Jack Flea's Birthday Celebration
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Jack Flea's Birthday Celebration
''Jack Flea's Birthday Celebration'' is a television play written by Ian McEwan and directed by Mike Newell, part of the ''Second City Firsts'' series recorded by the BBC at Pebble Mill and broadcast on 10 April 1976. McEwan wrote the play in 1974, just after completing his first book, '' First Love, Last Rites'', a collection of short stories and he regards it as belonging to that collection.Ian McEwan ''The Imitation Game: Three Plays for Television'', London: Picador, 1982 Plot David lives with Ruth, a woman nearly twice his age. It is his birthday and he invites his parents to dinner to meet Ruth for the first time. After much wine has been drunk, David pretends to read a chapter from his autobiographical novel, in which the 'stifling, sinister attractions' of his mother drive the protagonist, Jack Flea into the arms of Hermione, an older woman who turns David into her fantasy child. When Mrs. Lee grabs the piece of paper from David it is blank. Ruth and David then act up the ...
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Ian McEwan
Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of the "100 most powerful people in British culture". McEwan began his career writing sparse, Gothic short stories. His first two novels, ''The Cement Garden'' (1978) and ''The Comfort of Strangers'' (1981), earned him the nickname "Ian Macabre". These were followed by three novels of some success in the 1980s and early 1990s. His novel ''Enduring Love'' was adapted into a film of the same name. He won the Booker Prize with ''Amsterdam'' (1998). His next novel, ''Atonement'', garnered acclaim and was adapted into an Oscar-winning film featuring Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. His later novels have included '' The Children Act'', ''Nutshell'', and ''Machines Like Me''. He was awarded the 1999 Shakespeare Prize, and the 2011 Jerusalem Prize. ...
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Mike Newell (director)
Michael Cormac Newell (born 28 March 1942) is an English film and television director and producer. He won the BAFTA for Best Direction for ''Four Weddings and a Funeral'' (1994), which also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film, and directed the films '' Donnie Brasco'' (1997) and '' Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'' (2005). Early life Newell was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, as the son of amateur actors, and was educated at St Albans School. He read English at Magdalene College, Cambridge. He then attended a three-year training course at Granada Television with the intention of entering the theatre. Career Newell directed various British TV shows from the 1960s onwards (such as ''Spindoe'', credited as Cormac Newell, and '' Big Breadwinner Hog''), but eventually shifted his focus to film direction. His first feature-length project was '' The Man in the Iron Mask'' (1977), a made-for-television film. His first critically acclaimed movie was '' Bad Blood'' (1981), ...
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Second City Firsts
''Second City Firsts'' is a British drama anthology series of single plays, broadcast by the BBC, all lasting thirty minutes. Recorded at BBC Pebble Mill in Birmingham, or sometimes filmed on location, the series was broadcast between 1973 and 1978. The series title referred both to Pebble Mill's location in England's Second City, and the fact that the series commissioned an unprecedented amount of first-time writers.Re-viewing Television History: Critical Issues in Television Historiography
ed. Helen Wheatley, pp.91-92
The 1974 episode ''Girl'', about a

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Pebble Mill
Pebble Mill Studios was the BBC's television studio complex located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, which served as the headquarters for BBC Birmingham from 1971 until 2004. The nine-acre site was opened by Princess Anne on 10 June 1971, and in addition to the studios contained two canteens, a post office, gardens, a seven-storey office block, and an outside broadcasting (OB) base. As well as being the home of ''Midlands Today'' and BBC Radio WM, programmes produced at Pebble Mill included ''Pebble Mill at One'', ''The Archers'', ''Top Gear'', ''Doctors'', ''Telly Addicts'' and ''Gardeners' World''. Pebble Mill Studios closed in 2004 and was demolished in September 2005; BBC Birmingham is now located in The Mailbox shopping complex in Birmingham city centre. Early history In the 1950s BBC Midlands was based in offices on Carpenter Road, Edgbaston. The news studio was in a separate building in Broad Street which remained in operation until 1971. In the sam ...
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First Love, Last Rites
''First Love, Last Rites'' is a collection of short stories by Ian McEwan. It was first published in 1975 by Jonathan Cape, with cover designed by Bill Botten, and re-issued in 1997 by Vintage. Context The collection is McEwan's first published work and was regarded by the author (along with his second collection of short stories, '' In Between the Sheets'') as an opportunity to experiment and find his voice as a writer. In an interview with Christopher Ricks in 1979, McEwan commented, "They were a kind of laboratory for me. They allowed me to try out different things, to discover myself as a writer." As a piece of work that portrays McEwan, the writer, at his youngest, it is perhaps fitting that the dominant theme is that of adolescence, of the blurry and perilous divide between childhood and adulthood; in addition themes of sex, perversion, and the grotesque in its many forms feature throughout. Stories The book is composed of eight short stories, with the title story c ...
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Sara Kestelman
Sara Kestelman (born 12 May 1944) is an English actress. She is known for her role as Lady Frances Brandon, Lady Jane Grey's mother, in the 1986 film '' Lady Jane'', as well as for providing the voice of Kreia in '' Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords''. Life and career Kestelman was born in London, the daughter of Dorothy Mary (née Creagh), a dress designer, and Morris Kestelman, an artist. Her father was Jewish, from a family from Russia. In 1994, she won a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for her performance as Fraulein Schneider in ''Cabaret'' in the London revival of the show. She has performed with the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Kestelman joined the latter in 1968 but left in 1973 when she had her first film role in ''Zardoz''. In 1982, she played Lady Macbeth. Kestelman wrote a book of poetry, ''A Two Hander'', with Susan Penhaligon. It was published by The Do-Not Press in 1996. She voiced the character Kreia in the ...
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Eileen McCallum
Eileen McCallum, MBE (born 2 December 1936) is a Scottish actress who is best known for playing the part of shopkeeper Isabel Blair through the complete run of soap opera ''Take the High Road'' from 1980 to 2003, and as Liz Hamilton from 2005 to 2018 in the BBC Scotland soap ''River City''. Career McCallum appeared in Glasgow drama ''Just Another Saturday'' in 1975. She then gained her first major soap role in ''Garnock Way'' playing Jean Ross from 1976 to 1979. ''Garnock Way'' was axed to be replaced by ''Take the High Road'', which was first aired on 19 February 1980 with McCallum taking one of the lead roles as village storekeeper Isabel Blair through the programme's full run from 1980 to 2003. Series creator Don Houghton praised McCallum and her co-star Marjorie Thomson for their clarity as speakers of the Scots dialect, an essential attribute of their respective roles in the programme. McCallum was awarded the MBE for her services to drama in the 1992 New Year Honours. O ...
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Ivor Roberts (actor)
Ivor Roberts (19 July 1925 – 5 September 1999) was a British actor and a television continuity announcer who often appeared in comedic roles. Born in Nottingham, he returned to acting following service in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Roberts started his television career as a continuity announcer on regional television in Wales, working for TWW before that company lost its franchise in 1968. Among his better-known roles were the characters of Arnold Thomas in the 1995-97 television series ''Oh, Doctor Beeching!'' and Mr Barnes in the second, third and fourth series of ''You Rang, M'Lord?''. He also made a guest appearance, as a police officer, in one episode of ''George and Mildred''. Another notable appearance was as Mr. Chick in ''Dombey and Son''. He also played parts in ''Porridge'' and ''Yes, Minister''. Roberts died in Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City a ...
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Peter Buckman
Peter Buckman is an English writer and literary agent. He has been involved in the publishing industry for many years; he was on the editorial board of Penguin Books, and a commissioning editor for the New American Library in New York City. He has published novels, non fiction, a biography and short stories, and has also written for television and film, including an episode of ''Inspector Morse'', three episodes of '' The House of Elliot'', the television film '' Unnatural Causes'', and the television movie ''The Tale of Sweeney Todd'', which was directed by John Schlesinger. He is currently a literary agent, having started The Ampersand Agency in 2003, notable for having discovered and represented Vikas Swarup, author of Q & A, which was filmed as Slumdog Millionaire, and also being the agent for the estate of prolific historical fiction writer Georgette Heyer Georgette Heyer (; 16 August 1902 – 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer, in both t ...
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The Listener (magazine)
''The Listener'' was a weekly magazine established by the BBC in January 1929 which ceased publication in 1991. The entire digitised archive was made available for purchase online to libraries, educational and research institutions in 2011. It was first published on 16 January 1929, under the editorship of Richard S. Lambert, and was developed as a medium of record for the reproduction of broadcast talks. It also previewed major literary and musical broadcasts, reviewed new books, and printed a selected list of the more intellectual broadcasts for the coming week. Its published aim was to be "a medium for intelligent reception of broadcast programmes by way of amplification and explanation of those features which cannot now be dealt with in the editorial columns of the ''Radio Times''". The title reflected the fact that at the time the BBC broadcast via radio only. (The BBC version of ''The Listener'' was preceded by another magazine with the same title which was the ''Journ ...
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1976 Television Plays
Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Philadelphia Flyers–Red Army game results in a 4–1 victory for the National Hockey League's Philadelphia Flyers over HC CSKA Moscow of the Soviet Union. * January 16 – The trial against jailed members of the Red Army Faction (the West German extreme-left militant Baader–Meinhof Group) begins in Stuttgart. * January 18 ** Full diplomatic relations are established between Bangladesh and Pakistan 5 years after the Bangladesh Liberation War. ** The Scottish Labour Party (1976), Scottish Labour Party is formed as a breakaway from the UK-wide party. ** Super Bowl X in American football: The Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Dallas Cowboys, 21–17, in Miami. * January 21 – First commercial Concorde flight, from London to Bahrain. * January 27 ...
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Films With Screenplays By Ian McEwan
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere through the use of moving images. These images are generally accompanied by sound and, more rarely, other sensory stimulations. The word "cinema", short for cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and to the art form that is the result of it. Recording and transmission of film The moving images of a film are created by photographing actual scenes with a motion-picture camera, by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques, by means of CGI and computer animation, or by a combination of some or all of these techniques, and other visual effects. Before the introduction of digital production, series of still images were recorded on a strip of chemically sensitized ...
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