That Wacky Redhead

[NCW8]

Fascinating update. One big loss with no 'Life of Brian' but some interesting developments. Like the idea of Charles turning up on M&W. Although most of the humour there was in the way they treated their guest stars, especially Eric and that wouldn't be very practical with Prince Charles.

Hopefully they also recorded a clip where he says "I worked with Morcambe an Wise - Look what happened to me !"

Have a memory of him appearing in a dustbin, think it was in a university review. Also he probably did something with the Goons at some point as he was their most famous fan.

He would have liked to, but I don't think that he had the chance. When the Last Goon Show of All was recorded, he was serving in the Navy. Princess Anne did attend the recording and supposedly worked the coconuts for the horse effects.

Cheers,
Nigel.

 

[Andrew T]

A very fun update, Brainbin!

The use of film, videotape, and syndication did allow for a certain degree of overlap, however, especially as each market became more aware of trends taking place in the other. And trends in the British Isles were certainly most noteworthy…

I wonder how the early globalization of culture will play out ITTL. I really enjoy how you've had cultural and technological trends converge here in a way that makes perfect sense.

The long-awaited second film to be produced by the troupe (the first had been a compilation of popular sketches) was finally released in 1974, after repeated delays for additional fundraising, re-writes, and re-shoots. [3] American investors wielded considerable influence on the ultimate shape of the film at every stage of development – beginning with the title.

Which also suggests that John Cleese's semi-iconic "French knight" character would probably be cut from the film. How you feel about this is directly proportional to the number of times you've quoted the "...your mother was a hamster..." speech in public.

“He was a short little fellow – half his height alone came from his ten-gallon hat and his impressively high-heeled cowboy boots with the spurs attached”.

Okay, I'll bite: why Ross Perot?

Though only a modest hit at the box-office (having been released in 1974, the tagline in the United States was “If you only see one British film this year, make it Moonraker”

I legitimately laughed out loud at that one -- and then skipped to the endnotes to see how closely it was adapted from OTL. I can totally envision Eric Idle writing (and saying) it.

...the only one which many of them had felt had showed the most promise – a satire of organized religion set during Biblical times - was flatly rejected by American investors.

A damned shame. I guess you're not writing a utopia, either. Still: there's no doubt that Life of Brian would fail to pass muster with American investors in Ronald Reagan's 1970s!

It's hard to imagine a full-length Python film being a true hit with mainstream American audiences unless it was either (a) a sequence of mostly unrelated set-gags that are somehow pulled together very skillfully to create a narrative -- the best comparison I can come up with here is Fletch (ask yourself: what was the purpose of the American Legion speech scene again?); or (b) a sequence of related set-gags with sufficient wiggle room to allow the Pythons to showcase their diversity in sketch writing, a la The Naked Gun.

Also, as long as we're discussing Monty Python, I would be remiss if I did not link to the hilarious revisit of the classic 'Dead Parrot' sketch.

Fawlty Towers would star Cleese as pompous, overbearing hotelier Basil Fawlty; Booth was not to play his wife Sybil (the only woman who could instill fear in Basil), but the mild-mannered, sensible maid, Polly (who also attended art school). Rounding out the staff were the Spaniard waiter, Manuel (who could barely speak English), and the Cockney chef, Terry; [10] the only other regulars were the long-term guests residing at the hotel. The first season aired in February and March of 1976 and was – unsurprisingly, given its pedigree – very successful.

Given the wide range of overlap, I wonder how this will affect TTL's analogue to Newhart, if there is such a thing. IOTL, I don't think Fawlty Towers crossed the pond until long after Newhart was a success.

Actually, that sort of got me thinking: I know you had The Bob Newhart Show proceed roughly as per OTL, which would suggest that Newhart is proceeding apace. But I wonder if Newhart's famously deadpan comic shtick might suffer ITTL by comparison to the earlier success of more ... energetic ... comics like Robin Williams.

Another gratuitous link: this 50-year-old sketch, which I think still holds up rather well today.

It was only when Nation reluctantly returned to England that he was able to sell his show to the BBC. It told the tale of a group of escaped prisoners (the titular seven, led by none other than Blake) on the run from the evil, totalitarian Confederation.

Ah, the Holy Grail of alt-sci-fi: Blake's 7!

In addition, another hit show, The Liver Birds – which featured two housewives from the northern industrial city of Liverpool – was also to be sent over the United States, set in Baltimore.

I just want to point out that you foreshadowed this event more than a thousand posts ago, which has to be some sort of AH.com milestone! (For the record, the discussion can be found way back on pages 77-78.) Surely there must be some Turtledove category for which we can nominate this event in 2013!

 

[Clorox23]

I'm going to feel stupid for asking this, but... why is Jim Dale's name red and bolded? (Also, will his run as the Doctor be about as long as Baker's OTL?)

 

[e of pi]

I'm going to feel stupid for asking this, but... why is Jim Dale's name red and bolded? (Also, will his run as the Doctor be about as long as Baker's OTL?)

Did you use the search function? It highlights search terms in red. Look at the url, look for "&highlight=Jim+Dale". That's what makes it red.

 

[Clorox23]

Did you use the search function? It highlights search terms in red. Look at the url, look for "&highlight=Jim+Dale". That's what makes it red.

No, it was just the forum spazzing for me, it's fixed.

 

[NCW8]

In addition, another hit show, The Liver Birds – which featured two young women from the northern industrial city of Liverpool – was also to be sent over the United States, set in Baltimore. Greater emphasis, however, was placed on the female leads working their blue-collar jobs as opposed to their home lives, reflecting the socioeconomic realities of the time.

That's a better description of the series. The Liver Birds did sometimes touch on the working lives of the girls, such as the episode where Sandra was promoted to be Beryl's supervisor, but you're correct that it wasn't the main focus of the series.

Cheers,
Nigel.

 

[Thande]

Hopefully they also recorded a clip where he says "I worked with Morcambe an Wise - Look what happened to me !"

Heh, good point! I wonder what joke they would use for HRH...was there some well-known dispossessed monarch at the time they could have used as the basis of a riff? (Haile Selassie?)

I just want to point out that you foreshadowed this event more than a thousand posts ago, which has to be some sort of AH.com milestone! (For the record, the discussion can be found way back on pages 77-78.) Surely there must be some Turtledove category for which we can nominate this event in 2013!

It's impressive but there have been similar examples of long range foreshadowing in other TLs: Decades of Darkness, Fear Loathing and Gumbo, my own LTTW, etc. Probably the first time it has been done for a cultural TL though...

 

[The Professor]

Woo an update.

Sad that you killed Life of Brian - tis my favourite of their films - but you rescued Holy Grail from it's mire
And a few more Fawlty Towers eps and you saved Blake 7.

Glad that Jim Dale is doing so well as the Doctor. He was rather typecast as a CarryOn OTL and this is a good role for him.

 

[Unknown]

I love this TL.

I would like seeing a sequel to this (especially since I'd like to see how you handle advances in technology after 1986), but if you don't, I understand why.

Good update, Brainbin.

 

[Brainbin]

Thank you all for your encouraging replies to my latest update! However, before I post my customary responses, I have a very special announcement...

Since e of pi has been very helpful to me in assisting with the writing process of several recent updates, and since I have experience writing for the timeline that he writes along with his co-author truth is life, Eyes Turned Skywards, I've inquired as to whether he might be interested in making his own formal contribution to my timeline. He suggested asking all of you if you might be interested in reading such an update, and that's exactly what I'll do. What are your thoughts on the matter, dear readers?

Also, my sincerest thanks to those of you who are experienced with this topic for your constructive criticisms on this latest update! I have taken them to heart and tweaked the post accordingly (as some of you have already noticed), so if I do not respond to specific concerns as I'm replying to all of you, that is likely the reason.

Or I'm just keeping yet another secret from all of you

---

Yes, but will you give Jonathan Winters a vehicle too?

That's quite benevolent of you, asking for me to find a home for the "Cousin Oliver" (a term which obviously does not exist ITTL, of course) of Mork & Mindy.

I know I'm a bit late here, but I really loved the update!

Thank you, vultan

Well, this just goes to show how out of the loop I am...

Now we'll just have to see as to how the rest of the Argo story will play out ITTL...

Thanks! I've heard of these boards before, but wasn't keen on the political alts. And I'm a long term Trek fan.

Well, I aim to please. It always astounds me how much what I thought was a quirky, peculiar timeline idea has appealed to so many people.

I've been thinking on this. 'Mork' was one of Robin's original acts, wasn't he? Then I see no reason he wouldn't do Mork skits on TRPS.

Mork from Ork was created for Happy Days as part of a take-off on the 1960s sitcom My Favorite Martian (and yes, this was after Fonzie jumped the shark). The whole affair was a one-off, intended as just a dream of Richie's, but the character's popularity inspired the producers to create a spinoff revolving around the Mork character. Now, that said, Williams improvised every step of the way, including during his audition. I could certainly see Williams creating a character who has many similar mannerisms to Mork, though he wouldn't actually be a space alien from the planet Ork. He'd just be a weird character (and hard to differentiate from his many other weird characters).

You mentioned that the Religious Right encompassed significant portions of the OTL Religious Right. Does that mean they don't form a Moral Majority alliance with other social conservative forces, like, say, the (mostly-Catholic, mostly-integration-neutral) pro-life movement? I just really don't see the Catholic Church aligning with a party more explicit in its roots to the white backlash, especially in the 70s.

Well, we're going to be covering this to an extent in later updates, but you are correct that the Roman Catholic Church would not support the AIP - there are way too many non-European Catholics, even in the United States, for that to happen. (Individual Catholics might support the AIP, of course.)

As you so often do, you've managed to take a wide range of material, and knit it together very well. As a longtime fan of the American version from before I could read, I note that Seseme Street made the crossing of the Pond--an interesting reminder that cultural cross-contamination is not just one-way.

Thank you, e of pi! And yes, though Great Britain may be a gigantic aircraft carrier, it is not an impregnable fortress

Good update, I'm glad you were able to use some of the ideas I gave you.

And thank you for sharing them with me! They were most helpful.

I'm not sure about the name Sesame Square...depends if they wanted a direct association with the US version or not, and whether they wanted to sound exotic (which it does to our ears).

The name Sesame is standard to all international co-productions of the program IOTL, probably for branding reasons. Therefore, I suspect that the Children's Television Workshop would insist upon its use. (Interestingly, there has been a Sesame Square IOTL... though in Nigeria, as recently as 2010.)

Re the point about Captain Peacock's war career or lack thereof, I always found it strangely ironic that his actor went on to play the role of Frank "Truly" Truelove on Last of the Summer Wine, who replaced Brian Wilde's Foggy Dewhirst -- the reason being that Foggy's schtick had also been being a supposed war veteran constantly boasting about his experiences while actually having been in a non-combat role.

I assume it must have been part of the stigma around non-combatants that existed at the time - despite how valuable logistics and support roles were (and are) in warfare.

Now that was a very full and extremely intriguing update.

Thank you for the compliment, Nigel!

Brilliant ! That might even result in an increase of popularity for the Prince.

Indeed it might - and note also the year in which he made this appearance. Quite a big one for the Royal Family.

Interesting. Does the early success of the original series in the US mean that there won't be any attempts at American adaptions ? From what I've heard, these haven't been particularly successful.

You are correct - no proper stateside "remake" of Fawlty Towers has ever caught on IOTL, though certainly not for lack of trying.

How about the other Pythons ? Hopefully Palin and Jones still produce Ripping Yarns ITTL - maybe they even get the funding to complete the second season.

Hmmm, looks like they need two more episodes to do it. All right, consider it done. You're lucky that I happen to be a fan of their primary director, who would move across the Pond in the 1980s IOTL and become the primary director of one of the greatest sitcoms ever made. (One which, fittingly enough, saw a subpar British remake produced - along with apparently abominable Dutch, Spanish, and Greek adaptations.) Jones also gets a pass because of Blazing Dragons, which I recall from my childhood.

Great ! I wonder if ITTL, Nation will introduce the Daleks into Blake’s 7. It was something that he considered at the end of the second season OTL.

I'm sure that he'll consider the possibility, as he did IOTL.

I forgot to mention that in a bit of a tragic coincidence, John Ammonds died last week.

Thank you for bringing that to our attention, Thande - I hereby dedicate this past update to his memory. In honour of "the one that got away"

Fascinating update.

Thank you, Steve!

One big loss with no 'Life of Brian' but some interesting developments. Like the idea of Charles turning up on M&W. Although most of the humour there was in the way they treated their guest stars, especially Eric and that wouldn't be very practical with Prince Charles.

I definitely wanted to give the impression that they were handling Prince Charles with "kid gloves", so to speak - a compromise insisted upon by the Court of St. James's in exchange for having him appear at all. To be fair, Prince Charles himself would probably be more willing to go along with their usual routine.

I actually liked the update, Brainbin. Nice job.

Thank you, Dan!

Though - let me say this - the way you described To The Manor Born leaves it WAY open for a potential version made in Canada, though based not on class humour but (since this is Canada we're talking about) based on something akin to Bon Cop, Bad Cop, at least in the beginning. Who knows, it would serve as a genuine CBC/Radio-Canada production by bridging the English and French units together and might prove to be a hit.

That's an intriguing conceit. Although I wonder how it could be directly translated (har, har) to the Canadian geopolitical situation. Might we be looking at an Anglo-Quebecer widow with a sizeable estate in the once-predominantly English-speaking Eastern Townships, seeing her land bought out by a nouveau riche Quebecois entrepreneur? (Hey, look at that! Four French words at once.) Or the other way round, with the widow on a French-Canadian owned estate in the rapidly shrinking Francophone section of Eastern Ontario seeing her land bought out by a nouveau riche Anglo who wants a house in the country? Or perhaps something else entirely?

Nice to see that Fawlty Towers is longer ITTL, albeit by only 4 episodes, but still. Perhaps there will be one more season, in 1978 or 1979. I know you're not John Cleese, but do you have any plot ideas Brainbin that could be used for a hypothetical third series?

If I did, I'd like to think I would be making a lot more money as a writer than I am at present

A very fun update, Brainbin!

Thank you, Andrew!

I wonder how the early globalization of culture will play out ITTL. I really enjoy how you've had cultural and technological trends converge here in a way that makes perfect sense.

Actually, that's the funny thing - I've maybe accelerated globalization of popular culture by a couple of years (with shows like Doctor Who, Monty Python's Flying Circus, and Fawlty Towers achieving some measure of popularity only slightly ahead of schedule). One thing I wanted to illustrate with that sweeping introduction (and everyone please note how they seem to be going farther and farther back each time) is that globalization of the media has been a very long and gradual process. In this age of the internet and instant gratification, it's sometimes hard to remember that, given how much faster and shorter everything seems now than it did before.

Which also suggests that John Cleese's semi-iconic "French knight" character would probably be cut from the film. How you feel about this is directly proportional to the number of times you've quoted the "...your mother was a hamster..." speech in public.

A sound observation. The setting is this film is probably contemporary with that of Clovis, the first King of the Franks, long before even Charlemagne, let alone Hugh Capet.

Okay, I'll bite: why Ross Perot?

Very funny But no, if it were Perot, I would have mentioned the ears, too Cleese is exaggerating; he's basically inviting us to imagine a Yosemite Sam type.

I legitimately laughed out loud at that one -- and then skipped to the endnotes to see how closely it was adapted from OTL. I can totally envision Eric Idle writing (and saying) it.

Thank you very much! I thought it sounded perfectly Pythonesque, and I'm glad that you agree.

A damned shame. I guess you're not writing a utopia, either.

No, I'm not, and I think you'll find that I've been saying that long before you have

Still: there's no doubt that Life of Brian would fail to pass muster with American investors in Ronald Reagan's 1970s!

Especially since what eventually became Life of Brian IOTL was originally conceived as being far more incisive than what it became in pre-production; it was only then that the Pythons decided to depict the character and teachings of Jesus with respect and dignity. Their pitch to investors ITTL was therefore much "meaner" than the OTL film.

Given the wide range of overlap, I wonder how this will affect TTL's analogue to Newhart, if there is such a thing. IOTL, I don't think Fawlty Towers crossed the pond until long after Newhart was a success.

Actually, that sort of got me thinking: I know you had The Bob Newhart Show proceed roughly as per OTL, which would suggest that Newhart is proceeding apace. But I wonder if Newhart's famously deadpan comic shtick might suffer ITTL by comparison to the earlier success of more ... energetic ... comics like Robin Williams.

The funny (har, har) thing about Newhart is that he never seems to have gone out of style IOTL. And another of my readers sagely observed that you can judge the true worth of a comedian in how he is treated by his peers - few are held in higher regard than Bob Newhart. And really, I don't think I can possibly make comedy in the 1970s and 1980s ITTL any more anarchic or exuberant than it was IOTL. Now, there is the very valid question about Newhart, which ran for eight years IOTL and kept him in the spotlight all through the 1980s. In fact, Newhart was the last great sitcom produced by MTM Productions IOTL - but that studio does not exist ITTL. Paramount would have to green-light Newhart instead. In 1982. So we'll obviously have to revisit the studio at that time to see whether they'd be willing and/or able to do so.

I just want to point out that you foreshadowed this event more than a thousand posts ago, which has to be some sort of AH.com milestone! (For the record, the discussion can be found way back on pages 77-78.) Surely there must be some Turtledove category for which we can nominate this event in 2013!

Has it really been a thousand posts? Well, you know what they say: an elephant never forgets.

Heh, good point! I wonder what joke they would use for HRH...was there some well-known dispossessed monarch at the time they could have used as the basis of a riff? (Haile Selassie?)

We'll be finding out about the ultimate fate of the Nəgusä Nägäst in due time, as it happens!

It's impressive but there have been similar examples of long range foreshadowing in other TLs: Decades of Darkness, Fear Loathing and Gumbo, my own LTTW, etc. Probably the first time it has been done for a cultural TL though...

Well, thank you, Thande, for measuring my timeline against some of the finest in the history of this board, which I shall choose to interpret as a compliment

Woo an update.

I try to put those out every now and again, yes

Sad that you killed Life of Brian - tis my favourite of their films - but you rescued Holy Grail from it's mire
And a few more Fawlty Towers eps and you saved Blake 7.

Very much a mixed bag, it's true - and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Glad that Jim Dale is doing so well as the Doctor. He was rather typecast as a CarryOn OTL and this is a good role for him.

To be honest, I'm not personally all that familiar with Dale - in fact, I first became aware of him as the narrator for the American Harry Potter audiobooks. (I've never actually listened to them - I just know that he is.) Apparently he has Hermione say "Harry" in a very annoying fashion. He took that gig and later moved on to become the narrator for a short-lived "quirky" series called Pushing Daisies, which I have also never seen. Anyway, to make a long story short (too late), you're welcome.

I love this TL.

Thank you, Unknown! And I love when people tell me that they love it

I would like seeing a sequel to this (especially since I'd like to see how you handle advances in technology after 1986), but if you don't, I understand why.

To be honest, that's one of the things that would most interest me about writing past 1986 as well, if I ever decide to so.

Good update, Brainbin.

Thank you, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

And I also hope to have the next update ready within the next couple of days! In fact, my motivation is yet another race against the OTL clock...

 

[Lord Insane]

Thank you all for your encouraging replies to my latest update! However, before I post my customary responses, I have a very special announcement...

Since e of pi has been very helpful to me in assisting with the writing process of several recent updates, and since I have experience writing for the timeline that he writes along with his co-author truth is life, Eyes Turned Skywards, I've inquired as to whether he might be interested in making his own formal contribution to my timeline. He suggested asking all of you if you might be interested in reading such an update, and that's exactly what I'll do. What are your thoughts on the matter, dear readers?

I have trust in that he can write an update that is as interesting to read as the subject material allows, so I would say: yes, I am interested in reading such an update.

 

[TheLoneAmigo]

Since e of pi has been very helpful to me in assisting with the writing process of several recent updates, and since I have experience writing for the timeline that he writes along with his co-author truth is life, Eyes Turned Skywards, I've inquired as to whether he might be interested in making his own formal contribution to my timeline. He suggested asking all of you if you might be interested in reading such an update, and that's exactly what I'll do. What are your thoughts on the matter, dear readers?

Do you really need to ask? Of course we do!

 

[stevep]

Do you really need to ask? Of course we do!

Brainbin

Fully agree.

Steve

 

[Dan1988]

Thank you all for your encouraging replies to my latest update!

You are very welcome - and yes, I wouldn't mind e of pi's contribution one bit.

That's an intriguing conceit. Although I wonder how it could be directly translated (har, har) to the Canadian geopolitical situation. Might we be looking at an Anglo-Quebecer widow with a sizeable estate in the once-predominantly English-speaking Eastern Townships, seeing her land bought out by a nouveau riche Quebecois entrepreneur? (Hey, look at that! Four French words at once.) Or the other way round, with the widow on a French-Canadian owned estate in the rapidly shrinking Francophone section of Eastern Ontario seeing her land bought out by a nouveau riche Anglo who wants a house in the country? Or perhaps something else entirely?

Either way, it would be interesting, for sure. Both are equally valid scenarios - the strength each would ride on would be the strength of the individual actors, the ability to rapidly say something in both languages in quick succession that would make people laugh, as well as the quality of the script the writers produced. For Bon Cop, Bad Cop, there were apparently two scripts used - an English script and a French script - scenes using both scripts were shot and the preferences for the language were done on the fly, if I remember reading the reviews correctly. If done right, the Canadian remake could be just as good as (or, dare I say, better than) the British original.

The former would be interesting since historically the Canadian upper classes - at least in Québec - were largely anglophone. The latter case would probably be more suited to CBC Television's Toronto-centric-ness (which it has often been criticized and derided for, much like Radio-Canada's Montréal-centric-ness). My personal preference in that case would be the former - considering that the Eastern Townships border New England, so you also have the joke about the stereotypical tourists from Boston who drop all their R's and who speak such a strange dialect of English (to the widow).

 

[Mr Teufel]

Given the timeline he's co-author of, is e of pi going to update us on the Space Programme? If so, I'd really like to see his update!

 

[NCW8]

Heh, good point! I wonder what joke they would use for HRH...was there some well-known dispossessed monarch at the time they could have used as the basis of a riff? (Haile Selassie?)

Maybe they'd just pull back to reveal Charles dressed as a Pearly King.

Since e of pi has been very helpful to me in assisting with the writing process of several recent updates, and since I have experience writing for the timeline that he writes along with his co-author truth is life, Eyes Turned Skywards, I've inquired as to whether he might be interested in making his own formal contribution to my timeline. He suggested asking all of you if you might be interested in reading such an update, and that's exactly what I'll do. What are your thoughts on the matter, dear readers?

Of course - did you really need to ask ?

Also, my sincerest thanks to those of you who are experienced with this topic for your constructive criticisms on this latest update! I have taken them to heart and tweaked the post accordingly (as some of you have already noticed), so if I do not respond to specific concerns as I'm replying to all of you, that is likely the reason.

Or I'm just keeping yet another secret from all of you

Hadn't noticed

I still think that describing The Tomorrow People as a "Rip Off" is a bit strong, so I'll guess that you're planning something.

I assume it must have been part of the stigma around non-combatants that existed at the time - despite how valuable logistics and support roles were (and are) in warfare.

More likely inter-service rivalry. David Croft, one of the writers, served in the Royal Artillery during WWII.

Indeed it might - and note also the year in which he made this appearance. Quite a big one for the Royal Family.

True. Also, I think that the boost in viewing figures means that it has beaten the Mike Yarwood Show in the ratings, and is probably one of the top ten most viewed programmes in the UK in the seventies (IOTL it was number 11).

Hmmm, looks like they need two more episodes to do it. All right, consider it done. You're lucky that I happen to be a fan of their primary director, who would move across the Pond in the 1980s IOTL and become the primary director of one of the greatest sitcoms ever made. (One which, fittingly enough, saw a subpar British remake produced - along with apparently abominable Dutch, Spanish, and Greek adaptations.) Jones also gets a pass because of Blazing Dragons, which I recall from my childhood.

Great ! It's one of those quietly influential shows. For example, there are a number of soccer teams around the world named Barnstoneworth United after the team depicted in one of the Yarns.

Actually, that's the funny thing - I've maybe accelerated globalization of popular culture by a couple of years (with shows like Doctor Who, Monty Python's Flying Circus, and Fawlty Towers achieving some measure of popularity only slightly ahead of schedule). One thing I wanted to illustrate with that sweeping introduction (and everyone please note how they seem to be going farther and farther back each time) is that globalization of the media has been a very long and gradual process. In this age of the internet and instant gratification, it's sometimes hard to remember that, given how much faster and shorter everything seems now than it did before.

British shows certainly have more mainstream popularity in the US ITTL, but I don't think there's been a big change in the number of US shows coming to the UK. There's obviously more Star Trek and the Muppet Show will count as an import. OTOH, there won't be MASH or Mork and Mindy and the American version of The Liver Birds will likely not be imported (unlike Laverne and Shirley OTL). Also the Richard Pryor show is unlikely to make it to the UK, so Robin Williams' debut on British screens is going to be delayed.

Cheers,
Nigel.

 

[Jinx999]

If Terry Nation does end up using the Daleks in a episode of Blake's 7 in this time line, it would technically mean that Blake's 7 is in the same continuity as Star Trek . . . . .

Incidently, is there a separate forum for discussing the timeline? Because the author's responses seem to contain more comments to respond to than I recall from the previous posts.

 

[Thande]

I assume it must have been part of the stigma around non-combatants that existed at the time - despite how valuable logistics and support roles were (and are) in warfare.

Perhaps to some extent, but it was more that the characters were supposed to be pompous egotists who wanted to portray themselves in a glamorous, Errol Flynn saves Burma single-handedly, kind of way, and it was more of a funny contrast for them to be revealed as never having seen action at all rather than just have them be frontline troops but not have done anything remarkable.

Dad's Army considered a similar issue far more seriously (indeed in one of its most serious episodes) when it was revealed that Godfrey had been a conscientious objector in the Great War and many of the others became prejudiced against him as a result, before it was revealed that he had actually been a stretcher-bearer and had been wounded in action. While we're on the same subject, Dad's Army also pulled a similar joke as above with Captain Mainwaring, who turned out to have served in France in 1919, after the Great War had actually ended (although many war memorials give the dates as 1914-1919 because of the sense of tension that the armistice could break and the troops had to be on guard, to be fair). Mainwaring was a far more sympathetic and complex portrayal of the stuffy pompous egotist pseudo-veteran than Foggy or Captain Peacock though. I suspect one reason why this was such an archetypical character was that there were a lot of real ones knocking around Britain in the 1970s, and for some reason a lot of them seemed to gravitate towards becoming schoolmasters...

Maybe they'd just pull back to reveal Charles dressed as a Pearly King.

Good idea--that exact joke was used in a Jon Culshaw sketch recently (instead based around portraying Charles as being one of the unemployed sitting around watching daytime TV, and he's delighted when the Job Centre finds him a job as a King of some sort...)

 

[Falkenburg]

Just catching up. Impressive as ever.

For what it's worth, add my vote in favour of e of pi contributing to your TL (Mmm, Pie!).

Hopefully I'll have something more pertinent to add once I've actually digested the last few Updates.

Falkenburg

 

[NCW8]

If Terry Nation does end up using the Daleks in a episode of Blake's 7 in this time line, it would technically mean that Blake's 7 is in the same continuity as Star Trek . . . . .

Good point. Given the working relationship between the BBC and Desilu, that probably means that it's even less likely to happen than OTL.

Cheers,
Nigel.