Totally Tartan

'Highlander' and things Scottish

Well, it's in my roots for a start. My dear late father was James Graham Henderson and his grandfather rejoiced in the handle of William George Maclean Henderson. On my mother's side, her maternal grandparents were both Scottish and great-grandma was a Gunn. If I'd been a boy, my parents said, I would have ended up being called Blair (hmmm) or... ahem... Duncan. I should have had a more Scottish first name than Philippa, really! Dad 'got' my name in the car (an egg-shell blue Cortina) and I never asked him 'where from?' and Mum doesn't know.

I saw all three 'Highlander' films. I loved the first, got completely confused by the second (I understand I am not alone here!) and quite enjoyed the third. A lady who perhaps ought to remain nameless revealed to me her new obsession with a character called 'Methos' from having watched the tv series on Sky. So I thought, 'Okay, I'll give it a whirl - it's on late night HTV'. My first episode? 'Mountain Men'. 1997. I enjoyed the swashbuckling and the warm, passionate relationship between Duncan and Tessa. The early episodes did rather tend to the 'bad guy/girl of the week', but I had been told it got better! (Remembering my 'Methos' correspondant!).

A colleague of my husband's called Den had more or less the whole canon on tape from Sky, so a loan was arranged. I saw that Adrian was capable of great subtlety in his acting and a couple of times I caught a dangerous glint in his eye which told me that he was finding a particular scene very funny. The sense of humour was a 'clincher'. Anyone who can laugh at themselves, act and move so well, whilst looking as easy on the eye as Adrian does is a hero/heroine to me. Introducing the Watchers (and Horton >spit<) was the first wonderful twist, the enigmatic Methos, the comic episodes, Adrian acting Evil Duncan and putting in deeper mythic elements were others.

So, again, it was gradual. I became a fan. I noticed right away that Jim Byrnes was like my friend Penny, except she doesn't swing her hips quite as wide. I subscribed to the newsgroup (alt.tv.highlander) and that is basically how I found myself going to bonnie Glasgow in September 1998. I met Jette, Maroussia, Debi, Lisa and Jim Fleming, amongst others. I found out how funny, charming and personable Jim Byrnes, Valentine Pelka and Michel Modo are in the flesh. I had the pleasure and priviledge of seeing and hearing Jim perform at very close quarters. I had the both funny and moving experience of hearing Penny and Jim swap 'leg' stories and accents. I made lots of friends. I had one of the best weekends EVER.

'FROM THE JAWS OF ANUBIS' A short piece of fluff I wrote for a 'Highlander' competition.

To read it,

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