1.
Weston-super-Mare
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Weston-super-Mare /ˈwɛstən ˌsuːpər ˈmɛər/ is a town in Somerset, England, on the Bristol Channel 18 miles south west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Oldmixon, West Wick and Worle and its population at the 2011 census was 76,143. Since 1983, Weston has been twinned with Hildesheim, Germany, the growth continued until the second half of the 20th century, when tourism declined and some local industries closed. A regeneration programme is being undertaken with attractions including the Helicopter Museum, Weston-super-Mare Museum, Grand Pier, the Paddle Steamer Waverley and MV Balmoral offer day sea trips from Knightstone Island to various destinations along the Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary. Cultural venues include The Playhouse, the Winter Gardens and Blakehay Theatre, owing to the large tidal range in the Bristol Channel, the low tide mark in Weston Bay is about 1 mile from the seafront. Although the beach itself is sandy, low tide uncovers areas of mud, hence the colloquial name. These mudflats are very dangerous to walk in and are crossed by the mouth of the River Axe, just to the north of the town is Sand Point which marks the lower limit of the Severn Estuary and the start of the Bristol Channel. It is also the site of the Middle Hope biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest, in the centre of the town is Ellenborough Park, another SSSI due to the range of plant species found there. Weston comes from the Anglo-Saxon for the west tun or settlement, prior to 1348 it was known as Weston-juxta-Mare. The name was changed by Ralph of Shrewsbury, who was the Bishop of Bath, Westons oldest structure is Worlebury Camp, on Worlebury Hill, dating from the Iron Age. Castle Batch was a castle once stood overlooking the town. The present site has a mound of 160 feet in diameter which is believed to be the remains of a motte. The parish was part of the Winterstoke Hundred, the medieval church of St John was demolished in 1824 and built anew on the same site, though a stump of the Medieval preaching cross survives by the exterior south wall. The former rectory is a 17th-century structure with later additions, though it remains adjacent to the church it has not been a parsonage house since the end of the 19th century. Today it is known as Glebe House and is divided into flats, the Old Thatched Cottage restaurant on the seafront carries the date 1774, it is the surviving portion of a summer cottage built by the Revd. The Pigott family of Brockley, who were the local Lords of the Manor, had a residence at Grove House. Weston owes its growth and prosperity to the Victorian era boom in seaside holidays, construction of the first hotel in the village started in 1808, it was called Reeves. Along with nearby Burnham-on-Sea, Weston benefited from proximity to Bristol, the first attempt at an artificial harbour was made in the late 1820s at the islet of Knightstone and a slipway built from Anchor Head towards Birnbeck Island
2.
Somerset
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Somerset is a county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the south-west. It is bounded to the north and west by the Severn Estuary and its traditional border with Gloucestershire is the River Avon. Somerset is a county of rolling hills such as the Blackdown Hills, Mendip Hills, Quantock Hills and Exmoor National Park. There is evidence of occupation from Paleolithic times, and of subsequent settlement in the Roman. The county played a significant part in the consolidation of power and rise of King Alfred the Great, and later in the English Civil War, the city of Bath is famous for its substantial Georgian architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Somersets name derives from Old English Sumorsǣte, short for Sumortūnsǣte, an alternative suggestion is the name derives from Seo-mere-saetan meaning settlers by the sea lakes. The Old English name is used in the motto of the county, Sumorsǣte ealle, adopted as the motto in 1911, the phrase is taken from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Somerset settlement names are mostly Anglo-Saxon in origin, but some hill names include Brittonic Celtic elements, for example, an Anglo-Saxon charter of 682 refers to Creechborough Hill as the hill the British call Cructan and we call Crychbeorh. Some modern names are Brythonic in origin, such as Tarnock, the caves of the Mendip Hills were settled during the Palaeolithic period, and contain extensive archaeological sites such as those at Cheddar Gorge. Bones from Goughs Cave have been dated to 12,000 BC, examples of cave art have been found in Avelines Hole. Some caves continued to be occupied until modern times, including Wookey Hole, the Somerset Levels—specifically dry points at Glastonbury and Brent Knoll— also have a long history of settlement, and are known to have been settled by Mesolithic hunters. Travel in the area was facilitated by the construction of one of the worlds oldest known engineered roadways, the Sweet Track, the exact age of the henge monument at Stanton Drew stone circles is unknown, but it is believed to be Neolithic. There are numerous Iron Age hill forts, some of which, like Cadbury Castle, on the authority of the future emperor Vespasian, as part of the ongoing expansion of the Roman presence in Britain, the Second Legion Augusta invaded Somerset from the south-east in AD47. The county remained part of the Roman Empire until around AD409, a variety of Roman remains have been found, including Pagans Hill Roman temple in Chew Stoke, Low Ham Roman Villa and the Roman Baths that gave their name to the city of Bath. After the Romans left, Britain was invaded by Anglo-Saxon peoples, by AD600 they had established control over much of what is now England, but Somerset was still in native British hands. The Saxon royal palace in Cheddar was used several times in the 10th century to host the Witenagemot. After the Norman Conquest, the county was divided into 700 fiefs, Somerset contains HM Prison Shepton Mallet, which was Englands oldest prison still in use prior to its closure in 2013, having opened in 1610. In the English Civil War Somerset was largely Parliamentarian, with key engagements being the Sieges of Taunton, in 1685 the Monmouth Rebellion was played out in Somerset and neighbouring Dorset
3.
Downing College, Cambridge
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Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of the new colleges. The current Master of the college is Geoffrey Grimmett, Professor of Mathematical Statistics at the University. Under this will, as he had no issue, the family fortune was left to his cousin, Sir Jacob Downing. If they all died without issue, the estates were to be used to found a college at Cambridge called Downing, the estate was much reduced by the suit in Chancery, and the grand plans failed. Much of the side of what was then the Pembroke Leys was sold to the University and is now home to scientific buildings. In fact, only limited East and West ranges were built, with the plans for a library. The third side of the square was completed in 1951 with the building of the college chapel. Where the fourth side would have been is now a large paddock, though not fully enclosed, the court formed before the Downing College is perhaps largest in Cambridge or Oxford. The most recent building additions are the Howard Lodge accommodation, the Howard Building and these were sponsored by the Howard family and are located behind the main court around their own small garden. These facilities are used for conference and businesses gatherings outside of the student term, Downing students remain prominent in the University world, in the past few years Cambridge Union Presidents, Blues captains, Law and Economic Society Presidents and more have hailed from the college. It is also a politically active college, with active members and alumni occupying different parts of the British political spectrum. In this sense, it is different from other colleges. Downing has a reputation for medicine and law, and a secret society is rumoured to exist in respect of the latter. The Griffin has been the student magazine for over 100 years. The college fields teams in a range of sports including, mens football, mens and womens rugby, tennis and Ultimate Frisbee. Downing College Boat Club is successful too, with the Womens first boat gaining Lents Headship of the river in the 1994 Lent Bumps and they both currently hold positions at or near the top in both University bumps races. The college is renowned for its legal and medical tradition, the former subject being built up by Clive Parry, his pupil and successor John Hopkins
4.
Connie Booth
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Constance Connie Booth is an American-born writer, actress, comedian and psychotherapist based in England. Booths father was a Wall Street stock broker and her mother an actress and they moved to New York state after Connie Booths birth in Indianapolis, Indiana. Booth entered acting and worked as a Broadway understudy and waitress and she married Cleese in New York on February 20,1968. Booth and Cleese went on to write and co-star in Fawlty Towers, in which she played waitress and chambermaid Polly, perhaps her most memorable role. She also starred in the role of a drama called The Story of Ruth, in which she played the role of the schizophrenic daughter of an abusive father. In 1994, she played a role in The Culex Experiment. Booth ended her career in 1995. After studying for five years at London University, she began a career as a London psychotherapist, for 30 years Booth had declined to talk about Fawlty Towers until she agreed to participate in a documentary about the series for the digital channel Gold in 2009. In 1971, Booth and Cleese had a daughter, Cynthia, Booth and Cleese divorced in 1978, but have remained close friends. Booth married John Lahr, author and former senior drama critic of The New Yorker, in 2000
5.
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
6.
The Frost Report
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The Frost Report was a satirical television show hosted by David Frost. It ran for 28 episodes on the BBC from 10 March 1966 to 26 December 1967 and it introduced John Cleese, Ronnie Barker, and Ronnie Corbett to television, and launched the careers of other writers and performers. The main cast were Frost, Corbett, Cleese, Barker, Sheila Steafel, musical interludes were provided by Julie Felix, while Tom Lehrer also performed songs in a few episodes. Writers and performers on The Frost Report later worked on other television shows. It was while working on The Frost Report that the future Pythons developed their writing style, the established comedy writer Marty Feldman, as well as the Frank Muir and Denis Norden partnership, were also contributors to the programme. A special compilation from series 1, titled Frost over England won the Rose dOr at the 1967 Montreux festival, a special one-off reunion was broadcast on Easter Monday 2008. It ran for ninety minutes and was followed by Frost over England, almost half of the episodes produced are missing from the BBC archives. David Frost hosted similar comedy shows with similar casts and these included Frost on Sunday in 1968 with the two Ronnies, Josephine Tewson, and Sam Costa. There was a reunion show The Frost Report is Back in 2008. In the sketch, the practice was taken to an extreme by backing a news report about the Lord Privy Seal with images, in succession, of a lord, a privy. Richard Dawkins mentioned the practice in a film review, the Frost Report at the Internet Movie Database The Frost Report at BBC Online Comedy Guide British Film Institute Screen Online
7.
Monty Python
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Monty Python were a British surreal comedy group who created their sketch comedy show Monty Pythons Flying Circus, which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series, the Python phenomenon developed from the television series into something larger in scope and impact, including touring stage shows, films, numerous albums, several books, and a stage musical. The Pythons influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles influence on music, the Orlando Sentinel referred to their sketch show as not only one of the more enduring icons of 1970s British popular culture, but also an important moment in the evolution of television comedy. Broadcast by the BBC between 1969 and 1974, Flying Circus was conceived, written, and performed by its members Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Loosely structured as a show, but with an innovative stream-of-consciousness approach, it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style. Following their television work, they began making films, which include Holy Grail, Life of Brian, pythonesque has entered the English lexicon as a result. Jones and Palin met at Oxford University, where they performed together with the Oxford Revue, Chapman and Cleese met at Cambridge University. Idle was also at Cambridge, but started a year after Chapman, Cleese met Gilliam in New York City while on tour with the Cambridge University Footlights revue Cambridge Circus. Chapman, Cleese, and Idle were members of the Footlights, which at that also included the future Goodies. During Idles presidency of the club, feminist writer Germaine Greer and broadcaster Clive James were members, following the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set, a tea-time childrens programme, ITV offered Gilliam, Idle, Jones, and Palin their own late-night adult comedy series together. At the same time, Chapman and Cleese were offered a show by the BBC, Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, including Chapmans supposedly difficult and erratic personality. Cleese had fond memories of working with Palin on How To Irritate People, much has been made of the fact that the Monty Python troupe is the result of Cleeses desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold. The Pythons had a idea about what they wanted to do with the series. They were admirers of the work of Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Jonathan Miller, and Dudley Moore on Beyond the Fringe, and had worked on Frost and they enjoyed Cook and Moores sketch show Not Only. They decided that they would not bother to cap their sketches in the traditional manner. However, as they began assembling material for the show, the Pythons watched one of their heroes, Spike Milligan. Not only was the programme more irreverent and anarchic than any previous television comedy and it was clear that their new series would now seem less original, and Jones in particular became determined the Pythons should innovate. After much debate, Jones remembered an animation Gilliam had created for Do Not Adjust Your Set called Beware of the Elephants, Jones felt it would be a good concept to apply to the series, allowing sketches to blend into one another
8.
Monty Python's Flying Circus
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Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a British sketch comedy series created by the comedy group Monty Python and broadcast by the BBC from 1969 to 1974. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and it also featured animations by group member Terry Gilliam, often sequenced or merged with live action. The first episode was recorded on 7 September and premiered on 5 October 1969 on BBC One, with 45 episodes airing over four series from 1969 to 1974, the show often targets the idiosyncrasies of British life, especially that of professionals, and is at times politically charged. The members of Monty Python were highly educated and their comedy is often pointedly intellectual, with numerous erudite references to philosophers and literary figures. The series followed and elaborated upon the style used by Spike Milligan in his ground breaking series Q5, the team intended their humour to be impossible to categorise, and succeeded so completely that the adjective Pythonesque was invented to define it and, later, similar material. The Pythons play the majority of the characters themselves, including the majority of the female characters. Regular supporting cast members include Carol Cleveland, Connie Booth, series Producer Ian MacNaughton, Ian Davidson, Neil Innes, and Fred Tomlinson, the title Monty Pythons Flying Circus was partly the result of the groups reputation at the BBC. The group added flying to make it less like an actual circus. The group was coming up with their name at a time when the 1966 Royal Guardsmen song Snoopy vs. the Red Baron had been at a peak. Manfred von Richthofen, the World War I German flying ace known as The Red Baron and they later explained that the name Monty. made us laugh because Monty to us means Lord Montgomery, our great general of the Second World War. The BBC had rejected other names put forward by the group including Whither Canada. A Horse, a Spoon and a Basin, The Toad Elevating Moment, several of these titles were later used for individual episodes. In contrast to many other comedy shows, Flying Circus had only a handful of recurring characters, many of whom were involved only in titles. Continuity for many of these characters was frequently non-existent from sketch to sketch. The Its Man, a Robinson Crusoe-type castaway with torn clothes, before being abruptly cut off by the opening titles and Terry Gilliams animation sprouting the words Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Its was a candidate for the title of the series. A BBC continuity announcer in a jacket, seated at a desk, often in highly incongruous locations. His line, And now for something different, was used variously as a lead-in to the opening titles
9.
And Now for Something Completely Different
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And Now for Something Completely Different is a 1971 British sketch comedy film based on the television comedy series Monty Pythons Flying Circus featuring sketches from the first two series. The title was taken from a used in the television show. The film, released in 1971, consists of 90 minutes of sketches seen in the first two series of the television show, the sketches were remade on film without an audience, and were intended for an American audience which had not yet seen the series. It was re-shot for cinema release with a low budget. Financed by Playboy′s UK executive Victor Lownes, it was intended to help Monty Python break into the United States, although the cinematic release was ultimately unsuccessful at achieving an American breakthrough, it did well in the United Kingdom. The group did not consider this film a success, but it enjoys a cult following today. The film was the idea of entrepreneur Victor Lownes, head of Playboy UK, production of the film did not go entirely smoothly. Lownes tried to exert more control over the group than they had been used to at the BBC. Another argument with Lownes occurred when Terry Gilliam designed the opening credits for the film, because the names of the Pythons were shown in blocks of stone, Lownes insisted that his own name be displayed in a similar manner. Initially, Gilliam refused but eventually he was forced to give in, Gilliam then created a different style of credit for the Pythons so that in the final version of the film, Lowness credit is the only one that appears in that way. The budget of the film was low for the time at only £80,000. Youll notice my mouth isnt moving, either, the film was shot both on location in England and inside an abandoned dairy, rather than on a more costly soundstage. The budget was so low that some effects that were performed in the series could not be repeated in the film. The origin of the phrase is credited to Christopher Trace, founding presenter of the television programme Blue Peter. The announcer would turn to the audience and announce and now for something completely different, the phrase was also used as a transition within the show. Often it would be added to explain the transition, for instance, And now for something completely different. In later episodes, particularly the third season, the credits-launching was reduced to a stock footage of the announcer saying And now. In a similar fashion as was done with its predecessor, the Its man, both were preceded by a naked organist, usually Terry Jones
10.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
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Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 British slapstick comedy film concerning the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the comedy group of Monty Python, and directed by Gilliam and Jones. It was conceived during the hiatus between the third and fourth series of their BBC television series Monty Pythons Flying Circus. In contrast to the groups first film, And Now for Something Completely Different and it parodies the legend of King Arthurs quest to find the Holy Grail. Idle used the film as the basis for the musical Spamalot 30 years later, Monty Python and the Holy Grail grossed more than any British film exhibited in the US in 1975. The film received a 97% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus, in 932 A. D. King Arthur and his squire, Patsy, travel throughout England searching for men to join the Knights of the Round Table. Arthur stops at a castle, where the guards ask how Arthur found the coconut halves Patsy uses to simulate the sound of horses galloping, Arthur leaves after his encounter becomes a discussion about African and European swallows. Arthur encounters the Black Knight, who will not let them pass, a sword fight ensues with Arthur gaining the upper hand, but the Black Knight continues fighting despite having his arms and legs severed. The battle is declared a draw, the villagers of a small town come to Sir Bedevere the Wise claiming they have captured a witch. Bedevere puts the woman through a test, and she is revealed to be a witch because she weighs the same as a duck. Arthur knights Bedevere as a member of his Round Table, and is joined by Sir Lancelot the Brave, Sir Galahad the Pure, the knights reach Camelot, but following a song-and-dance cutaway, Arthur decides not to enter, because tis a silly place. The group encounters God, who instructs them to seek the Holy Grail and their first stop is a French-controlled castle. One of the tells the knights that they have a grail. After a failed invasion of the castle with the French soldiers throwing animals at them, the knights try sneaking into the castle in a Trojan Rabbit, the rabbit is catapulted at them and crushes one of the knights servants. Arthur decides the group should split up to seek the grail, a modern-day historian, describing the Arthurian legends, is abruptly killed by a knight on horseback, triggering a police investigation. Arthur and Bedevere attempt to satisfy the strange requests of the dreaded Knights who say Ni, Sir Robin avoids a fight with the Three-Headed Giant by running away while the heads are arguing. Sir Galahad is led by a beacon to Castle Anthrax, populated by women who wish to perform sexual favours for him. Sir Lancelot finds a note tied to an arrow, and after reading it assaults a party at Swamp Castle. He discovers that an effeminate prince sent the note, the knights regroup and are joined by Sirs Gawain, Ector, and Bors, and a group of monks led by Brother Maynard
11.
Monty Python's Life of Brian
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Monty Pythons Life of Brian, also known as Life of Brian, is a 1979 British religious satire comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python. It was also directed by Jones, the film tells the story of Brian Cohen, a young Jewish man who is born on the same day as, and next door to, Jesus Christ, and is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah. The film contains themes of satire that were controversial at the time of its release, drawing accusations of blasphemy. Some countries, including Ireland and Norway, banned its showing, the filmmakers used such notoriety to benefit their marketing campaign, with posters in Sweden reading, So funny, it was banned in Norway. The film was a box office success, the film in the United Kingdom in 1979. It has remained popular, receiving positive reviews, Brian Cohen is born in a stable next door to the one in which Jesus is born, which initially confuses the three wise men who come to praise the future King of the Jews. Brian grows up a young man who resents the continuing Roman occupation of Judea. While attending Jesus Sermon on the Mount, Brian becomes infatuated with a young rebel. After several misadventures, and escaping from Pontius Pilate, Brian winds up in a line-up of would-be mystics, once the guards have left, Brian tries to put the episode behind him, but he has unintentionally inspired a movement. He grows frantic when he finds that people have started to follow him around. Judith is the one that doesnt leave, Brian and Judith then spend the night together. In the morning, Brian, completely naked, opens the curtains to discover a crowd outside his mothers house which proclaims him to be the Messiah. Brians mother protests, telling the crowd that Hes not the Messiah, hes a very naughty boy and, Theres a mess, all right, but no Messiah. All of her attempts at dispersing the crowd are rebuffed, furthermore, once Brian addresses them, he also finds that he is unable to change their minds. His followers are completely committed to their beliefs in and of Brians divinity and they immediately seize upon everything he says and does as points of doctrine. The hapless Brian is unable to escape his unwanted disciples, even his mothers house is surrounded by an enormous and they fling their afflicted bodies at him, demanding miracle cures and divine secrets. After sneaking out the back, Brian is then captured and scheduled to be crucified. Meanwhile, yet another huge crowd has assembled outside the palace, Pontius Pilate tries to quell the feeling of revolution by granting them the choice of one person to be pardoned
12.
Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
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It was the last film to feature all six Python members before Graham Chapmans death in 1989. It also screened at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix, the film has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and appears in a 2010 list of the top 20 cult films published by The Boston Globe. The film begins with the short film The Crimson Permanent Assurance and they rebel against yuppie corporate masters, transform their office into a pirate ship, and raid a large financial district. The rest of the film is split into seven chapters made up of distinct sketches, the first, The Miracle of Birth, features a woman in labour being ignored by the doctors in favour of impressing the hospitals administrator. Meanwhile, a Protestant man and his wife discuss having non-reproductive sex, in Growth and Learning, a class of boys are taught school etiquette and then watch their teacher make love to his wife as part of their sex education. One boy laughs, and is forced into a violent rugby match against the teachers as punishment, in 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War, a soldier finds his leg has been bitten off. Suspecting a tiger, despite being in Africa, the hunt for it. The Middle of the Film briefly introduces a segment called Find the Fish, Middle Age involves a middle-aged American couple visiting a dungeon-themed restaurant and dislike the literal conversation offered by the waiters about the meaning of life. Live Organ Transplants involves two paramedics visiting Mr. Brown, an organ donor, forcefully removing his liver whilst he is still alive. Browns mother speaks with a musician who performs Galaxy Song while discussing mans insignificance in the universe, the Crimson Permanent Assurance return to invade a corporate boardroom discussing the meaning of life, but a tumbling skyscraper ends their assault. The Autumn Years features a posh restaurant being visited by the horribly obese Mr. Creosote, when the maître d gives him a wafer-thin mint, Creosotes stomach explodes, the maître d then giving him the bill. Two staff members clean up Creosotes remains while discussing the meaning of life, one leads the audience to his house, spouts some philosophy, and then angrily dismisses them. Death features a man choosing the manner of his own execution, being chased off a cliff by topless women. The Grim Reaper enters a country house and invites himself to dinner. The guests try to guess who he is until the Reaper tells them they all died from food poisoning and they accompany the Grim Reaper to Heaven, depicted as a Las Vegas-style hotel in perpetual Christmas, where a Tony Bennett-lookalike performs Christmas in Heaven to the cast. The End of the Film epilogue features the host of The Middle of the Film being handed an envelope containing the meaning of life and she then introduces the end credits. An awful lot of material didnt get used, holy Grail had a structure, a loose one, the search for the grail. With this, it wasnt so clear, in the end, we just said, Well, what the heck
13.
Fawlty Towers
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Fawlty Towers is a BBC television sitcom first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975 and 1979. The show was created and written by John Cleese and Connie Booth and they were married at the time of series 1, but divorced before recording series 2. One of the best loved shows in British popular culture, it was ranked No.1 on a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000. The series is set in Fawlty Towers, a hotel in the seaside town of Torquay — pronounced taw-key in the English vernacular — on the English Riviera. In May 1970 the Monty Python team stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay while filming on location, John Cleese became fascinated with the behavior of the owner, Donald Sinclair, whom Cleese later described as the rudest man Ive ever come across in my life. Sinclair justified his actions by claiming the hotel had staff problems and he also criticised the American-born Terry Gilliams table manners for not being British. Cleese and Booth stayed on at the hotel after filming, furthering their research of the hotel owner, Cleese later played a hotel owner called Donald Sinclair in the 2001 movie Rat Race. At the time, Cleese was a writer on the 1970s British TV sitcom Doctor in the House for London Weekend Television, an early prototype of the character that became known as Basil Fawlty was developed in an episode of the third Doctor series. In this edition, the character checks into a small town hotel, his very presence seemingly winding up the aggressive. The show was broadcast on May 30,1971, Cleese parodied the contrast between organizational dogma and sensitive customer service in many personnel training videotapes issued with a serious purpose by his company, Video Arts. Cleese said in 2008 that the first Fawlty Towers script he, and Jimmy himself said, Youre going to have to get them out of the hotel, John. You cant do the thing in the hotel. Whereas, of course, its in the hotel that the pressure cooker builds up. Cleese was paid £6,000 for 43 weeks work and supplemented his income by appearing in television advertisements. He said that when he read the first scripts he could see nothing funny in them and he said the commercial channels, with their emphasis on audience ratings, never would have let the program get to the production stage on the basis of the scripts. Although the series is set in Torquay in Devon, no part of it was shot in Southwest England, for the exterior filming, the Wooburn Grange Country Club in Buckinghamshire was used instead of a hotel. In several episodes of the series the entrance gate at the bottom of the states the real name of the location. This listed building later served for a time as a nightclub named Basils after the series ended
14.
Kevin Kline
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Kevin Delaney Kline is an American film and stage actor and singer. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards and is a 2003 American Theatre Hall of Fame inductee, Kline began his career on stage in 1972 with The Acting Company. He made his debut the following year, opposite Meryl Streep in Sophies Choice. For his role in the 1988 comedy hit A Fish Called Wanda, in 2003, he starred as Falstaff in the Broadway production of Henry IV, for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play. He has been nominated for an Emmy Award, two BAFTA Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. His other films include The Big Chill, Silverado, Cry Freedom, Dave, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Ice Storm, In & Out, The Road to El Dorado, De-Lovely, My Old Lady, and Beauty and the Beast. Since 2011, Kline has had a role on the animated comedy series Bobs Burgers. Kline was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Margaret Agnes Kirk, Kline has described his mother as the dramatic theatrical character in our family. Klines father was Jewish, from a family that had emigrated from Germany, klines mother was a Roman Catholic of Irish descent, the daughter of an immigrant from County Louth. Kline was raised in his mothers Catholic faith and he has three siblings, Alex, Christopher, and Kate. He graduated from the Saint Louis Priory School in 1965, in 1997, the school named its new auditorium the Kevin Kline Theater, and Kline did a benefit performance of selections from Shakespeare at the dedication. He attended Indiana University, Bloomington, where he was a classmate of actor Jonathan Banks and he began studying composing and conducting music, but switched to a theater and speech major for his last two years, graduating in 1970. Kline remembers, When I switched to the Theater Department, all I did was theater. I could barely make it to class because this was my passion, while an undergraduate, he was a co-founder of the Vest Pocket Players, an off-campus theatrical troupe. In 1970, Kline was awarded a scholarship to the newly formed Drama Division at the Juilliard School in New York. In 1972, he joined with fellow Juilliard graduates, including Patti LuPone and David Ogden Stiers, at Juilliard, he studied singing with Beverley Peck Johnson. In 1976, Kline left The Acting Company and settled in New York City, in 1978, he played the role of Bruce Granit, a matinée idol caricature, in Harold Princes On the Twentieth Century, for which he won his first Tony Award. In 1983, he played the role in a version of the musical, also with Ronstadt, Smith and Angela Lansbury. He also appeared in a Lincoln Center production that combined the two parts of Henry IV on Broadway at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in 2003 as Falstaff, Kline was nominated for the 2004 Tony Award, Actor in a Play
15.
Jamie Lee Curtis
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Jamie Lee Curtis, Lady Haden-Guest is an American actress and author. She made her debut in 1978 by starring as Laurie Strode in John Carpenters Halloween. Curtis other notable films include Blue Steel and Freaky Friday, for which she received her third Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress - Musical or Comedy. For her role in the television series Anything But Love, Curtis received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. Curtis received her first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie for her performance in the television film, Curtis currently stars in the comedy horror series Scream Queens on FOX. Curtis is the daughter of the actress Janet Leigh and actor Tony Curtis and she is married to actor, screenwriter, and director Christopher Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest. Her 1998 book Today I Feel Silly, and Other Moods That Make My Day made the best-seller list in The New York Times and she has appeared in advertisements and is a blogger for The Huffington Post. Curtis was born in Santa Monica, California, to actor Tony Curtis and her paternal grandparents were Hungarian Jewish immigrants and two of her maternal great-grandparents were Danish. Curtiss parents divorced in 1962, after which her mother married Robert Brandt, Curtis has an older sister, Kelly Curtis, who is also an actress, and several half-siblings, Alexandra, Allegra, Benjamin, and Nicholas Curtis. Curtis attended Westlake School in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills High School, returning to California in 1976, she attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. She considered majoring in social work, but quit after one semester to pursue an acting career, curtiss film debut occurred in the 1978 horror film Halloween, in which she played the role of Laurie Strode. The film was a success and was considered the highest grossing independent film of its time. Curtis was subsequently cast in several films, garnering her the title. Her next film was the horror film The Fog, which was helmed by Halloween director John Carpenter, the film opened in February 1980 to mixed reviews but strong box office, starting Curtis as a horror film starlet. Her next film, Prom Night, was a low-budget Canadian slasher film released in July 1980 and that year, Curtis also starred in Terror Train, which opened in October and was met with negative reviews akin to Prom Night. Both films performed well at the box office. Curtis had a function in both films - the main character whose friends are murdered, and is practically the only protagonist to survive. Curtis later appeared in Halloween II, Halloween H20,20 Years Later and Halloween, Resurrection, as well as giving a voice role in Halloween III
16.
Michael Palin
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Michael Edward Palin CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter. He was one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python, Palin wrote most of his comedic material with fellow Python member Terry Jones. Before Monty Python, they had worked on shows such as the Ken Dodd Show, The Frost Report. Palin appeared in some of the most famous Python sketches, including Argument Clinic, Dead Parrot sketch, The Lumberjack Song, The Spanish Inquisition, Bicycle Repair Man, Palin continued to work with Jones after Python, co-writing Ripping Yarns. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedians Comedian, he was voted the 30th favourite by fellow comedians, after Python, he began a new career as a travel writer and travel documentarian. His journeys have taken him across the world, including the North and South Poles, the Sahara Desert, in 2000 Palin was honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for his services to television. From 2009 to 2012 Palin was the president of the Royal Geographical Society, on 12 May 2013, Palin was made a BAFTA fellow, the highest honour that is conferred by the organisation. Palin was born in Broomhill, Sheffield, the child and only son of Edward Moreton Palin. His father was a Shrewsbury School and Cambridge University-educated engineer working for a steel firm and his maternal grandfather, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Lockhart Ovey, DSO, was High Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1927. He started his education at Birkdale Preparatory School, Sheffield, and his sister Angela was nine years older than he was. Despite the age gap the two had a relationship until her suicide in 1987. He has ancestral roots in Letterkenny, County Donegal, when he was five years old, Palin had his first acting experience at Birkdale playing Martha Cratchit in a school performance of A Christmas Carol. At the age of 10, Palin, still interested in acting, made a comedy monologue, after his school days in 1962 he went on to read modern history at Brasenose College, Oxford. With fellow student Robert Hewison he performed and wrote, for the first time, Terry Jones, also a student in Oxford, saw that performance and began writing together with Hewison and Palin. In the same year Palin joined the Brightside and Carbrook Co-operative Society Players and he also performed and wrote in the Oxford Revue with Jones. In 1966 he married Helen Gibbins, whom he first met in 1959 on holiday in Southwold in Suffolk and this meeting was later fictionalised in Palins play East of Ipswich. The couple have three children and two grandchildren, Rachel is a BBC TV director, whose work includes MasterChef, The Professionals, shown on BBC2 throughout October and November 2010. A photograph of William as a baby briefly appeared in Monty Python and his nephew is the theatre designer Jeremy Herbert
17.
A Fish Called Wanda
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A Fish Called Wanda is a 1988 British-American heist comedy film directed by Charles Crichton and co-written with John Cleese. It stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin as a gang of thieves who double-cross one another to find stolen diamonds hidden by the gang leader. His barrister, played by Cleese, becomes a figure as femme fatale Wanda uses him to locate the loot. The film was released to reviews and was nominated for three Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, winning Best Supporting Actor for Kline. Cleese and Palin won BAFTA Awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for their performances, a spiritual sequel, Fierce Creatures, was released in 1997. London gangster George Thomason and his man, Ken Pile. They bring in two Americans, con artist Wanda Gershwitz and weapons expert Otto West, a mean-spirited anglophobe, Wanda and Otto are lovers, but they hide this from George and Ken, pretending to be siblings, so Wanda can work her charms on them. The heist is successful, and the gang escapes with a sum in diamonds. They hide them in a safe in an old workshop, soon after, Wanda and Otto betray George to the police and he is arrested. They return to collect the diamonds, with Wanda planning to double-cross Otto, as well, in Kens fish tank, Wanda discovers the key to the safe deposit box containing the diamonds and hides it in her pendant. Wanda decides to seduce Georges barrister, Archie Leach, so he can persuade George to plead guilty, Archie is in a loveless marriage and quickly falls for Wanda, Otto is jealous, and his interference causes Wanda and Archies liaisons to go disastrously wrong. Wanda accidentally leaves her pendant at Archies house, which Archies wife, Wendy, at Wandas insistence, Archie recovers the pendant by staging a burglary. Eventually, Archie, feeling guilty, ends the affair, George asks Ken to kill Mrs Coady, the Crowns only eyewitness. Though Ken accidentally kills her three dogs, causing him great distress, he is successful when their death gives her a heart attack. Wanda and Otto want George to remain in jail, but with no witness, at his trial, defence witness Wanda unexpectedly gives evidence against him. When Archie, stunned, flubs his cross-examination and inadvertently calls her darling, Wendy realises that Archie has had an affair, Otto tries to force Ken to reveal the location of the diamonds by eating his pet fish, leaving Kens favourite, named Wanda, until last. Ken reveals that the diamonds are at a hotel near Heathrow Airport, with his career and marriage over, Archie resolves to cut his losses, steal the loot himself, and flee to South America. Promised less jail time, George tells Archie that Ken knows where the diamonds are, Archie sees Wanda fleeing the courthouse, pulls her into his car, and races to Kens flat
18.
Fierce Creatures
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Fierce Creatures is a 1997 farcical comedy film. While not literally a sequel, Fierce Creatures is a successor to the 1988 film A Fish Called Wanda. Both films star John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Fierce Creatures was written by John Cleese, and directed by Robert Young and Fred Schepisi. The film was dedicated to Gerald Durrell and Peter Cook, some scenes were filmed at Jersey Zoo, a zoological park founded by Durrell. The film opens with Willa Weston arriving in Atlanta to take a high ranking position in a recently acquired by Octopus Inc. s owner. But Rod informs her that he has sold the company where she was to work. Willa then agrees to run another recent acquisition, Marwood Zoo, Rod McCains son Vincent, who feels an unreciprocated attraction to Willa, announces that he will join her at the zoo. The newly appointed director of the zoo is a retired Hong Kong Police Force officer and former Octopus Television employee, Rollo Lee. In order to meet Octopuss revenue target of 20% from all assets, Rollo institutes a fierce creatures theme on the assumption that dangerous, all animals not meeting those requirements must go. All the animal keepers, including spider-handler Bugsy, make various attempts to get Rollo to change his mind, one of which is getting Rollo to exterminate five cute animals himself. But Rollo, seeing through their prank, fakes the animals extermination, rolls keeps the animals in his bedroom which later caused Willa and Vincent to misunderstand that Rollo is having sex orgy with female staff. Rollo discovers that several staffs are faking horrific animal attack injuries, Rollo fires several warning shots at those responsible and Reggae rushed in, mistook one of them is shot. Rollo then finds a visitor who has had an accident but, not believing it is real. Just then Willa and Vincent arrive and this fiasco sees Rollo demoted to middle management, Vince even threatens to fire him if his apparent activities with female staff do not cease. Vince covers zoo and animals alike with advertisements after secretly garnering sponsors, dresses the staff in ridiculous outfits and his continued attempts to seduce Willa fail, while she comes to enjoy working at the zoo, after having a close encounter with a silver-back gorilla. She finds herself attracted to Rollo after becoming fascinated by his apparent ability to multiple women. When Rollo attempts to have a discussion about Vinces marketing plan, but she is forced to postpone when she remembers Rod is coming from Atlanta to discuss the running of the zoo. Worried that the visit may be part of a plan to close the zoo, Rollo, although the plan goes awry, they learn that Rod wants to turn over the zoo to the Japanese to make a golf-course and is not intending to die
19.
Clockwise (film)
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Clockwise is a 1986 British comedy film starring John Cleese, directed by Christopher Morahan, written by Michael Frayn and produced by Michael Codron. The films music was composed by George Fenton, for his performance Cleese won the 1987 Peter Sellers Award For Comedy at the Evening Standard British Film Awards. Most urban scenes were shot in the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, brian Stimpson, headmaster of Thomas Tompion Comprehensive School, has been elected to chair the annual Headmasters Conference. Extremely disorganised as a man, Stimpson is now obsessively organised and punctual. He is the first headmaster of a school to chair the Headmasters Conference. Despite repetitive rehearsal of his speech and preparations for the journey to the conference and his troubles begin as he inadvertently misses his train and loses the text of his speech. Further unfortunate events unfold, Stimpson and Wisely severely damage and eventually lose the car, now desperate to reach the conference on time, they resort to stealing the sports car being driven by a used car salesman, belonging to a client. Finally, he directs all of the headmasters to stand and sing the hymn To Be a Pilgrim and he is then accosted by his disappointed wife, Lauras worried parents and several other parties he had hurt over the course of his journey. The film ends as he is led away by several policemen
20.
James Bond in film
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The James Bond film series is a British series of spy films based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond,007, who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. It is one of the longest continually-running film series in history, in that time Eon Productions has produced 24 films, most of them at Pinewood Studios. With a combined gross of over $7 billion to date, the produced by Eon constitute the fourth-highest-grossing film series. Six actors have portrayed 007 in the Eon series, the latest being Daniel Craig, Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman co-produced most of the Eon films until 1975, when Broccoli became the sole producer. The single exception during this period was Thunderball, on which Broccoli, from 1984 Broccoli was joined by his stepson Michael G. Wilson as producer and in 1995 Broccoli stepped aside from Eon and was replaced by his daughter Barbara, who has co-produced with Wilson since. Broccolis family company, Danjaq, has ownership of the series through Eon. The Eon series has seen continuity both in the actors and in the production crews, with directors, writers, composers, production designers. No to For Your Eyes Only, the films were distributed solely by United Artists, when Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer absorbed United Artists in 1981, MGM/UA Entertainment Co. was formed and distributed the films until 1995. MGM solely distributed three films from 1997 to 2002 after United Artists was retired as a mainstream studio, Feldman, and a 1983 remake of Thunderball entitled Never Say Never Again, produced by Jack Schwartzman, who had obtained the rights to the film from McClory. It was adapted for the screen by Anthony Ellis and Charles Bennett, Bennett was well known for his collaborations with Alfred Hitchcock, including The 39 Steps and Sabotage. Due to the restriction of a play, the adapted version lost many of the details found in the book, although it retained its violence. The hour-long Casino Royale episode, which starred American actor Barry Nelson as Bond and Peter Lorre as the villain Le Chiffre, in 1959 producer Albert R. Cubby Broccoli at Warwick Films expressed interest in adapting the Bond novels, but his colleague Irving Allen was unenthusiastic. Towards the end of Saltzmans option period, screenwriter Wolf Mankowitz introduced him to Broccoli, a number of Hollywood studios did not want to fund the films, finding them too British or too blatantly sexual. Eventually the two signed a deal with United Artists for 100 per cent financial backing and distribution of seven films, Saltzman and Broccoli also created the company Danjaq, which was to hold the rights to the films which Eon Productions was to produce. Eon had originally intended to film Flemings novel Thunderball first, but Kevin McClory took Fleming to the High Court in London for breach of copyright over the book, and so Eon decided to film Dr. Eon asked several directors—Bryan Forbes, Guy Green, Val Guest and Guy Hamilton—to helm the film, Eon had originally hired Wolf Mankowitz and Richard Maibaum to write Dr. Nos screenplay, partly because of Mankowitzs help in brokering the deal between Broccoli and Saltzman. An initial draft of the screenplay was rejected because the scriptwriters had made the villain, Dr. No, a monkey, and Mankowitz left the film. To play the role of Bond, Sean Connery was not Broccoli or Flemings first choice, but he was selected after Patrick McGoohan had turned down the role
21.
Q (James Bond)
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Q is a fictional character in the James Bond films and film novelizations. Q, like M, is a job title rather than a name and he is the head of Q Branch, the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service. Q has appeared in 21 of the 24 Eon Productions James Bond films, the exceptions being Live and Let Die, the character was also featured in both non-Eon Bond films, the 1967 Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again. Q has always been portrayed in the James Bond films as a man, however, MI6 chief Alex Younger revealed in a speech at the 2017 Women in IT Awards that the real-life Q is a woman. In John Gardners novels, the post of Q is taken over by Ann Reilly and she also forms a relationship with Bond. It is supposed that she held the post for a short while only, charles Fraser-Smith is widely credited as the inspiration for Q due to the spy gadgets he built for the Special Operations Executive. These were called Q-devices, after the Royal Navys World War I Q-ships, in the sixth novel, Dr. No, the service armourer Major Boothroyd appears for the first time. Fleming named the character after Geoffrey Boothroyd, an expert who lived in Glasgow. In the films, Major Boothroyd first appears in Dr, No and later in From Russia with Love, although played by different actors. In most films in which Q appears, he is restricted to a behind the scenes involvement, either based in London or in secret bases out in the field. In the first film, Dr. No, Boothroyd is played by Peter Burton in only one scene in which he replaces Bonds.380 ACP Beretta M1934 pistol with the signature.32 Walther PPK handgun. He is referred to by M as the armourer, and later as Major Boothroyd, scheduling conflicts prevented Burton from reprising the role in From Russia with Love. No Beginning with From Russia with Love, Desmond Llewelyn portrayed the character in every film except Live. In the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, as Q delivered the underwater Lotus, in Thunderball, Bond can be heard muttering Oh no when Q joins him in the Bahamas. Q has also assisted Bond in an active role in his missions in Octopussy. He frequently refers to Bond as 007, rather than by his name, in GoldenEye, Q shares a joke with Bond for the first time, and in The World Is Not Enough when he reveals his plan to retire, Bond is saddened at the prospect. Q signs off with Now pay attention,007, and then offers some words of advice, Q, Q, Always have an escape plan. – before he is lowered out of view, llewellyn died in a car crash just weeks after the films release
22.
Harry Potter (film series)
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Harry Potter is a British-American film series based on the Harry Potter novels by author J. K. Rowling. A spin-off prequel series will consist of five films, starting with Fantastic Beasts, the Fantastic Beasts films mark the beginning of a shared media franchise known as J. K. Rowlings Wizarding World. The series was produced by David Heyman, and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint. Four directors worked on the series, Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, the screenplays were written by Steve Kloves, with the exception of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which was written by Michael Goldenberg. Production took over ten years to complete, with the story arc following Harry Potters quest to overcome his arch-enemy Lord Voldemort. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final novel in the series, was adapted into two feature-length parts, Part 1 was released in November 2010, and Part 2 was released in July 2011. Without inflation adjustment, it is the second highest-grossing film series with $8.5 billion in worldwide receipts, late in 1997, film producer David Heymans London offices received a copy of the first book in what would become Rowlings series of seven Harry Potter novels. The book, Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, was relegated to a low-priority bookshelf, consequently, Heyman, who had originally disliked the rubbish title, read the book himself. Highly impressed by Rowlings work, he began the process led to one of the most successful cinematic franchises of all time. Heymans enthusiasm led to Rowlings 1999 sale of the rights for the first four Harry Potter books to Warner Bros. for a reported £1 million. Although Steven Spielberg initially negotiated to direct the first film, he declined the offer, Spielberg wanted the adaptation to be an animated film, with American actor Haley Joel Osment to provide Harry Potters voice. Spielberg contended that, in his opinion, there was every expectation of profit in making the film and he claims that making money would have been like shooting ducks in a barrel. Its just like withdrawing a billion dollars and putting it into your personal bank accounts, petersen and Reiner both pulled out of the running in March 2000. It was then narrowed down to Columbus, Gilliam, Parker, Rowlings first choice was Terry Gilliam. Harry Potter is the kind of literary achievement that comes around once in a lifetime. Since the books have generated such a following across the world. I cant think of anyone more ideally suited for this job than Chris, Steve Kloves was selected to write the screenplay for the first film. He described adapting the book as tough since it did not lend itself to adaptation as well as the two books
23.
Shrek (franchise)
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The Shrek franchise from DreamWorks Animation, based on William Steigs picture book Shrek. Consists of four computer-animated films including, Shrek, Shrek 2, Shrek the Third, a short 4-D film, Shrek 4-D, which originally was a theme park ride, was released in 2003. Two television specials, the Christmas television special Shrek the Halls, a spin-off film titled Puss in Boots was released in October 2011, and a 2008 Broadway musical adaption was produced for two years. The series was a success, becoming the 13th highest-grossing franchise of all time. Shrek, an ogre, finds a surprise when fairy tale creatures are sent to live in his swamp by Lord Farquaad. He befriends a talking donkey whose name is also Donkey, the latter needs Princess Fiona to marry him so he will become the king of Duloc. When Shrek and Donkey visit him, they are forced to rescue her from an enormous fire-breathing dragon, the Dragon turns out to be female, and she falls in love with Donkey. Donkey, Shrek and Fiona escape, and Dragon chases them, once Shrek and Donkey rescue Fiona, they take her back to Lord Farquaad. Along the way, Shrek falls in love with Fiona and she reveals to Donkey that she is cursed and turns into an ogress at night. The only way the curse can be broken is by true loves first kiss, Fiona and Farquaad have a marriage ceremony, but they are interrupted by Shrek, who tells Fiona he loves her. Donkey and Dragon enter, and Dragon eats Farquaad, Shrek and Fiona kiss, and Fiona turns into an ogress permanently. Shrek gets his swamp back, and the two marry there, after a karaoke party the newlyweds set off on their honeymoon. The second film opens with Prince Charming on a quest to rescue Princess Fiona from the Dragon, when he gets there, he finds the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs in Fionas bed. He asks the wolf where Fiona is and the wolf tells him that she is on her honeymoon with Shrek, once Shrek and Fiona return from their honeymoon, they find Donkey in the swamp who tells them he and Dragon are going through a rough patch. They then get invited to the land of Far Far Away by Fionas parents, when they arrive, Shrek and Fiona are not what they expected. The Fairy Godmother and her son, Prince Charming, are trying to break up Shreks marriage by making Fiona fall in love with Prince Charming, however it does not work and Shrek and Fiona stay together. Shrek and Donkey get a new sidekick called Puss in Boots and they have a lengthy quest to search the Fairy Godmothers cottage to get a love potion. Shrek and Donkey drink the potion and they become something quite unexpected, Shrek becomes human and Donkey becomes a horse
24.
Yes Minister
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Yes Minister is a satirical British sitcom written by Sir Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC Television between 1980 and 1984, split over three seven-episode series. The sequel, Yes, Prime Minister, ran from 1986 to 1988, in total there were 38 episodes, of which all but one lasted half an hour, each episode ending with the title of the series as an answer to any question posed by Hacker. Several episodes were adapted for BBC Radio, and a play was produced in 2010. His Principal Private Secretary Bernard Woolley, played by Derek Fowlds, is caught between the two. The series received a number of awards, including several BAFTAs and it was the favourite television programme of the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher. The series opens in the wake of an election in which the incumbent government has been defeated by the opposition party. His party affiliation is never stated, and his party emblem is clearly neither Conservative nor Labour, the Prime Minister offers Hacker the position of Minister of Administrative Affairs, which he accepts. Hacker goes to his department and meets his Permanent Secretary, Humphrey Appleby, while Appleby is outwardly deferential towards the new minister, he is prepared to defend the status quo at all costs. Many of the episodes revolve around proposals backed by Hacker but frustrated by Appleby, other episodes revolve around proposals promoted by Appleby but rejected by Hacker, which Appleby attempts by all means necessary to persuade Hacker to accept. They do occasionally join forces in order to achieve a common goal, as the series revolves around the inner workings of central government, most of the scenes take place in private locations, such as offices and exclusive members clubs. Lynn says that there was not a scene set in the House of Commons because government does not take place in the House of Commons. Some politics and much theatre takes place there, as in all public performances, the real work is done in rehearsal, behind closed doors. Then the public and the House are shown what the government wishes them to see, the different ideals and self-interested motives of the characters are frequently contrasted. Accordingly, he must appear to the voters to be effective and responsive to the public will, to his party he must act as a loyal and effective party member. To do so, or to at least look as if he is doing so, is what he considers to be a vote-winner. Conversely, Sir Humphrey sees his role as ensuring that politics is kept out of government as much as possible, much of the shows humour thus derives from the antagonism between Cabinet ministers and the members of the British Civil Service. A typical episode centres on Hackers suggesting and pursuing a reform, more often than not, Sir Humphrey prevents him from achieving his goal while mollifying Hacker with some positive publicity, or at least a means to cover up his failure. Sir Humphrey, on the hand, believes that from the Civil Services perspective it makes very little difference who the Minister is
25.
Video Arts
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Video Arts is a UK-based video production company which produces and sells soft-skills training programmes, e-learning courses and learning platforms. Video Arts also distributes third party titles and it was founded in 1972 by John Cleese, Sir Antony Jay and a group of other television professionals. Cleese sold the company in the 1990s, and it was bought by Tinopolis in 2007. Cleese continued to feature in Video Arts training videos, Video Arts uses humour in its videos in order to make learning points more memorable. Its slogan is a quote from John Cleese, “People learn nothing when they’re asleep, patrick Russell, Shooting the message #20, Video Arts. The inside scoop on communications film legend Video Arts, founded by Anthony Jay and John Cleese 40 years ago at British Film Institute website,20 July 2015
26.
The Secret Policeman's Ball
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The shows started in 1976 featuring popular British comedians but later included leading musicians and actors. The Secret Policemans Ball shows are credited by many prominent entertainers with having galvanised them to become involved with Amnesty, there have been four distinct eras of the Amnesty benefit shows. The shows of the first era yielded films, television specials, home-videos, the three subsequent eras have primarily featured locally popular British performers – and spin-off products have been released mainly in the UK. In March 2012, The Secret Policemans Ball took place in the United States for the first time, the one-night show at New Yorks Radio City Music Hall on 4 March was part of Amnestys 50th anniversary commemorations. The series was created and developed by Monty Python member John Cleese, Peter Luff, Cleese, Lewis and Luff worked together on the first two shows. Cleese credits Lewis with coining the Secret Policemans Ball title, in an interview aired on BBC TV on 22 June 1979, Cleese told interviewer Michael Billington Its Martin Lewis title, I can pin that one on him. But I thought it was quite funny, although the Secret Policemans Ball title was not used until the third show in 1979, the two preceding shows in 1976 and 1977 were retrospectively treated as part of the Secret Policemans canon. Cleese and Lewis subsequently worked individually on other Amnesty projects, Cleese made brief cameo appearances in the 1987 and 1989 shows and co-directed the latter. The first wave of shows took place every other year. Because multi-artist benefit shows with contemporary performers were a new phenomenon in Britain in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, they were accorded considerable media coverage, after 1981, there was a six-year hiatus. When Amnesty International re-commenced staging benefit shows, it did so without the benefit of the Amnesty staff members, the new team running Amnesty International re-commenced staging benefit shows in 1987, and the shows were on a noticeably smaller scale and consequently generated less media attention. The shows from 1987 onwards were videotaped to be shown as TV specials and/or released on video in Britain rather than filmed as movies with prospects for international release. The event was a failure and for the first time ever. Only two more of Amnestys benefit shows carried a Secret Policemans Ball-related title, between 1991 and 2001 Amnesty staged four more benefit events and though they were comedy shows in the same vein as their predecessors, none of them carried the Secret Policemans Ball title. When Amnesty staged a 40th anniversary show in 2001 it was stated that the Secret Policemans Ball title had run its course, however, in October 2006, following a 17-year gap, the name was revived, and also used for shows in October 2008 and March 2012. U2s Bono told Rolling Stone magazine in 1986, I saw The Secret Policemans Ball, in 2001, Bono described The Secret Policemans Ball to an Amnesty audience as a mysterious and extraordinary event that certainly changed my life. Bob Geldof and Ultravox singer Midge Ure first met and worked together at 1981s The Secret Policemans Other Ball which was the first benefit show that either of them had performed at, Geldof credits the Secret Policemans Ball series with having inspired his own charity show endeavours. The Amnesty shows are considered to have been the pioneering charity events that helped inspire those later shows, Amnesty states that public awareness of Amnesty increased by 700 percent between the first and third shows
27.
Amnesty International
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Amnesty International is a non-governmental organisation focused on human rights that claims to have over 7 million members and supporters around the world. The stated objective of the organisation is to research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights. Amnesty International was founded in London in 1961, following the publication of the article The Forgotten Prisoners in The Observer on 28 May 1961, Amnesty draws attention to human rights abuses and campaigns for compliance with international laws and standards. It works to public opinion to put pressure on governments that let abuse take place. Amnesty considers capital punishment to be the ultimate, irreversible denial of human rights, the organisation was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its campaign against torture, and the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 1978. Amnesty International was founded in London in July 1961 by English labour lawyer Peter Benenson, researchers have never traced the alleged newspaper article in question. In 1960, Portugal was ruled by the Estado Novo government of António de Oliveira Salazar, the government was authoritarian in nature and strongly anti-communist, suppressing enemies of the state as anti-Portuguese. The newspaper reader feels a sense of impotence. Yet if these feelings of disgust could be united into common action, Benenson worked with friend Eric Baker. It marked the launch of Appeal for Amnesty,1961, the aim of which was to mobilise public opinion, quickly and widely, in defence of these individuals, the Appeal for Amnesty was reprinted by a large number of international newspapers. In the same year, Benenson had a published, Persecution 1961. In July 1961 the leadership had decided that the appeal would form the basis of a permanent organisation, Amnesty, Benenson ensured that all three major political parties were represented, enlisting members of parliament from the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, and the Liberal Party. On 30 September 1962, it was officially named Amnesty International, between the Appeal for Amnesty,1961 and September 1962 the organisation had been known simply as Amnesty. From the very beginning, research and campaigning were present in Amnesty Internationals work, a library was established for information about prisoners of conscience and a network of local groups, called THREES groups, was started. Each group worked on behalf of three prisoners, one each of the then three main ideological regions of the world, communist, capitalist and developing. The international movement was starting to agree on its principles and techniques. In 1967 Peter Benenson resigned after an independent inquiry did not support his claims that AI had been infiltrated by British agents, later he claimed that the Central Intelligence Agency had become involved in Amnesty. Leading Amnesty International in the 1970s were key figures Seán MacBride, Amnesty International believed that the reasons underlying torture of prisoners by governments, were either to acquire and obtain information or to quell opposition by the use of terror, or both
28.
British Army
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The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom. As of 2017 the British Army comprises just over 80,000 trained Regular, or full-time, personnel and just over 26,500 trained Reserve, or part-time personnel. Therefore, the UK Parliament approves the continued existence of the Army by passing an Armed Forces Act at least once every five years, day to day the Army comes under administration of the Ministry of Defence and is commanded by the Chief of the General Staff. Repeatedly emerging victorious from these decisive wars allowed Britain to influence world events with its policies and establish itself as one of the leading military. In 1660 the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were restored under Charles II, Charles favoured the foundation of a new army under royal control and began work towards its establishment by August 1660. The Royal Scots Army and the Irish Army were financed by the Parliament of Scotland, the order of seniority of the most senior line regiments in the British Army is based on the order of seniority in the English army. At that time there was only one English regiment of dragoons, after William and Marys accession to the throne, England involved itself in the War of the Grand Alliance, primarily to prevent a French invasion restoring Marys father, James II. Spain, in the two centuries, had been the dominant global power, and the chief threat to Englands early transatlantic ambitions. The territorial ambitions of the French, however, led to the War of the Spanish Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. From the time of the end of the Seven Years War in 1763, Great Britain was the naval power. As had its predecessor, the English Army, the British Army fought the Kingdoms of Spain, France, and the Netherlands for supremacy in North America and the West Indies. With native and provincial assistance, the Army conquered New France in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, the British Army suffered defeat in the American War of Independence, losing the Thirteen Colonies but holding on to Canada. The British Army was heavily involved in the Napoleonic Wars and served in campaigns across Europe. The war between the British and the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte stretched around the world and at its peak, in 1813, the regular army contained over 250,000 men. A Coalition of Anglo-Dutch and Prussian Armies under the Duke of Wellington, the English had been involved, both politically and militarily, in Ireland since being given the Lordship of Ireland by the Pope in 1171. The campaign of the English republican Protector, Oliver Cromwell, involved uncompromising treatment of the Irish towns that had supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, the English Army stayed in Ireland primarily to suppress numerous Irish revolts and campaigns for independence. Having learnt from their experience in America, the British government sought a political solution, the British Army found itself fighting Irish rebels, both Protestant and Catholic, primarily in Ulster and Leinster in the 1798 rebellion. The Haldane Reforms of 1907 formally created the Territorial Force as the Armys volunteer reserve component by merging and reorganising the Volunteer Force, Militia, Great Britains dominance of the world had been challenged by numerous other powers, in the 20th century, most notably Germany
29.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
30.
Bristol City F.C.
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Bristol City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Bristol, England. Their ground is Ashton Gate, located in the southwest of the city and they currently play in the Championship, the second tier of English football, after winning League One during the 2014–15 season. In sealing the League One title, Bristol City became only the team to win both the third-tier championship and Football League Trophy double during the same season. Bristol City won the Welsh Cup – despite being an English club – in 1934, in 1907 they finished runners-up in Football League Division One, which is their highest ever final position. In 1909 they lost the FA Cup final to Manchester United, since relegation in 1911, however, they only returned to the top division from 1976 to 1980 and did not contend for any honours then. In 1982, Bristol City became the first English club to three consecutive relegations. With victories in 1986,2003 and 2015, Bristol City are now the most successful team in the Football League Trophy, the clubs nickname is The Robins, and a robin featured on the clubs badge from 1976 to 1994. Official club merchandise, including replica kits, still has a showing a robin. An attempt by the club to alter the badge was abandoned after it was criticised fiercely by fans, the teams main rivals are Bristol Rovers in the Bristol derby and Cardiff City in the Severnside derby, along with other regional teams in the West Country derby. Bristol Citys current manager is Lee Johnson, a former Bristol City player who made 199 appearances for the club. Coincidentally, he is the son of former City manager Gary Johnson, who took City to the Championship play-off final in 2008, where they eventually lost 0–1 to Hull City. The club was founded in 1894 as Bristol South End and changed their name to Bristol City on adopting professionalism three years later when they were admitted into the Southern League. Finishing as runners-up in three of the first four seasons, in 1900 the club amalgamated with local Southern League rivals Bedminster, City joined the Football League in 1901 when they became only the third club south of Birmingham to perform in the competition. Their first game in the Football League was on 7 September 1901 at Bloomfield Road, nicknamed the Bristol Babe at this time, they finished as runners-up in their inaugural First Division campaign. Unfortunately, there was no such award to help them in the Final at the Crystal Palace as Manchester United took the honours 1–0. The 1920s were a time as City bounced between the Second Division and the Southern Section of the Third Division. By the 1930s they had slumped into the division. Harry Dolman became chairman in 1949, a post he would hold for over 30 years, an engineer who had bought out the firm he worked for, he designed the first set of floodlights installed at Ashton Gate in the early 1950s
31.
Somerset County Cricket Club
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Somerset County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the county of Somerset. The clubs limited overs team was formerly the Somerset Sabres, but is now only as Somerset. Somersets early history is complicated by arguments about its status, there are, however, two matches involving W. G. Grace in 1879 and 1881 which are considered first-class by some authorities. In 1891, Somerset joined the County Championship, which had just become an officially recognised competition, Somerset have never won the County Championship, their highest finish being second, which they achieved in 2001,2010,2012 and 2016. The club won their first silverware in the late 1970s, winning both the Gillette Cup and John Player League in 1979. In the years since, Somerset have experienced success in one-day cricket. The team has reached the final of the Twenty20 cup competition on four occasions, the club has its headquarters at the County Ground, Taunton, where in the present-day almost all of its games are played at. Since 2005, Somerset also play at Taunton Vale against MCC Universities teams, the club have played at a number of other grounds in their past, with a significant number of matches at Clarence Park, Weston-super-Mare and at the Recreation Ground, Bath. In the seventeenth century, the sport of Stow-Ball, or Stob-Ball was being played in north Somerset, as in neighbouring Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. This sport most likely used either the base of a tree or its remaining stump as its wicket, however, stow could also refer to a frame used to support crawling tunnels in mines such as those lead mines in north Somerset, providing another possibility for the wicket. The earliest confirmed reference to cricket in Somerset is a match on 13 July 1751 that was played in memory of the late Frederick, Prince of Wales who was a noted patron of the sport. With a limited number of organised clubs to play, fixtures were few and far apart in the founding years, with matches being played against Clifton. Lansdown placed Somerset in the world, and played a number of matches against England XI in various forms. In 1865, the first attempt at a county side was made with the formation of Yeovil and they performed poorly in their opening matches against local club sides, and on one occasion, even lost three players to their opposition the day before the match was scheduled to begin. In spite of problems, they did play a county fixture, against the Gentlemen of Devon. The formation of Somerset County Cricket Club was decided in 1875 after the playing of one match between the Gentlemen of Somerset and the Gentlemen of Devon at Sidmouth in Devon. Somerset is the one of the present first-class counties in English cricket whose county cricket club was founded outside the boundaries of the traditional county
32.
Cricket
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Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a cricket field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard-long pitch with a wicket at each end. One team bats, attempting to score as many runs as possible, each phase of play is called an innings. After either ten batsmen have been dismissed or a number of overs have been completed, the innings ends. The winning team is the one that scores the most runs, including any extras gained, at the start of each game, two batsmen and eleven fielders enter the field of play. The striker takes guard on a crease drawn on the four feet in front of the wicket. His role is to prevent the ball hitting the stumps by use of his bat. The other batsman, known as the non-striker, waits at the end of the pitch near the bowler. A dismissed batsman must leave the field, and a teammate replaces him, the bowlers objectives are to prevent the scoring of runs and to dismiss the batsman. An over is a set of six deliveries bowled by the same bowler, the next over is bowled from the other end of the pitch by a different bowler. If a fielder retrieves the ball enough to put down the wicket with a batsman not having reached the crease at that end of the pitch. Adjudication is performed on the field by two umpires, the laws of cricket are maintained by the International Cricket Council and the Marylebone Cricket Club. Traditionally cricketers play in all-white kit, but in limited overs cricket they wear club or team colours. In addition to the kit, some players wear protective gear to prevent injury caused by the ball. Although crickets origins are uncertain, it is first recorded in south-east England in the 16th century and it spread globally with the expansion of the British Empire, leading to the first international matches in the mid-19th century. ICC, the governing body, has over 100 members. The sport is followed primarily in Australasia, Britain, the Indian subcontinent, southern Africa, womens cricket, which is organised and played separately, has also achieved international standard. A number of words have been suggested as sources for the term cricket, in the earliest definite reference to the sport in 1598 it is called creckett. One possible source for the name is the Old English cricc or cryce meaning a crutch or staff, in Samuel Johnsons Dictionary, he derived cricket from cryce, Saxon, a stick
33.
Boxing
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Boxing is a combat sport in which two people wearing protective gloves throw punches at each other for a predetermined set of time in a boxing ring. Amateur boxing is both an Olympic and Commonwealth Games sport and is a fixture in most international games—it also has its own World Championships. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of one- to three-minute intervals called rounds, in the event that both fighters gain equal scores from the judges, the fight is considered a draw. In Olympic boxing, due to the fact that a winner must be declared, in the case of a draw - the judges use technical criteria to choose the most deserving winner of the bout. While people have fought in combat since before the dawn of history. The earliest evidence for fist fighting with any kind of gloves can be found on Minoan Crete, in Ancient Greece boxing was a well developed sport and enjoyed consistent popularity. In Olympic terms, it was first introduced in the 23rd Olympiad,688 B. C, the boxers would wind leather thongs around their hands in order to protect them. There were no rounds and boxers fought until one of them acknowledged defeat or could not continue, weight categories were not used, which meant heavyweights had a tendency to dominate. It was the head of the opponent which was primarily targeted, Boxing was a popular spectator sport in Ancient Rome. In order for the fighters to protect themselves against their opponents they wrapped leather thongs around their fists, eventually harder leather was used and the thong soon became a weapon. The Romans even introduced metal studs to the thongs to make the cestus which then led to a more sinister weapon called the myrmex, Fighting events were held at Roman Amphitheatres. The Roman form of boxing was often a fight until death to please the spectators who gathered at such events, however, especially in later times, purchased slaves and trained combat performers were valuable commodities, and their lives were not given up without due consideration. Often slaves were used against one another in a circle marked on the floor and this is where the term ring came from. In AD393, during the Roman gladiator period, boxing was abolished due to excessive brutality and it was not until the late 17th century that boxing re-surfaced in London. Records of Classical boxing activity disappeared after the fall of the Western Roman Empire when the wearing of weapons became common once again, however, there are detailed records of various fist-fighting sports that were maintained in different cities and provinces of Italy between the 12th and 17th centuries. There was also a sport in ancient Rus called Kulachniy Boy or Fist Fighting, as the wearing of swords became less common, there was renewed interest in fencing with the fists. The sport would later resurface in England during the early 16th century in the form of bare-knuckle boxing sometimes referred to as prizefighting. The first documented account of a fight in England appeared in 1681 in the London Protestant Mercury
34.
Clifton College
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Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in the suburb of Clifton in the port city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862. Having linked its General Studies classes with Badminton School since 1738, the dedicated Jewish boarding house closed in 1738 It was at Clifton that the second-highest cricket score ever recorded was made by 13 year-old A. E. J. Collins in June 1899. Collinss 628 not out stood as the record score till January 2016 when Pranav Dhanawade,15 years old, of Mumbai, India, Collins was killed in World War I. The school was also the headquarters of the US army in Britain for part of the Second World War, Clifton is one of the original 26 English public schools as defined by the Public Schools Yearbook of 1889. The school takes boys and girls aged between 13 and 18, to distinguish it from the junior schools, Clifton College proper is referred to as the Upper School. There are around 720 children in the Upper School of whom about a third are girls, at the start of the 2004 -2005 school year, a new boarding/day house for girls was opened. During World War II the heavy bombing of Bristol caused the students to be evacuated to Bude, in February 1941 the buildings were used by the Royal Army Service Corps as an Officer Cadet Training Unit. In 1942 they were replaced by the United States Army who established it as the headquarters of V Corps, staff were involved in preparations for the Normandy landings under General Omar Bradley. After D-Day the college was taken over as headquarters of the Ninth Army under General William Hood Simpson, to enable rapid travel and communications between the headquarters and dispersed units extensive use was made of light aircraft for travel. Before 1987, Clifton was a school with seven boarding houses. In each of the current seven boarding Houses live the Housemaster or Housemistress and family, an Assistant, in addition, each House has up to four non-residential Tutors. There are also houses in Clifton College Preparatory School that are not listed below, several other houses have existed during the schools history. In WW2, while the school was evacuated to Bude, United House was created from pupils of houses placed in temporary abeyance, dakyns House and Browns House were closed in 1993, and Polacks House, which took Jewish boys only, was closed in 2005. List of Victoria Crosses by School Clifton College Register 1862 -1962 - Published by the Old Cliftonian Society Clifton College website
35.
Public school (United Kingdom)
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A public school in England and Wales is an older, student selective and expensive fee-paying independent secondary school which caters primarily for children aged between 11 or 13 and 18. The term public should not be misunderstood to mean that these are public sector schools, traditionally, public schools were all-male boarding schools, although most now allow day pupils, and many have become either partially or fully co-educational. The origins of schools in the UK were primarily religious until 1640 and it was intended that by-products of this would be the publication of universal books and the setting up of schools for boys and girls. Henceforth each of these schools was to be managed by a board of governors, Public schools have had a strong association with the ruling classes. Historically they educated the sons of the English upper and upper-middle classes, the sons of officers and senior administrators of the British Empire were educated in England while their parents were on overseas postings. In 2010, over half of Cabinet Ministers had been educated at public schools, in 2014, annual fees at Canford School and Eton College were more than £33,000 for boarders. The name dates back to the time when schools founded for local children went public and it is also used to describe the some 230 girls senior schools belonging to the Girls Schools Association. Until the late medieval period most schools were controlled by the church and had specific entrance criteria, others were restricted to the sons of members of guilds, trades or livery companies. The need for professional trades in an increasingly secularised society required schools for the sons of the gentry that were independent from ecclesiastical authority, from the 16th century onward, boys boarding schools were founded or endowed for public use. Traditionally, most of public schools were all boys and full boarding. Separate preparatory schools for younger boys developed from the 1830s, with entry to the schools becoming limited to boys of at least 12 or 13 years old. The first of these was Windlesham House School, established with support from Thomas Arnold, many of the schools, including Rugby School, Harrow School and the Perse School fell into decline during the 18th century and nearly closed in the early 19th century. Protests in the local newspaper forced governors of the Perse School to keep it open, a Royal Commission, the Clarendon Commission, investigated nine of the more established schools, including seven boarding schools and two day schools. St Pauls School and the Merchant Taylors School claimed successfully that their constitutions made them private schools, in 1887 the Divisional Court and the Court of Appeal determined that the City of London School was a public school. In the first year only 12 headmasters attended, but in the following year 34 did, the Headmasters Conference has since grown steadily to over 200 schools. The Public Schools Yearbook was published for the first time in 1889, listing 30 schools, mostly boarding schools except for St Pauls School, some academically successful grammar schools were added in later editions. The 1902 edition included all schools whose principals qualified for membership of the Headmasters Conference, the Fleming Report defined a public school as a member of the Governing Bodies Association or the Headmasters Conference. Based on the recommendations of this report, the Education Act 1944 offered a new status to endowed grammar schools receiving a grant from central government
36.
Field marshal
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Field marshal is a very senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually it is the highest rank in an army, and when it is and it is considered as a five-star rank in modern-day armed forces in many countries. The origin of the dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the kings horses. Promotion to the rank of marshal in many countries historically required extraordinary military achievement by a general. However, the rank has also used as a divisional command rank. The traditional attribute distinguishing a field marshal is a baton, the baton nowadays is purely ornamental, and as such may be richly decorated. That said, it is not necessary for the insignia to be a baton, the exact wording of the titles used by field marshals varies, examples include marshal and field marshal general. The air force equivalent in Commonwealth and many Middle Eastern air forces is marshal of the air force. Navies, which usually do not use the nomenclature employed by armies or air forces, use titles such as fleet admiral, Field marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim was a politician in Afghanistan who served as Vice President from June 2002 until December 2004 and from November 2009 until his death. Between September 2001 and December 2004, he served as Defense Minister under the Afghan Transitional Administration. As military commander of the Northern Alliance, Fahim captured the Afghan capital Kabul in the fall of 2001 from the Taliban government, in 2004 President Hamid Karzai provided Fahim the honorary title Marshal and a year later he became member of the House of Elders. He later became a recipient of the Ahmad Shah Baba Medal, Fahim was a member of Afghanistans Tajik ethnic group. He was affiliated with the Jamiat Islami party of Afghanistan, Sir Thomas Blamey was the first and is the only Australian-born field marshal. He was promoted to the rank on the insistence of the Australian prime minister, Sir Robert Menzies, Blamey was, at the time of his promotion, seriously ill and mostly bed-ridden in the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital. He was presented with his marshals baton at a ceremony held in the sunroom at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital by the Governor-General of Australia. Blameys field marshals baton is on display in the Second World War galleries at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Currently, the only Australian field marshal is HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, during Imperial rule in China, different dynasty gave different titles to generals. A very similar title is 司馬 in Eastern Han dynasty, which means master of horse
37.
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig
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Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCIE, ADC was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War he commanded the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front from late 1915 until the end of the war and he was nicknamed Butcher Haig for the two million British casualties endured under his command. The Canadian War Museum comments, His epic but costly offensives at the Somme and Passchendaele have become synonymous with the carnage. Haig was born in a house on Charlotte Square, Edinburgh but technically it was addressed as 19 Hope Street and he was not an aristocrat by birth, or landed gentry. His father John Haig—an irascible alcoholic—was middle class, and as head of the familys successful Haig & Haig whisky distillery had an income of £10,000 per year and his mother was from a gentry family fallen on straitened circumstances. Rachels cousin, Violet Veitch, was mother of the playwright, Haigs education began in 1869 as a boarder at Mr Batesons School in Clifton Bank, St Andrews. Later in 1869, he switched to Edinburgh Collegiate School, and then in 1871 to Orwell House, both of Haigs parents died by the time he was eighteen. After a tour of the United States with his brother, Haig attended university, studying Political Economy, Ancient History and French Literature at Brasenose College, Oxford and he devoted much of his time to socialising – he was a member of the Bullingdon Club – and equestrian sports. He was one of the best young horsemen at Oxford and quickly found his way into the University polo team and he was commissioned as a lieutenant into the 7th Hussars on 7 February 1885. Haig played polo for England on a tour of the United States and he would remain a polo enthusiast all his life, serving as Chairman of the Hurlingham Polo Committee from its reorganization in May 1914 until 1922. He would also be President of the Army Polo Committee and founder of the Indian Polo Association and he then saw overseas service in India, where he was appointed the regiments adjutant in 1888. He was something of a disciplinarian, but also impressed his superiors by his skill at sorting out paperwork and he was promoted to captain on 23 January 1891. Haig left India in November 1892 to prepare for the exam for the Staff College, Camberley. Although he was placed in the top 28 candidates he was not awarded a place as he had failed the compulsory mathematics paper. He concealed this failure for the rest of his life and later recommended dropping the mathematics paper as a requirement. Haigs colour blindness would not have been an issue if he had passed the mathematics paper. Fraser was one of those who had lobbied for Haig to enter the Staff College, and he was nominated in late 1894. While waiting to take up his place, he travelled to Germany to report on cavalry manoeuvres there, the careers of French and Haig were to be entwined for the next twenty-five years, and Haig helped French write the cavalry drillbook, published 1896
38.
GCE Ordinary Level
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The O Level is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced as part of British educational reform alongside the more in-depth and academically rigorous A-level in England, Wales and those three jurisdictions replaced O Levels gradually with General Certificate of Secondary Education and International General Certificate of Secondary Education exams over time. The Scottish equivalent was the O-grade, both CIE and OCR have Cambridge Assessment as their parent organisation. The Cambridge O Level has already been phased out, however, in Bangladesh, the O Level qualification is offered, with examinations conducted by Cambridge International Examinations under the board of British Council. In Brunei, the O Level qualification is offered, with examinations conducted by Cambridge International Examinations, additionally, the Mathematics subject previously offered an exam paper and a syllabus unique to Brunei, but this has since been retired and the regular syllabus used worldwide is offered. This is equivalent to secondary education now, in India, Cambridge International Examinations GCE Ordinary Level qualifications are offered at private and international schools as an alternative to the conventional Indian School Certificate. In Malaysia, the O Level qualification is offered, with examinations conducted by Cambridge International Examinations, in Mauritius, the O Level qualification is awarded as part of the School Certificate, which is awarded upon successful completion of Form V in secondary school. The O Level examinations are conducted by the Mauritius Examinations Syndicate. A number of subjects, including English Language, English Language, History, Mathematics, Mathematics, offer exam papers, additionally, the subject of Art and Design, the offering of which is restricted to a limited geographic region, is available in Mauritius. The GCE O Level qualification is offered in Pakistan by the CIE, O Level qualification has become a replacement for the matriculation qualification offered by the Government boards of education. Due to the costs associated with O Level qualifications, their reach is limited to middle to elite class families. It is common knowledge that the CIE qualification are more rigorous than their alternatives that exist in the country, in 2011, Zohaib Asad achieved grade A in a record 28 O-level examinations when a student of the Beaconhouse School System. In Seychelles, the O Level qualification is offered, with examinations conducted by Cambridge International Examinations, some subjects are unique to Seychelles or have a format, curriculum, or syllabus that is unique to Seychelles. In Singapore, the O Level qualification is offered jointly by Cambridge International Examinations, a number of subjects previously offered exam papers and syllabuses unique to Singapore, but these have since been retired or planned to be phased out. After taking O-levels, some Singapore students go on to GCE Advanced Level exams, the GCE Ordinary Level qualification is offered by the British council of Sri Lanka School. Before, this qualification was offered by Cambridge International Examinations. The GCE Ordinary Level qualification is offered by the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council, before, this qualification was jointly offered by Cambridge International Examinations and the Ministry of Education in Zimbabwe. The O Level qualification was previously awarded in the Caribbean, the O Level qualification was previously awarded in Hong Kong, along with the Hong Kong version of the A Level qualification
39.
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
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University of Cambridge
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The University of Cambridge is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England, often regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Founded in 1209 and given royal status by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. The university grew out of an association of scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople, the two ancient universities share many common features and are often referred to jointly as Oxbridge. Cambridge is formed from a variety of institutions which include 31 constituent colleges, Cambridge University Press, a department of the university, is the worlds oldest publishing house and the second-largest university press in the world. The university also operates eight cultural and scientific museums, including the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridges libraries hold a total of around 15 million books, eight million of which are in Cambridge University Library, a legal deposit library. In the year ended 31 July 2015, the university had an income of £1.64 billion. The central university and colleges have an endowment of around £5.89 billion. The university is linked with the development of the high-tech business cluster known as Silicon Fen. It is a member of associations and forms part of the golden triangle of leading English universities and Cambridge University Health Partners. As of 2017, Cambridge is ranked the fourth best university by three ranking tables and no other institution in the world ranks in the top 10 for as many subjects. Cambridge is consistently ranked as the top university in the United Kingdom, the university has educated many notable alumni, including eminent mathematicians, scientists, politicians, lawyers, philosophers, writers, actors, and foreign Heads of State. Ninety-five Nobel laureates, fifteen British prime ministers and ten Fields medalists have been affiliated with Cambridge as students, faculty, by the late 12th century, the Cambridge region already had a scholarly and ecclesiastical reputation, due to monks from the nearby bishopric church of Ely. The University of Oxford went into suspension in protest, and most scholars moved to such as Paris, Reading. After the University of Oxford reformed several years later, enough remained in Cambridge to form the nucleus of the new university. A bull in 1233 from Pope Gregory IX gave graduates from Cambridge the right to teach everywhere in Christendom, the colleges at the University of Cambridge were originally an incidental feature of the system. No college is as old as the university itself, the colleges were endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called hostels, the hostels were gradually absorbed by the colleges over the centuries, but they have left some indicators of their time, such as the name of Garret Hostel Lane. Hugh Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded Peterhouse, Cambridges first college, the most recently established college is Robinson, built in the late 1970s
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Conscription in the United Kingdom
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Conscription in the United Kingdom has existed for two periods in modern times. The first was from 1916 to 1920, the second was from 1939 to 1960, conscription during the First World War began when the British government passed the Military Service Act in 1916. The act specified that men aged 18 to 40 years old were liable to be called up for military service unless they were widowed with children or ministers of a religion. The law went through several changes before the war ended, married men were exempt in the original Act, although this was changed in June 1916. The age limit was eventually raised to 51 years old. Recognition of work of national importance also diminished, and in the last year of the war there was support for the conscription of clergy. Due to the situation in Ireland, conscription was never applied there, only in England, Scotland. Only single men 20 to 22 years old were liable to be called up, to emphasise this distinction, each man was issued with a suit in addition to a uniform. The intention was for the first intake to undergo six months of training before being discharged into an active reserve. They would then be recalled for short training periods and attend an annual camp, at the outbreak of war, on 3 September 1939, the Military Training Act was overtaken by the National Service Act, and the first intake was absorbed into the army. This act imposed a liability to conscription of all men 18 to 41 years old, men could be rejected for medical reasons, and those engaged in vital industries or occupations were reserved at a particular age beyond which no one in that job would be enlisted. For example, lighthouse keepers were reserved at 18 years old, from 1943, some conscripts were directed into the British coal mining industry and become known as the Bevin Boys. This included their own children, legitimate or illegitimate, stepchildren, pregnant women were not exempted, but in practice were not called up. Men under 20 years old were not liable to be sent overseas. People called up before they were 51 years old but who reached their 51st birthday during their service were liable to serve until the end of the war. People who had retired, resigned or been dismissed from the forces before the war were liable to be called if they had not reached 51 years of age. Britain did not completely demobilise in 1945, as conscription continued after the war and those already in the armed forces were given a release class determined by length of service and age. In practice, releases began in June 1945, and the last of the conscripts had been released by 1949
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Footlights
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Footlights inaugural performance took place in June 1883. For some months before the name Footlights was chosen, the group had performed to audiences in the Cambridge area. They wished to go wider than the University Amateur Dramatic Club, founded in 1855, with its membership drawn largely from Trinity College and they were to perform every May Week at the Theatre Royal, the shows soon open to the public. A local paper commended the Clubs appeal to the general public, the club grew in prominence in the 1960s as a hotbed of comedy and satire, and established a permanent home in the basement of the Cambridge Union. Over the next decade, Footlights members came to dominate British comedy, creating and starring in shows such as Not Only. But Also, Im Sorry, Ill Read That Again, At Last the 1948 Show and That Was The Week That Was, forming comedy groups such as Monty Python and The Goodies, during the 1980s, Footlights reinforced its position at the heart of British comedy. Many of its members have gone on to win Oscars, BAFTAs and other awards and enjoy success in the entertainment. Today, Footlights is recognised as a school for many of Britains most well-known comic entertainers. During term, Footlights produce the regular and very popular Smokers – an informal mixture of sketches, the club also performs plays, pantomimes and sketch shows and least one revue, usually in the spring. Outside of term, the Footlights go on an tour, performing new material in the West End. In 2015 the international tour show expanded to include Paris, Edinburgh, the US, Canada, for information about individual Footlights revues, see Cambridge Footlights Revue. This is a listing of members of Footlights who achieved notability after graduating from Cambridge University. The elected leader of Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club is known as the president, Official website Official International Tour website Past members and shows Footlights Alumni Association The Cambridge Footlights Review,1982
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Cambridge Guildhall
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Cambridge Guildhall is a listed building designed in 1939 by Charles Cowles-Voysey in the centre of the historic city of Cambridge, England. It includes two halls, The Large Hall and The Small Hall, and is used for many events such as comedy acts, conferences, craft fairs, live music, talks. It is also used by University of Cambridge for certain examinations and it is owned and managed by Cambridge City Council, and it is their seat of government. The Guildhall is located on the side of Market Hill. The earliest known property on the site was a house owned by a wealthy Jew called Benjamin, the building was granted to the town by King Henry III in the 1220s. Part of it was used as a prison, an adjoining synagogue was leased to the Franciscans who later moved to a convent on a site where Sidney Sussex College now stands. The premises became the Cambridge Town Hall or Tolbooth as it was known then since its main function concerned tolls for entry to the town, the building was raised on arches with market stalls below. The current Market Square was mainly filled with buildings at the time, in 1747, a Shire Hall was built on the open area at the front, on arches with stalls beneath. The Shire Hall and the Tollbooth were connected by a bridge over Butter Row. In 1842, after the Law Courts were built on Castle Hill, the Shire Hall, the present Guildhall on the site of the two original buildings, was completed in 1939, after the designs of Charles Cowles-Voysey. In 2009 the Guildhall was refurbished and offers facilities for disabled access. Cambridge Corn Exchange in Wheeler Street The Cambridge Guildhall website
