So today I’m thinking about chemistry. Not the kind that goes on in test tubes, but the burning, elemental, pheremonal heat that is generated when two (sometimes more!) people get within breathing distance of one another. Here is a top five list of the onscreen partnerships that make my heart thump when I see them, and their best moments, in my opinion.

1. Mulder and Scully. I mean, no list is complete without them. Perhaps I was just at a very impressionable age when I saw The X-Files, but I’ve been not-so-secretly in lust with both of them ever since. The sizzle onscreen every time they got closer, the way they teased us with their relationship, the anticipation of a kiss that so very nearly never came was enough to keep me watching for season after season, although I’ll admit even I lost the plot after Mulder left, and I still haven’t seen the second film! So here, in celebration of all things MSR (Mulder Scully Romance, for the uninitiated!), is one scene, of oh, so many, that makes my heart flip; that near kiss from The X-Files: Fight the Future.

2. James Spader has chemistry with pretty much anyone he shares a screen with, but one of my favourite pairings was Spader and Keanu Reeves from The Watcher. The chemistry that sizzled between them, a potent cocktail of antagonism and desire, made me wish they’d just forget about silly things like the law and run off together! I riffed quite a lot on this theme about nine years ago, and made several fanvids to this effect. Here’s one that includes some dialogue from the film, and Spader’s incredible half-smile and immortal ‘I notice you,’ line, that says it all.

3. Richard Armitage and Lucy Griffiths make another spot here for their chemistry. I adore all incarnations of Robin Hood, and the BBC version, while it played fast and loose with the myth, had a real charm and wit. And Richard Armitage in leather/half naked a lot. Forget Robin and Marian; in this version, it was Guy of Gisborne and Marian who had the onscreen fireworks, and I adored every minute of their performances. I really hope we’ll see them onscreen together again one day! So, to celebrate, here’s one of their best moments :).

4. Patricia Arquette and Gabriel Byrne in Stigmata will long reign in my memory as a favourite. On one level it’s a horror film, but on another it’s a love story. Byrne, -er- burns onscreen, and Arquette is the perfect foil. Frankie and Andrew will always have a place in my heart :). Why yes, I did make a fanvid ;). Here it is:

5. And finally, I’d add a more recent pair. Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones make me smile and gasp. Nikolai and Gwendolyn know a thing or two about rocking sexual tension ;). And, since both are utterly gorgeous, here’s that bath scene for your delectation ;).

Phew! Anyone besides me need a cold shower now? 😉 Comments welcome, as always – who are your top five?

PS – Bonus pair, now that I’ve realised I can’t stop at five. Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum as Clark Kent and Lex Luthor from Smallville. I believe the term is ‘eyefucking’, if you’ll forgive the vernacular. But they did, every single time they were onscreen. Utterly perfect chemistry. Don’t believe me? Here, have an example of a fanvid that capitalises wonderfully on that fact…