A James Bond - Agatha Christie crossover, and World TV Day | #30
Also, Gabbar Singh's origin story
Hey there 👋🏽
Did you know that the United Nations has declared Nov 21st as World Television Day? This may sound like its straight from University of WhatsApp, but this is an actual resolution. The aim is for member countries to exchange TV programmes that focus on peace, security, economic development and saas-bahu disputes.
TV has played a big role in our lives so today’s newsletter is dedicated to the idiot box. As Joey Tribbiani says “You don’t own a TV? What’s all your furniture pointed at?”
Three things we learnt this week:
Miss Marple is an ITV adaptation of all the Miss Marple novels by Agatha Christie, with plenty of Easter Eggs strewn in. Here’s our favourite:
In an episode of the ‘Caribbean Mystery’, Miss Marple is attending a talk on ‘Birds of the West Indies’ where she meets author Ian Fleming who is struggling to find a name for the lead character in his new book. When the speaker - ornithologist James Bond introduces himself, Fleming has a moment of inspiration and reaches for his notebook. A lovely nod to the origin of the iconic character who was indeed named after an ornithologist.
Talking of Bond, the first ever adaptation of a James Bond novel was actually on TV! Contrary to popular belief Sean Connery (RIP Sir) is not the first person to play James Bond. That honor goes to the TV actor Barry Nelson who played James as an American and is sometimes called Jimmy Bond. You can watch the version here:
Another famous character that was introduced on a TV show first rather than on film was Boba Fett. Star Wars Holiday Special was a special made for TV, where events were set between the end of New Hope and the beginning of Empire Strikes Back. It wasn’t particularly good and has never been seen on TV after 1978. YouTube clips are available of course and it makes you wonder whether it is Star Wars or Chandrakanta (see below)
Amjad Khan would have turned 80 few days ago. Here is a thread of how he became Gabbar Singh. Not as straightforward as you think.
Quiz Announcement
Taking a cue from Hollywood, we have converted a successful first movie followed by a superb second movie into a franchise. This week we host the gritty reboot aka the 3rd edition of The Great India Quiz hosted by the legendary Dr Navin Jayakumar. We have the authority of food and a lot of other things - Vikram Doctor and the mastermind of Mastermind - Archana Garodia Gupta as panelists. Reserve your seat now!
Things we’re reading / watching / listening to:
Directed by Hansal Mehta, Scam 1992 covers the story of Harshad Mehta (no relation..?) who shadily took the stock markets to the moon. The series also smartly exposed the loopholes in the Indian government's policies. The gripping series is based on Sucheta Dalal and Debashis Basu's 'The Scam: Who Won, Who Lost and Who Got Away’
Our first horror recommendation perhaps - with over a 150 episodes, The Magnus Archives is a horror fiction anthology podcast on Spotify from the POV of head archivist Johnathan Sims as he and his team attempt to research the weird and mystic.
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