Season 15 - The Last Place on Earth (1985-1986)
The great age of exploration when men went about the Earth planting flags in the most hostile of climates holds no interest for me. It doesn't just smack of colonialism, but of a severe superiority complex. Britain literally was trying to claim the South Pole to regain their manhood. And that isn't me projecting, they actually say that in The Last Place on Earth which is dark and bleak and boils down to two assholes doing something for no reason. Norway, led by Roald Amundsen, took the Pole because they were better prepared, but Britain, led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, arriving at the Pole a mere thirty-four days late were the real "winners" because of their heroic deaths on the return trip. By heroic I mean they froze to death in their tent because Scott had no business running an Antarctic expedition. Or at least that's my take after watching this grueling miniseries. Which is why I'm now going to talk about the music. Yes, no Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy, and other famous celebs making some of their earliest film roles for me! For me it's all about Trevor Jones! His name is in the credits! It's really big! It's in the crossed flags that make a cross marking a grave. SO DRAMATIC! So mismatched. At the time Trevor Jones was contracted to do The Last Place on Earth he was smack dab in the middle of his "mystical" phase, having worked on Excalibur and The Dark Crystal with Labyrinth on the horizon. And that is exactly what this music sounds like. Which, given the subject matter, is a major disconnect. Because it sounds like he's written a third unreleased score for Legend to replace Tangerine Dream who replaced Jerry Goldsmith and not music for men toiling in the harshest of climes. I feel like there was an exec somewhere who spun a narrative about the South Pole and it's eternal winter being like a snow globe and Trevor Jones just ran with that concept. The glittering ice hovering in the air, the magical, unearthly environment, the eternal darkness, OK, I'm starting to talk about Legend again. But seriously, has someone edited this score to Legend because I think it would be slamming. Because the truth of the matter is I love this music. I want a soundtrack that I can listen to on a loop. My brother said it reminded him of the best in industrial library music from the seventies and he too thought it was slamming. But was, like me, perplexed by how this in any way connected with an expedition to the South Pole. At least it made the copious deaths and treks and eating of animals almost bearable. It's not an understatement to say it's the incongruous music that got me through this show. That and I really wanted to see Scott die. I particularly loved the Norwegians leaving him a fuck you tent at the pole. That was class. Because, fuck Scott! Long live Trevor Jones!
There are moments in your life that your remember as perfect. They are rare. Those moments you can look back on and think, yes, that was when everything was right in the world. That was it. For me one of those moments was spending Sunday nights with my cat watching He Knew He Was Right. This miniseries was a perfect blend of romance and humor. Yes, the story of Louis and Emily and the disintegration of their marriage is tragic but Bill Nighy playing the rakish wedge pushing them apart with his asides to the camera is beyond delicious. Then there's the budding romance between Dorothy and Brooke, an oh so young Matthew Goode, doomed due to Dorothy's aunt, a brilliant turn by the ever wonderful Anna Massey. Of course I'm leaving the best for last, and that's the love triangle between the local vicar and two sisters. Arabella and Camilla French, Fenella Woolgar and Claudie Blakley respectively, both set their caps at Mr. Gibson, played by David Tennant. There is manipulation, illness, castigation, and finally, after an incident with a knife, grudging acceptance. I can not tell you how much I enjoy this plotline. I can give you an inkling though in the fact that a few years back now David Tennant was coming to Madison as part of the Wizard World Conventions. Remember conventions? Large rooms full of noisy people spending too much money they couldn't afford to spend but all worshiping the same geeky gods you do? Yeah... There's a part of me that doesn't miss those at all and another part that longs to be able to go to one. Booths full of geeky t-shirts and random people dressed up as Doctor Who or Deadpool might be dead and gone. Getting back on track, so David Tennant, Madison, me having a VIP ticket. First there was the quick photoshoot where they move you through as fast as they can, here's you and David, click, next. Later there would be the panel where I had a reserved seat up front and people would ask questions David has had to answer a thousand times before. The middle though, the autograph, that is when you get a few seconds of one on one time. I went up, had my Doctor Who picture to be signed and said "Obviously I'm a fan of Doctor Who but I have to say that your performance in He Knew He Was Right is my favorite. The knife scene was perfection." He got a far away look in his eye and smiled and said "Now that's an obscure one." So I got credit for being obscure. I'll take it. 
