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Giles Foster
Giles Foster has been an English television director since 1975, specialising in television dramas. He has also directed in Australia and in Germany (2012-2014). He wrote some television dramas in the 1970s. He is from Bath, Somerset and was educated at Monkton Combe School. TV directed Foster was nominated three times for BAFTA awards for ''Silas Marner'' (1985), ''Talking Heads'' (''A Lady of Letters'') (1987), and won Best Single Drama for his film ''Hotel du Lac'' (1986). He also directed the television series ''Four Seasons'' (2008) which was rewritten to be set in his home town of Bath. Selected filmography *''The Aerodrome'' (1983) — based on a novel by Rex Warner *''Dutch Girls'' (1985) *''Silas Marner'' (1985) — based on ''Silas Marner'' by George Eliot *''Hotel du Lac'' (1986) — based on ''Hotel du Lac'' by Anita Brookner *''Northanger Abbey'' (1987) — based on ''Northanger Abbey'' by Jane Austen *''Consuming Passions'' (1988) — based on ''Secrets'' by Mich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bath, Somerset
Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, west of London and southeast of Bristol. The city became a World Heritage Site in 1987, and was later added to the transnational World Heritage Site known as the "Great Spa Towns of Europe" in 2021. Bath is also the largest city and settlement in Somerset. The city became a spa with the Latin name ' ("the waters of Sulis") 60 AD when the Romans built baths and a temple in the valley of the River Avon, although hot springs were known even before then. Bath Abbey was founded in the 7th century and became a religious centre; the building was rebuilt in the 12th and 16th centuries. In the 17th century, claims were made for the curative properties of water from the springs, and Bath became popular as a spa town in the Georgian era. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secrets (Black And Blue)
"Secrets" is a 1973 BBC Television play by Michael Palin and Terry Jones of one-hour duration, starring Warren Mitchell as the owner of a chocolate factory. The play was part of a series called ''Black and Blue'', which featured black and blue (saucy) comedy. Story A man working high-up on a very tall chocolate mixing vat tries to lean over the vat but overbalances and without being noticed falls in. This now-contaminated chocolate is processed and packed ready for distribution along with the normal production. It is only much later that quality control finds a chocolate containing a thumb to confirm the missing man's gruesome fate. The chocolate company is suffering poor sales and intends to send out chocolates with market research questionnaires to different parts of the country to get customer feedback. Before anyone had missed the worker and shut down the production line to investigate matters, the contaminated chocolates were boxed and sent out with normal production to Wort ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coming Home (TV Serial)
''Coming Home'' is a 1998 British serial directed by Giles Foster. The teleplay by John Goldsmith is based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Rosamunde Pilcher. Produced by Yorkshire Television, it was broadcast in two parts by ITV from 12 to 13 April 1998. Plot The story focuses on Judith Dunbar, who is enrolled in St. Ursula's, an English boarding school, when her parents and younger sister move to colonial Singapore. She is introduced to a world of wealth and privilege by her classmate, Loveday Carey-Lewis, whose family owns the magnificent Cornwall estate known as Nancherrow. Although Judith enjoys the company of her doting Aunt Louise, who has been named her legal guardian during her parents' absence, she prefers to spend as much of her school holidays as possible with Loveday's parents and siblings, who welcome her as one of their own. When Aunt Louise is killed in an automobile accident, she leaves her considerable estate to Judith, who will be independently wealthy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Plater
Alan Frederick Plater (15 April 1935 – 25 June 2010) was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s. Career Plater was born in Jarrow, County Durham, although his family moved to Hull in 1938. He attended Kingston High School. Jarrow was much publicised as a severely economically depressed area before the Second World War (Plater joked that his family left Jarrow just after the Great Depression to catch Hull just before the Blitz). He trained as an architect at King's College, Newcastle (later the Newcastle University School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape), but only practised in the profession briefly, at a junior level. He later stated that it was shortly after he was forced to fend off a herd of pigs from eating his tape measure while he was surveying a field that he left to pursue writing full-time. Plater stayed in the north of England for many years after he became prominent as a writ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oliver's Travels
''Oliver's Travels'' is a five-part television serial written by Alan Plater and starring Alan Bates, Sinéad Cusack, Bill Paterson, and Miles Anderson. It first aired in the UK in 1995. Plot Bates plays the titular Oliver (it is never made clear whether this is his first or last name), a keen word-game enthusiast and lecturer in comparative religion. After his teaching post is made redundant, he resolves to make use of his new wealth of free time by going to visit his favourite crossword compiler, 'Aristotle', with whom he has corresponded but whom he has never met. When he arrives, however, he finds Aristotle's house has been ransacked and its occupant has departed for parts unknown, and he sets out to discover why. Accompanied by WPC Diane Priest (Cusack) (suspended from the police for voicing suspicions about a senior officer), and doggedly pursued by the mysterious Mr. Baxter (Paterson), he finds himself caught up in all manner of nefarious activities, leading from Sout ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joanna Trollope
Joanna Trollope (; born 9 December 1943) is an English writer. She has also written under the pseudonym of Caroline Harvey. Her novel ''Parson Harding's Daughter'' won in 1980 the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Biography Early life Trollope was born on 9 December 1943 in her grandfather's rectory in Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, England, daughter of Rosemary Hodson and Arthur George Cecil Trollope. Her father was an Oxford University classics graduate who became head of a small building society. Her mother was an artist and writer. Her father was away for war service in India when she was born; he returned when she was three. The family settled in Reigate, Surrey. Trollope has a younger brother and sister. She was educated at Reigate County School for Girls, gaining scholarship to St Hugh's College, Oxford in 1961. She read English. Her father was of the same family as the Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope; she is his fifth-gene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maeve Binchy
Anne Maeve Binchy Snell (28 May 1939Born 1939 as per biography, ''Maeve Binchy'' by Piers Dudgeon, Thomas Dunne Books 2013; (hardcover), pp. 4, 280, 302; (ebook) – 30 July 2012) was an Irish novelist, playwright, short story writer, columnist, and speaker. Her novels were characterised by a sympathetic and often humorous portrayal of small-town life in Ireland, and surprise endings. Her novels, which were translated into 37 languages, sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Her death at age 73, announced by Vincent Browne on Irish television late on 30 July 2012, was mourned as the death of one of Ireland's best-loved and most recognisable writers. She appeared in the US market, featuring on ''The New York Times'' best-seller list and in Oprah's Book Club. Recognised for her "total absence of malice" and generosity to other writers, she finished third in a 2000 poll for World Book Day, ahead of Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Stephen King. Biography Overview Early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lilac Bus
''The Lilac Bus'' is a collection of eight interrelated short stories by the writer Maeve Binchy, first published in 1984. The stories were republished by Delacorte Press in 1991 together with the earlier 4-story collection, ''Dublin 4'', under the title ''The Lilac Bus: Stories''. Plot summary Set in the 1960s and 1970s, the book follows a group of seven people from the fictional village of Rathdoon in West Ireland, who all live in Dublin and return home each weekend on a lilac-colored minibus. Each chapter focuses on a different character, with events described in a previous chapter making their reappearance with new repercussions. Themes The book explores how 20th-century characters with strong Roman Catholic values cope with problems such as alcoholism, homosexuality, unwanted pregnancy, infidelity, drug use, divorce, birth control, and abortion. TV movie The book was made into a television movie in 1990, directed by Giles Foster and starring Con O'Neill, Stephanie Beacha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas Fisk
David Higginbottom (14 October 1923 – 10 May 2016), pen name Nicholas Fisk, was a British writer of science fiction books, mainly for children. His works include ''Grinny'', ''You Remember Me'', ''Space Hostages'', and ''Trillions''. He also wrote the ''Starstormers'' series of novels. Fisk died in May 2016 at the age of 92. Early life Fisk was born in London. His father, William, author of ''Frightfulness in Modern Art'' (1928), was an artist and art teacher. His mother was the sister of the Irish actor Micheál Mac Liammóir. He was educated at Ardingly College, West Sussex. Books ''Space Hostages'' A group of children are kidnapped by a critically ill Flight Lieutenant aboard a top secret spacecraft. Left to command the ship alone, they struggle to return safely home. The book explores the dynamics of the global cold war and interpersonal relationships between the children. Published in 1967. ''Trillions'' A mysterious shower of tiny crystals fall all ov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monster Maker
"Monster Maker" is a 1989 45-minute television special, adapted by Matthew Jacobs from the 1979 novel of the same name by Nicholas Fisk. Harry Dean Stanton plays an American Special Effects expert living in England, who is befriended by a young fan named Matt Banting (played by Kieran O'Brien). From Jim Henson's London-based Henson Associates, it was produced by Duncan Kenworthy and directed by Giles Foster. The show aired as a standalone special in the UK. In the US, it aired as an episode of ''The Jim Henson Hour''. Introduction Jim Henson talks about the Creature Shop, showing one of the devils from '' The Storyteller'' as an example of what the Creature Shop can make. A puppet later used as The Predator on '' Dinosaurs'' can also be seen in a movie that Matt is watching. He then introduces the ''Monster Maker''. Plot Teenager Matt Banting wants to work with a famous but eccentric creature/fx (special effects) man, but he gets more than he bargained for when one of the cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruth Rendell
Ruth Barbara Rendell, Baroness Rendell of Babergh, (; 17 February 1930 – 2 May 2015) was an English author of thrillers and psychological murder mysteries. Rendell is best known for creating Chief Inspector Wexford.The Oxford Companion to English Literature. Sixth edition. Ed. by Margaret Drabble. Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 847. . A second string of works was a series of unrelated crime novels that explored the psychological background of criminals and their victims. This theme was developed further in a third series of novels, published under the pseudonym Barbara Vine. Life Rendell was born as Ruth Barbara Grasemann in 1930, in South Woodford, Essex (now Greater London). Her parents were teachers. Her mother, Ebba Kruse, was born in Sweden to Danish parents and brought up in Denmark; her father, Arthur Grasemann, was English. As a result of spending Christmas and other holidays in Scandinavia, Rendell learned Swedish and Danish. Rendell was educated at the Cou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Tree Of Hands
''The Tree of Hands'' is a 1984 suspense novel by the author Ruth Rendell. It won the CWA Silver Dagger in 1984, and was short listed for the MWA Edgar Award upon publication in America. The book has been filmed twice. One adaptation featured Lauren Bacall Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary Aw ... as the protagonist's mother. Plot summary ''The Tree of Hands'' tells the story of an affluent young woman, Benet, who has a two-year-old son named James. She is estranged from James' father. They live in North London. Benet's mother comes to visit them. She and Benet's father now live in Spain. Benet's mother has a history of mental illness, possibly schizophrenia, and Benet is rather fearful of her mother and what she may be capable of doing. Unfortunately James becomes extr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
