That Wacky Redhead

[Brainbin]

"Are You Being Served" used up all its originality after 1 episode!! It ran too long as it was in OTL! Even "Dad's Army" went on too long and that was still funnier than most other comedies on TV in its last series.

A lot of people (myself included) tend to regard sitcoms as a sort of comfort food - this is why they enjoy such enduring popularity in syndication.

Other than those personal opinions still a great last update.

Thank you, Lindseyman!

I'm from California! But I've always been fascinated by differently-sized Canadas.

If only you were alive and in power during the nineteenth century

Great ! Although I was thinking that her character might be more like Sapphire ( e.g. See this episode from about the 37:40 mark)

An intriguing interpretation. It's very obvious, watching that clip, how much that program owed to Doctor Who, though

Well, now you come to mention it...

I think Almighty Janitor is probably too strong a term to describe either Mash or Harman. They're just foils to the sales staff.

IOTL BBC and ITV had a statutory duty to transmit a certain amount of television in the Welsh language. This meant that the schedules for BBC and local ITV station (HTV) differed noticeably from their English equivalents (so instead of "Star Trek" at 7pm, you had "Newyddion" or "Heddiw"). This splitting across TV channels was intended to continue until the hunger strike of local politician Gwynfor Evans[1][2]. To avert his death, a separate Welsh language fourth channel (Sianel Pedwar Cymru/S4C, which literally means "Welsh Channel Four") was spun off. After this point, television in the Welsh language would be limited to S4C only. I assume something similar has happened ITTL

It appears that his hunger strike was precipitated by a broken campaign promise on the part of the Conservatives, who had pledged to create an exclusively Welsh-language service in 1979. So it depends on whether Whitelaw would be as amenable to that as Mrs Thatcher was (or at least pretended to be) IOTL.

When I was a wee lad, my Dad had me convinced that ITV 2 existed, we just couldn't get it up here because the reception was bad...

Isn't it amazing, the stories that parents come up with to tell their children when the truth is too complicated for them to wrap their heads around?

Another intriguing update. I love the idea of Richard Griffiths playing the Doctor!

Thank you, Daibhid!

Reminds me of how there's all these old jokes in programmes about offending the Director General and being "transferred to BBC 3", people now miss the point of the joke because there was no BBC 3 back then and now there is.

That reminds me of the jokes about the ever-rising number of blades on the razors - how many are they up to by now?

BBC Three was also refered to in the Doctor Who episode The Daemons. The archaeological dig that freed the Daemon was being broadcast live on that channel. Just one of the indications that the Unit stories were supposed to be set a few years in the future.

Fortunately, that serial has been butterflied away ITTL. The hints that the setting might be Next Sunday A.D. ITTL are fewer, and farther between.

A related phenomenon may be how, fifteen years ago, a film series (with very rare exceptions like Rocky and Star Trek) was NEVER allowed to get to number 4; number 3 or 4 ALWAYS had no number and a subtitle instead. People of course often mentally inserted the number because they wanted to keep track of what order the films were in and often referred to it even when that wasn't the film's title. I do think that in recent years established practice has started to crumble and conform more to common sense, perhaps because people who grew up watching these blockbuster film series are now entering the business and are airing their grievances about oddly titled sequels

Hard to believe the practice of numbering movie sequels only really got started in the 1970s; and so you have to play guessing games with franchises like Dirty Harry or Planet of the Apes. Even the original Star Wars movies, known in the 1980s by their titles, are today often (though not always) recalled by episode number.

It's always curious when you come across examples of people glimpsing 'the shape of the future' that way: I have a book of future predictions sent into Blue Peter by children in 1993, and one of them predicts e-readers like the Amazon Kindle exactly, down to every detail--except that it assumes you'd have to go to a newsagent and plug it in to download books and magazines. Even then it correctly realises that you could get books from any download station and thus traditional bookshops would start to decline.

Reminds me of the old chestnut about how anybody in the late-19th century could have predicted the rise of the automobile - but it would take a real genius to have predicted urban sprawl and gridlock. For all that we've proven remarkably adaptable as a species, we sure seem to have trouble thinking outside the box.

It was my pleasure. I was wondering if you could do an episode summary of the Fawlty Towers finale, like you do with Star Trek. But, then again, writing one for Fawlty Towers may be more complex since Cleese and Booth took weeks to write one episode, and writing a fictitious episode (Or a summary of one) might not do justice.

I wouldn't dare presume to attempt writing synopses for what has often been described as the greatest sitcom in the English language.

By the way, how did Columbo fare in this time-line? Inspired by this article: How We Created Columbo

Columbo followed a very similar progression to the one he did IOTL, due in large part to the chronological proximity of its debut to the POD.

There seems to be something of a trend in having puppets running their own TV companies. There's EBC1 and KMUP as well.

Not to mention MuppetVision.

My only worry about Richard Griffiths as the Doctor is that a picture of Mr Pastry (Richard Hearne) keeps popping into my head. Surely he wouldn't play him as that type of character which is the reason why Richard Hearne was passed over for Tom Baker to replace Jon Pertwee in OTL?

I'm sure Griffiths would play the Fifth Doctor in a manner deemed appropriate by the writers and producers of Doctor Who.

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If you've not yet voted for the Turtledoves, and you enjoy reading That Wacky Redhead, please consider voting for the timeline in the following categories:

Best Continuing Cold War Period Timeline - Every vote counts, and I would very much appreciate your help in giving TWR a strong showing

Best Continuing Character - Lucille Ball, That Wacky Redhead herself, is nominated! It would be a tremendous honour for her, and for myself, if she were to win this one.

 

[The Walkman]

Columbo followed a very similar progression to the one he did IOTL, due in large part to the chronological proximity of its debut to the POD.

This makes me happy, as I've always been a fan of Mr. Falk's work. But to me, he'll always be the grumpy grandfather from The Princess Bride first, and Columbo second.

If you've not yet voted for the Turtledoves, and you enjoy reading That Wacky Redhead, please consider voting for the timeline in the following categories:

Best Continuing Cold War Period Timeline - Every vote counts, and I would very much appreciate your help in giving TWR a strong showing

Best Continuing Character - Lucille Ball, That Wacky Redhead herself, is nominated! It would be a tremendous honour for her, and for myself, if she were to win this one.

I voted for both. So far, Lucy is actually winning her category...by a considerable margin!

 

[Mr Teufel]

This makes me happy, as I've always been a fan of Mr. Falk's work. But to me, he'll always be the grumpy grandfather from The Princess Bride first, and Columbo second.

My parents were very fond of Columbo, not least because the protagonist drove the same car my Dad did! Peugeot 404, I think. So how was the rest of Peter Falks career?

 

[NCW8]

An intriguing interpretation. It's very obvious, watching that clip, how much that program owed to Doctor Who, though

True, although the horror in Sapphire & Steel is more Lovecraftian than Doctor Who generally got.

Fortunately, that serial has been butterflied away ITTL. The hints that the setting might be Next Sunday A.D. ITTL are fewer, and farther between.

That's a shame. You've butterflied away the Brigadier's best known piece of dialog.


Cheers,
Nigel.

 

[Lindseyman]

Agree with NCW8 about "The Daemons". Pertwees "tomorrow afternoon" stories in Doctor Who were nearly always better than his traditional ones! However why was this Master as interested in Earth as the Doctor?

 

[Mr Teufel]

I'm reluctant to vote, as this is the only Alt History Thread I read.

 

[THE OBSERVER]

Brainbin, when you do another update on films, will you please give Peter Sellers the Academy Award for Best Actor for Being There? It should be nice to reward him for a role which he was very passionate about. IOTL, he was upset when he lost to Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer, an overrated film in my opinion. A film that took the Best Picture Oscar that Apocalypse Now deserved.

 

[Brainbin]

This makes me happy, as I've always been a fan of Mr. Falk's work. But to me, he'll always be the grumpy grandfather from The Princess Bride first, and Columbo second.

As you wish. (Alas, The Princess Bride was not released until 1987, even notwithstanding the 20 years of butterflies.)

I voted for both. So far, Lucy is actually winning her category...by a considerable margin!

Thank you! I truly appreciate your votes (and everyone else's, for that matter; please keep them coming! ).

My parents were very fond of Columbo, not least because the protagonist drove the same car my Dad did! Peugeot 404, I think. So how was the rest of Peter Falks career?

Peter Falk has been doing very well for himself ITTL, as IOTL - a superlative character actor such as himself can always find work.

That's a shame. You've butterflied away the Brigadier's best known piece of dialog.

Once again, I never said I was writing a utopia!

Agree with NCW8 about "The Daemons". Pertwees "tomorrow afternoon" stories in Doctor Who were nearly always better than his traditional ones! However why was this Master as interested in Earth as the Doctor?

Are you referring to the Master as he appears in the crossover ITTL?

I'm reluctant to vote, as this is the only Alt History Thread I read.

I admire your integrity, Mr Teufel.

Brainbin, when you do another update on films, will you please give Peter Sellers the Academy Award for Best Actor for Being There? It should be nice to reward him for a role which he was very passionate about. IOTL, he was upset when he lost to Dustin Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer, an overrated film in my opinion. A film that took the Best Picture Oscar that Apocalypse Now deserved.

Well, I remind you that the POD takes place thirteen years before Being There was released IOTL - far enough back that Sellers saw his career collapse, and then recover, in the interim. The original novella from which Being There was adapted had not been written until 1970 (although, apparently, it was heavily "inspired" by an earlier book). There's a question of whether the opportunity will become available to Sellers ITTL, or whether he will even live that long (he was never in the best of health).

The next update is coming along, slowly but surely. I'll try for the end of the month, as usual, but I can't promise anything.

 

[Lindseyman]

Are you referring to the Master as he appears in the crossover ITTL?
.

No, I was referring to the OTL Master played by Roger Delgado but the question does apply equally well to ITTL Master played by Roger Delgado.

 

[nixonshead]

Peter Falk has been doing very well for himself ITTL, as IOTL - a superlative character actor such as himself can always find work.

This reminds me of a slightly snide little transatlantic comment I remember hearing somewhere, along the lines of "'A Character Actor' is the American name for what we in Britain call 'An Actor'"

 

[NCW8]

No, I was referring to the OTL Master played by Roger Delgado but the question does apply equally well to ITTL Master played by Roger Delgado.

OTL, it looks like initially they tried to provide reasons for the Master staying on Earth. In Terror of the Autons, the Doctor stole his Dematerialisation circuit strading him on Earth, but he got it back again in The Mind of Evil. In The Claws of Axos, the Axons forced the Master to help them with their invasion plans while in Colony in Space (which of course wasn't set on Earth), the Timelords sent the Doctor to Uxarieus to deal with the Master. There was no real explanation why he came back to Earth for The Daemons, but he was captured and held in prison until The Sea Devils (in the next season).

I suspect that something similar will happen ITTL. A lot will depend upon whether TTL's season eight is mostly Earth-based (as IOTL) or whether the Doctor will be allowed some limited freedom of movement (as in season nine OTL). This could be because he is performing missions on behalf of the Timelords - something that IOTL has been suggested as an explanation for the Second Doctor's appearance in The Two Doctors and is the basis of Season 6B.


Cheers,
Nigel.

 

[Brainbin]

No, I was referring to the OTL Master played by Roger Delgado but the question does apply equally well to ITTL Master played by Roger Delgado.

I bow to those who have a greater knowledge of Doctor Who history than myself to answer that one, but ITTL, the Master is part of the crossover because he was planned as the primary villain, and introducing him in the "gateway" episode to attract American audiences simply makes the most sense.

This reminds me of a slightly snide little transatlantic comment I remember hearing somewhere, along the lines of "'A Character Actor' is the American name for what we in Britain call 'An Actor'"

Erm... well, yes. Rather quite

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Work on the next update continues apace, but I've decided to share some images that were developed in the wake of the previous one. It was suggested to me, and I agreed, that the Commonwealth would eventually seek an alternate logo rather than fall back on the Union Jack. So, with help from e of pi, who assisted with the design (and actually drew the thing, since my artistic abilities are extremely limited) and nixonshead, who provided a sounding board and some image cleanup, I present to you:

The logo of the Commonwealth of Nations! The basic shape is modeled on the WWII-era RAF roundel, chosen because it was (and still is, even IOTL) also used by the RCAF, RAAF, and RNZAF (with different symbols in red - the maple leaf, kangaroo, and kiwi, respectively - which also inspired the changing of the dot into a globe, the sole allusion to the OTL design). The colours are, of course, the colours of the Union Jack, though they are also, of course, those of the Tricolore and Old Glory, representing the three great Western Democracies, so they shouldn't be construed as exclusively British. The eight "rays" of the globe, which turn it into a sun, are also a nod to the eight points of the Union Jack, in addition to the old truism that "the sun never sets on the British Empire" - it never sets on the Commonwealth, either

Unlike IOTL, this logo was also properly adapted into flag form:

The design was introduced at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in 1977, held in none other than London, and was commissioned and introduced by Prime Minister Willie Whitelaw. Now, granted, he had a very good and immediate reason for doing so, but we'll get into that when the time comes

I plan on integrating these images into the last update, but I thought I would share them with everyone first, and invite your reactions.

 

[Lindseyman]

Like both the roundel and flag. However I freely admit that I have ulterior motives for doing so!

 

[Thande]

It's a good striking flag but I imagine it would cause a kerfuffle in Africa, India et al because of how explicitly Union Jack-inspired it is. The red-white-blue roundel design, as you say, is shared by the UK and all the former 'white dominions' (and before WW2, by the USA as well!) but not in other Commonwealth countries where the red, white and blue is associated with the Empire/colonial period. That may, of course, simply say something about how differently the Commonwealth is viewed in TTL.

 

[Lindseyman]

Thande has a good point. You could change the colours to the antiflash versions (even more of an ulterior motive). And/or swap the colours round so its a red ring with a blue globe (reversing what we did with the French roundel in WWI!)

 

[Thande]

Thande has a good point. You could change the colours to the antiflash versions (even more of an ulterior motive). And/or swap the colours round so its a red ring with a blue globe (reversing what we did with the French roundel in WWI!)

Well it's the colours themselves really. I think the reason why blue and gold was used in OTL (and indeed why they were used for the EU!) is that they're not a combination of colours used by any national flag up to that point (AFAIK) and thus came across as suitably neutral. Blue and white works too (see the UN).

Something like these might work better for not pissing off Commonwealth leaders who started out as anti-colonial fighters; to clarify I think your design looks better, I just think it might be too controversial.

 

[Lord Insane]

Well it's the colours themselves really. I think the reason why blue and gold was used in OTL (and indeed why they were used for the EU!) is that they're not a combination of colours used by any national flag up to that point (AFAIK) and thus came across as suitably neutral.

Ah, blue and gold was used for a national flag before - though it is a lighter shade of blue (Sweden).

 

[Thande]

Ah, blue and gold was used for a national flag before - though it is a lighter shade of blue (Sweden).

I always thought that was light blue and yellow, but I suppose I might be thinking of older flag books that were vaguer on the colours. Anyway I think dark blue and gold is a fairly neutral colour combination as opposed to red white and blue (Britain, France, Netherlands, etc.) or black gold and red (Germany, Belgium)--when you're doing a supranational association with many members you don't want it to look more like one country's flag than another's.

 

[Lindseyman]

I have to say that the blue and white version does look better than either the original or the blue and gold.

 

[Thande]

I have to say that the blue and white version does look better than either the original or the blue and gold.

Well I think yours looks better--I really like how it subtly evokes the Union Jack--I'm just thinking of the RL considerations that mean that a lot of real life flags look worse than the ones we create on here Something like a Commonwealth flag is generally going to be designed by committee, and we all know what that means.