1.
Blackley
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Blackley /ˈbleɪkli/ is an area of the city of Manchester, England. Historically in Lancashire, it is 3 miles north of Manchester city centre and it is crossed by a main arterial road from the city centre, Rochdale Road, to Middleton. The hamlet of Blackley was mentioned in the Domesday Book, the name derives from the Anglo-Saxon Blæclēah = dark wood or dark clearing. In the 13th and 14th centuries Blackley was referred to as Blakeley or Blakelegh, by the Middle Ages, Blackley had become a park belonging to the lords of Manchester. Its value in 1282 was recorded as £6 13s 4d, a sum approximately equivalent in buying power to £3,500 today, the lords of Manchester leased the land from time to time. In 1473 John Byron held the leases on Blackley village, Blackley field, the Byron family continued to hold the land until the beginning of the 17th century when Blackley was sold in parcels to a number of landowners. By the middle of the 17th century, Blackley was a village of just 107 inhabitants, Blackley today is hardly recognisable as the same rural area, that it had been at the start of the 19th century. Now only local place names like Meadows School, Plant Hill or French Barn Lane hint at its rural past. The first industrial enterprise in the area was the Borelle Dyeworks, established in 1785, by an emigrant French industrialist Louis Borelle, who gave his name in corrupted form to Barrel Brow. A contemporary and compatriot of his was Angel Raphael Louis Delaunay, whose Delaunay Dyeworks, after Delaunays death in 1865, the noted chemist Ivan Levinstein bought the dyeworks. The facility expanded, under Imperial Chemical Industries ownership, to employ a large number and it was in the ICI laboratories that not only dyestuffs but also medical breakthroughs, such as the anti malarial drug Paludrine, and Antrycide to combat African sleeping sickness were discovered. In recent years, the facility has contracted, and the level is now less than 100 in a descendant company, Avecia. Adjacent to this facility, and formerly an early 19th century logwood mill, there was plant, Connollys Ltd. later BICC. Blackley is a part of the constituency of Blackley and Broughton. The current Member of Parliament is Graham Stringer, UKIP came second in the constituency in May 2015, in the months general election. During the 1930s, substantial residential development took place in Blackley to provide housing for Manchesters growing population. This is an area with a mixture of housing which is privately owned homes, owner occupied. Blackley is well served in terms of space and parks, with significant open spaces at Tweedale Common, Irk Valley
2.
Manchester
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Manchester is a major city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 514,414 as of 2013. It lies within the United Kingdoms second-most populous urban area, with a population of 2.55 million, Manchester is fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east and an arc of towns with which it forms a continuous conurbation. The local authority is Manchester City Council and it was historically a part of Lancashire, although areas of Cheshire south of the River Mersey were incorporated during the 20th century. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a township but began to expand at an astonishing rate around the turn of the 19th century. Manchesters unplanned urbanisation was brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, Manchester achieved city status in 1853. The Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894, creating the Port of Manchester and its fortunes declined after the Second World War, owing to deindustrialisation. The city centre was devastated in a bombing in 1996, but it led to extensive investment, in 2014, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranked Manchester as a beta world city, the highest-ranked British city apart from London. Manchester is the third-most visited city in the UK and it is notable for its architecture, culture, musical exports, media links, scientific and engineering output, social impact, sports clubs and transport connections. Manchester Liverpool Road railway station was the worlds first inter-city passenger railway station and in the city scientists first split the atom, the name Manchester originates from the Latin name Mamucium or its variant Mancunium and the citizens are still referred to as Mancunians. These are generally thought to represent a Latinisation of an original Brittonic name, both meanings are preserved in languages derived from Common Brittonic, mam meaning breast in Irish and mother in Welsh. The suffix -chester is a survival of Old English ceaster and their territory extended across the fertile lowland of what is now Salford and Stretford. Central Manchester has been settled since this time. A stabilised fragment of foundations of the version of the Roman fort is visible in Castlefield. After the Roman withdrawal and Saxon conquest, the focus of settlement shifted to the confluence of the Irwell, much of the wider area was laid waste in the subsequent Harrying of the North. Thomas de la Warre, lord of the manor, founded and constructed a church for the parish in 1421. The church is now Manchester Cathedral, the premises of the college house Chethams School of Music. The library, which opened in 1653 and is open to the public today, is the oldest free public reference library in the United Kingdom. Manchester is mentioned as having a market in 1282, around the 14th century, Manchester received an influx of Flemish weavers, sometimes credited as the foundation of the regions textile industry
3.
Xaverian College
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Xaverian College is a Roman Catholic college in Manchester, England, founded by the Xaverian Brothers in 1862. In the inner city suburb of Rusholme, close to Wilmslow Road and Oxford Road, many of the students originate from ethnic minorities. Admissions consist of three hierarchal priorities,1, pupils studying at one of the seven associated Roman Catholic High Schools and Trinity Church of England High School are guaranteed a place at Xaverian if they wish to take it. Next priority is given to students in Roman Catholic schools who are in partnership with Xaverian, priority then falls to Roman Catholic pupils at non-Roman Catholic schools who meet entry requirements. There is a NHS Cadets vocational programme which has entry criteria that are not based on a religion or beliefs. Xaverian College also accommodates a group of approximately fifty Manchester University students undertaking foundation degrees in dentistry, medicine and pharmacy. The Xaverian Brothers, or Congregation of St. Francis Xavier, are a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Theodore James Ryken in Bruges, Belgium, in 1839, the order is dedicated to Roman Catholic education in the United Kingdom, the United States and many other countries. The College was founded by the Xaverian Brothers in 1862 and until 1903 was housed in a four building on Oxford Road. On the move to the then gated Victoria Park, it was housed in a building known as Firwood, but over time, through new building projects and acquisition. Firwood was home to the Brothers until 1993 when the last of them left, another former house which has now become part of the college, Ward Hall, was used as a camp for American servicemen in the Second World War. Mancunian Films, a motion picture company, used the exterior of the College in several of their films, including Its A Grand Life, starring Frank Randle. The film company sold their Dickenson Road Studios to the BBC in 1954, when the BBC left in 1974 to move to Oxford Road, Xaverian inherited their lighting rigs, now used in the drama studio. From 1946-77, the school was a direct grant grammar school, the College was a Roman Catholic grammar school for boys until 1977, when it became a mixed sixth-form college. Although focus on religion has been relaxed since the transition. The colleges Ofsted report in March 2008 rated it as outstanding, grade 1, the college has a very strong academic reputation in Manchester, with many subjects having 100% pass rates and 80% of students progressing to university. The college consists of eight buildings on two sides of Lower Park Road, Ward Hall, Birtles, Marylands, Firwood, Xavier, Sunbury, Ryken and Mayfield, built from 1840 onwards. Additions and renovations have been a feature of the campuss development. The Ryken and Mayfield buildings, added at the start of the 21st century, the Ryken building was named after one of the founders of the Xaverian order, Theodore James Ryken
4.
Manchester School of Theatre
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The Manchester School of Theatre is a drama school, situated in the city of Manchester, UK. According to The Complete University Guide, the school has a ratio of over 50,1 applicants for each place on the BA Acting course, the September 2012 intake of twenty-eight students were chosen from over seventeen hundred people who auditioned for a place on the course. It is part of The Manchester Metropolitan University, the school trains students to become professional actors in the stage, television and radio industry. The course offered is BA Acting, which three years. Students who complete the three year BA are eligible for Equity status, third year productions are open to the public, tickets can be booked through the Capitol Theatre website. All third year take part in an annual showcase which takes place both at Capitol Theatre, and the Soho Theatre in London in the spring term. Notable graduates from the school of theatre include, Capitol Theatre website Official website
5.
Boys from the Blackstuff
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Boys from the Blackstuff is a British television drama series of five episodes, originally transmitted from 10 October to 7 November 1982 on BBC2. The serial was written by Liverpudlian playwright Alan Bleasdale, as a sequel to a television play, the British Film Institute described it as a seminal drama series. A warm, humorous but ultimately tragic look at the way economics affect ordinary people, tVs most complete dramatic response to the Thatcher era and as a lament to the end of a male, working class British culture. The television play The Black Stuff was originally written by Bleasdale for BBC1s Play for Today anthology series in 1978, after filming however, the play was not transmitted until 2 January 1980. It concerned a group of Liverpudlian tarmac layers on a job near Middlesbrough, the acclaim that The Black Stuff received on its eventual transmission led to the commissioning of the sequel serial, of which Bleasdale had already written a considerable amount. The series Boys from the Blackstuff follows the stories of the five now-unemployed men who lost their jobs following the events of the original play The Black Stuff. Set in Bleasdales home city of Liverpool, and reflecting many of his own experiences of life in the city, the series was highly acclaimed for its powerful and emotional depiction of the desperation wrought by high unemployment and a subsequent lack of social support. By early 1982, unemployment had reached 3,000,000 people as a result of economic recession, the character of Yosser Hughes was widely discussed. Became part of the consciousness of the Eighties, summing up the mood of many who sought desperately for work during the era. Hughes was played by Bernard Hill, who uses his Mancunian accent, the serial also helped to establish the career of Julie Walters, who played the most prominent female role as Angie, the wife of Chrissie, played by Michael Angelis. The serial was made by the English Regions Drama department based at BBC Birmingham and was shot on location in Liverpool, the writer Alan Bleasdale went on to write the scripts for The Monocled Mutineer and G. B. H. The series was so successful upon its original broadcast that only nine weeks after it had finished transmission and it was also transmitted again on BBC2 as part of that stations twenty-fifth anniversary season in 1989. It was also named as one of the forty greatest television shows in a 2003 list compiled by the Radio Times magazines chief television writer Alison Graham. In March 2007, Channel 4 broadcast a Top 50 Dramas programme, based on input from industry rather than the public. It follows the group as they set off from Liverpool to undertake a casual tarmac laying job on a new housing development in Middlesbrough, the episode was produced in 1978 but was not broadcast until 1980. Along the way at a service station, the group encounter a female student who hitch-hikes a lift to Leeds. Part of the group mocks her, but Yossers insecurity and unwillingness to be dominated by women is especially manifested after she taunts him when she is dropped off. In Middlesbrough, the group are approached by two Irish gypsies, Brendan and Dominic, who offer them the chance of a side job, the group manager, McKenna, later discovers this and fires them all
6.
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
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Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk KG PC was a prominent Tudor politician. He was an uncle of two of the wives of King Henry VIII, namely Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, after falling from favour in 1546 he was stripped of the dukedom and imprisoned in the Tower, avoiding execution when Henry VIII died a year later. He was the eldest son of Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk by his first wife, Elizabeth Tilney and he was descended in the female line from Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk, the sixth son of King Edward I. Due to their alliegance to the side, the Howard familys titles became forfeit. Howard was a soldier, and was often employed in military operations. In 1497 he served in a campaign against the Scots under the command of his father and he was made a Knight of the Garter after the accession of King Henry VIII, and became the Kings close companion, with lodgings at court. On 4 May 1513 he was appointed Lord Admiral and on 9 September helped to defeat the Scots at the Battle of Flodden. Anne of York died in 1511, and early in 1513 he married Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, and Eleanor Percy, the daughter of Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland. On 1 February 1514 Howards father, then Earl of Surrey, was created Duke of Norfolk, over the next few years he served the King in a variety of ways. In September 1514 he escorted the Kings sister Princess Mary to France for her forthcoming marriage, in 1517 he quelled a May day riot in London with the use of soldiers. On 10 March 1520, Surrey was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland, by July 1520 Surrey entered upon the thankless task of endeavouring to keep Ireland in order. His letters contain accounts of attempts to pacify the rival factions of Kildare and Ormonde, at the end of 1521 Surrey was recalled from Ireland to take command of the English fleet in naval operations against France. His ships were ill-provisioned, and his warfare consisted of a series of raids upon the French coast for the purpose of inflicting all the damage possible. In July 1522 he burned Morlaix, in September laid waste the country round Boulogne, on 4 December 1522 Surrey was made Lord Treasurer upon his fathers resignation of the office, and on 21 May 1524 he succeeded his father as 3rd Duke of Norfolk. His liking for war brought him conflict with Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Finding himself pushed aside, Norfolk spent considerable time away from court in 1525–7 and 1528, by 1529 matters of state were being increasingly handled by Norfolk, Suffolk and the Boleyns, who pressed the King to remove Wolsey. In October the King sent Norfolk and Suffolk to obtain the seal from the Cardinal. In November Wolsey was arrested on a charge of treason, Norfolk benefited from Wolseys fall, becoming the Kings leading councillor and applying himself energetically in the Kings efforts to find a way out of his marriage to Queen Katherine
7.
Wolf Hall (miniseries)
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Wolf Hall is a British television serial first broadcast on BBC Two in January 2015. Wolf Hall was first broadcast in April 2015 in the United States on PBS, according to The Guardian £7 million was to be spent on the adaptation. BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow said it was fortunate to have the rights to the two novels and called Wolf Hall a great contemporary novel. Peter Kosminsky, the director of the series, said, This is a first for me, but it is an intensely political piece. It is about the politics of despotism, and how you function around an absolute ruler, I have a sense that Hilary Mantel wanted that immediacy. When I saw Peter Straughans script, only a first draft and it was the best draft I had ever seen. He had managed to distil 1,000 pages of the novels into six hours, hes a theatre writer by trade. The drama series features 102 characters and Kosminsky began casting the other parts in October 2013, the series was filmed in May to July 2014. The series, which was made in association with Masterpiece Entertainment and Playground Entertainment, Mantel called Straughans scripts a miracle of elegant compression and I believe with such a strong team the original material can only be enhanced. Kosminskys decision to film many of the scenes by candlelight led to the actors bumping into things. The Long Gallery doubled as Anne Boleyns chamber, callender said that lead performers Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis were eager to return. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the show a 100% rating based on 29 reviews with a rating of 8. 6/10. The critical consensus reads, Beautifully filmed and brilliantly acted, Wolf Hall masterfully brings Hilary Mantels award-winning novels to life, sam Wollaston in The Guardian called it sumptuous, intelligent, event television. Will Dean, writing for The Independent, gave it four out of five stars and he did not believe it compared favourably with the stage adaptation of the book, yet predicted it would secure a devoted following. James Walton in The Daily Telegraph gave the first episode five out of five, commenting. Audience figures did not reflect this, however, with a substantial fall between the first and second episode and complaints about the slow pacing, among Catholics, George Weigel has referred to the series as Upmarket Anti-Catholicism. Several American Catholic bishops have been similarly critical, elsewhere, several historians have expressed concerns about historical inaccuracy in the series. Constitutional historian David Starkey has said, To reach such a conclusion about More and Cromwell from the very difficult, both men believed in the idea of enforcing ideas on others by persecution and execution
8.
Wolf Hall
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Wolf Hall is an historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate, named after the Seymour family seat of Wolfhall or Wulfhall in Wiltshire. The novel won both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, in 2012, The Observer named it as one of The 10 best historical novels. The book is the first in a trilogy, the sequel Bring Up the Bodies was published in 2012, the last book in the trilogy will be called The Mirror and the Light and is expected to cover the last four years of Cromwells life. Born to a family of no position or name, Cromwell rose to become the right-hand man of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. He survived Wolseys fall from grace to eventually take his place as the most powerful of Henrys ministers, Mantel spent five years researching and writing the book, the trickiest part, she said in an interview, was trying to match her version of events to the historical record. You really need to know, where is the Duke of Suffolk at the moment and you cant have him in London if hes supposed to be somewhere else, she explained. In an interview with The Guardian, Mantel stated her aim to place the reader in that time, the essence of the thing is not to judge with hindsight, not to pass judgment from the lofty perch of the 21st century when we know what happened. Wolf Hall includes a large cast of fictionalised historical persons, Wolf Hall succeeds on its own terms and then some, both as a non-frothy historical novel and as a display of Mantels extraordinary talent. Lyrically yet cleanly and tightly written, solidly imagined yet filled with spooky resonances, a sequel is apparently in the works, and its not the least of Mantels achievements that the reader finishes this 650-page book wanting more. dreadfully badly written. Mantel just wrote and wrote and wrote, I have yet to meet anyone outside the Booker panel who managed to get to the end of this tedious tome. God forbid there might be a sequel, which I fear is on the horizon, over two decades, she has gained a reputation as an elegant anatomiser of malevolence and cruelty. It is that movement between laughter and horror that makes this rich pageant of Tudor life her most humane and bewitching novel. As soon as I opened the book I was gripped, when I did have to put it down, I was full of regret the story was over, a regret I still feel. Winner –2009 Man Booker Prize, james Naughtie, the chairman of the Booker prize judges, said the decision to give Wolf Hall the award was based on the sheer bigness of the book. Winner –2009 National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction, winner –2010 Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction. Winner –2010 The Morning News Tournament of Books, stage In January 2013 the RSC announced that it would stage adaptations by Mike Poulton of Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies in its Winter season. The production transferred to Londons Aldwych Theatre in May 2014 for a run until October. The double-bill has been re-titled Wolf Hall, Parts 1 and 2 for American audiences, the play was nominated for 8 Tony Awards, including Best Play
9.
Edward Smith (sea captain)
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Edward John Smith, RD was a British Merchant Navy officer. He served as master of numerous White Star Line vessels and he is best known as the captain of the RMS Titanic, perishing when the ship sank on its maiden voyage. Raised in an environment, he left school early to join the Merchant Navy. After earning his masters ticket, he entered the service of the White Star Line and he quickly rose through the ranks and graduated in 1887. His first command was the SS Celtic and he served as commanding officer of numerous White Star Line vessels, including the Majestic and attracted a strong and loyal following amongst passengers. In 1904, Smith became the commodore of the White Star Line and he successfully commanded the Baltic, Adriatic and the Olympic. In 1912, he was the captain of the voyage of the RMS Titanic. For his stoicism and fortitude in the face of adversity, Smith became an icon of British stiff upper lip spirit and his parents later owned a shop. Smith attended the Etruria British School until the age of 13, in 1867, aged 17 he went to Liverpool in the footsteps of his half-brother Joseph Hancock, a captain on a sailing ship. He began his apprenticeship on Senator Weber, owned by A Gibson & Co. of Liverpool, on 13 January 1887, Smith married Sarah Eleanor Pennington at St Oswalds Church, Winwick, Cheshire. Their daughter, Helen Melville Smith, was born in Waterloo, the family lived in an imposing red brick, twin-gabled house, named Woodhead, on Winn Road, Highfield, Southampton, Hampshire. Edward Smith joined the White Star Line in March 1880 as the Fourth Officer of SS Celtic and he served aboard the companys liners to Australia and to New York City, where he quickly rose in status. In 1887, he received his first White Star command, the Republic, in 1888, Smith earned his Extra Masters Certificate and joined the Royal Naval Reserve, receiving a commission as a Lieutenant, which entitled him to add the letters RNR after his name. This meant that in a time of war he could be called upon to serve in the Royal Navy, Smith was Majestics captain for nine years commencing in 1895. When the Boer War started in 1899, Majestic was called upon to transport troops to Cape Colony. Smith made two trips to South Africa, both without incident, and in 1903, for his service, King Edward VII awarded him the Transport Medal, Smith was regarded as a safe captain. As he rose in seniority, he gained a following amongst passengers with only sailing the Atlantic on a ship he captained. Smith even became known as the Millionaires Captain, from 1904 on, Smith commanded the White Star Lines newest ships on their maiden voyages
10.
Titanic (1997 film)
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Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance-disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. Camerons inspiration for the film came from his fascination with shipwrecks, production began in 1995, when Cameron shot footage of the actual Titanic wreck. The modern scenes on the vessel were shot on board the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh. Scale models, computer-generated imagery, and a reconstruction of the Titanic built at Playas de Rosarito in Baja California were used to re-create the sinking, the film was partially funded by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox. It was the most expensive film made at time, with an estimated budget of $200 million. Upon its release on December 19,1997, Titanic achieved critical and commercial success, with an initial worldwide gross of over $1.84 billion, Titanic was the first film to reach the billion-dollar mark. It remained the highest-grossing film of all time until Camerons 2009 film Avatar surpassed it in 2010. A 3D version of Titanic, released on April 4,2012 to commemorate the centennial of the sinking, earned it an additional $343.6 million worldwide and it became the second film to gross more than $2 billion worldwide. In 2015, Titanic Live, an orchestra version of the film. In 1996, treasure hunter Brock Lovett and his team aboard the research vessel Akademik Mstislav Keldysh search the wreck of RMS Titanic for a necklace with a rare diamond, the Heart of the Ocean. They recover a safe containing a drawing of a woman wearing only the necklace dated April 14,1912. Rose Dawson Calvert, the woman in the drawing, is brought aboard Keldysh, in 1912 Southampton, 17-year-old first-class passenger Rose DeWitt Bukater, her fiancé Cal Hockley, and her mother Ruth board the luxurious Titanic. Ruth emphasizes that Roses marriage will resolve their familys financial problems, distraught over the engagement, Rose considers suicide by jumping from the stern, Jack Dawson, a penniless artist, intervenes and discourages her. Discovered with Jack, Rose tells a concerned Cal that she was peering over the edge, when Cal becomes indifferent, she suggests to him that Jack deserves a reward. He invites Jack to dine with them in first class the following night, Jack and Rose develop a tentative friendship, despite Cal and Ruth being wary of him. Following dinner, Rose secretly joins Jack at a party in third class, aware of Cal and Ruths disapproval, Rose rebuffs Jacks advances, but realizes she prefers him over Cal. After rendezvousing on the bow at sunset, Rose takes Jack to her room, at her request, Jack sketches Rose posing nude wearing Cals engagement present. They evade Cals bodyguard and have sex in an automobile inside the cargo hold, on the forward deck, they witness a collision with an iceberg and overhear the officers and designer discussing its seriousness
11.
The Lord of the Rings (film series)
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The Lord of the Rings is a film series consisting of three high fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson. They are based on the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, the films are subtitled The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. They were distributed by New Line Cinema, each film in the series also had special extended editions released on DVD a year after their respective theatrical releases. While the films follow the general storyline, they do omit some of the novels plot elements and include some additions to. The Fellowship eventually splits up and Frodo continues the quest together with his loyal companion Sam and the treacherous Gollum. Meanwhile, Aragorn, heir in exile to the throne of Gondor, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin, the series was a major financial success, with the films collectively being among the highest-grossing film series of all time. The films were acclaimed and heavily awarded, winning 17 out of 30 total Academy Award nominations. The series received praise for its innovative special and visual effects. Director Peter Jackson first came into contact with The Lord of the Rings when he saw Ralph Bakshis 1978 animated film The Lord of the Rings, Jackson enjoyed the film and wanted to know more. Afterwards, he read an edition of the book during a twelve-hour train journey from Wellington to Auckland when he was seventeen. In 1995, Jackson was finishing The Frighteners and considered The Lord of the Rings as a new project, with the new developments in computer-generated imagery following Jurassic Park, Jackson set about planning a fantasy film that would be relatively serious and feel real. Negotiations then stalled when Universal Studios offered Jackson a remake of King Kong, Weinstein was furious, and further problems arose when it turned out Zaentz did not have distribution rights to The Hobbit, United Artists, which was in the market, did. By April 1996, the question was still not resolved. It was also revealed that Jackson originally wanted to finish King Kong before The Lord of the Rings began, but due to location problems, he decided to start with The Lord of the Rings franchise instead. When Universal cancelled King Kong in 1997, Jackson and Walsh immediately received support from Weinstein, Jackson and Walsh asked Costa Botes to write a synopsis of the book and they began to re-read the book. Two to three months later, they had written their treatment, Bilbo attends the Council of Elrond, Sam looks into Galadriels mirror, Saruman is redeemed before he dies and the Nazgûl just make it into Mount Doom before they fall. They presented their treatment to Harvey and Bob Weinstein, the latter of whom they focused on impressing with their screenwriting as he had not read the book and they agreed upon two films and a total budget of $75 million. During mid-1997, Jackson and Walsh began writing with Stephen Sinclair, sinclairs partner, Philippa Boyens, was a major fan of the book and joined the writing team after reading their treatment
12.
San Quentin Prison
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San Quentin State Prison is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated town of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, it is the oldest prison in California, the states only death row for male inmates, the largest in the United States, is located at the prison. It has a gas chamber, but since 1996, executions at the prison have been carried out by lethal injection. The prison has been featured on film, video, and television, is the subject of books, has hosted concerts. The correctional complex sits on Point San Quentin, which comprises 432 acres on the side of San Francisco Bay. The prison complex itself occupies 275 acres, valued in a 2001 study at between $129 million and $664 million, the prison complex has its own ZIP code for mail sent to inmates,94974, the ZIP code of the adjacent community of Point San Quentin Village is 94964. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay to the south and west and by Interstate 580 to the north and east, near the northern terminus of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. As of October 30,2013 the prison had a capacity of 3,082 but a total institution population of 4,223. It has Level I housing, Level II housing, a Reception Center which provides short term housing to process, classify and evaluate incoming inmates, as of Fiscal Year 2006/2007, the prison had 1,718 staff and an annual budget of $210 million. It is one of the largest prisons in the United States with a population of 4,223 inmates as of October 30,2013, by December 2016, the population had declined to 3,774 inmates. Men condemned to death in California must be held at San Quentin, as of December 2015, San Quentin held almost 700 male inmates in its Condemned Unit, or death row. As of 2001, San Quentins death row was described as the largest in the Western Hemisphere, as of 2005, the states of Florida and Texas had fewer death row inmates in 2008 than San Quentin. Most of the death row inmates reside in the East Block. The fourth floor of the North Block was the prisons first death row facility, the adjustment center received solid doors, preventing gunning-down or attacking persons with bodily waste. As of 2016 it housed 81 death row inmates and four non-death row inmates, a dedicated psychiatric facility serves the prisoners. A converted shower bay in the East Block hosts religious services, many prison programs available for most inmates are unavailable for death row inmates. Although $395 million was allocated in the 2008–2009 state budget for new death row facilities at San Quentin, in December 2008 two legislators introduced bills to eliminate the funding. The state had planned to build a new death row facility, in 2015 Brown asked the Legislature for funds for a new death row as the current death row facilities were becoming filled
13.
Clint Eastwood
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Clinton Clint Eastwood Jr. is an American actor, filmmaker, musician, and political figure. These roles, among others, have made Eastwood an enduring icon of masculinity. For his work in the Western film Unforgiven and the sports drama Million Dollar Baby, Eastwood won Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture, as well as receiving nominations for Best Actor. Eastwoods greatest commercial successes have been the adventure comedy Every Which Way But Loose and its sequel, the war drama biopic American Sniper set box office records for the largest January release ever and was also the largest opening ever for an Eastwood film. Eastwood received considerable praise in France for several films, including some that were not well received in the United States. Eastwood has been awarded two of Frances highest honors, in 1994 he became a recipient of the Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, in 2000, Eastwood was awarded the Italian Venice Film Festival Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. Since 1967, Eastwood has run his own company, Malpaso. Starting in 1986, Eastwood served for two years as Mayor of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, a non-partisan office, Eastwood was born Clinton Eastwood Jr. May 31,1930, in San Francisco, California, the son of Clinton Eastwood Sr. and he has one younger sister, Jeanne Bernhardt. Eastwood is of English, Irish, Scottish, and Dutch ancestry and he is descended from Mayflower passenger William Bradford, and through this line is the 12th generation of his family born in North America and the 13th generation to live in North America. His family moved often as his father worked at jobs along the West Coast, settled in Piedmont, California, the Eastwoods lived in a very wealthy part of town, had a swimming pool, belonged to the country club, and each parent drove their own car. Clint attended Piedmont Junior High School, shortly before he was to enter Piedmont High School, he rode his bike on the schools sports field and tore up the wet turf, this resulted in his being asked not to enroll. Clint graduated from the airplane shop, I think that was his major, joked classmate Don Kincaid. Another high school friend, Don Loomis, echoed I dont think he was spending much time at school because he was having a pretty good time elsewhere. I think what happened is he just went off and started having a good time, I just dont think he finished high school, explained Fritz Manes, a boyhood friend two years younger than Eastwood, who remained associated with him until their falling out in the mid-1980s. Biographer Patrick McGilligan notes that high school records are a matter of strict legal confidentiality. Eastwood worked at a number of jobs, including lifeguard, paper carrier, grocery clerk, forest firefighter, Eastwood has said that he tried to enroll at Seattle University but was then drafted into the United States Army during the Korean War. He always dropped the Korean War reference, hoping everyone would conclude that he was in combat, actually, hed been a lifeguard at Fort Ord in northern California for his entire stint in the military, commented Eastwoods former longtime companion, Sondra Locke
14.
True Crime (1999 film)
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True Crime is a 1999 American mystery drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, and based on Andrew Klavans 1995 novel of the same name. Eastwood also stars in the film as a journalist covering the execution of a death row inmate, only to discover that the convict may actually be innocent. He gets permission from his editors boss to investigate, and is told that the top editor would call the Governor, and he thus has a little over 12 hours to confirm his hunch and save Beechum. Everett interviews a prosecution witness, Dale Porterhouse, who saw Beechum at the store where the took place. Everett confronts D. A. Cecelia Nussbaum for putting an innocent man on death row. She reveals that a person was interviewed after the crime, a young man, Warren. Everett decides that Warren, never called as a witness, is probably the real killer and he breaks into the deceased reporters house, suspecting that she had been onto something and finds her file on Warren. Meanwhile, Warden Luther Plunkett also starts to have doubts about Beechums guilt, Everett falls out with his bosses and is fired on the spot, but he points out that his contract entitles him to adequate notice. They ask him how much notice he requires, and, looking at his watch, while working his notice he tracks down Angela Russel, Warrens grandmother. The prison chaplain misrepresents an exchange with Beechum as a confession to the crime. Everett hears about this on the radio and loses heart, on top of this, his wife Barbara has found out about his affair with his editors wife and has turned him out of the house. He is about to start drinking again when he sees a piece on TV that shows a photograph of Amy wearing a locket, Everett drives back to Angelas house. When he tells her about the locket she realizes the truth, Everett now has to get Angela to the Governors house in order to persuade him to order a stay of execution, but it might be too late. The execution uses 3 drugs, a sleep inducer called thiopental, a drug that paralyzes muscles. As they approach the Governors mansion, the first drug has already been injected into Franks bloodstream, the Governor calls, and the doctors try to revive him, while his wife Bonnie bangs on the window calling out for her husband to wake up. Six months later, a week before Christmas, Everett is out buying a stuffed hippo for his daughter, and he catches sight of Frank and his family doing their Christmas shopping. Steve and Frank acknowledge each other, but Franks daughter shouts for him to come on and it received mixed reactions from critics, with a score of 55% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 40 reviews
15.
Richard Griffiths
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Richard Thomas Griffiths, OBE was an English actor of film, television, and stage. For the 2006 film adaptation, Griffiths was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, earlier in his career, he had a prominent supporting role as British journalist Collins in Richard Attenboroughs Academy Award-winning film Gandhi. Griffiths was born in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Riding of Yorkshire, the son of Jane and his father was a steelworker who also fought in pubs for money, while his mothers occupation was described as bagger. He and his brother John were raised in the Roman Catholic faith and his parents were both deaf, and he learned sign language at an early age in order to communicate with them. During his childhood he attempted to run away from many times. He dropped out of Our Lady & St Bede School in Stockton-On-Tees at age 15 and worked as a porter for Littlewoods for a while and he decided to attend a drama class at Stockton & Billingham College. He continued his education in drama at Manchester Polytechnic School of Drama, after graduating, Griffiths earned a spot on BBC Radio. He also worked in theatres, sometimes acting and sometimes managing. He eventually settled in Manchester and began to get roles in plays. From there, he began to appear on television and then got his big break in film in It Shouldnt Happen to a Vet, by the early 1980s, he was selected for the lead role in Bird of Prey, an early computer-conspiracy thriller. His character Henry Jay was reprised in Bird of Prey 2, in 1981, he also gave a memorable performance as Chilean secret police victim William Beausire in an edition of the BBC Prisoners of Conscience series. Griffiths went on to supporting roles in a number of films, including The French Lieutenants Woman, Chariots of Fire. On stage, in 1985–86, he performed the role of Verdi in Julian Mitchells After Aida, in Wales and he appeared in The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends. Griffiths film roles were in contemporary and period pieces, such as Gorky Park, Withnail and I, King Ralph, The Naked Gun 2½, The Smell of Fear, Guarding Tess. He appeared as Inspector Henry Crabbe, disillusioned policeman and pie chef extraordinaire, in Pie in the Sky and he also made an extended appearance in the 2005 version of Charles Dickens Bleak House. In 2004, he originated the role of Hector in Alan Bennetts play The History Boys, directed by Nicholas Hytner, during the plays subsequent United States run, he added a Drama Desk Award, an Outer Critics Circle Award, and a Tony Award. He reprised his role in the version, which was released in October 2006. Later, in 2009, he replaced Michael Gambon as W. H. Auden prior to the premiere of The Habit of Art at the National Theatre, once again directed by Hytner
16.
ITV Granada
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ITV Granada is the Channel 3 regional service for North West England. The licence for the region has been held by ITV Broadcasting Limited since November 2008 and it is the largest independent television-franchise producing company in the UK, accounting for 25% of the total broadcasting output of the ITV network. It had been held by Granada Television, which was founded by Sidney Bernstein and this was the only surviving company of the original four Independent Television Authority franchisees from 1954, Granada Media Group merged with Carlton Communications to form ITV plc in 2004. It covers Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, northwestern Derbyshire, part of Cumbria, on 15 July 2009, the Isle of Man was transferred to ITV Granada from ITV Border. Broadcasting by Granada Television began on 3 May 1956 under the North of England weekday franchise and it was marked by a distinctive northern identity, and used stylised letter G logo forming an arrow pointing north, often with the tagline Granada, from the north. Granada plc merged with Carlton Communications to form ITV plc in 2004 after a duopoly had developed over the previous decade, Granada Television Ltd still legally exists. Along with most other companies owned by ITV plc, it is listed on www. companieshouse. gov. uk as a Dormant company. Other companies listed are Granada Television International and Granada Television Overseas Ltd, the North West region is regarded as ITVs most successful franchise. The Financial Times and The Independent once described Granada Television, the franchise holder. Nine Granada programmes were listed in the BFI TV100 in 2000, some of its most notable programmes include Coronation Street, Seven Up. The Royle Family, The Jewel in the Crown, Brideshead Revisited, World in Action, University Challenge, notable employees have included Paul Greengrass, Michael Apted, Mike Newell, Jeremy Isaacs, Andy Harries, Russell T Davies and Leslie Woodhead. Granada Television, a subsidiary of Granada Ltd, originated in Granada Theatres Ltd and it was founded in Dover in 1930 by Sidney Bernstein and his brother Cecil. The company was incorporated as Granada Ltd in 1934 and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1935 and it is named after the Spanish city of Granada. Channel 59 from Winter Hill and started broadcasting in colour in the Autumn of 1969, the Bernsteins became involved in commercial television, a competitor to the cinema chains. Bernstein bid for the North of England franchise, which he believed would not affect the companys largely southern-based cinema chain, in 1954, the Independent Television Authority awarded Granada the North of England contract for Monday to Friday, with ABC serving the same area on weekends. The North and London were the two biggest regions, Granada preferred the North because of its tradition of home-grown culture, and because it offered a chance to start a new creative industry away from the metropolitan atmosphere of London. Compare this with London and its suburbs—full of displaced persons, and, of course, if you look at a map of the concentration of population in the North and a rainfall map, you will see that the North is an ideal place for television. Bernstein selected a base from Leeds and Manchester, Granada executive Victor Peers believed Manchester was the preferred choice even before executives toured the region to find a suitable site
17.
Yosser Hughes
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Jimmy Yosser Hughes is a fictional character from Alan Bleasdales 1982 television series Boys from the Blackstuff, set in Liverpool, portrayed by Bernard Hill. Yosser appears as a man in his mid-thirties who wears predominantly black clothes and has a distinctive bushy moustache. He always appears unkempt and unshaven and he had a wife called Maureen, an aggressive, unloving harridan who frequently berates him and had an affair with another man, the likely father of their three children. The pilot of Blackstuff implies that Hughes worked in the Middle East at some time during the 1970s, in the original pilot episode, he appeared comparatively sane, but displayed macho insecurities that would make his redundancy especially hard to take. When Molloy took him to task over a wall, Hughes headbutted him and kicked down the wall. Yosser eventually ends up courting arrest by smashing a storefront window, Bleasdales use of black humour is also apparent in a scene in which a distraught Yosser and his three children enter a confessional where a priest named Fr. Daniel Thomas is listening, and telling him Im desperate, Father, when the priest tries to calm him and sympathetically urges Yosser to call him Dan, Yosser blurts out the words, Im desperate, Dan. A play on the character, Desperate Dan. Bleasdale admitted on 2 September 2011 on Radio 4s programme Reunion that he had been saving that joke for years and he has been taken in by his mother and there seems little chance that he will see his children again. Yosser attends Georges funeral and loudly sniggers at the priests banal eulogy, in the pub afterwards, he raises a cheer when he headbutts a vicious former bouncer into unconsciousness. The series tackled the subject of unemployment, Yosser became an icon of Thatcherite Britain in the 1980s with his catchphrase of Gizza job
18.
Liverpool
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Liverpool is a major city and metropolitan borough in North West England.24 million people in 2011. Liverpool historically lay within the ancient hundred of West Derby in the south west of the county of Lancashire and it became a borough from 1207 and a city from 1880. In 1889 it became a county borough independent of Lancashire, Liverpool sits on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary and its growth as a major port is paralleled by the expansion of the city throughout the Industrial Revolution. Along with general cargo, freight, raw materials such as coal and cotton, the city was also directly involved in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was home to both the Cunard and White Star Line, and was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic and others such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City includes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, tourism forms a significant part of the citys economy. Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton, matches between the two being known as the Merseyside derby, the world-famous Grand National horse race takes place annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city. The city is home to the oldest Black African community in the country. Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians and colloquially as Scousers, a reference to scouse, the word Scouse has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect. Pool is a place name element in England from the Brythonic word for a pond, inlet, or pit, cognate with the modern Welsh. The derivation of the first element remains uncertain, with the Welsh word Llif as the most plausible relative and this etymology is supported by its similarity to that of the archaic Welsh name for Liverpool Llynlleifiad. Other origins of the name have suggested, including elverpool. The name appeared in 1190 as Liuerpul, and it may be that the place appearing as Leyrpole, in a record of 1418. King Johns letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, the original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape, Bank Street, Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street, Moor Street, in the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, in 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. Since Roman times, the city of Chester on the River Dee had been the regions principal port on the Irish Sea
19.
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
20.
Play for Today
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Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration, a handful of these plays, including Rumpole of the Bailey and The Blackstuff, subsequently became television series in their own right. The strand was a successor to The Wednesday Play, the 1960s anthology series, popular works screened in anthology series on BBC2, like Willy Russells Our Day Out, were repeated on BBC1 in the series. The producers of The Wednesday Play, Graeme MacDonald and Irene Shubik, Shubik continued with the series until 1973 while MacDonald remained with the series until 1977 when he was promoted. Later producers included Margaret Matheson and Richard Eyre, in its time, Play for Today featured contemporary social realist dramas, historical pieces, fantasies, biopics and occasionally science-fiction. Most pieces were written directly for television, but there were also occasional adaptations from other forms, such as novels. Several prominent directors also featured, including Stephen Frears, Alan Clarke, Michael Apted, Mike Newell, Roland Joffe, Ken Loach, Lindsay Anderson, and Mike Leigh. Some of the best remembered plays broadcast in the strand include Edna, certain other well known plays, including Pendas Fen, Nuts in May, were commissioned by David Rose of the BBCs English Regions Drama department based in Birmingham. Some installments in the series were spun off into full-blown series, other offshoots were Gangsters, and a single series of science fiction-based plays styled as Play for Tomorrow. Towards the end of the run, three set in Northern Ireland were written by Graham Reid. Known as the Billy Plays, they starred Kenneth Branagh as Billy Martin in his first acting role following his graduation from RADA, scum and Brimstone and Treacle were eventually transmitted, although in the meantime both had circumvented their withdrawal by being re-made as cinema films. The series as a whole was viewed with suspicion by rightwing commentators, of particular note was the criticism of the public expenditure on the Queens Silver Jubilee in the plays The Price of Coal and The Spongers. The programme officially ended in 1984, although there was one further series not broadcast in its name but in its replacement name Screen One. The general trend in 1980s television production was away from one-off plays and towards a concentration on series. A new programme publicised as a return of Play for Today, but under the title of The Evening Play, was announced at the beginning of March 2006. Jan Moir in The Daily Telegraph wrote in support of Spacey, saying the British loved Play for Today once, a good piece of drama looks at the human condition, and tells us something we should know about ourselves. Armchair Theatre ITV Playhouse Play for Tomorrow Theatre 625 The Wednesday Play Evans, oxford University Press / British Film Institute
21.
Margaret Thatcher
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She was the longest-serving British prime minister of the 20th century, and the first woman to have held the office. A Soviet journalist dubbed her The Iron Lady, a nickname that became associated with her uncompromising politics, as Prime Minister, she implemented policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism. A research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament for Finchley in 1959, Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975, Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election to become Leader of the Opposition and she became Prime Minister after winning the 1979 general election. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation, flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies and she narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in 1984. Thatcher was re-elected for a term in 1987. During this period her support for a Community Charge was widely unpopular and she resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership. After retiring from the Commons in 1992, she was given a peerage as Baroness Thatcher which entitled her to sit in the House of Lords. After a series of strokes in 2002, she was advised to withdraw from public speaking. Despite this, she managed to pre-record a eulogy to Ronald Reagan prior to his death, in 2013, she died of another stroke in London, at the age of 87. Always a controversial figure, she has described as one of the greatest and most influential politicians in British history. Thatcher was born Margaret Hilda Roberts on 13 October 1925, in Grantham and her father was Alfred Roberts, originally from Northamptonshire, and her mother was Beatrice Ethel from Lincolnshire. She spent her childhood in Grantham, where her father owned two grocery shops, Prior to the Second World War, in 1938 the Roberts family gave sanctuary to a teenage Jewish girl escaping Nazi Germany. Thatcher was to describe this in her memoirs as among the significant events of her formative years, Alfred Roberts was an alderman and a Methodist local preacher, and brought up his daughter as a strict Wesleyan Methodist attending the Finkin Street Methodist Church. He came from a Liberal family but stood as an Independent and he was Mayor of Grantham in 1945–46 and lost his position as alderman in 1952 after the Labour Party won its first majority on Grantham Council in 1950. Margaret Roberts attended Huntingtower Road Primary School and won a scholarship to Kesteven and her school reports showed hard work and continual improvement, her extracurricular activities included the piano, field hockey, poetry recitals, swimming and walking. She was head girl in 1942–43, in her upper sixth year she applied for a scholarship to study chemistry at Somerville College, Oxford, but she was initially rejected and was offered a place only after another candidate withdrew. Her dissertation was on the structure of the antibiotic gramicidin, even while working on chemistry, she was already thinking towards law and politics
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