#iamstillwanderingwitless

[mygangtome]

Where are they now? - Joe Armstrong

Disclaimer: As some of you may know, the author is something of a Joe stalker, so I cannot promise that the below will be unbiased, critical, or even necessarily in recognisable English. 

OK, important news- there are like 300 people on instagram with the name Joe Armstrong, and NOT ONE OF THEMis Joe. Now that that’s out of the way.

Then  

Oh hey, it’s another acting dynasty! Joe’s dad is the lovely Alun Armstrong, veteran of New Tricks (and Les Mis, Sweeny Todd, Braveheart, Bleak House, and about 7000 other things) and, I am told, beloved of women of a certain age. I am currently 28 and I adore him, so I assume that I am included amongst that number 

Nose and Nose Junior

Prior to Robin Hood, Joe had cut his teeth in a number of TV productions, including roles in Between the Sheets (alongside future RH alumni Richard Armitage), Blackpool, and the British TV classics of Midsomer Murders, Foyles War, the Bill, and similar. He was also a member of the National Youth Theatre and as well as appearing in NYT productions in 1998  and 2003, he continued to appear on and off stage alongside his TV work. 

Sir, your continued refusal to sing and dance is concerning everyone

2006 gave Joe a series-regular part as our very own Allan A Dale (or Allan A. Dale if you believe his agents. What does the middle A stand for, guys? Is he Allan Awesome Dale? Allan ). It’s possible that I am biased, but Allan seems to be something of a fan favourite- he’s a cheeky chappy and he has the brains of a shoe, and on top of all of that he gets a healthy topping of Angst, Betrayal, Redemption, and Comedy Sidekicking pretty much every other episode. But don’t take my word for it-  there’s a whole Allan tag out there, just waiting for you to embrace it.

There’s no such thing as overusing a gif

As an added extra, while filming Robin Hood Joe also appeared in the 2007 TV film Service, which is available online, and which I highly recommend you watch because it is the most bizarre and wonderful thing I have ever seen. 

Now  

You know those robot bees? You know the Black Mirror episode about the robot bees? Then you’ve seen Joe recently! Don’t know what I’m talking about? Get on Netflix pronto! and cry

No-one tell him that they’re actually now making robot bees.

Joe’s had a pretty decent run since Robin Hood, appearing in (to name a few), the award-winning Happy Valley (as a drug dealing farmer), The Village (as Bairstow, he of the nice hat and terrible morals), Land Girls, Public Enemies, and, of course, as Hotspur in the Hollow Crown’s production of Henry IV Part I, along with Alun Armstrong (playing his father), Michelle Dockery, Harry Lloyd, and Mr Hiddleston, who some of you seem to have heard of. 

Above: the whole reason I’m even on tumblr

JESUS. CHRIST.

Fun fact! Did you know that Harry Lloyd plays Hotspur’s brother in law in THC, and also appeared as Hotspur’s grandson in Wolf Hall? Hotspur would not approve

Joe also appeared in Closer to the Moon, a fantastic Romanian-American film, alongside Mark Strong and Harry Lloyd- Will and Allan are keeping it strong even now.

It’s a beautiful day to rob a bank.

He’s been on stage pretty much solidly from 2009 – 2015, recently appearing with Louise Brealey (she of Sherlock fame) in Constellations and Husbands & Sons, and with Maxine Peake in Miss Julie, and he was briefly rumoured to be dating Sienna Miller after appearing with her in Flare Path. He’s been twice nominated for his stage acting- once for Orphans, and once for the Print Room. 

New OTP

Joe was also on screens last Christmas in To Walk Invisible, sporting some truly terrifying mutton chops, and is next appearing as ‘Gildas’ in Sky’s upcoming series Britannia, about Celts and Romans. It has David Morrisey as a Roman, so I’m super excited, although as yet there is no release date (unless someone wants to prove me wrong and make my day).

Fun fact! IMDb lists his trademark as ’striking blue-green eyes’, which beats my contribution of ‘is good at accents and I like it’

For my own part, I first started watching Robin Hood because I wanted to ‘see what Hotspur from the Hollow Crown had done,’ and I’ve never looked back. If you only know him as Allan, or as that guy in the tutu from Hustle, give him a go. His back catalog is weighty and his face is amazing.

-

Words by @iamstillwanderingwitless.

[dreamersscape]

Sam: This [fight scene] is basically why I became an actor, [getting to] run around the forest having fun with a sword.

[swietek93]

Ask meme

I was tagged by @just-briannaness ;) Rules: answer the 20 questions and tag 20 amazing followers you’d like to get to know better Name: Ashley Zodiac sign: Aries Height: 5'1 
Orientation: demisexual Favorite fruit: oranges Favorite season: ALL THE FALL THINGS Favorite book: Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein favorite flower: rose favorite scent: Campfire favorite color: burgundy favorite animal: ALL THE CATS BIG AND SMALL coffee | tea | hot cocoa: Coffee average sleep hours: Like 8 most nights unless my insomnia is being a pain cat or dog person: cats favorite fictional character: Natasha Romanoff number of blankets you sleep with: 1 dream trip: Walt Disney world or a trip to Europe or Hawaii blog created: 5.5 years ago. Wow
number of followers: 622 random fact: I work with children under the age of two Tagging @agentliz @reindeerheartattack @iamstillwanderingwitless @inubz101

[mygangtome]

Where are they now? - Sam Troughton

Then  

Born into the Troughton acting dynasty, young Samuel was always going to be destined for greatness. His dad is David Troughton, best known for Shakespeare, Doctor Who, and New Tricks, and his granddad is Patrick Troughton, better known to you young things as the Doctor. (Fun fact! Did you know that Patrick Troughton played Robin Hood in the 1953 film? Neither did Sam until he was cast as Much!) 

L to R- Patrick, David, Jim, and Sam. Spot the odd one out

  The current generation is no different. Sam’s brother, William is a stage actor, appearing in The Woman in Black and The Ladykillers and is currently appearing opposite David as a father and son team in the Archers.  

Look how happy he is to know that one day he too will end up in DW.

  Sam’s other brother, Jim, is a Warwickshire cricketer. As you do. Jim does not appear to have inherited the Troughton smilieness, although maybe that’s a cricketer thing.  

He was mainly an attack-minded left-handed batsman but also an occasional slow left-arm orthodox bowler (bizarre words from Wikipedia).

  Sam’s cousin is Harry Melling, also known as Dudley Dursley. So far as I can see, young Sam had two options- acting or cricket. It seems to only be by fluke that he’s not yet played the Doctor. OH! And there’s an uncle Troughton! Michael Troughton, brother of David, who also appeared in DW. Seriously. The Troughtons like Shakespeare, cricket, and Doctor Who. There is no alternative. I would draw you a family tree but I’ve already used up most of my space trying to work out immediate family. 

Before being cast as Much, Sam’s career was that of your standard young British actor: parts in Foyle’s War and Judge John Deed, a couple of TV films, and, of course, Thomas Parks in Alien vs Predator. 

Having never seen any of the Alien franchise I can only assume that this is the climactic fight scene

He also appeared opposite Billie Piper in Spirit Trap, because no Troughton can resist the scent of Doctor Who, however faint. 

In addition to his screen work, Sam, who is RSC trained, also kept busy on the stage, with roles pretty much constantly from Hamlet in 1998 to Nathan the Wise in 2005. There’s a hell of a lot of Shakespeare in his CV- did you know that he has played Romeo, Hamlet, and A Son who has Killed his Father?

In 2006, Sam burst onto our screens (and into our hearts) as Robin’s best friend, right hand man, and general dogsbody Much in the BBC’s Robin Hood, and stayed with us for 3 seasons and 38 episodes. We laughed, we cried, we questioned his cooking, we got very confused when he took off the hat. Happy, happy days

Pictured- an RSC trained actor and his goose

Better words than mine have been written about darling Much. This, after all, is all about the man behind the legend… 

Now  

Depending on how you feel about Shakespeare and the theatre, you may have seen Sam as a strangely sexy Nazi-esque Edmund (complete with Superman-style glasses removal and hair tossing) in King Lear (broadcast by NT Live) or opposite Benedict Cumberbund in last year’s Hollow Crown cycle, playing George, Duke of Clarence. (Yes, the one who gets drowned in wine. Yes, it breaks your heart.) His Edmund made the papers- although primarily because Sam lost his voice during one performance. 

This bastard is standing up just fine

2 cool 4 skool

He also made an appearance in the The Town, playing Jeff, and turned up as the Prince of Wales in Dancing on the Edge, which I very much want to see. Sam has maintained a theatrical presence, appearing solidly from 2007 to 2015. Most recently you might have seen him in La Musica or Bull at the Young Vic, to name but a few. He’s also recently appeared in Casualty and Midsomer Murders, and has roles in two upcoming horror movies, The Ritual, and Slumber. The Telegraph have recently listed him in their 20 potential future Doctors, which I personally think would be a fantastic choice, if only because that way my Venn Diagram of Troughtons would join up even more. 

For a slightly more professional version, Uncle Michael has a website

If you can, I recommend you go see him next time he takes to trotting the boards. If you can’t, I believe theHollow Crown is purchasable from all good stores and if you haven’t seen it you should. Either way, you should take some time to re-watch your favourite Much scenes- my favourite, as ever, is jigger. 

-

Words by @iamstillwanderingwitless. Venn diagram and photo assistance by the long suffering @interestinggin

[mygangtome]

[dreamersscape]

@iamstillwanderingwitless I'm on mobile so I don't trust tumblr to publish your ask and thus my doing this the low-tech way, but! It's called To Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters. It's actually available to stream right now on PBS in the US, so maybe you can find it on iPlayer or something?? His role isn't very big, but it did give us this picture: https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/976x549_b/p04jm45z.jpg (from this post: http://dreamersscape.tumblr.com/post/155321509159/happy-birthday-mel)

[nettlestonenell]

@jammeke @dreamersscape @gloriousclio @lafseanchai @scribblesincrayon @reblogginhood @interestinggin @iremainwanderingwitless @iamstillwanderingwitless @ravenya003 @sylvi10 @ladymarianor @hacash @angel-in-a-big-blue-box @ofsteelroses@exlibrisfangirl

Each year, you well know, the My Gang to Me tumblr attempts to offer new posts along a certain theme. One year, for example, we highlighted tropes. Another, locations (Sherwood, Knighton, Locksley). All as a way to create an “in” to the characters and stories of Robin Hood.

Generally, the posts are submitted to the tumblr and sent out directly from it, and are made up of a few images and some fun text/meta to read (ymmv--each writer approaches these posts differently). 

This year the topic is “Props”, if a costume becomes used as a prop (as in the case of Much’s knit jumper or Tommy helmet), they count as well. The focus may be just on a prop you are still thinking about (little quiver, little bow, anyone?), or on a prop that illustrates and opens readers up to something about the series.

I won’t offer a complete list of possibilities, but a few that shortly come to mind are: the gang’s tags, Eleri’s necklace, Marian’s wedding ring, the re-curve bow, Much’s Tommy helmet, the Sheriff’s giant chair that took a trip to Locksley, Carter’s double swords, that skull thingie that scared Little John in that one episode, Djaq’s vial (what even was that?) *I, personally, love a set of rope hanging shelves that figure in to several episodes.

Anyway, if you’re willing to participate in creating some content for April 26th (that’s next Sunday), I promise it won’t be labor-intensive (unless that’s what you’re looking for), and it will give you a chance to revisit that which we all love.

Be in touch with a prop you’ll choose, so we can make sure 17 people aren’t going to write about those weirdly shaped “shovels” in the first episode.

[nettlestonenell]

@interestinggin @jammeke @dreamersscape @lafseanchai @gloriousclio @ladymarianor @moonbeamholly @boyswithbowsandarrows @reblogginhood @iamstillwanderingwitless

Thank you. Thank you. So very thank you.

Also, these are kind of horrible pictures I took while still partially high after coming home from the hospital. [*also, I did not pick out this wallpaper in my kitchen]

I don’t think it’s possible for anyone among you to know (though the internet is a vast and mysterious font of obscure knowledge) that orchids are Nero Wolfe’s and my personal jam. And they are *massive*, and multi-colored (I will take a close-up shot in another post) and they still have blooms opening. If I am good to them, they may last (the blooms) from 30 days to 4 months (take THAT, other, lesser flower arrangements I got).

The whole delivery was beyond any expectation I had, to be sure. You can kind of sort of see the candle thingie in the lower right of the orchid shot. The Nellets have been particularly obsessed with it, but matches and fire are their thing, so it’s been getting lit A Lot. (again, I’ll post a better picture of it in days to come).

As for the Little Birdie, well, that one just about slayed me. I assume you all knew it was going to have a tiny parchment tucked into it with all your names on it? Call backs to the Don’t series are always going to melt my heart.

I won’t say you all haven’t caused a bit of trouble, though. (This is me goodheartedly tsk-tsking you). People in my life don’t really KNOW about tumblr + me, much less Internet + me, and so this LARGE and GENEROUS and LOVELY and BETTER THAN EVERYTHING ELSE DELIVERED that showed up has created a lot of need for clarification. Who sent this? How do they know you? Where do they live? They have your address? They know about what’s going on? The Nellets are beside themselves with curiosity about all of you, Ma Nettlestone was thrown for a loop (as the adult at home when they were delivered), and if it had not borne my Christian name, would likely have refused delivery, and Mr. Nettlestone is quite frankly floored. Thus far, no one has suggested that I am having an illicit affair. But if it comes down to someone having to be named in court papers, quite frankly, I’d have a hard time choosing which one to name among you all.

You are lovely. Thank you.

Here’s what they look like.

[nettlestonenell]

@iamstillwanderingwitless

Everyone’s growing up.

[nettlestonenell]

@jammeke @iamstillwanderingwitless @lafseanchai

[nettlestonenell]

@iamstillwanderingwitless We thought for awhile she was just bigger than everyone else. (She quickly reached a point where she couldn’t get her head into the chick feeder to eat) Then we thought maybe we’d been given a peahen. But now? Now we know, even thought Tractor Supply doesn’t sell them, the hatchery that supplied Tractor Supply sent them a turkey, and we chose to bring her home.

She was bossy and thought she was in charge from the beginning, and so we named her after Ma Nettlestone.

(That’s Electrical Charge in the bottom bonus picture)

[nettlestonenell]

@iamstillwanderingwitless First two eggs, BOTH were double yolks.

[nettlestonenell]

Gentle Readers and @iamstillwanderingwitless, I totally fell down on my chicken blogging.

[nettlestonenell]

Is this true?

My phone’s newsfeed spit this out to me, but how can Season 2 not have already aired in the UK?

@interestinggin? @iamstillwanderingwitless? @iremainwanderingwitless?

[mygangtome]

Final My Gang to Me 2017 Post: Crunching the Numbers

Time for some screen grabs: Here are the blog stats the morning after April 26th (again, this is all in Eastern--New York City Time Zone--Time).

@interestinggin‘s #who they are now Richard Armitage post is tops with 66 notes, @angel-in-a-big-blue-box loves us the very most. Eleven new followers, and 548 overall notes.

Not listed here as a stat are the nearly 120 posts that were generated by the event.

Below are the stats on 4/28 (so the day after the day after). Excitingly, posts have continued to find traction (even among other tags); 146 more notes!

The Richard Armitage posts remains top [as of 4/29, the #who they are now Toby Stephens post has been found (presumably) by fans of Black Sails, and now has 92 notes, the Armitage post lagging 10 notes behind it].

Below now you will see the final stats day-after for 2016 (the first year a blog was used for My Gang to Me Day). In 2017, we’ve nearly doubled in followers. And the blog, in general, has gone less dead immediately following midnight April 26th.

Particular thanks ...

are extended to @interestinggin and @iamstillwanderingwitless for bringing the hard-hitting sort of journalism we’ve come to expect and fear from their inspired blog posts.

To @lafseanchai for falling into a deep rabbit hole of Jonas Armstrong and Lucy Griffiths and failing to provide even a single equestrian-related gif in the process.

To @scribblesincrayon for giving us something to look forward to just at about the time we thought the fun was all over.

To @dreamersscape​ for throwing her own viewing party of the cast commentaries, and inviting us along. (And to @interestinggin for emotionally gutting herself by liveblogging Brothers in Arms)

To @phantomdrawingbooth for a brand new graphic of Team Castle.

And @now-and-forever17 for a totally fresh, unseen video.

Thanks to all who participated either actively by posting and liking and reblogging, or passively by sitting back, taking it in, and basking in the glow of good memories, old friends, and the timeless appeal of Robin Hood.

See you in 2018!

[mygangtome]

2017 Call for Submission Posts

April 26th marks the commemoration of the day the Locksley Four were hanged in Nottingham, and subsequently rescued by Robin Hood 824 years ago.

In memorial of that fact, why not make it a point to blog or re-blog something (at least one thing) about BBC Robin Hood on April 26 this year?

Reblog this post to get the message out!

- Make a fan art - Create a new gifset or image - Post a quick fanfic - Write out the reasons people following your blog that may never have heard of the show or watched it should go and check it out - give a rec and link for a fanfic you love - reblog your favorite past post about the show

(creating new stuff will swell the tag, and be tremendously appreciated by those many fans still deeply besotted with the show, and possibly spark new interest among the uninitiated)

and schedule it to post on April 26th, tagging it #my gang to me 2017 or submit it (in advance, or day-of) to mygangtome.tumblr.com, which also has archived content of other My Gang to Me days.

Show that you stand with the outlaws.

My gang! To me!

reblogginhood dreamersscape gloriousclio lafseanchai exlibrisfangirl @iamstillwanderingwitless interestinggin sylvi10 scribblesincrayon ravenya003 @dovefe4theredraven @ladymarianor @angel-in-a-big-blue-box @highfunctioningsloth @outlawsontherun @valiantchildx @wastingyourgum @canyoudancelikeahippogriff7 @spikelvr75 Can I get a reblog to raise awareness?