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David Swift (actor)
David Bernard Swift (3 April 1931 – 8 April 2016) was an English actor known for his role as Henry Davenport in the topical comedy ''Drop the Dead Donkey''. Early life Swift was born in Liverpool, the second of the four children of Abram Sampson Swift and Lily Rebecca (née Greenman), who owned a furniture shop in Bootle. His family were Jewish. He was educated at Clifton College and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he studied law. He then embarked on a career as a businessman with his father-in-law, J.P. Jacobs, whose company supplied all the elastic to Marks & Spencer. Career Swift made his professional debut on stage after being appointed as an assistant stage manager at Dundee Repertory Theatre in 1963. He made his television debut in 1964 as Theo Clay in the soap opera ''Compact''. He appeared in many small-screen roles in the 1970s and 1980s, whilst in the theatre he appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1978 production of '' Henry VI, Part 1'' at t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drop The Dead Donkey
''Drop the Dead Donkey'' is a British television sitcom that was first shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom between 1990 and 1998. It is set in the offices of "GlobeLink News", a fictional TV news company. Recorded close to transmission, it made use of contemporary news events to give the programme a greater sense of realism. It was created by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin. The series had an ensemble cast, making stars of Haydn Gwynne, Stephen Tompkinson and Neil Pearson. The show was awarded the Best Comedy (Programme or Series) Award at the 1994 BAFTA Awards. At the British Comedy Awards the show won Best New TV Comedy in 1990, Best Channel 4 Comedy in 1991, and Best Channel 4 Sitcom in 1994. In 2000, the show was ranked 94 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, a list compiled by the British Film Institute. Development According to Swedish comedian Kryddan Petersson, he and the group behind ''Helt Apropå'' had come up with an idea for a show like th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compact (TV Series)
''Compact'' is a British television soap opera shown by BBC Television from January 1962 to July 1965. The series was created by Hazel Adair and Peter Ling; the partnership devised ''Crossroads'' while ''Compact'' was still running. In contrast to the kitchen sink realism of ''Coronation Street'', ''Compact'' was a distinctly middle-class serial, set in the more "sophisticated" arena of magazine publishing. An early "avarice" soap, it took viewers into the office, and aligned the professional lives of the characters with more personal storylines. The show was scheduled for broadcast on Tuesdays and Thursdays, thus avoiding a clash with ITV's ''Coronation Street'' on Mondays and Wednesdays. Outline and synopsis The idea came to Hazel Adair when she submitted a commissioned feature article for ''Woman's Own''. After the BBC decided to produce the project, she formed a working partnership with Peter Ling. When ''Compact'' began, the editor was female, Joanne Minster (Jean Harvey), s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rising Damp
Structural dampness is the presence of unwanted moisture in the structure of a building, either the result of intrusion from outside or condensation from within the structure. A high proportion of damp problems in buildings are caused by ambient climate dependent factors of condensation and rain penetration. Capillary penetration of fluid from the ground up through concrete or masonry is known as "rising damp" and is governed by the shape and porosity of the construction materials through which this evaporation-limited capillary penetration takes place. Structural damp, regardless of the mechanisms through which it takes place, is exacerbated by higher levels of humidity. Dampness control is fundamental to the proper functioning of any building. Controlling moisture is important to protect occupants from adverse health effects and to protect the building, its mechanical systems and its contents from physical or chemical damage. Symptoms Dampness tends to cause secondary damag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ITV Yorkshire
ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network. Until 1974, this was primarily the historic county of Yorkshire and parts of neighbouring counties served by the Emley Moor transmitter. Following a reorganisation in 1974 the transmission area was extended to include Lincolnshire, northwestern Norfolk and parts of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, served by the Belmont transmitter. Two consortia applied for the franchise, ''Telefusion Yorkshire Ltd'' and ''Yorkshire Independent Television'', the former having large financial backing (supported by the Blackpool-based ''Telefusion'' television rental chain) and the latter having the better plans but fewer resources. On 1 January 2007, the company transferred its programme production business to ITV Studios Limited. As a consequence, Yorkshire Television Limited ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Porridge (TV Series)
{{disambiguation ...
Porridge is a dish made by boiling ground, crushed, or chopped starchy plants—typically grain—in water, milk or both. Porridge may also refer to: * ''Porridge'' (1974 TV series), a British situational comedy set in a prison * ''Porridge'' (film), a 1979 film derived from the 1974 TV series * ''Porridge'' (2016 TV series), a sequel series to the original situational comedy series See also * Pease porridge or pease pudding, a foodstuff made from split peas * "Pease Porridge Hot", a nursery rhyme * "Sweet Porridge", a German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm * List of porridges Porridge is a dish made by boiling ground, crushed, or chopped starchy plants (typically grains) in water, milk, or both, with optional flavorings, and is usually served hot in a bowl or dish. It may be served as a sweet or savory dish, dependin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Going Straight
''Going Straight'' is a BBC sitcom created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale. The programme was a direct spin-off to the sitcom ''Porridge'', which all four were involved in, with its premise surrounding the exploits of Barker's character Norman Stanley Fletcher following his release from prison and his attempts to not commit another crime for the sake of his family, despite the allure that crime brings. The programme also featured the appearance of Patricia Brake, reprising her role in ''Porridge'', and Nicholas Lyndhurst. Both Fulton Mackay and Tony Osoba Tony Osoba (born 15 March 1947) is a Scottish actor best known for his role as Jim 'Jock' McClaren in the 1970s British sitcom ''Porridge'' alongside Ronnie Barker. He also guest starred in the first episode of the spin-off '' Going Straight ... guest starred in the first episode, also reprising their earlier roles. A single series of six episodes was mad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bloomers (TV Series)
''Bloomers'' is a short-lived British sitcom starring Richard Beckinsale that aired on BBC2 in 1979. Only five episodes of the show were made before Beckinsale died suddenly from a heart attack just before a planned rehearsal for the sixth and final episode of the first series. ''Bloomers'' was immediately shelved, though the five completed episodes were broadcast later in the same year. Plot Stan is a worker for a small London flower business. The humour centred on the relationships between the workers and the scrapes they got into doing odd jobs in the gardens of houses in the district. Beckinsale's character, Stan, was apt to wind up in bed with lonely housewives, and equally apt to spend time with said housewives musing on philosophy and the pointlessness of life. Cast *Richard Beckinsale – Stan *Anna Calder-Marshall – Lena *Paul Curran – George * David Swift – Dingley *Pat Gorman – Pub Landlord *June Ritchie – Diana *Beryl Nesbitt – Connie Background Writer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Beckinsale
Richard Arthur Beckinsale (6 July 1947 – 19 March 1979) was an English actor. He played Lennie Godber in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge'' (along with its sequel series ''Going Straight'') and Alan Moore in the ITV sitcom ''Rising Damp''. He is the father of actresses Samantha and Kate Beckinsale. Early life Beckinsale was born in Carlton, Nottinghamshire, the youngest of three children, to an Anglo-Burmese father, Arthur John Beckinsale, and an English mother, Maggie Barlow. Beckinsale stated in 1977 that he may have been a distant relative of the actor Charles Laughton. While attending College House Junior School in Chilwell, Beckinsale appeared in his first of many school plays, playing Dopey in ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.'' As a teenager at Alderman White Secondary Modern School, he played the lead in ''Tobias and the Angel'' and also appeared as Hsieh Ping-Kuei in ''Lady Precious Stream'', which earned him a positive review in the ''Nottingham Evening Post''. Beckinsal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Day Of The Jackal (film)
''The Day of the Jackal'' is a 1973 political thriller film directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Edward Fox (actor), Edward Fox and Michael Lonsdale. Based on the 1971 The Day of the Jackal, novel of the same name by Frederick Forsyth, the film is about a professional assassin known only as the Jackal (The Day of the Jackal), "Jackal" who is hired to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle in the summer of 1962. ''The Day of the Jackal'' received positive reviews and went on to win the BAFTA Award for Best Editing (Ralph Kemplen), five additional BAFTA Award nominations, two Golden Globe Award nominations, and one Academy Awards, Oscar nomination. The film grossed U.S. Dollars, $16,056,255 at the box office, and earned an additional $8,525,000 in North American rentals. The British Film Institute ranked it the BFI Top 100 British films, 74th greatest British film of the 20th century. Plot On 22 August 1962, the militant underground organisation Organisation armée se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
84, Charing Cross Road
''84, Charing Cross Road'' is a 1970 book by Helene Hanff, later made into a stage play, television play, and film, about the twenty-year correspondence between the author and Frank Doel, chief buyer of Marks & Co antiquarian booksellers, located at the eponymous address in London, England. Background Hanff was in search of obscure classics and British literature titles that she had been unable to find in New York City when she noticed an ad in the ''Saturday Review of Literature''. She first contacted the shop in 1949 and it fell to Doel to fulfil her requests. In time, a long-distance friendship developed between the two and between Hanff and other staff members, as well, with an exchange of Christmas packages, birthday gifts and food parcels to help with the post-World War II food shortages in Britain. Their letters included discussions about topics as diverse as the sermons of John Donne, how to make Yorkshire Pudding, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the coronation of Elizabeth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ambassadors Theatre (London)
The Ambassadors Theatre (formerly the New Ambassadors Theatre), is a West End theatre located in West Street, near Cambridge Circus on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster. It is one of the smallest of the West End theatres, seating a maximum of 444, with 195 people in the dress circle and 251 in the stalls. History The theatre was, along with the adjacent St Martin's conceived by their architect, W. G. R. Sprague, as companions, born at the same time in 1913, but the First World War interrupted the construction of the latter for three years. The Ambassadors was built with the intention of being an intimate, smaller theatre and is situated opposite the renowned restaurant The Ivy, favourite haunt of the theatrical elite. The theatre was Grade II listed by English Heritage in March 1973. New Ambassadors era In 1996, the venue was bought by its namesake the Ambassador Theatre Group, now the largest operator of theatres in the West End. It was first split into two s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Doel
Frank Percy Doel (14 July 1908 – 22 December 1968) was a British antiquarian bookseller for Marks & Co in London who achieved posthumous fame as the recipient of a series of humorous letters from American author Helene Hanff, to which he scrupulously and, at first, very formally replied. The shop where he worked was at 84 Charing Cross Road, the title of a bestselling 1970 book written by Hanff which became a cult classic, a 1981 stage play, and a 1987 film starring Anthony Hopkins as Doel and Anne Bancroft as Hanff. Early life He was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, and moved from there to Harringay, London, when he was eight years old. From 1919 to 1924, Doel was educated at Hornsey County Grammar School, a co-educational school also attended by his elder brother. On leaving school, Doel started his first, and only, job with Marks & Co, an antiquarian bookshop, located at 84 Charing Cross Road, London. Always known as "young Frank", he learnt the trade from his employers Ben Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
