Britain's Best Sitcom
''Britain's Best Sitcom'' was a BBC media campaign in which television viewers were asked to decide the best British situation comedy. Viewers could vote via telephone, SMS, or BBC Online. This first round of voting was conducted in 2003, after which the BBC published a list of the top 100 selections. From this list, they produced a 12-episode television series broadcast by BBC Two from January through to March 2004. The series was a retrospective that examined the history and qualities of the contending programmes. In the first episode, Jonathan Ross summarised the progress of the poll and presented video clips from the 50 sitcoms that received the most votes. Each of the next ten weekly episodes, one hour in length, focused on one sitcom. In each episode, a different celebrity presenter advocated a particular sitcom, delivering 20 reasons why it deserved viewers' votes. The sitcom's writers and actors, as well as celebrity viewers, also shared their own perspectives and memori ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Documentary Series
Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. *Television documentary series, sometimes called docuseries, are television series screened within an ordered collection of two or more televised episodes. *Television documentary films exist as a singular documentary film to be broadcast via a documentary channel or a News_broadcasting, news-related channel. Occasionally, documentary films that were initially intended for televised broadcasting may be screened in a Movie theater, cinema. Documentary television rose to prominence during the 1940s, spawning from earlier cinematic documentary filmmaking ventures. Early production techniques were highly inefficient compared to modern recording methods. Early television documentaries typically featured historical, wartime, investigative or event-related subject matter. Contemporary televisio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ben Elton
Benjamin Charles Elton (born 3 May 1959) is an English comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director. He was a part of London's alternative comedy movement of the 1980s and became a writer on the sitcoms '' The Young Ones'' and ''Blackadder'', as well as continuing as a stand-up comedian on stage and television. His style in the 1980s was left-wing political satire. Since then he has published 17 novels and written the musicals ''The Beautiful Game'' (2000), ''We Will Rock You'' (2002), '' Tonight's the Night'' (2003), and '' Love Never Dies'' (2010), the sequel to ''The Phantom of the Opera''. His novels cover the dystopian, comedy, and crime genres. Early life and education Elton was born on 3 May 1959 at University College Hospital in Fitzrovia, London, the son of Mary (née Foster), an English teacher from Cheshire, and physicist and educational researcher Professor Lewis Elton. He is a nephew of the historian Sir Geoffrey Elton and a third cousin of singer Oliv ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Surbiton
Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it has been in Greater London. Surbiton comprises four of the RBK's wards: Alexandra, Berrylands, St. Mark's, and Surbiton Hill. Founded originally as Kingston-upon-Railway when the area was first developed in the 1840s, Surbiton possesses a mixture of grand 19th-century townhouses, Art Deco courts, and more recent residential blocks blending in with semi-detached 20th-century housing estates. With a population of 45,132 in 2016, it accounts for approximately 25% of the total population of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. Surbiton extends over an area of . Etymology Though Surbiton only received its current name in 1869, the name is attested as ''Suberton'' in 1179, ''Surbeton'' in 1263, ''Surpeton'' in 1486, and finally ''Surbiton'' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Good Life (1975 TV Series)
''The Good Life'' is a British sitcom, produced by BBC television. It ran from 4 April 1975 to 10 June 1978 on BBC 1 and was written by Bob Larbey and John Esmonde. Opening with the midlife crisis of Tom Good, a 40-year-old plastics designer, it relates the joys and setbacks he and his wife Barbara experience when they attempt to escape a modern "rat race" lifestyle by "becoming totally self-sufficient" in their suburban house in Surbiton. In 2004, it came 9th in ''Britain's Best Sitcom''. The lead roles are taken by Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal. Background John Esmonde and Bob Larbey wrote ''The Good Life'' for Richard Briers, the only cast member who was well known before the series was broadcast. Larbey and Esmonde were inspired by Larbey's 40th birthday, which seemed to them a milestone in most people's lives. Their story has the Goods' decision to pursue self-sufficiency conflicting sharply with the habits of the Leadbetters, who live next door. The conflict betw ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ulrika Jonsson
Eva Ulrika Jonsson (born 16 August 1967) is a Swedish-British television presenter and model. She became known as a TV-am weather presenter, moved on to present the ITV show ''Gladiators'', and as a team captain of the BBC Two show '' Shooting Stars''. Career After working as a secretary, Jonsson began her television career on TV-am in 1989, as a weather presenter on '' Good Morning Britain''. From 12 September 1989, she was also the weather presenter for Swedish TV3, broadcasting from London. In 1991, she co-presented BBC One's short-lived daytime quiz show ''Who's Bluffing Who?'' with Richard Cartridge, and starred in the French film, ''The Annunciation of Marie'' (1991). In 1992, she moved into mainstream presenting and played host to numerous shows including ITV's ''Gladiators'', ''The National Lottery Draws'' – plus two major international broadcasts, the Eurovision Song Contest in 1998 and Miss World in 1999. She also modelled for Playtex Lingerie during this period and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Esmonde And Larbey
Esmonde may refer to: People ;Given name * Esmonde Higgins (1897-1960), Australian communist ;Surname * A. M. Esmonde (b. 1977), a British movie writer and producer * Sir Anthony Esmonde, 15th Baronet (1899-1981), an Irish politician and farmer * Eugene Esmonde (1909-1942), a British aviator * John Esmonde (other), various people * Sir John Esmonde, 14th Baronet (1893-1958), an Irish politician * Sir John Esmonde, 16th Baronet (1928-1987), an Irish politician * John Gilbert Esmonde (1937-2008), a British television scriptwriter who was part of the duo of Esmonde and Larbey * John Joseph Esmonde (1862-1915), an Irish politician * Laurence Esmonde (other), various people * Laurence Esmonde, Lord Esmonde (1570?-1646) * Sir Osmond Esmonde, 12th Baronet (1896-1936), an Irish diplomat and politician * Thomas Esmonde (other), various people * Sir Thomas Esmonde, 11th Baronet (1862-1935), an Irish politician Titles * Baron Esmonde, a title in the Peerag ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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BBC2
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 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fawlty Towers
''Fawlty Towers'' is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, broadcast on BBC2 in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The show was ranked first on a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000 and, in 2019, it was named the greatest ever British TV sitcom by a panel of comedy experts compiled by the ''Radio Times''.Mattha Busby, 9 April 2019"Fawlty Towers named greatest ever British TV sitcom" ''The Guardian'', Retrieved 24 May 2019 The series is set in Fawlty Towers, a fictional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay on the English Riviera. The plots centre on the tense, rude and put-upon owner Basil Fawlty (Cleese), his bossy wife Sybil (Prunella Scales), the sensible chambermaid Polly (Booth) who often is the peacemaker and voice of reason, and the hapless and English-challenged Spanish waiter Manuel (Andrew Sachs). They show their attempts to run the hotel amidst far ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jack Dee
James Andrew Innes Dee (born 24 September 1961), known professionally as Jack Dee, is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter and writer known for his sarcasm, irony and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom ''Lead Balloon'' and hosts the panel show ''I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue''. His UK television appearances include being a team captain on '' Shooting Stars'' and hosting '' Jack Dee: Live at the Apollo'', which was nominated for a BAFTA in 2006. He also presented ''The Jack Dee Show'', ''Jack Dee's Saturday Night'' and ''Jack Dee's Happy Hour''. He won '' Celebrity Big Brother 1'' in 2001. Early life and education Jack Dee was the youngest of three children born to Rosemary ( Stamper) and Geoffrey Dee, after Joanna Innes Dee and David Simon Innes Dee. He was born in the Municipal Borough of Bromley, Kent (now within the London Borough of Bromley) and grew up in Petts Wood [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Connie Booth
Connie Booth (born 2 December 1940) is an American-born actress and writer. She has appeared in several British television programmes and films, including her role as Polly Sherman on BBC Two's ''Fawlty Towers'', which she co-wrote with her then-husband John Cleese. In 1995 she quit acting and worked as a psychotherapist until her retirement. Early life Booth was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, on 2 December 1940. Her father was a Wall Street stockbroker and her mother an actress. The family later moved to New York State. Booth entered acting and worked as a Broadway understudy and waitress. She met John Cleese while he was working in New York City; they married on February 20, 1968. Acting career Booth secured parts in episodes of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' (1969–74) and in the Python films ''And Now for Something Completely Different'' (1971) and ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975, as a woman accused of being a witch). She also appeared in ''How to Irritate ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on ''The Frost Report''. In the late 1960s, he co-founded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus.'' Along with his Python co-stars Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Graham Chapman, Cleese starred in Monty Python films, which include '' Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975), ''Life of Brian'' (1979) and ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, The Meaning of Life'' (1983). In the mid-1970s, Cleese and first wife Connie Booth co-wrote the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'', in which he starred as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, for which he won the 1980 British Academy Television Award for Best Entertainment Performance. In 2000 the show topped the British Film Inst ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, primetime drama and entertainment, and live BBC Sport events. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution. It was renamed BBC TV in 1960 and used this name until the launch of the second BBC channel, BBC2, in 1964. The main channel then became known as BBC1. The channel adopted the current spelling of BBC One in 1997. The channel's annual budget for 2012–2013 was £1.14 billion. It is funded by the television licence fee together with the BBC's other domestic television stations and shows uninterrupted programming without commercial advertising. The television channel had the highest reach share of any broadcaster in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |