RACE & WIMSEY IN THE LAND O' REMAKES.....

'FATHER BROWN'

"THE BRIDE OF CHRIST"

This scene provided two points of televisiological interest, dealing with characters with roots in the fictional universe of BookWorld.

1] DAME AGATHA CHRISTIE & COLONEL JOHNNY RACE

Sister Boniface is reading one of the Christie novels that showcases a recurring character from the Hercule Poirot stories - Colonel Race, former official in MI-5.

Dame Agatha Christie's position in Earth Prime-Time is similar to that of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - her televersion (seen in an episode of 'Doctor Who') does write those mystery novels, but they are fictionalized accounts of "actual" events.  As with Sherlock Holmes, her main subjects - Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple - are looked upon by the general public in Toobworld as being fictional when in fact they inhabit the same world as those people.  (Whether or not this is something promoted by my splainin group known as "UNReel" is unknown.)

Colonel Race does exist in Earth Prime-Time and was seen in the 'Hercule Poirot' episode "Death On The Nile".  (From the Trueniverse perspective, he was played by James Fox.  Over in the Cineverse, he was portrayed by David Niven.)

In BookWorld, he also appears in the story "Cards On The Table" with Poirot, but here's proof that the televersion of those books are fictionalized.  In Toobworld, it was Colonel Hughes who attended Mr. Shaitana's gathering, not Colonel Race.  Apparently, this had to be covered up (perhaps Hughes was working on a situation for MI-5 and couldn't afford to have his presence known at the fete.)  And so the televersion of Christie got permission from Colonel Race to use him as a substitute.

2] LORD PETER WIMSEY & INSPECTOR PARKER

When Father Brown and Inspector Valentine meet Sister Boniface, she remarks on the similarity in their relationship to two other sleuths: Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey and his future brother-in-law, Inspector Charles Parker.

But they are not fictional characters out of Sayers' books.  Instead they were real people in the TV Universe.  However, Sister Boniface was not referring to the two sleuths from Earth Prime-Time......

This version of 'Father Brown' takes place in the alternate TV dimension currently referred to as The Land O' Remakes for want of a better name.  The Father Brown of Earth Prime-Time was played by Kenneth More back in the early 1970s.  And such is the case with Lord Peter Wimsey.  In Toobworld, he was played by Ian Carmichael and remains the official version for the main TV dimension.  In The Land O' Remakes, Edward Petherbridge played Lord Peter Wimsey, with David Quilter as Inspector Parker.  (Mark Eden played the role in Earth Prime-Time.)

Since Sister Boniface made no reference to the source books, we can take the usual Toobworld tactic of treating Lord Wimsey and Inspector Parker as being the actual people.

By the way, The Land O' Remakes is the same TV dimension in which one would find Geraldine McEwen playing Miss Jane Marple.  As for Sherlock Holmes?  I would think that to be in The Land O' Remakes, one has to play the role after the official version has been broadcast.  In Holmes' case, the official version is of course that played by Jeremy Brett.  Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller are both excluded for updating the milieu to modern times. 

I'm tempted to place the Holmes of Jonathan Pryce in this world, but that was in a stand-alone TV movie.  By tradition, those get their own dimensions.

As of right now, The Land O' Remakes does not have its own Hercule Poirot either.  Sir Peter Ustinov's portrayal is from the Borderlands and Alfred Molina's Poirot belongs in one of the MOTW dimensions (and not one of the more reputable ones, by my way of thinking.....)

BCnU!