#I thought they'd be disappointing

[uwudonoodle]

Hot tip: Next time you go to Olive Garden, get the doughnuts for dessert. I know, I know, it's an Americanized chain restaurant - generally tasty when you're hungry, but nothing to write home about.

All their other desserts are pre-made and served cold. The doughnuts are fried fresh. They come hot and fluffy, and dusted in sugar. The chocolate dipping sauce is good, but the blueberry sauce is amazing! Just a little sour to balance with the sugar.

Trust me, they are the sleeper hit on their menu.

[carpe-mamilia]

Ghosts’ Larry Rickard Explains Why They Chose the Captain’s First Name

Photo: Monumental,Guido Mandozzi

It couldn’t be a joke. That was one rule laid down by the Ghosts creators when it came to choosing a first name for Willbond’s character. Until series five, the WWII ghost had been known only as The Captain – a mystery seized upon by fans of the show.

“It was the question we got asked more than anything. His name,” actor and writer Larry Rickard tells Den of Geek. “Once we got to series three, you could see that we were deliberately cutting away and deliberately avoiding it. We were fuelling the fire because we knew at some point we’d tell them.”

In “Carpe Diem”, the episode written by Rickard and Ben Willbond that finally reveals The Captain’s death story, they did tell us. After years of guessing, clue-spotting and debate, Ghosts revealed that The Captain’s first name is James. At the same time, we also learned that James’ colleague Lieutenant Havers’ first name was Anthony.

The ordinariness of those two names, says Rickard, is the point.

“The only thing we were really clear about is that we didn’t want one of those names that only exists in tellyland. It shouldn’t be ‘Cormoran’ or ‘Endeavour’. They should just be some men’s names and they’re important to them. The point was that they were everyday.”

Choosing first names for The Captain and Havers was a long process not unlike naming a baby, Rickard agrees. “It almost comes down to looking at the faces of the characters and saying, what’s right?”

“We talked for ages. For a long time I kept thinking ‘Duncan and James’, and then I was like ah no! That would have turned it into a gag and been awful!” Inescapably in the minds of a certain generation, Duncan James is a member of noughties boyband Blue. “Maybe with Anthony I was thinking of Anthony Costa!” Rickard says in mock horror, referencing another member of the band.

Lieutenant Havers wasn’t just The Captain’s second in command while stationed at Button House; he was also the man James loved. Because homosexuality was criminalised in England during James’ lifetime, he was forced to hide his feelings for Anthony from society, and to some extent even from himself.

In “Carpe Diem”, the ghosts (mistakenly) prepare for the last day of their afterlives, prompting The Captain to finally tell his story. Though not explicit about his sexual identity, the others understand and accept what he tells them – and led by Lady Button, all agree that he’s a brave man.

Getting the balance right of what The Captain does and doesn’t say was key to the episode. “It wasn’t just a personal choice of his to go ‘I’m going to remain in the closet’,” explains Rickard. “There wasn’t an option there to explore the things that either of them felt. That couldn’t be done back then – there are so many stories which have come out since the War about the dangers of doing that.

“We wanted to tell his personal story but also try to ensure that there was a level at which you understood why they couldn’t be open, that even in this moment where he’s finally telling the other ghosts his story, he never comes out and says it overtly because that would be too much for him as a character from that time.

“He says enough for them to know, and enough for him to feel unburdened but it’s in the fact that they’re using their first names which militarily they would never have done, and in the literal passing of the baton”.

The baton is a bonus reveal when fans learned that The Captain’s military stick wasn’t a memento of his career, but of Havers. As James suffers a fatal heart attack during a VE day celebration at Button House, Anthony rushes to his side and the stick passes from one to the other as they share a moment of tragic understanding.

“From really early on, we had the idea that anything you’re holding [when you die] stays with you. So it wasn’t just your clothes you were wearing, we had the stuff with Thomas’ letter reappearing in his pocket and so on. And the assumption being that it was something The Captain couldn’t put down, it felt so nice to be able to say it was something he didn’t want to put down.”

Rickard lists “Carpe Diem”, co-written with Ben Willbond, among his series five highlights. He’s pleased with the end result, praises Willbond’s performance, and loved being on set to see Button House dressed for the 1940s. He’s particularly pleased that a checklist of moments they wanted to land with the audience all managed to be included. “Normally something’s fallen by the wayside just because of the way TV’s made, it’s always imperfect or it’s slightly rushed, but it feels like it’s all there.”

Rickard and Willbond also knew by this point in the show’s lifetime, that they could trust Ghosts fans to pick up on small details. “Nothing is missed,” he says. “Early on, you’re always thinking, is that going to get across? But once we got to series five, there are little tiny things within corners of shots and you know that’s going to be spotted. Particularly in that very short exchange between Havers and the Captain. We worried less about the minutiae of it because you go, that’s going to be rewound and rewatched, nothing will be missed.”

The team were also grateful they’d resisted the temptation to tell The Captain’s story sooner. “We’d talked about it every series since series two, whether or not now was the time, but because he’s such a hard and starchy character in a lot of ways you needed the time to understand his softer side I think before you had that final honest beat from him.”

“What a ridiculously normal name to have so much weight put on it for five years,” laughs Rickard fondly. “Good old James.”

From Den of Geek

[tenwhiteandalusians]

and then no one said anything about the fact that if i watched ONE MORE episode tenax pulls a "i'm not angry i'm just disappointed i'm hurt" about scorpus signing with the white faction.

[divine-motion]

i already knew the secret level armored core episode wasn't gonna be good (keanu reaves go die in a hole genocide endorsing piece of shit) but man. it sure was just a whole lot of nothing and annoying "look this looks just like how it looks in the video game!!" type shots

[bubblingbeebles]

when your older lesbian mentor figure has maxed out skill levels in "asking for a friend"

[lenievi]

Stargate SG-1 is so good. I love it so much 🥺

[sukibenders]

This year's Grammys really has some of yall (still) in a tizzy. Like you would think Beyonce killed their mother when all she did was win a big award!

[th3-c0ll3ct3r]

I remember THE LAST EVER MINECON was in my city and my mother had bought tickets, but last minute she decided that I didn't need to go so I never went (and she sold the tickets)

AND THEN WHEN I FOUND IT WAS THE LAST I NEVER LET HER LIVE IT DOWN

She'd told me "it'll come back around" and guess what?-

And now since the UK isn't "technically apart of the EU", that means if they ever do a MineCon/Minecraft event in person in Europe, then it will never be in the UK and therefore it's super unaccessible for me because poor

This is the root of my trust issue and villain arc I swear-

[yellowloid]

only way i'm accepting the apology video that's no doubt going to come from watcher in the next few days is if ryan and shane decide to throw steven out altogether

[clumsycapitolunicorn]

If Ted and Rebecca were never meant to be, then I want to know why Jason made the choices he did with certain things. Because they ended up pointing towards them. We didn't just make this up.

How on earth did he not think that we would think something was there, with Ted pulling out the green matchbook that connects to Rebecca's psychic prediction and Rebecca pulling out the green army man out of the green matchbook... Surely he had to know how that would look? I know he had to. He went out of his way to do a fake out scene at the beginning, that was the first thing we got after that the truth bomb ending. Plus, Rebecca's prediction plot still had to finish. There was only one ep left. How are we ridiculous for thinking that was where it was going? Plus, Rebecca was heartbroken about him leaving! She wanted him to stay and was thinking of solutions for him to stay.

They gave boatman barely 20 minutes of screen time with Rebecca, have Rebecca mention him once next ep, then nothing... Then he shows up last minute and that's it. We have to find out his freaking name from the credits.

Don't get me wrong, I loved that he made her laugh and so happy, but they could've brought him up more than just have him show up half way through and not have him show up until the end, to complete Rebecca's plot. It felt rushed. Combine that with what they did that made us think it was Ted, it just felt not as satisfying all round. I would've loved that ending if they'd actually done more and not had me hoping for Ted and Rebecca at the same time.

I don't know, there was so much potential for an outcome of either if they'd done it right..

[genderqueerpond]

amyeleven fivenyssa crossover

[marciliedonato]

Ls dunes gaslight gatekeep girlboss era (derogatory)

[samthesuperiosane]

I don't know who needs to hear this, maybe its just me but:

Being on the ACEApp made me realize that your sexual orientation has nothing to do with your character/personality and being on asexual spectrum doesn't make you more moralistic/better human than allosexuals. You can still be on the spectrum and be an entitled piece of trash.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Out of the grandmansters/egg bosses in the Archie comics, which one was your favorite?? It can be either from pre reboot or post reboot!

Hehehe unfortunately for you, anon, my fav becomes a grandmaster before the super genesis wave and therefore is my immediate first choice without contest

*Bangs fist on table* I love her so much

[baronessblixen]

gillian at the gg, david at the critics choice, gillian probably at the emmys tomorrow.. they are doing it on purpose let me tell ya *conspiracy intensifies*

Will she be at the Emmys? Personally, I'd find it weird if she traveled to Mexico and returned to LA to attend the Emmys. But to be honest, I find all of it... well. I used to love award shows and now I struggle to remember why. Maybe they're doing it on purpose. Or they just don't think about it at all.

[plagasitize]