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Mervyn Pinfield
Mervyn Pinfield (28 February 1912 – 20 May 1966) was a British television producer and director who worked for the BBC during the 1950s and 1960s. By the time Pinfield joined the BBC to work in live drama at Alexandra Palace in the early 1950s, he was a highly experienced producer and manager. During Verity Lambert's tenure as the first producer of ''Doctor Who'', he was the programme's associate producer (from the first episode of ''An Unearthly Child'' (1963) to '' The Romans'' (1965)). Early life Mervyn Pinfield initially trained as an engineer. Before the war, he worked in the automobile industry in Coventry where he joined the company amateur dramatics society. He eventually resigned his position and joined the Coventry Repertory Company for theatrical training, then joining the company as a full member. For the next three years he gained acting experience till in 1939 he was appointed Producer to the Midlands Art Group. With the outbreak of war, as a trained engine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Evesham
Evesham () is a market town and parish in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is located roughly equidistant between Worcester, Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. It lies within the Vale of Evesham, an area comprising the flood plain of the River Avon, which has been renowned for market gardening. The town centre, situated within a meander of the river, is subjected regularly to flooding. The 2007 floods were the most severe in recorded history. The town was founded around an 8th-century abbey, one of the largest in Europe, which was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, with only Abbot Lichfield's Bell Tower remaining. During the 13th century, one of the two main battles of England's Second Barons' War took place near the town, marking the victory of Prince Edward, who later became King Edward I; this was the Battle of Evesham. History Evesham is derived from the Old English ''homme'' or ''ham'', and ''Eof'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Planet Of Giants
''Planet of Giants'' is the first serial of the second season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Louis Marks and directed by Mervyn Pinfield and Douglas Camfield, the serial was first broadcast on BBC1 in three weekly parts from 31 October to 14 November 1964. In the serial, the First Doctor (William Hartnell), his granddaughter Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford), and her teachers Ian Chesterton ( William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) are shrunk to the size of an inch after the Doctor's time machine the TARDIS arrives in contemporary England. The story's concept was first proposed as the first serial of the show's first season, but was rejected due to its technical complexity and lack of character development. When Marks was commissioned to write the script, he was inspired by Rachel Carson's 1962 environmental science book ''Silent Spring'', the first major documentation on human impact on the environment. The story was or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1966 Deaths
Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo is deposed by a military coup in the Republic of Upper Volta (modern-day Burkina Faso). * January 10 ** Pakistani–Indian peace negotiations end successfully with the signing of the Tashkent Declaration, a day before the sudden death of Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. ** Georgia House of Representatives, The House of Representatives of the US state of Georgia refuses to allow African-American representative Julian Bond to take his seat, because of his anti-war stance. ** A Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference convenes in Lagos, Nigeria, primarily to discuss Rhodesia. * January 12 – United States President Lyndon Johnson states that the United States should stay in South Vietnam until Communism, Communist aggression there is e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1912 Births
Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 191 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Parthia * King Vologases IV of Parthia dies after a 44-year reign, and is succeeded by his son Vologases V. China * A coalition of Chinese warlords from the east of Hangu Pass launches a punitive campaign against the warlord Dong Zhuo, who seized control of the central government in 189, and held the figurehead Emperor Xian hostage. After suffering some defeats against the coalition forces, Dong Zhuo forcefully relocates the imperial capital from Luoyang to Chang'an. Before leaving, Dong Zhuo orders his troops to loot the tombs of the H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio Times
''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by John Reith, then general manager of the British Broadcasting Company (from 1 January 1927, the British Broadcasting Corporation), it was the world's first broadcast listings magazine. It was published entirely in-house by BBC Magazines from 8 January 1937 until 16 August 2011, when the division was merged into Immediate Media Company. On 12 January 2017, Immediate Media was bought by the German media group Hubert Burda. The magazine is published on Tuesdays and carries listings for the week from Saturday to Friday. Originally, listings ran from Sunday to Saturday: the changeover meant 8 October 1960 was listed twice, in successive issues. Since Christmas 1969, a 14-day double-sized issue has been published each December containing schedule ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jeff Rawle
Jeffrey Alan Rawle (born 20 July 1951) is an English actor. He is known for portraying George Dent in the news-gathering sitcom ''Drop the Dead Donkey''. He also portrayed Silas Blissett in ''Hollyoaks'' from December 2010 until 2012. Rawle returned to ''Hollyoaks'' in 2016, 2020 and 2022. Early life Rawle was born on 20 July 1951 in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. His first secondary school was King Edward VI School in Aston, Birmingham. When he was 15 his family moved to Sheffield, and it was at High Storrs Grammar School that he first became interested in drama when he appeared in school plays. He worked at the Sheffield Playhouse before training at LAMDA. Career Rawle landed his first major role in 1973 as Billy in the television version of Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall's '' Billy Liar''. In 1979, he appeared with Ian McKellen and Tom Bell in ''Bent'' at the Criterion Theatre, London. In 1984, he appeared in the '' Doctor Who'' story '' Frontios'' as the character ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
An Adventure In Space And Time
''An Adventure in Space and Time'' is a 2013 British biographical television film, starring David Bradley, Brian Cox, Jessica Raine and Sacha Dhawan. Directed by Terry McDonough, and written by regular ''Doctor Who'' writer Mark Gatiss, it premiered on BBC Two on 21 November 2013, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the science fiction television series. Further, international broadcasts of the television film were made after its premiere on British television. The biographical film focuses on a dramatised version of events surrounding the creation of ''Doctor Who'' in the 1960s, with emphasis on actor William Hartnell, portrayed by Bradley, as he took on the role of the original incarnation of the show's main character, the Doctor. Alongside Hartnell, the story also focused on the behind-the-scene events with the production staff, including the involvement of Sydney Newman, Verity Lambert and Waris Hussein. The television film received positive feedback after its bro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Docudrama
Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typically strive to adhere to known historical facts, while allowing some degree of dramatic license in peripheral details, such as when there are gaps in the historical record. Dialogue may, or may not, include the actual words of real-life people, as recorded in historical documents. Docudrama producers sometimes choose to film their reconstructed events in the actual locations in which the historical events occurred. A docudrama, in which historical fidelity is the keynote, is generally distinguished from a film merely " based on true events", a term which implies a greater degree of dramatic license; and from the concept of "historical drama", a broader category which may also encompass entirely fictionalized action taking place in histor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Autocue
Autocue is a UK-based manufacturer of teleprompter systems. The company was founded in 1955 and licensed its first on-camera teleprompter, based on a patent by Jess Oppenheimer, in 1962. Its products are used by journalists, presenters, politicians and video production staff in almost every country in the world. In Dutch, "autocue" became a genericized trademark as there is no Dutch word for teleprompter. History of Autocue and teleprompting Prompting begins on paper Prompting began with Jess Oppenheimer, a writer, producer and director on the TV show ''I Love Lucy'' in the early 1950s. To solve the problem of the actors forgetting their lines, he developed the teleprompter system. Oppenheimer took out a patent on the system. He licensed the patent to the teleprompting company Autocue in 1955. Meanwhile, a separate entity, QTV, was established in the US. Both companies started by renting teleprompting equipment to studios and these were the first "on-camera" teleprompters in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teleprompter
A teleprompter, also known as an autocue, is a display device that prompts the person speaking with an electronic visual text of a speech or script. Using a teleprompter is similar to using cue cards. The screen is in front of, and usually below, the lens of a professional video camera, and the words on the screen are reflected to the eyes of the presenter using a sheet of clear glass or other beam splitter, so that they are read by looking directly at the lens position, but are not imaged by the lens. Light from the performer passes through the front side of the glass into the lens, while a shroud surrounding the lens and the back side of the glass prevents unwanted light from entering the lens. Mechanically this works in a very similar way to the Pepper's ghost illusion from classic theatre: an image viewable from one angle but not another. Because the speaker can look straight at the lens while reading the script, the teleprompter creates the illusion that the speaker has m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Gorrie (director)
John Gorrie (born 11 August 1932, Hastings, East Sussex) is an English director and screenwriter. He began his career as an actor, but in early 1963 he completed the BBC's directors' course. His first assignments as a director were for the soap opera ''Compact'' and the anthology series ''Suspense''. He directed the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Keys of Marinus''. He directed episodes of ''Out of the Unknown'', ''Edward the Seventh'' (which he also co-wrote), ''Play for Today'', and '' Tales of the Unexpected''. Gorrie also directed John Osborne's adaptation of Wilde's novel ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' (1976) for the ''Play of the Month'' series. In 1979, John Gorrie directed two classics: Shakespeare's ''Twelfth Night'' (taping dates 16–21 May, first transmitted in the UK on 6 January 1980), and ''The Tempest'' (taping dates 23–28 July, first transmitted in the UK on 27 February 1980) in the ''BBC Television Shakespeare The ''BBC Television Shakespeare'' is a series ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henric Hirsch
Henric Hirsch (13 November 1923 – March 1999) was a Hungarian-Romanian theatre and television director. Initially an experienced theatre director in Hungary, Hirsch fled to England to seek refuge following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. There, he continued to direct for theatre but sought to move into television. After completing the BBC's directors course, his first assignment was directing a 1964 edition of TV anthology series ''First Night''. TV work and ''Doctor Who'' This was seen by producer Verity Lambert, who in turn offered Hirsch the opportunity to direct ''Doctor Who'' Season 1 finale '' The Reign of Terror'' (after the intended director Gerald Blake was unable to commit). The experience was not a pleasant one for Hirsch. His background being in the theatre, he struggled, finding the production more gruelling than his previous TV work, not being particularly interested in the material he had to work with and having difficulties forging good working relationshi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
