A Sceptic!
During ‘The
Chimes of Big Ben,’ The Colonel asks Number 6 somewhat flippantly, who was
Nadia before she left Peckham Rye for the Bolshoi Ballet. Peckham Rye being a
public place, an open common in a borough London. The
Bolshoi Ballet is an
internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Bolshoi Theatre
in Moscow, Russia.
Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the World's oldest ballet companies. The
Colonel is a sceptic, his remark seems to be merely a sarcastic one, as though
he doesn't believe whatever she's told Number 6.
In ‘Many Happy Returns’ the Colonel
describe Number 6 as being on occasion, a little sceptical, that’s why he was
such a good man, why we were so sorry to lose him. Mind you Thorpe’s more than
a little sceptical about their ex-colleagues report. Of The Village he said he
wouldn’t mind a fortnight’s leave there. Strange then that Patrick Cargill
{Thorpe} would later appear in another episode, ‘Hammer Into Anvil’ as Number 2,
even though he didn’t actually make it to The Village itself!
Be seeing you
I am still researching Peckham Rye because it always bugged me--did people do outdoor theater or corner dancing to get a few bucks in Peckham Rye? That would indicate to me that it would be near impossible to get a position in Bolshoi from such humble beginnings.
ReplyDeleteHello Matt,
DeleteI think the Colonel who was an extremely sarcastic man, was implying that Nadia was anything but eastern European. That she had come from a London Borough and had given herself a Russian sounding name, in order to appear more like a ballerina, although she herself had never mentioned dancing. She was in fact an Olympic Bronze medallist swimmer, according to her file. He probably picked on Peckham Rye as to his mind it was a down at heel area. He could have just as easily picked on many another borough in sixties London which was run down, I don't think we can place too much store by the use of Peckham Rye. It just added to his sarcasm, and was implying that only by giving herself a Russian sounding name would it enable her to have any chance of getting anywhere like the Boshoi Ballet especially if her real name was Martha Clackett for example.
To the best of my knowledge Peckham Rye was not renowned for outdoor theatre etc.
Very kind regards
David
BCNU