That Old House

[ithildin]

Thinking about the house Methos lived in in London in Endgame, aided by pat_t's screen grabs, got me to remembering that I'd always wondered what kind of place Methos would live in as opposed to Adam Pierson. I was kind of tickled to see the house in the movie because it was so different from what we'd seen before, and it seemed to fit my perception of Methos, and the kind of place 'he' would live in. I wonder what it was like inside?

No, I have no real point, I'm just rambling as usual :)

Comments

[viridian.livejournal.com]

My eyes just totally glazed over before I could even process the house, what with Methos standing in front of it. I get the impression he's not in the movie all that much? (Haven't actually seen it, alas.)

That makes me sad.

But. Yeah. House? What house? *g*

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

The only thing about the movie I remember is Methos's pinkish shirt and the house. I should say, mansion. Very grand and imposing. You can see some of it here (http://pat-t.livejournal.com/236498.html).

No, he wasn't in it very much. I only saw it the once in the theater, so I don't recall much else :)

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Ignore my last comment, I realize you saw the screen grabs already :)

[pat-t.livejournal.com]

he's not in the movie much at all. But he is in it more than this one scene. Trust me, when I get more screen caps - as pretty as Adrian is - there will be more Methos. But -uh. No house.

[viridian.livejournal.com]

Yay!

I confess, Methos is the only reason I'm even remotely in this fandom. I don't like Highlander all that much otherwise.

[pat-t.livejournal.com]

*shocked* I love Highlander! And Duncan. And Methos. He and Joe get Duncan out of sanctuary. One of my favorite lines in the movie is when Methos hands Duncan his sword and tells him that he liberated it from the Watcher's lost and found. And Duncan looks at it and remarks that it has blood on it. Methos (who is driving) looks at him in the rear view mirror and says "I didnt' say it was easy."

[viridian.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I really don't like Duncan. But I have a longstanding habit of watching shows wherein I hate hate hate the main character but love supporting characters enough to keep watching. I think pretty much all my fandoms are like that -- my main ones are Buffy and Angel, and I was utterly indifferent to both the title characters.

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

I hsve the urge to make an icon with Methos in his pink shirt that says 'pretty in pink' [g]. We'll see if the urge has passed once I get home tonight!

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, that 'London' house that looks nothing like any house that I've ever seen in London, even though I've been living in London for 22 years. *g*

Actually, it did provide more than a moment's amusement for us Brits when we saw the house. There were lots of rolling around the floor moments, complete with hysterical giggling, because that house in London? Does Not Exist. There is no house in London that looks like that. Not even the houses on Bishop's Avenue (nicknamed 'Millionaire's Row') in Hampstead and which is believed to be the most expensive road to live on in the whole of London. It's chockful of extremely expensive houses, which range from the sublime to extremely vulgar. But none of them look like Methos' 'London house'.

I think the explanation as to why Methos' house is so woefully un-Londonlike is because none of Endgame was (so far as I know) actually filmed in London.

If Methos did have an extremely expensive London house it might be a lovely Georgian vicarage in Hampstead, or a whole house in Mayfair (even the flats there are around the £5 million mark on up), or maybe a Chelsea bijoux etc. But it wouldn't look anything like the Endgame house. Really. *g*

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think we all have those moments when we live somewhere that's in a movie or TV show and you darn well know it wasn't filmed anywhere near where you live! :) I guess Methos' London house is in a pocket universe [g]

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Yes, that must be it. A pocket universe. One in which big London houses look like Eastern European mausoleums. *g*

Actually, I've never seen a house like that in the whole of Britain, either. Even the stately homes don't look like that. *g* Nope, that house is resolutely not-London and not-British.

Which does make you wonder what the location scout was thinking.

I mean, it's not as if London is some tiny little place that no one's ever heard of and that you can pretend looks like somewhere else. Well, you can if you're Doctor Who, where Cardiff mostly stands in for London. But We Know. And They Know That We Know. *g* But they ask us to go along with it, and mostly we do because at least they try to make it look like London. What's Endgame's excuse?

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

When I was living with my grandmother in Victoria, Canada, they filmed a movied called "Gltterdome" there, and not just in the city, but across the street from my grandmother's house! Now, what was funny, is that this was a gritty detective movie set in ... Hollywood! Now, I'm from CA, and I can't think of a place less like Hollywood than Victoria. So they're filming across the street, and they put up fake palm trees -- yeah, that sold us on it being just like S.Cal [g]

At the opposite end is my fave movie, The Ghost & Mrs. Muir, which is supposed to take place along the English coast. Except it was filmed near where I live in Carmel and the Big Sur Coast. No matter I love the movie, I can never buy it being England whenever they do an outdoor shot. I find it constantly amusing [g]

Now I think I need to rent Endgame to look at the pocket universe house! And err..., Methos too. Heh.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

I foresee lots of rewinding and freeze-framing, as you keep on trying to look at the house and yet each time your eye is somehow drawn back to Methos. House? There was a house?

Filming a story set in Hollywood in Victoria, Canada is priceless. Apparently not uncommon, though, because of cost. In Endgame's case I can appreciate why they didn't film in London because it would have been too expensive. But I think an attempt to find a less obviously not-London house would have been a good idea.

Oh, yes. The Ghost & Mrs Muir. Loved that film. You're absolutely right, though. It doesn't really look like the English seaside. The scenery is very pretty, though.

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

I foresee lots of rewinding and freeze-framing, as you keep on trying to look at the house and yet each time your eye is somehow drawn back to Methos. House? There was a house?

LOL! Okay, you've convinced me! To hell with the house! So, since I need a new house, what would you envision a very well off Dr. Methos living in around 1843 in London?

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Erk. Er, well, I'm no expert on London 150 years ago, you understand. But Dr Methos wouldn't be a member of the aristocracy, or even the upper-class necessarily. As such, no matter how wealthy he is, he's probably not going to be living in somewhere like Eton Square, or other Mayfair places, as those will probably all already be owned by the gentry.

Actually, this is pretty difficult. I know which are the wealthy and poor parts of London now, but conditions have changed a great deal in 150 years. Mayfair remains wealthy and the East End remains poor, but places that are rich now, weren't necessarily back then. I think what you might consider is having him own a large house in somewhere in Highgate or Hampstead. If I'm correct they weren't actually part of London, as such, back then, but villages just outside. Nowadays Highgate and Hampstead are amongst the wealthiest parts of London and are highly desirable. The rich middle-class and upper-class who didn't already own a townhouse might want to buy somewhere in one of these villages because they could get somewhere very nice for the money.

They'd only be 6 miles from the centre of London and could talk airily about the country air but still with the benefits of being in London etc.

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Erk. Er, well, I'm no expert on London 150 years ago, you understand

No, but you know more than I do, so you're close enough to one for my evil purposes :)

That's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. I don't want to use a whole lot of detail, since I don't know enough about the subject, but I don't want people to wince at what I do include [g] Okay, they'll probably wince anyway, but that's neither here nor there :)

Thank you!

[mmapmaker.livejournal.com]

One of my favourite location stand-ins is California (LA, most likely) for a "small Eastern block country," in 1999's Enemy Action. Which, with (very) careful filming and a healthy suspension of disbelief, it might have been. Except for the palm trees you could see in some of the shots.

[mandragora1.livejournal.com]

Ah, those palm trees will get you every time. *g* Although, with global warming we probably soon will see palm trees in every former Eastern block country.

We've just had not just the hottest July on record in Britain (the records go back over 200 years) but the hottest month on record full stop. And August is set to be even hotter.

Oh joy.