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Benjamin Whitrow
Benjamin John Whitrow (17 February 1937 – 28 September 2017) was an English actor. He was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for his role as Mr Bennet in the 1995 BBC version of ''Pride and Prejudice'', and voiced the role of Fowler in the 2000 animated film ''Chicken Run''. His other film appearances include ''Quadrophenia'' (1979), ''Personal Services'' (1987) and ''Bomber'' (2009). Life and career Whitrow was born on 17 February 1937 in Oxford, Oxfordshire, the son of Mary Alexandra (Flaunders) and Philip Whitrow, a teacher at St Edward's School, Oxford. He attended the Dragon School, Tonbridge School, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He served in the King's Dragoon Guards during his national service from 1956 to 1958. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1981. He played Russell in the original radio version of '' After Henry'' by Simon Brett. A lifelong fan of the writings of the English author Denton Welch, he was instrumental in bringing the ...
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Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world; it has buildings in every style of English architecture since late Anglo-Saxon. Oxford's industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing, information technology and science. History The history of Oxford in England dates back to its original settlement in the Saxon period. Originally of strategic significance due to its controlling location on the upper reaches of the River Thames at its junction with the River Cherwell, the town grew in national importance during the early Norman period, and in the late 12th century became home to the fledgling University of Oxford. The city was besieged during The Anarchy in 1142. The university rose to dom ...
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After Henry (radio Series)
''After Henry'' is a British sitcom written by Simon Brett. It started on BBC Radio 4 and later moved to television. Prunella Scales and Joan Sanderson starred in both radio and television versions. A novel, also by Simon Brett, followed the series. hardback, paperback Cast *Prunella Scales – Sarah France *Joan Sanderson – Eleanor Prescott *Gerry Cowper – Clare France *Benjamin Whitrow – Russell Bryant Plot Sarah France is the 42-year-old widow of a GP, Henry. She lives in an often volatile family situation with her mother, Eleanor Prescott, and her daughter, eighteen-year-old Clare France. After Henry's death, the three generations of women have to cope with one another as best they can, under their shared roof. Sarah often finds herself in the middle of things, usually figuratively but always literally, as her mother lives upstairs and her daughter has the downstairs flat. Eleanor, ruthlessly cunning and emotionally manipulative, takes every opportunity to get ...
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Poet Laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch) of Arezzo were the first to be crowned poets laureate after the classical age, respectively in 1315 and 1342. In Britain, the term dates from the appointment of Bernard André by Henry VII of England. The royal office of Poet Laureate in England dates from the appointment of John Dryden in 1668. In modern times a poet laureate title may be conferred by an organization such as the Poetry Foundation, which designates a Young People's Poet Laureate, unconnected with the National Youth Poet Laureate and the United States Poet Laureate. The office is also popular with regional and community groups. Examples include the Pikes Peak Poet Laureate, which is designated by a "Presenting Partners" group from within the community, the Minnesota poet l ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ...
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Hiberno-English
Hiberno-English (from Latin ''Hibernia'': "Ireland"), and in ga, Béarla na hÉireann. or Irish English, also formerly Anglo-Irish, is the set of English dialects native to the island of Ireland (including both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland). In the Republic of Ireland, English is one of two official languages, along with the Irish language, and is the country's working language. Irish English's writing standards, such as its spelling, align with British English. However, Irish English's diverse accents and some of its grammatical structures and vocabulary are unique, with some influences deriving from the Irish language and some notably conservative phonological features: features no longer common in the accents of England or North America. Phonologists today often divide Irish English into four or five overarching dialects or accents:Hickey, Raymond. ''A Sound Atlas of Irish English'', Volume 1. Walter de Gruyter: 2004pp. 57–60. Ulster English, Ulster ...
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Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all general elections since 1922, Labour has been either the governing party or the Official Opposition. There have been six Labour prime ministers and thirteen Labour ministries. The party holds the annual Labour Party Conference, at which party policy is formulated. The party was founded in 1900, having grown out of the trade union movement and socialist parties of the 19th century. It overtook the Liberal Party to become the main opposition to the Conservative Party in the early 1920s, forming two minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in the 1920s and early 1930s. Labour served in the wartime coalition of 1940–1945, after which Clement Attlee's Labour government established the National Health Service and expanded the welfa ...
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The New Statesman (1987 TV Series)
''The New Statesman'' is a British sitcom made in the late 1980s and early 1990s satirising the United Kingdom's Conservative government of the period. It was written by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran at the request of, and as a starring vehicle for, its principal actor Rik Mayall. The show's theme song is an arrangement by Alan Hawkshaw of part of the ''Promenade'' from ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. The programme was made by the ITV franchise Yorkshire Television between 1987 and 1992, although the BBC made two special episodes; one in 1988, the other in 1994. Cast list *Rik Mayall as Alan B'Stard MP *Michael Troughton as Piers Fletcher-Dervish MP *Marsha Fitzalan as Sarah B'Stard *Rowena Cooper as Norman/Norma Bormann (Series 1; she was credited as "R. R. Cooper" in all but episode six, in order to keep her gender uncertain) * Charles Gray as Roland Gidleigh-Park (Series 1) *Vivien Heilbron as Beatrice Protheroe (Series 1) * Stev ...
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Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in a number of projects during the 1980s and 1990s, including the BBC sketch comedy series ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie'' and the P. G. Wodehouse adaptation ''Jeeves and Wooster''. He appeared in two series of the period comedy ''Blackadder'' (1987–1989) alongside Rowan Atkinson. From 2004 to 2012, Laurie starred as Dr. Gregory House on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox medical drama series ''House (TV series), House''. He received two Golden Globe Awards and many other accolades for the role, and was listed in the 2011 ''Guinness World Records'' as the most watched leading man on television and was one of the highest-paid actors in a television drama, earning £250,000 ($409,000) per episode of ''House''. His other television credits include arm ...
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Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie'' (1989–1995) and ''Jeeves and Wooster'' (1990–1993). He also starred in the sketch series ''Alfresco'' (1983–1984) alongside Laurie, Emma Thompson and Robbie Coltrane, and in ''Blackadder'' (1986–1989) alongside Rowan Atkinson. Since 2011, he has served as president of the mental health charity Mind. Fry's film acting roles include playing his idol Oscar Wilde in the film ''Wilde'' (1997), for which he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor; Inspector Thompson in Robert Altman's murder mystery ''Gosford Park'' (2001); and Mr. Johnson in Whit Stillman's ''Love & Friendship'' (2016). He has also made appearances in the films ''Chariots of Fire'' (1981), '' A Fish Called Wanda'' (1988), ' ...
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A Bit Of Fry And Laurie
''A Bit of Fry & Laurie'' is a British sketch comedy television series written by and starring former Cambridge Footlights members Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, broadcast on both BBC1 and BBC2 between 1989 and 1995. It ran for four series and totalled 26 episodes, including a 36-minute pilot episode in 1987. As in ''The Two Ronnies'', elaborate wordplay and innuendo were staples of its material. It frequently broke the fourth wall; characters would revert into their real-life actors mid-sketch, or the camera would often pan off set into the studio. In addition, the show was punctuated with non sequitur vox pops in a similar style to those of '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', often making irrelevant statements, heavily based on wordplay. Laurie was also seen playing piano and a wide variety of other instruments and singing comical numbers. Broadcast details The 36-minute pilot was broadcast on BBC1 at 11:55pm on Boxing Day 1987, although it was later edited down to 29 m ...
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BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio channels, it is funded by the television licence, and is therefore free of commercial advertising. It is a comparatively well-funded public-service network, regularly attaining a much higher audience share than most public-service networks worldwide. Originally styled BBC2, it was the third British television station to be launched (starting on 21 April 1964), and from 1 July 1967, Europe's first television channel to broadcast regularly in colour. It was envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming, and while this tendency has continued to date, most special-interest programmes of a kind previously broadcast on BBC Two, for example the BBC Proms, no ...
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Slightly Foxed
''Slightly Foxed'' is a British quarterly literary magazine. Its primary focus is books and book culture. 2016 saw the publication of its fiftieth issue. Notable authors to have written for the magazine include Penelope Lively, Richard Mabey, Diana Athill, Ronald Blythe and Robert Macfarlane. Instead of books currently marketed by big publishers, ''Slightly Foxed'' tends to examine older and more obscure titles. Its title comes from the term "slightly foxed" as a description of a book's physical quality, commonly used in the second-hand book trade to describe minor foxing, the occurrence of brown spots on older paper. As well as the magazine itself, ''Slightly Foxed'' has a books imprint, and between 2009 and 2016 ran a bookshop on London's Gloucester Road.Slightly Foxed Bookshop to close at ...
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