Are You Lookin' At Me
Eric "Ricky" Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Bobby Grant in '' Brookside'', DCI Charlie Wise in ''Cracker'' and Jim Royle in '' The Royle Family'', and playing the titular character in the film '' Mike Bassett: England Manager'' (2001). Early life Eric Tomlinson was born on 26 September 1939 at Burleigh House in Bispham, Blackpool, Lancashire, and has lived in Liverpool nearly all his life. His father was a baker and he was born in Bispham, near Blackpool, because, just after the outbreak of World War II, his mother Peggy was evacuated there over concerns that Liverpool would be bombed. He attended Walton Technical College in Walton, after passing an exam when he was 13. His favourite subject was English. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Tomlinson played banjo in bands known as the Guitanjos, Hobo Rick & The City Slickers, and Hobo Rick and the Hi-Free Three. For a time, the band's pianist was John ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bispham, Blackpool
Bispham is a village on the Fylde coast in Lancashire, England, a mile and a half north of Blackpool town centre. Geography and administration The village is part of the borough of Blackpool, and generally considered a suburb of the town. To the south of Bispham is Warbreck, North Shore and Layton, to the east is Carleton and to the north is Norbreck and Thornton Cleveleys and to the west, the Irish Sea. The area is mostly urban. Bispham was formerly in the Blackpool North and Fleetwood parliamentary constituency, but, as of the 2010 general election forms part of the Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency whose M.P. is Paul Maynard. Bispham has three Blackpool Council electoral wards: Bispham, Greenlands and Ingthorpe. Demographics The population at the United Kingdom Census 2001 was 19,165, 13.41% of the population of Blackpool (142,900), with 3,873 residents aged between 0 and 17 years old (20.21%), 4,329 aged 65 and over (22.58%) and 10,963 between the ages of 1 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Quarrymen
The Quarrymen (also written as "the Quarry Men") are a British skiffle/rock and roll group, formed by John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which evolved into the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several schoolfriends, the Quarrymen took their name from a line in the school song of their school, the Quarry Bank High School. Lennon's mother, Julia, taught her son to play the banjo, showed Lennon and Eric Griffiths how to tune their guitars in a similar way to the banjo, and taught them simple chords and songs. Lennon founded a skiffle group that was briefly called the Blackjacks, but they changed the name before any public performances. Some accounts credit Lennon with choosing the new name; other accounts credit his close friend Pete Shotton with suggesting the name. The Quarrymen played at parties, school dances, cinemas and amateur skiffle contests before Paul McCartney joined in October 1957. George Harrison joined in early 1958 at McCartney's recommendation ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Farmfoods
Farmfoods is a British frozen food and grocery supermarket chain based in Cumbernauld, Scotland. It is owned by Eric Herd, and has over three hundred shops in the United Kingdom, of which more than a hundred are in Scotland. History The company started in 1955 as a meat-processing business. A shop was opened in Aberdeen in the 1970s, and by the mid-1980s the company had about twenty. In the 1990s it bought Capital Freezer Centres and Wallis Frozen Foods. In 2005 it had annual sales of just over £400 million, the highest of any private mid-market firm in Scotland in that year, and fourth-highest in the United Kingdom. In 2011 Farmfoods and Asda made an unsuccessful bid for Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...; Farmfoods would have acquired two hundred of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Centrica
Centrica plc is a British multinational energy and services company with its headquarters in Windsor, Berkshire. Its principal activity is the supply of electricity and gas to consumers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is the largest supplier of gas to domestic customers in the United Kingdom, and one of the largest suppliers of electricity, operating under the trading names Scottish Gas in Scotland and British Gas in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It owns Bord Gáis Energy in Ireland. The company also provides household services including plumbing. Centrica is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History Predecessors The company has its historical origin in the Gas Light and Coke Company which incorporated in 1812. Over the next 137 years, it grew by acquisition of other gas companies to become the primary supplier of gas to Greater London. In 1949, under the Gas Act 1948 the ownership of the company transferred to ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Television Commercial
A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. Advertisers and marketers may refer to television commercials as TVCs. Advertising revenue provides a significant portion of the funding for most privately-owned television networks. During the 2010s, the number of commercials has grown steadily, though the length of each commercial has diminished. Advertisements of this type have promoted a wide variety of goods, services, and ideas ever since the early days of the history of television. The viewership of television programming, as measured by companies such as Nielsen Media Research in the United States, or BARB in the UK, is often used as a metric for television advertis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Danny Brocklehurst
Danny Brocklehurst (born June 1971 in Hyde, Cheshire) is an English screenwriter and playwright. He has won both BAFTA and Royal Television Society writing awards. He was featured in the writers' section of the '' Broadcast magazine'' Hot 100 2007. In 2013 he also wrote the track "Ring" with dance band Mint Royale, featuring the vocals of Willem Dafoe. Early career Brocklehurst worked as a journalist for several years (as a freelancer for ''The Guardian'', '' City Life'' and ''Manchester Evening News'' and senior feature writer for ''The Big Issue'') before becoming a full-time screenwriter. He cited Tony Marchant, Jimmy McGovern and Alan Bleasdale as his writing inspirations. In a Creative Times feature in 2010, he wrote that ''Our Friends in the North'' was his favourite drama of all time. Writing Television work Brocklehurst wrote several episodes of the BAFTA award-winning series ''Clocking Off'', as well as the two-part BBC film ''The Stretford Wives'', which was shot ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Clocking Off
''Clocking Off'' is a British television drama series which was broadcast on BBC One for four series from 2000 to 2003. It was produced for the BBC by the independent Red Production Company, and created by Paul Abbott. It was effectively an anthology programme, following the lives of a group of workers at a Manchester textile factory, with each episode focusing on the home life of a different character. Well-known actors who appeared in the series included Christopher Eccleston, Sophie Okonedo, Philip Glenister, John Simm, Lesley Sharp, Siobhan Finneran, Emma Cunniffe, Diane Parish, David Morrissey, Ricky Tomlinson, Julian Rhind-Tutt, William Ash, Ben Crompton, Jack Deam, Jack P. Shepherd, Tina O'Brien, Jason Merrells, Pam Ferris, Wil Johnson, Ashley Jensen, Susan Cookson, Mark Benton, Sarah Lancashire, Crissy Rock, Marshall Lancaster, Marc Warren, Claire Sweeney and Maxine Peake. The series was highly acclaimed by the critics, winning the British Academy Television Award for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paul Abbott
Paul Abbott (born 22 February 1960) is an English television screenwriter and producer. Abbott has become one of the most critically and commercially successful television writers working in Britain, following his work on popular series such as ''Coronation Street'', '' Cracker'' and '' Shameless'', the last of which he created. He is also responsible for the creation of some of the most acclaimed television dramas of the 1990s and 2000s, including '' Reckless'' and ''Touching Evil'' for ITV and ''Clocking Off'' and '' State of Play'' for the BBC. Decca Aitkenhead"Estate of Play" ''The Guardian'', 12 July 2008. Accessed 14 July 2008. Background Born into a dysfunctional Burnley family, Paul Abbott is the seventh of eight children. When he was nine his mother left home to pursue a relationship with another man (with a child around Abbott's own age); his father, who Abbott describes as having been "bone idle", departed two years later. His mother had supported the family from thre ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Henshaw
John Joseph Henshaw (born August 1950) is a British actor, best known for his roles as Ken Dixon the landlord in ''Early Doors'', Wilf Bradshaw in ''Born and Bred'' and PC Roy Bramwell in '' The Cops.'' Often associated with characters who are "hard men", he played John Prescott in the 2007 ITV drama ''Confessions of a Diary Secretary''. Early life One of 12 siblings, he was born in August 1950and grew up in Ancoats, Manchester's "Little Italy" community. He was a binman for ten years before deciding, at the age of 40, to become an actor. Acting career His first big break in acting was as a minder to Robert Lindsay's character Michael Murray in the acclaimed Channel 4 series, '' G.B.H.''. He had roles in the Steve Coogan film, ''The Parole Officer'' and in the BBC Three sitcom '' The Visit'', first shown in July 2007. In 2002 he appeared in the Scottish Gaelic drama, ''Anna Bheag'' (''Wee Anna''), although not as a Gaelic-speaking character. Other credits include ''Nice Guy ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tom Ellis (actor)
Thomas John Ellis (born 17 November 1978) is a Welsh actor. He is known for playing Lucifer Morningstar in the Fox urban fantasy series ''Lucifer'' and its ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' crossover appearance in the Arrowverse franchise, Gary Preston in the BBC One sitcom '' Miranda'', Hollywood doctor William P. Rush in the USA Network series '' Rush'', and Mark Etches in the supernatural drama series ''The Fades''. Early life Thomas John Ellis was born in Cardiff on 17 November 1978, the son of Marilyn Jean (née Hooper) and Christopher John Ellis. He has three sisters, one of whom is his twin. His father, uncle, and one of his sisters are all Baptist ministers. After his birth, the family moved to England and he grew up in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. He attended Sheffield's High Storrs School and played the French horn in the City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra. He later earned a BA in Dramatic Studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. Career Ellis' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Private Investigator
A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators often work for attorneys in civil and criminal cases. History In 1833, Eugène François Vidocq, a French soldier, criminal, and privateer, founded the first known private detective agency, "Le Bureau des Renseignements Universels pour le commerce et l'Industrie" ("The Office of Universal Information For Commerce and Industry") and hired ex-convicts. Much of what private investigators did in the early days was to act as the police in matters for which their clients felt the police were not equipped or willing to do. Official law enforcement tried many times to shut it down. In 1842, police arrested him in suspicion of unlawful imprisonment and taking money on false pretences after he had solved an embezzlement case. Vidocq later suspecte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |