Last Son of Narnia?

In All Creatures Great and Small, Siegfried declares The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to be one of the greatest books ever written. It feels worryingly like a fourth-wall break, given that C S Lewis was the actor's old tutor at Oxford.

The line appears in the original 1978–1990 BBC series of All Creatures Great and Small, specifically in Series 6, Episode 10 ("The Best Time").

In that episode (set around the early 1950s), a young girl has renamed her dog "Lucy" after a character from a book she's reading, and Siegfried Farnon (played by Robert Hardy) reacts positively when he recognizes it. He enthusiastically calls The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe one of the greatest books ever written (or words to that very close effect, praising it highly in the context of the conversation).

It's a charming, brief moment that fits Siegfried's character—he's often the more cultured, literary-minded of the vets, quick to reference classics or show his educated side.

As for the fourth-wall aspect: yes, it's a delightful in-joke with real biographical resonance. Robert Hardy studied English at Magdalen College, Oxford, after World War II (his studies were interrupted by wartime RAF service), and C S Lewis was one of his tutors there. Hardy spoke fondly of Lewis in interviews over the years, describing him as an inspiring (if sometimes intimidating) figure during tutorials. The connection adds a nice layer of meta-authenticity to the scene—Hardy isn't just delivering a line as Siegfried; there's a personal warmth and genuine admiration behind it.

It's not a blatant break like a camera wink, but it does feel like a subtle nod from Hardy (and perhaps the production) to Lewis's legacy, especially since the Narnia books were still relatively fresh classics in the show's 1980s airing period (the episode first broadcast in 1989). Fans of both series often spot these kinds of overlaps—there are even minor crossover connections in casting between All Creatures and various Narnia adaptations over the decades.

Re-watching the classic series, it's one of those little details that makes the whole thing feel even more lived-in and personal.

Interestingly enough, there's even a follow-up and perhaps slightly more subtle reference to Narnia in Series 7 Episode 2. Siegfried (mis)quotes Thomas Carlyle's "Speech is human, silence is divine, yet also brutish and dead; therefore we must learn both arts." He then remarks that "Speech is human: it's what separates us from the animals." - which sounds a lot like a sentiment of Robert Hardy's old tutor again. (Funnily enough, Screwtape says something similar to Carlyle about music and silence - only of course he hates them both, preferring diabolical noise!)

Perhaps less interestingly, but still quite randomly, the original Siegfried on film was played by none other than Anthony Hopkins, who went on to play Lewis himself in the remake of Shadowlands. (And, for what it's worth, the director of that film, who was of course Sir Richard Attenborough, died in the same residence as Hardy would just a few years later.)

And Hardy himself would make his own indirect contribution to the "Oxford" school of fantasy" when he took on the part of Cornelius Fudge in the Harry Potter films.

Maicky Driel

Samurai Monk Gandalf

Perhaps it should go without saying that 'Kenobi' probably does come from 'cenobite' - although technically speaking of course Obi-Wan used to be a cenobite when he was Jedi Knight living with other Jedi and now he's more of an 'eremite'.

Knots and Crosses... and Crossings

first dropped into Treadwells about fifteen years ago. According to my records, I was actually looking for a pack of Tarot cards for my friend Madge. I think I would also have been interested in finding a copy of this book. I went there thinking a lot about symbols - of the faith, of grace, and in the non-Christian or "secular" sphere.

One symbol I saw a lot of at Treadwells was the Tree of Life. Another was of course the pentagram, which is actually more interesting than you'd think. Tolkien and Gordon have notes on it in their commentary on Gawain, where it features on the hero's shield and is referred to as the seal of Solomon (cf. Solomon's knot, which isn't really a knot; the Buddhist Endless Knot; and of course the star of David). In Gawain obviously it also symbolises virtue, and the Five Wounds of Our Lord. I have read that there is a tradition that Solomon wore this seal on his ring, like a signet-ring, and it gave him power over demons. (A Ring of Power, anyone?)

The inverted cross was of course originally the symbol of St Peter, who was crucified upside down, and hence of the Popes. My suspicion is that it is nowadays associated with the Antichrist partly because of ludicrous claims by protestants that the Pope is the Antichrist (even though, of course, there have been lots of Popes, whereas there is only ever going to be one Antichrist).

There are other old folk-tale characters who have "haunted" me over the years, so to speak. One is of course the Wild Huntsman, whom modern pagans refer to as the Horned God. (He's very popular with pagan gays.) Another, of course, is Wade, who was either a sort of secular St Christopher or indeed his "pre-Christian predecessor" - someone, perhaps, to be invoked at river-crossings just as St Christopher would have been. The chap's name means exactly what it sounds like, and he's portrayed in Denmark as doing just that, except that the little boy he carries on his shoulder is not the Christ Child but his son Wayland the Smith. We know so much and yet so little about him (from Chaucer et al.) that it's like living in five hundred years' time and only knowing about Luke Skywalker from in-jokes in The Simpsons.

Another thing! Do these people actually have anything to do with the Grail? Presumably they do - although, given that even in the Middle Ages, when the Church and the Grail romances were at the height of their influence in real terms, the romances were still not officially acknowledged by the clergy, it seems the quintessence of bad taste. (And what's with their translation of the Psalter?)

The capital at the beginning is from the Front Free Endpaper blog. It's a Pall Mall capital (i.e. from the magazine - not, as I initially supposed, the front of the O&C). It would be fun to have a use for a cute Aquarian 'I', but of course I don't.

DC Comics Releases Comic Where Jesus Christ Is the Central Point of History.✝️

After 37 years locked in the vault, DC finally released the “banned” Swamp Thing #88, making the crucifixion of Jesus an official part of DC continuity. pic.twitter.com/3j32TnUhpf

— sacredchad (@sacredchad_ig) May 1, 2026

DC Comics Releases Comic Where Jesus Christ Is the Central Point of History.

After 37 years locked in the vault, DC Comics finally released the “banned” Swamp Thing #88, making the crucifixion of Jesus an official part of DC continuity.

The issue was written by Rick Veitch in 1989 and titled “Morning of the Magician.” It was scheduled to be the conclusion of a time-travel arc that sent Swamp Thing backwards through history. The final stop was first century Jerusalem, where he witnesses the Garden of Gethsemane and the events of the Gospel. 

DC executives removed the issue before it hit shelves. They objected to depicting Jesus Christ in a mainstream comic. Veitch resigned in protest and refused to work for DC again.

The story sat unpublished for 37 years. Now it has officially been released, placing the crucifixion of Jesus Christ at the center of DC continuity.

[SacredChad, Catholic Geeks | Facebook]

May Morning

‘May Morning on Magdalen Tower’ 1890, by Holman Hunt

Hunt attended the May Morning ceremony and made initial observations about it in 1888. The Walker Art Gallery has a watercolour study of the details of the tower, which Hunt studied for several weeks. For the figures in the painting he chose boys from Magdalen College but also used the choir of Westminster Abbey. Not only did Hunt have problems with the choice of models but he also realised that the ceremony was not popular with people outside the Magdalen College, as he confessed in a letter to his wife after his second stay in Oxford in December 1888. The vivid and individual expressions of all the figures suggest that they were all modelled from the choir as well as members of the College. The youth of the boys reflects the fertility and blossoming of nature during May. The young boy looking directly out at us is holding a lily, the symbol for St Mary the Virgin and St Mary Magdalen to whom the College was dedicated.

[National Museums Liverpool]

Te Deum Patrem colimus,

Te Laudibus prosequimus,

qui corpus cibo reficis,

coelesti mentem gratia.

Te adoramus, O Jesu,

Te, Fili unigenite,

Te, qui non dedignatus es

subire claustra Virginis.

          

Actus in crucem, factus est

irato Deo victima

per te, Salvator unice

vitae spes nobis rediit.

                    

Tibi, aeterne Spiritus

cuius afflatu peperit

infantem Deum Maria,

aeternum benedicimus.

                              

Triune Deus, hominum

salutis auctor optime,

immensum hoc mysterium

orante lingua canimus.

[Dr Nathaniel Ingelo and Benjamin Rogers, Hymnus Eucharisticus]

Back in 2013, Auntie did the honours here.

St Mark

The above is from the front of the Doge's Palace in Venice.

Today is of course also the Robigalia - one of those old crop fertility festivals dedicated to extra-cruel chthonic deities, to whom the Romans would sacrifice animals of the non-edible variety (normally puppies).

And I just couldn't resist this.