Hello fellow Lewisians and welcome to a new post. I hope you are all well, mentally as well as physically.
Once again a big thank you to Ken Coombs, Kevin Whately’s stand-in, who not only supplied the photos but was also the photographer.
Today’s post is behind the scenes photographs from the Lewis episodes Dark Matter (Series 4, Episode 2) and Down Among the Fearful (Series 7 Episode 1).
I hope you enjoy and if you do leave a like at the end of the post. Thank you.
First up is the Dark Matter episode
Radcliffe Observatory.
Lincoln College.
Oriel College.
Oriel College.
Oriel College.
Oriel College.
Oriel College.
Next the Lewis episode Down Among the Fearful.
Back of the Covered Market Oxford. The Sound Department recording sound.
Broad Street – Setting up Hathaway’s car crash.
Broad Street – Setting up Hathaway’s car crash.
Broad Street – Setting up Hathaway’s car crash.
Broad Street – Setting up Hathaway’s car crash.
Christ Church Meadows
Christchurch – Kevin talking to some fans on arrival
Christchurch College Staircase – scenes of Lewis & Hathaway at the Psych Faculty Staircase.
Christchurch College.
Crowd being placed for scene in around The Radcliffe Camera with Lewis & Hathaway sitting on a bench.
Crowd being placed for scene in around The Radcliffe Camera with Lewis & Hathaway sitting on a bench.
Crowd being placed for scene in around The Radcliffe Camera with Lewis & Hathaway sitting on a bench.
Filming in Turl Street Oxford – Hathaway come out of the Chemist wearing a neck brace.
Lewis & Hathaway chasing the hooded jogger across Merton Street.
Pub Scene – The Isis Farm Club, The Tow Path, Iffley Lock – Hathaway meets Vicki at the Boathouse and Lewis & Hathaway meet up with Joshua at Cafe by Iffley Lock.
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Good to see that “Coombsipedia” is still a font of knowledge, Chris. Well done and thumbs up!
Bert
Thank you Chris. Dumb question please: what’s a “stand-in”? Is that a stunt-double? or what? Thanks
Hi Maria. A stand-in is someone who will take the place of an actor while the scene is being set up. This allows the director, cinematographer and other film technicians to set the scene for the purposes of lighting, focus etc. Setting up a scene can take a while so rather than waste the actor’s time the stand-in takes his place. Hope that helps.
Hi Chris. Thanks for showing these lovely photographs from two Lewis episodes, courtesy of Kevin Whately’s stand-in, Ken Coombs. Regarding the recent Lewis discussions on twitch, a question was asked whether the fourth series was broadcast in the order it was filmed, because it perhaps appeared, that there were some incongruities in the relationship between Lewis and Laura Hobson. Someone mentioned, that they seemed very close in one episode, but come the next, they were rather more lukewarm. I know you said Chris, you have asked Ken Coombs this question, and you are awaiting his response, but I believe I have already found out the answer.
On my series 4 DVD extras, portraying Lewis behind the scenes, and interviews with the cast, Kevin Whately said that, “Dark Matter,” was the first filmed episode, then came “Your Sudden Death Question”, followed by “Falling Darkness”, and then the final episode filmed, was “The Dead of Winter”. Therefore, for some reason when it came to broadcasting these episodes, they decided to move, “The Dead of Winter”, to the front of the queue, as it were, so it became the first episode of the series to be shown on television. The other episodes followed, in the same order.
I do know why they chose to do this, although my guess is, that if they had kept to the original plan, the first of the final two episodes, would have featured a story revolving around Laura Hobson’s background and past, while the following episode would have explored Hathaway’s background and where he grew up as a child. The producers that be, thus possibly concluded, they didn’t want the fourth series to end with two episodes, which both involved investigations, that brought the history and background of two main characters into the spotlight. Anyway that is all for now, thanks Chris, and all the best.
Sorry, I made a mistake in my above comment. I accidentally left out the word “not”, at the start of my final paragraph. I should have said, “I do “not” know why they chose to do this”. In addition, one of the photographs captured by Ken Coombs, that of Lewis and Hathaway chasing a suspect on Merton Street, and then through Merton Grove, during the episode “Down Among the Fearful”, I can tell you Chris, that this scene had to be reshot a few weeks later. I remember Kevin saying that he pulled a hamstring, during this chase, and he admitted he was perhaps getting a bit too old to perform these energetic, running acts, as part of his character. I don’t suppose Keviin, will be too happy about me reminding people, that this is what happened! Anyhow, that is all for now. Thank you, and goodbye.
While I am talking about series four of Lewis, I have a small query about “Your Sudden Death Question”. I realise it is an episode you are not very fond of Chris, and on the whole, it is not one of my favourites either. Nevertheless, we find out that the first murder victim, Ethan Croft, worked as a Russian translator, and a number of years before, he had been privy to negotiations between the British and Russian governments, as they sought to build and ultimately pay towards, a new and expensive, engineering research laboratory. However, the Russian part of the delegation was fraught with problems, and it was replaced by another set of Russians, who had all sorts of criminal connections. They were not unlike gangsters, involved with drugs, prostitution, protection and people smuggling. Thus money was being laundered by the Russians, to help pay for this new engineering building. Ethan, nearly two decades ago, had tried to blow the whistle on these dubious set of circumstances. This course of action, unfortunately, led him to being quietly removed from his role, as a junior lecturer at an Oxford college, on trumped-up charges of an affair with a student. Many years later however, a lawyer, who was part of those negotiations, is to receive a knighthood. This clearly infuriates Ethan, he had been silenced once before, but now, he angrily wants to speak out again.
We thus have an episode resolved around the partcipants of an August Bank Holiday quiz weekend, held at an Oxford college. Ethan is amongst those participants, as is the lawyer, Sebastian Anderson, I spoke about. My question is thus, did Ethan know who else was going to be taking part in this quiz, before he attended? Or was it just happenstance, that resulted in him meeting up with an old foe, who had played his part in removing him from an Oxford college, and which had led him to merely being, a primary school teacher? Whatever it is, what was Ethan trying to achieve, at this quiz weekend? He obviously had files on his computer, detailing the crimes of nearly 20 years before, but in what way was he going to use that evidence, to incriminate the lawyer? I suppose we will never know the answer, because he was killed by the lawyer, for the reasons I have outlined. It just seems to me, to be a strange way of going about blowing the whistle on somebody, by going to the same quiz weekend, as this old adversary. What did Ethan intend to do at the Quiz weekend, regarding Mr. Anderson, surely it would have been better to report the lawyer, to the police or other authoritiies. Anyway, that is all for now. Thank you Chris, and all the best.
I believe the meeting of Sebastian Anderson and Ethan Croft was something of a synchronism. I don’t believe Ethan Croft went to the quiz week to specially challenge Sebastian about past actions. As you wrote, it would be a ‘strange way of going about blowing the whistle.’
Hi Chris. Thanks for the kind reply. I very much agree, with what you have just said, so thanks for finding the time to respond. I don’t know if you have received an answer from Ken Coombs yet, perhaps you have. I expect you read my first two comments above Chris, and I just wondered, whether that is in line with what Ken has said. “The Dead of Winter”, was moved from being the last episode filmed, to the first episode broadcast on television, for the fourth series of Lewis. I speculated the reasons for this decision in my previous remarks, are those reasons anywhere near being, possibly correct? I thought the producers that be, wouldn’t have wanted to end the fourth series with two episodes, that featured storylines involving, firstly, Laura Hobson’s background, followed by an episode, exploring Hathaway’s past and where he grew up. I hope to join you tomorrow night Chris, to discuss the Lewis episode, “Old, Unhappy, Far Off Things”. Sadly, I wasn’t able to watch the live stream with you all last night, but rest assured I have seen it before. That is all for now. Thank you Chris, and keep safe and well.