1.
Fireball XL5
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Fireball XL5 is a science fiction themed childrens television show following the missions of spaceship Fireball XL5, commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac of the World Space Patrol. While developing his new show, Anderson thought a brand of motor oil – Castrol XL – had an interesting sound, a phonetic change created the name Fireball XL, with the 5 added as the title seemed a bit flat without the numeral. Thirty-nine black and white episodes of Fireball XL5 were made on 35mm film. Several Anderson series have shown in syndication in the US. NBC ran the series in its Saturday morning childrens block from 1963 through to September 1965, the complete series is available on DVD in the UK, Australia, Canada and the U. S. Set between the years 2062 and 2063, the featured the missions of spaceship Fireball XL5. Robert was the character in an Anderson series that was actually voiced by Anderson himself. As Anderson describes in a scene of Filmed in Supermarionation, Then, it was very, very difficult. So we found out that in Edinburgh University, they were creating the human voice artificially and they gave us a vibrator – of course, of course, everybody smiled at – not that kind of vibrator. And it was a vibrator that people who had their larynx removed through cancer would be able to put the vibrator under their chin, and then, of course, that sound was transmitted to the air inside the mouth. And I was then able to modulate that by mouthing the words, so, lets get this straight, fellas. It was the sound of the vibrator which I modulated, robert always used to say, On our way ome. In the series, the World Space Patrol is based at Space City, located on an island in the South Pacific. Zero is assisted by Lieutenant Ninety, for unspecified reasons the 25-storey T-shaped control tower at Space City rotates, in one episode a character inadvertently makes it rotate fast enough for those inside to suffer from vertigo. Fireball XL5 patrolled Sector 25 of charted interstellar space, the patrols were missions of three months duration but the ship was also on call when at base. The World Space Patrol apparently operates a fleet of at least thirty Fireball XL ships, the ship itself is made up of two detachable sections. A winged nose cone, known as Fireball Junior, contains the cockpit, the rest of the ship contains a navigation bay, laboratory, a large lounge, workshops and separate crew quarters, together with fuel and the main rocket motors used for interstellar travel. The main ship generally remains stationed in orbit after arriving at an alien planet, when Fireball XL5 returns to its base on Earth, Space City, the whole ship lands horizontally, without separating, using underside-mounted retro-rockets
2.
Camberwell
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Until 1889 it was part of the County of Surrey. In 1900 the original became the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell. Then in 1965 most of the Borough of Camberwell was merged into the London Borough of Southwark, to the west part of both West Dulwich and Herne Hill come under the London Borough of Lambeth. Camberwell appears in the Domesday Book as Cambrewelle, the name may derive from the Old English Cumberwell or Comberwell, meaning Well of the Britons, referring to remaining Celtic inhabitants of an area dominated by Anglo-Saxons. Springs and wells are known to have existed on the slope of Denmark Hill. It was already a settlement with a church when mentioned in the Domesday Book. It was held by Haimo the Sheriff and its domesday assets were,6 hides and 1 virgate,1 church,8 ploughs,63 acres of meadow, woodland worth 60 hogs. Up to the century, Camberwell was visited by Londoners for its rural tranquillity. Like much of inner South London, Camberwell was transformed by the arrival of the railways in the 1860s, Camberwell St Giles formed an ancient, and later civil, parish in the Brixton hundred of Surrey. The parish covered 4,570 acres in 1831 and was divided into the liberty of Peckham to the east, the width of the parish tapered in the south to form a point at what is now known as the Crystal Palace area. In 1801 the population was 7,059 and by 1851 this had risen to 54,667, in 1889 the board was replaced by the London County Council and Camberwell was removed from Surrey, to form part of the County of London. In 1900 the area of the Camberwell parish became the Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell, in 1965 the metropolitan borough was abolished and its former area became the southern part of the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London. The western part of the area is situated in the adjacent London Borough of Lambeth, Camberwell today is a mixture of relatively well preserved Georgian and 20th-century housing, including a number of tower blocks. Camberwell Grove, Grove Lane and Addington Square have some of Londons most elegant, the Salvation Armys William Booth Memorial Training College, designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, was completed in 1932, it towers over South London from Denmark Hill. Camberwell is home to one of Londons largest teaching hospitals, Kings College Hospital with associated medical school the Guy’s King’s, the Maudsley Hospital, an internationally significant psychiatric hospital, is located in Camberwell along with the Institute of Psychiatry. Early music halls in Camberwell were in the hall of public houses. One, the Father Redcap still stands by Camberwell Green, but internally, in 1896, the Dan Leno company opened the Oriental Palace of Varieties, on Denmark Hill. This successful venture was replaced with a new theatre, designed by Ernest A. E
3.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
4.
Bray, Berkshire
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Bray, occasionally Bray on Thames, is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire. It borders the River Thames, and lies to the south and south-southeast of Maidenhead, the civil parish of Bray is far larger than the village itself and includes a number of other villages and hamlets over an area of 2,498 hectares 24.98 km2. It had a population of 8,425 at the 2001 census, the village is mentioned in the comedic song The Vicar of Bray. Bray sits on the banks of the River Thames,1.5 miles south of Maidenhead town centre and 5 miles north-west of Windsor, the B3028 road runs through the centre of Bray, and the A308 runs between Bray and the adjoining village of Holyport. The M4 motorway junction 8/9 is approximately 1 mile from Bray, Bray is a large parish, although its area has shrunk considerably since Maidenhead was detached. These include, Bray Wick, Holyport, Water Oakley, Oakley Green, Moneyrow Green, Stud Green, Foxley Green, Touchen End, Braywoodside, Hawthorn Hill and Fifield. Exclusive houses on the river between Bray and Maidenhead Bridge have been referred to as Berkshires Millionaires row in the national press, the flood risk of these houses has been decreased by the Jubilee River, a large drainage ditch dug between north Maidenhead and Datchet. The Church of England parish church of St Michael was built in 1293 and it has a number of sculptures which may have come from the earlier church, including a damaged Sheela na Gig. It is best known to brass rubbers for housing the superb memorial brass of 1378 to Sir John Foxley, the Constable of Southampton Castle, one of the local cottages has a tunnel which it is believed leads to the church and served as an escape route for clergymen. The current Vicar of Bray is the Reverend Richard Cowles, the ecclesiastical parish shares the wide parish boundaries and is named Bray St Michael with Braywoodside. A full-size effigy of Goddard stands over the entrance, Jesus Hospital is now run by The Donnington Hospital Trust having been transferred from the Fishmongers Company in 2010. Bray contains two of the four three-Michelin-starred restaurants in the United Kingdom, The Fat Duck is a restaurant run by chef Heston Blumenthal in the centre of Bray, the restaurant was opened in 1995 and has held a three-star Michelin Guide rating since 2004. In 2005, it was named as the best restaurant in the world by Restaurant magazine and in 2008,2009 and 2010, Best Restaurant in the UK, the Waterside Inn was founded in 1972 by the brothers Michel and Albert Roux after their success with Le Gavroche. It is currently run by Michels son, Alain and Cavaliere Diego Masciaga, the restaurant has three Michelin stars and in 2010 became the first restaurant outside France to retain all three stars for twenty five years. Since the redistribution of boundaries which took effect at the 2010 general election, Bray has been in Maidenhead. In terms of government, it is in the Bray electoral ward of the Royal Borough of Windsor. Sylvia Anderson – Co creator of the Thunderbird Puppet Series and voice of Lady Penelope
5.
London School of Economics
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The London School of Economics is a public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LSE is located in Westminster, central London, near the boundary between Covent Garden and Holborn, the area is historically known as Clare Market. The LSE has more than 10,000 students and 3,300 staff and it had a total income of £340.7 million in 2015/16, of which £30.3 million was from research grants. 155 nationalities are represented amongst LSEs student body and the school has the highest percentage of students of all British universities. Despite its name, the school is organised into 25 academic departments and institutes which conduct teaching and research across a range of legal studies, in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, the School had the highest proportion of world-leading research among research submitted of any British non-specialist university. The LSE is usually considered part of the triangle of highly research-intensive universities in southeast England. It is a member of organisations such as the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the European University Association. LSE has produced notable alumni in the fields of law, history, economics, philosophy, business, literature, media. Alumni and staff include 52 past or present heads of state or government and 20 members of the current British House of Commons. To 2016, 27% of all the Nobel Prizes in Economics have been awarded or jointly awarded to LSE alumni, current staff or former staff, LSE alumni and staff have also won 3 Nobel Peace Prizes, and 2 Nobel Prizes in Literature. Out of all European universities, LSE has educated the most billionaires according to a 2014 global census of U. S dollar billionaires, LSE graduates earn higher incomes on average than those of any other British university. The London School of Economics was founded in 1895 by Beatrice and Sidney Webb, Hutchinson, a lawyer and member of the Fabian Society, left the money in trust, to be put towards advancing its objects in any way they deem advisable. The five trustees were Sidney Webb, Edward Pease, Constance Hutchinson, William de Mattos, LSE records that the proposal to establish the school was conceived during a breakfast meeting on 4 August 1894, between the Webbs, Graham Wallas and George Bernard Shaw. The proposal was accepted by the trustees in February 1895 and LSE held its first classes in October of that year, in rooms at 9 John Street, Adelphi, in the City of Westminster. The School joined the federal University of London in 1900, and was recognised as a Faculty of Economics of the university, the University of London degrees of BSc and DSc were established in 1901, the first university degrees dedicated to the social sciences. Expanding rapidly over the years, the school moved initially to the nearby 10 Adelphi Terrace, then to Clare Market. The foundation stone of the Old Building, on Houghton Street, was laid by King George V in 1920, the 1930s economic debate between LSE and Cambridge is well known in academic circles. The dispute also concerned the question of the role
6.
HBO
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Home Box Office is an American premium cable and satellite television network that is owned by Time Warner through its respective flagship company Home Box Office, Inc. HBO is the oldest and longest continuously operating pay television service in the United States, in 2014, HBO had an adjusted operating income of US$1.79 billion, compared to the US$1.68 billion it accrued in 2013. HBO has 49 million subscribers in the United States and 130 million worldwide as of 2016, the network provides seven 24-hour multiplex channels, including HBO Comedy, HBO Latino, HBO Signature and HBO Family. It launched the streaming service HBO Now in April 2015, and has over 2 million subscribers in the United States as of February 2017. In addition to its U. S. subscriber base, HBO distributes content in at least 151 countries, HBO subscribers generally pay for an extra tier of service that includes other cable- and satellite-exclusive channels even before paying for the channel itself. Cable providers can require the use of a converter box – usually digital – in order to receive HBO, many HBO programs have been syndicated to other networks and broadcast television stations, and a number of HBO-produced series and films have been released on DVD. The new system, which Dolan named Sterling Information Services, became the first urban underground cable system in the United States. In that same year, Time-Life, Inc. purchased a 20% stake in Dolans company, in the summer of 1971, while on a family vacation in France, Charles Dolan began to think of ideas to make Sterling Manhattan profitable. He came up with the concept for a television service. Dolan later presented his idea to Time-Life management, though satellite distribution seemed only a distant possibility at the time, he persuaded Time-Life to back him on the project. To gauge whether consumers would be interested in subscribing to a pay television service, in a meeting of Dolan and some Time-Life executives who were working on the project, various other names were discussed for the new service. Home Box Office launched on November 8,1972, however, HBOs launch came without fanfare in the press, as it was not covered by any local or national media outlets. Home Box Office distributed its first sports event immediately after the film, Four months later in February 1973, Home Box Office aired its first television special, the Pennsylvania Polka Festival. Home Box Office would use a network of relay towers to distribute its programming to cable systems throughout its service area. Sterling Manhattan Cable continued to lose money because the company had only a small base of 20,000 customers in Manhattan. Time-Life dropped the Sterling name and the company was renamed Manhattan Cable Television under Time-Lifes control in March 1973, Gerald Levin, who had been with Home Box Office since it began operations as its vice president of programming, replaced Dolan as the companys president and chief executive officer. In September 1973, Time-Life, Inc. completed its acquisition of the pay service. HBO would eventually increase its fortunes within two years, by April 1975, the service had around 100,000 subscribers in Pennsylvania and New York state, in 1974, they settled on using a geostationary communications satellite to transmit HBO to cable providers throughout the United States
7.
Supermarionation
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Supermarionation is a puppetry technique devised in the 1960s by British production company AP Films. It was used extensively in the companys numerous Gerry and Sylvia Anderson-produced action-adventure series, the term was coined by Gerry Anderson. The system used marionettes suspended and controlled by thin wires, the fine metal filaments were both suspension-control wires for puppet movement, and electric cables that provided control signals to the electronic components in the marionettes heads. The heads contained solenoids that created the movements for dialogue. The voice synchronisation was achieved with a specially designed audio filter and this filter converted the signal into a series of pulses that travelled to the solenoids controlling the puppets lips. Up to and including Thunderbirds, these mechanisms were placed inside the puppets heads. This required that the heads be disproportionately large compared to the bodies, the rest of the body could not be increased to match, lest the puppet be too bulky to operate. With the advent of miniaturised electronic components in the mid-1960s, a new type of puppet was designed with mechanisms in the chest. This resulted in a far more proportionate appearance for the puppets, first appearing in Captain Scarlet, the personal hovercraft used in Fireball XL5 and Thunderbirds were one of the devices the producers used to overcome this. Occasionally, close-ups of an actors hand would be inserted to show actions such as turning keys. This was affectionately parodied in the 2004 live-action feature film Thunderbirds, with a shot of a puppet hand, suspended by wires. In many cases, the puppets were modelled on the actor voicing the role, two examples are Lady Penelope in Thunderbirds, which closely resembled Sylvia Anderson, and Captain Blue in Captain Scarlet, who looks like his voice actor Ed Bishop. Stingray also featured the only non-speaking Supermarionation puppet, the water-breathing woman Marina, as a result, Four Feather Falls is often omitted from lists of Supermarionation productions. The Secret Service was actually a hybrid of action and Supermarionation, using footage of live actors from a distance to depict driving, walking. Production was cancelled by ITC owner Lew Grade before the episode aired. Despite the poor reception, Anderson has been quoted as naming The Secret Service as his favorite Supermarionation series, in 1973, Anderson produced a pilot episode for another Supermarionation/live-action hybrid entitled The Investigator but was displeased with the results, so no series resulted. This is the last known occasion in which a full Supermarionation production was mounted, two feature films based upon Thunderbirds were also made with Supermarionation, Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6. Numerous episodes of Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, and other series were edited together to form movie-length features for VHS release
8.
Thunderbirds (TV series)
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Thunderbirds is a British science-fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, filmed by their production company AP Films and distributed by ITC Entertainment. It was produced between 1964 and 1966 using a form of electronic marionette puppetry combined with scale model special effects sequences, Two series were filmed, comprising a total of 32 episodes. Production ceased after Lew Grade, the Andersons financial backer, failed in his efforts to sell the programme to American network television, set in the mid-2060s, Thunderbirds is a follow-up to the earlier Supermarionation productions Four Feather Falls, Supercar, Fireball XL5 and Stingray. The main characters are ex-astronaut Jeff Tracy, the founder of IR, and his five adult sons, Thunderbirds began its first run in the United Kingdom on the ITV network in 1965 and has since been broadcast in at least 66 other countries. Periodically repeated, it was adapted for radio in the early 1990s and has influenced many TV programmes, as well as inspiring various merchandising campaigns, the series has been followed by two feature-length film sequels, a live-action film adaptation and a mimed stage show tribute. The second of two TV remakes, the computer-animated Thunderbirds Are Go, premiered in 2015, in honour of the original shows 50th anniversary, widely considered to be the Andersons most popular and commercially successful series, Thunderbirds has received particular praise for its effects and musical score. It is also remembered for its title sequence, which opens with an often-quoted countdown by actor Peter Dyneley,5,4,3,2,1. A real-life rescue service, the International Rescue Corps, is named after the featured in the series. Set between 2065 and 2067, Thunderbirds follows the exploits of the Tracy family, headed by American ex-astronaut turned multi-millionaire philanthropist Jeff Tracy and he is a widower with five adult sons, Scott, John, Virgil, Gordon and Alan. The Tracys form International Rescue, an organisation dedicated to saving human life. They are aided in this mission by technologically advanced land, sea, air and space vehicles, piloted by primary rescue co-ordinator Scott Tracy. Thunderbird 2, a carrier aircraft that transports rescue vehicles. Piloted alternately by Alan and John, with Scott as co-pilot, piloted by Gordon and normally launched from Thunderbird 2. Thunderbird 5, a station that relays distress calls from around the world. Manned alternately by Space Monitors John and Alan, in this location, IR is safe from criminals and spies who envy the organisations technology and seek to acquire the secrets of its machines. Despite its humanitarian principles, some of IRs operations are necessitated not by misadventure but deliberate sabotage motivated by greed for power, based at Creighton-Ward Mansion in Kent, Penelope and Parkers primary mode of transport is FAB1, a specially-modified Rolls-Royce. The most persistent of IRs adversaries is the criminal known only as the Hood and this allows him to spy on the Thunderbird machines and, by selling their secrets, make himself rich. Pitched in late 1963, the series was commissioned by Lew Grade of ITC, APFs parent company, Gerry Anderson drew inspiration for the series underlying concept from the West German mining disaster known as the Wunder von Lengede
9.
AP Films
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AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. At its height, the company employed more than 200 staff, established in 1957 by editor-director Gerry Anderson and cinematographer Arthur Provis, following the liquidation of their employer Polytechnic Films, AP Films was set up. They took with them producer Reg Hill, cinematographer John Read, the company was created with the intention of it becoming a conventional film production house. In 1959, Provis left the company amicably following disagreements with Anderson over future strategy, APF then went on to make its first wholly independent production of Four Feather Falls, a puppet Western created by Barry Gray, for Granada Television. In 1960, APF made a thriller feature film, Crossroads to Crime, for Anglo-Amalgamated. Supercar was made between 1960 and 1961, Fireball XL5 in 1962, Stingray in 1964 – the first British childrens TV series to be filmed exclusively in colour – and Thunderbirds between 1964 and 1966. Following the completion of Fireball XL5, ATV owner Lew Grade had purchased the company, becoming managing director, with the Andersons, Hill, all Century 21s productions featured an opening title sequence of a red dart piercing a series of concentric white circles against a blue background. This was accompanied by a typical Barry Gray string glissando and the caption A Gerry Anderson Century 21 Television Production and this sequence was first used for the two Thunderbirds film sequels, and two more Supermarionation series for ATV, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Joe 90 in. A live-action film, Doppelgänger followed in 1969 and its first and only all-live action TV series, UFO, proved to be its last production. Although a second series of UFO was planned, the failed to progress beyond substantial pre-production work. Although no longer owned by Grade, the company maintained a professional relationship with him. Although most notable for its link with Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, Barry Gray composed and arranged the scores for all Andersons independent productions up to and including the first series of Space,1999 in 1975. Second unit director Brian Johnson would go on to become a special effects figure in film production in the United States. Prior to his death in 1995, he would rise to the position of one of the foremost special effects experts in the film industry
10.
Century 21 Cinema
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AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. At its height, the company employed more than 200 staff, established in 1957 by editor-director Gerry Anderson and cinematographer Arthur Provis, following the liquidation of their employer Polytechnic Films, AP Films was set up. They took with them producer Reg Hill, cinematographer John Read, the company was created with the intention of it becoming a conventional film production house. In 1959, Provis left the company amicably following disagreements with Anderson over future strategy, APF then went on to make its first wholly independent production of Four Feather Falls, a puppet Western created by Barry Gray, for Granada Television. In 1960, APF made a thriller feature film, Crossroads to Crime, for Anglo-Amalgamated. Supercar was made between 1960 and 1961, Fireball XL5 in 1962, Stingray in 1964 – the first British childrens TV series to be filmed exclusively in colour – and Thunderbirds between 1964 and 1966. Following the completion of Fireball XL5, ATV owner Lew Grade had purchased the company, becoming managing director, with the Andersons, Hill, all Century 21s productions featured an opening title sequence of a red dart piercing a series of concentric white circles against a blue background. This was accompanied by a typical Barry Gray string glissando and the caption A Gerry Anderson Century 21 Television Production and this sequence was first used for the two Thunderbirds film sequels, and two more Supermarionation series for ATV, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and Joe 90 in. A live-action film, Doppelgänger followed in 1969 and its first and only all-live action TV series, UFO, proved to be its last production. Although a second series of UFO was planned, the failed to progress beyond substantial pre-production work. Although no longer owned by Grade, the company maintained a professional relationship with him. Although most notable for its link with Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, Barry Gray composed and arranged the scores for all Andersons independent productions up to and including the first series of Space,1999 in 1975. Second unit director Brian Johnson would go on to become a special effects figure in film production in the United States. Prior to his death in 1995, he would rise to the position of one of the foremost special effects experts in the film industry
