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Callan (TV Series)
''Callan'' is a British action-drama spy television series created by James Mitchell, first airing between 1967 and 1972. It starred Edward Woodward as David Callan, an agent of a state secret service dealing with internal security threats to the United Kingdom. Though portrayed as having responsibilities similar to those of the real-life MI5, Callan's fictional "Section" has ''carte blanche'' to use the most ruthless of methods. In the storylines interrogation is by means of torture, while extrajudicial killings are so routine they have a colour-coded filing system. With the possible exception of '' La Femme Nikita'', no TV series has ever presented a Western government agency in so sinister a light as ''Callan''. Despite being an assassin who stays in the socially isolating job because it is the only thing he is good at, Callan is a sympathetic character by comparison to his sadistic upper-class colleagues and implacable superiors. The downbeat cover for the Section's headqua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the epic and the lyrical modes ever since Aristotle's '' Poetics'' (c. 335 BC)—the earliest work of dramatic theory. The term "drama" comes from a Greek word meaning "deed" or " act" (Classical Greek: , ''drâma''), which is derived from "I do" (Classical Greek: , ''dráō''). The two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy. In English (as was the analogous case in many other European languages), the word ''play'' or ''game'' (translating the Anglo-Saxon ''pleġan'' or Latin ''ludus'') was the standard term for dramas until William Shakespeare's time—just as its creator was a ''play-maker'' rather than a ''dramatist'' and the building was a ''play-house'' r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ITV (TV Network)
ITV is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, it has been legally known as Channel 3 to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time, BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4. ITV was for four decades a network of separate companies which provided regional television services and also shared programmes between each other to be shown on the entire network. Each franchise was originally owned by a different company. After several mergers, the fifteen regional franchises are now held by two companies: ITV plc, which runs the ITV1 channel, and STV Group, which runs the STV channel. The ITV network is a separate entity from ITV plc, the company that resulted from the merger of Granada plc and Carlton Communications in 2004. ITV plc holds the Channel 3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Egan
Peter Joseph Egan (born 28 September 1946) is a British actor and animal rights activist. He is known for his television roles, including Hogarth in '' Big Breadwinner Hog'', the future George IV of the United Kingdom in ''Prince Regent'' (1979); smooth neighbour Paul Ryman in the sitcom ''Ever Decreasing Circles'' (1984–89); and Hugh "Shrimpie" MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire, in ''Downton Abbey'' (2012–15). Early life Egan was born on 28 September 1946 in Hampstead, London, the son of Doris (née Pick) and Michael Thomas Egan, who is of Irish descent. He was educated at St George's Catholic School, Maida Vale. He also attended the London Oratory School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Life and career Egan's first stage performance was in ''Charlie Girl''. His first television role was as the sex-and-cinema-obsessed Seth Starkadder in a BBC serialisation of ''Cold Comfort Farm'' (1968). In 1969, he had come to notoriety as the acid-throwing gangster Hogarth in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Bowles
Peter Bowles (16 October 1936 – 17 March 2022) was an English television and stage actor. He gained prominence for television dramas such as '' Callan: A Magnum for Schneider'' and ''I, Claudius''. He is however, best remembered for his roles in sitcoms and television dramadies, including: ''Rumpole of the Bailey'', '' Only When I Laugh'', ''To the Manor Born'', ''The Bounder'', ''The Irish R.M.'', ''Lytton's Diary'', ''Executive Stress'' and ''Perfect Scoundrels''. Early life and education Bowles was born in London, England. His father, Herbert Reginald Bowles, was a valet-companion and chauffeur to Drogo Montagu, son of the George Montagu, 9th Earl of Sandwich, and later butler to Montagu’s widow, a daughter of Lord Beaverbrook. His mother, Sarah Jane (née Harrison), was from Scotland, and served as a nanny to the family of the Duke of Argyll, before working for Beaverbrook's family in England, which is how they met. In October 1939, the family lived in Brackley, Northa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Veronica Lang
Veronica Lang is an Australian-born actress, who started her career in England in theatre and television, before working in her native country, she also briefly worked in America. She won the 1977 AFI Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role in the film adaptation of ''Don's Party'' and the 1980 Logie Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries/Telemovie for ''A Good Thing Going ''A Good Thing Going'' is a 1978 Australian television film directed by Arch Nicholson. It stars John Hargreaves and won four Logie Awards. Plot Phil Harris (Hargreaves) spends more time with his best friend, Terry (Haywood) than with his wife ...''. Filmography FILM TELEVISION Awards References External links * Australian television actresses Australian film actresses Possibly living people Year of birth missing {{Australia-actor-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eric Porter
Eric Richard Porter (8 April 192815 May 1995) was an English actor of stage, film and television. Early life Porter was born in Shepherd's Bush, London, to bus conductor Richard John Porter and Phoebe Elizabeth (née Spall). His parents hoped he would become an electrical engineer, so he was educated at the Technical College in Wimbledon, then worked for the Marconi Telegraph and Wireless company as a joint-solderer. He made his stage debut at the Cambridge Arts Theatre in 1945 at the age of 17. Career In 1955, Porter played the title role in Ben Jonson's ''Volpone'' at the Bristol Old Vic. He won the London Evening Standard award in 1959 for his performance in Ibsen's ''Rosmersholm'' at the Royal Court Theatre. In 1960 he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company; that year, he played Ferdinand in John Webster's ''The Duchess of Malfi''. In 1962, he performed as Iachimo in ''Cymbeline''. Other roles included Ulysses, Macbeth, Leontes, Malvolio, Shylock, King Lear and Henry IV, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Walters (actor)
Hugh Thornton Walters (2 March 1939 – 13 February 2015) was a British actor. During the early 1990s, Hugh Walters appeared regularly on ''The Russ Abbot Show'', and he played a recurring role in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Chance in a Million''. His films include ''Catch Us If You Can'' (1965), ''Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon'' (1967), ''Alfie Darling'' (1975), ''George and Mildred'' (1980), '' Brimstone and Treacle'' (1982), ''The Missionary'' (1982), ''1984'' (1984), '' The Innocent Sleep'' (1995) and ''Firelight'' (1997). In 1975, Hugh Walters replaced Terry Scully in the role of Vic Thatcher late in the first series of the BBC series '' Survivors''. Scully had appeared in 4 episodes, but then suffered a nervous breakdown, leaving the ''Survivors'' production team no choice but to recast the role of Vic with Vic's big episode ''Revenge'' coming up. Walters played Vic in episodes 11 and 13 of the first series. Filmography *''Catch Us If You Can'' (1965) - Grey *''Doctor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Callan (film)
''Callan'' is an 1974 British thriller film directed by Don Sharp and starring Edward Woodward, Eric Porter and Carl Möhner. It was based on the pilot episode of the ITV television series ''Callan'' which ran from 1967 to 1972. Plot David Callan (Edward Woodward), a leading intelligence agent/assassin in the employment of the S.I.S., was forced into retirement when he lost his nerve. Now, he is called back into service to handle the assassination of Schneider, a German businessman. Colonel Hunter (Eric Porter), his former employer, promises Callan that he'll be returned to active status as long as he follows his orders. But Callan refuses to act until he knows exactly why Schneider has been marked for death... Cast * Edward Woodward as David Callan * Russell Hunter as Lonely * Eric Porter as Charles Hunter * Peter Egan as Toby Meres * Carl Möhner as Rudolph Schneider * Catherine Schell as Jenny * Kenneth Griffith as Waterman * Michael Da Costa as The Greek * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Richardson Gang
The Richardson Gang was an English crime gang based in South London, England in the 1960s. Also known as the "Torture Gang", they had a reputation as some of London's most sadistic gangsters. Their alleged specialities included pulling teeth out using pliers, cutting off toes using bolt cutters and nailing victims to floors using 6-inch nails. Prominent members Charlie and Eddie Richardson Charles William "Charlie" Richardson (18 January 1934 – 19 September 2012) was born in Brentford, Middlesex to Eileen Elizabeth Mary (née Allen) and Charles Frederick Richardson, who had married the previous year in Camberwell, South London. The family soon moved back to Camberwell, where younger brother, Edward G. "Eddie" Richardson, was born on 21 January 1936, followed by youngest sibling, Elaine (born 1940). Charlie and Eddie turned to a life of crime after their father deserted the family. George Cornell An important member of the Richardson gang was George Cornell. Cornell was heav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Femme Nikita (TV Series)
''La Femme Nikita'' (, literally "The Woman Nikita"; called ''Nikita'' in Canada) is a Canadian action-drama television series based on the French film ''Nikita'' by Luc Besson. The series was co-produced by Jay Firestone of Fireworks Entertainment and Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It was adapted for television by Joel Surnow. The series was telecast in the United States on the USA Network cable channel on January 13, 1997, and ran for five seasons until March 4, 2001. The series was also aired in Canada on the over-the-air CTV Television Network. ''La Femme Nikita'' was the highest-rated drama on American basic cable during its first two seasons. It was also distributed in some other countries. Comparison with the film In the original Luc Besson film (and in the American remake ''Point of No Return'' (also released as ''The Assassin''), also released by Warner Bros.), Nikita is a drug-addicted juvenile delinquent who kills a police officer in cold blood duri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extrajudicial Killing
An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whether lawfully or unlawfully, targeting specific people for death, which in authoritarian regimes often involves political, trade union, dissident, religious and social figures. The term is typically used in situations that imply the human rights of the victims have been violated; deaths caused by legitimate warfighting or police actions are generally not included, even though military and police forces are often used for killings seen by critics as illegitimate. The label "extrajudicial killing" has also been applied to organized, lethal enforcement of extralegal social norms by non-government actors, including lynchings and honor killings. United Nations Morris Tidball-Binz was appointed the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Mitchell (writer)
James William Mitchell (12 March 1926, in South Shields – 15 September 2002, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne) was a British writer, principally of crime fiction and spy thrillers. Biography The son of a shipyard worker, Mitchell also wrote under the pseudonyms James Munro and Patrick O. McGuire. He received BA & MA degrees from Oxford. After graduating he tried numerous jobs, including shipyard worker and civil servant before taking up teaching, in his own words he taught, "for some 15 years in almost every kind of institution from secondary modern school to college of art". In 1968 Mitchell moved to London to concentrate on writing. James Mitchell created the British television series ''When the Boat Comes In'' (BBC) and ''Callan (TV series), Callan'' (Thames Television), and wrote many other television scripts, including episodes of ''The Troubleshooters'', the legal drama ''Justice (British TV series), Justice'' and ''The Avengers (TV series), The Avengers''. Personal life He m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
