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Gareth Davies (director)
Gareth Davies is a British television director and actor. Davies began his career as an actor with stage roles at the Royal Court Theatre in London and a recurring role in the early BBC soap opera ''Compact''. It is though as a television director where Davies made his greatest impact. He directed several of television dramatist Dennis Potter's earliest plays, such as ''The Nigel Barton Plays'' (1965), ''Moonlight on the Highway'', and '' Son of Man'' (both 1969). Davies's other work included serial adaptations of literary classics, such as Balzac's ''Cousin Bette'' (1971), ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'' (also 1971), which won several Emmys after it was screened in the United States, and ''Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...'' (1985).Jerry Roberts ''Encyclop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England. In 1956 it was acquired by and remains the home of the English Stage Company, which is known for its contributions to contemporary theatre and won the Europe Prize Theatrical Realities in 1999. History The first theatre The first theatre on Lower George Street, off Sloane Square, was the converted Nonconformist Ranelagh Chapel, opened as a theatre in 1870 under the name The New Chelsea Theatre. Marie Litton became its manager in 1871, hiring Walter Emden to remodel the interior, and it was renamed the Court Theatre. Several of W. S. Gilbert's early plays were staged here, including ''Randall's Thumb'', ''Creatures of Impulse'' (with music by Alberto Randegger), ''Great Expectations'' (adapted from the Dickens novel), and ''On Gu ... [...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] |
Dennis Potter
Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (1986), and the BBC television plays '' Blue Remembered Hills'' (1979) and '' Brimstone and Treacle'' (1976). His television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social, and often used themes and images from popular culture. Potter is widely regarded as one of the most influential and innovative dramatists to have worked in British television. Born in Gloucestershire and graduating from Oxford University, Potter initially worked in journalism. After standing for parliament as a Labour candidate at the 1964 general election, his health was affected by the onset of psoriatic arthropathy which necessitated Potter to change career and led to him becoming a television dramatist. He began with contributions to BBC1's regular serie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Nigel Barton Plays
''The Nigel Barton Plays'' are two semi-autobiographical television dramas by Dennis Potter, first broadcast on BBC1 in 1965 as part of ''The Wednesday Play'' strand. The first play, '' Stand Up, Nigel Barton'', follows the eponymous character's journey from his childhood in a small mining community to winning a scholarship for Oxford, while the second play, '' Vote, Vote, Vote for Nigel Barton'', sees him standing for Parliament as the Labour Party candidate in a by-election. Both plays develop themes and use dramatic devices that became hallmarks of Potter's later plays for television. ''Stand Up, Nigel Barton'' The play opens with Nigel (Keith Barron) following his father ( Jack Woolgar) to work at the local colliery, questioning why his father walks in the middle of the road instead of using the pavement, and laughing at his assertion that it is an old miners' tradition. As his father rushes to clock in, Nigel muses on the very different paths their lives have taken. The scen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moonlight On The Highway
''Moonlight on the Highway'' is a television play by Dennis Potter, first broadcast on 12 April 1969 as part of ITV's ''Saturday Night Theatre'' strand. The tale of a young Al Bowlly obsessive attempting to blot out memories of sexual abuse via his fixation with the singer, the play was the first of Potter's works to use popular music as a dramatic device and strongly anticipated Potter's later 'serials with songs' '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (1986) and '' Lipstick on Your Collar'' (1993). Synopsis Al Bowlly obsessive, David Peters (Ian Holm), is visited in his run-down bedsit by Marie (Deborah Grant), a researcher for Severn Television, who is collecting material for a documentary about the singer. David is the editor of the Al Bowlly Appreciation Society fanzine and Marie hopes to secure him as the programme advisor. David is enthusiastic about the offer but has other things on his mind; he has an appointment with an NHS psychiatrist the followin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Son Of Man (play)
''Son of Man'' is a British television play by playwright Dennis Potter which was first broadcast on BBC1 on 16 April 1969, in ''The Wednesday Play'' slot. An alternative depiction of the last days of Jesus, ''Son of Man'' was directed by Gareth Davies and starred Northern Irish actor Colin Blakely. The play was shot on videotape over three days on a very limited budget: Potter was later to say that the set "looks as though it's trembling and about to fall down." Controversy The treatment of the subject matter led to Potter's being accused of blasphemy by Christian morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse. Blakely's burly, disheveled Jesus was depicted as being tormented by seizures and self-doubt, repeatedly crying out, "Is it me?", as he struggles with his own nature as God incarnate whilst being vulnerable to human frailty. Potter's work focuses on Jesus's message of universal love, but eschews any mention of miracles or the resurrection. Potter's Jesus believes that people should t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Honoré De Balzac
Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly , ; born Honoré Balzac;Jean-Louis Dega, La vie prodigieuse de Bernard-François Balssa, père d'Honoré de Balzac : Aux sources historiques de La Comédie humaine, Rodez, Subervie, 1998, 665 p. 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is generally viewed as his '' magnum opus''. Owing to his keen observation of detail and unfiltered representation of society, Balzac is regarded as one of the founders of realism in European literature. He is renowned for his multi-faceted characters; even his lesser characters are complex, morally ambiguous and fully human. Inanimate objects are imbued with character as well; the city of Paris, a backdrop for much of his writing, takes on many human qualities. His writing influenced many famous writers, including the novelists Émile Zola, Charles Dickens, Marcel Proust, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cousin Bette
''La Cousine Bette'' (, ''Cousin Bette'') is an 1846 novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. Set in mid-19th-century Paris, it tells the story of an unmarried middle-aged woman who plots the destruction of her extended family. Bette works with Valérie Marneffe, an unhappily married young lady, to seduce and torment a series of men. One of these is Baron Hector Hulot, husband to Bette's cousin Adeline. He sacrifices his family's fortune and good name to please Valérie, who leaves him for a well-off merchant named Crevel. The book is part of the ''Scènes de la vie parisienne'' section of Balzac's novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'' ("The Human Comedy"). In the 1840s, a serial format is known as the ''roman-feuilleton'' was highly popular in France, and the most acclaimed expression of it was the socialist writing of Eugène Sue. Balzac wanted to challenge Sue's supremacy, and prove himself the most capable ''feuilleton'' author in France. Writing quickly and with intense f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Brown's Schooldays (TV Serial)
''Tom Brown's Schooldays'' is a 1971 television serial adaptation of the 1857 Thomas Hughes novel ''Tom Brown's Schooldays''. Consisting of five one hour long episodes, the series was directed by Gareth Davies and used a screenplay by Anthony Steven. History ''Tom Brown's Schooldays'' originally screened on the BBC1 Sunday afternoon slot, which often showed serialisations of classics aimed at a family audience. It made some free adaptations to Hughes's novel, creating the role of Flashman's father, and added new sub-plots about Flashman and Arnold. It also included scenes of bullying and corporal punishment which may have been too graphic for family viewing. "Clean-up TV" campaigner Mary Whitehouse claimed that the programme broke the BBC's guidelines on the depiction of sadistic violence. After its 1971 premiere on the BBC, the series was later shown on ''Masterpiece Theatre'' in the United States in January and February 1973 through a grant from the Mobil Oil Corporation. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with their own set of rules and award categories. The two events that receive the most media coverage are the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Daytime Emmy Awards, which recognize outstanding work in American primetime and daytime entertainment programming, respectively. Other notable U.S. national Emmy events include the Children's & Family Emmy Awards for children's and family-oriented television programming, the Sports Emmy Awards for sports programming, News & Documentary Emmy Awards for news and documentary shows, and the Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards and the Primetime Engineering Emmy Awards for technological and engineering achievements. Regional Emmy Awards are also presented throughout the country at various times through the year, re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oliver Twist (1985 TV Serial)
''Oliver Twist'' is a 1985 BBC TV serial. It was produced by Terrance Dicks, directed by Gareth Davies, and adapted by Alexander Baron from the 1838 novel by Charles Dickens. This version follows the book more closely than any of the other film adaptions. Plot For a detailed plot, see ''Oliver Twist''. Cast * Eric Porter - Fagin * Michael Attwell - Bill Sikes *Ben Rodska - Oliver Twist * Amanda Harris - Nancy * Godfrey James - Mr. Bumble * Frank Middlemass - Mr Brownlow * Lysette Anthony - Rose Maylie / Agnes Fleming (Anthony had previously played Oliver's mother in the 1982 adaptation of the novel.) * Pip Donaghy - Monks *David Garlick - The Artful Dodger (Garlick had previously played the Dodger on Broadway and West End revivals of Oliver!) * Nicholas Bond-Owen - Charley Bates *David King - Giles *Gillian Martell - Mrs. Maylie * Edward Burnham - Mr Grimwig * Julian Firth - Noah Claypole * Miriam Margolyes - Mrs Corney (later Mrs Bumble) * Raymond Witch - Mr. Sowerberry * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Television Directors
English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national identity, an identity and common culture ** English language in England, a variant of the English language spoken in England * English languages (other) * English studies, the study of English language and literature * ''English'', an Amish term for non-Amish, regardless of ethnicity Individuals * English (surname), a list of notable people with the surname ''English'' * People with the given name ** English McConnell (1882–1928), Irish footballer ** English Fisher (1928–2011), American boxing coach ** English Gardner (b. 1992), American track and field sprinter Places United States * English, Indiana, a town * English, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * English, Brazoria County, Texas, an unincorporated community * Engli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
