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Desmond's Department Store
''Desmond's'' is a British television situation comedy broadcast by Channel 4 from 1989 to 1994. Conceived and co-written by Trix Worrell, and produced by Charlie Hanson and Humphrey Barclay, ''Desmond's'' stars Norman Beaton as barber Desmond Ambrose, whose shop is a gathering place for an assortment of local characters. The show is set in Peckham, London, and features a predominantly black British Guyanese cast. With 71 episodes, ''Desmond's'' became Channel 4's longest running sitcom in terms of episodes.Paul Jackson"Desmond's" ''Britain in a Box'', BBC Radio 4, 11 May 2013. Notability While the show was not the first black (or predominantly black) British television situation comedy ('' The Fosters'', produced by London Weekend Television, aired 1976 –77), ''Desmond's'' was the first to be set mainly in the workplace, providing an insight into black family life different from what had been seen before on British television. The characters had aspirations (Desmond to retu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new characters in each sketch, and stand-up comedy, where a comedian tells jokes and stories to an audience. Sitcoms originated in radio, but today are found mostly on television as one of its dominant narrative forms. A situation comedy television program may be recorded in front of a studio audience, depending on the program's production format. The effect of a live studio audience can be imitated or enhanced by the use of a laugh track. Critics disagree over the utility of the term "sitcom" in classifying shows that have come into existence since the turn of the century. Many contemporary American sitcoms use the single-camera setup and do not feature a laugh track, thus often resembling the dramedy shows of the 1980s and 1990s rather t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 until 1982) to Monday mornings at 6:00. From 1968 until 1992, when LWT's weekday counterpart was Thames Television, there was an on-screen handover to LWT on Friday nights (there was no handover back to Thames on Mondays, as from 1968 to 1982 there was no programming in the very early morning, and from 1983, when a national breakfast franchise was created, LWT would hand over to TV-am at 6:00am, which would then hand over to Thames at 9:25am). From 1993 to 2002, when LWT's weekday counterpart was Carlton Television, the transfer usually occurred invisibly during a commercial break, for Carlton and LWT shared studio and transmission facilities (although occasionally a Thames-to-LWT-style handover would appear). Like most ITV regional franchi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Ann Maynard
Joan Ann Maynard is a British actress who has worked both on stage and on television. Her most notable roles are as Avice in the 1975 series ''Within These Walls'' and as Beverley in the Channel Four television comedy show ''Desmond's'', which ran from 1989 to 1994. She has also been involved with producing black theatre, having been artistic director of the Black Theatre Co-operative and chair of the Black Theatre Forum. Background Brought up from the age of nine in east London, she went to St Angela's Ursuline Convent School, Upton Park, and subsequently studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a .... Formerly Artistic Director of the Black Theatre Co-operative (now NitroBeat), Maynard now works as the head of the arts subj ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Personal Assistant
A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task,. it is a sub-specialty of secretarial duties. Duties, responsibilities and functions An assistant helps with time and daily management, of meetings, correspondence, and note-taking. The role of a personal assistant can be varied, such as answering phone calls, taking notes, scheduling meetings, emailing, texts, etc. In business or personal contexts, assistants are people who provide services that relieve his or her employer from the stress of tasks that are associated with managing one's personal and/or business life. They assist with a variety of life management tasks, including running errands, arranging travel (e.g., travel agent services such as purchasing airline tickets, reserving hotel rooms and rental cars, and arranging activities, as well as handling more localized serv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matilda Thorpe
Matilda Helen Rachel Thorpe is a British actress. Matilda Thorpe was born on May 1, 1960 in Wood Green, London, England. Thorpe trained at London's Central School of Speech and Drama. She is known for her roles in the British sitcoms, Mandy in the Channel 4 sitcoms ''Desmond's'' (1989–94) and '' Porkpie'' (1995–96), and ''Sick Note'' (2017–18) for Sky One. Career Thorpe is the daughter of the writers Gillian Freeman and Edward Thorpe. She is married to comedian Gary Spinks and mother of actors Sam Thorpe-Spinks and Henry Thorpe-Spinks. Thorpe's television appearances include Amanda in ''Gems'' (1986), Narrator in ''Pinny's House'' (1986), Friend in ''Murder Most Horrid'' (1991), Jane in ''The Upper Hand'' (1992), Mandy Mosgrove in ''Desmond's'' (1989–1994), Mandy Ambrose in '' Porkpie'' (1995–1996), Mother in ''How to Be a Little Sod'' (1995), ''Keeping Mum'' (1997), Barbara Robertson in ''The Jump'' (1998), Sarah Johnson in ''Casualty'' (1998), Personnel Officer in '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lisa Geoghan
Lisa Maria Geoghan (born 1 June 1966 in Southwark, London) is an English actress best known for playing PC Polly Page from 1992 to 2004 in the long-running police drama ''The Bill''. Career Geoghan trained at the Anna Scher Theatre School from the age of 12, and acted at the Old Vic Youth Theatre between 1978 and 1980. Her first TV appearance was a small role in Trevor Preston's drama ''Fox'' in 1980. She has been well known in the UK since appearing at 16, as Sarah Gill, in ''Tucker's Luck''. Other leading roles were three seasons in ''The Bill'' creator's Geoff McQueen's gambling drama '' Big Deal'' (with Ray Brooks) and 20 episodes of ''Desmond's'' between 1989 and 1992. The Bill After a guest appearance in the episode 'Breakout' in late 1991, Geoghan became a cast regular in ''The Bill'' from 1992 to 2004, a role she played for 12 years. As WPC Polly Page, she made 601 episodes of the long running TV series. Long running storylines included a relationship with collea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robbie Gee
Robbie Gee (born 24 March 1970) is a British actor, best known for his ''Desmond's'' character "Lee Stanley", for appearing in Guy Ritchie's crime caper '' Snatch'', and for his comedy roles in TV series like ''The Real McCoy'' and ''The Crouches''. He also appeared in the film '' Mean Machine'', playing "Trojan", '' Pirates of the Caribbean'' as "Shrimper", ''Underworld'' as "Kahn", and ''Dead Man Running'' as Curtis (Alongside 50 Cent). Robbie is a founding member of GeeStor and along with Eddie Nestor makes up one half of a comedy duo. Together, they have written for TV and hosted music events. Hosting He hosted, alongside Eddie Nestor, the Imperial College Indian Society's annual "East Meets West" charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ... show in 2007 and 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dominic Keating
Dominic Keating (''né'' Power; born 1 July 1961) is a British television, film and theatre actor known for his portrayals of Tony in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Desmond's'' and Lieutenant Malcolm Reed on ''Star Trek: Enterprise''. Early life and education Keating was born Dominic Power in Leicester to an Irish father; his grandfather, a brigadier, was awarded an OBE. His first stage performance was in primary school, as a character in ''The Ragged School''. He then attended Uppingham School. After graduating from the University College London with first class honours in history, he tried various jobs before deciding to be a professional actor. Since there was another Dominic Power already represented by the actor's union Equity, he took his mother's maiden name of Keating. To obtain his Equity card, he worked in a drag act called Feeling Mutual. Career Theatre Keating had success on the UK stage before working as a television and film actor. He originated the roles of Cosmo i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publications. p. 11. . and is surrounded by Senegal, except for its western coast on the Atlantic Ocean. The Gambia is situated on both sides of the lower reaches of the Gambia River, the nation's namesake, which flows through the centre of the Gambia and empties into the Atlantic Ocean, thus the long shape of the country. It has an area of with a population of 1,857,181 as of the April 2013 census. Banjul is the Gambian capital and the country's largest metropolitan area, while the largest cities are Serekunda and Brikama. The Portugal, Portuguese in 1455 entered the Gambian region, the first Europeans to do so, but never established important trade there. In 1765, the Gambia was made a part of the British Empire by establishment of the Gambia Col ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off (or spinoff) is a radio program, television program, film, video game or any narrative work, derived from already existing works that focus on more details and different aspects from the original work (e.g. particular topics, characters or events). One of the earliest spin-offs of the modern media era, if not the first, happened in 1941 when the supporting character Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve from the old time radio comedy show ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' became the star of his own program ''The Great Gildersleeve'' (1941–1957). In genre fiction, the term parallels its usage in television; it is usually meant to indicate a substantial ''change in narrative viewpoint and activity'' from that (previous) storyline based on the activities of the series' principal protagonist and so is a shift to that action and overall narrative thread of some other protagonist, which now becomes the central or main thread (storyline) of the new sub-series. The ''new protagoni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pork Pie Hat
A pork pie hat is one of several different styles of hat that have been popular since the mid-19th century. It features a flat crown that resembles a traditional pork pie. Buster Keaton and the 1920s The pork pie began to appear in Britain as a man's hat not long after the turn of the century in the fashion style of the '' man-about-town''. Silent film actor Buster Keaton converted fedoras into straw boater-like felt pork pies by stiffening their brims with a dried sugar-water solution. This kind of pork pie had a very flat top and similar short flat brim. 1930s and 1940s The heyday of the pork pie hat occurred during the Great Depression, following the straw boater era that peaked in the Roaring Twenties. In this incarnation, the pork pie regained its snap brim and increased slightly in height. Its dished crown became known among milliners as "telescopic crowns" or "tight telescopes" because when worn the top could be made to pop up slightly. Furthermore, as stated in a ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rapping
Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The components of rap include "content" (what is being said), "flow" (rhythm, rhyme), and "delivery" (cadence, tone). Rap differs from spoken-word poetry in that it is usually performed off-time to musical accompaniment. Rap is a primary ingredient of hip hop music commonly associated with that genre; however, the origins of rap predate hip-hop culture by many years. Precursors to modern rap include the West African griot tradition, Cockney rhyming slang, certain vocal styles of blues, jazz, 1960s African-American poetry and ''Sprechgesang''. The use of rap in popular music originated in the Bronx, New York City in the 1970s, alongside the hip hop genre and cultural movement. Rapping developed from the role of master of ceremonies (MC) at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
