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Gormenghast (TV Serial)
''Gormenghast'' is a four-episode television serial based on the first two novels of the Gothic fantasy Gormenghast series by Mervyn Peake. It was produced and broadcast by the BBC. First broadcast in early 2000, the serial was designed for an early evening time-slot in much the same vein as the earlier adaptations of ''The Chronicles of Narnia''. The BBC conception was based on the idea that Peake's early life in China had influenced the creation of Gormenghast; thus, the castle in the series resembles the Forbidden City in Beijing as well as the holy city of Lhasa in Tibet. Plot The series covers the events of the first two books, ''Titus Groan'' and ''Gormenghast''. It does not cover any of the events from the third book, ''Titus Alone''. Cast Production At the time of its broadcast, ''Gormenghast'' was among the most ambitious serials ever undertaken by the BBC. The series required a combined five years of production and pre-production and utilized over 120 sets. D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malcolm McKay (writer)
Malcolm McKay (born 12 July 1947) is a British writer and director. Early life McKay was born in Epping, Essex, Epping, London. He studied at St Joseph's Convent primary, King Edward V1 Grammar, Chelmsford and Canley College of Education, Coventry. He qualified as a teacher in 1969 and began a career in the theatre soon after. Novels He has published four novels: ''The Path'', about the personal, intellectual and spiritual inter-reaction between a group of international travelers on the Camino de Santiago; ''The Lack Brothers'', a journey by three brothers in search of their mother through a mythologised London of the last fifty years, published by Transworld; ''Breaking Up'', depicting the financial and interior collapse of a city trader as his domestic and professional life literally goes up in flames, published by Pegasus; ''Thistown'', a political fiction, political novel for teenagers set in a mythical town somewhere in the universe which is impossible to escape from and wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, the most of any country in the world, tied with Russia. Covering an area of approximately , it is the world's third largest country by total land area. The country consists of 22 provinces, five autonomous regions, four municipalities, and two Special Administrative Regions (Hong Kong and Macau). The national capital is Beijing, and the most populous city and financial center is Shanghai. Modern Chinese trace their origins to a cradle of civilization in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. The semi-legendary Xia dynasty in the 21st century BCE and the well-attested Shang and Zhou dynasties developed a bureaucratic political system to serve hereditary monarchies, or dyna ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiona Shaw
Fiona Shaw (born Fiona Mary Wilson; 10 July 1958) is an Irish film and theatre actress. She is known for her roles as Petunia Dursley in the ''Harry Potter'' film series (2001–2010), Marnie Stonebrook in the fourth season of the HBO series ''True Blood'' (2011), and Carolyn Martens in the BBC series ''Killing Eve'' (2018–22). For her performance in ''Killing Eve'', Shaw won the 2019 BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress. For her performances in the second seasons of ''Killing Eve'' and ''Fleabag'', she received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series respectively. For the third season of ''Killing Eve'', she was again nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. Shaw has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. She won the 1990 Olivier Award for Best Actress for various roles, including '' Electra'', the 1994 Ol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Sessions
John Marshall (11 January 1953 – 2 November 2020), better known by the stage name John Sessions, was a British actor and comedian. He was known for comedy improvisation in television shows such as ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', as a panellist on '' QI'', and as a character actor in numerous films, both in the UK and Hollywood. Early life John Sessions was born John Marshall on 11 January 1953, according to most sources in Largs, Ayrshire, Scotland. His family moved to Bedford, England, when he was three. His father was a gas engineer. He had an older brother, Bill, and a twin sister, Maggie. Education Sessions was educated at Bedford Modern School, an independent school for boys (now co-educational), and Verulam School, St Albans, followed by the University College of North Wales in Bangor, from which he graduated with an MA in English literature. At university, he had begun to appear to audiences with his comedy in shows such as "Look back in Bangor" and "Marshall Arts". He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew N
Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived from the el, Ἀνδρέας, ''Andreas'', itself related to grc, ἀνήρ/ἀνδρός ''aner/andros'', "man" (as opposed to "woman"), thus meaning "manly" and, as consequence, "brave", "strong", "courageous", and "warrior". In the King James Bible, the Greek "Ἀνδρέας" is translated as Andrew. Popularity Australia In 2000, the name Andrew was the second most popular name in Australia. In 1999, it was the 19th most common name, while in 1940, it was the 31st most common name. Andrew was the first most popular name given to boys in the Northern Territory in 2003 to 2015 and continuing. In Victoria, Andrew was the first most popular name for a boy in the 1970s. Canada Andrew was the 20th most popular name chosen for male ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fuchsia Groan
Lady Fuchsia Groan is a fictional character in the '' Gormenghast'' series of fantasy novels by English writer Mervyn Peake. The daughter of Sepulchrave, 76th Earl of Groan, she appears in the first two volumes in the series, ''Titus Groan'' (1946) and '' Gormenghast'' (1950). In the BBC film adaptation (2000), Fuchsia is portrayed by Scottish actress Neve McIntosh. Fuchsia is also the subject of the song "The Drowning Man" by English rock band The Cure, which is about her death and mentions her by name. Early life and family The Earl of Groan and his Countess have a daughter, Fuchsia, but a son can only inherit the earldom and the family seat, Gormenghast. Consequently, Fuchsia has been largely ignored by both parents; and she spends most of her time with Nannie Slagg. While Fuchsia cares for Nannie Slagg deeply, she also delights in tormenting the old woman with childish antics and pranks. When Fuchsia is about fifteen, an heir-apparent is finally born. Like many firstborns, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steerpike
Steerpike is a fictional character in Mervyn Peake's novels ''Titus Groan'' and ''Gormenghast''. Character Steerpike might be called the antagonist of the Gormenghast trilogy, but in truth he is more of an anti-hero; the first book for example is largely focused on him, only covering the first year of the eponymous hero Titus's life. Steerpike could also be considered an archetypal Machiavellian schemer: a highly intelligent, ruthless character willing to justify any and all means to reach his end. In the books, Mervyn Peake describes his personality as follows: if ever he had harboured a conscience in his tough narrow breast he had by now dug out and flung away the awkward thing — flung it so far away that were he ever to need it again he could never find it. High-shouldered to a degree little short of malformation, slender and adroit of limb and frame, his eyes close-set and the colour of dried blood, he is climbing the spiral staircase of the soul of Gormenghast, bound for so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titus Groan (character)
''Gormenghast'' is a fantasy series by British author Mervyn Peake, about the inhabitants of Castle Gormenghast, a sprawling, decaying, Gothic structure. Originally conceived as a single on-going novel, the series was ended by Peake's death and comprises three novels: ''Titus Groan'' (1946), ''Gormenghast'' (1950) and ''Titus Alone'' (1959); and a novella, ''Boy in Darkness'' (1956), whose canonical status is debated. Peake was writing a fourth novel, ''Titus Awakes'', at the time of his death in 1968. The book was completed by Peake's widow Maeve Gilmore in the early 1970s. After it was discovered by their family, it was published in 2009. Although the first two instalments do not contain any overtly fantastical elements, ''Gormenghast'' is almost unanimously categorised as fantasy because of the atmosphere and pseudo-medieval setting. The series has received widespread acclaim from the speculative fiction community and mainstream literary critics. The series has been inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titus Alone
''Titus Alone'' is a novel written by Mervyn Peake and first published in 1959. It is the third work in the Gormenghast trilogy. The other works are ''Titus Groan'', and ''Gormenghast''. With the trilogy, a fourth work, the novella '' Boy in Darkness'', and a fifth, the fragment ''Titus Awakes'', are often considered part of a larger "Gormenghast series". It was re-edited by Langdon Jones ''New Worlds'' was a British science fiction magazine that began in 1936 as a fanzine called ''Novae Terrae''. John Carnell, who became ''Novae Terrae''s editor in 1939, renamed it ''New Worlds'' that year. He was instrumental in turning it into ... in 1970 using the original manuscript. Plot summary The story follows Titus as he journeys through the world outside Gormenghast Castle, having left his home at the end of the second book. Muzzlehatch and the city Titus bumbles through a desert for a time, then uses a canoe to row down the river, where the reader gets a surprise: although Gor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gormenghast (novel)
''Gormenghast'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Mervyn Peake, the second in his Gormenghast series. It is the story of Titus Groan, 77th Earl of Groan and Lord of Gormenghast Castle, from age 7 to 17. As the story opens, Titus dreads the pre-ordained life of ritual that stretches before him. To Titus, Master of Ritual Barquentine and his apprentice Steerpike are the embodiment of all he wants to rebel against. An important sub-plot involves Titus at school, where he encounters the professors, especially Bellgrove, who becomes Headmaster of Gormenghast school. Plot summary Steerpike usurps Barquentine Steerpike, despite his position of authority, is in reality a dangerous traitor to Gormenghast who seeks to eventually wield ultimate power in the castle. To this end, he kills Barquentine so that he can replace him and so advance in power. Although he is successful in his murder of Barquentine, the old master of ritual put up such a severe struggle that Steerpike is severel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Titus Groan
''Titus Groan'' is a novel by Mervyn Peake, first published in 1946. It is the first novel in the ''Gormenghast'' series. Plot introduction The book is set in the huge castle of Gormenghast, a vast landscape of crumbling towers and ivy-filled quadrangles that has for centuries been the hereditary residence of the Groan family and with them a legion of servants. The Groan family is headed by Lord Sepulchrave, the seventy-sixth Earl of Groan. He is a melancholy man who feels shackled by his duties as Earl, although he never questions them. His only escape is reading in his library. His wife is the Countess Gertrude. Large and imposing, with dark red hair, she pays no attention to her family or to the rest of Gormenghast. Instead, she spends her time either in her bedroom or in walking selected areas, in the company of a legion of birds and her white cats that alone command her affections. Their daughter is 15-year-old Fuchsia Groan, attended to by the easily upset Nannie Slagg. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, Monpa, Tamang people, Tamang, Qiang people, Qiang, Sherpa people, Sherpa and Lhoba peoples and now also considerable numbers of Han Chinese and Hui people, Hui settlers. Since Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China, 1951, the entire plateau has been under the administration of the People's Republic of China, a major portion in the Tibet Autonomous Region, and other portions in the Qinghai and Sichuan provinces. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of . Located in the Himalayas, the highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain, rising 8,848.86 m (29,032 ft) above sea level. The Tibetan Empire emerged in the 7th century. At its height in the 9th century, the Tibet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
