#Mr Robson

[gone2soon-rip]

STUART ORGAN (1951/52-Died February ? 2024,at 72).British tv and theatre actor.Organ was best known for his portrayal of the character Mr. Robson in the children's television drama Grange Hill. Organ portrayed the series' longest-serving teacher, arriving in 1988 as the new head of PE. In 1998 he finally landed the headmaster's job, but left the series in 2003.He has appeared in numerous UK television series such as Law & Order:UK,Down to Earth,Holby City,and Doctor Who cares. Stuart Organ - Wikipedia

[iwouldlovetoeatyourtoast]

[applesdefinitely]

aand that's it, that's the show (okay, seasons 1-3)

[evilhorse]

What is wrong with you gnort-knockers?

[badmovieihave]

Bad movie I have Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1920

[wawamouse]

Oz Rewatch 3: S5E04: Next Stop Valhalla

Storylines

Jaime tries to kill Guerra and is killed instead; Miguel feels guilty; Alicia Hinden comes to Oz with the dog training program; Augustus, Penders, and Miguel are selected

Miss Sally’s Schoolyard to become Sallycise; Brass confirms to Rebadow he bought the lottery ticket; Martinez hits Brass with a shit cocktail; Gloria tries to get Martinez put in the hospital and then beats him up when he keeps touching her face

Beecher and Schillinger fight during an interaction session; Schillinger antagonises Schibetta;

Peter Marie visits Keller; McClain visits Keller

Winthrop and Guenzel arrive at Oz; Guenzel is taken under Beecher’s wing while Winthrop becomes a prag for the Aryans in Unit B

Frank Urbano arrives at Oz; Beecher asks Pancamo for the Italians help in protecting Guenzel; the Aryans and Italians get into a fight

Gloria tells Ryan he has to tell his mother about his crimes; Ryan breakdances instead; Shupe tells O’Reily that Li going to rape his mom; Ryan and Cyril kill Li

Augustus continues to grieve his mother and ends up breaking his sobriety

Omar annoys Emerald City and Said with his singing, McManus gives him a supply closet to practice in; Redding demands Omar use it to sell drugs; Lalar and Arif complain to Said that he’s neglecting his role as leader; Robson tortures and kills Lalar

Sister: That’s why they gotta stop announcing everything they do in this show, like...

Sister: I feel like [Norma’s] just dead at this point.

Sister: I feel like they’re leading up to him being like a mass shooter or something. Me: You think he’s gonna snap? Sister: He seems like the type...

Sister: …I think being free would making him happy. I mean, [Toby] had that whole vision about being free that did not include [Chris], so I think he’ll be fine.

Sister: You can just tell them anything and they’ll let you through��

Sister: What’s wrong with this guy? What’s he in for? Me: Hate crimes… Murder, officially, I think. Sister: Hate crime? What’s he sniffing people for? Me: He's just a perv...

Sister: …That’s so gross… In my sickened state*, I can’t even summon a bleugh. Me: [Retching noise] Sister: Thanks. (*We got some booster shots yesterday and Sister always gets sick afterward lol)

Sister: When are they going to address that guy whose wife also died? Me: Never. Sister: So why did they introduce her?! To spout off some facts and get shushed by the priest?? Me: Maybe there was originally supposed to be more of a story to it and it go cut. Sister: No, they just wanted to do their little after school special moment and then not deal with it. You know, if any of the Muslims should be having the issues in these episodes, it should be the other guy (Arif), not Mr. Said... Me: They could have issues together. Sister: Yeah. Kill the Nazi helper dude. The one who's egging everything on. Schillinger doesn't even really do stuff on his own anymore. Before, he didn't want to fight and wanted to become a Jesus freak and it was always that guy whispering in his ear. And now look.

Sister: How we know he’s not gonna build a bomb in there? … Oh, I guess they took away all the cleaning supplies…

Stray Thoughts

Sister says Jia Kenmin and Li Chen’s plan to provoke Ryan so they could kill him in self defense was really not thought-out

Sister is convinced that someone is going to die for one of the dogs

Sister believes that killing Robson would get rid of most of the Aryans’ bite since she views him as being the worst out of all the Aryans

Final thoughts

The scene where Robson and what’s his face torture Lalar is the toughest scene to watch in the entire show, imo. And it pisses me off (like, I’m actually getting mad thinking about it right now, lol) that Robson gets more expansion in terms of character as the show progresses, too, because whooooooooo gives a shit about a Nazi?! They still haven’t followed up on Arif’s wife LMAO. Also Urbano gets introduced this episode and they don’t end up doing shit with him, really, either. But let’s learn about this asshole!!

Sister: I feel like they’ve run out of storylines with the Muslims and are just repeating past ones. Wasn’t it [Arif] who was the one complaining about Said’s leadership the last time? And then he couldn’t handle it which caused the whole thing… and now he’s doing it again? Me: I think they just don’t like when Said helps other people. They complained when Said was spending time on Beecher, too… Sister: Yeah, [Arif] is so needy… He’s like “you’re spending too much time with your roommate who you have to stay in a cell with” and also every time he is around, [Said] just wants [Omar] to be quiet anyway…

[cute-ai-grannies]

Mrs Sally Robson, mature model.

[citizenscreen]

Stars gather to celebrated Frank McHugh’s birthday in 1935.

Pictured: Mrs. James Gleason, Ben Alexander, Anita Louise, Frank McHugh, Jimmy Gleason, Ginger Rogers, Pat O'Brien, and May Robson as Frank prepares to slice the cake.

[ozimagines]

Oz Characters as Movies…

Beecher: Before Sunrise (1995)

Keller: Sanctuary (2023)

O’Reily: Scarface (1983)

Cyril: Scarface (1932)

Chico: Angels with Dirty Faces (1938)

Murphy: The Day of the Owl (1968)

Miguel: Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1922)

McManus: Metropolis (1927)

Said: He Even Has Your Eyes (2016)

Stanislavsky: One, Two, Three! (1961)

Burr: Blackboard Jungle (1955)

Chucky: Goodfellas (1990)

Agustus: Carmen Jones (1954)

Busmalis: Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (1953)

Rebadow: Stalag 17 (1953)

Carlos: The Platform (2019)

Carlo: Pasqualino and the Seven Beauties (1975)

Suzanne: Song at Midnight (1937)

Arif: Imitation of Life (1934)

Dr. Nathan: Level 16 (2018)

Robson: The Golem (1920)

Schillinger: Olympia Part One: Festival of Nations (1938)

Fiona: Kiss Me Kosher (2020)

Idzik: The Vigil (2019)

Jia: Street Angel (1937)

Morales: Casino (1995)

Omar: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? (1967)

Peter: Life is Beautiful (1999)

[scotianostra]

On January 3rd 1888 O H Mavor, known as James Bridie, the physician and prolific playwright, was born.

Born in Glasgow,Osborne Henry Mavor, He took his pen-name from his paternal grandfather’s first name and his grandmother’s maiden name, Mavor studied medicine at the University and graduated in 1913. He threw himself into the social life of Gilmorehill, notably as a contributor to Glasgow University Magazine and as a member of the University Union. Mavor was the man who started the “Daft Friday” event at the university which is still a traditional part of the University Union and features a night of entertainment from performers, some of whom went on to make their name in the entertainment industry, like Billy Connolly and Gerry Rafferty, who, as The Humblebums appeared in 1968.

Bridie served in the First World War in the Royal Army Medical Corps and his later career included spells as a general practitioner, a consulting physician at the Victoria Infirmary and Professor of Medicine at the Anderson College of Medicine, before his increasing success as a dramatist led to his embracing that career full-time.. He was one of the leading British playwrights of his generation, the founder of the Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, in 1943, and the first chairman of the Scottish Committee of the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts established in 1942, (subsequently the Scottish Committee of the Arts Council of Great Britain). He was instrumental in the establishment of the College of Dramatic Art in 1950, now part of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.

Mavor wrote over 40 plays in his lifetime. His first play, ‘The Sunlight Sonata’, presented by the Scottish National Players, directed by Tyrone Guthrie in 1928, followed by The Switchback, and What It Is To Be Young . The Anatomist, produced in 1930, and based on the lives of nineteenth century vivisectionist Dr Robert Knox, and the murderers Burke and Hare, was his first major success. The Anatomist was made into a Movie twice, first by Hammer in 1956 and then a TV Movie in 1980 with Patrick Stewart in the role of Knox.

This success continued throughout the 1930s and 40s with, amongst others, Jonah and the Whale, Mary Read’with Flora Robson and Robert Donat,Susannah and the Elders, The King of Nowhere with Laurence Olivier, Mr Bolfry’ with Alastair Sim again, and many others.

In 1939 he was awarded an honorary LL.D from Glasgow University, and received his CBE in 1946.

James Bridie died in Edinburgh in 1951 of a stroke and is buried in Glasgow Western Necropolis.

In 1955 Glasgow University Union purchased a bronze head of Mavor/Bridie by Benno Schotz. The Bridie Dinner, introduced that year, became a feature of Daft Friday at the Union. His Grandaughter is the Scottish actress and model Freya Mavor.

[docrotten]

PARENTS (1989) – Episode 264 – Decades of Horror 1980s

“Uh, if you take a black cat and broil it in the oven, and you peel off the skin on the bones and take it off… and you chew on the bone, you’ll be invisible.” Just a little something for show and tell. Don’t try it at home, children. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they check out some very weird parents in the aptly titled film… Parents (1989).

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 264 – Parents (1989)

Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! Click the alert to get notified of new content! https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine

Gruesome Magazine is partnering with the WICKED HORROR TV CHANNEL (https://wickedhorrortv.com/), which now includes video episodes of Decades of Horror 1980s and is available on Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, AndroidTV, and its online website across all OTT platforms, as well as mobile, tablet, and desktop.

A young boy living in 1950s suburbia suspects that his parents are cannibalistic murderers

Director: Bob Balaban

Writer: Christopher Hawthorne

Selected Cast:

Randy Quaid as Nick Laemle

Mary Beth Hurt as Lily Laemle

Sandy Dennis as Millie Dew

Bryan Madorsky as Michael Laemle

London Juno as Sheila Zellner (as Juno Mills-Cockell)

Kathryn Grody as Miss Baxter

Deborah Rush as Mrs. Zellner

Graham Jarvis as Mr. Zellner

Helen Carscallen as Grandmother

Warren Van Evera as Grandfather

Wayne Robson as Lab Attendant

Uriel Byfield as Little Boy

Mariah Balaban as Little Girl

Larry Palef as Announcer

You might not get what you’re expecting in Bob Balaban’s Parents (1989). Labeled as a horror comedy and starring Randy Quaid, one might expect some wild-and-crazy, whack-a-doodle hijinx. Instead, you get the button-down collar, tie-and-lab-coat-wearing version of Mr. Quaid, and some very dark humor with a heavy emphasis on dark. Quaid and Mary Beth Hurt are the parents of Michael (Bryan Madorsky), an emotionally flat and expressionless kid living a nightmare with his parents. Enter Sandy Dennis as Millie Dew, the school social worker, who jumps right into the frying pan. Literally. Mileage may vary regarding outright laughs, but the Grue-Crew enjoyed the watch and have much to discuss.

At the time of this writing, Parents is available to stream from Tubi and on physical media as a Blu-ray disc from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. 

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Chad, will be Aenigma (1987). It’s Fulci time!

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans – so leave them a message or comment on the Gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the Gruesome Magazine website, or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com.

Check out this episode!

[theemptybloggercometh]

UNIT’s Latest Recruit

Fandom: Doctor Who/Doctor Who Redacted

Characters: Rose Noble, Mel Bush, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, Cleo Proctor

Context: Set a few months before The Legend of Ruby Sunday

Summary: When Rose doesn’t go back to school after getting into trouble for something that wasn’t her fault, she doesn’t realise the trouble’s only beginning

Triggers: Transphobia including misgendering, deadnaming and physical assault. Transphobic “jokes” and slurs. Reference to Rowling. Reference to racism. 

Word Count: 5933

The sound of the Nobel’s front door slamming shut reverberated around the up until then empty house.

“AHHHHH!!!” Rose cried out both out of anger and of anguish. Then, using the hand that hadn’t lowered since slamming the door, she suddenly tore her school bag of her back and threw it into the corner.

All her energy expended, she then fell against the door and slid down until she was sitting on the wooden floorboards. As tears start to well up deep down inside of her, she drew up her legs up to her chest and folded her head down onto her knees. Within seconds tears were blurring her vision and cascading down her face before falling onto her school blazer.

Her mind started whirling like one of those old film projectors, projecting her day back to her.

It had started off good enough. Having had an alright  sleep, she got downstairs to find the Doctor in the kitchen preparing breakfast for her, Wilf and Donna. As they were eating, Wilf told them stories about his old army friend who everyone, apart from Rose, who going to visit that day in Chatham.

“It’s a shame you couldn’t miss school today, Rose” he said

“I don’t believe it” Donna chided good-humouredly “after all the times you stressed the importance of education to me and now you’re encouraging her to play truant”

“I’m sorry, you’re right” he said and then added, in an over the top manner “I don’t know what I was thinking, school is the best place in the entire world”

Donna rolled her eyes 

“What is you kids say?” Wilf continued “my bad”

Rose laughed “OMG, Great-Gramps, I’ve told you, you can’t say things like that it just doesn’t sound right”

Unfortunately this was as good a day as the universe was going to allow her. Indeed, it started to go downhill as soon as she got onto the bus to go to school.

“Do you have a bus pass, mate” the driver asked

The gendered connotations of ‘mate’ set Rose’s teeth on edge.

“Miss” she corrected firmly before showing him the app on her phone

Apart from gesturing towards the seats, he showed no sign that he had heard her.  

As she climbed up to the top deck Rose really wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt; maybe he genuinely hadn’t seen her skirt or noticed her long hair. (Of course, she reminded herself, gender presentation does not equal certain pronouns or a specific gender identity) But then again, he wouldn’t be the first person to see that she was trans and decided to maliciously misgender her.

A few stops later, a couple of boys in Year 9 got on and they both sniggered as they passed her to sit at the back of the bus. Rose maintained her gaze looking at the passing houses and trees as the bus slowly made its way through Camden. However, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the boys were still mocking her.

The day took another dive when she was in second period biology.

“So the male of the species – ” Mr Robson was saying when a pupil raised his hand “Yes Connor?”

“How do we know it’s a male?” said Conner whilst leaning back on the stool so that it’s front two feet were raised from the floor

Rose looked up from her notes where she had been copying the diagram from the screen as a few other of her classmates laughed and saw Mr Robson’s glance towards her.

The teacher held up his hand and the laugher slowly died down “You know my rule about there being no silly question”

Despite this, Mr Robson himself doubted that a high achiever like Connor actually needed to ask this question; it was more likely that he was asking this to make a dig at Jas-, no, Rose. Mr Robson had freely admitted to his fellow teachers that this whole trans thing confuses him.  And that wasn’t even considering how to implement all the guidelines from the local authority and the government. He’s just a few years away from retirement, for Pete’s sake, and doesn’t need this aggro. And yet…and yet…just because he doesn’t get it, it doesn’t mean that Rose has to suffer, especially in his classroom.

“How would you find out?” he asked putting Connors question back to him

He instantly regretted this course of action as Connor put on an extremely exaggerated thinking pose which would have made Miss Coopper, Head of Drama, proud

“Um…” Connor replied “I don’t know…we could look at the genital”

“Right” affirmed Mr Robson simply, hoping this would shut the tangent down “Now where was I? Ah yes –”

“But sir?” Connor piped up again

Rose’s shoulders tensed; she did not like the way this was going 

Resisting the urge to say ‘what now?’, Mr Robson instead asked “Can it wait?”

“It’s just I thought we had to ask it how it self identifies?” said Connor whilst looking pointedly at Rose

As laughter rippled through the lab, Rose’s skin prickled with embarrassment. She absolutely hated being made the centre of attention. In a way, it wasn’t the joke – if you could call it that – that stung, much more so it was the laughter. The “joke” was predicably boring and unoriginal but the laughter depressingly showed how shallow the ‘acceptance’ of her peers actually was. It was moments like this when she felt like she was in a Victorian freak show, being brought out when people needed something to stare at; to be amused and horrified by in equal measure. 

“Quiet” said Mr Robson quietly like a storm rumbling off in the distance. The laughter silenced, he addressed Connor “If you manage to pass your GCSE’s, you might wish to study sociology and learn the difference between sex and gender”

Thirty minutes later, with laughter still ringing in Rose’s ears, the bell sounded for break and her day reached its nadir when she needed to use the bathroom.

Walking past the girls’ bathroom, Rose went down a side corridor to where the disabled bathroom was located. She felt a bit uncomfortable with using the disabled bathrooms and taking up space meant for someone else, someone who needed it more than her, but she had rationalised it as societies fault for having it’s weird obsession with keeping men and women separate.

But no sooner than she had thought that, she saw the bathroom had an out of order sign taped to its door “Ah, crap” she muttered

The nearest disabled bathroom to this one was in the English block. Rose bit her lip; could she make it that far? She cursed how her body just had to betray her like this and how she hadn’t needed to go whilst in the lesson.

Taking a deep breath, she went back up the corridor and before she could think about it a second longer, pushed open the door to the girl’s bathroom. Keeping her head low as she rushed past the girls standing by the sinks, she went into a cubical and quickly locked the door.

After she was done, she stood in the cubical waiting for the girls leave. When five minutes had passed without this happening, Rose knew she couldn’t stay put any long so took another deep breath and opened the door before walking to the sinks

Rose waved her hand in front of the sensor and focused on the sound of running water as she started to wash her hands. The girls next to her were still fixing up their makeup like nothing was wrong. Maybe, just maybe, this one time the world wouldn’t end because a someone nonbinary had used the bathroom  

This was when the universe decided to punish Rose for getting her hopes up.

Rose had just about finished holding her hands under the dryer when three girls in the same year group as her entered the bathroom 

“And do you know what he said to me” Grace was saying to Bella and Zara “he said – ” before stopping dead in her tracks with her expression suddenly going from delight to disgust  

“What the hell are you doing in here?” she demanded, glaring at Rose

Even though this was far from new, it was still unnerving especially as Rose was acutely aware that every girl was now staring at her. She fixed her eyes on the door as she shook the last remaining drops of water off her hands.

Having not got any response, Grace strode over and got right into Rose’s face “Answer me, freak”

Rose took a step back and collided into Zara; having been too focused on Grace, Rose had missed the other two girls moving behind her

“Oh my God, get off me” Zara snarled as she crossed her hands defensively across her chest “I swear he just tried to touch my boob, the pervert”

Grace came around to stand beside her and Bella as they marched menacingly forward until Rose’s back was pressed against the cold hard wall, the air thick with the sense of impending violence  

Rose couldn’t control her breathing. Her heart was beating against her ribs. Her feet were rooted to the spot. Her mind was screaming ‘GET OUT!’

Grace took another step forward and this is what Rose’s body needed to snap into action. Without thinking of what she was doing, Rose turned to the left and reached out for the door handle, in her haste nearly missing it, and yanked it open. As she was in the middle of taking a step forward she felt Grace’s hands press onto her back and push her forward out of the bathroom.

‘Fuck off, tranny’ she heard over her shoulder as lost her footing and crashed down hard onto the floor. Before she could even register that her right elbow, hip and knee were hurting, she was on her feet again and had turned to face Grace. She raised her fist and was about to drive it into her stupid face but just then Mr Robson rounded the corner.   

“ROSE NOBLE” he roared

Rose, her breath ragged, blinked. If the last few minutes had been going at double speed, now it was like everything was in slow motion. She looked at her hand and wondered how it had turned into a fist. She looked at Grace who’s look of fear was turning into smug satisfaction. Likewise, the murmurs of the teens who had stopped to stare were increasing in volume.

Rose dropped her arm to her side and took a step back. She turned to face Mr Robson who’s disappointment was etched on his face.

“Please go to Mrs Gallaghers Office” Mr Robson continued this time in a low voice.

“But, but, but” sputtered Rose

“No but’s.”

“You don’t understand”

“Oh I think I do.”

Rose noticed that one of the girls who had been putting on makeup was walking away “Hey” she pleaded “you saw the whole thing, tell Mr Robson what really happened”

But the girl looked down to her shoes and hurried along

“I’m not going to ask again; go now or you’ll be in more trouble” Mr Robson demanded

Rose spluttered again before she turned on her heel and walked down the corridor. Throwing the buildings door open she started to walk across the path toward the art’s building where her Head of Year’s office was situated. She was already thinking of what she was going to say to Mrs Gallagher – like Mrs Gallagher would believe anything she said.

Rose came to a sudden stop.

“Fuck this” she muttered

Turning around, this time, instead of going into the science block, she went quickly around it’s right side until she was at some steps. With her shoe’s clicking on the stone tiles, she made her way down where at the bottom was a short path to the school reception. Knowing the questions she would have to answer if she went through this to reach the school gates, she veered off from the path and walked across a patch of grass to the staff car park. Once she had got round the collection of Vauxhalls, Honda’s and Toyotas she ducked under the barrier and made her way onto the main road.  

Back in the present, Rose opened her eyes and wiped away her tears. She was glad that she had kept it together on the bus – this time with no problematic driver. And for once she was glad that the Doctor or her Great-Gramps were not here, as they would usually be at this time; it would have been so embarrassing for them to see her lose control like that. 

Her eyes felt sore and she knew if she looked in a mirror they would be red too. She felt like closing them again and sleeping a dreamless sleep for a thousand years, maybe then the world would be better.

As much as she would have liked just to stay where she was, she knew that she had to get up eventually. Indeed, this was going to have to be sooner rather than later as it was getting a bit uncomfortable sitting on the floorboards. Slowly uncurling herself from the floor, she gripped the top of the sideboard with her left hand and heaved herself up to a standing position.

With feet that felt like lead, Rose walked into the kitchen and put the kettle on. After getting the tea pot ready, she stood waiting for it to boil. That was when she saw, over by the fruit bowl, her mum’s UNIT ID badge. Rose smiled, a weird sensation to be sure, but an fantastic idea had started to form in the back of her mind. 

The Doctor had once said ‘just walk about like you own the place’ and while this was a bit trickier as someone trans and of colour, Rose had put on her best nonchalant expression and walked through UNIT security like she had done it a thousand times. It had helped that she had done it a few times whilst visiting with her mum. It also certainly helped that she had changed out of her school uniform and was now wearing an purple jumper with a knee length black pencil skirt and ballet flats. This and her subtle makeup help make her look like a professional just starting out in her career instead of an awkward schoolgirl.

With its efficient hum of fingers clicking away on keyboards and hushed conversations, you might think that the Bridge of UNIT’s HQ was just like any other office in central London. That was until you saw the Vlinx and the soldiers dotted around, then you might start to get the idea that the work going on in here was a bit more important than that happening in the rest of the city. 

Rose had entered the Bridge and, keeping close to the walls, made her way over to the opposite side. She looked across to one of the workstations and saw that the operative was looking at pictures from the 70’s – or was it 80’s? – Axos incursion. Craning her neck to get a better look at the next operative along, she could just see over their shoulder that they were comparing various maps of Northumberland.

“Oh hey, Rose” a bubbly voice said behind her

Rose turned around to see Mel with a fresh cup of tea in her hands. She had thought she would have to make an effort to smile so was surprised with how naturally a smile spread across her lips.

“Hi Mel” she replied “you alright?” 

“I’m good thanks, how are you? Haven’t seen you in a long time”

“Yeah, the last time was…” Rose paused to think, conscious of the fact that that she was avoiding Mel’s question “It was my mum’s birthday, right?

“That was a very fun evening, my sides hurt for a week from laughing so much. Come, sit with me” Mel said as she began to walk to her workstation. Once she had reached it, she pushed some folders, a few pens and a half-full packet of Garabaldi biscuits aside and put her cup down. “Oh my, I’m such a…I forgot to ask if you wanted a drink”

“I’m good thanks”

“You’re sure?” said Mel as she went across to an empty workstation and wheeled it’s chair over next to hers.

“Umm. well, maybe a small tea” Rose said as she sat down and placed her bag on the floor

“Milk? Sugar?”

“Just a drop of milk, no sugar”

“One small cup of tea with just a drop of milk coming up. Make yourself at home”

And the thing was, Rose did feel like she was home from home. Here she felt totally safe. Here nobody was judging her. A feeling of contentment swept over her and for the first time since this morning she could properly breath.

When Mel returned, she shoved aside some memory sticks and memory drives to find space on her desk for Rose’s cup. “There you go” she said and anticipating that Rose might say something continued “I know, I know, it may look a mess, but I have a system”

“If it works for you that’s all that matters. Anyway, what are you working on at the moment?”

“This?” Mel said, logging onto her computer. The screen showed several lines, similar to an ECG “We’re picking these signals up from a satellite, but here’s the thing, where do you think they’re coming from?”

“I want to say space, but…”

“That’s too obvious, right? Think lower”

“Underground…no, the sea?”

“Yep, we’re think that the Sea Devils are waking up once more” 

Behind them, Kate, in a smart navy trouser suit, walked onto the Bridge and proudly looked at her hand-picked team. But a frown made its way onto her face as she tilted her head and started to walk forward. 

“Rose” she said firmly after approaching Mel’s workstation “can I have a word?”

“Oh, hi Kate, yeah sure” replied Rose, smiling

Once they had gone over to the side, Kate put her hand on her hips “I’m going to have to ask that you leave”

Rose’s jaw dropped “What! But I’ve been here lots of times before”

“With your mum who has security clearance, you don’t. How did you get in anyway?”

Rose went back to Mel’s workstation and retrieved her mum’s ID badge from her handbag. She handed it to Kate and then folded her arms across her chest. 

“Ah” said Kate handing the badge back to Rose “If you were anybody else, I would have you arrested”

“But that’s the thing” implored Rose a bit more loudly than she had intended. She motioned towards the workstations “this isn’t new to me. Why can’t I have security clearance”

“You’re sixteen” said Kate kindly

“But like I said, I’ve dealt with things some of these people haven’t. How about if I volunteer?”

“I’m really sorry” Kate put her hand onto Rose’s shoulder “I just can’t”

Rose brusquely shrugged off Kate’s hand “Okay” and went over to Mel’s workstation to retrieve her bag

“What’s going on?” enquired Mel over the sound of her mobile ringtone

“Nothing” murmured Rose, not looking her in the eye. Then she marched past Kate, who tried to touch her arm, and out of the Bridge.  

“Please mind the gap between the train and the platform. This is a Central Line service to Ealing Broadway. The next station is Holborn”

The doors of the carriage soon slid shut and the tube jolted forward, but despite this, Rose continued to stare into the middle distance.

It was just one more stop until she needed to change for the Piccadilly Line and then a short journey to Leicester Square where she would need to change for the Northern Line to get to Camden. She could of course gone straight from Moorgate to Camden instead of this convoluted route from Liverpool Street, but that would mean passing through King’s Cross and she absolutely didn’t want to be reminded of anything to do with her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rose saw the man who had just got on reading the Daily Mail. Biting her lip, she shifted her body away from him.

She got the Underground map up on her phone and traced her journey from Holborn to Leicester Square. Her eyes then followed the dark blue line back up to Holborn and then onto Russell Square. She tapped the screen a few times thoughtfully.

When the tube came to a stop, Rose got off and then started the long walk down the curved tunnel until she got to the Piccadilly Line section. Then instead of going down to the southbound side, she took the right side of the junction that eventually led her to a northbound train.

Fifteen minutes later, Rose emerged from Russel Square station and went down Marchmont Street until she was nearly at its end. There stood the white store front of Gay’s the Word, the oldest queer bookshop in the UK.

As she approached, she had a moment of doubt. Going here did have the feel of postponing the inevitable explanation she would have to give her mum. But then again, her mum wouldn’t be home for a good while yet. And if she did go home now all she would do is just wait for her to get back. At least here she would be doing something. Plus, she needed something to lift her spirts up and being here never failed in that regard.

With that decided, Rose surveyed the window display and saw some books that she had read like The Transgender Agenda, Pageboy and One Last Stop. Then her eyes lit up as she saw they had Rebel Robin back in stock; She had been looking for that everywhere. 

A bell dinged as Rose pushed open the door to the shop. The person sitting at the counter pricing a stack of books looked up from their task and waved at her

“Hi” she replied waving back

The shop always had a quiet peacefulness about it and today was no different even with several other customers present

Passing a hanging Progress Flag and a noticeboard which included posters for PrEP and an upcoming poetry evening, she got to the fiction section and went straight to ‘C’ to find A. R. Capetta. A few second later she had a copy of Rebel Robin clasped in her hands.

Later she was reading a synopsis that finished ‘discover that true love isn’t limited to romance’. Maybe next time she thought as she squeezed the book back onto the shelf with the rest of the ‘O’ authors.

She had moved onto perusing the nonfiction section when the bright pink spine of To My Trans Sisters instantly caught her eye. She reached out towards the book, but just as her hand was inches away, it collided with the outstretched hand of another woman.

“Sorry” Rose said, her hand recoiling

The woman waved Rose’s apology away “No, no, my bad”. She motioned towards the shelf “you first” 

But instead, Rose complimented the woman on her outfit especially her leather jacket.

“Ah thanks babe” the woman replied “it’s Versace, but” and here she leaned in closer conspiratorially “I found it in a charity shop for a tenner, just don’t tell anybody”

Rose laughed “Don’t worry, your secrets safe with me. I’m Rose by the way”

“Nice to meet you Rose, I’m Cleo. So are you a student or…?”

“Kinda, I’m still at school”

“Ah you’re playing truant” Cleo waved her left hand into the air and clicked her fingers “Yes, girl. I totally understand, school was absolute hell”

“Is it truanting though if you’re pre-emptively walking out before being suspended?”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I got into an altercation with another girl. She pushed me and I went to punch her but guess who the teacher saw?”

“Damn, I’m sorry” said Cleo, her face full of concern as she placed her hand onto Rose’s arms

“I mean, that’s being trans all over isn’t it? Rose sniffed, determined not cry especially in front of someone she didn’t know, albeit an extremely friendly someone “the moment, the one moment, you defend yourself against all the crap that gets thrown at you, you forfeit society’s so called tolerance”

“Exactly, we’re never allowed to be angry, properly angry, even though we’ve got lots to be angry about”

“I’m exhausted being this angry though” Rose paused and briefly looked wistful “You know, I thought coming out would be the hardest part, but it’s what comes after. It’s hardened me. Years ago I would have said that violence was always wrong. But now…” Rose’s voice dropped slightly, almost as if she didn’t want to admit truly admit what she was about to say “punching her would have felt so very good –”

“For sure”

“But…but going to punch her is all evidence they needed that I’m, we’re, the dangerous ones” Rose put her hands on her temple and groaned

“But remember you we’re provoked”

“I know, it’s just…”

“Yeah” Cleo agreed simply

Rose groaned again “Sorry, I didn’t mean to vent like that”

“Don’t worry about it” Cleo said as she once again put a comforting hand on Rose’s shoulder “I know the feeling of how it is to speak to someone who gets it”

Rose nodded

“I know what you need” Cleo continued “a coffee…oh…do you drink coffee? Tea, you need tea. Maybe a slice of cake? I know somewhere really good around the corner, yeah?”

Rose nodded again “Just let me pay for this” she said holding up her copy of Rebel Robin.

They started to walk towards the counter and just before they passed the shelf that divided the back from the front of the store, Rose realised that all the other customer had already left.

“What the hell” exclaimed Cleo 

Rose stopped dead in her tracks. She could literally feel her blood run cold. Instead of the kind person sitting behind the counter, there with its wings outstretched and it’s face covered was a Weeping Angel. 

“Don’t blink” she yelled as she kept her eyes locked on the Angel

Cleo turned around to face Rose “Why?”

“I think that’s a Weeping Angel, at least I think so based on the Doctor description”

“Wait, you know the Doctor?” asked Cleo disbelievingly 

“You know the Doctor?” exclaimed Rose, her astonishment causing her to momentarily lose focus. Her eyes snapped back to the Angel but now it was no longer at the counter. Instead it was just an arms-length away from Rose’s right side with its face frozen in a scream. Automatically, as if to correct her mistake, Rose turned and stood square to the Angel.

“Wow, how did it do that?” shouted Cleo as she took a step back

 “They are quantum-locked” Rose replied

“What in the hell does that mean?” asked Cleo, her voice noticeably higher

“We’ve got to keep calm” said Rose soothingly, ironic given the fact that she was internally freaking out herself. Addressing the Angel she said, a lot more confidently than she actually felt, “So…so that’s really bad luck, mate. What are the chances, eh, I mean, not just one but two people who know about aliens and shit”

“Or maybe it’s not a coincidence” Cleo pipped up

Rose wanted to say ‘thank you’ but thought better of it. Gosh her eyes were starting to sting. “What we need is help” she started to explain. She tried to turn slightly to her left but could only manage a few degrees before she would lose eye contact with the Angel. Annoyingly this meant that she had to contend with the Angles outreached wing that divided her from Cleo. “I can’t get to my phone in my bag without looking away” she continued “but if I throw it to you, you can call Mel, she works at UNIT and will be able to help”

“Great, yeah ask the person who can’t catch why don’t you”

“Well, at least I throw like a girl” Rose slipped the bag of her shoulder and took a deep breath. For the first time, she was glad for those PE lessons; finally a use for learning how to do a rugby throw in. “Right here goes nothing”

The bag sailed over the Angel’s wing and then over Cleo. Cleo turned to grab it, but it fell though her arms. Despite herself, Rose winced. Instantly she looked back towards Angel but it was now exactly where Cleo had been standing.

Oh shit! Rose started to walk backwards; hadn’t she seen a door to the stockroom at the back of the shop? But as soon as the this plan formed it was shot down by the realisation that she would have to turn around to use the door handle.

Her eyes were now screaming in pain. How long could a person go without blinking she wondered? Why did this have to happen on a day she had been crying? But then again there hadn’t been that many days recently where that she hadn’t been crying to be honest. God knows what her emotions were going to be like once she got onto…

If she was going to go down, she wasn’t going down without a fight, even if the only weapon she had was her words. “This must be so difficult for you” she said, taunting the Angel. “wanting to feast but having to wait. How does it feel to be that powerless?”

She could feel her eyelids trembling as her eyelids got closer and closer. The Angel was getting more and more blurry. She knew she couldn’t hold on any longer. But her overwhelming thought was about wanting her mum.

“Go, go, go!” a voice yelled

Rose heard the breaking of wood behind her and then a second later felt someone or lots of someone rush past her. Something then rolled across the floor and emitted a few bleeps. Through her blurred vision, Rose could see an extremely bright light, brighter than any light source she had every encountered before. She wanted to cover her face but didn’t dare move.

“Angel neutralised, ma’am” said the same voice

Rose felt an arm go around her shoulders

“It’s okay, your safe now” reassured Mel

As she collapsed into Mel’s arms, blinking rapidly, Rose felt like she had just swam the Channel; totally exhausted but also full of pure relief. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God” she repeated.

She watched as Kate strode over to where a grenade shaped object was shooting a beam of opaque light right at the centre of the Angel’s chest causing it to shimmer

“How’s the Quantum Beam holding up, Captain Gethin” she asked one of the soldiers who was part of a triangle formation around the Angel

“All good ma’am” he replied

Kate nodded “I want this taken to the Black Archives immediately”

“Yes ma’am” the soldiers chorused  

As Captain Gethin began to radio for equipment Kate turned her back on the soldiers, and faced Rose and Mel. “And, Sergeant Burns” she said to another solider “can you get Miss Nobel a very strong cup of tea”  

Rose, with her head resting now on Mel’s shoulder, asked “How did you know?”

“I can answer that” said a familiar voice behind her

Rose whipped around to see Cleo leaning against a shelf of bisexual nonfiction. She ran across the shop and threw her hands around Cleo in a huge hug. “h…h…how?” she exclaimed

“Well” Cleo began

“I’m really sorry” Kate put her hand onto Rose’s shoulder “I just can’t”

Rose brusquely shrugged off Kate’s hand “Okay” and went over to Mel’s workstation to retrieved her bag

“What’s going on?” enquired Mel over the sound of her mobile ringtone

“Nothing” murmured Rose, not looking her in the eye. Then she marched past Kate, who tried to touch her arm.

Mel shot Kate an enquiring look but knew from Kate’s expression not to pursue the matter. She leaned over to get her mobile and frowned as the screen was saying that it was Rose was calling her. But that couldn’t be, she could see Rose storming out of the Bridge.

Not knowing what to expect, she accepted the call. “Hello?” she said hesitantly

“You don’t know me, but my name’s Cleo Proctor and I need your help; Rose is in danger”

Rose’s eyes had widened as Cleo relayed this “Wow, what a stroke of luck only being sent back a few hours to the Royal Hope hospital of all places”

“I’m afraid that it wasn’t luck” said Kate “All UNIT badges are equipped with technology that means if someone is inadvertently or deliberately thrown back in time, they only go back a maximum of five hours and to nearby hospital, just in case they’re injured”

“It is good though that you chucked me your bag instead of just your phone” added Cleo “otherwise I would have been a goner”

Later, when Rose’s storiform cup only had the dregs of her tea remaining, her and Cleo walked out of the shop and down Marchmont Street. Cleo had offered to walk Rose home and she was prepared not to take no for an answer, but Rose leapt at having her by her side.

They had got a meter down the street when Rose was struck by an idea

“Wait a second” she told Cleo and ran back to the outside of the shop where Kate was on her mobile

“Okay, keep an eye on it and I’ll be back at HQ soon” Kate said before ending the call “yeah, Rose?”

“I was just wondering, the person working here taken by the Angel, what are you going to tell their loved ones, I mean they’re going to want to see the body, aren’t they?”

Kate looked thoughtfully at Rose “We going to say the body has already been cremated, an unfortunate administrative mix up, won’t happen again, that sort of thing”

“Uh…okay” 

“We have tried other ways, but this is the one that works the best” A few seconds of silence passed before Kate prompted “So…was that all?”

“Um…no” Rose replied hesitantly “So…like this is the second alien I’ve dealt with and if I say so myself, I think I dealt with it remarkably calmly whilst displaying good leadership skills as well as initiative so –”

“So you were wondering if this would mean you could have a job with UNIT?” Kate put her hands into her beige trench coat and after a long pause said “I’ll see what I can do, might have to be voluntary to begin with, but we’ll see”

Rose clapped her hands together “Great, thanks” She motioned to toward Cleo “I have to…”

“Yeah sure, I’ll let you know soon”

“Great” Rose repeated before going back to Cleo

“Everything sorted?” Cleo asked as they started to walk towards Russell Square tube station 

“Yeah” replied Rose “I was just asking Kate if I needed to sign the Official Secrets Act again. What about you, when are you signing it?”

“Kate’s going to contact me later on in the week” Cleo replied and then with a more tongue-in-cheek tone added “I’m really annoyed about it though; after all, I was only helping you as it would have been great for the podcast”

Rose laughed. It was a wonderful thing –  to laugh – Rose realised; it made her feel so glad to be alive. 

[blogger360ncislarules]

Boston, MA; June 18, 2024: MASTERPIECE on PBS has commissioned a 10th season of the beloved mystery series, Grantchester. Stars Robson Green and Rishi Nair will both return as DI Geordie Keating and Reverend Alphy Kottaram, respectively.

Grantchester is one of MASTERPIECE’s longest-running series and has been noted as an “irresistible British mystery-drama” by TV Insider.

Grantchester is a Co-Production of Kudos (a Banijay UK Company) and MASTERPIECE for ITV. It airs on MASTERPIECE on PBS in the U.S. and on ITV1 and ITVX in the U.K. Banijay Rights handles international distribution for the series.

MASTERPIECE Executive Producer Susanne Simpson says, “I couldn’t be happier to recommission Grantchester for a 10th season. This is hands-down one of our most popular series and I know the fans will be thrilled to see it continue with the outstanding Robson Green and Rishi Nair back for more crime-solving.” MASTERPIECE is presented on PBS by GBH Boston.

Writer and Executive Producer Daisy Coulam notes, “This show is a testament to our lovely team – the cast and crew. I’m so grateful and proud that we get to come back together for our tenth season and another glorious summer in Grantchester!”

Emma Kingsman-Llloyd, Executive Producer adds, “We are so delighted by the audience reaction to Grantchester and appreciate that they have enjoyed so many episodes.  We are overjoyed to be filming our tenth series and bringing more of Geordie and Alphy’s adventures to the screen.”

In addition to Green and Nair, other returning cast members include Al Weaver as Leonard Finch, Tessa Peake-Jones as Mrs. C, Kacey Ainsworth as Cathy Keating, Oliver Dimsdale as Daniel Marlowe, Nick Brimble as Jack Chapman, Bradley Hall as DC Larry Peters, and Melissa Johns as Miss Scott.

Filming on Season 10 will begin in the UK in July, 2024.

Season 9 is currently airing Sundays at 9/8c through August 4. The series is also available to stream now on the PBS App, PBS.org and the PBS MASTERPIECE Prime Channel.

[the-rewatch-rewind]

New episode!

Script below the break

Hello and welcome back to the Rewatch Rewind! My name is Jane, and this is the podcast where I count down my top 40 most frequently rewatched movies in a 20-year period. Today I will be discussing number 22 on my list: RKO’s 1938 screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby, directed by Howard Hawks, written by Dudley Nichols and Hagar Wilde, based on a story by Hagar Wilde, and starring Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant.

Paleontologist David Huxley (Cary Grant) has a lot going on. He’s about to marry Alice Swallow (Virginia Walker). The final bone to complete the brontosaurus skeleton he’s been assembling for four years has just been found. And the wealthy Mrs. Carlton Random (May Robson) is considering a million-dollar donation to his museum. But while David is golfing with Mrs. Random’s lawyer, Alexander Peabody (George Irving), his ball gets mixed up with that of zany, scatterbrained Susan Vance (Katharine Hepburn), who leads him on a series of misadventures involving wardrobe malfunctions, a thieving dog, trouble with the law, and two leopards.

When my mom was starting to introduce me to Old Hollywood, she got Bringing Up Baby from the library and said something along the lines of, “I don’t particularly like this one, but you probably will.” And, um…that was an understatement. I was obsessed with this movie in my early teens. Like, to an embarrassing degree. I quoted it constantly. For example, whenever there was a curb or other uneven surface, I had to walk along it with one leg higher than the other in reference to the part when Susan loses the heel of one of her shoes and says, “I was born on the side of a hill.” I’m pretty sure I had watched it a few times in 2002 before I started keeping track; then I saw it five times in 2003, twice in 2004, and three times in 2005. And then as I got older, I started to cringe about my initial enthusiasm, and to listen to people I knew who didn’t like it. I watched it once in 2008, once in 2013, once in 2014, once in 2016, and then I decided I liked it again, so I saw it twice in 2018, twice in 2021, and once in 2022.

This movie flopped in its initial release, but its reputation has grown over the years, and it’s now generally considered to be the definitive screwball comedy, one of the greatest comedic films ever made, and according to some, one of the greatest films of all time of any genre. And yet, many of the people I know in real life who have seen it don’t like it – apart from my brother; I could always count on him to watch it with me. I think a lot of people find it too unhinged and chaotic and frustrating – and, to be fair, they are correct in that assessment. But it happens to be unhinged and chaotic and frustrating in all the right ways for me. I totally get that it’s not for everyone, and I think it does tend to be over-praised now, perhaps to overcompensate for the lukewarm response it generated in 1938. Back then, Howard Hawks attributed the box office failure to the fact that there were no normal characters in the film, so there was nobody for the audience to identify with. And maybe that is the problem. Perhaps the people who don’t like this movie are too normal for it, and the reason I enjoy it is because I have never been normal.

I think especially when I was young, I saw a lot of myself in both David Huxley and Susan Vance, even though they are pretty much opposites. David is mild-mannered and socially awkward, which is how I tend to be around people I don’t know very well. He also has a fairly passive role in the story; lots of things happen to him, while he’s unwillingly along for the ride, and that was definitely how I perceived my life at the time when I was most into this movie. Susan, on the other hand, is outgoing and self-assured when she shouldn’t be, and she frequently prattles on to the point of obnoxiousness, which is how I tend to be around people I’m comfortable with – again, even more so when I was younger. The fact that I’m basically a combination of the two leading characters is not something I consciously noticed until recently, but I think it explains a lot. Like why I find this movie comforting when it seems like I should find it irritating. I truly cannot overemphasize how ridiculous this movie is. Nothing about it makes any sense, which normally would bother me, but the thing is, it’s clearly not supposed to make sense. David refers to his skeleton as a brontosaurus, when at the time most paleontologists considered them the same as an apatosaurus (although recently that’s been called into question again). The final bone he’s waiting for is the “intercostal clavicle” which would be a shoulder bone in between the ribs, which…is not a thing in any animal that I know of. And the main leopard, Baby, is introduced to the story because Susan’s brother sent him to her from Brazil, which means either the brother or the leopard was very lost, since leopards are native to Africa and Asia. These factual errors introduced early in the story help set the tone for the nonsense that’s about to ensue, and oh boy is there a lot of nonsense. I mean, not that there isn’t a story at all; there definitely is, and the plot is relatively easy to follow. It’s just absolutely bonkers. Nobody would wind up in jail for trying to get a leopard off a roof, after mistaking it for a different leopard. But it’s very funny to see what would happen if they did. Ultimately, this movie is just trying to be a comedy, and it very much succeeds at that. Most of the movie is witty dialogue between wacky characters in ridiculous situations – basically my favorite brand of humor. There is also excellent physical comedy, including lots of falling down, which normally I’m not a huge fan of, but for some reason this movie’s brand of falling humor works for me. It’s a fun silly movie that is clearly not meant to be taken seriously. And I would argue that its central romance isn’t meant to be taken seriously either.

Because this movie has a male and a female lead, predictably they end up together. But the thing is, I don’t believe that David and Susan truly have romantic feelings for each other. After they have run into each other a few times, Susan asks a psychiatrist she’s stumbled upon what he would say about a man who follows a woman around, and when she talks to him, he fights with her. Now, this is an extremely inaccurate representation of what has been happening – first she took over his golf ball, then she stole his car, then she dropped an olive causing him to slip and fall on his hat. He’s not just randomly picking fights with her; he has reasons to be upset with her. But based on what she said, the psychiatrist tells her, “The love impulse in men frequently reveals itself in terms of conflict.” That leads Susan to conclude that David must be in love with her, and she then decides that she is also in love with him. Which very much sounds like the behavior of someone who does not understand romantic attraction. Throughout the rest of the movie, Susan keeps coming up with ways to prevent David from leaving, which she thinks is because she’s in love with him, but comes across to me as a lonely person desperate for a friend. David spends most of the movie trying to get away from Susan. He does help her resolve some of the situations that she gets herself into, but mostly because she’s either tricked or trapped him. At one point, he tells her, “In moments of quiet, I’m strangely drawn toward you, but there haven’t been any quiet moments,” implying that he is not, in fact, drawn toward her at all. He does care about her wellbeing in spite of himself, but that doesn’t automatically imply romantic feelings. At the climax, when David is trying to fight off the wild leopard that has been mistaken for the tame Baby, he urges Susan to run, and she says, “No, I won’t leave you, I love you!” and he just responds with an unpleasantly shocked, “WHAT?!” Granted, at the end, David confesses to Susan that in hindsight, the time he spent with her was the most fun he’s had in his whole life, to which she replies, “That means you must like me a little bit,” and he says, “It’s more than that! I love you, I think!” But then she accidentally breaks the dinosaur skeleton that he’s spent four years working on, and before he recovers his power of speech, she says, “Oh, David can you ever forgive me? You do? And you still love me!” and she embraces him, and he just goes, “Oh dear,” and hugs her back, and then the movie ends without even remotely convincing me that they’re really in love. I think the psychiatrist’s suggestion combined with amatonormativity has convinced them that they were thrown together by fate and destined to fall in love, so they decided that that was what had happened without really feeling it. The characters strike me as being better suited for friendship than romance, and I hope they discover that after the events of the film. I can see them meeting up every once in a while for more absurd adventures, but I feel like they would destroy each other if they tried to live together.

Now, could this all be me projecting my aromanticism onto these characters so I could relate to them even more? Absolutely. But there’s something indisputably queer about this movie that is definitely not all in my head. These characters are just so fascinatingly quirky that they can’t possibly all be straight allos. Apparently the script had scenes of David and Susan declaring love for each other in the middle that Howard Hawks cut during production, which implies that the director agreed with me that the leads weren’t intended to be too into each other that way. And of course, there’s That One Line. If you’re at all familiar with this movie, you probably know the one I mean, but for those who don’t: after they take Baby the leopard to Susan’s aunt’s country house in Connecticut, Susan convinces David that he needs to take a shower before he can go back to New York to marry his fiancée, and while he’s bathing she takes his clothes and sends them into town to be cleaned, so David won’t be able to leave. When he gets out of the shower, he has nothing to put on but a frilly woman’s bathrobe. Then Susan’s aunt (who also happens to be Mrs. Carlton Random, but he doesn’t know that yet) enters the house and asks who he is, to which he replies, “I don’t know, I’m not quite myself today.” And then when she demands to know why he’s wearing the feminine robe, he can’t come up with a good explanation, so he bursts out, “Because I just went GAY, all of a sudden!” This was an ad-lib by Cary Grant that somehow made it into the film and is now probably its most famous line. At the time, the word “gay” was being used by the homosexual community to refer to themselves, but that use had not entered mainstream consciousness yet, obviously, or the censors wouldn’t have allowed it in the movie. Most uses of “gay” in old films were clearly meant in the “lighthearted, carefree” sense, or were at least ambiguous enough that they could mean that, but in this context, that definition doesn’t really make sense. I don’t like forcing labels onto real people, but it does seem like Cary Grant was probably bisexual, and therefore it’s reasonable to assume that he would have been familiar with the less common definition. Of course, David is saying this sarcastically; he’s wearing the feminine robe because that was the only thing available to wear when he got out of the shower – it has nothing to do with his sexuality or gender presentation. But the idea that the character would be familiar with that use of the word “gay” raises some interesting questions.

In addition to Cary Grant, it’s also been widely speculated that Katharine Hepburn was not straight. She certainly was at least somewhat gender-nonconforming, frequently wearing pants at a time when that wasn’t socially acceptable for women. Susan Vance is one of her more feminine-dressing characters, and she doesn’t say anything about being gay, but right after that scene, when she hears that David is looking for clothes in her brother’s old room, she cries, “If he gets some clothes, he’ll go away, and he’s the only man I’ve ever loved!” I’m told that making it to 30 without having loved someone of the opposite sex is not a typical straight, alloromantic experience. So even if my initial theory is wrong and David and Susan are attracted to each other romantically, that doesn’t rule out the possibility that they’re some form of queer. And as for David’s fiancée, Alice, she’s not in much of the movie, but she makes it clear that her marriage to David is going to be more of a business arrangement than a romance. She has no interest in a honeymoon or children, insisting that the dinosaur skeleton will be their child, and like, I know she was probably meant to be a stereotypically frigid geeky girl with glasses, and it’s harmful to imply that women can either have brains or heart, but at the same time “why would we need to have sex when we have a dinosaur skeleton” is such an iconic ace attitude that I can’t help but admire her. Anyway, she breaks up with David after Mrs. Carlton Random finds out who he is and decides not to donate her million dollars to a museum that employs someone as unhinged as him, but I hope Alice finds happiness, preferably with another asexual dinosaur enthusiast. Most of the other characters also seem at least somewhat queer – Constable Slocum and his assistant Elmer kind of seem like they’re in a relationship with each other, for instance, and Major Applegate doesn’t seem very straight either. All of this might have been completely unintentional, but what the heck, in honor of Pride month, I’m declaring that every character in this movie is somewhere under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella. This is my podcast and I make the rules.

Bringing Up Baby was reportedly very difficult to make. Production ended up taking 40 days longer than scheduled and costing $330,000 over budget. Part of that was because Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn kept cracking each other up and ruining takes, and because Howard Hawks had a fairly leisurely attitude on set, sometimes cancelling shooting early to take the cast to the races. They also had to deal with animals, which is always tricky. In modern films there are usually multiple animals playing the same character, but in this movie they only had one Leopard, named Nissa, who played both Baby and the vicious circus leopard. Katharine Hepburn seemed to enjoy working with the leopard, and she wasn’t afraid of it even though it did almost attack her at one point. But Cary Grant was terrified of Nissa, so most of his scenes with a leopard were either filmed with his stand-in, or his part and the leopard’s part were filmed separately. The visual effects were fairly advanced for 1938, and even though you can sometimes tell that the actors and the leopard weren’t actually together, it works well enough that you won’t really notice unless you’re watching for it. There’s also a dog named George who steals and buries the intercostal clavicle, and that dog was played by the famous Skippy, who had also played Asta in the first few Thin Man movies and appeared in a different Cary Grant movie called The Awful Truth. I haven’t heard any stories about how Skippy behaved on the Bringing Up Baby set, but I assume he was very professional.

Although the film’s box office failure did nothing to help Katharine Hepburn’s floundering film career in the late 1930s, I personally feel like it represents a significant turning point in her acting abilities. There’s a staggering difference between her pre-Bringing Up Baby performances and her post-Bringing Up Baby performances. Early in her career she was extremely overly dramatic, and while some of those films were still fairly good, many are painfully unwatchable. The story goes that initially, she wasn’t very good as Susan Vance either. She kept trying too hard to be funny, which ruined the comedy. Unable to get through to her himself, Howard Hawks asked Vaudeville veteran Walter Catlett to show her what she was doing wrong, and Hepburn found him so helpful that she asked Hawks to cast him in the movie so he’d be around to give her more pointers. So Walter Catlett played Constable Slocum, and Katharine Hepburn learned how to do comedy. Her character is relentlessly annoying and over-the-top ridiculous, but Hepburn commits. The knowledge that she needed help to get there in no way detracts from the brilliance of her performance. She plays everything Susan does as if it’s the most logical, natural thing in the world, and that’s what makes the movie work. If Susan was aware of how silly she was, the whole thing would have fallen apart. We all know that I love Cary Grant, and I do greatly enjoy his performance here, too, and I think they play off each other very well, but I feel like it’s mainly Hepburn’s performance that has compelled me to keep revisiting this film. As a young person, I related to certain things about Susan and wished I could be as carefree and self-assured as she was, although maybe a little less obnoxious. Now I relate to her less – I wish I had half her energy – but I still find her antics amusing. And it’s also fun to see how much better her acting got after this movie. Clearly she took Catlett’s lessons to heart, and combined them with her natural talent and determination and hard-working spirit to fully become the force to be reckoned with that she’s remembered as.

There is so much more I could say about Bringing Up Baby, like how much I love the scene when Susan pretends to be a gangster to get out of jail, but I’m worried I would just end up quoting the whole movie if I kept going, so I think I’ll wrap it up here. Thank you so much for listening, whether you love this movie, hate this movie, don’t have a strong opinion about this movie, or have never seen this movie. I appreciate you all so much! This will be my last solo episode for a while, as I have guests lined up for the next three episodes, so stay tuned for some fun conversations. Next up is the fifth and final film I watched 19 times while keeping track. As always I will leave you with a quote from that next movie: “A date! What’s a date?”

[thisisyourdriverspeaking]

Part 6 of my 'motorsport number ones' post. This time it's the random bunch of drivers edition

Sebastien Loeb - (26th February 1974) - Suzi Quatro - Devil Gate Drive

Juan Pablo Montoya - (20th September 1975) - Rod Stewart - Sailing

Mark Webber - (27th August 1976) - Elton John & Kiki Dee - Don't Go Breaking My Heart

Jenson Button - (19th January 1980) - The Pretenders - Brass In Pocket

Felipe Massa - (25th April 1981) - Bucks Fizz - Making Your Mind Up

Heikki Kovalainen - (19th October 1981) - Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin - It's My Party

Pippa Mann - (11th August 1983) - KC & The Sunshine Band - Give It Up

Robert Kubica - (7th December 1984) - Frankie Goes To Hollywood - The Power Of Love

Nico Rosberg - (27th June 1985) - Sister Sledge - Frankie

Jerome D'Ambrosio - (27th December 1985) - Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone

James Hinchcliffe - (5th December 1986) - Europe - The Final Countdown

Oliver Turvey - (1st April 1987) - Ferry Aid - Let It Be

Sebastian Vettel - (3rd July 1987) - Pet Shop Boys - It's A Sin

Alexander Sims - (15th March 1988) - Kylie Minogue - I Should Be So Lucky

Molly Taylor - (6th May 1988) - S'Express - Theme From S'Express

James Calado - (13th June 1989) - Jason Donovan - Sealed With A Kiss

Daniel Ricciardo - (1st July 1989) - Soul II Soul & Caron Wheeler - Back To Life

Simona De Silvestro - (1st September 1988) - Yazz & Plastic Population - The Only Way Is Up

Brendon Hartley - (10th November 1989) - Lisa Stansfield - All Around The World

Cristina Gutierrez - (24th July 1991) - Bryan Adams - (Everything I Do) I Do It For You

Abbie Eaton - (2nd January 1992) - Queen - These Are The Days Of Our Lives

Reema Juffali - (18th January 1992) - Wet Wet Wet - Goodnight Girl

Timmy Hansen - (21st May 1992) - K.W.S - Please Don't Go

Daniel Abt - (3rd December 1992) & Alice Powell - (26th January 1993) - Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You

Christine GZ - (22nd July 1993) - Take That - Pray

Alex Lynn - (17th September 1993) - Culture Beat - Mr Vain

Bubba Wallace - (8th October 1993) - Take That & Lulu - Relight My Fire

Naomi Schiff - (18th May 1994) - Manchester United Football Squad - Come On You Reds

Jessica Hawkins - (16th February 1995) & Beitske Visser - (10th March 1995) - Celine Dion - Think Twice

Nicholas Latifi - (29th June 1995) - Robson & Jerome - Unchained Melody

Jack Aitken - (23rd September 1995) - Simply Red - Fairground

Oliver Askew - (12th December 1996) - Boyzone - A Different Beat

Louis Deletraz - (22nd April 1997) - Michael Jackson - Blood On The Dance Floor

Catie Munnings - (15th November 1997) - Aqua - Barbie Girl

Cem Bolukbasi - (9th February 1998) - Aqua - Dr Jones

Jamie Chadwick - (20th May 1998) - All Saints - Under The Bridge

Kevin Hansen - (28th May 1998) - The Tamperer & Maya - Feel It

Mick Schumacher - (22nd March 1999) - B*witched - Blame It On The Weatherman

Max Fewtrell - (29th July 1999) - Ricky Martin - Livin' La Vida Loca

Robert Shwartzman - (16th September 1999) - Vengaboys - We're Going To Ibiza!

Bent Viscaal - (18th September 1999) - Eiffel 65 - Blue (Da Ba Dee)

Felipe Drugovich - (23rd May 2000) - Billie Piper - Day & Night

Marta Garcia - (9th August 2000) - Robbie Williams - Rock DJ

Liam Lawson - (11th February 2002) - Enrique Iglesias - Hero

Olli Caldwell - (11th June 2002) - Will Young - Light My Fire

Doriane Pin - (6th January 2004) - Michael Andrews & Gary Jules - Mad World

Bianca Bustamante - (19th January 2005) - Elvis Presley - One Night

All added to this playlist 😊

[itslucyhenley]

good day my internet friends, it’s just your friendly neighborhood nerd of many interests humbly inviting you to visit my side blogs should you be interested in or curious about any of these topics —

Greater Stokes Awareness ✨ >>

a Brian Stokes Mitchell appreciation blog dedicated to my favorite Sunshine Baritone ☀️ his singing, his concerts, his broadway shows and all the other places he appears like tv, movies, animated musical shows about centaurs, you know the usual. He’s my favorite human that exists on planet earth and I just think more people should be aware of his talent and wholesomeness. It’s always been my dream to document one of my deep-dive research projects and this blog is the result. The fleeting nature of broadway has me over here basically creating the Brian Stokes Mitchell internet archive and idk I’m proud of it.

Holmes x Watson ✨ >>

a blog mainly concerned with iterations of Victorian Holmes and Watson where I mostly reblog the most beautiful collection of fanart (bless the artists), post pictures of Jeremy Brett (he’s so weird and pretty and i love him like i love nature itself) and reblog tons of Granada & Victorian Holmes related gifs-clips-meta-fanvids-etc, and where I archive my nerd research by highlighting books, fics, and tv/movie adaptations of Holmes and Watson as I encounter them. Recs of all kinds are so so welcome. Feed me Seymour.

Geordie & his vicars ✨ >>

an episode-by-episode highlight reel of DI Geordie Keating from the show Grantchester as played by one of my favorite faces of ever, Mr. Robson Green including gifs, screenshots, and clips. I’m currently on season 5 in my rewatch. I started this page because I did not find what I considered to be a sufficient amount of Geordie love on these internets and I’m secretly hoping that a talented fan vidder will use my chaotic episode guide to make the best fanvid of all time