A FamiliRA Look

/ March 5, 2019

Ok, sorry for the dad-joke-y pun. And ya ya ya, I know, RDC5 part 1509 is still waiting to be written. But hey, I just can’t help feeling upbeat about a new project happening. Right now in Manchester. And with the first BTS photos filtering from the various sets. After my little post from last night, Servetus posted another pic from the same location overnight. And when perusing that and thinking about the new, lighter wardrobe allowed for the man (I mean, let’s face it, in BS he was always rather darkly attired, too), I suddenly had visions of the past and I thought I should really pass on the info to our newer fandom members.

So, here’s The Stranger

Sorry for the pixellation – that is because the original images are just too small and the gallery view automatically enlarges the picture.

So – the coat. Let’s forget for the moment that Guylty would usually class coats of this length as Arschbetrüger or “bum cheaters”. But I find this actually really classy – the white shirt, dark trousers, brown brogues (?). Let’s ignore the suit jacket for the moment, because hello, this is a familiar look.

Richard Armitage shot by Justin Canning, 2008

Forget the details – I can see for myself that this coat is grey rather than beige, there are buttons, and his trousers are dark grey not black/blue. But can we just agree that the look really does suit him? Maybe back in baby!RA times – the photo shoot from which the coat pictures stems, was done in 2008! – he hadn’t quite filled out his clothes yet. Actually, he looks almost skinny in the pictures. Definitely also a few years younger. But 10.5 years have passed since then, so there are bound to be a couple of physical changes.

The Canning shoot actually produced eight coat pictures, which I am including here for your convenience:

You definitely need to enlarge and look at the half-length picture – you will see that the coat is definitely too large for the slight, skinny 2008 RA. With his hands almost hidden in the sleeves, he looks a bit like mummie’s good boy, dressed for church on a Sunday 😂. But other than that – well, I wouldn’t have pushed him off the edge of my bed, let’s put it that way… Anyway, Justin Canning is still active. I checked his website but even though Armitage is basically the first tear sheet in the “studio” section of his website, Canning doesn’t show us any other pics from the archive.

However, good news for our young fandom friends at the end: There were more pictures where the ones above came from. The whole Canning shoot comprised several outfit changes. The coat pictures weren’t (and still aren’t) my favourites because I prefer casual RA. And the Canning shoot contains a few wonderful gems where RA finally allows his gorgeous smile to break through.

Ok, are you dead yet? If not, you can see the glory of a total of 101 (one hundred and one!) images from the same series on richardarmitagenet.com . I can only encourage you to go, have a look, and leave Ali a comment and some love for still keeping that website alive. Oh, and if you are still alive after perusing all that gorgeous, young, happy hotness, let me know which of the pics is *your* personal favourite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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116 thoughts on “A FamiliRA Look”

  1. Holy hotness! I agree, it’s a no on the coat (the old one; I lovelovelove the new one), but the smile slays me. Unfortunately, I cannot indulge in all 101 glorious pics atm. #damnwork
    But maybe that should be my homework! 🤓

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  2. “I wouldn’t have pushed him off the edge of my bed” no indeed nor anywhere off the bed!!😘🤣🤣🤣
    The blue jumper pic on the right b/c his smile lights up a thousand watts in me and every female on this planet!!
    Hope you are feeling well and no need for the Nurofen now that I know what that! Thank you Jenny again! 😘😘😘

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    • Isn’t he gorgeous when he laughs??? Ok, he seems to be typecast to be menacing rather than happy, but even in his own pictures he always keeps his mouth shut… I do wonder whether someone told him he had an ugly grimace if he laughed or some such crap…

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      • Guytly, yeah know it’s funny you say that. I was thinking in the blue sweater pic maybe he got told a dirty naughty joke and started laughing. As Guy it seemed he was rolling his eyes a lot but maybe there was a lot of raunchy dirty talk on that set vis a vis Keith Allen. Proctor and Francis-yeah very stern and serious, brutally intense.
        Remember the adjusting the crouch pic of Lucas I mean that was sweet in its own way..

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        • Lucas wasn’t really a happy-go-lucky character, and therefore I suppose RA’s MO was probably also less than happy during the time of filming Spooks. IDK, I don’t think his laugh in that blue jumper photo looks like a dirty laugh. Looks kind of happy to me, as if someone made a genuinely funny quip. The whole shoot looks remarkable real life to me – it’s still one of the earlier shoots for RA, and he seemed to be himself during it – with a range of emotions from embarrassed to happy to cheeky…

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  3. Skinny for S7 Lucas….2008…..and he has grown ever more gorgeous with the intervening years, that smile still slays me. I adore the sticky-up hair in several of the shots. Time for another 101 Justin Canning shots I reckon!

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    • Yep, getting ready to film Spooks. What really gets me about this shoot, though, is that he looks so young!!! He looks way younger than Lucas ever did.
      And oh, I am completely with you… if Justin Canning did another mega shoot, I’d pay to see it.

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      • As soon as the photos from the set of The Stranger surfaced I immediately thpught of the old Lucas days. The pics have a throwback quality to them, that’s for sure. And I have to say, the Spooks look
        has always been one of my favourite ones- two close seconds go to DM in S1 of BS and Dr. Scott White in Sleepwalker.

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        • RA was positively yummy as Lucas North. That costume dept. really knew how to make the star look irresistible. There were a few too many boring suits in BS1 for my taste, and I could never get beyond that awful facial shrubbery and much too short hair in the snooze film, but I do fondly remember the snug t-shirt and jeans in the handyman scene…

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          • Oh, well, I’m into men in suits and smart clothes! Maybe the fact that my Dad used to wear French and Italian three-piece suits during my formative years has a lot to do with it. You know what they say, that we girls tend to go for men who resemble our father, be it in terms of their physical appearance, wardrobe preferences, personality, etc. Even though I don’t look at Richard with the eyes of a daughter, LOL- I’m actually 9-months his senior- it’s always spooked me how similar his skull, hairline, forehead and greying pattern are to my Dad’s. Actually, it’s always been the case with men I find myself attracted to on and off-screen.

            As regards BS, I’ve never been a fan, as you already know. However, out of the three seasons, number 1 was the best in my opinion and the one in which I found Richard the most appealing, physically speaking. *Yes, I can be shallow on occasion.*

            About the “facial shrubbery” in Sleepwalker, I know what you mean. I’ve always preferred Richard sans beard or with a stubble myself. Although the trimmed beard he sported for the Recognise Magazine photoshoot, for example, was quite yummy. http://www.richardarmitagenet.com/images/gallery/Richard/Promos/Recognisemag/slides/Recognise-3.html

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            • To each their own, G 😉 – I totally get why you and many others like the formal look on RA. He fills out those suits very well. And hey, Richard in a suit is not a dealbreaker for me *hahaha*. Your theory – although logical – doesn’t really work for me, though. My dad was a typical German man of his generation, and he went to work in a suit every day. So I was used to seeing the first man I ever admired in formal wear all the time – and yet I prefer my current object of admiration in casual wear. Just because I can relate to it in a different way, I guess.
              BS1 – I think RA definitely looked sleekest and youngest in that season. I really don’t know what it is with me, because I honestly do NOT have a weakness for neo-nazis, but somehow Trevor Price really got me in his tight jeans and big boots 😱. (I totally loved RA’s look at the Red Dragon con for the same reason: tight jeans, big boots. Wasn’t a major fan of that weird black leather shirt, but I did like the black hoodie.)
              Hooray, you are a fellow Stubbelista! Come here, G, it’s us against the rest… *hahaha*

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  4. Is that a black cardigan under his jacket in the first one??? Be still my beating heart!

    I like the Dad look on Richard. I HATE the light grey jacket with the white button down set. But the blue v-neck pullover with the million dollar smile…. oh yeah!

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  5. Loved them all. Have not been home for a while and spotty Wi-Fi is challeninging. I don’t think I will catch up, but I will do my best. My RA Obsession deserves nothing less. Like all the coats. Nice to see him with his collar down for a change. And not in black.

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    • Oh, Kathy – where are you??? Travelling around???
      Collar down = major look change 😂. Who knows, after this, after having worn beige coats with the collar down, he might even get some roles in romantic comedies offered 😉

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      • Lol, hi you guys. Just typed fab reply and WiFi cut out as it was sending. Short answer- I am in Egypt. Floated Nile. Lake Nasser , currently Sharm El Sheikh. Hubs scuba diving in Red Sea while I wait in room with sinus infection. Which is less noticeable than pink eye I had last week. Miss all you guys. Hope this goes through.

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  6. The thing with the new coat vs the old one is all in the shoulders. I hate ‘with a vengeance’ rounded shoulders on coats. The coat in the BTS is gorgeous and a lush colour.

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  7. He looks great in those old photos –what a face he has — but the clothing is imo horrible. I’ve never especially liked that series; in fact, I use one of them as my joke “Chinese New Year” message.

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  8. some are a wee bit ‘mannequin’ like..his skin is so smooth and perfect
    the trainers with suit is a bit Tennant Dr Who which made me giggle
    do like seeing him in some colour, but the dark brown hair dye isn’t a favourite of mine

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    • *sniggers* yeah, right? I mean, it’s not even as if he really was a young adult, but only 10, 12 years ago he looked quite different. Still disernably Richard, but different. I see a certain vulnerability there, some innocence, some sweet trust… Not saying that he has lost all that, but I think he looks less “truthful” and a bit more “experienced in life” in his contemporary photos…

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  11. I haven’t gone through all the 101 pics today yet but I’ve never like the Canning shoot pics, not the clothes or how he’s made RA look, too boyish for me,
    weedy even. It’s quite astonishing that he is off the back of Gisborne and going into Lucas at this time. But I love his BTS coat, it really suits him and reminds me of those worn in those 60s spy films

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  12. OK, I’ve done my homework of the 101s. Richard does look hot in his blue suit in the first few pics but I’ve not changed my opinion about the rest . They just look peculiar to me, some quite 1960s trippy as though he has been shot through a fish-eye lens. I’ve always had a soft spot for the red cardigan though, with RA modelling for a 1960s knitting-pattern – it does tickle me. .

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