1.
San Diego Comic-Con
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San Diego Comic-Con International is a multi-genre entertainment and comic convention held annually in San Diego, California. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International, San Diego and it is a four-day event held during the summer at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego. On the Wednesday evening prior to the opening of the event, there is a preview for professionals, exhibitors. Comic-Con International also produces two other conventions, WonderCon, held in Los Angeles, and the Alternative Press Expo and it is also the home of the Will Eisner Awards. In 2010, it filled the San Diego Convention Center to capacity with more than 130,000 attendees, the convention was founded in 1970 by Shel Dorf, Richard Alf, Ken Krueger, Mike Towry, Barry Alfonso, Bob Sourk, and Greg Bear. Detroit, Michigan-born, comics fan Shel Dorf, had, in the mid-1960s, mounted the Detroit Triple-Fan Fairs, one of the first commercial comics-fan conventions. When he moved to San Diego, California, in 1970, he organized a convention on March 21,1970. Dorf went on to be associated with the convention as president or manager, variously, Alf co-chaired the first convention with Krueger and became chairman in 1971. Following the initial gathering, Dorfs first three-day San Diego comics convention, other locations in the conventions early years included the El Cortez Hotel, the University of California, San Diego, and Golden Hall, before being moved to the San Diego Convention Center in 1991. I was quietly walking the floor stunned and in awe of just how much bigger it really was, the convention is organized by a panel of 13 board members,16 to 20 full-time and part-time workers, and 80 volunteers who assist via committees. Comic Con International is an organization, and proceeds of the event go to funding it, as well as the Alternative Press Expo. The convention logo was designed by Richard Bruning and Josh Beatman in 1995, in September 2010, the convention announced that it would stay in San Diego through 2015. In 2015, working with Lionsgate, a channel was created to host Comic-Con related content. According to the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau, the convention has a regional economic impact of $162.8 million. Along with panels, seminars, and workshops with comic book professionals, there are previews of upcoming feature films, like most comic-book conventions, Comic-Con features a large floorspace for exhibitors. These include media companies such as studios and TV networks, as well as comic-book dealers. And like most comics conventions, Comic-Con includes an area, as well as the Artists Alley where comics artists can sign autographs. Despite the name, artists alleys can include writers and even models, academics and comic industry professionals annually hold the Comics Arts Conference at Comic-Con, presenting scholarly studies on comics as a medium
2.
Sedgefield
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Sedgefield is a town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It has a population of 4,534, increasing to 5,211 at the 2011 census, a Roman ladder settlement was discovered by Channel Fours Time Team programme in 2003, in fields just to the west of Sedgefield. It consisted of rows of crofts and workshops on either side of a north-south trackway, St Edmunds church in Sedgefield is noted for its ornate 17th-century Cosin woodwork, unique to County Durham after the furnishings in Brancepeth were destroyed in a fire. The 18th century saw the architect James Paine commissioned by John Burdon in 1754 to design, the building work was never completed as Burdon went bankrupt, but sufficient landscaping was done to form the basis of the now renovated Hardwick Hall Country Park. In the 19th century, Sedgefield was a great hunting centre, hunter Ralph Lambton had his headquarters at Sedgefield, the humorous writer, Robert Smith Surtees, who lived at Hamsterley Hall, was a friend of his. On 23 February 1815, Lord Darlington wrote, Mr Ralph Lambton was out with some gentlemen from Sedgefield, Sedgefield was also known in the area because of Winterton Hospital. This was a hospital and an asylum. The site was like a village itself with its own station, bank. Today, little trace is left of the hospital, apart from the church, which is now surrounded by the Winterton housing estate, Sedgefield is twinned with Hamminkeln, Germany. The parish of St Edmund was founded by Bishop Cutheard, around AD900, the tower was added in the 15th century by Robert Rodes. The church contains some fine brasses and 17th century woodwork, ceddesfeld Hall was originally the rectory to the church, built after the first rectory burnt down, it is now occupied by the Sedgefield Community Association. A Latin inscription above the states, By the generosity of Samuel and Shute Barrington, one an Admiral of the Fleet. The hall was rebuilt in 1793, by the Barringtons, for their nephew, the grounds, now a public area, were laid out in the mid-18th century to a design by Joseph Spence. The Manor House occupies a prominent position at the head of the green, with three storeys it is a fine example of Queen Anne style architecture. Built in 1707, as the sundial on the house proclaims, the house has been carefully restored and is currently used as a venue for weddings and events as well as being a business hub. The Parish Hall was founded in 1849 as the Institute of Literature and Science, the hall was extensively refurbished in 2008, and continues to host a wide range of social events and entertainment. The 700th anniversary of the granting of Sedgefields market charter took place in 2012, the market was held on Cross Hill from 1312 until 1918. The original market cross was removed during the 19th century, but was replaced in 2012 with a modern version, a farmers market is held on the village green on the second Sunday of every month
3.
County Durham
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County Durham is a county in North East England. The county town is Durham, a cathedral city, the largest settlement is Darlington, closely followed by Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees. It borders Tyne and Wear to the north east, Northumberland to the north, Cumbria to the west, historically, the county included southern Tyne and Wear, including Gateshead and Sunderland. The county has a mixture of mining and farming heritage, as well as a railway industry. Its economy was based on coal and iron mining. It is an area of regeneration and promoted as a tourist destination, in the centre of the city of Durham, Durham Castle and Durham Cathedral are a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site. Many counties are named after their town, and the expected form here would be Durhamshire. Thus County Durham is a form of County of Durham. The situation regarding the name with regards to present-day local government is less clear. The structural change legislation which in 2009 created the present unitary council refers to the county of County Durham, the former postal county was named County Durham to distinguish it from the post town of Durham. The ceremonial county of Durham is administered by four unitary authorities, the ceremonial county has no administrative function, but remains the area to which the Lord Lieutenant of Durham and the High Sheriff of Durham are appointed. The Borough of Hartlepool, until 1 April 1996 the borough was one of four districts in the relatively short-lived county of Cleveland, the part of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees that is north of the centre of the River Tees. Stockton was also part of Cleveland until that countys abolition in 1996, the remainder of the borough is part of the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire. Durham Constabulary operate in the area of the two districts of County Durham and Darlington. Ron Hogg was first elected the Durham Police and Crime Commissioner for the force on 15 November 2012, the other areas in the ceremonial county fall within the police area of the Cleveland Police. Air Ambulance services are provided by the Great North Air Ambulance, the charity operates 3 helicopters including one at Durham Tees Valley Airport covering the County Durham area. Teesdale and Weardale Search and Mountain Rescue Team, based at the Durham Constabulary base in Barnard Castle, respond to search, Cuthbert between Tyne and Tees or the Liberty of Haliwerfolc. The bishops special jurisdiction rested on claims that King Ecgfrith of Northumbria had granted a substantial territory to St Cuthbert on his election to the see of Lindisfarne in 684
4.
Desert Island Discs
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Desert Island Discs is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942 and it was devised and originally presented by Roy Plomley. Since 2006, the programme has been presented by Kirsty Young, more than 3,000 episodes have been recorded, with some guests having appeared more than once and some episodes featuring more than one guest. Excerpts from their choices are played or, in the case of short pieces, at the end of the programme they choose the one piece they regard most highly. Guests are also given the Complete Works of Shakespeare and either the Bible or another appropriate religious or philosophical work. They are then prompted to select a book to accompany them. Popular choices include Charles Dickens and Jane Austen, actress Judi Dench, who suffers from macular degeneration, was permitted to take an audiobook in place of a printed manuscript. Guests also choose one luxury, which must be inanimate and of no use in escaping the island or allowing communication from outside, Roy Plomley enforced these rules strictly. He did, however, grant a dispensation to Princess Michael of Kent. The rules are, however, less strictly enforced today, for instance, Lawley allowed John Cleese to take Michael Palin with him, on the condition that he was dead and stuffed. Examples of luxuries have included champagne and a piano, the latter of which is one of the most requested luxuries, after Plomleys death in 1985, the programme was presented by Michael Parkinson and from 1988 by Sue Lawley. Lawley stepped down in August 2006 after 18 years, her final castaway being actress Joan Plowright and she was replaced by Kirsty Young, who interviewed illustrator Quentin Blake for her first show, broadcast on 1 October 2006. The most requested piece of music over the first 60 years was Ode to Joy, one of the most remarked broadcasts was Elisabeth Schwarzkopfs 1958 selection of seven of her own recordings. This record was beaten by British pianist Dame Moura Lympany on her second appearance on the programme on 28 July 1979 when all eight of her selections were of her own recordings. In the early 1970s, Roy Plomley attempted to interview Alistair MacLean, but ended up speaking to somebody else with the same name –, Plomley originally wanted the sounds of surf breaking on a shore and the cries of sea birds to open and close each programme. But Leslie Prowne, the head of popular programmes at the BBC, was concerned that it lacked definition. Plomley and the series producer Frederic Piffard selected By the Sleepy Lagoon, the tune has been used since the first transmission in 1942. The sound of herring gulls has accompanied the music except for a period of time in 1964 when tropical bird sounds were used
5.
Doctor Who
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Doctor Who is a British science-fiction television programme produced by the BBC since 1963. The programme depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called The Doctor and he explores the universe in a time-travelling space ship called the TARDIS. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Accompanied by a number of companions, the Doctor combats a variety of foes, while working to save civilisations, the show is a significant part of British popular culture, and elsewhere it has gained a cult following. It has influenced generations of British television professionals, many of whom grew up watching the series, the programme originally ran from 1963 to 1989. There was an attempt to revive regular production in 1996 with a backdoor pilot. The programme was relaunched in 2005, and since then has been produced in-house by BBC Wales in Cardiff, twelve actors have headlined the series as the Doctor. The conceit is that this is a Time Lord trait through which the character of the Doctor takes on a new body, each actors portrayal differs, but all represent stages in the life of the same character and form a single narrative. The time-travelling feature of the means that different incarnations of the Doctor occasionally meet. The current lead, Peter Capaldi, took on the role after Matt Smiths exit in the 2013 Christmas special The Time of the Doctor, in 2017, Capaldi confirmed he would be leaving at the end of the tenth series. Doctor Who follows the adventures of the character, a rogue Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. He fled from Gallifrey in a stolen TARDIS – Time and Relative Dimension in Space – a machine which allows him to travel across time, the TARDIS has a chameleon circuit which normally allows the machine to take on the appearance of local objects as a disguise. However, the Doctors TARDIS remains fixed as a blue British police box due to a malfunction in the chameleon circuit, the Doctor rarely travels alone and often brings one or more companions to share these adventures. His companions are usually humans, as he has found a fascination with planet Earth, as a Time Lord, the Doctor has the ability to regenerate when his body is mortally damaged, taking on a new appearance and personality. The Doctor has gained numerous reoccurring enemies during his travels, including the Daleks, the Cybermen, and the Master, another renegade Time Lord. Doctor Who first appeared on BBC TV at 17,16,20 GMT, eighty seconds after the programme time,5,15 pm. It was to be a weekly programme, each episode 25 minutes of transmission length. Discussions and plans for the programme had been in progress for a year, writer Anthony Coburn, story editor David Whitaker and initial producer Verity Lambert also heavily contributed to the development of the series
6.
Sherlock (TV series)
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Sherlock is a crime drama television series based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes detective stories. Created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, it stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes, thirteen episodes have been produced, with three-part series airing from 2010–2017, and a special episode airing on 1 January 2016. The series is set in the present day, while the special features a Victorian period fantasy resembling the original Holmes stories. The series is filmed in Cardiff, Wales, with North Gower Street in London used for exterior shots of Holmes. Critical reception has been positive, with many reviews praising the quality of the writing, performances. Sherlock has been nominated for awards including BAFTAs, Emmys. Two years later, it won Outstanding Television Movie, in addition, the show was also honoured with a Peabody Award in 2011. The third series has become the UKs most watched series since 2001 while interest in the fourth series appeared to slip by approximately twenty percent. Sherlock has been sold to 180 territories, all of the series have been released on DVD and Blu-ray, alongside tie-in editions of selected original Conan Doyle stories and original soundtrack composed by David Arnold and Michael Price. In January 2014, the show launched its mobile app called Sherlock. Sherlock depicts consulting detective Sherlock Holmes solving various mysteries in modern-day London, Holmes is assisted by his flatmate and friend, Dr John Watson, who has returned from military service in Afghanistan with the Royal Army Medical Corps. In part through Watsons blog documenting their adventures, Holmes becomes a reluctant celebrity with the reporting on his cases. Both ordinary people and the British government ask for his help, although the series depicts a variety of crimes and perpetrators, Holmes conflict with archnemesis Jim Moriarty is a recurring feature. Molly Hooper, a pathologist at St. Barts Hospital, occasionally assists Holmes in his cases, other recurring roles include Una Stubbs as Mrs Hudson, Holmes and Watsons landlady, and series co-creator Mark Gatiss as Holmes elder brother Mycroft. Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, Sherlock Holmes fans with experience of adapting or using Victorian literature for television, Moffat had previously adapted the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for the 2007 series Jekyll, while Gatiss had written the Dickensian Doctor Who episode The Unquiet Dead. Moffat and Gatiss, both Doctor Who writers, discussed plans for a Holmes adaptation during their numerous journeys to Cardiff where Doctor Who production is based. Moffat and Gatiss invited Stephen Thompson to write for the series in September 2008, Benedict Cumberbatchs Sherlock uses modern technology, such as texting, the internet and GPS to solve crimes. Its just a modern day version of it and he will use the tools that are available to him today in order to find things out
7.
Reece Shearsmith
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Reeson Wayne Reece Shearsmith is an English actor, writer and comedian. He created, wrote and starred in sketch show The League of Gentlemen, along with Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and he and Pemberton also created, wrote and starred in another dark comedy series Psychoville. He and Pemberton currently write and star in their anthology series Inside No.9, in The League of Gentlemen, Psychoville and Inside No. Reece was born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire and went to Bretton Hall College. The League of Gentlemen initially began as an act in 1995, transferred to BBC Radio 4 as On the Town with The League of Gentlemen in 1995. The latter saw Shearsmith and his colleagues awarded a British Academy Television Award, a Royal Television Society Award, from March 2006 to January 2007, he appeared in the West End as Leo Bloom in The Producers. In this, his voice is used along with Steve Pemberton, Psychoville began June 2009 and marked his return to BBC2. The dark comedy series was written by Shearsmith and his League of Gentlemen writing partner Steve Pemberton, both Shearsmith and Pemberton played numerous characters in the programme, which ran for two series and a Halloween special. In 2010 Shearsmith appeared in John Landis black comedy Burke and Hare and played the character in Ghost Stories, written and directed by Jeremy Dyson. In 2011, Cameron Mackintoshs new musical Betty Blue Eyes opened in the West End, also in 2011, he played Harry Wiseman in Eric & Ernie, a feature-length TV drama about Morecambe and Wise. In 2012, he appeared in Bad Sugar, a pilot written by Sam Bain & Jesse Armstrong, along with Olivia Colman, Julia Davis. A full series order was cancelled due to availability of the writers and he also appeared in comedy pilot The Function Room. In 2013, he played Patrick Troughton in An Adventure in Space and Time, a docu-drama about the conception and making of Doctor Who, which was written by Mark Gatiss. He worked with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer again in the first series of House of Fools as Martin the ghost and he made two guest appearances in Jeremy Dysons Psychobitches as Old Mother Shipton in series one and Princess Margaret in series two. Also in 2013, he starred in Ben Wheatleys A Field In England as Whitehead, in 2014, Shearsmith and Pemberton returned to BBC2 with a new dark comedy series called Inside No.9. Each episode of the series takes place in a different No.9 location. Shearsmith and Pemberton play various characters across the series and have directed two of the episodes. Also in 2014, he starred as Malcolm Webster in ITV drama series, based on a true story, also in 2014, he starred as Detective Sergeant Stone in Chasing Shadows, an ITV drama series about missing persons
8.
Steve Pemberton
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Steve James Pemberton is an English actor, writer, comedian and screenwriter, best known as a member of The League of Gentlemen with Reece Shearsmith, Mark Gatiss, and Jeremy Dyson. Pemberton and Shearsmith also co-wrote and appeared in the sitcom Psychoville and his other television credits include Doctor Who, Benidorm, Blackpool, Shameless, Whitechapel, Happy Valley and Mapp and Lucia. Pemberton was born in Blackburn, Lancashire and he attended St Michaels CE High School, where his acting skills were first recognised. After studying at Runshaw College, Pemberton graduated from Bretton Hall College with a BA in theatre arts, Pembertons previous work has centred mainly around fringe theatre, he was a founding member of the 606 Theatre with Gordon Anderson, Tom Hadley, and producer Shane Walter. He has produced, performed in, and directed stage productions. He has written for Variety and was the assistant editor of the International Film Guide from 1991 to 1998 and his TV credits include Whitechapel, Doctor Who, Benidorm, Under the Greenwood Tree, Hotel Babylon, The Last Detective, Randall and Hopkirk, Blackpool and Shameless. In 2004, he played Dr Bessner in Death on the Nile and he also appeared in the film Lassie. The latter has seen Pemberton and his colleagues awarded a British Academy Television Award, a Royal Television Society Award, in 2007, Pemberton made an appearance as the vicar in the film Mr. Beans Holiday. In July 2007, he took over from Bob Martin as Man in Chair in the West End production of the musical The Drowsy Chaperone, playing the role until the production closed on 4 August 2007. In the 2008 English language DVD re-release of the cult 2006 Norwegian animated film Free Jimmy, Pemberton voiced Mattis, in June 2009, Psychoville aired and marked Pembertons return to BBC Two. It was co-written by Pemberton and his fellow League of Gentlemen member Reece Shearsmith, both of them play numerous characters in the series, similar to the format of The League of Gentlemen. Pemberton portrayed Rufus Drumknott in 2010s Terry Pratchetts Going Postal and he appeared as Vice Principal Douglas Panch in the Donmars 2011 production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. In 2014, he played Georgie Pillson in an adaptation of E. F. Bensons Mapp and he also wrote the adaptation, which featured his League of Gentlemen cohort Mark Gatiss. It was broadcast during Christmas 2014, since 2014, he has starred as various characters in the dark comedy anthology series Inside No. 9, which he co-created with Shearsmith, airing on BBC Two, a second series aired in 2015 and a third in 2017. Archived from the original on 3 May 2008, steve Pemberton at the Internet Movie Database
9.
Jeremy Dyson
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Jeremy Dyson is an English author, actor, musician and screenwriter and, along with Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, one of the League of Gentlemen. He also created and co-wrote the popular West End show Ghost Stories, Dyson was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, son of Elaine Saville and Melvin Dyson. He has one brother, Andrew Dyson, and a younger sister. He was educated at Leeds Grammar School, now The Grammar School at Leeds and he studied Philosophy at the University of Leeds and later completed an MA in screenwriting at the Northern School of Film and Television. He lived in Highbury, London, but now lives in Ilkley, the latter saw Dyson and his colleagues awarded a British Academy Television Award, a Royal Television Society Award, and the prestigious Golden Rose of Montreux. His novel What Happens Now was published on 6 April 2006 to favourable reviews and was nominated for the Goss first novel award. He has co-created the BAFTA nominated television series Funland, which aired on BBC Three and he is also the script editor of BBC Two sitcom Grandmas House, BBC Threes Dead Boss and Walking and Talking for Sky Atlantic. Due to Dysons self-confessed lack of acting skills, he not appear in The League of Gentlemen television series or any of its offshoots. He worked as the assistant producer instead, in the film adaptation he is played by Michael Sheen, although Dyson appears in the background of a few scenes. Dyson has an interest in the fiction of English writer Robert Aickman and has adapted Aickmans work in a number of media. Alongside his writing work, Dyson also plays keyboards in a pop band called Rudolf Rocker and he is also a patron of the charity No Panic. With Andy Nyman, he co-wrote and co-directed the supernatural-themed stage production Ghost Stories, in January 2011, he returned to the Lyric Hammersmith with Roald Dahls Twisted Tales, the first stage adaptation of Roald Dahls short stories Tales of the Unexpected. Dyson is also editor on the BBC Two comedy-thriller The Wrong Mans written by James Corden, Mathew Baynton. The show is about a pair of office workers who become unwittingly embroiled in a deadly criminal conspiracy. Its first series was broadcast in 2013 and he currently writes and acts as script supervisor for the BBC sketch comedy series Tracey Ullmans Show starring actress-comedian, Tracey Ullman. Jeremy Dyson at the Internet Movie Database Transcript of talk with Jeremy Dyson 2001 article about The League of Gentlemen
10.
The League of Gentlemen
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The League of Gentlemen is an English black comedy television series that premiered on BBC Two in 1999. The show is set in Royston Vasey, a town in Northern England based on Alston. The series ended in 2002, and was followed by a film, Shearsmith and Pemberton later collaborated to create another dark comedy series, Psychoville, Mark Gatiss appeared in one episode. The three also performed together in the series of Horrible Histories, in which they play American film producers who hear movie pitches from historical figures. Shearsmith and Pemberton also wrote and starred in the comedy anthology series Inside No. 9, which premiered on BBC Two in 2014, the stage show began in late 1994 and it was not long before the team took as their name the title of a Jack Hawkins movie, The League of Gentlemen. In 1997 they were awarded the Perrier award for comedy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and their radio series On the Town with The League of Gentlemen, on the Town was set in the fictional town of Spent. They won a Sony Award for this six-episode run, in 1999 the show moved to television and quickly acquired a cult following, three series were produced, the first airing in 1999, the second in 2000 and the third in 2002. A Christmas Special was broadcast in December 2000, after the airing of the second series, along with The Fast Show, the series is credited with the revival of the sketch show format in BBC comedy. Its influence can be seen on series, particularly Little Britain. Filming took place mainly on location in the north Derbyshire town of Hadfield, the laughter track was dropped from the Christmas Special and Series 3 when shown in the United Kingdom. The group took the show on tour for the first time in 2001, using a mixture of old, in early 2005 a special one-off sketch was broadcast on the BBC for Comic Aid, a charity benefit for the tsunami disaster. In this, two of the most popular characters, Tubbs and Papa Lazarou, kidnapped Miranda Richardson, a feature-length film, The League of Gentlemens Apocalypse, was released on 3 June 2005. Later in the year, the League toured the UK with their new pantomime-themed show, The League of Gentlemen Are Behind You. The BBC has expressed interest in a series, though the Radio Times has claimed that there is little chance of this. In any case, they have said that their decision would depend on critical reaction to the film and it is unclear whether a fourth series would continue the style of the third series or return to the sketch-show format of the first two. In September 2006, the website reported that The League of Gentlemen were to reunite at the beginning of 2007. Shearsmith and Pemberton appeared on The Russell Brand Show on 22 December 2006, when asked Will there be any more of The League of Gentlemen
11.
Tycho Nestoris
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George R. R. Martins A Song of Ice and Fire novels feature a massive cast of characters. Each chapter is narrated in the third person limited point of view through the eyes of a single character, beginning with nine POV characters in A Game of Thrones, the number grows to thirty-one by A Dance with Dragons. House Stark is one of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms and its seat is at Winterfell, one of the oldest castles in the Seven Kingdoms. Its coat of arms displays a grey direwolf running on a white field, bastards born to North men are given the surname Snow. House Stark had ruled as the Kings in the North for thousands of years until House Targaryen conquered Westeros, whereafter the Starks are the Lords of Winterfell, for prizing honor and devotion to duty, House Stark is the closest of the noble houses to heroism. Eddard Ned Stark is the Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, in the HBO television adaptation, he is portrayed by Sean Bean. Robert Aramayo and Sebastian Croft have both played younger versions of the character in flashbacks, in the HBO television adaptation, she is portrayed by Michelle Fairley. Robb Stark is the oldest child of Eddard and Catelyn Stark, while he does not have any POV chapters of his own, he is mentioned frequently by the Stark POVs in A Game of Thrones and regularly appears in his mothers POV chapters in the second and third books. Robbs tame direwolf is named Grey Wind, as the first legitimate child of Ned and fifteen years in age, he was already prepared to rule Winterfell upon his fathers death. He is very close to his half-brother Jon Snow, and to his fathers ward Theon Greyjoy, in the HBO television adaptation, he is portrayed by Richard Madden. Sansa Stark is the child and elder daughter of Eddard. She serves as a POV character for twenty-four chapters throughout A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, Sansa is introduced as beautiful and demure. In the HBO television adaptation, she is portrayed by Sophie Turner, Arya Stark is the third child and younger daughter of Eddard and Catelyn Stark. She serves as a POV character for thirty-three chapters throughout A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, in the HBO television adaptation, she is portrayed by Maisie Williams. Brandon Bran Stark is the son and fourth child of Eddard. He serves as the narrator of twenty-one chapters throughout A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords. In A Game of Thrones, he sees Queen Cersei and her brother Jaime Lannister committing incest, Bran survives, but loses the use of his legs. While comatose, Bran dreams of a three-eyed raven, slowly, he develops the ability to assume his wolf Summers consciousness, making him a warg or skinchanger
12.
HBO
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Home Box Office is an American premium cable and satellite television network that is owned by Time Warner through its respective flagship company Home Box Office, Inc. HBO is the oldest and longest continuously operating pay television service in the United States, in 2014, HBO had an adjusted operating income of US$1.79 billion, compared to the US$1.68 billion it accrued in 2013. HBO has 49 million subscribers in the United States and 130 million worldwide as of 2016, the network provides seven 24-hour multiplex channels, including HBO Comedy, HBO Latino, HBO Signature and HBO Family. It launched the streaming service HBO Now in April 2015, and has over 2 million subscribers in the United States as of February 2017. In addition to its U. S. subscriber base, HBO distributes content in at least 151 countries, HBO subscribers generally pay for an extra tier of service that includes other cable- and satellite-exclusive channels even before paying for the channel itself. Cable providers can require the use of a converter box – usually digital – in order to receive HBO, many HBO programs have been syndicated to other networks and broadcast television stations, and a number of HBO-produced series and films have been released on DVD. The new system, which Dolan named Sterling Information Services, became the first urban underground cable system in the United States. In that same year, Time-Life, Inc. purchased a 20% stake in Dolans company, in the summer of 1971, while on a family vacation in France, Charles Dolan began to think of ideas to make Sterling Manhattan profitable. He came up with the concept for a television service. Dolan later presented his idea to Time-Life management, though satellite distribution seemed only a distant possibility at the time, he persuaded Time-Life to back him on the project. To gauge whether consumers would be interested in subscribing to a pay television service, in a meeting of Dolan and some Time-Life executives who were working on the project, various other names were discussed for the new service. Home Box Office launched on November 8,1972, however, HBOs launch came without fanfare in the press, as it was not covered by any local or national media outlets. Home Box Office distributed its first sports event immediately after the film, Four months later in February 1973, Home Box Office aired its first television special, the Pennsylvania Polka Festival. Home Box Office would use a network of relay towers to distribute its programming to cable systems throughout its service area. Sterling Manhattan Cable continued to lose money because the company had only a small base of 20,000 customers in Manhattan. Time-Life dropped the Sterling name and the company was renamed Manhattan Cable Television under Time-Lifes control in March 1973, Gerald Levin, who had been with Home Box Office since it began operations as its vice president of programming, replaced Dolan as the companys president and chief executive officer. In September 1973, Time-Life, Inc. completed its acquisition of the pay service. HBO would eventually increase its fortunes within two years, by April 1975, the service had around 100,000 subscribers in Pennsylvania and New York state, in 1974, they settled on using a geostationary communications satellite to transmit HBO to cable providers throughout the United States
13.
Game of Thrones
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Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martins series of fantasy novels, the first of which is A Game of Thrones. It is filmed at Titanic Studios in Belfast, on location in the United Kingdom, and in Croatia, Iceland, Malta, Morocco, Spain, and the United States. The series premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17,2011, the series was renewed for a seventh season, which is scheduled to premiere on July 16,2017, and will conclude with its eighth season in 2018. Set on the continents of Westeros and Essos, Game of Thrones has several plot lines. The first story arc follows a dynastic conflict among competing claimants for succession to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, Game of Thrones has attracted record viewership on HBO and has a broad, active, international fan base. It has been acclaimed by critics, particularly for its acting, complex characters, story, scope, the series has received 38 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series in 2015 and 2016, more than any other primetime scripted television series. Its other awards and nominations include three Hugo Awards for Best Dramatic Presentation, a 2011 Peabody Award, and four nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama. Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Maisie Williams, Diana Rigg, Game of Thrones is roughly based on the storylines of A Song of Ice and Fire, set in the fictional Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and the continent of Essos. The series chronicles the violent dynastic struggles among the noble families for the Iron Throne. It opens with additional threats in the icy North and Essos in the east, showrunner David Benioff jokingly suggested The Sopranos in Middle-earth as Game of Thrones tagline, referring to its intrigue-filled plot and dark tone in a fantasy setting of magic and dragons. In a 2012 study of deaths per episode, it ranked second out of 40 recent U. S. TV drama series, the series is generally praised for what is perceived as a sort of medieval realism. George R. R. Benioff said, George brought a measure of harsh realism to high fantasy and he introduced gray tones into a black-and-white universe. A common theme in the genre is the battle between good and evil, which Martin says does not mirror the real world. Just like peoples capacity for good and for evil in life, Martin explores the questions of redemption. The show allows the audience to view different characters from their perspective, unlike in many other fantasies, Main characters are regularly killed off, and this has been credited with developing tension among viewers. The series also reflects the death rates in war. Although the first season is a adaptation of the novel
14.
Edwardian era
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The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victorian era. The new king Edward VII was already the leader of an elite that set a style influenced by the art. The Liberals returned to power in 1906 and made significant reforms, below the upper class, the era was marked by significant shifts in politics among sections of society that had been largely excluded from wielding power in the past, such as common labourers. The Edwardian period is sometimes imagined as a golden age of long summer afternoons and garden parties. This perception was created in the 1920s and later by those who remembered the Edwardian age with nostalgia, the Edwardian age was also seen as a mediocre period of pleasure between the great achievements of the preceding Victorian age and the catastrophe of the following war. Recent assessments emphasise the differences between the wealthy and the poor during the Edwardian era and describe the age as heralding great changes in political and social life. Robert Tressells popular novel The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists is an example of the eras social critique. Despite this, this type of perception has been challenged more recently by modern historians, the British historian Lawrence James has argued that, during the early 20th century, the British felt increasingly threatened by rival powers such as Germany, Russia, and the United States. There was a political awareness of the working class, leading to a rise in trade unions. The aristocracy remained in control of top government offices, the Conservatives – at the time called Unionists – were dominant from the 1890s to 1906. The party had many strengths, appealing to voters supportive of imperialism, tariffs, the Church of England, a powerful Royal Navy, and traditional hierarchical society. There was a powerful leadership base in the aristocracy and landed gentry in rural England, plus strong support from the Church of England. Historians have used election returns to demonstrate that Conservatives did surprisingly well in working-class districts and they had an appeal as well to the better-off element of traditional working class Britons in the larger cities. Nevertheless, the weaknesses were accumulating, and proved so overwhelming in 1906 that they did not return to power until 1922. The Conservative Party was losing its drive and enthusiasm, especially after the retirement of the charismatic Joseph Chamberlain, there was a bitter split on tariff reform, that drove many of the free traders over to the Liberal camp. Tariff reform was an issue that the Conservative leadership inexplicably clung to. Support among the top tier of the class, and in lower middle class weakened. The 1906 election was a landslide for the opposition, which saw its total vote jump 25 percent, the Liberal Party lacked a unified ideological base in 1906
15.
Sherlock Holmes
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Sherlock Holmes is a fictional private detective created by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. All but one are set in the Victorian or Edwardian periods, though not the first fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes is arguably the most well-known, with Guinness World Records listing him as the most portrayed movie character in history. Auguste Dupin is generally acknowledged as the first detective in fiction and served as the prototype for many that were created later, Conan Doyle once wrote, Each is a root from which a whole literature has developed. Where was the story until Poe breathed the breath of life into it. Conan Doyle repeatedly said that Holmes was inspired by the figure of Joseph Bell, a surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Like Holmes, Bell was noted for drawing conclusions from minute observations. However, he wrote to Doyle, You are yourself Sherlock Holmes. Sir Henry Littlejohn, Chair of Medical Jurisprudence at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, is cited as an inspiration for Holmes. Littlejohn, who was also Police Surgeon and Medical Officer of Health in Edinburgh, One is thought to be Francis Tanky Smith, a policeman and master of disguise who went on to become Leicesters first private detective. Another might be Maximilien Heller, by French author Henry Cauvain and it is not known if Conan Doyle read Maximilien Heller, but in this 1871 novel, Henry Cauvain imagined a depressed, anti-social, polymath, cat-loving, and opium-smoking Paris-based detective. Details about Sherlock Holmess life, except for the adventures in the books, are scarce in Conan Doyles original stories, nevertheless, mentions of his early life and extended family paint a loose biographical picture of the detective. An estimate of Holmess age in His Last Bow places his year of birth at 1854 and his parents are not mentioned in the stories, although Holmes mentions that his ancestors were country squires. In The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter, he claims that his grandmother was sister to the French artist Vernet, without clarifying whether this was Claude Joseph, Carle. Mycroft has a civil service position as a kind of human database for all aspects of government policy. He lacks Sherlocks interest in investigation, however, preferring to spend his time at the Diogenes Club. Holmes says that he first developed his methods of deduction as an undergraduate, his earliest cases, the two take lodgings at 221B Baker Street, London, an apartment at the upper end of the street, up seventeen steps. Holmes worked as a detective for twenty-three years, with physician John Watson assisting him for seventeen and they were roommates before Watsons 1887 marriage and again after his wifes death. Their residence is maintained by their landlady, Mrs. Hudson, most of the stories are frame narratives, written from Watsons point of view as summaries of the detectives most interesting cases
16.
H. G. Wells
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Herbert George H. G. Wells was an English writer. He was prolific in many genres, including the novel, history, politics, social commentary, Wells is now best remembered for his science fiction novels and is called a father of science fiction, along with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback. His most notable science fiction works include The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man and he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Wellss earliest specialised training was in biology, and his thinking on ethical matters took place in a specifically and fundamentally Darwinian context and he was also from an early date an outspoken socialist, often sympathising with pacifist views. His later works became increasingly political and didactic, and he wrote science fiction. A diabetic, in 1934, Wells co-founded the charity The Diabetic Association, Herbert George Wells was born at Atlas House,46 High Street in Bromley, Kent, on 21 September 1866. Called Bertie in the family, he was the fourth and last child of Joseph Wells and his wife, Sarah Neal. An inheritance had allowed the family to acquire a shop in which they sold china and sporting goods, although it failed to prosper, the stock was old and worn out, and the location was poor. Joseph Wells managed to earn an income, but little of it came from the shop. Payment for skilled bowlers and batsmen came from voluntary donations afterwards, a defining incident of young Wellss life was an accident in 1874 that left him bedridden with a broken leg. To pass the time he started reading books from the local library and he soon became devoted to the other worlds and lives to which books gave him access, they also stimulated his desire to write. Later that year he entered Thomas Morleys Commercial Academy, a school founded in 1849 following the bankruptcy of Morleys earlier school. The teaching was erratic, the curriculum mostly focused, Wells later said, Wells continued at Morleys Academy until 1880. In 1877, his father, Joseph Wells, fractured his thigh, the accident effectively put an end to Josephs career as a cricketer, and his subsequent earnings as a shopkeeper were not enough to compensate for the loss of the primary source of family income. No longer able to support financially, the family instead sought to place their sons as apprentices in various occupations. From 1880 to 1883, Wells had an apprenticeship as a draper at the Southsea Drapery Emporium. Wellss parents had a turbulent marriage, owing primarily to his mother being a Protestant, when his mother returned to work as a ladys maid, one of the conditions of work was that she would not be permitted to have living space for her husband and children. Thereafter, she and Joseph lived separate lives, though they never divorced and remained faithful to each other, as a consequence, Herberts personal troubles increased as he subsequently failed as a draper and also, later, as a chemists assistant
17.
Woodham Academy
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Woodham Academy is a school and former sixth form college in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, England. The school was known as Woodham Community Technology College and was initially opened as Woodham Comprehensive School in 1970. The school gained technology college status in 1999 and it is one of two secondary schools within Newton Aycliffe, the other being Greenfield School Community and Arts College. Woodham CTC had 897 students as of January 2012 and it is situated just south of Woodham Burn, not far from the northern junction of the A167 and the B6443 Central Avenue. Aycliffe School is nearby to the east, access over Woodham Burn is via the Great Aycliffe Bridge. It gets GCSE results slightly below the England average and average for North East England, a recent Ofsted report states the school is a good school that is improving strongly. It also goes on to say that the behavioural standards are improving. Also there are a number of Apple products for students to use in lessons, in June 2012, the school announced that in the new school year it will introduce an Apple Mac computer suite. This will be an independent room with around 20 Apple Mac computers which will be used for media creation, also new to the school is the Learning Centre. The houses are named after local castles, the houses are Brancepeth, Lambton and Raby. Students collect points for their house by working hard and taking part in extracurricular activities, Each house had a staff head of house and a student house captain (responsible for ensuring as many students turn up, promoting competitions and being a role-model for younger students. In 2015 there was no house captains or head of house due to the departure of two of the head of houses and all the house captains, stacey Reay was a temporary head of house for all three and oversaw the whole house system. Woodham Comprehensive School was built under the CLASP program and it was officially opened on 29 June 1970 by Alice Bacon, Baroness Bacon, a former Labour MP. In March 2012 the schools head teacher Christine Forsyth announced that she will be submitting a request to turn the school into an academy, the school introduced a new uniform in September 2012 for the new Academy. The old Woodham CTC uniform was a polo shirt with the logo on the left side of the chest. The new Woodham Academy uniform is a suit jacket over a white shirt with a tie. The tie is a combination of green, gold and black, for years 7-9 the tie is a clip on and years 10 &11 have a traditional tie with the new school logo sewn into it. Boys are required to wear straight cut trousers and girls either straight cut trousers or a skirt that is no shorter than knee length
18.
Newton Aycliffe
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Newton Aycliffe is a town in County Durham, England. Founded in 1947 under the New Towns Act of 1946, the town sits about five miles north of Darlington and it is the oldest new town in the north of England and forms the civil parish of Great Aycliffe. At the 2001 census, Great Aycliffe had a population of 26,385 and it is the largest town within the Sedgefield constituency. Within a radius of 10 miles are several towns and villages including Darlington, Bishop Auckland, to the south of the town is the village of Aycliffe. Aycliffe Village is near to the A1 junction with the A167, until 2009, Great Aycliffe was in the borough of Sedgefield, based in Spennymoor. It was the largest town in the borough, Newton Aycliffe has since April 2009 been governed by the Great Aycliffe Town Council and the County Durham Unitary Authority. Prior to the Newtown development, Aycliffe was the site of a Saxon settlement, the name Acley came from the Saxon words, Ac, meaning oak, and ley, meaning a clearing. Aycliffe was the location of a church synods in AD782, the towns motto is Latin for Not the Least, but the Greatest we seek. On the edge of the town is the Bishop Auckland to Darlington railway branch line which is part of the 1825 Stockton and Darlington Railway, george Stephensons steam locomotive Locomotion No 1 was placed on the rails close to Newton Aycliffe near to where Heighington station is. The Great North Road passed through the town until 1969, in more recent times Aycliffe was a key element in World War II ammunitions manufacturing. The marshy land was ideal cover against the Luftwaffe as it was almost continually shrouded in fog, huge grass-covered munitions factories were built and serviced by the nearby railway lines. The factories were largely staffed by women, these ladies were dubbed the Aycliffe Angels, the government asked William Beveridge to produce a report on what he wanted Britain to be like after the war. In 1942 he produced his report, five giants, he said, oppressed mankind - Poverty, Disease, Homelessness, Ignorance and Unemployment. To end this, once and for all, Beveridge proposed a system of Social Security benefits. He called it the Welfare State, the Welfare State was brought in all over Britain in 1948, but Beveridge chose one place especially which he wanted to be the shining example of how his new world would work. The moors between Aycliffe and Middridge were perfect - there was an ordnance factory that was no longer needed for the war. It is where Beveridge chose his new town - Newton Aycliffe. This man - the shaper of modern Britain - even came to live here, the factories were eventually replaced by manufacturing buildings that became the industrial district of Aycliffe
19.
University of Leeds
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The University of Leeds is a redbrick university located in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, established in 1831. In 1904, a charter, created in 1903, was granted to the University of Leeds by King Edward VII. The Leeds University Business School hold the Triple Crown accreditations from AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS, the university has 31,790 students, the seventh largest university in the UK. From 2006 to present, the university has consistently ranked within the top 5 in the United Kingdom for the number of applications received. Leeds had an income of £634.9 million in 2015/16. The university has financial endowments of £67.7 million, ranking outside the top ten British universities by financial endowment, for 2016-17, Leeds is ranked nationally between 13th and 16th. Internationally, the university is ranked as the 32nd best in Europe, Leeds was ranked top three in the UK and top 20 in the world for graduate employability, also ranked as the 5th most targeted British university by the UKs top graduate employers in 2016-17. Leeds was ranked 10th in the UK for research power in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, the best result in the Yorkshire, the university was named the 2017 Sunday Times University of the Year, having been runner-up in 2016. Notable alumni include former Secretary of State Jack Straw, former co-chairman of the Conservative Party Sayeeda Warsi, American actor Chris Pine, Piers Sellers and five Nobel laureates. The universitys history is linked to the development of Leeds as a centre for the textile industry. The universitys roots can be traced back to the formation of schools of medicine in English cities to serve the general public, prior to 1900, only five universities had been established in England and one in Wales. These consisted of the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of London, Durham University, and the federal Victoria University, Owens College was the sole college of Victoria University from 1880 to 1884, in 1887 Yorkshire College was the third to join the university. In 1831, the Leeds School of Medicine was established with the aim of serving the needs of the five institutions which had been established in the city. In 1874, the Yorkshire College of Science was created to provide education for the children of middle-class industrialists and merchants, financial support from local industry was crucial in setting up the College and aiding the students. The university continues to recognise these elements of its history, for example, the religious qualification ceased in the 1850s but the classics-based education continued at Oxford and Cambridge. When classics, modern literature and history went on offer a few years later, in 1884, the Yorkshire College absorbed the Leeds School of Medicine and subsequently joined the federal Victoria University on 3 November 1887. Students in this period were awarded external degrees by the University of London, Leeds was given its first university in 1887 when the Yorkshire College joined the federal Victoria University on 3 November. The Victoria University had been established by charter in 1880
20.
Bretton Hall, West Yorkshire
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Bretton Hall is a country house in West Bretton near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It housed Bretton Hall College from 1949 until 2001 and was a campus of the University of Leeds and it is a Grade II* listed building. In the 14th century the Bretton estate was owned by the Dronsfields, king Henry VIII spent three nights in the old hall and furnishings, draperies and panelling from his bedroom were moved to the new hall. A hall is marked on Christopher Saxtons 1577 map of Yorkshire, the present building was designed and built around 1720 by its owner, Sir William Wentworth assisted by James Moyser to replace the earlier hall. In 1792 it passed into the Beaumont family, and the library, monumental stables designed by George Basevi were built between 1842 and 1852. The hall was sold to the West Riding County Council in 1947, before the sale, the panelling of the Henry VIII parlour was given to Leeds City Council and moved to Temple Newsam house. The hall housed Bretton Hall College from 1949 until 2001 and was a campus of the University of Leeds from 2001 to 2007, plans to convert the hall to a hotel and offices were submitted for planning approval. And were approved in April 2013, the oldest part of the house, the south range dates from about 1720 and was designed by the owner, Sir William Wentworth and Colonel James Moyser. It was enlarged when the range was added in the 1780s by William Lindley of Doncaster. A bow window and portico were added to the south range, around 1852 Thomas Richardson added the projecting dining room on the houses east front for Thomas Blackett Beaumont. The house has a three-storey nine-bay by five-bay main range while the rest is two storeys high and it is built in sandstone ashlar and its roof is hidden behind a balustraded parapet. It has tall ornamental chimney stacks and the Wentworth shield decorates two ornamental rainwater heads, the south range has a symmetrical facade with a central Doric portico. The ground and first-floor windows have 12-pane sashes with triangular pediments to the ground floor, the shorter second floor windows have casements added later. The south front has a bow window with tall ground-floor windows. The centre window was originally a doorway accessed by a flight of four steps, the seven-bay north range has a symmetrical facade where the three centre bays have giant pilasters supporting a pediment. Either side of central eight-panel double door are 12-pane sash windows while the first-floor has nine-pane sash windows, a three-bay link block joins the ranges and terminates in the orangery. The orangery is built on a two-step podium and its seven bays are divided by square Tuscan piers which support the frieze, cornice and blocking course. The entrance hall to the range has a groin vaulted passage with three arches and piers and its walls are decorated with grisaille paintings
21.
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
22.
BBC Radio 4
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BBC Radio 4 is a radio station owned and operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967, the station controller is Gwyneth Williams, and the station is part of BBC Radio and the BBC Radio department. The station is broadcast from the BBCs headquarters at Broadcasting House and it is also available through Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media and on the Internet. It is notable for its news bulletins and programmes such as Today and The World at One, BBC Radio 4 is the second most popular British domestic radio station by total hours, after Radio 2 – and the most popular in London and the South of England. It recorded its highest audience, of 11 million listeners, in May 2011 and was UK Radio Station of the Year at the 2003,2004 and 2008 Sony Radio Academy Awards and it also won a Peabody Award in 2002 for File On 4, Export Controls. Costing £71.4 million, it is the BBCs most expensive national radio network and is considered by many to be its flagship. There is no comparable British commercial network, Channel 4 abandoned plans to launch its own speech-based digital radio station in October 2008 as part of a £100m cost cutting review, in 2010 Gwyneth Williams replaced Mark Damazer as Radio 4 controller. Damazer became Master of St Peters College, Oxford, music and sport are the only fields that largely fall outside the stations remit. It broadcasts occasional concerts, and documentaries related to forms of both popular and classical music, and the long-running music-based Desert Island Discs. As a result, for around 70 days a year listeners have to rely on FM broadcasts or increasingly DAB for mainstream Radio 4 broadcasts – the number relying solely on long wave is now a small minority. The cricket broadcasts take precedence over on-the-hour news bulletins, but not the Shipping Forecast, as well as news and drama, the station has a strong reputation for comedy, including experimental and alternative comedy, many successful comedians and comedy shows first appearing on the station. The BBC Home Service was the predecessor of Radio 4 and broadcast between 1939 and 1967 and it had regional variations and was broadcast on medium wave with a network of VHF FM transmitters being added from 1955. Radio 4 replaced it on 30 September 1967, when the BBC renamed many of its radio stations. For a time during the 1970s Radio 4 carried regional news bulletins Monday to Saturday and these were broadcast twice at breakfast, at lunchtime and an evening bulletin was aired at 5. 55pm. There were also programme variations for the parts of England not served by BBC Local Radio stations and these included Roundabout East Anglia, a VHF opt-out of the Today programme broadcast from BBC Easts studios in Norwich each weekday from 6.45 am to 8.45 am. Roundabout East Anglia came to an end in 1980, when local services were introduced to East Anglia with the launch of BBC Radio Norfolk. All regional news bulletins broadcast from BBC regional news bases around England ended in August 1980 apart from in the south west, in September 1991 it was decided that the main Radio 4 service would be on FM as coverage had extended to cover almost all of the UK. Opt-outs were transferred to long wave, currently Test Match Special, extra shipping forecasts, The Daily Service, long wave very occasionally opts out at other times, such as to broadcast special services, the most recent being when Pope Benedict XVI visited Britain in 2010
23.
BBC Two
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BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. It covers a range of subject matter, but tending towards more highbrow programmes than the more mainstream. Like the BBCs other domestic TV and radio channels, it is funded by the television licence and it is a comparatively well-funded public service network, regularly attaining a much higher audience share than most public service networks worldwide. Originally styled BBC2, it was the third British television station to be launched, a high-definition version of the channel launched on 26 March 2013, replacing BBC HD. British television at the time of BBC2s launch consisted of two channels, the BBC Television Service and the ITV network made up of regional companies. Both channels had existed in a state of competition since ITVs launch in 1955, the 1962 Pilkington Report on the future of broadcasting noticed this, and that ITV lacked any serious programming. It therefore decided that Britains third television station should be awarded to the BBC, prior to its launch, the new BBC2 was promoted on the BBC Television Service, the soon to be renamed BBC1. The animated adverts featured the campaign mascots Hullabaloo, a mother kangaroo, however, at around 18,45 a huge power failure, originating from a fire at Battersea Power Station, caused Television Centre, and indeed much of west London, to lose all power. BBC1 was able to continue broadcasting via its facilities at Alexandra Palace, associated-Rediffusion, the London weekday ITV franchise-holder, offered to transmit on the BBCs behalf, but their gesture was rejected. At 22,00 programming was officially postponed until the following morning, there was believed to be no recording made of this bulletin, but a videotape was discovered in early 2003. By 11,00 on 21 April, power had restored to the studios and programming began. The launch schedule, postponed from the night before, was successfully shown that evening. In reference to the cut, the transmission opened with a shot of a lit candle which was then sarcastically blown out by presenter Denis Tuohy. To establish the new identity and draw viewers to it. The production chosen was The Forsyte Saga, a adaptation of the novels by John Galsworthy, featuring well-established actors Kenneth More. Unlike BBC1 and ITV, BBC2 was broadcast only on the 625 line UHF system and this created a market for dual standard receivers which could switch between the two systems. On 1 July 1967, during the Wimbledon Championships, BBC2 became the first channel in Europe to begin broadcasts in colour. The thirteen part series Civilisation was created as a celebration of two millennia of western art and culture to showpiece the new colour technology, BBC1 and ITV later joined BBC2 on 625-line UHF band, but continued to simulcast on 405-line VHF until 1985
24.
British Academy Television Awards
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The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. They have been awarded annually since 1955 and it is the British equivalent to the Emmy Awards in the United States. The first ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories, until 1958, they were awarded by the Guild of Television Producers and Directors. From 1958 onwards, after the Guild had merged with the British Film Academy, in 1976, this became the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The Television Awards are usually presented in April, with a ceremony for the Television Craft Awards on a different date. The Craft Awards are presented for more technical areas of the industry, such as effects, production design. Individual performances, such as actors, can either be entered by the performers themselves or by the broadcasters. The programmes being entered must have been broadcast on or between March and February of the year to be eligible for the years awards. Entry is free, and entry forms are available between November and January each year. After all the entries have been received, they are voted for online by all members of the Academy. The programmes and performances attracting the most votes, usually four in each category, are shortlisted as the nominees for each award. The winner is chosen from the four nominees by a jury of nine academy members for each award. These Awards are suggested by the Television Committee and awarded by the Academys Council and they are not necessarily always given every year, but as and when appropriate. The Awards ceremony is broadcast on British television, usually the day after it has taken place, between 1998 and 2006, it was alternated between ITV and BBC One. But since 2007, it has been broadcast by BBC One, in 1991, a controversial selection was made in the Best Drama Serial category, when Prime Suspect beat G. B. H. to win the award. Following the ceremony, four of the seven voting members of the signed a public statement declaring that they had voted for G. B. H. to win. B. H. Price claimed that the papers could not be recounted as they had subsequently been destroyed. No blame was attached to Shubik by the four judges
25.
Rose d'Or
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The Rose dOr is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. Eurovision first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the city of Montreux. The awards stayed with Eurovision for almost 40 years, Eurovision re-acquired the awards in 2013 and successfully re-launched the event that year in Brussels. In 2014 the event took place on 17 September in Berlin, for the first time in its 53-year history, the competition categories were extended to include radio and online video programmes in addition to the traditional focus on television. Producers, executives from independent and public broadcasters and heads of production companies from several countries took part. The Rose dOr rewards originality, quality and creativity and sets the standard of excellence in entertainment programming. He had the idea that Switzerland could produce an entertainment programme, the festival was held in the spring to have programmes ready for broadcast in the summer, and the Golden Rose awards established as an extra incentive. As the festival grew, programme swaps ceased to be viable and this idea – widely copied since then – rapidly turned the Rose dOr into one of the worlds most important entertainment programme markets. The Strike 1989, Hale & Pace 1990, Mr
26.
The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse
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The League of Gentlemens Apocalypse is a feature film spin-off of the British television comedy series The League of Gentlemen. Starring Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, the film was written by the cast with Jeremy Dyson, also featuring in guest roles are Michael Sheen, Victoria Wood, David Warner, Alan Morrissey, Bruno Langley, Bernard Hill, Simon Pegg and Peter Kay. The film was due for a UK release on 22 April 2005, over 20 minutes of footage was deleted in the final cut. Suddenly he is confronted by three characters from the series, Papa Lazarou and the Tattsyrups, Dyson tries to run, but falls off the edge of a cliff. At the church in Royston Vasey, the vicar, Bearnice Woodall, tells fellow residents Pauline Campbell-Jones. Hilary Briss has escaped prison and is on the moors near Royston Vasey. He finds Herr Lipp there and holds him hostage, Briss uses Lipp to steal a car, driven by Geoff Tipps. With the situation explained to them by Lazarou and the Tattsyrups, Briss, Herr Lipp, Lipp pretends to be his creator, Steve Pemberton, and goes home, where he discovers that Pemberton has been neglecting his family. Briss and Tipps read through The League of Gentlemens new project, Lipp meanwhile has become deeply attached to Pembertons family, in particular his children. He looks through some of Pembertons personal belongings in order to find Pembertons notes, Briss takes Pemberton up to Hadfield, where Pemberton telephones Reece Shearsmith to tell him what has been going on. Shearsmith does not believe that Pemberton has been captured and thinks that Briss is playing a joke on him, Shearsmith initially believes that Mark Gatiss is joining in on the joke when he opens a door and Gatiss is standing right in front of him. Shearsmith and Gatiss find and capture Herr Lipp, and they travel up to Hadfield and they enter the dimensional door, go back to 1950s Royston Vasey, and swap their hostages, but Pemberton is killed by a stray gunshot. Dr Erasmus Pea tries to convince Briss to leave Royston Vasey and join him, Pea kills his fellow characters and turns them into a gigantic homunculus, which Briss fights. Shearsmith and Gatiss climb up the wall of church in order to escape, Briss kills the monster, but he himself is stabbed in the back by Pea. Before he dies, he tells Tipps that he is the one who can save Royston Vasey. Tipps fights with Dr. Pea, while Gatiss tries to return to modern world, however, he is stopped by Herr Lipp, who holds him at gunpoint. Tipps manages to kill Pea using part of the homunculus, in the church, Lipp says he will kill Gatiss. The other characters try to dissuade him, as believe that once all the writers are dead, Royston Vasey will cease to exist
27.
Psychoville
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Psychoville is a BBC sitcom-cum-psychological horror, written by and starring The League of Gentlemen members Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. It debuted on BBC Two on 18 June 2009, Pemberton and Shearsmith each play numerous characters, with Dawn French and Jason Tompkins in additional starring roles. The second series started broadcasting on 5 May 2011 and ended on 6 June, Reece Shearsmith has officially announced that there will not be a third series. The series revolves around five different characters from different parts of England, David Sowerbutts, all five are connected by a mysterious blackmailer who has sent them a letter each with the message, I know what you did. The series is named after the given to The League of Gentlemen when the series was sold to Japan. In the third episode they receive a videotape showing them in an asylum together performing Close Every Door from the musical Joseph and it is later disclosed that the institution was called Ravenhill Hospital. In Episodes Five and Six, the characters discover the final message, at least Davids letter also contains the message Im waiting. Ultimately it is revealed that Joy, Robert, David and Oscar were involved in the death of Nurse Edwina Kenchington, who is the blackmailers mother, Jolly blackmailed Jelly whom he blamed most, as he was operating on Jellys hand while Kenchington was dying. David knocked her over and Joy pronounced her dead, the group started a fire to cover their tracks, but Kenchington woke up and attempted to escape. Oscar, Joy and Robert prevented her from leaving the room she was trapped in, at the end of the series, Mr Jolly blows up part of the asylum with most of the main characters and Kenchington inside and it is revealed that Robert has the locket. Series two begins with Mr Jelly, Oscar, and Oscars assistant Michael, aka Tealeaf, attending the funeral of Mr Jolly, afterwards, Jelly is given a box of Jollys props, which also turns out to contain Strachens mobile phone and his ID card at Andrews Nanotech. Meanwhile, Andrews Nanotech has hired a detective to retrieve Kenchingtons locket by any means necessary. Robert gives the locket to Debbie for safekeeping, but after Roberts death, Detective Finney tracks down the former Ravenhill patients, questioning, then killing, Joy, Robert, and Oscar, and attempting to kill Mrs Wren. Oscars friend, toyshop owner Peter Bishop, deduces that Oscar was killed for his connection to Ravenhill, Bishop kills Tealeaf and travels to London with Mr Jelly to attempt to sell the locket and head to Grace Andrews. The head is destroyed, but the technique has been proven to work. The series ends with the revelation that David Sowerbutts is storing the corpse of his mother Maureen in a filled with ice. David Sowerbutts is a man-child who lives with his mother Maureen, David is a simple man who cannot hold down a job due to his lack of social graces, disgusting habits and morbid obsession with famous serial killers. One night at his work as part of a murder mystery evening, upon returning home, Maureen believes her son has actually killed someone
28.
CBBC
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CBBC is a BBC childrens television strand aimed for older children aged from 6 to 12. BBC programming aimed at under six year old children is broadcast on the CBeebies channel, CBBC broadcasts from 7 am to 9 pm on the digital CBBC Channel, available on most UK digital platforms. CBBC programmes were also broadcast in high definition alongside other BBC content on BBC HD, generally at afternoons on weekends and this ended when BBC HD closed on 26 March 2013, but CBBC HD launched on 10 December 2013. BBC-produced childrens programming, in languages of Scotland and Wales, also airs on BBC Alba. The BBC has produced and broadcast television programmes for children since the 1930s, the first children-specific strand on BBC television was For the Children, first broadcast on what was then the single BBC Television Service on Saturday 24 April 1937, it was only ten minutes long. It lasted for two years before being taken off air when the service closed due to the Second World War in September 1939, the 1964 launch of BBC Two allowed additional room for childrens programming with an edition of Play School technically being the first official programme. On 1 October 1980, Watch with Mother was replaced by See-Saw, meanwhile, weekday afternoon childrens programmes on BBC One were introduced by the usually off-screen continuity announcer, though often specially-designed menus and captions would be used. On 9 September 1985, this block of childrens programming was rebranded as Childrens BBC, and for the first time the childrens block had dedicated idents. Previously the BBC had broadcast childrens programming using BBC1s team of regular duty announcers, the launch presenter for this block, and thus the first Childrens BBC presenter of the current format, was Phillip Schofield. During the 1990s, Childrens BBC began to be referred to informally on-air as CBBC, the official billing name of Childrens BBC remained in place, however, until the BBCs network-wide branding refresh of October 1997, when the official on-air branding changed to CBBC. From 1996 to 1999, CBBC programmes were shown on the channel Nickelodeon, in 2002, the launch of the CBBC Channel and the CBeebies Channel saw a wide variety of programmes, both new and archive, being shown again on the new channels from 6/7 am until 7pm. Ms Jowell responded that it was the Governments job to develop a charter for the BBC, and then the BBCs job to determine standards of taste, decency and appropriateness. In 2009, a report published by the BBC Trust found that changes which took place in February 2008. It was found that the majority of viewers watched the programmes on these channels already. Childrens programming on BBC One ended on 21 December 2012 with the CBeebies morning strand on BBC Two ending on 4 January 2013, the two new hours are aimed towards an older youth audience. On 14 March 2016, CBBC unveiled a new logo and on-air presentation, featuring an abstract, CBBC controller Cheryl Taylo stated that the new brand was designed to be fun and unpredictable and would appeal to both ends of our broad age spectrum. The logo was meant to be suitable for use across digital platforms. On 11 April 2016, CBBC officially extended its broadcast day to be from 7,00 a. m. to 9,00 p. m. CBBC is operated by the BBC Childrens division, part of BBC North
29.
Horrible Histories (2009 TV series)
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Horrible Histories is a British sketch comedy television series, part of the childrens history franchise of the same name based on the books written by Terry Deary. The TV show carries over the style and much of the content of the Horrible Histories book series. Individual historical eras or civilisations are defined and named as in the books, live-action sketches—which often parody other UK media or celebrities—and music videos are intercut with animations and quizzes. The black rat puppet host, Rattus Rattus, appears in short bridging segments, the creative team was largely recruited from the mainstream adult UK comedy scene. They took inspiration from such quintessentially British historical-comedy classics as Blackadder, the series was a critical and ratings success, eventually gaining a wide all ages audience through its non-condescending and inclusive approach. It has won domestic and international awards and has been named among the greatest British childrens television series of all time. In 2011, a game show, Horrible Histories, Gory Games, was launched on CBBC. In the same year, the show was repackaged for main channel BBC One as Horrible Histories with Stephen Fry. A new series of episodes began airing in 2015, featuring a new format. Horrible Histories is based on the British childrens historical-comedy book series by Terry Deary, first published by Scholastic UK in 1993, Deary was initially sceptical, having had a negative experience with the 2001 animated series, which had only loosely incorporated his concept. He finally agreed to the new project on the condition that it be explicitly horrible, funny, while disclaiming any active role in developing the subsequent series, he would eventually contribute to the writing as well as appearing in several small roles. The producers were determined that the show be respectful of audience expectations for the Horrible Histories brand, maintaining its visual style. Early concepts for bringing it to the screen involved framing or interpretive devices, including a train carrying children into the past. Once the writing was underway, the producers discovered that sticking as closely as possible to the historical truth made it easier for them to find the humour within it. They then introduced a comedy style relying on parodies of familiar modern media conventions as a means of making these historical details more immediately accessible, the BBC readily agreed to this cross-demographic experiment. The new creative team, while avoiding references aimed specifically at adults, was determined not to adapt the humour to children or otherwise patronise their audience, instead, they sought to make the best use possible of the material. Norris said that her goal was to make a show that people would say was too good for children and we started out with really high ambitions. Once the first series had aired and it was realised that the approach was working well
30.
A Scandal in Belgravia
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It was written by co-creator Steven Moffat, and directed by Paul McGuigan. The episode was based on A Scandal in Bohemia, a story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The episode depicts Sherlock Holmes confrontation with Irene Adler, a dominatrix who has compromising photographs taken with a member of the royal family. The photographs are stored inside her mobile phone, along with valuable information which makes her a target of various political factions. Sherlock spends much of the episode keeping the device out of hands while trying to deduce its password. Besides referring to the Doyle short story, the episode title names Belgravia, after its broadcast on BBC One, the episode was given consolidated figures of 10.663 million viewers in the United Kingdom. Critical reactions toward the episode were positive, with reviewers praising the writing, acting. The episode sparked controversy for showing the character of Irene Adler in the nude, carefully using camera angles to avoid exposing private areas, the series follows a contemporary update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes detective stories. Throughout the first series, it is revealed that a man named Moriarty, in the series finale, The Great Game, Sherlock and John Watson come face to face with Jim Moriarty, who has snipers targeting them. Moriarty intends to have the two killed, but in the scenes, Sherlock aims a handgun at an explosive vest. A phone call to Moriarty interrupts the standoff between him and Sherlock, Sherlock becomes a minor celebrity after John blogs about their activities. While investigating a case, Sherlock and John are brought before Mycroft in Buckingham Palace and he reveals that Irene Adler, a dominatrix known professionally as the Woman, took compromising photographs of herself and a female member of the royal family. They want the pair to retrieve Adlers smartphone, Sherlock and John try to get into Adlers home. However Adler has been expecting them and appears to completely naked, leaving Sherlock unable to deduce anything about her. Several CIA operatives led by Neilson break into the house and demand that Sherlock open the safe, after realising the combination is Adlers measurements, he does so. The booby-trap in the safe distracts the agents enough for John. Adler then sedates Sherlock, takes the phone, and escapes, a week later, on New Years Eve, an intermediary contacts John and takes him to Battersea Power Station. John is surprised to find Adler, who faked her death to shake off her pursuers, Sherlock, having followed John, learns of Adlers survival
31.
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) (2000 TV series)
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Randall & Hopkirk is a British television series, produced by Working Title Television for BBC One, written and produced by Charlie Higson. Two series were commissioned and were broadcast in 2000 and 2001 with the episode airing 18 March 2000. In keeping with the series, in the initial episode Hopkirk is murdered during an investigation. Randall is the only living main character who is able to see him although occasionally other characters can, the remake paid much more attention to where Hopkirk went when he wasn’t on Earth than the original and introduced Limbo, a place where he could meet other ghosts. It also introduced the character Wyvern, a mentor who helps Hopkirk hone his powers, introduces him to other ghosts, two series were made, the first in 1999 and the second in 2001. The show was produced by Charlie Higson, who directed some episodes. Writers for the show include Gareth Roberts, Mark Gatiss and Jeremy Dyson, Paul Whitehouse, after discovering that the rights had been bought by WWTV, Reeves and Mortimer showed a strong interest in the two lead roles. After being offered the roles, the pair suggested Charlie Higson as writer, Reeves and Mortimer are both fans of the original series, with Reeves citing Marty Hopkirk as the inspiration behind his all-white outfit in the pilot episode of Vic Reeves Big Night Out. Reeves, Mortimer and Higson’s connections helped to draw in many cameos and guest stars from the world and beyond. Guest stars include Hugh Laurie, Derek Jacobi, Simon Pegg, Mark Gatiss, Charles Dance, Matt Lucas, David Walliams, Reece Shearsmith, many episodes include story lines or mentions that pay homage to the original series. Kenneth Cope, who played the original Marty Hopkirk, was asked to cameo, the series was shot in 16,9 widescreen. However, the Region 2 &4 DVD of Series 1 was released in a pan and scan 4,3 format only, the Series 2 DVD is coded for Regions 2 -6 and is in the original aspect ratio. The first print of the cover of the Series 1 VHS, a soundtrack album to the series was released by Island Records in 2000. The shows theme, which plays over the titles of the series, was written by David Arnold but was not included on the soundtrack album. Incidental music for the show was written by Murray Gold who also wrote various stings, an original song, My Body May Die, was written for the show by Pulp and featured The Swingle Singers. This song became associated with Martys character when he was onscreen, a vocal version of the theme sung by Nina Persson of The Cardigans was also released in 2000 and featured in the episode Revenge of the Bog People. The vocal version was written as a duet, with Reeves to sing with Persson. While not featuring on the theme, a bonus track sung by Reeves was included on the single
32.
Little Britain
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Little Britain is a British character-based sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written and performed by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas, the shows title is an amalgamation of the terms Little England and Great Britain, and is also the name of a Victorian neighbourhood and a modern street in London. The show comprised sketches involving exaggerated parodies of British people from all walks of life in various situations familiar to the British people, despite the narrators description of great British institutions, the comedy is derived from the British audiences self-deprecating understanding of either themselves or people known to them. The phrase Little Britain also refers to an uninterested and parochial mindset often displayed by many of shows subjects, the show was also a huge ratings success, receiving 9.5 million viewers after moving to BBC One in 2005. Little Britain initially appeared as a show on BBC Radio 4, produced by Edward Flinn. Radio 4 began a rerun of all nine episodes in February 2004, unusually, this overlapped with a rerun on digital radio channel BBC7 of the first five, which began in mid-March. In June–July 2004, BBC7 broadcast the remaining four, ronnie Corbett commented that the characters as portrayed in the radio series were well drawn-out. Like several other BBC comedy shows, Little Britain made the transition from radio to television, all the episodes for the series were filmed at Pinewood Studios. Much of the TV material was adapted from the radio version, series One,2003 The first TV series was one of the new programmes in the launch line-up for digital channel BBC Three, the replacement for BBC Choice, which launched in February 2003. As a result of its success, the first series was repeated on the widely available BBC Two. Although reactions were mixed, many critics were enthusiastic, and the show was commissioned for another run, part of the series was filmed in Kent at Herne Bay - Emily Howard the Lady and Lou and Andy sketches. Series Two,2004 The second series, featuring new characters. Its continued popularity meant the repeats moved to BBC One, starting on 3 December 2004, the episodes were edited for their BBC One run, to cut out any material that may be too offensive for the more mainstream BBC One audience. Series Three,2005 A third series began on 17 November 2005, for the first time on BBC One and not BBC Three, after its transmission, it was unclear whether there would be another, as many sketches were given dramatic twists and wrapped up —. Lucas and Walliams were reportedly in talks for a series with the BBC. Furthermore, they admitted in an interview they preferred to kill off certain characters in order to make way for new ones. Little, Little Britain,2005 In 2005, to money for Comic Relief, Walliams and Lucas made a special edition of the show. The episode included a variety of sketches with celebrities including George Michael, Robbie Williams and this was released on a limited edition DVD and was released in the United States as Little, Little Britain on the region 1 version of the Little Britain, Season 2 DVD
33.
Spaced
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Spaced is a British television sitcom written by and starring Jessica Stevenson and Simon Pegg, and directed by Edgar Wright. Two series of seven episodes each were broadcast in 1999 and 2001 on Channel 4 on a Friday night, Daisy Steiner and Tim Bisley are two London based twenty-somethings who meet by chance in a café while both are flat-hunting. Also in the building is Brian Topp, a conceptual artist who lives. Frequent visitors are Daisys best friend, Twist Morgan and Tims best friend, Mike Watt, Tim and Daisy repeatedly stress that they are not a couple to everyone but Marsha, but despite this, romantic tension develops between them, particularly during the second series. It is currently being repeated on London Live, the show has a distinctive cinematic style set by Wright and is shot with a single camera. In addition to borrowing liberally from the language of film, it has particular stylistic mannerisms. The series atmosphere is established by the use of a particular flavour of contemporary dance music on its soundtrack. The series is dense with references to culture, including but not limited to science fiction and horror films, comic books. 2000 AD artists Jim Murray and Jason Brashill provided the artwork for Tims comic The Bear, Tims boss Bilbo wears a 2000 AD comic T-shirt whilst lecturing Tim about Star Wars, Episode I – The Phantom Menace. The series is noted for its regular recreational drug use references. Tim and Daisy smoke cannabis on a number of occasions, one episode centring on its use, Tim and Mike take speed on one occasion, and it is implied that Tim, Mike, Daisy, Twist and Brian take ecstasy while clubbing. Spaced was nominated in 2000 and 2002 for a British Academy Television Award for situation comedy, Jessica Stevenson won the British Comedy Award in 1999 and 2001 for best TV Comedy Actress. Simon Pegg was nominated in 1999 for the British Comedy Award for Best Male Comedy Newcomer, the shows second series was nominated for an International Emmy Award in 2001 for Popular Arts. Spaced Series 1 and 2 were both released on DVD in the United Kingdom, music rights issues long prevented the release of Spaced in Region 1. Despite the raised profile resulting from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, in an interview, it was suggested a deal with Anchor Bay Entertainment failed to come to fruition over the music rights. Supplemental features included the commentaries, the Skip to the End documentary, outtakes, deleted scenes. Individual tracks that were featured in an episode included Is You Is or Is You Aint My Baby. by Louis Jordan, Smash It by Fuzz Townshend. A Guy Pratt remix of the A-Team theme song, featured at the conclusion of Epiphanies, was a fan favourite, in 2001, a soundtrack to the first series was released in tandem with the first series release on DVD and videotape
34.
The Matrix
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The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction film written and directed by The Wachowskis, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano. Computer programmer Neo learns this truth and is drawn into a rebellion against the machines, the film is an example of the cyberpunk science fiction genre. The Matrix was first released in the United States on March 31,1999 and it was generally well-received by critics, and won four Academy Awards as well as other accolades including BAFTA Awards and Saturn Awards. Reviewers praised The Matrix for its visual effects, cinematography. The films premise was both criticized for being derivative of earlier science fiction works, and praised for being intriguing, the action also polarized critics, some describing it as impressive, but others dismissing it as a trite distraction from an interesting premise. The film has appeared in lists of the greatest science fiction films. The success of the led to the release of two feature film sequels, both written and directed by the Wachowskis, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. The Matrix franchise was expanded through the production of comic books, video games. Trinity, a hacker, is cornered by police in an abandoned hotel. She overpowers them with superhuman abilities, but a group of sinister superhuman black-suited Agents lead the police in a rooftop pursuit and she answers a ringing public telephone and vanishes. Thomas Anderson is a programmer living a double life under the hacker alias Neo. He believes something is wrong with the world and is puzzled by repeated online encounters with the phrase the Matrix. Trinity contacts him, saying that a man named Morpheus can explain its meaning, however, the Agents, led by Agent Smith, apprehend Neo at his office. Undeterred, Neo meets Morpheus, who offers him a choice between a red pill that will allow him to learn the truth about the Matrix, and a blue pill that will return him to his old life. Swallowing the red pill, Neos reality disintegrates and he awakens, naked and weak, in a liquid-filled pod and he is rescued and brought aboard Morpheuss hovercraft, the Nebuchadnezzar. Morpheus explains that, in the 21st century, intelligent machines waged a war against the humans that created them, when humans blocked the machines access to solar energy, the machines began to harvest the humans bioelectricity for power. The Matrix is a simulation of the world as it was in 1999 in which the minds of the harvested humans are trapped and pacified. Morpheus and his crew belong to a group of rebels who hack into the Matrix and unplug enslaved humans, the rebels understanding of the simulated reality allows them to bend its physical laws, granting them superhuman abilities
35.
Nighty Night
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Nighty Night is a BBC black comedy television sitcom written by and starring Julia Davis. It was first broadcast on 6 January 2004 on BBC Three before moving to BBC2, notorious for its dark humour, the show follows narcissistic sociopath Jill Tyrell, alongside her moronic, asthmatic assistant Linda, as she learns that her husband Terry has cancer. She uses this fact to manipulate new neighbour Cathy Cole, a user with multiple sclerosis. Her husband is Don Cole, a doctor and the man with whom Jill becomes increasingly obsessed. In the first scene of the series, Jill sits in an office with her husband Terry having just been told the prognosis of a medical examination. Jill, teary-eyed, exclaims I mean why, why me. ”Her husband turns to her comfortingly and its me thats got the cancer. Immediately after her husband begins cancer treatment, Jill goes to an agency to find another man. Don is a doctor and his wife Cath has multiple sclerosis. When Jill finds out Terry is recovering, she admits him to a hospice and tells all her friends that he has died, Jill dresses as Dons former mistress Sandra to try to grab his attention, and prepares a meal for him while Cath is out. Don does not know anything about this and is pleasantly surprised, later, Jill bends down, pretends to be incapable of moving and asks for Dons help. As Don is pulling her up from the ground, Cath enters and gets the wrong impression, running out of excuses for the ever-curious Terry, Jill is forced to take him home. She imprisons him in a room and begins starving and brutalising him. When she runs into a simpleton, Glen, whom she met previously through the Lasso the Moon Dating Agency, as she pretends to fall in love with him, she coyly asks Is either of your two houses nearby. Cath and Don later put forward their plans to move to Hopperton, when Jill hears of this she throws a farewell coffee morning for them, livening it up by performing a pole dance routine to Kylie Minogue, whilst the neighbours watch in horror. The Hopperton nuns are present and are duly shocked by Jills antics. Meanwhile, Don has become drunk and Cath announces she has had enough and is going on her own, she departs. Jill leaves the party to check on Terry, only to find him preparing to escape house arrest and she ushers him back upstairs and straps him to his bed wearing an adult nappy. Across the road at the party, Linda sees Terry at the window and she rushes across to Jill and tries to fight her way up to his attic bedroom
36.
BBC Three
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BBC Three was a British television channel operated by the BBC. Unlike its commercial rivals, 90% of BBC Threes output originated from the United Kingdom, 70% was original, covering all genres, including animation, comedy, current affairs, and drama. The former controller of the station, Zai Bennett, left to join Sky Atlantic in July 2014, despite significant public opposition, the proposal was provisionally approved by the BBC Trust in June 2015, with a new consultation open until 30 September of that year. The TV channel ceased operations on 16 February 2016, replaced by an online-only version, in late 2001 the BBC decided to reposition and rebrand their two digital channels so that they could be more closely linked to the well established BBC One and BBC Two. Their plan was for BBC Knowledge to be replaced with BBC Four—which took place in 2002—and for BBC Choice to be replaced with BBC Three, the channel was eventually given the go ahead, eleven months after the original launch date, and launched on 9 February 2003. The channel was launched by Stuart Murphy, who previously ran BBC Choice, and before that UK Play, on 12 May 2011, BBC Three was added to the Sky EPG in the Republic of Ireland on channel 229. It was later moved to channel 210 on 3 July 2012, for the duration of the 2012 Summer Olympics, BBC Three increased its broadcasting hours to 24 hours to provide extra coverage of Olympic events. Broadcast hours were extended again for the 2014 Commonwealth Games with BBC Three broadcasting from 9,00 am to 4,00 am for the duration of the games, on 16 July 2013 the BBC announced that a high-definition simulcast of BBC Three would be launched by early 2014. The channel launched on 10 December 2013, there was notable backlash against the measures, with celebrities including Greg James, Matt Lucas and Jack Whitehall speaking out. A petition against the move on change. org has gathered over 300,000 signatures, however, there was some support from media commentators, and those who backed a slimmer BBC. When the BBC revealed the detail in December 2014, it admitted there was widespread opposition from BBC Three viewers. They believed the public welcomed a BBC One +1 as it admits a vast majority of viewing still takes place on linear channels, the Save BBC Three campaign pointed out this was a contradiction to what the BBC said about BBC Three. The BBC Trust began a 28-day public consultation regarding the plans on 20 January 2015 and it did not consider the proposals cost-effective because the BBC will need to spend on a new brand and triple advertising budgets to increase awareness of the new service. The Trust also approved related proposals to allow first-run and third-party content on iPlayer, the BBC One timeshift service was rejected, citing limited public value. They had previously offered to buy the channel to keep it on television, BBC Three signed off during the early morning of 16 February 2016. The final programme was an episode of Gavin & Stacey, introduced by co-star James Corden from the Los Angeles studio of The Late Late Show, the channel thereafter carried promotional information regarding the BBC Three internet service until it officially went dark. The channels target audience was 16–34-year-olds, and it faced competition from rivals including ITV2 and E4. In 2008 it reached 26. 3% of 16–34-year-olds in digital homes—the channels highest ever such reach and above that of E4, ITV2, Dave, despite several official complaints from the BBC, BARB continues to publish figures which the BBC argues are unrepresentative
37.
Vic and Bob
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Vic and Bob, also known as Reeves and Mortimer, are a British comedy double act consisting of Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer. They have written and starred in comedy programmes on British television since 1990. Both at times play the man, often Mortimer will play the exasperated foil to Reeves eccentric buffoon. They forged a status for themselves as the alternatives to alternative comedy in the late 1980s, in a 2005 poll The Comedians Comedian, the duo were voted the 9th greatest comedy act ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. Vic and Bob have performed on a number of programmes as a double act. Jim Moirs comedy career began in New Cross, London, in the mid-1980s, having tried out various stage names, he settled on Vic Reeves and began a show called Vic Reeves Big Night Out at The Goldsmiths Tavern. There he met and began working with Bob Mortimer, and the show moved to a bigger venue. The show began to attract various well-known audience members, such as Charlie Higson, Paul Whitehouse, Jonathan Ross, Jonathan Ross played a large part in Reeves first TV appearances, which included Reeves hanging suspended from the ceiling during an episode of The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross. His company, Channel X, brought Vic Reeves Big Night Out to Channel 4 as a series in 1990. The show quickly attained a cult following, a New Years Eve special bridging 1990/91 followed. This was followed by a second series in 1991. In addition to Reeves and Mortimer, the mainstay of the programme was Les, Vics bald, lab coat-clad assistant who never spoke. In 1993 Reeves and Mortimer transferred from Channel 4 to BBC Two, writing and appearing in The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, the programmes were more slick and scripted than their Channel 4 predecessors. The live stage show followed the TV series hosted a welcome return for Novelty Island. In 1997, they co-wrote a one-off special, Its Ulrika. for Shooting Stars panellist, the show aired on BBC1, and featured appearances from Vic and Bob, as well as Matt Lucas, David Walliams and Charlie Higson. A new sketch show followed in 1999, Bang Bang, Its Reeves, characters Donald and Davey Stott returned to the screen. The series also featured celebrity cameos, including Caprice, Michael Winner, Sinéad OConnor and Damon Hill. In 2004, in collaboration with Steve Coogan, Reeves and Mortimer produced The All Star Comedy Show, in 2005, a full series was commissioned and was given the new name Monkey Trousers
38.
Catterick (TV series)
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The series was originally broadcast on BBC Three and later rerun on BBC Two. Reeves has said that the BBC do not want another series of Catterick, the series is named after Catterick in North Yorkshire, a village which gives it name to the nearby Catterick Garrison, Britains largest army base. It is about 10 miles away from Darlington where Vic Reeves grew up and it is also about 20 miles away from Middlesbrough where Bob Mortimer grew up. Carl Palmer, Played by Bob, Carl is an ex-soldier and has returned home from service in Cyprus and he left because his ex-wife Judy was, according to his brother Chris, having sly love with a midnight creeper. He never makes it clear what went on in Cyprus and he wants to become reacquainted with his long-lost son, Paul, whom he abandoned when he was just four years old. He becomes attracted to Tess, the receptionist at the Mermade Hotel, however, there is no indication that the Chris and Carl in The Club are brothers. Chris Palmer, Played by Vic, Chris is Carls younger brother and he lives alone in their late mums house, with only a turkey in a box for company. He had a George Clooney poster, but he ripped it in half, Chris does not get out much and has a habit of staring at people for no apparent reason. He has a show called Dreams of Parsimony which involves him playing flute while climbing onto a chair. He also has a boomerang hidden somewhere, which he is desperate to find and his biggest ambition is to own luxury pets such as a soft white poodle, a lobster, a venison and a silkworm. He has always wanted to stay at the Mermade Hotel, which is why he, just as DI Fowler below, Chris Palmer is ostensibly exactly the same as a character of the same name in The Club. Roy Oates, Played by Little Britains Matt Lucas, Roy Oates is the manager of the Mermade Hotel and he is a very bad-tempered man with a strange, indeterminate accent and a pony tail. He has a habit of wearing ridiculous pink boots and constantly puts his feet up on tables and he is blackmailing the hotels dogsbody, Mark, with incriminating photos. He has a girlfriend, Tess, who does not really like him very much and his penis was chopped off in an incident with the hotel till, and he keeps it in a jar. He hopes to raise money to go to Switzerland to have an operation. Later, he gets his hand chopped off by a curved blade. Tony, Played by The League of Gentlemens Reece Shearsmith, Tony is a dangerous, psychotic armed robber who robs Neils Wheels used car dealership and shoots the owner and he is obsessed with keeping his mouth clean, drinking mouthwash and flossing his teeth. His Range Rover car, which contains a full of the stolen money, is eventually stolen by Chris and Carl
listen) GAY-tiss;[3][4] born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock. Together with Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton and Jeremy Dyson, he is a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen. He played Tycho Nestoris in the HBO series Game of Thrones.
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