(no subject)

[doyle]

Did anybody catch the programme about CS Lewis on telly this afternoon? Could they reassure me my ears were malfunctioning for the ten minutes I saw and the child version of the Belfast-born Lewis and his family weren't, in fact, all speaking with English accents even as the narration said they were in Belfast and called his mother an Irishwoman? Because I was rather pissed off about that and, y'know, it'd be nice not to be pissed off on Christmas, at least till ten minutes after new Doctor Who tomorrow when round 7,000 of the War of the Rose is scheduled to start.

I have a new copy of Ruby in the Smoke by that guy who wrote all those famous books I haven't read. It has Billie on the cover, all pretty and period-costumed up. Normally I'd be quite confident of getting it read between now and the TV version on the 27th, but with yuletide going live early tomorrow morning and many episodes of the beauteous QI to watch, I'm just not sure. (Speaking of QI, the Book of General Ignorance - which has prompted this watching spree - claims that the first polar bear in captivity belonged to Ptolemy of Egypt. I've been devoting an unfeasible amount of time to thinking about this bear. How did it get to Egypt? Where did he keep it? Why, with the raft of celebrity reality shows, hasn't there been an Ancient Arctic Challenge where Jordan, Richard Madeley and Jimmy Carr try to get a polar bear to Alexandria using only the technology that would have been available in Ptolemy's time, with a public vote as to who gets to be fed to the bear? Because I personally would pay to see that.)

Comments

[fateorlate.livejournal.com]

They're doing a version of Ruby in the Smoke with Billie? AWESOME.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

Yes! The vast amount I know about it is this:

(1) She is playing Sally, who I gather is a detective
(2) The trailer has her stepping out of a train in period dress.

I don't actually need to know more than that to be in front of the telly with a box of chocolates come the 27th.

She's going to be in Mansfield Park, too, but I don't know when that's on.

[thisficklemob.livejournal.com]

That sounds really familiar... does the book begin with her talking about how her father taught her to keep her gunpowder dry?

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

Not as far as I can see from skimming chapter one, but that sounds really, really familiar. Hmm.

[txvoodoo.livejournal.com]

"...round 7,000 of the War of the Rose..."

That made me totally LOL.

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Because I personally would pay to see that.

So would I.

I need rose icons. :(

[autophanous.livejournal.com]

man, I haven't even READ ruby in the smoke and now I can't wait until it comes on. I love billie and I'm glad to see her acting in other things, now that she's moved on from who.

"war of the rose," however, made me laugh a LOT.

[xipuloxx.livejournal.com]

Blimey, Young C.S. Lewis with an English accent? How offensive is that! Which channel was this on and is it repeated so I can throw rotten tomatoes at the TV? At least when they had Anthony Hopkins play Lewis it was an older Lewis who'd been in Oxford for decades and might indeed have spoken RP by then... (although neither him nor his brother having ANY trace of a Norn Irish accent was a bit implausible!)

Happy Christmas btw, since I know you never read my LJ! :(

;)

[sluggirl.livejournal.com]

Ruby in the Smoke TV movie?! This is why I should be in Dr Who fandom. I mean, there are other reasons, but also, that I would have been made aware of this.

And I think it's funny that you wrote about that and CS Lewis in the same post, because Philip Pullman (he's the one who wrote all those famous books) has sort of declared himself the anti-Lewis and writes rants about him at every opportunity.

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

Have a delightful holiday!

(The CS Lewis thing is making me laugh, I have to admit. I thought only in America.)

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

I DEMAND REDRESS. Let's have a biopic of Dickens where he has a strong Belfast accent.

[a2zmom.livejournal.com]

It could have been worse. They could have gone the "Lucky Charms" route. (Thinks of DB mangling an Irish accent.)

[owl]

I am rather cheesed that Billie is in the Ruby in the Smoke because I don't like Pullman's writing. I'm looking forward to seeing her in Mansfield Park. I'm sure there will be mention of it on the internets and in the Radio Times etc, because she has become a Famous British Actor-Person now.

Possibly there are no child actors from Norn Irn.

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

The mother was English as well! Unless I was mishearing the whole thing. (And either way, it's ludicrous: can you imagine them doing a programme about Robert Burns where he has an English accent?)

[(Anonymous)]

Robert Burns where he has an English accent
Those words are blasphemy.