|
It Is Rocket Science
''It Is Rocket Science'' is a BBC Radio 4 comedy about the history and development of human spaceflight, written and performed by Helen Keen. The series also stars Peter Serafinowicz and Susy Kane and is produced by Gareth Edwards. It was first broadcast in March 2011. The premise of the show is that, lacking a big budget, "award winning comedian and part time local authority temporary administrative assistant" Keen has built a ‘super computer’ named The Voice of Space to narrate her peculiar but factually accurate history of space travel, and recreate the voices of various of historical and illustrative characters. Throughout the series The Voice of Space is referred to as possessing the attributes/spare parts of various types of vintage home computers (particularly ZX Spectrum, as heard in episode 1) and household kitchen equipment. Keen has said that The Voice of Space's unique pronunciation of words such as universe (‘oooniverse’) which has drawn comment is inten ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy
Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term originated in ancient Greece: in Athenian democracy, the public opinion of voters was influenced by political satire performed by comic poets in theaters. The theatrical genre of Greek comedy can be described as a dramatic performance pitting two groups, ages, genders, or societies against each other in an amusing '' agon'' or conflict. Northrop Frye depicted these two opposing sides as a "Society of Youth" and a "Society of the Old". A revised view characterizes the essential agon of comedy as a struggle between a relatively powerless youth and the societal conventions posing obstacles to his hopes. In this struggle, the youth then becomes constrained by his lack of social authority, and is left with little choice but to resort to ruses w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is , with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people. The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 170 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the island of Great Britain. Existing on a dialect continuum with Scots, and then closest related to the Low Saxon and Frisian languages, English is genealogically West Germanic. However, its vocabulary is also distinctively influenced by dialects of France (about 29% of Modern English words) and Latin (also about 29%), plus some grammar and a small amount of core vocabulary influenced by Old Norse (a North Germanic language). Speakers of English are called Anglophones. The earliest forms of English, collectively known as Old English, evolved from a group of West Germanic (Ingvaeonic) dialects brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century and further mutated by Norse-speaking Viking settlers starting in the 8th and 9th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London. The station controller is Mohit Bakaya. Broadcasting throughout the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands on FM, LW and DAB, and on BBC Sounds, it can be received in the eastern counties of Ireland, northern France and Northern Europe. It is available on Freeview, Sky, and Virgin Media. Radio 4 currently reaches over 10 million listeners, making it the UK's second most-popular radio station after Radio 2. BBC Radio 4 broadcasts news programmes such as ''Today'' and ''The World at One'', heralded on air by the Greenwich Time Signal pips or the chimes of Big Ben. The pips are only accurate on FM, LW, and MW; there is a delay on digital radio of three to five seconds and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helen Keen
Helen Keen is an English alternative comedian and writer born in Yorkshire, now living in London. She suffered with SM (Selective Mutism) as a child but overcame this before becoming a comedian. Career Keen was raised in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. In 2005, along with writing partner Miriam Underhill, she won the first Channel 4 New Comedy Writing Initiative award. Judges included station executives, as well as Annie Griffin, Victoria Pile and Arthur Mathews. She also reached the 2005 UK Funny Women final. In 2006, she was a finalist for the hotly contested Hackney Empire New Act of the Year title. In 2007, she performed in the second annual tribute to Malcolm Hardee. Her broadcast writing has included regular credits on BBC Radio 1's late-night experimental comedy show ''The Milk Run'' and BBC Radio 4's long-running ''The Now Show'' as well as the ''Dog Almighty'' edition of Channel 4's '' Comedy Lab'' series and the 2007 series of Channel 4's ''The Friday Night Project''. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Serafinowicz
Peter Szymon Serafinowicz ( ; born 10 July 1972) is an English actor, comedian, director and screenwriter, best known for his roles as the title character in the 2016 live-action series of ''The Tick'', Pete in ''Shaun of the Dead'' (2004) and as the voice of Darth Maul in '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' (1999), and Pavel Bartek in ''Rick and Morty'' (2017). He has also appeared in many British and American comedy series, and received attention for political satire videos in which he dubs over videos of Donald Trump with various comedic voices. He has also directed music videos for acts such as Hot Chip. Early life Peter Szymon Serafinowicz was born in Gateacre, Liverpool on 10 July 1972, the son of post office worker Catherine (née Geary) and scaffolder Szymon Serafinowicz. His father, who was born and raised in Surrey before moving to Liverpool, was of half Belarusian and half Polish descent. Serafinowicz has a brother named James, who became a film produce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susy Kane
Susy Kane (born 27 August 1978, in Dorking, Surrey, England) is an English actress, comedy writer and musician. Personal life She is the daughter of opera singer Alison Warner and actor and writer John Kane, and the younger sister of comedy writer and actor Simon Kane. Her father is a former associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company and is the creator and writer of British sitcom ''Terry and June''. She is of French Huguenot and Celtic ancestry. She grew up in Wandsworth, London and won a scholarship to Westminster School in the sixth form. She studied Chinese, Art and Film at the University of Edinburgh. She lives in London and Los Angeles. Career A singer, jazz pianist and classically trained violinist she started singing in jazz clubs when she was 16. She has written event music for the London Eye and played gypsy fiddle for the Charlotte Church album ''Tissues and Issues''. Her TV credits include ''Saxondale'', ''Maron'', '' Extras Christmas Special'', ''The Thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gareth Edwards (producer)
Gareth Edwards (born 1965) is a radio and television producer and writer. He is the great-grandson of Hollywood pioneer Albert E. Smith, founder of Vitagraph Studios. TV and radio career He has worked on a number of radio and TV programmes including ''Comedy Firsts'' (ITV, 1995), ''The Big Town All Stars'' (BBC Radio 4, 1998), ''Spaced'' (Channel 4, 1999), '' The Bigger Issues'' (BBC Radio 4, 2000), ''Parsons and Naylor's Pull-Out Sections'' (BBC Radio 2, 2001), '' Dead Ringers'' (BBC Two, 2003, 2004), ''Posh Nosh'' (BBC Two, 2003), ''Vent'' (BBC Radio 4, 2006–09) Edwards produced ''That Mitchell and Webb Sound'' (BBC Radio 4, 2003–09), which won a Sony Silver Award in 2004; he also produced the TV version of this, starring the same David Mitchell and Robert Webb, entitled ''That Mitchell and Webb Look'' (BBC Two, 2006–10), which won best comedy BAFTA in 2006. Edwards also produced ''The One Ronnie'' (BBC One, 2010), a one-off comedy television sketch show that aired on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Human Spaceflight
Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be remotely operated from ground stations on Earth, or autonomously, without any direct human involvement. People trained for spaceflight are called astronauts (American or other), ''cosmonauts'' (Russian), or ''taikonauts'' (Chinese); and non-professionals are referred to as spaceflight participants or ''spacefarers''. The first human in space was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who launched as part of the Soviet Union's Vostok program on 12 April 1961 at the beginning of the Space Race. On 5 May 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space, as part of Project Mercury. Humans traveled to the Moon nine times between 1968 and 1972 as part of the United States' Apollo program, and have had a continuous presence in space for on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as the ''ZX81 Colour'' and ''ZX82'', it was launched as the ''ZX Spectrum'' to highlight the machine's colour display, which differed from the black and white display of its predecessor, the ZX81. The Spectrum was released as six different models, ranging from the entry level with 16 Kilobyte, KB RAM released in 1982 to the ZX Spectrum +3 with 128 KB RAM and built in floppy disk drive in 1987; altogether they sold over 5 million units worldwide (not counting List of ZX Spectrum clones, unofficial clones). The Spectrum was among the first home computers in the United Kingdom aimed at a mainstream audience, and it thus had similar significance to the Commodore 64 in the US and the Thomson MO5 in France. The introduction of the ZX Spect ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 different shows in 322 venues. Established in 1947 as an alternative to (and on the fringe of) the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place in Edinburgh every August. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has become a world-leading celebration of arts and culture, surpassed only by the Olympics and the World Cup in terms of global ticketed events. As an event it "has done more to place Edinburgh in the forefront of world cities than anything else" according to historian and former chairman of the board, Michael Dale. It is an open access (or "unjuried") performing arts festival, meaning there is no selection committee, and anyone may participate, with any type of performance. The official Fringe Programme categorises shows into sections for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Princess Anne
Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King Charles III. Anne is 16th in the line of succession to the British throne and has been Princess Royal since 1987. Born at Clarence House, Anne was educated at Benenden School and began undertaking royal duties upon reaching adulthood. She became a respected equestrian, winning one gold medal in 1971 and two silver medals in 1975 at the European Eventing Championships. In 1976, she became the first member of the British royal family to compete in the Olympic Games. In 1988, the Princess Royal became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Princess Royal performs official duties and engagements on behalf of her brother the King. She holds patronage in over 300 organisations, including WISE, Riders for Health, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.svg "Click for more on -> United Kingdom")
.jpeg/1200px-Peter_Serafinowicz_(cropped).jpeg "Click for more on -> Peter Serafinowicz")
