1.
Tom Holland (actor)
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Thomas Stanley Holland is an English actor and dancer. Holland was born in Kingston upon Thames, London, to Nicola Elizabeth, a photographer, and Dominic Holland, who is a comedian and author. He has three brothers, twins Sam and Harry, three years younger, the latter of whom appears in the 2013 film Diana, and Patrick and his paternal grandparents were born on the Isle of Man and Ireland. As of December 2012, he was attending The BRIT School for Performing Arts, Holland began dancing at a hip hop class at Nifty Feet Dance School in Wimbledon. His potential was spotted by choreographer Lynne Page when he performed with his school as part of the 2006 Richmond Dance Festival. After eight auditions and subsequent two years of training, on 28 June 2008, Holland made his West End debut in Billy Elliot the Musical as Michael and he gave his first performance in the title role on 8 September 2008, receiving positive notices. In September 2008, Holland appeared on the programme on channel FIVE. The following year, he was featured on ITV1 show The Feel Good Factor and he trained five British schoolboys for a dance routine he front for the final The Feel Good Factor show on 28 March 2009. On 8 March 2010, to mark the anniversary of Billy Elliot the Musical, four current Billy Elliots. Holland was chosen to be a lead at the show on 31 March 2010. Holland had been appearing on a basis as Billy in Billy Elliot the Musical. In 2011, Holland was cast in the British version of the animated film Arrietty and he provided a voice for the principal character Sho. Holland starred in The Impossible, directed by Juan Antonio Bayona, alongside Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2012, Holland was featured in Screen Internationals UK Stars of Tomorrow –2012 and was among the newcomers chosen for the inaugural British Academy of Film and Television Arts Breakthrough Brits in 2013. Holland played Isaac in How I Live Now, released in the U. K. on 4 October 2013, also in 2015, he appeared in BBC Twos TV series Wolf Hall, as Peer Gregory Cromwell. As of December 2016, Holland is currently in negotiations to co-star as Todd Hewitt in the adaptation of Patrick Nesss bestselling YA series Chaos Walking along with Daisy Ridley. In 2017, he star in The Current War as Samuel Insull. Billy Elliot the Musical casts Tom Holland at the Internet Movie Database Tom Holland on Twitter Tom Holland on Instagram media. gettyimages. com
2.
Bristol
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Bristol is a city and county in South West England with a population of 449,300 in 2016. The district has the 10th largest population in England, while the Bristol metropolitan area is the 12th largest in the United Kingdom, the city borders North Somerset and South Gloucestershire, with the cities of Bath and Gloucester to the south-east and north-east, respectively. Iron Age hill forts and Roman villas were built near the confluence of the rivers Frome and Avon, Bristol received a royal charter in 1155 and was historically divided between Gloucestershire and Somerset until 1373, when it became a county of itself. From the 13th to the 18th century, Bristol was among the top three English cities after London in tax receipts, Bristol was surpassed by the rapid rise of Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham in the Industrial Revolution. Bristol was a place for early voyages of exploration to the New World. On a ship out of Bristol in 1497 John Cabot, a Venetian, in 1499 William Weston, a Bristol merchant, was the first Englishman to lead an exploration to North America. At the height of the Bristol slave trade, from 1700 to 1807, the Port of Bristol has since moved from Bristol Harbour in the city centre to the Severn Estuary at Avonmouth and Royal Portbury Dock. Bristols modern economy is built on the media, electronics and aerospace industries. The city has the largest circulating community currency in the U. K. - the Bristol pound, which is pegged to the Pound sterling. It is connected to London and other major UK cities by road, rail, sea and air by the M5 and M4, Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol Parkway mainline rail stations, and Bristol Airport. The Sunday Times named it as the best city in Britain in which to live in 2014 and 2017, the most ancient recorded name for Bristol is the archaic Welsh Caer Odor, which is consistent with modern understanding that early Bristol developed between the River Frome and Avon Gorge. It is most commonly stated that the Saxon name Bricstow was a calque of the existing Celtic name, with Bric a literal translation of Odor. Alternative etymologies are supported with the numerous variations in Medieval documents with Samuel Seyer enumerating 47 alternative forms. The Old English form Brycgstow is commonly used to derive the meaning place at the bridge, utilizing another form, Brastuile, Rev. Dr. Shaw derived the name from the Celtic words bras, or braos and tuile. The poet Thomas Chatterton popularised a derivation from Brictricstow linking the town to Brictric and it appears that the form Bricstow prevailed until 1204, and the Bristolian L is what eventually changed the name to Bristol. Iron Age hill forts near the city are at Leigh Woods and Clifton Down, on the side of the Avon Gorge, a Roman settlement, Abona, existed at what is now Sea Mills, another was at the present-day Inns Court. Isolated Roman villas and small forts and settlements were scattered throughout the area. Bristol was founded by 1000, by about 1020, it was a centre with a mint producing silver pennies bearing its name
3.
University of Cambridge
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The University of Cambridge is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England, often regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Founded in 1209 and given royal status by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. The university grew out of an association of scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople, the two ancient universities share many common features and are often referred to jointly as Oxbridge. Cambridge is formed from a variety of institutions which include 31 constituent colleges, Cambridge University Press, a department of the university, is the worlds oldest publishing house and the second-largest university press in the world. The university also operates eight cultural and scientific museums, including the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridges libraries hold a total of around 15 million books, eight million of which are in Cambridge University Library, a legal deposit library. In the year ended 31 July 2015, the university had an income of £1.64 billion. The central university and colleges have an endowment of around £5.89 billion. The university is linked with the development of the high-tech business cluster known as Silicon Fen. It is a member of associations and forms part of the golden triangle of leading English universities and Cambridge University Health Partners. As of 2017, Cambridge is ranked the fourth best university by three ranking tables and no other institution in the world ranks in the top 10 for as many subjects. Cambridge is consistently ranked as the top university in the United Kingdom, the university has educated many notable alumni, including eminent mathematicians, scientists, politicians, lawyers, philosophers, writers, actors, and foreign Heads of State. Ninety-five Nobel laureates, fifteen British prime ministers and ten Fields medalists have been affiliated with Cambridge as students, faculty, by the late 12th century, the Cambridge region already had a scholarly and ecclesiastical reputation, due to monks from the nearby bishopric church of Ely. The University of Oxford went into suspension in protest, and most scholars moved to such as Paris, Reading. After the University of Oxford reformed several years later, enough remained in Cambridge to form the nucleus of the new university. A bull in 1233 from Pope Gregory IX gave graduates from Cambridge the right to teach everywhere in Christendom, the colleges at the University of Cambridge were originally an incidental feature of the system. No college is as old as the university itself, the colleges were endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called hostels, the hostels were gradually absorbed by the colleges over the centuries, but they have left some indicators of their time, such as the name of Garret Hostel Lane. Hugh Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded Peterhouse, Cambridges first college, the most recently established college is Robinson, built in the late 1970s
4.
The Way of the World
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The Way of the World is a play written by the English playwright William Congreve. It premiered in early March 1700 in the theatre in Lincolns Inn Fields in London and it is widely regarded as one of the best Restoration comedies and is still occasionally performed. At the time, however, the play struck many audience members as continuing the immorality of the previous decades, the play is centred on the two lovers Mirabell and Millamant. In order for them to marry and receive Millamants full dowry, Mirabell must receive the blessing of Millamants aunt, unfortunately, Lady Wishfort is a very bitter lady who despises Mirabell and wants her own nephew, Sir Wilfull, to wed Millamant. Another character, Fainall, is having an affair with Mrs. Marwood, a friend of Mrs. Fainalls. In the meantime, Mirabells servant is married to Foible, Lady Wishforts servant, Waitwell pretends to be Sir Rowland and, on Mirabells command, tries to trick Lady Wishfort into a false engagement. Act 1 is set in a house where Mirabell and Fainall have just finished playing cards. A footman comes and tells Mirabell that Waitwell and Foible were married that morning, Mirabell tells Fainall about his love of Millamant and is encouraged to marry her. Act 2 is set in St. James’ Park, Mrs. Fainall and Mrs. Marwood are discussing their hatred of men. Fainall appears and accuses Mrs. Marwood of loving Mirabell, meanwhile, Mrs. Fainall tells Mirabell that she hates her husband, and they begin to plot to deceive Lady Wishfort into giving her consent to the marriage. Millamant appears in the park and, angry about the night, she tells Mirabell of her displeasure in his plan. After she leaves, the newly wed servants appear and Mirabell reminds them of their roles in the plan, acts 3,4 and 5 are all set in the home of Lady Wishfort. We are introduced to Lady Wishfort who is encouraged by Foible to marry the supposed Sir Rowland – Mirabells supposed uncle – so that Mirabell will lose his inheritance. Sir Rowland is, however, Waitwell in disguise, and the plan is to entangle Lady Wishfort in a marriage which cannot go ahead, because it would be bigamy, Mirabell will offer to help her out of the embarrassing situation if she consents to his marriage. Later, Mrs. Fainall discusses this plan with Foible, and she later tells the plan to Fainall, who decides that he will take his wifes money and go away with Mrs. Marwood. Mirabell and Millamant, equally strong-willed, discuss in detail the conditions under which they would accept each other in marriage, Mirabell finally proposes to Millamant and, with Mrs. Fainalls encouragement, Millamant accepts. Mirabell leaves as Lady Wishfort arrives, and she lets it be known that she wants Millamant to marry her nephew, Sir Wilfull Witwoud, Lady Wishfort later gets a letter telling her about the Sir Rowland plot. Sir Rowland takes the letter and accuses Mirabell of trying to sabotage their wedding, Lady Wishfort agrees to let Sir Rowland bring a marriage contract that night
5.
Lyric Theatre (Hammersmith)
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The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre in King Street, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which takes pride in its original, groundbreaking productions. The Lyric Theatre was originally a music hall established in 1888 on Bradmore Grove, success as an entertainment venue led it to be rebuilt and enlarged on the same site twice, firstly in 1890 and then in 1895 by the English theatrical architect Frank Matcham. The 1895 re-opening, as The New Lyric Opera House, was accompanied by an address by the famous actress Lillie Langtry. In 1966 the theatre was due to be closed and demolished. The relocated theatre opened in 1979, the Lyric also presents frequent Lyric Children and Lyric Music performances as well as Sunday Night Comedy. Its current artistic director is Sean Holmes, and its director is Sian Alexander. In 2011, the Lyric won the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre for Sean Holmes production of Sarah Kanes Blasted
6.
Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)
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Pirates of the Caribbean is a series of fantasy swashbuckler films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and based on Walt Disneys theme park ride of the same name. Directors of the series include Gore Verbinski, Rob Marshall, and Joachim Rønning, the series was most notably written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, other writers include Stuart Beattie, Jay Wolpert, and Jeff Nathanson. The stories followed the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, characters such as Hector Barbossa and Joshamee Gibbs follow Jack, Will, and Elizabeth in the course of the films. The fourth film featured Philip Swift and Syrena, while the film will feature Henry Turner. The films take place in a historical setting, a world ruled by the British Empire, the East India Company. After the first films success, Walt Disney Pictures revealed that a trilogy was in the works, the franchises second film, subtitled Dead Mans Chest, was released three years later in 2006, the sequel proved successful, breaking financial records worldwide the day of its premiere. Dead Mans Chest ended up being the one film of the year upon earning almost $1.1 billion at the worldwide box office. The third film in the series, subtitled At Worlds End, followed in 2007, on Stranger Tides succeeded in also grossing more than $1 billion, becoming the second film in the franchise and only the eighth film in history to achieve this. A fifth film, subtitled Dead Men Tell No Tales, is set to be released on May 26,2017. Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate Captain Jack Sparrow to save Turners love, Elizabeth Swann, from cursed pirates led by Jacks mutinous former first mate, Captain Barbossa. Jack wants revenge against Barbossa, who left him stranded on an island before stealing his ship, lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company arrests Will and Elizabeth for aiding Captain Jack Sparrow in the previous film. Lord Beckett gains power over Davy Jones and, with the help of the Flying Dutchman, to stand against the East India Trading Co. Will, Elizabeth, Barbossa, and the crew of the Black Pearl set out to rescue Captain Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones Locker, as one of the Nine Pirate Lords, Jack is needed in order to summon an ancient goddess with the power to defeat Becketts forces. Captain Jack Sparrow is on a quest to find the fabled Fountain of Youth and crosses paths with a former lover and she forces Jack aboard the Queen Annes Revenge, a ship captained by the infamous pirate Blackbeard, Angelicas father. Both are also in search of the Fountain, Angelica to save her fathers soul, joining the hunt is former pirate captain Barbossa, now a privateer in King George IIs Navy, who is in a race against the Spanish for the Fountain of Youth. Captain Jacks only hope of survival lies in seeking out the legendary Trident of Poseidon, with the release of the official trailer of Dead Men Tell No Tales, it was suggested that Dead Men will be the last film in the franchise. However, on March 4,2017, director Joachim Rønning stated that Dead Men was only the beginning of the final adventure, wenches Scarlett and Giselle fix each other up for their wedding, in which they would each marry their groom. Upon realizing that both their grooms were the same man – Jack Sparrow – the two find themselves in an auction led by the Auctioneer
7.
In the Loop
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In the Loop is a 2009 British satirical black comedy film directed by Armando Iannucci. The film is a spin-off from the BBC Television series The Thick of It and satirizes Anglo-American politics in the 21st century and it was nominated for the 2009 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. The film stars Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, Chris Addison, David Rasche, with the help of his girlfriend Suzy, Simons new aide Toby Wright manages to get him into the Foreign Office meeting that day. The report heavily opposes intervention, noting the lack of intelligence except that which is coming from a source known as Iceman. Also during the committee it is hinted at that the US Assistant Secretary of State for Policy, Linton Barwick, after the meeting, Simon is ambushed by reporters and contradicts his previous statements by saying the government has to be prepared to climb the mountain of conflict. Again he is subjected to chastisement from Tucker, returning to the US, Karen and Liza conclude that Linton has created a war committee under the guise of Future Planning. At a party Karen teams up with General George Miller who opposes the war believing that the US does not have enough troops to succeed and she tells him that they could use Simon on the committee as he would internationalise the dissent. While on a mission in Washington, Simon and Toby are invited by Karen to the Future Planning committee. Toby accidentally leaks the details of the meeting to a friend at CNN before meeting up with Liza at a bar, due to Tobys leak the Future Planning committee is swamped, but Karen and George fail to find out anything about the war. Both Karen and Linton turn to Simon to back their respective causes, Tucker, who is in the US, is diverted by Linton to the White House for a fake briefing. He confronts Linton, who tells him that he has to supply the US with the British intelligence on the situation in the Middle East, news of this reaches the papers, who criticise Simon for not acting on the issue. Suzy finds out about Tobys one-night-stand with Liza and they break up, when leaving their apartment he gives her a copy of PWPPIP to leak if she chooses, but she calls him a coward for not doing it himself. The President rushes forward the security council vote on intervention by vetoing tariffs on Chinese imports. Simon tells his Director of Communications Judy Molloy, to leak to the press that he would if the committee votes in favour. Once at the UN Headquarters Tucker gets word that PWPPIP has been leaked and it is later revealed that Michael Rodgers of the Foreign Office accidentally leaked it, not realising its importance. Miller and Tucker convince Jonathan Tutt, the UK Ambassador, to push the meeting forward so that the leak will not have time to spread in the US. However, Linton asserts his dominance over Tucker by telling him that the British intelligence has to be handed over before a vote can be taken, subsequently the committee votes in favour of intervention. After the vote, Miller informs Karen that he not resign now that the war is happening
8.
Enigma (2001 film)
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Enigma is a 2001 espionage thriller film directed by Michael Apted from a screenplay by Tom Stoppard. The script was adapted from the novel Enigma by Robert Harris and it was the last film scored by John Barry. The story, loosely based on events, takes place in March 1943. The British cryptanalysts have cracked the Shark cipher once before, the film begins with Tom Jericho returning to Bletchley after a month recovering from a nervous breakdown brought on by his failed love affair with a coworker named Claire Romilly. Jericho immediately seeks to see her again and finds that she disappeared a few days earlier. He enlists the help of Claires housemate, Hester Wallace, to follow the trail of clues, mr. Jericho and Miss Wallace, as they formally address each other, work to decipher intercepts stolen by Claire and determine why she took them. Jericho is closely watched by an MI5 agent, Wigram, who plays cat, meanwhile, U-boats are closing in on a convoy of thirty seven ships from America, giving the code-breakers less than four days to find a solution to reading the changed Shark cipher. But someone else at Bletchley has a personal interest in the stolen interceps, other locations include the Great Central Railway, Loughborough and Tigh Beg Croft, near Oban, Scotland. Interiors were filmed at Elstree Film Studios, the film was produced by Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. Jagger makes an appearance as an RAF officer at a dance. He also lent the films design department a four-rotor Enigma encoding machine he owned to ensure the accuracy of one of the props. The festivities around the London premiere of the film are shown in the 2001 documentary Being Mick, the film holds a fresh 72% rating on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus reading, The well-crafted, twist-filled Enigma is a thinking persons spy thriller. Joe Leydon of Variety compared the film to works by Alfred Hitchcock, roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars and said, What I like about the movie is its combination of suspense and intelligence. The film and, by association, the book have attracted criticism for their portrayal of the Polish role in Enigma decryption, the Imitation Game - A2014 biopic of Alan Turing and his involvement in cracking the Enigma. U-571 - A2000 war film involving the capture of an Enigma machine, cryptanalysis of the Enigma Ultra Enigma at the Internet Movie Database Enigma at Rotten Tomatoes Enigma at Box Office Mojo Review by Andrew Hodges
9.
Gosford Park
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Gosford Park is a 2001 British mystery film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes. The story follows a party of wealthy Britons and an American, and their servants, who gather for a weekend at Gosford Park. A murder occurs after a party, and the film goes on to present the subsequent investigation from the servants and guests perspectives. Development on Gosford Park began in 1999, when Bob Balaban asked Altman if they could develop a film together, Balaban suggested an Agatha Christie-style whodunit and introduced Altman to Julian Fellowes, with whom Balaban had been working on a different project. The film went into production in March 2001, and began filming at Shepperton Studios with a budget of $19.8 million. Gosford Park premiered on 7 November 2001 at the London Film Festival and it received a limited release across cinemas in the United States in December 2001, before being widely released in January 2002 by USA Films. It was released in February 2002 in the United Kingdom, the film was successful at the box office, grossing over $87 million in cinemas worldwide, making it Altmans second most successful film after MASH. Widely acclaimed by critics, it received awards and nominations, including seven Academy Award nominations. In November 1932, Constance, Countess of Trentham, and her ladys maid, on the way, they encounter actor Ivor Novello, American film producer Morris Weissman and Weissmans valet, Henry Denton, who are also attending the hunting party. At the house, they are greeted by Lady Trenthams niece, Lady Sylvia McCordle, her husband Sir William McCordle, the other guests include Lady Sylvias sisters, Louisa, Lady Stockbridge and Lady Lavinia Meredith and their husbands, Raymond, Lord Stockbridge and Commander Anthony Meredith. Also in attendance are the Honourable Freddie Nesbitt and his wife, Mabel, Isobels suitor, Lord Rupert Standish, the servants hall is divided by a strict social hierarchy, dominated by the head housekeeper, Mrs. Wilson. She maintains a relationship with the head cook, Mrs. Croft. The head housemaid, Elsie, takes a kindly interest in the naive Mary, Sir William is an extremely rich industrialist, and much of the company are dependent on him in one way or another. Commander Meredith is in on the verge of bankruptcy and is outraged when Sir William announces he intends to withdraw his investment in Merediths latest business venture, Lady Sylvia reveals to her aunt that William may stop paying Lady Trenthams allowance. Freddie Nesbitt was having an affair with Sir Williams daughter Isobel, likewise, Rupert Standish is trying to romance Isobel for her money. Lady Sylvia makes an assignation with Mr Weissmans valet, Henry Denton, for 1am that night, the next morning the men go out early on a pheasant shoot, and Sir William is slightly injured by a stray birdshot. Later, the join the gentlemen for an outdoor luncheon on the estate grounds. Dinner that evening is tense and sombre, as the conversation progresses, tempers flare and Lady Sylvia attacks Sir William, implying that he was a First World War profiteer
10.
Hanna (film)
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Hanna is a 2011 action adventure thriller film that contains some prominent fairy tale elements, directed by Joe Wright. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as the character, a girl raised in the wilderness of northern Finland by her father, an ex-CIA operative. Cate Blanchett is a senior CIA agent who tries to track down and eliminate the girl, the soundtrack was written by The Chemical Brothers. Hanna was released in North America in April 2011 and in Europe in May 2011, the film received a positive response from most critics, with reviewers praising the performances of Ronan and Blanchett as well as the action sequences and themes. Hanna Heller is a 15-year-old girl who lives with her father, Erik Heller in rural northern Finland, the film opens with her hunting and killing a reindeer. Since the age of two, Hanna has been trained by Erik, an operative from Germany, to be a skilled assassin. He teaches her combat and drills her in target shooting. He left the agency, going incognito into the Arctic, Erik knows a secret that cannot become public, and Marissa Wiegler, a senior CIA officer, searches for him in order to eliminate him. Erik has trained Hanna with the intent that she will kill Marissa, due to her upbringing in the wilderness, she is unfamiliar with many aspects of modern civilisation despite having read encyclopedias. One night, Hanna tells Erik that she is ready to face their enemies, Erik digs up a radio beacon that eventually will alert the CIA to their presence. Although he warns Hanna that a confrontation with Marissa will be fatal for either her or Marissa, he leaves the decision to Hanna. Erik leaves, instructing her to him in Berlin. A CIA special forces team arrives to capture Hanna and Erik, Hanna is taken to an underground CIA complex where Marissa, being suspicious, sends a body double to talk to Hanna. While talking to the double, Hanna starts to cry and crawls sobbing into the lap of the double and they send some guards to her cell to sedate her. As they enter the cell, Hanna kills the double along with some of the guards, how the guards let her do this or the lack of security is never explained. In a flashback, Marissa is seen firing at a car that is carrying Hannas mother, two-year-old Hanna, the car crashes but the trio flees. Marissa shoots Johanna, but Erik escapes with Hanna into the woods and she stows away in the familys camper-van on the ferry ride to Spain, seeking to reach Berlin. The family is kind to her, and she and Sophie become friends, Marissa hires Isaacs, a sadistic former agent, to capture Hanna
11.
Rev. (TV series)
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Rev. is a British television sitcom produced by Big Talk Productions. The show premiered on BBC Two on 28 June 2010 and ended on 28 April 2014, the shows working titles were The City Vicar and Handle with Prayer. The series revolves around a Church of England priest, played by Tom Hollander, the Reverend Adam Smallbone is an Anglican priest who has recently moved from a small rural parish to the socially disunited St Saviour in the Marshes in Hackney, East London. Adam has a difficult job being a modern city vicar. His wife Alex, who has her own career as a solicitor to worry about, provides support for him. He is also supported by lay reader Nigel, who believes he should be running the church, in supervision is Archdeacon Robert, who puts pressure on Adam to increase the congregation and church income. Interviewed in late April 2014, Tom Hollander has said that he did not know there would be a fourth series. He added that The idea of not doing it any more is sad but also quite attractive, the show was created by Tom Hollander and James Wood. The church scenes were filmed at St Leonards in Shoreditch, east London, the BBC Two comedy was renewed by the BBC in September 2010 and filming began again in the middle months of 2011, with the second series of seven episodes premiering on 10 November 2011. On 1 August 2012, the show was renewed for a series of six episodes to air in 2014. Church of England priest Richard Coles has advised the writers and has been cited as an inspiration for the Adam Smallbone character. The six episodes of Series 3 commenced filming on 31 October 2013, the series was commended by The Independent as intelligent comedy, with Hollander as good as ever and a strong support cast. In 2011, Rev. won the South Bank Award for best comedy and was nominated for the Royal Television Society Programme Awards for best scripted comedy, the series also won best sitcom at the 2011 British Academy Television Awards. It is BBC2s highest rated sitcom and has sold to 140 countries,2 Entertain released the complete first series on DVD on 21 November 2011. The second series was released on 19 November 2012, a boxset containing the first two series was also released. The third series was released on 5 May 2014, a week after transmission of the final episode, a boxset containing the first three series was also released. Rev. at BBC Programmes Rev. at TV. com Rev. at the Internet Movie Database Rev. at British Comedy Guide
12.
British Academy Television Awards
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The British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. They have been awarded annually since 1955 and it is the British equivalent to the Emmy Awards in the United States. The first ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories, until 1958, they were awarded by the Guild of Television Producers and Directors. From 1958 onwards, after the Guild had merged with the British Film Academy, in 1976, this became the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The Television Awards are usually presented in April, with a ceremony for the Television Craft Awards on a different date. The Craft Awards are presented for more technical areas of the industry, such as effects, production design. Individual performances, such as actors, can either be entered by the performers themselves or by the broadcasters. The programmes being entered must have been broadcast on or between March and February of the year to be eligible for the years awards. Entry is free, and entry forms are available between November and January each year. After all the entries have been received, they are voted for online by all members of the Academy. The programmes and performances attracting the most votes, usually four in each category, are shortlisted as the nominees for each award. The winner is chosen from the four nominees by a jury of nine academy members for each award. These Awards are suggested by the Television Committee and awarded by the Academys Council and they are not necessarily always given every year, but as and when appropriate. The Awards ceremony is broadcast on British television, usually the day after it has taken place, between 1998 and 2006, it was alternated between ITV and BBC One. But since 2007, it has been broadcast by BBC One, in 1991, a controversial selection was made in the Best Drama Serial category, when Prime Suspect beat G. B. H. to win the award. Following the ceremony, four of the seven voting members of the signed a public statement declaring that they had voted for G. B. H. to win. B. H. Price claimed that the papers could not be recounted as they had subsequently been destroyed. No blame was attached to Shubik by the four judges
13.
ITV (TV network)
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ITV is a commercial TV network in the United Kingdom. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990 its legal name has been Channel 3, to distinguish it from the analogue channels at the time, namely BBC1, BBC2. ITV is a network of channels that operate regional television services as well as sharing programmes between each other to be displayed on the entire network. In recent years, several of companies have merged so currently the fifteen franchises are in the hands of two companies. With the exception of Northern Ireland, the ITV brand is the used by ITV plc for the Channel 3 service in these areas. In Northern Ireland, ITV plc uses the brand name UTV, STV Group plc, uses the STV brand for its two franchises of central and northern Scotland. The origins of ITV lie in the passing of the Television Act 1954, the act created the Independent Television Authority to heavily regulate the industry and to award franchises. The first six franchises were awarded in 1954 for London, the Midlands, the first ITV network to launch was Londons Associated-Rediffusion on 22 September 1955, with the Midlands and North services launching in February 1956 and May 1956 respectively. Following these launches, the ITA awarded more franchises until the country was covered by fourteen regional stations. Following the 1993 changes, ITV as a network began to consolidate with several companies doing so to save money by ceasing the duplication of services present when they were all separate companies. The ITV Network is not owned or operated by one company, since 2016 the fifteen licences are held by two companies, with the majority held by ITV Broadcasting Limited, part of ITV plc. The network is regulated by the media regulator Ofcom who is responsible for awarding the broadcast licences, the last major review of the Channel 3 franchises was in 1991, with all operators licences having been renewed between 1999 and 2002 and again from 2014 without a further contest. However, due to amalgamation of several of companies since the creation of ITV Network Limited. Approved by Ofcom, this results in ITV plc commissioning and funding the network schedule, all licensees have the right to opt out of network programming, however many do not due to pressures from the parent company or because of limited resources. The network also needs to produce accessible output containing subtitles, signing, in exchange for this programming, the ITV network is available on all platforms free to air and can be found at the top of the EPG of all providers. Since the launch of the platform in 1998, all of the ITV licensees have received gifted capacity on the terrestrial television platform. At present, the companies are able to broadcast additional channels and all choose to broadcast the ITV plc owned ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and CITV in their region. UTV and STV previously broadcast their own services – UTV2 in Northern Ireland and S2 in central and northern Scotland – until 2002, the broadcasters all make use of the Digital 3&4 multiplex, shared with Channel 4
14.
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
15.
Tom Stoppard
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Sir Tom Stoppard OM CBE FRSL is a Czech-born British playwright and screenwriter, knighted in 1997. He co-wrote the screenplays for Brazil, The Russia House, and Shakespeare in Love, themes of human rights, censorship and political freedom pervade his work along with exploration of linguistics and philosophy. Stoppard has been a key playwright of the National Theatre and is one of the most internationally performed dramatists of his generation, in 2008 The Daily Telegraph ranked him number 11 in their list of the 100 most powerful people in British culture. Born in Czechoslovakia, Stoppard left as a refugee, fleeing imminent Nazi occupation. He settled with his family in Britain after the war, in 1946, after being educated at schools in Nottingham and Yorkshire, Stoppard became a journalist, a drama critic and then, in 1960, a playwright. He has been married three times, to Josie Ingle, then Miriam Stoppard, and Sabrina Guinness, Stoppard was born Tomáš Straussler, in Zlín, a shoe town, in the Moravia region of Czechoslovakia. He was the son of Martha Becková and Eugen Straussler, a doctor with the Bata shoe company, both of his parents were non-observant Jews, part of a long-established community. Just before the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, the patron, Jan Antonín Baťa, helped re-post his Jewish employees, mostly physicians. On 15 March 1939, the day that the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia, before the Japanese occupation of Singapore, the two sons and their mother were sent on to Australia. Stoppards father remained in Singapore as a British army volunteer, knowing that, as a doctor and his father died when Stoppard was four years old. From there, in 1941, when Tomas was five, the three were evacuated to Darjeeling in India, the boys attended Mount Hermon School, an American multi-racial school, where Tomas became Tom and his brother Petr became Peter. In 1945, his mother Martha married British army major Kenneth Stoppard, setting up Stoppards desire as a child to become an honorary Englishman. I fairly often find Im with people who forget I dont quite belong in the world were in, he says. I find I put a foot wrong – it could be pronunciation, a bit of English history – and suddenly Im there naked, as someone with a pass. This is reflected in his characters, he notes, who are constantly being addressed by the name, with jokes. Stoppard attended the Dolphin School in Nottinghamshire, and later completed his education at Pocklington School in East Riding, Yorkshire, which he hated. Stoppard left school at seventeen and began work as a journalist for the Western Daily Press in Bristol, never receiving a university education, having taken against the idea. Years later he came to not going to university, but at the time he loved his work as a journalist
16.
Travesties
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Travesties is a 1974 play by Tom Stoppard. The plays setting is primarily Zürich, Switzerland during the First World War, three important personalities were living in Zürich at that time, the modernist author James Joyce, the communist revolutionary Lenin, and the founder of Dada, Tristan Tzara. As he reminisces Carrs memory becomes prone to distraction, and instead of historical biography these characters are interpreted through the maze of his mind. Carrs memories are couched in a Zürich production of Oscar Wildes play The Importance of Being Earnest in which he had a starring role, Stoppard uses this production and Carrs mixed feelings surrounding it as a framework to explore art, the war and revolution. Situations from Earnest feature prominently within the action, the characters in Travesties also include versions of two characters from Earnest, Gwendolen and Cecily, and the comedic situations of many of the other roles are shared by other characters. Stoppard uses many theatrical devices within the play, including puns, limericks, the real Carr did play Algernon with a group of actors called The English Players, for whom the real James Joyce was the business manager. Carr and Joyce had a disagreement after the play, which led to legal action. The dispute was settled with the judge deciding in favour of both disputants on different counts, Joyce later parodied Carr, and the English Consul General in Zürich at that time, A. Percy Bennett, as two characters in Ulysses, with Carr being portrayed as a drunken, obscene soldier in the Circe episode. After the first performance of Travesties Stoppard received a letter from Henry Carrs widow, Travesties was first produced at the Aldwych Theatre, London, on 10 June 1974, by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The production was directed by Peter Wood and designed by Carl Toms and it closed on 13 March 1976 after 156 performances at the Aldwych, the Albery Theatres in London and the Ethel Barrymore Theater in New York City. Reichel in 1978 with Martin Benrath, Nikolaus Paryla, and de, the production was transferred to the Savoy Theatre in March 1994 and ran there until June 1994. A reading was given at the British Library in February 2008, the production broke box office records at the Menier Chocolate Factory, becoming the first play in the company’s history to sell out ahead of its first preview. In February 2017 the play, and company, transferred to the Apollo Theatre in London, awards 1976 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play 1976 Tony Award for Best Play 1976 Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy Michael Berry. Travesties at the Internet Broadway Database Travesties at the Internet Broadway Database
17.
Menier Chocolate Factory
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The Menier Chocolate Factory is an 180-seat off-West End theatre, which comprises a restaurant, bar and rehearsal rooms. The theatre stages plays and musicals, live music and stand-up comedy, according to the Evening Standard, it is one of the most dynamic fringe venues in London. The French company Menier Chocolate Company expanded overseas and built a five-storey factory and it was listed Grade II in 1996. The Menier Chocolate Factory was opened in 2004 in its current incarnation and it is run by artistic director David Babani. In 2005, the received the Peter Brook/Empty Space Up. In the same year, he and co-founder Danielle Tarento jointly won the Evening Standard Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer, Tarento left in 2006 to pursue a solo producing career, and was replaced by General Manager Thomas Siracusa. The pair went on to perform the roles when the production transferred to Studio 54 on Broadway in February 2008. In the 2009 Olivier Awards, Douglas Hodge won the trophy for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of drag queen Zaza in La Cage aux Folles, the production also won the Best Musical Revival category. The theatre continues to produce a mixture of musical and play revivals, new writing,2005 Murderer by Anthony Shaffer –10 November 2004 to 22 January 2005. This Other England – a series of new writing from Paines Plough, boom. by Jonathan Larson –31 May to 28 August 2005. What We Did to Weinstein by Ryan Craig –21 September to 12 November 2005,2006 Sunday in the Park with George, which won the 2005 Critics Circle Theatre Award for Best Design. It transferred to the Wyndhams Theatre in May 2006, where it won five Olivier Awards, the production then transferred to Broadway in February 2008. Breakfast With Jonny Wilkinson by Chris England April 2006 The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown –18 July to 30 September 2006, maria Friedman Re-Arranged 19 March –4 May 2008, subsequent transfer to Trafalgar Studios 27 November 2008 –4 January 2009. Forbidden Broadway by Gerard Alessandrini –25 June to 13 September 2009, talent by Victoria Wood –17 September to 14 November 2009. 2010 Sweet Charity starring Tamzin Outhwaite Book by Neil Simon, Music by Cy Coleman, Subsequent transfer to Harold Pinter Theatre 23 April –27 July Proof by David Auburn starring Mariah Gale from March 2013 to April 2013. Travels With My Aunt by Graham Greene during May and June 2013, the Color Purple by Alice Walker from 5 July to 14 September 2013. The Lyons by Nicky Silver from 19 September to 16 November 2013,2014 Candide by Leonard Bernstein from 23 November 2013 to March 2014. Two Into One by Ray Cooney from 8 March 2014 to 26 April, fame, Not The Musical by David Baddiel from 29 April 2014 to 23 May 2014 Life of the Party by Andrew Lippa from 27 May 2014 to 14 June 2014
18.
Tony Award
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The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at a ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway productions and performances, and an award is given for regional theatre, several discretionary non-competitive awards are also given, including a Special Tony Award, the Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre, and the Isabelle Stevenson Award. The awards are named after Antoinette Tony Perry, co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, the rules for the Tony Awards are set forth in the official document Rules and Regulations of The American Theatre Wings Tony Awards, which applies for that season only. It also forms the fourth spoke in the EGOT, that is someone who has won all four awards, the Tony Awards are also considered the equivalent of the Laurence Olivier Award in the United Kingdom and the Molière Award of France. From 1997 to 2010, the Tony Awards ceremony was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in June and broadcast live on CBS television, except in 1999, in 2011 and 2012, the ceremony was held at the Beacon Theatre. From 2013 to 2015, the 67th, 68th, and 69th ceremonies returned to Radio City Music Hall, the 70th Tony Awards were held on June 12,2016 at the Beacon Theatre. The 71st Tony Awards will be held on June 11,2017, as of 2014, there are 24 categories of awards, plus several special awards. Starting with 11 awards in 1947, the names and number of categories have changed over the years, some examples, the category Best Book of a Musical was originally called Best Author. The category of Best Costume Design was one of the original awards, for two years, in 1960 and 1961, this category was split into Best Costume Designer and Best Costume Designer. It then went to a category, but in 2005 it was divided again. For the category of Best Director of a Play, a category was for directors of plays. A newly established non-competitive award, The Isabelle Stevenson Award, was given for the first time at the ceremony in 2009. The award is for an individual who has made a contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian. The category of Best Special Theatrical Event was retired as of the 2009–2010 season, the categories of Best Sound Design of a Play and Best Sound Design of a Musical were retired as of the 2014-2015 season. Performance categories Show and technical categories Special awards Retired awards The award was founded in 1947 by a committee of the American Theatre Wing headed by Brock Pemberton. The award is named after Antoinette Perry, nicknamed Tony, an actress, director, producer and co-founder of the American Theatre Wing, who died in 1946. As her official biography at the Tony Awards website states, At Jacob Wilks suggestion, proposed an award in her honor for distinguished stage acting, at the initial event in 1947, as he handed out an award, he called it a Tony
19.
Deborah Moggach
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Deborah Moggach is an English writer. She has written eighteen novels including The Ex-Wives, Tulip Fever, These Foolish Things, Moggach is one of four daughters of writers Charlotte Hough and Richard Hough. Moggach was brought up in Bushey, Hertfordshire and St Johns Wood in London and she graduated from the University of Bristol in 1971 with a degree in English and trained as a teacher before going to work at the Oxford University Press. She lived in Pakistan for two years in the mid 1970s and in the United States, most of her novels are contemporary, tackling family life, divorce, children and the confusions and disappointments of relationships. Her two historical novels are Tulip Fever, set in Vermeer’s Amsterdam, and In The Dark and her latest novel, Something To Hide, is set in Beijing, Texas, London and West Africa. The Indian subcontinent, too, has featured frequently in her work and her script of the film Pride and Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley, was nominated for a BAFTA award, and Goggle-Eyes, from Anne Fine’s novel, won a Writers Guild Award. These Foolish Things, her novel about elderly people moving to India to obtain affordable care, was made into the successful film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Tulip Fever has also made into a film. Her other work includes a great deal of journalism, a stage play, at Oxford University Press she met her husband Tony, from whom she is now divorced. For ten years, her partner was the cartoonist Mel Calman, after his death in 1994, she lived for seven years with Hungarian painter Csaba Pasztor. She currently lives in the Welsh border town of Presteigne with the husband she married in 2014, Mark Williams and they also have a maisonette in Kentish Town, north London. She has two children, Tom, a teacher, and Lottie, a journalist and novelist. In 1985 her mother was sent to prison for helping an ill friend kill herself. Moggach is a patron of Dignity in Dying and campaigns for a change in the law on assisted suicide
20.
Oxford
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Oxford is a city in the South East region of England and the county town of Oxfordshire. With an estimated 2015 population of 168,270, it is the 52nd largest city in the United Kingdom, the city is situated 57 miles from London,69 miles from Bristol,65 miles from both Southampton and Birmingham and 25 miles from Reading. The city is known worldwide as the home of the University of Oxford, buildings in Oxford demonstrate notable examples of every English architectural period since the late Saxon period. Oxford is known as the city of dreaming spires, a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold, Oxford has a broad economic base. Its industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing and a number of information technology and science-based businesses. Oxford was first settled in Saxon times and was known as Oxenaforda, meaning Ford of the Oxen. It began with the establishment of a crossing for oxen around AD900. In the 10th century, Oxford became an important military frontier town between the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex and was on several occasions raided by Danes, Oxford was heavily damaged during the Norman Invasion of 1066. Following the conquest, the town was assigned to a governor, Robert DOyly, the castle has never been used for military purposes and its remains survive to this day. DOyly set up a community in the castle consisting of a chapel. The community never grew large but it earned its place in history as one of Britains oldest places of formal education and it was there that in 1139 Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote his History of the Kings of Britain, a compilation of Arthurian legends. Mary at Oseney and to the canons serving God in that place and we have made this concession and confirmation in the Common council of the City and we have confirmed it with our common seal. These are those who have made this concession and confirmation, a grandson of King John established Rewley Abbey for the Cistercian Order, and friars of various orders all had houses of varying importance at Oxford. Parliaments were often held in the city during the 13th century, the Provisions of Oxford were instigated by a group of barons led by Simon de Montfort, these documents are often regarded as Englands first written constitution. Richard I of England and John, King of England the sons of Henry II of England, were born at Beaumont Palace in Oxford, on 8 September 1157 and 24 December 1166 respectively. A plaque in Beaumont Street commemorates these events, the University of Oxford is first mentioned in 12th century records. Of the hundreds of Aularian houses that sprang up across the city, what put an end to the halls was the emergence of colleges. Oxfords earliest colleges were University College, Balliol and Merton and these colleges were established at a time when Europeans were starting to translate the writings of Greek philosophers
21.
History of the Jews in the Czech Republic
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Jews in Bohemia, todays Czech Republic, are predominantly Ashkenazic Jews, and the current Jewish population is only a fraction of the pre-WWII Czechoslovakias Jewish population. As of 2005, there were approximately 4,000 Jews living in the Czech Republic, there are ten small Jewish communities all around the country. The umbrella organisation for the Jewish communities in the country is the Federation of Jewish Communities, services have been held in Prague and some other cities. As part of the original Czechoslovakia, and before that the Austro-Hungarian Empire the Jews had an association with this part of Europe. Throughout the last thousand years there have emerged over 600 Jewish communities in the Kingdom of Bohemia, according to the 1930 census, Czechoslovakia had a Jewish population of 356,830. Most Slovak Jews were deported by the pro-Nazi Slovak Fascist government directly to Auschwitz, Treblinka, and other extermination camps, where they were murdered. Most Czech Jews were initially deported by the German occupiers with the help of local Czech Nazi collaborators to Terezin, known in German as Theresienstadt concentration camp, however many Czechoslovakian children were rescued by Kindertransport and escaped to the United Kingdom and other Allied countries. Some were reunited with their families after the war while many lost parents, Jews are believed to have settled in Prague as early as the 10th century. The 16th century was an age for Jewry in Prague. One of the famous Jewish scholars of the time was Judah Loew ben Bezalel known as the Maharal and he is buried at the Old Jewish Cemetery in Josefov, and his grave with its tombstone intact, can still be visited. It is said that the body of Golem lies in the attic of the Old New Synagogue where the genizah of Pragues community is kept, in 1708, Jews accounted for one-quarter of Prague’s population
22.
Dragon School
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The Dragon School is one school on two sites based in Oxford, England, UK. The Prep School and Dragon Pre-Prep are both co-educational schools based in Oxford, the Dragon Prep School founded in 1877 as the Oxford Preparatory School is one of Englands best known boarding schools, although it also takes day pupils. Originally established as a school, girls were first admitted as boarders in 1994. The schools core ethos is that children learn naturally in the right learning environment. There are few formal rules but strong values of kindness, courage, teaching started in September 1877 at rooms in Balliol Hall, located in St Giles, central Oxford, under A. E. Clarke. The school expanded and moved two years to 17 Crick Road, which became known as School House. Charles Cotterill Lynam took over as headmaster in 1886, Lynam took out a lease on land at the current site at Bardwell Road. £4,000 was quickly raised through subscriptions from local parents for the erection of new school buildings, and the move was completed within a year. The school was known as Oxford Preparatory School and also Lynams, the present site in Bardwell Road in central North Oxford is just to the west of the River Cherwell. It became the school to take part in the Harrow History Prize in 1895, and many of its pupils have won this over the years. The school was run for years by the Lynam family. The following have been headmasters of the school, several from the Lynam family, the following people were students at one time, The Dragon School website
23.
Abingdon School
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Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006, Abingdon is one of the best-regarded boys boarding schools in the UK. The precise date of Abingdons foundation is unclear, some believe the school to have been founded prior to the 12th century by the Benedictine monks of Abingdon Abbey, with a legal document of 1100 listing Richard the Pedagogue as the first headmaster. From its early years, the school used a room in St Nicolas Church, in the past though, the school considered itself as having been founded by John Roysse in 1563. This led to the unusual circumstance whereby the school celebrated its 400th anniversary in 1963, the focus on 1256 facilitated extensive anniversarial fundraising in 2006. By the time of de Blosnevilles endowment in 1256, the school had moved to a couple of rooms in Stert Street with a house for boarders at 3 Stert Street under the charge of a Dionysia Mundy. With John Roysses re-endowment of 1563, the moved to a site south of the Abbey gateway. Roysse was a mercer in the City of London. The name Roysses School was used until the 1960s and many older Abingdon residents still use the term, after the dissolution of Abingdon Abbey in 1538, the school passed through a difficult phase, the sixteenth century endowments by Old Abingdonians attempted to overcome the loss of monastic support. This benefaction eventually developed into Pembroke College in 1624 by the re-foundation of Broadgates Hall, the six poor scholars, known as Bennett Boys, or colloquially as the Gown Boys due to their dress, were financed by another Old Abingdonian, William Bennett. Despite being penalised during and after the English Civil War for its royalist,1671 saw the expulsion of ten boys after they refused to attend Anglican services at St Helens church. The school experienced a period of success during the 18th century under headmaster Thomas Woods, the school became popular among the local aristocracy and many OAs went on to successful careers in various areas. In 1743 The Old Abingdonian Club was inaugurated, it is one of the oldest such organisations in the country. At the turn of the century the school went into decline under the leadership of the incompetent headmaster Dr. John Lempriere, as a consequence Pembroke College, Oxford, used the University Reform Act of 1854 as an excuse to cut its links with the school. The current school site in the Victorian quarter of Abingdon, adjacent to Albert Park, was designed by Edwin Dolby and was developed from 1870, extensions to the 1870 buildings were added in 1880. In 1901, a chapel and gymnasium were built, the adjacent Waste Court property was acquired in 1928. The Science School came in 1952, in 1980, the Amey Theatre and Arts Centre was opened and the Sports Centre opened in 1984. Mercers Court was opened in 1994 by the Chancellor of Oxford University and Visitor of Pembroke College, there are strong connections with the nearby School of St Helen and St Katharine in Abingdon
24.
Chorister
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A choir is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical repertoire, which spans from the Medieval era to the present. Most choirs are led by a conductor, who leads the performances with arm, a body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus. The former term is often applied to groups affiliated with a church and the second to groups that perform in theatres or concert halls. Choirs may sing without instrumental accompaniment, with the accompaniment of a piano or pipe organ, with a small ensemble, choirs are often led by a conductor or choirmaster. Other than four, the most common number of parts are three, five, six, and eight, choirs can sing with or without instrumental accompaniment. Singing without accompaniment is called a cappella singing, many choirs perform in one or many locations such as a church, opera house, or school hall. In some cases choirs join up to become one mass choir that performs for a special concert, in this case they provide a series of songs or musical works to celebrate and provide entertainment to others. Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as a concert, by way of visible gestures with the hands, arms, face. The primary duties of the conductor or choirmaster are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble. The conductor or choral director typically stands on a raised platform, many choral conductors use their hands to conduct. In the 2010s, most conductors do not play an instrument when conducting, although in earlier periods of music history. In Baroque music from the 1600s to the 1750s, conductors performing in the 2010s may lead an ensemble while playing a harpsichord or the violin, conducting while playing a piano may also be done with musical theatre pit orchestras. Communication is typically non-verbal during a performance, however, in rehearsals, frequent interruptions allow the conductor to give verbal directions as to how the music should be sung. Conductors act as guides to the choirs they conduct and they choose the works to be performed and study their scores, to which they may make certain adjustments, work out their interpretation, and relay their vision to the singers. Choral conductors may also have to conduct instrumental ensembles such as if the choir is singing a piece for choir. They may also attend to matters, such as scheduling rehearsals, planning a concert season, hearing auditions
25.
National Youth Theatre
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The National Youth Theatre is a registered charity in London. It is committed to the development of people through the medium of creative arts. Every year, the National Youth Theatre holds acting auditions and technical theatre interviews around the United Kingdom, on average, currently, around 500 places are offered on summer intake acting and technical courses, which offer participants membership of the National Youth Theatre upon completion. Members are then eligible to audition for the productions, which are staged in Londons West End, around the UK. Members staged the Olympic and Paralympic Team Welcome Ceremonies at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, in summer 2014, members staged the Village Ceremonies at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The National Youth Theatre was founded in 1956 by Michael Croft, Croft had been responsible for producing a number of school plays at Alleyns Boys School. Following his departure, he was approached by a number of pupils from the school to continue working together on productions during school holidays. The first audiences included actors Richard Burton and Sir Ralph Richardson, the organisation evolved rapidly throughout the United Kingdom, involving young people on a national basis. Croft died in 1986 and was succeeded by Edward Wilson as Director, building on Crofts vision, Wilson took the company forward into new territory, increasing its range of activities and reinforcing its approach to technical production values. Wilson left the company in 2004, sid Higgins, John Hoggarth, and Paul Roseby took over. Hoggarth stepped down in 2007 and Roseby continues as the organisations Artistic Director, in 2010, the National Youth Theatre moved administrative offices from Holloway Road to the Woolyard on Bermondsey Street. In January 2012, Roseby became CEO while retaining his position as Artistic Director, traditionally, the National Youth Theatre has done most of its work with members in the summer months, but this is changing more and more. IdeasTap, defunct charity that collaborated with the National Youth Theatre Official website Charity Commission, National Youth Theatre, registered charity no.306075. The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services
26.
National Youth Music Theatre
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The National Youth Music Theatre is an arts organisation in the United Kingdom providing pre-professional education and musical theatre stage experience for young people. Based in London, it is constituted as a limited company. NYMT was founded in 1976 by director and playwright Jeremy James Taylor, alumni have also included directors such as Jo Davies, and songwriters such as Tara Mcdonald. The NYMTs primary activity is the education of people in theatre production. It produces and commissions musical theatre works in which young people between the ages of 11 and 23 perform as actors, musicians, and stage crew under the guidance of theatre professionals. The company tours both in the UK and abroad performing established musicals such as Sweeney Todd and Oklahoma, as well as new works specifically written to be performed by young people. The NYMT also runs residential and day workshops in various aspects of theatre production, the company has no core funding and relies upon participants fees, ticket sales, and fundraising. Young people who participate in the NYMTs productions and workshops do so as amateurs and meet their own expenses and fees, although the company provides bursaries in cases of need. The NYMT had its beginnings in 1976, when its founder Jeremy James Taylor, produced The Ballad of Salomon Pavey in a tent on the lawn of Belmont School in Mill Hill, North London. The musical, performed by twenty boys at the school, was based on the life of the 17th century boy actor, Salomon Pavey, with a book by Taylor, Taylor then took the production to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe where it won a Scotsman Fringe First award. The company became known as the Childrens Musical Theatre and in 1980 was registered as a limited company. In 1985 it changed its name to the National Youth Music Theatre, in 1986, The Ragged Child by David Nield, Frank Whately and Taylor, along with Lets Make an Opera, was performed on the Edinburgh International Festival. The Ragged Child went on to Sadlers Wells in Spring 1987 and was filmed for BBC TV a year later and it became one of the companys flagship productions. With its 1998 production of The Ragged Child, the NYMT also became the first touring company to perform at the new Glyndebourne opera house. Octobers Children by the team of Nield, Whately and Taylor played on the International Festival in 1990 and in the following year at Sadlers Wells. By 2003, the company had presented 53 productions at the Edinburgh Fringe, premiered 29 new music theatre commissions, held eight foreign tours, when Lloyd Webbers sponsorship ended in 1999, the companys financial position became increasingly precarious. By early 2002, it was operating at a deficit and facing the threat of closure, in October 2003, the National Youth Music Theatre closed its performing company and offices in order to avoid insolvency. Most of its staff were laid off, later that month Jon Bromwich, who had been the General Manager of NYMT, and other former staff set up a new organisation with similar aims, Youth Music Theatre, UK
27.
Selwyn College, Cambridge
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Selwyn College is a constituent college in the University of Cambridge in England. The college currently has 56 Fellows and around 110 non-academic staff, in 2006 it had an estimated financial endowment of £22 million, and in 2004 fixed assets were worth £70 million. The college was ranked 16th out of 30 in an assessment of college wealth conducted by the student newspaper Varsity in November 2006, in 2008, Selwyn was ranked first out of the 29 colleges which admit undergraduate students on the Tompkins Table. In 2016 it had fallen to 15th, Selwyns sister college at Oxford is Keble College. It proposed that a new Cambridge college should be established as a memorial to his legacy, the foundation stone of the College was laid by Edward Herbert, 3rd Earl of Powis in a ceremony on 1 June 1881, following a lunch in Kings College, Cambridge. Selwyns first 28 undergraduates, joined the original Master and twelve other Fellows at the then Public Hostel of the university in 1882, the college was founded by subscription, with an explicitly Christian mission. Membership was initially restricted to baptised Christians, the foundation charter specified that the college should make provision for those who intend to serve as missionaries overseas and. The chapel was built in 1895 before the hall, as it was deemed to be more important. However, a library was opened in 1928, funded by subscriptions in honour of College members who had died in the First World War. University education was expensive at the time of Selwyns foundation, and it was intended to be a college for poorer students, undergraduates initially paid £27 per term for food, lodgings, lectures and tuition, with a small surcharge for medics, scientists and engineers. This was only raised to £28 in 1916, and £33 in 1918, to keep the College afloat, Selwyn, in common with other Cambridge colleges, originally admitted only men, but was one of the first colleges to become mixed when women were admitted from 1976. In 1976, women lived only on E and H Staircases, in 2009, Selwyn became the first Cambridge college to appoint a female head porter, Helen Stephens. Phase I was completed in July 2005 and consists of 43 ensuite rooms and 15 administrative offices, the second phase, including 40 en-suite bedrooms forming staircases Q and R and a new Junior Combination Room at a cost of £2.5 million, was completed in Summer 2009. The College bar was refurbished in 2002, and redecorated in 2011, the plans for Phase 5 may turn into two more staircases of accommodation, as needs dictate. The Selwyn College coat of arms incorporates the arms of the Selwyn family impaled with a version of the arms of the Diocese of Lichfield, Selwyn College began to use its Arms long before an official grant by the College of Arms. The dexter half of the arms are unusual, with or countercharged on argent, violating the rule of tincture and this is thought to refer to the arms of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which also famously violates this rule. Selwyns pastoral staff is based on a hardwood Māori staff which is held in the College Chapel, the College was also granted a badge, A Mitre Or within an Annulet Purpure. The College motto is a quotation from 1 Corinthians, chapter 16, verse 13, in Greek, ΑΝΔΡΙΖΕΣΘΕ
28.
Footlights
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Footlights inaugural performance took place in June 1883. For some months before the name Footlights was chosen, the group had performed to audiences in the Cambridge area. They wished to go wider than the University Amateur Dramatic Club, founded in 1855, with its membership drawn largely from Trinity College and they were to perform every May Week at the Theatre Royal, the shows soon open to the public. A local paper commended the Clubs appeal to the general public, the club grew in prominence in the 1960s as a hotbed of comedy and satire, and established a permanent home in the basement of the Cambridge Union. Over the next decade, Footlights members came to dominate British comedy, creating and starring in shows such as Not Only. But Also, Im Sorry, Ill Read That Again, At Last the 1948 Show and That Was The Week That Was, forming comedy groups such as Monty Python and The Goodies, during the 1980s, Footlights reinforced its position at the heart of British comedy. Many of its members have gone on to win Oscars, BAFTAs and other awards and enjoy success in the entertainment. Today, Footlights is recognised as a school for many of Britains most well-known comic entertainers. During term, Footlights produce the regular and very popular Smokers – an informal mixture of sketches, the club also performs plays, pantomimes and sketch shows and least one revue, usually in the spring. Outside of term, the Footlights go on an tour, performing new material in the West End. In 2015 the international tour show expanded to include Paris, Edinburgh, the US, Canada, for information about individual Footlights revues, see Cambridge Footlights Revue. This is a listing of members of Footlights who achieved notability after graduating from Cambridge University. The elected leader of Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club is known as the president, Official website Official International Tour website Past members and shows Footlights Alumni Association The Cambridge Footlights Review,1982
29.
Sam Mendes
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Samuel Alexander Sam Mendes, CBE is an English stage and film director. He also is known for dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret and he directed an original West End stage musical for the first time with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. In 2005, he received an achievement award from the Directors Guild of Great Britain. In 2008 The Daily Telegraph ranked him number 15 in their list of the 100 most powerful people in British culture, Mendes was born in Reading, Berkshire, the only child of Valerie Helene, an author of childrens books, and Jameson Peter Mendes, a university professor. His father, who is from Trinidad, is of Portuguese and Italian descent and his grandfather was the Trinidadian writer Alfred Hubert Mendes. Mendes parents divorced when he was a child and he grew up in Oxfordshire and attended Magdalen College School and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he graduated with a first in English. While at Cambridge, he was a member of the Marlowe Society and directed several plays and he was also a brilliant schoolboy cricketer, according to Wisden and played for Magdalen College School in 1983 and 1984. He also played cricket for Cambridge University, aged 24 Mendes directed a production of Chekhovs The Cherry Orchard in the West End that starred Judi Dench. Soon he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, where his productions, many of them featuring Simon Russell Beale, included Troilus and Cressida, Richard III and The Tempest. He worked at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 1988 as assistant director on a number of productions, including Major Barbara, and directing in The Tent, the second venue. In 1990 Mendes was appointed director of the Donmar Warehouse. He spent his first two years overseeing the redesign of the theatre, and his production was Stephen Sondheims Assassins in 1992. The production was approached with a concept, differing greatly from both the original 1966 production directed by Harold Prince and the famed film version, directed by Bob Fosse. The Broadway cast included Cumming once again as Emcee, with Natasha Richardson as Sally, Mary Louise Wilson as Frau Schneider, Cumming and Richardson won Tony Awards for their performances. 1994 saw Mendes stage a new production of Lionel Barts Oliver, bart added new musical material and Mendes updated the book slightly, while the orchestrations were radically rewritten to suit the shows cinematic feel. The cast included Jonathan Pryce as Fagin, Sally Dexter as Nancy, Mendes, Pryce and Dexter received Olivier Award nominations for their work on Oliver. In 2003 Mendes directed a revival of the musical Gypsy, originally, he planned to stage this production in Londons West End with an eventual Broadway transfer, but when negotiations fell through, he brought it to New York. The cast included Bernadette Peters as Rose, Tammy Blanchard as Louise, Mendes also directed the 2014 Olivier Award-nominated stage adaptation of Roald Dahls Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
30.
Cyrano de Bergerac (play)
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Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. Although there was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, the play is a fictionalization of his life follows the broad outlines of it. The entire play is written in verse, in rhyming couplets of twelve syllables per line, very close to the classical alexandrine form, but the verses sometimes lack a caesura. It is also researched, down to the names of the members of the Académie française. The play has been translated and performed many times, and is responsible for introducing the word panache into the English language, Cyrano is in fact famed for his panache, and the play ends with him saying My panache just before his death. The two most famous English translations are those by Brian Hooker and Anthony Burgess, hercule Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac, a cadet in the French Army, is a brash, strong-willed man of many talents. In addition to being a remarkable duelist, he is a gifted, however, he has an extremely large nose, which causes him to doubt himself. The play opens in Paris,1640, in the theatre of the Hôtel Burgundy, members of the audience slowly arrive, representing a cross-section of Parisian society from pickpockets to nobility. Christian de Neuvillette, a new cadet, arrives with Lignière. Lignière recognizes her as Roxane, and tells Christian about her, meanwhile, Ragueneau and Le Bret are expecting Cyrano de Bergerac, who has banished the actor Montfleury from the stage for a month. After Lignière leaves, Christian intercepts a pickpocket and, in return for his freedom, Christian departs to try to warn him. The play Clorise begins with Montfleurys entrance, Cyrano disrupts the play, forces Montfleury off stage, and compensates the manager for the loss of admission fees. Roxanes duenna then arrives, and asks where Roxane may meet Cyrano privately, Lignière is then brought to Cyrano, having learned that one hundred hired thugs are waiting to ambush him on his way home. Cyrano, now emboldened, vows to take on the entire mob single-handed, the next morning, at Ragueneaus bake shop, Ragueneau supervises various apprentice cooks in their preparations. Cyrano arrives, anxious about his meeting with Roxane and he is followed by a musketeer, a paramour of Ragueneaus domineering wife Lise, then the regular gathering of impoverished poets who take advantage of Ragueneaus hospitality. Roxane and Cyrano talk privately as she bandages his hand, she thanks him for defeating Valvert at the theater, and talks about a man with whom she has fallen in love. Cyrano thinks that she is talking about him at first, and is ecstatic, but Roxane describes her beloved as handsome, Roxane fears for Christians safety in the predominantly Gascon company of Cadets, so she asks Cyrano to befriend and protect him. After she leaves, Cyranos captain arrives with the cadets to congratulate him on his victory from the night before and they are followed by a huge crowd, including De Guiche and his entourage, but Cyrano soon drives them away
31.
Nick Clegg
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Clegg was the Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015 and has been the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam since 2005. In 2007 he was elected Leader of the Liberal Democrats, leading his party into a government with the Conservative Party in 2010. In 2015, he resigned as leader of the Liberal Democrats following that years general election at which his party was defeated and lost 49 MPs. Clegg is a fluent speaker of five European languages including English, German, Spanish, French and his English grandfather was Hugh Anthony Clegg, editor of the British Medical Journal for 35 years. Cleggs Dutch mother, Hermance van den Wall Bake, was interned, along with her family and she met Cleggs father during a visit to England in 1956, and they married on 1 August 1959. Clegg is multilingual, he speaks English, French, Dutch, German and his background has informed his politics. He says, There is simply not a shred of racism in me, as a person whose whole family is formed by flight from persecution and its one of the reasons I am a liberal. His Dutch mother instilled in him a degree of scepticism about the entrenched class configurations in British society. He has said of languages that The danger is that we can afford to be lazy about languages, because they all want to speak English – English is the most useful, the global language bar none. But I dont think we should allow that luxury to be a sort of not to learn languages. As a 16-year-old exchange student in Munich, he and a friend drunkenly set fire to what he called the collection of cacti in Germany. When news of the incident was reported during his time as Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman and he was arrested and not formally charged, but performed a kind of community service. He spent a gap year working as a instructor in Austria, before going on to Cambridge University in 1986. He was active in the student theatre at Cambridge, acting in a play about AIDS and he was also captain of his colleges tennis team, and campaigned for the human rights organisation Survival International. Clegg spent the summer of 1989 as a junior in Postipankki bank in Helsinki. It has been alleged that Clegg joined the Cambridge University Conservative Association between 1986 and 1987, Clegg has maintained he has no recollection of that whatsoever. However, Conservative MP Greg Hands has a record of CUCA members for 1986–1987, Hands noted that for the avoidance of any doubt, there was only one N Clegg at Robinson College. Is listed in the Robinson College Record, under Freshmen 1986 and he graduated with an upper second class honours degree in social anthropology
32.
Absolutely Fabulous
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Absolutely Fabulous, also known as Ab Fab, is a BBC television sitcom created by, written by and starring Jennifer Saunders. It is based on a 1990 French & Saunders sketch created by Saunders, the series features Saunders as Edina Monsoon, a heavy-drinking, drug-abusing PR agent who spends her time chasing bizarre fads in a desperate attempt to stay young and hip. The series also stars June Whitfield as Edinas sarcastic and thieving mother, Absolutely Fabulous returned for three special episodes which were originally broadcast on 25 December 2011,1 January 2012 and 23 July 2012 to mark the shows 20th anniversary. The episode broadcast on 23 July 2012 featured the 2012 Summer Olympics which were being held in London that week, a film based on the series was released to theatres on 1 July 2016. On 28 November 2016, Jennifer Saunders announced that the series is finished, the show has had an extended and sporadic run. The first three series were broadcast on the BBC from 1992 to 1995, followed by a series finale in the form of a television film entitled The Last Shout in 1996. Creator Jennifer Saunders revived the show for a series in 2001, after having written and submitted a pilot entitled Mirrorball. The pilot was intended to be turned into a series of episodes, however, Saunders felt the characters were far too rich and interesting to put aside, and were far better suited for her new story ideas. Instead of Mirrorball, a new series of Absolutely Fabulous was proposed to the BBC, which later commissioned the fourth series in 2001. From 2001 to 2004, two series were produced, along with three one-off hour-long specials, Gay in 2002, Cold Turkey, a Christmas special in 2003, and White Box. A Comic Relief sketch was broadcast in 2005, in August 2011, Lumley confirmed the planned filming of three new episodes. In 2011, plans for a 20th anniversary revival were welcomed in The Guardian, the first new special was broadcast on 25 December with the second episode being shown on 1 January 2012. The third, and final special coincided with the 2012 Summer Olympics, a film version of the series was released in summer 2016. In the United States, the first of the three new 20th anniversary specials aired in January 2012 for broadcast by both BBC America and Logo Channel, both channels also co-produced the 20th Anniversary episodes, although Logo removed some scenes for its airings. BBC America broadcast it in full, both channels aired the episode in a 40-minute block to allow for commercial interruptions. Absolutely Fabulous is ranked as the 17th greatest British TV show of all time by the British Film Institute, a scene from the show was included in the 100 Greatest TV Moments programme broadcast by Channel 4. In 1997, the episode, Fashion, was ranked number 47 on TV Guides 100 Greatest Episodes of All-Time list. In 2004 and 2007, the series was ranked number 24, Absolutely Fabulous evolved from a French & Saunders sketch called Modern Mother and Daughter, which starred Saunders as the mother and French as the daughter, already named Saffron
33.
Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence
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Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence is a 1998 British romantic comedy directed by Nick Hamm. The screenplay by Peter Morgan focuses on the meeting each of three childhood friends now living in London has with an American tourist. At the airport, she meets Daniel, a music label executive. Before landing in London, he offers her the use of a suite in a luxury hotel at his companys expense in exchange for a lunch date the following day. Instead, he runs into Martha, who hits him with a luggage cart while searching for the exit. She coerces him into taking her into the city and invites him to the suite for dinner, while she is in the bathroom, a bouquet of flowers from Daniel is delivered to the suite, and when Laurence sees the attached card, he departs without explanation. The following day, Martha meets struggling actor Frank, who has fled an audition in a panic and has gone to the park to console himself with a half-bottle of whiskey. Having heard about her from Daniel, he realizes who she is and he takes her to a nearby art gallery. Martha slips away and heads for the exit, where she reunites with Laurence and he invites her back to his flat and she accepts. Torn between loyalty to Daniel and love for Martha, Laurence seeks advice from Pederson, a neighbour he mistakenly believes is a psychiatrist, in the interim, Martha awakens and seeing a photograph of the three friends, assumes she has been the target of an elaborate practical joke. To get even, she separately invites each of the men to meet her for breakfast, Laurence sees Martha running off in the distance but is unable to catch her. Despondent, he goes to an agency to purchase a ticket anywhere he can go for £99. At the airport gate, he is told he is being seated in First Class and she reveals she was responsible for the upgrade, a trick she learned from Daniel. The film holds a 33% approval rating on review site Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 4. 8/10. He added, To maintain its fizz, a comedy like The Very Thought of You requires the spicy contemporary equivalent of Noël Coward banter, but if the story is a clever sitcomy contraption, the dialogue is pedestrian. Among the contestants for Marthas love, the character with a distinctive personality is Hollanders vain, petulant Daniel. As the shy, tongue-tied Laurence, who needs lessons in self-assertion, Fiennes lacks the debonair twinkle and the timing of Hugh Grant. As for Ms. Potters Martha, the character is a fabrication that not even Ms. Roberts with all her wiles could have made believable
34.
Wives and Daughters
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Wives and Daughters is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in the Cornhill Magazine as a serial from August 1864 to January 1866. It was partly written whilst Gaskell was staying with the salon hostess Mary Elizabeth Mohl at her home on the Rue de Bac in Paris, when Mrs Gaskell died suddenly in 1865, it was not quite complete, and the last section was written by Frederick Greenwood. The story is about Molly Gibson, the daughter of a widowed doctor living in a provincial English town in the 1830s. The novel opens with young Molly Gibson, who has raised by her widowed father. During a visit to the local aristocratic great house of Lord and Lady Cumnor, Molly loses her way in the estate, Lady Cuxhaven and Mrs. Kirkpatrick find Molly in her slumbering state and Molly is put to bed in Mrs. Kirkpatricks room. There are allusions to the latter as Miss Clare, her maiden name, Clare appears to be a kind woman and assures Molly that she will wake her up when it is time for the entourage to leave. However, she forgets to do so and Molly is stranded in the mansion and she is distressed at the thought of spending the night at the mansion. To her relief, her father arrives to collect her, seven years later, Molly is described as an attractive and rather unworldly young woman, which arouses the interest of one of her fathers apprentices, Mr. Coxe. Molly forms an attachment with Mrs. Hamley, who embraces her almost as a daughter. Molly also befriends the son, Roger. Molly is aware that, as the daughter of a professional man, the elder son Osborne, is expected to make a brilliant marriage after an excellent career at Cambridge, he is handsome, clever and more fashionable than his brother. However, he has performed poorly at university, breaking the hearts of his parents, during Mollys absence from the house, Mr. Gibson contemplates a second marriage. He expects that marriage will improve his domestic comfort and provide Molly with a figure to shield her from influences such as Mr. Coxe. He finds Miss Clare ideally matched to his requirements and recalls her apparent kindness to Molly many years ago, Molly remembers her from their previous encounter and has little love for her. For her fathers sake, she does her best to get on with her ambitious and selfish stepmother. However, Molly does find an ally in her new stepsister, Cynthia, the two girls are a study in contrasts, Cynthia is far more worldly and rebellious than Molly, who is naive and slightly awkward. Mrs Hamley dies, and the breach between the squire and his eldest son seems irreparable, younger son Roger continues to work hard at university and ultimately gains the honours and rewards that were expected for his brother. Mrs. Gibson tries unsuccessfully to arrange a marriage between Cynthia and Osborne, as her aspirations include having a married to landed gentry
35.
The Lost Prince
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The Lost Prince is a British television drama about the life of Prince John – youngest child of Britains King George V and Queen Mary – who died at the age of 13 in 1919. A Talkback Thames production written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff, it was originally broadcast in January 2003 and it won an Emmy Award in September 2005. Poliakoff explores the story of John, his relationship with his family and brother Prince George, the events going on at the time. When summer arrives there is much excitement again as Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, and their children, visit their relatives, the Russians entrance Prince John with their exotic splendour. It is clear, even at this stage, that Johnnie and his ailing grandfather, King Edward VII, loves him for his frankness. It is clear also that his nanny, Lalla, is reluctant to reveal the seriousness of his medical condition. While the populace of the gaze into the night skies to catch a glimpse of an approaching comet. During the funeral attended by all the heads of state of Europe, including the Kaiser Wilhelm, Queen Mary, Johnnies mother, summons doctors to examine him and their diagnosis confirms her and Lallas worst fears. Lalla volunteers to look after Johnnie to prevent him being sent to an institution, the two of them are to be sent to Sandringham, where Johnnie is to be prevented from encountering anybody but the closest members of his family. His sibling, Prince George, who has always treasured Johnnie, Johnnie, now a few years older, is deprived of the company of any children and finds the schooling of his tutor, Hansell, unfathomable. Although lonely, he takes an optimistic view of life. Then one day, to the embarrassment of King George V and Queen Mary, he speaks his mind at a tea party held for Prime Minister H. H. Asquith and his Chancellor of the Exchequer. Johnnie is summoned to London to be re-examined by the doctors, during his stay he is taken by his brother George up to the minstrels gallery looking down on the banqueting hall of Buckingham Palace, to observe a grand state occasion. During the banquet Asquith and Lloyd George are called back to Downing Street to receive the news that is to prove to be the catalyst for the start of the First World War. The following morning Johnnie receives an audience with his father King George. Johnnie is more interested in his fathers pet parrot, Charlotte, suddenly, father and son are interrupted by the Kings Private Secretary, Stamfordham, who has come to relay the news of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. Realising that the news has been withheld from him, the King erupts in fury, unnoticed by the adults, Johnnie pursues Charlotte, as the terrified bird flies away into the bowels of the building. The Queen, Lalla and George go searching for Johnnie and his mother is shocked when she sees, for the first time, one of Johnnies debilitating fits
