1.
Allan Warren
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Michael Allan Warren is an English portrait photographer, primarily known for his images of members of high society. After growing up in post-war London with his mother, Warren attended Terrys Juveniles and it was during this period that he attended auditions through which he received several assignments. Warren started his career at the age of 17 when he was acting in Alan Bennetts play Forty Years On with John Gielgud in the West End at the Apollo Theatre. Around this time Warren bought his first second-hand camera and began to take photographs of his fellow actors and his first major assignment was when his friend Mickey Deans asked him to cover his wedding to Judy Garland, which marked the beginning of Warrens work as a professional photographer. When in New York for personal reasons, he attended an audition for the Broadway production of Minnies Boys, however, he later declined the role offered to him in favour of returning to London and pursuing photography as his vocation. In the early 1980s Warren embarked on a quest to photograph all 26 non-royal, together with the 12th Duke of Manchester he set up the Dukes Trust, a charity for children in need. Warren has uploaded many pictures from his archive to Wikimedia Commons, in the early 90s Warren embarked on writing plays. One of his works, The Lady of Phillimore Walk, was directed by Frank Dunlop and critics went as far as comparing it to Sleuth, the cast of The Lady of Phillimore Walk consisted of Zena Walker and Philip Lowrie, and saw productions in the United States. Warren invented the Hankybreathe, a handkerchief which allows the user to inhale air through a filter at the mouth. The invention, which is meant to be dabbed in eucalyptus oil, harks back to the nosegay and stems from Warrens experience with asthma in heavily polluted London
2.
Finchley
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Finchley is an area of north London, England, in the London Borough of Barnet. Finchley is on ground,11 km north of Charing Cross. It formed an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, becoming a borough in 1933. It is predominantly a suburb, with three town centres, North Finchley, East Finchley and Finchley Church End. Finchley probably means Finchs clearing or finches clearing in late Anglo-Saxon, Finchley is not recorded in Domesday Book, but by the 11th century its lands were held by the Bishop of London. In the early period the area was sparsely populated woodland, whose inhabitants supplied pigs. Extensive cultivation began about the time of the Norman Conquest, by the 15th and 16th centuries the woods on the eastern side of the parish had been cleared to form Finchley Common. The medieval Great North Road, which ran through the common, was notorious for highwaymen until the early 19th century, St Mary-at-Finchley Church is first recorded in the 1270s. Near the northern gate to the Bishop of Londons park, the hamlet of East End, the Edgware, Highgate and London Railway reached Finchley in 1867. It ran from Finsbury Park via Finchley to Edgware, the branch from Finchley to High Barnet opened in 1872. In 1905 tram services were established in Finchley, and extended shortly afterwards to Barnet and they were eventually replaced by trolleybuses. In 1933, the Underground New Works Programme, 1935-1940 to electrify the lines through Finchley, much of the work was carried out and East Finchley station was rebuilt, but the project was halted by the second world war. All passenger services from Finchley to Edgware ended in September 1939, nevertheless, Underground trains began running from central London to High Barnet in 1940, and to Mill Hill East, to reach the army barracks, in 1941. From around 1547 Finchley had a vestry, which became a local board in 1878, an urban district council in 1895. The area is now part of the London Borough of Barnet, from 1959 to 1992 the Finchley constituency was represented in Parliament by Margaret Thatcher, British Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. Finchley is now included in the new constituency of Finchley and Golders Green, in February 2010, the Green Party held its spring party conference at the artsdepot in North Finchley. Finchley is on a plateau,90 metres above sea level 11 km north of Charing Cross and 6 km south of Barnet, to the west is the Dollis valley formed by Dollis Brook the natural western boundary of Finchley. Mutton Brook forms the boundary, joining the Dollis Brook to become the River Brent
3.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
4.
Brideshead Revisited
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Brideshead Revisited, The Sacred & Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder is a novel by English writer Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1945. Ryder has relationships with two of the Flytes, Sebastian and Julia, the novel explores themes including nostalgia for the age of English aristocracy, Catholicism, and the nearly overt homosexuality of Sebastian Flytes coterie at Oxford University. A faithful and well-received television adaptation of the novel was produced in an 11-part miniseries by Granada Television in 1981, Sebastian introduces Charles to his eccentric and aesthetic friends, including the haughty and homosexual Anthony Blanche. Sebastian also takes Charles to his familys mansion, Brideshead Castle, in Wiltshire where Charles later meets the rest of Sebastians family. During the long summer holiday Charles returns home to London, where he lives with his widowed father, the conversations there between Charles and Edward provide some of the best-known comic scenes in the novel. Charles is called back to Brideshead after Sebastian incurs a minor injury, Lord Marchmain had converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism to marry his wife, but he later abandoned both his marriage and his new religion, and moved to Venice, Italy. Left alone, Lady Marchmain focuses even more on her faith, which is also espoused by her eldest son, Lord Brideshead. Sebastian, a young man, descends into alcoholism, drifting away from the family over a two-year period. He flees to Morocco, where his drinking ruins his health and he eventually finds some solace as an under-porter and object of charity at a Catholic monastery in Tunisia. Sebastians drifting leads to Charless own estrangement from the Flytes, Charles marries and fathers two children, but he becomes cold towards his wife, and she is unfaithful to him. He eventually forms a relationship with Sebastians younger sister Julia, Julia has married but separated from the rich but unsophisticated Canadian businessman Rex Mottram. Charles and Julia plan to divorce their spouses so that they can marry each other. On the eve of the Second World War, the ageing Lord Marchmain, terminally ill, the plot concludes in the early spring of 1943. Charles is homeless, childless, middle-aged and loveless and he has become an army officer, after establishing a career as an architectural artist, and finds himself unexpectedly billeted at Brideshead, which has been taken into military use. He finds the house damaged by the army, but the private chapel, closed after Lady Marchmains death in 1926, has been reopened for the soldiers worship. It occurs to him that the efforts of the builders – and, by extension, Gods efforts – were not in vain, although their purposes may have appeared, for a time, Catholicism is a significant theme of the book. Evelyn Waugh was a convert to Catholicism and Brideshead depicts the Roman Catholic faith in a literary form. Waugh wrote to his literary agent A. D. Peters, the whole thing is steeped in theology, but I begin to agree that the theologians wont recognise it
5.
ITV (TV network)
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ITV is a commercial TV network in the United Kingdom. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990 its legal name has been Channel 3, to distinguish it from the analogue channels at the time, namely BBC1, BBC2. ITV is a network of channels that operate regional television services as well as sharing programmes between each other to be displayed on the entire network. In recent years, several of companies have merged so currently the fifteen franchises are in the hands of two companies. With the exception of Northern Ireland, the ITV brand is the used by ITV plc for the Channel 3 service in these areas. In Northern Ireland, ITV plc uses the brand name UTV, STV Group plc, uses the STV brand for its two franchises of central and northern Scotland. The origins of ITV lie in the passing of the Television Act 1954, the act created the Independent Television Authority to heavily regulate the industry and to award franchises. The first six franchises were awarded in 1954 for London, the Midlands, the first ITV network to launch was Londons Associated-Rediffusion on 22 September 1955, with the Midlands and North services launching in February 1956 and May 1956 respectively. Following these launches, the ITA awarded more franchises until the country was covered by fourteen regional stations. Following the 1993 changes, ITV as a network began to consolidate with several companies doing so to save money by ceasing the duplication of services present when they were all separate companies. The ITV Network is not owned or operated by one company, since 2016 the fifteen licences are held by two companies, with the majority held by ITV Broadcasting Limited, part of ITV plc. The network is regulated by the media regulator Ofcom who is responsible for awarding the broadcast licences, the last major review of the Channel 3 franchises was in 1991, with all operators licences having been renewed between 1999 and 2002 and again from 2014 without a further contest. However, due to amalgamation of several of companies since the creation of ITV Network Limited. Approved by Ofcom, this results in ITV plc commissioning and funding the network schedule, all licensees have the right to opt out of network programming, however many do not due to pressures from the parent company or because of limited resources. The network also needs to produce accessible output containing subtitles, signing, in exchange for this programming, the ITV network is available on all platforms free to air and can be found at the top of the EPG of all providers. Since the launch of the platform in 1998, all of the ITV licensees have received gifted capacity on the terrestrial television platform. At present, the companies are able to broadcast additional channels and all choose to broadcast the ITV plc owned ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and CITV in their region. UTV and STV previously broadcast their own services – UTV2 in Northern Ireland and S2 in central and northern Scotland – until 2002, the broadcasters all make use of the Digital 3&4 multiplex, shared with Channel 4
6.
Brideshead Revisited (TV serial)
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Brideshead Revisited is a 1981 British television serial starring Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews, and produced by Granada Television for broadcast by the ITV network. The serial is an adaptation of Evelyn Waughs novel Brideshead Revisited, the bulk of the serial was directed by Charles Sturridge, with a few sequences filmed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg. In 2000, the serial was 10th on a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes compiled by the British Film Institute, in 2007, the serial was listed as one of TIME magazines 100 Best TV Shows of All-Time. In 2010, it was second in The Guardian newspapers list of the top 50 TV dramas of all time, in 2015, The Telegraph listed it as #1 in the greatest television adaptations, stating that Brideshead Revisited is television’s greatest literary adaptation, bar none. Its utterly faithful to Evelyn Waughs novel yet its somehow more than that, Episode 2, Home and Abroad At Brideshead, Charles is introduced to Sebastians younger sisters Julia and Cordelia and his older brother Brideshead. The two young men decide to accept an invitation to Venice extended by Sebastians father, Lord Marchmain, Episode 3, The Bleak Light of Day Back at Oxford, Sebastian learns his mother has arranged for him to be tutored - and carefully supervised - by Mr. Samgrass. Lady Marchmain visits the university and implores Charles to be an influence on her rowdy son. Invited to a charity ball in London by Julia, Charles, after a drunken Sebastian crashes their car, the political and social power of ambitious MP Rex Mottram and Mr. Samgrass result in Sebastian being let off with only a fine. Episode 4, Sebastian Against the World Sebastians rapid descent into alcoholism leads him into constant trouble, during Easter holiday at Brideshead, Charles tries to reason with a constantly inebriated Sebastian, who accuses him of being a spy for Lady Marchmain. Sebastians failure to reform leads to his dismissal from Oxford, Episode 5, A Blow Upon a Bruise Charles returns from his art studies in Paris and journeys to Brideshead for the 1925 New Years celebration. Sebastian agrees to participate in a fox hunt although he plans to make an escape to a pub, so he asks Charles for money. When Sebastian returns home heavily inebriated at the end of the day, learning he financed Sebastians drinking binge, she rebukes him for enabling him, and Charles leaves Brideshead, fully expecting never to return. Episode 6, Julia Charles returns to Paris, where he is visited by Rex Mottram, who is searching for Sebastian, Rex discusses the financial woes of the Marchmain family and announces he intends to marry Julia nonetheless. Lady Marchmain reluctantly consents to the marriage as long as Rex converts to Catholicism, Episode 7, The Unseen Hook In May 1926, Charles returns to England to volunteer his services during the General Strike. While delivering milk in the East End, he encounters Boy Mulcaster, at a party they encounter Anthony Blanche who tells how Sebastian is living in Fez. Julia tells Charles her dying mother is anxious to make amends with her prodigal son and he discovers Sebastian has been living with Kurt, a German ex-soldier discharged from the French Foreign Legion after deliberately shooting himself in the foot. Sebastian is an alcoholic and has been hospitalized with pneumonia. Charles finds his friend emaciated and dissipated, unwilling to follow doctors orders, before Charles departs Morocco, he learns Lady Marchmain has died
7.
Ivanhoe (1982 film)
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Ivanhoe is a British 1982 television film adaptation of Sir Walter Scotts novel of the same name. The film was directed by Douglas Camfield, with a written by John Gay. The film depicts the noble knight Ivanhoe returning home from The Holy Wars, the score by Allyn Ferguson was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1982. The film premiered on CBS in the USA on 23 February 1982 and was first broadcast in the UK on 26 September 1982 on ITV De Bois-Guilbert is treated more ambiguously than in most versions of the story. The film featured Julian Glover reprising his role as Richard I from the 1965 Doctor Who serial The Crusade, in Sweden, where it first aired over TV1 on 31 December 1982 the films airing annually around Christmas-New Year has become a tradition
8.
The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982 film)
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The Scarlet Pimpernel is a 1982 British romantic adventure film set during the French Revolution. Just, the love interest, and Ian McKellen as Chauvelin, in 1792 during the Reign of Terror, the Scarlet Pimpernel rescues French aristocrats while posing as the wealthy but foppish and seemingly empty-headed Sir Percival Blakeney. The story differs from the book but is inspired by it. In 1792 during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, the leader of this secret society is a mysterious English nobleman known only as the Scarlet Pimpernel, whose signature sign is a humble wayside flower. In society he hides his identity by posing as the wealthy but foppish, after rescuing the Count de Beaulieu and his family, Percy is introduced to the beautiful French actress Marguerite St. Just through her brother, Armand, whom he rescued from an attack, Percy is attracted to Marguerite, but she is in a relationship with Paul Chauvelin, an agent of Maximilien Robespierre. Due to the Scarlet Pimpernels past successes, Chauvelin is assigned to discover his identity, later, Marguerite and Chauvelin have an argument over the executions and he angrily departs. Percy reveals his identity to Armand and convinces him to use his connections to Chauvelin to investigate the French prison holding the Dauphin, soon after, the Scarlet Pimpernel and his associates rescue de Tournays family. This leads to beheadings of the entire St. Cyr family, believing that she was seeking revenge and is still in league with Chauvelin, Percy becomes distrustful of his new wife. Unaware of her husbands knowledge of her role in the deaths of the St. Cyr family, Marguerite unhappily notices his growing disdain for her. Armand advises Percy to tell Marguerite about his suspicions so that she may defend herself, soon after, Chauvelin discovers that Armand is in league with the Scarlet Pimpernel, and summons him back to Paris. Blackmailing Marguerite by threatening her brothers life, Chauvelin coerces her into discovering the vigilantes identity, after finding that the Scarlet Pimpernel is to rendezvous at midnight, Marguerite tells Chauvelin. However, she warns the Scarlet Pimpernel—actually her husband, unbeknownst to her—and adds that Chauvelin betrayed her trust. Percys faith in his wife is restored, having been thwarted from encountering them, Chauvelin angrily leaves for Paris. Percy and his associates also depart for France to save Armand, Marguerite notices that Percys family crest bears a scarlet pimpernel, and quickly deduces his identity. After Armand arranges the firing of the gaolers in charge of the Dauphins care, Percy, the boy is taken to a castle on the French coast, but Percy is soon captured while trying to save Armand. Marguerite visits her husband in prison, where he tells her to arrange for the Baron de Batz—an Austrian interested in saving the Dauphin—to smuggle the boy out of France the following night, later, Percy agrees to personally bring Chauvelin to the Dauphin. Chauvelin and Percy, along with Marguerite and Armand who are hostages, arrive at the castle, angered by the deception, Chauvelin orders Percys execution, but the firing squad consists of members of the league of the Scarlet Pimpernel, disguised as Chauvelins troops
9.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
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The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of Her Majestys Government in the United Kingdom. The prime minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Monarch, to Parliament, to their political party, the office is one of the Great Offices of State. The current prime minister, Theresa May, leader of the Conservative Party, was appointed by the Queen on 13 July 2016. The position of Prime Minister was not created, it evolved slowly and erratically over three hundred years due to acts of Parliament, political developments, and accidents of history. The office is therefore best understood from a historical perspective, the origins of the position are found in constitutional changes that occurred during the Revolutionary Settlement and the resulting shift of political power from the Sovereign to Parliament. The political position of Prime Minister was enhanced by the development of political parties, the introduction of mass communication. By the start of the 20th century the modern premiership had emerged, prior to 1902, the prime minister sometimes came from the House of Lords, provided that his government could form a majority in the Commons. However as the power of the aristocracy waned during the 19th century the convention developed that the Prime Minister should always sit in the lower house. As leader of the House of Commons, the Prime Ministers authority was further enhanced by the Parliament Act of 1911 which marginalised the influence of the House of Lords in the law-making process. The Prime Minister is ex officio also First Lord of the Treasury, certain privileges, such as residency of 10 Downing Street, are accorded to Prime Ministers by virtue of their position as First Lord of the Treasury. As the Head of Her Majestys Government the modern Prime Minister leads the Cabinet, in addition the Prime Minister leads a major political party and generally commands a majority in the House of Commons. As such the incumbent wields both legislative and executive powers, under the British system there is a unity of powers rather than separation. In the House of Commons, the Prime Minister guides the process with the goal of enacting the legislative agenda of their political party. The Prime Minister also acts as the face and voice of Her Majestys Government. The British system of government is based on an uncodified constitution, in 1928, Prime Minister H. H. Asquith described this characteristic of the British constitution in his memoirs, In this country we live. Our constitutional practices do not derive their validity and sanction from any Bill which has received the assent of the King, Lords. They rest on usage, custom, convention, often of slow growth in their early stages, not always uniform, the relationships between the Prime Minister and the Sovereign, Parliament and Cabinet are defined largely by these unwritten conventions of the constitution. Many of the Prime Ministers executive and legislative powers are actually royal prerogatives which are still vested in the Sovereign
10.
Stanley Baldwin
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Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC, JP, FRS was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars. Three times Prime Minister, he is the premier to have served under three monarchs. Baldwin first entered the House of Commons in 1908 as the Member of Parliament for Bewdley and he held government office in the coalition ministry of David Lloyd George. Upon Bonar Laws resignation due to reasons in May 1923, Baldwin became Prime Minister. He called an election on the issue of tariffs and lost the Conservatives majority, after winning the 1924 General Election Baldwin formed his second government, which saw important tenures of office by Sir Austen Chamberlain, Winston Churchill and Neville Chamberlain. The latter two ministers strengthened Conservative appeal by reforms in areas associated with the Liberal Party. They included industrial conciliation, unemployment insurance, a more extensive old-age pension system, slum clearance, more private housing, Baldwin narrowly lost the 1929 General Election and his continued leadership of the party was subject to extensive criticism by the press barons Lord Rothermere and Lord Beaverbrook. In 1931, Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald formed a National Government, most of whose ministers were Conservatives and which won an enormous majority at the 1931 General Election. As Lord President of the Council, and one of four Conservatives among the small ten-member Cabinet and this government saw an Act delivering increased self-government for India, a measure opposed by Churchill and by many rank-and-file Conservatives. The Statute of Westminster 1931 gave Dominion status to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, as party leader, Baldwin made many striking innovations, such as clever use of radio and film, that made him highly visible to the public and strengthened Conservative appeal. During this time, he oversaw the beginning of the rearmament process of the British military, Baldwin retired in 1937 and was succeeded by Neville Chamberlain. By 2004, however, historians generally painted a positive portrait of his governments. Less equivocal was his rediscovery as a moderate and inclusive Conservative for the modern age, Modern scholars generally rank him in the upper half of British Prime Ministers. The family was prosperous, and owned the eponymous iron and steel making business that in later became part of Richard Thomas. Baldwin then went on to the University of Cambridge, where he studied history at Trinity College. His time at university was blighted by the presence, as Master of Trinity, of Montagu Butler, his former headmaster who had punished him at Harrow for writing a piece of schoolboy smut. He was asked to resign from the Magpie & Stump for never speaking and his father sent him to Mason College for one session of technical training in metallurgy as preparation. As a young man he served briefly as a Second Lieutenant in the Artillery Volunteers at Malvern, Baldwin married Lucy Ridsdale on 12 September 1892
11.
The King's Speech
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The Kings Speech is a 2010 British biographical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, Seidler read about George VIs life after overcoming a stuttering condition he endured during his youth. He later rewrote his screenplay for the stage to focus on the relationship between the two protagonists. Nine weeks before filming began, Logues notebooks were discovered and quotations from them were incorporated into the script, principal photography took place in London and around Britain from November 2009 to January 2010. The opening scenes were filmed at Elland Road, Leeds, and Odsal Stadium, Bradford, for indoor scenes, Lancaster House substituted for Buckingham Palace, and Ely Cathedral stood in for Westminster Abbey, while the weaving mill scene was filmed at the Queen Street Mill in Burnley. A third technique Hooper employed was the framing of characters, in his first consultation with Logue. Released in the United Kingdom on 7 January 2011, The Kings Speech was a box office. On a budget of £8 million, it earned over £250 million internationally and it was widely praised by film critics for its visual style, art direction, and acting. Other commentators discussed the representation of historical detail, especially the reversal of Winston Churchills opposition to abdication. The film received awards and nominations, particularly for Colin Firths performance. The Kings Speech won seven British Academy Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, the film also won four Academy Awards, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay. Prince Albert, Duke of York, the son of King George V. The Duke has given up hope of a cure, but his wife Elizabeth persuades him to see Lionel Logue, during their first private session, Logue insists on being called Lionel by his patient. In addition, breaching royal etiquette, Logue calls the Prince Bertie, Prince Albert leaves in anger but Logue offers him the recording as a keepsake. His attempt to do so is a failure, later, the Duke plays Logues recording and hears himself reciting unhesitatingly. He therefore returns to Logue, where he and his wife both insist that Logue focus only on physical exercises, not therapy, Logue teaches his patient muscle relaxation and breath control but continues to probe gently and persistently at the psychological roots of the stutter. Albert eventually reveals some of the pressures of his childhood and the two men start to become friends. It is pointed out that Edward, as head of the Church of England, cannot marry her, even if she receives her second divorce, when Logue insists that Albert could be a good king instead, the latter labels such a suggestion as treason and dismisses Logue
12.
Golden Globe Award
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Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign. The annual ceremony at which the awards are presented is a part of the film industrys awards season. The 74th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film, the 1st Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best achievements in 1943 filmmaking, was held in January 1944, at the 20th Century-Fox studios. Subsequent ceremonies were held at venues throughout the next decade, including the Beverly Hills Hotel. In 1950, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association made the decision to establish an honorary award to recognize outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry. Recognizing its subject as a figure within the entertainment industry. The official name of the award became the Cecil B. In 1963, the Miss Golden Globe concept was introduced, in its inaugural year, two Miss Golden Globes were named, one for film and one for television. The two Miss Golden Globes named that year were Eva Six and Donna Douglas, respectively, in 2009, the Golden Globe statuette was redesigned. It was unveiled at a conference at the Beverly Hilton prior to the show. The broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards, telecast to 167 countries worldwide, generally ranks as the third most-watched awards show each year, behind only the Oscars, gervais returned to host the 68th and 69th Golden Globe Awards the next two years. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted the 70th, 71st and 72nd Golden Globe Awards in 2015, the Golden Globe Awards theme song, which debuted in 2012, was written by Japanese musician and songwriter Yoshiki Hayashi. On January 7,2008, it was announced due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The ceremony was faced with a threat by striking writers to picket the event, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was forced to adopt another approach for the broadcast. In acting categories, Meryl Streep holds the record for the most competitive Golden Globe wins with eight, however, including honorary awards, such as the Henrietta Award, World Film Favorite Actor/Actress Award, or Cecil B. DeMille Award, Barbra Streisand leads with nine, additionally, Streisand won for composing the song Evergreen, producing the Best Picture, and directing Yentl in 1984. Jack Nicholson, Angela Lansbury, Alan Alda and Shirley MacLaine have six awards each, behind them are Rosalind Russell and Jessica Lange with five wins. Meryl Streep also holds the record for most nominations with thirty, at the 46th Golden Globe Awards an anomaly occurred, a three way-tie for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
13.
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
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The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image – film, television and game in the United Kingdom. David Lean was the founding Chairman of the Academy, the first Film Awards ceremony took place in May 1949 and honouring the films The Best Years of Our Lives, Odd Man Out and The World Is Rich. In 2005, it placed a cap on worldwide voting membership which now stands at approximately 6,500. BAFTA has offices in Scotland and Wales in the UK, in Los Angeles and New York in the United States and runs events in Hong Kong, amanda Berry OBE has been chief executive of the organisation since December 2000. Many of these events are free to online at BAFTA Guru. BAFTA runs a number of programmes across the UK, US. Launched in 2012, the UK programme enables talented British citizens who are in need of support to take an industry-recognised course in film. Each BAFTA Scholar receives up to £12,000 towards their annual course fees, since 2013, three students every year have received one of the Prince William Scholarships in Film, Television and Games, supported by BAFTA and Warner Bros. These scholarships are awarded in the name of in his role as President of BAFTA, since 2015, BAFTA has been offering scholarships for British citizens to study in China, vice versa. BAFTA presents awards for film, television and games, including entertainment, at a number of annual ceremonies across the UK and in Los Angeles. The BAFTA award trophy is a mask, designed by American sculptor Mitzi Cunliffe. Todays BAFTA award – including the mask and marble base – weighs 3.7 kg and measures 27 cm x 14 cm x 8 cm. BAFTAs annual film awards ceremony is known as the British Academy Film Awards, or the BAFTAs, in 1949 the British Film Academy, as it was then known, presented the first awards for films made in 1947 and 1948. Since 2008 the ceremony has held at the Royal Opera House in Londons Covent Garden. It had been held in the Odeon cinema on Leicester Square since 2000, the ceremony had been performed during April or May of each year, but since 2002 it has been held in February to precede the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Academy Awards, or Oscars. They have been awarded annually since 1954, the first ever ceremony consisted of six categories. Until 1958, they were awarded by the Guild of Television Producers and Directors, from 1968 until 1997, BAFTAs Film and Television Awards were presented together, but from 1998 onwards they were presented at two separate ceremonies. The Television Craft Awards celebrate the talent behind the programmes, such as working in visual effects, production
14.
Emmy Award
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An Emmy Award, or simply Emmy, recognizes excellence in the television industry, and corresponds to the Academy Award, the Tony Award, and the Grammy Award. Because Emmy Awards are given in various sectors of the American television industry, Regional Emmy Awards are also presented throughout the country at various times through the year, recognizing excellence in local and statewide television. In addition, International Emmys are awarded for excellence in TV programming produced, each is responsible for administering a particular set of Emmy ceremonies. The Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences established the Emmy Award as part of an image-building and public relations opportunity. The first Emmy Awards ceremony took place on January 25,1949, at the Hollywood Athletic Club, shirley Dinsdale has the distinction of receiving the very first Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality, during that first awards ceremony. In the 1950s, the ATAS expanded the Emmys into a national event, in 1955, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences was formed in New York City as a sister organization to serve members on the East Coast, and help to also supervise the Emmys. The NATAS also established regional chapters throughout the United States, with each one developing their own local Emmy awards show for local programming, the ATAS still however maintained its separate regional ceremony honoring local programming in the Los Angeles Area. Originally there was only one Emmy Awards ceremony held per year to honor shows nationally broadcast in the United States, in 1974, the first Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony was held to specifically honor achievement in national daytime programming. Other area-specific Emmy Awards ceremonies soon followed, also, the International Emmy Awards, honoring television programs produced and initially aired outside the U. S. was established in the early 1970s. Meanwhile, all Emmys awarded prior to the emergence of these separate, in 1977, due to various conflicts, the ATAS and the NATAS agreed to split ties. However, they agreed to share ownership of the Emmy statue and trademark. With the rise of television in the 1980s, cable programs first became eligible for the Primetime Emmys in 1988. The ATAS also began accepting original online-only web television programs in 2013, the Emmy statuette, depicting a winged woman holding an atom, was designed by television engineer Louis McManus, who used his wife as the model. The TV Academy rejected a total of forty-seven proposals before settling on McManus design in 1948. The statuette has become the symbol of the TV Academys goal of supporting and uplifting the art and science of television, The wings represent the muse of art. When deciding a name for the award, Academy founder Syd Cassyd originally suggested Ike, however, Ike was also the popular nickname of World War II hero and future U. S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the Academy members wanted something unique. Finally, television engineer and the third president, Harry Lubcke, suggested the name Immy. After Immy was chosen, it was feminized to Emmy to match their female statuette
15.
BBC
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The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. It is headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, the BBC is the worlds oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It employs over 20,950 staff in total,16,672 of whom are in public sector broadcasting, the total number of staff is 35,402 when part-time, flexible, and fixed contract staff are included. The BBC is established under a Royal Charter and operates under its Agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and used to fund the BBCs radio, TV, britains first live public broadcast from the Marconi factory in Chelmsford took place in June 1920. It was sponsored by the Daily Mails Lord Northcliffe and featured the famous Australian Soprano Dame Nellie Melba, the Melba broadcast caught the peoples imagination and marked a turning point in the British publics attitude to radio. However, this public enthusiasm was not shared in official circles where such broadcasts were held to interfere with important military and civil communications. By late 1920, pressure from these quarters and uneasiness among the staff of the licensing authority, the General Post Office, was sufficient to lead to a ban on further Chelmsford broadcasts. But by 1922, the GPO had received nearly 100 broadcast licence requests, John Reith, a Scottish Calvinist, was appointed its General Manager in December 1922 a few weeks after the company made its first official broadcast. The company was to be financed by a royalty on the sale of BBC wireless receiving sets from approved manufacturers, to this day, the BBC aims to follow the Reithian directive to inform, educate and entertain. The financial arrangements soon proved inadequate, set sales were disappointing as amateurs made their own receivers and listeners bought rival unlicensed sets. By mid-1923, discussions between the GPO and the BBC had become deadlocked and the Postmaster-General commissioned a review of broadcasting by the Sykes Committee and this was to be followed by a simple 10 shillings licence fee with no royalty once the wireless manufactures protection expired. The BBCs broadcasting monopoly was made explicit for the duration of its current broadcast licence, the BBC was also banned from presenting news bulletins before 19.00, and required to source all news from external wire services. Mid-1925 found the future of broadcasting under further consideration, this time by the Crawford committee, by now the BBC under Reiths leadership had forged a consensus favouring a continuation of the unified broadcasting service, but more money was still required to finance rapid expansion. Wireless manufacturers were anxious to exit the loss making consortium with Reith keen that the BBC be seen as a service rather than a commercial enterprise. The recommendations of the Crawford Committee were published in March the following year and were still under consideration by the GPO when the 1926 general strike broke out in May. The strike temporarily interrupted newspaper production and with restrictions on news bulletins waived the BBC suddenly became the source of news for the duration of the crisis. The crisis placed the BBC in a delicate position, the Government was divided on how to handle the BBC but ended up trusting Reith, whose opposition to the strike mirrored the PMs own
16.
North Finchley
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North Finchley is a suburb of London in the London Borough of Barnet, situated 7 miles north-west of Charing Cross. North Finchley is centred on Tally Ho Corner, the junction of the roads to East Finchley, Church End, Friern Barnet, Church End is often known as Finchley Central, owing to the name of the tube station located there. It is primarily a residential and shopping area, with several supermarkets, the area has mainly 19th-century housing, ranging from quaint Victorian cottages to substantially larger Victorian double-fronted houses. There is also a dominant Edwardian style toward Woodside Park and Nether Street, there are some mansion-style properties on Friern Barnet Lane, and a development of luxury flats at Tally Ho Corner, above the artsdepot, with views over Mill Hill and Hertfordshire. There are few local authority estates in the area, the largest one, the bus station was reopened in March 2007 after safety improvements had been implemented. The bus station is served by routes 13 and 460, and by through routes 221 and 125 to Edgware and Finchley Central, the Cricketers pub used to stand adjacent to the old bus station. On 26 July 1994 a bomb exploded outside Balfour House, a prominent building on North Finchley High Street, earlier on the same day, a bomb had exploded outside the Israeli embassy. Two Lebanese Palestinians, Samar Alami and Jawad Botmeh, were convicted of carrying out the Finchley bombing. Tally Ho Bombers Lose Court Appeal, Guardian. co. uk, 2001-11-01 An urban district of Finchley, in 1932 the Municipal Borough of Finchley was created, but in 1965 the municipal borough was abolished and its area became part of the London Borough of Barnet. Margaret Thatcher was elected as MP for Finchley in 1959, she served until her retirement from the House of Commons in 1992, list of people from Barnet Media related to North Finchley at Wikimedia Commons
17.
White Rabbit
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The White Rabbit is a fictional character in Lewis Carrolls book Alices Adventures in Wonderland. He appears at the beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat. Alice follows him down the hole into Wonderland. Alice encounters him again when he mistakes her for his housemaid Mary Ann, the Rabbit shows up again in the last few chapters, as a herald-like servant of the King and Queen of Hearts. In his article Alice on the Stage, Carroll wrote And the White Rabbit, was he framed on the Alice lines, or meant as a contrast. For her youth, audacity, vigour, and swift directness of purpose, read elderly, timid, feeble, and nervously shilly-shallying, I think the White Rabbit should wear spectacles. Im sure his voice should quaver, and his knees quiver, at the Mad Tea Party, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare try to fix his watch, proclaiming it exactly two days slow. Through various food they put in the watch, the two cause it to go mad, and the Hare smashes it with his mallet, the Rabbit was perhaps most famous for the little ditty he sang at the beginning, Im late. No time to say hello, goodbye, the Rabbit was voiced by Bill Thompson. Some believe the rabbit was late for the announcement of the Queen to the royal garden, the panic the rabbit showed was his fear of losing his head. Upon her arrival the cards finish their song and the rabbit blows his trumpet royally introducing the king, the White Rabbit made a few appearances on the Disney Channel original show, House of Mouse. His most notable appearance was in the episode Clarabelles Big Secret, when he confessed to Clarabelle Cow that Im not really late and he is seen being grabbed by the reservation clerk Daisy Duck in the shows intro. He was voiced by Corey Burton, who has voiced the Rabbit in all English speaking roles for the character since then, in Aladdin and the King of Thieves, the genie was transformed into him. The White Rabbit also appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as a meetable character and his Japanese voice actor was Shigeru Ushiyama. The White Rabbit works for the Red Queen, but is also a member of the Underland Underground Resistance. Actor Michael Sheen stated, The White Rabbit is such a character that I didnt feel like I should break the mould too much. In this film adaption, the White Rabbit is given the name Nivens McTwisp, McTwisp appears in the video game adaptation of Tim Burtons Alice in Wonderland as a playable character. He attacks using his watch, and can manipulate time, the White Rabbit appears in the Once Upon a Time spin-off called Once Upon a Time in Wonderland voiced by John Lithgow
18.
Lewis Carroll
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Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English writer, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon, and photographer. He is noted for his facility at word play, logic, There are societies in many parts of the world dedicated to the enjoyment and promotion of his works and the investigation of his life. Dodgsons family was predominantly northern English, with Irish connections, conservative, most of Dodgsons male ancestors were army officers or Church of England clergy. His great-grandfather, also named Charles Dodgson, had risen through the ranks of the church to become the Bishop of Elphin. His paternal grandfather, another Charles, had been an army captain, the older of these sons – yet another Charles Dodgson – was Carrolls father. He went to Westminster School and then to Christ Church, Oxford and he reverted to the other family tradition and took holy orders. He was mathematically gifted and won a double first degree, which could have been the prelude to a brilliant academic career, instead, he married his first cousin Frances Jane Lutwidge in 1830 and became a country parson. Dodgson was born in the parsonage at Daresbury in Cheshire near the towns of Warrington and Runcorn. When Charles was 11, his father was given the living of Croft-on-Tees in North Yorkshire, and this remained their home for the next 25 years. He was High Church, inclining to Anglo-Catholicism, an admirer of John Henry Newman and the Tractarian movement, Young Charles was to develop an ambiguous relationship with his fathers values and with the Church of England as a whole. During his early youth, Dodgson was educated at home and his reading lists preserved in the family archives testify to a precocious intellect, at the age of seven, he was reading books such as The Pilgrims Progress. He also suffered from a stammer – a condition shared by most of his siblings – that often influenced his life throughout his years. At the age of twelve, he was sent to Richmond Grammar School at nearby Richmond, in 1846, Dodgson entered Rugby School where he was evidently unhappy, as he wrote some years after leaving, I cannot say. That any earthly considerations would induce me to go through my three years again, I can honestly say that if I could have been. Secure from annoyance at night, the hardships of the daily life would have been comparative trifles to bear, scholastically, though, he excelled with apparent ease. I have not had a promising boy at his age since I came to Rugby. He left Rugby at the end of 1849 and matriculated at Oxford in May 1850 as a member of his fathers old college, after waiting for rooms in college to become available, he went into residence in January 1851. He had been at Oxford only two days when he received a summons home and his mother had died of inflammation of the brain – perhaps meningitis or a stroke – at the age of 47
19.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
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Alices Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English mathematician Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice falling through a hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children and it is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. Its narrative course and structure, characters and imagery have been influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre. The journey began at Folly Bridge in Oxford and ended 3 miles north-west in the village of Godstow, during the trip, Dodgson told the girls a story that featured a bored little girl named Alice who goes looking for an adventure. The girls loved it, and Alice Liddell asked Dodgson to write it down for her and he began writing the manuscript of the story the next day, although that earliest version no longer exists. The girls and Dodgson took another boat trip a month later when he elaborated the plot to the story of Alice, and in November he began working on the manuscript in earnest. To add the finishing touches, he researched natural history for the animals presented in the book and he added his own illustrations but approached John Tenniel to illustrate the book for publication, telling him that the story had been well liked by children. Some, including Martin Gardner, speculate that there was a version that was destroyed later by Dodgson when he wrote a more elaborate copy by hand. Chapter One – Down the Rabbit Hole, Alice is feeling bored and drowsy while sitting on the riverbank with her older sister and she then notices a White Rabbit wearing a waistcoat and pocket watch, talking to itself as it runs past. She follows it down a hole, but suddenly falls a long way to a curious hall with many locked doors of all sizes. She finds a key to a door too small for her to fit through. She then discovers a bottle on a table labelled DRINK ME, the contents of which cause her to shrink too small to reach the key and she eats a cake with EAT ME written on it in currants as the chapter closes. Chapter Two – The Pool of Tears, Chapter Two opens with Alice growing to such a size that her head hits the ceiling. Alice is unhappy and, as she cries, her tears flood the hallway, after shrinking down again due to a fan she had picked up, Alice swims through her own tears and meets a Mouse, who is swimming as well. She tries to make small talk with him in elementary French, offends the mouse and he tries to escape her. Chapter Three – The Caucus Race and a Long Tale, The sea of tears becomes crowded with other animals, Alice and the other animals convene on the bank and the question among them is how to get dry again. The Mouse gives them a very dry lecture on William the Conqueror, a Dodo decides that the best thing to dry them off would be a Caucus-Race, which consists of everyone running in a circle with no clear winner
20.
Chichester Festival Theatre
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Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, Sussex, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989, the inaugural Artistic Director was Sir Laurence Olivier, and it was at Chichester that the first National Theatre company was formed. Chichesters productions would transfer to the NTs base at the Old Vic in London. The opening productions in 1962 were, The Chances by John Fletcher which opened on 3 July, The Broken Heart, by John Ford, opened 9 July, Uncle Vanya, by Anton Chekov, opened 16 July. The Festival Season usually runs from April to September and includes productions from classics to contemporary writing, during this time the theatre also puts on outdoor promenade performances and organises other festival events including cabaret and comedy nights. A range of events is designed to add to the experience of visiting the theatre, including events, family days, tours. The theatre is run as a registered charity and is chaired by Sir William Castell. It is a Grade II* listed building, Sir Laurence Olivier Sir John Clements Keith Michell Peter Dews Patrick Garland John Gale Michael Rudman Patrick Garland Sir Derek Jacobi and Duncan C
21.
Alan Bennett
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Alan Bennett is a British playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. He was born in Leeds and attended Oxford University where he studied history and he stayed to teach and research medieval history at the university for several years. His collaboration as writer and performer with Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Peter Cook in the satirical revue Beyond the Fringe at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival brought him instant fame. He gave up academia, and turned to writing full-time, his first stage play Forty Years On being produced in 1968, Bennett was born in Armley in Leeds. The youngest son of a butcher, Walter, and his wife Lilian Mary, Bennett attended Christ Church, Upper Armley, Church of England School. He learned Russian at the Joint Services School for Linguists during his service before applying for a scholarship at Oxford University. He was accepted by Exeter College, Oxford, from which he graduated with a degree in history. While at Oxford he performed comedy with a number of successful actors in the Oxford Revue. He was to remain at the university for several years, where he researched and taught Medieval History, in August 1960 Bennett, along with Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Peter Cook, achieved instant fame by appearing at the Edinburgh Festival in the satirical revue Beyond the Fringe. After the festival, the show continued in London and New York and he also appeared in My Father Knew Lloyd George. His highly regarded television comedy sketch series On the Margin was unfortunately erased, however, in 2014 it was announced that copies of the entire series had been found. Bennetts first stage play Forty Years On, directed by Patrick Garland, was produced in 1968, many television, stage and radio plays followed, with screenplays, short stories, novellas, a large body of non-fictional prose, and broadcasting and many appearances as an actor. Bennetts distinctive, expressive voice and the humour and evident humanity of his writing have made his readings of his work very popular. Bennetts readings of the Winnie the Pooh stories are widely enjoyed. Many of Bennetts characters are unfortunate and downtrodden, life has brought them to an impasse or else passed them by. In many cases they have met with disappointment in the realm of sex and intimate relationships, largely through tentativeness and a failure to connect with others. Despite a long history both the National Theatre and the BBC - Bennett never writes on commission, declaring I dont work on commission. If people dont want it then its too bad, Bennett is both unsparing and compassionate in laying bare his characters frailties
22.
John Gielgud
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Sir Arthur John Gielgud OM CH was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trio of actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. A member of the Terry family theatrical dynasty, he gained his first paid acting work as a member of his cousin Phyllis Neilson-Terrys company in 1922. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art he worked in repertory theatre, during the 1930s Gielgud was a stage star in the West End and on Broadway, appearing in new works and classics. He began a career as a director, and set up his own company at the Queens Theatre. He was regarded by many as the finest Hamlet of his era, in the 1950s Gielgud feared that his career was threatened when he was convicted and fined for a homosexual offence, but his colleagues and the public supported him loyally. From the late 1960s he found new plays that suited him, by authors including Alan Bennett, David Storey, during the first half of his career, Gielgud did not take the cinema seriously. Though he made his first film in 1924, and had successes with The Good Companions and Julius Caesar, Gielgud appeared in more than sixty films between Becket, for which he received his first Academy Award nomination, and Elizabeth. As the acid-tongued Hobson in Arthur he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and his film work further earned him a Golden Globe Award and two BAFTAs. Although largely indifferent to awards, Gielgud had the distinction of winning an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy. He was famous from the start of his career for his voice and he broadcast more than a hundred radio and television dramas, between 1929 and 1994, and made commercial recordings of many plays, including ten of Shakespeares. Among his honours, he was knighted in 1953 and the Gielgud Theatre was named after him, from 1977 to 1989, he was president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Gielgud was born in South Kensington, London, the third of the four children and youngest of three sons of Frank Henry Gielgud and his second wife, Kate Terry-Gielgud, née Terry-Lewis. The two elder boys were Lewis, who became an official of the Red Cross and UNESCO. On his fathers side, Gielgud was of Lithuanian and Polish descent, the surname derives from Gelgaudiškis, a village in Lithuania. The Counts Gielgud had owned the Gielgudziszki Castle on the River Niemen, jan Gielgud took refuge in England with his family, one of his grandchildren was Frank Gielgud, whose maternal grandmother was a famous Polish actress, Aniela Aszpergerowa. Frank married into a family with wide theatrical connections, Frank had no theatrical ambitions and worked all his life as a stockbroker in the City of London. In 1912, aged eight, Gielgud went to Hillside preparatory school in Surrey as his brothers had done
23.
Public school (United Kingdom)
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A public school in England and Wales is an older, student selective and expensive fee-paying independent secondary school which caters primarily for children aged between 11 or 13 and 18. The term public should not be misunderstood to mean that these are public sector schools, traditionally, public schools were all-male boarding schools, although most now allow day pupils, and many have become either partially or fully co-educational. The origins of schools in the UK were primarily religious until 1640 and it was intended that by-products of this would be the publication of universal books and the setting up of schools for boys and girls. Henceforth each of these schools was to be managed by a board of governors, Public schools have had a strong association with the ruling classes. Historically they educated the sons of the English upper and upper-middle classes, the sons of officers and senior administrators of the British Empire were educated in England while their parents were on overseas postings. In 2010, over half of Cabinet Ministers had been educated at public schools, in 2014, annual fees at Canford School and Eton College were more than £33,000 for boarders. The name dates back to the time when schools founded for local children went public and it is also used to describe the some 230 girls senior schools belonging to the Girls Schools Association. Until the late medieval period most schools were controlled by the church and had specific entrance criteria, others were restricted to the sons of members of guilds, trades or livery companies. The need for professional trades in an increasingly secularised society required schools for the sons of the gentry that were independent from ecclesiastical authority, from the 16th century onward, boys boarding schools were founded or endowed for public use. Traditionally, most of public schools were all boys and full boarding. Separate preparatory schools for younger boys developed from the 1830s, with entry to the schools becoming limited to boys of at least 12 or 13 years old. The first of these was Windlesham House School, established with support from Thomas Arnold, many of the schools, including Rugby School, Harrow School and the Perse School fell into decline during the 18th century and nearly closed in the early 19th century. Protests in the local newspaper forced governors of the Perse School to keep it open, a Royal Commission, the Clarendon Commission, investigated nine of the more established schools, including seven boarding schools and two day schools. St Pauls School and the Merchant Taylors School claimed successfully that their constitutions made them private schools, in 1887 the Divisional Court and the Court of Appeal determined that the City of London School was a public school. In the first year only 12 headmasters attended, but in the following year 34 did, the Headmasters Conference has since grown steadily to over 200 schools. The Public Schools Yearbook was published for the first time in 1889, listing 30 schools, mostly boarding schools except for St Pauls School, some academically successful grammar schools were added in later editions. The 1902 edition included all schools whose principals qualified for membership of the Headmasters Conference, the Fleming Report defined a public school as a member of the Governing Bodies Association or the Headmasters Conference. Based on the recommendations of this report, the Education Act 1944 offered a new status to endowed grammar schools receiving a grant from central government
24.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
25.
The Professionals (TV series)
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The Professionals is a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions for London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all,57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981 and it starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon Jackson as agents of the fictional CI5. The Professionals was created by Brian Clemens, who had one of the driving forces behind The Avengers. The show was originally to have been called The A-Squad, Clemens and Albert Fennell were executive producers, with business partner Laurie Johnson providing the theme music. Sidney Hayers produced the first series in 1977, and Raymond Menmuir the remainder, the choice of name CI5 is possibly inspired by Criminal Investigation Department and MI5. The premise allowed the programme-makers to involve a variety of villains including terrorists, hit-men, racist groups and espionage suspects. Led by the formidable George Cowley, CI5 is known for using unconventional and sometimes illegal methods to beat criminals, the use of a fictitious force in this context was somewhat less controversial than the portrayal of the real flying squad on The Sweeney. Cowleys two best agents are Ray Doyle and William Bodie, Doyle is an ex-detective constable who has worked the seedier parts of London, while Bodie is an ex-paratrooper, mercenary and SAS sergeant. Of the two, Doyle is the softer, compassionate and more character, while Bodie is ruthless. That said, Doyle is more hot-headed and tended to rush in, while polar opposites, Bodie and Doyle have a deep and enduring friendship, and are almost inseparable. Although their loyalty to Cowley is beyond question, they have no qualms about disobeying orders if it means getting the right result, initially, Anthony Andrews was contracted to play Bodie, but he and Shaw did not have the chemistry that Clemens was looking for. As Shaw was deemed to have more screen presence Andrews was dropped, Shaw and Collins had played villains in an episode of The New Avengers together, and reportedly had not got on with each other. The Collins character had signed off in the 1977 New Avengers episode with Maybe we should work together again, the first Professionals episode was produced later the same year. Clemens intended to write two or three establishing episodes and then hand over to writers, but their scripts were uneven and lacked the energy. Clemens re-wrote nearly 10 scripts for the first series episodes and took a direct approach to the filming. In later series, with the established and the writers and directors familiar with the show. While episodes were broadcast until 1983, episodes were filmed between 1977 and 1981. George Cowley – Nicknamed Morris after the car of the same name and his operatives sometimes call him The Cow, though not to his face
26.
Danger UXB
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The series chronicled the exploits of the fictional 97 Tunnelling Company. Which has been made a bomb disposal unit, and specifically 347 Section of the company, the series primarily featured military story lines, with a romantic thread featuring an inventors married daughter, Susan Mount, with whom Ash falls in love, and other human interest vignettes. The programme was titled and partly based on the memoirs of Major A. B, Hartley, M. B. E, RE, Unexploded Bomb - The Story of Bomb Disposal, with episodes written by Hawkesworth and four screenwriters. The series was filmed in 1978 in and around the Clapham, Streatham, Lt. Col. E. E. Gooch, RE, Rtd. was the technical adviser. The programme appeared on the US PBS as a segment of Masterpiece Theatre from 4 January –5 April 1981 and it was also screened in Australia on the public broadcaster ABC Television and in New Zealand on Television New Zealand. He falls in love with the landladys daughter, baker, landlady of Brians billet Deborah Watling as Norma, Mrs. Hartleys book provided many of the plot details. Danger UXB, a based on the series and written by Michael Booker, was published by Pan Books in 1978. A nonfiction book of the title intended as a companion book to the series written by M. J. Jappy was published in 2001 by MacMillan Publishers. Many of the scenes were filmed in what appeared to be deep. A side of the bottom was also removable to facilitate bottom-of-shaft close-ups, footnotes Citations Hartley, Major Arthur B. Unexploded Bomb, The Story of Bomb Disposal, sydney, Read How You Want Press. The Horticulturalist Who Disarmed Bombs After the Blitz History Net. com from World War II magazine, a Short History of Royal Engineer Bomb Disposal by Lt. Col. Eric E. Wakeling, ERD. The Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Officers Club Jappy, M. J, Danger UXB at the Internet Movie Database Danger UXB, Part One, review 27 April 2013 by Mathew Kilburn, The St. James Evening Post
27.
The Blitz
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By September 1940—two months into the battle—faulty German intelligence suggested that the Royal Air Force was close to defeat at the hands of the Luftwaffe. The German air fleets were ordered to attack London, thereby drawing up the last remnants of RAF Fighter Command into a battle of annihilation, Adolf Hitler and commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, sanctioned the change in emphasis on 6 September 1940. From 7 September 1940, one year into the war, London was systematically bombed by the Luftwaffe for 56 out of the following 57 days, on 15 September 1940, a large daylight attack against London was repulsed with significant German losses. Thereafter, the Luftwaffe gradually decreased daylight operations in favour of nocturnal attacks, ports and industrial centres outside London were also attacked. The main Atlantic sea port of Liverpool was bombed, the North Sea port of Hull, a convenient and easily found target or secondary target for bombers unable to locate their primary targets, was subjected to raids in the Hull Blitz during the war. More than one million London houses were destroyed or damaged and more than 40,000 civilians were killed, by May 1941, the threat of an invasion of Britain had ended, and Hitlers attention turned to Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. The bombing failed to demoralise the British into surrender or significantly damage the war economy, the eight months of bombing never seriously hampered British production and the war industries continued to operate and expand. The German offensives greatest effect was forcing the dispersal of aircraft production, British wartime studies concluded that cities generally took 10 to 15 days to recover when hit severely but exceptions like Birmingham took three months. The German air offensive failed for several reasons, discussions in OKL revolved around tactics rather than strategy. Poor intelligence on British industry and economic efficiency was also a factor, in the 1920s and 1930s, air power theorists Giulio Douhet and Billy Mitchell espoused the idea that air forces could win wars, without a need for land and sea fighting. It was thought there was no defence against air attack, particularly at night, enemy industry, seats of government, factories and communications could be destroyed, taking away their means to resist. It was also thought the bombing of residential centres would cause a collapse of civilian will, democracies, where the populace was allowed to show overt disapproval of the state, were thought particularly vulnerable. This thinking was prevalent in both the RAF and the United States Army Air Corps, the policy of RAF Bomber Command became an attempt to achieve victory through the destruction of civilian will, communications and industry. In the Luftwaffe, there was a view of strategic bombing. OKL did not believe that air power alone could be decisive, contrary to popular belief, evidence suggests that the Luftwaffe did not adopt an official bombing policy in which civilians became the primary target until 1942. The vital industries and transport centres that would be targeted for shutdown were valid military targets and it could be claimed civilians were not to be targeted directly, but the breakdown of production would affect their morale and will to fight. German legal scholars of the 1930s carefully worked out guidelines for what type of bombing was permissible under international law. Wever outlined five points of air strategy, To destroy the air force by bombing its bases and aircraft factories
28.
Masterpiece (TV series)
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Masterpiece is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service on January 10,1971, the series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions. Many of these are produced by the BBC, but the line-up has also included programs shown on the commercial services ITV, Masterpiece is best known for presenting adaptations of novels and biographies, but it also shows original television dramas. The first title to air was The First Churchills, starring Susan Hampshire as Sarah Churchill, more recent popular titles include Prime Suspect, The Forsyte Saga, Sherlock, and Downton Abbey. The theme music played during the credits is the Fanfare-Rondeau from Symphonies and Fanfares for the Kings Supper by French composer Jean-Joseph Mouret. The theme was performed by Collegium Musicum de Paris and it was recorded in 1954 by Vogue Records in Paris, France, and was later remastered in stereo and re-released by Nonesuch records in the 1960s. In the late 1970s, the video switched to views of antique books. Many of which were featured on the program to date, in 1980, Masterpiece gained a sister series, Mystery. Featuring a mix of contemporary and classic British detective and crime series, such as The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Agatha Christies Miss Marple, and Touching Evil. In 2000, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the show, it presented Masterpiece, The American Collection, nine works by American writers, including Thornton Wilders Our Town, starring Paul Newman. One of televisions most honored series, the shows aired on Masterpiece have garnered numerous Emmy Awards. In 2013, TV Guide ranked it #3 in its list of the 60 Greatest Dramas of All Time, suggestions for the series format came from, among others, Frank Gillard in England and Christopher Sarson in the US. In looking for an underwriter for the series, Calderwood eventually met with Herb Schmertz of Mobil Corporation, Schmertz was able to gain funding for the show and he and several other men, including Frank Marshall, met in London and made a selection of programs to be broadcast. Decisions on the format of the show were finalized and the series premiered on Jan,10,1971, with the first episode of The First Churchills. The series was hosted by British/American broadcaster/journalist Alistair Cooke until 1992, from 2004 to 2008, it was broadcast without a host. The original series producer was Sarson and he was succeeded in 1973 by Joan Wilson. The current series producer, Rebecca Eaton, took over in 1985 after Wilsons death from cancer, in 2008, the word Theatre was dropped, and the show, officially known as Masterpiece, was split into three different sections. Masterpiece Classic was initially hosted by Gillian Anderson, the following year, Masterpiece Mystery. is hosted by Alan Cumming
29.
My Fair Lady
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My Fair Lady is a musical based on George Bernard Shaws Pygmalion, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, the original Broadway, London and film versions all starred Rex Harrison. The musicals 1956 Broadway production was a critical and popular success. It set a record for the longest run of any show on Broadway up to that time and it was followed by a hit London production, a popular film version, and numerous revivals. My Fair Lady has frequently called the perfect musical. Act I On a rainy night in Edwardian London, opera patrons are waiting under the arches of Covent Garden for cabs, Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl, runs into a young man called Freddy. She admonishes him for spilling her bunches of violets in the mud and she then flies into an angry outburst when a man copying down her speech is pointed out to her. The man explains that he studies phonetics and can identify anyones origin by their accent and he laments Elizas dreadful speech, asking why so many English people dont speak properly and explaining his theory that this is what truly separates social classes, rather than looks or money. He declares that in six months he could turn Eliza into a lady by teaching her to speak properly, the older gentleman introduces himself as Colonel Pickering, a linguist who has studied Indian dialects. The phoneticist introduces himself as Henry Higgins, and, as both have always wanted to meet each other, Higgins invites Pickering to stay at his home in London. He distractedly throws his change into Elizas basket, and she and her friends wonder what it would be like to live a comfortable, Elizas father, Alfred P. Doolittle, and his drinking companions, Harry and Jamie, all dustmen, stop by the next morning. He is searching for money for a drink, and Eliza shares her profits with him, Pickering and Higgins are discussing vowels at Higginss home when Mrs. Pearce, the housekeeper, informs Higgins that a young woman with a ghastly accent has come to see him. It is Eliza, who has come to take speech lessons so she can get a job as an assistant in a florists shop, Pickering wagers that Higgins cannot make good on his claim and volunteers to pay for Elizas lessons. An intensive makeover of Elizas speech, manners and dress begins in preparation for her appearance at the Embassy Ball, Higgins sees himself as a kindhearted, patient man who cannot get along with women. To others he appears self-absorbed and misogynistic, Alfred Doolittle is informed that his daughter has been taken in by Professor Higgins, and considers that he might be able to make a little money from the situation. Doolittle arrives at Higginss house the morning, claiming that Higgins is compromising Elizas virtue. Higgins is impressed by the natural gift for language and brazen lack of moral values. He and Doolittle agree that Eliza can continue to take lessons, Higgins flippantly recommends Doolittle to an American millionaire who has written to Higgins seeking a lecturer on moral values
30.
Andrew Lloyd Webber
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Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway and he has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass. In 2001 the New York Times referred to him as the most commercially successful composer in history, ranked the fifth most powerful person in British culture by The Telegraph in 2008, the lyricist Don Black stated Andrew more or less single-handedly reinvented the musical. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, is an inductee into the Songwriters Hall of Fame and his company, the Really Useful Group, is one of the largest theatre operators in London. Producers in several parts of the UK have staged productions, including national tours, Lloyd Webber is also the president of the Arts Educational Schools London, a performing arts school located in Chiswick, West London. He is involved in a number of activities, including the Elton John AIDS Foundation, Nordoff Robbins, Prostate Cancer UK. His younger brother, Julian Lloyd Webber, is a solo cellist. Lloyd Webber started writing his own music at a young age and he also put on productions with Julian and his Aunt Viola in his toy theatre. Later, he would be the owner of a number of West End theatres and his aunt Viola, an actress, took him to see many of her shows and through the stage door into the world of the theatre. He also had set music to Old Possums Book of Practical Cats at the age of 15. Lloyd Webbers first collaboration with lyricist Tim Rice was The Likes of Us, although composed in 1965, it was not publicly performed until 2005, when a production was staged at Lloyd Webbers Sydmonton Festival. In 2008, amateur rights were released by the National Operatic and Dramatic Association in association with the Really Useful Group, the first amateur performance was by a childrens theatre group in Cornwall called Kidz R Us. In this respect, it is different from the composers later work, which tends to be either predominantly or wholly through-composed. Joseph began life as a cantata that gained some recognition on its second staging with a favourable review in The Times. For its subsequent performances, Rice and Lloyd Webber revised the show and this culminated in a two-hour-long production being staged in the West End on the back of the success of Jesus Christ Superstar. In 1969 Rice and Lloyd Webber wrote a song for the Eurovision Song Contest called Try It and See, with rewritten lyrics it became King Herods Song in their third musical, Jesus Christ Superstar. The planned follow-up to Jesus Christ Superstar was a comedy based on the Jeeves. Tim Rice was uncertain about this venture, partly because of his concern that he not be able to do justice to the novels that he
31.
The Woman in White (musical)
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The Woman in White is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Zippel with a book by Charlotte Jones, based on the novel The Woman in White written by Wilkie Collins. It ran for nineteen months in the West End and three months on Broadway, making it one of Lloyd Webbers shortest-running shows, the musical was produced in a workshop at Lloyd Webbers Sydmonton Festival in July 2003. The musical opened in Londons West End, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by David Zippel, directed by Trevor Nunn, it opened 15 September 2004 at the Palace Theatre. Critics noted its set design, which employed the use of projections rather than traditional scenery. Allen Bird wrote, William Dudley’s set design is magnificent, the projection of a foggy station on which the woman in white first makes her ghostly appearance is spine tingling. The projections were dizzying, out of focus, and the revolve was not synchronized with the projections, the CurtainUp reviewer noted The technology from William Dudley. is impressive. These graphics do not for me suspend disbelief, I am always aware that what I am watching is a picture and not the real thing. The Wow. factor is missing. At the end of 2004 Michael Crawford was taken ill, as a result of oversweating in the fat suit he wore to play the grossly obese character Count Fosco. Crawford explained, For four months I had played the obese Count Fosco in a fat suit, night after night on stage, the suit meant that Id sweat profusely, to the point where I was losing all the essential minerals and nutrients from my body. In January 2005, I went into a kind of physical meltdown, from late December until early February 2005, Steve Varnom, the understudy, played the role. Michael Ball then took over on 21 February 2005 until early May, Ball received praise for his portrayal because he had reinvented the role. Nick Curtis, in his review for The Evening Standard, wrote, If Balls Fosco lacks the extravagant comic flair of Crawfords original, arguably, this is no bad thing for a Victorian melodrama. Where Crawford was delightfully clownish, Balls Fosco is altogether more sleek and his wooing of the shows feisty heroine Marion. has a nasty edge to it. On 9 July 2005, the final original London Cast appeared on stage and it was also the final performance of the first version. The second version opened on 11 July 2005, with an almost completely new cast including Ruthie Henshall, Alexandra Silber, Damian Humbley, many original ensemble members remained, along with Andrews and Edward Petherbridge, who played Mr. Fairlie. Simon Callow made his theatre debut as Count Fosco in August 2005. According to Really Useful, Trevor Nunn and Andrew Lloyd Webber initiated creative changes during rehearsals for the new West End cast, there will be a press night on Monday 19th September. The production was received with enthusiasm though feelings were still mixed
32.
BBC Radio 2
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BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBCs national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as contemporary or AOR. Radio 2 broadcasts throughout the UK on FM between 88.1 and 90.2 MHz from studios in Wogan House, adjacent to Broadcasting House in central London. Programmes are relayed on radio via DAB, Sky, Cable TV, IPTV, Freeview, Freesat. The station was launched at 05,30 on 30 September 1967, the first show had started at 05,30 am but continued with Breakfast Special from Paul Hollingdale as Radio 1 split. In early years, much programming and music was common to stations, particularly on the shared FM frequency. Radio 2 became the first national 24-hour radio station in the UK in 1979, the stations policy remained stable with only minor changes until April 1986 when Frances Line, head of music, repositioned the station. She would become Controller in 1990, although popular with its target audience, the policy alienated many younger listeners who had listened to both Radio 1 and Radio 2 and the stations audience fell. It took another hit in 1990 when it lost its medium wave frequencies to a new network, BBC Radio 5, further blows were struck by the rise of album-rock commercial stations and gold spinoffs from Independent Local Radio stations playing classic pop and rock. With the stations audience in decline a change of emphasis was needed, Line was replaced by James Moir in 1996. Unlike the early-1990s repositioning of Radio 1 in which the BBC lost many well-known names, many former Radio 1 presenters stayed with the BBC, Radio 2 is now termed the nations favourite, a title the BBC formerly used for BBC Radio 1. As well as having most listeners nationally, it ranks first in regions above local radio stations. BBC Radio 2 played to 27% of the audience in 2006. In February 2007, Radio 2 recruited Jeff Smith, director of UK and International programming at Napster, Smith joined the network on 26 March. The licence fee funding of Radio 2, alongside Radio 1, is criticised by the commercial sector. In the first quarter of 2011, Radio 2 was part of a review conducted by John Myers. His role, according to Andrew Harrison, the executive of RadioCentre, was to identify both areas of best practice and possible savings. This coincided with the launch of a new jingle package produced by Godfrey in association with Wise Buddah Productions, Radio 2 has recently been running several pop-up DAB services to cover special events, the first being BBC Radio 2 Eurovision, providing coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest 2014
33.
Cameron Mackintosh
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Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh is a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being the most successful, influential and he is the producer of shows such as Les Misérables, The Phantom of the Opera, Mary Poppins, Oliver. Mackintosh was knighted in 1996 for services to musical theatre, in 2008 The Daily Telegraph ranked him number 7 in their list of the 100 most powerful people in British culture. In the Sunday Times Rich List of 2011, Mackintosh was estimated to have a fortune of £675 million, Mackintosh was born in Enfield, London, the son of Diana Gladys, a production secretary, and Ian Robert Mackintosh, a timber merchant and jazz trumpeter. His father was Scottish, and his mother, a native of Malta, was of Maltese, Mackintosh was raised in his mothers Roman Catholic faith and educated at Prior Park College in Bath. He first knew that he wanted to become a producer after his aunt took him to a matinee of the Julian Slade musical Salad Days when he was 8 years old. Mackintosh began his career in his late teens, as a stagehand at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He began producing his own small tours before becoming a London-based producer in the 1970s and his early London productions included Anything Goes in 1969, The Card, Side by Side by Sondheim, My Fair Lady and Tom Foolery. In 1981, he produced Andrew Lloyd Webbers Cats, then considered a subject for a musical. It became the hit of the season and went on to one of the longest running musicals on both sides of the Atlantic. After the success of Cats, he approached the French writing team Claude-Michel Schönberg, the musical opened in 1985 at the Barbican before transferring to the Palace Theatre. Les Misérables had a start at the box office and a lukewarm critical reception before becoming a massive hit. In 1986, Mackintosh produced Andrew Lloyd Webbers The Phantom of the Opera, the original London production is still running, along with the New York production, which is the longest-running Broadway musical of all time. Mackintosh has produced other successful musicals, including Five Guys Named Moe. In 1995, Mackintosh produced the 10th anniversary concert of Les Misérables in London, additionally he was responsible for presenting the West End transfers of the National Theatre revivals of Oklahoma. My Fair Lady, and Carousel. Walt Disney Theatrical president Thomas Schumacher met with Mackintosh in 2001 to discuss making Mary Poppins into a stage musical and he co-produced the London transfer of Avenue Q, which opened in the West End at the Noël Coward Theatre on 1 June 2006. In 1998, Mackintosh celebrated thirty years in business with Hey. A gala concert featuring songs from shows he had produced during his career, the concert was performed twice, on 7 and 8 June, with proceeds going to the Royal National Institute of Blind People and the Combined Theatrical Charities
34.
West End theatre
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West End theatre is a common term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of Theatreland in and near the West End of London. Along with New York Citys Broadway theatre, West End theatre is considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London, in 2013, ticket sales reached a record 14.4 million, making West End the largest English speaking audience in the world. Famous screen actors frequently appear on the London stage, helen Mirren received an award for her performance as the Queen on the West End stage, and then stated, theatre is such an important part of British history and British culture. Theatre in London flourished after the English Reformation, the first permanent public playhouse, known simply as The Theatre, was constructed in 1576 in Shoreditch by James Burbage. It was soon joined by The Curtain, both are known to have been used by William Shakespeares company. In 1599, the timber from The Theatre was moved to Southwark and these theatres were closed in 1642 due to the Puritans who would later influence the interregnum of 1649. After the Restoration, two companies were licensed to perform, the Dukes Company and the Kings Company, performances were held in converted buildings, such as Lisles Tennis Court. The first West End theatre, known as Theatre Royal in Bridges Street, was designed by Thomas Killigrew and built on the site of the present Theatre Royal and it opened on 7 May 1663 and was destroyed by a fire nine years later. It was replaced by a new designed by Christopher Wren and renamed the Theatre Royal. Outside the West End, Sadlers Wells Theatre opened in Islington on 3 June 1683. Taking its name from founder Richard Sadler and monastic springs that were discovered on the property, it operated as a Musick House, with performances of opera, as it was not licensed for plays. In the West End, the Theatre Royal Haymarket opened on 29 December 1720 on a site north of its current location. The Patent theatre companies retained their duopoly on drama well into the 19th century, by the early 19th century, however, music hall entertainments became popular, and presenters found a loophole in the restrictions on non-patent theatres in the genre of melodrama. Melodrama did not break the Patent Acts, as it was accompanied by music, initially, these entertainments were presented in large halls, attached to public houses, but purpose-built theatres began to appear in the East End at Shoreditch and Whitechapel. The West End theatre district became established with the opening of small theatres and halls. South of the River Thames, the Old Vic, Waterloo Road, the next few decades saw the opening of many new theatres in the West End. It abbreviated its name three years later, the theatre building boom continued until about World War I
35.
Mermaid Theatre
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The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre encompassing the site of Puddle Dock and Curriers Alley at Blackfriars in the City of London, and the most recently built in the City since the time of Shakespeare. It was, importantly, also one of the first new theatres to abandon the stage layout. The 20th-century theatre was the work of actor Bernard Miles with his wife. His original Mermaid Theatre was a barn at his house in the St. Johns Wood area of London. For the third season in 1953 the Mermaid Theatre was moved to the Royal Exchange, Miles was encouraged to build a permanent theatre and, raising money from public subscriptions, he oversaw the creation of the new building on land formerly occupied by a warehouse. This site was close to the location of an attempt, in the Jacobean era, to build a theatre for the amalgamation of the Children of the Queens Revels. This project, undertaken by Philip Rosseter with distant backing from Henslowe, the Mermaid Theatre also ran the Molecule Club, educating children about science. In July 1961 the poet and author Sylvia Plath read her poem Tulips at the Poetry at the Mermaid Festival, the programme notes that there were twelve commissioned poets at the festival, one of whom was Plaths husband, Ted Hughes. Other notable productions include the 1978 première of Whose Life Is It Anyway, with Tom Conti and Rona Anderson. Bernard Miles tenure as artistic advisor was abruptly terminated and the theatres importance declined. In 1989 Abdul Shamji was sentenced to 15-months in prison over his involvement in the Johnson Matthey bank collapse, Josephine Wilson died in 1990 and Bernard Miles died in 1991, financially destitute. Marc Sinden was appointed director in 1993, opening the Bernard Miles Studio as a second performance area. Actor Roy Marsden and Vanessa Ford took over the running of the theatre for a few prior to its eventual closure. After a further change of ownership the theatre was slated for demolition in 2002 as part of redevelopment plans, already it had fallen into disuse, the buildings being used more often as a conference centre than a theatre. A preservation campaign by actors and other supporters attempted to reverse the decision, in April 2003 Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, ordered the council to block the demolition. As of March 2005 new plans had been submitted for the redevelopment of the site, nothing materialised and the building continued to operate primarily as a conference centre. The show was documented on the release entitled Concrete. The existing plans would see the Puddle Dock building converted into a centre and fitness suite, plus offices
36.
Helena Bonham Carter
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Helena Bonham Carter, CBE is an English actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Kate Croy in The Wings of the Dove. For her role as Queen Elizabeth in The Kings Speech, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and she also won the 2010 International Emmy Award for Best Actress for her role as British author Enid Blyton in the TV film Enid. Bonham Carter began her career playing the title character in Lady Jane. Her other television films include A Pattern of Roses, Live from Baghdad, Toast, Bonham Carter was born in Islington, London. C. Her mother, Elena, is a psychotherapist who is of mostly Jewish background and her paternal grandmother was politician and feminist icon Violet Asquith, daughter of H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the first half of World War I. Bonham Carter is the youngest of three children, with two brothers, Edward and Thomas and they were brought up in Golders Green and she was educated at South Hampstead High School, and completed her A-levels at Westminster School. When Bonham Carter was five, her mother had a nervous breakdown. Five years after her mothers recovery, her father was diagnosed with acoustic neuroma and he suffered complications during an operation to remove the tumour which led to a stroke that left him half-paralysed and using a wheelchair. With her brothers at college, Bonham Carter was left to help her mother cope and she later studied her fathers movements and mannerisms for her role in The Theory of Flight. Bonham Carter, who has no formal acting training, entered the field winning a national writing contest and she made her professional acting début at the age of 16 in a television commercial. She also had a part in a minor TV film, A Pattern of Roses and her first lead film role was as Lady Jane Grey in Lady Jane, which was given mixed reviews by critics. Her breakthrough role was Lucy Honeychurch in A Room with a View, the role went to Emily Watson, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance. In 1994, Bonham Carter appeared in a sequence during the second series of the British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, as Edina Monsoons daughter Saffron. Throughout the series, references were made to Saffrons resemblance to Bonham Carter and her early films led to her being typecast as a corset queen, and English rose, playing pre- and early 20th century characters, particularly in Merchant-Ivory films. She played Olivia in Trevor Nunns film version of Twelfth Night in 1996, Bonham Carter speaks French fluently, and starred in a 1996 French film Portraits chinois. In August 2001, she was featured in Maxim, Bonham Carter was a member of the 2006 Cannes Film Festival jury that unanimously selected The Wind That Shakes the Barley as best film. In May 2006, Bonham Carter launched her own line, The Pantaloonies
37.
Colin Firth
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Colin Andrew Firth, CBE is an English actor. His films have grossed more than $3 billion from 42 releases worldwide, Firth has received an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, two BAFTA Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as the Volpi Cup. Firths most notable and acclaimed role to date has been his 2010 portrayal of King George VI in The Kings Speech and this led to roles in films such as The English Patient, Bridget Joness Diary, Shakespeare in Love, and Love Actually. In 2009, Firth received widespread acclaim for his leading role in A Single Man, for which Firth gained his first Academy Award nomination. Firth starred in the spy movie Kingsman, The Secret Service in 2014. In 2011, Firth received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and he was awarded an honorary degree from the University of Winchester in 2007, and was made a Freeman of the City of London in 2012. He has campaigned for the rights of tribal peoples, and is a member of Survival International. Firth has also campaigned on issues of asylum seekers, refugees rights, and he commissioned and is credited as a co-author on a scientific paper on a study into the differences in brain structure between people of differing political orientations. Firth was born in the village of Grayshott, Hampshire, to parents who were both academics and teachers, Firth is the eldest of three children, he has a sister, Kate, an actress and voice coach, and a brother, Jonathan, an actor. Both of his parents were raised in India, because his grandparents, Congregationalist ministers, and his paternal grandfather. As a child, Firth travelled a lot due to his parents work and he also lived in St. Louis, Missouri when he was 11, which he has described as a difficult time. On returning to England, he attended the Montgomery of Alamein Secondary School and he was still an outsider and was the target of bullying. To counter this, he adopted the working class Hampshire accent. By the time he was 14, Firth had already decided to be a professional actor, until further education, he was not academically inclined, later saying in an interview, I didnt like school. I just thought it was boring and mediocre and nothing they taught me seemed to be of any interest at all, after his sixth form years, Firth moved to London and joined the National Youth Theatre. There, he made contacts in the acting world, from which he got a job in the wardrobe department at the National Theatre. From there, he went on to study at Drama Centre London, in 1984, Firth made his film debut in the role of Tommy Judd, Guy Bennetts straight, Marxist school friend in the screen adaptation of the play. This was the start of longstanding public feud between Firth and Everett, which was later resolved and he starred with Sir Laurence Olivier in Lost Empires, a TV adaptation of J. B
38.
Michael Gambon
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Sir Michael John Gambon CBE is an Irish-born English actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. He has won four BAFTA TV Awards and three Olivier Awards, Gambon was born in Cabra, Dublin, during World War II. His father, Edward Gambon, was an engineer, and his mother and his father decided to seek work in the rebuilding of London, and so the family moved to Mornington Crescent in north London, when Gambon was five. His father had him made a British citizen, a decision that would later allow Gambon to receive a substantive, rather than honorary, knighthood, brought up as a strict Roman Catholic, he attended St Aloysius Boys School in Somers Town and served at the altar. He then moved to St Aloysius College in Hornsey Lane, Highgate, London and he later moved to North End, Kent, and attended Crayford Secondary School, before leaving with no qualifications at fifteen. He then gained an apprenticeship with Vickers Armstrong as a toolmaker, by the time he was 21, he was a qualified engineer. He kept the job for a year, acquiring a fascination and passion for collecting antique guns, clocks, watches. At age 24, Gambon wrote a letter to Micheál Mac Liammóir and it was accompanied by a CV describing a rich and wholly imaginary theatre career – and he was taken on. Gambon made his professional stage début in the Gate Theatre Dublins 1962 production of Othello, playing Second Gentleman, followed by a European tour. Gambon, along with Robert Stephens, Derek Jacobi and Frank Finlay, was hired as one of the to be renowned and played any number of small roles, appearing on cast lists as Mike Gambon. The company initially performed at the Old Vic, their first production being Hamlet, directed by Olivier and starring Peter OToole. Gambon played for four years in many NT productions, including named roles in The Recruiting Officer and The Royal Hunt of the Sun, working with directors William Gaskill, after three years at the Old Vic, Olivier advised Gambon to gain experience in provincial rep. In 1967, he left the NT for the Birmingham Repertory Company, Gambon was suggested for the role of James Bond in On Her Majestys Secret Service, although he was dismissed for being even less known than George Lazenby who was cast. His rise to fame began in 1974 when Eric Thompson cast him as the vet in Alan Ayckbourns The Norman Conquests at Greenwich. A speedy transfer to the West End established him as a actor, squatting at a crowded dining table on a tiny chair. He is also one of the few actors to have mastered the demands of the vast Olivier Theatre, as Simon Callow once said, Gambons iron lungs and overwhelming charisma are able to command a sort of operatic full-throatedness which triumphs over hard walls and long distances. This was to him in good stead in John Dexters masterly staging of The Life of Galileo in 1980. Hall called him unsentimental, dangerous and immensely powerful, and The Sunday Times called his performance a decisive step in the direction of great tragedy, Great acting, while fellow actors paid him the rare compliment of applauding him in the dressing room on the first night
39.
Derek Jacobi
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Sir Derek George Jacobi CBE is an English actor and stage director. A forceful, commanding presence, Jacobi has enjoyed a successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya. He has twice awarded a Laurence Olivier Award, first for his performance of the eponymous hero in Cyrano de Bergerac in 1983. He also received a Tony Award for his performance in Much Ado About Nothing in 1984 and his stage work includes playing Octavius Caesar, Edward II, Richard III and Thomas Becket. He holds a knighthood and has appointed a Knight First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog. His paternal great-grandfather had emigrated from Germany to England during the 19th century, Jacobi describes his childhood as happy. In his teens he went to the Leyton Sixth Form College and became a part of the drama club. While in the sixth-form, he starred in a production of Hamlet, at 18 he won a scholarship to the University of Cambridge, where he read history at St Johns College and earned his degree. Younger members of the university at the time included Ian McKellen, during his studies at Cambridge, Jacobi played many parts including Hamlet, which was taken on a tour to Switzerland, where he met Richard Burton. As a result of his performance of Edward II at Cambridge and he played Laertes in the National Theatres inaugural production of Hamlet opposite Peter OToole in 1963. Olivier cast him as Cassio in the successful National Theatre stage production of Othello and he played Andrei in the NT production and film of Three Sisters, both featuring Olivier. On 27 July 1965, Jacobi played Brindsley Miller in the first production of Peter Shaffers Black Comedy and it was presented by the National Theatre at Chichester and subsequently in London. After eight years at the National Theatre, Jacobi left in 1971 to pursue different roles, in 1972, he starred in the BBC serial Man of Straw an adaptation of Heinrich Manns book Der Untertan, directed by Herbert Wise. Jacobi was increasingly busy with stage and screen acting, but his big breakthrough came in 1976 when he played the role in the BBCs series I. He cemented his reputation with his performance as the stammering, twitching Emperor Claudius, in 1979, thanks to his international popularity, he took Hamlet on a theatrical world tour through England, Egypt, Greece, Sweden, Australia, Japan and China, playing Prince Hamlet. He was invited to perform the role at Kronborg Castle, Denmark, known as Elsinore Castle, in 1978 he appeared in the BBC Television Shakespeare production of Richard II, with Sir John Gielgud and Dame Wendy Hiller. In 1980, Jacobi took the role in the BBCs Hamlet, made his Broadway debut in The Suicide. In 1986, he made his West End debut in Breaking the Code by Hugh Whitemore, starring in the role of Alan Turing, the play was taken to Broadway
