A Show Called Fred
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A Show Called Fred
''A Show Called Fred'' is a sketch comedy series best known for being an early television work by Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, then both regular performers on the BBC Home Service as two-thirds of the cast of ''The Goon Show''. Directed by Richard Lester, it starred Sellers, Milligan, Valentine Dyall, Kenneth Connor and Graham Stark – principal contributors it shared with '' The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d'', a comedy show which had finished only a month before. Its five 30 minute episodes were made by Associated-Rediffusion for ITV and broadcast only in the London area. It was predominantly a sketch comedy, attempting to translate the audio antics of ''The Goon Show'' into visual antics in bizarre and often surreal comedy sketches. Jazz harmonica player Max Geldray had a music segment in the show, reprising his role from ''The Goon Show'', and Canadian star Patti Lewis had a singing spot. Performers including Mario Fabrizi, Ernest Clark, Patricia Driscoll, Jon Jon Keefe, Jenni ...
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Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where he spent his childhood before relocating in 1931 to England, where he lived and worked for the majority of his life. Disliking his first name, he began to call himself "Spike" after hearing the band Spike Jones, Spike Jones and his City Slickers on Radio Luxembourg. Milligan was the co-creator, main writer, and a principal cast member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'', performing a range of roles including the characters Eccles (character), Eccles and Minnie Bannister. He was the earliest-born and last surviving member of the Goons. He took his success with ''The Goon Show'' into television with ''Q... (TV series), Q5'', a surreal sketch show credited as a major influence on the members of ''Monty Python's Flying Circu ...
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Harmonica
The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica include diatonic, chromatic, tremolo, octave, orchestral, and bass versions. A harmonica is played by using the mouth (lips and tongue) to direct air into or out of one (or more) holes along a mouthpiece. Behind each hole is a chamber containing at least one reed. The most common is the diatonic Richter-tuned with ten air passages and twenty reeds, often called the blues harp. A harmonica reed is a flat, elongated spring typically made of brass, stainless steel, or bronze, which is secured at one end over a slot that serves as an airway. When the free end is made to vibrate by the player's air, it alternately blocks and unblocks the airway to produce sound. Reeds are tuned to individual pitches. Tuning may involve changing a reed’s length ...
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Bernard Levin
Henry Bernard Levin (19 August 1928 – 7 August 2004) was an English journalist, author and broadcaster, described by ''The Times'' as "the most famous journalist of his day". The son of a poor Jewish family in London, he won a scholarship to the independent school Christ's Hospital and went on to the London School of Economics, graduating in 1952. After a short spell in a lowly job at the BBC selecting press cuttings for use in programmes, he secured a post as a junior member of the editorial staff of a weekly periodical, ''Truth'', in 1953. Levin reviewed television for the ''Manchester Guardian'' and wrote a weekly political column in ''The Spectator'' noted for its irreverence and influence on modern parliamentary sketches. During the 1960s he wrote five columns a week for the ''Daily Mail'' on any subject that he chose. After a disagreement with the proprietor of the paper over attempted censorship of his column in 1970, Levin moved to ''The Times'' where, with one brea ...
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Cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, does not typically dance but usually sits at tables. Performances are usually introduced by a master of ceremonies or MC. The entertainment, as done by an ensemble of actors and according to its European origins, is often (but not always) oriented towards adult audiences and of a clearly underground nature. In the United States, striptease, burlesque, drag shows, or a solo vocalist with a pianist, as well as the venues which offer this entertainment, are often advertised as cabarets. Etymology The term originally came from Picard language or Walloon language words ''camberete'' or ''cambret'' for a small room (12th century). The first printed use of the word ''kaberet'' is found in a document from 1275 in Tournai. The term was ...
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Tonight At The London Palladium
''Tonight at the London Palladium'' is a British television variety show that is hosted from the London Palladium theatre in the West End theatre, West End. Originally produced by Associated Television, ATV for the ITV (TV network), ITV network from 1955 to 1969, it went by its original name ''Sunday Night at the London Palladium'' from 25 September 1955 until the name was changed to ''The London Palladium Show'' from 1966 to 2 February 1969. It underwent three revivals, first from 28 October 1973 to 28 October 1974 where it retained its ''Sunday Night at the London Palladium'' title, second in 2000 under the title ''Tonight at the London Palladium'', and third from 2014 until 2015 under the title ''Sunday Night at the Palladium'', dropping ''London''. From 2016, the show is called ''Tonight at the London Palladium'' and is presented by Bradley Walsh. A one-off ''Sunday Night at the London Palladium'' was screened to mark Bruce Forsyth's 70th birthday in February 1998. History ...
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Truth (British Periodical)
''Truth'' was a British periodical publication founded by the diplomat and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician Henry Labouchère. The first issue was published on 4 January 1877. Labouchère founded the periodical after he left a virtual rival publication, ''The World''. ''Truth'' was known for its exposures of many kinds of frauds, and was at the centre of several civil lawsuits. Although Labouchère himself contributed to ''Truth'', it was for the most part controlled by Horace Voules in its early days. Later in its existence, ''Truth'' was close to the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party. In 1941, it was briefly the subject of political controversy following allegations made in Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament, but publication continued when the allegations were refuted. Later, ''Truth'' came under the direction of Collin Brooks. In its final years, it moved away from its right-wing editorial line back to the more liberal agenda of its early days. ''Tr ...
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It's That Man Again
''It's That Man Again'' (commonly contracted to ''ITMA'') was a BBC radio comedy programme which ran for twelve series from 1939 to 1949. The shows featured Tommy Handley in the central role, a fast-talking figure, around whom the other characters orbited. The programmes were written by Ted Kavanagh and produced by Francis Worsley. Handley died during the twelfth series, the remaining programmes of which were immediately cancelled: ''ITMA'' could not work without him, and no further series were commissioned. ''ITMA'' was a character-driven comedy whose satirical targets included officialdom and the proliferation of minor wartime regulations. Parts of the scripts were rewritten in the hour before the broadcast, to ensure topicality. ''ITMA'' broke away from the conventions of previous radio comedies, and from the humour of the music halls. The shows used sound effects in a novel manner, which, alongside a wide range of voices and accents, created the programme's atmosphere. ...
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Daily Mirror
The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily tabloid. Founded in 1903, it is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the title on its masthead was simply ''The Mirror''. It had an average daily print circulation of 716,923 in December 2016, dropping to 587,803 the following year. Its Sunday sister paper is the '' Sunday Mirror''. Unlike other major British tabloids such as '' The Sun'' and the '' Daily Mail'', the ''Mirror'' has no separate Scottish edition; this function is performed by the '' Daily Record'' and the '' Sunday Mail'', which incorporate certain stories from the ''Mirror'' that are of Scottish significance. Originally pitched to the middle-class reader, it was converted into a working-class newspaper after 1934, in order to reach a larger audience. It was founded by Alfred Harmsworth, who sold it to his brother Harold Harmsworth (from 1914 Lord Rothermere) in 1913. In 1963 a restructuring of the media interests of the Ha ...
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The Sunday People
The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881. At one point owned by Odhams Press Odhams Press was a British publishing company, operating from 1920 to 1968. Originally a magazine publisher, Odhams later expanded into book publishing and then children's comics. The company was acquired by Fleetway Publications in 1961 and the ..., The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the '' Daily Herald''. It is now published by Reach plc, and shares a website with the Mirror papers. In July 2011, when it benefited from the closure of the '' News of the World'', it had an average Sunday circulation of 806,544. By December 2016 the circulation had shrunk to 239,364 and by August 2020 to 125,216. Christmas issue Christmas Day is falling on Sunday in 2022 but instead of normal paper a special edition will appear on Saturday December 24th Christmas Eve. References 1 ...
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UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-selling Single (music), singles in the United Kingdom, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and music streaming, streaming. The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and MTV (Official UK Top 40), is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a Single (music), single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio ...
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Lotte Hass
Lotte Hass (born Charlotte Hildegard Baierl; 6 November 1928 – 14 January 2015 (age 86)) was an Austrian underwater diver, model and actress. She was the second wife of the Austrian naturalist and diving pioneer Hans Hass (1919–2013), and worked as a model and actress in several of his underwater natural history films. She was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame and the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame in 2000. Life and work When Hans Hass was looking for a secretary for his office in Vienna in the summer of 1947, Lotte Baierl took the position. She had just passed her high school exam and was a big fan of Hass. Lotte got to work next to his office to deal with diving equipment and underwater cameras, because she hoped to be allowed to attend Hass's next expedition. She trained in swimming pools, dived and photographed in the lakes around Vienna, and was supported and trained by Hass's assistant Kurt Schaefer. Hans Hass was generally opposed to a woman partici ...
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Hans Hass
Hans Hass (23 January 1919 – 16 June 2013) was an Austrian biologist and underwater diving pioneer. He was known mainly for being among the first scientists to popularise coral reefs, stingrays, octopuses and sharks. He pioneered the making of documentaries filmed underwater and led the development of a type of rebreather. He is also known for his energon theory and his commitment to protecting the environment. Early years Hass was born in Vienna; his father was an attorney and Hass initially pursued law. However, Hass had a formative encounter with the American diver Guy Gilpatric while on a Riviera holiday in 1938 which included underwater hunting and photography. After making expeditions to the Caribbean Sea and writing his first professional articles in 1938-39, in 1940 Hass switched from reading law to studying zoology and graduated with a Ph.D. from the University of Berlin in 1943 at the Faculty of Biology. His thesis was the first scientific research project that used a ...
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