1.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
2.
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
3.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
4.
A Young Doctor's Notebook (TV series)
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A Young Doctors Notebook is a British dark comedy television programme based on the short story collection of the same name by Mikhail Bulgakov. Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe portray the main characters. The first series was broadcast between 6 December and 27 December 2012 on Sky Arts 1, and a series aired from 21 November to 12 December 2013. The first series takes place in the year 1917 during the Russian Revolution, the second series is based on the short story titled Morphine by Bulgakov. The title cards and credits use faux Cyrillic, the music for the programme was composed by Stephen Warbeck. It features violin, a clarinet, acoustic guitar, and cello, the theme song was featured on Sky Arts compilation album Sky Theme Tunes, Vol.2. Dr. Vladimir Bomgard leads a team at the fictional Muryevo Hospital in Russia, the team consists of Pelageya Ivanovna, a junior midwife, Demyan Lukich, a feldsher, and Anna Nikolayevna, a senior midwife. The typical episode follows the team in their attempts to treat patients illnesses, Bomgard contends with the uneducated populace, which refuses his treatment. He regularly provides them with rapid and accurate diagnoses, Bomgard has a physical relationship with Pelageya. In the third episode, they have sex for the first time, in the second series, they try being a couple, and make their relationship work. In the sixth episode, Bomgard tells Pelageya he never loved her, a Young Doctors Notebook is set in the fictional town of Muryevo, Korobovo in Russia. The first series takes place in the year 1917 during the Russian Revolution, the programme also takes place in the years 1934 and 1935. The shows main character reads his old diary and recalls his experiences, the doctor interacts with his younger self, having conversations that reveal aspects of the story yet to unfold. In the second series, the Russian Civil War begins to affect the fictional Muryevo Hospital, meanwhile, the young doctor is battling an all-encompassing morphine addiction. His older self stands watch over him, and an aristocrat named Natasha arrives in the hospital. The young doctor takes an intense, destructive interest in Natasha, at the same time, The Feldsher takes a romantic interest in a tall, moustached Colonel of the White Guard, who is also staying in the hospital. They are both fond of other, and share a love for pickled sprats. At one point, The Feldsher was seen to be bringing him a bouquet of flowers, Bomgard also frequently chain smokes when he is on medical duty
5.
Barbican Centre
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The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The Centre hosts classical and contemporary concerts, theatre performances, film screenings. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory, the Barbican Centre is member of the Global Cultural Districts Network. The London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra are based in the Centres Concert Hall, in 2013, it once again became the London-based venue of the Royal Shakespeare Company following the companys departure in 2001. The Barbican Centre is owned, funded, and managed by the City of London Corporation and it was built as The Citys gift to the nation at a cost of £161 million and was officially opened to the public by Queen Elizabeth II on 3 March 1982. The Barbican Centre is also known for its brutalist architecture, Barbican Hall, capacity 1,943, home of the London Symphony Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. It is one of the largest public libraries in London and has an arts library, a large music library. The Barbican Library houses the London Collection of historical books and resources, some of which date back 300 years, the library presents regular literary events and has an art exhibition space for hire. The music library has two free practice pianos for public use, the Barbican Centre had a long development period, only opening long after the surrounding Barbican Estate housing complex had been built. It is situated in an area which was bombed during World War II. The Barbican Centre, designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon in the Brutalist style, has a complex layout with numerous entrances. Lines painted on the ground help would-be audience members avoid getting lost on the walkways of the Barbican Housing Estate on the way to the centre, the Barbican Centres design – a concrete ziggurat – has always been controversial and divides opinion. It was voted Londons ugliest building in a Grey London poll in September 2003, in September 2001, arts minister Tessa Blackstone announced that the Barbican Centre complex was to be a Grade II listed building. It has been designated a site of architectural interest for its scale, its cohesion. The same architectural practice also designed the Barbican Housing Estate and the nearby Golden Lane Estate, project architect John Honer later worked on the British Library at St Pancras – a red brick ziggurat. In the mid-1990s, an improvement scheme by Theo Crosby, of the Pentagram design studio, added statues. That improvement scheme added a bridge linking the Silk Street foyer area with the lakeside foyer area. The centres Silk Street entrance, previously dominated by an access for vehicles, was modified to give pedestrian access
6.
Anne, Princess Royal
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Anne, Princess Royal, KG KT GCVO GCStJ QSO GCL CD is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. At the time of her birth, she was third in the line of succession, behind her mother – then Princess Elizabeth – and elder brother and she rose to second after her mothers accession, but is currently 12th in line. Anne is known for her work, and is patron of over 200 organisations. Princess Anne has held the title of Princess Royal since 1987 and is its seventh holder, Anne was married to Captain Mark Phillips in 1973, they divorced in 1992. They have two children and three grandchildren, in 1992, within months of her divorce, Anne married Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, whom she had met while he served as her mothers equerry between 1986 and 1989. Anne was born at Clarence House on 15 August 1950 at 11,50 am, as the child and only daughter of Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh. She was the grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Anne was baptised in the Music Room of Buckingham Palace on 21 October 1950, by Archbishop of York, after the death of George VI, Annes mother ascended the throne as Queen Elizabeth II. Given her young age at the time, she did not attend the coronation, the Company was active until 1963, when Anne went to boarding school. Anne enrolled at Benenden School in 1963, in 1968 she left school with six GCE O-Levels and two A-Levels. In the next couple of years, Anne started dating, in 1970 her first boyfriend was Andrew Parker Bowles, who later became the first husband of Camilla Shand. Following the wedding, Anne and her husband lived at Gatcombe Park and he was made acting captain by the start of 1974 when he was appointed a personal aide-de-camp to Queen Elizabeth II. By 1989, however, Princess Anne and Mark Phillips announced their intention to separate, the couple divorced on 23 April 1992. The Queen had offered Phillips an earldom on his wedding day, the couple had two children, Peter Phillips and Zara Phillips. As female-line descendants of royalty, the children have no title despite being the grandchildren of a monarch, Anne became a grandmother on 29 December 2010 when Peter and his wife Autumn had a daughter, Savannah. On 29 March 2012, the couple had daughter, Isla. Annes third granddaughter, Mia Grace, was born on 17 January 2014 to Zara and her husband Mike Tindall. As Princess Anne and Mark Phillips were returning to Buckingham Palace on 20 March 1974, from a charity event on Pall Mall, the driver of the Escort, Ian Ball, jumped out and began firing a pistol
7.
University of East Anglia
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The University of East Anglia is an English public research university located in the city of Norwich. Established in 1963, the university comprises four faculties and 26 schools of study, situated to the south-west of the city of Norwich, the university campus is approximately 320 acres in size. In national league tables the university has most recently been ranked 15th in the UK by The Times and Sunday Times, the university also ranks among the top 3 for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey, when considering mainstream English universities. It is the institution to rank in the top 5 since the survey began. The university also ranks in the world top 1% according to the Times Higher Education World Rankings, attempts had been made to establish a university in Norwich in 1919 and 1947, but due to a lack of government funding on both occasions the plans had to be postponed. The University of East Anglia was eventually given the light in April 1960. Initially, teaching took place in the temporary University Village, the vice-chancellor and administration were based in nearby Earlham Hall. The site chosen was on the edge of the city. The land, formerly part of the Earlham Hall estate was at that time occupied by a golf course. Lasdun unveiled a model and a plan at a press conference in April 1963, but it took another year to produce detailed plans. The first buildings did not open until late 1966, lasdun put all the teaching and research functions into the teaching wall, a single block 460 metres long following the contour of the site. Alongside this he built a walkway, giving access to the entrances of the wall. Attached to the other, southern, side of the walkway he added the groups of terraced residences that became known as Ziggurats and they would later become Grade II* listed status, reflecting the importance of the architecture and the history of the campus. In 1964 Arthur Millers The Crucible became the first drama production to be staged at UEA with John Rhys Davies, in the same decade, in 1965, Benjamin Britten was appointed music adviser for UEA. In 1967 he conducted the UEA Choir in a performance of his War Requiem, in 1968 there were two royal visits from Princess Margaret and the Queen who each came to tour the new university for the first time. In this decade Malcolm Bradbury and Angus Wilson help establish the first creative writing course in the UK. The School of Literature, Drama, and Creative Writing would later go on to produce successful authors including Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan, Rose Tremain, John Boyne, in the same decade UEA, TV, under the name of Nexus, was formed and created student-made television. It operated for two hours a day over lunchtime, Concrete, the student newspaper was first officially launched in 1973, replacing Mandate which launched in 1965
8.
Jo Brand
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Josephine Grace Jo Brand is an English comedian, writer and actress. She is currently the presenter of The Great British Bake Off, in 2003, Brand was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. Brand was born in Wandsworth, London and her mother was a social worker and her father was a structural engineer. Brand is the middle of three children, with two brothers, when she was about four, the family moved to the village of St Marys Platt near Sevenoaks in Kent, and a year later, to Benenden. Brand was educated at St Marys Platt Primary School, Benenden Village Primary School, Tunbridge Wells Girls Grammar School until the age of 16, Hastings High School for Girls and Bexhill College. She then worked as a nurse for ten years, at the South London Bethlem, Cefn Coed Hospital in Swansea. Brand was persuaded by agent Malcolm Hardee to begin a career in stand-up comedy and she was part of the British alternative comedy movement, working in London alternative comedy clubs in the mid-1980s, and appearing initially on the Saturday Live television show. She shared a flat with fellow comic and comedy club owner Ivor Dembina, during her first gig, she faced an audience from hell and, waiting to perform last, drank seven pints of lager. She thus faced her first live audience with a bursting bladder, as Brand ascended the stage, a male heckler started shouting, Fuck off, you fat cow and kept up the abuse until her performance finished. There was no applause at the end of her act, Brands early style involved her delivering jokes in a bored monotone, one line at a time, with pauses in between. It drew heavily from pop culture and the media, with many jokes containing references to well-known celebrities, with her Doc Marten boots, her large size, and her short hair, her image remained the same for most of the 1980s and 1990s. Her appearance and material led to rumours that she was a lesbian. In 2007, Brand narrated Laughter & Tears, The Les Dawson Story, a tribute to Les Dawson. In 2010, Brand took part in Channel 4s Comedy Gala, Brand played the Demon Dinner Lady in the 2011 British live-action film Horrid Henry the Movie. She also provided a voiceover for the Lyric Hammersmith Theatres 2011 pantomime Aladdin, in August 2015, Brand judged the first ever Class Clowns competition at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, she also announced the winner at the Gilded Balloon on the night. Brand has written an adaptation to her novel The More You Ignore Me. She will also star in the film, in 1993, Brand became a resident panellist, along with Tony Hawks, on BBC monologue show The Brain Drain. Brand has had several television series, and presented shows such as Jo Brands Commercial Breakdown
9.
Up the Women
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Up the Women is a BBC television sitcom created, written by and starring Jessica Hynes. It was first broadcast on BBC Four on 30 May 2013, the sitcom is about a group of women in 1910 who form a Womens Suffrage movement. Hynes originally planned to write a film about a suffragette plot to assassinate H. H. Asquith. Christine Gernon directed the series, which became the last sitcom to be filmed before a live audience at BBC Television Centre. A second series was commissioned in June 2013 and aired on BBC Two from 21 January 2015, up the Women was not renewed for a third series. The sitcom is set in 1910 and focuses on the women of the Banbury Intricate Craft Circle, having seen the Womens suffrage movement in London, Margaret returns to Banbury and asks the ladies of her local craft circle to support the cause. The group start up their own league called Banbury Intricate Craft Circle Politely Requests Womens Suffrage. In February 2013, the BBC announced that Richard Klein and Shane Allen had commissioned the three-part comedy Up the Women, up the Women was the first sitcom filmed in front of a live audience to be commissioned for BBC Four. Andrew Williams from the Metro revealed that should the series of Up the Women do well, then there would be a possible re-commission. Hynes came up with the idea for Up the Women in 2009 after she read a piece about a plot to assassinate former Prime Minister H. H. Asquith. Hynes thought it would make a comedy film and sold that idea to the BBC. However, when she came to research it, she realised that the plot was quite dark and felt that she had written a probably quite dull, tediously worthy drama, which the BBC passed on. Hynes found that she could not let go of the characters she had created, in 2011, Hynes wrote a new treatment, which focused on her characters and their craft circle in a Banbury church hall. She said I thought, it would if you went really retro with it, to make it much easier to relate to these women, who are warm. Comedy only really works if you are failing, I made it deliberately restrictive, a church hall and a kitchen, nowhere to go to, nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. On 31 May 2013, Hynes revealed that Up the Women had been picked up for a series of six episodes. This was confirmed by the BBC on 12 June, series two will be broadcast on BBC Two and controller of the channel, Janice Hadlow, stated Im delighted to welcome the Banbury Intricate Craft Circle to BBC Two. With brilliant writing from Jessica Hynes and a fabulous cast including Rebecca Front, Judy Parfitt and Adrian Scarborough, the series began airing from 21 January 2015
