The Man from UNCLE – an extended introduction to the 60’s series from a newbie slash fan

[rallamajoop]

Since most of my activity here nowadays seems to be me writing Man from UNCLE meta or fic on every topic under the sun, I figured it was time to make a proper masterpost of everything I've posted here or to various comms.

Most of these links go to LJ, though there are a few at the end to odds and ends I've posted to tumblr too.

Fic

• UNCLE slashfic recs masterpost – [LJ Mirror]


• My fic:
  • Fatale
    

    Pairing: Napoleon/Illya
    Summary: Napoleon’s weakness for femme fatales has never been one of the more ambiguous facets of his sexuality. (Or, a world in which Illya began his career on the wrong side of the law certainly isn’t one where Napoleon is any less likely to wind up in bed with him.)
    Rating: NC-17
    Word Count: 6,630
    Notes: Alternate universe, contains gun-kink and some bondage

    
    
  • A Unified Theory of UNCLE, in four parts
    

    Pairing: Napoleon/Illya
    Summary: In a world where the occasional well-placed enemy mole or major security breach is simply a matter of course, a handful of UNCLE's most sensitive operational directives have never been committed to paper at all.
    Rating: PG
    Word Count: 28,544
    Characters: Napoleon, Illya, Waverly, with appearances by Angelique, Ursula Alice Baldwin, Mark Slate, Gemma Lusso and "Wanda"
    Notes: Effectively a mix of elaborate crack theories and historical trivia built around a faintly ridiculous amount of flirting, fluff and prolonged UST

Resources

• The Man from UNCLE – Complete Season 1-4 subtitles – [LJ Mirror]
Ripped from the DVDs, available in text format. Not as good as proper episode scripts as the lines lack attribution, but handy for checking dialogue in a hurry.


• Complete production credits spreadsheet – [LJ Mirror]
So, I started making a spreadsheet to get my head around which of the recurring cast showed up when, and got a bit carried away. Set up to be sortable either by episode airdate or original production order, covers shooting dates, air+rerun dates, directors, writers, and pretty much all the other credits available for import. Should be useful to anyone trying to figure out chronology and recurring influences.


• MGM Character bios – Napoleon, Illya and Waverly – [LJ Mirror]
The original source for a lot of details that made it into collective fanon without ever really coming up in the show, like Napoleon's yacht and Illya's love of jazz.


• Original outlines for UNCLE and THRUSH – [LJ Mirror]
Published with some of the early promotional material, and packed with details that didn't make it into the show, like the existence of the Mask Club and some of the other entrances to UNCLE HQ. Includes scans of some early promotional articles.


• The UNCLE Special – [LJ Mirror]
Scans of some articles with detailed technical info on the UNCLE gun.

Meta

• The Man from UNCLE – an extended introduction from a newbie fan – [LJ Mirror]
In which I attempt to write the introduction I'd wished I'd been able to find before watching, to let me know what I was getting into.


• Family Trees of Napoleon, Illya and Waverly – [LJ Mirror]
Covering every known family member we've ever met, heard about, or whose existence was perhaps vaguely alluded to once, plus some musings about what it all tells us about their backgrounds.


• On nicknames and Illya's wandering ethnicity – [LJ Mirror]
Ficcers are fond of throwing around nicknames like 'tovarisch' or 'Smart Russian'. I ran some searches through the subtitle files to check exactly what was used in the show and how, and in the process, made the surprising discovery that the show all but completely stops admitting that Illya is Russian in the later seasons.


• The curious semi-canonicity of the UNCLE Special – [LJ Mirror]
The UNCLE gun was and is one of the defining symbols associated with the series - so it would probably surprise most long-time fans to realise it was never actually mentioned by name on screen. Virtually everything fans 'know' about the gun actually comes from various news articles (scans and links included).


• The spotter's guide to The Girls of U.N.C.L.E. – [LJ Mirror]
UNCLE actually featured a number of recurring female staff members over the years, and many of them (IMHO) are so much more interesting than they get credit for (even if most of them were inexplicably called 'Wanda'). There's also an appendix post of sorts: Heather McNabb, Wanda Mae Kim and Sarah Johnson in print


• Gay communist spies and KGB honey traps – The surprising history of the Lavender Scare – [LJ Mirror]
Only tangentially related to UNCLE, but I started looking up the subject of gay spies, and found so much more material than I was counting on.

Picspams

• That one photoshoot – [LJ Mirror]
Three UNCLE stars, three attractive models and a smoke machine all get together to have one hell of a day at UNCLE HQ.


• Illya vs. The Cameraman: A Saga in Pictures – [LJ Mirror]
One of my favourite things about UNCLE's many promotional stills is just how many there are where it looks like Illya’s spotted the camera man, and thinks he’s up to no good.

Book reviews

• The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: The Behind the Scenes Story of a Television Classic
  
A real treasure trove of behind-the-scenes details, recommended to any UNCLE fan.


• Ian Fleming’s Thrilling Cities
  
A travel book by the author of the James Bond novels, and one of Norman Felton's first inspirations for the series. Unfortunately, it quickly turns out that no matter what city Fleming wound up in, all the misogyny of the Bond franchise would still be along for the ride.


• KGB: The secret work of Soviet secret agents
  
A fascinating source on Cold War espionage.

Trivia and other odds and ends from tumblr

• General:
  • On the canonical support for that good old bed-sharing trope in MfU
  
  
• Napoleon Solo:
  • Norman Felton and Ian Fleming design Napoleon Solo + Addendum
  
  
  • Sam Rolfe continues to develop Napoleon Solo
  
  
  • An Annotated Guide to Napoleon’s Apartment + gifs
  
  
• Illya Kuryakin:
  • Canon details about Illya’s UNCLE career
  
  
  • Illya, romance and sex appeal
  
  
  • Illya's promotion to equal billing
  
  
  • Quotes from the later writers' guides, and some meta on Illya, women, and Napoleon + Addendum
    
  
  
• Mr. Waverly:
  • Behind the scenes with Leo G. Carroll's failing health
  
  

Comments

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the fandom! We're glad to have new members, especially a good writer.

Thank you for a terrific overview. I am most looking forward to seeing those fic ideas. It might be cheek from someone who can't write a word, but if you can fic half as well as you meta, they'll be very fine.

All the meta is admirable, but I'd like to especially yay what you write about S4, which says what I feel (as overview) better than I could. I'd like to add that nonhumans seemed very unfortunate, unlike S1 Fox and Hounds.

Most fans would probably advise against sitting through GfU, but if you ever care to give a small appendix about that; or indeed on any subject, this one would be interested.

[rallamajoop.livejournal.com]

Well, as I mentioned in the comment above I do have one fic (http://archiveofourown.org/users/rallamajoop/works?fandom_id=4405466) posted already! I did actually link it to muncle and was there looking for a beta a little while before too, though I guess not everyone saw it/made the username connection.

Gosh S4 is an awkward subject for me. >_< I know a lot of fans loved it and I'd be the last person to tell them they shouldn't, especially when it sure has inspired some excellent fic. But I personally found it such a slog it all but killed my love of the series dead for a while in the middle. :/ Such a painful exercise in producers confusing grimdark nihilism for maturity.

I'd like to add that nonhumans seemed very unfortunate, unlike S1 Fox and Hounds.

Do you mean in the sense of episodes like My Friend the Gorilla, The Abominable Snowman, The Tigers are Coming, The Birds and the Bees, The Bridge of Lions, etc? Not the best record, though I did enjoy Bow-Wow and Bat-cave despite their sillier elements, and even Tigers has its (ahem) redeeming factors.

I did give GfU a quick try - or at least I watched the first episode and the Mother Muffin Affair. I wasn't exactly blown away and its reputation turns me off a lot, but I did write down a few paragraphs worth of thoughts at the time. Will have to see if I can track them down.

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

Actually, I did follow the link. But I don't have a taste for PWP, and I'm afraid I backbuttoned as soon as I saw the warning for gunkink (Thank you for putting it.) Nonetheless, I'm sure plenty will like it.

Thanks for replying, and looking forward to any future contributions, fic or meta.