Kuryakin-McCallum Monday - favorite television roles

Obviously, a sizeable number of U.N.C.L.E. fans adore Illya, and a sizeable number of N.C.I.S. fans adore Ducky.  These series with acronyms seem to work for him!

What other television roles have you enjoyed, cousins?  My list is too long - I only like about 95% of them!   Here are some of my favorites:

Tone Hobart from "Forms of Things Unknown" on "The Outer Limits" - there's something absolutely mesmerizing about this character.   Even in black and white, those sparkling eyes, that angelic innocence in his face, and that melodic voice are an intoxicating mix.

Alan Breck Stewart in "Kidnapped" - oh, how I love the accent and the dialogue.  For some reason, the term "muckle-ass" comes to mind, as does the description of Highland women, "... stubborn, feckless and perverse ...".   Had the real Alan Breck looked anything like Mr. McCallum, the queue of women would have gone for miles or kilometers, depending on the location.  The portrayal of the devoted, sword-wielding Scotsman was award-worthy.

Hamilton Cade in "Teacher, Teacher" - another award-worthy performance.  Cade and the handyman had different methods of teaching Freddie, and both were effective.  The handyman helped the boy learn by doing.  Freddie's hand-written message, "I go friend," wouldn't have happened without Cade's dedicated efforts to teach Freddie to recognize words, then to read and write.  The original 1969 ending always brings tears to my eyes.  The music for "Teacher, Teacher" is the only drawback - it is both annoying and dated; no doubt, Mr. McCallum could have written a better musical score.

Simon Carter in "Colditz" - Flt. Lt. Carter's longing for home plays on our sympathy.  During Season One, with his life at risk, we sit on the edge of our seats when Carter goes on trial and then awaits his sentence.  After Carter's injuries from an escape attempt, his on-going determination to confound the Germans as the Escape Officer is laudable. 

Steel of "Sapphire and Steel" - Steel has a mature sexiness going on; at times the looks between Sapphire and Steel are just short of smoldering - especially in A2 and A3.  There are some folks who complain about the difficulty in getting into "Sapphire and Steel".  It is dark, and the only assignment without the heavy tension is A5.  It took me a year to summons up the nerve to watch A4, "The Man without a Face".  "Sapphire and Steel" is brilliant, but it takes more than a cursory look to fully appreciate the series. 

In the commentary, "Counting Out Time", Joanna Lumley said that Steel didn't have "... a human heart".  Steel didn't have a human heart, but he was totally dedicated to Sapphire and was terribly jealous of Silver.  Sapphire and Steel together were yin and yang; they completed each other.  Strangely, the seemingly harsh and cold (in more ways than one) Steel exhibited a broader range of human emotions than any of the other ethereal beings.  I still find it interesting that Steel was thoroughly intent upon protecting the presumably innocent woman in A6 when both Sapphire and Silver were willing to leave her without aid (if there had been a way to leave).  

Honorable character mentions (in no particular order):  Sir Alex Vesey, "Mother Love"; Mark Wilson, "She Waits"; Dr. Daniel Westin, "The Invisible Man" (poor scripts, poor scheduling and Southern Baptists were three strikes against the series, but Danny and Kate were an adorably randy couple!); Dr. Joel Winter, "Phantom Farmhouse" from "Night Gallery"; "Prophet" in "The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters" (you would never know it was him); John Adams, "Profiles in Courage"; Joshua Hayward in "Feasibility Study" for the 1997 "The Outer Limits"; Professor Plum in "Cluedo"; Drew Garrison, "Deadly Misunderstanding" from "Murder, She Wrote"; Geoffrey Atterton, "Hunted Harts" from "Hart to Hart"; and Inspector Craig from "The Return of Sam McCloud"?

I did leave out a few, but not many! 

My McCallum friends, this topic is for you!