Louie Stowell
@louiestowell.bsky.social
Writer/illustrator of the LOKI: A Bad God's Guide books, Writer of Otherland & The Dragon in the Library. https://louiestowell.com. No terfs. Many fluctuating fandoms incluing BtVS + Doctor Who. This feed isn't for kids.
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Louie Stowell
@louiestowell.bsky.social
· Mar 30
The Louie Stowell Newsletter | Substack
News, books and nonsense. Click to read The Louie Stowell Newsletter, a Substack publication.
louiestowell.substack.com
I have a newsletter! If you'd like to keep up to date on my books, events, news, book-themed activities for kids and occasional Doctor Who and other fandom thoughts, sign up here! louiestowell.substack.com #KidLitUK
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Because there wasn't enough computing power back in 2007/2008 to render a weekly cg-animated show with reflective shiny surfaces, Star Wars: The Clone Wars' animation models were given a matte, painterly texture, complete with visible brush strokes, that became the show's trademark visual style.
![The kind of "eureka" moment we had was when Andrew Harrison, the original designer, made the suggestion we take off specular highlights, which are the way the light reflects of surfaces in 3-D. [That way we] keep the integrity of the paint, and the characters would marry better with the painted background.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:5l4ffkowbyiezvh5ye3tqrft/bafkreicoqnvugjxvxp2o3owwz5cmtczduunz5j22nucfk4k7fyf4z3j7ma@jpeg)
February 12, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Because there wasn't enough computing power back in 2007/2008 to render a weekly cg-animated show with reflective shiny surfaces, Star Wars: The Clone Wars' animation models were given a matte, painterly texture, complete with visible brush strokes, that became the show's trademark visual style.
Reposted by Louie Stowell
I believe they came up with the idea for Blink because DT’s availability for filming was constrained.
February 12, 2026 at 2:03 PM
I believe they came up with the idea for Blink because DT’s availability for filming was constrained.
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Last of the Summer Wine - lead actor Michael Bates had a better offer with "It Aint Half Hot Mum" so was replaced with Brian Wilde
MASH - replacing both Frank Burns (annoying Dr) and Henry Blake (Commander). Got lucky both times!
MASH - replacing both Frank Burns (annoying Dr) and Henry Blake (Commander). Got lucky both times!
February 12, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Last of the Summer Wine - lead actor Michael Bates had a better offer with "It Aint Half Hot Mum" so was replaced with Brian Wilde
MASH - replacing both Frank Burns (annoying Dr) and Henry Blake (Commander). Got lucky both times!
MASH - replacing both Frank Burns (annoying Dr) and Henry Blake (Commander). Got lucky both times!
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Jaws is probably the biggest one for me. The mechanical shark didn’t work for huge swathes of shooting so they had to imply its presence in other ways and, inadvertently or otherwise, turn it into a largely unseen adversary.
February 12, 2026 at 1:41 PM
Jaws is probably the biggest one for me. The mechanical shark didn’t work for huge swathes of shooting so they had to imply its presence in other ways and, inadvertently or otherwise, turn it into a largely unseen adversary.
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Alllll of 'Staged'
February 12, 2026 at 1:42 PM
Alllll of 'Staged'
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Game Of Thrones scripts for the first series were way too short so they added relatively straightforward dialogue scenes, normally between just two actors, which ended up contributing to the deepening of characters and becoming a signature of the show.
February 12, 2026 at 1:27 PM
Game Of Thrones scripts for the first series were way too short so they added relatively straightforward dialogue scenes, normally between just two actors, which ended up contributing to the deepening of characters and becoming a signature of the show.
Reposted by Louie Stowell
It’s Always Sunny being forced by the network to bring in Danny Devito or face cancellation after their first season turned out pretty well.
February 12, 2026 at 1:24 PM
It’s Always Sunny being forced by the network to bring in Danny Devito or face cancellation after their first season turned out pretty well.
Reposted by Louie Stowell
This can be seen as a mixed bag due to where it ended up but a lot of the best of X-Files came as the result of Gillian Anderson's pregnancy, which led to the Scully abduction arc which had a huge impact on the mythology for the rest of the show's run (GREAT in the early years, less so later).
February 12, 2026 at 1:26 PM
This can be seen as a mixed bag due to where it ended up but a lot of the best of X-Files came as the result of Gillian Anderson's pregnancy, which led to the Scully abduction arc which had a huge impact on the mythology for the rest of the show's run (GREAT in the early years, less so later).
Reposted by Louie Stowell
The 4th series of Blake’s 7. The cast and crew allegedly only finding out on the continuity announcement at the end of s3 leading to that final ending
February 12, 2026 at 1:20 PM
The 4th series of Blake’s 7. The cast and crew allegedly only finding out on the continuity announcement at the end of s3 leading to that final ending
Reposted by Louie Stowell
I think Industry has had to grapple with losing two of the core characters in successive seasons. Idk if season 4 is better for losing Rob but it has definitely forced them into more adventurous territory
There are some terrible plot choices made due to external production factors eg actors wanting to leave. But can anyone think of one where it's turned out brilliantly -a "necessity is the mother of invention" type situation?
February 12, 2026 at 1:21 PM
I think Industry has had to grapple with losing two of the core characters in successive seasons. Idk if season 4 is better for losing Rob but it has definitely forced them into more adventurous territory
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Terry Farrel leaving DS9 sucked but they did really well spinning that into introducing Ezri, and Worfs plot tol
February 12, 2026 at 1:21 PM
Terry Farrel leaving DS9 sucked but they did really well spinning that into introducing Ezri, and Worfs plot tol
Reposted by Louie Stowell
The Brothers. Colin Baker's character was introduced halfway through season four as a one-off. But another member of the cast was being a dick so they wrote him out and brought Colin's character back as a regular. He was hugely popular and became the focus of the show in its later seasons.
February 12, 2026 at 1:21 PM
The Brothers. Colin Baker's character was introduced halfway through season four as a one-off. But another member of the cast was being a dick so they wrote him out and brought Colin's character back as a regular. He was hugely popular and became the focus of the show in its later seasons.
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Yes — Mark Hamill getting cast as The Joker because he was begging to be on the show RIGHT when Tim Curry got fired is a classic example, as documented in my 2017 oral history of Batman: The Animated Series:
archive.is/uFoOU
archive.is/uFoOU
![BT: Everybody who came in to audition for the Joker was doing, basically, [Adam West–era Joker actor] Cesar Romero. They weren’t treating the character seriously. All of the actors that we tested were all doing these really silly and bizarre voices. None of it had any serious threat to it at all. Tim Curry actually came in and gave us something really close to what we wanted. It was funny and weird but also definitely had some menace to it. So we hired Tim. He did about three episodes for us. And then Alan Burnett came to me after we did the third one, and we listened to the assembled tracks, and he said, “I think we have to replace Tim.”
AR: He just couldn’t wrap his head around Tim’s performance. And the truth of it is, I never would have recast Tim.
BT: I didn’t want to do it because we had already recorded a bunch of episodes with him and I knew we would have to rerecord them in post, which I knew was going to be a nightmare. But it didn’t take much for him to convince me, because I was kind of leaning that way myself. It’s not that Tim was doing anything bad, it just wasn’t quite what we wanted.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:474ldquxwzrlcvjhhbbk2wte/bafkreicp7nlfegzs6i2hjxdk5qwnt7wcnszrm4ojuo7o7sghjenzgrn724@jpeg)
![MH: I got a call saying, “They want you to come in and audition for the Joker.” And I said, “Oh, gosh, that’s a little too high-profile for my liking. Not only has it been done with Cesar Romero, but it’s been done by Jack Nicholson. What can I bring to the table that hasn’t been done before?” I said, “I’d rather play Two-Face or Clayface or someone who hasn’t been done.” The reason I went in was because I was absolutely certain that they would be unable to cast me as the Joker simply because, public-relations-wise, the idea of the guy who played Luke Skywalker — this icon of heroism, this virtuous character — playing this icon of villainy? Comic-book fans are notoriously demanding. They’re very opinionated and not shy about letting you know how they feel. I thought it would be a PR disaster that they would not be able to withstand. It gave me a great confidence, since I didn’t think there was any shot at all of me getting the part, so I had that performance anxiety removed.
PD: I remember listening to his audition, and when he did the laugh, I said, “That’s it. That’s just it.” The laugh was cruel, it was funny, there was an undercurrent of terrible sadness to it. It was a laugh from a destroyed soul.
MH: I had done Mozart in Amadeus in the first national tour, and then they transferred me over to Broadway, and one of the things that is relevant to my audition [for the Joker] is that Mozart had this sort of ghastly laugh that threw everybody. I played with that laugh a lot. I’d do a little Dwight Frye, I’d do a little Sydney Greenstreet. I love all those old Warner Bros. movies, so I was just slipping people in. Sometimes I’d get notes like, “It was a little too ‘Jerry Lewis at the matinee’. Reel it back.” I’m telling you this because, in retrospect, after getting the part, I asked Andrea Romano, “How did I get it? What was the process? How did you know that you wanted me?” And she said, “The laugh.” I didn’t want to get pigeonholed into a specific laugh. With the…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:474ldquxwzrlcvjhhbbk2wte/bafkreihpixqca4m27sihmd2hfhimpnfxajk43vpzhozrncbjllbwofuzxa@jpeg)
February 12, 2026 at 1:22 PM
Yes — Mark Hamill getting cast as The Joker because he was begging to be on the show RIGHT when Tim Curry got fired is a classic example, as documented in my 2017 oral history of Batman: The Animated Series:
archive.is/uFoOU
archive.is/uFoOU
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Babylon 5 series two? The loss of Michael O'Hare?
February 12, 2026 at 1:19 PM
Babylon 5 series two? The loss of Michael O'Hare?
Reposted by Louie Stowell
The guard in The Prisoner being a surreal weather balloon, after the robot they had built fell into the sea.
February 12, 2026 at 1:18 PM
The guard in The Prisoner being a surreal weather balloon, after the robot they had built fell into the sea.
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Blake's Seven managed pretty well without Blake, when Gareth Thomas left.
February 12, 2026 at 1:16 PM
Blake's Seven managed pretty well without Blake, when Gareth Thomas left.
Reposted by Louie Stowell
although there they didn't necessarily have to do what they did - they *could* have done a more straight recast and got someone in who looked similar, would have played the role in the same way hartnell had.
February 12, 2026 at 1:15 PM
although there they didn't necessarily have to do what they did - they *could* have done a more straight recast and got someone in who looked similar, would have played the role in the same way hartnell had.
Reposted by Louie Stowell
It’s not a plot point exactly but the recasting of Donna in Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me works so well - for me it’s like this is Donna as Laura sees her, younger acting and more painfully naive
February 12, 2026 at 1:15 PM
It’s not a plot point exactly but the recasting of Donna in Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me works so well - for me it’s like this is Donna as Laura sees her, younger acting and more painfully naive
That is some greek myth shit right there
February 12, 2026 at 1:12 PM
That is some greek myth shit right there
Reposted by Louie Stowell
oh this is a great question! I'm sure I have a better answer but I remember Blackadder had its budget slashed after Series 1 and the decision to revert to an out and out studio sitcom was effectively what saved it in Series 2
February 12, 2026 at 1:10 PM
oh this is a great question! I'm sure I have a better answer but I remember Blackadder had its budget slashed after Series 1 and the decision to revert to an out and out studio sitcom was effectively what saved it in Series 2
Let's see quite how many I can amass....
Dr who. (I bet you’ll get a hundred of this)
February 12, 2026 at 1:10 PM
Let's see quite how many I can amass....
Reposted by Louie Stowell
terry farrell leaving deep space 9 and being replaced by another actress actually solidified the whole concept of the dax character, as opposed to what would've been "this person lives thousands of years, changes a lot, but you'll never see it during the show". worked wonderfully imo
February 12, 2026 at 1:08 PM
terry farrell leaving deep space 9 and being replaced by another actress actually solidified the whole concept of the dax character, as opposed to what would've been "this person lives thousands of years, changes a lot, but you'll never see it during the show". worked wonderfully imo
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Reposted by Louie Stowell
Anyone, please?
A question for my friends and colleagues working on Middle English literature: can you recommend scholars currently interested in the aesthetics of Middle English texts, their storytelling and worldbuilding, and the sociocultural context in which this happens? I'd love to talk to someone... Thanks!
February 12, 2026 at 1:06 PM
Anyone, please?
There are some terrible plot choices made due to external production factors eg actors wanting to leave. But can anyone think of one where it's turned out brilliantly -a "necessity is the mother of invention" type situation?
February 12, 2026 at 1:06 PM
There are some terrible plot choices made due to external production factors eg actors wanting to leave. But can anyone think of one where it's turned out brilliantly -a "necessity is the mother of invention" type situation?