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Christopher Douglas (British Actor)
Christopher Douglas (born c.1955Dominic Maxwel"Re-opening the grouse season" ''The Times'', 11 December 2006) is a British actor and writer. He is the voice of Ed Reardon in BBC Radio 4's long-running sitcom ''Ed Reardon's Week'', which he co-writes with Andrew Nickolds. ''Ed Reardon's Week'' has completed fourteen series and was the winner of the Broadcasting Press Guild's "Best Radio Programme" award in 2005 and again in 2010. Douglas is also the voice and co-creator of the world's most disappointing cricketer Dave Podmore, a Radio 4 regular since 2017. Other radio credits include a two-part adaptation of George Gissing's ''New Grub Street'', two series of ''Mastering The Universe'', co-written with Nick Newman and starring Dawn French. Also three series of ''Beauty Of Britain'', co-written with Nicola Sanderson and starring Jocelyn Jee Esien. Christopher Douglas writes and directs the improbably long-running career of uber- thesp Nicholas Craig (Nigel Planer) whose autobiograp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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] |
Pick Of The Week (radio)
''Pick of the Week'' is a long-running British radio programme featuring extracts from BBC radio (and originally television) programmes broadcast over the previous seven days. It was first broadcast on the BBC Home Service in 1959, and transferred to its successor station BBC Radio 4 in 1967. Until 1998, it was broadcast on Friday evening, with a repeat (sometimes edited) on Sunday. Since 1998, it has appeared on Sunday only. Items are drawn from all of the BBC's local and national radio networks, as well as the BBC World Service. Although not a request show as such, listeners are invited to send in suggestions for the programme. History The programme was originally written and produced by Gale Pedrick and presented by John Ellison. After Pedrick's death in 1970, production was taken over by Nancy Wise. Ellison died in January 1974, and over the first half of the year David Davis, Martin Muncaster and David Dunhill all had short runs as presenter, before Margaret Howard took ov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lead Balloon
''Lead Balloon'' is a British television series produced by Open Mike Productions for BBC Four. The series was created and is co-written by comedian Jack Dee and Pete Sinclair. It stars Dee as Rick Spleen, a cynical and misanthropic comedian whose life is plagued by petty annoyances, disappointments and embarrassments. Raquel Cassidy, Sean Power and Tony Gardner also star. The first series of six episodes was broadcast on BBC Four in 2006, with the first episode achieving the highest ratings for a comedy on the channel. Repeats of the series were run on BBC Two and BBC HD, bringing it to a larger audience. The second series of eight episodes aired on BBC Two from November 2007; the third series aired from November 2008; and the final series aired from 31 May 2011 until 5 July. Comparisons were made by critics to the successful American comedy '' Curb Your Enthusiasm'', and positive comments were made about ''Lead Balloon'''s characters, particularly Anna Crilly's Magda, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Casualty (TV Series)
''Casualty'' (stylised as ''CASUAL+Y'') is a British medical drama series that airs weekly on BBC One. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 6 September 1986. The original producer was Geraint Morris. Having been broadcast weekly since 1986, ''Casualty'' is the longest-running primetime medical drama series in the world. The programme is set in the fictional Holby City Hospital and focuses on the staff and patients of the hospital's Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department. The show has strong ties to its sister programme '' Holby City'', which began as a spin-off series from ''Casualty'' in 1999, set in the same hospital. The final episode of ''Holby City'' was broadcast in March 2022. ''Casualty''s exterior shots were mainly filmed outside the Ashley Down Centre in Bristol from 1986 until 2002, when they moved to the centre of Bristol. In 2011, ''Casualty'' celebrated its 25th anniversary and moved production to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Bill
''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work. ''The Bill'' was the longest-running police procedural television series in the United Kingdom, and among the longest running of any British television series at the time of its cancellation. The title originates from "Old Bill", a slang term for the police. Although highly acclaimed by fans and critics, the series attracted controversy on several occasions. An episode broadcast in 2008 was criticised for featuring fictional treatment for multiple sclerosis. The series has also faced more general criticism concerning its levels of violence, particularly prior to 2009, when it occupied a pre-watershed slot. ''The Bill'' won several ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reilly, Ace Of Spies
''Reilly, Ace of Spies'' is a 1983 British television programme dramatizing the life of Sidney Reilly, a Russian-born adventurer who became one of the greatest spies ever to work for the United Kingdom and the British Empire. Among his exploits, in the early 20th century, were the infiltration of the German General Staff in 1917 and a near-overthrow of the Bolsheviks in 1918. His reputation with women was as legendary as his genius for espionage. The series was written by Troy Kennedy Martin, and based on the 1967 book ''Ace of Spies'' by Robin Bruce Lockhart, whose father R. H. Bruce Lockhart was one of Reilly's fellow spies. Sam Neill stars as the eponymous character. The theme music is the romance movement from Dmitri Shostakovich's ''The Gadfly Suite,'' though Shostakovich is not actually credited (Harry Rabinowitz is credited with the music). Episodes There are 12 episodes, each about 50 minutes in length (except the first, which is nearly 80). Cast * Sam Neill as Sidney ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lenny Henry Show
''The Lenny Henry Show'' is a comedy sketch show (and in its 1987–1988 incarnation, a sitcom) featuring Lenny Henry. It was originally broadcast between 1984 and 1988, and was later revived twice, in 1995 and 2004–2005. History Original version (1984–1985) The original version of the show ran for two series on BBC 1 in 1984 and 1985. Each series had six episodes. A 40-minute special was aired in December 1987. Recurring guests include Nicholas Lyndhurst (3 episodes) and Robbie Coltrane (2 episodes). Bands featured on the 1984 series included Musical Youth and Second Image. Sitcom incarnation (1987–1988) Two further series broadcast in 1987–1988 kept the same name, but followed a sitcom (rather than sketch-based) format. This version starred Henry as Delbert Wilkins, a well-meaning but trouble-prone pirate radio DJ. At the end, Wilkins went "legit", gaining a job with the BBC World Service, and a son. 1995 revival The show was revived for one series in 1995; it failed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Onedin Line
''The Onedin Line'' is a BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and covers the rise of a fictional shipping company, the Onedin Line, named after its owner captain James Onedin. Around this, it depicts the lives of his family, most notably his brother and partner Robert, a ship chandler, and his sister Elizabeth, giving insight into the lifestyle and customs at the time, not only at sea, but also ashore (mostly lower- and upper-middle-class). The series also illustrates some of the changes in business and shipping, such as from wooden to steel ships and from sailing ships to steamships. It shows the role that ships played in such matters as international politics, uprisings and the slave trade. Overview Classic BBC drama series set in 19th century Liverpool, and narrating the changing fortunes of the ambitious Captain James Onedin and his family. A 55-minute pilot episo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Flockton Flyer
''The Flockton Flyer'' was a children's TV series made by Southern Television for the ITV network. It was a popular programme, which ran to two series, and provided early screen appearances for upcoming actors such as Peter Duncan and Gwyneth Strong, as well as some well-known 1970s classical and situation comedy actors. Overview The two series follow the adventures of the Carter family, as they struggle to re-open and run the old Flockton to Lane End branch railway, closed by British Railways five years previously. At the time of production (1976) a large number of newly closed railway branch lines were being bought and preserved by local railway preservation societies, which has given rise to an extensive network of 'heritage railways' in the United Kingdom. The railway is said to have very limited rolling stock – one locomotive (restoration of which was completed in episode 1), one passenger coach (restoration of which was completed in episode 3), a small number of frei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crown Court (TV Series)
''Crown Court'' is a British television courtroom drama series produced by Granada Television for the ITV network. It ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984.Down, R., Perry, C. (1995). ''The British Television Drama Research Guide, 1950–1995''. Dudley: Kaleidoscope. It was transmitted in the early afternoon. Format A court case in the crown court of the fictional town of Fulchester (a name later adopted by Viz) would typically be played out over three afternoons in 25-minute episodes. The most frequent format was for the prosecution case to be presented in the first two episodes and the defence in the third, although there were some later, brief variations. Unlike some other legal dramas, the cases in ''Crown Court'' were presented from a relatively neutral point of view and the action was confined to the courtroom itself, with occasional brief glimpses of waiting areas outs ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crossroads (UK TV Series)
''Crossroads'' (later known as ''Crossroads Motel'' and ''Crossroads King's Oak'') is a British television soap opera that ran on ITV (TV network), ITV over two periods – the original 1964 to 1988 run, followed by a short revival from 2001 to 2003. Set in a fictional motel (hotel in the revival) in the Midlands, ''Crossroads'' became a byword for cheap production values, particularly in the 1970s and early 1980s. Despite this, the series regularly attracted huge audiences during this time, with ratings as high as 15 million viewers. It was created by Hazel Adair (actress and screenwriter), Hazel Adair and Peter Ling and produced by Associated TeleVision, ATV (until the end of 1981) and then by ATV's successor, ITV Central, Central Independent Television until 1988. The series was revived by Carlton Television in 2001; however, due to low ratings it was cancelled again in 2003. Storylines 1964–1988 The original premise of ''Crossroads'' is based around two feuding sisters, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Penda's Fen
''Penda's Fen'' is a British television play, written by David Rudkin and directed by Alan Clarke. It was commissioned by BBC producer David Rose, and first broadcast on 21 March 1974 as part of the corporation's ''Play for Today'' anthology series. Plot Set in the village of Pinvin, near Pershore in Worcestershire, England, against the backdrop of the Malvern Hills, the play is an evocation of conflicting forces within England past and present. These include authority, tradition, hypocrisy, landscape, art, sexuality, and most of all, its mystical, ancient pagan past. All of this comes together in the growing pains of the adolescent Stephen, a vicar's son, whose encounters include angels, Edward Elgar and King Penda himself. The final scene of the play, where the protagonist has an apparitional experience of King Penda and the "mother and father of England", is set on the Malvern Hills. Cast * Spencer Banks as Stephen * Jennie Hesselwood * Ian Hogg * Georgine Anderson * John ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
