1.
Wimbledon, London
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Wimbledon had a population of 68,187 in 2011 which includes the electoral wards of Abbey, Dundonald, Hillside, Trinity, Village, Raynes Park and Wimbledon Park. It is home to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships and New Wimbledon Theatre, Wimbledon has been inhabited since at least the Iron Age when the hill fort on Wimbledon Common is thought to have been constructed. In 1087 when the Domesday Book was compiled, Wimbledon was part of the manor of Mortlake, the village developed with a stable rural population coexisting alongside nobility and wealthy merchants from the city. The location of the station shifted the focus of the subsequent growth away from the original village centre. Since 2005, the north and west of the Borough has been represented in Westminster by Stephen Hammond, the eastern and southern of the Borough are represented by Siobhain McDonagh, a Labour MP. It has established minority groups, among the most prominent are British Asians, British Ghanaians, Wimbledon has been inhabited since at least the Iron Age when the hill fort on Wimbledon Common, the second-largest in London, is thought to have been constructed. The original nucleus of Wimbledon was at the top of the close to the common – the area now known locally as the village. The village is referred to as Wimbedounyng in a signed by King Edgar the Peaceful in 967. The name Wimbledon means Wynnmans hill, with the element of the name being the Old English dun. At the time the Domesday Book was compiled, Wimbledon was part of the manor of Mortlake, the ownership of the manor of Wimbledon changed hands many times during its history. The manor was held by the church until 1398 when Thomas Arundel, the manor was confiscated and became crown property. The manor remained crown property until the reign of Henry VIII when it was granted briefly to Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, until Cromwell was executed in 1540 and the land was again confiscated. The manor was held by Henry VIIIs last wife and widow Catherine Parr until her death in 1548 when it again reverted to the monarch. In the 1550s, Henrys daughter, Mary I, granted the manor to Cardinal Reginald Pole who held it until his death in 1558 when it again become royal property. Marys sister, Elizabeth I held the property until 1574 when she gave the house to Christopher Hatton who sold it in the same year to Sir Thomas Cecil. The lands of the manor were given to the Cecil family in 1588, the Cecil family retained the manor for fifty years before it was bought by Charles I in 1638 for his Queen, Henrietta Maria. On his death in 1677 the manor was sold on again to the Lord High Treasurer, Thomas Osborne, the Osborne family sold the manor to Sir Theodore Janssen in 1712. Janssen, a director of the South Sea Company, began a new house to replace the Cecil-built manor house but, due to the collapse of the company
2.
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
3.
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
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The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in music, opera, drama and technical theatre arts, the school currently numbers almost 900 students, approximately 700 of whom are undergraduate and postgraduate music students and 175 on the acting and technical theatre programmes. In any given year, about 40% of the students are from outside the UK, the chairman of Guildhall is David Andrew Graves, elected a governor in 2009 he became deputy of the board and then chairman in 2012. Ife led the Guildhall School’s application for Taught Degree-Awarding Powers, which were granted by the Privy Council in April 2014, the Guildhall School of Music first opened its doors on 27 September 1880, housed in a disused warehouse in the City of London. With 62 part-time students, it was the first municipal college in Great Britain. The new building was completed by 9 December 1886 and the then Lord Mayor of London, teaching continued under the first principal of the school, Thomas Henry Weist Hill, and his team of 90 professors. The new site, designed by architect Sir Horace Jones, comprised a common room for professors and 45 studios, each room contained both a grand piano and an upright piano. Additionally, there was a room and a practice room, in reality a small concert hall which was used for orchestral. The practice room was also the venue for the school concerts Initially, all tuition was on a part-time basis. Departments of speech, voice and acting were added and by 1935 the school had added, the school moved to its present premises in the heart of the City of Londons Barbican Centre in 1977 and continues to be owned, funded and administered by the City of London. About three minutes walk from the school, Sundial Court offers self-catering single-room accommodation for 178 students, in 2001 the Secretary of State, Baroness Blackstone, announced that the Barbican Centre, including the Guildhall School, was to be Grade II listed. The school currently numbers over 800 students on its roll call, as of 2017, about 135 are studying in the acting and technical theatre programmes. In any given year, about 40% of the students are from outside the UK typically represent over 40 nationalities, the school is a member of Conservatoires UK and of the European Association of Conservatoires. The school was rated No.1 specialist institution in the UK in the Guardian University Guide 2013 and 2014, the most significant investment in the Guildhall Schools future came to fruition via the £90 million redevelopment of the neighbouring Milton Court site. The new building, which opened in 2013, houses three new performance spaces, a hall, a theatre and a studio theatre in addition to drama teaching. The school offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs as well as the Junior Guildhall, a Saturday school serving students from 4 to 18 years of age. The schools outreach activities won the Queens Anniversary Prize in 2005, the school was awarded a further Queens Anniversary Prize in 2007 in recognition of the outstanding achievements and work of the Opera Programme. The schools performance facilities include a 308-seat drama and opera theatre, concert hall, lecture/recital hall, in addition, students of the school regularly perform in other London venues, including the Barbican Centre, the Bridewell Theatre, the Soho Theatre, the Royal Court and the Swan
4.
Daniel Lapaine
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Daniel Lapaine is an Australian stage, film and television actor, currently residing in London. He also works as a writer and director, born in Sydney, Australia, Lapaine graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1992. He first came to prominence In 1994 when he played David Van Arckle in P. J. Hogans Muriels Wedding, since then he has worked internationally in film, theatre and television and is now based in London. In theatre he most recently he played Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice at Shakespeares Globe, Other theatre credits include the parts of Trip in Other Desert Cities and Eilert Lovborg in Ibsens Hedda Gabler at the Old Vic, opposite Sheridan Smith. He played Leontes in The Winters Tale at the Sheffield Crucible, Kurt in The Dance of Death at the Donmar at the Trafalgar Studios and George in All My Sons in the West End, opposite David Suchet. At the Royal Court he appeared in Scenes from the Back of Beyond and F***ing Games, in 2011, he appeared in The Entire History of You, an episode of the anthology series Black Mirror. Lapaines recent film work includes Katherine Bigelows Oscar-winning Zero Dark Thirty, Last Chance Harvey opposite Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson and Shanghai, opposite John Cusack. He played the role in Pathes The Abduction Club and Miramaxs Elephant Juice, as well as memorable appearances in Brokedown Palace opposite Claire Danes. He has also appeared in other films including 54, Dangerous Beauty, Polish Wedding. Lapaine has worked extensively in television and he is currently filming the second series of Catastrophe for Channel 4 and Amazon Prime, in which he plays the part of Dave. Entertainment Weekly named Catastrophe the best new comedy of the year and he recently portrayed King Charles II in the upcoming Canal + series Versailles. In 2009, he portrayed Neil Armstrong in the television film Moon Shot and he also played Hector in Helen of Troy opposite Rufus Sewell. Lapaine also wrote and directed the Australian feature film 48 Shades, based on the 1999 novel 48 Shades of Brown by Nick Earls, the film was released in Australia by Buena Vista in 2006. In 1998, Lapaine met English actress Fay Ripley at a party hosted by mutual friends, neither of them thought the other was interested in dating and they drifted apart. After meeting again on a trip in New York, they began dating and they married in October 2001 in a ceremony in Tuscany, Italy. In October 2002, Ripley gave birth to their first child and she gave birth to their second child, a son whom they named Sonny, in October 2006. Daniel Lapaine at the Internet Movie Database
5.
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (film)
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In 1794, Captain Walton leads a troubled expedition to reach the North Pole. While their ship is trapped in the ice of the Arctic Sea, Victor proceeds to tell Walton and the crew his life story. Victor grows up in Geneva with his sister, Elizabeth Lavenza. Before he leaves for the university at Ingolstadt, Victors mother dies giving birth to his brother William, Victor vows on his mothers grave that he will find a way to conquer death. At university, Victors interest in the works of alchemists make him unpopular with professors and he finds a friend in Henry Clerval and a mentor in Professor Waldman. Victor comes to believe that the way to cheat death is to create life. Professor Waldman warns Victor not to follow through with his theory, he tested it once, while performing vaccinations, Waldman is murdered by a patient, who is later hanged in the village square. Victor breaks into Waldmans laboratory, takes his notes, and begins to work on a creation, Victor gives his creature dead body parts from various sources, including the body of Waldmans murderer and Waldmans own brain. He is so obsessed with his work that not even a cholera outbreak tears him from it, Victor finally gives his creation life, but he recoils from it in horror and renounces his experiments. The creature escapes, running off to the wilderness with Victors coat which contains Victors journal and he spends months living in a familys barn without their knowledge, gradually learning to read and speak. But when the mans family returns, they mistakenly think the creature committed the assaults against the patriarch and granddaughter. The creature reads Victors journal, learning of the circumstances of his creation and he vows revenge on his creator. Victor, who believes the creature has died of cholera, returns to Geneva to marry Elizabeth and he finds his younger brother William has been murdered. Justine, a servant of the Frankenstein household, is framed for the crime by the creature, Victor is approached by his creation demanding that Victor make a companion for him, promising that if Victor does, he will disappear with his mate. Victor begins gathering the tools he used to life, but when the creature insists he use Justines body to make the companion, Victor breaks his promise. Shortly after, unknown to them, the creature silently kills Baron Frankenstein in his own bedroom, Victor takes every precaution to defend his wife on their honeymoon, but the creature gains access to their bedroom and tears out Elizabeths heart, killing her. Maddened with grief beyond measure, Victor races home to bring Elizabeth back to life and he stitches Elizabeths head onto Justines fully intact body, and she awakes as a re-animated creature. The two are briefly and happily reunited until the creature appears, Victor and the monster fight for Elizabeths affections, but Elizabeth, horrified by what she has become, commits suicide by setting herself on fire, burning the mansion to the ground
6.
Mute Witness
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Mute Witness is a 1995 Russian-British-American-German horror film written, directed, and produced by Anthony Waller. The film was shot in Moscow, Russia, while Alec Guinnesss scenes were filmed in Germany, Billy, an FX make up artist who does not have the physical ability to speak, is in Moscow working on a low budget slasher film directed by her sisters boyfriend Andy. On one particular night Billy returns to the set to fetch a piece of equipment for the days shoot when she is accidentally locked in the studio. Watching unseen, Billy is amused until the performed sex becomes sadistic, when a masked actor pulls out a knife and stabs the actress, Billy reacts and is discovered. She flees pursued by the film crew. Billy narrowly escapes and manages to tell her story to her sister and the police, however, the events bring forward Larsen, an undercover detective who is tracking the activities of the covert film crew and their connection to a shadowy criminal mastermind called The Reaper. The Reaper is a financier of an international underground snuff ring, as more and more factions get involved in killing and saving Billy the action becomes wild and fantastic and hard to discern whats real from movie magic. The review from the New Yorker was more mixed and they wrote that the technique is impressive. But the plot takes some nice twists and turns, the tension builds a good head of steam, mute Witness at the Internet Movie Database
7.
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
8.
Pilot (Cold Feet)
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Cold Feet is a British television pilot directed by Declan Lowney. It stars James Nesbitt and Helen Baxendale as Adam and Rachel, john Thomson, Fay Ripley, Hermione Norris and Robert Bathurst appear in supporting roles. After filming was completed in 1996 the commissioning network ITV shelved it for a year and it was eventually scheduled for broadcast on the evening of 30 March 1997, as part of the networks Comedy Premieres strand, but overrunning sports coverage delayed it for an hour. Ratings were low and critical reviews were minimal, but positive, critics enjoyed the comedy drama format and praised the writing and performances of the leads. Harries entered Cold Feet in the Montreux Television Festival, where it was awarded the Rose dOr, Adam Williams breaks up with another in a long line of girlfriends and spends the evening at the pub with his friend Pete Gifford. Pete arrives home late, which annoys his wife Jenny, who calculated that night to be the best time for them to conceive a child and she becomes even more frustrated when she sees Pete has brought Adam back, he missed his last bus home. Rachel Bradleys boyfriend Simon Atkinson breaks up with her over dinner after taking a job in Hong Kong, Rachel angrily leaves the restaurant and telephones her friend Karen Marsden, who has just asked her husband David if they can get a nanny to take care of their son Josh. Rachel crashes her car into Adams on a car park. After a brief argument Adam suggests they exchange phone numbers, under the pretence that it is for insurance purposes and she writes hers on his rear windscreen but rain washes it off. Prompted by Pete, Adam spends a day on the car park, in the hope that he and Rachel will cross paths. At a dinner party held by Karen and David, Karen suggests Rachel get out more and they go on a date but Adam is disappointed that Rachel does not want sex. Eventually, he suggests they see a play, which happens to be on at a theatre near his house, the play is dismal but Rachel decides it is time they slept together. Jenny takes another pregnancy test, but it is negative, Adam arrives and recounts his dates with Rachel to her and Pete, telling them he loves Rachel. Following a discussion with Pete about women and commitment, Adam argues with Rachel, seconds later Simon returns, telling Rachel he has turned down the Hong Kong job. After getting locked out the house, Karen interrupts a seminar David is holding, demanding they get a nanny and he relents, embarrassed after being shown up in front of his colleagues. Determined to get Rachel back, Adam goes to Simons flat, Jenny and Pete arrive to find Simon chasing a naked Adam down the street. The fight is interrupted by a policeman, who lists multiple felonies Adam has committed, until Rachel steps forward. She declares her love to Adam and the two leave, Pete and Jenny watch and she tells him her last pregnancy test was positive
9.
Martin Clunes
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Alexander Martin Clunes, OBE is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Martin Ellingham in the ITV drama series Doc Martin, Clunes has narrated a number of documentaries for ITV, the first of which was Islands of Britain in 2009. He has since presented a number of documentaries centred on animals and he has also voiced Kipper the Dog in the animated series Kipper and was the narrator for Roger and the Rottentrolls. Clunes was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2015 Birthday Honours for services to drama, charity, Clunes was educated at the Royal Russell School in Croydon, London and later at the Arts Educational School. He is the son of classical actor Alec Clunes, who died of cancer when Clunes was eight years old. He has a sister, Amanda. He is a nephew of the actor Jeremy Brett, Clunes served his first role in rep at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester, and his first television appearance came in the 1983 Doctor Who story Snakedance. But a sporadic career led to his supplementing his income as a model for Gilbert and George. He got his first regular role as one of the sons in the BBC sitcom No Place Like Home. While Clunes was appearing on stage at the Hampstead Theatre, Harry Enfield came to see him and he played the part of Group Captain Barker in the 2-part TV mini-series Over Here that same year. In 1993, he played Dick Dobson in Demob about a pair of demobilized soldiers who have to adjust to life after entertaining World War II troops with a raunchy cabaret act. Since 1994, Clunes has frequently appeared on the BBC One panel show Have I Got News for You as a panelist or a guest presenter. Clunes has since appeared in films and television such as An Evening with Gary Lineker, Staggered, Hunting Venus, The Booze Cruise, Saving Grace and Jeeves. In 1998, he was featured in Sweet Revenge and appeared as Richard Burbage in the Oscar-winning film Shakespeare in Love, Clunes has also acted frequently for the radio, including a guest appearance in the BBC Radio 4 series Baldi. In 2001, he played Captain Stickles in the BBC adaptation of R. D. Blackmores Lorna Doone, in 2002, Clunes played serial killer John George Haigh in a Yorkshire TV production A Is for Acid, and took the lead in ITVs production of Goodbye Mr Chips. Clunes was one of the leads in the 2004 ITV comedy-drama William and Mary. Clunes had worked with Julie Graham previously on Dirty Tricks, since 2004, Clunes has played the lead role of Doctor Martin Ellingham in the ITV comedy drama series Doc Martin. In August 2007, Clunes starred in the ITV/TVNZ co-production The Man Who Lost His Head, Clunes is a regular voice over artist and is the voice of Kipper in the animated childrens series Kipper the Dog
10.
BBC One
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BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service and it was renamed BBC TV in 1960, using this name until the launch of sister channel BBC2 in 1964, whereupon the BBC TV channel became known as BBC1, with the current spelling adopted in 1997. The channels annual budget for 2012–13 is £1.14 billion, the channel is funded by the television licence fee together with the BBCs other domestic television stations, and therefore shows uninterrupted programming without commercial advertising. It is currently the most watched channel in the United Kingdom, ahead of its traditional rival for ratings leadership. As of June 2013 the channel controller for BBC One is Charlotte Moore, the BBC began its own regular television programming from the basement of Broadcasting House, London, on 22 August 1932. BBC Television returned on 7 June 1946 at 15,00, Jasmine Bligh, one of the original announcers, made the first announcement, saying, Good afternoon everybody. Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh, the Mickey Mouse cartoon of 1939 was repeated twenty minutes later. The competition quickly forced the channel to change its identity and priorities following a reduction in its audience. The 1962 Pilkington Report on the future of broadcasting noticed this, and it therefore decided that Britains third television station should be awarded to the BBC. The station, renamed BBC TV in 1960, became BBC1 when BBC2 was launched on 20 April 1964 transmitting an incompatible 625-line image on UHF. The only way to all channels was to use a complex dual-standard 405- and 625-line, VHF and UHF, receiver. Old 405-line-only sets became obsolete in 1985, when transmission in the standard ended, although standards converters have become available for enthusiasts who collect, BBC1 was based at the purpose-built BBC Television Centre at White City, London between 1960 and 2013. In the weeks leading up to 15 November 1969, BBC1 unofficially transmitted the occasional programme in its new colour system, to test it. At midnight on 15 November, simultaneously with ITV and two years after BBC2, BBC1 officially began 625-line PAL colour programming on UHF with a broadcast of a concert by Petula Clark, colour transmissions could be received on monochrome 625-line sets until the end of analogue broadcasting. In terms of share, the most successful period for BBC1 was under Bryan Cowgill between 1973 and 1977, when the channel achieved an average audience share of 45%. On 30 December 1980, the BBC announced their intention to introduce a new breakfast television service to compete with TV-am. On 17 January 1983, the first edition of Breakfast Time was shown on BBC One, becoming the first UK wide breakfast television service and continued to lead in the rating until 1984. The first major overhaul was to axe the deeply unpopular Sixty Minutes current affairs programme and its replacement was the BBC Six OClock News, a straight new programme in a bid to shore up its failing early evening slot
11.
Reggie Perrin
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Reggie Perrin is a modern update of the 1970s BBC sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, which starred Leonard Rossiter. The revival stars Martin Clunes and was first broadcast on 24 April 2009, Series 1 was released on DVD in Region 2 by 2entertain on 1 June 2009. The second series was released on 22 November 2010. On 14 January 2009, it was announced by the BBC that Martin Clunes would star in a version of the sitcom. The remake was commissioned by Jay Hunt, controller of BBC1, Clunes was joined in the cast by Fay Ripley, Wendy Craig, Geoffrey Whitehead, Neil Stuke, Kerry Howard, Jim Howick and Lucy Liemann. The new version was written by Simon Nye and the creator of the Reggie character, David Nobbs. The first series of the Reggie Perrin revival was broadcast on BBC One, despite disappointing viewing figures for its first series, BBC1 Controller Jay Hunt announced in February 2010 that a second series had been commissioned. Studio segments began filming at Teddington Studios on 2 April, scheduled to run to 7 May and it began airing on 14 October 2010. Reginald Perrin is a middle-aged project executive for Groomtech, a manufacturer of grooming products, at work, he has to contend with a dim secretary, two fawning but ambitious junior executives, and an overbearing boss, Chris Jackson. Lacking attention from his wife, Nicola, he finds a fantasy distraction in his colleague, the plot of series one roughly parallels the storyline of the original, however the new series diverges when Reggie decides not to fake his own suicide. Reginald Reggie Perrin —Reggie is a man finding it difficult to put up with the monotony of life, a disappointing marriage, a boring office life. The appearance of Jasmine, an attractive new colleague, isnt helping his sanity. Slowly but surely, Reggie is falling to bits and he is now starting to imagine doing things that one shouldnt do in polite society, and the big problem is he is starting to vocalise some of these thoughts. How long will it be before he loses his marriage, his job and has the almost inevitable midlife crisis or, worse still, Nicola Perrin —Nicola is Reggies wife. Unlike the stay-at-home housewife of the original Perrin, Nicola has her own career, as a result, Reggie has become a little besotted with Jasmine from work. In the second series, Nicola has lost her job so is at home bored for a lot of the time and she soon finds a close friend in new next-door neighbour David. William —Reggies ex-army father-in-law, clearly based on Jimmy, the original Perrins brother-in-law and he drops in at the house at the most inappropriate times—for example, when Reggie is attempting to cook a romantic breakfast for Nicola. William wont take Reggies hint to leave alone, and his own hints are hardly subtle
12.
Twinkle (singer)
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Lynn Annette Ripley, better known by the stage name Twinkle, was an English singer-songwriter. She had chart successes in the 1960s with her best known songs, Terry, born in Surbiton, Surrey into a well-to-do family, Ripley was known to her family as Twinkle. She attended Queens Gate School with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and her song Terry was a teenage tragedy song about the death of a boyfriend in a motorcycle crash. The follow-up, Golden Lights, was written by Twinkle. By then Cluskey was her ex-boyfriend, Twinkle dated Peter Noone in 1965, Twinkle made few live appearances but performed Terry at the annual New Musical Express hit concerts. After recording six singles for Decca Records she retired at the age of eighteen in 1966, in 1969 she recorded a self-written single, the Tamla Motown-styled Micky, backed by Darby and Joan, both produced by Mike dAbo for the Immediate label. These remained unreleased until they were included on CD compilations and her later recordings appeared under the name Twinkle Ripley. She recorded a 1975 single, Smoochie with her father, Sidney Ripley as Bill & Coo, in the 1980s Golden Lights was covered by The Smiths and appeared on their compilation albums The World Wont Listen and Louder Than Bombs while in 1983 Cindy & The Saffrons covered Terry. Photographic publicity portraits of Twinkle taken in the mid-1960s are exhibited in the National Portrait Gallery, in 1972, she married actor-model Graham Rogers, who starred in the Milk Tray chocolate adverts. They had two children, Michael and Amber, on 21 May 2015, Twinkle died at 66 on the Isle of Wight, after a five-year battle with cancer
13.
Surrey
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Surrey is a county in the south east of England. It shares borders with Kent to the east, East Sussex to the south-east, West Sussex to the south, Hampshire to the west and south-west, Surrey County Council sits extraterritorially at Kingston upon Thames, administered as part of Greater London since 1965. With a resident population of 1.1 million, Surrey is the most densely populated and third most populated county in the South East region, after Kent, the London boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth, and parts of Lewisham and Bromley were in Surrey until 1889. The boroughs of Croydon, Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Sutton and Richmond upon Thames south of the River Thames were part of Surrey until 1965, when they too were absorbed into Greater London. In the same year, the county was extended north of the Thames by the addition of Spelthorne, due to this expansion, modern Surrey also borders on the London boroughs of Hounslow and Hillingdon. It has the highest GDP per capita of any English county, Surrey is divided in two by the chalk ridge of the North Downs, running east-west. To the north of the Downs the land is mostly flat, the geology of this area is dominated by London Clay in the east, Bagshot Sands in the west and alluvial deposits along the rivers. Much of Surrey is in the Metropolitan Green Belt and it contains a good deal of mature woodland. Among its many notable beauty spots are Box Hill, Leith Hill, Frensham Ponds, Newlands Corner and Puttenham & Crooksbury Commons. Surrey is the most wooded county in England, with 22. 4% coverage compared to an average of 11. 8%. Box Hill has the oldest untouched area of woodland in the UK. Surrey also contains Englands principal concentration of lowland heath, on soils in the west of the county. Agriculture not being intensive, there are many commons and access lands, together with a network of footpaths and bridleways including the North Downs Way. Accordingly, Surrey provides much in the way of leisure activities. The highest elevation in Surrey is Leith Hill near Dorking and it is either 293,294 or 295 metres above sea level and is the second highest point in southeastern England after Walbury Hill 297 metres in West Berkshire. Surrey has a population of approximately 1.1 million people and its largest town is Guildford, with a population of 66,773, Woking comes a close second with 62,796. They are followed by Ewell with 39,994 people and Camberley with 30,155, towns of between 25,000 and 30,000 inhabitants are Ashford, Epsom, Farnham, Staines and Redhill. Guildford is the county town, although the county administration was moved to Newington in 1791
14.
Walton-on-Thames
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Walton-on-Thames /ˈwɔːltən ɒn ˈtɛmz/ is a town on the River Thames in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey. An outlying suburb of London, the town is centred 15.3 miles south west of Charing Cross and is between the towns of Weybridge and Molesey and its waterside has the Thames Path National Trail between Sunbury Lock and Shepperton Lock. Its own localities include Ashley Park and Field Common and its station on the South West Main Line has proven important to its development – its services run with a minimum of one stop before London Waterloo station. The town is divided into four wards and is a hub in terms of retail. The name Walton is Anglo-Saxon in origin and is cognate with the phonetic combination meaning Briton settlement. Before the Romans and the Saxons were present, a Celtic settlement was here, the most common Old English word for the Celtic inhabitants was the Wealas originally meaning foreigners or strangers. Elmbridge Museum requires definitive evidence of these stakes, the evidence at present limited to pre 20th-century secondary sources that conflict as to detail, Walton lay within the Anglo-Saxon quasi-administrative district, Elmbridge hundred in the shire of Surrey. Walton appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Waletona, the settlement was held jointly as overlords in the feudal system by Edward de Sarisber and Richard de Tonbrige. Its Domesday assets were,6 hides,1 church,2 mills worth £1 5s 0d,1 fishery worth 5s,14 ploughs,40 acres of meadow, supporting 50 hogs. On a smaller scale, the majority of Oatlands village which is to the south-west was in the parish until its independence, St. Marys Parish Church has some Saxon material and an architectural structure of the 12th century, with later additions. The square flint tower, supported by a 19th-century brick buttress has a ring of eight bells. Also in the aisle a brass to John Selwyn keeper of Oatlands Park, with figures of himself, his wife. An unusual relic kept in the church is a copy of a scolds bridle presented to the parish in the seventeenth century, the royal palace of Oatlands, built by Henry VIII in 1538, was a mile upstream to the west. John Bradshaw lived in the Tudor manor house in the 17th century and he presided at Charles Is trial. An Inclosure Act 1800 enabled to be enclosed 3,117 acres of the Walton manors which included holdings at Chertsey and 475 acres of common fields. A School Board was formed in 1878, a previously existing school was enlarged in 1881. The infant school was built in 1884, the Methodist Church with a spire taller than the tower of the Anglican Church was built in 1887. The Baptist Church was built in 1901, a now demolished Public Hall, in High Street, was built by Mrs. Sassoon in 1879 who was seated at Ashley Park House at the time
15.
Weybridge
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Weybridge /ˈweɪbrɪdʒ/ is a town by the River Wey in the Elmbridge district of Surrey. It is bounded to the north by the River Thames at the mouth of the Wey and it is an outlying suburban town within the Greater London Urban Area, situated 7 miles northeast of Woking and 16 miles southwest of central London. Real estate prices are well above the average, as of 2008. Within the post town, rather than Weybridges other boundaries is Oatlands or Oatlands Village, Weybridge lay within the Elmbridge hundred. Its domesday assets were,6 hides, 1½ ploughs,32 acres of meadow and it rendered £4 per year to it feudal system overlords. It was much smaller than todays post town, and about one quarter of the size of neighbouring Walton. The earliest monuments on the wall of St Jamess C of E Church are 15th century plaques. When it was demolished in 1650, bricks from its walls helped to line the then new Wey Navigation canal, in 1571 commissioners were appointed to report on the condition of the bridge across the Wey. It was accordingly ordered that a new bridge – a horse-bridge like the last – should be built, wood being used for its construction, the expense was to be borne by the queen, as the land on either side belonged to her. St. Georges Hill was the site of the Diggers Commune in the 1640s, the Duchess is buried in St. Jamess Churchyard. In the 19th century Oatlands broke away from the parish of Walton on Thames to become a village in its own right, influenced by the secondary manor of Weybridge, the forerunner of Oatlands Palace, the post town adopted Oatlands as its only village in the 19th century. The entomologist, Horace Donisthorpe, visited Weybridge Heath to investigate the ant colony, Weybridge grew into a commuter town with the advent of the fast train link into London Waterloo and a lot of new houses have been built around the Oatlands Park and Broadwater Lake area. Weybridge railway station was opened by the London and Southampton Railway in 1838, after the station was opened, development of what was until then only a village began and gradually Weybridge became a town. Large houses were built on St Georges Hill from 1911 by local builder and developer Walter George Tarrant of Byfleet, in Weybridge Heath, many rare species of insects, rare birds and insectivorous plant have been recorded. The heath was allowed to become overgrown in recent years. Weybridge is the British headquarters of Alliance Boots, CHEP UK, Sony Corporation, Procter & Gamble, JTI, Abbey Business Centres also have a presence in the town. Eurotax Glass, owners and publishers of Glasss Guide, pricing bible to the motor industry, in addition, retailing also forms part of the local economy, and a range of retailers are represented in the town centre. In H. G. Wells classic novel The War of the Worlds, the title of chapter 12 of the book is, What I saw of the destruction of Weybridge and Shepperton
16.
Esher
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Esher /ˈiːʃər/ is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an suburb of London, and with Esher Commons at its southern end. Esher has a commercial high street and is otherwise suburban in density, with varying elevations, few high rise buildings. Esher covers an area, between 13 and 15.4 miles southwest of Charing Cross. In the south it is bounded by the A3 Portsmouth Road which is of motorway standard. Esher is bisected by the A307, historically the Portsmouth Road, Esher railway station connects the town to London Waterloo. Sandown Park Racecourse is in the town near the station, in the south, Claremont Landscape Garden owned and managed by the National Trust, once belonged, as their British home, to Princess Charlotte and her husband Leopold I of Belgium. Accordingly, the town was selected to have a fountain by Queen Victoria and has an adjacent Diamond Jubilee column embossed with a relief of the monarch and topped by a statue of Britannia. Unite, the union, trains representatives at its Esher Place centre, Esher lay within the Saxon feudal division of Elmbridge hundred. Its domesday assets were,14 hides,6 ploughs and 2 acres of meadow and it rendered £6 2s 0d per year to its feudal overlords. In the 16th century King Henry VIII annexed several of the manors to the Honour of Hampton Court to form a hunting ground. Eshers town slowly grew as a stop on the London–Portsmouth road that was later numbered the A3. Clive of India built the Claremont mansion and this became a royal residence used by Queen Victoria. In 1841 Esher had 1261 inhabitants across 2,075 acres, Queen Victoria lent Claremont to the exiled French King Louis-Philippe and his consort Queen Marie-Amelie after the revolution of 1848. C. M. G. Who was later created 1st Viscount DAbernon, george Harrison of the Beatles had a house in Esher, during the 1960s. The other Beatles were regular visitors to the house, and Harrisons primitive home recording studio, Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees also owned a house called The Firs in Esher, during 1970s-2004 and sold after his death. This is where the hit single Juliet was written and recorded by Maurice & Robin for brother Robins solo album project in the 1980s. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, placed the murder of character, Mr. Garcia, in and around Esher in his Sherlock Holmes mystery
17.
Cobham, Surrey
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Cobham is a village in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, centred 17 miles south-west of London and 10 miles northeast of Guildford on the River Mole. It has a commercial/services High Street, a significant number of primary and private schools, Cobham is an ancient settlement whose origins can be traced back on the ground through Roman times to the Iron Age. It lay within the Elmbridge hundred, Cobham appears in Domesday Book as Covenham and was held by Chertsey Abbey. Its domesday assets were, 12½ hides,3 mills worth 13s 4d,10 ploughs,1 alike unit of meadow and it rendered altogether £14 per year to its feudal system overlords. Coveham or Covenham is thought to mean a settlement in the curve of a river, historically, Cobham other than outlying farms comprised two developed areas, Street Cobham and Church Cobham. The former lay on the Portsmouth-London Road, and the now known as the Cobham Exchange was once a coaching inn. The latter grew up around St. Andrews Church, which dates from the 12th century, although much altered and extended in the 19th century, the church preserves a Norman tower and is a Grade I listed building. The villages population was reported as 1617 inhabitants in 1848, the arrival of the railway in the 1880s led to the expansion of the original village, the eastern fields and southern areas towards the railway station becoming suburbanised during the 20th century. Subsequently the High Street has developed into a shopping centre. Out-of-fashion sole/family traders such as greengrocers, butchers and haberdashers have disappeared, unit occupancy is high and units include supermarkets, coffee shops/bistros/restaurants, hair/beauty/fitness shops, boutiques, handcrafted goods shops and offices. Cobham is 2.5 miles from Brooklands and played host to associated and its own aviation, leading motor engineer and car designers Reid Railton and Noel Macklin set up a manufacturing facility, building Railton road cars at the Fairmile Works from 1933 to 1940. An example is displayed at Brooklands Museum in the same borough, vickers had numerous other wartime dispersed depots locally and those within the boundaries or whose nearest village was Cobham included Corbie Wood and Riseholme, Conway Cottage and Norwood Farm. Despite its proximity to Brooklands and Wisley airfields, Cobham saw relatively few aircraft crashes, from 1972 to 2011 Cobham Bus Museum occupied an ex-aircraft hangar next to Silvermere golf course in Redhill Road. The bus museum reopened as the London bus museum at Brooklands Museum on 1 August 2011, the former premises have been replaced by a care home. Soil The village and its hamlets or neighbourhoods of Downside and Fairmile are on slowly permeable, seasonally wet, slightly acid but base-rich loamy and clayey soil. The longstanding built-up areas resemble the adjacent fertile east banks of the Mole such as at landscape garden Painshill Park on free-draining gravel topped with layers of alluvium. This contrasts with the steep west bank, acidic sandy heath and this can flood small, old parts of the village centre in extreme rainfall. Elevation reaches a minimum here of 20 metres above sea level, demography Cobham has two wards, the Cobham Fairmile ward has a population of 4,760 neighbouring Cobham and Downside has a population of 6,158
18.
Protestantism
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Protestantism is a form of Christianity which originated with the Reformation, a movement against what its followers considered to be errors in the Roman Catholic Church. It is one of the three divisions of Christendom, together with Roman Catholicism and Orthodoxy. The term derives from the letter of protestation from German Lutheran princes in 1529 against an edict of the Diet of Speyer condemning the teachings of Martin Luther as heretical. Although there were earlier breaks from or attempts to reform the Roman Catholic Church—notably by Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, Protestants reject the notion of papal supremacy and deny the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, but disagree among themselves regarding the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The Five solae summarize the reformers basic differences in theological beliefs, in the 16th century, Lutheranism spread from Germany into Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltic states, and Iceland. Reformed churches were founded in Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Scotland, Switzerland and France by such reformers as John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli, the political separation of the Church of England from Rome under King Henry VIII brought England and Wales into this broad Reformation movement. Protestants developed their own culture, which made major contributions in education, the humanities and sciences, the political and social order, the economy and the arts, some Protestant denominations do have a worldwide scope and distribution of membership, while others are confined to a single country. A majority of Protestants are members of a handful of families, Adventism, Anglicanism, Baptist churches, Reformed churches, Lutheranism, Methodism. Nondenominational, evangelical, charismatic, independent and other churches are on the rise, and constitute a significant part of Protestant Christianity. Six princes of the Holy Roman Empire and rulers of fourteen Imperial Free Cities, the edict reversed concessions made to the Lutherans with the approval of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V three years earlier. During the Reformation, the term was used outside of the German politics. The word evangelical, which refers to the gospel, was more widely used for those involved in the religious movement. Nowadays, this word is still preferred among some of the historical Protestant denominations in the Lutheran and Calvinist traditions in Europe, above all the term is used by Protestant bodies in the German-speaking area, such as the EKD. In continental Europe, an Evangelical is either a Lutheran or a Calvinist, the German word evangelisch means Protestant, and is different from the German evangelikal, which refers to churches shaped by Evangelicalism. The English word evangelical usually refers to Evangelical Protestant churches, and it traces its roots back to the Puritans in England, where Evangelicalism originated, and then was brought to the United States. Protestantism as a term is now used in contradistinction to the other major Christian traditions, i. e. Roman Catholicism. Initially, Protestant became a term to mean any adherent to the Reformation movement in Germany and was taken up by Lutherans. Even though Martin Luther himself insisted on Christian or Evangelical as the only acceptable names for individuals who professed Christ, French and Swiss Protestants preferred the word reformed, which became a popular, neutral and alternative name for Calvinists
19.
Catholic school
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Catholic schools are parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. As of 2011, the Church operates the worlds largest non-governmental school system, in 2016, the church supported 43,800 secondary schools, and 95,200 primary schools. Catholic schools participate in the mission of the Church, integrating religious education as the core subject within their curriculum. Irish immigration provides the main contribution to the increases in Catholic communities across the globe, the Irish immigration established the revival of Catholicism through movement to countries across Europe, United Kingdom and Australia. Historically, the establishment of Catholic schools in Europe encountered various struggles following the creation of the Church of England in the Elizabethan Religious settlements of 1558-63, anti-Catholicism in this period encouraged Catholics to create modern Catholic education systems to preserve their traditions. The Relief Acts of 1782 and the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829 later increased the possibility to openly practice Catholicism in England and this led to the development of numerous native religious congregations which established schools, hospitals, orphanages, reformatories, and workhouses. Traditionally, Catholic schools originated as single sex schools, Catholic schools were previously required to depend on school fees and endowments. Endowments dropped off sharply causing fees to rise and this prevented some students from enrolling due to their inability to pay. Catholic schools are distinct from their public school counterparts in focusing on the development of individuals as practitioners of the Catholic faith, the leaders, teachers and students are required to focus on four fundamental rules initiated by the Church and school. This includes the Catholic identity of the school, education in regards to life and faith, celebration of life and faith, however, non-Catholics, whether Christian or not, may need to participate in or be exempted from required activities, particularly those of a religious nature. These are in keeping with the spirit of social inclusiveness. ”The education also involves, “the distinct but complementary aspect of the religious dimension of liturgical and prayer life of the school community. ”In Catholic schools. Both teacher and Bishop therefore, contribute to the planning and teaching Religious Education Lessons, Catholic schools in Malaysia have been the backbone of formal education in the country. Catholic schools have many changes since independence in the late 50s. The education policy in Malaysia is very centralized, in 1988, all Catholic religious brothers older than 55 were asked to retire with immediate effect, creating vacancies for lay teachers to take over. Any new brother wanting to join the profession in Malaysia have to be in the civil service. Many of the Lasallian traditions such as inter-La Salle games or sports are now integrated into other government funded programmes. With Islam being the religion, compulsory or elective Bible lessons today are limited only to those of the Catholic faith. The missionaries who opened schools in Malaysia gave a solid education framework, today, there are 68 Sisters of the Infant Jesus,11 Parish Convents and 46 La Salle Brothers schools in the country
20.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
21.
Home counties
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The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties generally included in the list are Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey, the origin of the term home counties is unknown and no exact definition exists, making their composition a matter of constant debate. The earliest use of the term cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1695, the term is sometimes understood to mean those counties which, on their borders closest to London, have been partly subsumed into London. Indeed, the county of Middlesex has been almost wholly within London since 1965 as have parts of Hertfordshire and Surrey. The third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary defines the term as the English counties surrounding London and they comprise chiefly Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Hertfordshire. Parts of all of historic counties are, since 1965, officially within London. An additional theory is that the derived from the Home Circuit of the courts of Assize which contained Hertfordshire, Essex, Kent, Sussex. The Home counties were described by one 1987 reference book as being inhabited on the whole by nice, comfortable, in fiction, Margo and Jerry Leadbetter of the television sitcom The Good Life, set in Surbiton, represent a typical home counties suburban couple. The home counties as a whole are more prosperous than other parts of the United Kingdom. The towns of Amersham, Gerrards Cross and Beaconsfield, all in Buckinghamshire, were ranked as the top three most expensive in the country in one 2008 survey of average house prices. The area is so large, however, that it includes a number of areas of deprivation such as Margate, Hastings. Multiple definitions of the term have been used in legislation and by official bodies, in the twentieth century, for instance, as follows,1908, The Home Counties Division of the Territorial Force comprised units recruiting in Middlesex, Kent, Surrey and Sussex. 1920, The London and Home Counties Electricity District consisted of the counties of London and Middlesex,1924, The London and Home Counties Traffic Advisory Committee, covering the London Traffic Area, London, Middlesex, and parts of Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey. 1926, The Home Counties Licensing Act regulated activities in all parts of Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent,1938, Green Belt Act limited development in parts of Middlesex, Kent, Buckinghamshire, Surrey, Essex, Berkshire and Hertfordshire. 1948, The Home Counties Brigade was formed to administer the regiments of the City and County of London, Kent, Middlesex, Surrey. London commuter belt Metro-land The Association of British Counties
22.
GCE Advanced Level
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A number of countries, including Singapore, Kenya, Mauritius and Zimbabwe have developed qualifications with the same name as and a similar format to the British A Levels. Obtaining A Level or equivalent qualifications is generally required for university entrance, a Levels are generally worked towards over two years and split into two parts, with one part studied in each year. The first part is known as the Advanced Subsidiary Level, A1 Level or AS Level, the second part is known as the A2 Level and is more in depth and academically rigorous than the A1 Level. Up to June 2009 a third Special/Advanced Extension Award level was available for the brightest candidates, a number of countries use A Levels as a school-leaving qualification. The A Levels taken by students in some countries often differ significantly from the A Levels taken in the United Kingdom, a Levels are the secondary school leaving qualification offered in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. These are not compulsory, unlike GCSEs, in Scotland, A Levels are also offered by selected schools as an alternative school-leaving qualification in place of the Scottish Advanced Higher. The British variant of A/AS levels are taken in many Commonwealth and former Commonwealth countries. British international schools in foreign countries generally offer the British A Levels as offered through Edexcel or Cambridge International Examinations, at select examination centres, the British A Level exams may also be available to private candidates. A-level has become a choice for a number of students in Nepal. A-levels offered in Pakistan by non-governmental, private institutions, along with International Baccalaureate, Examinations are handled by international British boards and the program is equivalent to Higher Secondary School Certificate. Academies are established all around the country which prepare the students to take the examinations as a private candidate, in Brunei, the A Level qualification is offered, with examinations conducted by Cambridge International Examinations. Some subjects are unique to Brunei or have a format, curriculum, in Malaysia, the A Level qualification is offered, with examinations conducted by Cambridge International Examinations. Some subjects are unique to Malaysia or have a format, curriculum, for instance, there are two types of A Level in Malaysia, Cambridge A Level and Edexcel International Advanced Level. A number of papers for offered, such as French, are customised to support the national educational standards. Additionally, International A Level qualifications from Edexcel are available, for which exams may be registered through the Mauritius Examinations Syndicate, in Seychelles, the A Level qualification is offered, with examinations conducted by Cambridge International Examinations. Some subjects are unique to Seychelles or have a format, curriculum, in Sri Lanka, A Level is offered by governmental and non governmental schools. The qualifications are awarded upon completion of examinations called Local A Levels while most of the private schools award them upon London A Levels. Local GCE Advanced Level qualification is offered by the Department of Examinations, passing A Levels is the major requirement for applying local universities
23.
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
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The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the worlds largest arts festival, which in 2016, spanned 25 days and featured 50,266 performances of 3,269 shows in 294 venues. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place annually in Edinburgh, Scotlands capital and it is an open access performing arts festival, meaning there is no selection committee, and anyone may participate, with any type of performance. The Fringe has often showcased experimental, challenging or controversial works that might not be invited to a more conservative arts festival, the Fringe board of directors is drawn from members of the Festival Fringe Society, who are often Fringe participants themselves – performers or administrators. Elections are held once a year, in August, and Board members serve a term of four years, the Board appoints the Fringe Chief Executive, who is currently Shona McCarthy and assumed the role in March 2016. The Chief Executive operates under the chair, currently Professor Sir Timothy OShea, the Fringe started life when eight theatre companies turned up uninvited to the inaugural Edinburgh International Festival in 1947. With the official festival using the major venues, these companies took over smaller. Seven performed in Edinburgh, and one undertook a version of the morality play Everyman in Dunfermline Abbey, about 20 miles north. These groups aimed to take advantage of the large assembled theatre crowds to showcase their own alternative theatre, although at the time it was not recognised as such, this was the first Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This meant that two defining features of the future Fringe were established at the very beginning – the lack of invitations to perform. I am afraid some of us are not going to be at home during the evenings. The word fringe had in fact used in a review of Everyman in 1947. Late night revues, which would become a feature of Fringes, the first one was the New Drama Groups After The Show, a series of sketches taking place after Donald Pleasences Ebb Tide, in 1952. Among the talent to appear in early Fringe revues were Ned Sherrin in 1955, due to many reviewers only being able to attend Fringe events late night after the official festival was finished, the Fringe came to be seen as being about revues. It was a few years before an official programme for the Fringe was created. John Menzies compiled a list of shows under the title Other Events in their omnibus festival brochure and this was funded by participating companies and was entitled Additional Entertainments, since the name Fringe was still not yet in regular usage. It also used a strange cover motif, a first attempt was made to provide a central booking service in 1955 by students from the university, although it lost money, which was blamed on those who had not taken part. Formal organisation progressed in 1959, with the formation of the Festival Fringe Society, the push for such an organisation was led by Michael Imison, director of Oxford Theatre Group. A constitution was drawn up, in which the policy of not vetting or censoring shows was set out, nineteen companies participated in the Fringe in that year
24.
Bertolt Brecht
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Eugen Bertolt Friedrich Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director of the 20th century. Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht was born in February 1898 in Augsburg, Bavaria, Brechts mother was a devout Protestant and his father a Catholic. The modest house where he was born is preserved as a Brecht Museum. His father worked for a mill, becoming its managing director in 1914. Thanks to his mothers influence, Brecht knew the Bible, a familiarity that would have an effect on his writing. From her, too, came the image of the self-denying woman that recurs in his drama. Brechts home life was comfortably middle class, despite what his occasional attempt to claim peasant origins implied, at school in Augsburg he met Caspar Neher, with whom he formed a lifelong creative partnership. Neher designed many of the sets for Brechts dramas and helped to forge the distinctive visual iconography of their epic theatre, when Brecht was 16, the First World War broke out. Initially enthusiastic, Brecht soon changed his mind on seeing his classmates swallowed by the army and his expulsion was only prevented through the intervention of his religion teacher. On his fathers recommendation, Brecht sought a loophole by registering for a course at Munich University. There he studied drama with Arthur Kutscher, who inspired in the young Brecht an admiration for the iconoclastic dramatist, from July 1916, Brechts newspaper articles began appearing under the new name Bert Brecht. Brecht was drafted into service in the autumn of 1918, only to be posted back to Augsburg as a medical orderly in a military VD clinic. In July 1919, Brecht and Paula Banholzer had a son, some time in either 1920 or 1921, Brecht took a small part in the political cabaret of the Munich comedian Karl Valentin. Brechts diaries for the few years record numerous visits to see Valentin perform. Brecht compared Valentin to Charlie Chaplin, for his virtually complete rejection of mimicry and he did short sketches in which he played refractory employees, orchestral musicians or photographers, who hated their employers and made them look ridiculous. The employer was played by his partner, Liesl Karlstadt, a popular woman comedian who used to pad herself out, anyone can be creative, he quipped, its rewriting other people thats a challenge. Brecht completed his second play, Drums in the Night. Between November 1921 and April 1922 Brecht made acquaintance with many people in the Berlin cultural scene
25.
Streatham
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Streatham is a district in south London, England, mostly in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is centred 5 miles south of Charing Cross, the area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Streatham means the hamlet on the street, the street in question, the London to Brighton Way, was the Roman road from the capital Londinium to the south coast near Portslade, today within Brighton and Hove. It is likely that the destination was a Roman port now lost to coastal erosion, the road is confusingly referred to as Stane Street in some sources and diverges from the main London-Chichester road at Kennington. After the departure of the Romans, the road through Streatham remained an important trackway. From the 17th century it was adopted as the coach road to Croydon and East Grinstead. In 1780 it then became the route of the road from London to Brighton. This road have shaped Streathams development, Streathams first parish church, St Leonards, was founded in Saxon times but an early Tudor tower remains is the only structure pre-1831 which the church has as it was rebuilt. The mediaeval parish covered an area by including Balham and Tooting Bec. Streatham Cemetery on Garratt Lane on the borders of Wimbledon is one of the few remaining indications of how far west Streatham once extended, Streatham appears in Domesday Book of 1086 as Estreham. It was held by Bec-Hellouin Abbey from Richard de Tonbrige and its domesday assets were,2 hides,1 virgate and 6½ ploughlands of cultivated land and 4 acres of meadow and herbage. Annually it was assessed to render £4 5s 0d to its overlords, the village remained largely unchanged until the 18th century, when the villages natural springs, known as Streatham Wells, were first celebrated for their health-giving properties. The reputation of the spa, and improved roads, attracted wealthy City of London merchants. These roads are considered an important part of what remains of the historic Streatham Village as they found little or no influence from the growth of metropolitan London. Wellfield Road, which had previously known as Leigham Lane, was renamed to reflect its role as the main route from the village centre to one of the well locations. Another mineral well was located on the side of Streatham Common. In the 1730s, Streatham Park, a Georgian country mansion, was built by the brewer Ralph Thrale on land he bought from the Lord of the Manor - the fourth Duke of Bedford, the dining room contained 12 portraits of Henrys guests painted by his friend Joshua Reynolds. These pictures were wittily labelled by Fanny Burney as the Streatham Worthies, Streatham Park was later leased to Prime Minister Lord Shelburne, and was the venue for early negotiations with France that lead to the Peace Treaty of 1783
26.
Kensington High Street
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Kensington High Street is the main shopping street in Kensington, London. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London, Kensington High Street is the continuation of Kensington Road and part of the A315. It starts by the entrance to Kensington Palace and runs westward through central Kensington, near Kensington station, where the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea ends and London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham begins, it ends and becomes Hammersmith Road. The street is served by High Street Kensington underground station, Kensington High Street is one of western Londons most popular shopping streets, with upmarket shops serving a wealthy area. From the late 19th century until the mid-1970s the street had three classic department stores, Barkers of Kensington, Derry & Toms and Pontings, Barkers bought Pontings in 1906 and Derry & Toms in 1920, but continued to run all three as separate entities. In a big building project started in 1930 and was not complete until 1958. In 1957 House of Fraser bought the Barkers Group and started to dismantle it, Pontings was closed in 1971, Derry & Toms in 1973, and a much condensed Barkers was allowed to continue until January 2006, when the 135-year-old department store was closed for good. Part of the Barker premises has now taken over by American Whole Foods Market. The rest was added to existing office space used by the headquarters of Associated Newspapers, Kensington High Street was also the site of Biba in the 1960s and early 1970s. When Derry & Toms closed, the store took the building. But the 1970s recession, coupled with business ideas, killed Biba in 1975. The Derry & Toms roof gardens still remain, now known as the Kensington Roof Gardens, Kensington High Streets future as a shopping street has been threatened by the large Westfield London, which opened a short distance away in Shepherds Bush in late 2008. However, these factors may be offset to some extent - or even outweighed - by recent changes to the road layout, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea decided to experiment with the concept of shared space, which deputy leader Daniel Moylan had studied abroad. Railings and pedestrian crossings were removed, thereby enabling pedestrians to cross the street wherever they choose, bicycle racks were placed on the central reservation. The effect over two years was a cut in accidents, down 44% against a London average of 17%. The only Bristol Cars dealership in all of the UK is located on this street as well. Kensington High Street is served by bus routes 9,10,27,28,49,52,70,328,452, C1, night routes N9, N28, N31, N52 and Greenline routes 701 and 702. It is also served by High Street Kensington tube station, on the Circle and District lines
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Oxford Street
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Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Marble Arch to Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It is Europes busiest shopping street, with half a million daily visitors. It is designated as part of the A40, a road between London and Fishguard, though it is not signed as such, and traffic is regularly restricted to buses. The road was originally a Roman road, part of the Via Trinobantina between Essex and Hampshire via London and it was known as Tyburn Road through the Middle Ages and was once notorious as a street where prisoners from Newgate Prison would be transported towards a public hanging. The first department stores in Britain opened on Oxford Street in the early 20th century, including Selfridges, John Lewis, unlike nearby shopping streets such as Bond Street, it has retained an element of downmarket street trading alongside more prestigious retail stores. The street suffered heavy bombing during World War II, and several longstanding stores including John Lewis were completely destroyed, the annual switching on of Christmas lights by a celebrity has been a popular event since 1959. However, the combination of a popular retail area and a main thoroughfare for London buses and taxis has caused significant problems with traffic congestion, safety. Various traffic management schemes have proposed by Transport for London, including a ban on private vehicles during daytime hours on weekdays and Saturdays. Oxford Street runs for approximately 1.2 miles, the eastward continuation is New Oxford Street, and then Holborn. The road is entirely within the City of Westminster and it is within the London Congestion Charging Zone. Numerous bus routes run along Oxford Street, including 10,25,55,73,98,390 and Night Buses N8, N55, N73, N98 and N207. Oxford Street follows the route of a Roman road, the Via Trinobantina, between the 12th century and 1782, it was variously known as Tyburn Road, Uxbridge Road, Worcester Road and Oxford Road. Despite being a major coaching route, there were several obstacles along it, a turnpike trust was established in the 1730s to improve upkeep of the road. It became notorious as the route taken by prisoners on their journey from Newgate Prison to the gallows at Tyburn near Marble Arch. Spectators drunkenly jeered at prisoners as they carted along the road, by about 1729, the road had become known as Oxford Street. The street began to be redeveloped in the 18th century after many of the fields were purchased by the Earl of Oxford. In 1739, local gardener Thomas Huddle began to build property on the north side, John Rocques Map of London, published in 1746, shows urban buildings as far as North Audley Street, but only intermittent rural property thereafter. Buildings began to be erected on the corner of Oxford Street, further development along the street occurred between 1763 and 1793
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Liverpool Playhouse
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The Liverpool Playhouse is a theatre in Williamson Square in the city of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It originated in 1866 as a hall, and in 1911 developed into a repertory theatre. As such it nurtured the careers of many actors and actresses. Architectural changes have made to the building over the years. In 1999 a trust was formed, joining the management of the Playhouse with that of the Everyman Theatre, the present theatre on the site was designed by Edward Davies, and opened in 1866. It replaced a theatre called the Star Concert Hall. The present theatre was named the Star Music Hall. In 1895 its name was changed to the Star Theatre of Varieties, the theatre was improved in 1898 by Harry Percival with a new auditorium and foyer, and electricity was installed. In 1911 the Liverpool Repertory Theatre Limited was established, with Basil Dean as its controller and producer, the company could not afford to build a new theatre, and bought the Star Theatre for £28,000 equivalent to £2,570,000 in 2015). This made it the first repertory in Britain to own the freehold of a theatre, the company spent a further £4,000 on redesigning and modernising the theatre. The auditorium and the basement foyer were redesigned by Stanley Adshead, the theatre was for many years managed by Maud Carpenter. The theatre was renamed the Liverpool Repertory Theatre, and in 1916 renamed again, minor structural alterations were made to the theatre in 1961 and in 1966. In 1968 a modern-style extension was added to the north of the theatre to accommodate new foyers, bars, dressing rooms, in the 1990s the theatre company went into liquidation. In 1999 the Liverpool and Merseyside Theatres Trust Limited was established as a charity, and it is managed jointly with the Everyman Theatre by Liverpool City Council. As a repertory company, the theatre has been involved in the careers of actors, noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence worked with the company as child actors. Other artistes who gained experience at the theatre include Robert Donat, Lilian Braithwaite, Cecil Parker, John Gregson, Clive Brook, aubrey Smith, Richard Burton, Michael Redgrave, Diana Wynyard, Rex Harrison, Patricia Routledge, Anthony Hopkins, and Richard Briers. The exterior of the part of the theatre is stuccoed. Its entrance front faces Williamson Square and it has seven bays and is in three storeys
29.
Royal Exchange, Manchester
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The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on the bounded by St Anns Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street. The complex includes the Royal Exchange Theatre and the Royal Exchange Shopping Centre, the Royal Exchange was heavily damaged in the Manchester Blitz and in the 1996 Manchester bombing. The current building is the last of several buildings on the used for commodities exchange, primarily but not exclusively of cotton. The first exchange opened in 1729 but closed by the end of the century, as the cotton industry boomed, the need for a new exchange was recognised. Thomas Harrison designed the new exchange of 1809 at the junction of Market Street, Harrison designed the exchange in the Classical style. It had two storeys above a basement and was constructed in Runcorn stone, the cost, £20,000, was paid for in advance by 400 members who bought £50 shares and paid £30 each to buy the site. The semi-circular north façade had fluted Doric columns, the exchange room where business was conducted covered 812 square yards. The ground floor contained the members library with more than 15,000 books. The basement housed a newsroom lit by a dome and plate glass windows, the first-floor dining-room was accessed by a geometrical staircase. The exchange opened to celebrate of the birthday of George III in 1809 and it also contained other anterooms and offices. As the cotton trade continued to expand, larger premises were required, the second exchange was replaced by a third designed by Mills & Murgatroyd, constructed between 1867 and 1874. It was extended and modified by Bradshaw Gass & Hope between 1914 and 1931 to form the largest trading hall in England, the trading hall had three domes and was double the size of the current hall. The colonnade parallel to Cross Street marked the its centre, on trading days merchants and brokers struck deals which supported the jobs of tens of thousands of textile workers in Manchester and the surrounding towns. Manchesters cotton dealers and manufacturers trading from the Royal Exchange earned the city the name, the exchange was seriously damaged during World War II when it took a direct hit from a bomb during a German air raid in the Manchester Blitz at Christmas in 1940. Its interior was rebuilt with a trading area. The top stages of the tower, which had been destroyed, were replaced in a simpler form. Trading ceased in 1968, and the building was threatened with demolition, the building remained empty until 1973 when it was used to house a theatre company
30.
Medea (play)
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Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. Medea takes vengeance on Jason by killing Jasons new wife as well as her own children, considered shocking to Euripides contemporaries, Medea and the suite of plays that it accompanied in the City Dionysia festival came last in the festival that year. The play has remained the most frequently performed Greek tragedy through the 20th century, Medea was first performed in 431 BC at the City Dionysia festival. Here every year three playwrights competed against each other, each writing a tetralogy of three tragedies and a satyr play, in 431 the competition was among Euphorion, Sophocles and Euripides. Euphorion won, and Euripides placed last, the form of the play differs from many other Greek tragedies by its simplicity, All scenes involve only two actors, Medea and someone else. These encounters serve to highlight Medeas skill and determination in manipulating powerful male figures to achieve her own ends, Medea is centered on a wife’s calculated desire for revenge against her unfaithful husband. The play is set in Corinth some time after Jasons quest for the Golden Fleece, the play begins with Medea raging at Jason for arranging to marry Glauce, the daughter of Creon. The nurse, overhearing Medea’s grief, fears what she might do to herself or her children, Creon, in anticipation of Medea’s wrath, arrives and reveals his plans to send her into exile. Medea pleads for one day’s delay and eventually Creon acquiesces, in the next scene Jason arrives to explain his rationale for his apparent betrayal. He explains that he pass up the opportunity to marry a royal princess, as Medea is only a barbarian woman. Medea, and the chorus of Corinthian women, do not believe him and she reminds him that she left her own people for him, and that she saved him and slew the dragon. Jason promises to support her after his new marriage, but Medea spurns him, Marry the maid if thou wilt, in the following scene Medea encounters Aegeus, King of Athens. He reveals to her that despite his marriage to his wife he is still without children. He visited the oracle who told him that he was instructed “not to unstop the wineskin’s neck. ”Medea relays her current situation to him. Aegeus, unaware of Medea’s plans for revenge, agrees, Medea then returns to plotting the murders of Glauce and Creon. She decides to poison some golden robes and a coronet, in hopes that the bride will not be able to resist wearing them, and consequently be poisoned. Medea resolves to kill her own children as well, not because the children have done anything wrong and she calls for Jason once more and, in an elaborate ruse, apologizes to him for overreacting to his decision to marry Glauce. When Jason appears fully convinced that she regrets her actions, Medea begins to cry in mourning of her exile and she convinces Jason to allow her to give the robes to Glauce in hopes that Glauce might get Creon to lift the exile
31.
Kenneth Branagh
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Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh is a Northern Irish actor, director, producer, and screenwriter originally from Belfast. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and he has directed or starred in several film adaptations of William Shakespeares plays, including Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Hamlet, Loves Labours Lost, and As You Like It. He also narrated the BBC documentary miniseries Walking with Dinosaurs, Walking with Beasts, Branagh has been nominated for five Academy Awards, five Golden Globes, and has won three BAFTAs, and an Emmy. He was appointed a knight bachelor in the 2012 Birthday Honours and was knighted on 9 November 2012, at the age of nine, he moved with his family to Reading, Berkshire, to escape the Troubles. He was educated at Grove Primary School, Whiteknights Primary School, then Meadway School, Tilehurst, at school, he acquired Received Pronunciation to avoid bullying. On his identity today he has said, I feel Irish, I dont think you can take Belfast out of the boy, and he attributes his love of words to his Irish heritage. He is known to have attended the Reading Cine & Video Society as a member and was a member of Progress Theatre for whom he is now the patron. Branagh went on to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, Branagh was part of the new wave’ of actors to emerge from the Academy. Others included Jonathan Pryce, Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Anton Lesser, Bruce Payne, in 1984 he appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of Henry V, directed by Adrian Noble. The production played to full houses, especially at the Barbican in London and it was this production that he adapted for the film version of the play in 1989. This Twelfth Night was later adapted for television, on the negative side, he has not got the magnetism of Olivier, nor the mellifluous voice quality of Gielgud nor the intelligence of Guinness. A year later in 1989 Branagh co-starred with Emma Thompson in the Renaissance revival of Look Back in Anger, Judi Dench directed both the theatre and television productions, presented first in Belfast then at the London Coliseum and Lyric Theatre. In 2002, Branagh starred at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield as Richard III, in 2003 he starred in the Royal National Theatres production of David Mamets Edmond. Branagh directed The Play What I Wrote in England in 2001, from September to November 2008, Branagh appeared at Wyndhams Theatre as the title character in the Donmar West End revival of Anton Chekhovs Ivanov in a new version by Tom Stoppard. His performance was lauded as the performance of the year by several critics and it won him the Critics Circle Theatre Award for Best Male Performance but did not get him a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, to the surprise of critics. In July 2013 he co-directed Macbeth at Manchester International Festival with Rob Ashford, with Branagh in the title role, Alex Kingston played Lady Macbeth and Ray Fearon featured as Macduff. The final performance of the sold out run, was broadcast to cinemas on 20 July as part of National Theatre Live. He repeated his performance and directorial duties opposite Ashford and Kingston when the production moved to New York Citys Park Avenue Armory in June 2014, the production marked his New York stage debut
32.
Robert De Niro
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Robert Anthony De Niro is an American actor, producer and director who has both Italian and American citizenship. He was cast as the young Vito Corleone in the 1974 film The Godfather Part II and his longtime collaboration with director Martin Scorsese earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Jake La Motta in the 1980 film Raging Bull. He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2003, the Golden Globe Cecil B, deMille Award in 2010, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016. De Niros first major roles were in the sports drama, Bang the Drum Slowly. He earned Academy Award nominations for the psychological thrillers Taxi Driver and Cape Fear, De Niro received additional nominations for Michael Ciminos Vietnam war drama, The Deer Hunter, Penny Marshalls drama Awakenings, and David O. Russells romantic comedy-drama, Silver Linings Playbook. His portrayal of gangster Jimmy Conway in Scorseses crime film, Goodfellas, other notable performances include roles in Once Upon a Time in America, Brazil, The Untouchables, Heat, and Casino. He has directed and starred in such as the crime drama A Bronx Tale. Robert Anthony De Niro was born in the Greenwich Village area of Manhattan, New York, the son of Virginia Admiral and Robert De Niro Sr. Both of his parents were painters, his father was of half Italian and half Irish descent, while his mother was of half German ancestry, with her other roots being French, English and Dutch. De Niros parents, who had met at the classes of Hans Hofmann in Provincetown, Massachusetts. De Niro was raised by his mother in the Greenwich Village and his father lived within walking distance and De Niro spent much time with him as he grew up. His mother was raised Presbyterian but became an atheist as an adult, against his parents wishes, his grandparents had him secretly baptized into the Catholic Church while he was staying with them during his parents divorce. De Niro attended PS41, an elementary school in Manhattan. He then went to Elisabeth Irwin High School, the upper school of the Little Red School House. He was accepted into the High School of Music and Art for the ninth grade, De Niro began high school at the private McBurney School and later attended the private Rhodes Preparatory School, although he never graduated from either. Nicknamed Bobby Milk for his pallor, De Niro hung out with a group of kids as a youth in Little Italy. The direction of his future had already been foreshadowed by his debut at age 10. Along with finding relief from shyness through performing, he was also fixated by cinema and he studied acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory, as well as Lee Strasbergs Actors Studio
33.
Morgue
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A morgue or mortuary is used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification or removal for autopsy or disposal by burial, cremation or other method. In modern times corpses have customarily been refrigerated to delay decomposition, the facilities contain 20-40 feet long containers where the bodies are refrigerated, but each of these cost a considerable amount of fuel to run and only have so much space to accommodate the body. Mortuary early 14c. of mori to die, meaning place where bodies are kept temporarily first recorded 1865, a euphemism for earlier English term deadhouse. Morgue from the French morgue, which means to look at solemnly, morgue is predominantly used in North American English, while mortuary is more common in British English, although both terms are used interchangeably. The euphemisms “Rose Cottage” and “Rainbow’s End” are sometimes used in British hospitals to enable discussion in front of patients, a person responsible for handling and washing bodies is now known as a diener, morgue attendant, or autopsy technician. There are two types of mortuary cold chambers, Positive temperature Bodies are kept between 2 °C and 4 °C, while this is usually used for keeping bodies for up to several weeks, it does not prevent decomposition, which continues at a slower rate than at room temperature. Negative temperature Bodies are kept at between −10 °C and −50 °C, usually used at forensic institutes, particularly when a body has not been identified. At these temperatures the body is frozen and decomposition is very much reduced. In some countries, the body of the deceased is embalmed before disposal, which makes refrigeration unnecessary. In many countries, the family of the deceased must make the burial within 72 hours of death and this is why some corpses are kept as long as one or two years at a hospital or in a funeral home. When the family has money to organize the ceremony, the corpse is taken from the cold chamber for burial. In some funeral homes, the morgue is in the room, or directly adjacent to, the specially designed ovens, known as retorts. Some religions dictate that, should a body be cremated, the family must witness its incineration, to honor these religious rites, many funeral homes install a viewing window, which allows the family to watch as the body is inserted into the retort. In this way, the family can honor their customs without entering the morgue, a waiting mortuary is a mortuary building designed specifically for the purpose of confirming that deceased persons are truly deceased. Prior to the advent of methods of verifying death, people feared that they would be buried alive. To alleviate such fears, the deceased were housed for a time in waiting mortuaries. The corpses would be allowed to decompose partially prior to burial, waiting mortuaries were most popular in 19th-century Germany, and were often large, ornate halls. A bell was strung to the corpses to alert attendants of any motion, morgue is used in some science fiction books as the name for the armory aboard ships, when they contain some form of powered armour
34.
Daily Record (Scotland)
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The Daily Record, part of Trinity Mirror, is a Scottish tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow. It is published six days a week, and its paper is the Sunday Mail. It has a kinship with the Daily Mirror, with major stories of UK significance being reported in both titles. The Daily Record had a print circulation in December 2016 of 160,557, according to NRS PADD figures, the Daily Record is by far the leading news brand in Scotland with a total audience of 3.1 million. This compares with The Scottish Suns audience in Scotland of 1.41 million, the Daily Records print sales are dropping at a rate of over 20,000 a year. Its January 2010 circulation was 323,831 and this has dropped to a January 2017 circulation of 155,772. The Daily Record was founded in 1895, the North British Daily Mail ceased publication in 1901 and was then incorporated into the Daily Record, which was renamed the Daily Record and Mail. Lord Kemsley bought the paper for £1 million in 1922, forming a company known as Associated Scottish Newspapers Limited. Production was transferred from Renfield Lane to 67 Hope Street in 1926, in 1971 the Daily Record became the first European newspaper to be printed with run-of-paper colour, and was the first British national to introduce computer page make-up technology. It was purchased by Trinity Mirror in 1999, from the estate of Robert Maxwell, historical copies of the Daily Record from the years 1914 to 1918 are available to search and view in digitised form at The British Newspaper Archive. In August 2006, the paper launched afternoon editions in Glasgow, both papers initially had a cover price of 15p, but in January 2007, it was announced that they would become freesheets, which are distributed on the streets of the city centres. It was simultaneously announced that new editions were to be released in Aberdeen, the PM is no longer published by the Daily Record. Politically, the Daily Record supported the conservative Unionist Party until the 1964 general election, the paper continues to support the Labour Party and has a close relationship with it, including donating £10,000 to the party in 2007. It opposes both the Scottish National Party and Scottish independence, on the day of the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, it ran a front-page editorial attacking the SNP. Since Murray Foote became editor in February 2014, the stance has become less clear cut. For many years there has been a relationship between Daily Record journalists and Labour Party politicians in Scotland, and a revolving door between newspaper staff and Labour advisers. Helen Liddell went from being General Secretary of the Scottish Labour Party to being Robert Maxwell’s Head of Corporate Affairs at the Daily Record. Tom Brown worked as one of the Daily Record’s highest-profile columnists and served as its editor, before advising his friend
35.
Channel 4
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Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster that began transmission on 2 November 1982. With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital on 31 March 2010, before Channel 4 and S4C, Britain had three terrestrial television services, BBC1, BBC2, and ITV. The Broadcasting Act 1980 began the process of adding a fourth, after some months of test broadcasts, it began scheduled transmissions on 2 November 1982. Indeed, television sets throughout the 1970s and early 1980s had a spare channel called ITV/IBA2. It was most likely politics which had the biggest impact in leading to a delay of almost three decades before the commercial channel became a reality. The campaign was taken so seriously by Gwynfor Evans, former president of Plaid Cymru, the result was that Channel 4 as seen by the rest of the United Kingdom would be replaced in Wales by Sianel Pedwar Cymru. Operated by a specially created authority, S4C would air programmes in Welsh made by HTV, since then, carriage on digital cable, satellite and digital terrestrial has introduced Channel 4 to Welsh homes where it is now universally available. The first programme to air on the channel was the game show Countdown. The first person to be seen on Channel 4 was Richard Whiteley with Ted Moult being the second, the first woman on the channel, contrary to popular belief, was not Carol Vorderman and was a lexicographer only ever identified as Mary. Whiteley opened the show with the words, On its first day, Channel 4 also broadcast controversial soap opera Brookside, which ran until 2003. On its launch, Channel 4 committed itself to providing an alternative to the existing channels, Channel 4 co-commissioned Robert Ashleys ground-breaking television opera Perfect Lives, which it premiered over several episodes in 1984. The channel often did not receive mass audiences for much of period, however. Channel 4 for many years had a poorer quality signal compared to other channels, Channel 4 also began the funding of independent films, such as the Merchant-Ivory docudrama The Courtesans of Bombay, during this time. In 1992, Channel 4 also faced its first libel case by Jani Allan, a South African journalist, who objected to her representation in the documentary The Leader, His Driver and the Drivers Wife. After control of the station passed from the Channel Four Television Company to the Channel Four Television Corporation in 1993, instead of aiming for the fringes of society, it began to focus on the edges of the mainstream, and the centre of the mass market itself. It began to show many US programmes in peak viewing time and it gave such shows as Friends and ER their UK premières. In the early 2000s, Channel 4 began broadcasting reality formats such as Big Brother and obtained the rights to broadcast mass appeal sporting events like cricket and this new direction increased ratings and revenues. In addition, the corporation launched a number of new channels through its new 4Ventures offshoot, including Film4, At the Races, E4
36.
Alan Davies
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Alan Roger Davies is an English stand-up comedian, writer and actor. He has played the role in the BBC mystery drama series Jonathan Creek since 1997. Davies was born in Loughton, Essex and his childhood years were spent in Chingford. When Davies was six, his mother died from leukaemia and he was raised by his father, Davies attended Staples Road School in Loughton and was privately educated at the independent Bancrofts School in Woodford Green, where he gained eight O-Levels. He then moved on to Loughton College of Further Education where he gained four more O-Levels and he graduated in Drama & Theatre Studies from the University of Kent in 1988, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the university in 2003. Davies began performing comedy in 1988 at the Whitstable Labour Club. In 1991, he was named Time Outs Best Young Comic and he continued touring and performing in the UK and Australia, winning the Edinburgh Festival Critics Award for Comedy in 1994. That show was released on video and audio cassette in 1995 as Alan Davies Live at the Lyric recorded at the Lyric Theatre as part of the Perrier Pick of the Fringe season in October 1994. A version of his show Urban Trauma, which ran in the West End at the Duchess Theatre and toured the UK, in 2012, Davies planned a new tour called Life is Pain. The title for this came from a story he heard about a six-year-old girl being told off by her mother. Davies said This really made me laugh, the tour was aired on Dave. In 1994 and 1995, Davies hosted Alans Big One for three series on Radio 1 before appearing in Channel 4s spoof travel show One for the Road. He later played the role in Jonathan Creek, as a trick-deviser for a stage magician with a side interest in solving crimes. Jonathan Creek won a BAFTA for Best Drama and was the show which brought Davies to mainstream attention, on New Years Day 2009, a special episode of Jonathan Creek, The Grinning Man, was broadcast on the BBC. Davies returned to Creek at Easter 2010 for a one-off episode, however, the programme did return in Easter 2013 for the episode of The Clue of the Savants Thumb. Davies has confirmed in an interview that there will be at least three further specials, Davies co-wrote and starred in his own radio sitcom, The Alan Davies Show, in 1998. Cassettes of the show were produced and released by the BBC and he played Russell Boyd in the BBC comedy A Many Splintered Thing, also in 1998 and 2000. In 2001 Davies played Robert Gossage in Bob and Rose, a drama about a gay man falling for a woman
37.
Bush Theatre
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The Bush Theatre is based in Shepherds Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 and has become one of the most celebrated new writing theatres in the world. The Bush strives to create a space which nurtures, develops and showcases the best of new artists and it was established by a maverick actor, Brian McDermott, who used to tour the Fringe. The venue, despite its fame and massive output, was intimate, the first production was an adaption of The Collector by John Fowles, directed by John Neville and starring Annette Andre and Brian McDermott. Throughout 1992, the Bush Theatre celebrated 20 years at the frontier of new writing, what has held the Bush together for 20 years. Blind faith, youthful commitment and a belief in new writing, above all, perhaps. The relocation took place in 2011 and opened with the Sixty-Six Books project and this was a celebration of the anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, which used 66 different writers, many of whom were veterans of the Bush. That same year, Artistic Director Josie Rourke announced her departure from the Bush to take up the position of Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse, the Board appointed Madani Younis as her successor from January 2012. In 2013, newly appointed Madani Younis programmed the theatres most successful season to date, in March 2017, following a landmark year of taking plays into the communities of West London, the Bush Theatre will return home following a £4. 3m revitalisation of the venue. The year-long redevelopment was driven by the aim of realising Artistic Director Madani Younis’ vision for a theatre that reflected the diversity, upon reopening, the building will be more sustainable and entirely accessible, with a new entrance, front-of-house area and exterior garden terrace to the main street. Following the 2016/17 redevelopment, the Bush Theatre now has two spaces, The Theatre, which is a reserved seating venue with a maximum capacity of 180. It has remained in its location and can be configured in a thrust. The Studio, is an unreserved seating venue with a capacity of 70 and is a home for emerging artists. Similarly, this space can be configured in a thrust, end on or in the round layout, the Bush is a proud champion of playwrights with a keen interest in those voices not often heard and reflecting the contemporary culture of London, the UK and beyond. The Department receives nearly 2000 scripts a year from new and established all of which are read. The Bush has won over 100 awards, and developed a reputation for touring its acclaimed productions nationally and internationally. Close-Up Magic,40 Years at the Bush Theatre, the Bush Theatre Retrieved December 2014 Bush Theatre at the Shepherds Bush Blog Retrieved December 2014
38.
Stephen Poliakoff
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Stephen Poliakoff, CBE, FRSL is an acclaimed British playwright, director and scriptwriter, best known for his work as a television dramatist. Poliakoff was born in the Holland Park district in west London to Anglo-Jewish and Russian-Jewish parents, Ina, the second of four children, he was sent at a young age to boarding school, which he hated. He then proceeded to Westminster School where he attracted sufficient attention for Granny, after Westminster, he went to Kings College, Cambridge but never took a degree. There were also TV adaptations of his stage plays Hitting Town and these two plays were some of his first big successes. Poliakoffs theatre, although well received critically has never achieved a level of attention from the critics. This has been attributed to the ambiguity of his politics and his approach towards political issues has been described as individual in nature rather than generalising. Some of the themes in his works have been recognised as environmental pollution, due to human intervention. Most of his plays portray contemporary Britain and he is scared of and fascinated by Fascism. He said, Im writing about whats happening now, about searching for beliefs in what is no longer a religious country. A full length study of his work was published in 2011 Stephen Poliakoff, On Stage, nearly all of Poliakoffs plays premiered in London, four at the Royal National Theatre, four at the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the Almeida, Hampstead, Bush and Royal Court. Three of his plays have transferred to the West End, many of the plays have been performed across Europe and also in the US, Australia and Japan. Poliakoffs first feature film was Runners, directed by Charles Sturridge, starring James Fox, Jane Asher and it received a limited theatrical release in 1983 before being shown in Channel 4s Film on Four slot. His directorial debut was the much-lauded and now rare Hidden City, premiered at the Venice Film Festival and starring Charles Dance, Richard E. Grant, the film also featured Miranda Richardson in a Golden Globe-nominated performance as Queen Mary of Teck. Michael Gambon, Gina McKee, Tom Hollander and Bill Nighy appeared in major roles, the latter won a Peabody Award in April 2007, with Golden Globes for Nighy and Blunt. Joes Palace was screened on 4 November 2007 on BBC One, the Culture Show also screened a Poliakoff special, including an interview between Poliakoff and Mark Kermode and a new TV play, A Real Summer, on 10 November. Glorious 39, starring Romola Garai, Bill Nighy and Julie Christie, in 2011, Poliakoff wrote a seven-minute short film, Astonish Me, to celebrate WWFs 50th anniversary. Starring Bill Nighy and Gemma Arterton, the film was shown in Odeon Cinemas in August 2011 and made available on the WWF website and YouTube. In February and March 2013, Dancing on the Edge, a series which followed the fortunes of a black jazz band in 1930s London, was broadcast by the BBC
39.
Dennis Potter
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Dennis Christopher George Potter was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. After standing for parliament as a Labour candidate at the 1964 general election and he initially worked in journalism before making the transition to television drama. His new career began with contributions to the BBCs Wednesday Play anthology series in 1965 and he is best known for his BBC TV serials Pennies from Heaven, The Singing Detective, and the television plays Blue Remembered Hills and Brimstone and Treacle. His television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social, Potter is widely regarded as one of the most influential and innovative dramatists to have worked in British television. Dennis Potter was born in Berry Hill, Forest of Dean and his father, Walter Edward Potter, was a coal miner in this rural mining area between Gloucester and Wales, his mother was Margaret Constance, née Wale. Potter has a sister named June, in 1946, Potter passed the eleven-plus and attended Bells Grammar School at Coleford. The ten-year-old Potter was sexually abused by his uncle, an experience he would later allude to many times in his writing. Why, why, why, the same desperately repeated question I asked myself without any sort of an answer, or any ability to tell my mother or my father, day, I was trapped by an adults sexual appetite and abused out of innocence. Between 1953 and 1955, Potter did his National Service and learnt Russian at the Joint Services School for Linguists, on 10 January 1959 he married at the Christchurch parish church Margaret Amy Morgan, a local girl he met at a dance. Potters first non-fiction work, The Glittering Coffin, was published by the Gollancz Press in 1960, the book was a rumination on the changing face of England in the prosperity following the end of the war years. It was followed by The Changing Forest, Life in the Forest of Dean Today and this book is a study of class and social mobility that demonstrates an early fascination with the effects of the mass media on British cultural life. Daily Herald journalist David Nathan persuaded Potter to collaborate with him on sketches for That Was The Week That Was and their first piece was used in the edition of 5 January 1963. Potter stood as the Labour Party candidate for Hertfordshire East, a safe Conservative Party seat, by the end of the unsuccessful campaign, he claimed that he was so disillusioned with party politics he did not even vote for himself. In 1962 Potter had begun to suffer from a form of psoriasis known as psoriatic arthropathy that affected his skin. It also made attempts to follow a career path futile. Potter embarked on work as a television playwright, Potters career as a television playwright began with The Confidence Course which Potter had begun as a novel. An exposé of the Dale Carnegie Institute, it drew threats of litigation from that organisation, although Potter effectively disowned the play, excluding it from his Whos Who entry, it used non-naturalistic dramatic devices which would become hallmarks of Potters subsequent work. The Confidence Course script was liked by Wednesday Play script editor Roger Smith who then commissioned Potter to write became the second Nigel Barton play for the new anthology series
