World Enough and Time

I found myself really relating to Bernard. This is probably not a good thing. But I'd do all that to avoid working on my taxes, too.

From:

justinej.livejournal.com

Have you not seen it before. Bernard is my hero!

From:

No, I hadn't seen it before. In fact I hadn't even heard of it until

josanpq brought over the DVDs the other day. I think Bernard is my hero, too.

From:

justinej.livejournal.com

Blimey! Best thing since sliced bread with knobs on!! Love it!

From:

Yes, it's wonderful. It's a good thing my friends know about these things when I don't!

From:

gillo

I can never decide whether I love Bernard or Manny more. Bernard's grumpiness is just wonderful. I'm glad you liked it, as otherwise I might have had to kill you.

From:

Then I guess I'm safe. More or less. In a relative sort of way.

From:

gillo

Yes. But you have to go on to watch

Green Wing

too.

From:

So what is Green Wing?

From:

gillo

So what is

Green Wing

?

It's a very, very funny hospital-based comedy series - so surreal it makes Scrubs look like documentary. If you like Black Books you'd like it. Tamsin Greig is in both, but GW has some very pretty men in addition.

There's a Wikipedia article here. ::points to icon::

From:

Thanks for the link and the description! Looks good.

From:

Black Books is incredibly, incredibly awesome! Now that you know who the characters are you have to read

doyle_sb4's BB/TW crossover - The Fate of the Eath Depends on It. Probably (http://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=8113). Just don't..have any liquids or anything nearby.

From:

Oh dear. I can tell before I even go to that link that you are Leading Me Astray in the most wonderful way. Thank you!

From:

You will hurt yourself laughing. It's probably my favorite crack!crossover ever.

From:

gillo

That was a brilliant link!

From:

Glad you enjoyed.

Mormon teeth...

*dies*

From:

That is a stunning icon...

From:

I wish I could take credit but the honor belongs to

prchung

Eccleston is all angles and planes - he's just gorgeous.

From:

I've seen the one you're using on this post before, but I hadn't seen the black and white one (although

prchung does stunning work).

Eccleston is all angles and planes - he's just gorgeous.

He really is. I boggle whenever anyone says he's ugly. I really don't see it. I count him as one of the most beautiful people on the planet, although admittedly, that gets folded into his charisma/focus. I do think it's funny, though, that people who see him in RL are struck that he's so much better looking - he's anti-photogenic, somehow, and yet he seems so striking in photographs. (

fajrdrako and I were just discussing how powerful isolations of his various body parts are.)

That sounds dirtier than I meant...

From:

that gets folded into his charisma/focus.

Absolutely. I started S1 going "who is this craggy looking guy?" and by the end I was a puddle of mush whenever he was on screen.

he's anti-photogenic

I know! Yet there are times he is captivating and others when the camera just seems to miss...something. The latest GI Joe promo shots were not that attractive, but they were riveting. And you know as soon as he starts moving the screen will light up.

That sounds dirtier than I meant...

But I liked it. ;)

From:

The latest GI Joe promo shots were not that attractive, but they were riveting.

I'm not sure I can make that distinction for myself - riveting is attractive to me. He's challenging the camera (he can work the camera like no one I've seen, and believe me, I've seen a lot!). You have to look, and it's not a passive thing. And adding movement only improves it. I find that "Trip of a Lifetime" DW trailer absolutely stunning. A friend of mine who's an acting coach uses CE as a premier example of "focus" and "energy gain", the way he can turn that focus onto another actor and pull a better performance out of them.

From:

I'm tempted to say 'it's all about focus' but I'm not even sure that's true.

It's like... having a magical ability that other people don't have.

From:

There is definitely something that happens between him and a camera lens that is incredibly rare. But it also seems to happen between him and other actors - I really do think that both Billie Piper and John Barrowman were at their best with him, and the folks on Heroes have talked a lot about it (btw, have you seen the Claude dolls? they're adorable - he comes with a big stick).

Have you seen that news story that they did on his involvement with the learning disabled theatre group? There's a moment that fascinates me because the interviewer is asking him something that he really seems to be resistant to, and his response is not the sort of "glare them into a small puddle of goo" that you might expect. It's very...small, I'm tempted to say even feminine because it seems evasive, but he just shakes his head and his eyes skitter away and defocus. It's a really striking and unexpected moment, almost vulnerable.

From:

it also seems to happen between him and other actors - I really do think that both Billie Piper and John Barrowman were at their best with him

Yes, I think so. And Milo Ventimiglia too. To name a random example.

have you seen the Claude dolls? they're adorable - he comes with a big stick

I've seen pictures of them - haven't seen the real thing yet.

It's a really striking and unexpected moment, almost vulnerable.

How interesting. I wonder how much of that was conscious or deliberate. I was talking the other day with

maaseru and "micro-expressions" that are not usually perceived consciously. I suspect that Eccleston has a talent of acting on this level.

From:

by the end I was a puddle of mush whenever he was on screen.

Yes. Me too.

Yet there are times he is captivating and others when the camera just seems to miss...something.

I find that it's the still photos that have most trouble capturing his elusive quality of mesmerizing attractiveness. In motion, something always comes across. The closest word I can think is 'charisma' but it really isn't that - many actors have charisma (though not as many as you'd hope). This goes a little deeper and sexier.

From:

I boggle whenever anyone says he's ugly. I really don't see it.

It just shows that ugliness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I am unimpressed by many actors thought to be gorgeous - most of them, maybe - they are usually too bland-looking for my tastes. And I think that, although I find Eccleston stunning to look at, it's a quality that transcends his looks that really attracts me - even though it is communicated visually. But I can't think of another way of understanding it.

that gets folded into his charisma/focus

Which is sort of what I was trying to say...

That sounds dirtier than I meant...

My prurient imagination is happy to notch it up to something sexier still.

From:

It just shows that ugliness, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

True. And I have very clear distinctions in my mind that I know may be personal, but they make sense to me - like Christie Brinkley isn't beautiful or pretty, but she's the epitome of "cute". Keanu Reeves is sort of the male equivalent.

I find that for "beautiful", I need intelligence and strength to be obvious, and perhaps even something slightly "odd" - like Barbra Streisand. I do like a nose on a person, that's true - Eccleston, Rickman, Patrick Stewart, Oleg Yankovsky, Marina Sirtis, Streisand - but especially on woman, really fierce cheekbones will also do it (Katharine Hepburn, Lauren Bacall, Cate Blanchett). And sometimes one feature can completely overpower other flaws - David Marciano has a weak chin, but his green eyes are so stunning, who the hell is looking at his chin? But if they don't come across with a kind of there there, I really don't care, and I think that gets to the "communicated visually" but somewhat ineffable quality.

I am unimpressed by many actors thought to be gorgeous - most of them, maybe - they are usually too bland-looking for my tastes.

I certainly agree with that - Brad Pitt is a great example. I can't even remember what he looks like unless I'm looking right at a photograph, he's so bland. I know he's compared to Robert Redford, but Redford's a much better actor, so that makes a huge difference. Redford certainly has never been my "type", but he falls in the "pretty" category, and his performances in things ilke Barefoot in the Park and The Candidate in particular have endeared him to me. Like George Clooney, however, I think he's a better director than actor. Clooney is another one who really does nothing for me - I like him as a person, but frankly, if we're talking physical attraction, cousin Miguel is more my speed because he may be "ugly", but he has that intensity and such great skill as an actor.

My prurient imagination is happy to notch it up to something sexier still.

Well, he is the one who "unflashed" Lesley Sharp in a sock.

From:

Black Books is brilliant! (even though, occasionally, it does go a wee bit too far in that "Oh, God, that is disgusting!" way that boy humour can so often do. I've tried to turn on various Americans to it, but I think it's just a step too far... (That said, the last series definitely proves that it's good to stop when you're ahead, but there's so much brilliance before you get there!)

From:

Looking forward to all of this! And feeling just a little overwhelmed at all the stuff I'm suddenly watching... Doctor Who, Black Books, Spooks, Buffy, Due South... Where will it end?

From:

Yeah, I've spread them out a bit more, that's true!

The good news is, paradoxically, that British shows have much shorter runs. It only takes 6 hours to watch S1 & S2 of Black Books.

From:

And of course the other good news is that my current enforced inactivity coincides with having lots and lots of good things to watch.

When sick with flu once, I watched the whole first season of Grey's Anatomy in one go. (Punctuated by sleep.) I'd never have seen the show otherwise. And have never seen it since.

From:

When sick with flu once,

That's how I got into Due South. I was so sick I couldn't even fully wake up to change the channel when the Paramount Channel was doing a marathon. I saw most of S3/4, including Call of the Wild, and only in retrospect did I realize that I must have seen bits of "Vault" and "Juliet Is Bleeding", because I remembered them when I saw the whole thing again, but I really have no other way of having seen them.

That Nyquil is powerful stuff!

From:

Amazing what shows we discover in adverse circumstances!

From:

iibnf.livejournal.com

Black Books is one of the best series EVER!!!

I've gone on to develop a total fan-on for Bill Baily.

From:

Black Books is one of the best series EVER!

Well, you know, it takes a lot to get me to watch comedies, and I took to this one right away. Quite amazing, really.

From:

trixtah.livejournal.com

Hee, you've just reminded me that I've been meaning to make a Bernard icon forever.

Yay laughings!

From:

A Bernard icon! Great idea. Are there screencaps online?

From:

trixtah.livejournal.com

Yes, here on l/j (http://community.livejournal.com/theiconicplague/9687.html), in fact! They're 50MB archives, so I'm quite pleased I have the DVDs and can do my own. :-)

From:

Thanks so much for the link! So cool...

From:

josanpq.livejournal.com

So, you like Bernard, eh? :-)

I thought you might get a snicker or two from the series.

From:

Bernard is great. And yes... I'm laughing.

From:

ceindreadh.livejournal.com

I'd seen a few episodes of Black Books on and off. Seeing your post I decided to check out the availability of the DVD's. Got the complete set from play.com and am working my way through it.

Nearly split myself laughing at the first few eps, especially all the accounts bits - as an accountant, trust me, Bernards records aren't the worst I've seen!

From: