Hail, fellow Ricardians!

But are we talking about the historical Richard III or the Shakespeare version here? A big difference.

Jacqui said:

...

Anybody care to 'compare and contrast' Avon and Richard III?

Starting with

Richard III Married Anne Neville Avon: Had a girlfriend Anna

Then Dana suggested regarding Anne Neville:

Who, like Servalan vis a vis Avon, had quite different political affiliations.

Only in the short-term, not in the long term. Not only was she his cousin and they grew up together at Middleham, but her father, Warwick the Kingmaker, was one of the most important Yorkists in the whole war. The real stunner was his turnaround after falling out with Richard's brother Edward. After spending the better part of his life fighting against Lancaster and particularily Marguerite d'Anjou, this was quite a feat. It's no wonder she kept him on his knees for a quarter of an hour before deigning to adress him when he arrived in France. Incidentally, if there's a Servalan figure in the entire saga, my vote would go for either Marguerite or Elizabeth Woodville, both of whom, of course, weren't in the least amorously inclined towards Richard, which robs us of an A/S parallel. Certainly not Anne Neville who by all accounts was a nice girl, not true for either Anna Grant or Servalan.

Richard III Of the Duke of Buckingham who had turned against him 'The one that had most cause to be true the most untrue creature living.'

Avon Of Blake in Episode 52???

There are other parallels which could be drawn

I don't see Blake/Buckingham, but Richard died partly through treason and was killed by a multitude of anonymous guys, not by his main enemy, Henry Tudor, who didn't deign to fight at all (actively, I mean). Definitely an Avon parallel.

Dana:

And they both have a sardonic appreciation for their own ruthlessness.

That would be true of the Shakespeare version. The historical one, no matter which position you take in the "who killed the princes" question, definitely saw himself as fighting the good fight.

Tanja

From: jacquispeel@netscape.net

And must not forget the other, more recent, version of the film (can't

spell the actor's name offhand)- quite enjoyable, if a completely different take on the play.

Do you mean the Ian McKellen one? Somewhat strangely, for a self-professed loather of Shakespeare, I have it in my DVD collection. Maybe it's the odd mix of military hardware, spanning about five decades. (Yes, I am one of those people who when watching old war movies says, "Oi, they're not panzers, they're old British cruiser tanks with black crosses painted on them.")

Neil