DBWI: No Flashman TV Series with Dominic West

Some Bloke

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It's been 25 years since the BBC adaptation of Tom Brown's schooldays aired.
25 years since the young Dominic West's performance as the country's
favourite bounder the interest of George MacDonald Fraser and finally
gave the character and the series the pop culture icon it deserved.

It prompted Fraser to authorise a biography of Flashman after his diagnosis
with cancer, giving material for Flashman's American Civil War adventures
among other things, and forms the basis for many episodes not directly based
on the books.

With the announcement of new episodes filming, let us take a moment to imagine
what our pop culture (not to mention fashion) would be like without this
world famous cad on the small screen every other year.
 

NOMISYRRUC

The BBC adaptations by Andrew Davies were very good. However, I always preferred the 1970s film series, directed by Dick Lester, starring Malcolm McDowell and with George MacDonald Fraser writing the scripts. I think its a pity that it only lasted 3 films.
 

jason Trent

Since the estate of George McDonald Fraser allowed the Flashman books to fall into public domain, there have been as many versions as to rival Sherlock Holmes. My favorite was the Mitchell and Webb version from the early 00s with Webb as Flashy and Mitchell popping up as different villains and side characters throughout. A lot of people didnt appreciate the liberty they enjoyed with the material, but I rather liked the "Flashman of Mars" and "Flashman at The Mountains of Madness" holiday specials.
 

NOMISYRRUC

Some Bloke said:
I think Dominic West's were truer to history and the spirit of the books.
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As this thread has recently come back from the dead, I saw the Dominic West's Flashman and Malcolm McDowell's Royal Flash close together a few months back. West did the Union Flag scene even better than McDowell! I'll concede that!

And although I worship the ground Phillip Madoc walked on his Bismarck was not a patch on Oliver Reed's. Though they were both the types of actor that even when they were playing the good guys felt sinister.
 

Some Bloke

jason Trent said:
Since the estate of George McDonald Fraser allowed the Flashman books to fall into public domain, there have been as many versions as to rival Sherlock Holmes. My favorite was the Mitchell and Webb version from the early 00s with Webb as Flashy and Mitchell popping up as different villains and side characters throughout. A lot of people didnt appreciate the liberty they enjoyed with the material, but I rather liked the "Flashman of Mars" and "Flashman at The Mountains of Madness" holiday specials.
Click to expand...

Mitchell & Webb's Flashman. Always a guilty pleasure.
 

NOMISYRRUC

Who was Ludwig of Bavaria in West's Royal Flash? In the Dick Lester film it was Mr Grainger out of Are You Being Served.

"No! I meant the spider!"
 

NOMISYRRUC

Some Bloke said:
Mitchell & Webb's Flashman. Always a guilty pleasure.
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On the subject of Flashman parodies...

I often thought that Rick Mayall's Lord Flashhart (if this is the correct spelling) and Bombardier were Flashmanesque characters (minus the extreme cowardice).

I thought Dancing Queen was the best thing Mayall ever did. I was pleased that ITV showed it as a tribute to Mayall when he died and that it was as good as I remembered. It was even better than the New Statesman episode where Alan B'stard engineers an economic crisis to make a killing on the stock market.

Helena Bonham Carter was great in Dancing Queen too. She should have played more northern strippers. Anybody care to start a thread on that?
 

Deleted member 94680

Some Bloke said:
let us take a moment to imaginewhat our pop culture (not to mention fashion) would be like without thisworld famous cad on the small screen every other year.
Click to expand...

There would be less people wearing braided dolman jackets on a night out? The full moustache might be less popular? Maybe even, heaven forbid, beards being the facial hair of choice?!?
 

Cryhavoc101

Well I for one would never have taken up Historical Fencing, focusing on the British Cavalry sabre, nor would I have, on several occasions over the years, vainly and forlornly attempted to grow a 'frightful moustache' in the manner of that great hero of the Victorian age had it not been for those earlier films.

As too the new series - I often find these modern adaptations somewhat lacking (I mean the Malcolm McDowell films actually used hundreds of Cavalry and infantry with not a dodgy special effect to be seen and the sword fighting in the older films was gritty (not as good as the Duellists - but still gave a sense of the Brutality of such a fight) and I really got a sense of how horrific marching or charging into cannon and musket fire was while in the newer adaptations it would appear that you can load a musket or pistol in 5 seconds :)

Its almost like more could be done with a smaller budget back then.
 

NOMISYRRUC

Cryhavoc101 said:
Well I for one would never have taken up Historical Fencing, focusing on the British Cavalry sabre, nor would I have, on several occasions over the years, vainly and forlornly attempted to grow a 'frightful moustache' in the manner of that great hero of the Victorian age had it not been for those earlier films.

As too the new series - I often find these modern adaptations somewhat lacking (I mean the Malcolm McDowell films actually used hundreds of Cavalry and infantry with not a dodgy special effect to be seen and the sword fighting in the older films was gritty (not as good as the Duellists - but still gave a sense of the Brutality of such a fight) and I really got a sense of how horrific marching or charging into cannon and musket fire was while in the newer adaptations it would appear that you can load a musket or pistol in 5 seconds :)

Its almost like more could be done with a smaller budget back then.
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But you would have still had the Dick Lester Musketeer films that McDonald Fraser wrote the scripts for. I suspect that you were a massive fan of them too (at lest the first one, IMHO the second wasn't as funny). There was also David Vine's seminal Sunday morning series, "Cut and Thrust!" Therefore I suspect that you would have at least the Historical Fencing.
 
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Cryhavoc101

NOMISYRRUC said:
But you would have still had the Dick Lester Musketeer films that McDonald Fraser wrote the scripts for. I suspect that you were a massive fan of them too (at lest the first one, IMHO the second wasn't as funny.) There was also David Vine's seminal Sunday morning series, "Cut and Thrust!" Therefore I suspect that you would have at least he Historical Fencing.
Click to expand...

Indeed I probably would have taken up......the Rapier instead...which as every sabarist knows is a girls weapon fit only for civilian use by popinjays at court

OOC: I took up the Rapier LOL
 
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