1.
Wellington, Shropshire
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The total town population of Wellington was 25,554 in 2011 making it by far the largest of the borough towns and the third largest town in Shropshire when counted independently from Telford. However the town serves a greater area of approximately 60,000. Its name is most likely derived from that of a Saxon settler - Weola - whose farmstead would have been located somewhere in the centre of town, a church has stood near that site for almost 1000 years and a priest is mentioned in the Domesday Book. A new church, designed by George Steuart, was built in 1789, Wellingtons first market charter was granted to Giles of Erdington, lord of the manor, and is dated 1244 and a market still exists today. The market had a market hall by 1680 - and possibly much earlier -. In 1841, a company formed to purchase the market rights from Lord Forester in 1856. Several years later in 1848, the built an town hall with the butter market below. The second Shropshire Olympian Games, organised by celebrated Olympic revivalist Dr William Penny Brookes, were held in Wellington in May 1861, the surviving stable block has been converted into apartments and retains some medieval features. The development of Telford Town Centre since the 1970s has hit Wellingtons retail centre hard, in addition, moves such as the renaming of the local football team from Wellington Town to Telford United highlighted to many that Wellington was being erased as a town in its own right. Local politics left Wellington in conflict with Wrekin District Council for many years, with claims, in more recent years, however, the Council has started making heavy investment to make improvements to the town. 200 borough council officers are located at the new complex. The areas largest employers are located in areas of Telford, with Wellington itself housing hundreds of small businesses in its shops, offices. A range of nationwide chains have branches in Wellington but over the last thirty years, a host of small independent businesses have survived and thrived, however, with a steady flow of new small businesses opening as others close. Many of these existing independents are helping to sustain and revive Wellingtons market town character – including traditional butchers, green grocers, craft and gift shops, aside from food, Wellingtons independent shops offer a wide range of items from bicycles and furniture to sports equipment and fishing tackle. Wellington is also one of the main centres for pubs, restaurants. The Wrekin, one of Shropshires most famous landmarks, provides Wellington with a green backdrop to the south-west. Located just two miles from the centre of the town, it brings tens of thousands of walkers, located in the towns Victorian market hall, Wellington Market operates four days a week and houses over 100 stalls selling everything from local cheese to pipe tobacco. A Farmers Market also takes place on the fourth Saturday of the month, local volunteers are working with the Market Company to expand the monthly market and raise its profile
2.
St Edmund Hall, Oxford
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St Edmund Hall is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college has a claim to be the oldest academical society for the education of undergraduates in any university and is the last surviving medieval hall at the University, the college is located just off Queens Lane, near the High Street, in central Oxford. Like the University of Oxford itself, the date of establishment of St Edmund Hall is not certain, it is usually estimated at 1236. It is named after St Edmund of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, the first known Oxford Master of Arts and the first Oxford-educated Archbishop of Canterbury, the name St Edmund Hall first appears in a 1317 rental agreement. St Edmund Hall began life as one of Oxfords ancient Aularian houses, as the only surviving medieval hall, its members are known as Aularians. St Edmund Hall acquired the status of a college in 1957, the college has a history of independent thought, which brought it into frequent conflict with both Church and State. In 1978, women were first admitted as members of the Hall, maroon and gold are believed to be the official college colours and most of the colleges sporting wear is in maroon and gold, leading many to believe that these are in fact the college colours. Confusion may also be caused because the coat of arms has a yellow/gold field. The college coat of arms depicts a red cross patonce against a field surrounded by four Cornish Choughs and is blazoned Or. The choughs are often depicted with white wings. In the image shown, the coat of arms is found above the following Latin dedication sanctus edmundus huius aulae lux, or St Edmund. This is usually achieved by choosing certain letters in the text which correspond to Roman numerals which when added, often disregarding the usual subtractive notation and these numerals are then indicated by being rendered in a larger size than that of the surrounding letters. St Edmund Hall is based on a central site on the north side of the High Street. It shares a wall with New College to the North, the front quadrangle is bordered by the porters lodge, the Old Dining Hall, the college bar and buttery, the chapel with the Old Library above, and accommodation for students and fellows. The quad was closed on the side when new buildings were opened in the 1920s. In the centre of the quadrangle is a well, which was uncovered during a renovation during the construction of new buildings in the 20th century. This well is believed to be the original from which St. Edmund himself drew water, a new wellhead was added, with the inscription haurietis aquas in gaudio de fontibus salvatoris, Latin for with joy, draw water from the wells of salvation. These words, from Isaiah 12,3, are believed to be spoken by St. Edmund on his deathbed at Salisbury
3.
Stand-up comedy
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Stand-up comedy is a comic style in which a comedian performs in front of a live audience, usually speaking directly to them. The performer is known as a comic, stand-up comic, stand-up comedian. In stand-up comedy, the comedian usually recites a grouping of humorous stories, jokes and one-liners typically called a monologue, routine, some stand-up comedians use props, music, or magic tricks to enhance their acts. Stand-up comedy is often performed in clubs, bars and pubs, nightclubs. Outside of live performance, stand-up is often distributed commercially via television, DVD, CD, in stand-up comedy, the feedback of the audience is instant and crucial for the comedians act. Audiences expect a stand-up comic to provide a stream of laughs. Will Ferrell has called stand-up comedy hard, lonely and vicious, a stand-up comedy show may involve only one comedian, or feature a headline or a showcase format. This is followed by one or two middle or featured acts, who perform 15- to 20-minute sets, followed by a headliner who performs for longer, a showcase format may still feature an MC. Bringer shows are another opportunity for amateur performers, the performer must bring a specified number of paying guests in order to get stage time. The guests usually have to pay a charge and there is often a minimum number of drinks that must be ordered. These shows usually have a showcase format and this type of show gives comedians better exposure than open mics because there is usually better audience turnout and industry professionals sometimes go to watch. Different comedy clubs have different requirements for their bringer shows, gotham Comedy Club in New York City, for example, usually has ten-person bringers, while Broadway Comedy Club in New York City usually has six-person bringers. As the name implies, stand-up comedians usually perform their material while standing, stand-up comedy has its origin in classic Parrhesia in 400 BC used for cynics and epicureans in order to tell the reality without censorship. Stand-up comedy in the United Kingdom began in the halls of the 18th and 19th centuries. The heavy censorship regime of the Lord Chamberlains Office required all comedians to submit their acts for censorship, the act would be returned with unacceptable sections underlined in blue pencil. The comedian was then obliged not to deviate from the act in its edited form, the rise of the post-war comedians coincided with the rise of television and radio, and the traditional music hall circuit suffered greatly as a result. By the 1970s, music hall entertainment was virtually dead, alternative circuits had evolved, such as working mens clubs. The alternative comedy scene began to evolve
4.
Columnist
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A columnist is someone who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs and they take the form of a short essay by a specific writer who offers a personal point of view. In some instances, a column has been written by a composite or a team, appearing under a pseudonym, some columnists appear on a daily or weekly basis and later reprint the same material in book collections. In some cases, such as Winchell and Parsons, their programs were quite similar in format to their newspaper columns. Rona Barrett began as a Hollywood gossip columnist in 1957, duplicating her print tactics on television by the mid-1960s, FPA and McIntyre both collected their columns into a series of books, as did other columnists. McIntyres book, The Big Town, New York Day by Day was a bestseller, fPAs The Melancholy Lute collected selections from three decades of his columns. When Smiths column, The Totem Pole, was syndicated by United Features, he told Time, a typewriter can be a pretty formidable contraption when you sit down in front of it and say, All right, now Im going to be funny. The writing of French humor columnist Alain Rémond has been collected in books, the Miami Herald promoted humor columnist Dave Barry with this description, Dave Barry has been at The Miami Herald since 1983. A Pulitzer Prize winner for commentary, he writes about issues ranging from the economy to exploding toilets. Barry has collected his columns into a series of successful books and he stopped writing his nationally syndicated weekly column in 2005, and The Miami Herald now offers on its website a lengthy selection of past columns by Barry. It has had the advantage of high-powered promotion and it is still riding on the crest of the first big wave its own splash sent out. But Mr. Davis did think that in a decade or two the newspapers might be promoting their columns along with their comic strips, the World had started the ball rolling with billboard advertising of Heywood Brouns It Seems to Me. The McNaught Syndicate was sitting pretty with O. O. McIntyre, Will Rogers, the New York Herald Tribune offered Don Marquis and Franklin P. Adams rhymed satirically in The Conning Tower for the New York World Syndicate. A Line o Type Or Two, Bert Leston Taylors verse column in the Chicago Tribune, was now being done by Richard Henry Little. Other offerings, humorous sketches by Damon Runyon, O. Henry stories, editorials by Arthur Brisbane, Ring Lardner letter, Rippling Rhymes, by Walt Mason, in at least one situation, a column expanded to become an entire successful magazine. When Cyrus Curtis founded the Tribune and Farmer in 1879, it was a weekly with an annual subscription rate of 50 cents. With 25,000 subscribers by the end of its first year, it was such a success that Curtis sold Tribune and Farmer to put his energy into the new publication, which became the Ladies Home Journal. Advice columnist Critic Editorial opinion columnist Gossip columnist Humor columnist Food columnist Food columnists of note National Society of Newspaper Columnists
5.
Author
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An author is narrowly defined as the originator of any written work and can thus also be described as a writer. More broadly defined, an author is the person who originated or gave existence to anything, in the copyright laws of various jurisdictions, there is a necessity for little flexibility regarding what constitutes authorship. The United States Copyright Office, for example, defines copyright as a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to authors of works of authorship. After a fixed amount of time, the copyright expires on intellectual work and it enters the public domain, however, copyright is merely the legal reassurance that one owns his/her work. Technically, someone owns their work from the time its created, an interesting aspect of authorship emerges with copyright in that, in many jurisdictions, it can be passed down to another upon ones death. The person who inherits the copyright is not the author, questions arise as to the application of copyright law. How does it, for example, apply to the issue of fan fiction. If the media responsible for the authorized production allows material from fans, what is the limit before legal constraints from actors, music. Additionally, how does copyright apply to fan-generated stories for books, what powers do the original authors, as well as the publishers, have in regulating or even stopping the fan fiction. In literary theory, critics find complications in the term author beyond what constitutes authorship in a legal setting, in the wake of postmodern literature, critics such as Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault have examined the role and relevance of authorship to the meaning or interpretation of a text. Barthes challenges the idea that a text can be attributed to any single author and he writes, in his essay Death of the Author, that it is language which speaks, not the author. The words and language of a text itself determine and expose meaning for Barthes, with this, the perspective of the author is removed from the text, and the limits formerly imposed by the idea of one authorial voice, one ultimate and universal meaning, are destroyed. The psyche, culture, fanaticism of an author can be disregarded when interpreting a text, because the words are rich enough themselves with all of the traditions of language. To expose meanings in a work without appealing to the celebrity of an author, their tastes, passions, vices, is, to Barthes, to allow language to speak. Michel Foucault argues in his essay What is an author and that all authors are writers, but not all writers are authors. He states that a letter may have a signatory—it does not have an author. For a reader to assign the title of author upon any written work is to certain standards upon the text which. Foucaults author function is the idea that an author exists only as a function of a work, a part of its structure
6.
Fist of Fun
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Fist of Fun was a British comedy enterprise, initially a BBC Radio 1 series in 1993 and then a BBC2 television series in 1995. It was written by and starred Lee and Herring, each episode of Fist of Fun consisted of disparate sketches, stand-up comedy segments, dialogues, and situations. It was broadcast at 9pm on Tuesday nights, and was successful, the second series was aired on Friday nights, and although its ratings were relatively good, the show suffered from network interference and poor promotion. The show was not given a series, but Lee and Herring went on to create This Morning with Richard Not Judy. Simon Quinlank, a self-proclaimed Hobby Lion and King of All Hobbies and Duke of Hobby, in each episode, he presents a slot related to his latest invented hobby. He is known for his maniacal laughter, frequent cries of Answer me, and loathing for never-seen rival Neil Petark. He also has a fondness for weak lemon drink, the character reappeared in Lee and Herrings later show This Morning with Richard Not Judy. Rod Hull, a character who claims to be the genuine Rod Hull but is in fact an obvious fraud. He has an obsession with jelly, and has a false arm and he persistently claims that the false arm is real despite the fact that he has an actual real arm tucked inside his shirt. Also played by the actor Kevin Eldon, Peter, a 31-year-old Welsh virgin from Balham who provides lifestyle tips from his unique perspective, usually cheap alternatives to well known recipes. The first series was released in early December 2011 and the series in November 2012 albeit with slight edits made for editorial reasons at the request of the BBC. This included material regarding Princess Diana and Morris Mitchener, whose parents attempted to sue the West Yorkshire playhouse after a production of Peter Pan scared the infant Mitchener. Ironically the material excised from the complete episodes is included as part of the unedited studio sessions presented elsewhere on the DVD set. Fist of Fun. net fansite, includes downloads of their shows and live performances, episode guides. Fist of Fun at the Internet Movie Database Lee and Herring. com Official Stewart Lee website Official Richard Herring website
7.
This Morning with Richard Not Judy
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This Morning With Richard Not Judy or TMWRNJ /təˈwʌmrəndʒə/ was a BBC comedy television programme, written by and starring Lee and Herring. Two series were broadcast in 1998 and 1999 on BBC2, the name was a satirical reference to ITVs This Morning which was at the time popularly referred to as This Morning with Richard and Judy. The show was a reworking of old material from their previous work together along with new characters, the show was hosted in a daytime chat show format in front of a live studio audience, although it featured a small proportion of pre-recorded location inserts. It was structured by the strange obsessions of Richard Herring, examples include his rating of the milk of all creatures. The show featured repetition, with regular and vigilant viewers being rewarded by jokes that would make no sense to casual viewers, the show seemed to oscillate between the intellectual and puerile. However, irony was often used, even though the citing of irony as an excuse was mocked by the stars in one of many self-referential jokes. A run of sketches featuring Eldon as the false Rod Hull was filmed for the second series, a new sketch was filmed as a tribute and featured as the closing item of the last programme in the series. TMWRNJ was the subject of complaints on Points of View. The Jesus sketches were much remarked upon on Points of View due to the time of broadcast, like Fist of Fun it remains a cult series fondly remembered by fans. Questions about life from a talking orange, played by Paul Putner. The name is derived from the album I Am Kurious Oranj by The Fall, at the end of the first series, having been revealed to be Richard Herrings illegitimate son, he was crushed to death and juiced, but he was later reconstituted by a mad scientist. Throughout the second series his behaviour became increasingly sinister, and for a while he was replaced by The Curious Alien, by the final episode, he had mutated into a tyrannical character reminiscent of Doctor Whos Davros. Ostensibly an extremely low-budget childrens television programme featuring two pirate crows, the titular Histor and his hapless first mate Pliny Harris, a running joke in this segment was that despite Plinys apparent idiocy, he would occasionally counter Histors right-wing views with extraordinarily eloquent and well constructed left-wing arguments. This would often result in Pliny being physically attacked by Histor or a third party, after the segment Lee would ask Herring if that cleared the matter up for him, with Herring praising the crows for this saying he now understands. The gag was less frequent in the second series, Richard Thomas played keyboards every week on the show and in series 1 would play a hymn at the end of the show. The Unusual Priest, played by Kevin Eldon, would present ethical dilemmas, a parody of the show When Animals Attack. with a voice-over supposedly by actor Greg Evigan. The last episode of this segment, in the first series, in the second series this was replaced by When Things Get Knocked Over, Spill, or Fall Out Of Cupboards. In each edition, a member of the audience would be crowned King or Queen of the Show, after being crowned, they would be offered various items from a trolley, these items would all be linked by the current theme of the show
8.
Jerry Springer: The Opera
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Jerry Springer, The Opera is a British musical written by Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee, based on the television show The Jerry Springer Show. The musical contains irreverent treatment of Christian themes, extensive profanity, the musical is completely sung through, with only two exceptions, the title character, Jerry, who speaks throughout the production, and Steve Wilkos, who has a brief speech. The musical ran for 609 performances in London from April 2003 to February 2005 before touring the UK in 2006, the production won four Laurence Olivier Awards, including Best New Musical. The musical has been performed by a number of American regional theatre companies, harvey Keitel starred as Jerry Springer. Jerry Springer, The Opera was the subject of controversy beginning in January 2005, the Christian Institute attempted to bring a private prosecution against the BBC, but the Magistrates Court refused to issue a summons, a decision which was later upheld by the High Court of Justice. Protests continued at venues in 2006 and on the Internet. Jerry — The talk show host, jonathan Weiruss/Satan — Weiruss, the warm-up man whom Jerry fires for incompetence. Steve Wilkos — Head of Security at the Jerry Springer Show, dwight/God — Dwight, a guest on the show who is cheating on his fiancee with two other people. Peaches/Baby Jane — Peaches, a guest on the show, who is Dwights fiancee, Baby Jane is an adult baby in Act III. Tremont/Angel Gabriel — Tremont, a guest on the show, who is a trans woman, angel Gabriel appears in Act III. Zandra/Irene/Mary — Zandra, a guest on the show, is the best friend of Peaches, montel/Jesus — Montel, a guest on the show, enjoys dressing as a baby and fouling his own underwear. Andrea/Archangel Michael — Andrea, a guest on the show, is Montel’s lover, archangel Michael appears in Act III. Chucky/Adam — Chucky, a guest on the show, is Shawntels redneck husband, shawntel/Eve — Shawntel, a guest on the show, dreams of becoming an exotic dancer, but her husband, Chucky, disapproves. Jerry Springers frenzied audience greets Jerry as he arrives at his notorious TV talk show and his first guest, Dwight, is cheating on Peaches with Zandra. The three fight, and Jerrys security men break up the battle, Jerry is briefly admonished by his inner Valkyrie. Dwight is also cheating with a transsexual, Tremont. After a commercial break, Jerrys second guest, Montel, tells his partner, Andrea, that he likes to dress as a baby and that he is cheating on her with Baby Jane, Jerrys Warm-Up Man contributes to Andreas humiliation and is fired. Jerry again wrestles with his inner Valkyrie, Jerrys final guests are Shawntel and her husband, Chucky
9.
Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle
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Stewart Lees Comedy Vehicle is a British comedy series created by and starring Stewart Lee and broadcast on BBC Two. It features stand-up comedy and sketches united by a theme for each episode and it is script-edited by Chris Morris and was initially executive-produced by Armando Iannucci, marking a rare reformation of a creative team formed for On the Hour in 1991. Lee has said that this is exactly the sort of show he wants to do, the first series aired in 2009, with subsequent series in 2011,2014 and 2016. Stewart Lee announced in May 2016 that the BBC had declined to make any further series and this was due primarily to cuts to BBC 2s comedy budget which would now focus instead solely on scripted comedy. The main body of the show is a Stewart Lee stand-up comedy performance, usually two episodes of the show were recorded per evening. Each episode has a theme, around which Lee performs his material, the stand-up is punctuated with sketches, written by Lee but more usually performed by Kevin Eldon and Paul Putner with cameos from other TV and circuit comedians. From series 2, the sketches were removed in favour of a short film at the end of each episode. A recurring element of the show is the interrogator, played by Armando Iannucci for the first two series and by Chris Morris from Series 3 onwards. In a darkened room, the interrogator quizzes Lee about his approach to comedy and his attitudes toward his audience. In Series 1, the segments were not included in the main programme, accessed instead via the BBC Red Button. The interrogator segments were integrated into the body of the show by Series 2. The opening theme tune to Series 1 is Tom Hark by Elias & His Zig-Zag Jive Flutes, Series 2 onwards have a cold open and no theme tune or title card. Season 1 was released on 7 September 2009 as a 2-disc region-2 PAL set, season 2 was released on 20 June 2011 as a single-disc region-2 PAL issue. Season 3 was released in November 2014, during a promotional run of his A Room With A Stew tour at the Leicester Square Theatre the admission price included a complementary copy of the DVD. Series 1 was broadcast on BBC Two between 16 March to 20 April 2009 and it co-starred Simon Munnery, Stephen K Amos, Kevin Eldon and Paul Putner. Series 2 was filmed between 11 and 14 January 2011, aired from 4 May to 8 June 2011 and it co-starred Kevin Eldon and Paul Putner, and introduced Armando Ianucci as the hostile interrogator. Series 3 was filmed between 17 and 19 December 2013, and aired from 1 March 2014 and it introduced Chris Morris as the hostile interrogator. Series 4 consists of six episodes, broadcast from 3 March 2016 onwards, andrew Billen of The Times described the first series as the most intelligent half hour of stand-up you will see on television this year and that Lee has become the master of deadpan stand-up
10.
Bridget Christie
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Bridget Louise Christie is an English stand-up comedian, actor and writer. Christie grew up in Gloucester, England, the youngest of nine born to Irish parents. She attended St Peters Roman Catholic High School in Gloucester, in 1994 she won a three-year scholarship to study Drama at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in Wandsworth, London. She appeared in theatre productions and adverts and in 2004 she began her stand-up career. In 1994 Christie won a scholarship to acting at The Academy of Live. She began her career in 2004. In 2013 Christie won the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show with her show A BIC FOR HER and her debut BBC Radio 4 series, Bridget Christie Minds the Gap, was broadcast in April 2013. It won Best Radio at the 2014 Chortle Awards and a prestigious 2014 Rose D’Or International Broadcasting Award for Best Radio Comedy and it was also nominated for a Radio Academy Award 2014. A second series was broadcast in January 2015 and won the 2015 Chortle Award for Best Radio Programme and her 2014 tour, a double bill of A Bic for Her and an Ungrateful Woman, won the 2015 Chortle Award for Best Tour. She was also nominated for a 2014 British Comedy Award for Best Female TV comic for her performance on Have I Got News For You and her debut book, A BOOK FOR HER was published by Century Random House in hardback in July 2015 to universal critical acclaim. It was one of the Top 100 Books for Christmas in The Telegraph and Top Ten Comedy Books in The List and it was also nominated for a 2016 Chortle Award for Best Book. The paperback was released in February 2016 and the Spanish version was launched in Barcelona in March 2017, Christie also won a 2015 Red Magazine Award and a Marie Claire Women at the Top Award. Christie has written for The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Times, The Independent and she had a weekly column in Guardian Weekend Magazine from October 2015 to March 2016 for which she gained a Glamour Magazine 2016 award nomination. Have I Got News for You, the Alternative Comedy Experience, Room 101, Cardinal Burns, in May 2016 Christie recorded her debut stand-up special, Stand Up for Her, produced by Baby Cow Productions for BBC Worldwide. It was released direct to Netflix on 31st March 2017, because You Demanded It was The Guardian’s No 1 Comedy of the Year 2016 and won the 2017 Chortle Award for Best Show. As of 2017, Christie is working on her own projects for Channel Four
11.
Richard Herring
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Richard Keith Herring is an English stand-up comedian, comedy writer, podcaster and diarist whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring. He is described by The British Theatre Guide as one of the leading masters of modern British comedy. His 2016–17 show is a best of tour, drawing from these shows and he has maintained a daily blog called Warming Up without a break since 25 November 2002. His blog is archived by the British Library for purposes of UK documentary heritage, Richard Herring was born in Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire, and grew up in Cheddar, Somerset. He attended The Kings of Wessex School, where his father was the headmaster and this later formed the basis of his 2008 stand-up show, The Headmasters Son. He was a student at St Catherines College, Oxford, where he wrote and he attained a 2,1 in History, though never collected the diploma, making him a graduand of Oxford University. Between 1992 and 2000, Richard was one half of the comedy double act with Stewart Lee. They were probably best known for their work, notably Fist of Fun and This Morning With Richard Not Judy but had been collaborating on stage. With Stewart Lee, Herring wrote material for Chris Morris and Armando Iannuccis On the Hour in 1991, during this time the duo contributed to the creation of the character that was grown into Alan Partridge. In 1992 and 1993, they wrote and performed Lionel Nimrods Inexplicable World for BBC Radio 4, for Radio 1, they wrote and performed one series of Fist of Fun in 1993, remaking it for television in 1995 and 1996. They also hosted a series on Radio 1 in 1994 and 1995, simply called Lee, a final television partnership with Lee, This Morning With Richard Not Judy, ran for 18 episodes over two series was eventually cancelled as a result of BBC management reshuffles. In 2011, Frank Skinner cited Lee & Herring as one of his favourite comedy acts, alongside Laurel and Hardy, The Two Ronnies and Reeves. Herring has written and performed in thirteen one-person shows, eleven of them consecutively, a Herring show typically starts with a run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, continues with an extensive UK tour and ends with a recorded performance for DVD. For radio, Herring co-wrote and presented the history based sketch show That Was Then, for television he wrote Al Murrays sitcom Time Gentlemen Please. He also contributed to the series of Little Britain as script editor. There were 10 episodes in total, Herring made weekly appearances on Andrew Collinss BBC Radio 6 Music radio show on Saturday afternoons, where the two would discuss the weeks newspapers. Occasionally he hosted the show in Collinss absence and joined him for the whole of his show on 31 March 2007. Herring was also a panellist on BBC Radio 4 gameshow Banter, in February 2007, filming began on Herrings comedy drama You Can Choose Your Friends
12.
West End theatre
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West End theatre is a common term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of Theatreland in and near the West End of London. Along with New York Citys Broadway theatre, West End theatre is considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English-speaking world. Seeing a West End show is a common tourist activity in London, in 2013, ticket sales reached a record 14.4 million, making West End the largest English speaking audience in the world. Famous screen actors frequently appear on the London stage, helen Mirren received an award for her performance as the Queen on the West End stage, and then stated, theatre is such an important part of British history and British culture. Theatre in London flourished after the English Reformation, the first permanent public playhouse, known simply as The Theatre, was constructed in 1576 in Shoreditch by James Burbage. It was soon joined by The Curtain, both are known to have been used by William Shakespeares company. In 1599, the timber from The Theatre was moved to Southwark and these theatres were closed in 1642 due to the Puritans who would later influence the interregnum of 1649. After the Restoration, two companies were licensed to perform, the Dukes Company and the Kings Company, performances were held in converted buildings, such as Lisles Tennis Court. The first West End theatre, known as Theatre Royal in Bridges Street, was designed by Thomas Killigrew and built on the site of the present Theatre Royal and it opened on 7 May 1663 and was destroyed by a fire nine years later. It was replaced by a new designed by Christopher Wren and renamed the Theatre Royal. Outside the West End, Sadlers Wells Theatre opened in Islington on 3 June 1683. Taking its name from founder Richard Sadler and monastic springs that were discovered on the property, it operated as a Musick House, with performances of opera, as it was not licensed for plays. In the West End, the Theatre Royal Haymarket opened on 29 December 1720 on a site north of its current location. The Patent theatre companies retained their duopoly on drama well into the 19th century, by the early 19th century, however, music hall entertainments became popular, and presenters found a loophole in the restrictions on non-patent theatres in the genre of melodrama. Melodrama did not break the Patent Acts, as it was accompanied by music, initially, these entertainments were presented in large halls, attached to public houses, but purpose-built theatres began to appear in the East End at Shoreditch and Whitechapel. The West End theatre district became established with the opening of small theatres and halls. South of the River Thames, the Old Vic, Waterloo Road, the next few decades saw the opening of many new theatres in the West End. It abbreviated its name three years later, the theatre building boom continued until about World War I
13.
BBC
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The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. It is headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, the BBC is the worlds oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It employs over 20,950 staff in total,16,672 of whom are in public sector broadcasting, the total number of staff is 35,402 when part-time, flexible, and fixed contract staff are included. The BBC is established under a Royal Charter and operates under its Agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and used to fund the BBCs radio, TV, britains first live public broadcast from the Marconi factory in Chelmsford took place in June 1920. It was sponsored by the Daily Mails Lord Northcliffe and featured the famous Australian Soprano Dame Nellie Melba, the Melba broadcast caught the peoples imagination and marked a turning point in the British publics attitude to radio. However, this public enthusiasm was not shared in official circles where such broadcasts were held to interfere with important military and civil communications. By late 1920, pressure from these quarters and uneasiness among the staff of the licensing authority, the General Post Office, was sufficient to lead to a ban on further Chelmsford broadcasts. But by 1922, the GPO had received nearly 100 broadcast licence requests, John Reith, a Scottish Calvinist, was appointed its General Manager in December 1922 a few weeks after the company made its first official broadcast. The company was to be financed by a royalty on the sale of BBC wireless receiving sets from approved manufacturers, to this day, the BBC aims to follow the Reithian directive to inform, educate and entertain. The financial arrangements soon proved inadequate, set sales were disappointing as amateurs made their own receivers and listeners bought rival unlicensed sets. By mid-1923, discussions between the GPO and the BBC had become deadlocked and the Postmaster-General commissioned a review of broadcasting by the Sykes Committee and this was to be followed by a simple 10 shillings licence fee with no royalty once the wireless manufactures protection expired. The BBCs broadcasting monopoly was made explicit for the duration of its current broadcast licence, the BBC was also banned from presenting news bulletins before 19.00, and required to source all news from external wire services. Mid-1925 found the future of broadcasting under further consideration, this time by the Crawford committee, by now the BBC under Reiths leadership had forged a consensus favouring a continuation of the unified broadcasting service, but more money was still required to finance rapid expansion. Wireless manufacturers were anxious to exit the loss making consortium with Reith keen that the BBC be seen as a service rather than a commercial enterprise. The recommendations of the Crawford Committee were published in March the following year and were still under consideration by the GPO when the 1926 general strike broke out in May. The strike temporarily interrupted newspaper production and with restrictions on news bulletins waived the BBC suddenly became the source of news for the duration of the crisis. The crisis placed the BBC in a delicate position, the Government was divided on how to handle the BBC but ended up trusting Reith, whose opposition to the strike mirrored the PMs own
14.
Channel 4
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Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster that began transmission on 2 November 1982. With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital on 31 March 2010, before Channel 4 and S4C, Britain had three terrestrial television services, BBC1, BBC2, and ITV. The Broadcasting Act 1980 began the process of adding a fourth, after some months of test broadcasts, it began scheduled transmissions on 2 November 1982. Indeed, television sets throughout the 1970s and early 1980s had a spare channel called ITV/IBA2. It was most likely politics which had the biggest impact in leading to a delay of almost three decades before the commercial channel became a reality. The campaign was taken so seriously by Gwynfor Evans, former president of Plaid Cymru, the result was that Channel 4 as seen by the rest of the United Kingdom would be replaced in Wales by Sianel Pedwar Cymru. Operated by a specially created authority, S4C would air programmes in Welsh made by HTV, since then, carriage on digital cable, satellite and digital terrestrial has introduced Channel 4 to Welsh homes where it is now universally available. The first programme to air on the channel was the game show Countdown. The first person to be seen on Channel 4 was Richard Whiteley with Ted Moult being the second, the first woman on the channel, contrary to popular belief, was not Carol Vorderman and was a lexicographer only ever identified as Mary. Whiteley opened the show with the words, On its first day, Channel 4 also broadcast controversial soap opera Brookside, which ran until 2003. On its launch, Channel 4 committed itself to providing an alternative to the existing channels, Channel 4 co-commissioned Robert Ashleys ground-breaking television opera Perfect Lives, which it premiered over several episodes in 1984. The channel often did not receive mass audiences for much of period, however. Channel 4 for many years had a poorer quality signal compared to other channels, Channel 4 also began the funding of independent films, such as the Merchant-Ivory docudrama The Courtesans of Bombay, during this time. In 1992, Channel 4 also faced its first libel case by Jani Allan, a South African journalist, who objected to her representation in the documentary The Leader, His Driver and the Drivers Wife. After control of the station passed from the Channel Four Television Company to the Channel Four Television Corporation in 1993, instead of aiming for the fringes of society, it began to focus on the edges of the mainstream, and the centre of the mass market itself. It began to show many US programmes in peak viewing time and it gave such shows as Friends and ER their UK premières. In the early 2000s, Channel 4 began broadcasting reality formats such as Big Brother and obtained the rights to broadcast mass appeal sporting events like cricket and this new direction increased ratings and revenues. In addition, the corporation launched a number of new channels through its new 4Ventures offshoot, including Film4, At the Races, E4
15.
British Comedy Awards
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The British Comedy Awards was an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. Jonathan Ross announced that he would not be presenting the 2008 awards, the 2007 show occurred on 6 December 2007, but was not televised due to the 2005 controversy and subsequent investigations. The following years ceremony was shown live on 6 December 2008, Compliance for the show was the responsibility of the ITV Compliance Unit of ITV Network Limited. In June 2010, it was announced that awards were to be broadcast on Channel 4 for three years, which was extended for one more year. Shortly afterwards, the 2010 ceremony was postponed until the 2010 ceremony finally aired in January 2011, in June 2015 Channel 4 announced they would be dropping the ceremony. The 2015 ceremony was cancelled due to a lack of a suitable broadcast partner. A new broadcast partner is being lined up for the 2016 ceremony, at the 2005 British Comedy Awards show, the wrong show received the Peoples Choice Award. Charged by the show with investigating the allegations of irregularities. It was understood that he would be if the recipients were Anthony McPartlin. In order to ensure his attendance, this assurance was given, but it could not be definitively established that Williams involvement led to the wrong winner being announced. Ant & Decs Saturday Night Takeaway did however receive the Peoples Choice Award at the British Comedy Awards 2006, beginning on 26 July 2007, British tabloid newspapers reported the alleged involvement of the British Comedy Awards in the 2007 British television phone-in scandal. ITV announced that they postponed the British Comedy Awards 2007 due to the voting irregularities, in a statement, the company said, Pending conclusion of the investigation, broadcast of the British Comedy Awards 2007 will be postponed. ITV will not make any comment regarding this matter until the conclusion of the investigation. The 2007 awards did take place on 5 December 2007, in early May 2008 Ofcom announced its fining and sanctioning ITV plc in a press release. On 15 August 2008, it was announced that a scandal could have been committed in the award ceremony at the 2004 Awards. Angus Deayton replaced Jonathan Ross as the host of the British Comedy Awards, Ross returned to presenting the awards in 2009. Best Comedy Panel Show, Would I Lie to You, British Comedy Awards at British Comedy Guide
16.
The Times
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The Times is a British daily national newspaper based in London, England. It began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register, the Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, itself wholly owned by News Corp. The Times and The Sunday Times do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1967 and its news and its editorial comment have in general been carefully coordinated, and have at most times been handled with an earnest sense of responsibility. While the paper has admitted some trivia to its columns, its emphasis has been on important public affairs treated with an eye to the best interests of Britain. To guide this treatment, the editors have for long periods been in touch with 10 Downing Street. In these countries, the newspaper is often referred to as The London Times or The Times of London, although the newspaper is of national scope, in November 2006 The Times began printing headlines in a new font, Times Modern. The Times was printed in broadsheet format for 219 years, the Sunday Times remains a broadsheet. The Times had a daily circulation of 446,164 in December 2016, in the same period. An American edition of The Times has been published since 6 June 2006 and it has been heavily used by scholars and researchers because of its widespread availability in libraries and its detailed index. A complete historical file of the paper, up to 2010, is online from Gale Cengage Learning. The Times was founded by publisher John Walter on 1 January 1785 as The Daily Universal Register, Walter had lost his job by the end of 1784 after the insurance company where he was working went bankrupt because of the complaints of a Jamaican hurricane. Being unemployed, Walter decided to set a new business up and it was in that time when Henry Johnson invented the logography, a new typography that was faster and more precise. Walter bought the patent and to use it, he decided to open a printing house. The first publication of the newspaper The Daily Universal Register in Great Britain was 1 January 1785, unhappy because people always omitted the word Universal, Ellias changed the title after 940 editions on 1 January 1788 to The Times. In 1803, Walter handed ownership and editorship to his son of the same name, the Times used contributions from significant figures in the fields of politics, science, literature, and the arts to build its reputation. For much of its life, the profits of The Times were very large. Beginning in 1814, the paper was printed on the new steam-driven cylinder press developed by Friedrich Koenig, in 1815, The Times had a circulation of 5,000. Thomas Barnes was appointed editor in 1817
17.
The Sunday Times
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The Sunday Times is the largest-selling British national newspaper in the quality press market category. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, Times Newspapers also publishes The Times. The two papers were founded independently and have been under common ownership only since 1966 and they were bought by News International in 1981. The Sunday Times occupies a dominant position in the quality Sunday market, its circulation of just under one million equals that of its rivals, The Sunday Telegraph and The Observer. While some other national newspapers moved to a format in the early 2000s. It sells more than twice as many copies as its sister paper, The Times, the Sunday Times has acquired a reputation for the strength of its investigative reporting – much of it by its award-winning Insight team – and also for its wide-ranging foreign coverage. It has a number of writers, columnists and commentators including Jeremy Clarkson. It was Britains first multi-section newspaper and remains substantially larger than its rivals, a typical edition contains the equivalent of 450 to 500 tabloid pages. Besides the main section, it has standalone News Review, Business, Sport, Money. There are three magazines and two tabloid supplements and it publishes The Sunday Times Bestseller List of books in Britain, and a list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, focusing on UK companies. It also organises The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival, held annually, and The Sunday Times Festival of Education, the paper began publication on 18 February 1821 as The New Observer, but from 21 April its title was changed to the Independent Observer. On 20 October 1822 it was reborn as The Sunday Times, in January 1823, White sold the paper to Daniel Whittle Harvey, a radical politician. The paper was bought in 1887 by Alice Cornwell, whose father George Cornwell made a fortune in mining in Australia and she then sold it in 1893 to Frederick Beer, who already owned Observer. Beer appointed his wife, Rachel Sassoon Beer, as editor and she was already editor of Observer – the first woman to run a national newspaper – and continued to edit both titles until 1901. There was a change of ownership in 1903, and then in 1915 the paper was bought by William Berry and his brother, Gomer Berry, later ennobled as Lord Camrose. In 1943, the Kemsley Newspapers Group was established, with The Sunday Times becoming its flagship paper, at this time, Kemsley was the largest newspaper group in Britain. On 12 November 1945, Ian Fleming, who later created James Bond, joined the paper as foreign manager, the following month, circulation reached 500,000. On 28 September 1958 the paper launched a separate Review section, in 1959 the Kemsley group was bought by Lord Thomson, and in October 1960 circulation reached one million for the first time
18.
Resonance FM
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Resonance 104.4 FM is a London based non-profit community radio station specialising in the arts run by the London Musicians Collective. The station is staffed by four permanent staff members, including programme controller Ed Baxter and over 300 volunteer technical, until September 2007, its studios were located on Denmark Street before moving to its present location at 144 Borough High Street. The station broadcasts to a radius on 104.4 MHz FM from a transmitter situated on the roof of Guys Hospital at London Bridge. Noted for its policy of giving free rein of their creative outlet. The station receives funding grants from Arts Council England, the station describes itself as the worlds first radio art station which aims to provide a radical alternative to mainstream broadcasting. Live music sessions are featured on such as Hello Goodbye, You Are Hear, Hooting Yard on the Air. Other shows include foreign-language programmes aimed at communities in London that are not served by other broadcasters, in addition to locally produced programming, Resonance is a member of Radia and a rebroadcaster of American news program Democracy Now. Resonance FM has received a Sony Award nomination for The Good Drugs Guide, the station has been profiled in the pages of The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday, The Daily Telegraph and the Morning Star amongst others. Imagine a radio station like no other, a radio station that makes public those artworks that have no place in traditional broadcasting. A radio station that is an archive of the new, the undiscovered, the forgotten and that is an invisible gallery, a virtual arts centre whose location is at once local, global and timeless. And that is itself a work of art, imagine a radio station that responds rapidly to new initiatives, has time to draw breath and reflect. A laboratory for experimentation, that by virtue of its uniqueness brings into being a new audience of listeners and creators, All this and more, Resonance104. 4fm aims to make London’s airwaves available to the widest possible range of practitioners of contemporary art. The London Musicians Collective originally put together a programme of radio art as part of 1998s Meltdown festival at the South Bank Centre. The station operated from the Royal Festival Hall on a month-long Restricted Service Licence on 107.3 FM, phil England, an organiser of the original broadcast, described the origins of the station in a text written to accompany the printed programme. The aim, he wrote, was to raise the specter of radio art in a country where the notion has no common currency. After a four-year hiatus, the returned on 1 May 2002 as part of the Ofcom Access Radio Pilot Scheme from studios on Denmark Street in the Soho area of Londons West End. It is a genuine discovery channel, Resonance was awarded a five-year Community Radio licence in December 2005, enabling the station to broadcast 24/7. Ofcom extended the stations FM broadcasting licence in July 2010, in 2011 Resonance presented a six-week exhibit at the Raven Row Gallery Exhibit in East London
19.
Adoption
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Modern systems of adoption, arising in the 20th century, tend to be governed by comprehensive statutes and regulations. Adoption for the well-born While the modern form of adoption emerged in the United States, the Code of Hammurabi, for example, details the rights of adopters and the responsibilities of adopted individuals at length. The practice of adoption in ancient Rome is well documented in the Codex Justinianus, the use of adoption by the aristocracy is well documented, many of Romes emperors were adopted sons. Infant adoption during Antiquity appears rare, abandoned children were often picked up for slavery and composed a significant percentage of the Empires slave supply. Roman legal records indicate that foundlings were occasionally taken in by families, although not normally adopted under Roman Law, the children, called alumni, were reared in an arrangement similar to guardianship, being considered the property of the father who abandoned them. Other ancient civilizations, notably India and China, used some form of adoption as well, evidence suggests the goal of this practice was to ensure the continuity of cultural and religious practices, in contrast to the Western idea of extending family lines. China had a idea of adoption with males adopted solely to perform the duties of ancestor worship. The practice of adopting the children of members and close friends was common among the cultures of Polynesia including Hawaii where the custom was referred to as hānai. Adoption and commoners The nobility of the Germanic, Celtic, in medieval society, bloodlines were paramount, a ruling dynasty lacking a natural-born heir apparent was replaced, a stark contrast to Roman traditions. The evolution of European law reflects this aversion to adoption, english Common Law, for instance, did not permit adoption since it contradicted the customary rules of inheritance. Some adoptions continued to occur, however, but became informal, for example, in the year 737, in a charter from the town of Lucca, three adoptees were made heirs to an estate. Europes cultural makeover marked a period of significant innovation for adoption, without support from the nobility, the practice gradually shifted toward abandoned children. Abandonment levels rose with the fall of the empire and many of the foundlings were left on the doorstep of the Church, initially, the clergy reacted by drafting rules to govern the exposing, selling, and rearing of abandoned children. The Churchs innovation, however, was the practice of oblation, whereby children were dedicated to lay life within monastic institutions and this created the first system in European history in which abandoned children did not have legal, social, or moral disadvantages. As a result, many of Europes abandoned and orphaned children became alumni of the Church, oblation marks the beginning of a shift toward institutionalization, eventually bringing about the establishment of the foundling hospital and orphanage. This system of apprenticeship and informal adoption extended into the 19th century, despite its intent, though, in practice, the system operated much the same as earlier incarnations. The experience of the Boston Female Asylum is a good example, adopting to create a family The next stage of adoptions evolution fell to the emerging nation of the United States. Rapid immigration and the American Civil War resulted in unprecedented overcrowding of orphanages, Charles Loring Brace, a Protestant minister became appalled by the legions of homeless waifs roaming the streets of New York City
20.
Solihull
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Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 206,700 in the 2011 Census. Historically in Warwickshire, it is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and it is the largest town in, and administrative centre of, the larger Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, which itself has a population of 209,890. Solihull is one of the most affluent areas outside of London, in November 2013, the uSwitch Quality of Life Index named Solihull the best place to live in the United Kingdom. Residents of Solihull and those born in the town are referred to as Silhillians, the motto of Solihull is Urbs in Rure. Solihulls name is thought to have derived from the position of its parish church, St Alphege. The church was built on a hill of red marl. The town is noted for its architecture, which includes surviving examples of timber framed Tudor style houses. The historic Solihull School dates from 1560 and it is located at the head of High Street and is a Grade I listed building. It was founded in about 1220 by Hugh de Oddingsell, a chantry chapel was also founded there by Sir William de Oddingsell in 1277 and the upper chapel in St Alphege was built for a chantry. Unlike nearby Birmingham, the Industrial Revolution largely passed Solihull by, world War II also nearly passed Solihull by. In 1901, the population of the town was just 7,500, until the early 1960s, the main high street remained much as it would have been in the late 19th century with several streets of Victorian terraced houses linking High Street with Warwick Road. On the right along High Street from St Alpheges Church porch is one of the towns oldest landmarks, the George and it is now called the Ramada Jarvis Hotel. Arden Golf Club, Solihull, was founded in 1891, the course was still appearing on maps into the 1930s. Due to its growth, Solihull was promoted from a district to a municipal borough. In 1964, Solihull became a county borough and on occasion the Queen bestowed the honour. In 1974, the Solihull county borough was merged with the district surrounding Meriden to form the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull. This also includes the known as Shirley, Knowle, Dorridge, Balsall Common, Castle Bromwich. The member of parliament for the Solihull constituency is Conservative Julian Knight, each ward is represented by three councillors at Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, making a total of 51 councillors
21.
West Midlands (county)
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The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2014 estimated population of 2,808,356, making it the second most populous county in England. It came into existence as a county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. The county itself is a NUTS2 region within the wider NUTS1 region of the same name. The county consists of seven boroughs, the City of Birmingham, the City of Coventry, and the City of Wolverhampton, as well as Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull. The metropolitan county exists in law and as a frame of reference. And as a county it has a Lord Lieutenant and a High Sheriff. A new administrative body for the county, the West Midlands Combined Authority was created in June 2016, there will be a directly elected Mayor of the West Midlands from May 2017. Other county-wide bodies include the West Midlands Police, the West Midlands Fire Service, the county is sometimes described as the West Midlands metropolitan area or the West Midlands conurbation, although these have different, and less clearly defined, boundaries. The main conurbation, or urban area, does not include Coventry for example, Coventry was one of Englands most important cities during the Middle Ages, with its prosperity built upon wool and cloth manufacture. Birmingham and Wolverhampton have a tradition of dating back to the 16th century. Birmingham was known for its manufacture of arms, whereas Wolverhampton became a centre of lock manufacture. The coal and iron ore deposits of the Black Country area provided a source of raw materials. The area grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution, and by the 20th century had grown into one large conurbation, Coventry was slower to develop, but by the early 20th century, it had become an important centre of bicycle and car manufacture. Around the periphery of this area, three towns remained separate, while Aldridge and Brownhills joined to form a single unit. The West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority was established in 1968, in 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 came into effect, creating the metropolitan county of West Midlands. This area was based on the seven county boroughs and the other non-county boroughs, the new area consisted of seven new metropolitan boroughs, with Aldridge-Brownhills added to Walsall, Halesowen and Stourbridge to Dudley and Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham. A new borough of Sandwell was formed by the merger of West Bromwich, the 1974 reform created the West Midlands County Council that covered the entire area and dealt with strategic issues. Between 1974 and 1986, the county had a system of local government
22.
Solihull School
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Solihull School is a coeducational independent school situated near the centre of Solihull, West Midlands, England. Founded in 1560, it is the oldest school in the town and is a member of the HMC. In 1560 the revenues of the chapels of St Mary and St Katherine in the parish church of St Alphege. The revenue of the chapel of St Alphege was added to the six years later. The education remained based in teachings of the Church and the desire to turn out respectable, in the 17th century it became a boarding school and the number of pupils grew. The school became more notable and well thought of owing to the involvement of prominent families. Much of this development came under the Headmastership of the Rev. Richard Mashiter who, in 1735, was elected ahead of Dr Johnson, the celebrated author, essayist. Shorts six sons were all educated at Solihull School and became professionally and socially successful, one of whom, Robert Short, rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the army of The Honourable East India Company and later became 54th Lord of The Manor of Solihull. Owing to an affection for Solihull School he expressly recommended it to his fellow officers and peers. Upon the buildings completion in 1882, the relocated to the new site on the Warwick Road from its previous location on the edge of Brueton Park. School House is now a grade II listed building, expansion continued on this Warwick Road site into the 20th century. Over the course of the 20th century the school grew steadily from 200 to nearly 1000 pupils, in 1960 a new chapel was built and was named The Chapel of St Mary and St Katherine to commemorate the origins of the school. In 1962 the School was visited by Queen Elizabeth II, in the early 1970s the school admitted girls into the Sixth Form for the first time. Only ten girls joined in the first year, but this grew quickly over the following years, the 2015-2016 academic year marked the first girls to go through the whole school from J1 to Upper Sixth. In 2010 Solihull School celebrated its 450th anniversary, both the school and the Old Silhillians Association hosted a range of ceremonial, musical and sporting events to mark the historic occasion. The tree was the idea of Holly Krober who was so moved by her trip to Auschwitz concentration camp that she was determined to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust. The school currently occupies a site of approximately 65 acres and this is partly as a result of a former headmaster, Mr Warin Foster Bushell, who in the 1920s bought much of the land himself when the governors refused to finance the purchase out of school funds. On his retirement Bushell sold the fields to the school at no profit, Solihull School has a number of rugby pitches, cricket squares and nets, tennis courts, football pitches and general purpose sports fields
23.
Humanists UK
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The current President of the BHA is Shappi Khorsandi and the Chief Executive is Andrew Copson. The association currently has 70 affiliated regional and special interest groups, the advancement of education and in particular the study of and the dissemination of knowledge about Humanism and about the arts and science as they relate to Humanism. The promotion of understanding between people holding religious and non-religious beliefs so as to advance cooperation in society. The BHA also wishes to build itself as a sustainable and nationally-recognised organisation as a voice for non-religious people, the British Humanist Association was founded in 1896 by American Stanton Coit as the Union of Ethical Societies, which brought together existing ethical societies in Britain. In 1963 H. J. Blackham became the first Executive Director, and this transition followed a decade of discussions which nearly prompted a merger of the Union of Ethical Societies with the Rationalist Press Association and the South Place Ethical Society. In 1963 the discussions went as far as creating an umbrella Humanist Association of which Harold Blackham was the Executive Director, in the 1960s the BHA campaigned on the repeal of Sunday Observance laws and the reform of the 1944 Education Act’s clauses on religion in schools. More generally the BHA aimed to defend freedom of speech, support the elimination of world poverty and it was claimed in 1977 that the BHA aimed to make humanism available and meaningful to the millions who have no alternative belief. At this time the BHA also supported a number of local communities. A network of celebrants able to conduct funerals, weddings, naming ceremonies and same sex affirmations was also developed. Social concerns have persisted in the BHA’s programme, the BHA has been active in arguing for voluntary euthanasia and the right to obtain an abortion. It has always sought an open society, the BHA claims that the rules on religious programming within the BBC constitute a religious privilege and reserve particular criticism for the Thought for the Day slot on Radio 4s Today programme. They also support humanist volunteers on the Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education which currently determines the Religious Education syllabus for each local authority, the BHA opposes the teaching of creationism in schools. In September 2011, the BHA launched their Teach evolution, not creationism campaign, the Department for Education amended the funding agreement to allow the withdrawal of funding for free schools that teach creationism as established scientific fact. It has also campaigned for opt-out organ donor registers to improve the availability of life-saving organs in the UK, the BHA also campaigns on marriage laws, demanding full equality for same-sex and humanist marriage ceremonies throughout the UK. The BHA had been providing same-sex wedding ceremonies for decades, and had strongly supported legalising same-sex marriage years in advance of eventual UK, in 2013, it secured an amendment to the same sex marriage bill to require UK Government to consult on letting humanist celebrants conduct legal marriages. Though the consultation result strongly indicated that legalisation should go ahead and it also campaigns for same-sex and humanist marriages in Northern Ireland. Many of its campaigns are based on speech and human rights legislation. In 2008, the law was repealed, an issue over which the BHA had long-campaigned
24.
National Secular Society
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The National Secular Society is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no-one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it and it was founded by Charles Bradlaugh in 1866 and is now a member organisation of the International Humanist and Ethical Union, endorsing the Amsterdam Declaration 2002. It holds that belief should be a matter for the home or place of worship. In seeking to represent the interests and viewpoints of atheists, the NSS is often critical of what it sees as the effects of religion. The National Secular Society was founded in 1866 with Charles Bradlaugh as President, there were a number of secularist groups around the UK and they joined up to coordinate and strengthen their campaigns. The word secularism was coined by George Holyoake in 1851, the NSS’s principles asserted that this is the only life we have, and that we should work for its improvement. In 1877 Bradlaugh and Annie Besant were prosecuted for publishing a book containing birth control information and they were convicted, but acquitted on appeal. The issue of contraception divided secularists and a group, the British Secular Union, was formed. It closed after a few years, bradlaugh’s struggle to enter Parliament became an important moment in the development of nineteenth century secularism. He was elected for Northampton in 1880 and he believed he had the right to affirm rather than swear on the Bible, but when refused, said he would take the oath. He was told that since he did not believe in the Bible he could not swear on it, for six years he struggled to overcome this problem, by legal and electoral methods. In 1886 a new government allowed him to be sworn in and he later brought about a change giving all MPs the right to affirm. He was a very active MP on behalf of the poor, Bradlaugh, who died in 1891, was succeeded as President by G. W. Foote, editor of The Freethinker. Foote noted that the death of Bradlaugh brought the period of freethought to an end. Footes successor was Chapman Cohen, a pamphleteer and author of books on religion. In the first half of the century the NSS campaigned against the BBC’s religious broadcasting policy, for disestablishment. Notable presidents in the half of the twentieth century were David Tribe and Barbara Smoker. And in the twenty-first century the NSS continues as an organisation campaigning in the UK, the NSS is incorporated as a UK Company Limited by Guarantee, no.01418145
25.
Simon Munnery
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Simon Munnery, also known as his characters Alan Parker, Urban Warrior and The League Against Tedium, is an English standup comedian. He performs mainly to an audience but has pierced the mainstream both with his BBC Radio 1 show in 1997 and his BBC2 television series Attention Scum. in 2001. His stand-up is often satirical and political and almost always surreal, Munnerys experimental style is reflected in his makeshift props. As The League he often wears a hat crafted from a kettle, born in Middlesex, Munnery grew up in Bedmond, Hertfordshire and Watford and was educated Watford Grammar School for Boys, where he earned four A Levels. He read natural sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge but soon lost interest in science, in 1987, he became vice-president with Peter Bradshaw as president. After graduating with a very high third, he did menial jobs before making his big break into comedy. He describes his work as occupying a place between unfunny comedy and shit art, Munnery had a short lived career as a video game programmer. His most famous title was a version of Asteroids for the Commodore International VIC-20 and he also authored several games for the ZX81. The ZX81 games he wrote, Road Race, Breakout and Space Invaders, the VIC-20 games he wrote, Asteroids, Cosmiads and Scramble. While at university, Munnery took part in a stand-up double-act called God and he also worked at the Edinburgh Festival in a piece called The Dum Show. Cluub Zarathustra featured Stewart Lee, Kevin Eldon, Sally Phillips, Johnny Vegas, Julian Barratt, Richard Herring, Roger Mann, Jason Freeman, a television pilot was made of Cluub Zarathustra for Channel 4 in 1996, but was never broadcast. It became the subject of a book by Robert Wringham in 2012, Munnerys Edinburgh Fringe shows include Trilogy, Buckethead and Simon Munnerys Annual General Meeting. His 2006 Edinburgh Fringe show, AGM, included the opportunity for the audience to raise questions to discuss as group. The experience would continue after the main show, when he takes the audience on tours around town, taking in art galleries, drinks. In 2010, Munnery hosted a Bright Club event at the Bloomsbury Theatre, futurtv was a BBC production for UK Play from 1999. As well as Simon Munnery, it included Kombat Opera Presents, Munnery wrote and hosted the 1999 TV comedy game show, Either/Or. Attention Scum. was a series produced for the BBC and directed by Stewart Lee. Munnery also appeared in sketches in the first series of Stewart Lees Comedy Vehicle in 2009, during the 1990s he made several series for BBC Radio 1, one based around his League Against Tedium character
26.
Johnny Vegas
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Michael Joseph Pennington, Sr, better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English actor and comedian, known for his angry rants, surreal humour, portly figure and high husky voice. Vegas was born in Thatto Heath, St. Helens, Lancashire and he has two older brothers and an older sister. He was brought up as a Roman Catholic, at the age of eleven, he attended St Josephs College in Upholland, a Roman Catholic boarding-school seminary, to train for the priesthood, but came back homesick after four terms. He also attended West Park School, Alder Hey Road, St Helens, between 1994 and 1997, he was a member of Cluub Zarathustra, a comedy performance group led by Stewart Lee, Roger Mann and Simon Munnery. He featured on the The Big Breakfast during the final months before it ended in March 2002. His appearance was shown during Channel 4s 100 Greatest Stand-Ups. Vegas gained an audience as a regular member of Shooting Stars. His character was not too dissimilar to his real-life persona at that time, in 2001 he appeared on the Weakest Link, in a comedians special and beat Barry Cryer to win the jackpot of £10200. In 2002, Vegas starred in the BBC Radio 4 sitcom Night Class, Vegas played a former Butlins redcoat teaching evening classes in pottery. It was a runner-up for best comedy at the Sony Radio Academy Awards and he starred in the BBC Three sitcom Ideal as Moz from 2005 to 2011. Between 2007 and 2009, Vegas played Geoff The Oracle Maltby in the ITV sitcom Benidorm, on 16 January 2015, he made guest appearances in episode 3,4,5 and 6 during the programmes seventh series. He returned full-time in Series 8, which began on 11 January 2016, in 2012, Vegas played the role of Mr. Croombe in a television adaptation of David Walliams childrens novel Mr Stink. In 2014, Vegas voiced Fat Baz in the ITV4 animated sitcom Warren United, in August 2014, Vegas took part in ITVs two-part documentary series Secrets from the Clink. In May 2013, Vegas played the role of Lord Ratspeaker in a BBC radio adaptation of Neil Gaimans Neverwhere, since 26 December 2013, Vegas has played Wet Eric Agnew in the revived BBC sitcom Still Open All Hours. Vegas has guest presented numerous episodes of Sunday Brunch for Channel 4, in August 2015, he narrated the four-part series Travel Guides for ITV. In 2016, he took part in ITVs celebrity driving show Drive, in August 2016, Vegas starred in a one-off comedy pilot called Home From Home, playing the lead role of Neil Hackett. Filmed at Skiddaw View Holiday Park, the episode aired on BBC Two on August 30,2016, in December 2016, it was announced that Home From Home had been commissioned for a full series to air on BBC One in 2017. On 16 March 2017, Vegas made a guest appearance on the series of the BBCs The Great Pottery Throw Down
27.
Emma Kennedy
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Emma Kennedy is an English actress, writer and television presenter. The daughter of teachers, she was educated at Hitchin Girls School, at Oxford in 1987, she worked with Richard Herring and Stewart Lee in comedy troupes the Seven Raymonds and The Oxford Revue. After graduating she trained as a solicitor, and practised as a city solicitor for three years until 1995, Kennedy has said, I was rubbish at it. People used to come in wanting to sue the pants off of someone and Id stare at them and say Let it go, Kennedy first met close friend Mel Giedroyc, who was appearing with the Cambridge Footlights, at the Edinburgh Festival in 1988. Later she became an editor for Giedroycs double act with Sue Perkins. Kennedy presented the last series of The Real Holiday Show on Channel 4 in 2000 and she was also a movie reviewer on Fives Terry and Gaby Show. In addition to this, she has several appearances on Big Brothers Little Brother. She provided voices for The Comic Side of 7 Days and was a regular on the BBC Radio 2 comedy That Was Then and she appeared in the film Notes on a Scandal and also appears in the Five series Suburban Shootout and Suburban Shootout 2, Clackers at Dawn. She appeared as a regular on the popular podcast As It Occurs To Me until June 2011 and she also acts the voice of Becky Butters out of Strange Hill High, which is a new program on CBBC that uses Japanese vinyl puppets and CGI. In July 2012 she posed for Tatler in their Out and Proud - Seven of Londons smartest and loveliest lesbians photoshoot, Kennedy has written for radio, television and the theatre. Her first book, How To Bring Up Your Parents, loosely based on her blog and her second book, The Tent, The Bucket and Me, recounting her childhood camping experiences, was published in April 2009. This was adapted by Kennedy as writer of the six-part BBC TV series The Kennedys, starring Katherine Parkinson, Dan Skinner, Harry Peacock and Emma Pierson, the comedy centres on a family living in Stevenage New Town in the 1970s, when suburbia discovered sophistication. Kennedy has also written childrens books, I Left My Tent In San Francisco, the follow-up to The Tent, The Bucket and Me, appeared in May 2011. Kennedy is currently working on a new project called Strange Hill High and she has also written a guide to TV series The Killing. She had a relationship with comedian and actress Sue Perkins for five years, on 14 January 2014 Kennedy announced her engagement to girlfriend Georgie Gibbon on Twitter. They were married on 26 July 2015, wilma Tenderfoot and the Case of the Rascals Revenge. I Left My Tent in San Francisco, wilma Tenderfoot and the Case of the Fatal Phantom. Wilma Tenderfoot and the Case of the Putrid Poison, wilma Tenderfoot and the Case of the Frozen Hearts
28.
The Oxford Revue
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The Oxford Revue is a comedy group featuring students from Oxford University, England. Founded in the early 1950s, The Oxford Revue has produced many prominent comedians, the Revue writes, produces and performs several shows each term. Shows are traditionally held in pubs, colleges and playhouses. The founding of the Revue in around 1952/3 is shrouded in mystery, from this, he helped found an offshoot group, the Oxford Revue Group, to take a revue up to the Edinburgh Fringe. Former members include, During the academic year 2009–10, the Oxford Revue performed regular Write Offs at the Wheatsheaf pub, in February 2010, the Revue ran for a week at the Burton-Taylor Studio, Oxford, in their Brighton-themed show The Oxford Revue Goes To Blighty. The show was rated 5 stars by The Oxford Theatre Review, the following term, the Oxford Revue invited the Durham Revue and the Cambridge Footlights for the trios annual show, The Oxford Revue and Friends at the Oxford Playhouse. The show sold out all 600 seats and was well received, aside from the shows at the Wheatsheaf, Burton-Taylor Studio and Oxford Playhouse, the Revue regularly performed at various college charity nights and balls, including the ball at the Oxford Union. They also travelled to Cambridge and Durham University to perform in large-scale shows, in August 2010, the Revue took the show, The Oxford Revue is Going Places, to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, under the presidency of Ollie Mann and the direction of Rory OKeeffe. The poster was designed by photographer Adam Levy and they performed at the Underbelly venue and sold well, receiving 4 stars from Broadway Baby. During Michaelmas Term 2010, the Revue overhauled its website and have begun posting articles, videos and they performed two shows at the Wheatsheaf pub as well as the Trinity College charity night and the UNICEF Comedy night
29.
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
30.
On the Hour
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On the Hour was a British radio programme that parodied current affairs broadcasting, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1991 and 1992. On the Hour featured the first appearance of Coogans character Alan Partridge as the Sports Desk reporter and it did fool many people, with some listeners ringing in to complain about how the anchor treated his guests. The programme also utilised editing of out-of-context sound-clips and prank phone calls, episodes would often feature a main storyline interspersed between the various news items. Twelve episodes were made and broadcast in 1991 and 1992, the final episode of On the Hour closed with Morris introducing a set of headlines with the line And there is still just time to part the beef curtains on tomorrows news. Running throughout the episode was the announcement that On the Hour would be taking over all of Radio 4 to transmit 24-hour Perma-News. On the Hour was named Best Radio Comedy at the 1992 British Comedy Awards, the On the Hour team subsequently made a television series called The Day Today, which retained the same regular cast and several characters from On the Hour. Combative and overly zealous, h believes in the infallibility of the news, bombastically delivering slogans like Man is only 90% water, and These facts are ear-shaped, lets ram them home. Morris frequently talks over his guests and does not realise or will not admit when he has the person on the other end of the phone. Morris reprised his newsman persona for The Day Today and Brass Eye, Roger Blatt/Michael Blatt, Roger Blatt is the Disaster correspondent for a train crash report, the identically-voiced Michael Blatt is the Strategy correspondent for the On the Hour War Special. Wayne Carr, Cloyingly-upbeat and smug DJ with a penchant for contracting words, waynes reports include inappropriately-upbeat coverage of a train crash disaster, an exposé on hidden messages in pop records, and a chinnywag about endangered animals. The character of Wayne Carr was retained from Morriss previous radio projects and his name is a reference to the abusive term wanker. Morris later used the Continuity Announcers voice for the national emergencies propaganda reel in the episode of The Day Today. Lionel Cosgrave, An Everyman who appears in news reports. Lionels age varies according to each report – sometimes he is a youngster, lionel is usually presented as a victim. Rosy presents absurd environmental-themed news in the segment Green Desk and this segment is accompanied by new-age music, including synthesised whale song. Rosy later appeared in The Day Today, although her segment was re-titled Enviromation, jacques Œuf, Appears in two episodes as a French counterpart to Wayne Carr. Like Carr, his name is a slang term for masturbation. Highly incompetent, reporting dubious facts and figures before being forced by Morris to admit that he hasnt actually read the reports he is ostensibly presenting and he later appeared in The Day Today
31.
Chris Morris (satirist)
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Christopher J Chris Morris is an English comedian, writer, director, actor, voice actor, and producer. He is known for his humour, surrealism, and controversial subject matter. His tendency to avoid the media spotlight has seen him become one of the more enigmatic figures in British comedy, in the early 1990s, Morris teamed up with his radio producer, Armando Iannucci, to create On the Hour, a satire of news programmes. This was expanded into a spin off, The Day Today, which launched the career of Steve Coogan. Morris further developed the satirical news format with Brass Eye, which lampooned celebrities whilst focusing on such as crime. For many, the apotheosis of Morriss career was a Brass Eye special and it quickly became one of the most complained about programmes in British television history, leading the Daily Mail to describe him as the most loathed man on TV. Meanwhile, Morriss postmodern sketch and ambient music radio show Blue Jam helped him to gain a cult following and he went on to win a BAFTA for Best Short Film after expanding a Blue Jam sketch into My Wrongs 8245–8249 &117, which starred Paddy Considine. Blue Jam was adapted into the TV series Jam and this was followed by Nathan Barley, a sitcom written in collaboration with a then little-known Charlie Brooker that satirised hipsters, which had low ratings but found success upon its DVD release. Morris followed this by joining the cast of the Graham Linehan sitcom The IT Crowd, in 2010, Morris directed his first feature-length film, Four Lions, which satirised Islamic terrorism through a group of inept British Pakistanis. Reception of the film was positive, earning Morris his second BAFTA. Since 2012, he has directed four episodes of Iannuccis political comedy Veep and appeared onscreen in The Double and he has two younger brothers, including theatre director Tom Morris. From an early age he was a prankster, and also had a passion for radio, from the age of 10 he was educated at Stonyhurst College, an independent Jesuit boarding school in Lancashire. He went to study zoology at the University of Bristol, where he gained a 2,1, on graduating, Morris pursued a career as a musician in various bands, for which he played the bass guitar. He then went to work for Radio West, a radio station in Bristol. He then took up a news traineeship with BBC Radio Cambridgeshire and he also spent time in early 1987 hosting a 2–4pm afternoon show and finally ended up presenting Saturday morning show I. T. In July 1987, he moved on to BBC Radio Bristol to present his own show No Known Cure, the show was surreal and satirical, with odd interviews conducted with unsuspecting members of the public. He was fired from Bristol in 1990 after talking over the news bulletins, in 1988 he also joined, from its launch, Greater London Radio. He presented The Chris Morris Show on GLR until 1993, when one show got suspended after a sketch was broadcast involving a child outing celebrities, in 1991, Morris joined Armando Iannuccis spoof news project On the Hour
32.
Steve Coogan
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Stephen John Coogan is an English actor, stand-up comedian, impressionist, screenwriter, and producer. He began his career in the 1980s, working as a voice artist on the puppet show Spitting Image. In the early 1990s, he began creating comic characters. In 1999, he co-founded the production company Baby Cow Productions and he featured in several television series, which earned him three BAFTA nominations and two wins for Best Comedy Performance. A feature-length film, Alan Partridge, Alpha Papa, was released in 2013, Coogan grew in prominence within the film industry in 2002, after starring in The Parole Officer and 24 Hour Party People. He was also an actor in the animated comedy films Despicable Me 2 and its prequel Minions. Coogan has also branched out into dramatic roles, with What Maisie Knew. He co-wrote, produced, and starred in the film adaptation Philomena, which earned him a Golden Globe and BAFTA nomination and he has been cast in the lead role for the ABC television pilot Doubt and the Showtime drama Happyish. On 22 November 2011, Coogan, along with Hugh Grant, Coogan was born in Middleton, Lancashire in 1965. He is the fourth of seven born to Kathleen, a housewife, and Anthony Coogan. He was raised Roman Catholic, in a working class family and his mother is Irish-born, from Mayo, and his father is of Irish descent. He attended Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School and he has stated that he had a happy childhood, and in addition to having four brothers and two sisters, his parents fostered children on a short-term basis. Coogan had a talent for impersonation, and wanted to go to drama school, Coogan began his career as a comic and impressionist, performing regularly in Ipswich, before working as a voice artist for television advertisements and the satirical puppet show Spitting Image. His most prominent characters developed at this time were Paul Calf, a working class Mancunian. He appeared as a presenter on the television comedy The Day Today, before hosting his own chat show. In 1997, Partridge returned in the sitcom Im Alan Partridge, which was followed by a series in 2002. Partridge featured in Coogans 2008 stand-up tour, a feature-length film, Alan Partridge, Alpha Papa, was released in 2013. Paul Calf first began as a character named Duncan Disorderly in Coogans early stand-up routines, Calf first came to wider public notice in 1993, with several appearances on Saturday Zoo, a late-night variety show presented by Jonathan Ross on Channel 4
33.
Alan Partridge
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Alan Gordon Partridge is a fictional character portrayed by English actor and comedian Steve Coogan. Coogan described Partridge as a Little Englander, with right-wing values, Partridge was created by Coogan and Armando Iannucci for the 1991 BBC Radio 4 comedy programme On the Hour, a spoof of British current affairs broadcasting, as the shows sports presenter. In 1992, Partridge hosted a spin-off Radio 4 spoof chat show, Knowing Me, on the Hour transferred to television as The Day Today in 1993, followed by Knowing Me, Knowing You in 1994. It earned two BAFTAs and was followed by a series in 2002. Critics have praised Alan Partridges complexity, realism and pathos, vanity Fair called him a British national treasure and The Guardian described him as one of the greatest and most beloved comic creations of the last few decades. The character has been credited with influencing awkward comedies such as The Inbetweeners, Nighty Night, according to Den of Geek, Partridge has so influenced British culture that Partridgisms have become part of everyday vernacular. Alan Partridge was created for the 1991 BBC Radio 4 comedy programme On The Hour, the shows writers Armando Iannucci, Patrick Marber, Richard Herring and Stewart Lee wrote much of Partridges original material, although Herring credits the creation to Coogan and Iannucci. Iannucci asked Coogan to do a voice for a sports reporter, according to Iannucci, Someone said, Hes an Alan. and someone else said. Within minutes we knew where he lived, wed worked out his back story, Coogan said Partridge was originally a one-note, sketchy character and freak show, but became more and more refined as sort of a dysfunctional alter ego over the years. He had performed a character for a BBC college radio station at university. Following On the Hour, Partridge presented six episodes of a spoof Radio 4 chat show, Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, the series saw Partridge annoy and offend his guests, and coined the characters catchphrase, Aha. In 1993, On the Hour transferred to television as The Day Today, in 1994, Knowing Me, Knowing You transferred to television, the series ends with Partridge accidentally shooting a guest and attacking a BBC commissioning editor, ending his television career. It was nominated for the 1995 BAFTA for Light Entertainment Performance, a Christmas special, Knowing Me, Knowing Yule, was broadcast in December 1995. In 1997, Coogan starred in a sitcom, Im Alan Partridge, written by Coogan, Iannucci, Iannucci said the writers used the sitcom as a kind of social X-ray of male middle-aged Middle England. It won the 1998 BAFTA awards for Comedy Performance and Comedy Programme or Series, in 1999, Partridge appeared on the BBC telethon Children in Need, performing a medley of Kate Bush songs. The BBC broadcast a series of Im Alan Partridge in 2002. In March 2003, the BBC broadcast a mockumentary, Anglian Lives, Alan Partridge, about Partridges life, in 2008, Coogan performed a tour titled Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge and other Less Successful Characters, featuring Partridge as a life coach. After a hiatus, Partridge returned in 2010 in a series of YouTube shorts, Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge, Coogan co-wrote the shorts with brothers Neil and Rob Gibbons, who submitted scripts to his company Baby Cow Productions, the brothers have co-written every Partridge project since
34.
The Day Today
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The Day Today is a British comedy television show which parodies television current affairs programmes, broadcast in 1994 on BBC2. For The Day Today, Peter Baynham joined the writing team, the principal cast of On the Hour was retained for The Day Today. The Day Today is composed of six episodes and a selection of shorter. The six half-hour episodes were originally broadcast from 19 January to 23 February 1994 on BBC2, the Day Today has won many awards, including Morris winning the 1994 British Comedy Award for Best Newcomer. All six episodes are available on BBC DVD, having previously issued on VHS. Each episode is presented as a news programme, and the episodes rely on a combination of ludicrous fictitious news stories, covered with a serious. Each episode revolves around one or two stories, which are pursued throughout the programme, along with a host of other stories usually only briefly referred to. The final episode features reports from the fictitious documentary The Office, other non-news segments of the programme include the occasional physical cartoons of current events set in the studio. The programme occasionally features producer Armando Iannucci and writer Peter Baynham, John Thomson, Graham Linehan, Tony Haase, and Minnie Driver also appear. Michael Alexander St John provides the voiceover stings, as he did in On the Hour, much of the programmes humour derives from its excessively brash style of reporting, and its unnecessarily complex format. Morris presents aggressively, often arguing with reporters and guests on-air, the programme frequently lambasts Conservative government politicians in office at the time of the programmes production. Those repeatedly lampooned by the series include John Major, Michael Heseltine, Chris Patten, Douglas Hurd, Virginia Bottomley, Michael Portillo, each episode ends in a familiar style for news reports, with the camera panning out as the studio lights dim on Morris. The programme features surreal news items, examples include, Reports that explosive-packed terrorist dogs were being released in London by the IRA. These bomb dogs wreak havoc, and prompt the British police to begin executing any dog on sight and this story is accompanied by a clip of Steve Coogan impersonating a Gerry Adams-esque Sinn Féin leader, spouting rhetoric while inhaling helium to subtract credibility from his statement. Coverage of a feud between John Major and the Queen, coverage of an ongoing rail crisis, following a train trapped on the tracks in Hampshire. Trapped by a signal post, the stranded train rapidly becomes the scene of anarchy and paganism. In the fifth episode, Morris provokes a war between Hong Kong and Australia, and much of the episode revolves around the resulting conflict, subsequent reports of the war, delivered from Eastmanstown in the Upper Cataracts on the Australio-Hong-Kong border, are humorously blown out of proportion. Morris has several computers giving him the news instantly from around the world and he is always confrontational and aggressive, frequently picking fights with his staff and guests while on-air, and his efforts to resolve problems frequently make bad situations even worse
35.
BBC Radio 1
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Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7,00 pm, including electronic dance, hip hop, rock, indie or interviews. It was launched in 1967 to meet the demand for music generated by radio stations. Recently, the BBC claimed that it targets the 15–29 age group. BBC Radio 1 started 24-hour broadcasting on 1 May 1991, Radio 1 was established in 1967 as a successor to the BBC Light Programme, which had broadcast popular music and other entertainment since 1945. Radio 1 was conceived as a response to the popularity of offshore pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline and Radio London. Radio 1 was launched at 7,00 am on Saturday 30 September 1967. The first words on Radio 1 – after a countdown by the Controller of Radios 1 and 2, Robin Scott, welcome to the exciting new sound of Radio 1. This was the first use of US-style jingles on BBC radio, the first complete record played on Radio 1 was Flowers in the Rain by The Move. The second single was Massachusetts by The Bee Gees, the breakfast show remains the most prized slot in the Radio 1 schedule, with every change of breakfast show presenter exciting considerable media interest. Despite this, it gained massive audiences, becoming the most listened to station in the world with audiences of over 10 million claimed for some of its shows, in the early-mid-1970s Radio 1 presenters were rarely out of the British tabloids, thanks to the Publicity Departments high-profile work. Alan Freemans Saturday Rock Show was voted Best Radio Show 5 years running by readers of a music publication. In his last few months as controller, Johnny Beerling commissioned a handful of new shows that in some set the tone for what was to come under Matthew Bannister. One of these Loudnproud was the UKs first national radio series aimed at a gay audience, far from being a parting quirk, the show was a surprise hit and led to the networks first coverage of the large outdoor Gay Pride event in 1994. Bannister took the reins fully in October 1993 and his aim was to rid the station of its Smashie and Nicey image and make it appeal to the under 25s. Although originally launched as a station, by the early 1990s. Many listeners rebelled as the first new DJs to be introduced represented a crossover from other parts of the BBC with Emma Freud, Evans was a popular but controversial presenter who was eventually sacked in 1997 after he demanded to present the breakfast show for only four days per week. Evans was replaced from 17 February 1997 by Mark and Lard – Mark Radcliffe and they were replaced by Zoë Ball and Kevin Greening eight months later in October 1997, with Greening moving on and leaving Ball as solo presenter. Documentaries like John Peels Lost in Music which looked at the influence that the use of drugs have had over popular musicians received critical acclaim but were slated inside Broadcasting House, later in the 1990s the Britpop boom declined, and manufactured chart pop came to dominate the charts
36.
Julian Barratt
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Julian Barratt Pettifer, known professionally as Julian Barratt, is an English comedian, actor, musician, music producer and member of surreal comedy troupe The Mighty Boosh. He played Howard Moon in their sitcom The Mighty Boosh and he adopted his middle name as his surname to distinguish himself from reporter Julian Pettifer. He attended the University of Reading, Barratt stars as the character Howard Moon opposite Noel Fieldings Vince Noir in the comedy series The Mighty Boosh. Howard labels himself a maverick and claims to be a multitalented intellectual, calling himself a man of action. He is unpopular with many of the characters, including Mrs. Gideon, Bob Fossil, Barratt composes all of the music for the series, which includes a variety of genres such as rap, heavy metal, and psychedelic rock. Barratt has had parts in other dramas, often alongside his Mighty Boosh partner Noel Fielding, the character of Brian Topp in Spaced was written for Barratt, but eventually went to Mark Heap. Barratt played Jackson, a musician, in How Not to Live Your Life and he starred in the Freelance Scientist commercial for Metz alcopop. He appeared as The Padre in the horror series Garth Marenghis Darkplace. He also starred in the 1998 sketch show Unnatural Acts, alongside Fielding, before this, Barratt was involved in TV series The Pod with friend Tim Hope, about a fictional techno band called The Pod. The show was unusual as everything was animated except for the heads of Barratt and he also appeared in the 2001 film Lucky Break. Barratt has recently completed his directing début for Warp Films with theatre director Dan Jemmett, curtains is set in a Norfolk seaside town. It is a comedy about a Punch and Judy man. In 2012, Barratt directed his first music video, for the song All of Me by Tanlines and he can be heard as the voiceover on many adverts, such as More Th>n Car, House and Pet insurance, and the Directgov advert. He appeared in the video for Mint Royales Blue Song, alongside Noel Fielding, Nick Frost. In 2010, Barratt took part in Sky Comedys Little Crackers and he wrote and directed a 15-minute film based on his teen band, Satans Hoof. On 12 March 2011, he made an appearance as Heathcliff in Noel Fieldings Wuthering Heights dance on the Lets Dance for Comic Relief finale. He also narrated the 2011 documentary Seven Dwarves, in 2012, Barratt appeared in the miniseries Treasure Island on Sky1, as well as narrating the BBC Two documentary The Tube. He also had a part as an art teacher in the BBC drama White Heat, in 2013, he appeared in the fifth series of Being Human, playing a werewolf named Larry
37.
Noel Fielding
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Noel Fielding is an English comedian, writer, actor, artist, and musician. Fielding is best known for playing Vince Noir and numerous characters, such as Old Gregg, in The Mighty Boosh. From 2009, he was a captain on BBC Two music/comedy panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks until it was cancelled in 2015. He also writes and appears as the character in Noel Fieldings Luxury Comedy. Fielding portrayed Richmond Avenal in The IT Crowd and he is the founder of the band Loose Tapestries, formed with Kasabians Sergio Pizzorno. Fielding performed regularly as a comedian during the late 1990s. His highly animated stand-up routine included surreal stories, physical comedy, characters, in 2010, Fielding was to perform a solo tour across the country. It was cancelled, however, so he could concentrate on writing The Mighty Boosh film with Julian Barratt, Fielding announced via Twitter that he was too busy to do the tour. In 2015, Fielding told the Guardian that the film was something he talked about writing with Barratt, the album was released in June 2016. In 2010, Fielding took part in Channel 4s Comedy Gala, Fielding is best known for playing the role of Vince Noir, a childlike eccentric, opposite Julian Barratt in the cult comedy series The Mighty Boosh. Fielding met Barratt when he was performing a gig, impressed by Fieldings skill, Barratt offered him a place to perform, and the two went on to form a partnership. Vince can talk to animals, earning him the nickname Mowgli in Flares, Vince is vibrant and flamboyant, contrasting with his friend Howard, who is more like a geography teacher from Leeds. The Mighty Boosh has won the Shockwaves NME Best TV Award three times, in 2007,2008, and 2010 and he also appeared in 1998 sketch show Unnatural Acts. In February 2007, Fielding appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks as a panellist, Fielding also made a short appearance in the film Plunkett & Macleane as a bystander to Robert Carlyles scuffle in a brothel. Fielding appeared on The Charlotte Church Show as a special guest, at Bill Baileys request, Fielding stood in as a team captain for three episodes during Season 21 of Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He also achieved a record for the highest team score ever on the show, when Bailey returned, presenter Simon Amstell made various jokes about Fieldings departure. In 2009, Bailey left the show and Fielding became one of the team captains. According to Neil Gaimans blog, Fielding was scheduled to appear in the film Stardust and he also participated twice with Russell Brand in 2006 and 2007 on the annual quiz show The Big Fat Quiz of the Year
