Two Degrees of Separation from The Hobbit

Ratagast, the brown wizard

Ratagast, the brown wizard

So I finally sat down and watched the latest Peter Jackson spectacular called The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and while I enjoyed entering the colorful and masterful world of Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings again I found myself troubled.

Who the hell was playing Ratagast, the brown wizard?

Such an odd character, such a good performance, and yet something ticked at my memory about him. He was a minor character in the movie, and to be honest its been so long since I last read the Hobbit I didn’t remember him in there at all. So why was I so intrigued by this one character?

Sylvester McCoy as Doctor Who

Sylvester McCoy as Doctor Who

Well, off to IMDB to see and there I learned why my memory had been tweaked, the actor playing Ratagast was none other than Sylvester McCoySylvestor McCoy, or as I like to remember him, Doctor Who #7.

And that is memorable because I met him in the late 80’s at a Doctor Who convention in LA. Somewhere in my copiously filled boxes of memorabilia I have a signed photo of him as the Doctor. Ah, such good times. It was a complete day, driving down from 29 Palms to LA, finally locating the convention site, and mingling with hundreds of other Whovians, seeing props, and actually meeting a couple of the actors.

Anyway, it was nice to finally put that little memory tweak to rest.

About lfrank

Now suffering in the hinterlands of Michigan while trying to transform myself into a fiction author. Don't wait up.
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