Agent Lavender: The Flight of Harold Wilson
- Thread starter Lord Roem
- Start date
James G
Gone Fishin'
'If it finds out'?
It's just been on the BBC - which, is a UK-based media service, I grant you that - and so I'd assume that they'll know within seconds at the US Embassy in London. And then two to three minutes later in Washington.
Perchance, have you read any of this timeline?
Stolengood
Banned
He has contradicted himself. And don't call him Shirley.
Also... looking at the date, it seems continual reports of Wilson's bugfooting will pre-empt Episode 2 of "Pyramids of Mars" on TTL's BBC; what a bloody shame.
This is absolutely brilliant stuff - it's unsettling to see hundreds of years of constitutional practice thrown by the wayside. How the hell could the Queen not have been given the details of what is going on? I mean, who really is running the country right now?
Lord alone knows who's running the country, but I imagine the Queen hasn't been told enough simply because nobody else is entirely sure who's running it with them. Everybody probably thinks that somebody else has, or should have, informed the monarch. Let's face it, I don't think there's a set procedure for "what to do if the PM is in the pay of a hostile power".
Must admit, I had to google the McWhirters. Interesting chaps, who seem to know far too much about events in TTL...
Oh bloody hell...Lavender just had to ruin everything, didn't he?
I do like the idea of the Terrible Twins popping up randomly in various hallways to whispering temptations in the ears of various right-wingers. Powell flat-out threw them out and Mountbatten's just too much of a lovable milksop to really seize the opportunity that's been dropped in his lap. I suspect Walter Walker and David Stirling won't be quite so resilient to the twins' serenade, but they still need someone in The Establishment to take the reins.
On the other hand, it is comforting to know that if the Tories were ever to stage an auto-coup they'd probably be spectacularly naff at it. If the Soviets do leave Harry out to dry, the government's probably cocked up the case against him enough that he could feasibly sneak back into London and stage a Charles II.
As ever, no spoilers incoming, but as of this update we've only covered about 12 hours since Harold left London at midnight. Maggie went on the telly at 9am and the next update will take us into the evening of that day. So you could very well argue that the Queen hasn't been told what's going on because, well, nobody is quite sure. The key players - be they establishment figures ensuring stability at any cost or genuine right-wing coup-demanders (both types of character are in the story so far, I'll leave it to you to work out who is what) desperately need to catch Harold and use him as a smoking gun to get what they want. As the next chapter will show, that's going to be the top priority for the shaky 'transitional authority'/'national government'/'Conservative Party' (whatever you want to call it) and also the wider forces of the establishment itself.
Harold Wilson, not for the first time, is the most sought-after man in Britain.
Read the last section again, hopefully it should become clear. It is a little laboured... (pun intended)
There are a lot more to come - and Gerry will make an appearance in the next chapter.
No response to my observation, Meadow-lark?
Do you mean the Pyramids of Mars observation? I'm afraid I'm not old enough to feel deeply wounded by such a butterfly. But rest assured, the AH.com rule that 'every British TL must affect and include Doctor Who in some way' will be followed.
This again shows what a poor stereotype I am. I've never really watched The Doctor.
Stolengood
Banned
For shame! And you call yourself British...
For easy reference, here's a transcript of all of the serial's four episodes... and here's a link to the cliffhanger that had scared the shit out of kids the week before, the resolution of which Red Harold is sadly pre-empting.