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crack_van2007-12-02 11:26 pm
joandarck.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2007-12-02 11:26 pm
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The Persuaders! Overview
Imagine a cross between The Avengers and The Professionals, starring two bisexual billionaires.
No, that's not canon. I try again.
Champagne. Chandeliers. Discothèques. Aston Martins and Ferraris. Tony Curtis and Roger Moore. Fighting crime for personal redemption -- and kicks, baby. Lazy banter, zingy music, fistfights and car chases. What one reviewer called "the best bad series ever made" and what the official amazon.co.uk description admits "may well be the most blatantly homoerotic of all the buddy television pairings ... that ran over the screen in the 70s." If all that sounds like your thing, it probably is.
The premise:
A retired judge collects dossiers of known perpetrators who couldn't be convicted. Unwilling to let their crimes go, Judge Fulton decides that to fight villains the law can't touch, he needs operatives outside the law. (A pair of talented amateurs -- like two Mrs. Peels, if you will.) He selects his potential recruits and lures them to a foreign hotel.
The two strangers, brash American Danny Wilde and sleek Englishman Lord Brett Sinclair, have some things in common: they are rich, handsome, thrill-seeking, and successful at everything they do. Competitive sparks fly at first sight -- Danny seems to think it's all in good fun, while Brett seems genuinely offended -- and they promptly go from a drag race to a bar brawl to the local jail. The former judge then appears and explains that he predicted they'd react to each other this way, and he'll pull strings to get them out of jail if they'll team up to do his bidding. He reveals that he knows the secret weakness the two men share: boredom. They have no real challenges remaining, no real meaning in their hedonistic lives. He offers to give them one: the pursuit of JUSTICE.
Although Brett and Danny resent getting blackmailed and tricked, they quickly admit that the Judge is right -- this is the big adventure they've been craving, and what's more, under all the one-upping and mutual provocation, they respect and like each other. After roping them into a few operations, Judge Fulton mostly drops out of the picture, but Brett and Danny, now best friends, continue to attract trouble and fight crime as a sideline to their drinking and skirt-chasing. It doesn't really make sense, but then neither does the series' name.
The Persuaders! is set in a 1971 fantasyland of wealthy swingers and glamorous European and British locales – Monte Carlo, Greece, Ascot, etc. Although there's a lot of action and the occasional outburst of drama, the main point is the fun, or should I say joie de vivre. Admittedly, this show goes down better with a cocktail or three. It's not deep. Both "young" playboys have the rather puffy, sagging look of aging beauties (they take their shirts off a few times, displaying realistic rather than movie-star builds) and aggressively '70s hairdos which often seem to be competing for screen time. The pacing of the (often ad-libbed) dialogue is noticeably better in some episodes than in others, getting by on charm.
But such charm! In addition to the goofy action and the wish-fulfillment, the show has a real emotional core. Brett and Danny, who had almost everything, didn't know how to acknowledge that they needed more. Their lives were missing something until they found a worthwhile goal –- and each other. Middle-aged men need friends too, but they're not supposed to just meet, recognize a kindred spirit, throw their arms around each other, and start wearing pyjamas in each other's hotel rooms. Unless someone like the Judge comes along to offer them an excuse. And now they're better, happier men... together. AWWWWWWWW.
The characters:
DANNY WILDE: "Irrepressible, optimistic, courageous, and a sense of humor. Those are great qualities, Mr. Wilde. Qualities that pulled you out of a New York slum and pushed you to the top of the financial tree. You have made and lost several fortunes. Now, money-making has become so easy for you that you don't really bother anymore."
Danny grew up in a Bronx ghetto, joined the Navy, and then made his fortune as an oil tycoon. He remembers his childhood fondly, but feels no shame about his current success either, just a practical satisfaction in enjoying its fruits to the fullest.
Played by Tony Curtis – short, bouncy, still ludicrously pretty, and with the accent in full spate – Danny is like a friendly dog ready to growl, play, or hump your leg at a moment's notice. He wears a lot of flashy leather jackets and rarely takes his gloves off, which adds a kinky look to his ensembles. He doesn't quite come off as being the type to make it big in finance, but in one episode he busts out a pair of glasses and evaluates some business papers for clues and it'skind of hot reasonably convincing.
Danny is a cheerful extrovert. He never met a pretty girl he didn't like –- and by "like" I mean "attempt to undress" –- but he also enjoys the company of his fellow man (...er, we'll get back to that in a minute.) He can be hot-tempered; he snarls and pouts, but doesn't hold a grudge. He thrives on any kind of risk or adventure, still the same scrappy little street kid taking dares and walking on fences. Anyone can discover himself mistaken for a communist spy paymaster and have to bluff his way out under threat of death, for example, but only Danny would have so much fun doing it.
Although Danny's interest in the troubles of strangers seems to be no more than average, he feels deeply for those he considers his inner circle: there's an aunt who sends him matzoh ball soup every year, although he shows no inclination to return to America; close friends, of whom he seems to have essentially none left; and, now, Brett. His reaction to rediscovering a "blood brother" from his childhood, nicknamed Angie, is unashamedly emotional and intense. Warned by Brett that "everything passes, everything changes, even old friends," Danny replies, "Not Angie. Not Angie and me."
It becomes clear that although Danny gets along well with people, he's been somewhat isolated by his riches and is delighted to find a new bosom companion in the lovely and talented
LORD BRETT SINCLAIR: "...a first-class athlete, a connoisseur of the arts, a gourmet with a lusty taste in wine and women... the glib tongue at a hundred mindless parties. Lord Brett Sinclair, born with a silver spoon in his mouth! And all he ever does is lick the jam from it."
Brett is the classic fictional British aristocrat, tall and confident, with a drawling accent, a raised eyebrow, a string of stately homes and eccentric relatives, and a... look, he's played by Roger Moore. And I know what you're thinking. "How can I see him as anything but James Bond or The Saint? And he's just so smarmy." Okay, yes, and Brett is smarmy, but in a good way. He's kind of sweet underneath, with some real gravity, and it's cute. You may well find yourself cheering for his every smirk and sneer instead of longing to slap them off his face. No, really.
Anyway. Lord Sinclair, born to money and status, has various responsibilities –- he's involved in high-level politics, manages his finances, and attends the expected events for someone of his class. However, this leaves him plenty of time to drive race cars and jet around Europe wearing silk cravats to beaches, casinos, and, regrettably, "discothèques." (Both Brett and Danny dance in several episodes. It's not pretty.)
Brett is usually to be seen in either a full suit or flamboyant resort wear. (Roger Moore designed his own clothes for the show. Including the bright turquoise silk with matching scarf. He wants you to know this! It's in the credits!) Like Danny, he is fond of company, but more reserved. He pursues women, but without Danny's full-body enthusiasm; it's implied that in his teen years he bagged every girl who crossed his path, but as an adult he gives the impressionof being gay that it's almost too easy for him at this point. He does mount the occasional businesslike seduction campaign, but enjoys his status as "most eligible bachelor" and has no desire to change it.
As for male friends, Brett seems to have more connections than Danny does, as he is still in the same country and social milieu in which he grew up. He greets an old school companion with quiet but hands-on warmth, and is one of the only people a reclusive financial genius still trusts enough to visit. However, Brett affects to maintain some emotional distance from the human race; he warns Danny in an early episode that even friendship needs to be kept in perspective. Whether he stands by that... is another matter. While Brett's initial draw to Danny is strong but cautious, it quickly shades into indulgent affection. Danny can make Brett laugh like a fool, and soon, whenever he thinks Danny's life is in danger, he's charging to the rescue without dignity, often calling Danny's name wildly and tripping over furniture.
Similarly, although Brett begins the series cast as the suave, uptight one, after a while he starts to play that more for humour, with lots of straight-man doubletakes and pratfalls. Frankly, it's a bit clumsy, but Roger Moore's willingness to be filmed with his pompadour all messed up or padding about the house in his fuzzy slippers takes it far enough around the bend to redeem it.
JUDGE FULTON: "And the truth is, we'll both jump to his bidding, because we know he is right!"
This avuncular mastermind retains some mysterious influence with the authorities of several countries, and is often to be found mixed up in Secret Service-type operations he shouldn't, as a mere retired judge, have anything to do with. Rather like Cowley on The Professionals, he has a passionate commitment to his own brand of vigilante-ism, but is too old to do all the requisite jaw-punching, bullet-dodging, fast driving, and taking of pretty girls to dinner. Hence his decision to inveigle our heroes into doing it for him.
Judge Fulton has a rather sweet, tired quality and at times seems to find his irreverent recruitees a bit much to deal with. As befits the man pulling the strings, however, he is often smug, witholds information to suit his purposes, and even has a slightly sleazy air to him, possibly because his interest in bringing Danny and Brett together seems a little... well... excessive. When he secretly toasts their first voluntary departure as a team, he's positively misty-eyed, like a proud mother at a wedding.
The Judge –- just to reassure you –- neither dances nor takes his shirt off. He also drops out of sight fairly early on, once Danny and Brett no longer need an excuse to hang out together. Despite his manipulations, they come to respect him and are grateful to him, and he shows up every so often with another mission.
The secondary characters:
Oh, tons. Joan Collins! Patrick Troughton! Roger Delgado! (Brian Clemens and Terry Nation writing and directing!) Oodles of young women in jumpsuits and miniskirts, false eyelashes and phony accents; some ditzy, some competent, some villains, some victims, some all of the above. Sweet ingenues, swinging models, deadly judo experts, snooty aristocrats, sexy matrons, kinky twins... there's definitely no chick shortage on this show. (While women are generally treated as interchangeable, I don't find it as misogynistic as you might think -- girls aren't salaciously found murdered to advance the plot as regularly as on some shows, and our guys do seem to like and respect females, they simply can't think of them in unsexual terms. Could be worse.) There are also a few male friendlies who pass by briefly while attending to their own business, and a parade of amusing male villains you'll recognize from any other British show of the period, but no important recurring characters. Having made it to the top of the world, Brett and Danny are pretty much alone together.
So let's talk slash.
The central pairing which is basically also the story arc:
Brett and Danny's first meeting is scored to a love song. No, really. A song about finding a new world and a new life, together. "And the sun shines down on love," the chorus warbles, as the split screen shows the two men's faces as they drag race each other down a mountain.
Despite some initial friction, their relationship quickly becomes affectionate
intense
and, well...
using this term purely in the social sense, you understand...
intimate.
Danny is a big flirt, and often bestows his inappropriate staring and personal-space invasions on men as well as women. If he's not actively bisexual, he does a damn fine imitation. (*cough*Tony Curtis*cough*) That's not canon though, although Brett does tease him about it a few times. (Interesting bit of trivia here: the previous candidate for the role was Rock Hudson. HEE.)
Brett's behaviour is somewhat more conventional, but between his fondness for Danny, bursts of jealousy when Danny's attention strays, and oddly lukewarm pursuit of females for a supposed ladies' man, it's very easy to read him as not particularly straight. ...At all.
On occasion, Danny gleefully pushes the boundaries in public, such as by nestling his head on Brett's shoulder, and earns himself a snub or two from a visibly uncomfortable Brett. (Whether Brett is disturbed by the flirting itself or just the public indiscretion -- well, that's your call.) In general, however, they're remarkably cuddly, clutching each other in moments of excitement and constantly patting and caressing each other's backs, shoulders, thighs, cheeks, and chins with the unselfconscious intimacy of junior high girls braiding each other's hair. It's quite something.
This is not a publicity shot. It's just how they like to converse.
Seeing that female torso in the background reminds me: "How about a game of three-handed bridge?" Brett asks Danny at one point, indicating that there's a girl in the room. Errr... yeah. They like that game. In the first episode, they date the same girl together -- as in, "We'll call for you" and "I'm having dinner with them tonight" -- and it ends with an implication that Brett is inviting Danny in for a threesome. They will kiss the same woman in front of each other or compete without real rancour. Brett at times seems a bit displeased by Danny's womanizing, but Danny always has an enthusiastic fascination with Brett's sex life. It's. Well. Interesting.
Overall, there's room for a range of interpretations of their sexual orientations, attitudes towards their own and awareness of each other's, and the state of their relationship (friends? casually involved? romantically involved? comfortably polyamorous? jealous? monogamous??) at any given point.
Ship manifesto:
Slash it or not, the development of their friendship is the backbone of the show. Both men are rich and powerful, confident, with no obvious family ties or worries of any kind. But the fact is, neither could get close to someone who wasn't an equal, and it's very hard for people like them to find equals. So it's rather like watching a growing friendship between two princes. Despite the initial pose of dignity and detachment, there's an underlying excitement and hope as they discover how compatible they are. Each quickly starts bringing his powerful resources to bear to protect the other, because that's what princes do for their own, and soon they've fallen headlong into the kind of warm comradeship most men would probably envy.
They do continue to confuse, annoy, and bicker with each other, but they don't seem to mind. No longer needing the excuse of missions from the Judge, they start travelling together, roaming in and out of each other's apartments, meeting each other's friends, lying together on the couch head-to-toe, and discussing details of their finances. Even more telling, there's the episode where they discover they can trust each other enough to drop their facades and be serious -- Brett doubts his sanity and comes to Danny for help, and Danny comes through for him without a single joke. Finally, they confirm out loud that they've become an inseparable unit: trying to determine why someone has been trying to kill Danny, Brett -- with studied casualness -- asks, "You haven't been doing anything without me, have you?" and Danny scoffs, "Of course not."
It's hard to make claims about a final story arc since there's no single agreed-upon episode order ("A Death in the Family", possibly the final episode, ends with a symbolic merging of the Wildes and Sinclairs and what could be an implication that Danny plans to settle in England permanently), but once they start working without the Judge and get close, that seems to be basically it; there's no sign of impending separation or change to the status quo, they just go on into the future the way they've been -- Brett races, Danny holds his stopwatch; Danny gets in a fight, Brett comes running. They do as they please, they're content, and they show every sign of living happily ever after.
Uh, for JUSTICE.
Awwwwwwww.
The fic and the fandom:
In a larger fandom, there would be she's-the-only-one-he-really-loved het, voyeuristic mindfucks with the Judge, Brett/Angie hatesex, Danny getting raped and tortured by thugs, and so on, but this is a small fandom, so it's pretty much just straightforward Danny/Brett. You'll see both classic first times and open-or-undefined relationship stories, for which the show provides plenty of fodder. I haven't seen any m/m/f threesome fic, despite the near-canonicity, or for that matter any gen.
Currently,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
persuaders71 is the central LJ comm (the old one was deleted.) There's some fic to be found there and in the Yuletide archive. There's more fic in languages other than English (![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cathimclen provides an impressive list here that covers these) and one page of fic in English that seems to have been babelfished from German, with amusing results. Note: the show was redubbed in German under the name Die Zwei, and the characterizations and dialogue style were changed enough that it's almost a different show, with its own style of fic.
It's easier to find fun posts about the show and amusing slash-oriented screencap summaries:
Excellent fic writer Dorinda examines the first few episodes sequentially – she knows her canon and gives great insight into the characters.
fenlings covers a sample of episodes with a combination of dreamy squee, snark, and some really fine analysis of what makes the show and the pairing engaging.
soupytwist does a spoilery recap of "The Morning After" -- funny and full of love.
keiko_kirin does spoilery caps for "To the Death, Baby" -- it's impossible to look at these without shrieking "Boyfriends!" so make sure you're alone.
keiko_kirin also maintains a web page with screencaps with completely factual captions like "Danny wants to get Brett drunk" and a few video clips of cute moments (I used many of her caps in this overview.)
persuaders71 holds a useful discussion of episode order. Basically, after "Overture" you want to watch "Angie, Angie" and "Five Miles to Midnight", and the last episode is probably "A Death in the Family". Aside from that, you're on your own, but keep an eye on Danny's hair colour.
Other resources:
The Morning After – a gen fan site with limited content and a spoilery episode guide.
Interview transcript and recording of Tony Curtis answering questions about The Persuaders
The Wikipedia page (some great details about the relationship between the actors)
More information about Roger Moore's interest in fashion design and a tie-in between the show and a real menswear line.
A movie version is in the works, originally thought to be starring Ben Stiller and Steve Coogan but now rumoured to star George Clooney and Hugh Grant. The thought kind of makes me want to cry, but you never know.
cult_tv_lounge lists The Persuaders as an interest.
Getting your hands on episodes:
As of December 2007, the complete series can be had on amazon.com for $84.99 U.S. with free shipping, or on amazon.co.uk for £41.97, free shipping in the U.K. The U.K. edition comes in a nice sturdy little box that's extremely... pink.
If that's too much commitment, there are smaller packs of episodes available from various sellers in the £10-$20 range. The episodes are all pretty much the same experience, so if you love the first one ("Overture"), you'll probably love all of them. Alternatively, other fans on LJ can often help you find episodes more quickly and easily.
***And it's AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX! The whole series. For $5 a month or a free trial. Yay, Persuaders for all! (Thank you, emmastark!)
No, that's not canon. I try again.
Champagne. Chandeliers. Discothèques. Aston Martins and Ferraris. Tony Curtis and Roger Moore. Fighting crime for personal redemption -- and kicks, baby. Lazy banter, zingy music, fistfights and car chases. What one reviewer called "the best bad series ever made" and what the official amazon.co.uk description admits "may well be the most blatantly homoerotic of all the buddy television pairings ... that ran over the screen in the 70s." If all that sounds like your thing, it probably is.
The premise:
A retired judge collects dossiers of known perpetrators who couldn't be convicted. Unwilling to let their crimes go, Judge Fulton decides that to fight villains the law can't touch, he needs operatives outside the law. (A pair of talented amateurs -- like two Mrs. Peels, if you will.) He selects his potential recruits and lures them to a foreign hotel.
The two strangers, brash American Danny Wilde and sleek Englishman Lord Brett Sinclair, have some things in common: they are rich, handsome, thrill-seeking, and successful at everything they do. Competitive sparks fly at first sight -- Danny seems to think it's all in good fun, while Brett seems genuinely offended -- and they promptly go from a drag race to a bar brawl to the local jail. The former judge then appears and explains that he predicted they'd react to each other this way, and he'll pull strings to get them out of jail if they'll team up to do his bidding. He reveals that he knows the secret weakness the two men share: boredom. They have no real challenges remaining, no real meaning in their hedonistic lives. He offers to give them one: the pursuit of JUSTICE.
Although Brett and Danny resent getting blackmailed and tricked, they quickly admit that the Judge is right -- this is the big adventure they've been craving, and what's more, under all the one-upping and mutual provocation, they respect and like each other. After roping them into a few operations, Judge Fulton mostly drops out of the picture, but Brett and Danny, now best friends, continue to attract trouble and fight crime as a sideline to their drinking and skirt-chasing. It doesn't really make sense, but then neither does the series' name.
The Persuaders! is set in a 1971 fantasyland of wealthy swingers and glamorous European and British locales – Monte Carlo, Greece, Ascot, etc. Although there's a lot of action and the occasional outburst of drama, the main point is the fun, or should I say joie de vivre. Admittedly, this show goes down better with a cocktail or three. It's not deep. Both "young" playboys have the rather puffy, sagging look of aging beauties (they take their shirts off a few times, displaying realistic rather than movie-star builds) and aggressively '70s hairdos which often seem to be competing for screen time. The pacing of the (often ad-libbed) dialogue is noticeably better in some episodes than in others, getting by on charm.
But such charm! In addition to the goofy action and the wish-fulfillment, the show has a real emotional core. Brett and Danny, who had almost everything, didn't know how to acknowledge that they needed more. Their lives were missing something until they found a worthwhile goal –- and each other. Middle-aged men need friends too, but they're not supposed to just meet, recognize a kindred spirit, throw their arms around each other, and start wearing pyjamas in each other's hotel rooms. Unless someone like the Judge comes along to offer them an excuse. And now they're better, happier men... together. AWWWWWWWW.
The characters:
DANNY WILDE: "Irrepressible, optimistic, courageous, and a sense of humor. Those are great qualities, Mr. Wilde. Qualities that pulled you out of a New York slum and pushed you to the top of the financial tree. You have made and lost several fortunes. Now, money-making has become so easy for you that you don't really bother anymore."
Danny grew up in a Bronx ghetto, joined the Navy, and then made his fortune as an oil tycoon. He remembers his childhood fondly, but feels no shame about his current success either, just a practical satisfaction in enjoying its fruits to the fullest.
Played by Tony Curtis – short, bouncy, still ludicrously pretty, and with the accent in full spate – Danny is like a friendly dog ready to growl, play, or hump your leg at a moment's notice. He wears a lot of flashy leather jackets and rarely takes his gloves off, which adds a kinky look to his ensembles. He doesn't quite come off as being the type to make it big in finance, but in one episode he busts out a pair of glasses and evaluates some business papers for clues and it's
Danny is a cheerful extrovert. He never met a pretty girl he didn't like –- and by "like" I mean "attempt to undress" –- but he also enjoys the company of his fellow man (...er, we'll get back to that in a minute.) He can be hot-tempered; he snarls and pouts, but doesn't hold a grudge. He thrives on any kind of risk or adventure, still the same scrappy little street kid taking dares and walking on fences. Anyone can discover himself mistaken for a communist spy paymaster and have to bluff his way out under threat of death, for example, but only Danny would have so much fun doing it.
Although Danny's interest in the troubles of strangers seems to be no more than average, he feels deeply for those he considers his inner circle: there's an aunt who sends him matzoh ball soup every year, although he shows no inclination to return to America; close friends, of whom he seems to have essentially none left; and, now, Brett. His reaction to rediscovering a "blood brother" from his childhood, nicknamed Angie, is unashamedly emotional and intense. Warned by Brett that "everything passes, everything changes, even old friends," Danny replies, "Not Angie. Not Angie and me."
It becomes clear that although Danny gets along well with people, he's been somewhat isolated by his riches and is delighted to find a new bosom companion in the lovely and talented
LORD BRETT SINCLAIR: "...a first-class athlete, a connoisseur of the arts, a gourmet with a lusty taste in wine and women... the glib tongue at a hundred mindless parties. Lord Brett Sinclair, born with a silver spoon in his mouth! And all he ever does is lick the jam from it."
Brett is the classic fictional British aristocrat, tall and confident, with a drawling accent, a raised eyebrow, a string of stately homes and eccentric relatives, and a... look, he's played by Roger Moore. And I know what you're thinking. "How can I see him as anything but James Bond or The Saint? And he's just so smarmy." Okay, yes, and Brett is smarmy, but in a good way. He's kind of sweet underneath, with some real gravity, and it's cute. You may well find yourself cheering for his every smirk and sneer instead of longing to slap them off his face. No, really.
Anyway. Lord Sinclair, born to money and status, has various responsibilities –- he's involved in high-level politics, manages his finances, and attends the expected events for someone of his class. However, this leaves him plenty of time to drive race cars and jet around Europe wearing silk cravats to beaches, casinos, and, regrettably, "discothèques." (Both Brett and Danny dance in several episodes. It's not pretty.)
Brett is usually to be seen in either a full suit or flamboyant resort wear. (Roger Moore designed his own clothes for the show. Including the bright turquoise silk with matching scarf. He wants you to know this! It's in the credits!) Like Danny, he is fond of company, but more reserved. He pursues women, but without Danny's full-body enthusiasm; it's implied that in his teen years he bagged every girl who crossed his path, but as an adult he gives the impression
As for male friends, Brett seems to have more connections than Danny does, as he is still in the same country and social milieu in which he grew up. He greets an old school companion with quiet but hands-on warmth, and is one of the only people a reclusive financial genius still trusts enough to visit. However, Brett affects to maintain some emotional distance from the human race; he warns Danny in an early episode that even friendship needs to be kept in perspective. Whether he stands by that... is another matter. While Brett's initial draw to Danny is strong but cautious, it quickly shades into indulgent affection. Danny can make Brett laugh like a fool, and soon, whenever he thinks Danny's life is in danger, he's charging to the rescue without dignity, often calling Danny's name wildly and tripping over furniture.
Similarly, although Brett begins the series cast as the suave, uptight one, after a while he starts to play that more for humour, with lots of straight-man doubletakes and pratfalls. Frankly, it's a bit clumsy, but Roger Moore's willingness to be filmed with his pompadour all messed up or padding about the house in his fuzzy slippers takes it far enough around the bend to redeem it.
JUDGE FULTON: "And the truth is, we'll both jump to his bidding, because we know he is right!"
This avuncular mastermind retains some mysterious influence with the authorities of several countries, and is often to be found mixed up in Secret Service-type operations he shouldn't, as a mere retired judge, have anything to do with. Rather like Cowley on The Professionals, he has a passionate commitment to his own brand of vigilante-ism, but is too old to do all the requisite jaw-punching, bullet-dodging, fast driving, and taking of pretty girls to dinner. Hence his decision to inveigle our heroes into doing it for him.
Judge Fulton has a rather sweet, tired quality and at times seems to find his irreverent recruitees a bit much to deal with. As befits the man pulling the strings, however, he is often smug, witholds information to suit his purposes, and even has a slightly sleazy air to him, possibly because his interest in bringing Danny and Brett together seems a little... well... excessive. When he secretly toasts their first voluntary departure as a team, he's positively misty-eyed, like a proud mother at a wedding.
The Judge –- just to reassure you –- neither dances nor takes his shirt off. He also drops out of sight fairly early on, once Danny and Brett no longer need an excuse to hang out together. Despite his manipulations, they come to respect him and are grateful to him, and he shows up every so often with another mission.
The secondary characters:
Oh, tons. Joan Collins! Patrick Troughton! Roger Delgado! (Brian Clemens and Terry Nation writing and directing!) Oodles of young women in jumpsuits and miniskirts, false eyelashes and phony accents; some ditzy, some competent, some villains, some victims, some all of the above. Sweet ingenues, swinging models, deadly judo experts, snooty aristocrats, sexy matrons, kinky twins... there's definitely no chick shortage on this show. (While women are generally treated as interchangeable, I don't find it as misogynistic as you might think -- girls aren't salaciously found murdered to advance the plot as regularly as on some shows, and our guys do seem to like and respect females, they simply can't think of them in unsexual terms. Could be worse.) There are also a few male friendlies who pass by briefly while attending to their own business, and a parade of amusing male villains you'll recognize from any other British show of the period, but no important recurring characters. Having made it to the top of the world, Brett and Danny are pretty much alone together.
So let's talk slash.
The central pairing which is basically also the story arc:
Brett and Danny's first meeting is scored to a love song. No, really. A song about finding a new world and a new life, together. "And the sun shines down on love," the chorus warbles, as the split screen shows the two men's faces as they drag race each other down a mountain.
Despite some initial friction, their relationship quickly becomes affectionate
intense
and, well...
using this term purely in the social sense, you understand...
intimate.
Danny is a big flirt, and often bestows his inappropriate staring and personal-space invasions on men as well as women. If he's not actively bisexual, he does a damn fine imitation. (*cough*Tony Curtis*cough*) That's not canon though, although Brett does tease him about it a few times. (Interesting bit of trivia here: the previous candidate for the role was Rock Hudson. HEE.)
Brett's behaviour is somewhat more conventional, but between his fondness for Danny, bursts of jealousy when Danny's attention strays, and oddly lukewarm pursuit of females for a supposed ladies' man, it's very easy to read him as not particularly straight. ...At all.
On occasion, Danny gleefully pushes the boundaries in public, such as by nestling his head on Brett's shoulder, and earns himself a snub or two from a visibly uncomfortable Brett. (Whether Brett is disturbed by the flirting itself or just the public indiscretion -- well, that's your call.) In general, however, they're remarkably cuddly, clutching each other in moments of excitement and constantly patting and caressing each other's backs, shoulders, thighs, cheeks, and chins with the unselfconscious intimacy of junior high girls braiding each other's hair. It's quite something.
This is not a publicity shot. It's just how they like to converse.
Seeing that female torso in the background reminds me: "How about a game of three-handed bridge?" Brett asks Danny at one point, indicating that there's a girl in the room. Errr... yeah. They like that game. In the first episode, they date the same girl together -- as in, "We'll call for you" and "I'm having dinner with them tonight" -- and it ends with an implication that Brett is inviting Danny in for a threesome. They will kiss the same woman in front of each other or compete without real rancour. Brett at times seems a bit displeased by Danny's womanizing, but Danny always has an enthusiastic fascination with Brett's sex life. It's. Well. Interesting.
Overall, there's room for a range of interpretations of their sexual orientations, attitudes towards their own and awareness of each other's, and the state of their relationship (friends? casually involved? romantically involved? comfortably polyamorous? jealous? monogamous??) at any given point.
Ship manifesto:
Slash it or not, the development of their friendship is the backbone of the show. Both men are rich and powerful, confident, with no obvious family ties or worries of any kind. But the fact is, neither could get close to someone who wasn't an equal, and it's very hard for people like them to find equals. So it's rather like watching a growing friendship between two princes. Despite the initial pose of dignity and detachment, there's an underlying excitement and hope as they discover how compatible they are. Each quickly starts bringing his powerful resources to bear to protect the other, because that's what princes do for their own, and soon they've fallen headlong into the kind of warm comradeship most men would probably envy.
They do continue to confuse, annoy, and bicker with each other, but they don't seem to mind. No longer needing the excuse of missions from the Judge, they start travelling together, roaming in and out of each other's apartments, meeting each other's friends, lying together on the couch head-to-toe, and discussing details of their finances. Even more telling, there's the episode where they discover they can trust each other enough to drop their facades and be serious -- Brett doubts his sanity and comes to Danny for help, and Danny comes through for him without a single joke. Finally, they confirm out loud that they've become an inseparable unit: trying to determine why someone has been trying to kill Danny, Brett -- with studied casualness -- asks, "You haven't been doing anything without me, have you?" and Danny scoffs, "Of course not."
It's hard to make claims about a final story arc since there's no single agreed-upon episode order ("A Death in the Family", possibly the final episode, ends with a symbolic merging of the Wildes and Sinclairs and what could be an implication that Danny plans to settle in England permanently), but once they start working without the Judge and get close, that seems to be basically it; there's no sign of impending separation or change to the status quo, they just go on into the future the way they've been -- Brett races, Danny holds his stopwatch; Danny gets in a fight, Brett comes running. They do as they please, they're content, and they show every sign of living happily ever after.
Uh, for JUSTICE.
Awwwwwwww.
The fic and the fandom:
In a larger fandom, there would be she's-the-only-one-he-really-loved het, voyeuristic mindfucks with the Judge, Brett/Angie hatesex, Danny getting raped and tortured by thugs, and so on, but this is a small fandom, so it's pretty much just straightforward Danny/Brett. You'll see both classic first times and open-or-undefined relationship stories, for which the show provides plenty of fodder. I haven't seen any m/m/f threesome fic, despite the near-canonicity, or for that matter any gen.
Currently,
persuaders71 is the central LJ comm (the old one was deleted.) There's some fic to be found there and in the Yuletide archive. There's more fic in languages other than English (cathimclen provides an impressive list here that covers these) and one page of fic in English that seems to have been babelfished from German, with amusing results. Note: the show was redubbed in German under the name Die Zwei, and the characterizations and dialogue style were changed enough that it's almost a different show, with its own style of fic. It's easier to find fun posts about the show and amusing slash-oriented screencap summaries:
fenlings covers a sample of episodes with a combination of dreamy squee, snark, and some really fine analysis of what makes the show and the pairing engaging.soupytwist does a spoilery recap of "The Morning After" -- funny and full of love. keiko_kirin does spoilery caps for "To the Death, Baby" -- it's impossible to look at these without shrieking "Boyfriends!" so make sure you're alone.keiko_kirin also maintains a web page with screencaps with completely factual captions like "Danny wants to get Brett drunk" and a few video clips of cute moments (I used many of her caps in this overview.)persuaders71 holds a useful discussion of episode order. Basically, after "Overture" you want to watch "Angie, Angie" and "Five Miles to Midnight", and the last episode is probably "A Death in the Family". Aside from that, you're on your own, but keep an eye on Danny's hair colour. Other resources:
cult_tv_lounge lists The Persuaders as an interest. Getting your hands on episodes:
As of December 2007, the complete series can be had on amazon.com for $84.99 U.S. with free shipping, or on amazon.co.uk for £41.97, free shipping in the U.K. The U.K. edition comes in a nice sturdy little box that's extremely... pink.
If that's too much commitment, there are smaller packs of episodes available from various sellers in the £10-$20 range. The episodes are all pretty much the same experience, so if you love the first one ("Overture"), you'll probably love all of them. Alternatively, other fans on LJ can often help you find episodes more quickly and easily.
***And it's AVAILABLE ON NETFLIX! The whole series. For $5 a month or a free trial. Yay, Persuaders for all! (Thank you, emmastark!)
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