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Doomwatch
''Doomwatch'' is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC1 between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist (played by John Paul), responsible for investigating and combating various ecological and technological dangers. The series was followed by a film adaptation produced by Tigon British Film Productions and released in 1972, and a revival TV film was broadcast on Channel 5 in 1999. Background The programme was created by Gerry Davis and Kit Pedler, who had previously collaborated on scripts for ''Doctor Who'', a programme on which, for a time during the late 1960s, Davis had been the story editor and Pedler the unofficial scientific adviser. Their interest in the problems of science changing and endangering human life had led them to create the popular cyborg villains the Cybermen for that program. Similar interests led them to create ''D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doomwatch (film)
''Doomwatch'' is a 1972 British science fiction film directed by Peter Sasdy and starring Ian Bannen, Judy Geeson and John Paul. Described as both a thriller and a horror film, it is based on the BBC's science fiction television series ''Doomwatch'' which ran between 1970 and 1972. The screenplay was written by Clive Exton. In the United States it was released by Embassy Pictures with the alternative title ''Island of the Ghouls''. In the film, the waters surrounding an island become contaminated by chemical dumping, and people who eat fish caught in those waters become deformed and violent. Plot An outsider visits a remote isolated village that has seemingly shunned the modern life. Doctor Del Shaw, an investigator from the British ecological watchdog group nicknamed Doomwatch, is sent to the island of Balfe, to file a report on the effects of a recent oil tanker spill. He becomes fascinated with the mysterious behavioural disorders of the locals who display rudeness and r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerry Davis (screenwriter)
Gerry Davis (23 February 1930 – 31 August 1991) was a British television writer, best known for his contributions to the science-fiction genre. He also wrote for the soap operas ''Coronation Street'' and ''United!''. From 1966 until the following year Davis was the story editor of the popular BBC science-fiction series ''Doctor Who'', for which he created the character Jamie McCrimmon and co-created the popular cybernetic monsters known as the Cybermen, who continue to make appearances in the show, having been revived in the new run. His fellow co-creator of these creatures was the programme's unofficial scientific adviser Dr. Kit Pedler. Following their work on ''Doctor Who'' the pair teamed up in 1970 to create the science-fiction programme ''Doomwatch''. ''Doomwatch'' ran for three seasons on BBC One from 1970 to 1972 and spawned a novel written by Davis and Pedler, a subsequent cinema film and a 1999 revival on Channel 5. Davis briefly returned to writing ''Doctor Who'' in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tigon British Film Productions
Tigon British Film Productions or Tigon was a film production and distribution company, founded by Tony Tenser in 1966. It is best remembered for its horror films, particularly ''Witchfinder General'' (directed by Michael Reeves, 1968) and ''The Blood on Satan's Claw'' (directed by Piers Haggard, 1971). Other Tigon films include ''The Creeping Flesh'', ''The Sorcerers'' and ''Doomwatch'' (1972), based on the TV series of the same name. A 1990s book by Andy Boot (''Fragments of Fear'') highlighted the importance of Tigon and Tony Tenser to the British horror genre but contained a number of factual errors, including the misidentification of a number of films as Tigon productions. This misidentification continues to this day. History Tigon was based at Hammer House in Wardour Street, London, and released a wide range of films from sexploitation (''Zeta One''), to an acclaimed television adaptation of August Strindberg's ''Miss Julie'' (1972) starring Helen Mirren. The largest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kit Pedler
Christopher Magnus Howard "Kit" Pedler (11 June 1927 – 27 May 1981) was a British medical scientist, parapsychologist and science fiction author. Biography He was the head of the electron microscopy department at the Institute of Ophthalmology, University of London, where he published a number of papers. Pedler's first television contribution was for the BBC programme Tomorrow's World. In the mid-1960s, Pedler became the unofficial scientific adviser to the '' Doctor Who'' production team. Hired by Innes Lloyd to inject more hard science into the stories, Pedler formed a particular writing partnership with Gerry Davis, the programme's story editor. Their interest in the problems of science changing and endangering human life led them to create the Cybermen. Pedler wrote three scripts for ''Doctor Who'': ''The Tenth Planet'' (with Gerry Davis), ''The Moonbase'' and ''The Tomb of the Cybermen'' (also with Gerry Davis). He also submitted the story outlines that became ''The W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Paul (actor)
John Paul (20 April 1921 – 23 February 1995) was a British actor. He is best known for his television roles, particularly as Dr Spencer Quist in ''Doomwatch'' (1970–1972) and Marcus Agrippa in ''I, Claudius'' (1976), both for BBC Television. An early role was as the lead in the ITV series '' Probation Officer'' in the early 1960s. He appeared as ''Captain Flint'' in a BBC adaptation of Arthur Ransome's ''Swallows and Amazons'' in 1963. He had guest roles in episodes of popular television series such as ''Out of the Unknown'', ''Doctor Finlay's Casebook'', '' The Avengers'', '' Dixon of Dock Green'', '' The Saint'', ''Marked Personal'' and '' The New Avengers'', mostly during the 1960s and 1970s. One of his final TV appearances was in ''Selling Hitler'', based on the real-life attempts to sell fake diaries attributed to Adolf Hitler. During his career he also appeared in feature films such as '' Yangtse Incident'' (1957), ''The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb'' (1964), ''Cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simon Oates
Simon Oates (6 January 1932 – 20 May 2009) was an English actor best known for his roles on television. Born in Canning Town, east London and moving to Finchley in his teens, Oates trained as a heating engineer for his father's firm before becoming an actor. He was in the Intelligence Corps during his Army National Service. Working in theatrical rep during the 1950s he was leading man at York Theatre Royal for some years before being cast as Dr. John Ridge in the science fiction television series ''Doomwatch''. (Co-stars included John Paul as Dr. Spencer Quist and Robert Powell as Toby Wren). He appeared regularly as Anthony Kelly in the 1960s espionage series ''The Mask of Janus'' and its spin-off series '' The Spies''. His many guest appearances included: '' The Avengers'', ''Man in a Suitcase'', '' Department S'', '' Jason King'', '' The New Avengers'', ''The Professionals'', '' Bergerac'' and ''The 10 Percenters''. His film appearances were few but included ''Night Tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Powell
Robert Powell (; born 1 June 1944) is an English actor who is known for the title roles in ''Mahler'' (1974) and '' Jesus of Nazareth'' (1977), and for his portrayal of secret agent Richard Hannay in '' The Thirty Nine Steps'' (1978) and its subsequent spinoff television series. Other major screen roles have included Tobias "Toby" Wren in the BBC science-fiction programme ''Doomwatch'' (1970), David Briggs in the sitcom '' The Detectives'' (1993–1997) alongside Jasper Carrott, and Mark Williams in the medical drama ''Holby City'' (2005–2011). His distinctive voice has become well known as a narrator of documentaries, especially in World War II documentaries including ''World War II in HD Colour'', '' Hitler's Bodyguard'', ''The Story of the Third Reich'' and ''Secrets of World War II''. Powell has been nominated for a BAFTA Award and won a Best Actor Award from the Venice Film Festival. Early life Powell was born in Salford, Lancashire, the son of Kathleen (née Davis) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terence Dudley
Terence Dudley (28 September 1919 – 25 December 1988) was a British television director, producer and screenwriter who worked on many programmes for the BBC. Dudley produced the BBC science fiction series ''Doomwatch'' (1970—72), and directed three of its episodes. He subsequently produced the series '' Survivors'' (1975—1977), also directing one episode, and wrote the script for the season three premiere episode, "Manhunt". His young son, Stephen, had a regular part in ''Doomwatch''. Dudley also directed eight early episodes of '' All Creatures Great and Small'', including the 1983 Christmas special. He began an association with '' Doctor Who'' when he directed '' Meglos'' (1980) for John Nathan-Turner. That same year, he was asked to become producer of ''Blake's 7'' after David Maloney was reassigned before it was known that a fourth season would be made. Dudley turned the offer down, as he no longer wished to work as a producer. The following year he embarked on a brief ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Harris (composer)
Max Harris (15 September 1918 – 13 March 2004) - accessed 22 May 2012 was a British film and television and . He played the and .John Chilton ''Who's Who of British Jazz'', London: Continuum, 2004, p. 165 Biography and career Born in |
Gold (UK TV Channel)
Gold is a British pay television channel from the UKTV network that was launched in late 1992 as UK Gold before it was rebranded UKTV Gold in 2004. In 2008, it was split into current flagship channel Gold and miscellaneous channel, W, with classic comedy based programming now airing on Gold, non-crime drama and entertainment programming airing on W, and quiz shows and more high-brow comedy airing on Dave. It shows repeats of classic programming from the BBC, ITV and other broadcasters. Every December, from 2015 until 2018, the channel was temporarily renamed Christmas Gold. This has since been discontinued, although the channel still continues to broadcast Christmas comedy. History The channel was formed as a joint venture between the BBC, through commercial arm BBC Enterprises, American company Cox Enterprises and outgoing ITV London weekday franchisee Thames Television. The channel, named "UK Gold", was to show repeats of the 'classic' archive programming from the two broad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Archive Treasure Hunt
BBC Archives are collections documenting the BBC's broadcasting history, including copies of television and radio broadcasts, internal documents, photographs, online content, sheet music, commercially available music, BBC products (including toys, games, merchandise, books, publications, and program releases on VHS, Beta, Laserdisc, DVD, vinyl, audio cassette, audio book CD, and Blu Ray), press cuttings, artifacts and historic equipment. The original contents of the collections are permanently retained but are in the process of being digitised. Some collections are being uploaded to the BBC Archives section of the BBC Online website for visitors to view. The archive is one of the largest broadcast archives in the world, with over 15 million items. Overview The BBC Archives encompass numerous collections containing materials produced and acquired by the BBC. The earliest material dates back to 1890. The archives contain 15 million items on 60 miles of shelving spread over sever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl Of Longford
Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, 1st Baron Pakenham, Baron Pakenham of Cowley, (5 December 1905 – 3 August 2001), known to his family as Frank Longford and styled Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician and social reformer. A member of the Labour Party, he was one of its longest-serving politicians. He held cabinet positions on several occasions between 1947 and 1968. Longford was politically active until his death in 2001. A member of an old, landed Anglo-Irish family, the Pakenhams (who became Earls of Longford), he was one of the few aristocratic hereditary peers ever to serve in a senior capacity within a Labour government. Longford was famed for championing social outcasts and unpopular causes. He is especially notable for his lifelong advocacy of penal reform. Longford visited prisons on a regular basis for nearly 70 years until his death. He advocated for rehabilitation programmes and helped create the modern British parole system i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
