Callan is Such a Slashfest
Dec. 28th, 2018 10:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
firestorm717Thanks to Raffles, I discovered the beauty of Anthony Valentine and fell down the rabbit hole of old British TV shows. One such show I've been watching is Callan, a gritty Cold War spy drama from the 60's, starring Edward Woodward as the eponymous character, David Callan, and Anthony as Toby Meres, a baby-faced agent with a sadistic streak and an eye for pretty boy trainees.
Here he is playing with his pistol:
And here he is smiling as he interrogates an enemy spy... by using said spy as target practice:
Callan and Meres both work for the Section, a top secret British organization that carries out shady missions - kidnapping, extortion, outright murder - in the name of Her Majesty's government. While Callan is morally tormented by his job, often butting heads with Hunter (their boss) over ethics and justice, Meres takes great pleasure in it and sees no reason why Callan should be the top man when Callan himself wants to quit the Section. After all, Meres is a veteran agent who's done his share of guarding marks
and subduing persons of interest.
(I chose these last two gifs solely for the Toby/Guns ship, hehe). However, Hunter still considers Callan to be the Section's best operative, so Meres is often relegated to support duty. It's a major source of friction between the two, especially since one of Meres’s duties is to ensure Callan's moral sense doesn't get in the way of a job, no matter how despicable. For example, here he is testing out a sniper rifle
(God, the way he strokes it is SO dirty) that Hunter orders him to use on a target should Callan fail in an assassination attempt. Needless to say, Meres is very eager to show off his long, hard gun *cough*
Despite their initial antagonism, Callan and Meres slowly grow to respect each other, first as rivals, then as teammates, then finally, dare I say... friends? Meres’s respect for Callan is obvious from the start. In the very first episode, he tells a contact that Callan is a "Damn good operative", to which the contact replies, "You like him", prompting Meres to backpedal and claim, "I detest him. He's still good." This pattern repeats itself in season 2, when a new Hunter (the boss of the Section changes, but he's always called Hunter) again observes that Meres likes Callan after Meres goes out of his way to defend Callan's expertise in the face of Hunter's skepticism. What's more, it soon becomes clear that Meres manipulated Callan and Hunter into a meeting so that Callan would be forced to rejoin the Section, presumably because Meres was bored without hislover rival. The slash just writes itself from there. I'll make a separate post dedicated to Callan/Meres once I finish watching the series, but suffice it to say, these two go from actively sabotaging each other to sharing clothes, sipping tea, and co-parenting a beautiful white cat together. Seriously, so married.
I'll just leave you with one more gif. Meres has a habit of breaking into his colleague's apartment when he needs something from Callan, and he can't resist the opportunity to pull a prank. I liken it to a boy pulling on the pigtails of a girl he fancies. Anyway, in this scene, Meres scares Callan with his biggest gunbesides the one in his pants.
He's lucky Callan didn't let off a shot... prematurely ;) Kekeke.
Here he is playing with his pistol:
And here he is smiling as he interrogates an enemy spy... by using said spy as target practice:
Callan and Meres both work for the Section, a top secret British organization that carries out shady missions - kidnapping, extortion, outright murder - in the name of Her Majesty's government. While Callan is morally tormented by his job, often butting heads with Hunter (their boss) over ethics and justice, Meres takes great pleasure in it and sees no reason why Callan should be the top man when Callan himself wants to quit the Section. After all, Meres is a veteran agent who's done his share of guarding marks
and subduing persons of interest.
(I chose these last two gifs solely for the Toby/Guns ship, hehe). However, Hunter still considers Callan to be the Section's best operative, so Meres is often relegated to support duty. It's a major source of friction between the two, especially since one of Meres’s duties is to ensure Callan's moral sense doesn't get in the way of a job, no matter how despicable. For example, here he is testing out a sniper rifle
(God, the way he strokes it is SO dirty) that Hunter orders him to use on a target should Callan fail in an assassination attempt. Needless to say, Meres is very eager to show off his long, hard gun *cough*
Despite their initial antagonism, Callan and Meres slowly grow to respect each other, first as rivals, then as teammates, then finally, dare I say... friends? Meres’s respect for Callan is obvious from the start. In the very first episode, he tells a contact that Callan is a "Damn good operative", to which the contact replies, "You like him", prompting Meres to backpedal and claim, "I detest him. He's still good." This pattern repeats itself in season 2, when a new Hunter (the boss of the Section changes, but he's always called Hunter) again observes that Meres likes Callan after Meres goes out of his way to defend Callan's expertise in the face of Hunter's skepticism. What's more, it soon becomes clear that Meres manipulated Callan and Hunter into a meeting so that Callan would be forced to rejoin the Section, presumably because Meres was bored without his
I'll just leave you with one more gif. Meres has a habit of breaking into his colleague's apartment when he needs something from Callan, and he can't resist the opportunity to pull a prank. I liken it to a boy pulling on the pigtails of a girl he fancies. Anyway, in this scene, Meres scares Callan with his biggest gun
He's lucky Callan didn't let off a shot... prematurely ;) Kekeke.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-30 03:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2018-12-30 03:11 pm (UTC)If you like historical stories, I also recommend Colditz, a WWII drama about British POWs imprisoned in Colditz castle. Fine performances all around, especially by Anthony (he shows up in the second season) and David McCallum.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-30 10:33 pm (UTC)Colditz is on my to-watch list, so I'm glad for the recommendation, it sounds great :) I'll probably start it after I finish Callan. I was choosing between it and Callan and went for Callan because I had just finished Killing Eve and they seemed like spiritual cousins (which they totally are).
no subject
Date: 2018-12-31 11:34 pm (UTC)Callan/Colditz also has potential for a post-WWII crossover, but I'll save my plot bunnies till you've finished the series :)
What other Anthony Valentine/Jeremy Brett stuff appeal to you?
no subject
Date: 2019-01-01 04:33 am (UTC)I've really been enjoying Jeremy Brett's Play of Month episodes, especially An Ideal Husband and The Rivals. The latter is sadly not a pretty recording, but charming enough that I don't really mind (and I just love his fans so much for tracking these things down, even when it's a recording somebody made on their vhs at the time). And speaking of Play of the Month, I just found Julius Caesar with Edward Woodward as Cassius. I haven't gotten around to seeing it yet though. I also watched the Rebecca adaptation Brett was in. And of course I'd seen My Fair Lady before, but I definitely rewatched with new eyes. I never realized that was him until recently.
I haven't looked into much of Anthony Valentine's stuff beyond the TV shows (speaking of which, do you know if Justice is available anywhere? I've seen a lot of stills but that's about it), but I noticed a couple of questionable-looking horror movies that I'll probably watch. I like a cheesy horror movie. And I've got An Age of Kings on my netflix queue for a rainy day.
no subject
Date: 2019-01-02 09:50 pm (UTC)Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a digital copy of Justice, but the R2 DVDs are available on eBay. (Search for "Justice Complete Series UK"). I believe the stills floating around are from unwillingadventurer, who capped it from their DVD. If you like cheesy horror movies, I believe Tower of Evil and To the Devil a Daughter may appeal to you, although Anthony's role is small in both. the-prince-of-professors is actually organizing an Anthony Valentine video stream for this Saturday. If you have time, drop by and ask the experts for recommendations :)