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ci5hqI'm so sorry this is late - as readers of my lj might know, events rather overtook me last week, and I find myself moving house in a hurry at the moment, and with four days of pre-booked holiday in between - eep! So here is last weekend's post finally, two days before the next weekend... But it's here!
The thing is, this is also likely to be a relatively short post, because (unlike, I think, most of the other novelisations, which again makes me wonder if Ken Blake is more than one person) we actually get less than we see on screen and not really any extras.
We start off with Krivas and his men - but they're not at the hotel waiting, they're already in their army truck, bound for the bank they're going to attack. Benny talks about seeing him at the airport, which in the novelisations he does in Old Dog With New Tricks. It would have been a great moment in the novelisation to explain why Krivas had a score to settle with Bodie, but... no. In fact we don't even get Bodie's explanation of this, talking on the stairs to Doyle, in this version of the story.
Nor do we get the scene where Bodie and Doyle are playing darts before they're called in to Cowley's office.
(I've borrowed![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sunray45's darts montage - isn't she good? *g*
We get a few little snippets about the understanding between our lads, such as:
Bodie tapped the map. "They were long gone."
Doyle nodded, understanding.
"They chuted out," said Bodie. Then he went on in a tone of voice that told his partner that Bodie had scented game. "He's pulled that one before."
We are, however, given a rather detailed description of Betty, when she comes into Cowley's office - and a little snippet about Cowley that makes me wince, to be honest.
Cowley's personal assistant, secretary, Girl Friday, came in. She was beautiful - Cowley couldn't abide ugliness in life where he had any say in the matter, for by the nature of his occupation he was surrounded by too much ugliness every working day. Betty Franly's smooth brunette coiffure, her dark expressive eyes, the flawless texture of her skin, remained to Bodie and Doyle great enigmas. Her figure remained hers; she refused to allow herself any familiarity. With two highly-sexed and handsome men like Bodie and Doyle around, not to mention the other toughies of the Big A, Betty Franly adopted that distant, aloof, untouchable air of Domnei. Now she laid files on her chief's desk and said "Krivas. He's a shy man."
Should we really believe that Cowley would choose even his secretary on her looks above her skills, just so that he can be surrounded by beauty where possible? I don't get that impression from him in the rest of the series, not where people are concerned - he just doesn't seem that shallow.
We miss out the scene with Bodie's arms-dealer friend, Cusack (come to think of it, why does he never get as much fanfic-time as Marty Martell... well, I could guess *g*), and Doyle gettingjealous annoyed that Bodie refuses to be aggressive with him.
(Thank you again,sunray45, for the first pic!)
There's another bit of worrying talk about women when we meet Sinclair and his daughter. We're told that "As a twelve year old, Cynthia dressed and looked at least sixteen, and loved it. Then, in the scene with Doyle (which we also see in the ep) ...she was chattering brightly away, flaunting her precocious twelve-year-old sexual allure at him... Now, there are some twelve year olds who do love to pretend they're alot older, all but grown up, but what sort of message is this sending when it's described like this in a book that's meant to appeal to men (as much as the series is)? It reads very much to me like an excuse used in a court case - "I didn't know she was under 16, she was coming on to me..." A bit yuk.
It does give us this slight further glimpse into Doyle's background (and to his credit her performance is ...leaving him absolutely cold. Doyle didn't go for the schoolgirl bit. He'd been on a case once - all black stockings and black knickers and uniforms, and it had made him sick, put him off for life.
Between Bodie's confrontation with Sinclair (and Doyle's with Cynthia) and their drive to Barrersby with Cowley, we're told that Bodie and Doyle had freshened up and eaten. - acknowledgement that things do happen in between the scenes we're shown. Well, we know they do, don't we... *g*
When they're about to set off after Krivas: Bodie glanced questioningly at his companions... These two were good, no doubt of it. But their skills lay in other fields. Bodie had been trained in the jungle. He felt this one was down to him, and yet he knew with painful clarity that neither Doyle nor Cowley would dream of letting him go it alone. Aww. *g*
A snippet about Cowley (and I love Cowley's response, which is in the ep, too):
Bodie nodded. "Motorbikes. Four." He looked at Cowley sidelong. "It's on foot from here on in, sir."
Cowley felt the vast irritation at Bodie's genuine concern. That damned legionary and his bloody machine-gun!
"Well," he said testily. "I've got feet, haven't I!"
Some language of the time - is it in the ep? Or was the author of this story not from the UK?
Bodie: "...Franky enjoyed himself, is all."
"Is all!"
Bodie could not answer. He turned and looked beyond the road.
Presently Doyle had mastered himself. "So they broke through..."
"Is all"?
When Bodie has gone after Krivas: ...Bodie ignored his partner. He fended Doyle off and belted after Krivas, the man who had tried to kill him, the man for whom Bodie harboured the obsessive feelings of self-hatred. Krivas and Bodie - they had gone different ways. And now their ways had met up again, and one of them was going to end up dead.
Doyle stood, uncertain, seeing the expression on Bodie's face. After all - this was what CI5 was all about. Doyle nodded to himself. He was satisfied that his partner would know what to do, and, knowing, do it.
Some more about Doyle's past: "Bodie-" called Doyle. He spoke in a calm sensible way, the way he'd spoken to that nutter with the shotgun in the loft and the terrified half-naked girl screaming away among the black leather. "Bodie-"
And a slight insight into the way Bodie thinks these days: The very vehemence of Doyle's words, the unmistakable feeling of surprised contempt his partner had been unable to mask got to Bodie. This wasn't the Congo, Angola, this wasn't that kind of jungle. With the help of the Big A, this was where the jungle ended.
...and that's it! The story ends just where the episode ends.
Did anyone else watch/read?
(And for heads-up, I'm going to try to do the next story in the novelisation on time this weekend, even though it'll only be a day or two later - it's the final one in "Where the Jungle Ends", Killer with a Long Arm).
The thing is, this is also likely to be a relatively short post, because (unlike, I think, most of the other novelisations, which again makes me wonder if Ken Blake is more than one person) we actually get less than we see on screen and not really any extras. We start off with Krivas and his men - but they're not at the hotel waiting, they're already in their army truck, bound for the bank they're going to attack. Benny talks about seeing him at the airport, which in the novelisations he does in Old Dog With New Tricks. It would have been a great moment in the novelisation to explain why Krivas had a score to settle with Bodie, but... no. In fact we don't even get Bodie's explanation of this, talking on the stairs to Doyle, in this version of the story.
Nor do we get the scene where Bodie and Doyle are playing darts before they're called in to Cowley's office.
(I've borrowed
sunray45's darts montage - isn't she good? *g*We get a few little snippets about the understanding between our lads, such as:
Bodie tapped the map. "They were long gone."
Doyle nodded, understanding.
"They chuted out," said Bodie. Then he went on in a tone of voice that told his partner that Bodie had scented game. "He's pulled that one before."
We are, however, given a rather detailed description of Betty, when she comes into Cowley's office - and a little snippet about Cowley that makes me wince, to be honest.
Cowley's personal assistant, secretary, Girl Friday, came in. She was beautiful - Cowley couldn't abide ugliness in life where he had any say in the matter, for by the nature of his occupation he was surrounded by too much ugliness every working day. Betty Franly's smooth brunette coiffure, her dark expressive eyes, the flawless texture of her skin, remained to Bodie and Doyle great enigmas. Her figure remained hers; she refused to allow herself any familiarity. With two highly-sexed and handsome men like Bodie and Doyle around, not to mention the other toughies of the Big A, Betty Franly adopted that distant, aloof, untouchable air of Domnei. Now she laid files on her chief's desk and said "Krivas. He's a shy man."
Should we really believe that Cowley would choose even his secretary on her looks above her skills, just so that he can be surrounded by beauty where possible? I don't get that impression from him in the rest of the series, not where people are concerned - he just doesn't seem that shallow.
We miss out the scene with Bodie's arms-dealer friend, Cusack (come to think of it, why does he never get as much fanfic-time as Marty Martell... well, I could guess *g*), and Doyle getting
(Thank you again,
sunray45, for the first pic!)There's another bit of worrying talk about women when we meet Sinclair and his daughter. We're told that "As a twelve year old, Cynthia dressed and looked at least sixteen, and loved it. Then, in the scene with Doyle (which we also see in the ep) ...she was chattering brightly away, flaunting her precocious twelve-year-old sexual allure at him... Now, there are some twelve year olds who do love to pretend they're alot older, all but grown up, but what sort of message is this sending when it's described like this in a book that's meant to appeal to men (as much as the series is)? It reads very much to me like an excuse used in a court case - "I didn't know she was under 16, she was coming on to me..." A bit yuk.
It does give us this slight further glimpse into Doyle's background (and to his credit her performance is ...leaving him absolutely cold. Doyle didn't go for the schoolgirl bit. He'd been on a case once - all black stockings and black knickers and uniforms, and it had made him sick, put him off for life.
Between Bodie's confrontation with Sinclair (and Doyle's with Cynthia) and their drive to Barrersby with Cowley, we're told that Bodie and Doyle had freshened up and eaten. - acknowledgement that things do happen in between the scenes we're shown. Well, we know they do, don't we... *g*
When they're about to set off after Krivas: Bodie glanced questioningly at his companions... These two were good, no doubt of it. But their skills lay in other fields. Bodie had been trained in the jungle. He felt this one was down to him, and yet he knew with painful clarity that neither Doyle nor Cowley would dream of letting him go it alone. Aww. *g*
A snippet about Cowley (and I love Cowley's response, which is in the ep, too):
Bodie nodded. "Motorbikes. Four." He looked at Cowley sidelong. "It's on foot from here on in, sir."
Cowley felt the vast irritation at Bodie's genuine concern. That damned legionary and his bloody machine-gun!
"Well," he said testily. "I've got feet, haven't I!"
Some language of the time - is it in the ep? Or was the author of this story not from the UK?
Bodie: "...Franky enjoyed himself, is all."
"Is all!"
Bodie could not answer. He turned and looked beyond the road.
Presently Doyle had mastered himself. "So they broke through..."
"Is all"?
When Bodie has gone after Krivas: ...Bodie ignored his partner. He fended Doyle off and belted after Krivas, the man who had tried to kill him, the man for whom Bodie harboured the obsessive feelings of self-hatred. Krivas and Bodie - they had gone different ways. And now their ways had met up again, and one of them was going to end up dead.
Doyle stood, uncertain, seeing the expression on Bodie's face. After all - this was what CI5 was all about. Doyle nodded to himself. He was satisfied that his partner would know what to do, and, knowing, do it.
Some more about Doyle's past: "Bodie-" called Doyle. He spoke in a calm sensible way, the way he'd spoken to that nutter with the shotgun in the loft and the terrified half-naked girl screaming away among the black leather. "Bodie-"
And a slight insight into the way Bodie thinks these days: The very vehemence of Doyle's words, the unmistakable feeling of surprised contempt his partner had been unable to mask got to Bodie. This wasn't the Congo, Angola, this wasn't that kind of jungle. With the help of the Big A, this was where the jungle ended.
...and that's it! The story ends just where the episode ends.
Did anyone else watch/read?
(And for heads-up, I'm going to try to do the next story in the novelisation on time this weekend, even though it'll only be a day or two later - it's the final one in "Where the Jungle Ends", Killer with a Long Arm).
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no subject
Date: 2018-03-29 04:02 pm (UTC)I agree! That's extremely weird. It wouldn't be the Cowley we know, if he really would be so 'shallow', as you said. Never!
"...Bodie's hand on Doyle's back, Cowley following on behind his lads."
:-)
I don't own this book(I have #5 and #13), but it was good to watch the episode again.
There are some very nice moments, I nearly had forgotten. :-)
Thank you very much!
no subject
Date: 2018-03-29 10:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-03-29 05:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-03-29 10:21 pm (UTC)I seem to remember Killer with a Long Arm being sexed up too - but not only with regard to the female character, in that case! It'll be interesting to see again...
no subject
Date: 2018-03-29 09:24 pm (UTC)How do you think Bodie would have handled it?
no subject
Date: 2018-03-29 10:23 pm (UTC)And oh, there's a question - maybe it's one we should put to everyone else too, cos I think I need to ponder that... Bodie gets all wriggly when a girl tries to kiss him, so maybe he'd just blush and change the subject... *g* What do you think?
no subject
Date: 2018-03-30 12:43 pm (UTC)Betty Franly
Betty has a last name! :takes notes:
no subject
Date: 2018-04-02 06:24 am (UTC)