It just dawned on me today that because it's April, it's time to
celebrate my 1st anniversary with John Thornton! (No gifts, please.)
That's right. One year ago, I watched "North & South"
for the first time and BAM! I was hit by Thornton Syndrome.
for the first time and BAM! I was hit by Thornton Syndrome.
The rest is history.
When and how did YOU first discover Richard Armitage?
*UPDATE*
*UPDATE*
LoriBear reminded me that I didn't explain how I discovered RA. It was pretty simple: Netflix suggested it, based on other movies I'd checked out in the past. (Thank you, Netflix... I owe ya.)
I've loved period films (and old movies) since I was very young. I remember being glued to the screen watching "Gone with theWind" as a little girl. I've watched every period film I could get my hands on since then. There's something about the clothes, the hair, the speech and the every-day life of people from another time that fascinates me! So Netflix's database knew I was obsessed with period films and one day North & South appeared under the "we think you'd enjoy..." section. I'm always up for a period film, so I added it to my list, and I was hooked! I have a soft spot for a tall, dark, handsome man in a cravat... but Richard brought something more to the table and I was very impressed. (I still can't figure out how I'd overlooked North & South up until then, which had been released 5 years prior!) A few months later, I had a Robin Hood viewing spree, watching all 3 seasons in June & July of last year (I watched S3 on YouTube) and started this blog at the end of July. Since then, I've watched most of Richard's work, although there are still a few I haven't seen. (Anyone know how I can watch Miss Marie Lloyd in the states?)
I've loved period films (and old movies) since I was very young. I remember being glued to the screen watching "Gone with theWind" as a little girl. I've watched every period film I could get my hands on since then. There's something about the clothes, the hair, the speech and the every-day life of people from another time that fascinates me! So Netflix's database knew I was obsessed with period films and one day North & South appeared under the "we think you'd enjoy..." section. I'm always up for a period film, so I added it to my list, and I was hooked! I have a soft spot for a tall, dark, handsome man in a cravat... but Richard brought something more to the table and I was very impressed. (I still can't figure out how I'd overlooked North & South up until then, which had been released 5 years prior!) A few months later, I had a Robin Hood viewing spree, watching all 3 seasons in June & July of last year (I watched S3 on YouTube) and started this blog at the end of July. Since then, I've watched most of Richard's work, although there are still a few I haven't seen. (Anyone know how I can watch Miss Marie Lloyd in the states?)
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36 comments:
Congratulations!
I discovered him in the fall of 2008 when a friend invited me to watch North and South and thought he was neat but was so busy that I never pursued my ideas about showing the film in my western civ class. Then this last winter a colleague gave me the DVDs as a comfort measure when I was in a difficult place, and then I got hooked. So I am a real newbie. Within six weeks of watching N&S for the second time I was blogging.
For me it's just been a month. I've been meaning to watch North & South since I was on a period movie fest but I never got around to doing it because there was always something else to watch. I'm so very, very glad that I made the conscious effort to really watch the series and from the moment I saw him my jaw just dropped! Now I've pretty much watched every show Richard appeared/starred in!
Happy anniversary?
I first saw RA in the Vicar of Dibley a few years ago. I had no idea about RH or N&S at that stage. He was just an unknown actor to me. This was back when I still enjoyed a tipple, and while watching Vicar in my slightly tipsy state I felt an overwhelming need to contact and congratulate the casting director on such a (damn) fine choice!
It was not until RA joined the cast of Spooks that I came across him again and was able to put a name to the face (which was still lovely, even without the wine goggles). Super impressed by his portrayal of Lucas North, that lead to watching RH, and then as a result of witnessing three solid performances I became a bona fide fan.
Whoo -Hoo Congratulations Nat!
Oh dear, I am real old timer. I watched N&S when it was first shown in 2004, and the rest as they say is history. The sight of this man walking through the mill made me go weak at the knees and as for the final scene.........
I fully started to appreciate the breadth of his talent when I researched some of his prevous work, in particular Sparkhouse and er (cough) BTS :D
He has done some wonderful work since then hasn't he? VOD, RH, Spooks etc etc.
2010 is proving to be an absolute treat of both audio and TV work.
Lets have a virtual toast to this wonderful man.
I watched N&S for the first time in the fall of 2008 and I was hooked lock, stock and barrel to this magnificent man. Then I remembered RH 1 & 2 which I occasionally watched on BBC 1 when I had the time. Wow, I thought, this is also Richard! Ever since I have bought everything he ever did on DVD, CD, audiobook or whatever.
Can't wait for Strike Back and Spooks 9!
Thornton Syndrome, yes, I have it in a very severe way.
Happily I am also celebrating my first anniversary with RA also. I first watched North & South in 2006and wasn't very taken with it (what was I thinking?. In fact I wrote a bad review of it on Amazon and called it a P & P rip-off and dissed Margaret (still don't care for her character). I was so viciously attacked by fans that I took mt review down.
Then I was messing around on Youtube and found a vid with a clip of Guy murdering Marian and just had to know who the stunning sadist was and that began my love affair with all things Armitage.
I just love your blog, you are so creative and funny. Keep up the good work!!
2008 Autumn-ish - I was watching VOD and my roommate said "That's the new guy on Spooks & he is on Robin Hood too as the baddie."
After recovering after Harry swept me off my feet (It was the glasses!), I started investigating other works RA was in and happily discovered that not only was he so wonderful to look at but he was also a great actor & interesting person.
And then one day on Youtube, SFR showed up and that was it! I had to check out your blog Nat and found a release for my RA admiration.
Happy Anniversary from your smart/funny/thoughtful/dreamers (night & day)/giggly girls!!
I discovered Richard in Robin Hood Season 2, when it's been aired in here France, in early January. First I thought "oh my God, that Gisborne is hot and cute and great and bla bla..." Well, gisborne syndrom ^^ Then I made research to find out who was playing this role, and BAM ! I immediately became a RA addict ^^ So far I've watched the whole series of Robin Hood, North & South oc, Cold Feet, Sparkhouse, Golden Hour, Moving On, between the Sheets, I'm finishingSpooks 8 and Ultimate Force ! I think I'm lost now, nothing left to save me from Richard addiction ^^
And probably Strike back and Spooks 9 won't help me recovering from this delicious illness ^^
Oh, happy anniversary. I've been a fan for probably 4 or 5 years now...I've completely lost track of time, how sad is that? LOL! I bought the N&S DVDs on a whim to watch while housesitting for my parents who were going on an overseas trip. I only intended to watch the 1st disc, but stayed up WAY too late finishing the whole show. I was completely blown away. I rewatched the last scenes multiple times. :)
It was August of 2005. The dear man I am married to Tivo'd it for me. Yes, it was so long ago we had a Tivo!!!
He knows of my love for period pieces so he taped it. Little did he know what exactly he was starting. And I was a few months pregnant as well. So it was Thornton and pregnancy hormones!!!
We even had a Richard Armitage setting on our Tivo after that. :)
Happy anniversary!
Actually, Toby Stevens introduced me. LOL.. well kind of. My daughter and I had watched the newest Jane Eyre (that aired on Masterpiece theater) in the fall of 2006. After that, my daughter found a wonderful fanvid of it on YouTube and showed it to me. That was truly the beginning of the end. In searching for more fanvids, I found one that included clips of a period drama I had never seen. (N&S) So I started digging until I found what movie it was. (so I just celebrated my 3 year anniversary.)
Thanks to HeathRA, who at the time has posted the entire movie on YouTube, I was able to watch it fully and well as you say Nat... the Thornton Syndrome hit and has yet to let go!
Congrats Nat. We all would love to hear how you found N&S!
Happy Anniversary Nat!
A great present would be more RA in the screen.
I found him end of March 2008. A friend gushed about RH and put up pics of Guy. Thought he was really sexy in that leather but not much else.
She pushed me to watch N&S. Bought the DVD but didn't watch it right off. I was pushed, prodded, hounded without mercy to watch and to get my friend to stop I did. Am I ever so greatful now. LOL!
I initially liked Thornton more than the actual story, (No surprise there) but after a repeat viewing, I loved N&S on it's own merits too.
I first saw him in series one of RH and since then I bought practically everyhing else he's done on DVD, N&S and VoD were my favourites. I started watching Spooks series 8 because of him and then decided that I enjoyed the actual programme so then I bought every Spooks box set! He's awesome in series 7 :D I'd say it's probably been about 4 years for me, he's such a wonderful actor. I can't wait for Strike Back, Spooks 9 and any future work!
I'm a newbie, too. Strange but true, I'd actually seen Richard in The Vicar of Dibley, Malice Aforethought, Ordeal by Innocence and a couple of episodes of the first Robin Hood without registering that it was the same actor. In VoD and Robin Hood I remember thinking that he was incredibly handsome, but it was wasn't until being given North and South this Christmas that I "awoke" to the gorgeousness that is RA. I had an urgent need to google him and find out more about him, the first time for any actor. Since then I've traced and watched as much as possible from several viewings of North and South as well as countless Youtube vids. Norwegian TV has just shown repeats of RH2 which I watched religiously! I especially enjoy the blogs where talented and like-minded women congregate!
Happy anniversary Nat. By the way, I love your Blog.
I came across RA some years back as JT. At the time he did not register, because I was too busy with stuff going on in my life. Then I saw him as GoG in RH, but again, being way too politically correct I thought: ''I can't like the baddie more than the hero'', and so I really did not get into the series and didn't watch it. Being bored at the end of last year I came across RH on ''on demand'' (an option on a Dutch TV provider) again, started watching, and now it is all history. I am on my way to watch and listen to everything RA has ever done :) And enjoying it immensely
I was looking through the cable company On Demand and saw BBC America's posting of the promos for Series 2 of Robin Hood which was about to premier, one of which was the "Guy just missed being Robin" section of an extra on the eventual Series 2 boxed set. One of the series 1 episodes was also available. So I wondered, has this actor done anything else? which leads of course to North and South...and that leads to (as the reviewerama.blogspot called it in one of the funniest things ever posted on RA mania, Unattainable-Celebrity Crushitis. At the time I was ill and taking some heavy duty medicine, so I told myself it was the drugs. Since then the RA interest has waned, but not before a lot of discretionary expenditure on British DVD's and audiobooks.
Wow,I didn't know how well all of RA's shows bring in the fans! I watched N&S in mid-October last year with my regular movie-night friend. The DVD she brought over was scratched so we searched through Netflix and BINGO! She came out of it unscathed, but I did not. JT is still my favorite, and probably always will be.
Hola!. I particularly Mr Armitage met in 2008 when Argentina issued here on Robin Hood first season and was the first time that I liked the villain as the protagonist of a story. Then I saw Sparkhouse (but not the character I really liked that), then I started looking for information of this actor mysterious to me and I learned all their work and searching and searching I found on youtube chapters in North and South! and I loved that character, everything about it!. Richard is really handsome man with beautiful blue eyes and that voice ... ah die!. Greetings from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Hey Nat! I too am celebrating my one year anniversary of RA love :) I actually was looking for period dramas and N&S came up on youtube. At first I thought it was the Patrick Swazye version and thought "naw, not interested" but then when I saw the pics, I thought, "what is this?"
Well, some kind soul put the whole thing up on Youtube and that's how I watched it. Then I of course had to learn more about RA, I was shocked that the movie was 5 years old and I had never heard of it or him! Then, wound up finding more of his work on Youtube, and have since recruited my mom to join the RA lovefest!
@Rob, just love that you have RA tivo-ed! I think he'd get a kick out of that (I say this as if I know him personally, lol!)
Wow. I didn't realize so many of you became fans in the last year or so. I'm so glad you're with us!
I've told my story before, but I'll tell an abbreviated version. A friend of mine who is a period drama zealot loaned me North and South and a couple of other PDs. They sat on the shelf for months, and I was surfing around on YouTube one day looking at Pride and Prejudice videos. I kept seeing the videos for North and South but had no clue what it was. Finally I clicked on one of Heather's videos and then clicked on someone else's that was just the train station scene. I decided to watch it soon. It was probably a couple of days later when I realized I had the DVD! Unfortunately, it was about 11 o'clock at night. I figured I would watch one episode and that would be it, and I probably wouldn't like it -- other than the train station scene. Well, that was two years ago the end of January. Need I say more? LOL!
Yes, yes, that was the abbreviated version. I left out all of the editorializing. :D
Happy anniversary!
Though I watched North and South in 2005 and loved every minute (Gone with the Wind was my first period piece too btw), I didn't really "notice" RA until I saw him as Sir Guy when I watched Robin Hood on Netflix last year. (I'm a pitiful sucker for a brooding baddie.) When I figured out that the same actor played Guy and Thorton, I re-viewed N&S with a whole new appreciation.
I love how everyone can almost remember to the day when they discovered Mr. Armitage. RA fans are the best.
Though I've never commented before, I want you to know that I obsessively check this blog and giddily pore over every new post. Thank you for keeping it up.
Ooh, I'm somewhat of a new admirer.
I only found out about this brilliant man from a darling friend in history class early last month!
We watched North and South as my teacher wanted us to get a sense of the Industrial Revolution. My friend pointed out Mr. Armitage and we both swooned for the rest of the lesson!
I hope for more history lessons like that! ;D
I am a newgirl too. I live in the UK and generally watch new period dramas (or at least give them a try) but I completely missed North and South in Nov/Dec 2004 (might have been because I had recently had a baby!) I never saw anything else with RA in until he showed up in Spooks which I have always obsessively watched in 2008. I thought nice... but thought no more about it. Anyway in 2009 the next series of Spooks was due and for some reason I was searching on YouTube for clips of P&P or something and came across the new Persuasion with Rupert Penry-Jones. This put me in mind of Spooks of course so I looked for more of that and remembered I had liked RA the year before, so looked for him, of course this led to the discovery of North and South ... Need I say more.... Now suffering from Unattainable-Celebrity Crushitis... My husband finds it all very funny.
I love reading these stories! Looks like Myrtle is the elder so far, since she goes back to 2004.
Happy Anniversary Nat!!!!
I forgot to say Happy Anniversary, Nat. So... Happy Anniversary, Nat!
So glad you succumbed; we're all the better for it. :D
Happy anniversary, Nat! :D
First RA incident must've been "Cold Feet" years ago when s5 was showing in Sweden, but I didn't really pay attention at the time. In '06, I saw RA in RH and kind of thought "ooh" at the time, but I still had my sanity intact at that time. Saw the RH exhibition at Nottingham Castle March '08 and went a bit weak at the knees on seeing a full-size piccy of Gizzy. Saw bits of him in s7 Spooks on TV and thought "nah, prefer him as Gizzy". Don't remember when I saw N&S on BBC4 (was it last year?), but I didn't start losing my mind until s3 RH, and that was a lot down to realising how perfect he'd be as one of my RPG characters. As I'm totally in love with that character (he's so angsty because of a forbidden love, and he's Every Woman's Dream in bed, incidentally), transferance was inevitable. Reading intervies with RA at that point really didn't help. Every thing about him just adds fuel to the fire and has done so for a year and nearly a fortnight now. Swoon!
RH exhibit at Nottingham Castle! Must move to UK stat. Guy in season 3 was at his yummest. The long hair, the brooding and falling apart and that costume. Great combo! I could see how you joined us at that point
@Rob: Sorry to disappoint - it's not on anymore. Well, there is actually a RH exhibition, but it's about the upcoming Russell Crowe movie. ;) If the BBC RH was still on, I'd go back and bring my camera and take loads of pictures! But alas. :(
Wow Nat, hard to believe it's only been a year since you discovered him! I thought it was longer since you seem to know him so well :) So glad that Netflix introduced him to you!
I am real newbie~! I just discovered this amazing actor about two months ago when I purchased the V of D dvd - and was hooked - or lost - or both!! I particularily love the scene where Harry quotes from "Far from the Madding Crowd"! Am now making my way through RA's other work - and enjoying every minute of it! I have seen N&S - (the last scene is the most romantic thing I've ever seen - and I am not young!), Season 7 of Spooks and am now working my way through Season 2 of RH. Oh - and just got the Venetia audio book, which is really good - I love the way all the characters have a different voice. How does RA keep them all straight! I am from Canada - any other "Canuks" out there? BTW - love the unatianable celebrity crushitis - very clever. Happy anniversary, Nat!
Welcome, JEMAA! So glad you're here.
I think CharleyBrown and Phylly3 are from Canada. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will jump in and correct me.
BTW, they both have blogs too -- Enchanted Serenity of Period Films and Phylly's Faves, respectively.
@bZ - Phylly3 & me (tyme4t) are from Canada...not sure about CharleyBrown, eh?
@JEMMAA - happy to see another Canuck!
Thanks for letting me know.
BTW, CharleyBrown's blog says she's from Ottawa. So there's at least four of you. :)
Thank you for the warm welcome! Will certainly check out the other blogs.
Discovered Mr. Armitage almost by accident. Friend mentioned N&S, playing on TV here. By the time we sorted out that it was not about the U.S. Civil War, missed it. Oddly, because I'm devoted to period and historical and literary drama. Oh well.
So, discovered Gisbourne on BBCca. Obtained the N&S DVD, and the rest is history. Deep into Spooks now...
And devoutly hoping that the Richard III project goes through - been fascinated by that Richard since my teens (no accounting for taste)....
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