Anniversary of Gordon Jackson's death - our Cowley

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Thanks, as ever, to franciskerst for the reminder that the 15th January is the anniversary of Gordon Jackson passing away (in 1990) - sad perhaps, but perhaps also a nice reason to think about our him especially. Thank you sir, for our wonderful George Cowley, and of course all your other characters!

When I went to find a pic of him, I came across this video, uploaded by Greenheart - a tribute to Gordon Jackson.

I've not watched it all yet, but MS is on near the beginning as one of the people remembering him, with a wee clip from Pros - there may be more (I shall watch tomorrow).

And because I was posting to ci5hq, I started thinking about George Cowley-centric fics. Maybe this would be a nice weekend to make a list of Cowley fics...? Can anyone suggest any (actually focused on him, or from his viewpoint, rather than including him as a slash partner or the like, I mean - though obviously the two things aren't exclusive)? My eyes need their bed, so I can only think of one (two linked stories) to start with... (ETA - good morning! Found some more Cowley-centric stories for the list... *g*)

George Cowley fics
As Old as You Feel by Slantedlight
The Birthday Present (Circuit) by Jane Carnall
By the Book by Mikey
Coffee with Cowley by Olympian Heights
Cowley's Revelation by Mahlia
Festival of Lights by Dorinda
Fishcake (Circuit) by Jane Carnall
Following Orders by Mikey
The Fox and Wolf trilogy
Lest These Dark Days by Jane Carnall and Ann Johnson (Circuit)
This Classical Dilemma by Jane Carnall and Ann Johnson and Nicola Craig
As Games Are Played by Jane Carnall and Ann Johnson and Nicola Craig
(and sequels)
A Stranger and Afraid by Jane Carnall and Atropos
The Dinner Party by Jane Carnall
The Last Lap by Jane Carnall & Atropos
Fox's Wedding by The Hag
God Bless Us Every One by Airelle
Hell Hath No Fury (Circuit) by Jane Carnall
Look Through My Eyes by Jane Carnall and Nicola Craig and the sequel Turn Around by Jane Carnall by Jane Carnall
The Lych-Wake Dirge (Circuit) by Jane Carnall
The Major and his Man by Hambel
The Need to Know by Fiorenza
A Night Out (Circuit) by Jane Carnall
Old Man's Fantasy by DVS
Out of the Dark by Francis Kerst
The Price of a Soul (Circuit) by Jane Carnall
A Small Rain by Istia
Some Days Are Better Than Others, N'est-ce Pas? and La Perfide Albion by Jane Carnall
Triolet (Circuit) by Jane Carnall
Worthy by Mikey

Comments

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

Well I posted The Need to Know (https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10988344/1/The-Need-to-Know) on FF.net because I love Cowley. There are some really nifty Gene Hunt & Cowley crossovers out there too (I have heard that John Simm based his look for Sam Tyler on Bodie - there are some great SamTyler/Bodie stories out there as well). For me Gene Hunt is just Cowley with a local comp education (I always see Cowley as having gone to a minor public school, where else would he be beating the great and good at tennis?).

And this is a fantastic Cowley vid by the lovely bistoprofi:



There are others which are more impish, but this is more in keeping with the vibe of your post, I think :0)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Nice Cowley talk vid. One of my favourite Pros vids is Mary van Deusen's The Hunting Song (http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/vids/TheHuntingSong.php) - ...and a purebred Guernsey cow... Probably what you're calling "impish"! *g*

I don't see the Hunt - Cowley thing at all I'm afraid - George Cowley would make mincmeat of Hunt! *g* I liked Life on Mars alot when it came out, but it's a different world to that of Pros, and the cross-overs I've seen mostly seem to emphasise the LoM side of things so that Bodie and Doyle are never quite themselves. So there's something we can disagree on (you seem to like those things *g*)!

Agree to disagree

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

Yes The Hunting Song is exactly the sort of thing I had in mind, as is LithiumDoll's Devil in Disguise (http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/vids/DevilinDisguise.php). Mary van Deusen was kind enough to send me a link to all the things she's updating a while ago. Pros is very lucky with its vidding talent.

Apart from loving Philip Glenister in general, I see Gene Hunt as an intelligent man who's a product of his times and the system he works in. I have to concede the crossovers I've read are LoM centric, but I still see our lads as themselves in them. So your guess is right, I do like them!

It just shows why Pros was so big at the time, people with complete different takes could still love it to bits. I'm often amazed at how many of the early fandom gals disliked the show for being so much macho bollox (which is one of the reasons I like it), but loved Bodie and Doyle, took them to their hearts and wrote them into contexts they could believe in.

And yes, Cowley is, was and always will be, God!

RE: Agree to disagree

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I'm often amazed at how many of the early fandom gals disliked the show for being so much macho bollox
Interesting - where've you come across that? I don't remember seeing that sort of opinion in the comms etc., but it sounds like an interesting discussion.

RE: Agree to disagree

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

Well for instance this on fanlore : http://fanlore.org/wiki/Hatstand_Interview_with_Helen_Raven

[golden-bastet.livejournal.com]

The Great Escape was on tv a couple months back and I just wanted to yell, "Cowley, NO!" (But I didn't, LOL.)

(Though I have to admit, I haven't been interested in Downton Abbey, mainly because it comes across as Upstairs, Downstairs 2015. Perhaps unfair, but there you have it.)

Maybe I should get a Cowley icon from somewhere...

ETA: I'm not good at recc'ing Cowley fic, but I will do my part in reading them. :nods:

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

He's wonderful in The Great Escape. I love that moment.

Pros was a lucky programme to have him, he's so much more than a cardboard cut out. In some ways it reminds me of the original Trek, in that the central 'partnership' is actually three people, and for my money, wouldn't work as well any other way.

It's a great idea to have a Cowley binge, I loved him from day one :0)

[golden-bastet.livejournal.com]

Oh, and: 17:20 - Pros!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I've not seen The Great Escape for years! *g*

There was an Upstairs Downstairs remake about the same time as Downton Abbey came out, and I rather liked it - but it was only a few eps rather than an extended series like DA, and they only managed two "series" of about 3 eps each I think... I wasn't interested in DA either either when there was UD to watch, and I was a bit peeved when DA turned out to have the longevity, especially cos it distorted history so much, and was so full of modernisms... gargh!

I was thinking the same thing as you about Cowley icons - I only have this one with him on it, I really should have a better one (though I'd still prefer the three of them on it). We don't seem to have many icon makers any more, though...

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

I guess people make their own, I know I do (which may be obvious from the varying degrees of eptitude).

My favourite is 'Controller of All and Everything' which I have permission to nick and should be on a t-shirt and will be when my finances recover from my depression (the phrase incapable of dealing with your own affairs does not bode well for those managing their own budget). Still paying the price...

I want a mug, with all three of them on (I know the picture I have in mind), a blazing capri in the background and Murphy on the reverse.

I also fancy one of those CI5 wrap around jobbies.

I couldn't get on with the Upstairs Downstairs remake, but then I was never a dedicated follower of the original. Although the wonderful Gordon Jackson did have some lines that have always lived with me.

Firstly:

Hudson is challenged by a upwardly mobile type as to why a man of such obvious qualities is willing to work in service, when he could be working in business and making something of himself. This said upwardly mobile type is quite full of himself and has just been telling everyone what a dolt his boss is and implying he could do the job so much better. Hudson retorts that he'd rather be in the job he's in and work for one of the most able minds in the country, than sit in an office and work for a dolt.

Secondly:

It is discovered that Hudson takes himself off to (I think) the Old Bailey to watch some of the high profile/sensational cases of the day. His astounded audience gawp in disbelief that a man of Hudson's character would sink so low as to follow tabloid fodder, but Hudson explains that he does it to watch some of the greatest legal minds in the country do their stuff.

The man had dignity written in every fibre of his being.

I couldn't get on with the cosy fest that was Downton either, my grandmother was briefly in service until she escaped to a factory. If service was such a great experience, how come the working class voted en masse with their feet?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I've made my own icons before, but I miss the glory days when people made and posted icons for the love of making them and sharing them with other people. If you check out the Safehouse archives, and even the earlier Discoveredinalj posts for instance, you'll see quite a number of icon posts, where the creators were offering them to anyone who wants to use them. And I can make basic icons, but nothing half so lovely as they did - I put words together better than I do pictures!

My favourite is 'Controller of All and Everything' which I have permission to nick
People are pretty generous about sharing icons - but I must admit that I will always and forevermore associate that one with Franciskerst, so it would be rather odd to see someone else using it... Sometimes people use a particular icon so much that even if they didn't make it themselves, it feels like them...

CI5 wrap around jobbies
Wrap around jobbies? Nope, you've lost me - wrapping around what...?!

And yes, Downton played pretty fast and loose with its history...

CI5 wrap around jobbies

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

Similar to this...

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDUxWDUwMg==/z/f40AAOxyaURTgIQe/$_35.JPG

Cowley fics

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

I wrote Fox's Wedding http://archiveofourown.org/works/379532

RE: Cowley fics

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

Had to look up Fox's Wedding, never heard it before. Neither have I ever heard the word 'sunshower' - so that's something new.

Rainbows are brilliant though, lovely symbolism, covenants and inclusivity. I once saw them pause the commentary on the gee gees (maybe they've done it more often, I don't normally watch) to appreciate a rainbow.

So thank you for self-reccing (I don't feel such a klutz for doing it myself now) :0)

RE: Cowley fics

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

So thank you for self-reccing (I don't feel such a klutz for doing it myself now)
It's okay, we're just listing fic that's Cowley-centric rather than recommending them to say they're brilliant examples of the type (though some may be!), so it's all good!

(ETA - that said, I sometimes wonder if there's only three or four of us who actually read other people's stories right now!)

RE: Cowley fics - klutz

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, claiming Cowley centric only, not brilliance. I don't think I've written anything brilliant, but I live in constant hope :0)

Funnily enough, I had a conversation a while back about reading your own stuff. I've always thought it was a guilty pleasure few of us admit to.

I love reading other people's stuff - I had no trouble finding thirty-one things to put up over Christmas. (Although some of them were vids.)

It was quite addictive, I had withdrawal symptoms in January, so I think I shall do it again, and maybe include some art work. Perhaps at Easter?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's nice to rec fic, isn't it. Recs always welcome here at the community too, as you've probably gathered from the people saying they appreciate the story links! *g*

I read my own fic now and then, though usually when I've got a reason for doing it. Sometimes I'm happily surprised, and mostly I still like it well enough - if I didn't like what I wrote then I wouldn't post it to start with, so I hope most authors like their own writing at least to some extent!

[fiorenza-a.livejournal.com]

I'm ambivalent about mine, I do re-read it, but I see the flaws and wish I could do better.

RE: Cowley fics

[jessebee.livejournal.com]

(ETA - that said, I sometimes wonder if there's only three or four of us who actually read other people's stories right now!)

Count me in! (does that make five? *veg*)

RE: Cowley fics

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Hurrah - five of us! *g*

RE: Cowley fics

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Would DVS's Old Man's Fantasy (http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/2/oldmans.html) qualify?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yes - brilliant! And thank you - I was starting to think I was the only person reading Pros fic these days! (Or maybe it's just remember the Cowley-centric ones... there's one set in a monastery, I think, which has Cowley wandering the corridors checking the agents he's bedded down in each room, and finding that Bodie's missing from his room - and for the life of me, even though I really like that fic, I can't remember who wrote it. It's pre-A03, so it's someone on either Circuit or Hatstand, I'm pretty sure, but... gargh!)

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, Istia's A Small Rain (http://archiveofourown.org/works/3396). I love that one!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Thank you, thank you! (Still wishing she hadn't changed her name, I reckon that's what throws me half the time!) I knew it was a proper solid good Pros writer, too... *vbg*

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the reminder, and for the list of fics. Fox's Wedding is a favourite of mine, so great excuse to read again!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome!

Cowley fics: Jane Carnall

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

While I don't "see" B/C she is a remarkably good writer and I've enjoyed reading them.

ETA: all in Proslib

The Fox and Wolf trilogy
Lest These Dark Days by Jane Carnall and Ann Johnson (Circuit)
This Classical Dilemma by Jane Carnall and Ann Johnson and Nicola Craig
As Games Are Played by Jane Carnall and Ann Johnson and Nicola Craig
(and sequels)
:A Stranger and Afraid by Jane Carnall and Atropos
The Dinner Party by Jane Carnall
The Last Lap Jane Carnall & Atropos

Look Through My Eyes by Jane Carnall and Nicola Craig
Turn Around by Jane Carnall (sequel)

The Birthday Present (Circuit)
Fishcake (Circuit)
Hell Hath No Fury (Circuit)
The Lych-Wake Dirge (Circuit)
A Night Out (Circuit)
The Price of a Soul (Circuit)
Triolet (Circuit)

RE: Cowley fics: Jane Carnall

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I must admit I've not read many of Carnall's B/C fics, because I just can't see them together either, but the ones I have read are very well done, as you say. Thanks for the list - I'll try and add the links in when it's not quite so late at night! *g*

[jessebee.livejournal.com]

"Festival of Lights" by Dorinda
http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/2/festivalof.html

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, I like that one alot - how could I forget?! Thank you!

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

The Pillory by Kitty Fisher
http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/5/thepillory.html

Step We Gaily by M Fae Glasgow
http://www.thecircuitarchive.com/tca/archive/10/stepwe.pdf