Neil expressed preference:

And not a trace of an American accent, which I wouldn't be surprised if Xena's got.

The peculiar thing is that she has to fake an American accent - the real Lucy Lawless sounds completely different (apart from being a New Zealander, her normal pitch is higher, though you can deduce that from her early appearances on Hercules, and she talks a lot faster). I may think it bizarre that she had to fake an American accent, but faking an ancient Greek one would have been even stranger.

[No, I'm not sending this to the spinlist, Calle, I've already amalgamated three posts for economy and I can't be bothered splitting them again. And my evidence for saying she's a New Zealander not Australian was the radio interview last March in which she said "I am a Kiwi girl through and through - I am a product of this land" - the programme was about NZ.]

Mistral replied to Dana and Helen:

...

...

second leads seem to have more fen than leads, even though you're "supposed" to root for the lead.

Is it because we, being imaginative, individualists, didn't 'fit in' when we were young and like characters who seem a little awkward sometimes?

That would be my guess. We might wish we were heroes, but we know we're really sidekick material

I know in my case it goes back to the Flashing Blade, the French-language adventure story which was what they always showed in the school holidays in the late 1960s; my friend fancied the Chevalier de whatnot, I fancied his rather plain mate/manservant, who I think was called Guillot. It's possible that I did this in order to annoy her, or to leave the field free for her, or indeed just as a rebellion against the conventionally good-looking. But then you're not supposed to remember anything about the 1960s, so I will leave my motives in obscurity.

Sally asked:

Is there anyone out there who *does* watch B7 or another show at least partly (and large-part, please) for one of the minor characters, with little interest in the majors?

Garak.

Jarriet