And now, forgive me spamming you, but it's been a while and I think it must be time for one of those David Collings picspams I warned everybody about when I friended them... (I always try to be amusing, though.)

Anyway, I mainly wanted to share some pics because it was obviously made not long before(?) S&S's Assignment 3 and therefore there are times when David Collings looks like 18th C!Silver (and he doesn't usually look like Silver in other things), which could be useful as reference for S&S fans, obviously. (Not that I think there should be 18th!Silver fic... Oh, wait, that's a lie.) Plus, as ever, Things That Amused Me.


This was directed by Michael E. Briant and whips past in 8x 30 min episodes, like an unusually pacy Doctor Who historical or something. David Collings was playing John Barsad and was being as annoying as possible to everybody. (I'm sure John Barsad was less annoying in the book/film. Or maybe that was because I was so fed up with everyone else that I liked him for being a spy and the one that nobody else liked? I didn't get on with Two Cities as a teenager, but I'm glad to have seen this version now & got a better idea of it.)

He's in 5 of the 8 episodes, which can be summed up as follows:


Episode 2, in which we learn he's the sort of person who gives false witness, cheats at cards and gets deservedly thrown down the stairs, apparently. (There is a wig in eps2 & 4. Thankfully, not after that, though.)


Episode 4, in which he annoys people in London...


... and then goes to France to annoy some more people. (He looks at a doorway several times, but he doesn't pose in it. He does pose at the bar, but I haven't included that. You will have to imagine it. For newbies, sorry, this is just my joke because David Collings likes to pose in doorways)


Episode 6 involves lurking only. Or possibly skulking.


Oh, and have a gratuitous hair shot.


Episode 7, however, is kind of great. For reasons. There was plot and stuff.



And, most importantly, here is your guide on how to react when meeting David Collings in the marketplace while out doing your shopping. (It seems a reasonable response to me.)


First, spot your David Collings. (Don't let the hat fool you.)


Then grab him, hug him and kiss him. (Do not worry about your respective hats getting in the way.)


Hang on and don't let go...


... until he kisses you back. (This, btw, is the most kissing David Collings has ever done in a film/TV thing that I've seen and I might have seen about *cough*23*cough* now. I had begun to think the BBC had an obscure regulation that stated that he was only allowed to kiss people on radio. Which is no use, radio kissing is highly embarrassing and shouldn't be allowed. Of the radio sex scene we shall not speak. 0_o Anyway, he's only kissing his sister here, very grudgingly. Four times. Very grudging, yes. Actors. :lol:)


Everybody wants a David Collings. Even when he's an annoying, no-good type. I suppose that's understandable.


Episode 8, in which he comes good, more or less (and immediately looks more like Silver).


"It's a dungeon! I don't want to go in there, I'm a only technician. Dungeons are for Operators..."

And that was the BBC 1980 Tale of Two Cities, except it had some other people in it that I forgot to mention.


Crossposted from Dreamwidth -- Comments there: