Contemporary Pros fic

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

Bosscat, who just doesn't 'get it' and never will, thank goodness, asked me why Pros fic isn't set in the present.

In fact I think he's got something there. I would love to see CI5 dealing with our post-9/11 world, where the main threat to domestic security appears to be suicidal Islamicists (not the IRA, or the Soviets, or left-wing idealists...). Maybe even CI5 dealing with the events of 9/11 or the 7/7 London bombings. 

Not older lads, I want to read about Bodie and Doyle et al. in their prime, but transposed to this decade. So, is there any?

Comments

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

That's a good question! Half of me loves seeing Bodie and Doyle in their original 70s setting but I think it would be interesting to see them pitted against more recent challenges such as suicide bombers or the problems of so-called 'home-grown' terrorism and to hear Doyle's more idealistic take on things vs. Bodie's pragmatism. Yeah, lots of meat there for anyone with itchy writing fingers.

The only modern novel/story I'm aware of is Jane's Professionals 2000: Gambit which still predates all the events you mention.

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

I love the 1970s setting too, it was just, as you say, an itch to experiment.

Thanks very much for telling me about Jane's 'Professionals 2000'. Funny how one year could make a difference, because when I think about it, it *is* the post-9/11 situation of the different terrorist threat that interests me, not the modernity. In fact the need to take account of mobile phones and laptop computers would be a pain and would quite change the dynamic. I just love it in Pros when they have to find a phone box!

[shooting2kill.livejournal.com]

it *is* the post-9/11 situation of the different terrorist threat that interests me, not the modernity.

So, do you mean it’s the (perceived) nature of the threat rather than the chronology of the whole thing which interests you more? If so, I agree. And whether or not the nature of the threat has changed or it’s just more of the same, the powers that be seem to be saying it’s a different kind of threat, so presumably their response (and ci5's) would be different e.g. the challenges posed by things like the growth and acceptance of a certain amount of Sharia law alongside existing law and how ci5 (and the individuals within it) would respond to that particular can of worms. And the situation where Ci5 could find itself facing an ideological battle as much as anything else.

In fact the need to take account of mobile phones and laptop computers would be a pain and would quite change the dynamic.

Again, I agree. The changing technology aspect doesn’t interest me at all and that’s why I couldn’t read much of the Jane book because it seemed to have lots of references to the use of new gadgets and stuff. What would interest me more is the possibility of ideas and stuff being exchanged between the 3 main characters. That kind of thing. They’ve touched on politics in some episodes and it might be interesting to see that aspect drawn out a bit more and to gain a bit more background and explanation as to why Bodie and Doyle react to certain things in certain ways.

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

You put it so much better than me.

Jane must be interested in the technology - in 'Falconhurst' (which I really liked) there is a long and loving description of how to an R/T call would be put through to CI5 from a remote location. It was so detailed that it looked like she wanted to show off some interesting info she'd researched.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

But... they'd be different people! Brought up in a different time, and effectively in a different culture because of it... And so... they wouldn't quite be Bodie and Doyle... Which means technically it'd be AU, but... with less of the fantasy element, because you'd have to be true to life, and then... Hmmn... I dunno...

Does it really matter which terrorists they're combatting, in any case? The thing that struck me when I started watching Pros again (post-Sept 11th 2001 - and here's a thought, are we danger of making the attacks eternal, because no one ever specifies the year?) was actually how timeless it was - the way they made an absolute rubbish of "The War Against Terror", which seemed to be being conducted (eg, in the media) as if there'd never been terrorism before the attacks on America. Pros reminded us, if we needed it, that in the UK and Europe the police etc had been fighting terrorists for years - for decades. The nationality might change, but it's all just people who think that violence will solve injustice. I like the way Pros is grey enough that it tends to remind us that terrorists are people who believe deeply in something too - people, not just faceless creatures (Russians, or Gooks, or the aliens in Star Trek etc, pick your Other) Who Are Evil. So in alot of ways it doesn't matter to me what nationality the villains are... In fact I wonder if that's why Pros works so well as historical AU? (In which case there's no reason it shouldn't work as a contemporary AU, except... I like my dollop of fantasy/nostalgia that comes with the lads, there's enough here and now in my here and now, if you know what I mean...

Hmmn, there's fic for The New Professionals, if you want to try that - that was set in more recent times, though not The War on Terror...

Oh, and I do have an older lads contemporary fic on the go, but you said that wasn't what you were after... *g*

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

'they'd be different people! Brought up in a different time...'
Absolutely. And I mention that the OH doesn't get it (in this context anyway, obviously he doesn't get other things too *g*) simply because he cannot see that.

It would be an AU from the point of view of Pros canon, but the real world from our pov. Cowley wouldn't be a veteran of the Spanish civil war (that always get me, just WWII wasn't tough enough for Cowley's background), the lads wouldn't be the children of post-war austerity... but that isn't an objection to other AU fic.

Your view of the timelessness of terrorism demonstrated by Pros is really interesting, I totally agree.
There was a wide variety of baddies too, not all due to international politics at all - criminals, white supremacists.... And that was without the IRA as central to the plot of any of the eps.

'9/11', by now you'd have to start a deliberate movement to reintroduce '2001' (to say nothing of the fact we have been compelled to accept the US date, as here on lj, not '11/9'). Even my Cambridge University Press proofreading guide says it is correct to use '9/11' without more. That is the only reason that I do.

Suffice to say (having run out of time) I just have this itch to see Bodie and Doyle andCowley trying to foil something like the 7/7 bombings in modern conditions. Trouble is, they'd be on their computers all the time. Maybe I should just watch 'Spooks'.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

but that isn't an objection to other AU fic
No, and I think the main reason it doesn't ring my bells is what I said above, that it would be too close to real life somehow, and all the mundanities that we have to cope with now - as you say, they'd have mobile phones and computers, and...

Hmmn, what kind of mobile phone users would they be, d'you think? The kind who pick up and answer no matter where they are/who they're with, and don't care who's listening because their work is so important? Loudly on trains? How do they use their R/Ts in the show...not when they're around the public (sort of!) but that wouldn't be a problem with mobiles, so you'd miss out on that lovely hiding-behind-a-newspaper, and making faces at boys on bicycles...

They'd have to be different about their guns too, presumably - not that there were cops waving their guns around in the 1970s/80s, but after Menendez etc they'd have to be really aware of the issues... And then they'd have to be hyper-aware of the media... Who would they date - would they date, or would they be openly gay, cos they can be? They'd lose the edge of that danger, I guess, and pick up... danger from the media? Erk... Or as hagsrus says, danger of AIDs and the need for condoms etc...

Hmmn - I wonder if it's just me that partly loves Pros as hankering-for-the-good-old-days kind of nostalgia? I mean, it wasn't obviously, but maybe a part of the escapism of it for me is that I can pull out the things that I thought were better then to enjoy, knowing that in real life we're safe from the bad things that we've moved on from... (does that make sense?) For example, I didn't love piss-smelling phone boxes that didn't work just when you needed them, but I do miss a world that's free of mobile phones!

Okay, slightly back on topic... (hope you don't mind me musing on over my morning coffee!)...

I just have this itch to see Bodie and Doyle andCowley trying to foil something like the 7/7 bombings in modern conditions.
Come to think of it, can you define what you mean by that? When you say the 7/7 bombings, d'you mean muliple bombings in London (which has been done lots of times in Prosfic) or d'you mean on the Tube specifically? Or d'you mean by an anti-British involvement in the Iraq war terrorist group? (Again, similar villain/motivation to Pros eps, come to think of it *g*)

And, more importantly, what d'you mean by "modern conditions"? Equipment? Politics? Social setting? Erm...

All well-interesting to think about, so thanks for posting this question by the way! (Hope I'm not annoying you too much by going on about it now... *g*)

I watched my first ep of Spooks the other day - quite liked it, although the characters didn't grab me as our lads do. Then again, I should probably watch more than one ep to get the proper flavour... *g*

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

I very much enjoyed your coffeee-time musings. Have felt frustrated all day by being dragged away by RL and unable to continue the discussion.

It looks like the answer to my question is 'no'. Maybe I'll try it some time, don't actually have any plot in mind at all, just like the idea.

It is interesting from your comments and others too that CI5 in the present is not just another AU because it is the real world, so it wouldn't be the 'real' lads in a fantasy/historical setting. It would be very difficult to make the real world setting convincing because the reader knows it so well.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

It looks like the answer to my question is 'no'.
Well, not that I've seen... other people might know differently! *g*

It would be very difficult to make the real world setting convincing because the reader knows it so well.
Ah no, I'm actually thinking of it the other way around, in a way - that it would be all too easy to make the real world setting convincing, because we live here already (although you'd have to do alot of careful research about what'd be likely in the CI5 workplace, laws and other departments etc).

I think it would be harder to make the lads believable as themselves, to be honest, because there'd be so much else in the way. You could take their character traits, as you would for an AU, and you'd have to fit them into the world now - but I think readers could be much more distracted with the world-now part of it, so that it would perhaps take priority over keeping the lads our lads? If that makes sense? That's obviously a danger with all AU, but from the pov of which would be harder to write - the set-up or the characters - I actually thing it might be the characters, in this case... You'd have to add so much more to them - mobile phones, computers, reaction to politics, laddism, etc etc because we're so much more aware of those things, they're much more deeply ingrained in us. The best historical AU writers will do the same (and do) but I think we're distracted less by the historical detail than we would be by a contemporary setting...

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

You so should!!! But don't invest too heavily in the characters - apart from Peter Firth (so far) it's an ensemble cast and no-one is 'safe' from death/destruction/removal/retirement in various ways. However, some of the parings are fabulous and later there's a canon m/m one, though it's very sad. I have watched every episode and would happily do so again if I had time. Brilliant acting, nail-biting plots and a lot of humour, especially in the use of Bond-style equipment. Some of the strongest female characters on TV and a respect for older characters, including older women. Plus, they don't always win, which gives some kind of reality to a series!

[hagsrus.livejournal.com]

On a purely trivial note, I like the fact that the timing is just right that condoms didn't need to be an issue between the lads.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Yes! Trivial maybe, but I think it makes a big difference to the feel of a fic - or at least it has in the ones where writers have been making the condom/AIDS point... I like that I can concentrate on other things about the fic rather than that mundanity!

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

It is fortuitous, isn't it?

So it seems there aren't any such fics at present. Shame that, but thanks for commenting.

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

Good point. A contemporary AU would be fun to read. While I love the lads in their own setting, it'd be nice to see more variety in time and locale. Plus I'm curious as hell to see them fighting modern crime as secret/special agents.

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

I'm glad the idea sparks your interest too. I'm surprised to learn that there doesn't seem to have been any such fic written yet.

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Just jumping in on the "surprised" bit - there's not been an awful lot of AU of any kind written in recent years, that I can think of. In fact I can only think of one off the top of my head (though there probably are more!)...I think I'd be more surprised if someone had written a contemporary-AU! *g*

[ariss-tenoh.livejournal.com]

In many aspects, Pros is a bit old-fashioned. The fans like the boys and like the usual settings. Apart from wildly fantastical AUs that go far into the future ala Star Trek or into fantasy like elves, there aren't many AUs that are closer to our own time. Or where one tiny detail was changed and how it affects the entire history of the boys.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing^_^ but some experimentation like in the SPN fandom would be welcome.

[rach74.livejournal.com]

Fascinating concept, but Bodie and Doyle are so off their time it would be very hard to pull off- the macho masculinity is so specific to that era. But I would love to read them in a post 9/11 world.

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

You and me both!

But macho masculinity is still with us in the military, and there are aspects to their characters that temper that - Doyle is a New Man by 1970s-80s standards, and Bodie has his charm and humour and occasional vulnerablity (the latter more in fic perhaps than in canon).

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

you know, before I ever posted any Pros fic at all I wrote a bunch of stuff that was the lads as we know them but in contemporary London. Sending daft emails to each other, mobile phone users etc. It wasn't even deliberately AU I don't think, that was just what I wanted to write at the time. I did exactly the same with Starsky and Hutch before I wrote "regularly" in the fandom. Funnily enough my email S&H story is still one that I get most feedback on. Luckily for all concerned I destroyed all the evidence of my 21st century lads *g* But I still can see them in this setting and I'd still like to revisit it. Um, OK ... there is a WIP, it's to do with anti-globalistion protesters in London. Heh! However, as I'm currently flailing around doing cowboys and being a general fandom whore ... It's a good question though! Might there be a *cough* challenge in the offing here?

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

'Luckily for all concerned I destroyed all the evidence of my 21st century lads *g*' You did what?! Lads emailing each other sounds brill.

'But I still can see them in this setting and I'd still like to revisit it.' Good, you may be forgiven.

'Um, OK ... there is a WIP, it's to do with anti-globalistion protesters in London.' Yay! what a relief to hear that. *vbg*

Please please don't destroy that one, I'd love to read it.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Funny you mentioned S&H and I was just thinking about them when I saw the post. I've even been to a panel about putting S&H in today's world, keeping them the same ages from the original run, and it was quite an interesting discussion. I did read a really good fic when they were here and now, with a twist.

But in all honesty, I really don't find a big draw to Bodie and Doyle at their CI5 ages (late 20s/early30s) in today's world. Maybe it's because I can watch MS using his laptop and mobile that it seems kind of weird to think of them today. But I'd definitely give it a try. As with the S&H story, I found I enjoyed it, so I'd read a Pros one set present day. The lads wouldn't necessarily have to be different because any good AU will keep them "in character" as much as possible. For me to enjoy it, anyway.

[blkandwhtcat.livejournal.com]

For me, a significant part of my enjoyment of reading about Bodie and Doyle is the late 70s/early 80s UK setting. I think the stories would lose a great deal of their charm if they were set in current times, and also, the guys just wouldn't be themselves. They aren't men who reached adulthood in the 21st century, and to make them so would make them people other than themselves. What's the point of reading Pros fic if it isn't about B and D? They ARE Pros.

Also, from a purely prurient POV, one of the really fun things about Pros fic is that there is no worry about safe sex. It can be a veritable jizz-fest, with no warnings and worries of being non-PC! Obviously in current RL, no one with a brain and sense of self-preservation is going to be barebacking, and I certainly understand why fanfic writers make a point of incorporating safe sex into their stories. It's a fact of life now. The status quo. But how fun it is to read stories that pre-date AIDS, without the dutifully described details of putting on the condom in every sex scene, or in the alternative, talky emo scenes wherein the guys go test together and then promise undying fidelity! Of course, Pros is set just at the cusp of the AIDS crisis, so stories in which the guys are not monogamous are somewhat dicey - realistically, if they were fucking around, then M. Fae Glasgow's "Silence=Death" is probably a pretty realistic scene of their future. But again, the time the show (and fic) is set plays well - given the attitude towards homosexuality, and the fact that they work for the government, Bodie and Doyle have rational, realistic and compelling reasons to be monogamous, witout going into a lot of schmaltzy details about love and fidelity forever and ever. That works well for me, because one thing I hate in Pros fic is long, chatty scenes where the dudes are babbling about their "feelings," and telling each other how much they love each other. Of course they do, but all that emotional babbling and tearful declarations of eternal luv? No way they'd be talking like that.

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

'the late 70s/early 80s UK setting'. Me too with bells on. That period is pure nostalgia for me, with the added twist of it being the English adolescence I craved because my father had taken us to live in Australia.

But re situating the lads in the 2000s, I love historical AUs and there it is delightful to see the same characters in a different setting. Maybe what puts people off the present is that we know it so well it would be a challenge to be believable, whereas with historical fic one is prepared to do a bit of suspending disbelief for the sake of the story. E.g. you might think, 'I don't believe the vicar would have been that tolerant of homosexuality', but then you can't be sure not having actually lived in Victorian times.

(sorry, tea time - back in a bit.)

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

Re safe sex (prurient maybe, but certainly an interesting point), I don't read in other fandoms, hence hadn't thought about the issues concerning safe sex in those set in the present. Part of me thinks that since the fic is fantasy anyway, why does one have to be completely true to real life? The fireworks displays of fantastic, perfect life-changing sex portrayed in many 'first times' for Bodie and Doyle are not realistic either, but rather how the author would most want it to be. In other words, wouldn't it be okay to gloss over the need for condoms, as long as the audience knows you aren't advocating unsafe sex for real. It certainly is convenient that with Pros in its '70s setting we don't have to worry about AIDS, even up to 1982. People forget though about herpes, which although it didn't kill you was very feared and loathed in the 1970s because it was incurable.

Completely different attitudes about homosexuality would make a big difference too. One of the attractions of slash for me is the poignancy of the 'forbidden' aspect, the love that dare not, etc. In RL it's great that it's not like that now, but something would perhaps be missing from the fic- except that being openly gay probably still is an issue in the military and intelligence services, plus there's the 'chalk and cheese' aspect of Bodie and Doyle that makes their relationship interesting and in some ways unlikely even if the homosexuality is no longer regarded as deviant.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

I wrote in TS for seven years and never used "safe sex" re: condoms and such. I wanted my guys to be snogging and monogamous and not have to worry about AIDS and such. I didn't set out to write realistic anyway, and I don't find using condoms "romantic" since I'm basically a romance writer. I've seen people warn for not using the accepted current standards for safe sex, but I didn't bother since my fic is romantic fantasy, like you mentioned.

[rosie55.livejournal.com]

Nipping in ever so quickly and just for a moment (because my lad is home for a couple of weeks and where did the weekend go, lol?!) my OH was very keen on the Spooks series and that always struck me as the present day equivelant of The Pros. Just can't imagine George Cowley allowing his wife to have pictures of himself in his swimming trunks on Facebook, though! Though I suspect Bodie would find uses for Twitter...
The stars of Spooks weren't nearly so attractive as the lads and they just didn't have the chemistry! But the eps were very much about a shadowy organisation using ultra-modern technology to counter terrorism, etc, with the requisite amount of violence, betrayals, etc.
So I much prefer the lads in either their own time or even in earlier times, in AUs but modern day active agent lads don't appeal at all to me - though I'm a sucker for older lads stories!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

I watched my first ep of Spooks the other day, and it struck me as exactly the way you've described it! *g* They just can't seem to get that chemistry that our lads had, can they..? *g*

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

'Cowley allowing his wife to have pictures of himself in his swimming trunks on Facebook' hee hee. What was she thinking?

I thought Spooks sounded like a good series, just have never got around to watching it.

Wasn't feeling well this afternoon so went for a lie down and worked out a fair bit of a plot for this contemporary Pros fic - but now it looks like no one will want to read it.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

I enjoy Spooks, but there is no chemistry re: slash or even (gasp) het for me. I enjoy the story lines, the slick cinematography, the way they handle the current events, but there's no fandom for me in the show. It's just mindless entertainment with nice looking guys. *bg* But PRZed did a fantastic Spooks vid a few years ago that I really like.

[m31andy.livejournal.com]

I've come across quite a few "contemporary" Pros stories, but I think all of them were written pre 9/11, so not really what you're looking for. Sorry.

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

Thanks for commenting, anyway.

[bistokidsfan77.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry I'm late to the party. This is a very interesting discussion! The appeal of Pros to me is from the standpoint of an American totally gone over anything British plus it being a police procedural. That, and the lovely Lads, of course :D

To be a bit serious, the 70's were a pivotal decade in many aspects. The nascent technology did affect they way investigations were done. Pros was very cutting edge for its day - computers used regularly, the R/T's were of the best technology also. It's sometimes hard to remember how it was to not have the ability to make a call anywhere/anytime with your mobile phone. Part of the charm of the show & its fic for me are the differences from today. Do you remember what is was like to have to look for a working phonebooth/callbox? I do - a right pain, lol! As a former police officer that worked quite a while after the time Pros was set, I can tell you that your portable radio was likely to go out or not be able to transmit to base at the most inopportune times. I really appreciate the differences between British and American attitudes towards "shooters".

I don't have first hand knowledge of this, and would appreciate any Brit's input, but I really love getting the "slice of life" pictures of the television version of the "British" way of life during that era. From all that I've read/seen, this was the last of old guard in terms of social structure/way of life. Things have much changed from then, and it's nostalgic. I've recently begun watching The Sweeney, which is set a few years before Pros & it's been and eye-opener, I can tell you. (BTW, just LOVE The Sweeney :D)

Re Bodie & Doyle. I do think they'd be themselves, no matter what decade they are set in. What makes them so great for me is, they are set in the transition period between the old and the new. They are trying to negotiate the new challenges with the old attitudes and the slow-moving bureaucracy/system. I'd like to think they'd shine through no matter what the challenge. I'm just partial to the 70's, mess-up and complicated, and just far enough removed from now as to make it a little more comfortable to examine the bumps and bruises and handle a little introspection.

[constant-muse.livejournal.com]

And thanks for your very interesting comment. Funny isn't it how Pros is now a social history document. The unself-consciousness of the tea-drinking, phone-boxes etc. Apparently this is the appeal of Life on Mars (but that has to be self-conscious). The Sweeney!, I've watched a few eps recently and just love it too (not in a slashy way though). It's pre-Thatcherism, when Britain was rather grim I think and rent by industrial unrest, but looking back it was less competitive, less materialistic, with greater social equality and more of people looking out for each other.

From the pov of overseas, sometimes Pros looks like it is intended for export, with iconic views of London, and pretty countryside scenes and country houses (Only a Beautiful Picture stands out), but there is all that, as you say, slice of life stuff. Which is cool because they don't always have to be smart/sexy/violent/active - sometimes characters can sit around in someone's living room with loud wallpaper and have some tea and cake.

Crumbs, I don't think I've addressed your comment adequately - it's a bit late at night for me.