Alun Armstrong
Alan Armstrong, known professionally as Alun Armstrong, is an English actor. He grew up in County Durham in North East England, and first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his grammar school. Since his career began in the early 1970s, he has played, in his words, "the full spectrum of characters from the grotesque to musicals... I always play very colourful characters, often a bit crazy, despotic, psychotic".Kalina, Paul"Old Hand Returns with New Tricks" ''The Age'', 8 November 2007. Retrieved 2018-06-08. His credits include several Charles Dickens adaptations, and the eccentric ex-detective Brian Lane in ''New Tricks''. He is also an accomplished stage actor who spent nine years with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He originated the role of Thénardier in the London production of ''Les Misérables'', and won an Olivier Award in the title role in ''Sweeney Todd''. Early life Born Alan Armstrong in Annfield Plain, County Durham, his father was a co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Annfield Plain
Annfield Plain is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated on a plateau between the towns of Stanley, to the north-east, and Consett, to the west. According to the 2001 census, Annfield Plain has a population of 3,569. By the time of the 2011 Census Annfield Plain had become a ward of Stanley parish. The ward had a population of 10,012. Along with much of the surrounding area, Annfield Plain's history lies in coal mining. While the industry collapsed in the 1980s and 90s, its effects are still apparent both in the landscape and in folk memory. Much of the surrounding landscape is rough moorland, dominated by the nearby Pontop Pike television mast. Not far from semi-rural Derwentside, however, is the Tyneside–Wearside conurbation, with Newcastle away, and Sunderland a similar distance. The cathedral city of Durham is away and offers quite a contrast to the former pit villages in the area of Annfield Plain. Name "Anfield", as the name was originally appe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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National Youth Theatre
The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth theatre, the NYT has built a reputation for producing actors such as Daniel Craig, Daniel Day-Lewis, Timothy Dalton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba, Colin Firth, Derek Jacobi, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane, Helen Mirren, Lysette Anthony, Rosamund Pike, Regé-Jean Page and Kate Winslet, among numerous others. The NYT holds annual acting auditions and technical theatre interviews around the United Kingdom, receiving an average of over 5,000 applicants. Currently, around 500 places are offered on summer acting and technical courses (costume, lighting and sound, scenery and prop making, and stage management), which offer participants NYT membership upon completion. Members are then eligible to audition for the company's productions, which are stag ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Krull (film)
''Krull'' is a 1983 science fantasy swashbuckler filmNathan, Ian (10 October 2015)"Krull review" ''Empire''. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved 28 August 2017. directed by Peter Yates and written by Stanford Sherman. It follows Prince Colwyn and a fellowship of companions who set out to rescue his bride, Princess Lyssa, from a fortress of alien invaders who have arrived on their home planet. The film stars an ensemble cast, including Kenneth Marshall as Prince Colwyn, Lysette Anthony as Princess Lyssa, Trevor Martin as the voice of the Beast, Freddie Jones as Ynyr, Bernard Bresslaw as Rell the Cyclops, David Battley as Ergo the Magnificent, Tony Church and Bernard Archard as kings and the fathers of Colwyn and Lyssa, Alun Armstrong as the leader of a group of bandits that include early screen roles for actors Liam Neeson and Robbie Coltrane, John Welsh as The Emerald Seer, Graham McGrath as Titch, and Francesca Annis as The Widow of the Web. Development on the film began in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Duellists
''The Duellists'' is a 1977 British historical drama film and the feature film directorial debut of Ridley Scott. It won the Best Debut Film award at the 1977 Cannes Film Festival. The basis of the screenplay is the Joseph Conrad short story "The Duel" (titled "Point of Honor" in the United States) published in ''A Set of Six''. A novelization of the film by Gordon Williams, which included historical contexts and slightly expanded the plot, was published by Fontana Books in Great Britain in 1977 and by Pocket Books () in the United States in 1978. Plot Strasbourg 1800 In Strasbourg in 1800, Lieutenant Gabriel Feraud of the French 7th Hussars, a fervent Bonapartist and obsessive duellist, nearly kills the nephew of the city's mayor in a duel. Under pressure from the mayor, Brigadier-General Treillard orders one of his officers, Lieutenant Armand d'Hubert of the 3rd Hussars, to place Feraud under house arrest. When d'Hubert delivers the order, Feraud takes it as a personal i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ridley Scott
Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades throughout his career, including the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2018. In 2003, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the British film industry. He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2007, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011. An alumnus of the Royal College of Art in London, Scott began his career in television as a designer and director before moving into advertising, where he honed his filmmaking skills by making mini-films for television commercials. He made his debut as a film director with ''The Duellists'' (1977) and gained wider recognition with his next film, ''Alien'' (1979). Three years later he would dir ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Battle Of Arnhem
The Battle of Arnhem was a battle of the Second World War at the vanguard of the Allied Operation Market Garden. It was fought in and around the Dutch city of Arnhem, the town of Oosterbeek, the villages Wolfheze and Driel and the vicinity from 17 to 26 September 1944. The Allies were poised to enter the Netherlands after sweeping through France and Belgium in the summer of 1944, after the Battle of Normandy. Operation Market Garden was proposed by Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, who favoured a single push northwards over the branches of the Lower Rhine River, allowing the British Second Army to bypass the Siegfried Line and attack the Ruhr. US Airborne troops were dropped in the Netherlands to secure bridges and towns along the line of the Allied advance. Farthest north, the British 1st Airborne Division landed at Arnhem to capture bridges across the Nederrijn (Lower Rhine), supported by men of the Glider Pilot Regiment and the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade. The Briti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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A Bridge Too Far (film)
''A Bridge Too Far'' is a 1977 epic war film depicting Operation Market Garden, a failed Allied operation in Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II. Based on a non-fiction book of the same name by historian Cornelius Ryan, the film is directed by Richard Attenborough and with a screenplay by William Goldman. It stars an ensemble cast, featuring Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Hardy Krüger, Laurence Olivier, Ryan O'Neal, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell and Liv Ullmann. Independently produced by Richard and Joseph E. Levine, it was the second film based on a book by Ryan to be adapted for the screen (after '' The Longest Day'') (1962). It was the second film based on the events of World War II's failed Operation Market Garden (after ''Theirs Is the Glory'') (1946).'' "Theirs Is the Glory." Arnhem, Hurst and Conflict on Film'', Co-authored by David Truesdale and Allan Esler Smith. Page x, I ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mike Hodges
Michael Tommy Hodges (29 July 1932 – 17 December 2022) was a British screenwriter, film and television director, playwright and novelist. His films as writer/director include ''Get Carter'' (1971), ''Pulp'' (1972), ''The Terminal Man'' (1974) and '' Black Rainbow'' (1989). He co-wrote and was the original director on '' Damien: Omen II''. As director, his films include ''Flash Gordon'' (1980) and ''Croupier'' (1998). Early life Hodges was born in Bristol on 29 July 1932, and was raised in Salisbury and Bath. He qualified as a chartered accountant and spent two years of national service on the lower deck of a Royal Navy minesweeper. Career Hodges found a job in British television as a teleprompter operator. The job allowed him to observe the workings of the studios, and gave him time to start writing scripts. One of these scripts was ''Some Will Cry Murder'', written for ABC's ''Armchair Theatre'' series. Although never performed, it served to get him enough writing com ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Get Carter
''Get Carter'' is a 1971 British crime film written and directed by Mike Hodges in his directorial debut and starring Michael Caine, Ian Hendry, John Osborne, Britt Ekland and Bryan Mosley. Based on Ted Lewis's 1970 novel ''Jack's Return Home'', the film follows the eponymous Jack Carter (Caine), a London gangster who returns to his hometown in North East England to learn about his brother's supposedly accidental death. Suspecting foul play, and with vengeance on his mind, he investigates and interrogates, regaining a feel for the city and its hardened-criminal element. Producer Michael Klinger optioned Lewis's novel shortly after its publication and made a deal with the ailing Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) to finance and release the film, making ''Get Carter'' the last project to be approved by the studio's Borehamwood division before its closure. The production went from novel to finished film in eight months, with principal photography taking place from July to September 1970 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London. The station controller is Mohit Bakaya. Broadcasting throughout the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands on FM, LW and DAB, and on BBC Sounds, it can be received in the eastern counties of Ireland, northern France and Northern Europe. It is available on Freeview, Sky, and Virgin Media. Radio 4 currently reaches over 10 million listeners, making it the UK's second most-popular radio station after Radio 2. BBC Radio 4 broadcasts news programmes such as ''Today'' and ''The World at One'', heralded on air by the Greenwich Time Signal pips or the chimes of Big Ben. The pips are only accurate on FM, LW, and MW; there is a delay on digital radio of three to five seconds and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sheffield Repertory Theatre
The Sheffield Repertory Theatre was a theatre company in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Herbert Prince, a railway clerk, founded the amateur dramatics society in 1919,Frank Long "Sheffield" in Colin Chambers ''Twentieth Century Theatre'', London: Continuum, 2002, p.687 a first meeting is recorded at the Oxford Street Settlement in Shipton Street that year, which became the Sheffield Repertory Theatre in 1923. A meeting in October 1923 formed an Executive Committee for a professional Company, consisting of Wilfred Vickers, W.C. Landon, C.V. McNally, A. Ballard, H.W. d. Harkcom and Herbert M. Prentice. The subscription was 3 shillings and sixpence. At the first Annual Meeting in January 1924, the aims were formulated: #To promote and encourage interest in the Drama and kindred Arts. #To produce Plays #To arrange lectures, recitals, play-readings and discussions #To promote social intercourse amongst the members #To form a library of dramatic literature for the use of members ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cambridge Arts Theatre
Cambridge Arts Theatre is a 666-seat theatre on Peas Hill and St Edward's Passage in central Cambridge, England. The theatre presents a varied mix of drama, dance, opera and pantomime. It attracts some of the highest-quality touring productions in the country, as well as many shows direct from, or prior to, seasons in the West End. Its annual Christmas pantomime is an established tradition in the city. From 1969 to 1985, the theatre was also home to the Cambridge Theatre Company, a renowned national touring company. The Cambridge Arts Theatre was founded in 1936 by the famous Cambridge economist and statesman John Maynard Keynes. The Cambridge Arts Theatre has also been home to performances of Cambridge University's Marlowe Society, and it provides a venue for the university's triennial Cambridge Greek Play performed in Ancient Greek. In previous years it also housed performances by Footlights, the Cambridge University Gilbert & Sullivan Society and the Cambridge University Mu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |