calliopes_pen

June Brown has passed away at the age of 95. May she rest in peace.

I presume a lot of people will know her from EastEnders, based on everything that I have read. I have never seen that particular soap opera, so I remember her in the role of Annie Chapman in Murder By Decree (1979). For Doctor Who fans, she was also in the serial The Time Warrior, where she played Lady Eleanor of Wessex.

Looking through her filmography, I believe that I need to track down Gormenghast (2000), which also evidently has Christopher Lee, Ian Richardson, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Neve McIntosh (Madame Vastra from Doctor Who). Another which appears to be of particular interest to me would be The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982), which also starred Anthony Hopkins, David Suchet, and Derek Jacobi (so two Van Helsings and a Master in one place).

ETA: A few minutes of searching on Youtube later, and I see that Gormenghast is up on Youtube, along with that particular version of Hunchback. If anyone else wants to watch the latter for free, someone evidently uploaded it 14 years ago, cut into 12 parts.

Helen McCrory has passed away, at the age of 52, following a battle with cancer. May she rest in peace.

I thought I only knew her from season 2 of Penny Dreadful, where she was fantastic as Evelyn Poole/Madame Kali. However, after consulting IMDB, I see that I had forgotten she was also in Doctor Who’s The Vampires of Venice, as Rosanna. She was wonderful there.

She was also in Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking (2004), which I watched once about a decade ago.

At some point, I might need to see about tracking down Frankenstein (2007), where she apparently plays Dr. Victoria Frankenstein, with the story transplanted into a modern day setting.

Barbara Shelley has passed away, at the age of 88, as a result of covid related complications. May she rest in peace.

I remember her best from various Hammer films. To me, her role as Helen in Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) was very memorable; I loved it, and recommend the film.

Thanks to Svengoolie, I’ve seen her in The Shadow of the Cat (1961), and Village of the Damned (1960). I loved her in The Gorgon (1964) (which was also on Svengoolie last year, I think).

In 2010, she was interviewed by Mark Gatiss for his series A History of Horror; having seen that at the time, I recommend everything of that. I need to watch Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966), Ghost Story (1974), and the miniseries The Dark Angel (aka Uncle Silas) (1989).

For Doctor Who fans, she was Sorasta, in 1984’s Planet of Fire.

Italian actress Lucia Bosè has passed away, at the age of 89. She reportedly died from covid-19-induced pneumonia as the pandemic hits Spain. May she rest in peace. I had heard of her before, since I had planned to watch Fellini - Satyricon (1969) at some point in the future. That time is now, evidently. After perusing her filmography, I also need to watch Ceremonia Sangrienta (1973), since she plays Erzebet Bathory there; and another two to locate would be Something Creeping in The Dark (1971), and Arcana (1972).

David Collings passed away suddenly yesterday morning, at the age of 79. May he rest in peace. I had heard the name several times before courtesy of people on the reading list. I watched a few episodes of Sapphire & Steel once when I believe it was Comet TV airing it; unfortunately, I didn't become a fan, and evidently didn’t catch him in the role of Silver.

After checking IMDB, I see he was in a surviving episode of Mystery And Imagination that I have on my external hard drive, but hadn’t watched yet, called The Suicide Club. So I’ll be watching that later.

William Morgan Sheppard has passed away at the age of 86. May he rest in peace. He had been in so many shows and films over the years, and it was always interesting to see him pop up. For Doctor Who fans, he played the elder version of Canton Everett Delaware III (the younger version being his actual son in real life) in the episode The Impossible Astronaut.

For Trek fans, he can be found in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, and in the 2009 movie. I recently spotted him again in reruns of Babylon 5. If you were a fan of Days of Our Lives back in the 90’s, you might recall him as being responsible for a massacre at Greta’s coronation. I also recall him being in Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988).

After checking his IMDB page, I see that I’ll have to locate one of his films in particular: The Doctor And The Devils (1985) looks interesting, being based on the story of Burke and Hare; it also stars Timothy Dalton and Patrick Stewart.

William Hughes has passed away at the age of 20. May he rest in peace. Doctor Who fans will likely remember him as the child Master who looked into the Untempered Schism (in a flashback when the Tenth Doctor was explaining the Master’s origin to Martha and Jack) in The Sound of Drums. According to IMDB, Hughes also appeared in the episode Sleeper over on Torchwood (though just listed as Boy).

While I do have a couple icons (and opted to use one of them) from that episode of Doctor Who, they're unfortunately not from that scene or with that version of the Master.

Peter Wyngarde has passed away at the age of 90, after ‘having been unwell for a couple of months.’ May he rest in peace.

He played Peter Quint in The Innocents (1961), and was Klytus in Flash Gordon (1980). He also appeared in Burn, Witch, Burn (aka Night of the Eagle) (1962), which Comet TV played quite a bit around Halloween last year. For Doctor Who fans, he appeared in Planet of Fire as Timanov.

He was also the inspiration for the appearance of the X-Men villain (particularly the illusion the character used for his likeness during the Dark Phoenix Saga, although I don't know if he used it again) Jason Wyngarde, which explains a lot. I kept thinking the late Wyngarde looked like him in regards to facial hair before I even found that trivia.

The Thirteenth Doctor’s new costume has been revealed. Tor’s right, since my first thought with those suspenders was Mork from Ork, too. However, as someone else points out in the comments and I thought of as well, the Eleventh Doctor loved to wear a fez, and there have been far worse outfits. So it’s just a case of give it a chance, and see how it looks in action.

Hywel Bennett has passed away at the age of 73. May he rest in peace. He was Rynian, the Aridian in the First Doctor era story The Death of Time. I haven’t seen that one, but I have seen Neverwhere (1996); he played Mr. Croup in that. I tracked it down at one point, since Peter Capaldi was in it as Islington.

Robert Hardy has passed away at the age of 91. May he rest in peace. I remember him as Professor Krempe in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994). And as Charles Augustus Milverton in (in the Jeremy Brett version of Sherlock Holmes) The Master Blackmailer.

Looking through his filmography on IMDB, I see that he was in an episode of Mystery And Imagination: the episode was The Phantom Lover, in 1966. That isn’t one of the surviving episodes.

(Surprisingly, I don't have any Frankenstein related icons. So have one from the Jeremy Brett version of Sherlock Holmes.)

Crossposts: http://calliopes-pen.livejournal.com/1015203.html

Deborah Watling has passed away, at the age of 69, following a battle with lung cancer. May she rest in peace. She played the role of Victoria Waterfield, companion to the Second Doctor, on Doctor Who. Unfortunately, most of her episodes were destroyed.

The Tomb of the Cybermen and The Enemy of the World managed to survive from her tenure on the series, along with the second episode of the serial The Evil of the Daleks.

Crossposts: http://calliopes-pen.livejournal.com/1014066.html

Trevor Baxter has passed away at the age of 84. May he rest in peace. For Doctor Who fans, he played Professor George Litefoot in the episode The Talons of Weng-Chiang. He reprised the role for Big Finish Productions, in Doctor Who: The Companion Chronicles: The Mahogany Murderers, and a series called Jago & Litefoot.

Having looked through his filmography, I see that he was in two episodes of Mystery And Imagination*--The Body Snatcher and Feet Foremost; I believe those are in the portion that are sadly lost. He was also in Jack The Ripper (1988) in the role of Lanyon--that one also starred Michael Caine, Lysette Anthony (Angelique from Dark Shadows 1991), and Susan George (Lucy in Dracula 1968). I have always meant to watch that one, so I’ll track it down. I think I spotted it at DailyMotion earlier, divided into parts.

*Come to think of it, that's two from Mystery And Imagination that have died in the last two months. Peter Sallis was the other one.

Crossposts: http://calliopes-pen.livejournal.com/1013963.html

The Thirteenth Doctor has been announced, and it is…Jodie Whittaker. I honestly didn’t think it would be a woman, but I don’t mind it. I have no idea who Jodie Whittaker is, but from what I’ve read so far, she can apparently act. Here’s the promo revealing the casting.

The first time I ever heard her name was this morning, in this Doctor Who TV post, where they were giving the odds of who it would be. Since she was one of several people from Broadchurch listed, I was guessing it was just because of either the Tennant or Chibnall connections, and not likely to happen.

Congratulations and good on her for getting cast in the role!

Crossposts: http://calliopes-pen.livejournal.com/1012383.html

Tomorrow, following the Men's Final of Wimbledon, the Thirteenth Doctor will be announced. So I just need to remember to stream BBC One tomorrow, and probably sit through part of that until the announcement begins. Here’s the promo for it.

Oh, and I also created a new account with PostImage. I then transferred the banner and book cover for Wrap The Cloak Of Night Around His Shoulders from Photobucket to there. Let me know if anyone has any issues with seeing either, since it currently looks fine on my end.

Crossposts: http://calliopes-pen.livejournal.com/1012063.html

Peter Sallis has passed away at the age of 96. May he rest in peace. While he was loved for being the voice of Wallace in Wallace & Gromit, I’ve barely heard of that in passing. However, after checking IMDB, I do remember him in the role of Samuel Paxton in Taste The Blood of Dracula (1970). I haven’t seen the film since I was probably 12. So at some point, I really need to rewatch that one. I recently watched The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) (he played a character named Don Enrique) for the first time, courtesy of Svengoolie airing it.

It appears Sallis was also in an episode of Mystery And Imagination in 1970, for an adaptation of Sweeney Todd, as Brogden/Mundel/Hopkins; from what I can determine, this might be one of the few episodes to have survived (along with Dracula 1968), although I haven’t been fortunate enough to locate it.

For Doctor Who fans, he played Penley in the Second Doctor era story The Ice Warriors in 1967. He was also in Frankenstein: The True Story (1973) as a priest; Tom Baker and Agnes Moorehead appear in it, too, so I need to locate and watch it. Even if is 3 hours long.

Crossposts: http://calliopes-pen.livejournal.com/1008343.html

Don’t worry, there won’t be any spoilers for yesterday’s episode of Doctor Who. Well, today’s for me, since I had a severe migraine (and accompanying nausea related extras*) at the time it was streaming yesterday, and onwards through when it would have aired on BBC America.

I kept thinking that David Suchet looked very familiar, and that it wasn’t just due to the role as Hercule Poirot (which I’ve never seen, aside from the occasional promo on either KET or PBS). It turns out he played Van Helsing in Dracula (2006).

While it isn't a particularly good adaptation, it had one of the better castings I've seen for Lucy Westenra in Sophia Myles. I watched it for the first time a couple months ago.

*I would have posted a 'this community is open' for

hidden_passages yesterday, if not for the migraine. I'll get on that now. I'm torn between three layouts for it, but I'm currently going with Amaranth in Librarian's Dream (the other two are Touch in Dusty Foot, and Pigeon Blue in Librarian's Dream).

Crossposts: http://calliopes-pen.livejournal.com/1004061.html

Bill Paxton has passed away at the age of 61, due to complications from heart surgery. May he rest in peace. I liked him as John Garrett on Agents of SHIELD, when I still sporadically watched the series. Until I checked his IMDB page, I never realized he played Chet in Weird Science (1985); I always preferred the 90’s series over the movie, so never really saw it more than a handful of times. He was also Severen in Near Dark (1987) and Simon in True Lies (1994).

Others will remember him from Twister and Titanic.

The Terminator (1984) gets rerun a lot on Comet TV and This TV; he’s a punk leader there. Someday I’ll get around to watching Aliens (1986).

Neil Fingleton has passed away at the age of 36, following a heart attack. May he rest in peace. On Doctor Who he played the Fisher King in the episodes Under The Lake and Before The Flood. Apparently, he was also known for being the tallest man in the UK.

Crossposts: http://calliopes-pen.livejournal.com/995748.html

Sir John Hurt has passed away, at the age of 77, following a long battle with pancreatic cancer. May he rest in peace; he died five days after his birthday. I mostly recognized him from his role as The War Doctor on Doctor Who, but apparently he was also the voice of the dragon on Merlin (which I watched for a couple seasons, and then jumped ship).

He is perhaps most famous for his role as Gilbert Kane in Alien (1979). His death scene is one that I unfortunately watched first at the age of 5, when it was suddenly shown in the middle of Terror In The Aisles (suspense films, stuff from the 40’s in black and white, sudden unexpected--well, to me--chestburster scene followed as the show talked about bloodier horror; I think that is how that went, and then gory then on out). I didn’t know that was him when I watched Spaceballs many years later.

He was The Horned King in The Black Cauldron (1985), and Aragorn in Lord of the Rings (the Ralph Bakshi version from 1978).

And when it comes to horror films, I remember him from Frankenstein Unbound (1990), and The Skeleton Key (2005). I haven’t seen The Ghoul (1975), so I need to watch that at some point, along with Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (it also stars the late Alan Rickman) and Whistle And I’ll Come To You (2010).

(I don't have an icon of The War Doctor, so here's one of the Brigadier.)

Crossposts: http://calliopes-pen.livejournal.com/992583.html

Roger Lloyd-Pack has passed away, at the age of 69, after a battle with pancreatic cancer. May he rest in peace. I’ve only seen him in the Doctor Who two-parter The Age of Steel and Rise of the Cybermen, where he played John Lumic.

Crossposts: http://calliopes-pen.livejournal.com/944328.html

I appear to be finished with my fanfic, and it's now off to the first person to beta read it. 14,647 words. Given a couple things that go on in the course of it all, I'll probably be rating it R.

Also, is anyone else having trouble with LJ? I can log in finally, but I haven't been able to get any further than the main page for the last two or three days. It's only LJ, and no other site--it's that way in IE, Chrome, and Firefox, so it's likely something to do with the cluster I'm on.

When I try to cross-post, looks like Dreamwidth fails to connect until the third try. So definitely an issue on LJ's part.

Oh, and without spoiling anyone who may not have seen it--loved the 50th anniversary special of Doctor Who when it aired on Saturday.