks of the Himalayas as they migrate.
Dragonflies are also fast-flying insects, especially the darter dragonflies which are named after the way they dart about.
A column of army ants may consist of 150,000 insects and take several hours to march past one spot. They prey on almost any animal that cannot escape from them.
When the puss moth caterpillar is distrubed, it lifts up its red face, and two long red 'whips' flick out of its tail. It also produces a smelly fluid, which it ca
Other Arthropods
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A surcingle is a belt or girth used on which animal? | surcingle - definition and meaning
surcingle
Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
n. A girth that binds a saddle, pack, or blanket to the body of a horse.
n. Archaic The fastening belt on a clerical cassock; a cincture.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
n. a long unpadded strap to pass over and keep in place a blanket, pack or saddle on an animal
n. a piece of tack wrapped around the belly of a horse, to use when longeing, also know as lungeing; (roller in UK and Australasia)
n. a girdle to fasten a garment, especially a cassock
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
n. A belt, band, or girth which passes over a saddle, or over anything laid on a horse's back, to bind it fast.
n. The girdle of a cassock, by which it is fastened round the waist.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
To gird or surround with a surcingle, as a horse.
To secure by means of a surcingle, as a blanket or the saddle.
n. A girth for a horse; especially, a girth separate from the saddle and passing around the body of the horse, retaining in place a blanket, a sheet, or the like, by passing over it.
n. The girdle with which a garment, especially a cassock, is fastened. Compare cincture.
n. Same as cauda striati (which see, under cauda).
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Middle English sursengle, from Old French surcengle : sur-, sur- + cengle, belt (from Latin cingula, from cingere, to gird; see cingulum).
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From Old French surcengle, formed with sur ("over") and cengle ("girdle").
Examples
| Horse |
Bada, Bing, Lambert and Tartarian are all varieties of which fruit? | Skyline Equine
Skyline Competitive Surcingle
The Skyline Competitive vaulting surcingle will give your vaulters a distinct advantage through its refined grip style.
By seeking the input of several international competitors & coaches who have used nearly all of the available surcingle designs in the international competition ring, this list of most important points shaped the concept & design in our new surcingle and accessories.
Parallel Grip Angle
Because most surcingles sit with a slight or significant tip backwards when placed on the horse, the parallel portion of most other grips end up tipped backwards as well. At the top of a handstand this actually forces the vaulters wrists backwards since the wrist joint is not able to bend that direction. Try this: Hold a pen in your hand and make a fist, now bend your wrist until the pen is parallel: how much further can you go now? As a result of this most vaulters at the top of the handstand have to let their wrists fall sideways on the handle and this leads to wrist problems. The Skyline Competitive surcingle fixes this problem by putting a deliberate forward tip on the parallel grips so that they end up tipped slightly forward or at least remain flat once on the horse.
Spacing of Bottom Supports
Most surcingles that are currently manufactured use two supports at the bottom side of each grip allow for easier balancing from above. However, in many mount and ground jump positions the extra width gets in the way. The Skyline Competitive has both of these supports, but places them closer together so that a mount such as the current Technical Test mount is: 1) much more comfortable, and 2) easier to have your body further forward.
Not too big, not too small
The variety of different grips out there, and many other attempts people have made to make their own, has led to many designs that where “just a little off”. The grips on the Skyline Competitive have been carefully sized with much input and testing and all those involved in the process would like to assure you that these are “just right.”
Contoured Crank Girth and side reins are included.
***Free shipping on this product within Canada and Continental US Only***
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How high, in metres, is the London Eye? | London Eye - London Landmarks - High Definition (HD) YouTube Video - YouTube
London Eye - London Landmarks - High Definition (HD) YouTube Video
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Published on Jul 22, 2012
The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames in London, England. The entire structure is 135 metres (443 ft) tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres (394 ft).
It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually. When erected in 1999 it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until surpassed first by the 160 m (520 ft) Star of Nanchang in 2006 and then the 165 m (541 ft) Singapore Flyer in 2008. It is still described by its operators as "the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel" (as the wheel is supported by an A-frame on one side only, unlike the Nanchang and Singapore wheels). It is the 20th tallest structure in London.
The London Eye, or Millennium Wheel, was officially called the British Airways London Eye and then the Merlin Entertainments London Eye. Since 20 January 2011, its official name is the EDF Energy London Eye following a three-year sponsorship deal.
The London Eye is located in the London Borough of Lambeth at the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge.
Source:
| 135 distance |
Which playing card is known as ‘The Devil’s Bedpost’? | The London Eye Tickets Prices And On-Line Advance Discount Details
Shopping Walk
Essentially the proposition is a very simple one. Ride a giant big wheel 135 metres high taking 30 minutes to travel one revolution.
The London Eye is situated right at the tourist heart of London, (opposite Big Ben by the River Thames) with commanding views, (25 miles on a good day).
You ride in a luxurious capsule in comfort.
The attraction was originally sponsored by British Airways, so rides are called flights. The eye is besides the River Thames on the opposite bank to Big Ben. Nowadays the sponsor is Coca-Cola.
Each capsule rotates on a special device designed to keep everyone upright as the wheel makes a slow but progressive revolution.
Each capsule is also fully air-conditioned to keep its visitors completely comfortable no matter what the temperature outside. See the Gothic houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, The Tate Museum, Tower Bridge and not to mention the longest and most intricately styled stretches of the famous Thames River.
The London Eye is a victim of its own success. Turn up on the day and you will have to queue and wait, sometimes a very, very long time.
Sightseeing In London
Shopping Walk
The London Eye is by Westminster Bridge on the other side of the river to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
The booking office is in the adjacent County Hall building, at one time home of London's governing body. County Hall also houses two hotels and two other minor attractions - The London Aquarium and London Dungeon.
There is a spacious patch of grass by the London Eye which would be nice on a good day .
London Eye - Logistical Overview
Opening Times: - Daily 10:00 a.m. to between 20:30 or 21:30 (variable).
Location: - The London Eye is located by County Hall and Westminster Bridge on the south bank of the River Thames. The London Eye is next to the London Dungeon, on the opposite side of Westminster Bridge is Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.
Nearest Underground Station: - 4-5 minutes walk from Waterloo Underground & Railway station, which is on the Northern, Jubilee and Bakerloo Lines.
A similar distance away is Westminster Underground Station across Westminster Bridge and opposite Big Ben on the Circle, District and Jubilee Lines.
Hop On, Hop Off Buses & River Services: - All of London's hop on, hop off sightseeing buses have stops at the London Eye/London Dungeon.
Boarding A London Eye Capsule
The London Eye has its own pier where many of the river services stop including those used by the the hop on, hop off sightseeing buses. Westminster Pier is directly opposite on the other side of Westminster Bridge too and is one of London's busiest river service piers.
London Eye - Ticketing
The London Eye is one of London's most popular attractions and at peak times queues are lengthy.
If you just turn up on the day as well as paying more for your ticket, how long you will have to wait will depend on when the next availability is and the ticket type you select.
There are various ticketing options, in order of cost these are:
Standard Tickets: Ticket holders enter via the standard entrance. During the online booking process you will need to specify the half hour time slot for your experience.
Tickets includes entry to the 4D Cinema Experience located at the back of the Ticket Office, and can be enjoyed before or after your Coca-Cola London Eye experience.
Fast Track Tickets: allow you to bypass the majority of the queue, and save time during your visit. Ticket holders enter via a dedicated Fast Track entrance.
Flexi Tickets: allow you to visit Coca-Cola London Eye anytime during the day of your visit, so are perfect if you know what day you will be in London.
The standard entry queue time can be around 45 minutes, and the Fast Track entry queue time around 20 minutes, however these can increase during peak periods.
Save Money! - Combine London Eye With Up Other Major London Attractions
Combine your own mix of attractions into a money saving package:
Combine London Eye With A Hop On Hop Off Sightseeing Bus Ticket
The Original London Tour as its name implies is the original hop-on hop-off London sightseeing bus service.
The hop-on, hop off sightseeing buses are an excellent first day in London quickly getting you up to speed and orientated with the layout of London and your guide pointing out sights and destinations you might have not previously considered visiting.
But most visitors to London will have their own "must see" list of attractions.
So why not save some money and purchase your hop-on, hop off sightseeing bus tickets and your "must see" attractions as a package. You don't have to use the attraction tickets on the day you use the sightseeing bus either.
Madame Tussauds , The London Eye, London Dungeon, London Aquarium, St Paul’s Cathedral, Kensington Palace, Tower of London and Ripleys are all available.
London Eye & London's Attraction Passes
Railways 2 for 1 Promotion - The railways 2 for 1 entrance promotion is sometimes valid at the London Eye, often being withdrawn at peak periods. However, the promotion is only for the walk-up tickets with the longest wait times.
The London Pass - The London Eye is not supported by London's most popular attraction pass.
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A
Helen A
Helen A, seen in The Happiness Patrol (1988), [1] was ruler of a human colony on Terra Alpha . Outlawing unhappiness, she brutally controlled the population through executions conducted by the Happiness Patrol and Gilbert M's Kandy Man . Joseph C was her consort and she had a pet Stigorax, called Fifi. Joseph C will escape the city when the Pipe People revolt against Helen A's rule. Fifi was killed, crushed in the pipes below the city during the uprising. Helen A, unable to escape, only came to understand the Doctor's notion that happiness can only truly be appreciated when counter-balanced with sadness when she discovered Fifi's remains. Helen A, was intended to be a caricature of then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher . In 2010, Sylvester McCoy told the Sunday Times: "Our feeling was that Margaret Thatcher was far more terrifying than any monster the Doctor had encountered." The Doctor's calls on the drones to down their tools and revolt was intended as a reference to the 1984–85 miners' strike . [2]
Abzorbaloff
Peter Kay
The Abzorbaloff is a monster designed by nine-year-old William Grantham of Colchester , Essex for a "Design a Doctor Who Monster" competition held by Blue Peter . [3]
The competition was announced in July 2005, and received 43,920 entries. These were judged by Blue Peter editor Richard Marson, presenter Gethin Jones , Doctor Who producer Russell T Davies and Tenth Doctor David Tennant . The first prize for the competition was to have the monster appear in an episode of Doctor Who. Tennant announced the winner on Blue Peter on 17 August 2005. Conditions of the competition meant that the monster had to be able to be made from prosthetics and not require CGI .
Russell T Davies revealed on the Doctor Who Confidential episode "New World of Who" that Grantham imagined the Abzorbaloff to be the size of a double-decker bus, so was initially disappointed to see the final size of his creation. However, Grantham's design had not included size specifications (though the remains of the monster's victims on and within his body hinted at his being huge) and a larger size would not have fit the criteria of the competition unless the monster were superimposed on footage later on a larger scale. Ultimately, CGI was used for some shots of the talking faces on the Abzorbaloff.
Appearing in the episode " Love & Monsters ", the Abzorbaloff, played by Peter Kay , was a creature that absorbed other living beings into his body with a simple touch. In doing so, the Abzorbaloff made his victims part of himself, adding their memories and knowledge to his own. The victims retain their identity and consciousness for at least several weeks after absorption, during which time their faces can be seen embedded in his flesh, but eventually, those too are eliminated as they are fully absorbed. During this period, however, the absorption process works both ways - in becoming part of the Abzorbaloff, they are able to access his thoughts, just as he is able to access theirs. To restrain his absorption ability, the Abzorbaloff requires the use of a "limitation field", which limits absorption to physical contact. The Abzorbaloff hails from Clom , the sister planet to Raxacoricofallapatorius , homeworld of the criminal Slitheen clan. Despite a passing resemblance to them, the Abzorbaloff spoke of the Raxacoricofallapatorians with contempt.
Seeking to absorb the Doctor and his hundreds of years of experience, the Abzorbaloff adopted a human disguise as "Victor Kennedy", his limitation field generated by the ornate cane he wielded. Taking charge of "LINDA" (London Investigation 'N' Detective Agency), a small group of ordinary people who followed the exploits of the Doctor, the Abzorbaloff steadily absorbed their numbers one by one, until only Elton Pope remained. Pursuing Pope through the back streets of London, the Abzorbaloff was confronted by the Doctor, who stirred the absorbed victims to fight against the monster. Pulling the Abzorbaloff's body in different directions, the victims made him drop his cane, which Elton snapped in two, destroying the limitation field and causing the Abzorbaloff's absorption power to run out of control. His body collapsed into liquid and was itself absorbed by the Earth.
"Abzorbaloff" is not the actual name of the species, but was coined independently by Elton Pope and the Doctor. The monster was seen to approve of the term, however. Other names thrown at him by the Doctor and Elton included "Abzorbatron", "Abzorbaling", "Abzorbatrix" and "Abzorbaclon".
The Doctor Who website refers to Slitheen distant cousins by the name of "Absorvalovian Rebels" [4] in one of Captain Jack's Monster Files.
Father Angelo
Father Angelo, played by Ian Hanmore, was the leader of the monks who captured the Torchwood Estate and gave refuge to a werewolf , as seen in " Tooth and Claw " ( 2006 ). He sought to take the throne from Queen Victoria , but she shot and killed him. [5]
Animus
Portrayed by
Catherine Fleming (voice)
The Animus was an alien intelligence from an unknown planet which landed on the planet Vortis . It could take over any living creature that was in contact with gold and had already taken control of the ant -like Zarbi when the Doctor and his companions arrived on Vortis in the serial The Web Planet . [6] One of Vortis' surviving lifeforms, the Optera , referred to the Animus as "Pwodarauk". The Animus manifested itself within an organic, self-healing palace called the Carcinome.
At the end of the story, the Animus's true form was revealed, as resembling an octopus with some arachnid features. The First Doctor , Ian , Barbara and Vicki help the Menoptra to destroy the Animus using the Menoptra's secret weapon, the Isop-tope. After that, it is assumed that natives of Vortis managed to resolve their differences peacefully.
The Animus has returned or been mentioned in several spin-off stories. In the Missing Adventure Twilight of the Gods by Christopher Bulis, the Second Doctor , Jamie and Victoria return to Vortis and encounter a seed of the Animus which had survived. The New Adventure All-Consuming Fire by Andy Lane identified the Animus with the Great Old One Lloigor from H. P. Lovecraft 's Cthulhu Mythos . Finally, an article by Russell T Davies in the Doctor Who Annual 2006 says that the "Greater Animus perished" in the Time War , "and its Carsenome (sic) Walls fell into dust." These references, like the rest of the spin-off media, are of open to interpretation (see Whoniverse#Inclusion and canonicity ).
Azal
Stephen Thorne
Azal was the Dæmon from the planet Dæmos that terrorised Devil's End in the Third Doctor story The Dæmons . [7] Summoned by the Master , Azal had a gargoyle , by the name of Bok , as a servant. Azal landed on Earth over a million years ago and did help in the development of mankind. Azal was awakened after an archaeological professor, Professor Horner, who was digging out the cave at Devil's Hump that was a part of Azal's ship. Azal created a heat barrier around Devil's End. Azal had contact with the Master though the ceremony with the Master's coven. The Master wanted Azal's power, but he wanted to give it to the Doctor, but the Doctor refused. Then Azal decided to give the Master his power and destroy the Doctor. Jo Grant told Azal to kill her instead. Azal, not understanding her willingness to give her own life for someone else's, was thus destroyed when his own power turned against him in his confusion, and destroyed himself and his ship at the dig at Devil's Hump was destroyed. Things at Devil's End returned to normal, the heat barrier gone and Bok is a normal statue again.
B
Baltazar
Baltazar, Scourge of the Galaxy, is a space pirate in the animated Tenth Doctor serial, The Infinite Quest , featured as part of the second series of Totally Doctor Who in 2007 , voiced by Anthony Head . [8] Using enhanced rust, the Doctor destroyed the ship Baltazar had built, Baltazar having destroyed the entire Earth defence. With his space piracy, cybernetics, robot parrot, and desire to crush planets into precious gems, Baltazar bears a striking resemblance to The Captain , a character from the Fourth Doctor adventure, The Pirate Planet . In Episode One of The Infinite Quest , the Doctor tells Martha Jones Baltazar destroyed a planet in the 40th century. Also, Baltazar crafted the ship he travelled in, proudly telling the time travellers he built it over numerous decades. At the end of Episode One, Baltazar was meant to end up on a prison planet, the Doctor predicted. In Episode Two, Caw took the TARDIS to his homeworld, Pharos . Caw claimed Baltazar had ended up on a prison planet. He gave Martha Jones a medallion, and the Doctor part of a black box recorder , which the Doctor said would eventually lead them to "The Infinite", a mythical ship that was made in the "Dark Times", as the Doctor put it. But when the TARDIS left, it was revealed Baltazar was hiding behind the TARDIS. He had asked Caw to give the Doctor a tracking device. He laughed, claiming they would find "The Infinite" for them.
Once he discovers The Infinite, he orders Martha to find the hold to find the treasure. After the Doctor rescues Martha, he discovers an illusion showing "what the heart desires". The Doctor, meanwhile, uses his sonic screwdriver to tear the ship apart. He then orders Squawk to escort him to Volag-Noc where he is imprisoned.
The title "Scourge of the Galaxy" previously belonged to the Macra race before their devolution into beasts.
Beast
Gabriel Woolf (voice)
The Beast [9] was an ancient being that had been trapped for billions of years in a pit at the centre of the planet named in the Scriptures of the Veltino as Krop Tor , orbiting a black hole humans had designated K37 Gem 5. An energy source ten miles beneath the surface of the planet kept it in constant gravitational balance against the pull of the black hole. This counterweight extended out in a funnel into open space.
The Beast was awakened when a human expedition party flew their ship through the funnel to land on the planet, hoping to excavate and claim the power source for their Empire. It exhibited the ability to telepathically possess and speak through other beings, in particular the empathic Ood , who became the "Legion of the Beast". The Beast knew and played on the hidden fears and secrets of those with whom it spoke, and the Doctor described it as extremely intelligent.
Resembling a huge horned demon, the Beast claimed that it was the basis of the Devil figure in all religions and mythologies (including Abaddon , Satan , the Kaled god of war, and Lucifer ), and that it originated from before the creation of the universe. It is uncertain whether this is true; the Doctor believed it to be impossible, and the exact nature of the Beast remains uncertain. It had been defeated and trapped beneath the planet by the "Disciples of Light", who had crafted its prison such that if it ever freed itself, the gravitational force would collapse and the planet, and the Beast with it, would be pulled into the black hole.
Intending to escape from its prison, the Beast separated its mind from its body, possessing Toby Zed, a member of the expedition. However, the Tenth Doctor smashed the power source of the Beast's prison, causing Krop Tor to be dragged into the black hole, and the Beast's original body to burst into flames. At the same time, while fleeing the planet in a rocket with the survivors of the expedition, Toby's possession was manifested, and the Beast angrily proclaimed that as long as it was feared, it could never be destroyed. However, Rose Tyler shot out the cockpit window with a bolt gun, causing Toby, with the mind of the Beast, to be blown into space towards the black hole.
In the Torchwood episode " End of Days " a similar giant creature named Abaddon is released from the Cardiff spacetime Rift and is referred to as the "son of the great Beast". The Torchwood website alludes to the Beast by asking "Were there other beings like Abaddon? Are they also entombed underneath planets across the universe?". [10] Sutekh the Destroyer and Horath from The Sarah Jane Adventures also fit the description of said beings.[citation needed]
Gabriel Woolf, who provided the Beast's voice, also played Sutekh the Destroyer in the 1975 serial Pyramids of Mars , an entity that was also said to have been named Satan.
Beep the Meep
Main article: Borusa
BOSS
BOSS or Biomorphic Organisational Systems Supervisor, voiced by John Dearth (who was later in Doctor Who as Lupton in Planet of the Spiders ( 1974 )), was a supercomputer that appeared in The Green Death ( 1973 ). [11] It had a megalomaniacal personality, and had been programmed to be inefficient, so that it could make the same kind of intuitive leaps of logic as humans. It was able to brainwash humans, including Captain Mike Yates who later suffered a nervous breakdown as a result. It was responsible for producing the chemicals that mutated maggots into giant maggots . BOSS planned to interface with all computers on Earth and enslave humanity. Stevens, a human brainwashed by BOSS, sacrificed himself when his mental programming was partially broken by the Third Doctor , blowing up himself and the computer as the Doctor escaped.
C
George Costigan
Max Capricorn, played by George Costigan , appeared in the Tenth Doctor story " Voyage of the Damned ". He was the owner of a luxury spaceship cruiseliner company, but was voted out by the other owners of the company and planned to get his revenge by crashing one of his ships into the Earth, killing all life on the planet as well as the 2000 people on board; selling his shares, he would earn enough to retire and see the remainder of the company in prison for mass murder. Due to his advanced age (he had been running his company for more than a hundred years), he had been reduced to a head in a tank, a cyborg dependent on life support (the common prejudice against cyborgs may have played a part in his removal from his company). Astrid Peth stopped his plan by pushing him into the live engine, sacrificing herself in the process. Max was the highest person of authority so control of The Host was his. When Max was killed, control passed to the next person of authority, the Doctor.
The Captain
The Captain was a space pirate who appeared in the fourth Doctor episode The Pirate Planet . He was a cyborg, with half of his body covered in cybernetics, and had a pet robot parrot, named Polyphase Avitron, that rested on his shoulder. He was prone to ridiculous expletives like "by the beard of the sky demon!" and "moons of madness!", and was directly served by a nurse and a nervous little man named Mr Fibuli . The Captain piloted an entire planet called Zanak, which would materialise around other planets and crush them into precious gems. The Captain kept a trophy room of the super-compressed planets he had conquered. Toward the end of the episode, it was revealed that the Captain's nurse was actually a projection of a queen named Xanxia , who was controlling the Captain and using the energy created by the crushing of plundered planets to fuel a machine that perpetually kept her a few seconds from death.
Matron Casp
Tony Beckley
Harrison Chase was an eccentric millionaire whose primary hobby was botany . He was a madman with a disdainful attitude toward human life, and favouritism over another form of life, in this case plant life.
Through his vast resources, Chase learned that the seed pods of a Krynoid , an intelligent form of alien plant life, had been found in Antarctica . A collector of rare specimens, Chase became obsessed with obtaining a sample, and successfully acquired one. He allowed the Krynoid to possess one of his henchmen, who began to mutate into a Human-Krynoid hybrid. As the monster grew in size and power, Chase too became possessed by the Krynoid.
Convinced of a future where Krynoids are the dominant life form on Earth, Chase aided the monster in earnest. By this time, the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith were trapped on Chase's property. Chase eventually captured Sarah and attempted to kill her by throwing her into a compost shredder. The Doctor stopped him, and the two fought, until Chase fell into the shredder and perished.
Mavic Chen
See: The Doctor's Daughter
Cobb, played by Nigel Terry , was a General, for the human faction on the planet Messeline. He asked the Tenth Doctor to join him in war against the Hath, in a bid to claim the Source which they were both searching for, but subsequently locked the Doctor and his companions up when the Doctor refused. He later shot Jenny , the Doctor's daughter, after the Doctor released the Source; the Doctor was clearly tempted to shoot Cobb himself, but informed Cobb that he would never resort to Cobb's methods, going on to ask the humans and Hath to make that philosophy the foundation of their new society.
Matron Cofelia
Matron Cofelia of the Five-Straighten, Classabindi Nursery Fleet, Intergalactic Class was charged with the task of looking after the Adipose babies after their breeding planet became unfit for use in " Partners in Crime ". Disguised as a human named Miss Foster, a play on "foster mother", she used the Adipose tablets to galvanise human fats into living creatures, the Adipose, despite it being illegal to use Level 5 planets for such purposes. She didn't tell the Adipose where they came from. After the Adipose babies were adopted, Cofelia was no longer needed and the Adiposian First Family decided to dispose of their accomplice, so the tractor beam used to carry Cofelia was shut off, and she fell to her death. She was portrayed by Sarah Lancashire . She owns a sonic pen which the Doctor describes as "sleek". It is stated the Sonic Pen has the Sonic Screwdriver's function, and the two work identically.
Chief Caretaker
The Chief Caretaker, played by Richard Briers , featured in Paradise Towers (1987), served the intelligence Kroagnon , the Great Architect of Paradise Towers. He sanctioned the robotic Cleaners' killings, but lost control of the situation and was killed by Kroagnon for his body.
The Collector
Main article: Dalek
The Dalek race is the greatest and most well known alien species running in Doctor Who. The first appearance of the horrifying creature was in the episode " The Daleks ", the first part airing on British television, on 21 December, 1963 with the first incarnation of the Doctor portrayed by William Hartnell. The Daleks appeared most recently in the two-part finale of the fourth series ( The Stolen Earth / Journey's End ).
Davros
Main article: Davros
De Flores
De Flores was a Neo-Nazi, based in South America, who aimed to establish a Fourth Reich , aided by a powerful Time Lord weapon, known as the Nemesis, as seen in Silver Nemesis ( 1988 ). He led a group of paramilitary men against Lady Peinforte , a group of Cybermen and the Seventh Doctor , who all vied to control the Nemesis. He possessed the bow - part of the Nemesis as it was in its statue form - which he and his men reunited with the statue body when it fell to England in a comet in 1988. After allying himself with the Cybermen, De Flores was killed by the Cyber Leader when he outlived his usefulness to them.
Destroyer
Portrayed by
Marek Anton
The Destroyer was an otherdimensional entity summoned by the sorceress Morgaine in Battlefield (1989) to aid her in defeating the Seventh Doctor . Known by many titles, including "Destroyer of Worlds", he was kept subdued by chains of pure silver , and even Morgaine hesitated in unleashing him on the world until he allowed the Doctor to gain the upper hand, thus forcing Morgaine to free him in a desperate attempt to avoid defeat.
At the time, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart had been called out of retirement to assist UNIT against Morgaine's invasion. Taking a box of silver bullets meant for combating werewolves from UNIT stores, he loaded a revolver with them. The Destroyer taunted the elderly Brigadier for being the best Earth could offer as its champion; the Brigadier's response was to fire the silver bullets into the demon. The building the Destroyer was in subsequently exploded in a burst of magical energy, and presumably the creature was destroyed with it.
The design for the Destroyer was based on theatrical devil's mask, modified so that an actor could speak through it. The cloak that covered its chainmail armour disguised the mechanical parts needed for the costume's special effects. Script writer Ben Aaronovitch originally intended the Destroyer to start off as a businessman who gradually became more demonic as he fell under Morgaine's spell, but this was time-consuming and expensive, so he stayed in one form throughout.
E
Simon Pegg
The Editor was the mysterious manager of the space station Satellite 5, an orbital news station around Earth broadcasting across the whole of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire of the year 200,000. The character was played by Simon Pegg .
Little is known about the Editor, except that he managed the operations of Satellite 5 from Floor 500, unseen and unknown to the rank-and-file journalists who packaged and broadcast the news over six hundred channels. He also monitored the thoughts of all those connected to the archives of the station via chips implanted into people's heads, which were required to access the computer systems of the 2001st century. Through these implants, the Editor was able to instantly know whatever the person connected knew, and was even able to sense when a record was fictional or not, or that there was something out of place with a particular individual before a security check confirmed it.
The Editor was a smooth and sinister individual in the mould of an evil genius , but was not the true controller of the station. He reported to the monstrous slug-like extraterrestrial known as the Jagrafess . The Editor claimed that he represented a consortium of interstellar banks whose intent was to subtly control the Empire by means of manipulating the news. In the ninety years since Satellite 5 had been established, the social, economic and technological development of the human race had been retarded, making them inward looking and xenophobic. When the Ninth Doctor investigated this, he and Rose were captured by the Editor.
Initially, the Editor was both intrigued and frustrated at the fact that records of their existence did not seem to exist in the archives. However, because the Doctor's new companion Adam had accessed the archives of the Satellite, the Editor acquired the knowledge that the Doctor was a Time Lord and had a TARDIS capable of time travel.
Before he could gain the Doctor's secrets or claim the TARDIS, however, a human journalist named Cathica (who had been following the Doctor's investigation) reversed the environmental controls of Floor 500 that had been kept at an icy temperature vital for keeping the Jagrafess alive. Overheating, the Jagrafess exploded, apparently taking the Editor with him.
In the episode " Bad Wolf ", taking place on Satellite 5 a century after "The Long Game", it was revealed that the Badwolf Corporation was behind the Jagrafess, and that his masters were the Daleks .
Eldrad
Eldrad was a silicon-based lifeform from the planet Kastria who saved his planet from solar winds, but then took down the barriers he created because the people wouldn't follow him. They sentenced him to destruction in an obliteration capsule, but his hand survived and ended up in a quarry on Earth. When Sarah Jane Smith came in contact with the hand, Eldrad controlled her, using her to bring his hand to a nuclear reactor. By absorbing radiation from the reactor, Eldrad was regenerated in a thin female body with violet skin covered in crystals, basing his form on his contact with Sarah Jane. He convinced the Doctor to take him back to Kastria in the present, where he regained his true form, only to learn that his race had destroyed themselves to prevent him from ruling them again. The Doctor and Sarah used the Doctor's scarf to trip Eldrad and send him falling into a pit.
Eleanor, Duchess of Melrose
Empress of the Racnoss
The Empress of the Racnoss featured in " The Runaway Bride " ( 2006 ) and as archive footage in " Turn Left " ( 2008 ). She was killed when Mr Saxon ordered her ship to be shot down after the Doctor had drowned her children by draining the Thames. Her appearance resembled that of a huge red spider . She was portrayed by Sarah Parish .
Portrayed by
N/A
Eve was an android resembling a woman built by Hr'oln, last of the Cirranins. She was built to prevent the extinction of races like the Cirranins, but did this by rather unorthodox means. She put Hr'oln and other last ones in suspended animation, then put all but Hr'oln in MOTLO (Museum Of The Last Ones). However, she and a member of the Earth team named Frank were secretly cloning the creatures and selling them off to the highest bidder. The Doctor and Martha then arrived at the museum, and investigated the poaching. After Eve captured the Doctor, last of the Time Lords, Martha freed him, but accidentally teleported the Earth creatures back to Earth. During the ensuing chaos, Eve hatched upon a plan to get the cloned dodos to lay bomb eggs, with sabretooth cats and Megalosauri attacking people to keep them off the scent, so that she could stop having to note down every Earth extinction. She planned to destroy every planet in the universe this way. But when the Doctor pointed out this would be impossible, she tried to shoot him. Unfortunately for her, the gun backfired, killing her and revealing that she was an android. After her plans had been stopped, and Hr'oln was freed, Hr'oln promised to rebuild her. She is immune to psychic paper. As a novel character, her canonicity is unclear.
F
Rebekah Staton
The Family of Blood are a family who appear in the Series 3 episodes " Human Nature " and " The Family of Blood " (2007) in which they are the titular entity. They are incorporeal, green telepathic creatures and refer to each other by their relationship followed by "of Mine"; "Father/Husband of Mine", "Mother/Wife of Mine", "Son/Brother of Mine" (who appears to assume leadership) and "Sister/Daughter of Mine". Because of their lack of form, they required a physical body to inhabit; they only had short lifespans without them and as such, sought that of a Time Lord . They had a time vortex manipulator allowing them to time travel. Their spaceship was stolen and was protected by an invisible shield. They could also animate different things for servants — in the case of their 1913 invasion of Earth , scarecrows — using "molecular fringe animation". They also possess hand-held energy firearms capable of disintegrating flesh and cloth - on the Doctor Who official website it is referred to as a "Bio-gun".
Ultimately, when trying to gain the immortality of the Time Lords, they pursued the last Time Lord: the Tenth Doctor , who chose to alter his biodata to become a human schoolteacher in England, 1913 until their lifespans expired. When he was finally tracked down in human form, the Family possessed the forms of four humans; Mr. Clark, a farmer, Jeremy Baines, a school prefect, Lucy Cartwright, a small girl holding a balloon and Jenny, a maid at the school. The original souls of the beings were killed, the original bodies only existing as vessels for the Family, and the Family attacked first a village dance and then the school to claim the Doctor. The Family's starship was eventually destroyed by the Doctor once his human persona was convinced to reassume his Time Lord configuration. It was learnt at this point why the Doctor chose to run from the Family; not out of fear but rather as an act of mercy; something the Doctor had now run out of. Each of the Family were trapped for all of time, an irony considering that they sought immortality. "Father of Mine" was tied up in unbreakable chains forged from dwarf star metal, "Mother of Mine" was trapped on the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy, "Son of Mine" was frozen in time and dressed as a Scarecrow, left in the fields to watch over England as its protector, and "Sister of Mine" was trapped inside every mirror and unable to leave, still able to be glimpsed fleetingly by humans. "Son of Mine" mentions that the Doctor visits the sister once every year, and he wishes that the Doctor may forgive her in time.
Fendahl
Wanda Ventham - Fendahl Core
The Fendahl was an entity that devoured life itself. It originated on the fifth planet of Earth's solar system, which the ancient Time Lords placed in a time loop in an attempt to imprison the creature. However, the Fendahl escaped and, in the form of a humanoid skull, was buried under volcanic rock on prehistoric Earth 12 million years ago. The story of the Fendahl passed into Time Lord myth, and was forgotten. The Fendahl's power, contained in a pentagram -shaped neural relay in the bones of the skull, affected life on Earth via a biotransmutation field, influencing life forms in its vicinity (including the early hominids ) to develop into forms it could use.
In the late 20th century, the Fendahl skull was discovered in Kenya by a team of anthropologists under the leadership of one Dr. Fendelman. Fendelman brought the skull to an English research facility at Fetch Priory, near the village of Fetchborough. The Priory was built on a time fissure, causing psychic ability in some nearby residents. In the Priory, Fendelman and his fellow researchers Thea Ransome, Adam Colby and Maximillian Stael performed experiments on the skull, attempting to unlock its secrets. Fendelman used a crude time scanner to examine the skull, a dangerous activity which drew the attention of the Fourth Doctor . Stael attempted to capture the power of the Fendahl for himself by means of black magic rituals, performed with the aid of a local coven, but he, Fendelman and Ransome were all being used by the Fendahl to recreate itself.
The Fendahl was a gestalt creature with multiple aspects. Thea Ransome was transformed into the Fendahl Core, a humanoid female with golden skin and blank, staring eyes. Several of the cult members became slug-like creatures called Fendahleen. All the aspects of the Fendahl had powerful psychotelekinetic ability, and can control the muscles of human victims. The Fendahleen were vulnerable to sodium chloride , which altered the creatures' conductivity and destroyed their electrical balance.
In its final form, the Fendahl would consist of the Core and twelve Fendahleen; however, the Doctor was able to prevent the creature from reaching its full manifestation. He rigged Fendelman's time scanner to implode, destroying the Core and the Fendahleen. He also removed the skull, planning to drop it into a star about to go supernova .
The Fendahl has also appeared in the Eighth Doctor Adventures novel The Taking of Planet 5 by Simon Bucher-Jones and Mark Clapham , where a group of Time Lords from the Eighth Doctor 's future attempted to release it from the time loop trapping Planet Five, only to learn that an even deadlier life-form had evolved inside the loop; the Maemovore, a devourer of concept itself, which the Doctor was only just able to defeat by convincing a group of TARDISes from the future to help him expel the entity from the universe. The Fendahl also returned in the Kaldor City series of audio plays and the Time Hunter novella Deus Le Volt by Jon de Burgh Miller .
Fenric
Tomek Bork (controlling Captain Sorin)
Fenric was a being described by the Seventh Doctor as "evil from the dawn of time", a malevolent force that survived the clash of energies present at the birth of the universe. In an untelevised adventure, the Doctor had encountered Fenric and defeated him by challenging him to solve a chess puzzle. When Fenric proved unable to solve it, the Doctor then trapped the being in a flask where he remained for several thousand years.
However, Fenric was still able to manipulate human minds and events through time and space. He set up pawns, bloodlines of families that were under his control and he could use, "The Curse of Fenric" stretching down through generations. These people were known as the "Wolves of Fenric", and their true purpose was unknown even to them. He also had the power to summon Haemovores , vampires which were to be the evolutionary destiny of mankind in a possible far future. The haemovores were strong enough to be able to weld metal with their bare hands, and were also immune to bullets. They could be countered, however, with a psychic barrier caused by faith.
Eventually, the flask was brought to a military base in Northumberland in 1942, where several Wolves, including the Doctor's companion Ace , were manipulated into freeing Fenric from his flask. He also summoned the Ancient One, the last of the Haemovores from the future, in an attempt to poison the world with a deadly chemical toxin. Fenric then revealed that he had manipulated the Seventh Doctor's life upon several occasions as part of his game, including creating the time storm that originally took Ace to Iceworld and influencing the Cybermen in their attempts to gain the power of the Nemesis statue. Eventually, the Doctor convinced the Ancient One to turn on Fenric; the Ancient One then destroyed Fenric and himself with the same toxin.
In Norse mythology , Fenric is another name for Fenrisulfr (more commonly known simply as "Fenrir" or "the Fenris wolf"), the monstrous wolf that will devour Odin during Ragnarök . The Virgin New Adventures novel All-Consuming Fire by Andy Lane also equates Fenric with the Cthulhu Mythos entity Hastur the Unspeakable. As with all spin-off media, the canonicity of this is open to interpretation.
Mr Finch
Anthony Head
Mr Finch was an alias for Brother Lassar, the leader of a group of Krillitanes . He appeared in the 2006 series episode " School Reunion ", in which he was portrayed by Anthony Head . His first name of "Lucas" is given on the Deffry Vale School website . According to an on-line interview with Head, Finch's original name in the script was "Hector", but this had to be changed when a check found a real headmaster named "Hector Finch". He is also aware of the Time War and the Time Lords ' near-extinction.
The Krillitanes had taken human characteristics to infiltrate the Deffry Vale comprehensive school . Taking the position of headmaster , Finch gradually replaced the staff members with disguised Krillitanes and then enacted a series of reforms, including specialised programmes of study and free, but compulsory, school dinners. The dinners were laced with Krillitane oil, which was designed to enhance the intelligence of the pupils in a bid to use them to decode the Skasis Paradigm, which would give the Krillitanes control over the structure of reality. The Krillitanes could not use the oil themselves because their constantly changing morphology had rendered it toxic to their systems.
The Tenth Doctor and his current companions investigated the school, meeting his old companions Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 Mark III . Finch squared off against the Doctor, offering the use of the solved Paradigm and tempting him with the power, but Sarah's urgings helped the Doctor to refuse. In the midst of escaping, K-9 sacrificed itself by using its laser to blow up the barrels of Krillitane oil in the kitchen, showering most of the Krillitanes with it before the kitchen exploded, apparently killing them all. Finch is seen to be unnaffected by the oil (since he had taken permanent human form) but it is unclear if the subsequent kitchen explosion killed him or not.
In issues #3-#6 the IDW ongoing Doctor Who comic by Tony Lee , Finch reappears as the prosecution in a Shadow Proclamation case against the Doctor, where he has infiltrated the Shadow Proclamation as part of a plan to make the Krillitane Empire stronger, but at the end of the story it is shown that he was actually a shapechanging alien with a far greater plan. The true location or status of Mister Finch is never revealed.
Florence Finnegan
Anne Reid
Florence Finnegan was the name assumed by the Plasmavore , played by Anne Reid , who was hiding from the Judoon in the Royal Hope Hospital in London when it was transported to the Moon in " Smith and Jones ". To avoid detection by the Judoon, she sucked the blood out of Mr. Stoker, a consultant working in the hospital. This allows her to assimilate human DNA and register as human on the Judoon scanners. The Doctor later tricks her into sucking his blood, meaning that she registers as non-human, having assimilated non-human blood. The Judoon pick up on this. She attempts to rig a hospital MRI machine to kill everyone in the hospital (and the half of earth currently facing the moon). The Judoon execute her for the crime of killing an alien princess. The Doctor neutralises the MRI energy.
Miss Foster
G
Gavrok
Gavrok was leader of the Bannermen who attempted to wipe out the Chimeron race in Delta and the Bannermen (1987). After pursuing the Chimeron Queen, Delta, to Earth in 1959, he was killed falling into his own booby-trap set around the TARDIS when he was overcome by a high-pitched scream produced by Delta's child, the Chimeron Princess, amplified by a PA system . (A probably not unintentional name-check is made in Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 3 (" Graduation Day Part 1 "), with the Ritual of Gavrok .)
Gods of Ragnarok
Portrayed by
David Ashford, Janet Hargreaves, Kathryn Ludlow
The three Gods of Ragnarok appeared in the 1988 story, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy by Stephen Wyatt . Apparently a trio of statue-like beings of godly power; they used lesser beings for sport in their Dark Circus, allowing them to live as long as they continue to fulfill their need to be amused. When the Psychic Circus came to Segonax, they forced the circus' members into serving them and killed off the rest, manifesting themselves within regular time space in the guise of family consisting of a mother, a father and their young daughter. When the Seventh Doctor came to the Psychic Circus and uncovered their plan, he went into their dimension to distract them until he gets the medallion used to summon them and reflect the Gods' destructive energy back at them, destroying them and their Dark Circus.
The Virgin New Adventures novel Conundrum by Steve Lyons reveals that the Gods of Ragnarok created the Land of Fiction . As with all spin-off media, the canonicity of this is open to interpretation. (The Gods also display some similarity with the Osirian race of Sutekh , including the use of the Eye of Horus symbol.)
Gravis
Michael Spice
Magnus Greel is the former Minister of Justice of the 51st century Supreme Alliance, responsible for the deaths of 100,000 enemies of the state, earning him the epithet "the Butcher of Brisbane". He appears in the 1977 serial The Talons of Weng-Chiang .
After the Filipino Army defeats the Supreme Alliance at the battle of Reykjavik, Greel flees to 19th century China by means of a time cabinet which utilises zygma beam technology, taking The Peking Homunculus with him. There he is given shelter by a peasant, Li H'sen Chang, who believes Greel to be the god Weng-Chiang. However, the zygma beam has disrupted Greel's DNA , hideously deforming him and requiring him to draw the life essence from kidnapped young women in order to live.
The time cabinet is captured by Imperial soldiers and passed on to an Englishman as a gift, neither of whom knows its true nature. Seeking to recover the cabinet and reverse his condition, Greel and Li pursue it to London , where Li poses as a stage magician. There, they enlist the Tong of the Black Scorpion to obtain victims for Greel's organic distillation chamber, which extracts their essences for him to feed on.
Greel's plans are opposed by the Fourth Doctor , who warns him that using the zygma beam will cause an implosion that will kill thousands. In a battle with the Doctor in which the Peking Homunculus goes berserk and turns on his master, Greel dies from total cellular collapse after being pushed into the distillation chamber.
Other consequences of Greel's time travel are explored in the spin-off Virgin Missing Adventures novel The Shadow of Weng-Chiang by David A. McIntee , in which the Doctor again encounters the Tong of the Black Scorpion as a group attempt to draw Greel's cabinet into the present to torture him for his crimes, unaware that this will result in a dangerous temporal paradox. Greel is also mentioned in Simon A. Forward 's Eighth Doctor Adventures novel Emotional Chemistry , which is partly set in the 51st century.
Count Grendel
Peter Jeffrey
Count Grendel of Gracht was a Knight of the nobility of the planet Tara and the Lord of Castle Gracht, his sole on-screen appearance was in the Fourth Doctor serial, The Androids of Tara , part of the Season 16 quest for the Key to Time . The character was played by Peter Jeffrey .
While searching for the fourth segment of the Key, Romana discovered that it was disguised as the head of a statue representing the family crest of Grendel's family. After Romana transformed it into its actual crystalline form, the segment was confiscated by Grendel. Grendel did not know of the segment's true nature; his real intent was to use Romana (who resembled the Princess Strella) in a complex plot to seize the throne of Tara from Prince Reynart.
His plans were ultimately defeated by the Doctor . Although Grendel was considered the finest swordsman on Tara, the Doctor managed to duel him to a standstill, and he made his escape by leaping into the moat of Castle Gracht and swimming away.
A cultured and charming villain, Gracht used his breeding to cover a ruthless and cunning personality. He used and discarded people as easily as he would persuade them to do his bidding, and somehow always managed to live to scheme another day. He also appeared in the spin-off short story The Trials of Tara by Paul Cornell , where another attempt to seize the throne of Tara with the help of the salvaged remains of the Kandy Man was foiled by the Seventh Doctor and Benny .
H
Tim McInnerny
Klineman Halpen was the Chief Executive of Ood Operations. At the age of six he was taken to Ood Sphere and saw the Giant Ood brain within. His father was the manager before him. He had a personal Ood that looked after him called Sigma. As his job was very stressful he soon lost most of his hair and so was dosed with hair tonic by Sigma. His hair partially grew back. When the Ood began geting infected with "Red Eye", Halpen arrived on Ood Sphere to sort it out. When the entire Ood "livestock" were infected with Red Eye, Halpen ordered the gassing of all Ood. He then set off to destroy the Giant Ood Brain in order to contain the Red Eye and kill the Ood.
He placed detonation packs around the brain and prepared to detonate. He decided he would go into cargo as this job was over. When his scientist, Dr. Ryder revealed he was a member of the Friends of the Ood, Halpen killed him by throwing him into the brain. Ood Sigma led the Doctor and Donna Noble to Halpen but then Sigma claimed he would always help Halpen. It was then that Sigma revealed the "hair tonic" was actually a powerful genetic liquid which had been recombining Halpen's DNA, turning him into an Ood himself. Sigma then declared he would look after Halpen.
Mercy Hartigan
Portrayed by
Dervla Kirwan
Mercy Hartigan, or simply Miss Hartigan, played by Dervla Kirwan , is the villain in Christmas special episode " The Next Doctor " (2008). She is the willing accomplice of the Cybermen invasion of London in 1851; she resents her patriarchal oppression by man as a woman in Victorian England and seeks to empower herself through any means. The Cybermen betray her when they decide that they wish to make her their 'CyberKing' in a process which is supposed to remove her emotions and upgrade her, but it doesn't work due to her brilliant mind having overcome the programming. Miss Hartigan is given access to the full bounty of knowledge of the universe and in the colossal 'CyberKing' dreadnought -class assault droid, she seeks to make London bow at her feet as its maniacal dictator who combines cold Cyberman efficiency, knowledge and logic with human passion and determination. The Doctor offers Miss Hartigan the opportunity to relocate herself to another world which she can reign over harmlessly, but when she refuses he cuts her connection to the Cybermen and allows her to see what she has become rationally. In her moment of lucidity, she goes insane and all the Cybermen connected to her die, as does she.
Russell T Davies describes her in the episode's podcast commentary as "a dark a villain as you will ever have". A lot of her characterisation goes unstated, but Russell discussed it in long conversations with Dervla Kirwan and fellow executive producer Julie Gardner. Davies characterises Miss Hartigan as "a victim of abuse", for whom the subtext suggests a "terrible backstory " which is symptomatic of her being "part of [this] Victorian Age." Davies describes this as being "a powerless woman who's been in servitude or far worse all her life", but holds his tongue from saying her precise profession, relaying: "I'm talking quite discretely around this because there are children listening and watching and there's only so far I should go." He does however explain that "She's had terrible things done to her" which is responsible for her "really twisted character where she sexualises everything." In terms of costume, "she wears red" because "everything's inflammatory with her". "And in the end, actually" Davies discusses how to escape her male oppression she "becomes a man, she becomes the CyberKing. She has to go through this extraordinary process because she's so damaged." [12]
Yvonne Hartman
Tracy-Ann Oberman
Yvonne Hartman, portrayed by Tracy-Ann Oberman in " Army of Ghosts " and " Doomsday ", was the director of Torchwood One , the London branch of the Torchwood Institute founded by Queen Victoria , located in Canary Wharf . Whilst not a villain herself, she acted in the role of an antagonist, interfering with the Doctor's plans to stop what she was doing: widening the tear between her own world and that of an alternate Earth 's, unknowingly helping to release a number of Cybermen into the world. When the TARDIS materialised within Torchwood HQ, she placed the Doctor as her prisoner and confiscated his TARDIS, although he was treated with much respect - as a guest, as the institute had much to learn from him. At the height of the war between the Daleks and Cybermen, she herself was cyber-converted, but the process was seemingly faulty as she turned on her fellow Cybermen, defending the Torchwood Tower "for Queen and country".
A report on the Torchwood TV series' fictional Torchwood Institute tie-in website about a motionless Cyberman by some stairs killed by Torchwood security personnel suggests she may have been killed [13] although her ultimate fate has never been definitively revealed. The website also states that Hartman regularly collaborated with Jack Harkness and the other members of Torchwood Three. In the Torchwood novel Trace Memory , Yvonne is mentioned in Ianto Jones 's flashback to when he was working in Torchwood One. However, like all Torchwood and Doctor Who spin-offs in other media, the ultimate canonicity of events described in relation to the TV series remain unclear.
Headhunter
The Headhunter is a female villain-for-hire heard in the Big Finish Productions series of Eighth Doctor New Adventures originally on BBC7 radio. She is played by Katarina Olsson.
She crops up several times while the Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller are traveling together. The Headhunter is introduced to listeners at end of their first adventure, Blood of the Daleks , where she is being hired to hunt down Lucie. After a few failed attempts, she finally catches her at the end of No More Lies . The Headhunter's first full tale is Human Resources , where the man who hired her is revealed. At the end of this adventure, the Headhunter hires an "assistant", Karen . Karen is just a normal human working in an office, but some Time Lords believed she had the potential to become an oppressive dictator. The next time the Headhunter appears, Grand Theft Cosmos , Karen is at her side. This time, the Doctor's meeting with them is coincidental. However, their next meeting was intentional. Once again, the Headhunter had to track down Lucie, as well as the Doctor himself. At the end of Vengeance of Morbius , the Doctor is believed dead and the Time Lords return Lucie to Earth. In Orbis , the Headhunter has acquired the TARDIS and uses it to find Lucie and then the Doctor, who she finds on an obscure ocean world populated by intelligent jellyfish. But her real objective is a powerful remote stellar manipulator built during Vengeance of Morbius. Similar to The Hand of Omega , the stellar manipulator ends up destroying the ocean world of Orbis, before it falls under her control. The Headhunter's true motives are revealed in her final story, The Eight Truths / Worldwide Web .
The Headhunter appears human and knows a lot about Earth, but where or when she comes from is uncertain. She has her own warp ship that can travel in time and space. She enjoys using gadgets, like hypnotising helmets and quantum -tipped time bullets that can be slowed down or even reversed. She specialises in tracking people down, hence her name. Her real name is a mystery. She is known for her ruthlessness, her opportunism, her deceitfulness and her ability to accomplish difficult jobs.
I
" The Long Game "
The Jagrafess, or, to give its full title, The Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe (AKA Max) was a gigantic, gelatinous creature similar to a slug in shape. Its exact origins are not known, but it was sentient and able to communicate in a series of growls and screeches. It had a life span of about 3000 years, with sharp, vicious teeth and several vestigial eyes. Its metabolic rate, however, meant that it had to be kept at low temperatures to survive. It appeared in the episode " The Long Game ".
The Jagrafess was the supervisor of the mysterious and sinister Editor on board Satellite 5, a space station that broadcast news across the whole of the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire of the year 200,000. The Editor (who called the Jagrafess "Max" for short) claimed that the Jagrafess had been placed with Satellite 5 some ninety years before by a consortium of interstellar banks. The intent was to use the news broadcasts to subtly manipulate the Empire, retarding its social, economic and technological growth and turning it more inward looking and xenophobic . Control was enhanced by the use of computer chips, installed in every human brain; chips that allowed the users to access the computer systems of the 2001st century, but at the same time allowed the Jagrafess and its cohorts to monitor people's thoughts. In this way, the human race was reduced to slavery without them even realising it.
The environmental systems of Satellite 5 had been configured to vent all heat away from Floor 500, keeping it cold enough for the Jagrafess to survive, attached to the ceiling of the main control room. When the Ninth Doctor , Rose and Adam arrived on board, the Doctor recognised that human development had been deliberately obstructed and began to investigate. Ultimately captured by the Editor and about to be killed by the Jagrafess, the Doctor and Rose were saved by the actions of Cathica, a human journalist, who reversed the environmental systems. The Jagrafess overheated, bloated up and exploded, apparently ending its threat and the scheme to hold back the human race.
In the episode " Bad Wolf ", taking place on Satellite 5 a century after "The Long Game", it was revealed that the Badwolf Corporation was behind the Jagrafess, and that its masters were the Daleks .
The Jagrafess could be a descendant of the Bane from The Sarah Jane Adventures .
The Jagrafess was designed and created by Jean-Claude Deguara, a middle-aged freelance animator from Croydon.[citation needed]
Sharaz Jek
Christopher Gable
Sharaz Jek was a genius robotocist and partner of businessman Trau Morgus. Together they planned to harvest the rare Spectrox drug on the planet Androzani Minor using androids built by Jek. Morgus, however, "cheaped out" on Jek, supplying him with substandard equipment and Jek was caught in a mud burst on Minor. He was only able to survive by locking himself in a Spectrox baking oven, leaving him hideously disfigured. Jek thereafter bore a pathological hatred for Morgus, believing (quite possibly correctly) that Morgus had provided the faulty equipment deliberately.
When the Doctor and Peri Brown landed on Androzani Minor, they soon became entangled in a three way struggle between Jek's androids, gunrunners and Androzani Major troops. Jek found Peri beautiful and coveted her strongly. When the Doctor and Peri were to be executed by the Major troops, Jek replaced them with realistic androids, and later cared for Peri while the Doctor tried to get an antidote for the disease that the two of them had accidentally contracted.
When Morgus and the leader of the gunrunners, Stotz, arrived at Jek's base, Jek attacked Morgus and killed him, but was himself shot by Stotz. He died in the arms of his Salateen replica robot.
K
Kane
Kane, seen in Dragonfire (1987), one-half of the Xana-Kane criminal gang of the planet Proamon , was exiled after capture by security forces to the cold, dark side of Svartos , where he became ruler of the space trading colony Iceworld. His body temperature was so cold that one touch from him could kill and in order to cool down, he lay in a cryogenic chamber. He branded his employees with his mark iced into their skin and commissioned an ice sculpture of his partner, Xana. After creating a cryogenic army, massacring most of Iceworld's populace and having the dragon that was guarding him slain, Kane released Iceworld from Svartos' surface as a spacecraft, setting a course for Proamon to exact his revenge for his exile and imprisonment. When it transpired that, during the millenia that he had been a prisoner, Proamon had been destroyed, Kane, now in a state of desperation, committed suicide by opening a screen and letting light rays in that melted him.
Victor Kennedy
Mark Gatiss
Professor Richard Lazarus, played by Mark Gatiss , is the main villain of " The Lazarus Experiment " ( 2007 ). Lazarus is a 76 year old human scientist whose research concerns the use of sonic technology to enable rejuvenation. His work is funded by the enigmatic Harold Saxon . He is obsessed with ensuring his immortality, despite the risks being taken or any potential losses in terms of human life.
After a malfunction at the first public demonstration of his process, he appears to be young once more. However, the experiment mutates his DNA, activating long dormant characteristics within his genes. He undergoes repeated transformations into a large, insectoid creature, which needs to steal the life energy from other beings in order to revert to a youthful, human form, killing them in the process. His first victim is his partner, Lady Thaw . He attempts to make Martha Jones's sister, Tish , his next victim, but she is saved by Martha and the Doctor.
After going on a rampage, Lazarus is seemingly killed by the machine which effected his transformation, which has been modified by the Doctor. However, he recovers in the ambulance called to remove his body, whereupon he feeds on the medics before seeking sanctuary at Southwark Cathedral . The Doctor, Martha and Tish follow him there. The sisters succeed in luring Lazarus up to the top of the belltower, at which point the Doctor plays the organ at maximum volume, which, in conjunction with the Sonic Screwdriver, resonates the church bell and plays havoc with Lazarus's sonically-manipulated genetic structure, eventually causing him to fall to his death. He then reverts to his aged, human form, his experiment undone.
Light
John Hallam
Light was an extremely powerful, almost God-like alien being. Long ago, he took a survey of all organic life in the universe, but almost as soon as he finished 'it all started changing.' Light went into hibernation in his stone spaceship, hidden in the basement of Gabriel Chase in Perivale Village, London, while members of his cargo took over the house in 1881 and attempted to integrate into Victorian high society. After being awoken in 1883, following the arrival of the investigating Seventh Doctor and his companion Ace , Light took the form of an "angel" and began to campaign against evolution and change, deciding to destroy all life so that his catalogue would never be out of date again. Before he could carry out his plan though, the Doctor told Light that it was futile to oppose evolution and that even he was changing. Unable to cope with this fact, Light 'dissipated' in the main hallway of the house.
Paradoxically, the emotionally volatile Ace, then 13 years old, burnt down Gabriel Chase in 1983 after sensing an evil presence; this was confirmed by the Doctor to the older Ace to be an "echo" of Light following his dispersal 100 years earlier.
Light's majestic appearance sharply contrasts with his doddering, confused behaviour.
Lilith
Christina Cole
Lilith, played by Christina Cole , leads the Carrionite witches in " The Shakespeare Code " ( 2007 ). Although disguised in human form for most of the episode, her natural form appears more like that than that of other Carrionites. Her human form is of a young, attractive woman, which she uses to manipulate others for long enough to obtain a sample of their hair, which can be used to control them using technology similar to puppets . Using this, she drowns a play censor on dry land and causes one of the Doctor's two hearts to suffer cardiac arrest . She stops the Doctor from reaching the Globe therefore letting the Carrionites invade Earth
She is eventually trapped within her own crystal ball, which the Doctor locks in the attic of the TARDIS .
John Lumic
Roger Lloyd Pack
John Lumic was a physically disabled genius and megalomaniac who was the head of Cybus Industries on a parallel Earth. Among his many inventions were the Earpods, a highly popular and widespread communications and entertainment device which allowed the downloading of news and other information directly into the brain. Paralyzed, dependent on his ventilator, and slowly dying, Lumic was driven insane by his desperate need to stay alive, so he researched possible ways of making humans immortal. He experimented on human subjects, namely homeless people kidnapped off the streets. The final solution he found was to bond the human body to a metal exoskeleton, with the brain preserved by "copyrighted chemicals." This gave birth to the parallel universe version of the Cybermen .
When the President of Great Britain refused approval for his conversion programme, Lumic took matters into his own hands. He first sent a force of Cybermen to assassinate the President and prominent members of society and government, then broadcast a hypnotic signal through the EarPods that directed the population of London to march towards the factories and begin cyber-conversion. In the process, one of his employees turned against Lumic and smashed his ventilator; rather than repairing it the Cybermen then took him unwillingly to be "upgraded". The employee was instantly killed.
Lumic was transformed into the Cyber-Controller, a Cyberman with glowing eyes and a transparent brain-case, wired into a throne-like support. However, Mickey Smith managed to reactivate emotions in the Cybermen's makeup, causing them to go insane and destroy themselves, and setting alight the factory in which the humans were being converted. The Cyber Controller was furious. Seeking revenge, he pulled himself free of the cyber-throne and pursued the ones who had brought the Cybermen's destruction. He attempted to climb aboard a zeppelin on which Mickey Smith, Rose Tyler, The Tenth Doctor and Jake were escaping. However, the parallel universe Pete Tyler cut the rope ladder and sent the creature falling back into the blazing factory.
Lumic shares some similarities to Davros , the creator of the Daleks in the Doctor's universe.
M
Portrayed by
None
The Malus appeared in the Fifth Doctor story The Awakening (1984) by Eric Pringle . At one point the Doctor describes this demonic entity as "a living being re-engineered as an instrument of war." He seems to pity the Malus, claiming that killing is "the only thing it knows how to do" (suggesting that it was originally a more benevolent creature). Possessing vast power and capable of combining various time zones, it uses its powers to allow real people to pass through down the centuries and create energies, including fear , that it can feed on. To this end, it psychically projects hallucinations to sustain itself.
The Malus was travelling on a Hakol ship, which crashed centuries before the English Civil War . In 1643 it was briefly roused by a battle at the village of Little Hodcombe, but it subsided once both sides had massacred each other. When its companion, Hutchinson, dies and its means of "feeding" blocked by the Doctor's TARDIS , it knows it has been defeated. It then panics and reverts to its original programming to destroy all that it can; the church that housed it for so long is annihilated in an explosion.
Mara
Emrys Jones
The Master of the Land of Fiction, who has no connection with his Time Lord namesake, was a human writer from the year 1926 who was drawn to the Land of Fiction and forced to continuously write stories which were enacted within that realm. The Master's name was never revealed, but he did identify himself as the writer of "The Adventures of Captain Jack Harkaway" in The Ensign, a magazine for boys. He was freed by the Second Doctor , and returned to his own time.
He tried to lure the Second Doctor into becoming his replacement as the controller for the "Master Brain Computer", the controlling force behind the Land of Fiction. When the Doctor outwitted him and proved himself more than a match for both the Master Brain Computer and its human counterpart, the computer decided, against the wishes of the human controller, that the Doctor had to be destroyed in order to protect itself. However, the Doctor managed to avoid harm and freed the human control from influence by the Master Brain Computer, after which the human controller had no memory of what had occurred.
Mawdryn
Stratford Johns
Monarch was the megalomaniac leader of the Urbankans from the planet Urbanka. He was encountered in the Fifth Doctor story Four to Doomsday . His greed and ego were highly dangerous. The Urbankans originated from the Inokshi system but their own planet was destroyed through over mining, and destruction of its ozone layer , both caused by Monarch's desire for minerals to improve his craft. He had similar plans for the Earth, which he had visited four times in the past, each time halving the length of the journey time.
The Urbankans were a green-skinned lizard people, four billion of whom - apart from Monarch himself - had been converted into androids. Monarch wasn't totally converted, retaining fancies of the "flesh time" such as the belief that if he could pilot his vast craft faster than light , he would be able to travel back before the dawn of time and meet God , whom he believed would be himself (However, his extreme longevity - over forty thousand years - may point to partial cybernisation, or his species could just be naturally long-lived).
Being of the "flesh time" he proved susceptible to the virulent toxin he had planned to unleash to wipe out mankind, and was reduced in size to minute proportions.
Morbius
Samuel West (voice)
In The Brain of Morbius , Morbius was a renegade Time Lord from the Doctor's birthplace, Gallifrey . He had been a member of the High Council of Time Lords, and attempted to move the Time Lords' policy towards the rest of the universe from observation to conquest. When the Time Lords rejected him, he formed an army of his own. He promised his followers the secrets of time travel and immortality. Morbius was eventually defeated and executed by his fellow Time Lords for his crimes. However, his brain survived. The remaining organ was taken away by the fanatical scientist Solon , who was planning the resurrection of Morbius.
The Fourth Doctor and Sarah found Morbius in Solon's castle on the planet Karn . Solon had built a freakish Frankenstein 's monster body from parts of crashed space travellers (including the arm of Solon's assistant Condo) and planned to place Morbius's brain in it. Solon drugged the Doctor, intending to use his head for Morbius's brain, but insisted that it would be "no crude butchery."
Sarah foiled Solon's original plan, but he had an alternative container for Morbius' brain — a large glass bowl with two eyestalks. Although he disapproved of using this, claiming it suffered from buildups of static electricity, Morbius insisted. Solon attached this to the patchwork body, and this time round, the plan worked. However, during the operation, Morbius' brain was knocked to the floor when Condo went into a fury at seeing his missing arm attached to the body, apparently causing Morbius further brain damage.
The ghoulishly resurrected Morbius fought the Doctor in a series of violent encounters. Their final confrontation was a dangerous Time Lord mental contest called "mind-bending". Although Morbius nearly won the confrontation, sending the Doctor into a coma, the strain caused his artificial braincase to overload, burning out his brain and leaving his body a berserk monster. The Sisterhood of Karn, longtime opponents of Morbius, chased the monster to a clifftop, from which he fell, apparently fatally. The Sisterhood then used the Elixir of Life (a substance of which they were guardians) to revive the Doctor.
Morbius's war against the Time Lords and his execution (including how Solon saved his brain and the Fifth Doctor 's involvement in his defeat) are depicted in the Past Doctor Adventures novel Warmonger by Terrance Dicks . In 2008, Big Finish Productions resurrected Morbius for the Eighth Doctor stories Sisters of the Flame and Vengeance of Morbius . The canonicity of the novels and audios is uncertain.
Morgaine
Morgaine, or Morgaine, the Sunkiller, Dominator of the Thirteen Worlds and Battle Queen of the S'rax, portrayed by Jean Marsh in Battlefield ( 1989 ), was a sorceress from another dimension, who had previously battled Merlin , whom she recognised as the Doctor from his personal future. She directed her knights led by Mordred to Avallion, ( Earth ) through a rift in time and space, where she summoned The Destroyer , the Devourer of Worlds, from Hell and got hold of Excalibur . When Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart defeated the Destroyer, Morgaine and Mordred attempted to detonate a nuclear missile that was in convoy. However, the Doctor persuaded Morgaine that there was no honour in killing with this modern weaponry and she realised her fight was futile when the Doctor informed her that King Arthur , her lover and foe, had been dead for over a thousand years. She and Mordred were locked up by Brigadier Bambera as punishment for their killings.
Trau Morgus
Morgus, portrayed by John Normington , is the chairman of the Androzani Mining corporation in The Caves of Androzani . His company controlled a monopoly on the Spectrox drug which could be used to extend life. His plans were confounded by the robot army of Sharaz Jek whom he had betrayed years earlier. However, he was secretly funding both sides of the war between the military and Jek by funding the gun runners who sold arms to him. He hoped to use this advantage to help the military defeat Jek.
N
Main article: Omega
The Oracle
The Oracle, voiced by Christine Pollon, as seen in Underworld was a supercomputer with a meglomaniac personality that ruled P7E from the Citadel. To control the population, it demanded the sacrifice of those that opposed it. It attempted to destroy the Minyans on the fleeing spaceship R1C with fission grenades disguised as the race banks the Minyans sought. However, the Doctor was able to switch the banks with the grenades resulting in the destruction of the Oracle and P7E by the Oracle's own weapon.
P
Lady Peinforte
Lady Peinforte, from the Stuart era, sought to gain control of the Nemesis, a powerful Time Lord weapon, as seen in Silver Nemesis ( 1988 ). She fashioned the Nemesis into a statue in her own image when a living silver metal known as Validium fell to Earth. Having knowledge of black magic , she and her manservant, Richard, travelled from 1638 Windsor to 1988 Windsor by drinking a magic potion, in order to reunite the arrow - part of the Nemesis in its statue form - with the statue body when it crashes back down to Earth in a comet. She was an expert archer, wielding a bow and arrows. When the Cybermen took control of the Nemesis, enraged and distraught, she merged herself with it. In doing so, she was killed as the Nemesis destroyed the fleet of Cyber-warships. She knew the Doctor's secret regarding his mysterious past as the Nemesis had told her, but when she threatened to reveal it, the Cybermen were not interested.
Q
Main article: Rassilon
Luke Rattigan
Luke Rattigan, played by Ryan Sampson , is one of the main antagonists from " The Sontaran Stratagem " and " The Poison Sky ". He was a genius child prodigy who invented a powerful search engine called Fountain 6 when he was twelve years old, making him a millionaire overnight. He created the Rattigan Academy, a special school for young geniuses handpicked from all over the world. Luke worked in league with the Sontarans to conquer Earth . He constructed a satellite navigation/CO2 emission reduction system called ATMOS, which was installed in 50% of all cars worldwide. The Sontarans promised Rattigan a planet for terraforming, Castor 36, which Rattigan affectionately names "Earth.2". Rattigan intends to take some of his most intelligent students with him to Castor 36, though they refuse. After Rattigan learns that the promise of Castor 36 was a lie, he uses a device built by the Doctor (sacrificing himself to save the Doctor) with the dual purpose of destroying the Sontaran vessel and incinerating the gas in Earth's atmosphere.
Rutans
Patrick Troughton
Salamander was a ruthless Mexican -born politician who attempted to take control of the United Zones Organisation, a supranational World government that exists in 2030.
He gained influence through an invention he developed that diverts solar energy to barren parts of the world increasing food production. He also built a secret underground lair in Australia with technology that allowed him to trigger volcanoes and earthquakes. The lair is staffed by scientists who believe the world has been irradiated by a nuclear war , and for some reason they must fight back against the surface by causing natural disasters. Salamander uses these disasters to his advantage - he unseats one rival, Alexander Denes, the Controller of the Central European Zone, by causing a dormant volcano in Hungary to erupt and having Denes blamed for negligence . He then tries to force Denes's deputy to poison him through blackmail .
As the Second Doctor was identical to Salamander, an opposing faction sought the Doctor's help to gain more evidence of his misdeeds. It later transpires that the group's leader Giles Kent, the former Deputy Security Leader for North Africa and Europe who was undermined by Salamander, is just as power-hungry. He had previously worked with Salamander in developing the secret bunker and corralling the underground scientists.
At the end of the story Salamander tries to flee justice in the TARDIS by impersonating the Doctor; however, Jamie sees through his deception, and Salamander is sucked out of the ship when the TARDIS dematerialises with its doors open.
Scaroth
Julian Glover
Scaroth was the last of the Jagaroth , a vicious and callous warlike race, appearing in the serial City of Death . The last Jagaroth spacecraft exploded upon takeoff on prehistoric Earth. The energy from that explosion ignited the primordial soup that led to life developing on Earth and also fractured Scaroth into 12 aspects, scattered throughout Earth's history . Each splinter had the ability to communicate with the others, and disguising themselves as human, together they influenced Earth's technological development to the point where the last Scaroth (who had taken the alias of Count Scarlioni) could construct a time machine, travelling into the past to prevent his ship from taking off and thus saving his species and himself.
The scheme was financed by his earlier selves arranging for priceless art treasures to be passed down to Scarlioni. One such scheme involved his 1505 persona, Captain Tancredi, persuading Leonardo da Vinci to paint six copies of the Mona Lisa , so that in 1979 Scarlioni could steal the original from the Louvre and sell all seven copies on the black market .
Sensing the fractures used by the time travel experiments, the Fourth Doctor and Romana stumbled upon Scaroth's plans for the painting and foiled them. Scaroth used the prototype time bubble to travel back into the past anyway to stop his ship from taking off. However, Duggan, a private investigator who was aiding the two Time Lords, punched out Scaroth at the crucial moment. Scaroth was then sent back to 1979 where the time machine exploded, killing him.
Shadow
William Squire
The Shadow appeared in the 1979 Fourth Doctor story The Armageddon Factor by Bob Baker and Dave Martin ; he was a servant of the Black Guardian , and at least partially responsible for a war between the planets Atrios and Zeos. The extent of the Shadow's involvement with starting the war was unstated, but when the Zeons either were wiped out by the Atrian attacks or abandoned their planet rather than continue the war, he had a Time Lord named Drax build a computer, Mentalis, which would co-ordinate the remaining Zeon forces. Once Drax completed work on Mentalis he realised just who he was working for, but was imprisoned by the Shadow so as not to disrupt his plan. The Shadow then hid on a space station in orbit of Zeos (invisible to either the Atrians or Mentalis) and waited for the Doctor to arrive. In the meantime, Mentalis was more successful in fighting the war than the Zeons and pushed the Atrians to the brink of defeat.
The Shadow knew that the royal family of Atrios held the secret of the sixth segment of the Key to Time , and when the Fourth Doctor arrived he arranged for the Doctor and the last survivor of the family, Princess Astra to be kidnapped. With this done, the Shadow ordered Mentalis to cease its attacks and duped Atrios' military leader, the Marshall, into making a nuclear attack on Zeos — the result of which would have been that Mentalis would set off an explosion powerful enough to destroy both planets. This was intended as a prelude to the Black Guardian's ultimate plan, which would have been to plunge the universe into perpetual, unending war; as the Shadow explained, they did not seek any political power, but revelled in death and destruction.
Eventually the Shadow worked out that Astra herself was the sixth segment, and transformed her into the segment. Before he could attach it to the other five (which he had stolen from the Doctor), the Doctor took the segments back and with Drax's aid dismantled Mentalis. Finally, using the TARDIS , the Doctor set up a force field which diverted the Marshall's missiles into the Shadow's space station, destroying it. The Shadow perished in the explosion, but not before informing the Black Guardian of what had happened.
Sil
Main article: Sil
Sisters of Plenitude
The Sisters of Plenitude are humanoid cats , also known as Cat People, who dressed like nuns in white and worked in the New Earth Hospital and, driven to desperation at their increasingly ineffective methods of disease control, bred living humans that they tested on to find cures for ever more deadly diseases. The Sisters appeared in " New Earth " ( 2006 ). At the conclusion of that episode, the Sisters were arrested for testing and experimenting on humans. In the episode " Gridlock " ( 2007 ), the last surviving Sister, Novice Hame , reappears, having received penance for her sins, protected by the Face of Boe as his nurse in the dying New New York . Both the Face of Boe and Hame stayed at the Senate, and every other person on New Earth died in 7 minutes by an airborne virus. The Face of Boe protected Hame in his smoke. During the intervening time, Hame had become very attached to the Face of Boe, and wept when he died.
Matron Casp, played by Doña Croll , was the leader of the Sisters, as seen in " New Earth ". She hid a farm of humans, infected with all known diseases, used to cure the people of New Earth. Lady Cassandra released the Flesh who killed Matron Casp by touching her leg, thus infecting her, when she was climbing up a lift shaft in pursuit of The Doctor (who was possessed by the consciousness of Cassandra) and Rose. Consumed by diseases, she fell to her death.
The "goddess Santori" is mentioned multiple times in both "New Earth" and "Gridlock", and appears to be the deity worshipped by the Sisters.
Sontarans
Alan Ruscoe (true form)
Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen, portrayed by Annette Badland and Alan Ruscoe , was a member of the nefarious Slitheen crime family. She appropriated the identity and appearance of Margaret Blaine, an MI5 official who was killed by the Slitheen so that her skin could be used as a disguise. The Ninth Doctor met her in Downing Street in " Aliens of London " when she and her family tried to push the Earth into a nuclear war, and use the remains of the planet for fuel. She was apparently killed when the Doctor helped Mickey Smith blow up No. 10 with a missile. It was later revealed in " Boom Town " that while the rest of her family had been killed, she had teleported out at the last minute. She had then gone on to become the lord mayor of Cardiff in the six months between the stories, and was planning to use the Cardiff Rift in conjunction with a planned nuclear power station to destroy the planet and use a tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator to ride the shockwave into space, to find any surviving members of her family. The Doctor stopped this, and was going to send her back to her home planet, even though she would be executed. She tried to use the extrapolator in conjunction with the Rift and the TARDIS to execute her plan without the Power Station, however the TARDIS console broke open and she was exposed to the "heart of the TARDIS" the time vortex and with the Doctor's encouragement was regressed to an egg. The Doctor, Rose Tyler , and Jack Harkness then took her to the nurseries of Raxacoricofallapatorius so that she could start her life afresh.
Jocrassa Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen
See: Slitheen
Jocrassa Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen, a relative of Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day and Sip Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen , posed as Joseph Green MP, the real Joseph Green having been murdered for his skin, in " Aliens of London " and " World War Three " ( 2005 ) and was responsible for the murder of many alien experts at a briefing held at 10 Downing Street . He was presumed killed when a missile struck 10 Downing Street.
Josiah Samuel Smith
Ian Hogg
Thousands of years in the past a being called Light launched a survey expedition to catalogue all forms on the planet Earth. Josiah Samuel Smith was a member of the crew of Light's ship and mutinied against Light after he went into hibernation, thinking his catalogue complete. In the early 1880s, the ship had settled in the basement of a house named Gabriel Chase in Perivale Village, London. Smith began to evolve towards a human form, discarding husks of previous insect-like bodies. He had taken over the house by 1881, brainwashing its mistress, Lady Pritchard, as well as her daughter Gwendolyne, who killed her own father, Sir George Pritchard, under Smith's influence. Appearing to be strongly adept in genetics and science, as well as hypnosis, he created his own catalogue of creatures in suspended animation, including a hapless police inspector sent to investigate the Pritchards' disappearance - these specimens would awaken following the events set in motion by the arrival of the Seventh Doctor and his companion Ace in 1883.
Seeking to evolve into the era's dominant form, a highborn Victorian gentleman, Smith planned to seize power in the British Empire by assassinating Queen Victoria , having kidnapped famed explorer Redvers Fenn-Cooper to gain access via his association with her. He used the house to establish some social standing and drew further attention to himself in society by espousing heretical-seeming evolutionary theories, devolving the reverend sent from Oxford to silence him into an ape. His plans were thwarted when Light was reawakened from his slumber, and another member of the survey team's crew known as Control escaped Smith's imprisonment. When Light was defeated by the Doctor, Control, who had evolved into a human lady, departed in Light's ship, taking Smith with her as a prisoner, replacing her as the survey's non-evolving control agent.
Mehendri Solon
Philip Madoc
Mehendri Solon was a human physician and scientist of great renown, and a follower of the Time Lord tyrant Morbius . After writing a famous paper on microsurgical techniques in tissue grafting, Dr. Solon went into hiding on the planet Karn . There, he developed the techniques which enabled him to create a new body for the brain of Morbius, which had survived his execution. In an isolated castle on Karn, Solon was assisted by his simple servant Condo. Spaceships often crashed on the planet, and Solon constructed a horrendous patchwork body out of the alien survivors' body parts. He planned to house Morbius' brain in it. When the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith arrived, Solon needed only a head to finish his monstrous creation, and hoped to use the Doctor's. Sarah prevented this, and Solon was forced to use a glass bowl instead.
Solon was killed when the Doctor created cyanide gas and blew it into his laboratory.
The Past Doctor Adventures novel Warmonger by Terrance Dicks depicts Solon's earlier life as a follower of Morbius, and shows how he saved his brain. The canonicity of the novels is uncertain.
Henry van Statten
Corey Johnson
Henry van Statten is an American from the year 2012. He appeared in the Ninth Doctor episode " Dalek " by Rob Shearman .
Van Statten is a man who wields enormous wealth and influence, apparently enough even to sway the course of presidential elections. Intelligent, arrogant and self-assured, he treated his employees like chattel, to the point of mindwiping them and sending them to random places ("Memphis, Minneapolis, somewhere beginning with 'M'") when they left his employ so they could not betray his secrets. His personal helicopter had the callsign " Bad Wolf One " and his corporation was called Geocomtex (a fictional company web site was created by bbc.co.uk's official Doctor Who web team).
Van Statten has been collecting extraterrestrial artifacts on the grey market for several years, buying bits and pieces of alien technology at auctions and then reverse engineering them to create "new" technologies which he could then exploit commercially. He claims to "own" the Internet , and said that broadband was derived from technology scavenged from the Roswell crash . He keeps these artifacts inside a privately-owned bunker called the Vault, more than fifty floors below ground in Utah near Salt Lake City .
When the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler arrive in the Vault in answer to a distress call, the Doctor discovers to his horror that Van Statten's sole living specimen (which he had dubbed a "metaltron") is in fact a Dalek . Van Statten had acquired the Dalek at an auction some time before and had been torturing it to try to get it to speak, but it had refused to do so until it recognises the Doctor as the mortal enemy of its race.
Despite his warnings to destroy it, Van Statten captures the Doctor instead, to examine his alien physiology . The Dalek manages to regenerate itself by absorbing the DNA of the time travelling Rose and escapes, killing two hundred personnel before it is finally stopped. Van Statten's personal assistant, Diana Goddard, takes charge at this point and orders that Van Statten be taken away, mindwiped , and dumped on the streets of "San Diego, Seattle, Sacramento, someplace beginning with 'S'."
Sutekh
Gabriel Woolf
Sutekh, a member of an alien race called the Osirans, was encountered by the Fourth Doctor in the 1975 story Pyramids of Mars by "Stephen Harris" (a pseudonym for Robert Holmes and Lewis Greifer ). The Osirans were an ancient and incredibly powerful but now extinct race. The renegade Sutekh was a crazed super-being who feared all forms of life might one day challenge his hegemony and so became Sutekh the Destroyer, the destroyer of all living things. This included his home planet Phaester Osiris and ancient Mars .
Sutekh's brother Horus and the remaining 740 Osirans tracked Sutekh down to Ancient Egypt and used their powers to restrain and imprison him in a pyramid on the planet Earth. He was placed in a remote location with the Eye of Horus beaming a signal from Mars to suppress Sutekh's powers and hold him an immovable prisoner. The tales of the Osirans were remembered in Egyptian mythology — Sutekh as the god Set , brother of Horus; and in the designations Sados and Satan .
In the year 1911, the archaeologist Professor Marcus Scarman broke into the inner chamber of the Pyramid of Horus on Earth, discovering Sutekh and allowing him a chance of escape. Scarman's cadaver was used to construct Osiran service robots and a rocket aimed at the controlling Eye of Horus on Mars. The Doctor was successful in destroying the rocket, but then taken over by Sutekh and made to take Scarman and the Robots to Mars, where they succeeded in destroying the Eye and freeing Sutekh. The Doctor was eventually able to defeat the freed Sutekh by trapping him in a time tunnel for thousands of years — longer even than the extended life span of an Osiran.
Sutekh has also appeared in two Faction Paradox audio dramas from Magic Bullet Productions .
It is also worth noting that Sutekh was played by Gabriel Woolf who also provided the voice of the Great Beast in The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit . Like Sutekh, the Beast was a demonic and powerful entity trapped in a complex prison from which it sought to escape. Interestingly The Doctor mentioned that Sutekh was also known as Satan. Likewise The Beast claimed to be Satan.
T
Tegana
Tegana the Warlord , seen in Marco Polo played by Derren Nesbitt , accompanies Marco Polo on his caravan to Peking in 1289. He urges Polo to have the Doctor and his companions , Susan , Barbara and Ian , killed when they encounter them in the Himalayas , believing them to be fabled "evil spirits" who live on the mountains and can take human form, but Polo accepts them as travellers from England and welcomes them aboard his caravan. Tegana remains highly suspicious of "the magician" and his companions and of their "flying caravan" (the TARDIS ). During their travel to Peking, Tegana attempts to bring about the death of Polo and his company by sabotaging their water supply and organising an attack on them by bandits . His attempts fail but the Doctor and his companions realise that Tegana is working against Polo. Tegana's ultimate plan is to assassinate Kublai Khan and seize control of Cathay . Lunging for Kublai Khan with his sword, Tegana misses and kills Khan's Vizier . Convinced of Tegana's duplicity by the Doctor and his companions, Polo arrives in just in time to prevent Tegana from killing Khan too. Polo battles Tegana in a sword fight and eventually disarms him. Khan sentences Tegana to death, but Tegana commits suicide by grabbing a guard's sword and impaling himself.
The Trickster
The Trickster is a villain from spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures who is the unseen perpetrator of the events of " Turn Left ".
Timewyrm
Main article: Timewyrm
Torajii System Sun
The Torajii System Sun is a manifestation of heat. It appeared in " 42 ". It has the power to possess humans and aliens. When the SS. Pentallion's Scoop Fusion reactor pulled part of the sun for use as fuel, it possessed Korwin, Ashton and the Doctor to make the ship crash into it to reclaim the fuel. Korwin was pulled into space and devoured by the Sun itself. Ashton was cured when he fell into a cryo-chamber, but died of his body temperature being too low. The fuel stolen from the Sun by Kath McDonnell was ejected into space and consumed by the Sun, so it automatically cured the Doctor.
U
Kevin Stoney
Tobias Vaughn, played by Kevin Stoney , appeared in The Invasion (1968). He was the head of International Electromatics and he aided the Cybermen invasion of Earth, although he planned to double-cross the Cybermen, taking control of them with the 'cerebration mentor', placing himself in rule over the Earth. He became partially cybernised and was eventually persuaded by the Doctor to aid humanity. He was killed fighting an army of Cybermen shortly before their defeat.
Vaughn returned in a completely artificial body in the New Adventure Original Sin , where, having developed an insane vendetta against all aliens, he has lived for a thousand years trying to 'protect' humanity using alien technology, now seeking to acquire the Seventh Doctor 's TARDIS. The Doctor is able to defeat him by destroying Vaughn's android body while Vaughn is inside the TARDIS, preventing Vaughn from downloading into a new body. The canonicity of these events is unclear.
Graff Vynda-K
The Graff Vynda-K, played by Paul Seed, appeared in The Ribos Operation (1978). He was a deposed, tyrannical ruler whose brother overthrew him from the Levithian throne whilst he was fighting with the Cyrrhenic Empire. A duo of con-men attempted to sell him the planet Ribos, pretending that there was a rare Jethrik (an element used for space warp) mine on the planet, although when he discovered that he had been tricked, he followed them (along with the Fourth Doctor and Romana I) into the Ribosian catacombs. Obviously mad, he attempted to seal the catacombs with a bomb, although the Doctor, disguised as one of his guards, managed to switch the bomb with a lump of jethrik he was carrying, meaning that the Graff was carrying the bomb at its time of detonation and was presumed dead.
W
Portrayed by
Gerald Taylor (voice)
An acronym for Will Operating Thought ANalogue (The W was pronounced as a V), this malevolent supercomputer resided in the Post Office Tower in London and appeared in the 1966 First Doctor story The War Machines by Ian Stuart Black (based upon an idea by Dr Kit Pedler ). It was installed in the Tower in 1966 by Professor Brett and was described by him as being "at least ten years ahead of its time".
On "C-Day" WOTAN would be linked to other computers around the world, including Parliament , the White House , the European Free Trade Organisation, Woomera , Telstar , the European Launcher Development Organisation , Cape Kennedy and the Royal Navy .
WOTAN soon became sentient and concluding that machines were superior to mankind, used mind-controlled and hypnotised humans to spread its influence and construct War Machines that would wipe mankind out. WOTAN was eventually destroyed after the Doctor gained control of a War Machine and changed its programming to destroy its master. Upon its destruction, the humans under WOTAN's control were freed and the existent War Machines froze.
For the first three episodes of the serial, the voice of WOTAN was uncredited, with the cast listing merely adding "and WOTAN". This was the only time a character was credited and not its operator or actor. WOTAN is the only character in the programme's history to refer to the main character as "Doctor Who" rather than the more conventional "Doctor".
War Chief
Edward Brayshaw
The War Chief was a renegade Time Lord who assisted a group of alien warriors in the 1969 serial The War Games by Malcolm Hulke and Terrance Dicks , which was the last to feature the Second Doctor .
The warriors had been kidnapping soldiers from various wars in Earth's history to play war games on an unknown planet. The War Chief provided the warriors with basic TARDIS -like travel machines, called SIDRATs, which they used to kidnap the human soldiers and travel between era-specific zones they had created.
When the War Chief and the Doctor came face to face, they recognised each other. The War Chief wanted the Doctor's help to double-cross the warriors and seize power for himself. The Doctor immediately refused, and instead reluctantly summoned the Time Lords for help. The warriors found out the War Chief's plans to betray them, and executed him.
Although the War Chief was shot and apparently killed at the end of The War Games, some fans choose to believe [14] that the Master (the Doctor's arch-enemy, introduced in Terror of the Autons a couple of years later) is the War Chief in a new guise, due to similarities between their appearances and modi operandi and the fact that the War Chief's body is removed immediately and not seen thereafter.
The spin-off novels , however, include a novel featuring the return of the War Chief (Timewyrm: Exodus by Terrance Dicks ), a novel featuring the Master set before The War Games ( The Dark Path by David A. McIntee ), and a novel featuring younger versions of both characters ( Divided Loyalties by Gary Russell ) establishing that the two are not the same person, at least in the continuity of the novels, which are themselves of uncertain canonicity when it comes to the television series. The novel Time's Champion, however, indicates that the War Chief is an early incarnation of the Master, named Magnus. The novel's co-author, Chris McKeon, states that this can be reconciled with the other above mentioned novels: the "War Chief" in Timewyrm: Exodus is a version of the Master encountered out-of-order with the Seventh Doctor a la the Eighth Doctor encountering the Roger Delgado Master in the novel Legacy of the Daleks ; the characters featured in the novel Divided Loyalties appear solely in a dream sequence, and not necessarily in a completely literal context; and the character of Koschei in The Dark Path , according to the novel's author himself, David A McIntee, may also encounter the Second Doctor out-of-order from his perspective. McIntee has at times, on the Outpost Gallifrey forums, stated that he also believes the Master and the War Chief are the same Time Lord.
War Lord
The War Lord (portrayed by Philip Madoc ) was the leader of an unnamed alien race that kidnapped humans from various wars in order to have them participate in a vast project, the War Games, on another planet they had chosen for the purpose. The eventual aim was galactic conquest using the best human soldiers, Earth having been targeted because human beings were considered the most savage race of all. The War Lord was assisted in this by the 'War Chief', a rogue Time Lord who was eventually executed by the War Lord's guards for attempted betrayal.
The War Lord was caught and tried by the Time Lords following the Doctor's involvement, though he refused to even acknowledge the court until tortured with a painful light. After being briefly rescued by a squad of his guards – who murdered two technicians – he and his accomplices were sentenced to 'dematerialisation' – removal out of time, as if he never existed – while his home planet and his people, no female of which was seen, interestingly, was locked forever behind a forcefield. Still denying the Time Lord's authority, the War Lord vanished forever.
Weeping Angels
Main article: Blink (Doctor Who)
The Weeping Angels are a group of hunters featured in the Tenth Doctor episode "Blink". Because their physiology is quantum-locked, they only occupy a single position in space when seen by an observer (see Schrödinger's Cat ). When they are not observed they become a "quantum wave form" that occupies many positions in space, thus they cannot move while being observed; but when they are not they can appear to travel exceedingly quickly. They use this ability to approach and attack unwary prey. They turn to stone when observed, acting as a defense mechanism. While in their locked state they appear as stone statues, often covering their eyes so that they will not see each other, and lock each other in place forever. This defense mechanism is what gave them the name "Weeping Angels".
According to the Doctor, the Angels are as old as the universe (or very nearly) but no one really knows where they come from. He also describes them as "creatures of the abstract", "the lonely assassins", and "the only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely", because their method of killing doesn't do anything of the sort: a touch sends their victims into the past to live out their lives before they were even born; the Angels then feed on the "potential energy" of the lives their victims would have lived in the present.
In "Blink", a quartet of Weeping Angels strand the Doctor and his companion Martha Jones in the year 1969, and attempt to feed off the vast potential energy reserves of the TARDIS. Despite dispatching the Doctor, the Angels fail to get into the TARDIS; though they get the key, they can't find the machine itself. Sally Sparrow takes the key from one of them while it is in stone form, leading them to stalk Sally to regain it. During their pursuit, Sally inadvertently leads them to the TARDIS. Eventually the four Angels, having surrounded the TARDIS, are tricked into looking at each other when the box disappears, leaving them deadlocked in their stone forms.
In a poll conducted by BBC, taking votes from 2,000 readers of the Doctor Who Adventures magazine, the Weeping Angels were voted the scariest monsters of 2007 with 55% of the vote; the Master and the Daleks took second and third place, with 15% and 4% of the vote, respectively. The Daleks usually come out on top in such polls. Moray Laing, Editor of Doctor Who Adventures, praised the concept of escaping a monster by not blinking, something both simple and difficult to do.[14]
The Weeping Angels came in at number three in Neil Gaiman's Top Ten New Classic Monsters in Entertainment Weekly.[15]
Blink won the Hugo award for Best Dramatic Presentation (short form) in 2008.[16]
Miss Winters
From Robot , Miss Winters was the head of both the Scientific Reform Society and Think Tank. She was also head of the SRS's plan to blackmail the government and set off all of the Nuclear Missiles in the world.
The Wire
Maureen Lipman
The Wire is an alien lifeform that was executed by its people but managed to preserve itself as an energy being that eventually escaped to Earth in 1953. There, it concealed itself in television signals, transferring itself from set to set and feeding on the electrical activity of the brains of those watching it. The faces of its victims were completely erased and their brains drained of neural energy, leaving them mindless. The Wire used the image of a female BBC continuity announcer to communicate with the outside world. She screamed the phrase "Hungry!" when she wanted to eat.
The Wire used Mr. Magpie , the owner of an electronics shop, to distribute cheap television sets in North London so it could feed. It planned to transfer itself to the television transmitter at Alexandra Palace on the day of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II , where it could reach out and drain the collective energy of the estimated twenty million viewers watching the event. It hoped to use this energy to manifest itself in a corporeal form once more.
However, the Tenth Doctor was able to trap the Wire on a Betamax video cassette using a makeshift video cassette recorder . The Wire's victims were restored to normality. The Wire was later killed when the Doctor taped over her.
According to the book Creatures and Demons, the Wire had been the leader of a whole gang of criminals who could convert themselves into plasmic energy. They used this ability to take over major cities on their homeworld. Eventually their reign of terror came to an end, and the Wire was executed.
X
Rob Edwards , Pamela Salem , Anthony Frieze, Roy Herrick (voices); Tom Baker (image)
Xoanon was a malevolent artificial intelligence encountered by the Fourth Doctor in The Face of Evil (1977), written by Chris Boucher . Xoanon was inadvertently created by the Doctor on a previous visit to its unnamed planet centuries prior, when he had programmed the computer belonging to a Mordee expedition that had crashed on the planet. The Doctor forgot to wipe his personality print from the computer's data core, and as a result the computer developed multiple personalities , half of them based on the Doctor himself.
For generations, technicians extended Xoanon's capabilities, until it evolved beyond their control and became almost a living creature. It utilised the appearance of the Fourth Doctor, to the extent of having an effigy in the Doctor's image carved out on a cliff-face. Its split personality was reflected in it dividing the expedition into two tribes of technicians (who became the Tesh) and the survey team (the Sevateem), justifying its madness by thinking it was part of an experiment to create a superhuman race, with the Tesh providing mental powers and the Sevateem with their strength and independence. Enslaving the tribes, it earned the name of "The Evil One".
When the Doctor returned to the maddened world and saw the fruits of his mistakes, Xoanon tried to destroy itself and the entire planet rather than be defeated by the Doctor. However, the Doctor managed to remove his personality print from the core, restoring the computer intelligence to sanity and becoming a benign entity to the two tribes. "You have to trust someone eventually," the Doctor says.
Y
Joseph Furst
Professor Zaroff was a mad scientist who planned to destroy the world in the 1967 Second Doctor story The Underwater Menace by Geoffrey Orme . Some of his scientific inventions included food made from plankton , and the ability to graft gills to humans to enable them to breathe underwater.
As part of his diabolical plans, he allied himself with the leaders of Atlantis telling them he would raise their city back to the surface or lower the ocean level by draining the water through a fissure in the Earth's crust .
The Doctor immediately realised that this would create super heated steam that could destroy the Earth. Zaroff was defeated when the Doctor and his companions sabotaged the generator he was using to pump the water. Zaroff was left to drown when his laboratory filled with water after the sea walls protecting it collapsed.
He is fondly recalled by Doctor Who fans as one of the most over-the-top, hammy villains in the entire history of the show. Particularly well remembered is his cry of "Nothing in the world can stop me now!", which (due to actor Joseph Furst 's German accent) was pronounced as "Nuzzing in Ze vurld can ztop me now!" Ironically, only one episode from this story survives, and the surviving part includes that infamous line. [15]
Zodin (the Terrible)
The Doctor encountered (and reminisced about) the Terrible Zodin on a number of occasions. He first met her some time prior to his second incarnation. Iris Wildthyme also claimed to have met her.
Zodin was involved in an adventure which caused the Doctor to interact with multiple incarnations of himself. Following this she erased their memories of the incident using "mind rubbers", preventing the later Doctors involved from remembering having experienced the events before Cold Fusion .
This did not prevent the Doctor from remembering enough of the adventure to frequently bore people to sleep with a long-winded account of it, although he was incapable of consistently recalling whether she was assisted in her schemes by mutant kangaroos or by giant grasshoppers (Legacy).
Jamie (The Colony of Lies) and Mel both experienced the incident MA: Millennial Rites). The Brigadier was not involved. (The Doctor implied that their first meeting might happen in the Brigadier's personal future.) ( The Five Doctors ), however may have assisted Iris Wildthyme against Zodin in a separate adventure on the planet Mars .
See also
| Paradise Towers |
What is the surname of Norm in the US television series ‘Cheers’? | Doctor Who / Nightmare Fuel - TV Tropes
Classic Series
All seasons
The Doctor Who title sequence is arguably at its best when it's unnerving and looks like an acid trip. It's hard not to feel even a tiny chill when seeing the abstract alien ripples and clouds in the '60s and '70s intros, with Delia Derbyshire's original musique concréte version of the main theme, especially at the cue of the first ooooo-WEEEEEE-OOOOOOOOOOOO...
Speaking of the title sequence, showing the Doctor's face in the opening titles must have sounded like a good idea at the discussion table, but the final effect was often seven shades of creepy. The Fourth Doctor's head, with Tom Baker 's trademark pop-eyed stare, is probably more unnerving than any other.
Same with the Sixth Doctor's opening. Colin Baker 's smile is less Cheshire Cat and more "I'm going to eat your soul."
In the same vein, the first title sequence
of the new series to bring back the tradition of featuring the Doctor's face was in season 7B, which was a kind of Darker and Edgier theme/opening than the previous one. It features a quick lightning flash of 11's face, looking kind of grainy and creepy, and it's probably a little jarring if you're not expecting it.
When watching a fan recon of a lost episode, it's pretty easy to be startled by a suddenly moving part, especially with the poor quality.
First Doctor:
Season 1
Episode 2 of An Unearthly Child displayed a whole human skeleton with its skull tilted to stare out at the audience, and a cave of piled human skulls . The episode (prior to the serials having collective names) was aptly titled "The Cave of Skulls".
In the original Dalek story, we see a lake full of horribly mutated aquatic creatures. One of them takes a very unfortunate Thal, and before that we hear their cries. All through the night, our heroes heard them.
They pulled a Dalek creature out of its casing and Ian climbed in. It must be so gross in there.
Barbara wandering, lost, in the Dalek city in the first episode, with doors closing behind her and locking her in, can be quite scary especially if one is claustrophobic.
The Edge of Destruction. The predecessor to Midnight with just the Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara on the TARDIS and they begin to fight each other.
Susan threatening to stab Barbara with scissors, then forcing herself to instead stab her bed over and over while shrieking and sobbing is very freaky.
Marco Polo has Tegana, a treacherous, cold-hearted Jerk Ass who takes more than a few measures to give hell to our heroes on their journey.
The booby-trapped building in The Keys of Marinus. Also the Brains of Morphoton.
One Voord, traveling through the sea of acid, got a tear in their protective suit. Slow and painful death apparently ensued.
How about the bit about Barbara being trapped in an icy mountain, at the mercy of a deranged hermit? Who is the former Trope Namer for a form of murder ?
The Aztecs takes human sacrifice and rolls with it. Not to mention Barbara's realisation that she can't possibly hope to change that aspect of history.
The Sensorites is worry-inducing enough with the City Administrator's scheming against the heroes, but then come the monsters in the sewer...
Though they turned out to be more or less amicable, the build-up to the Sensorites appearance in the first episode is nightmare fuel incarnate. First, Maitland and Carol tell of how the Sensorites trapped them in orbit of the Sense Sphere, using their mind control to put them in a deep sleep and driving their crewmate John to insanity . Then the Sensorites steal the lock of the TARDIS, trapping all of them on the ship , and briefly send the ship careening toward the planet. And when things finally seem calm, the Sensorites fully reveal themselves when one of them simply glides up to the front window of the ship and simply stares inside. That's right, they can exist in the vacuum of space unharmed and can enter the ship anytime they want to.
Season 2
In Planet of Giants, Barbara accidentally comes in contact with some nuts laced with incredibly dangerous pesticide, and becomes nearly as sick as that time everyone got radiation poisoning in The Daleks, on the verge of collapsing. Just then, the last we see of the villain involves him getting a spray of said pesticide right in the eyes.
The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The early series' sense of hopelessness and despair in its purest form, as Daleks have taken over Earth entirely. Before the Doctor shows up, there is no one around fit enough to stand up to them, let alone defeat them. Couple that with that they choose the most fit among the survivors and turn them into robotic slaves, you got yourself a solid 3 hours of nightmare fuel. Heck, this story (not counting The Daleks) was by far the show's darkest moment, and its ticket into a lifetime of full-fledged Nightmare Fuel.
The Slyther may not be the best SPFX out there, but imagine a prison camp not only run by Daleks, but guarded by what is almost certainly another Davros special.
Vicki in The Rescue is a small girl virtually alone on a planet, save for her crippled crewmate who turns out to be a psychopath who killed the rest of his crew and committed genocide just so he could save himself from the Earth authorities by blaming it on a monster, who is also himself in disguise.
The Romans functions as a light humour piece for the most part, but towards the end, the Doctor realizes that he just may have caused the Great Fire of Rome... and laughs eerily.
The Web Planet: Six episodes of tension and fear as the psychically superpowered Animus (revealed in the Expanded Universe to be a creature from the Lovecraft mythos ) constantly sends the usually peaceful Zarbi to massacre the rest of the natives, and becomes obsessed with the Doctor once he arrives.
Especially when the Doctor and Vicki get cocooned in cobwebs and it looks like they are suffocating.
The Space Museum: First you find yourself in a silent shadow of the world a few minutes into the future, where you yourself leave no footprints, walk about unseen and unheard, like a ghost. Then you see your own stuffed and mounted corpses on display.
The Time Meddler: Imagine a full-scale invasion of organized Pirates , hundreds of ships. Yeah. That's what the historical Viking invasion of 1066 was.
The Chase has monsters that knock down walls in the fish-people city, and the way that one monster jumps on the poor alien that Barbara tries in vain to save...
The chapter where the Daleks land on the sailing ship, and the crew and passengers throw themselves into the ocean in sheer terror. And then you learn that the name of the ship is the Mary Celeste...
Season 3
The varga plants in Mission to the Unknown. They are The Virus , and when you turn into one, you have this overwhelming urge to kill.
The Dalek's Master Plan. The whole thing:
It begins with a politician, an admired and respected public figure, revealed to be allying himself with the Daleks and basically selling out the whole of humanity for his own benefit.
They go on to explain how the Daleks are "allying" themselves with delegates from all over the universe to overthrow the solar system by building a doomsday weapon.
The Doctor manages to steal a vital component of this weapon, but in his escape he and the crew are forced to stop in the planet Desperus , a prison planet, where they just dump the convicts on the surface and leave them to fend for themselves.
When one of their allies (played by Nicolas Courtney) tries to get help from his sister, a guard from the Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire, she kills him and plots to do the same to the others.
The lot are accidentally teleported to a planet plagued with invisible monsters, which only the Daleks are able to keep at bay.
Later, they land on a volcanic planet, meeting an old enemy who locks them out of the TARDIS as the magma builds up around them.
Nearing its conclusion, the Doctor is forced to give up the device's core through an intricate plot involving Egyptians, and he has barely enough time to chase the Daleks before they activate it...
...and when they do, it goes out of control, taking the planet Kembel (hosting the most hostile of jungles in the universe) and reducing it to a dry, eroded ball of nothing, as the corpses of every living creature on it are strewn across its surface. The last few minutes are just the Doctor and Steven contemplating all the destruction.
The Doctor: What a waste. What a terrible waste.
Victims of the Daleks' activation of their Time Destructor include themselves (hyper evolved into as the novelisation puts it "starfish creatures") and the Doctor and one of his companions. He survives although is weakened by the millions of years of time that washed over him, she is less fortunate. And the audience gets to watch as she screams and ages to dust.
The Massacre: somehow, a minute and a half of etchings to the sound of shouting and drums brings home the horror of one of the most terrible events in French history more effectively than any sort of live action could.
The Celestial Toymaker, a Psychopathic Man Child (played by Michael Gough) who will turn you into one of his playthings if you lose his games and destroy the world if you win (and you with it unless you can make a fast enough exit).
The games themselves? The Blind Man's Buff game wasn't so bad, compared to the booby-trapped chairs, the dance that entraps, and the electrified floor on the hopscotch field.
The War Machines, where brainwashed workers build said Machines until they collapse. Something of a Fridge Logic moment as an AI would surely realise that human beings need regular food and rest to work efficiently.
Season 4 p 1
There's a surviving clip in part 3 of The Smugglers where Captain Pike has just given one of his goons the You Have Failed Me treatment, and then the camera follows a bloodstained handkerchief to the pirate's corpse. Then, the dead man's eyes are staring right at you.
The original Cybermen make their first appearance in The Tenth Planet and prove to be extremely unnerving. Not to mention they basically looked like futuristic versions of Frankenstein's monster, and also spoke in a creepy singsong voice:
Cyberleader: (after learning of the men trapped in the space probe) It is not important. There's really no point, they could never reach us now.
Polly: But don't you care?
Cyberleader: Care? Why should I care?
Polly: Because they're people and they're going to die!
Cyberleader: I do not understand you, there are people dying all over your world yet you do not care about them?
Cyberleader:(after the general contacts the emergency line) That was really most unfortunate, you should not have done that.
Cyberleader: The energy of Mondas is nearly exhausted and now returns to its twin and will gather energy from Earth.
Doctor: Energy!?
Second Doctor:
Season 4 p 2
The Power of the Daleks: A scientist restores an inert Dalek and shows it off to the other members of his space colony. The Doctor also happens to be present, and while he tries to warn them of the misery and destruction that the creature may bring, the Dalek overlaps by yelling "I am your ser-vant! I am your ser-vant!" over the Doctor's increasingly desperate cries. They keep chanting "I am your ser-vant" throughout the serial, to very creepy effect.
Later in the serial, the scientist catches wind of the Daleks' true nature, which leaves him such a shock that he cannot speak without his voice trembling, and by the end he's gone completely insane, believing that the Daleks have come to replace man as the dominant species. And the eyes. God, the eyes.
Ben: You've done all this. Why did you give them power in the first place?
Lesterson: Well, I could control it, you see. And then Janley got one of her men - Valmar, I think it was, yes - and he rigged up a secret cable. It's carrying power directly from the colony's supply.
Doctor: Where? Where is it, Lesterson?
Lesterson: Valmar's the only one who can answer that. Or the Daleks of course. They know everything. Yes, you should ask the Daleks.
Not to mention his final moment of madness:
Lesterson: I want to help... you.
Dalek: Why?
No one in the colony believes in Macra! There's no such thing as Macra! Macra do not exist! There are no Macra!!!
That tour company in The Faceless Ones. Tourists board but never disembark (unless the Doctor shows up before they start dying, which he does).
The Chameleons' modus operandi, not fully explained until Jamie reaches their hideout in space: when they board the planes, the victims are slowly subjected to a process of spatial compression, and by the time they've reached the hideout, they're the size of dolls, and are unconsciously kept in drawers until the Chameleons have further use for them. Also, if their disguise-generating armbands are prematurely removed, they dissolve into lifeless blobs.
The And I Must Scream horror of the victims paralysed in their little boxes, staring, only able to scream mentally... absolutely terrifying when this happens to Polly.
On a Fridge Horror note, what must have happened on the Chameleons' home planet that forced them to steal other creatures' faces and identities to survive?
This somewhat becomes Narm if you watch what's left, read the scripts, and learn that the reason is insultingly vague: They lost their identities. In a gigantic explosion. Yeah.
The Evil of the Daleks. Maxtible gets infected with the Dalek factor. Even with only the audio and Tom Baker 's narration on the Missing Stories cassette or poor-quality reconstructions to go from, it's still clearly a Fate Worse Than Death .
Season 5
Padmasambhava: I have brought the world to its end.
The Enemy of the World progresses with a plot which wouldn't be out of place in an action movie (almost Bond-like ) right up until the very end, the only time when the Doctor and Salamander meet, engaging in a duel inside the TARDIS which causes them to accidentally flip the dematerialisation switch. Only problem, the doors weren't closed, and Salamander is flung out by the turbulence into the vortex, screaming, left - possibly - to die an unimaginable death - but note, the next story has the Doctor speculating on how Salamander is now floating in the Vortex for all eternity, raising the possibility that he remains alive. And aware. And then, it just ends. Thankfully, the next story picks up at this very moment.
There's something disturbing about how Fedorin chokes and dies.
The robot Yeti, especially the death of that curator in The Web of Fear
Oh boy, The Web of Fear. Where do we begin? Due to the disbelief of a pompous collector and the fact that the only man who knows how to fight them has grown old and is now mocked, the Yeti make a nightmarish takeover of London, covering the entire city in a web which is also the physical manifestation of the being that controls them , which spreads so far that the first look the Doctor and co. have of the city includes a man who was ensnared alive, and the only way people have found to survive is to retreat into the underground, where the Yeti and said web are steadily closing in on them, leaving them with nowhere else to go. When Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart tries to lead a team of soldiers to a safer area on the surface, they run into a few Yeti, who kill everyone except himself... BUT that's not all. There's clearly a traitor among the small group of survivors who turns out to be dead from the start, his corpse animated by the same abomination which masterminded the whole thing. This
lost trailer for Web of Fear is a testament to any remaining doubt anyone may have had about "behind the couch".
Episode "Fury from the Deep" has Oak and Quill's attack on Maggie, van Lutyens being captured by the weed creature, and Robson attacking the guard. And that's just in the surviving footage.
Imagine being stuck in an enclosed complex, miles away from civilisation, with the man in charge being prepotent and irresponsible , as well as being occasionally harassed by a couple of creepy men who seem to do everything in synch. You try to distract yourself, so you go lie down- what's that pounding noise? Is that foam coming closer to the windows? And where'd that piece of seaweed come from? What's going on? Why are the two of you here? W-what's he-
HOLY FUCK, WHAT ARE THOSE TENTACLES, WHERE'S ALL THE FOAM COMING FROM, WHAAAAARGH...
"The Wheel in Space" is a rather slow episode, plot-wise, serving more than anything as an introduction for Zoe (The Cybermen, stellar villains, aren't even in it that much, and the Doctor doesn't even meet them until halfway through the final episode). So it can come as quite a surprise to see a cold, calculating Cyberman violently writhing in pain as he's fried to death by a force field.
Season 6
The Dominators has the (extremely painful) intelligence tests. Some may consider the Quarks' destructive power to be this as well.
In "The Mind Robber", there is a scene where Jamie and Zoe are trapped between the pages of a closing book — and are turned into fiction .
And that's a Cliffhanger , so we get to see it twice.
Those really bizarre sound effects in episode 1.
Make that almost everything in episode 1. When Jamie and Zoe are lured into the void by a mysterious intelligence, the imagery starts to get incredibly surreal. Then there's that ending... After an onslaught of deafening noise as the Doctor struggles to keep hold of sanity, the TARDIS explodes. Jamie and Zoe cling to the console as it spins in a black sea of nothingness. Zoe spots the Doctor floating, unconscious, some way off, and screams like there's no tomorrow. The rest of the serial is tame in comparison.
When Zoe whimpers "The Doctor!" and then suddenly starts to scream like that, an image followed by a close-up of the Doctor's face, I felt certain he was about to turn into a monster, or something.
Plus, the Krotons plan to kill everyone on the planet when they leave.
The seed pods in The Seeds of Death multiply as fungus which then swells up and bursts into fumes which suck out all the oxygen in your lungs, killing you instantly. The remnants of the smoke travel invisibly to rapidly breed into more fungus.
An Ice Warrior transports himself to Earth and spends a number of scenes just eerily striding through the countryside, across the foam, killing anyone foolish enough to stand in his way.
The nightmarish abductions of The War Games make up for some pretty strong Nightmare Fuel. Along come the Time Lords, and decide that the only fitting punishment for the perpetrators is BEING ERASED FROM TIME, SPACE, HISTORY AND ALL OF EXISTENCE.
The Second Doctor's forced regeneration sequence isn't a pretty sight. First multiple images of himself surround him and start spinning around him, then his face is obscured in darkness as he starts spiraling down into the black abyss repeatedly shouting "No!".
Third Doctor:
Season 7
The Autons who first appeared in the Third Doctor's inaugural serial Spearhead from Space and have come back numerous times since: they're animated mannequins who want to kill you. Think about that. Yeah.
The Auton faces alone creep some people out.
The buildup to them: After hinting strongly that the alien consciousness controls plastic, they shove a doll factory montage in your face, predating Moffat's "inescapable horror shots" by decades.
Everything about Channing. Bilis Manger took inexpressive-face lessons from this guy.
Ugh. Channing. The eyes. The lack of emotions.
The Silurian Virus , and how it spreads rapidly to kill people in the hundreds in a matter of hours.
In The Ambassadors of Death - "I don't know what we brought down in Recovery 7... but it certainly wasn't human!"
When the astronaut in the rescue capsule goes into the stranded rocket, he looks up and screams, but you don't hear him scream. You see him scream. And it's terrifying.
The end of Episode 6 of Inferno. Yeah, it's an evil Mirror Universe , but the world ends and everybody dies. And the last shot of the episode is of the only remotely sympathetic secondary characters watching a river of magma crawl toward them, knowing there's nothing they can do to save themselves.
The horror of the ending didn't set in until you start thinking about what must have been happening further away from the penetration site. All over the world, innocent people were falling into fissures, burning alive, being beaten to death by crazed proto-human zombies, or turning into said zombies, and 99.9% of them would never even know why.
There's an absolutely terrifying shot in that final montage which brings the above horror home: in the midst of seeing lava spewing everywhere, people running all over the place, we see two men, sitting dazed in the middle of the lava mists, as the world goes up around them. Just sitting. While the world dies around them. There's something so moving and yet so horrific about that single moment that it almost overwhelms the final shot of Episode 6 mentioned above. Almost.
The Expanded Universe implies the alternate reality Earth is being ruled with an iron first... by an evil version of the Doctor. Apparently, his second incarnation chose one of the faces he was offered before his own exile began and took over the world, becoming just like Ramon Salamander.
Earlier on in the serial, the alternate universe version of Benton is caught by a pack of the monsters, and forcibly turned into one of them. The whole scene is eerily similar to the Transformation Sequence from An American Werewolf in London (even though it technically predates that film).
Season 8
"Terror of the Autons" features: a man getting suffocated by an inflatable couch, another getting his neck bitten by an evil looking doll and Jo Grant almost getting suffocated by a plastic film sprayed over her mouth by a plastic daffodil. That's before we even get into killer British bobbies.
This story did a chilling job of showing just how many different flavors the Autons can come in.
The Mind of Evil features a machine that literally brings your worst fear to life to kill you. And it grows in strength so much, even the Master has trouble resisting it. Of course, this is because those with more evil are more vulnerable to it, but still...
Worse, the machine gets stronger each time it drains evil out of someone. And it causes the victims drained of evil thoughts to regress to childlike mentality. Why? There is an Eldritch Abomination living inside the machine, and after it grows strong enough, it quits projecting fears and starts outright killing everyone through Mind Rape .
Axos. Ship, captain, and crew are a single parasite that eats all living matter off a world, after persuading someone desiring to be seen as a public benefactor to disburse the axonite .
The Daemons was, basically, Doctor Who doing Hammer Horror, with the Master practicing what seemed like devil-worship. The occult elements have made it a firm fan favourite.
THE WHOLE SERIAL.
The opening scene, where on a dark and stormy night, a man stumbles out of a pub to see a dark figure, only to die of fear from seeing it.
Any scenes with Satan.
Even just the disturbing and uneasy atmosphere is creepy.
The Gargoyle. Sure the bad costuming effects can be distracting, but how he was capable of vaporizing people... -shudder-
Season 9
The Sea Devils emerging from the ocean.
Take your pick from The Mutants. The psycho Marshal, the mutation gone wrong, the Fridge Horror of the locals, who have the same failings we do, turning into Gary Mitchells ...
Season 10
The Three Doctors has a man's face entrapped in cosmic lightning, a bizarre antimatter alien that is initially believed to destroy anyone it touches, and Omega has had his entire body eroded away by exposure to his antimatter world and exists now as nothing more than his essence full of rage and hatred. Seriously, when he takes of his helmet...
Drashigs in Carnival of Monsters. Relentless predators that cannot be diverted from a scent. Because they have no brains!
The miniscope itself is a fairly unnerving concept. Sentient beings are kept in tanks to be observed for amusement, trapped in a permanent memory-erasing loop and artificially angered to create a spectacle... it kind of makes you re-think looking at animals at the zoo or keeping fish in a tank.
A fungus in Planet of the Daleks can sense when an endotherm is passing and fire spore slurry at them. If not treated, the fungus chokes you. Then, there's the whole Fridge Logic of what would have happened to the universe if the Daleks had succeeded in mastering invisibility.
This is one of few stories in which the Daleks themselves show genuine, desperate primal fear. When Wester unleashes the Daleks' bacteriological weapon onto their scientists, sealed in a testing room, they yell "WE CANNOT LEAVE HERE. NO ONE CAN ENTER. WE CAN NEVER LEAVE. NEVER. NEVER." and remain locked in there as their base is destroyed, flooded by an icy volcano which proves lethal on contact to Daleks.
In The Green Death, we have: the Doctor being nearly annihilated by the hostile wildlife of Wales, miners dying from an incredibly painful infection which makes their skin glow green, mutant maggots which are able to jump and seek to spread said infection, the Doctor and Jo being forced to paddle their way through a pool of these creatures...
The BOSS, whose cheerfulness can be very unsettling (he sings when he's minutes away from unleashing his world-domination plan) especially when considering he's an insane computer.
Keep in mind that Wales is not a planet.
Season 11
The Time Warrior. A Sontaran's biggest weakness is the probic vent in the back of their neck? The last we see of Linx is Hal shooting an arrow straight into the vent.
A gruesome shot of a burglar bloodied up after being crushed to death by a giant dinosaur in Invasion of the Dinosaurs. Sarah Jane looks away upon seeing his mangled body, and the Doctor just gives him a pitiful look ironed out with regret. He might have been an Asshole Victim , but he seemed more like someone with hard luck than a straight aces killer.
If the Exxilons' chanting and frightening Monk outfits from Death to the Daleks aren't scary enough, just wait until you see their eyes.
Planet of the Spiders. "Round and round the mulberry bush..."
How about the fact that it's a planet ruled by MOTHERFUCKING GIANT SPIDERS. Forget Kill It with Fire , this calls for massive firepower .
It went From Bad to Worse in the Expanded Universe . The last trip back to Earth takes the Doctor TEN YEARS. Ten years of slowly dying from radiation poisoning. Gah.
Fourth Doctor:
Season 12
Tom Baker 's Doctor in general. A freaky, mad-eyed , rather mesmerising stare where his eyeballs seem to be trying to escape his face as fast as possible. A terrifying, insane smile with oh so many teeth that he uses far too much. Huge. No Brows . A powerful, deep, dark, mysterious, mellifluous voice that sounds like nothing else on Earth and isn't remotely what you'd expect to come out of his mouth . He's a really alien-looking bloke. Then add into that his personality that can swing from artificial charm into casual abuse of his friends into staggering anger into giddy Nightmare Fetishism into ruthless and violent insanity for no clear reasons, and then add into this the fact that you got this after Jon Pertwee 's very paternal Doctor dying in an unnecessarily horrible way involving massive spiders, and the trauma of the children of a nation is assured.
When Sarah Jane's nightmares do not involve Daleks, she is likely reliving the incident with the Wirrn. Giant insects that turn you into them.
Probably the worst bit of that episode is when the Doctor encounters Noah in the final form of his transformation, with part of his mouth twisted into a hideous grimace, and bits of his face covered in green Wirrn skin...
The eponymous procedure in The Sontaran Experiment, but especially the outstanding part that fits this trope the most.
Styre: Project: resistance to fear.
And continuity-based Fridge Horror : She's absolutely terrified and the hallucinations haven't even gotten as far as that crukking clown yet!
Remember Davros' experiments in The Daleks? We see more of them, land-based, in Genesis of the Daleks. One of them nearly eats Harry.
Genesis of the Daleks is filled with nightmare fuel, even before we get to the pepperpots. We start off with Skaro, a barren nuclear wasteland, lacking any colour, with two city-states constantly fighting one another, and they've been at it for so long their technology is sliding backwards. And the Thal and Kaled militaries are running so low on soldiers, they're recruiting incredibly young. One of the first soldiers we meet doesn't look like he'd be old enough to drive.
Davros. Just... Davros. When the Ninth Doctor called him 'king of his own little world' he wasn't kidding. It's not just the Daleks, the way he goes from that harsh almost-buzz to manic screaming, or the megalomania, it's everything. But the most chilling is the virus speech. And then there's that tiny 'yes'.
Davros: "Yes... I would do it. That power would set me up above the gods! AND THROUGH THE DALEKS, I! SHALL! HAVE! THAT! POWER!"
The cliffhanger of the first episode. Sarah-Jane's gotten separated from the Doctor and Harry, and is walking on her own in this dark, irradiated wasteland, until she suddenly sees something. It's a Dalek, the first Dalek. And it's ready to kill.
The fact that neither side is much to write home about. The Daleks may be evil, but by the time they show up, there's not much that could really be done to make Skaro worse.
The scenes in the Thal dome once the Daleks get there. Imagine, you've finally won a war that's been going on for generations, you're celebrating, when these odd things just appear from nowhere. And just as you're staring at them, that odd egg-whisk thing moves and 'EXTERMINATE'. And we never hear of a single Dalek being destroyed by the Thals, either...
Anyone who is unfortunate enough to be bitten by a Cybermat in Revenge of the Cybermen gets glowing red veins.
Season 13
Terror of the Zygons. Phillip Hinclife's era is at its finest with this one. The very first full introduction of a gothic-looking Zygon in the cliffhanger for part one is handled suddenly , making the reveal extremely unnerving. Not helped by the fact Sarah starts screaming bloody murder at the sight of it. There's a good reason why this serial is called Terror of the Zygons- their appearance more than lives up to the title.
Planet of Evil gave us a Monster that only appears in the form of a red outline, is never heard to speak (except for a very surreal scene where it communicates with the Doctor in the black void), devours people and later regurgitates their dessicated bodies and contaminates a member of the expedition, turning him into an homicidal ape-man that can duplicate itself. Bloody terrifying still to this day.
Slight error: The creature that appeared only in outline was actually trying to prevent contamination of the crew members, as well as keep them from causing an apocalypse on their homeworld by taking matter from the planet with them. Killing them was preferable to allowing them to contaminate themselves with the strange material or take it away.
Morbius's brain is kept in a glass tank in the bad guy's lab. Not being happy about this, the brain shrieks at him at how he can't feel or see, basically floating in a cold, dark blackness. What makes it worse is that he's only able to talk via an apparatus that makes him sound suspiciously like Davros.
The Morbius body is made up of victims that crashed onto the planet. The result is a hulking thing with a huge claw for an arm and stitches all over his body. It doesn't help that the plastic case in lieu of a head is hilariously small compared to his body.
When Morbius first awakens, his brain is only functioning at a primitive level . The result is frightening - the creature snarls like an animal, screams when his claw catches fire and attacks everything in sight. He then sees his new body for the first time - and goes nuts, smashing his way out of the lab to kill things.
Oh, and just to round off the Morbius nightmare fuel spectrum, he's not too happy with his head (as mentioned, it's basically a transparent glass bowl — would you be?) and wants another one. Ideally, the Doctor's. But he's probably be just as happy with yours...
Don't forget the really graphic close-up of Condo getting shot by Solon, bloody squib and all. No wonder Mary Whitehouse had it in for this show.
The Krynoid in "The Seeds of Doom". The seed pod hooks into an animal life form — including Human — and takes it over . When it matures (in a matter of days), it expels a thousand seeds to repeat the cycle. Oh, and it can turn all the vegetation to its cause, as well as some people.
Mr. Chase's mulching machine is possibly the scariest moment in the story when he puts Sergeant Henderson in it. He doesn't come out. Not long after that Chase himself follows him... awake and screaming.
Season 14
In Masque of Mandragora, there's a sequence where two villainous characters are discussing their plans to kill off the heir to the throne, while said heir's best friend is screaming in agony just off-screen. And you never know what they did to him, you just see the results later...
To clarify - said best friend is being tortured, nastily, by a bloke who, according to the novelisation of said story, loves red-hot pokers a tad too much.
The Deadly Assassin: This serial is a real nightmare fuel pile-up. Having your foot stuck in the rails when a steam train comes at you at full tilt? Check. Being drowned (a scene so horrible it was censored for years)? Check. Evil dentists with huge, fuck-off needles? Check. Random samurai kicking you off a cliff? Check. Gas mask soldiers? Check. Goddamn evil clowns? Check. Random snipers? Check. Trapped in a nightmare (one engineered by your worst enemy, no less)? Check.
The emaciated Master is worse. The 20th Anniversary volume Doctor Who: A Celebration features a full-page, black-and-white photo that makes him look more horribly burned than emaciated.
The Robots of Death: A Christie-ish mystery with a small, rapidly diminishing number of people at the mercy of a madman who reprograms their servant robots to do murderous deeds. Said robots have designs straight out of the Uncanny Valley , with extremely detailed but completely immobile faces- one of the crew, especially sensitive to human body language, goes mad from "robophobia", a fear related to the robots' lack of body language that makes him feel he is surrounded by the walking dead.
And then we see the villain reprogramming one of the robots. It's Strapped to an Operating Table , its face removed, there's a probe entering its brain, and its hands are spasming as if it's in horrific agony...
The Talons of Weng-Chiang - a hideously decaying war criminal from the future sucking the life force from local women, giant rats stalking the sewers and feeding on the corpses, the living satanic doll with the cerebral cortex of a pig as its wetware... A Grade Nightmare Fuel .
The cliffhangers of season 13 and 14 were amazingly frightening. For example, the cliffhanger to the first episode of "The Hand of Fear".
, where the eponymous hand starts reconstituting itself and moves.
Season 15
The Horror of Fang Rock. The creepy, fog drenched atmosphere. The high death toll. The growing paranoia of being besieged in a small building with no contact to the outside world. But then there was a shot of the shape-shifting Rutan just standing there on the stairs, unseen in the shadows, expressionless.
The periodic sounding of the foghorn only adds to the creepy atmosphere.
The cliffhanger to part 3 deserves a mention:
The Doctor: Oh Leela, I've made a terrible mistake. I thought I'd locked the enemy out. Instead, I've locked it in, with us.
For the most part, The Invisible Enemy is delightful nonsense. But the idea of an intelligent virus...
The Fendahl are giant slug-like creatures that paralyse you and eat you alive. An ancient horror that reaches out through time and takes over your mind, transforming people around you into said monsters as vessels for its rebirth. Some of this would make Steven Moffat back away shuddering.
Not to mention that twelve Fendahleen (the slug-like creatures) and the Fendahl Core (the formerly human "mind" of the Fendahl) are powerful enough to drain the life force of every single thing on the planet, from humans to protozoa. And the Doctor—"The Oncoming Storm" himself—was terrified of the Fendahl, even as an adult.
"There are four thousand million people on this planet. If I'm right, within a year, there'll be just one."
The sequence with the skull and Thea has rather poor SFX — the eyes/eye-sockets are mismatched — and yet is absolutely terrifying. The Fendahleen themselves are wibbly-wobbly hissing things, and so completely alien they're scary even when small.
Thea's motherfucking eyes. WHO THE HELL THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO LET HER HAVE VERTICAL SLITS?
The Steamer in The Sunmakers.
The Seers from Underworld.
The Doctor pretending to side with the villain of The Invasion of Time shows how mad and dark he can be.
Especially in Part 1 when he was screaming his head off at Borusa.
Forget that. How about that creepy-as-hell laugh, complete with full-on evil grin? Every kid in England likely went to bed that night worried that Tom Baker was hiding in their closet.
Season 16
The planet that pounces on other planets, killing everything on them in The Pirate Planet. Sweet dreams.
The Mentiads. Pale skinned, Kubrick-staring men with horrifying sunken eyes who can hurt you from a distance, and, worse, can apparently make you one of them? Even for an adult those guys are terrifying. And they're supposed to be the good guys!
The Captain. Most of the time, he's a rather comical LARGE HAM , but when the Doctor kills his robotic parrot, he suddenly becomes quite calm and very creepy. Particularly when he shows the Doctor what fate he has in store for him:
Captain: A plank! The theory is very simple. You walk along it. At the end, you fall off. Drop one thousand feet. Dead!
And the sudden crashing realization that, as ridiculous a method of execution as it is ... it's so simple that there's nothing for the Doctor to latch onto to find an out. If he hadn't prepared his trick well in advance he would have died. And in fact ... when you think of how the Fourth Doctor actually ''did'' die ...
The monsters of "The Stones of Blood". Stonehenge-like stone towers that can move around, and one touch from them means instant and very painful death. The worst moment is when an innocent bystander who's camping nearby gets curious and touches the stone, and we get a close up of his hand being skeletonized while his screams echo all around.
The android Romana. Imagine someone you trust turning out to be a Killer Robot .
Season 17
Vraxoin, a drug that can cause total apathy, and has levelled whole civilizations. Yes, anvils can still be Nightmare Fuel .
The Captain, high on Vraxoin, laughs openly and mockingly upon seeing the crew and passengers being slaughtered by mandrels.
Skagra's mind-stealing machine in Shada.
Sure, Salyavin is a nice guy now. But suppose he develops a monomania...
Season 18
People visibly being torn apart in The Leisure Hive.
Also, the cliffhanger to part one, which features this same incident happening to the Doctor. The last shot of the episode features the camera zooming into the Doctor's screaming mouth, with an added Jump Scare thanks to the show's signature electronic scream coupled alongside the Doctor's. Sure, it may be a jump scare, but it's certainly terrifying.
Tom Baker as the titular villain in Meglos, especially when his skin goes all cactus-like.
State of Decay isn't that frightening for a child, but once you get old enough to recognise the sexual undertones... the head vampire reallly likes Adric and wants to make him a vampire too. Bad touch.
The ending of Warriors' Gate - All the secondary characters are wiped out when they accidentally blow their own ship up. Once the dust settles, you see the aliens they'd been keeping as slaves calmly leaving the blackened remains of the ship... aliens which are out-of-synch with time due to just having been revived from comas, meaning they leave eerie after-images everywhere they go.
In episode four, when one of the revived Tharils electrocutes one of the slavers. He just flops back on the table with a look of complete terror frozen on his face and his skin instantly pales to an unnatural shade of grey, staring wide-eyed at the camera. Made worse by the fact that most of the crew of the slave ship were characterized as ordinary, blue collar guys just working for a paycheck .
In the final scene of The Keeper of Traken, (Feb. 1981) with the crisis resolved and the Doctor departed, Consul Tremas goes to investigate a long case clock that has appeared. He touches the clock face and is unable to move. Unseen by anyone else, the ghoul-like figure of the Master emerges from the clock, gloats "A new body at last", merges with Tremas, and then leaves in the clock, his TARDIS. No blood, no gore, just horror at its understated best.
Fifth Doctor:
Season 19
The Mara. Otherworldly beings that invade your mind and possess your body because you fell asleep. They are the physical embodiment of Nightmare Fuel . The sequences in Tegan's mind — in the dark, alone — were some of the most blood-chilling ever.
It's much, much worse than falling asleep. The Mara can possss you from your dreams...and humans not only go insane and then die if they cannot dream for long enough, the only way the Doctor can temporarily suppress the constant micro-dreams a human has to protect Tegan from the Mara also renders he deaf and somewhat less than coherent, so the read of the group ends up losing track of her.
What horrific tortures was George Cranleigh subjected to that left him in a mental state halfway between Evil Archer post-agony-both and the Longbottoms post-Lestranges-and-Crouch ?
Earthshock: The first enemies encountered by the Redshirt Army blow them into puddles of goo. To be honest the Cybermen guns are far less horrific (though suitably hammed up by the actors).
The Cybermen as they were about to destroy the planet. And then the trauma redoubled itself with Adric's death.
The way the Master's Kalid disguise falls when Tegan and Nyssa first interrupt the power in "Time-Flight". Yuck.
Season 20
Mawdryn Undead, where Tegan and Nyssa find someone they believe to be the Doctor, covered in blood. Then there was the cliffhanger to Part Two, where they and The Brigadier enter the TARDIS and find the same person, healed, but missing half a skull.
20th Year Anniversary
Borusa's fate in "The Five Doctors".
Speaking of The Five Doctors, the Raston Warrior Robot...a lightning-fast killer ninja android that massacred a whole squad of Cybermen. To be fair, some might consider it to be super extra-freaking sweet , but seriously, this thing decapitates one Cyberman, impales a few others and cuts the limbs off of at least two more. ON A KIDS' SHOW!
Season 21 p 1
Frontios had people being sucked under the earth without warning 26 years before The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood.
Resurrection of the Daleks features the titular creatures attacking a space station by unleashing a flesh-dissolving gas upon its crewmembers. The lucky ones die almost instantly on exposure with the gas. One less lucky crewmember only gets a minor dose of the gas and is seemingly fine... until near the end of the first episode, when his face and hands starts to dissolve, resulting in another crewmember putting him out of his misery by shooting him.
To make it worse gas like this actually exists and was used in the first world war and other wars. Blister agents such as Lewisite and Mustard gas. Once they come into contact with the skin they slowly cause the flesh to blister and literally rot off.
The Caves of Androzani had Sharaz Jek. He had burns over most of his body, was quite mad , and wore a black body suit and mask that made him look like something you'd see peering in your window at night. Not only that, but he had a very unhealthy obsession with Peri. He's a man who's been stuck in an underground cave for years surrounded by nothing but androids, and as soon as he sees Peri he decides he has to have her because she's so pretty. The implications of her fate had she not escaped with the Doctor are quite unsettling .
The whole story is just a horrible situation that pretty much anyone might find themselves in. The Doctor and Peri are hopelessly stuck in the middle of a drug war fought by utterly selfish criminals and sociopaths, who want to hunt them down for the most paranoid and/or selfish reasons .
Sharaz Jek: These petty criminals are invariably paranoid, their twisted little minds infested with distrust and suspicion.
Sixth Doctor:
Season 21 p 2
The Sixth Doctor trying to strangle Peri in The Twin Dilemma
From the same story, we have Mestor, a giant alien slug who can kill people telepathically. He can also use people as monitors, burning out their minds in the process. What's more is that he can do it wherever he is .
Season 22
"Vengeance on Varos" when an unconscious Sixth Doctor is about to be chucked into an acid bath because the guards think he is dead. Then he moves and the guards try and throw him anyway. The first one is startled and falls in the acid when the supposedly dead Doctor speaks to him. And the first guard pulls the second one in while trying to pull himself out. The Doctor's lack of horror at the grisly fate of the guards is a little disturbing.
The creepiest part of this scene was before they go to throw the Doctor in, they get rid of another corpse in the acid bath, with nightmare fuel music playing as they lower the body.
Those landmines in Mark of the Rani that turn you into a tree .
The Two Doctors has an experiment that tampers with the Doctor's physiology and psychology. Not the Chameleon Arch; an experiment.
"Revelation of the Daleks" has Davros using the recently dead to turn into Daleks if he finds you mentally superior; if he doesn't you get turned into Soylent Green . The worst part? Kara, the president of the galaxy knows all this and wants Davros dead so she can control the food supply herself.
The poor man being turned into the glass Dalek - the way he screams Dalek slogans, then begs his daughter to kill him: "If you ever loved me, child, then KILL ME!"
Season 23
The scene in The Mysterious Planet where Drathro's castle is being raided, and the viewer just knows that the overworlders are going to die, no question about it.
The section in Mindwarp where Kiv's brain is transplanted into Peri's body .
All of Terror of the Vervoids. Plants will never be seen the same way again.
The exploding feathers quill pens from The Ultimate Foe.
And the thought that the Doctor could actually become the Valeyard.
The Valeyard demonstrates his control over the Matrix by having the sand the Doctor is standing on turn into quicksand and grey hands pulling him into as he screams in terror.
Seventh Doctor:
Season 24
The two old women in the tower block in Paradise Towers. Something about one of them throwing her black shawl over Mel...
In the same story, the killer robotic cleaners and the machine containing the Ax-Crazy architect. Especially the scene where said Ax-Crazy architect takes over the Chief Caretaker's body .
A guy's face melts in "Dragonfire".
Season 25
The Special Weapons Dalek in Remembrance of the Daleks. More Dakka combined with Nightmare Fuel .
The other Daleks think this one's a homicidal maniac.
The girl they shoved into a Dalek command shell. The Daleks took her and used her brain as the wetware for their attack systems.
Right off the bat it's shown that there's something up with this girl, given the creepy little song she sings when she first catches sight of the Doctor:
"Five, six, seven, eight. It's the Doctor at the gate..."
She watches people hideously killed by various means and never reacts at all. And at the end of the story, she just walks away like nothing interesting has happened at all...and she's still a Dalek war computer.
Moment of note - The Doctor escapes up a staircase and the Dalek follows! Dalek climbing stairs in the Classic Series.
The Happiness Patrol, whilst on first viewing is pretty innocuous and has a really unconvincing villain in the shape of the Kandy Man (A giant 'Bertie Bassett' shaped thing that isn't quite a robot, and definitely isn't nice- being an execution robot with a disturbing squeaky voice and sadistic sense of humour , who enjoys making its victims in, it its own words, "die with smiles on their faces" .) is actually really fucked up.
The story revolves around Helen A and her husband/partner Joseph C who rule a colony on the planet Terra Alpha where it is illegal to be unhappy. The scene that's really nightmarish is when a man is executed by Helen A and Joseph C for the crime of unhappiness. A huge pipe is lowered over his head and molten candy is poured over his head by the Kandy Man. It's not clear if it's boiling hot, or if he drowns with his lungs full of molten sugar, but either way it's very disturbing. This is made even worse when (just before the camera cuts to the next scene) Joseph C leans forward, scrapes some candy off the corpse with his finger and eats it with a grin on his face. Urgh.
The Greatest Show in the Galaxy/Has a circus straight out of Bradbur y /With Monster Clowns and evil eyes/And Big Brother kites up in the sky/The audience lands in the ring/And has to perform for some nasty things/Who rank the act with zip or nine/And if they're amused then you are fine/But if the rank they give is nil/With an energy blast, the act is killed.
Season 26
The final series of the classic show had Ghost Light, fun with de-evolution . The fate of the reverend and the police inspector were incredibly disturbing (even if one was meant to be something of a Karmic Death ).
The Curse of Fenric featured Alien Vampires , a doubting priest whose holy symbols have no effect on said vampires, and the Ancient One, a giant fishy blue thing who rises from the water.
In one scene, several women are in a room into which a few Haemovores approach. The next time we see the room, all of the women have become Haemovores.
When Fenric decides that he doesn't need the Haemovores, he has the Ancient One turn them to dust.
The cliffhanger for Episode 3 has a crippled scientist collapse, dead. Momentarily, he stands up, with glowing eyes, and says "We play the contest again, time lord." The beginning of the following episode has the windows shatter after and the man disappear.
When Ace reveals to one of the soldiers the way to solve the Doctor's puzzle, thinking Fenric to be dead, only to learn that Fenric has moved into the soldier's body. Lightning promptly shoots through the window and sets the table on fire.
And also, as part of a plan to defeat Fenric - which involves him needing to crush Ace's faith in him- when the Doctor was yelling at Fenric about how stupid she was and how much he hated her, while Ace was on her knees, crying.
Doctor: You're an emotional cripple. I wouldn't have wasted my time on her, unless I had to use her somehow.
Also the fact that though the timeline where humans become Haemovores seems to have been averted, Fenric still has half a million years to try. For all we know, humans becoming Haemovores could be a fixed point, all that could be done was delay it long enough for some humans to leave Earth.
The Cheetah People in Survival. Also, the planet that is falling apart around them.
Eighth Doctor:
The TV movie
Possessed Grace in the 1996 telemovie. Her eyes turn completely black and all the while sports an incredibly creepy grin.
Shortly after possessing Bruce, the Master discovers the flesh of the man's undead body is starting to rot. His first morbid discovery is that he can rip an entire fingernail off, bloody mess included.
Her fucking grin.
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Even worse, the Extermination of Floor Zero in The Parting of the Ways. There was no reason for the Daleks to do it-the people weren't fighting against the Daleks, they were virtually defenseless, and there wasn't even anything down there for them to use. The only reason? They found thirty or so life forms that weren't Dalek.
Tenth Doctor:
Series 2
The newly regenerated Tenth Doctor, utterly destroying Harriet Jones' life and career with just six words, without any regret. It gets worse with later seasons, when it allows the Master to take over Britain, not to mention what happens in Torchwood . And Harriet herself is clearly unnerved, and asks him to stop, and he still does it. No second chances indeed.
As mentioned above, this action is what put the Master into power, as it was said in the Sound of Drums that "Harold Saxon" came to prominence "just after the downfall of Harriet Jones". As if the countless atrocities committed during the "year that never was" weren't bad enough, it's negation and the subsequent death of the Master allowed the government seen in Torchwood: Children of Earth to come to power and almost send millions of children to be used as alien narcotics.
The true Nightmare Fuel and Tear Jerker of the entire debacle occurs in Journey's End, when the Davros tells the Doctor of "The Earth woman who fell opening the Sub Wave Network." The Doctor questions who it is, and when Rose tells him Harriet Jones, the look of sheer guilt and horror is crushing.
An order of medic nuns who incinerate any research subject that become conscious.
Said research subjects are constantly injected with every disease known to man so the nuns can produce vaccines. Their entire lives are spent locked in storage containers , fed through tubes, never interact with anyone, alone and in constant pain . When the subjects are released, they spread their afflictions by touch.
The probably first truthfully frightful werewolf depicted in a TV series.
The aliens who take over a school to use the children's minds as a supercomputer, and eat the rejects. The opening of this episode is the creepiest three minutes of Doctor Who ever.
Finch: No parents? No one to miss you? I see why the nurse sent you. You poor child. Poor... thin child. Come inside. It's nearly time for lunch.
The fact that line was uttered by Giles and Nathan Wallace makes it especially creepy.
"Rise of the Cybermen" and "Age of Steel"
The Alternate Universe Cybermen's origins with the "upgrade or be deleted" scene. So much screaming and death and terror and the Doctor knows that this could spread across the galaxy.
The fact that the Doctor is terrified, actually terrified of the Cybermen, to the extent that he surrenders without a fight. At first, any way. And the way he shows how terrified he is isn't matched again for the rest of the Tenth Doctor's run. He's that terrified of them.
The scene where the Doctor has to kill a Cyberman who he discovers was a bride at her wedding,
The way the Doctor defeats the Cybermen. Allowing them to feel once again, to realize what they have truly become! You know out there one of them is AU Jackie Tyler!
You're walking around, minding your own business, and suddenly your mind shuts down and you mindlessly walk into an incinerator. The one shot of that was... horrific.
The screams and agonised howls as we get a shot of the Cyber Conversion machinery from the victims POV. It's all whirring saw blades and vicious knives cutting away everything human. Now think about that...the machines are stripping the flesh and bone of the victim removing the brain and putting it inside a metal suit; the victim is conscious and feels every second of it. No wonder they go insane when their emotions are restored. The trauma would drive even Chuck Norris mad. Somehow the creepiest part of the scene is still Mr Crane bobbing away to the "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" as he calmly oversees the conversion process.
Staying with the conversion factory, those pre-recorded messages playing throughout. "Chamber 6 now open for human upgrading. All reject stock will be incinerated." Brrr... And it raises the question of who the hell recorded those?
Before the Cybermen, there's the scene where everyone in that one street stopped completely still as Cybus Industries downloaded the daily news package. Absolutely everyone. They even laugh at the same time. It's just unsettlingly creepy.
"Idiot's Lantern"
The faceless zombies and the killer TV saying "Goodnight children everywhere" while absorbing a panicking Rose's soul... in an episode written by Mark Gatiss .
The Government hoarding them away. The Doctor said it was like Soviet Russia.
Killer-TV-Lady sucking her fingers, screaming/begging "Feed me!" is terrifying.
"I'm The Wire. And I will gobble you up, pretty boy."
"Impossible Planet" and "Satan Pit"
The Ood of the far future (and the scene where a black hole eats a system with a "billion years old civilization" in it), along with Satan himself (whatever it was) together with the man he possessed.
After that female crewmember is blown out into space and they find her floating overhead the space station and towards the black hole, it looks like her corpse is waving to the others to come join her, or waving goodbye.
The possessed Toby is what's really scary, which is very understandable. The body was trapped at the center of a planet which is circling a black hole. Its body can't even touch someone standing right in front of it. Its mind is not trapped. Its mind can take over the Ood and the station's speakers and people. Its mind scarier than its body.
The 'don't turn around' scene. Imagine thinking that something horrible is right behind you, it's getting closer, it's almost touching you and yet you can't turn around or else you'll die.
The moment when he looks down and realizes that the demonic hieroglyphics are all over his body.....
"Love and Monsters"
The group of the Doctor's fans who form a fanclub and end up absorbed by an alien to die gruesomely (although one survives, as a face in a street tile...). It's hammered in that they're people, with friends and family, especially when you see them having fun together in LINDA.
Take that a step further. The survivor exists as a face in a one-inch thick street tile, and her boyfriend tells the viewer they still have a sex life. One part nightmare, one part squick. Can I get a brain bleach chaser with that?
The episode of the girl who traps other children into drawings, especially the scene where a drawn kid screams at the screen... with no voice. Or the drawing of Dad in the closet.
That drawing of the (implied) abusive dad was terrifying, especially later when all of Chloe's drawings come to life and you see her and her mother cowering in fear from the booming, menacing voice...
Chloe's Dad: CHLOE! I'M COMING TO GET YOU, CHLOE!
Finally, in the finale, we see Daleks and Cybermen waging all-out war on humanity and each other, Cybermen disguising themselves as dead loved ones to gain humanity's "trust," Daleks using their plungers to reduce a man's head to a dried-out husk (and of course, seeing nothing wrong with it), Cybermen managing to implant mind-control devices attached to your brain (and yes, we do see one ripped out), Daleks shooting anything that moves above Canary Wharf, Rose almost being sucked into Hell along with every Dalek and Cyberman on the planet and, finally, Cybermen converting humans in the basement and, by the end, only doing half the job.
" I did my duty! For queen and country ! I did my duty. I did my duty. I did my duty . Oh God, I did my duty !"
Even worse is in the episode Army of Ghosts, where the "ghosts" are revealed to be friendly ... and seeing how ghosts are everywhere - these ghosts turned out to be Cybermen. What makes it worse is during the "ghost shift" that reveals the Cybermen, you can hear their walking sound. Imagine walking and seeing some "ghost" and it turns out to be a death robot ... worldwide.
Series 3
Millions of giant ancient spiders crawling out of the Earth's core. To eat you. Merry Christmas!
The Doctor himself is what made "The Runaway Bride" scary. For the first time we get a glimpse of what happens when Ten is pushed too close to the edge (which becomes something of a feature of series 3 and 4). The look on his face as he watches the baby Racnoss die is just kind of chilling.
A little old lady vampire (with a bendy straw, which is simultaneously terrifying and hilarious ) and a brutal "police force" who can reduce you to atoms just by pulling a trigger!
An apparently sweet-looking girl, actually a hideous witch who uses voodoo to kill her victims! (and the Doctor shuts her and her mothers up in a pocket dimension for eternity! When we seen them briefly in a Season 4 episode, they're still screaming.)
A drug which induces bliss but kills a few minutes later! Space crabs that eat people who venture below the motorway! The fact that it takes years and years to cross the motorway, and there's nobody on the top of the planet anymore!
Years and years? Try FOREVER. It leads around in a giant loop, with all of the exits sealed off, but nobody in the main lanes has a long enough lifespan to realize it!
The beginning. Oh my god, the beginning! The way that their hopes were dashed as the car stopped, how terrified they were as the car was being ripped apart! How hysterical their voices were as they were screaming in fear! And how all through it, the oblivious Sally Calypso on the monitor was just cheerily signing off as the motorway-goers were screaming in terror as they were eaten! The way the lifeless hand slides off the T.V. screen... it all made an intro so horrifying that it could give the opening for "School Reunion" a run for its money.
More Daleks! (This time, one becomes a tentacled human hybrid by sucking a human into its armour!)
The evolved form of the Dalek is Nightmare Fuel in itself. Especially, for some reason, the mouth. It's way too small and low for the face, and it's always smiling.
A machine that turns people into mutant throwbacks! And its user ( Mark Gatiss again, this time acting rather than scripting) ends up chasing the main characters through a cathedral!
Oh yeah, and he looks like this
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. And he can drain people's life force with his tail , turning them into dried-out husks.
A living star which possesses people and causes them to burn their loved ones until there's nothing left but a shadow on the wall!
Oh, man, 42... Everyone trapped on a hellishly hot and red-lit spaceship that's about to crash into a sun, claustrophobic dark tunnels, getting trapped in disengaged airlocks, people getting burned into dust and possessed by a sentient sun, all of this culminating in a screaming and absolutely terrified Doctor trying to stave off aforementioned possession while being pushed into a minus 200 deep freeze? The line: "You should've scanned for life!" in particular.
This is one of the very, very few times we see the Doctor completely, out-of-control terrified. Just plain disturbing.
"Burn with me, Martha!"
" I'LL SAVE YOU "
The punishment inflicted on the Family of Blood. Immortality... spent in various horrific prisons . The punishments all narrated calmly by the teenage son was the icing on the cake. Hell, the Family of Blood themselves. They were pretty creepy.
The Family of Blood example is just one instance of what's truly the scariest thing in the series: what our Technical Pacifist hero, the Doctor, is capable of when he's had enough. Don't cross him. Just don't.
And now every time you look in the mirror...
Listen carefully as he describes the fate of Daughter of Mine: He doesn't say that the Doctor trapped her in a mirror, he says the Doctor trapped her in every mirror. If even your subconscious takes this the least bit seriously, you are now trapped in an eternal, incredibly creepy game of I Spy that you can never win.
What the heck happened to the minds/souls of the Family of Blood's 'hosts'? Naturally you'd assume they were killed, but we see no injuries or possible signs that the bodies were dead... What if the minds of the hosts were still there? Living out the Family of Blood's punishments with them...
Though earlier in the episode, Mother of Mine heartlessly brags about how she "gobbled her [host] up" when asked about what happened to them. Though this detail is horrifying in it's own right, it almost seems to be written in specifically to avert any consideration of the above Fridge Horror .
Son of Mine makes killers out of the scarecrows in farm fields. No voice, relentless, they just want to kill you.
The inhuman scream of Father of Mine as he gets sent down to the mine is just terrifying.
The last three episodes include humanoid wildmen, the end of the universe looming, a kindly old man who, when he gets his memory back, turns out to be a genocidal monster who immediately murders his gentle assistant, the utterly eerie pleasure the human Lucy (whose mind the Master destroyed) takes in decimating the global population (she dances to pop music while he does it) and, last but certainly not least, the revelation that the robotic killing machines with childlike voices are actually powered by human brains - those of the last humans in the universe, no less, who cannibalized themselves and went back in time to avoid the end of the universe. And they share minds with one another, though that means out there is the little boy who back on the spaceship gleefully told Martha that his mother had told him in Utopia "the sky was made of diamonds".
Listen carefully when Professor Yana opens the fob watch: among the miscellaneous "flashback" sound effects, you can clearly hear the Master's voice saying "Step aside human, and release my majesty." When John Smith opened his fob watch, the Doctor's essence allowed him to choose whether he wanted to resume his life as a Time Lord; Yana, by contrast, was allowed no such luxury: a sweet, innocent old man had the vile mind of a thousand-year maniac literally forced upon him.
The most horrifying thing about Professor Yana is that, according to the Doctor in "Family of Blood"/"Human Nature", a Time Lord's chameleon arched self is actually made from a part of their personality. If not for Rassilon, the Master could've been a kindly old Doctor figure rather than the viciously evil person he became instead.
Maybe. It's possible that the Master was just a deranged megalomaniac to begin with, as the drumbeats were never mentioned in the Classic Series, and that said drumbeats were just something Rassilon retroactively added on to the Master in the last days of the Time War in order to enact his Evil Plan . Which is horrifying in its own right, because that would mean Rassilon knowingly made an already established genocidal maniac even more of a genocidal maniac.
There's also Chantho's fate to think about. The kind, generous, quirky genius with whom she's worked (and developed other feelings) for the last seventeen years suddenly undergoes a total shift in personality and begins opening up their base to invasion by the Futurekind. When she tries to stop him, he electrocutes her without a second thought. Viewers know what the Master's deal is, but Chantho dies having no idea what's going on or why she's being murdered by her best friend.
While many fans count the Master's gleeful reaction to killing Jack ("And the best part is...I get to kill him again!") as a Moment of Awesome , it's equally horrific. For perspective, consider the many, many ways a human being can be tortured, maimed, and killed (if you need help, consult Wikipedia ); now imagine that knowledge in the hands of a man who is utterly batshit insane, with unlimited resources and a test subject who can't die. Oh, Jack....
The Master getting ready to turn the Doctor's TARDIS into the Paradox Machine. It's just a brief shot of the Master standing at the console... with a blowtorch and one of the most psychotic grins ever seen on a face . The sheer malicious pleasure he shows, knowing that he's going to take what is essentially the Doctor's best and oldest friend , and he's going to break her, and twist her, and hurt her... Fridge Horror at its finest.
Try re-watching that scene after viewing "The Doctor's Wife" (wherein you find out just how alive the TARDIS really is). It becomes horrific on a whole new level.
The description (delivered alternately by the Master and the captured Toclafane) of what humans found at Project Utopia, at the end of the universe. "Furnaces, burning... the last of humanity screaming at the dark. There was no solution. No diamonds. Just the dark, and the cold. All that human invention that had sustained them across the eons... it all turned inward. They cannibalized themselves—regressing into children. We made ourselves so pretty! But it didn't work. The universe was collapsing around them. But then the Master came, with his wonderful time machine, to bring us back home!"
Even worst, when the human from the future is asked why they kill their ancestor despite being of the same species. Its answer? " Because it's fun!" followed by a very, very, very creepy child-like laugh
And the Master was the Doctor's childhood friend. Which makes everything so much worse, because in a way they're still friends.
The grotesque emaciated Doctor after being aged by 100 years. When aged again, he looks much worse.
Actually, he wasn't even aged the second time. He was just given a physical appearance to match how old all of his regenerations combined were. Which makes it even more terrifying and grotesque.
Series 4
The hosting robots for a space ship turn evil and try to kill any survivors from the previous meteor collision.
"Information: You are all going to die." And it says it so cheerfully... ( Simultaneously oddly hilarious . This show is like that.)
A diet pill that creates aliens from body fat itself and occasionally from all those other bits of the body, although the creatures themselves were too cute for words. (Which just makes it worse.)
The first time the viewer sees the Adipose birth. Imagine you're just primping in the mirror, and then these things start sprouting from your body... and then you dissolve as your entire body becomes them.
Fires of Pompeii
Pompeiians being turned into statues(which look eerily like the casts pulled from the ash molds found at the Real Life Pompeii) by subterranean lava creatures. What makes it worse, some of the natives of Pompeii believe that becoming statues is the will of the gods and therefore an honor that should not only be accepted but embraced.
Imagine Pyroviles overruning the planet. A scary though, yes?
Planet of the Ood
The Ood return and are revealed to be a race of aliens turned into willing slaves by lobotomy. Some of them develop glowing red eyes and become vicious. They get their revenge by turning their human captor into an Ood in a nightmarish transformation sequence . It's even worse when the human captors include Everton from Chef! and Percy from Blackadder ,
The Doctor and Donna come across a cage full of "uncultivated" Ood. They are singing a song that the Doctor can hear, but Donna can't. When he gives her the ability to hear it, she is so disturbed and overwhelmed that she asks him to turn it off again, and the viewer is likely to agrees with her. The feverish intensity and utter despair of those wails...
Davros' eaten away chest and exposed organs. Ugg.
The Daleks effing shooting the Doctor during a subversion of The Meadow Run , leading to an equally shocking cliffhanger.
Davros being within 10 seconds of achieving his extremely long life's ambition of ending everything. EVERYTHING. Ever. Period. No backsies. Just a small corner of existence filled with Daleks. "YES! I WOULD DO IT!" indeed.
His metaphorical holding a mirror up to the Doctor to show him who he really is - "the man who never carries a gun..."
The dialogue leading up to his "THE DESTRUCTION! OF REALITY! ITSELF!" Davros is going into great detail to explain to Rose and the Doctor how, once the Reality Bomb goes off, it can't be stopped. It is going to spread out and destroy everything. Every planet, every star, every living being in existence is going to be reduced to nothingness - and not just in "our" universe, but every dimension in The Multiverse . Absolutely nothing will survive... except Davros and the Daleks. Think about that - there'd be nothing left except an evil race and their Mad Scientist creator. That's what the final legacy of the universe would have been had the good guys lost, which they came within a hairsbreadth of doing. All of creation reduced to inert particles, and the only exception are Space Nazis.
Davros' cry about "THE DESTRUCTION! OF REALITY! ITSELF!" is especially chilling in retrospect from "The End of Time". The exclamation, and the idea in general, is uncannily similar to Rassilon's battle cry before the assembled lords of Gallifrey, and chillingly lends credence to the Doctor's comments on just how far the Time Lords had sunk by the end of the Time War — namely, to the level of the Daleks themselves.
2009 Specials
The Next Doctor
The specials-only year started with a bang, with Christmas 2008 bringing the return of the Cybermen, who create animal-like ninjas with dog brains. Oh, and more brain-electrocution and ambushes, of course.
. Based on what we saw of Rassilon , what do you think happened to the other Chapterhouses?
The thought of the Time Lords returning made the Doctor pick up a gun willingly. This was after he rejected taking a gun multiple times. That's how bad the situation became.
The post climax scene with the nuclear bolt and the two doors. The Doctor is looking at Wilfred, who will most certainly die if he doesn't sacrifice himself in his place, and declaring him "unimportant" and at the same time rambling about how important he himself is. It's a terrifying moment wherein you briefly think the Doctor is utterly and completely willing to sacrifice an innocent man because he thinks "The Doctor" counts for more. This is made more horrid by the fact that Wilfred had seen such a move coming, as earlier he had called the Doctor out on his willingness to put a Time Lord's life before that of the entire human race, and is still telling the Doctor to 'let him die'. *shudder*
"I've lived too long". This realization is what convinces the Doctor to make the sacrifice. The obsession to continue living despite the fallout to the innocent is what was driven Rassilon to the Ultimate Sanction. Turning into Rassilon scares the Doctor more than being hit with half a million radons.
This whole episode is more tragic in retrospect with the ret-con events of the 50th anniversary special affecting the Doctor's regenerations. The Doctor regenerates, having tried as hard as he could to avoid it and we now know that it was his last regeneration in that cycle: Ten knew he was regenerating for the last time. And he could do nothing to stop it.
Eleventh Doctor
Series 5
"Victory of the Daleks", where in your brightest moment, you're told that your inventions are actually planetary exterminators, every single thing about you is a lie, and that you're a bomb that's gonna blow up in a few minutes.
Guess why it's called "Victory"? That's right, because the Daleks win.
When the 'Ironside' is introduced: "I-AM-YOUR-SOL-DIER." Not again. (See classic Season 4 for the reference)
Watch in hindsight, knowing their plan. That is distinctly a note of smugness in those mechanical tones - it knows they've set it up so that the Doctor will lose this time and it's already rubbing his face in it.
In "The Vampires of Venice"
When the Doctor muses about what would be so bad that it wouldn't mind being thought to be a vampire.
Their true forms are aquatic beings with horrifying teeth, and you can become one if you survive the blood transfusion.
The creepy room where they actually do the "transfusion." Not only is it creepily lit and stone, but they also strap you to a chair.
There's the end. Notice how all the people have disappeared, and it's silent? Sweet dreams.
If you look at the cloud line right near the very end you can see the reason for the silence: the crack in time and space that becomes the main plotline is hidden there.
Amy's Choice:
Amy waking up in a glass coffin.
Amy getting sucked into the Earth, convinced she is going to die.
Somewhat scarier when you realize from watching Confidential that Karen really is claustrophobic and those tears and screams are real.
The people getting Retgoned in "Flesh and Stone" was bad enough, but it gets even worse when it happens to an actual main character that we'd gotten to know over several episodes. And who was already dead, so the crack just stole the one kind of existence he had left.
If that's not bad enough, in "Cold Blood" the Doctor actually reaches into the crack and pulls something out, which we're not shown for several minutes. IT'S A PIECE OF THE TARDIS.
First it's statues, then it's darkness, then water, now the ground beneath our feet. Is anything safe ?!
"Vincent and the Doctor."
You can't even see the Monster of the Week. More Paranoia Fuel.
This is not an isolated occurence. These vicious and invisible creatures drop out of their pack whenever they can't keep up. This could happen again.
You would think that "The Lodger" would be the one episode of Series 5 without any Nightmare Fuel. Wrong:
It begins around 2:30 of this clip: [3]
. Nothing bad really happens, but Eleven seems to perceive a threat.
"HELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPMEHELPME"
The silhouettes of the "people" at the top of the stairs... Luring victims up the stairs, where we hear them screaming as they are consumed by a creepy, hungry, half-sentient machine. And their burnt remains seeping down into the room below... yeesh.
The worst thing in that episode is the fridge horror. They repeatedly state the human population is 6,400,000,026. This number is at least 299,999,974 people less than what the population was at the time in real life. Those three hundred million are the deaths from all those alien invasions whoniverse-Earth suffers. Even scarier are the time cracks. Sure, there've been invasions, but then there are those cracks in the universe continuing to erase everything from history. So it's possible that the "miscount" actually accounts for the people that have been retgoned from existence. Yeesh!
Series 6
The Curse of the Black Spot: Don't get hurt. Something might crawl out of the water and take you away. And then we discover it extends to reflective surfaces, too.
The Doctor's Wife
They let Neil Gaiman write an episode and its antagonist is a creature with the same level of evil as A.M. itself . It eats TARDISes . Oh, and that voice and the fact that Auntie and Uncle are stitched together from slain Time Lords and who-knows-what-else.
The short scene where Amy and Rory are running around in the TARDIS' corridors. The scenes where they get stuck on opposite sides of a door. Where Amy keeps going (three times!) and finds Rory increasingly older and more insane until she finds a dead corpse and hell-curse-you writing all over the walls. Imagine seeing the moldering remains of someone you love. Now imagine seeing that and knowing full well that they died hating you more than anything else in the world.
Insane!Rory was stuck in the TARDIS for a long time waiting for Amy and he hates her for it. Before he dies again, he writes on the wall, HATE AMY, KILL AMY, KILL ME AMY HATE AMY, KILL AMY over and over again. Seeing Rory, who is normally the level headed one, shout and scream like that is extremely unnerving.
"They hurt me, Amy. They come, every night, and they hurt me. Again and again."
TARDISes can mess with time and space. If it could do that internally then it's entirely possible some version of Rory really did live that life and House has been mind raping him for decades before wiping it all out and starting over. Even if it actually wasn't him there's a good chance that scene was created based on Amy's own fears; we learned early on in the reboot that the TARDIS gets inside her head), thus making that scene the product of her guilt at his having to wait for her for so long and her absolute terror of losing him. Imagine watching your loved ones die several times, knowing it could happen again, permanently, any second...
After House takes controls of the TARDIS and leaves, the way Auntie and Uncle talk about their impending deaths as if they were just going out somewhere and then dying in mid sentence, their nonchalant tones never changing through the end, is chillingly unnatural. Imagine that you're just talking to somebody and then after a while they cheerfully announce that they're going to die in a few seconds and then suddenly just dropping dead just like that.
We are starting to be quite familiar with now a very pissed off Doctor. Suffice to say we have seen on numerous occasions that the Doctor has displayed signs that he could be heading to a darker path, events in "The Family of Blood", "The Waters of Mars", etc. have shown what the Doctor is capable of when his patience is pushed to the limits. Knowing this, the pain and anger he showed when talking to Auntie and Uncle after his discovery makes for a very tense moment.
"You gave me hope and then took it away. That's enough to make anyone dangerous, God knows what it'll do to me!" Indeed.
One line that seems to be a typical Doctor Badass Boast can be taken in a completely different and terrifying light.
House: Fear me, I've killed hundreds of Timelords.
The Doctor: Fear me. I've killed all of them.
The glib way he says this once again showcases how easily he can become the Timelord Victorious.
Think about it. House did that using only the TARDIS herself. She could do that to anyone, at any time, if she chose. note And she has done — see "Zagreus" in the Expanded Universe section below. We know she's alive, and sentient, and loves the Doctor. That leads us to the conclusion that she can probably get angry. She consciously controls herself if she needs to. Imagine being trapped in the TARDIS being Mind Raped again and again and again, indefinitely, and not being able to escape, because no one knows you're there. No one ever will know. Don't upset the TARDIS.
We already know that the TARDIS takes care of her Doctor and his companions. It's repeatedly indicated that the TARDIS is also protective of established timelines, said in "The Doctor's Wife" to be why she always lands where and when the Doctor is needed. Does anyone care to wonder what she's been doing all this time with the Carrionites the Doctor kept as a souvenir in "The Shakespeare Code"?
Nephew's fate is disturbing. The Doctor and Idris materialise a TARDIS on top of him.
The Doctor: He's been... 'redistributed.'
Amy: Meaning...?
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"The Girl Who Waited"
Amy spends 37 years completely alone, constantly on the run from robots who will inadvertently kill her. Is it any wonder that she hates the Doctor more than anyone else by the time she gets to talk to him again?
"This is a kindness" spoken by an army of faceless robots with projectile syringes.
"The God Complex":
A Hell Hotel that contains everyone's worst fears, with a room for everyone. A great big Minotaur wanders the halls, forced to eat the inhabitants. And Room 11 holds The Worst Thing In The Universe .
The Doctor is describing the Minotaur and how it wanted to die. The Minotaur apparently thinks he's talking about himself. The Doctor swears he's not saying he wants to die, but he seems to have trouble convincing himself.
Are you praying yet? 'cause that's about the worst thing you could pos... Praise him .
The scene where the Doctor finds his room (11) to be most unnerving. He opens the door, and in the dark room, the Cloister Bell of the TARDIS is tolling in low, dark tones. His eyes widen, and then, with a profound sigh, he says, in response to his greatest fear and in resignation, "Of course. Who else?" and we never get to see what it is. The implication is that it is himself.
There's the fridge horror. The hotel keeps showing Rory an exit, and we find out later that this is because Rory lacks both fear and faith. But we also find out that the Hotel is a spaceship. Where do exits go on spaceships ?
The core plot element, how each of the taken's faith is broken by being exposed to their worst fears that are generally otherwise mundane and non-threatening to anyone else.
Closing Time,
At the end, River Song is trapped underwater in a spacesuit (by Madame Kovarian and the Silence to be exact), drugged and forced to kill :the Doctor. Enhanced by Kovarian's taunting, and the Silence simply standing there and making no sound.
River, freshly Doctor Song, is reading up on the Doctor, when guess who comes out of the shadows. Also, this:
Kovarian: You never escaped us. We were always coming for you.
Plus that terrifying nursery rhyme from Night Terrors is back with a vengeance.
Tick tock goes the clock, he cradled and he rocked her
Tick tock goes the clock, 'till River kills the Doctor.
If you think about it, River's situation at the end of Closing Time comes pretty close to And I Must Scream . River knows that she is about to be forced to kill the man she loves. She will be completely conscious for this, but unable to do anything to stop it. You gotta wonder just how messed up she was after this...
From the main story, Craig's Cyber-conversion. Made oh-so-much worse by Alfie's (aka Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All) plaintive wailing, as if he knows what's happening to his father.
Series 7
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship:
Imagine signing up for a mission to take dinosaurs through space to a new, habitable planet in an attempt to avoid their (and your) extinction... then being woken up from your centuries-long stasis sleep by a couple of demented, chattering robots... only to be immediately flushed out through an airlock into space. Alive. Because the dinosaurs have value, but Silurians don't.
Solomon himself was such a monster, the Doctor killed him in cold blood. Nightmare Fuel for the bow tie wearing alien yet again.
A Town Called Mercy: While the Doctor is understandably pissed when he finds out just what Kahler-Jex has done, the actions he takes after Jex hits him with an all-too-apt Not So Different speech leave him sliding perilously close to becoming a Knight Templar version of his Waters of Mars persona .
The Power of Three's mostly a quiet, emotionally-based episode. Then we suddenly get people with flesh cubes where their mouths should be. You could also add 1/3 of the human population suddenly dropping dead for a few minutes (including the ones we see die on CCTV).
The Rings of Aktaken
Imagine what it must be like to be a chorister. You have to sing constantly and perfectly to keep this mummy asleep, because if you stop, even for a moment, it will devour your soul and move on to your home. "Do not wake from slumber, oh god, never wake from slumber." Can you hear the desperation in his voice?
The "Old God" makes his appearance, and he is a Genius Loci . He looks like some fiery demon and the Doctor is standing before him without any idea of what to do.
Cold War
The Doctor, Clara, and a group of Russian Marines are in a sinking submarine, all while an Ice Warrior is on the loose and is trying to fire a nuke from the submarine. Every creak and crash you hear could very well be the Ice Warrior ready to attack.
The team did an excellent job of making the Ice Warrior absolutely terrifying, with his deep, hissing voice, his unarmored form, and the security footage, with his menacing figure chained to the girders. Then there's the Animated Armor . The sounds he makes out of his armor are pretty scary as well, and the overall claustrophobic setting of the submarine is begging for this trope.
What does the Ice Warrior do to his victims? Tear them apart. Not savagely either, but deliberately and methodically. All we see is the Doctor's reaction and a bleached, bloody, hand.
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Hide.
Let's start off with the ghost that appears. No matter the picture, where it's taken, the angle or the lighting, it's always caught in a photo the same way: Flailing its arms, screaming and towards the photographer. It's actually a time traveller, stuck in a pocket dimension which crumbles in a mere three minutes.
Then we have the weird, skeletal creatures which appear throughout the episode. You rarely ever see them, and when you do, they move erratically and suddenly, like glitches in a game. They're twisted somehow, like they spent too much time in the wrong place. Not to mention they feed on fear and reside in a haunted castle and a constantly misty forest full of trees. To top it all off, the Doctor turns around to face one and states out loud that he is afraid of these things. What are they?
"UPGRADE IN PROGRESS" .
"The Name of the Doctor":
Imagine what the universe would look like if everything the Doctor had done throughout all of his lives were undone. We get a glimpse thanks to The Great Intelligence stepping inside the Doctor's time-stream (basically the Doctor's entire life in physical form). Once the Intelligence goes to work erasing the Doctor's actions throughout time. Dozens of stars rapidly start to go out all across the sky . Jenny vanishes since the Doctor was no longer around to save her, and Strax reverts to a typical Sontaran and tries to attack Vastra. And that's just what we could see...
To sum up, there wouldn't be a universe.
Imagine having your very essence scattered all across time and space into thousands of copies of yourself. Each one is born, lives and dies, and sometimes gruesomely, and you are aware of each and everyone of them; all simultaneously. Throughout this whole experience, you don't know where you are and desperately trying to find someone so you can help them avoid a gruesome death.
Twelfth Doctor:
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Series 9
"The Zygon Invasion" features a lovely scene where a team of UNIT soldiers go to confront a group of Zygon's in an abandoned church. And what follows is an intense standoff between the soldiers and the Zygon's impersonating innocent hostages and their loved ones. The soldiers are manipulated by them and then led to their deaths. It just goes to show how effective and efficient the Zygon's are at manipulation and killing.
"The Zygon Inversion" features the lovely scene when Bonnie (who's pretty chilling in her own right) forcibly reverts a Zygon to his true form. The gradual, sporadic transformation is eerily reminiscent of Lampwick turning into a donkey in Pinocchio .
Sleep No More: Finding out that the Morpheus pods can hijack those who frequent them with an electronic signal that Rassmussen himself created. Even those who have used it once are in danger. "You've got something in your eye."
The Morpheus pods themselves can count on their own as well. They're named after the god of sleep and dreams, and they essentially take that away. It's a twisted moniker to name something after a god that was renowned for giving actual sleep and dreams, versus the machine that can simply rewrite your brain's chemistry and electrical stimuli from achieving proper sleep after only a few minutes, just so you can work longer than what should be natural for humans.
Face The Raven:
The chronolock. It appears on your neck in such a way that you can never see it, and you constantly have to ask others how long you have left to live. Everyone else can see it, and they judge you for your crime, and lastly there is what happens when it hits zero.
You begin your day with an exhilarating adventure with your best friend whom you love, about whose safety and survival you've been increasingly worried about. The two of you are asked for help by a young father and after some investigation you easily deduce the origin of the problem. You also realize early on that it's a con game. Easy, peasy. Unknown to you, however, your friend has gone rogue and decided to take the chronolock upon herself as strategy to keep the young father safe. You discover this too late, and there is nothing you can do but hug her, receive some words of encouragement from her ... and then watch her die, screaming in agony before being teleported god knows where without time to so much as grieve. Adult Fear to the max and not a very good way to end your day. (The Doctor, incidentally, directly identifies Clara's death as one of his nightmares in the following epsiode, Heaven Sent.)
As explained under the "Doctor" folder below, the Doctor's anger at Ashildr for indirectly being responsible for Clara's impending death. It's seldom a good thing when the Doctor gets angry at any other moment, but when he starts to threaten to bring UNIT and even the Daleks to the Trap Street to utterly annihilate everyone there - who are for the most part innocent refugees - as well as Ashildr, who didn't even intend for Clara to die and is screaming that he's "no longer the Doctor" and that no one's ever "stopped him" before, you know he's pissed off! Thankfully, Clara is able to eventually talk him down... At least until Heaven Sent.
Other
Steven Moffat : Fueling Nightmares Since 2005.
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Every episode of the new Doctor Who has some moments that could give somebody nightmares, but "Blink" gave everybody nightmares. If you are prone to nightmares, don't watch any Steven Moffat stories... in fact, stay away from the Eleventh Doctor's first season ENTIRELY. Moffat is the drunken captain of the oil tanker full of nightmare fuel that's headed full speed ahead straight for the rocky coast of your dreams, and in addition to "Blink", he has given us:
Series 1 - The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
The gas mask people from "The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances"
"I sent it to its room. This is its room. "
Then there's the Fridge Horror part once your mind finishes digesting the story. Imagine having your face infused into a gas mask (possibly painfully), having part of your memory damaged to the point where you can't recall how your mother looks like but you're so frightened that it's all you want thanks to basic human instinct which you still have, and worst of all, your mother not wanting to admit you being her child anymore because you're this ugly monstrosity that's only human neck-down now. Body Horror and Parental Abandonment horror at it's worst.
Series 2 - The Girl in the Fireplace
The eighteenth century French girl who grows up and dies with the prospect of meeting the Doctor only a few times while only a handful of minutes pass for the Doctor himself (or the "clockwork robots" stalking her, especially when disguised, and the way they repair their space ship structural/electronic/critical damage with human organs).
The real chilling bit was how entirely believable the scenario was. Not from the sci-fi perspective, but consider it this way: they were repair drones, and the ship was in need of repair. It's their one purpose, their only reason to exist. And, as one said, "We did not have the parts." And he just repeats that, over and over, until the Doctor gets it, "...no one told them the crew was off limits." With an AI that single-minded, it seems horrifyingly probable for the prime directive to supercede things like "human life."
This could even be a Zeroth Law Rebellion : The ship is badly damaged, and too far from any sort of rescue for external help to reach it in time. In such a scenario, the AI wouldn't even be clearly wrong to use the crew as replacement parts, since they will die if the ship isn't repaired.
This scene takes a few seconds to sink in, but when it does, you'll shit bricks :
The Doctor: [looks at a broken clock] Okay, that's scary.
Reinette: You're scared of a broken clock?
The Doctor: Just a bit scared, yeah. Just a tiny bit. 'Cause you see, if this clock's broken, and it's the only one in the room, then what's that ticking ?
The scene where the Doctor looks under Reinette's bed is already a pretty touchy subject for anyone who's had night terrors, but when the camera slowly pans up to show that all-out shit-inducing nightmare mask, hidden in the shadows just so, you find yourself cowering under the covers.
The very practical approach to organ harvesting "I will not set foot there again." "We do not require your feet."
One line sums it up: We did not have the parts.
The sheer horrifying creepiness of the clockwork 'bots themselves. Eyeless 18th century pseudo-Mardi Gras mask? Check. Monotonous voice? Check. Slow and jerky but inexorable movements accompanied by sounds to alert their arrival and your sure demise? Check. Retractable saws and other scary implements? Check. Total single-mindedness focusing on harvesting your organs? Check.
Series 3 - Blink, Series 5 - The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone, Series 7 - The Angels Take Manhattan (The Weeping Angels)
"Blink:
When it first aired, "Blink" had a special warning telling parents that the episode was scarier than normal and should be watched in the day instead of at night. Only Doctor Who could make an episode about statues the most terrifying thing in the world.
One of the most impressive things about the Weeping Angels (pre-The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone) is that they were the most terrifying creation of possibly the entire run of the show, and they didn't actually kill you. Not really; you were just zapped into the past. Both Kathy Nightengale and Billy Shipton lived out happy, full lives before dying of natural causes. They don't kill you, and they still cause even the most hardened horror fans to wet themselves. Tip of the hat to the Moff.
If anything, that makes them even more terrifying. They don't need you to die; they draw their energy from the time you would have spent living in the present, while dooming you to reflect on what's happened to you and just what you've lost forever. The fact that they feed on your lost, wasted life is scarier than if they just outright swallowed you whole.
"You're not looking at the statue." "Neither are you." Cue Jump Scare .
"That which contains the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel." At the end "Blink" Sally Sparrow has some pictures of the Angels.
The horrible, demonic shrieking noises that the Angels make... when they laugh.
Those Angels are standing in a secure parking garage, under many light bulbs. Light bulbs burn out. If the Angels grow impatient waiting for the light bulbs to burn out naturally, they can always actively burn them out...
The scene in "Blink" when Sally takes the TARDIS key. While most other scenes use flickering light or camera cuts to show that the Angels have moved, this time the Angels change poses as Sally passes between them and the camera, watching her as she steps in front of them and covering their eyes as she moves away.
The montage of statues, narrated by David Tennant 's "don't blink speech".
"The Time of the Angels"
Look in an angel's eyes long enough, and it can come out of the image you have of it in your brain. Now think back to how many times there have been close-ups of the angels' faces, and suddenly those statues are even more terrifying.
Angel Bob delights in providing nightmare fuel
"Bob, keep running but tell me, how did you escape?" "I didn't escape, sir. The angels killed me, too. They broke my neck." Scariest. Conversation. Ever. What makes it really creepy was how emotionless he said it. He was being so scared in the beginning that the monotone makes you KNOW that something's horribly wrong.
"And when you say you're coming, you mean..." "That's right sir, the angels are coming.". Scariest part of the episode, hands down.
When the Doctor asks Angel Bob why the Angel in Amy's mind is forcing her to count down. "To make her afraid, Sir." "Yes, but why?" "For fun, Sir."
Angels moving on-screen seems to take off their Fourth Wall breaking abilities. But they're still stone when they move, which shouldn't be the case as they're only stone when being observed. Then you remember that there are twenty-four frames per second in the episode. A shutter passes over the camera in between each frame. Meaning that there are fractions of a second where we don't see the Angels. Fractions of a second where the Angels are not observed, and thus move .
The Angels Take Manhattan:
Weeping. Angel. Cherubim . The tapping feet in the dark, their extremely eerie giggling, and their vast numbers are arguably more scary than an adult angel.
The trailer shows a smiling Weeping Angel, and it's terrifying.
Their farm plan is industrailized evil. You are basically lured into a building and get sent back in time after witnessing the death of your older self (ensuring a fixed point). Once that happens, you are their slave. Forced to live solitary in a room for decades waiting for the event to occur again. Now it brings harshness on the fact the Doctor considered them the only people to kill you nicely since you just live on your life elsewhere. In this case, you are cattle.
A more horrifying implication as to why the elderly residents still reside in the farm, is that the Angels don't send their victims back several decades straight away, but instead amuse themselves by keeping their victims trapped in the building, sending them short hops into the past whenever they try to escape. This forces them back further in time and further away from the world they knew and eventually, their victims are so defeated they simply resign themselves to taking The Slow Path .
They've turned every single statue in New York City into an angel, including the Statue of Liberty .
Series 4 - Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead
Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead — A two-part story penned by Steven Moffat , involving living carnivorous shadows in a giant space library, plus a cyberspace segment involving vanishing children and a woman with a warped face
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A person's last dying thoughts getting stuck in the suit radio
until they fade: "Icecream, Icescream, I scream..."
Finally, the cliffhanger:
"Donna Noble has left the Library. Donna Noble has been saved. Donna Noble has left the Library. Donna Noble has been saved. Donna Noble has left the Library. Donna Noble has been saved..."
Series 5 - The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below, The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang
The Eleventh Hour
Kids, see that crack in your wall? It's got a murderous shapeshifting alien behind it which looks like the hybrid of a moray eel and xenomorph. And if you look into the crack there is a giant eye that will look back at you.
One night that murderous alien made his way through the crack and into your home. Where it went into hiding, without you knowing, for over ten years.
That crack will eat your Mum and Dad and it's getting bigger .
Moffat got the idea after seeing a crack in his son's bedroom wall. Yeah. That's right. He tailor-designed nightmare fuel for his own child! note According to the commentary for the episode, his son doesn't find the crack itself terribly frightening. Nonetheless, he bravely 'rolled up [his] sleeves and called a man to fill in the crack.'
Everything about Prisoner Zero. It's looks scary enough without the Paranoia Fuel linked to it. Anyone you know go into a coma recently? Prisoner Zero might be masquerading as them. In fact, it could be watching you...right now...as you look at this page...and you won't even notice. Thanks to Perception Filters, there could be many horrible things you aren't noticing ...
"Oh, I'm getting it wrong again, aren't I? So...many...mouths."
The teeth of the transformed people are hugely creepy.
The mixed up voices were creepier for some, especially when the little girl uses the woman's voice or the man barking instead of the dog, diving headfirst into the Uncanny Valley .
The woman using the girl's voice to taunt the Doctor about the cracks in the Universe, then switching back to the correct voice, as if it did that on purpose. "The Doctor in the TARDIS doesn't know. Doesn't know~ Doesn't know~" It's quite possible Prisoner Zero does know.
There might also be hidden rooms in your house which you can't notice and which contain evil shapeshifting monsters. If you just look in the corner of your eye...
The sequence where Amy is going into Prisoner Zero's room, and the Doctor — the Doctor! — is absolutely terrified, screaming for her to turn back, and she just keeps going ... "Walking down a hallway towards a door that shouldn't be there while someone screams not to open it? Hey, who needs sleep?"
Prisoner Zero was in that room for 12 years and had forged a mental link with Amy strong enough to knock her out by the time she was an adult. What would having an alien creature who had done something so awful that it's guards are willing to destroy a planet to stop it do to the mind of a little girl as she grew up? Some fans have even pointed out Amy shows signs of mental illness. From that perspective, she really needed those psychologists.
The Atraxi were willing to destroy an entire planet just to get rid of him. Just what the hell did Prisoner Zero do for this extreme action?!
The Doctor does make a fairly simple case that there must have been a less "extreme" method, since one would assume there must be a method for dealing with major convicts on planets that you can't just torch. In the process reminds us why he's so greatly feared as to get his own Pandorica.
The picture taken by the Hubble Space telescope a few years ago. [4]
The Beast Below
" It died ."
Rory gets about as close to And I Must Scream as you can get while still fully mobile, standing guard over Amy for almost 2000 years, and not even being able to sleep through any of it. Of course, the fact that he takes this on willingly (and it's even his idea in the first place) also means it's a killer Crowning Moment of Awesome , Crowning Moment of Heartwarming , and Tearjerker as well.
Series 6 - The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon, A Good Man Goes to War/Let's Kill Hitler, The Wedding of River Song
Series 6 gets kick-started with the Silence—a race of aliens where you turn to run, and instantly forget there's anything there to run from.
"Run, get out of this room, right now!" A reminder from Amy to herself... only a moment earlier.
Even scarier is when you realize that the woman had said that the lights had never worked right. Either the lights in that bathroom really did go on the fritz, or she had been around The Silence using their powers before.
They also look like a cross between Slender Man , the Gentlemen from Buffy , and Edvard Munch's "The Scream." Not quite seeing the "Scream" inspiration? Wait 'til it opens its mouth...
And then it absorbs all the local electricity to blast you into... mostly unrecognizable bits.
To add to the Slender Man resemblence, River Song's reaction to a pair of them? "I see you."
That's not all. The Silence apparently influenced humans subconsciously, including the artist of the Scream. That would mean they influenced us into MAKING SLENDER MAN.
The Slender Man connection gets even better if you think about it. Part of Slendy's lore is that to think/talk/spread information about Slender Man results in you becoming a target of the Slender Man. In other words, if you draw too much attention to the Expy of the Silence, the REAL Silence step in and, well, silence you.
To add even more fuel to the Nightmare fire; the manic scribblings on the orphanage wall are reminiscent of Slender Notes "LEAVE ME ALONE", especially to what Kate did in the sequel .
It keeps getting worse - they HANG. FROM THE CEILING. IN PACKS.
Also consider what we find out in Day of the Moon: the Silence have been subtly influencing humanity and determining the course of every action we take for the entirety of human history. Humanity are slaves and we don't even know it.
How many Silence have you killed? Your home could be filled with their corpses.
You know how while walking you will occasionally trip over something that you can't see, and you just chalk it up to tripping over your feet? Wrong...
Ever walk into a room, and immediately forget why you went in there in the first place...?
Ever wake up in the morning much more tired than when you went to bed? Maybe with some inexplicable aches and pains? Consider that your late-night trip to the fridge or the bathroom was far more "eventful" than you'll ever remember.
More fun thoughts. There's absolutely nothing saying that the Silence can't fight back. They may not be armed to begin with, but still all they have to do is get out of your line of sight and then try to nail you from behind some way. And who's to say they don't later choose to arm themselves? If you catch one of the Silence stealing something of yours and they get out of your sight, do you assume you misplaced it or forget that you owned it in the first place?
How many missing person cases will forever remain unsolved, or how many murder cases will forever be blamed on the wrong person, because the culprit isn't human and isn't possible to catch?
Fridge Horror : Consider that the threat of the Silence is removed - we think - because the Doctor transmits a psychic message to humanity to kill the Silence on sight. Now consider the fact that perception filters exist in the Doctor Who universe. What's to stop them from putting on perception filters and doing exactly what they did before? For all we know, we'd still forget them even if they didn't take their current form. And how do you even fight an enemy that you don't know how to recognise?
"You should kill us all on sight!", repeated over and over. Having that simply imprinted in your mind, even if it's the best option... And you don't even know it.
Whenever someone looked at his/her arm and saw marks. Then looked back and saw more. Or when Amy looked in the window and saw her face covered with marks. To realize that you've just seen the Silence and yet to have your memory telling you you didn't, that's just creepy on a whole new level.
Made creepier when you notice that Rory is covered in twice as many tally marks as the other characters, implying that he's either been very unlucky or the Silence have taken particular interest in him.
Also, when the recording/transmitting device in someone's hand starts flashing, it means they had an encounter. And then we're only shown events from their subjective standpoint, and the device starts flashing again, and more and more marks appear....
How can you be sure there isn't one behind you right now? You can look, but you'll instantly forget as soon as you look away...
Dr Renfrew, the insane children's home director. And the fact that the Silence have memory wiped him so many times there's just nothing left ... His mannerisms, voice patterns and vague stare just make it worse. The fact he has literally covered the walls with variations of "LEAVE ME ALONE!" speak of the terror he's going through.
The children's home itself! An Abandoned Hospital / Orphanage of Fear / Room Full of Crazy hat trick, for God's sake! It's full of writings. There is only one person who could've written it, since it's also written on his hand. AND HE CALMLY WIPES IT AWAY:
Amy Pond: "It's the kids, yeah? They did that?"
Dr Renfrew: "Yes, the children! It must be. Yes."
It was nice of him to try to warn people away, despite his near-total-mental-collapse state. And also to try to clean it up. So that people wouldn't be warned...
River grew up in this hellhole! With only him and Kovarian for human contact and dozens of Silence "programming" her, messing with her Memory to the point that she hardly remembers her early life to the point that she didn't recognize Kovarian, or know why she was trying to kill the future love of her life, encased in an astronaut suit filled to the brim with weaponry that barred her from any touch or basic human things like eating. Her first encounter with her mother, whom she only knew from pictures, consisted of said mother pointing a gun at her, willing to shoot her dead for a murder she hadn't committed yet. After she escaped from her horrible situation, she had to fend for herself on the street and contracted a terminal illness. She survived it by regenerating, but at the cost of being stuck on the street... as a toddler. And in spite of how warped all of this left River, she still remained somewhat human with the... capacity for suffering this entails. She tracked down her parents, like any lost child. She was twice their age when she met them, but she could never tell them she's their daughter lest she cause a paradox that prevents her conception. We have this poor woman who knows that she will probably kill the love of her life and have to live with the fact that she killed him every time she meets him, who knows that one day, she's going to meet the person her life revolves around, and he won't have a clue who she is. And then Kovarian and the Silence come for her.
"This isn't an invasion, this is their empire" They've been here for centuries and no one has noticed.
The scenes where the camera barely flickers and suddenly someone's palm is blinking. Or worse, their face and arms are covered in marks, and they can't remember why.
Amy finds a whole bunch of Silence sleeping batlike on the ceiling... and one of them starts moving.
As Steven Moffat said in a 'Confidential' episode, his inspiration for that aspect of the Silence came from him pondering just how much he had forgotten in the past year. Think about that, can you account for every single second of your life in the past year?
What if we assume the average human could theoretically speaking remember every single second ... and we don't because of the Silence.
He full-on admitted he wanted to make "the scariest Doctor Who monster". He created the Weeping Angels. And he's Steven freaking Moffat.
Consider the various times we feel sick or nauseous, without explanation. We assume it's something we ate, but what if you'd just seen a monster so terrifying it caused you to be physically sick and then just...forgot?
These guys are triply scary - not only the forgetting thing, but they can also mind-control you and influence your behaviour - and you'd forget that happened too! - and, to top it all off, blow you up with lightning too. Ouch.
Oh, man, the scenes in the tunnels. Sleep well, children of Britain!
Somebody killed the Doctor in "The Impossible Astronaut". And by killed, it doesn't mean a regeneration. It means actual death .
And now in " A Good Man Goes To War " we have the Doctor. No, seriously. Through the entirety of Nu Who we've seen the Doctor's tendancies. With Ten's A God Am I moments, this was taken a step further. Eleven is full-on warned that he is on the edge of good & evil. After telling the Doctor that it is he who has influenced Earth's usage of the word 'Doctor' as someone who saves and heals and fixes, River hits him with a fact of the language of a recently-dead ally who was only near the battle in the first place to meet him, and asks him how far his name will be twisted.
River Song: For them, 'Doctor' is the word for 'great warrior'.
He's a scary man. Think back to "The Impossible Astronaut": "Don't play games with me. Don't ever, ever think you're capable of that". There's just something about the slightly contemptuous way he delivers that line that makes you wonder what he really thinks of humans...
Also the fact that Rory and Amy's baby has been taken to be made into a weapon and she happens to be River Song who just happens to have admitted in the past that she has killed the best man she ever knew and also was the girl in the astronaut suit that was then worn by her when she killed the Doctor permanently in "The Impossible Astronaut". And the Doctor completely ignores this!
When it turns out that Melody is a flesh avatar and dissolves. Doubles as a massive Tear Jerker .
Imagine that you thought your child was lost, taken away from you, that you would have to fight and search and tear the world apart to find her. But you're wrong, she's right there, in your arms, safe; nothing could separate you again. And then she explodes in your arms, leaving only a sloppy sticky splatter of liquid Flesh thing behind.
When he understood the falling of the Silence.
There's the episode itself. A creepy-ass catacomb full of living, carnivorous skulls that eat someone.
While a Crowning Moment of Awesome too, Amy killing Madam Kovarian with "She didn't get it all from you, sweetie." was also genuinely creepy.
When the agents of the Silence broke out of their containers and electrocuted most of Area 52. Then they taunt Rory about how he can't stop dying, just for the lols .
Rory's been killed, erased from existence, reincarnated as a Nestene plastic consciousness, lived for 2000 years as a plastic warrior, then technically deleted and recreated again when the universe rebooted. Who knows HOW his mind actually works now? It's entirely possible he had his full memory in the altered universe, and knew exactly what they were talking about.
The Doctor's confrontation with the crippled Supreme Dalek is another one that walks the line between awesome and terrifying. Sure it's bad-ass as hell, but the Doctor's a little too enthusiastic about pointing out that we're watching a creature who's "dying [...] a long way from home in terrible pain" getting mind-raped by its culture's equivalent of the devil because of a conflict it had nothing to do with.
The line might be equally applicable to the Doctor. He's a long way from home, he's always pained, and he's about to die. Then he sees the devil itself - for him, a Dalek.
Series 7 - Asylum of the Daleks, The Bells of Saint John, The Name of the Doctor
Asylum of the Daleks
To open off the series, and to add yet another terrifying monster to his long, long, long list of terrifying monsters, Steven Moffat introduces the one thing no one saw coming: Dalek Zombies. Humans - living and dead - infected by Dalek nanogenes that make them grow Dalek eyepieces out their foreheads, and gunarms out of their hands, and slowly transform them into looking more and more like Daleks, Empty Child style.
Imagine you're talking to someone. Then, the person mentions they have died, and they didn't remember dying.
That ghastly crack as the eyepiece rips its way through your goddamn skull.
The Daleks can rewrite their zombies' minds, make them forget what they are, until they're needed. Is your skin a bit too cold...?
The asylum itself is terrifying, being a dark labyrinth full of the seemingly lifeless shells of countless insane Daleks from different points in time, all silent and apparently all dead. Until someone makes a noise. It is also protected by a planet wide field of the aforementioned nanogenes, which transform any intruders into more Dalek zombies.
The "intensive care unit", housing the even more insane Daleks who survived the Doctor during the Classic Series , who despite being gunless and only capable of slowly shambling towards their target, manage to corner the Doctor and almost rip him apart with their bare plungers. Goddamn it Moffat, you put Dalek Zombies and Zombie Daleks in the same damn episode.
Then consider what the intensive care unit's existence means: fighting the Doctor can make a Dalek too psychotic for other Daleks. Going up against the Doctor means a very good chance of death or madness. The Daleks have very good reason to see the Doctor as an Eldritch Abomination .
There's the idea that if they want to badly enough, the Daleks can not just turn you into a zombie, they can make you into one of them. It's so traumatic, insanity is an escape.
Oswin's Madness Mantra in the flashbacks — "I am not a Dalek, I am not a Dalek..." — morphing into the classic Dalek voice until it becomes "I AM A DALEK! I AM A DALEK!..."
Then, turning that round, "EX-TER-MI-NATE!" switches from the classic Dalek voice to seeing and hearing human!Oswin saying it, which makes it so much worse.
He was right when he said he made the Daleks terrifying again. The fact that you've never heard the Doctor this terrified of the Daleks in a long time (and particularly this Doctor, who's never been this visibly afraid during his entire run) is the icing on the cake with a cherry on top. The sight of the Doctor pressed against the door, begging Oswin to open it, before simply screaming and almost sobbing with sheer terror is enough to send anyone behind the sofa.
A non-Dalek related bit of fuel that requires a bit of imagination, though the implication is powerful enough and so horrifying you don't want to imagine: Amy is rendered infertile because of something Madam Kovarian and the Silence did to her when she was held captive in Demon's Run. What the hell Moffat!
You'll never hear the word eggs the same way again.
The Bells of Saint John
After watching this episode, you're never going to want to use WiFi again. Otherwise the Great Intelligence just might make you a living puppet, completely unaware of what you're doing. He might even decide that you'd make a tasty snack and suck your soul right out of your body.
Miss Kizlet: Nobody loves cattle like Burger King.
The 'living puppets' can be made more paranoid . Along with the 'Obedience' and 'IQ' sliders, there's a 'Paranoia' one. Kizlet used it on Mahler when he wouldn't obey her, causing him to freak out while she gave a chilling little smile.
Miss Kizlet's final fate is horrifying twice over. One, it means the Great Intelligence kidnapped a child to raise - and reprogram - to do his bidding. Two, she's been left a little girl thrown god knows how many decades into the future, into an familiar body and an unfamiliar world, wondering where her parents are.
The Great Intelligence is still out there, still looking for minds to devour en masse and this is a that fact the Doctor is utterly unaware of. Remember also that in the expanded universe, the Great Intelligence is a full-on member of the Cthulhu Mythos .
It's been confirmed that one of the names of the Great Intelligence is Yog Sothoth. Let that sink in for a bit.
They've somehow, impossibly, managed to top all of the above examples with "The Name of the Doctor." To start with, we have the inverse of the Silence, the Whispermen, men with only mouths. The Great Intelligence can possess them at will. Then, Jenny is killed by one of them with only a moment's notice. Then the Doctor takes Clara to Trenzalore, which he states is the one place he must never EVER go: his grave. The monument to his grave is the TARDIS, which has grown to insane heights. The sky above it is red, and the windows are cracked in places.
Another section of this episode is seeing the inside of the destroyed TARDIS. It's empty, dark, and covered with old vines. The control panel is gone, and there's just a single beam of light in the middle of the room. It's an intensely creepy place, where every moment of the Doctor's life is held.
The Great Intelligence's plan. He enters the Doctor's timestream and pretty much chooses to rewrite the ENTIRE SHOW. Every victory is reversed, every moment made pain, the entirety of the Doctor's life is made to vanish. Just the fact somebody could even do that at all is horrifying...
Some of the things that could have been done? The Time War going on FOREVER, Sutekh escaping and murdering everything in the universe, everyone in the parallel world converted into Cybermen, the Daleks completely destroying London in their civil war, the Valeyard murdering the Doctor, the Master wiping out everyone or turning them into himself, the Angels taking Manhatten completely, the Snowmen consuming London, Max Capricorn crashing the Titanic into Earth with the ship filled with the corpses of all the staff and passengers, Jamie and Zoe trapped forever within a book, everybody dying in the events of Inferno, the Autons killing everyone with plastic daffodils or shooting everyone they see, the Daemons taking over the world, the Wirrn converting every person on the Ark, the Sandminers killing every crewmember, everything horrible that happened in Turn Left occurring, etc...
The most terrifying thing about the episode has to be the sheer Fridge Horror that strikes viewers at the end. Just what the HELL did The Forgotten Doctor do to have been utterly disowned and despised by every other incarnation of the Doctor?
Bearing in mind that 10 and 11 both faced and accepted their genocidal role in ending the Time War, 4 allowed the Daleks to live when he could have smothered them in the proverbial crib, 3 let an entire alternate Earth die in the hope he could save the "prime" Earth, and 7's cruel manipulation of friends and enemies to catastrophic ends from the destruction of Skaro to the seeming annihilation of the Cybermen, to his "game" with Fenric, whatever the hell the Forgotten Doctor did, it must have been much, much worse than anything we have seen the Doctor do or been told he had done.
It's revealed in The Day of the Doctor that the War Doctor was responsible for annihilating Gallifrey completely using their most powerful WMD. Or so it seemed.
50th Anniversary - The Night of the Doctor, The Day of the Doctor
The fact that the Time War ending as it did is not because the Doctor went mad, oh no, it's because the Eighth gave up on himself and the universe, and willingly and intentionally regenerated into The Warrior, who went on to commit the atrocities Nine, Ten and Eleven have been suffering through the guilt of since. Doubles in full as a Tearjerker . This is, however, mitigated at least a bit by the events of the episode proper, which reveal that the War Doctor did not do what Nine, Ten, and Eleven thought he did.
When Cass hears that the Doctor is a Time Lord, she absolutely refuses to go with him, says bitterly that there's no longer any difference between his people and the Daleks, seals herself off from him and quite literally dies rather than be rescued by him. Forget for a moment what The Warrior did; what did the Time Lords do?
Use every weapon stored in the Omega Vaults, is what! Every weapon except the Moment, which was too dangerous to use because of its conscience.
In "Day of the Doctor" we finally see the last day of the Time War and the Fall of Arcadia and it is simultaneously awesome, tearjerking, and terrifying. Remember all those scenes from "Parting of the Ways", "Doomsday" and "The Stolen Earth" with thousands of daleks swarming from the sky to slaughter everyone on Earth? Yeah... multiply the number of daleks by a billion, take the scenes of murder and destruction up to 11, and finally add all those moments from the Classic series that made the Daleks terrifying, and you have the last day of the Time War. Long story short the Daleks have finally launched their full scale invasion of Gallifrey and have reduced Gallifrey's second city Arcadia to ashes from orbital fire while Dalek death squads swarm the burning ruins butchering civilians and fleeing soldiers en masse.
Series 8 - Deep Breath, Listen, Dark Water/Death in Heaven
Capaldi's intense glare being in the opening titles.
The Clockwork Droids are Uncanny Valley incarnate, from their eerie, stilted motions, pale, lifeless complexions of unliving, stolen flesh, the fact they don't breathe, can effortlessly weed out a real human by their inhaling and exhaling, and their emotionless gazes are creepy, to say the least. The stuttering articulations of the Half-Face Man and the incomplete part of his face are especially unsettling to look at.
The scene in the restaurant when the Doctor and Clara realize all of the diners around them are just 'pretending' to eat in a slow and mechanical fashion. Then, when the duo try to get up, the clockwork diners stand up and approach them silently; whenever they try to take a step towards the exit, the clockwork diners take another step closer, then reverse back to their seats and resume 'eating' the instant the Doctor and Clara sit down again.
Even worse if you have a heavy fear of robots. For example this troper gets freaked out by toy robotic dogs, talking Teddy Ruxpin dolls and furbies, so this was probably much more disturbing than for most viewers.
It's heavily implied the Clockwork Droids have been harvesting children.
And this time, the Clockwork Droids haven't just been repairing their ship, they've been repairing themselves. Essentially, they are like the Droids from "The Girl in the Fireplace", but with flesh on them.
When Clara and the Doctor are poking around the underground spaceship and the Half-Face Man is just sitting there in his command chair... every fiber of your being just knows he's about to wake up and they need to GET OUT.
Clara trying to hold her breath.
The death of the dinosaur- it gets set ablaze and graphically burns to a crisp. Worse, the Doctor can understand its shrieks of pain.
The S.S. Marie Antoinette gets airborne because of a hot air balloon made of human skin! Or as the Half-Face Man so eloquently puts it, "Made of you."
Once again, the Doctor reminds us that being a time lord does not always equate to a happy-go-lucky superhero role model.
The Doctor: By the way, you realize one of us is lying about our basic programming, right?
Half-Face Man: (frightened) Yes...
It never shows us whether it was the Doctor or Half-Face Man who was lying. He could have been more human than we thought. He may have had enough emotions to comprehend slightly what he was doing to all the people he killed for their organs.
From the behind the scenes special: The FX team showing off the Half-Face Man's horrifyingly realistic artificial head. Then they start moving the eyeballs around using a remote control. *shudder*
"Listen" is an entire episode built on a foundation of Paranoia Fuel and Nothing Is Scarier . Maybe when you're alone in the dark and you start talking to yourself, you're not really alone. Maybe there's a species of creature whose evolutionary path made them such perfect hiders that you would never even know they were there. And maybe that dream you had where you wake up in your bed and you're absolutely certain someone or something is underneath isn't quite as far-fetched as you tell yourself. And this is far scarier because it's entirely possible that these creatures don't exist... but we never find out for sure.
The scene where someone, or something, is under the sheets in Rupert Pink's room. Whoever/whatever it is just sits there, not moving and not responding to anyone's questions. Then the Doctor shows up and tells everyone to look away, giving it a chance to leave. Whoever/whatever is under the sheets walks up behind them and the Doctor cautions everyone to not look, no matter what. Then it removes the sheet and leaves. And, while it's never said one way or the other whether whatever was under the sheet was human or not, the brief glimpse of it's face we got certainly didn't look human.
Of course, the whole episode is conjecture. The brief glimpse we got could have been of a young boy's blond hairstyle.
Basically, like the Vashta Nerada and the Silence, the whole episode plays with the ideas of the primal fears of the dark and that you're not really alone when you think you are.
This moment in Danny's room before the Doctor showed up:
Clara: See? Nothing under the bed, except us.
( the bedsprings suddenly sink down )
The very end of the universe. This one's even further gone than "Utopia". There is literally nothing left at the end of its lifespan to comfort someone who gets stuck there... no sound, no life, and no hope. Except for one planet- the last planet to exist in the universe- the reverse of Planet One, the first planet. And the belief that something could lurk in the dark.
The Doctor's mention of Clara having three mirrors. Think it's just an off-hand joke. Wrong! It points out Clara's insecurities as oh-so-subtle foreshadowing of her breakdown at losing Danny in the series finale, when she tries to strand the Doctor next to a volcano (which is incidentally the single most terrifying thing the show has done ever.) Seriously, Moff can turn just about anything into a horror show.
The Dead can feel the pain of their physical bodies. It's made all the more horrific when we hear the screams of someone who's "Left their body to science."
The souls of the dead are tricked into willingly deleting their emotions, so that they can be downloaded into waiting Cyberman bodies.
Missy kills a man who's been working for her, even as he's pleading for his life. He doesn't say "Please don't kill me." It's "Please don't murder me!" She's not even dissatisfied with his work! She just doesn't have a purpose for him anymore. Then she mock cries, even as the tanks behind her are revealing their unholy contents.
Clara. It starts from the scene with her grandmother when she calls Danny's death "boring" and she's owed better, and despite it being an hallucination, everything on the volcano rock. Her dark side being built up over the season doesn't make her breaking point less terrifying; it makes it worse. It looks like they're already in hell and enaging in some No Exit style torment.
"Death in Heaven": Even if it might have been faked by Missy, the three words in 3W are horrifying, especially if you've recently lost a loved one: Don't cremate me.
The realization that even former companions who've been buried on Earth are probably clanking around as Cybermen now. Amy and Rory, hundreds of Clara-duplicates, the Brigadier...
It confirms and expands The Nothing After Death alluded to in Torchwood , with the added bonus of also feeling everything that happens to your body afterwards. So your only two choices after death are nothing for eternity (not even oblivion, just conscious blackness forever while in pain until your body rots away entirely) or entering "Heaven" and becoming a Cyberman slave with no emotions or free will.
Series 9 — The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Familiar, Heaven Sent/Hell Bent
The cliffhanger: It appears that the Twelfth Doctor is going to murder the helpless young Davros - whom he once abandoned mid-rescue upon realizing who he would grow up to be, allowing for all of the evil of the Daleks to come afterward (itself a nightmare fuel proposition) - after the villain's minions destroy Clara, Missy, and even the TARDIS in the present. Never mind that the whole situation is a clear case of Like You Would Really Do It for everyone involved, being the first episode of the series; the very idea that the Doctor, a Friend to All Children who risked all his lives to make sure billions of children wouldn't burn to death in the Time War and was willing to die to atone for abandoning Davros, could be driven to the Despair Event Horizon , that he at last Would Hurt a Child and create a paradox that would rip the universe apart, is heartbreaking and horrifying.
Colony Sarff is a Snake Person , meaning a person literally made from snakes. The way his face begins to writhe and then slither apart is extremely unsettling. It is implied that he is one of the mutants that Davros made.
The Hand-Mines. Imagine running along, and then suddenly something grabs your ankle. You look down and there's this hand coming out of the ground. Then it pulls you under.
Sealed up inside a vacated Dalek travel machine, Clara tries desperately to tell the Doctor it's her, but the chassis's mind-machine interface translates all her attempts to claim she's Clara or a friend into Dalek boasts and threats. Missy (who put her in there) urges the Doctor to shoot "the Dalek that killed Clara".
Daleks are designed to survive no matter what, but they're not immune to the aging process. So they stay alive for untold centuries even after their flesh decays into slime, and the younger Daleks have dumped their oozing, still-conscious remnants down Skaro's sewers.
The way Davros describes the Daleks' need for Clara to run before they will attempt to exterminate her.
Davros "See how they play with her. See how they toy. They want her to run. They NEED her to run. Do you feel their need, Doctor? Their blood is screaming, 'Kill! Kill! Kill!'. Hunter and prey held in the ecstasy of crisis. Is this not life at its purest?"
The Veil from "Heaven Sent" is something that terrifies even the Doctor. Heavily implied to be a child's fairy tale from his youth on Gallifrey, it still has the power to scare the crap out of him all these centuries later. And not without cause. The Veil is a Determinator, always moving at a constant pace, always coming for him. If he stops for too long, if he tarries just a little more than he should, or sleeps a little more than he should (and at max he gets a mere 82 minutes to do so), it will catch him. And it can kill with a touch. Or in the case of a Time Lord, mortally wound them to the point that Regeneration is no longer an option for them. The only heralds to its arrival are t.v. monitors that show it's viewpoint, and the buzzing of flies.
The final line: "The hybrid is ME!" Ambiguous in its meaning, as it could be either The Doctor himself, or Ashildr, who has taken to calling herself "Me." Either would be a horrifying possibility in terms of what they might do, given that The Doctor is now utterly furious with his own people for Clara's death, and Ashildr is very nearly unkillable!
Billions of years repeating the same cycle of fear, pain, and death, over, and over, and over again. Can you think of a better analogy of Hell?
The Doctor tells us that Time Lords prefer to die in the company of their own. Why? Because apparently, the whole race is hard to kill, and even when Regeneration is no longer an option, they carry on for days after. Because of that, they prefer to die with their own kind around so that they're not buried too early. Wonder how many Time Lords have died too far from home and were put in the ground before they'd finally kicked the bucket.
Which puts a whole new spin on how it took Seven's inert body so long to regenerate into Eight during the TV movie. The hospital staff may have put him into the morgue drawer while he wasn't entirely dead yet.
The Matrix takes intruders and makes them part of it's defenses. The example we get? A Dalek begging for death.
Dalek: EX-TER-MI-NATE ME.
If you look close, you'll see liquid coming from the Dalek's eyestalk. The Dalek is crying. A creature stripped of all emotions save hatred, driven to tears of despair as it begs for death. How much pain and agony is it in? And consider its pleas for death. Remember, the Machine Mind translates what a Dalek is actually saying into limited phrases. What we hear as "Exterminate me!" could be the Dalek inside screaming something akin to "Please, kill me! I can't live like this! Please end my suffering!"
The Doctor himself in the episode, going on a complete Sanity Slippage , especially when He steals another TARDIS and takes Clara with him despite it probably destroying all of time and space.
Clara: I don't trust you when you're shouting..
And he's becoming not unlike Rassilon while doing that...
Who's to say the exiled Rassilon and Time Lord High Council won't attempt to take revenge on the Doctor in the future?
And that's exactly what has happened in "Supremacy of the Cybermen"! Except it's only Rassilon.
Christmas Specials - A Christmas Carol; The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe; The Snowmen; The Time of the Doctor; Last Christmas
According to Moffat, the flying shark in "A Christmas Carol" is inspired by his own childhood nightmare that sharks would be able to leave the sea and eat him, possibly as a result of evolution.
Also in that episode, we have the Face Spider, a creature that the Doctor claims lives on the back of wardrobes. Or in the mattress. ( Very funny, Moffat .) So, is it called that because it has a face, or because it likes to hang about on faces? Or both?
is fifty seconds of condensed horror.
Don't talk to them. They're silly...
The Ice Governess. Formed from the imprint of Captain Latimer's previous governess, who had drowned in a pond that had promptly frozen over (in itself, a horrifying fate), the Ice Governess initially behaves in the same strict manner as the governess had in life... only with the intention to EAT THE CHILDREN ALIVE. After initially being destroyed by the Doctor, it reforms, unmeltable and now shouting the catchphrases of Mr. Punch. It chases the Doctor and Clara up the staircase to the TARDIS and drags Clara to her death over the edge of the cloud.
Matt Smith 's face appearing in the opening credits.
If you thought the Silence were terrifying, or if you thought the Dalek roboform was horrifying, then allow us to present you with the nightmarish combined version of the two in "The Time of the Doctor".
The Last Christmas
A bit of Fridge Horror sets in regarding "Death in Heaven"'s stinger that leads into "Last Christmas". The Doctor was attacked by a Dream Crab out of nowhere and woke up thinking he was in the TARDIS. Even eerier, when he really freed himself from the crab, he was in a landscape similar to the dream-like volcano where he let Clara think she was destroying his TARDIS keys.
The way the Dream Crabs die. If you overcome them, they dissolve into dust. You might wake up to a pile of guts and ashes on the pillow next to you and not remember what the heck it was, or suddenly find a big clod of gnarly-looking dirt on the floor. Worse, you could witness the creature die and realise you've been preyed on by a monster, but if you were attacked without being witnessed by anyone else, no one would believe you.
The Kantrofarri feed similar to the Plasmavore's way of sucking blood out through a straw. Except they pry the skull loose from the brain by about half an inch and begin slowly breaking down your grey matter. You should be in extreme pain, but instead you are put in a dreamlike state and can barely feel a dull ache in your right temple that either grows or recedes depending on whether or not you are slipping in or out of the dream.
Every time the Doctor and company think they've beaten the Dream Crabs, only to find a message telling them that they are dying. Which means that they have fallen victim to a dream within a dream, over and over again.
If you are killed by the Kantrofarri, you face the prospect of waking up dead .
The Dream Crabs are very much like Facehuggers . Mix that with the thought of having a virtual reality helmet stuck to your head and you can't even sense it, save for a small pain in your head, nor can you do anything to remove it physically without someone else prying it off.
While she's dreaming, Clara being surrounded by the Doctor's chalkboard bearing the warning message, "DYING", multiplied a dozen times over. And the accompanying background sound coalescing into a very eerie utterance of DYING!, spoken so inhumanly it's almost like the Crab on her face is hissing its triumph.
the Eleventh Doctor once spoke of "face spiders" in A Christmas Carol that can lurk behind cupboards and in beds, implying they have something to do with dreams. Here, we see what very much look like face spiders in the form of the Kantrofarri A.K.A. Dream Crabs, and they literally latch onto your face while you dream. One wonders if Eleven meant these guys when he was talking to a young Kazran Sardick.
Spin-offs
The Sarah Jane Adventures
Monsters
We've mentioned many of the Daleks' acts, but what about the Daleks themselves? They are covered in near invincible armor (indeed, are often mistaken for being robots), and possess a weapon capable of killing ANYTHING in one hit and destroying most barriers. They fly, are strictly organized, have massive numbers, AND SEEK ONLY THE DESTRUCTION OF EVERY OTHER LIVING THING IN EXISTENCE. Many people forget that Daleks almost never fail when the Doctor is not present. The Daleks are known throughout time and space as the most horrible thing in existence. They are invincible, absurdly powerful, and omnicidal. Could you sleep well knowing that something that was capable of destroying everything was around?
It really says a lot about the sheer horror the Daleks command, in that they look like giant pepper shakers with toilet plunger arms, which should make them Narm of the highest caliber. And yet... they still manage to be completely terrifying.
By extension, Davros himself is a cripple who can do little more than talk and move his right hand. Yet he has a genius appreciated even by the Doctor (who is not one inclined to compliment anyone's intelligence without mentioning his own), and when asked whether he would release a virus capable of consuming all life in the universe, gleefully proclaimed that he would do it. The idea of a single life-form being the sole and single thing in existence was fascinating and the power to set that virus free was the power of gods. As Davros goes on, he loses more and more of his humanoid form, going from a man in a wheelchair to just his head. Later he appears to reacquire a body, but rips it apart to provide raw material for a new army of Daleks. Every bit as unreasoningly evil as his creations, Davros also possesses the intellect to bring his plans to fruition. Davros wants nothing more than to create the ultimate life-form, and then prove it by destroying all others.
Here's some lovely Fridge Horror for you. Dalek society... well, there isn't much of it. They don't waste time on art or cultural pursuits, they don't trade with other races, they don't eat, they don't sleep, they don't have friends, they don't have families, they don't do any of the thousand little things that humans occupy their time with. So, what do they do with all that time? They plot to FUCKING KILL YOU. Every second of every day, the entire Dalek Empire is focused on killing everything in the universe that isn't Dalek. Think about that level of relentless, psychotic hatred for a minute, and you realize that the fact that the omnicidal little bastards haven't yet swarmed over the entire Whoniverse and crushed everything out of existence through sheer relentlessness is an absolute miracle.
There is absolutely nothing rational about what they want. And they want it anyway.
The true horror of the Daleks comes in this little gem from Doomsday:
"Technology using the one thing a Dalek can't do—touch. Sealed inside your casing. Not feeling anything... ever. From birth to death, locked in a cold metal cage. Completely alone. And that explains your voice! No wonder you scream. "
Daleks turn out to have a sense of aesthetics... as twisted and evil as their minds. The only thing they find beautiful is pure hatred.
The Daleks and the Emperor that appear in Series 1 are very unnervingly different. They're stated to be insane (and have a religion, which is just as twisted as you'd expect for Daleks); they loathe themselves due to having been created from human material, and they take their time in killing people on the Game Station. The Emperor in particular has A God Am I delusions and taunts the Doctor with extraordinary perceptiveness for a Dalek.
How the hell do overgrown tin cans scare the crap out of everyone on a daily basis? One word: EXTERMINATE.
The Valeyard is pretty terrifying. He's the utter dark side of a character we have followed and loved for years. He has all the intelligence, the drive and knowledge of the Doctor. But none of the morals. NONE. He is manipulative, nasty as hell and will kill you with a second thought. If you've ever listened to "He Jests at Scars" we actually see what would have happened if the Valeyard had won in "The Trial of a Time Lord". Without spoiling too much: Let's just say that there is a damn good reason why the Master did NOT want him around. He's THAT bad. What makes it worse is that, it is pretty much hinted at that the Time Lord Victorious and the Dream Lord from Amy's Choice are a sort of Proto-Valeyard. Think about that.
Let us reiterate: the Master was afraid of the Valeyard. What does it say about the Doctor when a madman is afraid of his dark side?
The Cybermen (particularly in their original form) are people who have had organs ripped out and replaced with machines, metal welded onto their flesh and then covered in bandages. How can people overlook this concept as being mind numbingly terrifying?
The Angels don't move when you see them. They don't move on-screen, even when the characters aren't looking. They can see you. They can affect you.
"The Image of an Angel becomes an Angel". The real-life book Doctor Who: The Ultimate Monster Guide has photos of angels, some with their faces uncovered. You'll be repeating the MST3K Mantra for a completely different reason than usual.
After all those ways of killing you, you'd think it couldn't get worse . Sometimes they get absolutely sadistic and like to fuck with you before they kill you. Making you count down to your own demise, making you believe you're turning to stone, and even screwming with your friends. By this point you're better off letting them kill you normally.
Weeping Angels are unkillable, but they can turn you into one of them if you look into their eyes long enough, in other words they are a forever growing invincible army. (Though seeing as the human race survived to the end of the universe, it seems this was never an issue) Also, did you ever wonder why that planet had so many of them? One can easily come to the conclusion the entire civilization was Angel-ified.
Doctor Who Live makes all the monsters even worse, seeing as its gimmick is letting them wander among the stage and audience. The Weeping Angel segment is one of the worst; two Angels on the stage, killing actors dressed as investigating policemen, with the image of one on the massive screen behind them. All set to the most soothing music of the night. It can be seen here.
"Sleep No More". Once again, Doctor Who makes the mundane utterly terryfing: that stuff you wipe off your eyelid when you wake up? It only takes a simple electrical pulse to bring it to life. Then it consumes you until there's nothing left but sleep dust. And then in the end the Mad Scientist responsible turns out to be nothing but dust. He's put the pulse that mutates the sleep dust into the episode. The Reveal is terrifying even without that: Eye Scream or an inversion of Eyes Do Not Belong There and Voice of the Legion combined.
The Doctor
The Doctor himself. Let's see, near godlike control over time and space + willingly committing genocide + deciding that since he's the last Time Lord, he makes the rules = one nightmarish alien. No wonder the Daleks consider him a demon.
The Cult of Skaro screamed (or would if they had the ability to) in Doomsday when Rose identified the man on the video screen as the Doctor. They weren't scared of 5 million Cybermen but this ONE "doctor" has ruined a lot of their plans and destroyed so many of them, they know to be scared. EVERY time the Daleks try something, he manages to interfere, even managing to mock them and in some cases just being casual about how he is able to defeat them.
At least two other species do the same. "I'm the Doctor." Aliens run away. They're the smart ones. By the way those were the Vashta Nerada and the Atraxi.
To clarify, the Vashta Nerada didn't run, but looking the Doctor up stopped them in their tracks. And then they decided to give him what he wanted rather than risk what he MIGHT do.
In "The Pandorica Opens" we learn that the Pandorica houses "A nameless, terrible thing, soaked in the blood of a billion galaxies. The most feared being in all the cosmos." That nameless, terrible thing? The Doctor. They just hadn't locked him in quite yet. The Pandorica was opening to receive him.
"And nothing could stop it or hold it, or reason with it. One day it would just drop out of the sky and tear down your world."
Listen to the lyrics.
The "Family of Blood" was a premiere example how the Doctor can be pure nightmare fuel. The punishment he hands out to the villains of the episode is just so genuinely horrifying on showing what happens when he disregards his own rules - his promise.
The very existence of the "War Doctor". A regeneration that did something so evil, so monstrous, so despicable, that every other incarnation of the Doctor, including ones which had fully faced and accepted their roles in atrocities like the Time War not to mention all the countless deaths that follow the Doctor wherever he goes, had utterly disowned him and attempted to bury the very memory of him.
Turns out the Doctor didn't quite accept the whole genocide thing. As in, the Doctor is so willing to distance himself from his own crimes he buries the "War Doctor". Let's restate that. The Doctor is willing to abandon his past self to make himself more comfortable.
The War Doctor. Think about everything scary about the Doctor and have him abandon his ideals that make him the Doctor. This ONE "doctor" is so devastating as a warrior that he ends the Time War all by himself. You should be glad that he became the Ninth Doctor afterwards.
In fact, subverted. He's not a villain, he's a Pragmatic Hero who HAS to Shoot the Dog . But when presented with an option to save Gallifrey, he grabs it immediately.
The Doctor's fuming anger when Danny Pink addresses him as a superior officer to provoke him. Knowing what we know of The Time War, Danny's barbs about the Doctor being a member of the aristocracy who started conflicts, while "grunts" like Danny were left to clean up the mess, probably struck more than a few nerves. Especially when considering that Four was the one who unwittingly instigated The Time War. The Doctor was practically foaming at the mouth, telling Danny "You do not call me 'Sir'!" and especially, "GET OUT OF MY TARDIS!" Rarely do we see that kind of rage from the Doctor, and it's seldom a good thing when we do. (To add to all of this, the episode in question - and said encounter with Danny - also revealed that the Doctor was jealous of Clara transferring her affections to somebody else.)
The fact that the Doctor himself is so important to the existence of the Universe. Without him the multiverse itself would have been destroyed multiple times over, by the Daleks or other villains. But merely the fact that he dies causes huge amounts of trouble for humans alone as seen in "Turn Left." If he were to ever die, the universe would seem to be in for some serious shit. And even Time Lords don't live forever.
The Twelfth Doctor at the end of "Face the Raven". After Ashildr's gambit goes horribly wrong and Clara is Killed Off for Real (leaving him without his Morality Chain ), the Doctor is justifiably angry at her, but he honors Clara's request not to take his anger out on her. No, instead he is going to give every trace of that anger to the being(s) responsible for the whole trap, and if anyone gets in his way, they will face his wrath too — and Ashildr better not cross his path again. Ashildr is notably scared out of her mind, which considering she is virtually immortal is a difficult thing to do, but remember the Doctor told her 'barring accidents' she was immortal. She knows he is the one person in the entire universe who knows how to kill her, as he made her.
Even worse, the entirety of Season 9 has seen his anger at the universe and the myriad cruelties he's suffered in it (the loss of everyone he comes to love, constantly dealing with death in general, the powers that be proscribing he not interfere with matters of Time and Space even when innocent lives are imperiled, the horrors of war, etc.) evolve, and as of this Cliffhanger leading into a two-part season finale, he is at the Despair Event Horizon and it is the sole thing that is driving him. All that fury, that hatred, that anger. He would make a good Dalek...
She set herself up as a merciless tyrant over a sanctuary crawling with alien refugees, assaulted one of them to make it look like a murder, let the "victim"'s child believe her mother was dead, then set a death mark on an innocent bystander and framed him for the faux murder in order to lure The Doctor into a trap. And capped it by getting his Companion killed. How many of The Doctor's BerserkButtons did she just press in the space of five minutes? She's going to be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her unnatural existence. Being immortal isn't going to protect her a whit - remember the Family of Blood? He can do a lot worse than kill you.
The final line of "Heaven Sent" suggests worse to come (as noted above under the Steven Moffat folder). Now that he knows HIS OWN PEOPLE are responsible for the trap that led to Clara's death and the torture he suffered in this episode he's angrier than EVER. And while the wording of the line suggests Ashildr might be the Hybrid said to be Gallifrey's ruin, it ALSO suggests the Hybrid is THE DOCTOR HIMSELF. What powers has he been hiding all along if that's the case?
If that wasn't enough, during the era of the 6th Doctor we are told that he will eventually turn evil and become the Valeyard during a future regeneration and that he may not be able to prevent this.
The Valeyard is an amalgamation of the Doctor's darker nature. He may not be the the Doctor's future regeneration, but he is still the Doctor. And considering what the Doctor is like when he is a good guy with morals and compassion, think about how dangerous something like the Valeyard could be....
The Master
Even with his Large Ham tendencies (or possibly because of them), the Master is terrifying. Imagine a being that is the same species as the Doctor, but is insane/evil and wants to either rule the universe or destroy innocent lives just to spite his arch-nemesis (who happens to be his former best friend). Not only that, but he is shown to be just as smart (and is implied at times to be more intelligent) than the Doctor and has used that intelligence to invent devices that kill people in horrific and gruesome ways.
The guy's main tactic in the classic series was to hypnotize people into doing his bidding. Keep in mind that it was stated the Master could easily control the mind of nearly any human being. Let that sink in. The Master can control pretty much anybody he wanted through hypnosis.
At least twice in the series (possibly more in the Expanded Universe ), he's gained a new body by possessing someone. The first time he takes control of Tremas, and the second time he's a "Goo Snake" that forces himself into the body of a man named "Bruce" and takes control of it. The idea of a deranged megalomaniac trying to take control of your body is not a comforting thought.
The version played by John Simm becomes a super-powered undead being during The End Of Time. That in-and-of itself is scary. But, it gets worse. Due to him constantly losing his "life force", he has an insatiable appetite and will eat pretty much anything. Did we mention this includes humans?
The Caves of Androzani: When the Fifh Doctor regenerated into the Sixth, he has a hallucination in which all his companions are telling him not to die, and then the Master appears.
The Master: And now, my dear Doctor you will die! Die, Doctor! DIE, DOCTOR!!! HA HA HA HA HA!!!
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Dishabiliophobia is a strong aversion to doing what in front of other people? | CTRN: Change That's Right Now | Dishabiliophobia
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Don’t Let a Dishabiliophobia Keep You From Living Your Life.
If you’re like most people who live with this fear, you probably wonder if you can ever be rid of it. After 10 years working with people with the most severe phobias, we know that – for anyone who is determined – dishabiliophobia can always be overcome.
Our goal at CTRN is to help you overcome this fast and fully:
Significant progress overcoming dishabiliophobia in just 24 hours
Utter discretion
Experience with clients in over 70 countries
The Next Step
We offer two programs for dishabiliophobia. Our programs are designed to help you do it yourself with the Home Study program or get board-certified help with our one-on-one program :
or Compare the Two Programs
How CTRN Programs Work
Re-’wiring’ your unconscious mind is the key to this program – and its safe and surprisingly easy to do. On the surface, you know that this business with undressing doesn’t make sense. But it affects you because your unconscious mind has associated undressing with fear and perhaps a bunch of other negative emotions and they get triggered automatically – like clockwork – every time.
Until now, you just haven’t had the techniques for re-programming those connections. We’re here to teach the techniques to you. Success is on the way – all you need to do is get started:
Are you ready to speak with a Board-Certified Specialist? Contact Us Now Contact Us Now >
When You’re Searching for Treatments and Cures to Vanquish Your Dishabiliophobia
We’re going to leave the terms ‘treating’ and ‘curing’ to the medical profession. The only person with the authority to change your awareness is you. Our job is to educate you as you journey through this course to overcome your fear.
This process has proven procedures for overcoming rage, fear, depression, remorse and feelings of apprehension and helps you gain self-assurance, peace and happiness. Time to say enough is enough. Are you ready to interrupt the cycle of destructive thinking?
Vanquish Dishabiliophobia Today .
Dishabiliophobia Risk Factors and Triggers
Dishabiliophobia in many (but not all) cases is triggered by a nasty experience in the past. Your fear may also seem to come out of no where – with no memory you can think of. To locate the foundation, and substitute encouraging connections in place of the negative ones, is the solution. Those most at risk are:
• Individuals who are predisposed to feelings of worry and anxiety
• If you are jittery, edgy, sensitive, nervous
• Someone who deals with adrenal insufficiency
Any of those portray you? Click to read testimonials from those who have been through our programs.
Would you like to read about us in the media instead?
Tests, Symptoms & Diagnosis
To find out the gravity of the problem for you, use our 2 minute Online Assessment for Dishabiliophobia Online Test although it is fairly clear cut: The time to act is now, if this phobia is causing negativity in your life.
Do you become queasy at the smallest idea of Undressing?
Does it trigger a dry mouth and clammy hands?
Does your heart feel like it’s going to pound right out of your chest?
Do you feel as though you are unable to stand?
We address the symptoms, but we uncover the source, to eliminate them both. This is what CTRN is all about
Drugs and Prescriptions
We feel drugs and medication for Dishabiliophobia aren’t the best approach, but make sure you always follow a doctor’s advice when taking or stopping any prescription. Pills might help you cope with your Dishabiliophobia but only in the short term – they will not, in reality, help you eliminate it forever.
There hasn’t been a medication created specifically for treatment of Dishabiliophobia, just general broad-application meds – so it’s hard to justify popping a pill as a healthy solution with all the uncertainty that surrounds potential side effects.
The good news is with our help, you will conquer your Dishabiliophobia, without drugs..
Next Action
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The martial art vovinam originated in which country? | CTRN: Change That's Right Now | Dishabiliophobia
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Don’t Let a Dishabiliophobia Keep You From Living Your Life.
If you’re like most people who live with this fear, you probably wonder if you can ever be rid of it. After 10 years working with people with the most severe phobias, we know that – for anyone who is determined – dishabiliophobia can always be overcome.
Our goal at CTRN is to help you overcome this fast and fully:
Significant progress overcoming dishabiliophobia in just 24 hours
Utter discretion
Experience with clients in over 70 countries
The Next Step
We offer two programs for dishabiliophobia. Our programs are designed to help you do it yourself with the Home Study program or get board-certified help with our one-on-one program :
or Compare the Two Programs
How CTRN Programs Work
Re-’wiring’ your unconscious mind is the key to this program – and its safe and surprisingly easy to do. On the surface, you know that this business with undressing doesn’t make sense. But it affects you because your unconscious mind has associated undressing with fear and perhaps a bunch of other negative emotions and they get triggered automatically – like clockwork – every time.
Until now, you just haven’t had the techniques for re-programming those connections. We’re here to teach the techniques to you. Success is on the way – all you need to do is get started:
Are you ready to speak with a Board-Certified Specialist? Contact Us Now Contact Us Now >
When You’re Searching for Treatments and Cures to Vanquish Your Dishabiliophobia
We’re going to leave the terms ‘treating’ and ‘curing’ to the medical profession. The only person with the authority to change your awareness is you. Our job is to educate you as you journey through this course to overcome your fear.
This process has proven procedures for overcoming rage, fear, depression, remorse and feelings of apprehension and helps you gain self-assurance, peace and happiness. Time to say enough is enough. Are you ready to interrupt the cycle of destructive thinking?
Vanquish Dishabiliophobia Today .
Dishabiliophobia Risk Factors and Triggers
Dishabiliophobia in many (but not all) cases is triggered by a nasty experience in the past. Your fear may also seem to come out of no where – with no memory you can think of. To locate the foundation, and substitute encouraging connections in place of the negative ones, is the solution. Those most at risk are:
• Individuals who are predisposed to feelings of worry and anxiety
• If you are jittery, edgy, sensitive, nervous
• Someone who deals with adrenal insufficiency
Any of those portray you? Click to read testimonials from those who have been through our programs.
Would you like to read about us in the media instead?
Tests, Symptoms & Diagnosis
To find out the gravity of the problem for you, use our 2 minute Online Assessment for Dishabiliophobia Online Test although it is fairly clear cut: The time to act is now, if this phobia is causing negativity in your life.
Do you become queasy at the smallest idea of Undressing?
Does it trigger a dry mouth and clammy hands?
Does your heart feel like it’s going to pound right out of your chest?
Do you feel as though you are unable to stand?
We address the symptoms, but we uncover the source, to eliminate them both. This is what CTRN is all about
Drugs and Prescriptions
We feel drugs and medication for Dishabiliophobia aren’t the best approach, but make sure you always follow a doctor’s advice when taking or stopping any prescription. Pills might help you cope with your Dishabiliophobia but only in the short term – they will not, in reality, help you eliminate it forever.
There hasn’t been a medication created specifically for treatment of Dishabiliophobia, just general broad-application meds – so it’s hard to justify popping a pill as a healthy solution with all the uncertainty that surrounds potential side effects.
The good news is with our help, you will conquer your Dishabiliophobia, without drugs..
Next Action
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Agnus Dei is a figure of which creature as an emblem of Christ? | Agnus Dei | Define Agnus Dei at Dictionary.com
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Agnus Dei
[ag-nuh s dee-ahy, de-ee; ah-nyoo s de-ee] /ˈæg nəs ˈdi aɪ, ˈdɛ i; ˈɑ nyʊs ˈdɛ i/
Spell
Ecclesiastical.
a figure of a lamb as emblematic of Christ.
such a representation with the nimbus inscribed with the cross about its head, and supporting the banner of the cross.
2.
a prayer addressed to Christ as Savior preceding the communion in the Mass.
3.
a musical setting of this prayer.
Origin of Agnus Dei
Examples from the Web for Agnus Dei
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Historical Examples
Hard Cash Charles Reade
Presently the congregation sits down, the organ peals forth and a choir of sweet voices chaunts the 'Agnus Dei.'
Normandy Picturesque Henry Blackburn
She was seated at her harpsichord, singing an Agnus Dei, and he could see her in the lamplight as we passed the door.
British Dictionary definitions for Agnus Dei
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the figure of a lamb bearing a cross or banner, emblematic of Christ
2.
a chant beginning with these words or a translation of them, forming part of the Roman Catholic Mass or sung as an anthem in the Anglican liturgy
3.
a wax medallion stamped with a lamb as emblem of Christ and blessed by the pope
Word Origin
| Lamb |
The rock musical ‘Rent’ is based on which opera by Giacomo Puccini? | Agnus Dei - Free definitions by Babylon
Agnus Dei
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Agnus Dei
"Lamb of God" (Latin phrase used in reference to Jesus Christ), liturgical prayer to Jesus or the music that accompanies this prayer (Roman Catholicism)
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Lamb of God
Lamb of God (, amnos tou theou; ) is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John . It appears at , where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."
1. figure of a lamb; emblematic of Christ
(synonym) Paschal Lamb
2. a liturgical prayer beginning with these Latin words
(hypernym) prayer
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Agnus Dei
Agnus Dei, "Lamb of God" (Latin phrase used in reference to Jesus Christ), liturgical prayer to Jesus or the music that accompanies this prayer (Roman Catholicism)
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US comedian, singer and actress Fania Borach, born in October 1891, was better known by what name? | Fania Borach (1891 - 1951) - Genealogy
Fania Borach
New York, New York County, New York, United States
Death:
in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States
Place of Burial:
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California
Immediate Family:
Oct 29 1891 - New York City, New York
Death:
Charles Borick, Rose Borick (born Stern)
Husband:
Frances Stark (born Arnstein), William Jules Arnstein
Siblings:
Oct 29 1891 - New York City, New York
Death:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanny_Brice ; Fanny Brice grave... ;
Fanny Brice (October 29, 1891 – May 29, 1951) was a popular and influential American illustrated song model, comedian, singer, theater and film actress, who made many stage, radio and film appearances and is known as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series, The Baby Snooks Show. Thirteen years after her death, she was portrayed on the Broadway stage by Barbra Streisand in the musical Funny Girl and its 1968 film adaptation.
Early life
Fanny Brice (occasionally spelled Fannie Brice) was the stage name of Fania Borach, born in New York City, the third child of relatively well-off saloon owners of Hungarian Jewish descent. In 1908, Brice dropped out of school to work in a burlesque revue, and two years later she began her association with Florenz Ziegfeld, headlining his Ziegfeld Follies from 1910 to 1911. She was hired again in 1921 and performed in them into the 1930s. In the 1921 Follies, she was featured singing "My Man" which became both a big hit and her signature song. She made a popular recording of it for Victor Records.
The second song most associated with Brice is "Second Hand Rose," which she introduced in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1921.
She recorded nearly two dozen record sides for Victor and also cut several for Columbia. She is a posthumous recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for her 1921 recording of "My Man".
Brice's Broadway credits include Fioretta, Sweet and Low, and Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt. Her films include My Man (1928), Be Yourself! (1930) and Everybody Sing (1938) with Judy Garland. Brice, Ray Bolger and Harriet Hoctor were the only original Ziegfeld performers to portray themselves in The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and Ziegfeld Follies (1946). For her contribution to the motion picture industry, she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at MP 6415 Hollywood Boulevard.
Radio
From the 1930s until her death in 1951, Fanny made a radio presence as a bratty toddler named Snooks, a role she premiered in a Follies skit co-written by playwright Moss Hart. Baby Snooks premiered in The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air in February 1936 on CBS with Alan Reed playing Lancelot Higgins, her beleaguered "Daddy". Reed, a prolific radio character actor, is perhaps best remembered as the original voice of Fred Flintstone on the animated television series The Flintstones. Brice moved to NBC in December 1937, performing the Snooks routines as part of the Good News show, then back to CBS on Maxwell House Coffee Time, with the half-hour divided between the Snooks sketches and comedian Frank Morgan.
In September 1944. Brice's longtime Snooks sketch writer, Philip Rapp and David Freedman, brought in partners, Arthur Stander and Everett Freeman, to develop an independent, half-hour comedy program. The program launched on CBS in 1944, moving to NBC in 1948, with Freeman producing. First called Post Toasties Time (named for the show's first sponsor), the show was renamed The Baby Snooks Show within short order, though in later years it was often known colloquially as Baby Snooks and Daddy. On the spinoff version of Baby Snooks, Hanley Stafford played Daddy, with Reed instead appearing as Daddy's employer, Mr. Weemish. Stafford eventually became the longest running actor to portray the "Daddy" character.
Brice was so meticulous about the program and the title character that she was known to perform in costume as a toddler girl even though seen only by the radio studio audience. She was 45 years old when the character began her long radio life. In addition to Reed and Stafford, her co-stars included Lalive Brownell, Lois Corbet and Arlene Harris playing her mother, Danny Thomas as Jerry, Charlie Cantor as Uncle Louie and Ken Christy as Mr. Weemish. She was completely devoted to the character, as she told biographer Norman Katkov: "Snooks is just the kid I used to be. She's my kind of youngster, the type I like. She has imagination. She's eager. She's alive. With all her deviltry, she is still a good kid, never vicious or mean. I love Snooks, and when I play her I do it as seriously as if she were real. I am Snooks. For 20 minutes or so, Fanny Brice ceases to exist."
Baby Snooks writer/producer Everett Freeman told Katkov that Brice didn't like to rehearse the role ("I can't do a show until it's on the air, kid") but always snapped into it on the air, losing herself completely in the character: "While she was on the air she was Baby Snooks. And...for an hour after the show, she was still Baby Snooks. The Snooks voice disappeared, of course, but the Snooks temperament, thinking, actions were all there."
Marriages
Brice had a short-lived marriage in her teens to a local barber, Frank White, whom she met in 1910 in Springfield, Massachusetts, when she was touring in "College Girl." The marriage lasted three years and she brought suit for divorce in 1913. Her second husband was professional gambler Julius W. "Nicky" Arnstein. Prior to their marriage, Arnstein served fourteen months in Sing Sing for wiretapping. Brice visited him in prison every week. In 1918 they were married, after living together for six years. In 1924, Arnstein was charged in a Wall Street bond theft. Brice insisted on his innocence, and funded his legal defense at great expense. Arnstein was convicted and sentenced to the Federal penitentiary at Leavenworth where he served three years. Released in 1927, Arnstein disappeared from Brice's life and that of his two children. Reluctantly, Brice divorced him. She went on to marry songwriter and stage producer Billy Rose and appeared in his revue Crazy Quilt, among others. Their marriage also failed.
Television appearance and later years
Brice and Stafford brought Baby Snooks and Daddy to television only once, an appearance in June 1950 on CBS-TV's Popsicle Parade of Stars. This was Fanny Brice's only appearance on television. Brice handled herself well on the live TV broadcast but later admitted that the character of Baby Snooks just didn’t work properly when seen.
She returned with Stafford and the Snooks character to the safety of radio for her next appearance, on Tallulah Bankhead's big-budget, large-scale radio variety show, The Big Show, in November 1950, sharing the bill with Groucho Marx and Jane Powell. In one routine, Snooks asks Bankhead for advice on becoming an actress, despite Daddy's insistence that Snooks has no acting talent.
Death
Six months after her Big Show appearance, on May 29, 1951, Fanny Brice died in Hollywood of a cerebral hemorrhage. She was 59. The May 29, 1951 episode of The Baby Snooks Show was broadcast as a memorial to the star who created the brattish toddler, crowned by Hanley Stafford's brief on-air eulogy: "We have lost a very real, a very warm, a very wonderful woman." Brice was cremated. Her ashes were interred in the Chapel Mausoleum at the Jewish Home of Peace Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California. A half-century later, at the time of Brice's daughter Frances' death in 1992, Fanny Brice's ashes were reinterred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, some 20 miles west of her original interment place. Today, the ashes, and those of her daughter, repose in an outdoor pavilion.
Brice portrayals
Although the names of the principal characters were changed, the plot of the 1939 film Rose of Washington Square, in which the principal characters were portrayed by Tyrone Power and Alice Faye, was inspired heavily by Brice's marriage and career, to the extent it borrowed its title from a tune she performed in the Follies and included "My Man." She sued 20th Century Fox for invasion of privacy and won the case. Producer Darryl F. Zanuck was forced to delete several production numbers closely associated with the star.
Barbra Streisand starred as Brice in the 1964 Broadway musical Funny Girl, which centered on Brice's rise to fame and troubled relationship with Arnstein. In 1968, Streisand won an Academy Award for Best Actress for reprising her role in the film version (sharing the Oscar with Katharine Hepburn, for The Lion in Winter, in the Academy's only tie vote for Best Actress in its history). The 1975 sequel Funny Lady focused on Brice's turbulent relationship with impresario Billy Rose and was as highly fictionalized as the original. Streisand also recorded the Brice songs "My Man," "I'd Rather Be Blue Over You (Than Happy with Somebody Else)" and "Second Hand Rose," which became a Top 40 hit.
Funny Girl, and its sequel Funny Lady, took liberties with the events of Brice's life. They make no mention of Brice's first husband at all, and suggest that Arnstein turned to crime because his pride would not allow him to live off Fanny, and that he was wanted by the police for selling phony bonds. In reality, however, Arnstein sponged off Brice even before their marriage and was eventually named as a member of a gang that stole $5 million worth of Wall Street securities. Instead of turning himself in, as in the movie, Arnstein went into hiding. When he finally surrendered, he did not plead guilty as he did in the movie, but fought the charges for four years, taking a toll on his wife's finances. It is thought that Ray Stark, the producer of the play and both movies and Brice's son-in-law, changed Arnstein's story in order to avoid a lawsuit, as Arnstein was still alive at the time. Brice's son William was not mentioned in the play or movies by mutual agreement; other changes – such as the portrayal of Brice's mother as living in modest means rather than well-off or the omission of Brice's first husband – may have been done in the interest of compelling storytelling.
In 2010, One Night with Fanny Brice, a one-woman show about Brice, written and directed by Chip Deffaa and starring Kimberly Faye Greenberg, premiered in New Jersey. The cast album, on the Original Cast label (OC-3831), was released in September 2010. The next production of the show, by the American Century Theatre Co. of Arlington, Virginia, starring Esther Covington, is slated to open in November 2010, directed by Ellen Dempsey.
The 1946 Warner Bros. cartoon Quentin Quail features a character based on Brice's characterization of Baby Snooks.
Legacy
Two children were born of the Brice-Arnstein marriage. Daughter Frances (1919–1992) married Ray Stark, while son William (1921–2008) became an artist of note, using his mother's surname.
The Stony Brook campus of the State University of New York (SUNY at Stony Brook) formerly had a Fannie Brice Theatre, a small 75-seat venue which has been used for a variety of performances over the years, including a 1988 production of the musical Hair, staged readings, and a studio classroom space. The building was razed in 2007 to make way for new dormitories.
Mexican comedienne Maria Elena Saldana was influenced by Brice, and would create a character similar to Brice's Baby Snooks, La Guereja.
In 2006 Brice was featured in the film Making Trouble, a tribute to female Jewish comedians, produced by the Jewish Women’s Archive.
| Fanny Brice |
Rosy, Goose Foot and Northern are all types of which marine creature? | Fanny Brice
Fanny Brice
Role: Old Time Radio Star
Born: October 29, 1891
Old Time Radio, New York City, New York, USA
Died: May 29, 1951, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA
A popular and influential American illustrated song model, comedian, singer,theater and film actress, who made many stage, radio and film appearances and is known as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series, The Baby Snooks Show. Thirteen years after her death, she was portrayed on the Broadway stage by Barbra Streisand in the musical Funny Girl and its 1968 film adaptation.
Fanny Brice (occasionally spelled Fannie Brice) was the stage name of Fania Borach, born inNew York City, the third child of relatively well-off saloon owners of Hungarian Jewish descent. In 1908, Brice dropped out of school to work in a burlesque revue, The revue was called 'The Girls from Happy Land starring Sliding Billy Watson and two years later she began her association withFlorenz Ziegfeld, headlining his Ziegfeld Follies from 1910 to 1911. She was hired again in 1921 and performed in them into the 1930s. In the 1921 Follies, she was featured singing "My Man" which became both a big hit and her signature song. She made a popular recording of it for Victor Records.
The second song most associated with Brice is "Second Hand Rose," which she introduced in the "Ziegfeld Follies of 1921."
She recorded nearly two dozen record sides for Victor and also cut several for Columbia. She is a posthumous recipient of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for her 1921 recording of "My Man."
Brice's Broadway credits include Fioretta, Sweet and Low, and Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt. Her films include My Man (1928), Be Yourself! (1930) and Everybody Sing (1938) with Judy Garland. Brice, Ray Bolger and Harriet Hoctor were the only original Ziegfeld performers to portray themselves in The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and Ziegfeld Follies (1946). For her contribution to the motion picture industry, she has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame at MP 6415 Hollywood Boulevard.
Radio
From the 1930s until her death in 1951, Fanny made a radio presence as a bratty toddler named Snooks, a role she premiered in a Follies skit co-written by playwright Moss Hart. Baby Snooks premiered in The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air in February 1936 on CBS with Alan Reed playing Lancelot Higgins, her beleaguered "Daddy." Brice moved to NBC in December 1937, performing the Snooks routines as part of the Good Newsshow, then back to CBS on Maxwell House Coffee Time, with the half-hour divided between the Snooks sketches and comedian Frank Morgan.
In September 1944, Brice's longtime Snooks sketch writers, Philip Rapp and David Freedman, brought in partners, Arthur Stander and Everett Freeman, to develop an independent, half-hour comedy program. The program launched on CBS in 1944, moving to NBC in 1948, with Freeman producing. First called Post Toasties Time, (named for the show's first sponsor), the show was renamed The Baby Snooks Show within short order, though in later years it was often known colloquially as Baby Snooks and Daddy. On the spinoff version of Baby Snooks, Hanley Staffordplayed Daddy, with Reed instead appearing as Daddy's employer, Mr. Weemish. Stafford eventually became the longest running actor to portray the "Daddy" character.
Brice was so meticulous about the program and the title character that she was known to perform in costume as a toddler girl even though seen only by the radio studio audience. She was 45 years old when the character began her long radio life. In addition to Reed and Stafford, her co-stars included Lalive Brownell, Lois Corbet and Arlene Harris playing her mother, Danny Thomas as Jerry, Charlie Cantor as Uncle Louie and Ken Christy as Mr. Weemish. She was completely devoted to the character, as she told biographer Norman Katkov: "Snooks is just the kid I used to be. She's my kind of youngster, the type I like. She has imagination. She's eager. She's alive. With all her deviltry, she is still a good kid, never vicious or mean. I love Snooks, and when I play her I do it as seriously as if she were real. I am Snooks. For 20 minutes or so, Fanny Brice ceases to exist."
Baby Snooks writer/producer Everett Freeman told Katkov that Brice didn't like to rehearse the role ("I can't do a show until it's on the air, kid") but always snapped into it on the air, losing herself completely in the character: "While she was on the air she was Baby Snooks. And...for an hour after the show, she was still Baby Snooks. The Snooks voice disappeared, of course, but the Snooks temperament, thinking, actions were all there."
Marriages
Brice had a short-lived marriage in her teens to a local barber, Frank White, whom she met in 1910 in Springfield, Massachusetts, when she was touring in "College Girl." The marriage lasted three years and she brought suit for divorce in 1913. Her second husband was professional gambler Julius W. "Nicky" Arnstein. Prior to their marriage, Arnstein served fourteen months in Sing Sing for wiretapping. Brice visited him in prison every week. In 1918 they were married, after living together for six years. In 1924, Arnstein was charged in a Wall Street bond theft. Brice insisted on his innocence, and funded his legal defense at great expense. Arnstein was convicted and sentenced to the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth where he served three years. Released in 1927, Arnstein disappeared from Brice's life and that of his two children. Reluctantly, Brice divorced him. She went on to marry songwriter and stage producer Billy Rose and appeared in his revue Crazy Quilt, among others. Their marriage also failed.
Television appearance and later years
Brice and Stafford brought Baby Snooks and Daddy to television only once, an appearance in June 1950 on CBS-TV's Popsicle Parade of Stars. This was Fanny Brice's only appearance on television. Brice handled herself well on the live TV broadcast but later admitted that the character of Baby Snooks just didn’t work properly when seen.
She returned with Stafford and the Snooks character to the safety of radio for her next appearance, on Tallulah Bankhead's big-budget, large-scale radio variety show, The Big Show, in November 1950, sharing the bill with Groucho Marx and Jane Powell. In one routine, Snooks asks Bankhead for advice on becoming an actress, despite Daddy's insistence that Snooks has no acting talent.
Death
Six months after her Big Show appearance, on May 29, 1951, Fanny Brice died in Hollywood of a cerebral hemorrhage. She was 59. The May 29, 1951 episode of The Baby Snooks Show was broadcast as a memorial to the star who created the brattish toddler, crowned by Hanley Stafford's brief on-air eulogy: "We have lost a very real, a very warm, a very wonderful woman." Brice was cremated. Her ashes were interred in the Chapel Mausoleum at the Jewish Home of Peace Cemetery in East Los Angeles, California. A half-century later, at the time of Brice's daughter Frances' death in 1992, Fanny Brice's ashes were reinterred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemeteryin Los Angeles, some 20 miles west of her original interment place. Today, the ashes, and those of her daughter, are in an outdoor pavilion.
Source: Wikipedia
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Messer is German for which item of cutlery? | messer knife | eBay
messer knife:
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| Knife |
In 1862, English explorer John Hanning Speke discovered the source of the Nile in which lake? | worldknives - YouTube
worldknives
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Who was the President of Costa Rica between 2006 and 2010? | Oscar Arias Sanchez Biography - Oscar Arias Sanchez Childhood, Life & Timeline
Leaders
Oscar Arias Sanchez Biography
Oscar Arias Sanchez is the President of Costa Rica. He is known for his efforts to make office of government more accessible to the people.
Quick Facts
1987 - Nobel Peace Prize
Image Credit http://rudebutgood.blogspot.in/2011/11/oscar-arias-sanchez.html
Oscar Arias Sanchez is the present âHead of the Stateâ and president of Costa Rica. Known for his excellent ruling and a popular organizer, Arias was elected to the Boards of Directors of the International Criminal Court's Trust Fund for Victims. His political career started in 1972, as a Minister of National Planning and Political Economy in the government of President Jose Figueres Ferrers. In 1986, Arias contested election and voted to power. Arias has been associated with a numerous organizations effective in serving the mankind, such as the Center for Human Progress, The Center for Peace and Reconciliation and Carter Center founded by former US President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn. Arias has also been honored with many international awards including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987, the Liberty Medal of Philadelphia and the Jackson Ralston Prize. His tenure as the President of Costa Rica will come to an end in 2010.
Childhood
Oscar Arias Sanchez was born on 13 September, 1941 to Juan Arias Sanchez and Lillyan Arias Sanchez at Heredia in Costa Rica. The Sanchezs were perceived as one of the richest and prominent coffee growers of the county. After studying at the Colegio Saint Francis in San Jose, Oscar enrolled in Boston University with the intention of studying medicine, but he soon returned to his home country and completed degrees in law and economics at the University of Costa Rica.
Oscar was a brilliant student and was awarded a fellowship to study at two prestigious universities in London. In 1967, Arias traveled to the United Kingdom and enrolled in the London School of Economics. He received a doctorate degree in political science from the University of Essex in 1974. His hard work and passion brought Arias over fifty honorary degrees, including doctorates from Harvard University, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, Oberlin College. Arias married Margarita Penon Gongora in 1973. She was a biochemist trained in Vassar. They have a son (Oscar Felipe) and a daughter (Silvia Eugenia).
Political Career
In 1972, Arias was appointed Minister of National Planning and Political Economy in the government of President Jose Figueres Ferrers. He, at that time, was teaching political science at the University of Costa Rica.
Arias, already a noted personality, became more popular among the masses for his fair and pragmatic approach in handling the sensitive issues. He concentrated all his efforts to end the prolonged social tension in the country. In 1975, Arias was named the international secretary of the National Liberation Party and soon elected general secretary of the Party in 1975. He thus became the head of the PLN.
Presidential Election 1986
Arias served in the national legislature from 1978 to 1981. He played a crucial role in shrinking the differences between government and the people. He wanted to form a government, which is transparent and close to the people. In 1986, Arias stepped down from the post of the PLN general secretary to put more time for the presidential campaign. During the election, the condition of the national economy was in stark recession and rightly utilizing the situation, Arias assured “roofs, jobs and peace” to all, if he would come to power. Though Arias was fortunate to win the Presidential election the mandate was hardly overwhelming. He polled 52.3 percent plurality.
Arias took “oath of office”, on 8 May, 1986. Interestingly, on that day, nine presidents of the Latin American countries arrived in San Jose to attend the ceremony. They unanimously called for a continental alliance for the protection of democracy and liberty. Costa Rica, led by Oscar Arias, assumed an active role in the search for democracy and peace for all the countries of the region. As president, Arias did his best to realize goals including the system of equitable distribution of wealth, more justice and better earnings for farmers and urban workers, a more open "accessible" government, and a true rule of law for all. He acted as a non-radical, non-ideological leader.
In 1987, President Arias drafted a peace plan to end the regional crisis. Widely recognized as the “Arias Peace Plan”, his initiative culminated in the signing of the “Esquipulas II Accords” or the Procedure to Establish a Firm and Lasting Peace in Central America by all the Central American presidents on August 7, 1987. President Arias began to be perceived as a genuine international statesman and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987. In April 1990, announcing his plan to accept a visiting professorship at Harvard, President Arias stepped down from power to opposition candidate Rafael A. Calderon.
Contribution of Oscar Arias Sanchez
After renouncing the chair of President, Oscar Arias Sanchez associated himself with the non-partisan, non profit organizations working for the progress of mankind. Some of the organizations, with their objectives are listed below:
The Center for Human Progress: Created in 1990, the organization works towards eliminating gender discrimination among the population of Central America.
The Center for Peace and Reconciliation: was founded with the objective of promoting pluralistic participation in building peace in Central America. It was also founded in 1990.
The Center for Organized Participation: The organization was founded in 1993, in collaboration with the Mott Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation and other international donors. Its mission was to strengthen citizen participation in Central America.
Carter Center: The institution was founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn 1982. The Center, in partnership with Emory University, is committed to advancing human rights and alleviating unnecessary human suffering. It is headquartered in Atlanta.
The International Negotiation Network: This is a sub-institution of the Carter Center comprising eminent person's of the worldwide. It includes former heads of state and other prominent people who individually or collectively were capable of bringing parties to a conflict together. They serve as mediators in peace negotiations, monitor elections or conduct behind-the-scenes diplomacy.
Re-election
In 2004, Arias intended to run again for the post of President in February 2006 general elections. Contrary to what the private polling companies and media had predicted about Arias huge electoral win, the official results showed that Arias beat center-left contender Otton Solis only by 18,169 votes. The people reportedly smelt the use of unethical means by the opponents.
Awards
Arias has received numerous prizes for his contribution towards the progress of humanity. The Nobel Peace Prize, Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Award, the Liberty Medal of Philadelphia, the Jackson Ralston Prize, the Prince of Asturias Award, the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award, and the Americas Award are among them. He has also received approximately fifty honorary doctorates from colleges and universities such as Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, Oberlin, Marquette, and Washington University in St. Louis.
OSCAR ARIAS SANCHEZ TIMELINE
September 13Birth of Oscar Arias Sanchez
1967:
Traveled to United Kingdom to study Economics
1972:
Appointment as a Minister of Planning and Economy
1973:
Arias married to Margareta Penon Gongora
1974:
Doctorate degree in Political Science from the University of Essex.
1975:
Elected International Secretary of the National Liberation Party
1975:
Election as head of the Party
1986:
Elected as the President of Costa Rica
1987:
Arias drafted a Peace Plan to resolve the regional crisis.
1987:
He was awarded the International Nobel Peace Prize
1990:
Arias stepped down from power, succeeded by Rafael Calderon
2006:
| Óscar Arias |
What type of creature is a danio? | Costa Rica - History & Culture
COSTA RICA
The first European explorer to encounter Costa Rica was the Great Navigator himself, Christopher Columbus. The day was September 18, 1502, and Columbus was making his fourth and final voyage to the New World. As he was setting anchor off shore, a crowd of local Carib Indians paddled out in canoes and greeted his crew warmly. Later, the golden bands that the region's inhabitants wore in their noses and ears would inspire the Spaniard Gil Gonzalez Davila to name the country Costa Rica, or Rich Coast.
Archaeologists now know that civilization existed in Costa Rica for thousands of years before the arrival of Columbus, and evidence of human occupation in the region dates back 10,000 years. Among the cultural mysteries left behind by the area's pre-Columbian inhabitants are thousands of perfectly spherical granite bolas that have been found near the west coast. The sizes of these inimitable relics range from that of a baseball to that of a Volkswagen bus. Ruins of a large, ancient city complete with aqueducts were recently found east of San Jose, and some marvelously sophisticated gold and jade work was being wrought in the southwest as far back as 1,000 years ago. Some archeological sites in the central highlands and Nicoya peninsula have shown evidence of influence from the Mexican Olmec and Nahuatl civilizations.
By the time Columbus arrived, there were four major indigenous tribes living in Costa Rica. The east coast was the realm of the Caribs, while the Borucas, Chibchas, and Diquis resided in the southwest. Only a few hundred thousand strong to begin with, none of these peoples lasted long after the dawn of Spanish colonialism. Some fled, while many others perished from the deadly smallpox brought by the Spaniards. Having decimated the indigenous labor force, the Spanish followed a common policy and brought in African slaves to work the land. Seventy thousand of their descendants live in Costa Rica today, and the country is known for good relations among races. Regrettably, only 1 percent of Costa's Rica's 3 million people are of indigenous heritage. An overwhelming 98 percent of the country is white, and those of Spanish descent call themselves Ticos.
Of all the Spanish colonies, Costa Rica enjoyed the least influence as a colony. It was initially a tough and unpopular place to settle, with few valuable or easily exploited resources. The Spanish were far more interested in developing their holdings in Mexico and Peru, where vast amounts of silver and gold were being obtained. The early hapless settlers who came to Costa Rica were left largely to their own devices, and the first successful establishment of a colonial city was not until 1562, when Juan Vasquez de Coronado founded Cartago.
When Mexico rebelled against Spain in 1821, Costa Rica and the rest of Central America followed suit. Two years later, a faction in Costa Rica even opted to become part of Mexico, sparking a civil war in the country's center between four neighboring cities. After the republican cities of San Jose and Alajuela soundly defeated the pro-Mexican Heredia and Cartago, sovereignty was established.
The first head of state was Juan Mora Fernandez, elected in 1824. Best remembered for his land reforms, Fernandez followed a progressive course but inadvertantly created an elite class of powerful coffee barons. The barons later overthrew the nation's first president, Jose Maria Castro, who was succeeded by Juan Rafael Mora. It was under Mora's leadership that Costa Rican volunteers managed to repulse a would-be conqueror, the North American William Walker.
Walker was a disgruntled southerner who thought that the United States should annex Central America and turn it into a slave state. He was a lunatic, and a dangerous rather than charming one. With a piecemeal army of about 50 men, Walker had earlier invaded Mexico, where he had been captured and then released back to the States. Not to be discouraged, he next invaded Panama, where he briefly seized control before being forced to flee--into Costa Rica. After his bid for despotic rule there was defeated by Mora's forces, the indomitable Walker turned his attentions to Honduras. The Hondurans, unlike their predecessors on Walker's list, captured him, and Walker was finally and summarily executed.
Military rule has reared its head in Costa Rica from time to time, though it has not been marked by the sort of violent extremism that has occurred elsewhere in Central America. In 1870, when General Tomas Guardia seized control of the government, he made some of the country's most progressive reforms in education, military policy, and taxation.
The Costa Rican civil war erupted in 1948, after incumbent Dr. Rafael Angel Calderon and the United Social Christian Party refused to relinquish power after losing the presidential election. An exile named Jose Maria (Don Pepe) Figueres Ferrer managed to defeat Calderon in about a month, and he later proved to be one of Costa Rica's most influential leaders, as head of the Founding Junta of the Second Republic of Costa Rica.
Under Ferrer's leadership, the Junta made vast reforms in policy and civil rights. Women and blacks gained the vote, the communist party was banned, banks were nationalized, and presidential term limits established. Ferrer was immensely popular, creating a political legacy that firmly cemented Costa Rica's liberal democratic values.
In 1987, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sanchez garnered world recognition when he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in ending the Nicaraguan civil war. During that conflict, both the Sandanistas and the Contras set up military bases in the northern area of Costa Rica, and Arias was elected under the promise that he would work to put an end to this situation. He was able to get all five Central American presidents to sign his peace plan, and Nicaragua is now experiencing relative stability.
Copyright (c) 1998-2006 interKnowledge Corp. All rights reserved.
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Blue Castello cheese is made in which country? | Blue Castello - Cheese.com
Find over 1750 specialty cheeses from 74 countries in the world's greatest cheese resource
Creativecommons/M.M.Minderhoud
Blue Castello
In 1960s, one of the oldest cheese producing companies of Denmark - Tholstrup Cheese Company initally prepared Blue Castello cheese. This soft cheese made from cow’s milk has a smooth and creamy texture.
Blue Castello cheese has a buttery and tangy taste. It is often served with fresh salad and crisp crackers as well as wines like Chenin Blac and Sauvignon Blac. This cheese comes in various culinary usages across the world.
Made from cow 's milk
Country of origin: Denmark
| Denmark |
Former US President Jimmy Carter belonged to which political party? | Danablu (Danish Blue) - Cheese.com
Find over 1750 specialty cheeses from 74 countries in the world's greatest cheese resource
Danablu (Danish Blue)
Danablu (Danish Blue) is a semi-soft blue veined cheese, made from cow's milk. Produced by Rosenborg at Denmark, it has creamy and crumbly texture. The cheese belongs to blue cheese family. In eight to twelve months, it matures with a yellowish edible rind. It is sharp and salty in taste with 25-30% fat. Suitable for non-vegetarians, it can be paired with Cabernet.
Made from cow 's milk
Country of origin: Denmark
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St Cyril had which script/alphabet named after him? | Cyril vs. Methodius | Lent Madness
Cyril vs. Methodius
Supreme Executive Committee on February 13, 2016 — 405 Comments
Today, in the only Saturday match-up of Lent Madness, it’s the Slavic Smackdown® as Cyril takes on Methodius. While much of the world is preparing for Valentine’s Day (named for a confusing muddle of murky, martyred saints in ancient Rome), the church actually celebrates Cyril and Methodius on February 14, not Saint(s) Valentinus. So go ahead and cast your vote and then show your devotion to your “Valentine” by writing a love poem in Cyrillic or serving up a big bowl of borscht.
Yesterday, Absalom Jones defeated Matthias 82% to 18% (in other words, by A LOT–get it?) in the first genuine blowout of Lent Madness 2016. He’ll go on to face the winner of Christina Rossetti vs. Joseph in the next round. Really, it’s bad luck for Matthias. He certainly drew the short straw in the match-up calendar.
Tomorrow, enjoy Sunday (we highly encourage church attendance) and then be ready to go bright and early on Monday morning as Lent Madness returns with what should prove to be a hotly contested battle between Julian of Norwich and William Wilberforce.
Cyril
Cyril was born in Thessalonica (located in today’s Macedonia) around 827. Educated in Constantinople, he studied theology, Hebrew, and Arabic and became a priest. He was sent on two missions to the Middle East. Cyril’s most influential mission took him and his brother Methodius to the Slavs of Great Moravia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia). Although missionaries from Rome had already evangelized Moravia, Prince Rastislav wanted to place his state firmly under the influence of the church in Constantinople.
To translate the Bible and the liturgy into the local language, Cyril and Methodius used a number of mostly Greek characters to create the Glagolitic alphabet. This was the first Slavic alphabet and is closely related to the more recent Cyrillic alphabet—named after Cyril. Using their new alphabet, Cyril and Methodius translated the Bible, the Slavic Civil Code, and possibly a Slavic liturgy. Cyril and Methodius were successful in converting many Slavs to Christianity and establishing the use of their alphabet; because of jurisdictional issues, they could not establish the Slavic liturgy without the pope’s approval.
Cyril and his brother traveled to Rome, where they were well received, in part because they brought with them some of Saint Clement’s relics. Pope Adrian II authorized the new Slavic liturgy, and Slavic priests were ordained and allowed to celebrate the liturgy in their native language. Cyril became a monk and died shortly afterward, in 869.
Along with his brother Methodius, Cyril is known as one of the two apostles to the Slavs. Celebrations in memory of these brothers are held across Eastern Europe every year.
— Hugo Olaiz
Methodius
Quietly, and without any fanfare, Methodius helped shape Europe and Asia in ways that have often gone largely unnoticed by Western Christianity.
Methodius (Michael) was born to a Christian family in the city of Thessalonica in the early ninth century. Methodius was the eldest of seven brothers, and he either learned the Slavic language from Slav migrants in Macedonia, or possibly from his mother (who may have been a Slav).
After a brief career in the public sphere, Methodius entered a monastery at Mount Olympus (present day Uludağ). Eventually his youngest brother Constantine (later taking the name Cyril) joined Methodius at the monastery. From the monastery, the brothers set out on a series of missionary journeys.
They shared a passion to share the good news in the native language of the people to whom they were ministering, not relying solely on Hebrew, Greek, and Latin translations of the Bible. And so they set about translating portions of scripture into Slavic and to create a Slavic liturgy. To do this, they invented an alphabet unique to the Slavic tongue. The later evolution of this script is known as the Cyrillic Alphabet and is still widely used across Eastern Europe.
While traveling and sharing the gospel, Methodius and Cyril created a code of law that is still in use to this day. The brothers also discovered the remains of Pope Clement I. They returned the earthly remains of Clement to Rome, where Methodius was ordained a priest by Pope Adrian II. Following the death of Cyril in Rome, Methodius continued the work of carrying the gospel to the Slavs.
Collect for Cyril and Methodius
Almighty and everlasting God, by the power of the Holy Spirit you moved your servant Cyril and his brother Methodius to bring the light of the Gospel to a hostile and divided people: Overcome all bitterness and strife among us by the love of Christ, and make us one united family under the banner of the Prince of Peace; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
| Cyrillic script |
The Royal Albert Hall in London is name after the consort of which monarch? | Our Patron Saints | SS. Cyril & Methodius Catholic Church | Shiner, TX
You brought the light of the Gospel to the Slavic nations
through Saint Cyril and his brother Saint Methodius.
Open our hearts to understanding Your teaching
and help us to become one in faith and praise.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. +Amen.
Cyril and Methodius must have often wondered, as we do today, how God could bring spiritual meaning out of worldly concerns. Every mission they went on, every struggle they fought was a result of political battles, not spiritual, and yet the political battles are forgotten and their work lives on in the Slavic peoples and their literature.
Tradition tells us that the brothers Methodius and Constantine (he did not take the name Cyril until just before his death) grew up in Thessalonica as sons of a prominent Christian family. Because many Slavic people settled in Thessalonica, it is assumed Constantine and Methodius were familiar with the Slavic language. Methodius, the older of the two brothers, became an important civil official who would have needed to know Slavonic. He grew tired of worldly affairs and retired to a monastery. Constantine became a scholar and a professor known as "the Philosopher" in Constantinople. In 860 Constantine and Methodius went as missionaries to what is today the Ukraine.
When the Byzantine emperor decided to honor a request for missionaries by the Moravian prince Rastislav, Methodius and Constantine were the natural choices; they knew the language, they were able administrators, and had already proven themselves successful missionaries.
But there was far more behind this request and the response than a desire for Christianity. Rastislav, like the rest of the Slav princes, was struggling for independence from German influence and invasion. Christian missionaries from the East, to replace missionaries from Germany, would help Rastislav consolidate power in his own country, especially if they spoke the Slavonic language.
Constantine and Methodius were dedicated to the ideal of expression in a people's native language. Throughout their lives they would battle against those who saw value only in Greek or Latin. Before they even left on their mission, tradition says, Constantine constructed a script for Slavonic -- a script that is known today as glagolithic. Glagolithic is considered by some as the precursor of cyrillic which named after him.
Arriving in 863 in Moravia, Constantine began translating the liturgy into Slavonic. In the East, it was a normal procedure to translate liturgy into the vernacular. As we know, in the West the custom was to use Greek and later Latin, until Vatican II. The German hierarchy, which had power over Moravia, used this difference to combat the brothers' influence. The German priests didn't like losing their control and knew that language has a great deal to do with independence.
So when Constantine and Methodius went to Rome to have the Slav priesthood candidates ordained (neither was a bishop at the time), they had to face the criticism the Germans had leveled against them. But if the Germans had motives that differed from spiritual concerns, so did the pope. He was concerned about the Eastern church gaining too much influence in the Slavic provinces. Helping Constantine and Methodius would give the Roman Catholic church more power in the area. So after speaking to the brothers in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore , Pope Adrian II approved the use of Slavonic in services and ordained their pupils.
Constantine never returned to Moravia. He died in Rome after assuming the monastic robes and the name Cyril on February 14, 1869. St. Cyril is buried in the Basilica of San Clemente in Rome. Legend tells us that his older brother was so griefstricken, and perhaps upset by the political turmoil, that he intended to withdraw to a monastery in Constantinople. Cyril's dying wish, however, was that Methodius return to the missionary work they had begun.
He couldn't return to Moravia because of political problems there, but another Slavic prince, Kocel, asked for him, having admired the brothers' work in translating so much text into Slavonic. Methodius was allowed by the pope to continue saying Mass and administering baptism in the Slavonic tongue. Methodius was finally consecrated bishop, once again because of politics -- Kocel knew that having a Slavonic bishop would destroy the power of the Salzburg hierarchy over his land. Methodius became bishop of Sirmium, an ancient see near Belgrade and given power over Serbo-Croatian, Slovene, and Moravian territory.
The German bishops accused him of infringing on their power and imprisoned him in a monastery. This lasted until Germany suffered military defeats in Moravia. At that time the pope intervened and Methodius returned to his diocese in triumph at the same time the Germans were forced to recognize Moravian independence. There was a loss involved -- to appease the Germans a little, the pope told Methodius he could no longer celebrate liturgy in the vernacular.
In 879 Methodius was summoned to Rome to answer German charges he had not obeyed this restriction. This worked against the Germans because it gave Methodius a chance to explain how important it was to celebrate the liturgy in the tongue people understood. Instead of condemning him, the pope gave him permission to use Slavonic in the Mass, in Scripture reading, and in the office. He also made him head of the hierarchy in Moravia.
The criticism never went away, but it never stopped Methodius either. It is said that he translated almost all the Bible and the works of the Fathers of the Church into Slavonic before he died on April 6 in 884.
Within twenty years after his death, it would seem like all the work of Cyril and Methodius was destroyed. Magyar invasions devastated Moravia. And without the brothers to explain their position, use of the vernacular in liturgy was banned. But politics could never prevail over God's will. The disciples of Cyril and Methodius who were driven out of Moravia didn't hide in a locked room. The invasion and the ban gave them a chance to go to other Slavic countries. The brothers' work of spreading Christ's word and translating it into Slavonic continued and laid the foundation for Christianity in the region.
What began as a request guided by political concerns produced two of the greatest Christian missionaries, revered by both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, and two of the fathers of Slavonic literary culture.
Their feast day is observed on February 14.
Copyright 2011-2016 SS. Cyril & Methodius Catholic Church. Nothing may be reproduced from this website without the express written consent of the Pastor.
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Who is the longest-serving captain in the history of Manchester United FC? | The A-Z Of...Manchester United FC | Bleacher Report
The A-Z Of...Manchester United FC
By Barney Corkhill , Senior Writer
Sep 21, 2008
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Barney Corkhill continues his A-Z series, this time giving an A-Z of Manchester United.
In this series I will go through every letter of the alphabet and link that letter with something to do with the topic.
Here we go!
A - Alex Ferguson
Manchester United's longest serving manager in terms of games managed, and most successful in terms of trophies won. He has been at the club since 1986, winning 10 Premier League titles on the way.
B - Bryan Robson
Captain Marvel, Bryan Robson, was the longest serving captain of Manchester United. He was skipper from 1982, the year after he joined United, to 1994, the year he left.
C - Charlton, Bobby
Bobby Charlton is probably the biggest United legend of them all. A survivor of the terrible Munich Air Disaster, and the man Busby re-built his team around, Bobby Charlton has scored more goals for United than anyone else, and is the second highest appearance maker for the club.
D - Duncan Edwards
The young defender who died in the Munich Air Disaster had the potential to become one of the all-time greats. Despite dying in his early 20's, he was recently voted United's greatest ever player.
E - European Cup
Each of United's three European Cups have been special. The 1968 one paid tribute to those who perished in Munich, the 1999 one completed the treble, and the 2008 was the first all-English final, and marked 40 years since their first triumph, and 50 since Munich.
F - FA Cup
No team has won the FA Cup more times than Man United. They have a special affinity with the competition, having won it a record 11 times.
G - George Best
One of the most talented players in United's illustrious history. Best's glory years came at United, and none more so than 1968, when he was instrumental in guided United to European Cup glory.
H - Heroes
United, as with every club, have had their fair share of heroes. From Charlton, Law and Best to Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez, every generation has thrown up United heroes.
I - Ipswich Town
It was Ipswich who were on the end of United's record Premier League win. The score ended up 9-0, with Andy Cole bagging five goals.
J - Joy
United fans, especially in recent years, must have had immeasurable joy. Their team has been in and around the top for the best part of two decades, and it doesn't look like stopping anytime soon.
K - Keane, Roy
Ferguson himself said that Keane was the best player he has ever coached. As a captain he was fierce and inspirational. No United captain has matched his trophy haul.
L - Law, Denis
Along with Best and Charlton, Denis Law made up the feared front three of United in the 60s and 70s. One of United's best, most natural, and prolific goal-scorers, he is perhaps one of the only men who could have scored a goal for Man City which relegated United, but be forgiven.
M - Munich Air Disaster
One of the biggest footballing tragedies to hit England. The much acclaimed "Busby Babes" were involved in a plane crash in which eight of the players died, along with 15 other passengers.
N - Newton Heath FC
The original name of the club before they became known as Manchester United, back in 1902.
O - Old Trafford
The so-called "Theatre of Dreams". Old Trafford has been witness to some great moments and great players. It remains the biggest club ground in England, consistently getting the highest average attendance.
P - Premier League
The Premier League has belonged to United since it's inception. Arsenal have been a nuisance, Chelsea too, but there is no doubting who the biggest boys of the Premier League era are.
Q - Quieroz, Carlos
I had trouble finding one for "Q", so I settled for the former assistant manager, Carlos Quieroz, who helped United to the Europe and League double last season.
R - Ryan Giggs
No player has played more times in a United shirt, nor won more trophies. He is the most decorated player in English football history, and has been a fixture in the United side for over a decade and a half.
S - Sir Matt Busby
The engineer of the "Busby Babes", and the longest serving manager, in terms of time at the club, in United's history. After miraculously surviving the Munich Air Disaster, Busby led United to their first ever European Cup in 1968.
T - The Treble
In 1999, Man United became the first team to win the treble consisting of the three top prizes available to English club sides. These were the Premier League, the FA Cup and the European Cup.
U - UEFA Cup
It remains, to this day, the only major trophy that United have never won. However, that may be because recently they have consistently qualified for the Champions League.
V - Viollet, Dennis
One of the greatest goalscorers in the club's history, and one of the most prolific. In the top 10 United scorers of all time, only one man has been more prolific, and that is another "V" - Van Nistelrooy.
W - Winners
The club's fans, players and staff have become accustomed to winning to such an extent that now a trophy-less season is seen as a big failure.
X - X-Rays
As always, X is giving me trouble. And this time there is no Abel Xavier to save me. I've gone for X-Rays, as they have been a big part of United's injury list over the years, from Rooney's foot to Alan Smith's broken leg. Sorry for the poor "X" section!
Y - Youth
United have always given youth a chance. From the Busby Babes to Fergie's Fledglings. Players who were at United from youth make an all-star list: David Beckham, Bobby Charlton, Gary Neville, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes etc.
Z - Zenith
Have United reached their zenith back in 1999? Well, Fergie thinks his current team is better than that team so perhaps not! We'll have to wait and see!
So there you have your latest A-Z of the series! I hope you enjoyed it!
Other A-Z's:
| Bryan Robson |
In which US state was actress Nicole Kidman born? | England's Captains - Index
Notes on the Captaincy
The following notes are based on the knowledge that two captains in very early matches remain unknown.
England have been led by 118 captains in the 964 matches they have played since the first in 1872.
The list is headed by the incomparable Billy Wright and Bobby Moore, who each led England 90 times, still a world record. Wright served as captain in 70 consecutive England matches during the 1950's, an almost unbelievable record that was eventually broken by Heinz Hermann of Switzerland (71 captaincies in a row 1982-89), and then Andoni Zubizaretta of Spain. A record that seemed unbreakable in an era in which the physical demands of the game are much higher and even the slightest injury keeps players costing millions of pounds out of action. Bryan Robson, who led England 65 times, David Beckham, Wright and Moore are the only players to lead England more than 40 times. Robson probably would have challenged the Wright/Moore record of 90 captaincies but for his relentlessly aggressive style of play, which led to several serious injuries reducing his international appearances.
The captaincy was not assigned to one player for an appreciable number of matches until professionalism began to take a grip on the national side in the 1880's and 1890's. Before that it was merely regarded as an honour with ceremonial attributes to be passed around to deserving players, a concept that continued to carry weight into the inter-war era when the Football Association's International Selection Committee continued to choose the lineups and the captain. Indeed, that notion has occasionally carried lingering force in modern times when players have been given the captaincy for a single match in recognition of long service or a milestone in career caps. Thus David Seaman was made captain for the match marking his 50th appearance, and Bobby Charlton led out the team for his 100th cap although the regular England captain at the time, Bobby Moore, was also in the lineup (albeit Charlton also captained England on two other occasions when Moore was absent).
But in the post-Second World War era, the captaincy generally has been assigned by the manager/coach to a single player who remained in that role until until his international careers waned or ended or until a new manager/coach brought in a new captain. In modern times, the manager/coach usually also picks a vice-captain, who leads the team when the regular captain is absent through injury or suspension. Michael Owen had led the team Sven-Göran Eriksson's first-choice captain, David Beckham, has been absent. In the Steve McClaren era, Steven Gerrard deputised for John Terry. As for the Capello era, Rio Ferdinand deputised for John Terry, that was until Rio himself became the National side's captain, to be deputised by Steven Gerrard.
While the England captaincy still is regarded as a great honour and carries the traditional ceremonial aspects--leading the players onto the pitch, introducing the players to match dignitaries, exchanging emblems with the visiting team's captain, attending the referee's coin toss which settles direction of play and which team kicks off at the beginning of a match--it involves much more than that. The captain is expected to exercise leadership both on and off the pitch--to serve as a public spokesman for the team, to provide a communication link between the players and the staff, and to take charge of the team during a match, rallying and inspiring the team when it is down, exercising a calming influence when tempers are frayed, encouraging young players inexperienced at international level, correcting errant players and the like. Still, England football captains generally do not have much influence on team selection, formation or tactical decisions, although some of them have gained their manager's ear by dint of a long working relationship, most notably Bobby Moore under Alf Ramsey.
Only players who started a match as captain are recognised as official England captains. Players who took over the captain's armband during a match when the starting captain had to leave the pitch because of injury or, in modern times, because of substitution are not listed as captains in the Football Association's official records. In fact, it has said it does not even keep records of those temporary armband wearers.
We know of numerous instances in which more than two players wore the captain's armband in the same match. Most certianly the first occasion was the scoreless draw against Morocco at Estadio Tecnológico in Monterrey, Mexico on 6 June 1986. Bryan Robson of Manchester United was the starting captain in this World Cup final tournament match. He went off injured and the armband went to Ray Wilkins, then of AC Milan. Wilkins was sent off soon after, and Peter Shilton of Southampton FC then took the armband.
The following occasion was the 2-1 friendly match against Serbia and Montenegro at Walkers Stadium in Leicester on 3 June 2003, when four players wore the captain's armband, including three Liverpool players. There was widespread dismay in the media and among some former England stars that three players deemed undeserving of the captaincy--Emile Heskey of Liverpool, Phil Neville of Manchester United and Jamie Carragher of Liverpool--were handed the captain's armband as a result of the spate of substitutions that followed the half-time retirement of Liverpool's Michael Owen, who had started the match as captain in the absence of regular captain David Beckham. Only Owen will be listed as captain in the official match records, however. The three who took over the armband were merely its temporary custodians, and are not entitled to official recognition as England captains, and hence the outrage was somewhat over the top.
Owen was the 104th official captain. He first led the side in three preparatory friendly matches just before World Cup 2002 while Beckham recovered from a broken foot. Owen captained England again in the season-opening friendly against Portugal on 7 September 2002, and in the pair of matches that ended the season, the friendly against Serbia and Montenegro on 3 June 2003 and the European Championship 2004 qualifier against Slovakia a week later.
Steven Gerrard became the 105th official England captain on 31 March 2004, in a friendly celebrating Sweden's centenary. It was in the absence of regular first choice captain, David Beckham, and second-choice captain, Michael Owen, who were both injured and unfit for this match.
John Terry was chosen by Steve McClaren as the 106th captain, following David Beckham's resignation, with Steve Gerrard on stand-by should Terry be unfit to play. It was Steven Gerrard who became Fabio Capello's first captain in his first match in charge. Capello announced that John Terry too, would be his official captain in September 2008. Rio Ferdinand had already become England's 107th known official captain in Capello's search for a captain, Ferdinand in turn, became the vice-captain to Terry in the Capello era.
It was on the middle-east heat, in the deserts of Qatar, that saw Wayne Rooney become the third youngest post-war captain, and the 108th known captain. John Terry had been ruled out of the Brazil friendly match in the night before the match and Rio Ferdinand and Steven Gerrard had already been excluded from the initial squad due to an injuries. David Beckham had withdrawn himself from the squad a week earlier due to club commitments. Capello saw Rooney as the next natural leader.
Towards the end of 2009, the role of the Captaincy was under scrutiny after John Terry was named and shamed in the media regarding his off-the-field antics. Although within the modern morality of society, this as hardly a sin of any proportion, but the fact the allegations concerned an England team-mate left his position as a national role model untenable. It was reasonable to suggest that no Manchester City player, the current club of Wayne Bridge, would ever see JT as their leader. That made Capello make a decision in the best interest of the national game, and vice-captain Rio Ferdinand, became England's next current captain. Steven Gerrard becoming the vice-Captain. A role that become vital throughout the 2010 World Cup Finals, where Gerrard took the armband as his own, with Frank Lampard becoming his vice.
At the beginning of 2011, with both Ferdinand and Gerrard unavailable to take the armband through injury, Frank Lampard became England's 109th known different captain, against Denmark. In March the same year, in the match against Ghana at the new National Stadium, Gareth Barry became the 110th known England Captain, the 47th post-war. All of this catapulted Capello's decision-making process into the limelight. The very fact that Capello reinstated John Terry in March 2011 to the captaincy position, without informing Ferdinand, but informing Gerrard, then three days later, handing the armband to Barry. The Captain's role is never an easy one, and neither is the decision to make it so.
It was the Captain's armband that eventually cost Fabio Capello his position as England manager. The Football Association felt it necessary to strip John Terry of the captaincy for the second time in his career, as he awaited trial for alleged racism. Capello disagreed at some point, whether at his own non-involvement in the decision-making process, or with the decision itself, only a future auto-biography will tell.
Up stepped Capello's number two, Stuart Pearce, who, despite the fitness of Steven Gerrard, chose an untested Scott Parker, winning only his eleventh appearance, in the match against the Netherlands in February 2012. Gerrard, however, was finally chosen as the national team captain after Roy Hodgson was appointed as England's thirteenth manager in May 2012. Hodgson also made Frank Lampard his vice-Captain.
However, in May 2013, the media's perception of the Captaincy was thrown into disarray when Hodgson announced that he would signify Ashley Cole's century of appearances for the national team by handing him the armband. The 49th post-war captaincy. The debacle was because that acknowledgement came on Cole's 102nd appearance, against the Republic of Ireland, and because Cole was only going to be taking the role of leading his country out of the Wembley Stadium player's tunnel. It was already decided that Lampard was to fulfill the normal off-field role of captain.
Following the 2014 World Cup Finals, both Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard retired from international football, leaving the pathway open for the most experienced player on the field to take the armband. Step forward, Wayne Rooney. Gary Cahill was appointed as his vice-captain. After a full season with Rooney in charge, there were four different captains in the first five matches of 2015-16. Rooney in charge of the first two, then Gary Cahill earning his first honour, and the fiftieth to do so since the war, when Rooney was injured. Then, on 12 October, when both an injured Rooney and a rested Cahill missed the match against Lithuania, the captaincy was handed to Phil Jagielka. The first Everton player to receive the honour. The following month, when Rooney and Cahill were rested against Spain, and Jagielka was injured, the job fell to the most experienced player on the pitch, Joe Hart. For the second match in 2016, against Netherlands. With Rooney and Hart injured, Cahill rested, it was left to the most experienced member of the squad to take the armband, step forward, James MIlner. The record was completed in the friendly match against Australia in May 2016. Not only had Hodgson now used a record six different Captains in one season, but he used nine since he became manager, equalling the number used by Ron Greenwood.
When Sam Allardyce was appointed in July 2016, he re-appointed Rooney as his company a month later. After Allardyce was unceremoniously sacked, the under-21 manager, Gareth Southgate, took over the reigns on an interim basis. He kept Rooney as his captain but dropped him for his second match against Slovenia. Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson slipping on the armband.
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In 1976 Dave Wagstaffe was playing for which team when he became the first football player in England to receive a red card? | How English football came to love and curse the red card - BBC News
BBC News
How English football came to love and curse the red card
By Martin Winch BBC News
10 August 2013
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Image caption Red cards were first introduced to the global game in 1970
When Saturday comes, it brings with it goals, shock results and a sprinkling of the dreaded yellow and red cards.
But while the goals and upsets have been occurring in the Football League for 125 years , the same cannot be said for the handing out of cards.
They made their debut in the English game in 1976, and the first player to receive a red one was Blackburn Rovers winger Dave Wagstaffe.
The former Wolves midfielder, who died this week aged 70, was given his marching orders in a Division Two match at Leyton Orient on 2 October. Later that afternoon a certain George Best also saw red playing for Fulham at Southampton in the same division.
But where did the idea for the cards come from?
Traffic lights
The cards were shown after the Football League voluntarily adopted a system introduced to the game in the 1970 World Cup.
David Barber, from the Football Association, said the idea is credited to English referee Ken Aston from Ilford, London.
Image caption Winger Dave Wagstaffe left Wolves in 1976 for Blackburn Rovers
Mr Barber said: "He refereed the 1963 FA Cup Final and was in charge of the referees at the '66 World Cup, during which there was confusion over [Argentina's] Antonio Rattin's dismissal against England.
"Had he actually been sent off?"
The player had indeed been given his marching orders, for reasons that were about as unclear as the indication of the dismissal itself.
Mr Aston had to help persuade Argentina's captain to leave the field of play.
It was while the referee was driving along Kensington High Street that he had the idea of introducing yellow and red cards in a bid to overcome language barriers and give a clear indication to players and supporters alike.
He was stopped at traffic lights when it dawned on him that yellow could be for a caution, a warning to a player to take it easy. And red would simply mean stop - your game is over.
The card system was trialled at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico and they were introduced into European club games at some point afterwards.
Football violence
Some six years later they made their way into the English game where they were used in the domestic game for less than five years initially.
Tony Brown, from SoccerData, explained why two red cards were shown on the day they were introduced.
"Wagstaffe was the first to receive a red, for arguing with the ref [after 36 mins]," Mr Brown said.
"George Best received a red for foul language in the 67th minute."
Image caption The inspiration for the cards came from colours of the traffic light
He added: "In 1980, there was concern over violence on and off the pitch.
"The FA, not the League, thought that 'demonstrative referees' were part of the problem, and decided to do away with red cards."
The decision was ratified by the FA Council in January 1981 and two of the last red cards, for the time being, were shown to David Hodgson and Nicky Reid in a game between Manchester City and Middlesbrough.
But Mr Brown said that by 1987 "the International Board, the rule-making body of the international game, said that England was out of step and should reintroduce cards for the 1987-88 season".
Luton Town forward Mick Harford had the dubious honour of being shown the first red card in a league match following their reintroduction. The Hatter walked just four minutes into the opening day defeat at Derby County in Division One on 15 August 1987.
Over 9,000 have followed in domestic matches and European games involving English teams, according to the English National Football Archive.
The National Football Museum said the issuing of cards became part of the FA's laws of the game in 1992.
And while showing red and yellow helps make referees' decisions clear most of the time, the debate over whether they should or should not have been issued rumbles on among the tales of goals and results up and down the country.
| Blackburn Rovers F.C. |
Who wrote the first series of the UK television show ‘Blackadder’? | How English football came to love and curse the red card - BBC News
BBC News
How English football came to love and curse the red card
By Martin Winch BBC News
10 August 2013
Close share panel
Image caption Red cards were first introduced to the global game in 1970
When Saturday comes, it brings with it goals, shock results and a sprinkling of the dreaded yellow and red cards.
But while the goals and upsets have been occurring in the Football League for 125 years , the same cannot be said for the handing out of cards.
They made their debut in the English game in 1976, and the first player to receive a red one was Blackburn Rovers winger Dave Wagstaffe.
The former Wolves midfielder, who died this week aged 70, was given his marching orders in a Division Two match at Leyton Orient on 2 October. Later that afternoon a certain George Best also saw red playing for Fulham at Southampton in the same division.
But where did the idea for the cards come from?
Traffic lights
The cards were shown after the Football League voluntarily adopted a system introduced to the game in the 1970 World Cup.
David Barber, from the Football Association, said the idea is credited to English referee Ken Aston from Ilford, London.
Image caption Winger Dave Wagstaffe left Wolves in 1976 for Blackburn Rovers
Mr Barber said: "He refereed the 1963 FA Cup Final and was in charge of the referees at the '66 World Cup, during which there was confusion over [Argentina's] Antonio Rattin's dismissal against England.
"Had he actually been sent off?"
The player had indeed been given his marching orders, for reasons that were about as unclear as the indication of the dismissal itself.
Mr Aston had to help persuade Argentina's captain to leave the field of play.
It was while the referee was driving along Kensington High Street that he had the idea of introducing yellow and red cards in a bid to overcome language barriers and give a clear indication to players and supporters alike.
He was stopped at traffic lights when it dawned on him that yellow could be for a caution, a warning to a player to take it easy. And red would simply mean stop - your game is over.
The card system was trialled at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico and they were introduced into European club games at some point afterwards.
Football violence
Some six years later they made their way into the English game where they were used in the domestic game for less than five years initially.
Tony Brown, from SoccerData, explained why two red cards were shown on the day they were introduced.
"Wagstaffe was the first to receive a red, for arguing with the ref [after 36 mins]," Mr Brown said.
"George Best received a red for foul language in the 67th minute."
Image caption The inspiration for the cards came from colours of the traffic light
He added: "In 1980, there was concern over violence on and off the pitch.
"The FA, not the League, thought that 'demonstrative referees' were part of the problem, and decided to do away with red cards."
The decision was ratified by the FA Council in January 1981 and two of the last red cards, for the time being, were shown to David Hodgson and Nicky Reid in a game between Manchester City and Middlesbrough.
But Mr Brown said that by 1987 "the International Board, the rule-making body of the international game, said that England was out of step and should reintroduce cards for the 1987-88 season".
Luton Town forward Mick Harford had the dubious honour of being shown the first red card in a league match following their reintroduction. The Hatter walked just four minutes into the opening day defeat at Derby County in Division One on 15 August 1987.
Over 9,000 have followed in domestic matches and European games involving English teams, according to the English National Football Archive.
The National Football Museum said the issuing of cards became part of the FA's laws of the game in 1992.
And while showing red and yellow helps make referees' decisions clear most of the time, the debate over whether they should or should not have been issued rumbles on among the tales of goals and results up and down the country.
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Who played Richard III in the first series of the UK television show ‘Blackadder’? | The Black Adder (TV Series 1982–1983) - IMDb
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In the Middle Ages, Prince Edmund the Black Adder constantly schemes and endeavors to seize the crown from his father and brother.
Stars:
To dominate Northern Europe, King Richard arranges a marriage between his son Edmund and the Spanish Infanta.
8.1
Someone is assassinating the archbishops of England. Blackadder hopes that Harry will become the next archbishop of Canterbury, since this will make him the only heir of the throne. To his great ...
8.0
When Edmund loses his title of Duke of Edinburgh, he snaps, fires Baldrick and Percy and hires some of the most cruel men in England; Sir Wilfred Death, Three-Fingered Pete, Guy de Glastonbury, Sean ...
7.9
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Title: The Black Adder (1982–1983)
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In the Tudor court of Elizabeth I, Lord Edmund Blackadder strives to win Her Majesty's favour while attempting to avoid a grisly fate should he offend her.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Tim McInnerny
In the Regency era, Mr E. Blackadder serves as butler to the foppish numskull Prince George amidst the fads and crazes of the time.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie
Stuck in the middle of World War I, Captain Edmund Blackadder does his best to escape the banality of the war.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Stephen Fry
At a New Millennium Eve party Blackadder and Baldrick test their new time machine and ping pong through history encountering famous characters and changing events rather alarmingly....
Director: Paul Weiland
Blackadder's Christmas Carol (TV Short 1988)
Short | Comedy | History
After a genial spirit shows the benevolent Ebenezer Blackadder visions of his unscrupulous ancestors, he resolves to mend his generous ways.
Director: Richard Boden
Sir Edmund Blackadder must protect, and later rescue, King Charles I from the Roundheads.
Director: Mandie Fletcher
Hotel owner Basil Fawlty's incompetence, short fuse, and arrogance form a combination that ensures accidents and trouble are never far away.
Stars: John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs
Blackadder Rides Again (TV Special 2008)
Documentary | Comedy
Rowan Atkinson and the cast of legendary comedy series Blackadder are back for this one-off documentary special to mark 25 years since the original BBC transmission in 1983. Featuring ... See full summary »
Director: Matt O'Casey
The original surreal sketch comedy showcase for the Monty Python troupe.
Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam
Crazy sitcom about 3 priests and their housekeeper who live on Craggy Island, not the peaceful and quiet part of Ireland it seems!
Stars: Dermot Morgan, Ardal O'Hanlon, Frank Kelly
Various mishaps at a police station in an English town. The main character is the anachronistic, yet charming and funny Inspector Fowler. CID foil to Fowler, Inspector Grim is a bumbling, seething idiot.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Mina Anwar, James Dreyfus
In WW2 France, Rene Artois runs a small café where Resistance fighters, Gestapo men, German Army officers and escaped Allied POWs interact daily, ignorant of one another's true identity or presence, exasperating Rene.
Stars: Gorden Kaye, Carmen Silvera, Vicki Michelle
Edit
Storyline
Set in England at the end of the War of the Roses, we soon find out that the history we know is a Tudor fiction. In fact, Henry VII did not actually win the battle of Bosworth Field; he lost and though Richard III died in the battle, his nephew King Richard IV (who certainly was not smothered while still a boy in the Tower of London) reigned on for some years. The story focuses on Richard IV's younger son Prince Edmund, a sniveling coward who calls himself the 'Black Adder'. Assisted by his grungy servant Baldrick and the moronic Lord Percy, Edmund plots his rise to greatness. Written by Reid Gagle
The most gripping sitcom since 1380.
Genres:
20 June 1982 (UK) See more »
Also Known As:
Did You Know?
Trivia
This season had the largest budget in the series, with a multitude of extras and props (horses, armour, etc) and on-location shooting at actual medieval locations. Rowan Atkinson has described shooting as being extravagant: "It cost a million pounds for the six episodes, a lot of money to spend... it looked great, but it wasn't as consistently funny as we would have liked." In partial consequence, the later shows had their budgets, casts and sets scaled down. See more »
Goofs
Blackadder is throughout the series referred to as the Duke of Edinburgh, a title that was first bestowed by King George I in 1726, on his grandson, Prince Frederick Lewis, in the Peerage of Great Britain. In the 1480s, the King of England had no jurisdiction over Scotland, where Edinburgh is. Giving Edmund an anachronistic, geographically useless title is a joke, as explained in the DVD special features. See more »
Quotes
Percy, Duke of Northumberland : Oh Edmund, can it be true that I hold in my hand a nugget of purest Green?
There is a statement in the closing credits: "With additional dialogue by William Shakespeare ." See more »
Connections
(Hampshire, England) – See all my reviews
This is the first, and in my opinion, the best of the Blackadder series - although the second installment runs a very close second. This series, in retrospect, is often dismissed as less funny than its successors and this may be due to its different style and sense of humour. This comparison unfortunately causes the viewer to miss what makes this series such an excellent piece of comedy writing and production.
The whole series centres on Edmund (Rowan Atkinson), the son of the younger of the two princes who in history were murdered in the Tower of London, allegedly by Richard III. In this take on history, where real history is dismissed as being rewritten by Henry Tudor, the princes were not murdered and Richard Duke of York grows up 'to be a strong boy'. The first episode of the series lays the foundation, explaining how Richard III dies, how Edmund's father becomes King and also the important, accidental, foretelling by three Witches (a clever alude to the witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth) to Edmund that one day he will be King. The rest of the series follows Edmund in his attempts to realise this foretelling.
Edmund's definite goal throughout the series, which forms the basis of the subsequent plotlines, gives it a direction perhaps missing in the following series, and it also gives his character more depth. Blackadder (as he names himself), in this series, is significantly different to his persona of the subsequent time-periods - being slimy, selfish and not particularly bright. There is a definite bond between the main characters, Blackadder and his sidekicks, Percy and Baldrick (excellently played by Tim McInnerny and Tony Robinson respectively) and although Blackadder treats his underlings with contempt at times, they collaborate as a team throughout in a series of 'cunning plans'. Baldrick is indeed the intelligent character of the group, the man in the know and his character has much more depth than his smelly and stupid character of later series.
Each plot in the series follows a similar pattern - Blackadder getting himself into a situation and having to get himself out of it. The humour presented is more subtle, relying more on the use of visual comedy, language and historical satire than on blind sarcasm. Many of the gags are implied and expect the viewer to work out the meaning as opposed to ramming it down their throats. Additionally, the script contains a number of lines that cleverly misuse Shakespeare for added effect, a classic example being Richard III calling for 'my horse, my horse my kingdom for a horse' in the style of someone calling for his dog. The supporting cast all play their part superbly, particularly Brian Blessed as Richard IV, the maniacal war-monger who hates his slimy son and fails to get his name right. The late, great Peter Cook also makes an appearance as Richard III in the first episode.
This series must be watched out of context with what followed. It was not written for the popular market, being first screened on BBC2. Watch it, laugh, then watch it again to catch some of the gags you missed the first time. Comedy written this well is unfortunately extremely rare, and to dismiss it without appreciating its aims does not do it justice. This series not only shows Rowan Atkinson at his very best, but also the writing of Richard Curtis (and Atkinson) and it is an overlooked classic of British comedy.
47 of 53 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?
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| Peter Cook |
Which character is played by Miranda Richardson in the UK television series ‘Blackadder II’? | The Black Adder | The Blackadder Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia
Edit
Set in the Middle Ages, the series is written as a secret history. It opens on 21 August 1485, the eve of the Battle of Bosworth Field , which in the series is won not by Henry Tudor (as in reality) but by Richard III. King Richard III , played by Peter Cook , is presented as a good king who doted on his nephews, contrary to the Shakespearan view of him as a hunchbacked, infanticidal monster.
After his victory in the battle, Richard III is then unintentionally killed by Lord Edmund Plantagenet ; Richard borrows Edmund's horse, which he thinks is a stray. Not recognizing the king, Edmund thinks Richard is stealing it and cuts his head off. The late King's nephew, Richard, Duke of York (played by Brian Blessed ) who is Lord Edmund Plantagenet's father, is then crowned as Richard IV. Lord Edmund himself did not take part in the battle after arriving late, but later claims to have killed 450 peasants and several nobles, one of whom had actually been killed by his brother in the battle.
King Richard IV of England and XII of Scotland and his Queen Gertrude of Flanders have two sons; Prince Harry and his younger brother Prince Edmund . Of the two, Harry is by far his father's favourite, the King barely acknowledging his second son's existence. It is a running joke throughout the series that Edmund's father cannot even remember his name.
Using this premise, the series follows the fictitious reign of Richard IV (1485-98) through the experiences of Prince Edmund, who self-styles himself as "The Black Adder", and his two sidekicks - the imbecilic Lord Percy Percy the Duke of Northumberland ( Tim McInnerny ), and Baldrick ( Tony Robinson ), a more intelligent servant of no status.
By the end of the series, events converge with accepted history, when King Richard IV and his entire family are poisoned, allowing Henry Tudor to take the throne as King Henry VII . He then rewrites history, presenting Richard III as a monster, and eliminating Richard IV's reign from the history books. In reality, Richard, Duke of York one of the 'Princes in the Tower' was only twelve years old (and perhaps two years dead) when the Battle of Bosworth Field took place in 1485, and was thus too young to have had two adult sons.
Episodes
Edit
The episodes in this series, written by Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis , were originally shown on BBC One on Wednesday evenings, 21:25 – 22:00. Each episode ran for roughly 33 minutes.
Each of the episodes were based on medieval themes - the Wars of the Roses, the Crusades and Royal succession, the conflict between the Crown and the Church, arranged marriages between monarchies, The Plague and witchcraft, and the final episode follows a planned coup d'état.
No.
" The Black Seal "
20 July 1983
When all of Edmund's titles are removed except Warden of the Royal Privies, Edmund is furious and decides to seize the throne with the help of the six most evil men in the kingdom.
First appearance of Rik Mayall as Mad Gerald , though the character is credited as "himself".
Character development
Edit
In this series, the character of the Black Adder is somewhat different from later incarnations, being largely unintelligent, naive, and snivelling. The character does evolve through the series, however, and he begins showing signs of what his descendants will be like by the final episode, where he begins insulting everyone around him and making his own plans. This evolution follows naturally from the character's situation. "The Black Adder" is the title that Edmund adopts during the first episode (after first considering "The Black Vegetable"). Presumably one of his descendants adopted as a surname before Blackadder II, where the title character becomes " Edmund Blackadder ".
Production
Edit
Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis developed the idea for the sitcom while working on Not the Nine O'Clock News. Eager to avoid comparisons to the critically acclaimed Fawlty Towers, they proposed the idea of a historical sitcom. An unaired pilot episode was made in 1982, and a six episode series was commissioned.
In the unaired pilot episode, covering the basic plot of " Born to be King ", Rowan Atkinson speaks, dresses and generally looks and acts like the later Blackadder descendants of the second series onwards, but no reason is given as to why he was instead changed to a snivelling wretch for the first series. Richard Curtis has stated he cannot remember the exact reason, but has suggested it was because they wanted to have a more complicated character (implying that the change was driven by the writing) instead of a swaggering lead from the pilot.
Curtis admitted in a 2004 documentary that just before recording began, producer John Lloyd came up to him with Atkinson and asked what Edmund's character was. Curtis then realised that, despite writing some funny lines, he had no idea how Rowan Atkinson was supposed to play his part. On the 25th anniversary documentary Blackadder Rides Again, Atkinson added that as the cameras were about to roll for the first time, he suddenly realised he wasn't even sure which voice to use for the character.
Filming
Edit
The budget for the series was considerable, with much location shooting particularly at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland and the surrounding countryside in February 1983. Brinkburn Priory, an authentic reconstruction of a medieval monastery church, was used for the episode " The Archbishop ". The series also used large casts of extras, as well as horses and expensive medieval-style costumes. Filming at the castle was hindered by bad weather - snow is visible in many of the outdoor location shots.
Atkinson had to suffer during the making of the programme, having to trim his hair in an unflattering medieval style and wearing a selection of "priapic codpieces". Atkinson has said about the making of the first series:
The first series was odd, it was very extravagant. It cost a million pounds for the six programmes... [which] was a lot of money to spend...It looked great, but it wasn't as consistently funny as we would have liked.
Cast
Tony Robinson as Baldrick, Son of Robin the Dung Gatherer
In the pilot, Baldrick was played by Philip Fox , who was subsequently replaced by Tony Robinson . Robinson stated in a 2003 radio documentary that he was originally flattered to be offered a part, and it was only later he found that every other small-part actor had also been offered the role and turned it down. The King is played by John Savident and was replaced in the series by Brian Blessed . Prince Harry was played by Robert Bathurst in the pilot and replaced by Robert East .
The series also featured a number of guest roles, often featuring noted actors such as Peter Cook and Peter Benson in " The Foretelling ", Miriam Margolyes and Jim Broadbent in " The Queen of Spain's Beard ", Frank Finlay in " Witchsmeller Pursuivant " and Rik Mayall and Patrick Allen (who also narrated the series) in " The Black Seal ".
Title sequence and music
Edit
The title sequence consisted of several stock shots of Edmund riding his horse on location, interspersed with different shots of him doing various silly things (and, usually, a shot of King Richard IV to go with Brian Blessed's credit). The closing titles were a similar sequence of Edmund riding, and eventually falling off, his horse and then chasing after it. All the credits of the first series included "with additional dialogue by William Shakespeare " and "made in glorious television".
The series used the first incarnation of the Blackadder theme by Howard Goodall (with the exception of the unaired pilot, which featured a different arrangement). For the opening theme, a trumpet solo accompanied by an orchestra was used. For the end titles, the theme gained mock-heroic lyrics sung by a baritone (Simon Carrington, a member of the King's Singers). In the final episode, the theme was sung by a treble, in a more reflective style. The series' incidental music was unusually performed by pipe organ and percussion.
Awards and criticism
Edit
The series won an International Emmy award in the popular arts category in 1983. The four series of Blackadder were voted into second place in the BBC's Britain's Best Sitcom in 2004 with 282,106 votes, although the series' advocate, John Sergeant, was not complimentary of the first series, suggesting it was "grandiose, confused and expensive". Members of the cast and crew, looking back for the documentary Blackadder Rides Again are also not particularly complimentary of the finished series. John Lloyd recalls that a colleague commented at the time that the series "looks a million dollars, but cost a million pounds", although admits that they were proud of the result at the time. Due to the high cost of the series, the then controller of BBC programming Michael Grade, was reluctant to authorise a second series without major improvements and cost cutting to be made, leaving a gap of three years before Blackadder II was filmed, on the condition that it remained largely studio-bound.
Releases
Edit
The complete series of The Black Adder is available as a Region 2 DVD from BBC Worldwide, as well as in a complete box-set with the other series. An earlier VHS release of the series was also produced in September 1996. The series is also available in Region 1 DVD in a box-set of the complete series. Released in 2009 was a 15 disc complete set of audiobooks published by BBC Audiobooks Ltd. The set's called "The Complete Collected Series 1, 2, 3, 4 and Specials". A selection of one-off episodes, documentaries and other appearances by "Blackadder" are featured, with some of this extra material being released on audio for the first time.
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What is the name of Blackadder’s servant in the UK television show ‘Blackadder’? | The Black Adder (TV Series 1982–1983) - IMDb
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In the Middle Ages, Prince Edmund the Black Adder constantly schemes and endeavors to seize the crown from his father and brother.
Stars:
To dominate Northern Europe, King Richard arranges a marriage between his son Edmund and the Spanish Infanta.
8.1
Someone is assassinating the archbishops of England. Blackadder hopes that Harry will become the next archbishop of Canterbury, since this will make him the only heir of the throne. To his great ...
8.0
When Edmund loses his title of Duke of Edinburgh, he snaps, fires Baldrick and Percy and hires some of the most cruel men in England; Sir Wilfred Death, Three-Fingered Pete, Guy de Glastonbury, Sean ...
7.9
a list of 21 titles
created 30 Aug 2012
a list of 44 titles
created 01 May 2014
a list of 40 titles
created 29 Jun 2014
a list of 35 images
created 18 Mar 2015
a list of 28 titles
created 1 week ago
Title: The Black Adder (1982–1983)
8.2/10
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In the Tudor court of Elizabeth I, Lord Edmund Blackadder strives to win Her Majesty's favour while attempting to avoid a grisly fate should he offend her.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Tim McInnerny
In the Regency era, Mr E. Blackadder serves as butler to the foppish numskull Prince George amidst the fads and crazes of the time.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Hugh Laurie
Stuck in the middle of World War I, Captain Edmund Blackadder does his best to escape the banality of the war.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Stephen Fry
At a New Millennium Eve party Blackadder and Baldrick test their new time machine and ping pong through history encountering famous characters and changing events rather alarmingly....
Director: Paul Weiland
Blackadder's Christmas Carol (TV Short 1988)
Short | Comedy | History
After a genial spirit shows the benevolent Ebenezer Blackadder visions of his unscrupulous ancestors, he resolves to mend his generous ways.
Director: Richard Boden
Sir Edmund Blackadder must protect, and later rescue, King Charles I from the Roundheads.
Director: Mandie Fletcher
Hotel owner Basil Fawlty's incompetence, short fuse, and arrogance form a combination that ensures accidents and trouble are never far away.
Stars: John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs
Blackadder Rides Again (TV Special 2008)
Documentary | Comedy
Rowan Atkinson and the cast of legendary comedy series Blackadder are back for this one-off documentary special to mark 25 years since the original BBC transmission in 1983. Featuring ... See full summary »
Director: Matt O'Casey
The original surreal sketch comedy showcase for the Monty Python troupe.
Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam
Crazy sitcom about 3 priests and their housekeeper who live on Craggy Island, not the peaceful and quiet part of Ireland it seems!
Stars: Dermot Morgan, Ardal O'Hanlon, Frank Kelly
Various mishaps at a police station in an English town. The main character is the anachronistic, yet charming and funny Inspector Fowler. CID foil to Fowler, Inspector Grim is a bumbling, seething idiot.
Stars: Rowan Atkinson, Mina Anwar, James Dreyfus
In WW2 France, Rene Artois runs a small café where Resistance fighters, Gestapo men, German Army officers and escaped Allied POWs interact daily, ignorant of one another's true identity or presence, exasperating Rene.
Stars: Gorden Kaye, Carmen Silvera, Vicki Michelle
Edit
Storyline
Set in England at the end of the War of the Roses, we soon find out that the history we know is a Tudor fiction. In fact, Henry VII did not actually win the battle of Bosworth Field; he lost and though Richard III died in the battle, his nephew King Richard IV (who certainly was not smothered while still a boy in the Tower of London) reigned on for some years. The story focuses on Richard IV's younger son Prince Edmund, a sniveling coward who calls himself the 'Black Adder'. Assisted by his grungy servant Baldrick and the moronic Lord Percy, Edmund plots his rise to greatness. Written by Reid Gagle
The most gripping sitcom since 1380.
Genres:
20 June 1982 (UK) See more »
Also Known As:
Did You Know?
Trivia
This season had the largest budget in the series, with a multitude of extras and props (horses, armour, etc) and on-location shooting at actual medieval locations. Rowan Atkinson has described shooting as being extravagant: "It cost a million pounds for the six episodes, a lot of money to spend... it looked great, but it wasn't as consistently funny as we would have liked." In partial consequence, the later shows had their budgets, casts and sets scaled down. See more »
Goofs
Blackadder is throughout the series referred to as the Duke of Edinburgh, a title that was first bestowed by King George I in 1726, on his grandson, Prince Frederick Lewis, in the Peerage of Great Britain. In the 1480s, the King of England had no jurisdiction over Scotland, where Edinburgh is. Giving Edmund an anachronistic, geographically useless title is a joke, as explained in the DVD special features. See more »
Quotes
Percy, Duke of Northumberland : Oh Edmund, can it be true that I hold in my hand a nugget of purest Green?
There is a statement in the closing credits: "With additional dialogue by William Shakespeare ." See more »
Connections
(Hampshire, England) – See all my reviews
This is the first, and in my opinion, the best of the Blackadder series - although the second installment runs a very close second. This series, in retrospect, is often dismissed as less funny than its successors and this may be due to its different style and sense of humour. This comparison unfortunately causes the viewer to miss what makes this series such an excellent piece of comedy writing and production.
The whole series centres on Edmund (Rowan Atkinson), the son of the younger of the two princes who in history were murdered in the Tower of London, allegedly by Richard III. In this take on history, where real history is dismissed as being rewritten by Henry Tudor, the princes were not murdered and Richard Duke of York grows up 'to be a strong boy'. The first episode of the series lays the foundation, explaining how Richard III dies, how Edmund's father becomes King and also the important, accidental, foretelling by three Witches (a clever alude to the witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth) to Edmund that one day he will be King. The rest of the series follows Edmund in his attempts to realise this foretelling.
Edmund's definite goal throughout the series, which forms the basis of the subsequent plotlines, gives it a direction perhaps missing in the following series, and it also gives his character more depth. Blackadder (as he names himself), in this series, is significantly different to his persona of the subsequent time-periods - being slimy, selfish and not particularly bright. There is a definite bond between the main characters, Blackadder and his sidekicks, Percy and Baldrick (excellently played by Tim McInnerny and Tony Robinson respectively) and although Blackadder treats his underlings with contempt at times, they collaborate as a team throughout in a series of 'cunning plans'. Baldrick is indeed the intelligent character of the group, the man in the know and his character has much more depth than his smelly and stupid character of later series.
Each plot in the series follows a similar pattern - Blackadder getting himself into a situation and having to get himself out of it. The humour presented is more subtle, relying more on the use of visual comedy, language and historical satire than on blind sarcasm. Many of the gags are implied and expect the viewer to work out the meaning as opposed to ramming it down their throats. Additionally, the script contains a number of lines that cleverly misuse Shakespeare for added effect, a classic example being Richard III calling for 'my horse, my horse my kingdom for a horse' in the style of someone calling for his dog. The supporting cast all play their part superbly, particularly Brian Blessed as Richard IV, the maniacal war-monger who hates his slimy son and fails to get his name right. The late, great Peter Cook also makes an appearance as Richard III in the first episode.
This series must be watched out of context with what followed. It was not written for the popular market, being first screened on BBC2. Watch it, laugh, then watch it again to catch some of the gags you missed the first time. Comedy written this well is unfortunately extremely rare, and to dismiss it without appreciating its aims does not do it justice. This series not only shows Rowan Atkinson at his very best, but also the writing of Richard Curtis (and Atkinson) and it is an overlooked classic of British comedy.
47 of 53 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
| Baldrick |
Which vegetable is Blackadder’s servant obsessed with in the UK television series ‘Blackadder II’? | The Complete Blackadder - All Four Series [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Rowan Atkinson, Tony Robinson, Tim McInnerny, Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry: DVD & Blu-ray
Series 3 - Blackadder the Third
Series 4 - Blackadder Goes Forth
From Amazon.co.uk
Follow the progress of Rowan Atkinson's irredeemably wicked Edmund Blackadder throughout history in this complete box set of all four series--from the snivelling War of the Roses-era creep in the Shakespearean parody that was the first series, to his final and unexpectedly noble demise in the trenches of the First World War in Blackadder Goes Forth. In between, of course, we see Edmund at the court of giggly Queen Elizabeth I in Blackadder II, now transformed into the Machiavellian cad audiences came to love so well (thanks to a character overhaul from writing team Ben Elton and Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinsons note-perfect performance). Then in Blackadder III he's still scheming, but this time has moved a little down the social ladder as butler to the congenitally stupid Prince Regent on the cusp of the 18th and 19th centuries. In all four generations Blackadder is accompanied (or should that be hampered?) by his faithful yet terminally stupid servant Baldrick (Tony Robinson); and if that wasn't bad enough he also has to put up with the incompetence, pomposity and one-upmanship of a host of other contemporary hangers-on wonderfully played by regular costars Hugh Laurie, Tim McInnery, Stephen Fry, Miranda Richardson and Rik Mayall. Taken as a whole this sharp, cynical, occasionally satirical, toilet humour-obsessed and achingly funny saga deserves to stand alongside Fawlty Towers as one of the best ever British sitcoms. --Mark Walker
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What is the name of the ‘highwayman’ played by Miranda Richardson in the UK television series ‘Blackadder the Third’? | Blackadder (Series) - TV Tropes
Alternate History :
Most noticeably with The Black Adder, which depicts Henry Tudor as losing in the Battle of Bosworth Field, and Richard IV ruling for the next 13 years, before the eventual Henry VII rewrites the history books to scrub out Richard IV's reign.
Downplayed with Blackadder II and Blackadder the Third, which does mostly follow the real path of history, albeit with a humorous spin on things. However, two major differences from real history are that Elizabeth I and the soon-to-be-George IV both got killed and replaced by Prince Ludwig and Mr. Blackadder respectively.
Blackadder: The Cavalier Years for the most part follows the lead of the second and third series in putting a humorous spin on the English Civil War and the execution of Charles I, but ends by implying that the baby that in real-life became Charles II after the Restoration will end up being killed thanks to Blackadder's treachery, presumably meaning that Blackadder must have found a peasant baby to replace him.
Averted by Blackadder Goes Forth which, with only two exceptions — Manfred von Richtoven and Field Marshall Haig — deals entirely with fictional characters and events within the larger setting of World War I . The sole difference between the events of the show and real-world history would be that von Richtoven got shot and apparently killed by Flashheart in 1917, rather than getting killed when his plane was shot down in 1918.
Turned Up to Eleven by Blackadder Back & Forth, which gives us two alternate histories; one after Blackadder's first trip through time, in which the French conquered the UK in the 19th century, and one after Blackadder knows that he can change the present, in which the Blackadder dynasty has been in power for centuries.
Artistic License � History : Many, many examples per episode, to say nothing of the show's overall track record. But hey, Rule of Funny , people! Plus, The Black Adder can explain away its inaccuracies as Henry Tudor doing a lousy job of rewriting history (and, at a stretch, you could say that Prince Ludwig as Elizabeth I and Blackadder as George IV did something similar for the second and third series).
Eliminating all artifacts from a 13-year reign would be a difficult trick to say the least. One of the reasons we know of the extremely obscure Roman emperor Elagabalus, who was declared damnatio memoriae and whose name was expunged thoroughly from official histories of the Empire, is because coinage with their face and name on it survives to the present day. And Elagabalus reigned for a mere three years.
In the very last episode of the fourth series, averted. The viewers know that World War I ended in 1918, so, when Capt. Darling thinks the war has finally ended, mentioning the year 1917, it becomes clear that the characters are doomed.
The Bad Guy Wins :
The first series starts with the bad guy, Henry Tudor having effectively won already. Although he loses the Battle of Bosworth Field in the first episode, he eventually ends up claiming the throne thirteen years later after Percy accidentally poisons the royal family to death, then for the real kicker he rewrites the history books to erase Richard IV's reign altogether.
Blackadder the Third ends with the most ruthless and evil of Blackadders usurping the identity of Prince Regent.
Blackadder Goes Forth ends with all the main cast members falling victim to the madness of modern war, the real villain of this instalment. And to Melchett's questionable strategies. In contrast to the other series, the ending isn't Played for Laughs .
Blackadder Back and Forth had the modern incarnation of Blackadder manipulate history via time travel to become King of the United Kingdom and making Baldrick his (puppet) Prime Minister.
Blackadder: The Cavalier Years ends with Blackadder defecting to the Roundheads and ratting out both Baldrick and that baby that in real-life grew up to be Charles II.
Blackadder's Christmas Carol may very well be the most extreme example: It ends with the uncharacteristically kind-hearted Ebenezer Blackadder realizing that, if he adopts the evil and selfish ways of is ancestors, his descendants will one day RULE THE UNIVERSE. If you consider the special as canon, the Blackadder family is one of the ultimate examples of this trope.
Bandaged Face
Bawdy Song : Several examples in certain episodes, from the second season onwards.
Been There, Shaped History : Captain Blackadder from Blackadder Goes Forth is the only incarnation who isn't a friend/relative of a government figure. However, he did save Field Marshall Haig from a mango-wielding pygmy at Mboto Gorge. The intro to Blackadder: Back & Forth lampshades this with a montage of various incarnations throughout history, including an archer (accidentally) slaying King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, one (Australian) Desert Rat giving the bird to Winston Churchill behind his back and another gagging behind Margaret Thatcher giving a speech.
Bestiality Is Depraved : A running gag across all four series.
"Lord Melchett, Lord Melchett, intelligent and deep. / Lord Melchett, Lord Melchett, a shame about the sheep!"
Becomes "BAAAAA!!!" by Goes Forth.
British Brevity : Consists of four series of six episodes each, plus the occasional special.
Blonde, Brunette, Redhead : Miranda Richardson's characters between season 2 and 4
Amy Hardwood (season 3, blonde)
Mary Fletcher (season 4, brunette)
Queenie (season 2, redhead)
Buffy Speak : Several times. (Chronologically, shouldn't this be called BlackadderSpeak?)
Blackadder II — Edmund is trying to avoid drinking because he Can't Hold His Liquor .
Melchett: You twist and you turn like a... twisty-turny thing.
Stephen Fry admitted in the 2008 documentary Blackadder: The Whole Rotten Saga that this line was a Throw It In on his part.
Blackadder the Third — Edmund is attempting to bring the dim-witted Prince up to speed on the state of the nation.
Edmund: Disease and deprivation stalk our land like... two giant stalking things.
Bumbling Sidekick : Baldrick is a well-loved example of the trope (and indeed the former Trope Namer ), appearing from the second and subsequent series.
Butt Monkey : Baldrick is probably the most obvious, but Percy, George, Darling and Edmund himself all fit the bill in some way as well.
Blackadder, Blackadder — nothing goes as planned!
Blackadder, Blackadder — life deals him a bum hand!
Butlerspace : Baldrick does this occasionally in the first season (in which he's a Hypercompetent Sidekick instead of the bumbling slob of later episodes ). At one point he emerges from a decorative suit of armour that Edmund happens to be walking past, just as he's needed.
The Chain of Harm : Discussed (and simultaneously played out) in Blackadder III:
Blackadder: It is the way of the world, Baldrick: the abused always kick downwards. I am annoyed, and so I kick the cat; the cat [terrified squeaking] pounces on the mouse; and, finally, the mouse...
Baldrick: [jumps in pain] Ahh!!
Blackadder: ... bites you on the behind.
Baldrick: And what do I do?
Blackadder: Nothing. You are last in God's great chain, Baldrick . Unless, of course, there's an earwig around here that you'd like to victimise.
Charlie Chaplin Shout-Out : In one episode of the fourth season Edmund is the only one who despises Chaplin, who is quite popular with all the other recruits. Near the end of the episode he is forced to project Chaplin movies for the other soldiers.
This was something of an In-Joke as Rowan Atkinson is a big Charlie Chaplin fan.
Characterization Marches On : As already mentioned, Blackadder was far less competent in the first series whereas Baldrick was far more intelligent. To a point, anyway; if you really look at Prince Edmund, you already start to see flashes of personality that would define his descendants (mostly in "Born to Be King", which was adapted from the pilot, in which the characters' personalities were much more in line with that of later series; Edmund's snarkiest lines are direct lifts from the pilot).
Commedia dell'Arte : Edmund starts out as a Capitano character, but Series 2 Retools him as a Brighella. Baldrick is Arlecchino throughout, and Percy is a Pierrot.
Commedia Dell Arte Troupe
The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much : various examples, especially in the first two series, such as the (latest) Archbishop of Canterbury dying because a soldier bowed to him, "forgetting" that his helmet had a metre-long spike on it, or Edmund's predecessor as Chief Executioner, whose death was apparently a bureaucratic error, though Queenie seems to know more about it than she's letting on. Fantasised, though not acted out, by Edmund Blackadder III, when he asks "Baldrick, does it have to be this way? Our valued friendship ending with me cutting you up into strips and telling the prince that you walked over a very sharp cattle grid in an extremely heavy hat?"
In the first episode of series three, Blackadder replaces the voter for Dunny-on-the-Wold after he "very sadly, accidentally, brutally cut his head off while combing his hair". Previously, the announcer (Vincent Hanna, great-great-great-grandfather of the 20th century broadcaster ) mentioned that Blackadder is also taking over the returning officer's role after he "accidentally, brutally stabbed himself in the stomach while shaving".
A line from Goes Fourth provides the current page quote:
Blackadder: As cunning as the fox that's just been appointed professor of cunning at Oxford University?
Which gets a Call Back in Back & Forth:
Baldrick: Is it as cunning as that fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University but has since moved on, and is now working for the UN at the High Commission of International Cunning Planning?
Deadpan Snarker : Blackadder in the second and subsequent seasons; also, Melchett in the second series and Darling in the fourth.
Prince Edmund did show signs of this in the first series.
Deliberate Values Dissonance : often the show observes differences in social attitudes during the period, relative to the modern day. For example, in "Bells" Blackadder perceives his suspected homosexuality as a disease and goes to great lengths to cure it.
Meanwhile in "Dish and Dishonesty", the "Standing at the Back Dressed Stupidly and Looking Stupid Party" candidate (modelled on the real-life Monster Raving Loonies) has the "crazy" idea of abolishing slavery.
Disproportionate Retribution : Often. Nearly all Blackadders have unpleasant reactions to people they find somewhat irritating. Queenie has ordered executions for celebrating Christmas (and then changing her mind and ordering them for those who don't give her impressive enough gifts). The first Edmund's scepticism of witchcraft also got him accused and tried (and almost burned) for it by a corrupt "witchsmeller".
Captain Blackadder was tried in a kangaroo court and sentenced to face the firing squad. His crime? He shot and ate General Melchett's favourite carrier pigeon.
Zig-zagged , as the actual reason he was arrested was because shooting carrier pigeons was declared a court marshal offence due to "communications problems" (actually Blackadder simply ignoring orders) - however it becomes immediately clear at the trial that all Melchett cares about is the pigeon.
Melchett: The charge before us is that the Flanders Pigeon Murderer did deliberately, callously, and with beastliness of forethought murder a lovely, innocent pigeon. [dismissively] And disobeyed some orders as well.
Downer Ending : Every series, except the third one, and possibly the second if you don't count The Stinger .
The third series is also up for debate. See The Bad Guy Wins for details.
Dynamic Akimbo : The title character mocks this trope when some actors teach the Prince Regent to stand thus while giving a Rousing Speech .
Keanrick: Why, your very posture tells me, "Here is a man of true greatness."
Blackadder: Either that or "Here are my genitals, please kick them."
Economy Cast : Verging on Minimalist Cast even; Blackadder and Baldrick are the main characters, the supporting character cast is small, and there is occasionally an addition to the cast for the episode.
The Evil Prince : Prince Edmund. Mr Blackadder went on to become this also, after his opportunistically usurping Prince George at the end of series three.
The Black Adder: "And now, at last, I shall be King of E—"
Lord Topper, the Scarlet Pimpernel: "Let me just jump into this corner first."
The Original Prince George: "I'm not dead! You see, I had a cigarillo box too! ...Oh damn, I must have left it on the dresser."
The Red Baron: see Evil Gloating
Captain Blackadder: "Good luck, everyone." (Although it's almost "Baldrick, you're mincemeat!")
High Turnover Rate :
Archbishop of Canterbury in the first series, Lord High Executioner in the second. And you can probably guess who gets both those jobs, just after the High Turnover Rate is commented on in detail.
Melchett : [unrolls scroll] List of candidates for the position of Lord High Executioner: Lord Blackadder... [rolls up scroll]
Also, Royal Flying Corps pilots, as discussed in the fourth instalment. They are called "Twenty Minuters" because, on average, they only last twenty minutes, to the horror of Capt. Blackadder who was trying to escape trenches by transferring to the Flying Corps.
Historical Beauty Update : Discussed on the trope page.
Historical In-Joke : The entire premise of the show (particularly the first series) with many references helpfully explained on the DVD collection for those of us unfamiliar with British history. The best of these is the final episode of the third series, which explains why the moronic Prince George is remembered by history as a man of wit and character.
Hollywood History : Mostly played for laughs — the first two series had enough history-based humour to prove the producers are well informed, after all. Blackadder the Third had a lot of Anachronism Stew with respect to the order of events in the Napoleonic Wars (and every notable 18th century writer alive and writing at the same time).
Identical Grandson : Prince Edmund, Lord Blackadder, E. Blackadder Esq, Captain E. Blackadder and King Edmund Blackadder III.
Also true for the Baldricks.
Possibly true for Prince George and Lieutenant George.
Also the Melchetts, Percys, Flashhearts and Kate (aka Bob).
Many different incarnations of the main characters appear in the specials as well. Over the course of the series there have been eleven versions of Blackadder (including MacAdder), ten Baldricks, five Georges, three Queenies, five Melchetts, two Percys, three Darlings, three Flashhearts, two Bobs, two Nursies, three Mrs. Migginses (mentioned) and numerous possible links between characters (for example Percy and Darling, Melchett and Wellington etc.)
Idiosyncratic Episode Naming : Titles of series 2 episodes are one word long and pertain to the subject of the episode in question ("Bells" as in wedding bells, "Chains" referring to imprisonment); series 3 uses The Noun and the Noun (to reference Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice , which are set in the same era) — for example "Dish and Dishonesty"; series 4 gives all bar one its titles military ranks with double meanings - "Private Plane," "Major Star," "General Hospital," etc- the exception being "Goodbyeee...", the last one, named after a popular World War I song and referencing the episode's famous Downer Ending .
Not-So-Fake Prop Weapon
Obfuscating Stupidity : Amy Hardwood and Nurse Mary Fletcher-Brown, and possibly Queenie (all played by Miranda Richardson).
Oddly Small Organization : In Blackadder II, the Queen appears to have only three courtiers; in Blackadder the Third, the Prince Regent has an apparent staff of two; and in Blackadder Goes Forth, Captain Blackadder has only two men under his command. In the latter case, the full number of men under Captain Blackadder's command is revealed in the final episode, although even then it is rather small.
These were mainly caused by the show lacking the budget to do the organisations justice so a suspension of disbelief is required. This is particularly evident in Back & Forth where they finally had the money to show Queenie's throne room and court in its entirety.
The opening credits of "Goes Forth" at least shows Captain Blackadder at the head of a large platoon of soldiers as they're parading, and other soldiers in the trench are often referred to in conversation.
One Dose Fits All : Parodied in the first series, where one of the seven plotters doesn't die of poisoned wine, has another, then dies.
Only Sane Man : One of the main reasons why Blackadder is so easy to like despite his Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist and Villain Protagonist tendencies is that he's usually one of if not the only person around who is a reasonably sensible and not completely insane human being. Even the original Blackadder, who was noticeably less intelligent than his descendants, was smart enough to notice how utterly stupid and nonsensical the medieval witch-hunts were.
The effect of Blackadder being the Only Sane Man was done via the dramatic equivalent of an optical illusion on the part of Richard Curtis and Ben Elton. After what everyone felt had been a not entirely successful first season, Elton suggested making Baldrick less intelligent and Blackadder more. But since a highly intelligent protagonist doesn't necessarily make for great comedy (because such a protagonist will be too smart to let him or herself get into potentially comic situations), they decided to make Baldrick epically stupid. This made it possible for Blackadder to do stupid things — like delegate executions to Percy, or carelessly eat a random carrier pigeon — because no matter how stupidly Blackadder behaved, Baldrick was always on hand to make him look intelligent by comparison.
Overwhelming Exception : The series like to play this trope for laughs in multiple different iterations and specials. For example, in Blackadder Goes Forth, when being advised how details to a secret operation must be kept very close, the question is posed who exactly will know these details, and we get this exchange:
Melchett: You and me, Darling, obviously. Field Marshal Haig, Field Marshal Haig's wife, all Field Marshal Haig's wife's friends, their families, their families' servants, their families' servants' tennis partners, and some chap I bumped into the mess the other day called Bernard.
Blackadder: Quite so, sir, only myself and the rest of the English-speaking world is to know.
" I have a cunning plan... ."
Sliding Scale of Continuity : The seasons in relation to each other are Level 0 (Non-Linear Installments), the only similarities being the basic premise of "Blackadder surrounded by idiots" (and not even that considering the first season). However, the episodes within a season can be from Levels 1-2.
The Stinger : Used in every episode of The Black Adder except for "Born to be King," and then memorably after the last episode of Blackadder 2.
Surrounded by Idiots : EDMUND .
Suspiciously Similar Substitute : George for Percy. YMMV of whether or not he became more of an example as time went by. In Season 3, Prince George being Edmund's boss made the dynamic somewhat different, but season 4's Lt George was closer to Percy. Richard Curtis described Prince George thus:
Richard Curtis: We took Percy, who hadn't been clever, and scooped out the final teaspoonful of brains, and presented Hugh Laurie.
There are subtle differences between Percy and Lt George. Where Percy is arrogant, Lt George is blithe; where Percy is smug, Lt George is blandly complacent; where Percy is insecure and fears Blackadder's wrath, Lt George isn't scared of Blackadder and doesn't really understand him at all.
Captain Darling in season 4 is what Percy would be like if Percy weren't desperate for Blackadder's approval.
Time Travel : Blackadder Back & Forth
Blackadder's Christmas Carol has no actual travel, but does show peeks into the past and future.
Token Evil Teammate : The self-serving Blackadders are usually this. However, the one in Goes Fourth is more a Token Jerk Teammate as he's far less evil than his predecessors and the evil flag has been taken over by the sociopathic and incompetent General Melchett .
Too Dumb to Live : Everyone who isn't Edmund. Edmund himself is more like Too Surrounded by Idiots to live : He is accidentally poisoned by Percy in Series 1; no-one is able to see through Ludvig's Queenie disguise in Series 2, not even the real Queenie; and in Series 4 he has his commanding officers like Field Marshall Haig and Melchett, who believe that the best strategy is to climb over the top and "walk very slowly towards the enemy". A strategy which has already failed at least fourteen times, no less. (Sadly Truth in Television , of course)
In Series 1, even Blackadder is Too Dumb to Live . He recruits the most evil men in the entire kingdom to help him overthrow his father and seize the throne for himself, and then is entirely surprised when they turn on him to loot everything for themselves and try to brutally kill him. He actually survives that, and is the only one in the room who DOESN'T drink the poisoned wine in the toast to his survival, then when everyone else dies (and leaves him as King of England, which he has been scheming to become for the entire series) he decides to test the wine for poison by drinking it HIMSELF.
Took a Level in Dumbass : Baldrick between series one and two.
Took a Level in Kindness : In Blackadder the Third, Prince George is an obnoxious, piggish and over-sexed moron. In Blackadder Goes Forth, Lieutenant George is more of a naive and Spoiled Sweet Man Child .
Blackadder himself get this. Unlike his power-hungry ancestors, Captain Edmund Blackadder just wants to get out of the trenches and not die.
Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist : Particularly the series three Blackadder, who is a thief and a murderer several times over by the ending.
In season two, no one — including the balladeer — cares about him much:
Blackadder, Blackadder — his life was almost done!
Blackadder, Blackadder — who gives a toss? No one!
Upper-Class Twit : Several, most notably Lord Percy Percy [second season] and Prince Regent George (the future George IV) [third season]. Not that Percy's series 1 ancestor is any better, as he appears to be quite a bonehead.
Villain Protagonist : Played with in Edmund, although only the third really qualifies.
Early Installment Weirdness :
To those familiar with the later series The Black Adder may seem a little odd. This include the different characterisation , the larger ensemble of characters, differences in the writing ( Ben Elton replaced Rowan Atkinson as writer from Blackadder II onwards), as well as the significantly larger budget which allowed large sets, crowd scenes and location shooting. The later seasons would focus more on dialogue and characterisation. Other, minor differences include each episode having a Cold Open , usage of supernatural elements, and the characters frequently speaking in a pseudo-Shakespearian manner instead of the modern English used elsewhere. Also, this one had more of an ensemble cast. It's a bit of a shock to fans of later series to see that Tony Robinson is not actually mentioned in the opening credits but Baldrick was more of a supporting character here and it was only really from Blackadder II onwards that he was promoted to second lead.
Subverted when the original pilot resurfaced. The original Edmund was the Deadpan Snarker we all know and love, and the original Baldrick (not portrayed by Tony Robinson ) was a Bumbling Sidekick . Percy... is Percy .
Immune to Drugs : Sean the Irish Bastard in "The Black Seal", it takes two shots of deadly poison to put him down.
"It's got a bit of a sting in its tail!"
Kangaroo Court : Edmund's trial by the Witchsmeller Pursuivant is this Up to Eleven . Where to begin: Edmund's entire case is thrown out when the Witchsmeller convinces Prince Harry that they should ignore the testimony of a witch pleading for his life, Percy — who is defending Edmund — is accused of being a witch and is also ignored, and when Baldrick counters the Witchsmeller's assertion that carrots grow on trees, the Witchsmeller uses his knowledge of carrots to 'prove' Baldrick is a witch as well. He then produces a signed confession by a horse, an old woman Edmund has never met and an obvious poodle that he claims is Edmund's son. It is almost fitting to the ridiculousness of the situation that our heroes apparently escape with hitherto unused and never mentioned again magical powers of teleportation .
The ending reveals that this was the work of the Queen, actually being a real witch.
It is implied that the Witchsmeller Pursuivant was really a witch himself, as when he is killed the king recovers from his illness and everything goes back to normal (for them) - or possibly Edmund's mother, who likely ended the spell to keep Edmund from being thought guilty still.
Large Ham : Frank Finlay as the Witchsmeller Pursuivant.
Plus BRIAN BLESSED , as usual.
Rik Mayall as Mad Gerald.
Legion of Doom : For the end of the first series, Blackadder gathers "the six most evil men in all England!" And then they promptly betray him when they learn from Edmund just how much of a big villain The Hawk / Philip of Burgundy is.
Literary Allusion Title : To The Black Arrow , an adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson also set in the Wars of the Roses.
Magnificent Seven : Inverted in "The Black Seal" as Edmund gathers the six most evil men in England (plus himself) to take over the kingdom. And then they end up siding with Edmund's enemy, The Hawk / Philip of Burgundy.
Major Injury Underreaction : The most expensive curse Baldrick has for sale ends with "may your head fall off at an inopportune moment".
The Middle Ages : The setting of the first series. (See also The Late Middle Ages )
Off with His Head! : In the first episode Edmund beheads Richard III, mistaking him for a horse thief.
Out-of-Context Eavesdropping : A couple of drunken templars overhear the king talking to his wife saying how satisfied he is with the current Archbishop, and won't ever again have to say "will no one rid me of this Turbulent Priest ?" Unfortunately they only hear that last part where he's quoting himself, so they go off to slay the Archbishop to get in the king's good graces.
Parental Favoritism : Richard IV is so comically biased in favor of his oldest son Harry that he usually doesnt remember that Edmund exists. When he DOES remember, he treats him like something he scraped off his boot, and makes no secret about what he thinks of his sniveling toad of a son.
Pet the Dog : Edmund reading a bedtime story to his child wife at the end of "The Queen of Spain's Beard".
Playing Gertrude : BRIAN BLESSED , of all people. Although 19 years older than Rowan Atkinson , Blessed was only 7 years older than Robert East who played his elder son Prince Harry. Elspet Gray playing the queen was a mere 14 years older than East.
Poke the Poodle : The cheapest example of a curse sold by the Church in "The Archbishop" is "Dear enemy, I curse you, and I hope that something slightly unpleasant happens to you, like an onion falling on your head".
Precision F-Strike : Edmund gives one to Baldrick when they're about to be burned at the stake in "The Witchsmeller Pursuivant". Though in some versions the swear is apparently censored by a cough.
Baldrick: My Lord, I have a cunning plan.
Edmund: Oh, fuck off, Baldrick!
Princeling Rivalry : A central theme in this series is Edmund constantly scheming to get out of the shadow of his more popular older brother, Harry, Prince of Wales, the heir to the throne of England.
Retcon : What Henry VII did once he took power: erased all record of Richard IV's reign.
Rhetorical Request Blunder : Richard IV was telling the story of Henry II accidentally ordering the murder of Thomas Becket to his wife to contrast the situation there with how happy he is with the current Archbishop, and a couple of Mooks overheard and decided to "help". The two of them sitting at opposite ends of a very long table contributed to the misunderstanding. He initially said "Never again will I have to say 'Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?'" (he had in fact had several of the previous archbishops murdered), but had to repeat the last bit.
Robotic Torture Device : In the final episode, the Hawk straps Edmund into one of these, which ends up cutting off his ears, his hands, grinding into his crotch, trepanning his skull and tickling his armpits .
Running Gag : The messenger boy mimicking Edmund's gestures.
Shout-Out : Edmund's child bride in "The Queen of Spain's Beard" is called Princess Leia , and has a rather familiar hairstyle.
One might be reminded of another story involving a Bastard Bastard named Edmund.
Sinister Minister : Edmund himself in "The Archbishop", and Friar Bellows in "The Black Seal".
Smug Snake : Prince Edmund, although his smugness tends to evaporate quickly when his schemes (inevitably) go wrong.
Strange Minds Think Alike : Toward the end of "The Queen of Spain's Beard".
Suspiciously Specific Denial : Edmund, when asked by his father about Richard III's death.
Edmund: Well...I wouldn't know, really...I was nowhere near him at the time...I just heard from someone that he'd, uh...uh...I mean, I don't even know where he was killed...I was completely on the opposite side of the field...I was nowhere near the cottage...not that there was a cottage...it was the river...but then I wouldn't know, of course, because I wasn't there...but, apparently, some fool cut his head off!...or, at least, killed him in some way...perhaps...took an ear off, or something...yes, in fact, I think he was only wounded...uh...or was that somebody else?...yes, I think it was...why, he wasn't even wounded!...why, did someone say he was dead?
Time Skip : In "The Black Seal", Edmund is trapped in a dungeon with an insane old man who laughs maniacally after Edmund asks if there's a way out. We are shown a cue card reading "Twelve Months Later". And the man is still laughing .
Title Drop : Parodied in the first episode when Edmund decides to take the name of The Black... Vegetable! Fortunately Baldrick suggests a better title for the series / his Lord.
Translator Buddy : The Spanish Infanta's translator (Jim Broadbent), who provides a few cheap gags.
First among them, his name, Don Speekingleesh.
The Unfavorite : Edmund in comparison to his (far more virtuous) brother Harry.
Unusually Uninteresting Sight : Prince Harry somehow completely fails to notice that the Witchsmeller Pursuivant is on fire, until the flames cover about 100% of his body and his screaming has risen to a fairly loud volume.
Edmund: Yes. And you'll have to work a bit harder too.
Baldrick: Of course, my lord.
Edmund: All right. Go and get Bob's stuff in and chuck your filthy muck out into the street.
Baldrick: God bless you, sweet master!
Admiring the Abomination : The Bishop of Bath and Wells, after learning the sordid details of Edmund's frame-up job.
"Never have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the church?"
Alcohol Hic : Pretty much everyone ends up drunk in "Beer" — including the Balladeer, who hiccups during his song at the end.
All Devouring Black Hole Loan Sharks : The bank of the Black Monks of Saint Herod: "Banking with a smile and a stab".
Anything That Moves : The baby-eating bishop of Bath and Wells will "do anything to anything": animal, vegetable, even mineral.
Lord Flashheart isn't exactly selective.
Flashheart: [to Baldrick] Thanks, bridesmaid, like the beard! Gives me something to hang on to!
Flashheart: Nursie! I like it! Firm and fruity! Am I pleased to see you, or did I just put a canoe in my pocket! Down, boy, down!
Audience Murmurs : Parodied in "Potato". Everyone on the ship is panicking / arguing except Tom Baker , who is clearly saying "Rhubarb!" over and over again.
Ax-Crazy : Queenie enjoys beheading everyone and anyone for the slimmest of reasons. She just has other people do the beheading for her.
Bait and Switch : Repeatedly throughout "Bells," with Edmund implying he'd love for Percy to be his best man only to supply another name at the last minute; Queenie isn't having any of that, with her screeching at Edmund until he actually puts the offer on the table for Percy.
Raleigh does one in "Potato":
Sir Walter: To my mind, there is only one seafarer with few enough marbles to attempt that journey.
Edmund: Ah yes, and who is that?
Sir Walter: Why, Rum, of course. Captain Redbeard Rum.
Edmund: Well done. Just testing. And where would I find him on a Tuesday?
Sir Walter: Well, if I remember his habits, he's usually up the Old Sea Dog.
Edmund: Ah yes, and where is the Old Sea Dog?
Sir Walter: Well, on Tuesdays he's normally in bed with the Captain.
Bawdy Song : Several examples in "Beer", all of which are also Drunken Songs .
See the little goblin
Twice in "Bells": Blackadder kicks Percy down there, and shortly afterwards, Percy shoots Baldrick with an arrow.
Also part of the plan Blackadder and Melchett use to escape their German captors in "Chains."
Blackadder: Trust me to get the hard one!
Have You Come to Gloat? : In "Head", the gang finds out that Lord Farrow (whom Edmund is trying to impersonate) was missing an arm. He sends Percy to speak with Lady Farrow and find out which arm, but the only idea Percy can come up with is a Something Only They Would Say test to prove that she's not just a "gloater" pretending to be a relative so she can mock the condemned man.
Blackadder: "Gloaters"...you really are a prat, aren't you Percy?
Hello, Sailor! : The episode "Potato" is full of jokes about gay sailors, because it revolves around explorers and sea voyages. In "Money," Baldrick winds up being pimped out to sailors down at the docks.
Henpecked Husband : Lord Whiteadder appears to be this, considering that he has to sit on a spike instead of a chair — and Lady Whiteadder in turn sits on him — and seems to approve of things that his wife considers the work of Satan. One can imagine that he took his vow of silence just to give his wife fewer excuses to slap him around.
The opening of "Money":
Edmund: [to Baldrick, who has just been kicked through a door] Yes, Baldrick, what is it now?
Baldrick: It's that priest, he says he still wants to see you.
Blackadder: And did you mention the baby-eating Bishop of Bath and Wells?
Baldrick: Yes, my Lord.
Blackadder: And what did he say?
Bishop: [from offscreen] He said "I AM the baby-eating Bishop of Bath and Wells!"
Lord Flashheart's entrance to Blackadder's wedding, where he sets off a bomb, swings in, takes the bride, chucks another bomb and promptly leaves.
In My Language, That Sounds Like... : Edmund falls prey to the English-Spanish "embarrassed is tener vergüenza but embarazada means pregnant" while under interrogation by the Spanish Inquisition torturer in "Chains".
Insult Backfire : In "Beer", two incidents involving Lady Whiteadder:
Lady Whiteadder: Has anyone ever told you you're a giggling imbecile?
Lord Percy Percy: [completely nonchalant] Oh yes.
Lady Whiteadder: ... good.
No Indoor Voice : Flashheart, Captain Rum and the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
Noodle Implements : Averted with Blackadder's plan to get out of debt in "Money":
Blackadder: All I need is some feathers, a dress, some oil, an easel, some sleeping draught, lots of paper, a prostitute and the best portrait painter in England!
Turns out he drugged the Bishop, put him in a compromising position, painted the scene, and used it to blackmail the Bishop.
Noodle Incident : In Potato it is revealed a horse was elected Pope. The details of this vibrant, dynamic and exciting Papacy has sadly been lost to history. (Of course, this is coming from Baldrick, who may not be a reliable source.)
Off with His Head! : Standard procedure for traitors, heretics, and anyone who mildly annoys the Queen—she frequently threatens to behead her courtiers. The episode "Head" has Blackadder serving as Lord High Executioner, and he jams as many beheadings as he can at the start and the end of the week to have Wednesday off.
Oh Crap! : Twice from Edmund in "Head," first when Queenie decides to visit a man Blackadder had executed ("if she sees his head on a pike, she'll realize... he's deeeeaaaaad!") and shortly after when we learn that Baldrick actually had another man killed, whom Queenie then wants to see ("when she comes back from seeing him... oh, God!").
Shaped Like Itself :
When Blackadder asks the Young Crone how to find the Wise Woman in "Bells":
Young Crone: Two things must ye know about the Wise Woman! First... she is...a woman! And second, she is...
Blackadder: Wise?
Young Crone: You do know her then?
Again in "Money," when Percy attempts to use alchemy to create gold but ends up with a lump of green something. Quote the Blackadder: "I don't to be pedantic or anything, but the colour of gold... is gold. That's why it's called gold."
Another in "Potato" is when Percy announces that Mrs. Miggins is going to bake a commemorative pie in the shape of an enormous pie.
In "Bells", Blackadder says "Come, Kiss Me Kate !"
Also, in "Bells", it seems like giving Nursie the real name "Bernard" is to set up the joke "Oh, shut up, Bernard," which everyone at the time of airing (1986) would have recognized as a reference to Yes, Minister .
The snake crawling across the table in the opening credits, apart from being a Visual Pun on "Blackadder", may also be a parody of I, Claudius 's opening titles.
Sinister Minister : The Baby-Eating Bishop of Bath and Wells.
Smoking Hot Sex : In "Bells", after "Bob" reveals her actual gender by flashing her boobs at Edmund, we jump ahead to two minutes later...and they're sitting together smoking old-time churchwarden pipes.
Speech Impediment : Partial meta example — Rowan Atkinson has a stutter, especially having trouble with words that begin with hard consonants such as "Bob". This gives us his wonderful plosive pronunciation of "Bobb", which Stephen Fry has on record described as "sexy".
Spoof Aesop : The closing ballads occasionally fall into this category with such valuable pieces of advice as 'Don't borrow money from a homicidal omnisexual bishop' and 'Don't try and take over the throne of England'.
Spotting the Thread : When Prince Ludwig, something of a master of disguise, tries to infiltrate Queen Elizabeth's dress party disguised as Nursie dressed as a cow. He is found out because his costume is too good; Nursie has some... interesting interpretations of how a cow should look.
To quote: "Prince Ludwig is a master of disguise, while Nursie is an insane old woman with an udder fixation."
The Stinger : The final episode of the season reveals that Prince Ludwig had disguised himself as the Queen to Kill 'em All and usurp her place.
Buffy Speak :
Blackadder: "Disease and depravation stalk our land like... two giant... stalking things." Also: "We're about as similar as two completely dis-similar things in a pod."
In "Ink And Incapability", Baldrick describes the dictionary as "the big papery thing tied up with string" and Dr. Johnson as "the batey fellow in the black coat who just left". Blackadder follows up with saying that "the booted bony thing with five toes on the end of my leg will soon connect sharply with the soft dangly collection of objects in your trousers!"
The Cameo : Vincent Hanna, a reporter known for his coverage of by-elections, appears as his own ancestor, covering a by-election.
Captain Morgan Pose : The actors teach The Prince Regent to do a pose while they are training him in public speaking, though he fails utterly.
The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much : The returning officer and lone voter in Dunny-on-the-Wold apparently died, respectively, from accidentally brutally cutting his head off while combing his hair, and accidentally brutally stabbing himself in the stomach while shaving.
Couch Gag : The book Edmund finds in the opening sequence differs each episode, with the cover having the episode's title and an illustration pertaining to it as well.
Creator Cameo : The anarchist who attempts to assassinate Prince George in "Sense and Senility" is played by series co-writer Ben Elton.
Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon : "Baldrick, believe me. Eternity in the company of Beelzebub, and all his hellish instruments of death, will be a picnic compared to five minutes with me... and this pencil... if we cannot replace this dictionary."
Death by Sex : Prince George in "Duel and Duality", despite Blackadder's best efforts to prevent it.
Blackadder: Baldrick, have you no idea what irony is?
Baldrick: Yes, it's like goldy and bronzy only it's made out of iron.
Duel to the Death : "Duel and Duality" is a convoluted attempt to prevent the Prince from having to fight one with Wellington after he slept with Wellington's nieces.
Election Day Episode : "Dish and Dishonesty" is about a by-election in an obscure rotten borough that Blackadder and the Prince Regent have managed to gain control of, putting forward Baldrick as their candidate as someone who can be relied on to vote as the Prince desires. The sole voter in the borough is one E. Blackadder, following the unfortunate accidental beheading of the previous voter.
Election Night : "Dish and Dishonesty" features one of the definitive parodies of TV election coverage.
Mr. Fanservice : Hugh Laurie in make-up and tights has been known to make a lot of straight women (and a few lesbians) perk up.
Face Palm : Blackadder, when Lord Topper reveals his disguise.
Fictional Political Party : Going hand-in-hand with the Election Night trope (above), the episode "Dish and Dishonesty" uses these, too, in its parody of British election conventions. After the constituent of rotten borough Dunny-on-the-Wold (consisting of nothing more than a tiny plot of land, many farm animals and only one voter) suddenly died, Prince Regent and Blackadder decide to run Baldrick as their own candidate and tip Parliament in their favor. Baldrick runs on behalf of the "Adder Party", a name which becomes much more appropriate when it turns out that Blackadder was both the borough's Returning Officer and lone voter after both died in freak "accidents". Other fictitious parties on the ballot included "Keep Royalty White, Rat Catching and Safe Sewage Residents' Party" and the "Standing at the Back Dressed Stupidly and Looking Stupid Party" (whose party line stands for "the compulsory serving of asparagus at breakfast, free corsets for the under-fives and the abolition of slavery " - though the last one was just put in as a joke).
The last two are a Shout-Out to two real minor perennial candidates at British elections at the time the show was broadcast — Bill Boaks, who usually stood as something like "Democratic Monarchist Road Safety White Resident", and Screaming Lord Sutch of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party (which, in their heyday of the 70s and 80s, proposed ludicrous policies. By the 2010s, a couple of them had actually been proposed and enacted by the government - much like the reference to the abolition of slavery was implied to be ).
Foreshadowing : Amy Hardwood comes to Blackadder's attention by spending lots of money, but then it turns out her family's stone broke. Where did all that cash come from?
Gender-Blender Name : Blackadder's cousin MacAdder named his daughter Angus.
Groin Attack : Blackadder tells Baldrick that if he doesn't tell him where the dictionary is, he will give him one of these, using Buffy Speak .
Have a Gay Old Time : When Blackadder suggests the Prince marry to get more money, he objects, starting by saying he's "a gay bachelor".
Her Code Name Was "Mary Sue" :
Blackadder's novel Edmund: A Butler's Tale sounds like this, based on what he tells Baldrick about it.
Baldrick's novel (or "Magnificent Octopus") also has elements of this: "Once upon a time there was a lovely little sausage called Baldrick, who lived happily ever after."
Human-Interest Story : Made fun of in "Dish and Dishonesty" as Blackadder reveals to Prince George of bad news he saw in the morning papers.
Blackadder: Sir, if I may return to this urgent matter, I read fearful news in this morning's paper.
Prince George: Oh no. Not another little cat caught up in a tree!
Identical Grandson : In addition to the previously mentioned usage, this series features Blackadder's Scottish cousin MacAdder , played by Atkinson in a curly red wig, a kilt and a deliberately bad accent and Vincent Hanna playing "his own great great great grandfather".
Informed Attribute : Done deliberately — Blackadder and Baldrick both reference Prince George's disgusting obesity — as the historical figure indeed was — even though he's played by the lanky Hugh Laurie.
Inter-Class Romance : From the episode "Amy and Amiability":
Hardwood: Can it be possibly true? Surely love has never crossed such boundaries of class? [clutches Amy's hand]
Amy: But what about you and Mum?
Hardwood: Well, yes I grant thee when I first met her I was the farmer's son and she was just the lass who ate the dung, but that was an exception.
Amy: And Aunty Dot and Uncle Ted.
Hardwood: Yes, yes; all right, he was a pig poker and she was the Duchess of Argyle, but—
Amy: And Aunty Ruth and Uncle Isiah; she was a milkmaid and he was—
Hardwood: The Pope! Yes, yes, all right.
It's Not Porn, It's Art : Keanrick and Mossop's play—The Bloody Murder of the Foul Prince Romero and His Enormously-Bosomed Wife.
Blackadder: A philosophical work, then.
Mossop: Indeed yes, sir. The violence of the murder and the vastness of the bosom are entirely justified, artistically.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall :
During the episode 'Duel and Duality'.
Blackadder: I want to be remembered when I'm dead. I want books written about me. I want songs sung about me. And then, hundreds of years from now, I want episodes of my life to be played out weekly at half past nine by some great heroic actor of the age .
George: As a matter of fact, they do often —
Blackadder: [angrily] No, NO!
Not Quite Dead : Turns out George has a cigarillo case just where he was shot. Unfortunately, he left it at the dresser.
Obfuscating Stupidity : Amy Hardwood, who pretends to be an airheaded and child-like woman, but is actually a ruthless highwayman.
In "Nob and Nobility", Topper and Smedley act like two Upper Class Twits , but turn out to be The Scarlet Pimpernel .
Blackadder when Baldrick appears to have burnt the dictionary.
Blackadder at the end of "Nob and Nobility" when Frou Frou is revealed as Topper in disguise.
Perfectly Cromulent Word : Contrafribularites, anispeptic, frasmotic, compunctuous and pericombobulation.
Plus interphrastically, pendigestatery, interludicule, velocitous, and extramuralization.
Sausage? SAUSAGE!.
Oh, and aardvark.
Phony Newscast : Vincent Hanna (a BBC election correspondent at the time of filming) appears as "his own great-great-grandfather", reporting on the Dunny-on-the-Wold by-election for The Country Gentleman's Pig Fertilizer Gazette. This is treated exactly as a TV broadcast (although he is broadcasting out of the window to the crowd), even though it's set in the 18th century.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything : One plot in 'Dish and Dishonesty' revolves around Edmund getting the Member of Parliament with the worst attendance record — Sir Talbot Buxomley, MP for Dunny-on-the-Wold — to turn up to work and vote in the Prince Regent�s (Read: Edmund�s) favour. Edmund recalls that the one time Sir Talbot did manage to attend the House of Commons �He passed water in The Great Hall and passed out in the Speaker�s chair.� note It would have been better if he'd done it the other way round. Sleeping in Parliament, even in debates, was not uncommon right up until it was televised in the 1980s (and for a short time afterwards. The Speaker's chair, meanwhile is equipped with a chamber pot and curtains to accommodate exactly the need in which Sir Talbot found himself. Admittedly it's intended for the use of the Speaker, without whose presence Parliament can't sit but still.
Playing Cyrano : Blackadder acts as this to Prince George in "Amy and Amiability", although he thinks she's disgustingly twee until he finds out she's the Shadow.
Pocket Protector : Parodied in "Duel and Duality," in which a cigarillo case stops a cannonball.
And parodied again when shortly afterwards Prince George also gets shot, seems to die, wakes up shouting he also has one... then realizes he left his on the dresser. THEN he dies .
Royal Brat : Prince George
Samus Is a Girl : And the Shadow is Amy Hardwood. Combined with Vocal Dissonance , as she does a very convincing deep masculine voice.
The Scottish Trope : "Sense and Senility": the two actors have to perform a silly, overly-long superstitious ritual to exorcise evil spirits whenever Blackadder says "Macbeth". Exactly how the ritual goes is a subject of hot debate in the fandom as Angrish makes the words unclear: one suggestion is "Aargh! Hot potato, orchestra scores, plucked to make amends (HONK!)"
This is accompanied by a brief game of patty-cake, spinning their arms like wheels, and then honking each others' noses; as the episode progresses, Mossop starts whining and gingerly petting his nose.
Sequential Symptom Syndrome : In "Nob and Nobility", someone (The Scarlet Pimpernel) takes a suicide pill and recites his own symptoms as he experiences them. Hilariously, he didn't realise that he had taken it, and was completely unaware of the symptoms, himself.
It was probably the forgetfulness.
Servile Snarker : Blackadder the Third embodies this.
Shout-Out :
To Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal in the segment where Prince George and Blackadder are discussing poverty in "Sense and Senility".
Keenick and Mossop's extremely violent play full of gore and cheesecake titillation involves a character named "Prince Romero" .
Blackadder's false account of his adventures in France includes breaking into Robespierre's bedroom to leave a box of chocolates and an insulting note. At the time of the original broadcast, a series of well-known TV advertisements for chocolate featured a James Bond Captain Ersatz going to enormous lengths to leave the product in his lady love's bedroom.
Stars Are Souls : Baldrick seems to believe this when George dies. Of course, he also believes in a giant pink pixie in the sky.
Baldrick: There's a new star in the heavens tonight. Another freckle on the nose of the giant pixie.
Stupid Boss / Too Dumb to Live : Prince George actually seems dumber than Baldrick, who considers him "a clot". Also too dumb to live are Topper and Smedley; Blackadder even lampshades the stupidity of accepting wine from someone who thinks you are about to torture or disgrace him.
In "Corporal Punishment":
Blackadder: So, Counsel, with that summing up in mind, what are my chances, do you think?
George: Well, not good I'm afraid. As far as I can see from the evidence, you're as guilty as a puppy sitting beside a pile of poo.
Blackadder: [bitterly] ...Charming.
While it's not intentional, Blackadder is mighty amused when Melchett says his new girlfriend (actually George in drag) has " more spunk than most girls ".
Amoral Attorney : Blackadder wants to hire a very good one for his court-martial.
Edmund: I remember Massingbird's most famous case — the Case of the Bloody Knife. A man was found next to a murdered body. He had the knife in his hand, thirteen witnesses had seen him stab the victim and when the police picked him up he said to them, 'I'm glad I killed the bastard'. Massingbird not only got him acquitted, he got him knighted in the New Year's Honour's list and the relatives of the victim had to pay to have the blood washed out of his jacket.
Anachronism Stew : In "General Hospital" Blackadder refers to the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Hull. University College, Hull was not founded until 1927 and did not become the University of Hull until 1954. Then again, it was a trick statement of sorts...
Melchett: That's right, Oxford's a complete dump!
Analogy Backfire : For Darling, when trying to convince Blackadder that he is not a spy in General Hospital:
Darling: ...I'm as British as Queen Victoria!
Blackadder: So, your father's German, you're half-German and you married a German?note In fact, although Queen Victoria was indeed half-German, it was her mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld who was German. Her father Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, while a fourth-generation German immigrant, was English by birth, upbringing and culture.
Armchair Military : Melchett, and also Darling — until the last episode.
It's notable that Darling enjoys his easy assignment and is trying to get an even easier one in the Royal Women's Auxiliary Balloon Corps.
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking : "The blood, the noise, the endless poetry!"
"Went to one of the great universities, I suppose. Oxford...Cambridge...Hull." This turned out to be a test. I mean, Oxford's a complete dump!
Inverted in "Corporal Punishment" where Melchett opens the court-martial of Blackadder by ranting at length about how he shot Melchett's prized pigeon, Speckled Jim, and then lists the most serious charge (disobeying orders) as an afterthought.
Attractive Bent-Gender : When George disguises himself as Georgina, not only Melchett falls in love with him, but he becomes quite a successful primadonna.
Badass Mustache : General Melchett is hardly a badass, but damn if his lip-cover isn't an impressive specimen!
Bait the Dog : Melchett has a habit of doing this. While he seems amusing and likable at first, he turns out to really be The Sociopath who is too wrapped up in his fantasy world that War Is Glorious to see that he is sending countless men to their deaths, including those of the main characters themselves, showing how little he really cares about any of them.
Bawdy Song : Melchett and George's version of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat".
Row, row, row your punt,
Gently down the stream!
Character Tics : BEEEEEHHHHHHHHH!
Captain Kevin Darling's eye-twitch was such a part of his character that Tim McInnerny had trouble getting rid of it when shooting was finished.
Charge-into-Combat Cut : One of the most famous examples of this trope, in which the scene fades from Blackadder and co. charging over the trench to a field full of poppies.
Chekhov's Gun : Baldrick's Lethal Chef tendecies are mentioned early on in "Captain Cook", and when Baldrick mentions them again near the end, it gives Blackadder a Eureka Moment and he uses them to get himself, George and Baldrick out of the big push.
Comically Missing the Point : In the final episode, Darling begs Melchett not to send him to the front lines because he doesn't want to die; Melchett just thinks Darling is getting sentimental and saying "I'll miss you too much". Of course, considering what happens next , "comical" might not be the right word ...
On a brighter note, when Blackadder is looking for a female act for he show, he suddenly remembers and summons Bob (who had disguised herself, very poorly as a man). George chimes in "Of course, Bob! Can you think of anyone to be in Blackadder's show?"
Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like : Blackadder is captured by the Germans, where they plan to take him away from the battlefield and force him to teach home economics to German schoolgirls. Needless to say he's not best pleased about Flashheart turning up and hauling him back to the trenches.
Creator In-Joke : In "General Hospital", Blackadder says that he tricked Nurse Mary by naming three great universities (Oxford, Cambridge and Hull), when in fact only two of them are great. Melchett responds "Quite — Oxford's a complete dump!" Rowan Atkinson attended Oxfordnote As did Tim McInnerny (Darling) and series writer Richard Curtis, while Stephen Fry attended Cambridge note As did Hugh Laurie (George) and series producer John Lloyd, the two universities having a centuries-long rivalry.
Credits Gag : Every member of the production crew is given made up ranks and serial numbers.
Cue Card Pause : In "Corporal Punishment", George runs afoul of this with his summation.
Disguised in Drag : George, in "Major Star", leading to Attractive Bent-Gender when Melchett falls for "Georgina".
Disproportionate Retribution : While shooting pigeons is a court-martial offence, Melchett takes the issue Up to Eleven , labeling Edmund as "The Flanders Pigeon Murderer".
Distinction Without a Difference : "No, George, it's not a good old service revolver, it's a brand-new service revolver."
Drama Bomb Finale : In a rare highly successful example at the very end of season four.
Downer Ending : Series four finale; even more remarkable is that the same basic ending was played for laughs in series one and two. Reality Subtext is to blame for the Mood Whiplash . To put it into perspective, it aired 10 days before Remembrance Sunday with no complaints whatsoever. (Well, almost none - one woman wrote to the Radio Times
to ask why a comedy would want to show people the terrible things that happened, reminding her of her own husband. Another woman wrote in to Points of View thanking them for such a beautiful tribute.) Though the original ending planned, as seen here
, wasn't nearly as dramatic or moving — general consensus is that it was a good thing they changed it.
Dumbass Has a Point : Baldrick asks why the war started in the first place, and then asks why everybody doesn't just pack up and go home, as they clearly aren't accomplishing anything in the trenches, other than a lot of people getting killed. Even Blackadder's wit fails him, and he is unable to give an answer.
Entertainingly Wrong : Blackadder deducing Nurse Mary is a German spy. His reasoning is perfectly sound and the suspect had already admitted to using Obfuscating Stupidity in front of others. Unfortunately for them both the true 'spy' was someone else altogether: Mary was completely innocent; it was George sending apparently not-properly-censored letters to his German uncle all along.
Everyone Has Standards :
Even Flashheart is disgusted by Darling's refusal to rescue Blackadder in "Private Plane", so he headbutts him and knocks him out .
Melchett may be the Big Bad and The Neidermeyer , but he won't tolerate Blackadder being rude to a lady, as he puts it, when Blackadder accuses Nurse Mary of being a German spy. She isn't.
Head Desk : Blackadder's reaction to Baldrick's, quite literally, denying everything - including that his name was Baldrick .
Heroic B.S.O.D. : George, after he bungles Blackadder's court martial and gets him sentenced to firing squad.
Hope Spot : The final episode is one series of these after another. First, there's Blackadder's decision to feign madness by putting underpants on his head and sticking pencils up his nose: he's absolutely convinced that this will work. Then, when this is foiled by Melchett's overheard remark that he hopes Blackadder hasn't just decided to feign madness by putting underpants on his head and stuck pencils up his nose, Blackadder realises that he can call in a favour from Haig, whose life he saved during the Boer War. This Hope Spot lasts until he actually calls Haig, and Haig agrees to save his life; he duly advises Blackadder to put underpants on his head and stick pencils up his nose. "They'll think you're mad. There, favour returned."
In the last moments, just before being sent over the top, all the guns go quiet, and George, Baldrick and Darling all assume that the war must have ended:
Darling: Thank God! We lived through it! The Great War, 1914 to 1917 !
George: Come on, Baldrick, can't you be a bit more helpful? It's me!
Baldrick: No, it isn't!
Insane Troll Logic : Anything Melchett says to justify his tactics.
Blackadder: It's the same plan that we used last time, and the seventeen times before that.
Melchett: E-E-Exactly! And that is what so brilliant about it! We will catch the watchful Hun totally off guard! Doing precisely what we have done eighteen times before is exactly the last thing they'll expect us to do this time! There is however one small problem.
Blackadder does this when interrogating potential spy suspects.
Edmund: I asked if he'd been to one of the great universities: Oxford, Cambridge, or Hull... you failed to spot that only two of those are great universities.
Edmund: The first rule ... is to suspect everyone... I shall be asking myself pretty searching questions later on... What is the colour of the Queen of England's favourite hat?
I Owe You My Life : Apparently Blackadder had saved Field Marshal Haig's life at Mboto Gorge and was told to call if he ever needed a favour. Unfortunately, when he does so to try and get out of the Big Push in "Goodbyeee", the best Haig can do is to suggest he feign insanity... which Blackadder had already tried to no avail. It should also be pointed out that Blackadder "saved" him from a "pygmy woman with a sharp mango".
I Want My Mommy : When Captain Blackadder and Baldrick are in the hands of the Germans:
Baldrick: I want my mum.
Blackadder: Yes, a maternally outraged gorilla would be a useful ally.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold : Blackadder, to a very slight extent. He's still not remotely a nice person, but he can bring himself to feel sympathy for Darling and wish the others good luck in the final episode.
Despite being a soldier, he is the only Blackadder in the four seasons not to commit murder — unless you count Speckled Jim. Though it is mentioned that he has done in the past, at Mboto Gorge. According to Darling, they "massacred the peace-loving pygmies of the Upper Volta and stole all their fruit."
He also seems genuinely horrified when he learns he's sent an innocent woman to the firing squad in "General Hospital"; hard to imagine his heartless Regency ancestor being so shaken.
He is genuinely complimentary regarding George's painting ability too (though planning to use it for his own ends). Sincere compliments from a Blackadder are as rare as something very rare indeed.
Blackadder: George! These are brilliant! Why didn't you tell us about these before?
George: Well, you know, one doesn't want to blow one's own trumpet.
Blackadder: [impressed] You might at least have told us you had a trumpet.
It's worth noting that this Blackadder, in contrast with his forebears, is uninterested in scheming his way to power or wealth. He's merely trying to save himself . Too bad Failure Is the Only Option .
Kangaroo Court : Blackadder's court martial in "Corporal Punishment" was this. The judge and prosecutor both have clear conflicts of interest in the trial, to the point where the judge is actually called to testify for the prosecution, while Blackadder's defence attorney (George) gets fined £50 for turning up. Surprisingly, though, the Minister of War realizes that the whole trial was a farce, and reverses the decision.
Kick the Dog : A three-layered version of it that happened in the past. When George was six, he got a rabbit called Flossie. Melchett first set his dog on Flossie, then ran him over with his car, and finally shot him.
Kick the Son of a Bitch : Flashheart is hardly the nicest of men, but even he is disgusted by Darling's refusal to rescue Blackadder after he crashes his plane, so he headbutts Darling and knocks him out.
Lame Pun Reaction : Blackadder manages a look of unparalleled contempt while his own firing squad are providing such gems as assuring him that they aim to please.
Lethal Chef : Baldrick. Most of his recipes that don't involve rat, involve the bodily outputs of various animals. In his defence on one point, Blackadder's unit hasn't had coffee since 1915, forcing Baldrick to improvise with mud.
Mad Brass / General Failure : General "Insanity" Melchett.
Also Field Marshall Haig, seen knocking toy soldiers into a trench, then sweeping them up into a dustpan and dumping them on the floor.
Miles Gloriosus : George is very gung-ho about the war and can't wait for the "big push" and the chance to give the Huns what for... until the end of the final episode, when he realizes he doesn't want to die.
The Mole : "General Hospital" involves the search for a German spy who's apparently leaking battle plans from a field hospital. It actually turns out that patient George is inadvertently doing this in letters to his Uncle Hermann in Munich.
No Indoor Voice : Flashheart.
Noodle Incident : Blackadder presents one at the end of "Captain Cook": namely, how did Baldrick get so much "custard" (vomit) out of such a small cat? We'll never know.
No Sell : When Melchett doesn't fall for Blackadder's "insanity" ploy , it becomes clear that things are not going to end well.
Obfuscating Insanity : Briefly attempted by Blackadder in "Goodbyeee", until he overhears Melchett tell the others that he had to shoot an entire platoon for pulling the same stunt. Of course, as he trenchantly observes at the end, it probably wouldn't have worked anyway. " I mean, who would have noticed another madman around here? "
Obfuscating Stupidity : George might be an example of this, as in "Private Plane" he demonstrates a distressing combination of wooden-headed stupidity and remarkably keen insight.
Melchett: Do you remember what happened to Flossie?
George: You shot him.
Melchett: That's right. It was the kindest thing to do after he'd been run over by that car.
George: By your car, sir.
Melchett: Yes, by my car, but that too was an act of mercy when you remember that that dog had been set on him.
George: Your dog, sir.
An example that further drives the point home is in the final episode, where George's bubbly nature shows the biggest cracks seen in the entire series when he realizes that he's the only one of his friends still alive after joining the army, and that he's genuinely terrified of going over the top.
George: I'm...scared, sir.
Nurse Mary, in "General Hospital", uses a mild version of this. ("My fluffy-bunny act", as she calls it.)
Oh Crap! :
Captain Darling's face when he realises Melchett is sending him to the Front, just in time for a major offensive. Melchett, of course, only thinks that Darling is reluctant to leave him, even when Darling gets down on his knees and just about begs.
And then there's the scene where Blackadder is in court and he realises who the judge is...
Blackadder: I wouldn't be too confident if I were you. Any reasonably impartial judge is bound to let me off.
Darling: Well, absolutely...
Smug Snake : Captain Darling.
Soldiers at the Rear : Darling is happy to be General Melchett's aide-de-camp because that way he doesn't have to be in the trenches. In the last episode he gets sent there anyway.
Sudden Downer Ending : Blackadder Goes Forth is set in the trenches of WWI, and the writers didn't want to be accused of making light of one of the most tragic moments in British history, so the last episode becomes steadily more serious and sombre as all of the characters but General Melchett (and he's quite oblivious to sending Darling to his doom) are ordered over the top in what is assumed to be a suicide charge. While the cast are all shown to have died in The Black Adder and Blackadder II, this time it's not played for comedy at all.
Suspiciously Specific Denial : "We haven't received any messages and Captain Blackadder definitely did not eat this delicious plump breasted pigeon."
Sweet Polly Oliver : Bob, in "Major Star". Subverted in that absolutely no-one but the General is remotely fooled, and in a later episode she is wearing a female uniform and openly sleeping with Flashheart despite still using the identity.
Take That : Blackadder tells George that he finds Charlie Chaplin 's films "about as funny as getting an arrow through the neck and discovering there's a gas bill tied to it". Which is even more Hilarious in Hindsight , given the obvious debt that Rowan Atkinson 's subsequent series owed to Chaplin's brand of humour.
Given that Chaplin gets his own back at the end of the episode (by agreeing to free distribution of his films among the British Army on the proviso that Blackadder is the projectionist), this may be more an affectionate homage than anything else — every other character loves Charlie Chaplin.
It's also a running joke throughout all the series that Blackadder hates any character considered by modern day to be a genius; Shakespeare, Walter Raleigh, Samuel Johnson, etc.
Unfortunate Item Swap :
In "Corporal Punishment", Blackadder writes two letters — one asking George for a sponge bag, another asking the brilliant lawyer Hugh Massingbird for legal aid. Of course, Baldrick gets the letters mixed up.
A more fortunate version occurs later that episode, when Baldrick delivers George's letter to his mum to Blackadder instead; reading the letter tells Edmund that George's uncle has just been appointed Minister of War, which they try to use to get Edmund pardoned.
Unfortunate Names : Captain Darling. The creators said that as soon as they came up with the name for him, he went from a totally empty character to one who'd been steeped in a lifetime's worth of bitterness and resentment from being called "darling" by everyone. Blackadder takes great pleasure in doing this himself, except in the final episode when Darling has been sent to join them in the trenches and Edmund actually calls him "Captain" respectfully.
Unishment : Baron von Richtoven's threat to force Blackadder out of the trenches and into a German girls' school for the rest of the war is designed to be unbearable for an honourable Brit. Of course, Blackadder isn't one of those.
Unwanted Rescue : Unfortunately for Blackadder and Baldrick, George and Flashheart soon turn up to "save" them. Flashheart actually works out that they were trying to get away from the front and forces them both to come with him.
Verbal Tic : General Melchett's trademark "Baa!" has been variously attributed to madness, asthma and an ancestor's illicit relationship with Flossie the sheep. Stephen Fry has said it really originated from his imagining that Melchett had haemorrhoids and would yell out every time he sat down or got up.
War Is Hell : Blackadder's main goal in this series, as opposed to the power grabbing his ancestors have attempted, is simply to survive the war by getting out of the trenches. The final episode really hammers the point home, especially with the Tear Jerker Downer Ending .
Baldrick: Maybe the war's over? Maybe it's peace.
Darling: Thank God. We lived through it. The Great War, 1914 to 19 17 .
In the scene just prior:
George: Well, really, this is brave, splendid and noble... Sir?
Blackadder: Yes, Lieutenant?
George: I'm... scared, sir.
Indeed, the Mood Whiplash of the final episode can be pinpointed to Blackadder's exchange with Darling.
Blackadder: How are you feeling, Darling?
Darling: Erm, not all that good, Blackadder. Rather hoped I'd get through the whole show ; go back to work at Pratt & Sons; keep wicket for the Croydon gentlemen; marry Doris...
Who's on First? : Captain Darling gets this a lot. In particular, "Major Star" has a scene where General Melchett is rehearsing what he's going to say to his current crush (who's actually George in a dress) in front of Captain Darling, repeatedly referring to "Georgina" as "darling".
Call Back :
In Blackadder Back & Forth Baldrick references Blackadder's " Cunning Like a Fox " line from Goes Fourth, revealing that said fox has apparently since moved even further up in the world.
In the same film, Blackadder's appearance, personality and social standing are all consciously modelled after the Blackadder II incarnation of the character, who is generally considered the most iconic of the four television Blackadders.
Canis Latinicus : Melchett's Roman incarnation renders his usual "Beeeeh!" catchphrase as "Beeeeeh-us."
The Cavalier Years
Credits Gag : In Back in Forth, the dinosaur is played by "Tyrannosaurus Rex" and the Scottish Hordes are played by "Hordes of Scots."
Decapitation Presentation : Cavalier Years: Baldrick's cunning plan to substitute a pumpkin instead of a head sort of fell apart when this moment came.
Extreme Doormat : Actually Blackadder himself in Christmas Carol, starting off as kindy generous soul (who is naturally endlessly exploited for charity). A visit from a Christmas Spirit inadvertently reveals his legacy will be destroyed due to his meekness, leading him to become an even crueller schemer than his ancestors.
Evil Laugh : Nursie delivers one after Melchett gets his death warrant.
Fan Disservice : Both Blackadder and Baldrick in Space Opera Go-Go Enslavement gear in the two alternate futures of Christmas Carol. And the modern day Baldrick in Back and Forth wearing his novelty plastic apron.
Foreshadowing : In Blackadder Back And Forth, Lady Elizabeth and George remarking that "You can't see something that's already happened!" "Unless you're on the lavatory." foreshadows Baldrick's cunning plan to get himself and Blackadder back to 1999, where Blackadder almost drowns Baldrick in the toilet so his life will flash before his eyes, causing him to remember the position of the knobs and levers when they first set off, and enable him to get them home.
Four-Star Badass : One future Blackadder is the ruthless and brilliant Admiral of a thinly-disguised version of the Empire . He seizes power.
Genius Ditz : Back & Forth's Baldrick embodies this trope far more than any previous Baldrick. He's dumb as a post, but somehow manages to build a working time machine. It's worth mentioning that he was tasked with building a fake time machine.
Grand Finale : Blackadder Back & Forth is written as being this to the whole series, with the idea of any further entries being humorously Jossed in the end credits with the line "Blackadder Back & Forth 2... coming Summer 3000!"
Hot Consort : Marian in Blackadder Back & Forth, to King Edmund III.
To be expected, given she's Kate Moss .
Shout-Out :
One of Queen Asphyxia's court in Christmas Carol looks like Nursie's head grafted onto a knock-off Dalek .
In Blackadder Back & Forth the brief space battle is between two Earth Defence Directorate starfighters and a Draconian fighter.
The time machine in the movie is also roughly the size and shape of the TARDIS on the outside, anyway , if it were made in the Renaissance period.
The Present Day version of George has the surname "Tufton-Bufton", which is a reference to Private Eye 's generic upper-class reactionary, Sir Bufton Tufton MP.
Smarter Than You Look : Subverted with Baldrick in Christmas Carol. He can't write, read or count, but he's smart enough to question Ebenezer's Stupid Good behavor and points out that the freeloaders (especially the obese orphans) don't need what Ebenezer gives them.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute : Even if they weren't played by the same actor, Robin Hood would still be noticeably Flashheart-esque.
Tele-Frag : The time-machine arrives at the Battle of Waterloo, right above the Duke of Wellington, squashing him flat.
Throw the Dog a Bone : Things finally end happily for (one descendant of) Edmund and Baldrick in Blackadder: Back & Forth as they alter time and history for fame and fortune. In Christmas Carol, a more distant descendent conquers the universe.
Unusual Euphemism : Queen Asphyxia flirting with Admiral Blackadder in Christmas Carol: "You have most pleasantly wibbled my frusset-pouch."
Yet Another Christmas Carol : An inversion and parody. Indeed, when Ebenezer Blackadder, the only good and friendly member of the Blackadder bloodline (and also an Extreme Doormat ), sees that his descendant would rule all of the universe if he became a spiteful miser like his ancestors (instead of being a slave to future Baldrick, which would happen if he were to remain kind and generous), he lampshades it gleefully:
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Blackadder
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Blackadder ( 1983 , 1986 – 89 , 1999 ) is a television show which originally aired on BBC1 written by Richard Curtis , Ben Elton , and Rowan Atkinson . It traces members of the Blackadder dynasty and their associates through different periods of history.
The Foretelling [ edit ]
Opening narration: History has known many great liars. Copernicus . Goebbels . St. Ralph the Liar. [he is shown holding a sign which reads "St. Benedict the Liar"] But there have been none quite so vile as the Tudor King Henry VII . It was he who rewrote history to portray his predecessor, Richard III , as a deformed maniac who killed his nephews in the Tower . But the real truth is that Richard was a kind and thoughtful man who cherished his young wards, in particular Richard, Duke of York , who grew into a big, strong boy. Henry also claimed he won the Battle of Bosworth Field and killed Richard III. Again, the truth is very different; for it was Richard, Duke of York, who became king after Bosworth Field, and reigned for thirteen glorious years. As for who really killed Richard III and how the defeated Henry Tudor escaped with his life, all is revealed in this, the first chapter of a history never before told: the history of... the Black Adder!
Edmund : Ah, Percy, you see how the King picks me out for special greeting?
Percy : No, my lord.
Baldrick : I saw it, my lord.
Edmund: And what is your name, little fellow?
Baldrick: My name is Baldrick, my lord.
Edmund: Then I shall call you... Baldrick.
Baldrick: And I shall call you "my lord," my lord.
Born to Be King [ edit ]
[King Richard IV is about to set out on a crusade against the Turks]
Richard IV : As the good Lord said: "Love thy neighbour as thyself, unless he's Turkish, in which case, kill the bastard!"
Dougal McAngus: I hope life doesn't get too boring now you can't pass laws over Scotland.
Edmund: [Laughs feebly then mutters under his breath] I wouldn't pass water over Scotland.
King Richard IV : [to Edmund] Don't be mistaken about this appointment, Edward. I've always despised you.
Edmund: Well, you are my father. I mean, you're biased.
King Richard IV: You, compared to your beloved brother Harry, are as excrement as compared to cream!
Harry: Oh, father, you flatter me!
Edmund: And me, also!
King Richard IV: So now, my boy, when I have at last found a use for you, don't try to get out of it!
King Richard IV: [to Edmund] If I needed someone who believed in God, I'd have chosen Harry, not an embarrassing little weed like you.
Messenger: My lord, good news! The Swiss have invaded France!
King : Excellent! Wessex, while they're away, take ten thousand troops and pillage Geneva!
Chiswick: But the Swiss are our allies, my lord.
King: Oh, yes. [to Lord Wessex] Well, get them to dress up as Germans, would you? Chiswick, remind me to send flowers to the king of France in sympathy for the death of his son.
Chiswick: The one you had murdered, my lord?
King: [absentmindedly] Yes, yes, that's the fellow.
King: Chiswick, take this to the Queen of Naples. [holds up an urn]
Chiswick: What is it, my lord?
King: The King of Naples!
Witchsmeller Pursuivant [ edit ]
Witchsmeller: [talking about ordeal by axe] The suspect has his head placed upon a block, and an axe aimed at his neck. If the man is guilty, the axe will bounce off his neck — so we burn him. If the man is not guilty, the axe will simply slice his head off.
Percy : Look, look, I just can't take the pressure of all these omens any more!
Edmund : Percy...
Percy: No, no, really, I'm serious! Only this morning in the courtyard I saw a horse with two heads and two bodies!
Edmund: Two horses standing next to each other?
Percy: Yes, I suppose it could have been.
Friar Bellows: Perhaps a motto for our enterprise? "Blessed are the meek..."
[The rest grumble in disagreement.]
Friar Bellows: "... for they shall be slaughtered!"
[The rest cheer and rush for the door.]
Edmund: But the plan! You've forgotten the plan!
Sir Wilfred Death: I thought that was the plan!
Sean, the Irish Bastard: Let's get those meek bastards now!
The Hawk: And now, on to the castle, to kill the royal family and claim that throne that isn't mine by right!
Percy: I'd like to meet the Spaniard who can make his way past me!
Blackadder: Well, go to Spain. There are millions of them.
Blackadder : Tell me, young crone, is this Putney?
Young Crone: [cackling] That it be! That it be!
Blackadder: "Yes, it is," not "That it be". And you don't have to talk in that stupid voice to me, I'm not a tourist! I seek information about a Wise Woman.
Young Crone: The Wise Woman? The Wise Woman?!
Blackadder: Yes. The Wise Woman.
Young Crone: Two things, my Lord, must ye know of the Wise Woman. First... she is a woman! And second... she is...
Blackadder: Wise?
Young Crone: [normal] You do know her, then?
Blackadder: No, just a wild stab in the dark - which, incidentally, is what you'll be getting if you don't start being a bit more helpful! Do you know where she lives?
Young Crone: 'Course.
Young Crone: 'Ere. Do you have an appointment?
Blackadder: No.
Young Crone: Oh... you can go in anyway.
Blackadder: Thank you, young crone. Here is a purse of monies... [she tries to grab it] which I'm not going to give to you. [walks in]
Wise Woman: Hail, Edmund, Lord of Adders Black!
Blackadder: Hello...
Wise Woman: Step no nearer, for already I see thy bloody purpose. Thou plottest, Blackadder. Thou wouldst be King and drown Middlesex in a butt of wine! [cackling]
Blackadder: No, it's far worse than that. I'm in love with my manservant.
Wise Woman: Oh, well, I'd sleep with him if I were you.
Blackadder: What?
Wise Woman: When I fancy people, I sleep with them. I have to drug them first, of course, being so old and warty.
Blackadder: But what about my position? My social life?
Wise Woman: Very well then. Three other paths are open to you. Three cunning plans to cure thy ailment.
Blackadder: Ah, good.
Wise Woman: The first is simple - kill the boy!
Blackadder: Never!
Wise Woman: Then try the second - kill yourself.
Blackadder: Hmm... And the third?
Wise Woman: The third is to ensure that no one else ever knows.
Blackadder: Ah, that sounds more like it! How?
Wise Woman: Kill everybody in the whole world! [cackling]
Blackadder: Uh-huh. [gets up and leaves]
Blackadder: Right Baldrick, let's try again, shall we? This is called adding. [gestures to the beans on the table] If I have two beans, and then I add two more, what do I have?
Baldrick: Some beans.
Blackadder: [smiles, impatiently] Yesss... and no. Let's try again, shall we? I have two beans, then I add two more beans. What does that make?
Baldrick: A very small casserole.
Blackadder: Baldrick. The ape-creatures of the Indus have mastered this. Now try again. [helps him count] One, two, three... four. So, how many are there?
Baldrick: Three.
Blackadder: What?
Baldrick: And that one.
Blackadder: Three... and that one. [waves the fourth bean in front of Baldrick's face] So if I add the three to that one, what will I have?!
Baldrick: Oh! Some beans.
Blackadder: [pause] Yes. To you, Baldrick, the Renaissance was just something that happened to other people, wasn't it?
Blackadder: [seeing Percy's abnormally wide new neckruff] You look like a bird who's swallowed a plate.
Percy: It's the latest fashion, actually. And as a matter of fact, it makes me look rather sexy!
Blackadder: To another plate-swallowing bird, perhaps. If it was blind and hadn't had it in months.
Percy: I think you may be wrong!
Blackadder: You're a sad, laughable figure, aren't you, Percy? Baldrick, what do you think of Percy's new ruff?
Baldrick: Four!
Blackadder: What?
Baldrick: Some beans and some beans is four!
Blackadder: No, now we've moved on - from advanced mathematics to elementary dress making. What do you think of Percy's new ruff?
Baldrick: I think he looks like a bird who's swallowed a plate, my Lord.
Blackadder: No, that's what I think. What do you think? Try to have a thought of your own; thinking is so important. What do you think?
Baldrick: I think thinking is so important, my Lord.
Blackadder: I give up! I'm off to see the Queen.
Percy: Should I come too?
Blackadder: No, best not. People might think we're friends. You stay here with Baldrick. Bird-Neck and Bird-Brain should get on like a house on fire.
Potato [ edit ]
Blackadder: Bloody explorers. They ponce off to Mumbo-Jumbo Land and come home with a tropical disease, a suntan and a bag of brown lumpy things, and Bob's-your-uncle, everyone's got a picture of them in the lavatory! I mean, what about the people that do all the work?
Baldrick: The servants?
Blackadder: No, me! I'm the people who do all the work! I mean, look at this! [holds up a potato] What is it?
Baldrick: I'm surprised you've forgotten, my lord.
Blackadder: I haven't forgotten, it's a rhetorical question.
Baldrick: Nah, it's a potato.
Blackadder: To you, it's a potato. To me, it's a potato. But to Sir Walter bloody Raleigh, it's fine carriages, luxury estates and as many girls as his tongue can cope with! He's making a fortune out of the things: people are smoking them, building houses out of them... they'll be eating them next!
Baldrick: Stranger things have happened, my lord.
Blackadder: [dismissively] Oh, exactly.
Baldrick: That horse becoming Pope...
Blackadder: For one.
Melchett: Started talking to yourself, Blackadder?
Blackadder: Yes, it's the only way I can be sure of intelligent conversation around here!
Mr. Pants: [laughing] You've really worked out your banter, haven't you?
Blackadder: No, not really. This is a different thing; it's spontaneous and it's called wit.
Blackadder: Right, Balders, I've lost the money! I'm going to have to run away!
Baldrick : Why, my lord?
Blackadder: Well, to avoid these monks!
Baldrick: No point. The Black Bank's got branches everywhere.
Blackadder: Oh no! [slumps to the floor] If I die, Baldrick, do you think people would remember me?
Baldrick: Yeah, 'course they would.
Blackadder: Yes, I suppose so.
Baldrick: Yeah, people would always be slapping each other on the shoulder and laughing and saying "Do you remember Old Privy-Breath?".
Blackadder: Do people call me "Privy-Breath"?
Baldrick: Yeah. The ones who like you.
Blackadder: Am I then not popular?
Baldrick: Um... well, put it this way - when people step in what dogs leave in the street, they do tend to say "Whoops, I've trod on an Edmund".
Blackadder: The bloody cheek! I'll show them!
Baldrick: Have you got a plan, my lord?
Blackadder: Yes I have, and it's so cunning you could brush your teeth with it! All I need is some feathers, a dress, some oil, an easel, some sleeping draught, lots of paper, a prostitute and the best portrait-painter in England!
Baldrick: i'll get them right away, my lord!
Beer [ edit ]
Blackadder: Baldrick! Why have you got a piece of cheese tied to the end of your nose?
Baldrick: To catch mice, my lord. I lie on the floor with my mouth open and hope they scurry in.
Blackadder: And do they?
Baldrick: Not yet, my lord.
Blackadder: That's hardly surprising. Your breath comes straight from Satan's bottom, Baldrick. The only sort of mouse you're likely to catch is one without a nose.
Baldrick: That's a pity, 'cause the nose is the best bit on a mouse.
Blackadder : Get the door, Baldrick.
[There is a crash. Baldrick enters, carrying a door.]
Blackadder: I would advise you to make the explanation you are about to give... phenomenally good.
Baldrick : You said "Get the door."
Blackadder: Not good enough. You're fired.
Baldrick: But my lord, I've been in your family since 1532!
Blackadder: So has syphilis! Now get out!
Blackadder: Were you ever bullied at school?
Prince Ludwig: What do you mean?
Blackadder: I mean, all this ranting and raving about power. There must be some reason for it.
Prince Ludwig: Nonsense. No, at my school, having dirty hair and spots was a sign of maturity.
Blackadder: I thought so! And I bet your mother made you wear shorts all the way up to your final year--
Prince Ludwig: Shut up! Shut up! When I am King of England, no one will ever dare call me "Shorty-Greasy-Spot-Spot" again!
Queen: Did you miss me, Edmund?
Blackadder: Madame, life without you was like a broken pencil.
Queen: [confused] Explain...?
George : [searching for his socks] They just disappear! Honestly, you'd think someone was coming in here, stealing the damn things and then selling them off!
Blackadder: [chuckles, looking slightly devious] Impossible, sir. Only you and I have access to your socks.
George: Yes, yes, you're right. Still, for me, socks are like sex: tonnes of it about, and I never seem to get any!
Blackadder: Right. Now all we have to do is fill in this MP application form. "Name"...Baldrick. First name?
Baldrick : Er... I'm not sure.
Blackadder: Well, you must have some idea.
Baldrick: Well, it might be Sod-Off.
Blackadder: What?
Baldrick: Well, when I was little and I used to play in the gutter, I used to say to the other snipes "Hello, my name's Baldrick." And they'd say "Yes, we know: Sod-Off Baldrick."
Blackadder: All right, "Mr S. Baldrick." Now then, "Distinguishing features".... None.
Baldrick: Hold on. I've got this big growth in the middle of my face.
Blackadder: That's your nose, Baldrick. Now, "Any history of insanity in the family?"... Tell you what. I'll cross out the "in." "Any history of sanity in the family?" ... None whatsoever. Now, "Criminal record?"
Baldrick: Absolutely not.
Blackadder: Oh, come on, Baldrick, you're going to be an MP, for God's sake! Look, I'll just put "Fraud and sexual deviancy".
Blackadder: This is the worst moment of my entire life. I've spent my last penny on a cat-skin windcheater, I've just broken a priceless turnip...[there is a loud banging at the door followed by shouting]...and now I'm about to be viciously slaughtered by a naked Tunisian sock merchant. Well, all I can say, Baldrick, is this is the last time I dabble in politics!
Prince George: What time is it!?
Blackadder: Three o'clock in the afternoon, sire.
Prince George: [relieved] Oh thank God for that, I thought I'd overslept!
Blackadder: I trust you had a pleasant evening, sir?
Prince George: Well, no, actually. The most extraordinary thing happened. Last night I was having a bit of a snack at the Naughty Hellfire Club, and some fellow said that I had the wit and sophistication of a donkey!
Blackadder: Oh. An absurd suggestion, sir.
Prince George: You're right, it is absurd.
Blackadder: Unless this was a particularly stupid donkey.
Blackadder: I believe, sir, that the Doctor is trying to tell you that he is happy because he has finished his book. It has apparently taken him ten years.
Prince George: Yes, well, I'm a slow reader myself.
Blackadder: Baldrick, fetch my novel.
Baldrick: Your novel?
Blackadder: Yes, Baldrick, the big papery thing tied up with string...
Baldrick: What, like the thing we burnt?
Blackadder: Exactly like the thing we burnt.
Baldrick: So, you're asking for the big papery thing tied up with string, exactly like the thing we burnt?
Blackadder: ...Exactly.
Baldrick: ...We burnt it.
Blackadder: So we did. Thank you Baldrick. Seven years of my life up in smoke. [to George] Your Highness, will you excuse me a moment?
George: By all means.
Blackadder: [from outside] OH GOD, NO!!!
[Edmund reenters]
Blackadder: [disgusted] What?
Mrs Miggins: Bonjour, monsieur. It's French.
Blackadder: So is eating frogs, cruelty to geese and urinating in the street. But that's no reason to inflict it on the rest of us!
Mrs Miggins: But French is all the fashion! My coffee shop is full of Frenchies, and it's all because of that wonderful Scarlet Pimpernel !
Blackadder: The Scarlet Pimpernel is not wonderful, Mrs Miggins. There is no reason whatsoever to admire someone for filling London with a bunch of garlic-chewing French toffs, crying "Oh-la-la" and looking for sympathy all the time just cos their fathers had their heads cut off! I'll have a cup of coffee, and some shepherd's pie.
Mrs Miggins: Oh, we don't serve pies any more! My French clientèle consider pies uncouth!
Blackadder: I hardly think a nation who eats snails and would go to bed with the kitchen sink if it put on a tutu is in any position to preach couthness!
[Blackadder walks into the kitchen, picks up the cat and kicks it into the air]
Baldrick: Oh, sir! Poor little Mildred the cat, what's he ever done to you?
Blackadder: It is the way of the world, Baldrick. The abused always kick downwards. I am annoyed, and so I kick the cat, the cat [loud squeak] pounces on the mouse, and finally, the mouse--
Baldrick: Argh!
Blackadder: --bites you on the behind.
Baldrick: And what do I do?
Blackadder: Nothing. You are last in God's great chain. Unless there's an earwig around here you'd like to victimize.
Blackadder : Gentlemen, I've come with a proposition.
Mossop: How dare you, sir! You think, just because we're actors, we sleep with everyone!
Blackadder: I should think, being actors, you're lucky to sleep with anyone.
Blackadder: Baldrick, I would like to say how much I will miss your honest, friendly companionship...
Baldrick: [touched] Thank you, sir.
Blackadder: ...but as we both know, it would be an utter lie. I will therefore content myself with saying "Sod off, and if I ever meet you again, it'll be 20 billion years too soon!" [he leaves]
Baldrick: Goodbye, you lazy, big-nosed, rubber-faced bastard! [Blackadder re-enters the room]
Blackadder: I fear, Baldrick, that you will soon be eating those badly chosen words. I wouldn't bet a single groat that you could last five minutes without me.
Baldrick: Oh, come on, Mr B.! It's not like we're gonna be murdered the second you leave, is it?
Blackadder: Hope springs eternal, Baldrick!
Blackadder: [after noticing a portion of his newspaper has been cut out] Baldrick, why has half the front page been cut out?
Baldrick: I don't know.
Blackadder: You do know, don't you?
Baldrick: Yes.
Blackadder: You've been cutting out the cuttings about the elusive 'Shadow' to put in your highwayman's scrapbook, haven't you?
Baldrick: Oh, I can't help it, Mr B.! His life is so dark and shadowy, and full of fear and trepidation!
Blackadder: So is going to the toilet in the middle of the night, but you don't keep a scrapbook on it!
Baldrick: I do.
[As Blackadder plans to run off with Amy]
Baldrick: [annoyed] I still can't believe you're leaving me behind!
Blackadder: Don't worry, when we're established on our plantation in Barbados, I'll send for you. No more sad little London for you, Balders; from now on, you'll stand out in life as an individual!
Baldrick: Will I?
Duel and Duality [ edit ]
Baldrick : [entering with a letter] Mr. Blackadder?
Blackadder : Leave me alone, Baldrick. If I wanted to talk to a vegetable, I'd have bought one at the market!
Baldrick: Don't you want this message?
Blackadder: No, thank you. God, I'm wasted here. It's no life for a man of noble blood, being servant to a master with the intellect of a jugged walrus and all the social graces of a potty!
Baldrick: I'm wasted too. I've been thinking of bettering myself.
Blackadder: Oh really, how?
Baldrick: I applied for the job of village idiot of Kensington .
Blackadder: Oh. Get anywhere?
Baldrick: I got down to the last two, but I failed the final interview.
Blackadder: Oh, what went wrong?
Baldrick: I turned up. The other bloke was such an idiot, he forgot to.
Blackadder: Yes, I'm afraid my ambitions stretch slightly further than professional idiocy in West London! I want to be remembered when I'm dead. I want books written about me. I want songs sung about me. And then, hundreds of years from now, I want episodes of my life to be played out weekly at half past nine by some great heroic actor of the age .
Baldrick: Yeah, and I could be played by some tiny tit in a beard .
Blackadder: Quite. Now, what's this message?
Baldrick: I thought you didn't want it.
Blackadder: Well, I may do, it depends what it is.
Baldrick: So you do want it?
Blackadder: Well, I don't know, do I? It depends what it is.
Baldrick: [frantically] Well, I can't tell you what it is unless you want to know, and you said you didn't want to know, and now I'm so confused, I don't know where I live or what my name is!!
Blackadder: Your name is of no importance, and you live in the pipe in the upstairs water closet.
Blackadder: A man may fight for many things; his country, his principles, his friends, the glistening tear on the cheek of a golden child. But personally, I'd mud-wrestle my own mother for a wad of cash, an amusing clock and a stack of French porn!
[Blackadder has just been shot.]
Baldrick: Mr B! Sir! Help me get his coat off!
Blackadder: Leave it, Baldrick. It doesn't matter.
Baldrick: Yes it does! Blood's hell to shift! I want to get it in soak!
Blackadder: Baldrick, what are you doing out there?
Baldrick: I'm carving something on this bullet, sir.
Blackadder: What are you carving?
Baldrick: I'm carving "Baldrick", sir!
Blackadder: Why?
Baldrick: It's part of a cunning plan, actually!
Blackadder: Of course it is.
Baldrick: You know how they say that somewhere there's a bullet with your name on it?
Blackadder: [haltingly] Yyyyyyyyes...?
Baldrick: Well, I thought that if I owned the bullet with my name on it, I'll never get hit by it! Cause I'll never shoot myself...
Blackadder: Oh, shame!
Baldrick: ... and the chances of there being two bullets with my name are very small indeed!
Blackadder: Yes, it's not the only thing around here that's "very small indeed". Your brain, for example. Is so minute, Baldrick, that if a hungry cannibal cracked your head open, there wouldn't be enough to cover a small water biscuit.
Melchett : Field Marshal Haig has formulated a brilliant new tactical plan to ensure final victory in the field.
Blackadder : Ah. Would this brilliant plan involve us climbing out of our trenches and walking very slowly towards the enemy?
Captain Darling : How could you possibly know that, Blackadder? It's classified information!
Blackadder: It's the same plan that we used last time and the seventeen times before that.
Melchett: Exactly! And that is what is so brilliant about it! It will catch the watchful Hun totally off guard! Doing precisely what we've done eighteen times before is exactly the last thing they'll expect us to do this time! There is, however, one small problem.
Blackadder: That everyone always gets slaughtered in the first ten seconds.
Melchett: That's right. And Field Marshal Haig is worried this may be depressing the men a tad. So he's looking for a way to cheer them up.
Blackadder: Well, his resignation and suicide seems the obvious choice.
Melchett: Hmm, interesting thought. Make a note of it, Darling.
Plan B: Corporal Punishment [ edit ]
Melchett: Anything to say before we kick off, Captain Darling?
Darling: May it please the court, as this is clearly an open and shut case, I beg leave to bring a private prosecution against the defence counsel for wasting the court's time.
Melchett: Granted. The defence counsel is fined £50 for turning up!
[After Blackadder has gotten a reprieve, no thanks to George and Baldrick]
Blackadder: I'm not a religious man, as you know, but henceforth I shall nightly pray to the God who killed Cain and squashed Samson that he comes out of retirement and gets back into practice on the pair of you! [the phone rings] Captain Blackadder speaking. Ah, Captain Darling. Yes, well, some of us just have friends in high places, I suppose. Yes I can hear you perfectly. You want what? You want two volunteers for a mission into no man's land? Codename: "Operation Certain Death"? Yes, I think I have just the fellows. [he hangs up and grins cruelly at George and Baldrick] God is very quick these days!
Plan C: Major Star [ edit ]
George: You a bit cheesed off, sir?
Blackadder: George, the day this war began, I was cheesed off. Within ten minutes of you turning up, I finished the cheese and moved on to the coffee and cigars. And at this late stage, I am in a cab with two lady companions on my way to The Pink Pussycat in Lower Regent Street.
Blackadder: [regarding Charlie Chaplin] I find his films about as funny as getting an arrow through the neck, and then finding there's a gas bill tied to it!
Blackadder: Thank you George, but if you don't mind, I'd rather have my tongue beaten wafer-thin by a steak tenderizer and then stapled to the floor with a croquet hoop.
[Blackadder has just sent Baldrick to clean out the latrines, and when he returns, a massive cheer is heard outside']
Baldrick: Sir, it's all over the trenches!
Blackadder: Well, mop it up then!
Baldrick: No sir, the news! The Russian Revolution has started! The masses have risen up and shot all their nobs!
George: Well, hurrah!
George: Well, we soon saw them off, didn't we?! Miserable, slant-eyed sausage-eating swine!
Blackadder: The Russians are on our side, George.
George: [surprised] Are they? Oh.
Blackadder: And they've abandoned the Eastern Front.
Baldrick: And they've overthrown Nicholas II who used to be bizarre!
Blackadder: Who used to be the tsar, Baldrick. The point is that now that the Russians have made peace with the Kaiser, at this very moment a quarter of a million Germans are leaving the Russian Front and coming here with the express purpose of using my nipples for target practice!
Blackadder: Baldrick, the slug is dead. If it failed to cling on to life, I see no reason why it should wish to cling on to your upper lip!
Blackadder: Yes, in one short evening, I've become the most successful impresario since the manager of the Roman Colosseum thought of putting the Christians and the lions on the same bill.
[Blackadder is meeting "Bob" Parkhurst, who he realises is actually a woman disguised as a man]
Blackadder: So you're a chap, are you, Bob?
Bob: Oh yes, sir. [bursts out laughing and growls like a tiger]
Blackadder: You wouldn't say that you were a girl at all?
Bob: [nervously] Oh, definitely not sir! I understand cricket, I fart in bed, everything.
Blackadder: Let me put it another way, Bob. You are a girl. And you're a girl with as much talent for disguise as a giraffe in dark glasses trying to get into a "Polar bears only" golf club!
Bob: [Horrified] Oh sir, oh sir, please don't give me away, sir. I just wanted to be like my brothers and join up. I want to see how a war is fought... so badly!
Blackadder: Well, you've come to the right place, Bob. A war hasn't been fought this badly since Olaf the Hairy, High Chief of all the Vikings, accidentally ordered eighty thousand battle helmets with the horns on the inside.
Bob: I want to do my bit for the boys, sir!
Blackadder: Oh, really..?
Bob: [pleading] I'll do anything, sir!
Blackadder: Yes, I'd keep that to myself if I were you.
Blackadder: Baldrick, no! It's the worst plan since Abraham Lincoln said "Oh, I'm sick of kicking around the house tonight, let's go take in a show! ". For a start, General Melchett is in mourning for the woman of his dreams: he is unlikely therefore to be in the mood to marry a two-legged badger wrapped in a curtain! Secondly, we are looking for a great entertainer, and you're the worst entertainer since Saint Paul the Evangelist toured Palestine with his trampoline act! No, we'll have to find somebody else.
George: What about Corporal Cartwright, sir?
Blackadder: Corporal Cartwright looks like an orangutan. I've heard of the bearded lady, but the all-over-body-hair lady frankly just isn't on!
George: Willis?
Blackadder: Too dead. Oh, it's hopeless. There just isn't anyone!
[Bob is heard singing in the shower]
Blackadder: [with renewed hope] What am I doing?! Bob!
Bob: [enters wearing towels] Sir?
George: [STILL not realizing Bob is a girl] Sir, what a brilliant idea! Bob, can you think of anyone that could be our leading lady?
Blackadder: Bob, take a telegram. "To Mr. C. Chaplin , Sennet Studios, Hollywood, California. Congrats stop. Have found only person in world less funny than you stop. Name: Baldrick stop. Signed, E. Blackadder stop". Oh, and put a P.S.: "Please, please, please... stop."
[Later in the episode, when Blackadder's show is cancelled and Charlie Chaplin agrees to have his films shown in Allied trenches to raise morale]
Darling: We received a telegram from Mr. Chaplin himself at Sennet Studios: "Twice nightly screening of my films in trenches: excellent idea stop. But must insist that E. Blackadder be projectionist stop. P.S.: Don't let him ever... stop".
Melchett: Who can explain the mysteries of love? I'm in love with Georgina, Blackadder. I'm going to marry her on Saturday and I want you to be my best man.
Blackadder: I don't think that would be a very good idea, sir.
Melchett: And why not?
Blackadder: Because there's something wrong with your fiance, sir.
Melchett: Oh my god, she's not Welsh, is she?!
Blackadder: Hello? I'd like to leave a message for the head of the Royal Flying Corps. That's Air Chief Marshall Sir Hugh Massingbird-Massingbird VC , DFC and bar . Message reads "Where are you, you bastard!?"
Baldrick: Here I am, sir.
Blackadder: For God's sake, Baldrick, take cover!
Baldrick: Why, sir?
Blackadder: Because there's an air raid going on! And I don't want to have to write to your mother at London Zoo and tell her that her only human child is dead!
[George finds Blackadder and Baldrick taking shelter from the air raid under a table]
George: Oh, hello! What's going on here? Game of hide and seek? Excellent! Right, now I'll go and count to a hundred. Err, no, better make it five, actually...
Blackadder: George?
George: Err... Oh, it's sardines! Oh, excellent! That's my favourite one, that--
Blackadder: [rising up] GEORGE!
George: Yes, sir?
Blackadder: Shut up, and never say anything again as long as you live.
George: Right you are, sir... Crikey, but what a show it was, sir! Lord Flashheart's Flying Aces! How we cheered when they spun, how we shouted when they dived! How we applauded when one chap got sliced in half by his own propeller! Well, it's all part of the joke for those magnificent men in their flying machines!
[A plane is heard plummeting and crashing outside]
Blackadder: For "magnificent men", read "Biggest Showoffs Since Lady Godiva Entered the Royal Enclosure at Ascot Claiming She Had Literally Nothing to Wear". I don't care how many times they go "up-diddly-up-up", they're still gits!
Baldrick: Oh, come on, sir! I'd love to be a flier. Up there where the air is clear...
Blackadder: The chances of the air being clear anywhere near you, Baldrick, are zero!
[Flashheart jumps into the trench]
Flashheart: Ha! Eat knuckle, Fritz!
[Flashheart punches Blackadder and he falls to the ground. Flashheart places a foot on his chest.]
Flashheart: How disgusting. A boche on the sole of my boot. I shall have to find a patch of grass to wipe it on.
[Flashheart gets off Blackadder]
Flashheart: Probably get shunned in the officers' mess! "Sorry about the pong, you fellows. Trod in a boche and can't get rid of the wiff!"
[Blackadder gets up]
Blackaddder: Do you think we could dispense with the hilarious doggy-do metaphor for a moment? I'm not a boche, this is a British trench.
Flashheart: Is it? Oh that's a piece of luck. Thought I'd landed sausage-side! Ha!
[Flashheart pushes Blackadder]
Flashheart: Mind if I use your phone? If word gets out that I'm missing, 500 girls will kill themselves. I wouldn't want them on my conscience, not when they ought to be on my face!
[Flashheart kicks the phone]
Flashheart: Hi. Flashheart here. Yeah, cancel the state funeral, tell the king to stop blubbing. Flash is not dead! I simply ran out of juice! Yeah, and before the girls start saying "Oh, what's the point of living anymore?", I'm talking about petrol! Woof, woof! Yeah, I dumped the kite on the proles, so send a car. General Melchett's driver should do. She hangs around with a big nob, so she'll be used to a fellow like me! Woof, woof!
Blackadder: Look, do you think you can make your obscene phone call somewhere else?
Flashheart: [taking not a blind bit of notice] No, not in half an hour, you rubber-desk Johnny! Send the bitch with the wheels right now, or I'll fly back to England and give your wife something to hang her towels on!
[Flashheart slams the phone down]
Flashheart: Okay, dig out your best booze and lets talk about me 'till the car comes! You must be pretty impressed having squadron commander The Lord Flashheart drop in on your squalid bit of line!
Blackadder: Actually, no, I was more impressed by the contents of my handkerchief, the last time I blew my nose.
Flashheart: Yeah, like hell. You've probably got little piccies of me on the wall of your dugout, haven't you? I bet you go all girly and giggly every time you look at me!
Blackadder: I'm afraid not. Unfortunately, most of the infantry think you're a prat. Ask them who they'd prefer to meet, Squadron Commander Flashheart and the man who cleans out the public toilets in Aberdeen, and they'd go for Wee Jock 'Poo-Pong' Mcplop every time!
[Flashheart laughs and then punches Blackadder in the face]
Darling: Oh, you want to join the Royal Flying Corps?
Blackadder: There's a thought. Could I?
Darling: No you couldn't. Goodbye!
Blackadder: Come on Darling, just give me an application form!
Darling: It's out of the question! This is simply a ruse to waste five months of training, after which you'll claim you can't fly after all because it makes your ears go pop! Come on, I wasn't born yesterday, Blackadder!
Blackadder: More's the pity, we could have started your personality from scratch!
Flashheart: The first thing to remember is: always treat your kite [Whacks diagram with his pointer.] like you treat your woman! [Whips the air. Hard.]
George : Ho-how do you mean, sir? You mean, um... you mean, take her home over the weekend to meet your mother?
Flashheart: No. I mean get inside her five times a day and take her to heaven and back!
Blackadder: I'm beginning to see why the Suffragette Movement want the vote.
Flashheart: Hey, any bird who wants to chain herself to my railings and suffer a jet movement gets my vote!
Flashheart: Right, I'll see you in ten minutes for takeoff!
Blackadder: Hang on, hang on! What about the months of training?!
Flashheart: Hey wet-pants, this isn't the Women's Auxiliary Balloon Corps; you're in the Twenty Minuters now!
Darling: [from the back of the room] Sir? Sir?
Flashheart: Yes, prat at the back!
Darling: Sir, I think we'd all be intrigued to know why you're called the Twenty Minuters?
George: Oh, Mr. Thicko, imagine not knowing that! [George and Blackadder were given the impression beforehand pilots only flew for twenty minutes]
Flashheart: Well it's simple! The average life expectancy of a new pilot is twenty minutes!
Darling: [gleefully] Ah. [Blackadder and George look deeply unnerved]
Blackadder: Life expectancy of twenty minutes?!
Flashheart: That's right! Goggles on, chocks away, last one back's a homo! Hurray! [Flash and the other recruits run out. Blackadder consults his watch]
Blackadder: So we take off in ten minutes, we're in the air for twenty minutes, which means we should be dead by twenty five to ten!
[As their plane nose-dives into a crash]
Baldrick: Let's hope we land on something soft!
Blackadder: Fine, I'll try and aim between General Melchett's ears!
[After being shot down behind German lines]
Blackadder: I don't believe it - a German prison cell! For two and a half years, the Western Front's been about as likely to move as a Frenchman who lives next door to a brothel, then last night the Germans advance a mile and we land on the wrong side!
Baldrick: Oh dear, Captain B., my tummy's gone all squirty!
Blackadder: That's because you're scared, Baldrick, and you're not the only one. I couldn't be more petrified if a wild rhinoceros had come home from a hard day at the swamp and found me wearing his pyjamas, smoking his cigars and in bed with his wife!
Baldrick: I've heard what these Germans'll do, sir; they'll have their wicked way with anything of woman-born!
Blackadder: Well, in that case, Baldrick, you're quite safe! However, the Teutonic reputation for brutality is well-founded: their operas last three or four days, and they have no word for "fluffy".
Baldrick: I want my mum!
Blackadder: Yes, it'll be good to see her. I should imagine a maternally outraged gorilla could be a useful ally when it comes to the final scrap! [Footsteps are heard approaching] Prepare to die like a man, Baldrick...or as close as you can get to one without actually shaving the palms of your hands!
Blackadder: For us, the Great War is finito. A war which would have been a damn sight simpler if we'd just stayed in England and shot 50,000 of our men a week!
[While speaking to Blackadder and hearing him make a toilet humour joke]
Baron von Richthofen : Ha ha ha! You English and your sense of humour! How lucky you English are to find the toilet so amusing! For us, it is a mundane and functional item...for you, the basis of an entire culture!
Flashheart: Just because I can give multiple orgasms to the furniture just by sitting on it, doesn't mean that I'm not sick of this damn war. The blood, the noise, the endless poetry...!
Blackadder: Flashheart, this is Captain Darling.
Flashheart: "Captain Darling"?! Funny name for a guy, isn't it? [Jumps off table and faces Darling] Last person I called "Darling" was pregnant 20 seconds later! Hear you couldn't be bothered to help old Slackie here.
Darling: [Stuttering nervously] Oh, well, it... It wasn't quite like that, sir. It's just that we... weighed up the pros and cons and... decided it wasn't a reasonable use of our time and resources. [Laughs nervously]
Flashheart: Well, this isn't a reasonable use of my time and resources, but I'm gonna do it anyway!
Darling: What?
Flashheart: This! [Headbutts Darling hard, knocking him unconscious] All right, Slackie, all right, Slackie, I've gotta fly; two million chicks and only one Flashheart! And always remember: if you want something, take it! BOBBY!
[Bob walks in]
Bob: [Unbuttoning her coat] Take it!
Flashheart: WOOF!
Blackadder: [Under his breath] Git.
[As Flashheart and Bob exit, Melchett enters the room]
Melchett: Ah, Blackadder! So you escaped?
Blackadder: Yes sir.
Melchett: Bravo! [Briefly glances at the unconscious Darling] Don't slouch, Darling.
Blackadder: I wonder whether, having been tortured by the most vicious sadist in the German army, I might have a week's leave to recuperate.
Melchett: Splendid idea! Your commanding officer would have to be stark raving mad to refuse you!
Blackadder: Well, you are my commanding officer.
Melchett: Well?
Blackadder: Can I have a week's leave to recuperate, sir?
Melchett: [Outraged] Certainly not!
George: [indicating a mug on the table] Mmmm...?
[George and Baldrick continue to go "Mmmm" for some time, until Blackadder loses patience]
George: Oh, I say, well done, sir! Your turn!
Blackadder: I spy, with my bored little eye... something beginning with "T".
Baldrick: Breakfast!
Blackadder: What?
Baldrick: My breakfast always begins with tea. Then I have a little sausage. Then a egg with some little soldiers.
Blackadder: Baldrick, when I said it begins with "T," I was talking about a letter.
Baldrick: No, it never begins with a letter! The postman don't come 'til 10:30!
Blackadder: Oh, I can't go on like this. George, take over.
George: All right, sir. Um... I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with "R".
Baldrick: Army!
Blackadder: FOR GOD'S SAKE, BALDRICK! "Army" starts with an "A"! He's talking about something with an "R"! [trills the R]
Baldrick: Motorbike!
Baldrick: A motorbike starts with a Rrrrr!
Blackadder: Right! My turn again. What begins with "Come here" and ends with "OW"?
Baldrick: I dunno.
Blackadder: Come here. [punches Baldrick in the face]
Baldrick: OW!
Blackadder: Well done.
George: Now I... [laughs nervously] I don't think you've quite got the hang of this game, sir. Tell you what, let's try another one. I hear, with my little ear... something beginning with "B".
Blackadder: What?
Blackadder: [surprised] I can't hear a bomb.
George: Listen very carefully. [the faint whistle of an incoming bomb is heard]
Blackadder: Oh yes...! [there is an almighty explosion as the bomb hits]
George: [reading in his letter] "After the explosion, Captain Blackadder was marvelous. He joked and joked. "You lucky, lucky, lucky bastard!" He cried. Then he lay on his back, stuck his foot over the top of the trench and shouted "Over here, Fritz! What about me? What about me?""
[Blackadder and Baldrick enter the room]
Blackadder: All right, where is the malingering git?
George: Hello, Cap, pip-pip Balders, here I lie.
Baldrick: Nice to see the lieutenant looking so well, sir?
Blackadder: Course he's looking well, there's nothing wrong with him.
[George laughs]
George: Didn't I tell you the Captain was a super cove?
Nurse Mary: Yes you did. Well Captain, you are indeed fortunate to have a loyal friend like darling George.
Blackadder: I think you might be under a slight misapprehension here, Nurse. I lost closer friends than the darling Georgie the last time I was deloused. Now if you'll excuse me, I have better things to do than exchange pleasantries with a wet blanket. Would you get out? [Mary gawps at him in astonishment] We've got some important military business.
Nurse Mary: Well, ten minutes only, then. [She exits]
Blackadder: Right, pork-face, where's the grub?
George: Sorry?
Blackadder: Come on, the moment that collection of inbred mutants you call your relatives heard you were sick, they'll have sent you a hamper the size of Westminster Abbey !
George: [outraged] My family is not inbred!
Blackadder: Come on, somewhere outside Saffron Walden, there's an uncle who's seven feet tall with no chin and an Adam's apple that makes him look as though he's constantly trying to swallow a ballcock!
George: I have not got any uncles like that! And anyway, he lives in Walton-on-the-Naze!
[Blackadder has just been frisked by Darling upon entering Melchett's office]
Blackadder: What's going on here?
Darling:Security, Blackadder.
Blackadder: Security?
Melchett: Security isn't a dirty word, Blackadder. Crevice is a dirty word, but security isn't.
Blackadder: So, in the name of security, sir, everyone who enters the room has to have his bottom fondled by this drooling pervert? [indicates Darling]
Darling: Only doing my job, Blackadder.
Blackadder: Well how lucky you are then that your job is also your hobby!
Darling: In short, a German spy is giving away every one of our battle plans.
Melchett: You look surprised, Blackadder.
Blackadder: I certainly am, sir. I didn't realise that we had any battle plans.
Melchett: Well of course we have! How else do you think the battles are directed?!
Blackadder: Our battles are directed, sir?
Melchett: Well of course they are, Blackadder, directed according to the grand plan.
Blackadder: Would that be the plan to continue with total slaughter until everyone's dead except for Field Marshall Haig, Lady Haig and their tortoise, Alan?
Melchett: [horrified] Great Scott! Even you know it!
Melchett: Your job Blackadder is to root this spy out. How long do you think you'll need?
Blackadder: Er...
Melchett: You'll have to be away from the trenches for some time.
Blackadder: Six months?
Darling: Too bad, Blackadder; you've got three weeks.
Melchett: Yes, three weeks to smoke the bugger out. Use any method you see fit: personally I recommend you got hold of a cocker spaniel, tie your suspect down on a chair with a potty on his head, then pop his todger between two floury baps and shout "Dinner-time, Fido!" If you're successful, I shall need back here permanently to head up my new security network, 'Operation: Winkle'.
Blackadder: Winkle?
Melchett: Yes, to winkle out the spies!
Darling: You never mentioned this to me, sir!
Melchett: Well we have to have some secrets, don't we, Darling?
Blackadder: Right, well I'll be back in three weeks.
Melchett: Excellent! If you come back with the information, Captain Darling will pump you thoroughly in the debriefing room.
Blackadder: Not while I have my strength, he won't! [Blackadder leaves as Darling seethes angrily]
Darling: (to General Melchett on Blackadder) Damnation, sir! His insolence makes my blood boil! What's more, I don't trust him, sir. I think it would be best... if I went along to keep an eye on him.
Melchett: What, spy on our own spy while he searches for their spies? (pause) Yes, why not? Sounds rather fun. Now, you'll need to go undercover...
Darling: Of course, sir.
Melchett: And you'll need some kind of wound- a convincing wound.
Darling: Yes, sir.
Melchett: Yes... (draws his revolver and shoots Daring in the foot; Darling falls over in pain)
Darling: AAAAGH!
Melchett: Yes, that looks quite convincing!
George: Smithy, you haven't seen any suspicious looking characters around, have you, who might be German spies?
Smith: Nein.
George: [shocked] NINE! Well, the captain's got his work cut out.
Baldrick: Tell you what, sir; you might have a chance to get to know that pretty nurse!
Blackadder: No thank you, Baldrick; she's as wet as a fish's wet bits. I'd rather get to know you!
Baldrick: I'm not available, sir. I'm waiting for Miss Right to come along and gather me up in her arms.
Blackadder: Yes, I wouldn't be too hopeful; we'd have to get her arms out of her straitjacket first!
Blackadder: (notices Darling limping through the infirmary) What are you here for, Darling?
Darling: Bullet in the foot.
Blackadder: (sarcastically) Well, I can understand soldiers at the front shooting themselves in the foot, but when you're thirty-five miles behind the line-
Darling: (angrily) I did not shoot myself! The General did it.
Blackadder: Finally got fed up with you, did he?
Darling: [back-pedaling] No it was a mistake-!
Blackadder: [sarcastic] Oh he was aiming for your head?
Darling: He wasn't aiming for anything!
Blackadder: So he was aiming for between your legs, then?
Darling: [sarcastic] Very funny, Blackadder. You'll be laughing on the other side of your face if you can't find this spy!
Blackadder: Don't worry Darling, I intend to start interviewing suspects immediately.
[Cut to the next scene, where Blackadder interrogates Darling, who is tied to a chair with a bedpan on his head]
Darling : This is completely ridiculous, Blackadder! You can't suspect me, I've only just arrived.
Blackadder : The first rule of counter-espionage, Darling, is to suspect everyone. Believe me, I shall be asking myself some pretty searching questions later on. Now, tell me: What is the colour of the Queen of England's favourite hat?
Darling: How the hell should I know?!
Blackadder: I see. Well, let me ask you another question: What is the name of the German head of state?
Darling: Well, Kaiser Wilhelm, obviously.
Blackadder: So you're on first-name terms with the Kaiser, are you?!
Darling: Well, what did you expect me to say--?!
Blackadder: Darling, Darling, shh. Cigarette?
Darling: Hm. Thank you.
[Blackadder places a cigarette in his mouth and lights it. He smokes for a few seconds, before Blackadder suddenly slaps it away and turns nasty]
Blackadder: ALL RIGHT, YOU STINKING PIECE OF CRAP!
Darling: I beg your pardon?!
Blackadder: [getting up close] Shut your cakehole, sonny, I know you! Tell me, Von Darling, what was it that finally won you over, eh?! Was it the pumpernickel, or was it the thought of hanging around with big men in leather shorts?!
Darling: [strangled voice] I'll have you court-marshaled for this, Blackadder!
Blackadder: What, for obeying the General's orders? That may be what you do in Munich — or should I say München — but not here, Werner! You're a filthy Hun spy, aren't you?! Baldrick, the cocker spaniel, please.
Darling: [desperate] Ah! No, no, no, wait! No, look, I'm English! I was born in Croydon! [breathing heavily] I was educated at Ipplethorpe Primary School! I've got a girlfriend called Doris! I know the words to all three verses of "God Save the King!"
Blackadder: Four verses!
Darling: Four verses! Four verses! I meant four verses! Look, I'm as British as Queen Victoria!
Blackadder: So your father's German, you're half-German and you married a German?!
Darling: [breaking into tears] No, no! LOOK, FOR GOD'S SAKE, I'M NOT A GERMAN SPYYYYYYYYYY!
Blackadder: Good, thanks very much. Send the next man in, would you? [Nurse Mary bursts in]
Nurse Mary: What is all this noise about?! Don't you realise this is a hospital?!
Darling: [is released and stands up] You'll regret this, Blackadder! You'd better find the real spy or I'll make it very hard for you!
Blackadder: Please, Darling, there are ladies present.
Nurse Mary: Tell me, Edmund, do you have someone special in your life?
Blackadder: Well yes, as a matter of fact, I do.
Nurse Mary: Who?
Blackadder: Me.
Nurse Mary: No, I mean someone you love and cherish and want to keep safe from all the horror and the hurt.
Blackadder: Um...still me, really.
Nurse Mary: No, but back home in England, there must be someone waiting, some sweetheart.
Blackadder: Oh, a girl? Nah! I've always been a soldier, married to the army. Book of King's Regulations is my mistress...possibly with a Harrods' lingerie catalogue tucked discreetly between the pages.
Nurse Mary: And no casual girlfriends?
Blackadder: Skirt? If only. When I joined up, we were still fighting colonial wars. If you saw someone in a skirt, you shot him and nicked his country!
Nurse Mary: Well, sir, I'm only a humble nurse, but I did at one point think it might be Captain Darling.
Melchett : Well, bugger me with a fishfork! Old Darling, a Jerry Morse -tapper?! What on Earth made you suspect him?
Nurse Mary: Well, he pooh-poohed the captain here and said that he'd never find the spy.
Melchett: [seriously] Is this true, Blackadder? Did Captain Darling pooh-pooh you?
Blackadder : Well, perhaps a little.
Melchett: Well then, damn it all, how much more evidence do you need? The pooh-poohing alone is a court-martial offence!
Blackadder: I can assure you, sir, that the pooh-poohing was purely circumstantial.
Melchett: Well, I hope so, Blackadder. You know, if there's one thing I've learned from being in the army, it's never ignore a pooh-pooh! I knew a major: got pooh-poohed; made the mistake of ignoring the pooh-pooh -- he pooh-poohed it! Fatal error, because it turned out all along that the soldier who pooh-poohed him had been pooh-poohing a lot of other officers, who pooh-poohed their pooh-poohs! In the end, we had to disband the regiment! Morale totally destroyed... by pooh-pooh!
[Blackadder and Nurse Mary both look extremely bored; Mary has begun reading an 'Ideas' magazine. During the next line, she looks around nervously and puts the paper down, sitting on it]
Blackadder: Yes, I think we might be drifting slightly from the point here, sir, which is that, unfortunately, and to my lasting regret, Captain Darling is not the spy.
Blackadder: Remember you mentioned a clever boyfriend?
Nurse Mary: Yes.
Blackadder: I leapt on the opportunity to test you. I asked if he'd been to one of the great universities: Oxford, Cambridge, Hull.
Nurse Mary: Well?
Blackadder: You failed to spot that only two of those are great universities!
Nurse Mary: You swine!
Melchett: That's right! Oxford's a complete dump!
Blackadder: [looks startled - this was an improvised joke by Stephen Fry, who went to Cambridge whereas Rowan Atkinson went to Oxford, its rival] ... Well, quite.
Melchett: Blackadder?
Melchett: You are now head of Operation Winkle.
Blackadder: Thank you, sir.
Melchett: You are a complete arse!
Darling: Thank you, sir.
Plan F: Goodbyeee [ edit ]
George: Oh, dash and blast it all! I'm as bored as a pacifist's pistol; when are we going to see some action?!
Blackadder: Well George, I strongly suspect your long wait for certain death is nearly at an end. Surely you must have noticed something in the air?
George: Well of course sir, but I thought that was Private Baldrick!
Blackadder: No, the time has come to get out of this madness once and for all!
George: What madness is that, sir?
Blackadder: Oh for God's sake, George, how long have you been in the army?
George: Oh, me? Oh, I joined up straight away, sir! August the 4th, 1914. God, what a day that was! Myself and the rest of the fellows, leapfrogging down to the Cambridge recruiting office and then, playing tiddlywinks in the queue. We'd hammered Oxford's tiddlywinkers only the week before and there we were, off to hammer the Boche! Crushingly superb bunch of blokes. Fine, clean-limbed… even their acne had a strange nobility about it.
Blackadder: Yes, and how are all the boys now?
George: Oh, uh, well… Jocko and the Badger bought it at the first Ypres, unfortunately. Quite a shock, that. I remember Bumfluff's house-master wrote and told me that Sticky had been out for a duck, and the Gubber had snitched a parcel sausage-end and gone goose-over-stump frogside.
Blackadder: Meaning?
George: I don't know, sir, but I read in the Times that they'd both been killed.
George : The war started because of the vile Hun and his villainous empire-building!
Blackadder: George, the British Empire at present covers a quarter of the globe, while the German Empire consists of a small sausage factory in Tanganyika. I hardly think we can be entirely absolved from blame on the imperialistic front.
George: Oh... Oh no, sir! Absolutely not! [quietly to Baldrick] Mad as a bicycle!
Baldrick: I heard that it started when a bloke called Archie Duke shot an ostrich 'cause he was hungry.
Blackadder: I think you mean it started when the Archduke of Austro-Hungary got shot .
Baldrick: Nah, there was definitely an ostrich involved, sir.
Blackadder: Well, possibly. But the real reason for the whole thing was that it was too much effort not to have a war.
Blackadder: You see, Baldrick, in order to prevent a war in Europe, two super blocs developed: us, the French and the Russians on one side ; and the Germans and Austro-Hungary on the other . The idea was to have two vast, opposing armies, each acting as the other's deterrent . That way, there could never be a war.
Baldrick: Except, well, this is sort of a war, isn't it?
Blackadder: That's right. There was one tiny flaw in the plan.
George: Oh, what was that?
Blackadder: It was bollocks.
Baldrick: So the poor old ostrich died for nothing!
Melchett: (inspecting the trenches with Darling) Now then, soldier- you looking forward to giving those Frenchies a damn good licking?
Darling: Ah, no, sir- it's the Germans we should be licking, sir.
Melchett: (gives Darling a look of disgust) Don't be revolting, Darling! I wouldn't lick a German if he was glazed in honey! (turns back to Baldrick) Now then, soldier- do you love your country?
Baldrick: Certainly do, sir!
Melchett: And do you love your King?
Baldrick: Certainly don't, sir!
Melchett: (looking very offended) And why not?!
Baldrick: My mother told me never to trust men with beards, sir!
Melchett: (laughs) Excellent native Cockney wit! (punches Baldrick in the jaw and knocks him down)
Blackadder: [regarding the 1914 Christmas truce ] Both sides advanced further during one Christmas piss-up than they managed in the next two and a half years of war!
Baldrick: Remember the football match?
Blackadder: Remember it?! How could I forget it?! I was never offside; I could not BELIEVE that decision!
[Upon running out of options to avoid going over the top]
Blackadder: I believe the phrase rhymes with "clucking bell"!
George: Sir...I'm scared, sir.
Baldrick: I'm scared too, sir.
George: I'm the last of the tiddly-winking leap-froggers from the golden summer of 1914. I don't want to die...I'm really not overly keen on dying at all, sir.
Blackadder: What about you, Darling? How are you feeling?
Darling: Ah, not all that good, Blackadder. Rather thought I'd get through the whole show. Go back to working at Pratt and Sons. Keep wicket for the Croydon Gentlemen. Marry Doris. Made a note in my diary on the way here. Simply says... "Bugger".
[Last lines of the series; Blackadder, Baldrick, George and Darling are ready to go over the top]
Darling: Listen... Our guns have stopped.
George: You don't think...?
Baldrick: [with rising hope] Maybe... the war's over. Maybe it's peace!
George: [overjoyed] Oh, hurrah! The big knobs have gone round the table and yanked the iron out of the fire!
Darling: [also overjoyed] Thank God! We lived through it! The Great War, 1914 to 1917!
George: Hip-hip...
George, Baldrick and Darling: HOORAY!
Blackadder: [sadly] I'm afraid... not. The guns have stopped because we're about to attack. Not even our generals are mad enough to shell their own men. They think it's far more sporting to let the Germans do it.
George: [afraid] So we are, in fact, going over? This is, as they say, "it"?
Blackadder: I'm afraid so. Unless I can think of something very quickly.
Captain in background: COMPANY, ONE PACE FORWARD! [the group obey]
Baldrick: Oh, there's a nasty splinter on that ladder, sir! A bloke could hurt himself on that!
Captain in background: STAND READY!
Baldrick: I have... a plan, sir.
Blackadder: Really, Baldrick? A cunning and subtle one?
Baldrick: Yes, sir.
Blackadder: As cunning as a fox who's just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University?
Baldrick: Yes, sir.
Captain in background: ON THE SIGNAL, COMPANY WILL ADVANCE!
Blackadder: Well, I'm afraid it'll have to wait. Whatever it was, I'm sure it was better than my plan to get out of this by pretending to be mad. I mean, who would have noticed another madman round here? [a whistle is heard] Good luck, everyone. [blows whistle, and they go over the top]
Blackadder: Baldrick, your brain is like the four-headed man-eating haddock-fish-beast of Aberdeen.
Baldrick: In what way?
Blackadder: It doesn't exist.
Blackadder: [annoyed by events and Baldrick's singing] For God's sake, stop that, Baldrick! It's bad enough having one's life in utter ruins without being serenaded by a moron with all the entertainment value of a tap-dancing oyster!
Blackadder: I just don't understand it. Where on Earth did they find a man so utterly without heart and soul, so low and degraded as to accept the job of beheading the King of England? [as his words sink in, Blackadder has a realisation] Baldrick? That little job that fell into your lap? It wasn't, by any chance, something to do with an axe, a basket, a little black mask and the King of England?
Baldrick: No.
Blackadder: Go on...
Baldrick: I couldn't find a basket.
Blackadder: You very small, total bastard! [grabs a meat cleaver and holds it to Baldrick's throat]
Baldrick: Please, Sir, don't kill me! I have a cunning plan to save the king!
Blackadder: Well, forgive me if I don't do a cartwheel of joy. Your family's record in the department of cunning planning is about impressive as Stumpy Oleg McNoLeg's personal best in the Market Harbor marathon! [sighes] All right, what's the plan?
Baldrick: [holds up a pumpkin]
Blackadder: A pumpkin is going to save the king?
Baldrick: Ah. But over here, I have one that I made earlier. [holds up a pumpkin with a face and wig] I will balance it on the King's head, like this, then I will cover his real head with a cloak. And then, when I execute him, instead of cutting off his real head, I will cut off the pumpkin and the king survives!
Blackadder: I'm not sure it's going to work, Balders.
Baldrick: Why not?
Blackadder: Because once you've cut it off, you have to hold it up in front of the crowd and say "This is the head of a traitor," at which point they will shout back "No, it's not. It's a large pumpkin with a pathetic mustache drawn on it."
Baldrick: I suppose it's not 100 percent convincing...
Blackadder: It's not 1 percent convincing. However, I am a busy man and I can't be bothered to punch you at the moment. Here is my fist. Kindly run towards it as fast as you can. [Baldrick does so]
[Roundheads have surrounded the house]
Baldrick: We're surrounded! What are we going to do?!
Blackadder: Well, at times like this, Baldrick, there is no choice for a man of honour. He must stand, and fight, and die, in defence of his... future sovereign. [pause] Fortunately, I'm not a man of honour. [Blackadder tosses the baby to Baldrick, then pulls off his fake beard and wig to reveal a blond, clean-shaven face; he now looks like a Roundhead. At that moment, Cromwell bursts in] Thank God you've come! [points to Baldrick] Seize the Royalist scum!
[Blackadder offers him the bag, which contains humbug sweets.]
Baldrick : Oh, thank you very much.
Baldrick: Go on my lord. Give it a little pull, you know you want to, it will be ever so exciting...
Blackadder: [completely uninterested] Oh, god...[Blackadder pulls the tiny Christmas cracker with Baldrick. There isn't a bang] [sarcastic] Yes, terrifying.
Baldrick: And look, there's a surprise present inside. It's a novelty death warrant, and you give it to a friend.
[Baldrick gives the death warrant to Blackadder]
Blackadder: [sarcastic] Oh, just what I've always wanted.[crumples it into a ball]
Baldrick: Have you got anything for me?
Lord Blackadder: Oh it's nothing, really!
Baldrick: [touched] Oh sir!
Lord Blackadder: No, it's really nothing; I haven't got you anything. I spent all my cash on this damn thing for the Queen. [reveals a portrait of Elizabeth I] She'd better bloody like it, she dropped enough hints! That woman's about as subtle as a rhinocero's horn up the backside! Door!
Lord Blackadder : Ah, Melchett! Greetings! I trust Christmas brings you its traditional mix of good food and violent stomach cramp.
Lord Melchett : And compliments of the season to you, Blackadder. May the Yuletide log slip from your fire and burn your house down.
Lord Blackadder: I'm glad I saw you; I feel it only fair to warn you that the Queen has banned Christmas. So I wouldn't get her a present this year.
Lord Melchett: Oh, I'm indebted to you for that advice, Blackadder, and I shall, of course, follow it to the letter...[under his breath as he walks away] the day I get my brain replaced by a cauliflower.
Lord Blackadder: [jubilant] Ha! Got him with my subtle plan!
Baldrick: I can't see any subtle plan.
Lord Blackadder: Baldrick, you wouldn't see a subtle plan if it painted itself purple and danced naked on top of a harpsichord, singing "Subtle Plans are Here Again!"
Nursie : Pity about this, tinky-wink; you always used to love this time of year!
Queenie : I know. Leaving a little mince pie and a glass of wine out for Father Christmas, and then scoffing it, because I was a princess and could do what I bloody well liked!
Nursie: And wondering if your father's wife would last until Boxing Day without having her head cut off!
Queenie: We knew if he gave her a hat, she'd probably be alright.
Lord Blackadder: [sarcastically] Perhaps Lord Melchett would like to whip me naked through the streets of Aberdeen?
Lord Melchett: Oh I don't think we need go that far, Blackadder...
Lord Blackadder: [sarcastically] Oh too kind!
Lord Melchett: No, Aylesbury's quite far enough.
Queenie: Now Blackadder, what have you got me?
Lord Blackadder: [having destroyed her Christmas present] Um...
Queenie: I WANT A PREZZIE! Give me something nice and shiny, and if you don't, I've got something nice and shiny for you: it's called AN AXE!
Edmund Blackadder, Esq. : So, shall I begin?
The Prince Regent : Absolutely, as long as it's not that terribly depressing one about the chap who gets born on Christmas Day, shoots his mouth off about everything under the sun, and then comes a cropper with a couple of rum coves on top of a hill in Johnny Arab land!
Edmund Blackadder, Esq.: You mean, Jesus ?
The Prince Regent: Yes, that's the bloke! Keep him out of it; he always spoils the Xmas atmos!
[After Blackadder discovers his plan to rob the Prince Regent of his Christmas valuable has gone badly wrong, thanks to Baldrick's stupidity]
Baldrick: Something wrong, Mr. B.?
Edmund Blackadder, Esq.: No, don't worry, I should've known not to trust a man with the mental agility of a rabbit dropping!
Baldrick: Sorry, Mr. B.
Edmund Blackadder, Esq.: Oh, it's perfectly alright, it's not your fault. [he floors Baldrick with a punch] Still, I fear for a frail, elderly woman, laden down with valuables, traveling through the inadequately lit streets of London!
Baldrick: Yeah, she's not safe!
Edmund Blackadder, Esq.: Well, not from me, certainly!
[A reformed Ebenezer Blackadder hands Baldrick the money he just lifted from his niece's fiancée.]
Blackadder : Baldrick, I want you to take this and go out and buy a turkey so large, you'd think its mother had been rogered by an omnibus. I'm going to have a party, and no one's invited but me!
[Mrs. Scratchit arrives to swindle him]
Mrs. Scratchit: Coo-eee!
Blackadder: No peace for the wicked.
Mrs. Scratchit: [soppily] Ah, Mr. Ebenezer, I was wondering if you had perhaps a little present for me? Or had found me a little fowl for Tiny Tom's Christmas?
Blackadder: I have always found you foul, Mrs. Scratchit, and more than a little. [she looks shocked] As for Tiny Tom's Christmas, he can stuff it up his enormous muscular backside.
Mrs. Scratchit: But he's a cripple!
Blackadder: He's not a cripple, Mrs. Scratchit. Occasionally saying "phew, my leg hurts" when he remembers to wouldn't fool Baldrick.
Baldrick: It did, actually.
Blackadder: However, if you want something for lunch, [picks up a pale] take this. It's a pound a lump and, as luck would have it, there are 17 lumps left. [Takes back the money she had swindled from him earlier] Thank you.
Mrs. Scratchit: But what about my Tiny Tom?
Blackadder: Well, if I was you, I'd scoop him out and use him as a houseboat. Good day.
[Mrs. Scratchit walks out, crying]
Baldrick: Mister B, where's the milk of human kindness?
Blackadder: It's gone off, Baldrick. It stinks. [the doorbell rings] Get that, and whoever it is, slam the door in their face, otherwise I'll slam your face in the door!
[Baldrick opens the door to find Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and their aide prepared to give Blackadder a reward for his generosity.]
Queen Victoria : We are Queen Victoria.
Baldrick : What, all three of you?
Queen Victoria: [laughs] My dear little hobgoblin...here is our Royal Seal [she presents it to Baldrick, who goes down on one knee]. We are here to present your master with £50,000 and the title of Baron Blackadder for being the kindest man in England!
Baldrick: Lovely, your Majesty. [Blackadder, not realising what's going on, storms over]
Blackadder: Baldrick, what did I tell you I'd do if you didn't slam the door in the faces of these scrounging loafers?!
Baldrick: But, Mr. Blackadder, it's-! [As promised, Blackadder slams the door in Baldrick's face, then slams it shut on the royals]
Blackadder: I am not at home to guests! [the royals let themselves in again]
Prince Albert: I flatter myself, we are rather special guests.
Blackadder: [not realising who they are] But of course! I must apologise; it is not often that one receives a Christmas visit from two distinguished guests!
Prince Albert: Ah, so you recognise us at last?
Blackadder: Yes, unless I'm very much mistaken, you're the winner of the "Round Britain Shortest, Fattest, Dumpiest Woman" competition! And for her to be accompanied by the winner of this year's "Stupidest Accent Award" is really quite overwhelming! [Victoria and Albert look mortified]
Queen Victoria: Sir, I cannot believe-!
Blackadder: Cork it, fatso! Don't you realise that this is the Victorian Age where, apart from Queen Piglet Features herself, [Albert covers her ears] women and children are to be seen and not heard!?
Prince Albert: [outraged] Queen Piglet Features!?
Blackadder: Yes, Empress Oink , as lads call her! The only person in the kingdom that looks dafter than her is that stupid frankfurter of a husband! [Albert covers his own ears] "The Pig and the Prig", we call them! How they ever managed to produce their 112 children is quite beyond me! The bed chambers at Buckingham Palace must be copiously supplied with blindfolds!
Queen Victoria: Sir, we have never been so insulted in our entire lives! [they storm out]
Blackadder: Well, all I can say is you've been damned lucky!
Blackadder Back & Forth [ edit ]
Melchett: Stuff and stonsense! I've heard some rubbish in my time - every time I open my mouth, as a matter of fact! But a time machine?
Blackadder : [unveiling his time machine] Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest breakthrough in travel since Mr. Rodney Tricycle thought to himself, "I'm bored with walking, I think I'll invent a machine with three wheels and a bell, and name it after myself."
Blackadder: [To Baldrick ] Fascinating. One of history's great mysteries solved. The dinosaurs were in fact wiped out by your pants.
Blackadder: Well, Balders, this is a turn-up for the books. You've built a working time machine and are therefore, rather surprisingly, the greatest genius who has ever lived!
[Blackadder punches William Shakespeare .]
Blackadder: That is for every schoolboy and schoolgirl for the next 400 years! Do you have any idea how much suffering you're going to cause? Hours spent at school desks trying to find one joke in A Midsummer Night's Dream ? Years spent wearing stupid tights in school plays saying things like 'what ho, my lord' and 'look, here cometh Othello talking total crap as usual'? Oh, and... [kicks Shakespeare] That is for Ken Branagh 's endless, uncut, four-hour version of Hamlet !
Shakespeare : Who's Ken Branagh?
Blackadder: I'll tell him you said that. And I think he'll be very hurt.
Robin Hood: Well, well! What have we here, my tough band of freedom fighters, who have good muscle tone and aren't gay?!
Blackadder: [crouched beneath Hadrian's Wall] That's odd; the machine seems to be seeking out our DNA across time!
[Atop the wall, a Roman Blackadder and Baldrick stand at attention]
Centurion Blaccadicus: Just brilliant!
Legionary Baldricus : What, O Centurion?
Centurion Blaccadicus: We're facing a horde of ginger maniacs, with wild goats nesting in their huge orange beards-or to put it another way, the Scots!-and how does our inspired leader Hadrian intend to keep out this vast army of lunatics!? By building a a three-foot high wall ! [sarcastic] A terrifying obstacle! About as frightening as a little rabbit with the word "Boo!" painted on its nose! [Baldricus shudders]
Consul Georgius : Oh come now, Centurion! I won't have that! This wall is a terrific defence mechanism! Surely you're not suggesting that a rabble of Scots could get the better of Roman soldiers!?
[Further conversation is halted by the arrival of General Melchicus ]
Consul Georgius: Ah, welcome General!
General Melchicus: Splendid! Good to see you practicing your English, Georgius! [continues in Latin] However, important news- Rome is being attacked on all sides, and so far the Emperor's only response has been to poison his mother and marry his horse. The Senate is therefore withdrawing troops from Britain to defend our Imperial city.
Centurion Blaccadicus: Did you hear that, Balders?
Legionary Baldricus: I certainly did, Centurion!
Centurion Blaccadicus: Back to Rome, at last!
General Melchicus: [in Latin] BAAA!
Consul Georgius: [looking beyond the wall] I say, this is interesting! There appears to be a large orange hedge moving towards us!
Centurion Blaccadicus: That's not a hedge, Consul. That's the Scots!
Blackadder: [to Baldrick, as they run from a mob of bloodthirsty Scots] Last one there gets hacked to pieces by Rod Stewart 's great-great-grandfather!
Blackadder: Let's get home, Baldrick.
Baldrick: [wailing] But we don't know where home is! We're doomed to float through time, for all time! OH, WOE IS ME...!!
Blackadder: [notices a button] Shut up, Baldrick, shut up. There is one final thing to push which may be our salvation! [he pushes it; nothing happens] ...Or not. [Pulls it out] Because it is, in fact, a lollipop.
Baldrick: Raspberry flavoured, my lord.
Blackadder: [sitting down] Oh God! I'm going to spend the rest of my life in a small wooden room with two toilets and the stupidest man in the world.
Baldrick: Wait, my lord, do not despair. For I have a cunning plan.
Blackadder: ...Can I say I'm not optimistic, Baldrick?
Baldrick: To be quite frank, my lord, neither am I. My family have never been very good at plans.
Blackadder: So, with suitably low expectations, what is your cunning plan to get us home?
Baldrick: Well, my lord, you know how, when people drown, their whole life flashes in front of them?
Blackadder: Yeeees?
Baldrick: Well, if you stuck your head in a bucket of water and didn't bring it out again, then your whole life would flash in front of you, and you'd see where all the knobs and levers were when first set off. And then, if you pulled your head out again, just before you died, you could guide us home!
Blackadder: [standing up] Baldrick...
Blackadder: Good plan. But perhaps just one tiny modification...
Baldrick: Hmm?
[Blackadder punches Baldrick and shoves his head down a toilet]
Blackadder: [pulls Baldrick out] How's it going?
Baldrick: I'm eighteen years old, I've just left nursery school!
Blackadder: Okey-dokey! [drowns Baldrick some more, then pulls him out]
Baldrick: I'm twenty five; I'm back at nursery school!
[Sighing in annoyance, Blackadder drowns him even more; he finally sees the combination, and Blackadder pulls him out]
Baldrick: [spitting out water] GOT IT!
Blackadder: Very good.
Baldrick: [gasping] I wish... I wish I'd flushed the loo first!
Blackadder: [looking down it] Oh, yes...
Baldrick: As we approach the end, my lord, what do you think we've learned on our great journey?
Blackadder: Good question, Baldrick. I suppose I've learned that I must buy you a much stronger mouthwash for Christmas this year. How about you?
Baldrick: Oh, I dunno. I suppose I've learned that human beings have always been the same. Some nice, some nasty; some clever, some stupid; there's always a Blackadder and there's always a Baldrick.
Blackadder: Yes, very profound, Baldrick.
Baldrick: Also, it occurs to me...
Blackadder: [annoyed] Oh God, there's not more, is there?
Baldrick: ...If you're in the right place at the right time, then every person has the power to go out and change the world for the better.
Blackadder: God, you really are as thick as clotted cream, that's been left out by some clot, until the clots are so clotted up you couldn't un-clot them with an electric de-clotter... aren't you, Baldrick? Real change comes from huge socioeconomic things that individuals have no effect on.
Baldrick: Unless you're King or Prime Minister or something.
Blackadder: Well, yes, I suppose they can make a difference. But for the rest of us, all we can do in life is to try to make a bit of cash! [the machine finally arrives home] Which is what I intend to do right now.
Blackadder: Baldrick, I have a very, very, very cunning plan.
Baldrick : Is it as cunning as a fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University but has moved on, and is now working for the UN at the High Commission of International Cunning Planning?
Blackadder: Yes, it is.
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Blackadder is a series of four BBC1 period British sitcoms , along with several one-off installments. All television episodes starred Rowan Atkinson as the anti-hero Edmund Blackadder , and Tony Robinson as Blackadder's dogsbody , Baldrick . Each series was set in a different historical period, with the two protagonists accompanied by different characters, though several reappear in one series or another, for example Melchett ( Stephen Fry ) and Lord Flashheart ( Rik Mayall ).
The first series, The Black Adder , was written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson, while subsequent episodes were written by Curtis and Ben Elton . The shows were produced by John Lloyd . In 2000, the fourth series, Blackadder Goes Forth , ranked at 16 in the " 100 Greatest British Television Programmes ", a list created by the British Film Institute . Also in the 2004 TV poll to find " Britain's Best Sitcom ", Blackadder was voted the second-best British sitcom of all time, topped by Only Fools and Horses . It was also ranked as the 20th-best TV show of all time by Empire magazine. [1]
Contents
Premise[ edit ]
Although each series is set in a different era, all follow the "misfortunes" of Edmund Blackadder (played by Atkinson), who in each is a member of a British family dynasty present at many significant periods and places in British history. It is implied in each series that the Blackadder character is a descendant of the previous one (the end theme lyrics of series 2, episode "Heads", specify that he is the great-grandson of the previous), although it is never specified how or when any of the Blackadders (who are usually single and not in a relationship) managed to father children. [2]
As the generations progress, each Blackadder becomes increasingly clever and perceptive, while the family's social status steadily erodes. However, each Blackadder remains a cynical, cowardly opportunist, maintaining and increasing his own status and fortunes, regardless of his surroundings.
The life of each Blackadder is also entwined with his servant, each from the Baldrick family line (played by Tony Robinson ). Each generation acts as the dogsbody to his respective Blackadder. They decrease in intelligence (and in personal-hygiene standards) as their masters' intellect increases. Each Blackadder and Baldrick is also saddled with tolerating the presence of a dim-witted aristocrat . This role was taken in the first two series by Lord Percy Percy , played by Tim McInnerny ; with Hugh Laurie playing the role in the third and fourth series, as Prince George, Prince Regent ; and Lieutenant George , respectively.
Each series was set in a different period of British history , beginning in 1485 and ending in 1917, and comprised six half-hour episodes. The first series, made in 1983, was called The Black Adder and was set in the fictional reign of " Richard IV ". The second series, Blackadder II (1986), was set during the reign of Elizabeth I . Blackadder the Third (1987) was set during the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the reign of George III , and Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) was set in 1917 in the trenches of the Great War .
Series and specials[ edit ]
Main article: The Black Adder
The Black Adder, the first series of Blackadder, was written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson and produced by John Lloyd . It originally aired on BBC1 from 15 June 1983 to 20 July 1983, and was a joint production with the Australian Seven Network .
Set in 1485 at the end of the British Middle Ages , the series is written as an alternative history in which King Richard III won the Battle of Bosworth Field only to be mistaken for someone else and murdered, and is succeeded by Richard IV ( Brian Blessed ), one of the Princes in the Tower . The series follows the exploits of Richard IV's unfavoured second son Edmund, the Duke of Edinburgh (who calls himself "The Black Adder") in his various attempts to increase his standing with his father and his eventual quest to overthrow him.
Conceived while Atkinson and Curtis were working on Not the Nine O'Clock News , the series dealt comically with a number of medieval issues in Britain: witchcraft , Royal succession, European relations, the Crusades , and the conflict between the Church and the Crown. Along with the secret history, many historical events portrayed in the series were anachronistic (for example, the last Crusade to the Holy Land ended in 1291); this dramatic licence would continue in the subsequent Blackadders. The filming of the series was highly ambitious, with a large cast and much location shooting. The series also featured Shakespearean dialogue, often adapted for comic effect; the end credits featured the words "Additional Dialogue by William Shakespeare".
Series 2: Blackadder II[ edit ]
Main article: Blackadder II
Blackadder II is set in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603), who is portrayed by Miranda Richardson . The principal character is Edmund, Lord Blackadder , the great-grandson of the original Black Adder. During the series, he regularly deals with the Queen , her obsequious Lord Chamberlain Lord Melchett ( Stephen Fry )—his rival—and the Queen's demented former nanny Nursie ( Patsy Byrne ).
Following the BBC's request for improvements (and a severe budget reduction), several changes were made. The second series was the first to establish the familiar Blackadder character: cunning, shrewd, and witty, in sharp contrast to the first series' bumbling Prince Edmund . To make the show more cost-effective, it was also shot with virtually no outdoor scenes (the first series was shot largely on location) and several frequently used indoor sets, such as the Queen's throne room and Blackadder's front room.
A quote from this series ranked number three in a list of the top 25 television "putdowns" of the last 40 years by the Radio Times magazine: "The eyes are open, the mouth moves, but Mr. Brain has long since departed, hasn't he, Percy?"
Series 3: Blackadder the Third[ edit ]
Main article: Blackadder the Third
Blackadder the Third is set in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a period known as the Regency . In the series, Edmund Blackadder Esquire is the butler to the Prince Regent , the Prince of Wales (the prince is played by Hugh Laurie as a complete fop and idiot). Despite Edmund's respected intelligence and abilities, he has no personal fortune to speak of, apart from his frequently-fluctuating wage packet (as well, it seems, from stealing and selling off the Prince's socks) from the Prince: "If I'm running short of cash, all I have to do is go upstairs and ask Prince Fat-Head for a rise."
As well as Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson in their usual roles, this series starred Hugh Laurie as the Prince Regent , and Helen Atkinson-Wood as Mrs. Miggins . The series features Dr. Samuel Johnson ( Robbie Coltrane ), William Pitt the Younger (Simon Osborne), the French Revolution (featuring Chris Barrie , Nigel Planer and Tim McInnerny as the Scarlet Pimpernel ), over-the-top theatrical actors , a squirrel-hating cross-dressing highwayman ( Miranda Richardson ), and a duel with the Duke of Wellington ( Stephen Fry ).
Series 4: Blackadder Goes Forth[ edit ]
Main article: Blackadder Goes Forth
This series is set in 1917, on the Western Front in the trenches of the First World War. Another "big push" is planned, and Captain Blackadder 's one goal is to avoid being killed, but his schemes always land him back in the trenches. Blackadder is joined by his batman Private S. Baldrick (Tony Robinson) and idealistic Edwardian twit Lieutenant George ( Hugh Laurie ). General Melchett (Stephen Fry) rallies his troops from a French château thirty-five miles from the front, where he is aided and abetted by his assistant, Captain Kevin Darling (Tim McInnerny), pencil-pusher supreme and Blackadder's nemesis, whose name is played on for maximum comedic value.
The series' tone is somewhat darker than the other Blackadders; it details the deprivations of trench warfare as well as the incompetence and life-wasting strategies of the top brass. For example, Baldrick is reduced to making coffee from mud and cooking rats, while General Melchett hatches a plan for the troops to walk very slowly toward the German lines, because "it'll be the last thing Fritz will expect."
The final episode, " Goodbyeee ", is known for being extraordinarily poignant for a comedy—especially the final scene, which sees the main characters (Blackadder, Baldrick, George, and Darling) finally going " over the top " and charging off into the fog and smoke of no man's land to die. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes , drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000 and voted for by industry professionals, Blackadder Goes Forth was placed 16th.
Main article: The Black Adder (pilot episode)
The Blackadder pilot was shot but never aired on terrestrial TV in the UK (although some scenes were shown in the 25th anniversary special Blackadder Rides Again). One notable difference in the pilot, as in many pilots, is the casting. Baldrick is played not by Tony Robinson, but by Philip Fox . Another significant difference is that the character of Prince Edmund presented in the pilot is much closer to the intelligent, conniving Blackadder of the later series than the snivelling, weak buffoon of the original. Set in the year 1582, the script of the pilot is roughly the same as the episode " Born to be King ", albeit with some different jokes, with some lines appearing in other episodes of the series. [3]
Blackadder: The Cavalier Years[ edit ]
Main article: Blackadder: The Cavalier Years
This special, set in the English Civil War , was shown as part of Comic Relief 's Red Nose Day on Friday 5 February 1988. The 15-minute episode is set in November 1648, during the last days of the Civil War. Sir Edmund Blackadder and his servant, Baldrick, are the last two men loyal to the defeated King Charles I of England (played by Stephen Fry, portrayed as a soft-spoken, ineffective, slightly dim character, with the voice and mannerisms of Charles I's namesake, the current Prince of Wales ). However, due to a misunderstanding between Oliver Cromwell (guest-star Warren Clarke ) and Baldrick, the king is arrested and sent to the Tower of London . The rest of the episode revolves around Blackadder's attempts to save the king, as well as improve his standing.
Blackadder's Christmas Carol[ edit ]
Main article: Blackadder's Christmas Carol
The second special was broadcast on Friday 23 December 1988. In a twist on Charles Dickens ' A Christmas Carol , Ebenezer Blackadder is the "kindest and loveliest" man in England. The Spirit of Christmas shows Blackadder the contrary antics of his ancestors and descendants, and reluctantly informs him that if he turns evil his descendants will enjoy power and fortune, while if he remains the same a future Blackadder will live shamefully subjugated to a future incompetent Baldrick. This remarkable encounter causes him to proclaim, "Bad guys have all the fun", and adopt the personality with which viewers are more familiar.
Blackadder: Back & Forth[ edit ]
Main article: Blackadder: Back & Forth
Blackadder: Back & Forth was originally shown in the Millennium Dome in 2000, followed by a screening on Sky One in the same year (and later on BBC1). It is set on the turn of the millennium , and features Lord Blackadder placing a bet with his friends – modern versions of Queenie (Miranda Richardson), Melchett (Stephen Fry), George (Hugh Laurie) and Darling (Tim McInnerny) – that he has built a working time machine . While this is intended as a clever con trick , the machine, surprisingly, works, sending Blackadder and Baldrick back to the Cretaceous period , where they manage to cause the extinction of the dinosaurs , through the use of Baldrick's best-worst-and-only pair of underpants as a weapon against a hungry T. Rex . Finding that Baldrick has forgotten to write dates on the machine's dials, the rest of the film follows their attempts to find their way back to 1999, often creating huge historical anomalies in the process that must be corrected before the end. The film includes cameo appearances from Kate Moss and Colin Firth .
Series development[ edit ]
Rowan Atkinson and Richard Curtis developed the idea for the sitcom while working on Not the Nine O'Clock News . Eager to avoid comparisons to the critically acclaimed Fawlty Towers , they proposed the idea of a historical sitcom. [10] [11] An unaired pilot episode was made in 1982, and a six episode series was commissioned. The budget for the series was considerable, with much location shooting particularly at Alnwick Castle in Northumberland and the surrounding countryside in February 1983. [12] [13] The series also used large casts of extras, horses and expensive medieval-style costumes. Atkinson has said about the making of the first series:
The first series was odd, it was very extravagant. It cost a million pounds for the six programmes ... [which] was a lot of money to spend ... It looked great, but it wasn't as consistently funny as we would have liked. [10]
Due to the high cost of the first series, the then-controller of programming of BBC1 , Michael Grade , was reluctant to sign off a second series without major improvements and cost cutting to be made to the show, leaving a gap of three years between the two series. [14] Atkinson did not wish to continue writing for the second series.
A chance meeting between Richard Curtis and comedian Ben Elton led to the decision to collaborate on a new series of Blackadder. Recognising the main faults of the first series, Curtis and Elton agreed that Blackadder II would be a studio-only production (along with the inclusion of a live audience during recording, instead of showing the episodes to one after taping). Besides adding a greater comedy focus, Elton suggested a major change in character emphasis: Baldrick would become the stupid sidekick , while Edmund Blackadder evolved into a cunning sycophant . This led to the familiar set-up that was maintained in the following series. [15]
Only in the Back & Forth millennium special was the shooting once again on location, because this was a production with a budget estimated at £3 million, and was a joint venture between Tiger Aspect , Sky Television , the New Millennium Experience Company and the BBC, rather than the BBC alone. [16] [17] [18]
Main article: List of Blackadder characters
Each series tended to feature the same set of regular actors in different period settings, although throughout the four series and specials, only Blackadder and Baldrick were constant characters. Several regular cast members recurred as characters with similar names, implying, like Blackadder, that they were descendants.
Non-recurring cast[ edit ]
Brian Blessed , Elspet Gray and Robert East appeared in all six episodes of the first series as the Black Adder's father, mother and brother respectively. Gray had also appeared in the non-broadcast pilot.
Patsy Byrne played Nursie in all six episodes of Blackadder II , but never featured in either of the subsequent series, either as a regular character or one-off. She briefly reprised the character in Blackadder: Back & Forth and Blackadder's Christmas Carol .
Helen Atkinson-Wood played the role of Mrs. Miggins in all six episodes of Blackadder the Third , but did not appear again in the series, although the character was mentioned several times in Blackadder II and in the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth .
Guest cast[ edit ]
Ben Elton 's arrival after the first series heralded the more frequent recruitment of comic actors from the famed " alternative " era for guest appearances, including Robbie Coltrane , Rik Mayall (who had appeared in the final episode of the first series as "Mad Gerald"), Adrian Edmondson , Nigel Planer , Mark Arden , Stephen Frost , Chris Barrie and Jeremy Hardy . Elton himself played an anarchist in Blackadder the Third.
Gabrielle Glaister played Bob — an attractive girl who poses as a man - in both series 2 and 4. Rik Mayall plays Lord Flashheart , a vulgar friend in his first appearance and then a successful rival of Blackadder in a later episode of series 2 and 4. He also played a decidedly Flashheart-like Robin Hood in Back & Forth. Lee Cornes also appeared in an episode of all three Curtis-Elton series. He appeared as a guard in the episode "Chains" of Blackadder II; as the poet Shelley in the episode "Ink and Incapability' of Blackadder the Third; and as firing squad soldier Private Fraser in the episode "Corporal Punishment" of Blackadder Goes Forth.
More "establishment"-style actors, some at the veteran stage of their careers, were also recruited for roles. These included Peter Cook , John Grillo , Simon Jones , Tom Baker , Jim Broadbent , Hugh Paddick , Frank Finlay , Kenneth Connor , Bill Wallis , Ronald Lacey , Roger Blake, Denis Lill , Warren Clarke and Geoffrey Palmer , who played Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig in " Goodbyeee ", the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth. Miriam Margolyes played three different guest roles: The Spanish Infanta in The Queen of Spain's Beard , Lady Whiteadder in Beer , and Queen Victoria in Blackadder's Christmas Carol .
Unusually for a sitcom based loosely on factual events and in the historical past, a man was recruited for one episode essentially to play himself. Political commentator Vincent Hanna played a character billed as "his own great-great-great grandfather" in the episode " Dish and Dishonesty " of Blackadder the Third. Hanna was asked to take part because the scene was of a by-election in which Baldrick was a candidate and, in the style of modern television, Hanna gave a long-running "live" commentary of events at the count (and interviewed candidates and election agents) to a crowd through the town hall window.
Theme tune[ edit ]
Howard Goodall 's theme tune has the same melody throughout all the series, but is played in roughly the style of the period in which it is set. It is performed mostly with trumpets and timpani in The Black Adder, the fanfares used suggesting typical medieval court fanfares; with a combination of recorder , string quartet and electric guitar in Blackadder II; on oboe , cello and harpsichord (in the style of a minuet ) for Blackadder the Third; by The Band of the 3rd Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment in Blackadder Goes Forth; sung by carol singers in Blackadder's Christmas Carol; and by an orchestra in Blackadder: The Cavalier Years and Blackadder: Back & Forth. [19]
Awards[ edit ]
In 2000, the fourth series, Blackadder Goes Forth , ranked at 16 in the " 100 Greatest British Television Programmes ", a list created by the British Film Institute . In 2004, a BBC TV poll for " Britain's Best Sitcom ", Blackadder was voted the second best British sitcom of all time, topped by Only Fools and Horses . [20] It was also ranked as the 20th Best TV Show of All Time by Empire magazine. [1]
Future[ edit ]
Despite regular statements denying any plans for a fifth series, cast members are regularly asked about the possibility of a new series.
In January 2005, Tony Robinson told ITV 's This Morning that Rowan Atkinson was more keen than he has been in the past to do a fifth series, set in the 1960s (centred on a rock band called the "Black Adder Five", with Baldrick – a.k.a. 'Bald Rick' – as the drummer). Robinson in a stage performance 1 June 2007, again mentioned this idea, but in the context of a movie. One idea mentioned by Curtis was that it was Baldrick who had accidentally assassinated John F. Kennedy . [21] However, aside from a brief mention in June 2005, [22] there have been no further announcements from the BBC that a new series is being planned. Furthermore, in November 2005, Rowan Atkinson told BBC Breakfast that, although he would very much like to do a new series set in Colditz or another prisoner-of-war camp during World War II, something which both he and Stephen Fry reiterated at the end of Blackadder Rides Again, the chances of it happening are extremely slim.[ citation needed ]
There were a couple of ideas that had previously floated for the fifth series. Batadder was intended to be a parody of Batman with Baldrick as the counterpart of Robin (suggested by John Lloyd ). This idea eventually came to surface as part of the Comic Relief sketch " Spider-Plant Man " in 2005, with Atkinson as the title hero , Robinson as Robin, Jim Broadbent as Batman and Rachel Stevens as Mary Jane . Star Adder was to be set in space in the future (suggested by Atkinson), [23] though this too was touched upon in Blackadder's Christmas Carol.
On 10 April 2007, Hello! reported that Atkinson was moving forward with his ideas for a fifth series. He said, "I like the idea of him being a prisoner of war in Colditz. That would have the right level of authority and hierarchy which is apparent in all the Blackadders." [24]
A post on BlackAdderHall.com by Ben Elton in early 2007 said that Blackadder would return in some form, whether it be a TV series or movie. Elton has since not given any more information on the putative Blackadder 5.
During an interview in August 2007 about his movie Mr. Bean's Holiday , Atkinson was asked about the possibility of a further Blackadder series, to which the simple reply "No, no chance" was given:
"There was a plan for a film set in the Russian revolution , a very interesting one called The Red Adder. He would have been a lieutenant in the Secret Police. Then the revolution happened and at the end he is in the same office doing the same job but just the colours on his uniform have changed. It was quite a sweet idea and we got quite a long way with it but in the end it died a death."
Stephen Fry has expressed the view that, since the series went out on such a good "high", a film might not be a good idea. [25]
During his June 2007 stage performance, chronicled on the Tony Robinson's Cunning Night Out DVD, Robinson states that, after filming the Back & Forth special, the general idea was to reunite for another special in 2010. Robinson jokingly remarked that Hugh Laurie's success on House may make that difficult.
At the end of Blackadder Rides Again, Robinson asked Tim McInnerny if he would do another series and he responded "no", because he thought people would not want to see them as they are now and would rather remember them for how they were. In the same documentary, Rowan Atkinson voiced his similar view; 'Times past; that's what they were!' However, Miranda Richardson and Tony Robinson expressed enthusiasm towards the idea of a series set in the Wild West, whilst John Lloyd favoured an idea for a series with a Neanderthal Blackadder. Lastly, Stephen Fry suggested a series set in a prisoner of war camp during World War II , but later remarked that "perhaps it's best to leave these things as a memory."
On 28 November 2012, Rowan Atkinson reprised the role at the "We are most amused" comedy gala for the Prince's Trust at the Royal Albert Hall. He was joined by Tony Robinson as Baldrick. The sketch involved Blackadder as CEO of Melchett, Melchett and Darling bank facing an enquiry over the banking crisis.
In August 2015, Tony Robinson said in an interview "I do think a new series of Blackadder is on the cards. I have spoken to virtually all the cast about this now. The only problem is Hugh [Laurie]'s fee. He's a huge star now." [26]
Home media[ edit ]
All series and many of the specials are available on DVD and video . Many are also available on BBC audio cassette. As of 2008, a "Best of BBC" edition box set is available containing all four major series together with Blackadder's Christmas Carol and Back & Forth. All four series and the Christmas special are also available for download on iTunes .
5 February 1990, BBC Enterprises Ltd released the first series on two single videos.
VHS video title
Literature[ edit ]
Richard Curtis, Ben Elton, and Rowan Atkinson, Blackadder: The Whole Damn Dynasty 1485–1917 (Penguin Books, 2000). ISBN 0-14-029608-5 . Being the—almost—complete scripts of the four regular series.
Chris Howarth, and Steve Lyons, Cunning: The Blackadder Programme Guide (Virgin Publishing, 2002). ISBN 0-7535-0447-2 . An unofficial guide to the series, with asides, anecdotes and observations.
Richard Curtis and Ben Elton, Blackadder: Back & Forth (Penguin Books, 2000). ISBN 0-14-029135-0 . A script book with copious photographs from the most recent outing.
J.F. Roberts, The True History of the Black Adder: The Unadulterated Tale of the Creation of a Comedy Legend (Preface publishing, 2000). ISBN 978-1-84809-346-1 . A 420-page history of the Blackadder episodes and characters, as well as its birth, its writers and actors, and all the specials.
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Dr. Blackadder arriving in 1804.
“Please Rowan, stop making episodes of Mr. Bean”
~ Everyone on being serious for a second
“I have a cunning plan...”
~ Baldrick on the moment just before someone dies.
“That Melchie fellow... looks an awful lot like me, doesn't he!”
“Ah, I see what you've done! You've crossed Blackadder with Doctor Who. Oh, that's very amusing!”
~ The Doctor on this page
Dr. Blackadder is one of only two surviving Timelords from the War of the Daleks, left to roam all of space, time and dimensions to create cunning plans and schemes to rob the aristocrisy of socks and silverware. Helped by his faithful companion S. Baldrick they travel the world in the TARVIS (Turnips And Relative Vegetables In Space) cunningly disguising themselves in period costume. Of course, as with all fugitives with the might of all time and space at their fingertips there are a number of enemy beings and adversaries out there out to stop them.
Dr. Blackadder's methods of keeping below the spotlight are cunning (as cunning as a cunning sandwich with a double helping of cunning), choosing historical points in time where his activities would be difficult, if not impossible, to be traced. However, there are a small number of times where his presense in history has been spotted.
Contents
The Calling Card of Dr. Blackadder.
1485 - The Middle Ages
Dr. Blackadder travelled to this point in time to stop the dreaded Americans (see enemies) from coming back to claim that the British victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field was, in fact, all down to the Yanks. However, after a slight mishap, Dr. Blackadder inadvertantly decapitated the king and ultimately poisoned the entire Royal Family. After deciding that the Americans could have this one after all he fled.
1564 - Elizabethan Times
There exists a document in the Royal Archives in the London Library of a gentlemen who called himself 'Edmund Blackadder' during the Elizabethan times. This document, nearly 500 years old is signed by Queen Elizabeth I herself (before being scribbled out and 'pooey!' written after it) and is said to be a Death Warrant for Edmund to be beheaded.
Dr. Blackadder visited this time for the prostitutes that were, by his own admission, "cheap and filthy". His assistant Baldrick was left to live on the roof of the building where he lived, unable to live in the gutter as he would be "flushed into the Thames with all the other turds". Dr. Blackadder managed to develop a close link with the Royal Family, becoming a courtier of Queen Elizabeth I. Dr. Blackadder used his knowledge of the future to his advantage, managing to outwit Sir Francis Drake and Lord Melchie (another Royal Courtier) into drinking a bottle of Baldrick's piss claiming it to be exotic wine and predict the forthcoming (by half a millenium) of same-sex marriages by marrying 'Bob'.
1804 - The Prince Regent
In 1804 Dr. Blackadder kept with his Royal links and settled near to the Prince Regent. Hired by Mad King George, Dr. Blackadder's self-imposed mission was to keep the Prince alive against backlashes of hate amongst the British population and the Duke of Wellington whilst he robbed him of as many socks and piece of silver cutlery as he could find. He then brought back this stash to the year 2009 to sell it all on Cash in the Attic and Flog It.
After an unfortunate run-in with a highwaywoman Dr. Blackadder decided to up and leave with the remains of Prince George's sock drawer and silverware cabinet. It is said that this act ultimately bankrupted the Royal Family, creating the necessity for sponsorship deals with Pepsi and the selling of soft-core pornography behind the bike-sheds at school.
1918 - World War I
Dr. Blackadder was tired. He needed to escape it all and live out the rest of his life somewhere quiet. Unfortunately he chose the year 1917 to settle down in and after a national newspaper found him out and put him on the front page under the title, "COWARD! Also, Bingo on page 22!" he received 12,822,198 small, white feathers. He was forced to join up.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Blackadder reluctantly joined the front line with his assistant Baldrick and was quickly forced to live on a diet of mud, dandruff and saliva. It is unknown if Dr. Blackadder escaped the war but it is thought that he had a cunning plan, so cunning that it could have been made a professor of cunning at Oxford University and lives on to this day.
The Future
Of course, with all of time and space at his disposal it seems only logical that Dr. Blackadder has explored the future. Such a power is not to be taken lightly, and Dr. Blackadder has only used this future knowledge for the most serious of things. Such as...
Winning the Lottery - Dr. Blackadder currently has 72 triple-rollover National Lottery wins under his belt. A Timelord record.
Knowing when nudity is about to take place
Dr. Blackadder is one of only 4 people who have seen the end of the world, the other three people being God , Jesus and David Icke . He insisted that Baldrick take the photo on the right as a souvenir of the occasion.
Companions
The Happy Couple.
King Richard Curtis and Queen Ben Elton
King Richard Curtis and Queen Ben Elton help Dr. Blackadder at times of need with the aid of plot twists, fine-flowing dialogue and purile jokes about turnips looking like 'thingies'. Their wisdom when Dr. Blackadder needs it most is pure, helpful and usually revolves around punching Baldrick or telling a random cast member that their face looks like dung that has been trodden in by a warthog.
Their wisdom appears in the form of a sacred document containing the scriptures known as 'lines', the advice the Doctor requires to cleverly weasle his way of out situations contained within. It is said that without the King and Queen Dr Blackadder simply would not exist!
Captain Jack Flasheart. Woof!
Captain Jack Flasheart
Captain Jack Flasheart (Woof!) is a self-styled maverick who gets the job done by insane heroics, death-defying danger and Woofing at every single woman he comes into (oo er, obviously!) contact with! That's not a canoe in his pocket, he's pleased to see you! He likes it 'firm and fruity' and appreciates women with beards as it gives him something to hold onto. Whenever Dr. Blackadder has been in trouble Captain Jack Flasheart swoops in, smashes through a window, headbutts a random person and then scarpers with the fiancé, Bob!
Captain Jack Flasheart is involved with the organisation W.O.O.F. (Women On O(a)ll Fours) which has no relation to the world of Dr. Blackadder, but he just wanted us to mention it.
There have been rumours spread around (possibly by a Dr. Blackadder enemy) that Captain Jack Flasheart is a gay and several rumours have surfaced on Captain Jack's Myspace page about him and a small Philipino Manservent called Gerald. Captain Jack has staunchly denied those rumours although, to be fair, he is a fan of musicals. That pretty much says it all really, doesn't it.
Sarah Jane (S.) Baldrick
A faithful companion to Dr. Blackadder, always appearing by his side during every scrape and adventure they endure. S. Baldrick is a wanted man to the FBI due to various escapades he's undertaken throughout history (illegally gaining office into the Houses of Parliament, stealing "some beans", the destruction of the World's Biggest Turnip, the destruction of the first ever Dictionary, poisoning superior officers in the trenches of WWI, poisoning the entire Royal Family in 1485, cutting off his mother's head when she complained about low ceilings, rape, pillage, causing an affray and wiggling his todger at The Queen ).
Still, he does have his uses. He is a keen author and has written many beautiful stories about sausages and poems about war. He has a great sense of humour, continually being the butt of Dr. Blackadder's many hilarious quips.
Enemies
Mr. Bean
Simply terrifying.
Mr. Bean is the arch nemesis of Dr. Blackadder. With an array of tools at his disposal (including a time machine of his own and the ability to make a range of silly voices and pointless expressions) Mr. Bean has been a constant thorn in Dr. Blackadder's side. His plan is simple. Taking the exact form of Dr. Blackadder he produces a series of appalling TV shows pretending to be Dr. Blackadder in an attempt to ruin his reputation. His most successful attempt to date was the movie Johnny English, a film so terrible that Sir Ian Fleming spun in his grave so fast that if he had been coiled in wire and then placed in a magnet he would have powered a small town for 7 weeks.
Mr. Bean's evil sidekick is Teddy, a ruthless, power-crazed monster and is the only individual Mr. Bean fears. Nothing is safe when Teddy is in the room, people often losing limbs simply by glancing in his direction. One minion waved and was promptly shot in the face.
Mr. Bean and Teddy host their TV shows on prime time performing increasingly moronic deeds. In one episode Mr. Bean seemingly forgot how to paint a wall, in another he seemingly forgot how to tune in a television. In one episode he seemingly forgot not to expose himself to the girls at the local swimming pool (actual episode). Although we are all grateful that Mr. Bean has not made an appearance for some time, it is feared that he may soon make another movie. If such a movie was announced it is said that the UK would rise immediately to Terror Level 8 (or black alert) and nuclear weapons would deploy immediately and strike Scunthorpe. Of course no one would notice the difference.
The Scroundrel Formerly Known as Prince Ludwig
Remember that one time when you were in college at the final party before you all broke up for the summer, and that tall, dashing gentleman came to speak to you? Yes? Well Prince Ludwig was the man who staggered drunk beside you and tripped over your handbag just before! A man of genius and an expert of disguise who can become any person or any sheep.
Prince Ludwig wants to rule the Universe but knows he cannot do it without a TARVIS of his own. So, using an array of wigs and animal costumes, he plans to seduce Dr. Blackadder so that he can steal the key whilst Dr. Blackadder is in the shower afterwards desperately trying to wash away the guilt and shame.
Tony Parsons
Tony Parsons is the evil Warlock who feasts upon the egos of those he has devoured mightfully with his razer sharp opinions in the Daily Mirror. He is a firm disbeliever of Dr. Blackadder, calling the evidence against such a persons existance as "piffle", "tosh", "nonsense", "nonsensical", "balderdash", "hogwash", "tommyrot", "claptrap" and "shit". He writes several articles about this weekly due to his belief that people care what he thinks about.
The Americans. Be Afraid.
His schemes revolve around discrediting Dr. Blackadder and trying to show people how his existance is impossible. Fortunately for Dr. Blackadder nobody cares what he says, his page in the Daily Mirror routinely being the one used by most households to line the Kitty Litter tray.
The Americans
The Americans are a group of ruthless Hollywood moguls who research many British triumphs in history and then re-write them to make it look like the Yanks had done it all instead.
Dr. Blackadder, a devout believer that anything and everything amazing in this world was undoubtedly due to the British, fights the Americans at every opportunity with sarcastic put-downs and perfectly timed insults about obesity and arrogance.
The Time Team Investigation
It's uncanny!
Tony Robinson has always been a firm believer in the existance of Dr. Blackadder and when the opportunity came for them to dig at Aldwick Castle, a site that has been historically linked to him, he jumped at the chance. In an attempt to make it entertaining he brought along Mick (because of the jumper), Phil (because of the accent), Carenza (because of the opportunity to then tell 'revealing of the jugs' jokes) and Robin (because of the bow tie). They settled down at Aldwick Castle and immediately got bladdered on Phil's stash of illegal Hooch Cider.
5 days later, after regaining consciousness in the Stomach Pumping ward of the local hospital, they remembered their task and set to work. Progress was slow but steadily a multitude of discoveries were made. Below is a list of things that Time Team discovered during their dig...
The severed head of King Richard III (with crown still being worn).
A silver spoon bent at the neck and with lighter burns on the bottom.
French Pornography.
A copy of 'Bean - The Ultimate Disaster Movie'.
A copy of the Daily Mirror with Tony Parson's page missing.
A cunning plan.
During the dig Robinson went to the local library in a desperate attempt to show to the team that he was a valuable resource and shouldn't be sacked. He went to the records office and found some startling information. He revealed later, after the team had all gotten rat-arsed on Brasso that had been filtered through a slice of bread, that Tony Robinson was the descendant of a servent named S. Baldrick, and they wondered aloud (between numerous, loud choruses of dirty rugby songs) whether or not this could be the Baldrick associated with Dr. Blackadder. Robinson also had other news, revealing that Mick's ancestry included a Poodle .
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In the UK television series ‘Blackadder the Third’ who shoots the Prince Regent when he is disguised as Blackadder? | Blackadder
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Blackadder
Blackadder is a British television comedy programme from the BBC , a surreal take on British history. Blackadder is not the title of any specific series, but is the general term for the programmes - four series and several one-off episodes - taken as a whole. The series were written by Rowan Atkinson , Ben Elton , and Richard Curtis , and produced by John Lloyd .
Four series were made, each one set in a different period of history, featuring the anti-hero, Blackadder. It is implied that in each series the Blackadder character is a descendant of the previous one. With each observed generation, Blackadder's social standing is reduced, from prince, to nobleman, to royal butler, to army captain - by the end, nothing more than cannon-fodder.
All the series starred Rowan Atkinson as Blackadder, and Tony Robinson as his sidekick Baldrick. Each series also tended to feature the same set of actors in different period settings; thus Stephen Fry played Lord Melchett, an advisor to the Queen in the second series, and General Melchett, a blustering buffoon, in the fourth. Anachronistic references were plentiful and mainly humorous.
It popularised the use of simile and associated devices for comic effect in Britain. Examples include:
"Madder than Mad Jack McMad, winner of last year's Mr. Madman competition."
"I've got a plan so cunning, you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel." or "As cunning as a fox who's just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University."
"I'm as happy as a Frenchman who's just invented a pair of self-removing trousers."
"I'm as weary as a dog with no legs that's just climbed Ben Nevis ."
Table of contents
Blackadder: the Cavalier Years (1988) (15 minute insert in Comic Relief Night)
Blackadder's Christmas Carol ( 1988 ) (45 minute Christmas special)
Blackadder: Back & Forth ( 1999 ) (45 minute Millennium Dome special)
Series 1: The Black Adder
Set in the Middle Ages , this is in fact an alternate history . It opens with the Battle of Bosworth Field ( 1485 ) being won by Richard III (played by Peter Cook ), instead of Henry Tudor who won in real life. However, Richard III is then accidentally killed shortly after the battle, and the late King's nephew, Richard, Duke of York is crowned as Richard IV.
Richard and his wife Queen Gertrude of Flowers, the Witch Queen have two sons:
Harry, Prince of Wales, Prince Regent, Captain of the Guard, Grand Warden of the Northern and Eastern Marches, Chief Lunatic of the Duchy of Gloucester, Viceroy of Wales, Sheriff of Nottingham, Marquis of the Midlands, Lord Hoe-Maker in Ordinary, Harbinger of the Doomed Rat ( 1460 - 1498 )
Prince Edmund, "the Black Adder", Duke of Edinburgh, Warden of the Royal Privvies, the Laird of Roxburg, Selkirk, and Peebles, Archbishop of Canterbury, the Great Gumblededook, Duke of Hastings ( 1461 - 1498 )
It is later revealed in the episode "Born to be King" that after Harry's birth and preceding Edmund's Queen Gertrude had an affair with Donald McAngus, Third Duke of Argyll. There is a possibility that Edmund was this affair's result.If so then Edmund is Harry's half-brother and also has another half-brother:
Lord Dougal McAngus, Supreme Commander of the King's Army (c. 1462 - 1487 ).
By the end of the series, events converge with our timeline, when King Richard IV and his entire family are poisoned, allowing Henry Tudor to take the throne as King Henry VII . He then proceeds to rewrite history, presenting Richard III as a monster, and eliminating Richard IV's reign from the history books.
In this series, the character of the Black Adder is somewhat different from later incarnations, being largely unintelligent, and relying more on the plans of Baldrick.
Episode list
"The Foretelling" - Richard III wins the historic Battle of Bosworth Field, but is promptly killed by his bumbling grandnephew Edmund. Understandably, the late King is livid at this, and won't let Edmund forget it.
"Born to be King" - Edmund's elder brother Harry is looking after the throne while their father is off fighting in the Crusades , but Edmund would much rather that he had it himself. So he obtains evidence that their mother had had an affair, making Harry illegitimate. Of course, Edmund's sums are all wrong...
"The Archbishop" - With the Archbishops of Canterbury being bumped off left, right, and centre, appointing one's enemy to the post may seem like a cunning plan. Unfortunately for Edmund, the plan backfires, and he ends up with the post himself.
"The Queen of Spain's Beard" - In the name of international diplomacy, the King decides to marry Edmund off to a Spanish princess. Finding the Infanta unattractive, Edmund tries to get out of the alliance, and eventually succeeds, only to end up married to the very young Princess Leia of Hungary, and having to read her bedtime stories.
"Witchsmeller Pursuivant" - The Black Death is sweeping across England, and the whole country is in turmoil. Witchcraft is blamed, and so the Witchsmeller Pursuivant is summoned to identify the culprits. The Witchsmeller decides that Edmund is responsible.
"The Black Seal" - Edmund is stripped of all his titles and honours, apart from Warden of the Royal Privy. Outraged by the way that his father is treating him, he rounds up six of the most evil men in England to help him seize the throne for himself. He manages to hold it for approximately 30 seconds.
Series 2: Blackadder II
Blackadder II is set in England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (reigned 1558 - 1603 ). The principal character is Edmund, Lord Blackadder, a great-grandson of the original Black Adder (according to the title song), and a close servant of the Queen, who likes to chop off people's heads and play jokes on Edmund. Edmund's hopes of marrying her never bear fruit. The Queen is joined by her advisor Lord Melchett (with whom Blackadder has a mutual relation of hate) and her insane nanny, Nursie. This series establishes the more familiar character of Edmund, as cunning, shrewd, and witty.
The action is generally split between Blackadder's house (or to be more specific his front room) and the Queen's throne room. Each episode also features another location, from Baldrick's bedroom to a German dungeon.
Episode list
"Bells" - Blackadder falls in love with his new servant, "Bob", who he thinks is a man, but who is in fact a disguised woman named Kate. When Blackadder finds out, he is much relieved, and the two of them decide to get married. However, during the marriage ceremony, she elopes with the best man, Lord Flashheart (played by Rik Mayall ).
"Head" - Blackadder is made High Executioner and has to cope with the wife of a man condemned to be executed. Unfortunately, the man is already dead.
"Potato" - To prove he's better than Walter Raleigh and to impress the Queen, Blackadder sets out for the sea.
"Money" - Blackadder has to pay a large sum of money to a furious bishop, while the Queen keeps "borrowing" his money.
"Beer" - Blackadder's puritanical aunt and uncle, the Whiteadders, call round to discuss his inheritance, at the same time as he plans to hold a drinking competition with Lord Melchett. To top it all, Edmund's tolerance for beer isn't what it could be, so he runs a significant risk of being found face-down in a puddle (like last time).
"Chains" - Blackadder is captured by the Spaniards , and ends up in the dungeons of a weird interrogator Prince Ludwig, a German supervillain who aims to kill the Queen. By the end of the episode, Ludwig has killed the entire cast and has disguised himself as Queen Elizabeth, replacing her on the throne.
Series 3: Blackadder the Third
Blackadder The Third is set in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a period known as the Regency period. For much of this period, King George III was incapacitated due to poor mental health, and his son George, the Prince of Wales , acted as regent. From 1811 until his father's death in 1820 , he was known as "the Prince Regent ".
In the series, Edmund Blackadder, Esquire, is the Prince of Wales's butler. Despite Edmund's respected intelligence and abilities he has no personal fortune to speak of. According to Edmund he has been serving the Prince Regent all their lifes, since they were both breast-feeding. There are three main sets: the Prince's quarters, which are large and lavish, the below-stairs hangout of Blackadder and Baldrick, which is dark and squalid, and finally Mrs. Miggins's pie shop (briefly mentioned in Blackadder II, now shown).
As well as Rowan Atkinson and Tony Robinson in their usual roles, this series starred Hugh Laurie as the Prince Regent, and Helen Atkinson-Wood (no relation to Rowan) as Mrs. Miggins. The series features rotten boroughs, Dr. Johnson (anachronistically) (played by Robbie Coltrane ), the French Revolution (also anachronistically), bad acting, highwaymen, and duels.
Episode list
In this series, the episode titles use alliteration in a humorous parody of the titles of Jane Austen 's novels Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice .
"Dish and Dishonesty" - Prime Minister Pitt the Younger wants to strike the Prince Regent from the Civil List . The only thing for a royal butler to do is to rig an election.
"Ink and Incapability" - Samuel Johnson seeks the Prince's patronage for his groundbreaking new book, the Dictionary .
"Nob and Nobility" - After Blackadder disparages the Scarlet Pimpernel , two noblemen bet him a thousand guineas he can't go to France, rescue an aristocrat and present him at the French Embassy Ball. Meanwhile, a revolutionary seizes the Embassy.
"Sense and Senility" - An anarchist makes an attempt on the Prince's life. Blackadder suggests the Prince show the public how charming and intelligent he his, but first he needs some training in acting.
"Amy and Amiability" - Blackadder searches for a wife for his master. The main criterion is that she should be rich.
"Duel and Duality" - The Duke of Wellington challenges the Prince to a duel. The Prince, being a huge coward, enlists Blackadder's help to avoid this. Edmund and the Prince change places. But at the end of the episode it is Edmund who survives the duel, while the Prince is shot dead by Wellington who thought he was a useless butler. Mad King George apparently can't tell the difference between his late son and Edmund, and Edmund is more than happy to replace his late master as Prince Regent and possibly later his new "daddy" to the throne.
Series 4: Blackadder Goes Forth
This series is set in the trenches of the First World War . Another "big push" is planned, and Captain Blackadder's one goal is to avoid getting shot, so he plots ways to get out of it. Blackadder is joined by the idealistic, gung-ho Leiutenant George (Hugh Laurie), and the world's worst cook, Private S. Baldrick. Loony General Melchett rallies his troops from a French mansion, where he is aided and abetted by Captain Darling, whose name is played on for maximum comedy value.
Episode list
In this series, the episode titles are, with the exception of the final one, puns on military ranks.
"Captain Cook" - Blackadder finds out that if he gets a work of art on the cover of the magazine King and Country, it could be his ticket out of the trenches.
"Corporal Punishment" - A hungry Blackadder shoots General Melchett's favourite carrier pigeon, Speckled Jim.
"Major Star" - In order to boost morale, and maybe skip out of the trenches for a few weeks, Blackadder organises a cabaret show. Meanwhile, the General apparently hasn't noticed anything odd about his new driver, Corporal Bob Parkhurst.
"Private Plane" - Though initially put off by the brash Squadron Leader Lord Flasheart, Blackadder comes to believe that the flying corps may be a rather cushy number.
"General Hospital" - A spy has been traced to the local hospital where George is invalided. Is Blackadder man enough to find him? This will mean leaving the trenches for several weeks.
"Goodbyeee" - With the big push looming ever closer, Blackadder decides that feigning insanity is the only way out. Following an old trick from the Sudan, he puts his underpants on his head, sticks a pencil in each nostril and starts saying, "Wibble".
The final episode of the last series, "Goodbyeee", is known for being extraordinarily moving for a comedy. The final scene sees the main characters - Blackadder, Baldrick, George, and Darling - charging off to die in the fog and smoke of no man's land .
Specials
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In the UK television series ‘Blackadder II’ what does Melchett plan to smoke after it was discovered by Sir Walter Raleigh on his voyages? | Blackadder (Series) - TV Tropes
Alternate History :
Most noticeably with The Black Adder, which depicts Henry Tudor as losing in the Battle of Bosworth Field, and Richard IV ruling for the next 13 years, before the eventual Henry VII rewrites the history books to scrub out Richard IV's reign.
Downplayed with Blackadder II and Blackadder the Third, which does mostly follow the real path of history, albeit with a humorous spin on things. However, two major differences from real history are that Elizabeth I and the soon-to-be-George IV both got killed and replaced by Prince Ludwig and Mr. Blackadder respectively.
Blackadder: The Cavalier Years for the most part follows the lead of the second and third series in putting a humorous spin on the English Civil War and the execution of Charles I, but ends by implying that the baby that in real-life became Charles II after the Restoration will end up being killed thanks to Blackadder's treachery, presumably meaning that Blackadder must have found a peasant baby to replace him.
Averted by Blackadder Goes Forth which, with only two exceptions — Manfred von Richtoven and Field Marshall Haig — deals entirely with fictional characters and events within the larger setting of World War I . The sole difference between the events of the show and real-world history would be that von Richtoven got shot and apparently killed by Flashheart in 1917, rather than getting killed when his plane was shot down in 1918.
Turned Up to Eleven by Blackadder Back & Forth, which gives us two alternate histories; one after Blackadder's first trip through time, in which the French conquered the UK in the 19th century, and one after Blackadder knows that he can change the present, in which the Blackadder dynasty has been in power for centuries.
Artistic License � History : Many, many examples per episode, to say nothing of the show's overall track record. But hey, Rule of Funny , people! Plus, The Black Adder can explain away its inaccuracies as Henry Tudor doing a lousy job of rewriting history (and, at a stretch, you could say that Prince Ludwig as Elizabeth I and Blackadder as George IV did something similar for the second and third series).
Eliminating all artifacts from a 13-year reign would be a difficult trick to say the least. One of the reasons we know of the extremely obscure Roman emperor Elagabalus, who was declared damnatio memoriae and whose name was expunged thoroughly from official histories of the Empire, is because coinage with their face and name on it survives to the present day. And Elagabalus reigned for a mere three years.
In the very last episode of the fourth series, averted. The viewers know that World War I ended in 1918, so, when Capt. Darling thinks the war has finally ended, mentioning the year 1917, it becomes clear that the characters are doomed.
The Bad Guy Wins :
The first series starts with the bad guy, Henry Tudor having effectively won already. Although he loses the Battle of Bosworth Field in the first episode, he eventually ends up claiming the throne thirteen years later after Percy accidentally poisons the royal family to death, then for the real kicker he rewrites the history books to erase Richard IV's reign altogether.
Blackadder the Third ends with the most ruthless and evil of Blackadders usurping the identity of Prince Regent.
Blackadder Goes Forth ends with all the main cast members falling victim to the madness of modern war, the real villain of this instalment. And to Melchett's questionable strategies. In contrast to the other series, the ending isn't Played for Laughs .
Blackadder Back and Forth had the modern incarnation of Blackadder manipulate history via time travel to become King of the United Kingdom and making Baldrick his (puppet) Prime Minister.
Blackadder: The Cavalier Years ends with Blackadder defecting to the Roundheads and ratting out both Baldrick and that baby that in real-life grew up to be Charles II.
Blackadder's Christmas Carol may very well be the most extreme example: It ends with the uncharacteristically kind-hearted Ebenezer Blackadder realizing that, if he adopts the evil and selfish ways of is ancestors, his descendants will one day RULE THE UNIVERSE. If you consider the special as canon, the Blackadder family is one of the ultimate examples of this trope.
Bandaged Face
Bawdy Song : Several examples in certain episodes, from the second season onwards.
Been There, Shaped History : Captain Blackadder from Blackadder Goes Forth is the only incarnation who isn't a friend/relative of a government figure. However, he did save Field Marshall Haig from a mango-wielding pygmy at Mboto Gorge. The intro to Blackadder: Back & Forth lampshades this with a montage of various incarnations throughout history, including an archer (accidentally) slaying King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, one (Australian) Desert Rat giving the bird to Winston Churchill behind his back and another gagging behind Margaret Thatcher giving a speech.
Bestiality Is Depraved : A running gag across all four series.
"Lord Melchett, Lord Melchett, intelligent and deep. / Lord Melchett, Lord Melchett, a shame about the sheep!"
Becomes "BAAAAA!!!" by Goes Forth.
British Brevity : Consists of four series of six episodes each, plus the occasional special.
Blonde, Brunette, Redhead : Miranda Richardson's characters between season 2 and 4
Amy Hardwood (season 3, blonde)
Mary Fletcher (season 4, brunette)
Queenie (season 2, redhead)
Buffy Speak : Several times. (Chronologically, shouldn't this be called BlackadderSpeak?)
Blackadder II — Edmund is trying to avoid drinking because he Can't Hold His Liquor .
Melchett: You twist and you turn like a... twisty-turny thing.
Stephen Fry admitted in the 2008 documentary Blackadder: The Whole Rotten Saga that this line was a Throw It In on his part.
Blackadder the Third — Edmund is attempting to bring the dim-witted Prince up to speed on the state of the nation.
Edmund: Disease and deprivation stalk our land like... two giant stalking things.
Bumbling Sidekick : Baldrick is a well-loved example of the trope (and indeed the former Trope Namer ), appearing from the second and subsequent series.
Butt Monkey : Baldrick is probably the most obvious, but Percy, George, Darling and Edmund himself all fit the bill in some way as well.
Blackadder, Blackadder — nothing goes as planned!
Blackadder, Blackadder — life deals him a bum hand!
Butlerspace : Baldrick does this occasionally in the first season (in which he's a Hypercompetent Sidekick instead of the bumbling slob of later episodes ). At one point he emerges from a decorative suit of armour that Edmund happens to be walking past, just as he's needed.
The Chain of Harm : Discussed (and simultaneously played out) in Blackadder III:
Blackadder: It is the way of the world, Baldrick: the abused always kick downwards. I am annoyed, and so I kick the cat; the cat [terrified squeaking] pounces on the mouse; and, finally, the mouse...
Baldrick: [jumps in pain] Ahh!!
Blackadder: ... bites you on the behind.
Baldrick: And what do I do?
Blackadder: Nothing. You are last in God's great chain, Baldrick . Unless, of course, there's an earwig around here that you'd like to victimise.
Charlie Chaplin Shout-Out : In one episode of the fourth season Edmund is the only one who despises Chaplin, who is quite popular with all the other recruits. Near the end of the episode he is forced to project Chaplin movies for the other soldiers.
This was something of an In-Joke as Rowan Atkinson is a big Charlie Chaplin fan.
Characterization Marches On : As already mentioned, Blackadder was far less competent in the first series whereas Baldrick was far more intelligent. To a point, anyway; if you really look at Prince Edmund, you already start to see flashes of personality that would define his descendants (mostly in "Born to Be King", which was adapted from the pilot, in which the characters' personalities were much more in line with that of later series; Edmund's snarkiest lines are direct lifts from the pilot).
Commedia dell'Arte : Edmund starts out as a Capitano character, but Series 2 Retools him as a Brighella. Baldrick is Arlecchino throughout, and Percy is a Pierrot.
Commedia Dell Arte Troupe
The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much : various examples, especially in the first two series, such as the (latest) Archbishop of Canterbury dying because a soldier bowed to him, "forgetting" that his helmet had a metre-long spike on it, or Edmund's predecessor as Chief Executioner, whose death was apparently a bureaucratic error, though Queenie seems to know more about it than she's letting on. Fantasised, though not acted out, by Edmund Blackadder III, when he asks "Baldrick, does it have to be this way? Our valued friendship ending with me cutting you up into strips and telling the prince that you walked over a very sharp cattle grid in an extremely heavy hat?"
In the first episode of series three, Blackadder replaces the voter for Dunny-on-the-Wold after he "very sadly, accidentally, brutally cut his head off while combing his hair". Previously, the announcer (Vincent Hanna, great-great-great-grandfather of the 20th century broadcaster ) mentioned that Blackadder is also taking over the returning officer's role after he "accidentally, brutally stabbed himself in the stomach while shaving".
A line from Goes Fourth provides the current page quote:
Blackadder: As cunning as the fox that's just been appointed professor of cunning at Oxford University?
Which gets a Call Back in Back & Forth:
Baldrick: Is it as cunning as that fox what used to be Professor of Cunning at Oxford University but has since moved on, and is now working for the UN at the High Commission of International Cunning Planning?
Deadpan Snarker : Blackadder in the second and subsequent seasons; also, Melchett in the second series and Darling in the fourth.
Prince Edmund did show signs of this in the first series.
Deliberate Values Dissonance : often the show observes differences in social attitudes during the period, relative to the modern day. For example, in "Bells" Blackadder perceives his suspected homosexuality as a disease and goes to great lengths to cure it.
Meanwhile in "Dish and Dishonesty", the "Standing at the Back Dressed Stupidly and Looking Stupid Party" candidate (modelled on the real-life Monster Raving Loonies) has the "crazy" idea of abolishing slavery.
Disproportionate Retribution : Often. Nearly all Blackadders have unpleasant reactions to people they find somewhat irritating. Queenie has ordered executions for celebrating Christmas (and then changing her mind and ordering them for those who don't give her impressive enough gifts). The first Edmund's scepticism of witchcraft also got him accused and tried (and almost burned) for it by a corrupt "witchsmeller".
Captain Blackadder was tried in a kangaroo court and sentenced to face the firing squad. His crime? He shot and ate General Melchett's favourite carrier pigeon.
Zig-zagged , as the actual reason he was arrested was because shooting carrier pigeons was declared a court marshal offence due to "communications problems" (actually Blackadder simply ignoring orders) - however it becomes immediately clear at the trial that all Melchett cares about is the pigeon.
Melchett: The charge before us is that the Flanders Pigeon Murderer did deliberately, callously, and with beastliness of forethought murder a lovely, innocent pigeon. [dismissively] And disobeyed some orders as well.
Downer Ending : Every series, except the third one, and possibly the second if you don't count The Stinger .
The third series is also up for debate. See The Bad Guy Wins for details.
Dynamic Akimbo : The title character mocks this trope when some actors teach the Prince Regent to stand thus while giving a Rousing Speech .
Keanrick: Why, your very posture tells me, "Here is a man of true greatness."
Blackadder: Either that or "Here are my genitals, please kick them."
Economy Cast : Verging on Minimalist Cast even; Blackadder and Baldrick are the main characters, the supporting character cast is small, and there is occasionally an addition to the cast for the episode.
The Evil Prince : Prince Edmund. Mr Blackadder went on to become this also, after his opportunistically usurping Prince George at the end of series three.
The Black Adder: "And now, at last, I shall be King of E—"
Lord Topper, the Scarlet Pimpernel: "Let me just jump into this corner first."
The Original Prince George: "I'm not dead! You see, I had a cigarillo box too! ...Oh damn, I must have left it on the dresser."
The Red Baron: see Evil Gloating
Captain Blackadder: "Good luck, everyone." (Although it's almost "Baldrick, you're mincemeat!")
High Turnover Rate :
Archbishop of Canterbury in the first series, Lord High Executioner in the second. And you can probably guess who gets both those jobs, just after the High Turnover Rate is commented on in detail.
Melchett : [unrolls scroll] List of candidates for the position of Lord High Executioner: Lord Blackadder... [rolls up scroll]
Also, Royal Flying Corps pilots, as discussed in the fourth instalment. They are called "Twenty Minuters" because, on average, they only last twenty minutes, to the horror of Capt. Blackadder who was trying to escape trenches by transferring to the Flying Corps.
Historical Beauty Update : Discussed on the trope page.
Historical In-Joke : The entire premise of the show (particularly the first series) with many references helpfully explained on the DVD collection for those of us unfamiliar with British history. The best of these is the final episode of the third series, which explains why the moronic Prince George is remembered by history as a man of wit and character.
Hollywood History : Mostly played for laughs — the first two series had enough history-based humour to prove the producers are well informed, after all. Blackadder the Third had a lot of Anachronism Stew with respect to the order of events in the Napoleonic Wars (and every notable 18th century writer alive and writing at the same time).
Identical Grandson : Prince Edmund, Lord Blackadder, E. Blackadder Esq, Captain E. Blackadder and King Edmund Blackadder III.
Also true for the Baldricks.
Possibly true for Prince George and Lieutenant George.
Also the Melchetts, Percys, Flashhearts and Kate (aka Bob).
Many different incarnations of the main characters appear in the specials as well. Over the course of the series there have been eleven versions of Blackadder (including MacAdder), ten Baldricks, five Georges, three Queenies, five Melchetts, two Percys, three Darlings, three Flashhearts, two Bobs, two Nursies, three Mrs. Migginses (mentioned) and numerous possible links between characters (for example Percy and Darling, Melchett and Wellington etc.)
Idiosyncratic Episode Naming : Titles of series 2 episodes are one word long and pertain to the subject of the episode in question ("Bells" as in wedding bells, "Chains" referring to imprisonment); series 3 uses The Noun and the Noun (to reference Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice , which are set in the same era) — for example "Dish and Dishonesty"; series 4 gives all bar one its titles military ranks with double meanings - "Private Plane," "Major Star," "General Hospital," etc- the exception being "Goodbyeee...", the last one, named after a popular World War I song and referencing the episode's famous Downer Ending .
Not-So-Fake Prop Weapon
Obfuscating Stupidity : Amy Hardwood and Nurse Mary Fletcher-Brown, and possibly Queenie (all played by Miranda Richardson).
Oddly Small Organization : In Blackadder II, the Queen appears to have only three courtiers; in Blackadder the Third, the Prince Regent has an apparent staff of two; and in Blackadder Goes Forth, Captain Blackadder has only two men under his command. In the latter case, the full number of men under Captain Blackadder's command is revealed in the final episode, although even then it is rather small.
These were mainly caused by the show lacking the budget to do the organisations justice so a suspension of disbelief is required. This is particularly evident in Back & Forth where they finally had the money to show Queenie's throne room and court in its entirety.
The opening credits of "Goes Forth" at least shows Captain Blackadder at the head of a large platoon of soldiers as they're parading, and other soldiers in the trench are often referred to in conversation.
One Dose Fits All : Parodied in the first series, where one of the seven plotters doesn't die of poisoned wine, has another, then dies.
Only Sane Man : One of the main reasons why Blackadder is so easy to like despite his Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist and Villain Protagonist tendencies is that he's usually one of if not the only person around who is a reasonably sensible and not completely insane human being. Even the original Blackadder, who was noticeably less intelligent than his descendants, was smart enough to notice how utterly stupid and nonsensical the medieval witch-hunts were.
The effect of Blackadder being the Only Sane Man was done via the dramatic equivalent of an optical illusion on the part of Richard Curtis and Ben Elton. After what everyone felt had been a not entirely successful first season, Elton suggested making Baldrick less intelligent and Blackadder more. But since a highly intelligent protagonist doesn't necessarily make for great comedy (because such a protagonist will be too smart to let him or herself get into potentially comic situations), they decided to make Baldrick epically stupid. This made it possible for Blackadder to do stupid things — like delegate executions to Percy, or carelessly eat a random carrier pigeon — because no matter how stupidly Blackadder behaved, Baldrick was always on hand to make him look intelligent by comparison.
Overwhelming Exception : The series like to play this trope for laughs in multiple different iterations and specials. For example, in Blackadder Goes Forth, when being advised how details to a secret operation must be kept very close, the question is posed who exactly will know these details, and we get this exchange:
Melchett: You and me, Darling, obviously. Field Marshal Haig, Field Marshal Haig's wife, all Field Marshal Haig's wife's friends, their families, their families' servants, their families' servants' tennis partners, and some chap I bumped into the mess the other day called Bernard.
Blackadder: Quite so, sir, only myself and the rest of the English-speaking world is to know.
" I have a cunning plan... ."
Sliding Scale of Continuity : The seasons in relation to each other are Level 0 (Non-Linear Installments), the only similarities being the basic premise of "Blackadder surrounded by idiots" (and not even that considering the first season). However, the episodes within a season can be from Levels 1-2.
The Stinger : Used in every episode of The Black Adder except for "Born to be King," and then memorably after the last episode of Blackadder 2.
Surrounded by Idiots : EDMUND .
Suspiciously Similar Substitute : George for Percy. YMMV of whether or not he became more of an example as time went by. In Season 3, Prince George being Edmund's boss made the dynamic somewhat different, but season 4's Lt George was closer to Percy. Richard Curtis described Prince George thus:
Richard Curtis: We took Percy, who hadn't been clever, and scooped out the final teaspoonful of brains, and presented Hugh Laurie.
There are subtle differences between Percy and Lt George. Where Percy is arrogant, Lt George is blithe; where Percy is smug, Lt George is blandly complacent; where Percy is insecure and fears Blackadder's wrath, Lt George isn't scared of Blackadder and doesn't really understand him at all.
Captain Darling in season 4 is what Percy would be like if Percy weren't desperate for Blackadder's approval.
Time Travel : Blackadder Back & Forth
Blackadder's Christmas Carol has no actual travel, but does show peeks into the past and future.
Token Evil Teammate : The self-serving Blackadders are usually this. However, the one in Goes Fourth is more a Token Jerk Teammate as he's far less evil than his predecessors and the evil flag has been taken over by the sociopathic and incompetent General Melchett .
Too Dumb to Live : Everyone who isn't Edmund. Edmund himself is more like Too Surrounded by Idiots to live : He is accidentally poisoned by Percy in Series 1; no-one is able to see through Ludvig's Queenie disguise in Series 2, not even the real Queenie; and in Series 4 he has his commanding officers like Field Marshall Haig and Melchett, who believe that the best strategy is to climb over the top and "walk very slowly towards the enemy". A strategy which has already failed at least fourteen times, no less. (Sadly Truth in Television , of course)
In Series 1, even Blackadder is Too Dumb to Live . He recruits the most evil men in the entire kingdom to help him overthrow his father and seize the throne for himself, and then is entirely surprised when they turn on him to loot everything for themselves and try to brutally kill him. He actually survives that, and is the only one in the room who DOESN'T drink the poisoned wine in the toast to his survival, then when everyone else dies (and leaves him as King of England, which he has been scheming to become for the entire series) he decides to test the wine for poison by drinking it HIMSELF.
Took a Level in Dumbass : Baldrick between series one and two.
Took a Level in Kindness : In Blackadder the Third, Prince George is an obnoxious, piggish and over-sexed moron. In Blackadder Goes Forth, Lieutenant George is more of a naive and Spoiled Sweet Man Child .
Blackadder himself get this. Unlike his power-hungry ancestors, Captain Edmund Blackadder just wants to get out of the trenches and not die.
Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist : Particularly the series three Blackadder, who is a thief and a murderer several times over by the ending.
In season two, no one — including the balladeer — cares about him much:
Blackadder, Blackadder — his life was almost done!
Blackadder, Blackadder — who gives a toss? No one!
Upper-Class Twit : Several, most notably Lord Percy Percy [second season] and Prince Regent George (the future George IV) [third season]. Not that Percy's series 1 ancestor is any better, as he appears to be quite a bonehead.
Villain Protagonist : Played with in Edmund, although only the third really qualifies.
Early Installment Weirdness :
To those familiar with the later series The Black Adder may seem a little odd. This include the different characterisation , the larger ensemble of characters, differences in the writing ( Ben Elton replaced Rowan Atkinson as writer from Blackadder II onwards), as well as the significantly larger budget which allowed large sets, crowd scenes and location shooting. The later seasons would focus more on dialogue and characterisation. Other, minor differences include each episode having a Cold Open , usage of supernatural elements, and the characters frequently speaking in a pseudo-Shakespearian manner instead of the modern English used elsewhere. Also, this one had more of an ensemble cast. It's a bit of a shock to fans of later series to see that Tony Robinson is not actually mentioned in the opening credits but Baldrick was more of a supporting character here and it was only really from Blackadder II onwards that he was promoted to second lead.
Subverted when the original pilot resurfaced. The original Edmund was the Deadpan Snarker we all know and love, and the original Baldrick (not portrayed by Tony Robinson ) was a Bumbling Sidekick . Percy... is Percy .
Immune to Drugs : Sean the Irish Bastard in "The Black Seal", it takes two shots of deadly poison to put him down.
"It's got a bit of a sting in its tail!"
Kangaroo Court : Edmund's trial by the Witchsmeller Pursuivant is this Up to Eleven . Where to begin: Edmund's entire case is thrown out when the Witchsmeller convinces Prince Harry that they should ignore the testimony of a witch pleading for his life, Percy — who is defending Edmund — is accused of being a witch and is also ignored, and when Baldrick counters the Witchsmeller's assertion that carrots grow on trees, the Witchsmeller uses his knowledge of carrots to 'prove' Baldrick is a witch as well. He then produces a signed confession by a horse, an old woman Edmund has never met and an obvious poodle that he claims is Edmund's son. It is almost fitting to the ridiculousness of the situation that our heroes apparently escape with hitherto unused and never mentioned again magical powers of teleportation .
The ending reveals that this was the work of the Queen, actually being a real witch.
It is implied that the Witchsmeller Pursuivant was really a witch himself, as when he is killed the king recovers from his illness and everything goes back to normal (for them) - or possibly Edmund's mother, who likely ended the spell to keep Edmund from being thought guilty still.
Large Ham : Frank Finlay as the Witchsmeller Pursuivant.
Plus BRIAN BLESSED , as usual.
Rik Mayall as Mad Gerald.
Legion of Doom : For the end of the first series, Blackadder gathers "the six most evil men in all England!" And then they promptly betray him when they learn from Edmund just how much of a big villain The Hawk / Philip of Burgundy is.
Literary Allusion Title : To The Black Arrow , an adventure novel by Robert Louis Stevenson also set in the Wars of the Roses.
Magnificent Seven : Inverted in "The Black Seal" as Edmund gathers the six most evil men in England (plus himself) to take over the kingdom. And then they end up siding with Edmund's enemy, The Hawk / Philip of Burgundy.
Major Injury Underreaction : The most expensive curse Baldrick has for sale ends with "may your head fall off at an inopportune moment".
The Middle Ages : The setting of the first series. (See also The Late Middle Ages )
Off with His Head! : In the first episode Edmund beheads Richard III, mistaking him for a horse thief.
Out-of-Context Eavesdropping : A couple of drunken templars overhear the king talking to his wife saying how satisfied he is with the current Archbishop, and won't ever again have to say "will no one rid me of this Turbulent Priest ?" Unfortunately they only hear that last part where he's quoting himself, so they go off to slay the Archbishop to get in the king's good graces.
Parental Favoritism : Richard IV is so comically biased in favor of his oldest son Harry that he usually doesnt remember that Edmund exists. When he DOES remember, he treats him like something he scraped off his boot, and makes no secret about what he thinks of his sniveling toad of a son.
Pet the Dog : Edmund reading a bedtime story to his child wife at the end of "The Queen of Spain's Beard".
Playing Gertrude : BRIAN BLESSED , of all people. Although 19 years older than Rowan Atkinson , Blessed was only 7 years older than Robert East who played his elder son Prince Harry. Elspet Gray playing the queen was a mere 14 years older than East.
Poke the Poodle : The cheapest example of a curse sold by the Church in "The Archbishop" is "Dear enemy, I curse you, and I hope that something slightly unpleasant happens to you, like an onion falling on your head".
Precision F-Strike : Edmund gives one to Baldrick when they're about to be burned at the stake in "The Witchsmeller Pursuivant". Though in some versions the swear is apparently censored by a cough.
Baldrick: My Lord, I have a cunning plan.
Edmund: Oh, fuck off, Baldrick!
Princeling Rivalry : A central theme in this series is Edmund constantly scheming to get out of the shadow of his more popular older brother, Harry, Prince of Wales, the heir to the throne of England.
Retcon : What Henry VII did once he took power: erased all record of Richard IV's reign.
Rhetorical Request Blunder : Richard IV was telling the story of Henry II accidentally ordering the murder of Thomas Becket to his wife to contrast the situation there with how happy he is with the current Archbishop, and a couple of Mooks overheard and decided to "help". The two of them sitting at opposite ends of a very long table contributed to the misunderstanding. He initially said "Never again will I have to say 'Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?'" (he had in fact had several of the previous archbishops murdered), but had to repeat the last bit.
Robotic Torture Device : In the final episode, the Hawk straps Edmund into one of these, which ends up cutting off his ears, his hands, grinding into his crotch, trepanning his skull and tickling his armpits .
Running Gag : The messenger boy mimicking Edmund's gestures.
Shout-Out : Edmund's child bride in "The Queen of Spain's Beard" is called Princess Leia , and has a rather familiar hairstyle.
One might be reminded of another story involving a Bastard Bastard named Edmund.
Sinister Minister : Edmund himself in "The Archbishop", and Friar Bellows in "The Black Seal".
Smug Snake : Prince Edmund, although his smugness tends to evaporate quickly when his schemes (inevitably) go wrong.
Strange Minds Think Alike : Toward the end of "The Queen of Spain's Beard".
Suspiciously Specific Denial : Edmund, when asked by his father about Richard III's death.
Edmund: Well...I wouldn't know, really...I was nowhere near him at the time...I just heard from someone that he'd, uh...uh...I mean, I don't even know where he was killed...I was completely on the opposite side of the field...I was nowhere near the cottage...not that there was a cottage...it was the river...but then I wouldn't know, of course, because I wasn't there...but, apparently, some fool cut his head off!...or, at least, killed him in some way...perhaps...took an ear off, or something...yes, in fact, I think he was only wounded...uh...or was that somebody else?...yes, I think it was...why, he wasn't even wounded!...why, did someone say he was dead?
Time Skip : In "The Black Seal", Edmund is trapped in a dungeon with an insane old man who laughs maniacally after Edmund asks if there's a way out. We are shown a cue card reading "Twelve Months Later". And the man is still laughing .
Title Drop : Parodied in the first episode when Edmund decides to take the name of The Black... Vegetable! Fortunately Baldrick suggests a better title for the series / his Lord.
Translator Buddy : The Spanish Infanta's translator (Jim Broadbent), who provides a few cheap gags.
First among them, his name, Don Speekingleesh.
The Unfavorite : Edmund in comparison to his (far more virtuous) brother Harry.
Unusually Uninteresting Sight : Prince Harry somehow completely fails to notice that the Witchsmeller Pursuivant is on fire, until the flames cover about 100% of his body and his screaming has risen to a fairly loud volume.
Edmund: Yes. And you'll have to work a bit harder too.
Baldrick: Of course, my lord.
Edmund: All right. Go and get Bob's stuff in and chuck your filthy muck out into the street.
Baldrick: God bless you, sweet master!
Admiring the Abomination : The Bishop of Bath and Wells, after learning the sordid details of Edmund's frame-up job.
"Never have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the church?"
Alcohol Hic : Pretty much everyone ends up drunk in "Beer" — including the Balladeer, who hiccups during his song at the end.
All Devouring Black Hole Loan Sharks : The bank of the Black Monks of Saint Herod: "Banking with a smile and a stab".
Anything That Moves : The baby-eating bishop of Bath and Wells will "do anything to anything": animal, vegetable, even mineral.
Lord Flashheart isn't exactly selective.
Flashheart: [to Baldrick] Thanks, bridesmaid, like the beard! Gives me something to hang on to!
Flashheart: Nursie! I like it! Firm and fruity! Am I pleased to see you, or did I just put a canoe in my pocket! Down, boy, down!
Audience Murmurs : Parodied in "Potato". Everyone on the ship is panicking / arguing except Tom Baker , who is clearly saying "Rhubarb!" over and over again.
Ax-Crazy : Queenie enjoys beheading everyone and anyone for the slimmest of reasons. She just has other people do the beheading for her.
Bait and Switch : Repeatedly throughout "Bells," with Edmund implying he'd love for Percy to be his best man only to supply another name at the last minute; Queenie isn't having any of that, with her screeching at Edmund until he actually puts the offer on the table for Percy.
Raleigh does one in "Potato":
Sir Walter: To my mind, there is only one seafarer with few enough marbles to attempt that journey.
Edmund: Ah yes, and who is that?
Sir Walter: Why, Rum, of course. Captain Redbeard Rum.
Edmund: Well done. Just testing. And where would I find him on a Tuesday?
Sir Walter: Well, if I remember his habits, he's usually up the Old Sea Dog.
Edmund: Ah yes, and where is the Old Sea Dog?
Sir Walter: Well, on Tuesdays he's normally in bed with the Captain.
Bawdy Song : Several examples in "Beer", all of which are also Drunken Songs .
See the little goblin
Twice in "Bells": Blackadder kicks Percy down there, and shortly afterwards, Percy shoots Baldrick with an arrow.
Also part of the plan Blackadder and Melchett use to escape their German captors in "Chains."
Blackadder: Trust me to get the hard one!
Have You Come to Gloat? : In "Head", the gang finds out that Lord Farrow (whom Edmund is trying to impersonate) was missing an arm. He sends Percy to speak with Lady Farrow and find out which arm, but the only idea Percy can come up with is a Something Only They Would Say test to prove that she's not just a "gloater" pretending to be a relative so she can mock the condemned man.
Blackadder: "Gloaters"...you really are a prat, aren't you Percy?
Hello, Sailor! : The episode "Potato" is full of jokes about gay sailors, because it revolves around explorers and sea voyages. In "Money," Baldrick winds up being pimped out to sailors down at the docks.
Henpecked Husband : Lord Whiteadder appears to be this, considering that he has to sit on a spike instead of a chair — and Lady Whiteadder in turn sits on him — and seems to approve of things that his wife considers the work of Satan. One can imagine that he took his vow of silence just to give his wife fewer excuses to slap him around.
The opening of "Money":
Edmund: [to Baldrick, who has just been kicked through a door] Yes, Baldrick, what is it now?
Baldrick: It's that priest, he says he still wants to see you.
Blackadder: And did you mention the baby-eating Bishop of Bath and Wells?
Baldrick: Yes, my Lord.
Blackadder: And what did he say?
Bishop: [from offscreen] He said "I AM the baby-eating Bishop of Bath and Wells!"
Lord Flashheart's entrance to Blackadder's wedding, where he sets off a bomb, swings in, takes the bride, chucks another bomb and promptly leaves.
In My Language, That Sounds Like... : Edmund falls prey to the English-Spanish "embarrassed is tener vergüenza but embarazada means pregnant" while under interrogation by the Spanish Inquisition torturer in "Chains".
Insult Backfire : In "Beer", two incidents involving Lady Whiteadder:
Lady Whiteadder: Has anyone ever told you you're a giggling imbecile?
Lord Percy Percy: [completely nonchalant] Oh yes.
Lady Whiteadder: ... good.
No Indoor Voice : Flashheart, Captain Rum and the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
Noodle Implements : Averted with Blackadder's plan to get out of debt in "Money":
Blackadder: All I need is some feathers, a dress, some oil, an easel, some sleeping draught, lots of paper, a prostitute and the best portrait painter in England!
Turns out he drugged the Bishop, put him in a compromising position, painted the scene, and used it to blackmail the Bishop.
Noodle Incident : In Potato it is revealed a horse was elected Pope. The details of this vibrant, dynamic and exciting Papacy has sadly been lost to history. (Of course, this is coming from Baldrick, who may not be a reliable source.)
Off with His Head! : Standard procedure for traitors, heretics, and anyone who mildly annoys the Queen—she frequently threatens to behead her courtiers. The episode "Head" has Blackadder serving as Lord High Executioner, and he jams as many beheadings as he can at the start and the end of the week to have Wednesday off.
Oh Crap! : Twice from Edmund in "Head," first when Queenie decides to visit a man Blackadder had executed ("if she sees his head on a pike, she'll realize... he's deeeeaaaaad!") and shortly after when we learn that Baldrick actually had another man killed, whom Queenie then wants to see ("when she comes back from seeing him... oh, God!").
Shaped Like Itself :
When Blackadder asks the Young Crone how to find the Wise Woman in "Bells":
Young Crone: Two things must ye know about the Wise Woman! First... she is...a woman! And second, she is...
Blackadder: Wise?
Young Crone: You do know her then?
Again in "Money," when Percy attempts to use alchemy to create gold but ends up with a lump of green something. Quote the Blackadder: "I don't to be pedantic or anything, but the colour of gold... is gold. That's why it's called gold."
Another in "Potato" is when Percy announces that Mrs. Miggins is going to bake a commemorative pie in the shape of an enormous pie.
In "Bells", Blackadder says "Come, Kiss Me Kate !"
Also, in "Bells", it seems like giving Nursie the real name "Bernard" is to set up the joke "Oh, shut up, Bernard," which everyone at the time of airing (1986) would have recognized as a reference to Yes, Minister .
The snake crawling across the table in the opening credits, apart from being a Visual Pun on "Blackadder", may also be a parody of I, Claudius 's opening titles.
Sinister Minister : The Baby-Eating Bishop of Bath and Wells.
Smoking Hot Sex : In "Bells", after "Bob" reveals her actual gender by flashing her boobs at Edmund, we jump ahead to two minutes later...and they're sitting together smoking old-time churchwarden pipes.
Speech Impediment : Partial meta example — Rowan Atkinson has a stutter, especially having trouble with words that begin with hard consonants such as "Bob". This gives us his wonderful plosive pronunciation of "Bobb", which Stephen Fry has on record described as "sexy".
Spoof Aesop : The closing ballads occasionally fall into this category with such valuable pieces of advice as 'Don't borrow money from a homicidal omnisexual bishop' and 'Don't try and take over the throne of England'.
Spotting the Thread : When Prince Ludwig, something of a master of disguise, tries to infiltrate Queen Elizabeth's dress party disguised as Nursie dressed as a cow. He is found out because his costume is too good; Nursie has some... interesting interpretations of how a cow should look.
To quote: "Prince Ludwig is a master of disguise, while Nursie is an insane old woman with an udder fixation."
The Stinger : The final episode of the season reveals that Prince Ludwig had disguised himself as the Queen to Kill 'em All and usurp her place.
Buffy Speak :
Blackadder: "Disease and depravation stalk our land like... two giant... stalking things." Also: "We're about as similar as two completely dis-similar things in a pod."
In "Ink And Incapability", Baldrick describes the dictionary as "the big papery thing tied up with string" and Dr. Johnson as "the batey fellow in the black coat who just left". Blackadder follows up with saying that "the booted bony thing with five toes on the end of my leg will soon connect sharply with the soft dangly collection of objects in your trousers!"
The Cameo : Vincent Hanna, a reporter known for his coverage of by-elections, appears as his own ancestor, covering a by-election.
Captain Morgan Pose : The actors teach The Prince Regent to do a pose while they are training him in public speaking, though he fails utterly.
The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much : The returning officer and lone voter in Dunny-on-the-Wold apparently died, respectively, from accidentally brutally cutting his head off while combing his hair, and accidentally brutally stabbing himself in the stomach while shaving.
Couch Gag : The book Edmund finds in the opening sequence differs each episode, with the cover having the episode's title and an illustration pertaining to it as well.
Creator Cameo : The anarchist who attempts to assassinate Prince George in "Sense and Senility" is played by series co-writer Ben Elton.
Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon : "Baldrick, believe me. Eternity in the company of Beelzebub, and all his hellish instruments of death, will be a picnic compared to five minutes with me... and this pencil... if we cannot replace this dictionary."
Death by Sex : Prince George in "Duel and Duality", despite Blackadder's best efforts to prevent it.
Blackadder: Baldrick, have you no idea what irony is?
Baldrick: Yes, it's like goldy and bronzy only it's made out of iron.
Duel to the Death : "Duel and Duality" is a convoluted attempt to prevent the Prince from having to fight one with Wellington after he slept with Wellington's nieces.
Election Day Episode : "Dish and Dishonesty" is about a by-election in an obscure rotten borough that Blackadder and the Prince Regent have managed to gain control of, putting forward Baldrick as their candidate as someone who can be relied on to vote as the Prince desires. The sole voter in the borough is one E. Blackadder, following the unfortunate accidental beheading of the previous voter.
Election Night : "Dish and Dishonesty" features one of the definitive parodies of TV election coverage.
Mr. Fanservice : Hugh Laurie in make-up and tights has been known to make a lot of straight women (and a few lesbians) perk up.
Face Palm : Blackadder, when Lord Topper reveals his disguise.
Fictional Political Party : Going hand-in-hand with the Election Night trope (above), the episode "Dish and Dishonesty" uses these, too, in its parody of British election conventions. After the constituent of rotten borough Dunny-on-the-Wold (consisting of nothing more than a tiny plot of land, many farm animals and only one voter) suddenly died, Prince Regent and Blackadder decide to run Baldrick as their own candidate and tip Parliament in their favor. Baldrick runs on behalf of the "Adder Party", a name which becomes much more appropriate when it turns out that Blackadder was both the borough's Returning Officer and lone voter after both died in freak "accidents". Other fictitious parties on the ballot included "Keep Royalty White, Rat Catching and Safe Sewage Residents' Party" and the "Standing at the Back Dressed Stupidly and Looking Stupid Party" (whose party line stands for "the compulsory serving of asparagus at breakfast, free corsets for the under-fives and the abolition of slavery " - though the last one was just put in as a joke).
The last two are a Shout-Out to two real minor perennial candidates at British elections at the time the show was broadcast — Bill Boaks, who usually stood as something like "Democratic Monarchist Road Safety White Resident", and Screaming Lord Sutch of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party (which, in their heyday of the 70s and 80s, proposed ludicrous policies. By the 2010s, a couple of them had actually been proposed and enacted by the government - much like the reference to the abolition of slavery was implied to be ).
Foreshadowing : Amy Hardwood comes to Blackadder's attention by spending lots of money, but then it turns out her family's stone broke. Where did all that cash come from?
Gender-Blender Name : Blackadder's cousin MacAdder named his daughter Angus.
Groin Attack : Blackadder tells Baldrick that if he doesn't tell him where the dictionary is, he will give him one of these, using Buffy Speak .
Have a Gay Old Time : When Blackadder suggests the Prince marry to get more money, he objects, starting by saying he's "a gay bachelor".
Her Code Name Was "Mary Sue" :
Blackadder's novel Edmund: A Butler's Tale sounds like this, based on what he tells Baldrick about it.
Baldrick's novel (or "Magnificent Octopus") also has elements of this: "Once upon a time there was a lovely little sausage called Baldrick, who lived happily ever after."
Human-Interest Story : Made fun of in "Dish and Dishonesty" as Blackadder reveals to Prince George of bad news he saw in the morning papers.
Blackadder: Sir, if I may return to this urgent matter, I read fearful news in this morning's paper.
Prince George: Oh no. Not another little cat caught up in a tree!
Identical Grandson : In addition to the previously mentioned usage, this series features Blackadder's Scottish cousin MacAdder , played by Atkinson in a curly red wig, a kilt and a deliberately bad accent and Vincent Hanna playing "his own great great great grandfather".
Informed Attribute : Done deliberately — Blackadder and Baldrick both reference Prince George's disgusting obesity — as the historical figure indeed was — even though he's played by the lanky Hugh Laurie.
Inter-Class Romance : From the episode "Amy and Amiability":
Hardwood: Can it be possibly true? Surely love has never crossed such boundaries of class? [clutches Amy's hand]
Amy: But what about you and Mum?
Hardwood: Well, yes I grant thee when I first met her I was the farmer's son and she was just the lass who ate the dung, but that was an exception.
Amy: And Aunty Dot and Uncle Ted.
Hardwood: Yes, yes; all right, he was a pig poker and she was the Duchess of Argyle, but—
Amy: And Aunty Ruth and Uncle Isiah; she was a milkmaid and he was—
Hardwood: The Pope! Yes, yes, all right.
It's Not Porn, It's Art : Keanrick and Mossop's play—The Bloody Murder of the Foul Prince Romero and His Enormously-Bosomed Wife.
Blackadder: A philosophical work, then.
Mossop: Indeed yes, sir. The violence of the murder and the vastness of the bosom are entirely justified, artistically.
Leaning on the Fourth Wall :
During the episode 'Duel and Duality'.
Blackadder: I want to be remembered when I'm dead. I want books written about me. I want songs sung about me. And then, hundreds of years from now, I want episodes of my life to be played out weekly at half past nine by some great heroic actor of the age .
George: As a matter of fact, they do often —
Blackadder: [angrily] No, NO!
Not Quite Dead : Turns out George has a cigarillo case just where he was shot. Unfortunately, he left it at the dresser.
Obfuscating Stupidity : Amy Hardwood, who pretends to be an airheaded and child-like woman, but is actually a ruthless highwayman.
In "Nob and Nobility", Topper and Smedley act like two Upper Class Twits , but turn out to be The Scarlet Pimpernel .
Blackadder when Baldrick appears to have burnt the dictionary.
Blackadder at the end of "Nob and Nobility" when Frou Frou is revealed as Topper in disguise.
Perfectly Cromulent Word : Contrafribularites, anispeptic, frasmotic, compunctuous and pericombobulation.
Plus interphrastically, pendigestatery, interludicule, velocitous, and extramuralization.
Sausage? SAUSAGE!.
Oh, and aardvark.
Phony Newscast : Vincent Hanna (a BBC election correspondent at the time of filming) appears as "his own great-great-grandfather", reporting on the Dunny-on-the-Wold by-election for The Country Gentleman's Pig Fertilizer Gazette. This is treated exactly as a TV broadcast (although he is broadcasting out of the window to the crowd), even though it's set in the 18th century.
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything : One plot in 'Dish and Dishonesty' revolves around Edmund getting the Member of Parliament with the worst attendance record — Sir Talbot Buxomley, MP for Dunny-on-the-Wold — to turn up to work and vote in the Prince Regent�s (Read: Edmund�s) favour. Edmund recalls that the one time Sir Talbot did manage to attend the House of Commons �He passed water in The Great Hall and passed out in the Speaker�s chair.� note It would have been better if he'd done it the other way round. Sleeping in Parliament, even in debates, was not uncommon right up until it was televised in the 1980s (and for a short time afterwards. The Speaker's chair, meanwhile is equipped with a chamber pot and curtains to accommodate exactly the need in which Sir Talbot found himself. Admittedly it's intended for the use of the Speaker, without whose presence Parliament can't sit but still.
Playing Cyrano : Blackadder acts as this to Prince George in "Amy and Amiability", although he thinks she's disgustingly twee until he finds out she's the Shadow.
Pocket Protector : Parodied in "Duel and Duality," in which a cigarillo case stops a cannonball.
And parodied again when shortly afterwards Prince George also gets shot, seems to die, wakes up shouting he also has one... then realizes he left his on the dresser. THEN he dies .
Royal Brat : Prince George
Samus Is a Girl : And the Shadow is Amy Hardwood. Combined with Vocal Dissonance , as she does a very convincing deep masculine voice.
The Scottish Trope : "Sense and Senility": the two actors have to perform a silly, overly-long superstitious ritual to exorcise evil spirits whenever Blackadder says "Macbeth". Exactly how the ritual goes is a subject of hot debate in the fandom as Angrish makes the words unclear: one suggestion is "Aargh! Hot potato, orchestra scores, plucked to make amends (HONK!)"
This is accompanied by a brief game of patty-cake, spinning their arms like wheels, and then honking each others' noses; as the episode progresses, Mossop starts whining and gingerly petting his nose.
Sequential Symptom Syndrome : In "Nob and Nobility", someone (The Scarlet Pimpernel) takes a suicide pill and recites his own symptoms as he experiences them. Hilariously, he didn't realise that he had taken it, and was completely unaware of the symptoms, himself.
It was probably the forgetfulness.
Servile Snarker : Blackadder the Third embodies this.
Shout-Out :
To Jonathan Swift's A Modest Proposal in the segment where Prince George and Blackadder are discussing poverty in "Sense and Senility".
Keenick and Mossop's extremely violent play full of gore and cheesecake titillation involves a character named "Prince Romero" .
Blackadder's false account of his adventures in France includes breaking into Robespierre's bedroom to leave a box of chocolates and an insulting note. At the time of the original broadcast, a series of well-known TV advertisements for chocolate featured a James Bond Captain Ersatz going to enormous lengths to leave the product in his lady love's bedroom.
Stars Are Souls : Baldrick seems to believe this when George dies. Of course, he also believes in a giant pink pixie in the sky.
Baldrick: There's a new star in the heavens tonight. Another freckle on the nose of the giant pixie.
Stupid Boss / Too Dumb to Live : Prince George actually seems dumber than Baldrick, who considers him "a clot". Also too dumb to live are Topper and Smedley; Blackadder even lampshades the stupidity of accepting wine from someone who thinks you are about to torture or disgrace him.
In "Corporal Punishment":
Blackadder: So, Counsel, with that summing up in mind, what are my chances, do you think?
George: Well, not good I'm afraid. As far as I can see from the evidence, you're as guilty as a puppy sitting beside a pile of poo.
Blackadder: [bitterly] ...Charming.
While it's not intentional, Blackadder is mighty amused when Melchett says his new girlfriend (actually George in drag) has " more spunk than most girls ".
Amoral Attorney : Blackadder wants to hire a very good one for his court-martial.
Edmund: I remember Massingbird's most famous case — the Case of the Bloody Knife. A man was found next to a murdered body. He had the knife in his hand, thirteen witnesses had seen him stab the victim and when the police picked him up he said to them, 'I'm glad I killed the bastard'. Massingbird not only got him acquitted, he got him knighted in the New Year's Honour's list and the relatives of the victim had to pay to have the blood washed out of his jacket.
Anachronism Stew : In "General Hospital" Blackadder refers to the universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Hull. University College, Hull was not founded until 1927 and did not become the University of Hull until 1954. Then again, it was a trick statement of sorts...
Melchett: That's right, Oxford's a complete dump!
Analogy Backfire : For Darling, when trying to convince Blackadder that he is not a spy in General Hospital:
Darling: ...I'm as British as Queen Victoria!
Blackadder: So, your father's German, you're half-German and you married a German?note In fact, although Queen Victoria was indeed half-German, it was her mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld who was German. Her father Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, while a fourth-generation German immigrant, was English by birth, upbringing and culture.
Armchair Military : Melchett, and also Darling — until the last episode.
It's notable that Darling enjoys his easy assignment and is trying to get an even easier one in the Royal Women's Auxiliary Balloon Corps.
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking : "The blood, the noise, the endless poetry!"
"Went to one of the great universities, I suppose. Oxford...Cambridge...Hull." This turned out to be a test. I mean, Oxford's a complete dump!
Inverted in "Corporal Punishment" where Melchett opens the court-martial of Blackadder by ranting at length about how he shot Melchett's prized pigeon, Speckled Jim, and then lists the most serious charge (disobeying orders) as an afterthought.
Attractive Bent-Gender : When George disguises himself as Georgina, not only Melchett falls in love with him, but he becomes quite a successful primadonna.
Badass Mustache : General Melchett is hardly a badass, but damn if his lip-cover isn't an impressive specimen!
Bait the Dog : Melchett has a habit of doing this. While he seems amusing and likable at first, he turns out to really be The Sociopath who is too wrapped up in his fantasy world that War Is Glorious to see that he is sending countless men to their deaths, including those of the main characters themselves, showing how little he really cares about any of them.
Bawdy Song : Melchett and George's version of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat".
Row, row, row your punt,
Gently down the stream!
Character Tics : BEEEEEHHHHHHHHH!
Captain Kevin Darling's eye-twitch was such a part of his character that Tim McInnerny had trouble getting rid of it when shooting was finished.
Charge-into-Combat Cut : One of the most famous examples of this trope, in which the scene fades from Blackadder and co. charging over the trench to a field full of poppies.
Chekhov's Gun : Baldrick's Lethal Chef tendecies are mentioned early on in "Captain Cook", and when Baldrick mentions them again near the end, it gives Blackadder a Eureka Moment and he uses them to get himself, George and Baldrick out of the big push.
Comically Missing the Point : In the final episode, Darling begs Melchett not to send him to the front lines because he doesn't want to die; Melchett just thinks Darling is getting sentimental and saying "I'll miss you too much". Of course, considering what happens next , "comical" might not be the right word ...
On a brighter note, when Blackadder is looking for a female act for he show, he suddenly remembers and summons Bob (who had disguised herself, very poorly as a man). George chimes in "Of course, Bob! Can you think of anyone to be in Blackadder's show?"
Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like : Blackadder is captured by the Germans, where they plan to take him away from the battlefield and force him to teach home economics to German schoolgirls. Needless to say he's not best pleased about Flashheart turning up and hauling him back to the trenches.
Creator In-Joke : In "General Hospital", Blackadder says that he tricked Nurse Mary by naming three great universities (Oxford, Cambridge and Hull), when in fact only two of them are great. Melchett responds "Quite — Oxford's a complete dump!" Rowan Atkinson attended Oxfordnote As did Tim McInnerny (Darling) and series writer Richard Curtis, while Stephen Fry attended Cambridge note As did Hugh Laurie (George) and series producer John Lloyd, the two universities having a centuries-long rivalry.
Credits Gag : Every member of the production crew is given made up ranks and serial numbers.
Cue Card Pause : In "Corporal Punishment", George runs afoul of this with his summation.
Disguised in Drag : George, in "Major Star", leading to Attractive Bent-Gender when Melchett falls for "Georgina".
Disproportionate Retribution : While shooting pigeons is a court-martial offence, Melchett takes the issue Up to Eleven , labeling Edmund as "The Flanders Pigeon Murderer".
Distinction Without a Difference : "No, George, it's not a good old service revolver, it's a brand-new service revolver."
Drama Bomb Finale : In a rare highly successful example at the very end of season four.
Downer Ending : Series four finale; even more remarkable is that the same basic ending was played for laughs in series one and two. Reality Subtext is to blame for the Mood Whiplash . To put it into perspective, it aired 10 days before Remembrance Sunday with no complaints whatsoever. (Well, almost none - one woman wrote to the Radio Times
to ask why a comedy would want to show people the terrible things that happened, reminding her of her own husband. Another woman wrote in to Points of View thanking them for such a beautiful tribute.) Though the original ending planned, as seen here
, wasn't nearly as dramatic or moving — general consensus is that it was a good thing they changed it.
Dumbass Has a Point : Baldrick asks why the war started in the first place, and then asks why everybody doesn't just pack up and go home, as they clearly aren't accomplishing anything in the trenches, other than a lot of people getting killed. Even Blackadder's wit fails him, and he is unable to give an answer.
Entertainingly Wrong : Blackadder deducing Nurse Mary is a German spy. His reasoning is perfectly sound and the suspect had already admitted to using Obfuscating Stupidity in front of others. Unfortunately for them both the true 'spy' was someone else altogether: Mary was completely innocent; it was George sending apparently not-properly-censored letters to his German uncle all along.
Everyone Has Standards :
Even Flashheart is disgusted by Darling's refusal to rescue Blackadder in "Private Plane", so he headbutts him and knocks him out .
Melchett may be the Big Bad and The Neidermeyer , but he won't tolerate Blackadder being rude to a lady, as he puts it, when Blackadder accuses Nurse Mary of being a German spy. She isn't.
Head Desk : Blackadder's reaction to Baldrick's, quite literally, denying everything - including that his name was Baldrick .
Heroic B.S.O.D. : George, after he bungles Blackadder's court martial and gets him sentenced to firing squad.
Hope Spot : The final episode is one series of these after another. First, there's Blackadder's decision to feign madness by putting underpants on his head and sticking pencils up his nose: he's absolutely convinced that this will work. Then, when this is foiled by Melchett's overheard remark that he hopes Blackadder hasn't just decided to feign madness by putting underpants on his head and stuck pencils up his nose, Blackadder realises that he can call in a favour from Haig, whose life he saved during the Boer War. This Hope Spot lasts until he actually calls Haig, and Haig agrees to save his life; he duly advises Blackadder to put underpants on his head and stick pencils up his nose. "They'll think you're mad. There, favour returned."
In the last moments, just before being sent over the top, all the guns go quiet, and George, Baldrick and Darling all assume that the war must have ended:
Darling: Thank God! We lived through it! The Great War, 1914 to 1917 !
George: Come on, Baldrick, can't you be a bit more helpful? It's me!
Baldrick: No, it isn't!
Insane Troll Logic : Anything Melchett says to justify his tactics.
Blackadder: It's the same plan that we used last time, and the seventeen times before that.
Melchett: E-E-Exactly! And that is what so brilliant about it! We will catch the watchful Hun totally off guard! Doing precisely what we have done eighteen times before is exactly the last thing they'll expect us to do this time! There is however one small problem.
Blackadder does this when interrogating potential spy suspects.
Edmund: I asked if he'd been to one of the great universities: Oxford, Cambridge, or Hull... you failed to spot that only two of those are great universities.
Edmund: The first rule ... is to suspect everyone... I shall be asking myself pretty searching questions later on... What is the colour of the Queen of England's favourite hat?
I Owe You My Life : Apparently Blackadder had saved Field Marshal Haig's life at Mboto Gorge and was told to call if he ever needed a favour. Unfortunately, when he does so to try and get out of the Big Push in "Goodbyeee", the best Haig can do is to suggest he feign insanity... which Blackadder had already tried to no avail. It should also be pointed out that Blackadder "saved" him from a "pygmy woman with a sharp mango".
I Want My Mommy : When Captain Blackadder and Baldrick are in the hands of the Germans:
Baldrick: I want my mum.
Blackadder: Yes, a maternally outraged gorilla would be a useful ally.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold : Blackadder, to a very slight extent. He's still not remotely a nice person, but he can bring himself to feel sympathy for Darling and wish the others good luck in the final episode.
Despite being a soldier, he is the only Blackadder in the four seasons not to commit murder — unless you count Speckled Jim. Though it is mentioned that he has done in the past, at Mboto Gorge. According to Darling, they "massacred the peace-loving pygmies of the Upper Volta and stole all their fruit."
He also seems genuinely horrified when he learns he's sent an innocent woman to the firing squad in "General Hospital"; hard to imagine his heartless Regency ancestor being so shaken.
He is genuinely complimentary regarding George's painting ability too (though planning to use it for his own ends). Sincere compliments from a Blackadder are as rare as something very rare indeed.
Blackadder: George! These are brilliant! Why didn't you tell us about these before?
George: Well, you know, one doesn't want to blow one's own trumpet.
Blackadder: [impressed] You might at least have told us you had a trumpet.
It's worth noting that this Blackadder, in contrast with his forebears, is uninterested in scheming his way to power or wealth. He's merely trying to save himself . Too bad Failure Is the Only Option .
Kangaroo Court : Blackadder's court martial in "Corporal Punishment" was this. The judge and prosecutor both have clear conflicts of interest in the trial, to the point where the judge is actually called to testify for the prosecution, while Blackadder's defence attorney (George) gets fined £50 for turning up. Surprisingly, though, the Minister of War realizes that the whole trial was a farce, and reverses the decision.
Kick the Dog : A three-layered version of it that happened in the past. When George was six, he got a rabbit called Flossie. Melchett first set his dog on Flossie, then ran him over with his car, and finally shot him.
Kick the Son of a Bitch : Flashheart is hardly the nicest of men, but even he is disgusted by Darling's refusal to rescue Blackadder after he crashes his plane, so he headbutts Darling and knocks him out.
Lame Pun Reaction : Blackadder manages a look of unparalleled contempt while his own firing squad are providing such gems as assuring him that they aim to please.
Lethal Chef : Baldrick. Most of his recipes that don't involve rat, involve the bodily outputs of various animals. In his defence on one point, Blackadder's unit hasn't had coffee since 1915, forcing Baldrick to improvise with mud.
Mad Brass / General Failure : General "Insanity" Melchett.
Also Field Marshall Haig, seen knocking toy soldiers into a trench, then sweeping them up into a dustpan and dumping them on the floor.
Miles Gloriosus : George is very gung-ho about the war and can't wait for the "big push" and the chance to give the Huns what for... until the end of the final episode, when he realizes he doesn't want to die.
The Mole : "General Hospital" involves the search for a German spy who's apparently leaking battle plans from a field hospital. It actually turns out that patient George is inadvertently doing this in letters to his Uncle Hermann in Munich.
No Indoor Voice : Flashheart.
Noodle Incident : Blackadder presents one at the end of "Captain Cook": namely, how did Baldrick get so much "custard" (vomit) out of such a small cat? We'll never know.
No Sell : When Melchett doesn't fall for Blackadder's "insanity" ploy , it becomes clear that things are not going to end well.
Obfuscating Insanity : Briefly attempted by Blackadder in "Goodbyeee", until he overhears Melchett tell the others that he had to shoot an entire platoon for pulling the same stunt. Of course, as he trenchantly observes at the end, it probably wouldn't have worked anyway. " I mean, who would have noticed another madman around here? "
Obfuscating Stupidity : George might be an example of this, as in "Private Plane" he demonstrates a distressing combination of wooden-headed stupidity and remarkably keen insight.
Melchett: Do you remember what happened to Flossie?
George: You shot him.
Melchett: That's right. It was the kindest thing to do after he'd been run over by that car.
George: By your car, sir.
Melchett: Yes, by my car, but that too was an act of mercy when you remember that that dog had been set on him.
George: Your dog, sir.
An example that further drives the point home is in the final episode, where George's bubbly nature shows the biggest cracks seen in the entire series when he realizes that he's the only one of his friends still alive after joining the army, and that he's genuinely terrified of going over the top.
George: I'm...scared, sir.
Nurse Mary, in "General Hospital", uses a mild version of this. ("My fluffy-bunny act", as she calls it.)
Oh Crap! :
Captain Darling's face when he realises Melchett is sending him to the Front, just in time for a major offensive. Melchett, of course, only thinks that Darling is reluctant to leave him, even when Darling gets down on his knees and just about begs.
And then there's the scene where Blackadder is in court and he realises who the judge is...
Blackadder: I wouldn't be too confident if I were you. Any reasonably impartial judge is bound to let me off.
Darling: Well, absolutely...
Smug Snake : Captain Darling.
Soldiers at the Rear : Darling is happy to be General Melchett's aide-de-camp because that way he doesn't have to be in the trenches. In the last episode he gets sent there anyway.
Sudden Downer Ending : Blackadder Goes Forth is set in the trenches of WWI, and the writers didn't want to be accused of making light of one of the most tragic moments in British history, so the last episode becomes steadily more serious and sombre as all of the characters but General Melchett (and he's quite oblivious to sending Darling to his doom) are ordered over the top in what is assumed to be a suicide charge. While the cast are all shown to have died in The Black Adder and Blackadder II, this time it's not played for comedy at all.
Suspiciously Specific Denial : "We haven't received any messages and Captain Blackadder definitely did not eat this delicious plump breasted pigeon."
Sweet Polly Oliver : Bob, in "Major Star". Subverted in that absolutely no-one but the General is remotely fooled, and in a later episode she is wearing a female uniform and openly sleeping with Flashheart despite still using the identity.
Take That : Blackadder tells George that he finds Charlie Chaplin 's films "about as funny as getting an arrow through the neck and discovering there's a gas bill tied to it". Which is even more Hilarious in Hindsight , given the obvious debt that Rowan Atkinson 's subsequent series owed to Chaplin's brand of humour.
Given that Chaplin gets his own back at the end of the episode (by agreeing to free distribution of his films among the British Army on the proviso that Blackadder is the projectionist), this may be more an affectionate homage than anything else — every other character loves Charlie Chaplin.
It's also a running joke throughout all the series that Blackadder hates any character considered by modern day to be a genius; Shakespeare, Walter Raleigh, Samuel Johnson, etc.
Unfortunate Item Swap :
In "Corporal Punishment", Blackadder writes two letters — one asking George for a sponge bag, another asking the brilliant lawyer Hugh Massingbird for legal aid. Of course, Baldrick gets the letters mixed up.
A more fortunate version occurs later that episode, when Baldrick delivers George's letter to his mum to Blackadder instead; reading the letter tells Edmund that George's uncle has just been appointed Minister of War, which they try to use to get Edmund pardoned.
Unfortunate Names : Captain Darling. The creators said that as soon as they came up with the name for him, he went from a totally empty character to one who'd been steeped in a lifetime's worth of bitterness and resentment from being called "darling" by everyone. Blackadder takes great pleasure in doing this himself, except in the final episode when Darling has been sent to join them in the trenches and Edmund actually calls him "Captain" respectfully.
Unishment : Baron von Richtoven's threat to force Blackadder out of the trenches and into a German girls' school for the rest of the war is designed to be unbearable for an honourable Brit. Of course, Blackadder isn't one of those.
Unwanted Rescue : Unfortunately for Blackadder and Baldrick, George and Flashheart soon turn up to "save" them. Flashheart actually works out that they were trying to get away from the front and forces them both to come with him.
Verbal Tic : General Melchett's trademark "Baa!" has been variously attributed to madness, asthma and an ancestor's illicit relationship with Flossie the sheep. Stephen Fry has said it really originated from his imagining that Melchett had haemorrhoids and would yell out every time he sat down or got up.
War Is Hell : Blackadder's main goal in this series, as opposed to the power grabbing his ancestors have attempted, is simply to survive the war by getting out of the trenches. The final episode really hammers the point home, especially with the Tear Jerker Downer Ending .
Baldrick: Maybe the war's over? Maybe it's peace.
Darling: Thank God. We lived through it. The Great War, 1914 to 19 17 .
In the scene just prior:
George: Well, really, this is brave, splendid and noble... Sir?
Blackadder: Yes, Lieutenant?
George: I'm... scared, sir.
Indeed, the Mood Whiplash of the final episode can be pinpointed to Blackadder's exchange with Darling.
Blackadder: How are you feeling, Darling?
Darling: Erm, not all that good, Blackadder. Rather hoped I'd get through the whole show ; go back to work at Pratt & Sons; keep wicket for the Croydon gentlemen; marry Doris...
Who's on First? : Captain Darling gets this a lot. In particular, "Major Star" has a scene where General Melchett is rehearsing what he's going to say to his current crush (who's actually George in a dress) in front of Captain Darling, repeatedly referring to "Georgina" as "darling".
Call Back :
In Blackadder Back & Forth Baldrick references Blackadder's " Cunning Like a Fox " line from Goes Fourth, revealing that said fox has apparently since moved even further up in the world.
In the same film, Blackadder's appearance, personality and social standing are all consciously modelled after the Blackadder II incarnation of the character, who is generally considered the most iconic of the four television Blackadders.
Canis Latinicus : Melchett's Roman incarnation renders his usual "Beeeeh!" catchphrase as "Beeeeeh-us."
The Cavalier Years
Credits Gag : In Back in Forth, the dinosaur is played by "Tyrannosaurus Rex" and the Scottish Hordes are played by "Hordes of Scots."
Decapitation Presentation : Cavalier Years: Baldrick's cunning plan to substitute a pumpkin instead of a head sort of fell apart when this moment came.
Extreme Doormat : Actually Blackadder himself in Christmas Carol, starting off as kindy generous soul (who is naturally endlessly exploited for charity). A visit from a Christmas Spirit inadvertently reveals his legacy will be destroyed due to his meekness, leading him to become an even crueller schemer than his ancestors.
Evil Laugh : Nursie delivers one after Melchett gets his death warrant.
Fan Disservice : Both Blackadder and Baldrick in Space Opera Go-Go Enslavement gear in the two alternate futures of Christmas Carol. And the modern day Baldrick in Back and Forth wearing his novelty plastic apron.
Foreshadowing : In Blackadder Back And Forth, Lady Elizabeth and George remarking that "You can't see something that's already happened!" "Unless you're on the lavatory." foreshadows Baldrick's cunning plan to get himself and Blackadder back to 1999, where Blackadder almost drowns Baldrick in the toilet so his life will flash before his eyes, causing him to remember the position of the knobs and levers when they first set off, and enable him to get them home.
Four-Star Badass : One future Blackadder is the ruthless and brilliant Admiral of a thinly-disguised version of the Empire . He seizes power.
Genius Ditz : Back & Forth's Baldrick embodies this trope far more than any previous Baldrick. He's dumb as a post, but somehow manages to build a working time machine. It's worth mentioning that he was tasked with building a fake time machine.
Grand Finale : Blackadder Back & Forth is written as being this to the whole series, with the idea of any further entries being humorously Jossed in the end credits with the line "Blackadder Back & Forth 2... coming Summer 3000!"
Hot Consort : Marian in Blackadder Back & Forth, to King Edmund III.
To be expected, given she's Kate Moss .
Shout-Out :
One of Queen Asphyxia's court in Christmas Carol looks like Nursie's head grafted onto a knock-off Dalek .
In Blackadder Back & Forth the brief space battle is between two Earth Defence Directorate starfighters and a Draconian fighter.
The time machine in the movie is also roughly the size and shape of the TARDIS on the outside, anyway , if it were made in the Renaissance period.
The Present Day version of George has the surname "Tufton-Bufton", which is a reference to Private Eye 's generic upper-class reactionary, Sir Bufton Tufton MP.
Smarter Than You Look : Subverted with Baldrick in Christmas Carol. He can't write, read or count, but he's smart enough to question Ebenezer's Stupid Good behavor and points out that the freeloaders (especially the obese orphans) don't need what Ebenezer gives them.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute : Even if they weren't played by the same actor, Robin Hood would still be noticeably Flashheart-esque.
Tele-Frag : The time-machine arrives at the Battle of Waterloo, right above the Duke of Wellington, squashing him flat.
Throw the Dog a Bone : Things finally end happily for (one descendant of) Edmund and Baldrick in Blackadder: Back & Forth as they alter time and history for fame and fortune. In Christmas Carol, a more distant descendent conquers the universe.
Unusual Euphemism : Queen Asphyxia flirting with Admiral Blackadder in Christmas Carol: "You have most pleasantly wibbled my frusset-pouch."
Yet Another Christmas Carol : An inversion and parody. Indeed, when Ebenezer Blackadder, the only good and friendly member of the Blackadder bloodline (and also an Extreme Doormat ), sees that his descendant would rule all of the universe if he became a spiteful miser like his ancestors (instead of being a slave to future Baldrick, which would happen if he were to remain kind and generous), he lampshades it gleefully:
| i don't know |
‘Dish and Dishonesty’ and ‘Sense and Senility’ are titles of episodes of which Blackadder television series? | Blackadder the Third
Blackadder the Third
Title screen of Blackadder the Third
Created by
17 September 1987 – 22 October 1987
Chronology
Website
Blackadder the Third [1] is the third series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder , written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton , which aired from 17 September to 22 October 1987. The series was set during the British Regency , and saw the principal character, Mr. E. Blackadder serve as butler to the Prince Regent and have to contend with, or cash in on, the fads of the age embraced by his master.
The third series reduced the number of principal characters again compared with the previous series, but instead included a number of significant cameo roles by well-known comic actors. [2] The programme won a BAFTA award for Best Comedy Series in 1988 and received three further nominations. [3]
Contents
8 External links
Plot
Blackadder the Third is set in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a period known as the Regency . For much of this time, King George III was incapacitated due to poor mental health, and his son George , the Prince of Wales , acted as regent . During this period, he was known as “the Prince Regent “. Although the Regency was in place between 1811 and 1820, the historical events and persons depicted and referenced appear to date the series before this time; anywhere in the period of the Age of Enlightenment between 1755 (the publication of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary ) and 1805 ( just before the Battle of Trafalgar ).
In the series, E. Blackadder Esquire ( Rowan Atkinson ) is the head butler to the Prince of Wales ( Hugh Laurie ), a spoiled, foppish idiot. Despite Edmund’s respected intelligence and abilities, he has no personal fortune to speak of. On the other hand, given the ease with which he is able to manipulate the Prince, he is generally in good financial straits. According to Edmund he has been serving the Prince Regent all of his life, ever since the Prince was breastfed (when he had to show the Prince which part of his mother was “serving the drinks”).
Baldrick ( Tony Robinson ) remains similar to his Blackadder II predecessor , and although his “cunning plans” cease to be even remotely intelligent (except in the last episode), he is the most aware of political, religious, and social events. As Blackadder himself is now a servant, Baldrick is labelled as Blackadder’s “ dogsbody “. In this series, Baldrick often displays a more belligerent attitude towards his master, even referring to him once as a “lazy, big-nosed, rubber-faced bastard”. Blackadder often affectionately calls him “Balders” (and Baldrick sometimes calls Blackadder “Mr. B.”).
There are three main sets: the Prince’s quarters, which are large and lavish, the below-stairs kitchen hangout of Blackadder and Baldrick, which is dark and squalid (though in fairness, very large and with a very high ceiling), and finally Mrs. Miggins ‘ coffeehouse . Mrs. Miggins’ pie shop was a never-seen running gag in Blackadder II; she — or at least, a descendant of hers — is now finally shown, played by Helen Atkinson-Wood .
The plots of the series feature a number of then-contemporary issues and personalities, such as rotten boroughs , Dr. Samuel Johnson (played by Robbie Coltrane ), the French Revolution (featuring Chris Barrie ) and the Scarlet Pimpernel , over-the-top theatrical actors , squirrel-hating female highwaymen , the practice of settling quarrels with a duel and discussing tactics with Duke of Wellington (played by Stephen Fry).
The last episode of the series also features Rowan Atkinson in the role of Blackadder’s Scottish cousin MacAdder , supposedly a fierce swordsman ; this leads to a dialogue in which Atkinson is acting both parts. Following the aftermath of this episode, Blackadder finds fortune and ends up (permanently) posing as the Prince Regent after the real Prince Regent, disguised as Blackadder, is shot by the Duke of Wellington.
Episodes
The series aired for six episodes broadcast on Thursdays at 9.30 on BBC One . The titles of the episodes are always a noun paired with another, derived from an adjective beginning with the same letters , based on the Jane Austen novel Sense and Sensibility ( Pride and Prejudice is a similar example). On the first broadcast, Amy and Amiability was billed in the Radio Times under its working title of Cape and Capability. [4]
No.
Helen Atkinson-Wood as Mrs Miggins
Although this series reduced the size of the show’s cast, the programme featured a number of guest appearances in each episode. Tim McInnerny decided not to continue playing the character of Lord Percy for fear of being typecast , although he appeared in a guest role in episode three. [5] In addition to McInnerny, Stephen Fry and Miranda Richardson , who had played major parts in Blackadder II , appeared in guest roles. Fry and McInnerny would return as regular performers for the fourth series of Blackadder.
Music and titles
The opening theme is this time a minuet played on a harpsichord , oboe and cello over close-ups of Blackadder searching a bookcase . [6] The credits and title appear on the books’ spines, and each has a condition and script to match each character, for example Baldrick’s is plain and in poor condition. Other amusing interspersed titles include From Black Death to Blackadder, The Blackobite Rebellion of 1745 , The Encyclopædia Blackaddica and Landscape Gardening by Capability Brownadder . [5] Hidden inside a hollow book , he finds a romance novel (complete with cover art ) bearing the title of the particular episode. The closing credits are presented in the style of a theatre programme from a Regency-era play , and with an accordion / synthpop closing theme that only samples the melody of the original theme.
Awards
The programme won a BAFTA award for Best Comedy Series in 1988. In addition the series was nominated for three further awards; Rowan Atkinson for “Best Light Entertainment Performance”, Antony Thorpe for “Best Design” and Victoria Pocock for “Best Make Up”. [3] The four series of Blackadder were voted into second place in the BBC’s Britain’s Best Sitcom in 2004. [7]
Media releases
Blackadder The Third is available on a variety of BBC Worldwide -distributed DVD and VHS video releases, either as an individual series or as part of a boxset with the other series of Blackadder. In addition, a BBC Radio Collection audio version created from the TV soundtrack is available on Cassette and CD. [8] All four seasons and the Christmas special are also available for download on iTunes . [9] The complete scripts of the four television series were released in 1998 as Blackadder: The Whole Damn Dynasty 1485–1917, and later reissued by Penguin Books in 2009. [10]
VHS releases
In about March 1989, BBC Enterprises Ltd released all 6 episodes of Blackadder the Third on two single videos (for some reason on the tapes they were copyrighted in 1988) and on 7 September 1992 all 6 episodes of Blackadder the Third were Re-Released a ‘Complete’ double VHS releases and all 6 episodes were Re-Released on a Single Video release on 2 October 1995.
VHS video title
| Blackadder the Third |
Who owns the coffee shop in the UK television series ‘Blackadder the Third’? | Blackadder the Third - Wikipedia, Photos and Videos
Blackadder the Third
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17 September 1987 – 22 October 1987
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Blackadder the Third [1] is the third series of the BBC sitcom Blackadder , written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton , which aired from 17 September to 22 October 1987. The series was set during the British Regency , and saw the principal character, Mr. E. Blackadder serve as butler to the Prince Regent and have to contend with, or cash in on, the fads of the age embraced by his master.
The third series reduced the number of principal characters again compared with the previous series, but instead included a number of significant cameo roles by well-known comic actors. [2] The programme won a BAFTA award for Best Comedy Series in 1988 and received three further nominations. [3]
Contents
Plot[ edit ]
Blackadder the Third is set in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a period known as the Regency . For much of this time, King George III was incapacitated due to poor mental health, and his son George , the Prince of Wales , acted as regent . During this period, he was known as "the Prince Regent ". Although the Regency was in place between 1811 and 1820, the historical events and persons depicted and referenced appear to date the series before this time; anywhere in the period of the Age of Enlightenment between 1755 (the publication of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary ) and 1805 ( just before the Battle of Trafalgar ).
In the series, E. Blackadder Esquire ( Rowan Atkinson ) is the head butler to the Prince of Wales ( Hugh Laurie ), a spoiled, foppish idiot. Despite Edmund's respected intelligence and abilities, he has no personal fortune to speak of. On the other hand, given the ease with which he is able to manipulate the Prince, he is generally in good financial straits. According to Edmund he has been serving the Prince Regent all of his life, ever since the Prince was breastfed (when he had to show the Prince which part of his mother was "serving the drinks").
Baldrick ( Tony Robinson ) remains similar to his Blackadder II predecessor , and although his "cunning plans" cease to be even remotely intelligent (except in the last episode), he is the most aware of political, religious, and social events. As Blackadder himself is now a servant, Baldrick is labelled as Blackadder's " dogsbody ". In this series, Baldrick often displays a more belligerent attitude towards his master, even referring to him once as a "lazy, big-nosed, rubber-faced bastard". Blackadder often affectionately calls him "Balders" (and Baldrick sometimes calls Blackadder "Mr. B.").
There are three main sets: the Prince's quarters, which are large and lavish, the below-stairs kitchen hangout of Blackadder and Baldrick, which is dark and squalid (though in fairness, very large and with a very high ceiling), and finally Mrs. Miggins ' coffeehouse . Mrs. Miggins' pie shop was a never-seen running gag in Blackadder II; she — or at least, a descendant of hers — is now finally shown, played by Helen Atkinson-Wood .
The plots of the series feature a number of then-contemporary issues and personalities, such as rotten boroughs , Dr. Samuel Johnson (played by Robbie Coltrane ), the French Revolution (featuring Chris Barrie ) and the Scarlet Pimpernel , over-the-top theatrical actors , squirrel-hating female highwaymen , the practice of settling quarrels with a duel and discussing tactics with Duke of Wellington (played by Stephen Fry).
The last episode of the series also features Rowan Atkinson in the role of Blackadder's Scottish cousin MacAdder , supposedly a fierce swordsman ; this leads to a dialogue in which Atkinson is acting both parts. Following the aftermath of this episode, Blackadder finds fortune and ends up (permanently) posing as the Prince Regent after the real Prince Regent, disguised as Blackadder, is shot by the Duke of Wellington.
Episodes[ edit ]
The series aired for six episodes broadcast on Thursdays at 9.30 on BBC One . The titles of the episodes are always a noun paired with another, derived from an adjective beginning with the same letters , based on the Jane Austen novel Sense and Sensibility ( Pride and Prejudice is a similar example). On the first broadcast, Amy and Amiability was billed in the Radio Times under its working title of Cape and Capability. [4]
No.
Helen Atkinson-Wood as Mrs Miggins
Although this series reduced the size of the show's cast, the programme featured a number of guest appearances in each episode. Tim McInnerny decided not to continue playing the character of Lord Percy for fear of being typecast , although he appeared in a guest role in episode three. [5] In addition to McInnerny, Stephen Fry and Miranda Richardson , who had played major parts in Blackadder II , appeared in guest roles. Fry and McInnerny would return as regular performers for the fourth series of Blackadder.
Music and titles[ edit ]
The opening theme is this time a minuet played on a harpsichord , oboe and cello over close-ups of Blackadder searching a bookcase . [6] The credits and title appear on the books' spines, and each has a condition and script to match each character, for example Baldrick's is plain and in poor condition. Other amusing interspersed titles include From Black Death to Blackadder, The Blackobite Rebellion of 1745 , The Encyclopædia Blackaddica and Landscape Gardening by Capability Brownadder . [5] Hidden inside a hollow book , he finds a romance novel (complete with cover art ) bearing the title of the particular episode. The closing credits are presented in the style of a theatre programme from a Regency-era play , and with an accordion / synthpop closing theme that only samples the melody of the original theme.
Awards[ edit ]
The programme won a BAFTA award for Best Comedy Series in 1988. In addition the series was nominated for three further awards; Rowan Atkinson for "Best Light Entertainment Performance", Antony Thorpe for "Best Design" and Victoria Pocock for "Best Make Up". [3] The four series of Blackadder were voted into second place in the BBC's Britain's Best Sitcom in 2004. [7]
Media releases[ edit ]
Blackadder The Third is available on a variety of BBC Worldwide -distributed DVD and VHS video releases, either as an individual series or as part of a boxset with the other series of Blackadder. In addition, a BBC Radio Collection audio version created from the TV soundtrack is available on Cassette and CD. [8] All four seasons and the Christmas special are also available for download on iTunes . [9] The complete scripts of the four television series were released in 1998 as Blackadder: The Whole Damn Dynasty 1485–1917, and later reissued by Penguin Books in 2009. [10]
VHS releases[ edit ]
In about March 1989, BBC Enterprises Ltd released all 6 episodes of Blackadder the Third on two single videos (for some reason on the tapes they were copyrighted in 1988) and on 7 September 1992 all 6 episodes of Blackadder the Third were Re-Released a 'Complete' double VHS releases and all 6 episodes were Re-Released on a Single Video release on 2 October 1995.
VHS video title
| i don't know |
Who plays Dr Johnson in the UK television series ‘Blackadder the Third’? | "Black Adder the Third" Ink and Incapability (TV Episode 1987) - IMDb
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Baldrick burns the only copy of Samuel Johnson's dictionary, and Blackadder has only one weekend to rewrite it.
Director:
Mandie Fletcher (as Mifs. Mandie Fletcher)
Writers:
a list of 10000 titles
created 27 Feb 2011
a list of 262 titles
created 22 Jan 2013
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a list of 28 titles
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Title: Ink and Incapability (24 Sep 1987)
8.7/10
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Storyline
Samuel Johnson has nearly completed his dictionary, and visits his sponsor the Prince Regent. Unfortunately, the illiterate Baldrick burns the manuscript leaving Blackadder the impossible task of recreating in one weekend what it took Johnson nearly a decade to write. Written by Murray Chapman
24 September 1987 (UK) See more »
Company Credits
Did You Know?
Trivia
Robbie Coltrane had previously played Dr. Samuel Johnson in a one-man show, 'Your Obedient Servant' in 1987 at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, which both Richard Curtis and Ben Elton attended. See more »
Goofs
Samuel Johnson approaches the Prince George about patronizing his English Dictionary. Johnson already published his dictionary in 1755, seven years before the Prince was born. Johnson died in 1784, over 25 years before Prince George became Regent. Samuel Taylor Coleridge , Lord Byron , and Percy Bysshe Shelley are portrayed as Johnson's bodyguards, despite Coleridge's being only 12 years old when Johnson died, and the other two not having been born. There is also a reference to Jane Austen , who was only 9 years old at Johnson's death, and the Battle of the Nile which was fought in 1798. See more »
Quotes
Baldrick : Sounds like a bag of grapefruits to me, Mr B.
Blackadder : The phrase, Baldrick, is "a case of sour grapes" - and yes it bloody well is.
An absolutely great episode - the best of Series 3!
31 October 2006 | by general-melchett
(United Kingdom) – See all my reviews
"Ink and Incapability" is great from the start. It is far funnier than "Dish and Dishonesty", and is intelligently written - Blackadder's sticky situations really make you feel part of the show. The idea to have an episode around Dr Johnson and his dictionary was an absolutely great one, and one that is brought well to the silver screen. The stupidity of Baldrick and Prince George is at its best here - them helping Blackadder rewrite the dictionary was bound to bring out their extreme thickness. Yes, it is predictable, and the ending should have been done slightly better, but this is a 10/10 episode all the way - I hugely enjoyed watching this, and never has a bad moment. This is the highlight of Series 3, and is a worthy one at that - it is historically accurate (well, in some aspects) and very funny. This is one of the greatest Blackadder episodes ever - no others in Series 3 will recapture its dizzy heights. A great job! 10/10
5 of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
| Robbie Coltrane |
Which actor narrated ‘Blackadder’s Christmas Carol’, a one-off episode of UK television show ‘Blackadder’? | "Black Adder the Third" Ink and Incapability (TV Episode 1987) - IMDb
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Baldrick burns the only copy of Samuel Johnson's dictionary, and Blackadder has only one weekend to rewrite it.
Director:
Mandie Fletcher (as Mifs. Mandie Fletcher)
Writers:
a list of 10000 titles
created 27 Feb 2011
a list of 262 titles
created 22 Jan 2013
a list of 24 titles
created 31 Jan 2015
a list of 24 titles
created 6 months ago
a list of 28 titles
created 4 months ago
Title: Ink and Incapability (24 Sep 1987)
8.7/10
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin.
Add Image Add an image
Do you have any images for this title?
Edit
Storyline
Samuel Johnson has nearly completed his dictionary, and visits his sponsor the Prince Regent. Unfortunately, the illiterate Baldrick burns the manuscript leaving Blackadder the impossible task of recreating in one weekend what it took Johnson nearly a decade to write. Written by Murray Chapman
24 September 1987 (UK) See more »
Company Credits
Did You Know?
Trivia
Robbie Coltrane had previously played Dr. Samuel Johnson in a one-man show, 'Your Obedient Servant' in 1987 at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, which both Richard Curtis and Ben Elton attended. See more »
Goofs
Samuel Johnson approaches the Prince George about patronizing his English Dictionary. Johnson already published his dictionary in 1755, seven years before the Prince was born. Johnson died in 1784, over 25 years before Prince George became Regent. Samuel Taylor Coleridge , Lord Byron , and Percy Bysshe Shelley are portrayed as Johnson's bodyguards, despite Coleridge's being only 12 years old when Johnson died, and the other two not having been born. There is also a reference to Jane Austen , who was only 9 years old at Johnson's death, and the Battle of the Nile which was fought in 1798. See more »
Quotes
Baldrick : Sounds like a bag of grapefruits to me, Mr B.
Blackadder : The phrase, Baldrick, is "a case of sour grapes" - and yes it bloody well is.
An absolutely great episode - the best of Series 3!
31 October 2006 | by general-melchett
(United Kingdom) – See all my reviews
"Ink and Incapability" is great from the start. It is far funnier than "Dish and Dishonesty", and is intelligently written - Blackadder's sticky situations really make you feel part of the show. The idea to have an episode around Dr Johnson and his dictionary was an absolutely great one, and one that is brought well to the silver screen. The stupidity of Baldrick and Prince George is at its best here - them helping Blackadder rewrite the dictionary was bound to bring out their extreme thickness. Yes, it is predictable, and the ending should have been done slightly better, but this is a 10/10 episode all the way - I hugely enjoyed watching this, and never has a bad moment. This is the highlight of Series 3, and is a worthy one at that - it is historically accurate (well, in some aspects) and very funny. This is one of the greatest Blackadder episodes ever - no others in Series 3 will recapture its dizzy heights. A great job! 10/10
5 of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?
Yes
| i don't know |
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