All Things Reacher

Bop Him With a Goat: A Reacher Superfan Special

• Keeran • Season 1 • Episode 1

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Have you ever wondered what Jack Reacher would do if confronted by a headbutting goat while tracking a villain? Actor and musician Andrew McGillan has the answer—and it involves using the goat as an unexpected weapon.

In this laugh-filled episode, Andrew shares his 12-year journey with Lee Child's iconic character, beginning with a nine-hour airport layover that introduced him to what he affectionately calls "man fluff" or "Mills and Boon for men." With refreshing candor, he explains why these thrillers captivate him: "I always feel safe with Reacher... You might break an arm or finger, but he's always gonna be alright." This perfect balance of predictability and surprise keeps Andrew coming back for more.

The conversation turns passionate when discussing adaptations. Andrew hasn't watched the Tom Cruise films—and for good reason. "The man is five foot six... It's like Peter Dinklage playing John Cleese in a Monty Python biopic," he explains, emphasizing how Reacher's imposing physical presence is fundamental to the character. By contrast, he praises Alan Ritchson's portrayal in the Amazon series as nearly perfect, even if he finds him "a bit too pretty" for the rough-and-tumble hero.

Whether debating what essential item belongs in Reacher's go bag, imagining himself as a character in the series, or reluctantly agreeing to finally watch the Cruise film, Andrew's enthusiasm for Child's creation is infectious. His perspective as both a fan and a traveling performer brings unique insights to the Reacher phenomenon.

Ready to dive deeper into Reacher's world? Follow us on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok for more content that explores every corner of the Reacher universe—from books and adaptations to headbutts and everything in between.

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SPEAKER_00:

You are by far the strongest person I've ever arm wrestled. Do you think you could beat Reacher in an arm wrestle?

SPEAKER_01:

Love step.

SPEAKER_00:

You're 48 years old. 48 and a half. 48 and a half. And you're bragging about beating a fictional hero at an arm wrestle, you've already lost.

SPEAKER_01:

You've lost more subscribers in this intro than I've lost arm wrestles with fictional heroes.

SPEAKER_00:

A very complicated but deep learning. Welcome to All Things Reacher. You're listening to All Things Reacher with me, Kiram Soran, the only podcast Jack Reacher might actually listen to if he owned any headphones. We dive into every corner of Reacher's world books, films, the TV show, and yeah, even the headbutts. Grab a coffee, leave your luggage behind. Let's get into this week's episode. Andrew McGillen, stop doing that. Andrew McGillen. I know that you're a big Reacher fan. I've known you for a long time. Some of these people.

SPEAKER_02:

18 years.

SPEAKER_00:

18 years. Some of these people might not know Andrew McGillan. Give it give me Andrew McGillan's resume. Keep it real. Keep it Reacher.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know what that means. I uh I was born in the 70s. No, not that much. Um I'm an actor and a musician and sometimes a roadie, and I um am famous in Switzerland.

SPEAKER_00:

Touring actor, musician, been doing it for a long time. We've known each other a long time. We have never ever talked about Reacher before. So where does your Reacher journey start?

SPEAKER_01:

I was thinking about this, and I can't remember if I stumbled upon it myself or if someone else told me. And I don't know if it was my first Reacher book, but I distinctly remember be having a nine-hour layover in LAX. Um because I'd be out there shooting a film and I had nine-hour layover, and I bought this Reacher book, or I bought it just before when I was in the airport with a nine-hour layover and I just smashed this book in, and it was uh it's it's like it's proper man fluff. You know, it's like Mills and Boom for men, and I just uh literally after the first book, there's such a page turner. I was so I would say that was around about 2010, 2011, maybe. Okay. Do you remember what book it was? I mean, they're all called something like, you know, bad luck and trouble or one of them's called that. Oh, right, okay. But I mean that the all the all the time in my head, all the titles kind of intertwine, and like you anything can be a reacher title, you know. Cold eggs, cold case. That's the one I'm working on. Um uh why did the chicken cross the street? Oh no, that's that's not a good one. Um not much, but um so uh what one was it? Oh, do you know what? Genuinely they all blend into one and they all have a sort of similar kind of I could have done the research, couldn't I? I could have tried to remember.

SPEAKER_00:

Don't worry. Okay. What was it, or what is it that um because nine hours is a long time to read any book.

SPEAKER_01:

What was it about Reacher that that the the the page turn ability, the page turn factor of it, and the whole they're very compelling. And I always feel safe with Reacher. Like there's like it's kind of like it's it's almost like a cheat. It's almost like he's like a Superman, and you kind of know he's always gonna be. You might break an arm or a finger or something like that but he's always gonna be alright. Um like he's woken up in some ridiculous situations and stuff, but but it's it's the it's kind of the cliffhanger element. They really, Lee Child really nails it. And to uh latterly, Andrew Child as well.

SPEAKER_00:

Um they absolutely child. Yeah, have you been have you you read all of them as far as I know?

SPEAKER_01:

I've read so he's done he's done two with his brother, and I think they're on two, no more. He's done more with his brother. He's done more with Andrew, yeah. Okay, so I've read I read them when they come out on paperback because um ain't paying big book.

SPEAKER_00:

No, I've got dude, I've got them all down here. Borrow borrow some of them. Oh, I'll get yeah, yeah, okay. So how are you feeling about the ones that you've read uh with his brother so far?

SPEAKER_01:

There's something slightly different, but I can't really put my finger on what it is. I still am really enjoying it. It hasn't it hasn't transformed drastically.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

But there might I I don't know if there's a slightly different flavour, and also it's been I don't know. I I kind of sort of shock myself a little bit with TikTok. So I used to always read before bed, and I kind of got into like TikTok before I don't know, it's it's mental, it's a drug. First time I ever discovered TikTok, it was 10 p.m. And then it was 3 a.m.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And um I had to delete it after like two or three days. I like yeah no. Like I say, it's it's hard to identify anything drastically different. Um yeah, sorry, that's not a better answer.

SPEAKER_00:

No, do so the I I think there's been five or six now. I lose count. The first couple, I'm gonna be completely honest, I did think, oh, there's something not quite the same or right, and I couldn't put my finger on it. However, I do think having got into them, now that they've done a few more, I think it's as as close to it being Reacher as it's ever gonna be. It's gonna be interesting when he's doing them on his own. Well, Andrew's taking over. Do you know? Is Lee just getting old? And he's just like, I can't be as too. Do you know what? Rav, you do it. I assume it's because Lee Child wants to work on other stuff, but not give Reacher away or stop doing it. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01:

Reach is such a good thing. Both my parents love it. I think yeah, yeah. So when I because I I'll always buy them in paperback, normally from the ASDA, you'll probably get two from seven pounds for ASDA. No, two for seven pounds from ASDA. But don't shop sorry, don't stop advertising stuff. Stop it. Um it's my time, I can do what I want. There are other supermarkets available. Yes, yes, no, sorry, that was no to sell. I often talk to myself out loud at other people because I find it's it just gets more done quicker. What was my point? Yes, so I yeah, and I did so I always pass them on to my parents.

SPEAKER_00:

Did you introduce it to them or were they reading them before you?

SPEAKER_01:

We discovered each other reading them. And my dad had one. I'm like, oh no way. He's oh yeah, I like that at each other's high. My dad's from Glasgow. Um, and uh yeah, and and mum mum likes it as well. They're just it's it's it's really pleasant fodder, brain fodder. It's really fast-paced and always keeps you enthralled. And yet they're it that they're not simple. It's not, I think because there's an underlying cleverness, there's always a twist. And I've read enough to know now, I'm always looking for that twist. And sometimes I'm like, I bet it's that person, and then you get to the and you're like, oh, it was, and then it's like, oh, it kind of was, but it kind of was. So so they're they're so being not particularly intelligent, you can read them and feel quite clever because of the because of the way it's written, and it but it's so accessible.

SPEAKER_00:

Um I think it's a really nice mix between being very simple and very complicated at the same time, and that works just right for me. Yes. I've read complicated books, I haven't finished them. What complicated books have you read? Dictionary. No, I I don't know. Um do you know what? One of my favourite books ever is Um Secret History by Donatart. And that's quite complicated. Nothing happens in it, but it's a fantastic book. But that's about as complicated as I can do. These days, Reacher, I I only read Reacher. I don't read anything else.

SPEAKER_01:

I kind of got to that point. So I was I'm a massive Terry Pratchett fan, mate who rest in peace. And since he stopped right, I I oh, yes, I'd already discovered Reacher was already reading Reacher, but then when Terry went, I kind of Reacher was my next thing that I kind of latched on to.

SPEAKER_00:

Gotcha. Right, I'm gonna tell you something. Go on. I finished all the Reachers. Uh, this was about four years ago. I finished them all, and there was nothing else to read. Um, and I felt sort of lost. And I'm a Game of Thrones fan, so I thought I'm gonna try reading Game of Thrones. Uh, and I started reading Game of Thrones, and on the introduction of about the 715th character, I was incredibly lost. And then a new Reacher came out, and I was back, I was back on the Reacher. It was I say 715th character. Honestly, it was probably only about the seventh or eighth character, and I was like, This is I can't, I can't, it's too much.

SPEAKER_01:

It's too much for my brain. In Reacher, they come in and they're either in it for the rest of it, and it'll be about three or four people, or they get killed. On that page. Yeah. On that page. Yeah, in and out. Excellent. Oh, I remember what I was saying. So, yeah, so what I was saying, so Pratchett used to be my go-to. As soon as the Pratt came out, I would consume it. I've reread everything Pratchett ever wrote, sometimes maybe 20, 30 times, some of these books. And Reacher, uh Lee Child stuff is the next author that I've gone. Oh, I'm gonna read that again, and just reread several of them. But the the the downside of that is you can ask me, I can tell you lots of stuff that's happened to Reacher, can't tell you which story they're from. No, because there's always stuff happening to that guy. He's bad luck in trouble. He just finds it's Trouble Finds Him. Is that probably a title? Uh Trouble on the Bus. Trouble on the road. Trouble on the Bus is an excellent one.

SPEAKER_00:

Trouble on the bus.

SPEAKER_01:

Trouble on the bus. Reacher. He's on a road. He's on his own. He's on a hitchhike to go and see some old folk singer that his brother used to like, but his brother's dead. And a bus comes along and reaches on the bus, and there's someone on the bus who's got a bomb. And the Reacher has to get the Reacher.

SPEAKER_00:

Reacher eats the bomb. Reacher bomb. Right. Yeah. Um a question I ask. A question it wasn't rubbish. A question I ask everyone that comes on the podcast, uh, you're the second person, is uh Jack Reacher famously doesn't have a middle name. No middle name. If you were to give him a middle name, what would that middle name be? I have thought about this.

SPEAKER_01:

No, I was considering, like, you know, the boy named Sue from uh the Johnny Cash song, Boy Named Sue, where the guy So the premise of this song is this guy gets called Sue by his dad, and his dad fucked off. And he goes through his whole life getting into fights because people ask him his name, he says Sue, and people say it's a girl's name, and he just gets into a scrap of them. Does that, and he's and he's 40 years deep. And uh then he finally meets a guy at a bar, turns out to be his dad, and so they have a massive fight, and they're and he's trying to kill him for naming him Sue, and then he he he bests him, but he's a wiry old guy, and they fight proper scrap, and he bests him. Just before he kills him, he's like, Why did you call me Sue? He said, Well, because I knew I wasn't gonna be there, so I gave you a name that's gonna make you tough or die, and that way, and then they um you know then they make friends.

SPEAKER_00:

This isn't a song, this is a Johnny Cash song. Oh my god, this is a name Sue. Oh, it's a okay.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know it, I'm gonna have to listen to it. Okay. So with that in mind, yeah, I might give him a really delicate like flower or moon child or or Susan, like Jack Susan Reacher might might be it. But then the thing is, he's already primed from from at the age of about five to attack anything. Things he fears, things he doesn't fear, things he thinks need attacking, things that need headbutting. So I don't I might even I might even just do Jack Jack Jack Reacher or Joe, because his brother's called Joe, but isn't his brother called John Joe? Or his dad's John, all the names of friends.

SPEAKER_00:

So on my quiz, I was sort of joking because there's a lot of Johns, Joes, and Jacks in that family, and I put one of the options as his brother's name being John Jack or Joe. Um but yes, I I dude, I really like Jack Jack Reacher. Jack Jack Reacher. Jack Jack Reacher. Just ever reach. Support this podcast The Reach Away. No nonsense, all action. Hit follow, leave a review. You're an actor.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, thank you very much.

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, yes. I didn't say what kind of actor. They know, they know now. They know they know. They know. Andrew McGillan.co.uk. If you were going to appear in season four of Have you watched the TV show? We'll talk about it later, but have you watched the TV show? Yes. Okay. If you were going to appear in season four of Reacher, what kind of character would you play? What would be your like your dream appearing on Reacher?

SPEAKER_01:

Dream would be, dream would be on Reacher's side. Obviously on Reacher's side.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh military. Probably some sort of military. Um, possibly even uh X MP or still in the military, because obviously he has lots of contacts in the military, so maybe a contact of his.

SPEAKER_00:

Would you want to be uh a contact on the end of the phone, or would you want to be in person?

SPEAKER_01:

Starts on the end of the phone, ends up getting in twilight, has to bring him something, ends up embroiled in some kind of battle with him. There'll be a reason. Do you make it? Do you survive? Or do you want to screen death? Do you know what? Because there's no there's very few repeat characters. I mean, there's a core of them, yeah, but like all his mates tend to get killed. So there's Neagley, and um the what's the accountant girl that he ends up having a thing with?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh gosh. You're gonna ask me names. I can only remember Reacher and Neagley, that's all. Oh, right, okay.

SPEAKER_01:

So and there's and there's and and Garber, the um his.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, who he gets the house from.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. So anyone that's coming into that world, you've got a steamer.

SPEAKER_00:

His daughter is the the lawyer, the lawyer that he's with. Yes. Is that who you're talking about? No, but but she's right.

SPEAKER_01:

No, but what I'm but so what I mean is the core characters are such a small group, like unless you're one of those. Belchmore. That was uh cheese and onion pasty from Greg's at uh Peas Pottage Services. There are other pastry services available. Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

But Greg's is the one with the Where was I? Oh yeah, so so to Greg's don't do a cheese and onion pasty, do they? Uh it was a cheese and onion slice. Oh, maybe they do. Yeah. Uh anyway, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I did just get one, so I know. Right. So um so so to come into that world, you're you're only in it for one, yeah, you're one season or your one film. That was that's okay. That we just just thought. We'll get on to the films. We'll talk about it. So yeah, but so you're only in for one. So I wouldn't mind a screen death. I I quite like to make it, but also there's got to be a point. You want to be in season five, season five, but there's got to be a point where like there's a mistrust, like reacher, like because you have to earn his trust. So that you see what I mean? There's there's gonna be some sort of thing where he's because there's the one um in the first season with the great Alan Richardson, uh, the cop guy who he thinks he's dirty, he's grasping, like their relationship is nice, and the and the little guy standing up to him, I'm like, yeah, that's what I want to be. Plucky, I think.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, feisty, plucky, a little bit like Scrappy Doo. Feisty and plucky, careful how many times you say that. Now, listen, I love that you want to be on Reacher's side, fantastic. But if you were to play a villain, or if actually, do you know what? I'm gonna change the question. If you were a villain as Andrew McGillan and Reacher is onto you, you're a bad guy. What weird habit do you have that would give you away in Reacher's World? Shitting in a bag, hanging in a tree.

SPEAKER_01:

You're always shitting in bags. Stop doing it. Okay, okay. No, that's that was just me trying to be funny again. Um, what weird habit that you want to be? It'd be something like I'd be missing a finger or something like that. Um, because like just missing that, it's like what's happened there? Um, and then you find out it's gotta be a real thing.

SPEAKER_00:

Shall I tell you what mine would be? Yes, that'll help me. Okay. I do this thing that I didn't know until my partner pointed it out to me. But she said, Do you know that you sniff a lot? And I think I would be trying to keep silent, hiding from Reacher, and then I'd suddenly go, I do it all the time, apparently, this weird sniff. So I think that's how he'd catch me. Do you do it all the time or are you being gaslit?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh do we have to talk about it? Let's watch this back and find out. Let's see how many times. I've not seen you do it. Apparently. Just then, just then. Just then, that was it. That was it. That's twice that. That's twice. Anyway, so it would be something like that. I do quite a lot. Okay. Do you know what? I'd I reckon it might be like tapping or something like did like an OCD kind of thing about tapping on something. Yeah, OCD would be the one, because you know, you can't really see that. Yeah. Yeah. And then and it and reach a you know how sometimes it's really, really vague, and then he just pulls two threads and ties them together. You're like, no way.

SPEAKER_00:

In the book, in the book, it'd be like, and he'd he'd log it, he'd log it for later. And then, yeah, 200 pages later.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and it's yeah, like there's there's one where he's he's trying to find some evidence and he's not quite sure what he's looking for, and it's it's dark, and he's walking down a path, and he's like just swinging his head from side to side, just using his periphery, and then he just catches a little glint of something out of the corner of his eye, and it turns out to be a yogurt pot, which has been used in some sort of brutal killing, but it wasn't what it was meant to. Yeah, there was obviously. He'll never find it. I'll bury it.

SPEAKER_00:

Andrew McGillan. Hello. It is time for a section that I like to call what would Reacher do? Right. I'm gonna give you a silly Reacher premise, and using your insightful Reacher knowledge, I would like you to tell me in this situation, what would Reacher do? Are you ready for the situation? I am ready. Okay. The situation is Reacher is tracking a bad guy. The trail leads him to a petting zoo. Reacher is at one end of the pen, the bad guy is at the other end of the pen. Reacher's eyes are firmly locked on the bad guy. Suddenly, he feels a tapping on his knee. Gentle mind. He looks down to see a tiny goat having just performed a headbutt, which is Reacher's favourite move. What would Reacher do?

SPEAKER_01:

Some questions.

SPEAKER_00:

Shoot. So shoot.

SPEAKER_01:

So, does the guy he's facing have any weaponry? The goat or the guy? The guy. The guy. The goat of a big kid.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, that's good stuff. That's why you're on here. That's why I do it. Um does the guy this is excellent. Does the guy have any weapons? Yes, he has one ninja star. Oh, yeah. Now, uh But he he's got no hands. Because of some army thing.

SPEAKER_01:

He's in the experiment. He doesn't, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

He lost them to a ninja star accidentally.

SPEAKER_01:

So he can't, so he so he's essentially weaponless.

SPEAKER_00:

But he can spit it.

SPEAKER_01:

He can spit the ninja star. Has he spent years training? So how is he a threat again?

SPEAKER_00:

He's very intelligent. Huh. He's incredibly intelligent, but awful with a ninja star. And no hands. No hands and no tongue. And the goat, is it a pygmy goat or is it a child goat?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, excellent. It's a fully grown adult pygmy. Right, so that would suggest to me in headbutt in Reacher, it was an affectionate one. Because if it's a fully grown adult goat and it wants to have a go at you, it will. I know it's goats. Now, if it's a if it's if it's only given a gentle tap, then suggest it wants affection, which means it's a friend of Reacher. I think Reacher should potentially use the goat as a weapon. Okay. It's a fully grown goat as a solid head. Now Reacher's got a solid head, but always keep him guessing. He should pick up the goat in order to get close to the guy. And the guy's special power is his intelligence. So you want to get within striking range because he can outthink you if you're six feet away. Yeah. So he would slowly pet the goat, keep an eye contact with the guy, and just when he's almost in striking range, just bop him in the face with a goat. It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_00:

It's bit bop him with a goat. Bop him with a goat. The name of your third album.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes.

SPEAKER_00:

Now, um, here's something we need to do. We need to put the date on this because this is going to appear in a Lee Child novel, and we need everyone to know that this was your idea. Bop him with a goat, but he doesn't hurt the goat. 4th of June 2025 for future proofing. Um, I think Reacher would um stare at the goat for 30 seconds real hard, and then the goat would end up feeding him hay. The goat would give Reacher hay. So the threat is still there.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, yeah, no, I haven't solved the case at all. Okay, I understand how would Reacher deal with the goat? Right, right. I've got to step ahead there, haven't I? I have No, you've written an entire novel. I've preemptedly, Andrew, if you're watching. Um we can get around a table, we can spit some ideas. Uh I'll bring, I'll bring the coffee. How about that?

SPEAKER_00:

Like coffee in a diner, our content never stops boring. Search for all things reacher on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube for sketches, quizzes, and general Reacher Malarkey. Are you ready for the next fun section? Yes. It's called on your marks, get set, go bag. I'm really pleased with that. I like that. Question. Tell me what do you think about this? I buy my own diamonds and I buy my own rings. If you're a touring actor. Thank you very much. You travel uh a lot. You've been on the road a lot. Reacher's on the road a lot. Reacher notoriously travels light. What's the one thing that Andrew McGillan has to have in his go bag? One item. Hope. Good lord. Give me something else, man. Okay, okay. Give me some knocking work.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so so so here's here's the thing. Here's the thing. Not only am I a touring actor, I also live in a big truck. Like I my life is fairly minimal, and I'm not really into possessions and stuff. So I really love the ethos. So I would be, it's hard for me to think of something. The man has a toothbrush, the man has some money, and he has a passport. Normally out of date. Yeah. Right. So it's not like he can go anywhere with it. He just it's just his ID. There's three things, and I'm like, I've got my wallet, my phone, and my keys. Yeah. But I also my passport. I carry my passport with me as well. It's in the car at the moment. But I lit I literally have my passport on me. Yeah. Because I like to be able to get it.

SPEAKER_00:

Same. Yeah. Right. Same. Fuck it. Let's go.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Let's go. Where should we go? I once woke up in Birmingham Airport, um, hungover. Apparently, and I didn't have my passport. And that's the reason that I woke up in the airport. Because apparently, if I had my passport, my friend Ben was saying we were trying to get to just fly somewhere. We had a few drinks, went to the airport, and I woke up in Birmingham Airport. Good. Yeah. It's not very reacher, but it's fun.

SPEAKER_01:

No, let me go back because I I was I was gonna try and make a point. Oh yes. So I I love the fact that he he's minimalist travels like, but there's it, there's one thing. I mean, it might even be something sentimental, like a fucking necklace or something that it's you know, like his grandfather's war medal is is something from his mum.

SPEAKER_00:

No, that you would carry. Oh, that I would carry. Yeah, that Andrew McGillan has to take on the road with him. The one thing that you can't not have. Fuck off knife.

SPEAKER_01:

Have you got one with you now in the car? Have you? Well, not a fuck off one, but I've got a knife. Always I've always got a I've always got a tool of some sort.

SPEAKER_00:

Not as a weapon, as a leatherman style.

SPEAKER_01:

Leatherman style. No, I've also got a screwdriver and some snips as well, because they they're very useful. But it's amazing. A tool. A tool. Yeah, I I would have, yeah, even if it's a multi-tool, but I prefer, as it's wait, I'm not giving it to Reacher, it's for me.

SPEAKER_00:

This is for you. So as Andrew McGillan, if you're hitting the road and you're going, let's say you're going away for a week, what's literally, if you could only take one thing, what would you take? It would be a leatherman.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. It really would be a leatherman or similar. There are other multi-tool brands available. Just leathermen are the best, that's all.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Okay. Now, slip it. Reacher, usually, as we've said, toothbrush, passport, bit of money. If you had to give him one thing, you're writing the next Lee Child novel. It would be an Andrew McGillan novel. You're writing the next Andrew McGillan Reacher adventure. What object would you make him travel with? See, that's that's And why?

SPEAKER_01:

And my instinct would be something sentimental. Like something like, for example, like his grandfather's war medal. His mum, I think, gives him a war medal at some point.

SPEAKER_00:

Um he bears it with Joe, doesn't he? Or where Joe dies?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, exactly. So so but see, even sentimental stuff, it's like he has it and he's like, that's that meant something, but off it fucks because I I walk the you know, I walk the earth like cane from kung fu. Um so I think it would have to be something specific to a certain adventure. So he's got to a baby, he's got a baby, he's got a baby, and he's got a is it his? No, it turns out no, it's not. Okay. But let me just or a fuck off knife.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Yeah. Or a baby with a knife. Baby with a knife. I think and that's and that's the title of the novel. Baby with a knife. June the 5th, 2025. Let's wrap up this beautiful reunion by talking about um the Reacher books, the TV shows, and the films in a section I like to call read it, watched it, punched it. The title. Starting with, thank you. Starting with um you've read the books, you've watched the TV show, and you've seen the films. Absolutely not. You haven't seen the films. Uh on purpose. Okay, right. Let's get into this. I have some thoughts about this. Okay. Share. Because you you're a fan of Alan. Massive fan. Okay. Talk to me about the films then.

SPEAKER_01:

What's what's happening there? So the problem I have is I'd been reading the books for many years before the films came out. And in every single book, without exception, there is a minimum, a minimum of one half page describing how big he is. Six foot five, two thirty pounds. I think he gets up to nearly 300 in what in one of them. Do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00:

Like he There's one of them. I think he's in Miami and he's like 290 pounds. He's working digging swimming pools. That's right. It's not Miami, it's um it's the keys. It's in the keys. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, right. So the dude is big. Now, Tom Cruise, I rate that man as an actor. Yeah. I love the fact that he does his own stunts. I love, I love risky business. I love cocktail. Cocktail's my favourite. Mate, I um eternal sunshine. No, that's that's that's Jim Carrey.

SPEAKER_00:

What's the vanilla sky? Vanilla Sky accident. Yeah. Fucking um the all the Godfather part two, superb. Oh no, that's Robert De Niro.

SPEAKER_01:

No, but do you know what I mean? Like he's he's I rate him as an actor. I think he can do subtlety well. He, you know, he he's clearly an action hero kind of thing. But the man is five foot six. Like it's it's like it's like it's like Peter Dinklage playing John Cleese in a biopic of Monty Python. Do you know what I mean? It's just it's just fucking wrong. I'd watch it too much. I'd watch it to be fair. But it's like it's like scrappy do. The whole the whole point about Reacher is Scooby. Nothing's messing with him. Tom Cruise looks like he'd he'd get a take a slap. No matter how good you are, like part of the reason Reacher's so good is because he's big and he's quick and it's it's all up here, the intelligence. Now I I've like collateral damage, Tom Cruise. Fucking brilliant film. He's a great action hero. It just really wound me up to it's it's like it was like a diverse high collateral. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah? Yeah. Oh yeah. It's not collateral damage though. That's Arnold Schwarzenegger.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh. Yes. Yes. Again. I mean, but they're interchanging very similar. But my so my point is, I just couldn't bring myself to watch them because I was so annoyed. I'm I'm guessing, I'm guessing Cruz cast himself. Uh more than more than likely, isn't it? Right? Yeah. And I'm just like, bro. It just I just find it really frustrating because it was like a diverse hire. It's like, uh, you know, I don't care if the if if aerial changes race or whatever, like those kind of things, because it's not it's not relevant to the story, it doesn't really matter. The fact is, he's a foot too short, and that's in his heels, you know, and it's just like, oh Tom, I wish you just produced it and got because the thing is Alan Richardson. Richardson, I think. Alan Richardson, I think is he's the right size for a start. He appears to have the right skill set. Um, his portrayal, I really like that it's very, it's very um kind of monotone almost, like like Reacher is in the book. He's a little bit too pretty for me because he's a good looking fella. Alan, you're a lovely looking bloke. Um I I feel like just because of you know how you read it and you have your imagination of it, reachers a bit more, not quite as as classically handsome.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh, but that's a very small when you read the book now. Are you picturing Alan Richardson? Are you 100%? Yeah. Yeah. The same thing happened with Harry Potter, didn't it? That when people are reading Harry Potter, they're now picturing Daniel Radcliffe.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, I did the same, I did the exact same thing.

SPEAKER_00:

Um I don't mind that. I don't mind that I'm picturing Alan Richardson because actually I think I think it's such good casting. Oh, it's perfect. He's the perfect cast cast. But too pretty for you.

SPEAKER_01:

Only a little bit. I mean, not enough to. Are you finding it hard to concentrate when you watch the are you so dreamy? Um but the and so so the books that I absolutely love, and I have been an avid reader all my life, so there's something about it's very, very rare in my experience that I've ever read a book and then seen the film of the book and thought the film was better. One time, train spot him. But I saw the film first, then I read the book and loved the book, but was like, okay, I can see they're kind of too. But everything else I've ever read and then seen the film, I was like, oh, it's it's good, but it's not. The series with Richardson in it, uh, the first one, it's it's so close to the book.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And it's like everything and where it veers away, I think it does a good job of updating the original story, and it all feels it all feels real and true to Reacher for me in that first season. I thought, man, that's about as close to as the imagination.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, no, no. So I so my so my point is, so the films, I can't watch Scrappy Doo trying to be Scooby. I just can't do it, Tom. I'm sorry, mate. I really, really rate you as an actor, and I love that you draw your own stunts. You just miscast yourself there.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm gonna ask you to do something. Because I to I honestly I totally hear you. I really do. However, I also think he's not that bad.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, right. And this is why I can't, this is why it's for because I don't want him to be in my head when I read the books.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, there's no way he will be. Right. There's no way he will be.

SPEAKER_01:

Because I've seen obviously it's popped up on TikTok and various sites and stuff, right? You see, you see a little snippet of it, and there's this bit, and it's just like it this is why I say scrappy-doo, because there's a real intensity to him, and he's really playing Reacher, and Reacher's a real badass, and no, and he's like really matter of fact, like, you know, you're all gonna get killed and blah, blah, blah. But it's like, put up your duty. It just it just gets me like that. I'm like, bro, like the thing about when Reacher stands up, he's taller than every other fucker. When Tom stands up and then gets on his box and then slips the heels on, he's a little bit shorter than everyone. And I'm short.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm the same height as you, Tom. Not sitting down. No, I'm now listening. I'm gonna ask you to do something. You did, yes. Okay. I would like you, for me, for our for our friendship, right? We've known each other a lot. I'm gonna ask you to watch the first one. I'm gonna ask you to watch. It's called Jack Greacher, but it's based on one shot, which is the one where at the beginning, yes, the sniper, and he kills like five people.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and it's the sniper that can go really, really far.

SPEAKER_00:

No, that's different. That's um That's this one. It's personal. Right. That's personal where Jack Greacher goes to London and Paris and they're trying to kill the French president or something. Yes, wherever you're right. So one shot is the one where um they k the sniper kills five people and they frame someone. They frame a sniper for it, and Reacher is trying to get him off. Reacher is trying to prove his innocence. Yes, better, better. Um, which is it's it's an excellent, it's one of my favourite books. And the film is based on that. For me, give it a watch. It'll only take you an hour and a half. Do you know what? I will then come back on and we'll talk about it.

SPEAKER_01:

I really will. I'm happy to do that. It's just I just found it like like it, it's not like Tom Cruise's shy of projects. This is how much it's frustrated me because I because and and I I know I'm not the only one that thinks of that, but then people other people that have like Reacher have watched the film and go, oh no Tom Cruise is pretty good. Like you forget the fact that he's short.

SPEAKER_00:

I yes, I don't think I don't love it, I also don't hate it. And it's a it's a decent film. He's not Reacher, though. He's not Reacher, but he he he does a decent job of being Reacher without being Reacher. Yeah, yeah. And it's have a look. Okay, have a look.

SPEAKER_01:

But it is like him in collateral, he's just so understated and just so calm and just is an absolute badass. Yeah, and that's what Reacher is. Um, and this and the reason like so. When I was first read reading them, and the reason I call it like Man Fluff, um, like Mills and Boone for from for men, is because it's the character's so um easily you can really transfer yourself into him. He's a vessel for you. So it's like reading Fleming stuff, he's like reading Bond stuff.

SPEAKER_00:

You do fancy him, don't you? You're transferring yourself into him. I'm gonna be out all up in you, Richard. Alan Richmond, if you're watering. No, Richard.

SPEAKER_01:

Andrew is a fan of the world. Richardson? Richard? Richard? Richson. Rich, I thought it was Richardson.

SPEAKER_00:

Can we check? It's Richardson. Is Richson? Alan Richardson. I think it's R R I T C H S O N Richson.

SPEAKER_01:

Richmond. Richardson Richmond. Alan, just give us a little shout. A like and a subscribe, give us a little shout, and let us know how we spell your name or pronounce it. That was great. That was great output there for you.

SPEAKER_00:

If you had to excellent, if you had to recommend books, TV shows, it's not gonna be the films, but if you had to recommend to someone who'd never encountered Reacher, would you recommend books, TV shows, and why?

SPEAKER_01:

I I'd almost always recommend a book over a TV show, just because I love books and you transfer yourself into that world, and it's it's all in your imagination. Um but not everyone prefers that. And then I really I'm really pleased with the seasons. I just watched, I just power watched the second season, literally did it in two sittings. Um, and again, it's so close to the to the book, and and the the bit where the bit where he goes off and and and the guy's main security guy, and he takes him to that place, and he just just sort of uses it as a ruse, and they just nail everything. And the size of spoilers. Oh, yeah, sorry, that's fine. But the size of the guy, yeah, is they got that right.

SPEAKER_00:

Do you know what? I liked um one of the biggest differences, uh, and I the spoilers, by the way. Uh, one of the biggest differences between the book and the TV show in that second season, Finley's not in it, but they bring him back from season one, the detective. They bring him back to have a guest appearance.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, he's not in the book at all.

SPEAKER_01:

I thought that's lovely. I like that. That didn't even occur to me. It didn't even because it was it was seamless. Yeah. It works. Yeah, it works. So, right, so can I change an answer to a previous one where um I don't want to die on screen with Alan Richardson? I'd rather be like Finley and come back in another season.

SPEAKER_00:

Andrew McGillen, thank you very much for joining me. This has been All Things Reacher, the only podcast where we arm wrestle fictional heroes and still come out as losers. Losers at arm wrestling, sure. But losers at life. Yeah. See you next time. Thanks for listening to All Things Reacher. Remember, we don't need luggage, but we do need your likes, follows, reviews, and comments. For more Reacher based content, just search All Things Reacher on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. Do that and maybe, just maybe, your Dodger Headbutt. See you next time.