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Orville The Duck
Orville the Duck was the most famous puppet often used by the ventriloquist Keith Harris (1947–2015) and was named after Orville Wright (one of the Wright Brothers). Orville is a green duckling who wears nothing but a nappy with a large safety pin on the front. He speaks with a falsetto Yorkshire accent. Orville appeared on BBC television from 1982 to 1990 on ''The Keith Harris Show'', which featured assorted puppets such as Orville the Duck and Cuddles the Monkey. At the peak of their popularity in December 1982, Harris and Orville released the single "Orville's Song", reaching number 4 in the UK Singles Chart in January 1983 and selling over 400,000 copies in total. After ''The Keith Harris Show'' ended in 1990, Harris took up work for Butlins holiday resorts. In 1991 "Orville's Song" was sampled for a dance music single "I Wish I Could Fly" by DWA with Harris appearing in the accompanying music video. In 2004, Harris provided Orville's personality in an advert for Surf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keith Harris (ventriloquist)
Keith Shenton Harris (21 September 1947 – 28 April 2015) was an English ventriloquist, best known for his television show ''The Keith Harris Show'' (1982–86), audio recordings, and club appearances with his puppets Orville the Duck and Cuddles the Monkey. He had a UK Top 10 hit single in 1982 with "Orville's Song" which reached number 4 in the charts. The son of variety performers, Harris assisted in his father's ventriloquy acts as a child; as a teenager, he created his own ventriloquism characters which he performed at holiday resorts in the summer season, attracting the attention of television producers. He debuted on screen in 1965 and became a popular act guest starring on various shows; he had his first solo series ''Cuddles and Company'' in the 1970s, but got his big break in 1982 with ''The Keith Harris Show''. He, Orville and Cuddles became popular performers on primetime television until ''The Quack Chat Show'' was cancelled in 1990, as audiences and television pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Britain (sketch Show)
''Little Britain'' is a British sketch comedy series that began as a radio show in 2000 and ran as a television series between 2003 and 2007. It was written and performed by David Walliams and Matt Lucas. Financed by the BBC, the radio series was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4, with the initial two television series premiering on BBC Three and the third and final series on BBC One. The programme consists of a series of sketches involving exaggerated parodies of British people from various walks of life. Each sketch was introduced by a voice-over narration (Tom Baker) suggesting that the programme was a guide – aimed at non-British people – to British society. Despite the narrator's description of "great British institutions", the comedy arises from the British audience's self-deprecating understanding of either themselves or of people known to them. Recurring characters included Lou and Andy, Andy Pipkin, who falsely presented himself as requiring the use of a wheelchair to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Order Of Water Rats
The Grand Order of Water Rats is a British entertainment industry fraternity and charitable organisation based in London. Founded in 1889 by the music hall comedians Joe Elvin and Jack Lotto, the order is known for its high-profile membership and benevolent works (primarily within the performing industries). Origin In 1889, two British music hall performers, Joe Elvin and Jack Lotto, owned a trotting pony called "Magpie". As the pony was a regular race winner, its owners decided that they would use the profits to help performers who were less fortunate than themselves.Charlie Chester, ''The Grand Order of Water Rats: A Legend of Laughter'' – W.H. Allen, London (1984) pg 12 One day, as Elvin was driving the pony back to its stables in the pouring rain, a passing bus driver called out, "Wot yer got there, mate?" "Our trotting pony!" replied Elvin. Observing the bedraggled, soaked condition of the pony, the driver shouted back, "Trotting pony? Looks more like a bleedin' water r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pointless (game Show)
''Pointless'' is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay subsidiary Remarkable Television for the BBC. It is hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers to four rounds of general knowledge questions with the winning team eligible to compete for the show's cash jackpot. All questions used on the show are factual in nature and are asked of a panel of 100 individuals in a pre-conducted public survey. A correct answer scores one point for each survey subject who gave it and the objective is to achieve as low a score as possible. "Pointless" answers are correct responses that were not given by anyone surveyed, score zero points and are the most desirable. Every pointless answer given during the main game increases the jackpot by £250 and the team that reaches the final round has three chances to win it by giving one such answer. ''Pointless'' debuted on BBC Two on 24 August 2009. The success of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers politics, business, entertainment, environment, technology, popular media, lifestyle, culture, comedy, healthy living, women's interests, and local news featuring columnists. It was created to provide a progressive alternative to the conservative news websites such as the Drudge Report. The site offers content posted directly on the site as well as user-generated content via video blogging, audio, and photo. In 2012, the website became the first commercially run United States digital media enterprise to win a Pulitzer Prize. Founded by Andrew Breitbart, Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, the site was launched on May 9, 2005 as a counterpart to the Drudge Report. In March 2011, it was acquired by AOL for US$315& ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikkei, with core editorial offices across Britain, the United States and continental Europe. In July 2015, Pearson sold the publication to Nikkei for £844 million (US$1.32 billion) after owning it since 1957. In 2019, it reported one million paying subscriptions, three-quarters of which were digital subscriptions. The newspaper has a prominent focus on financial journalism and economic analysis over generalist reporting, drawing both criticism and acclaim. The daily sponsors an annual book award and publishes a " Person of the Year" feature. The paper was founded in January 1888 as the ''London Financial Guide'' before rebranding a month later as the ''Financial Times''. It was first circulated around metropolitan London by James Sherida ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giffgaff
Giffgaff (stylised "giffgaff") is marketed as a lower cost mobile phone flanker brand of Telefónica UK (trading as O2 UK), and was launched on 25 November 2009. Products and services At launch, Giffgaff's first product was a prepaid SIM card providing all standard 2G and 3G mobile phone services and charging on a pay-as-you-go basis. Following this, Giffgaff announced bundles of minutes, texts, and data, called "goodybags". The idea for bundles emerged from the community forums. In June 2012, it was announced that customers could renew "goodybags" automatically via a PayPal account when saved on their platform payment profile. In 2011, Giffgaff added data-only tethering plans called "gigabags" to their lineup of product plans. Giffgaff has since retired "gigabags", as their "goodybag" plans now allow members to tether to other devices within their data allowances without tethering restrictions. In March 2014, Giffgaff announced that it would add a line of 4G LTE "goo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ashes To Ashes (British TV Series)
''Ashes to Ashes'' is a British fantasy crime drama and police procedural drama television series, serving as the sequel to ''Life on Mars''. The series began airing on BBC One in February 2008. A second series began broadcasting in April 2009. A third and final series was broadcast from 2 April to 21 May 2010 on BBC One and BBC HD. Plot The series tells the story of Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes), a police officer in service with the London Metropolitan Police, who is shot in 2008 by a man called Arthur Layton and inexplicably regains consciousness in 1981. The first episode of the series reveals that, in the present day, Drake has been studying records of the events seen in the series ''Life on Mars'' through reports made by Sam Tyler (John Simm) after he regained consciousness in the present. Upon waking in the past she is surprised to meet the returning characters of Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister), Ray Carling (Dean Andrews) and Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster), all of whom s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Is This The Way To Amarillo
"(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It is about a man traveling to Amarillo, Texas, to find his girlfriend Marie. Written by two Americans with a strong country-western lyrical theme, the song was first released in Europe, where it has become much more popular than in the composers' native country, with a big-band/orchestral pop arrangement sung by Tony Christie. Christie's version was a major hit in Europe and a modest success in his native United Kingdom upon its release, then became even more popular in the mid-2000s when the song was reissued. As Christie's version failed to make a major impact in the U.S., Sedaka released his own recording of the song in 1977, which narrowly missed the top 40 but was an easy listening hit in the U.S. and Canada. Background The song is based on a rhythmic feel Sedaka borrowed from " Hitchin' a Ride" by Vanity Fare. The song was originally to be titled "Is This the Way to Pensacola" referr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Christie
Anthony Fitzgerald (born 25 April 1943), known professionally as Tony Christie, is an English musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his recording of "(Is This the Way To) Amarillo "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It is about a man traveling to Amarillo, Texas, to find his girlfriend Marie. Written by two Americans with a strong country-western lyrical theme, the so ...", a double UK chart success. Career 1960s to 1970s Discovered and managed by Harvey Lisberg, he had three hits in 1971, beginning with "Las Vegas (Tony Christie song), Las Vegas" which reached number 21 in the UK, and went on to have two Top Twenty chart-topper, hits in the UK Singles Chart with "I Did What I Did for Maria", which reached number two, and "Is This the Way to Amarillo", which peaked at number 18, all in 1971. Subsequently, he had a minor hit with "Avenues and Alleyways" which reached number 37, and was the theme to the tel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manchester Evening News
The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 2019. The newspaper is owned by Reach plc (formerly Trinity Mirror), /sup> one of Britain's largest newspaper publishing groups. Since adopting a 'digital-first' strategy in 2014, the ''MEN'' has experienced significant online growth, despite its average print daily circulation for the first half of 2021 falling to 22,107. In the 2018 British Regional Press Awards, it was named Newspaper of the Year and Website of the Year. History Formation and ''The Guardian'' ownership The ''Manchester Evening News'' was first published on 10 October 1868 by Mitchell Henry as part of his parliamentary election campaign, its first issue four pages long and costing a halfpenny. The newspaper was run from a small office on Brown Street, with approximately ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Farm (television)
''The Farm'' is a reality competition television franchise created by the Swedish producer Strix. Sold to more than 40 countries, ''The Farm'' is one of their most popular formats, including '' Survivor'', '' The Bar'' or ''Fame Factory''. In some countries the series is produced by Endemol, in association with Strix. Format As in '' Big Brother'', ''The Farm'' puts a group of 12 people living together in a farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo .... There, the contestants must work as a normal farmer, raising animals and doing agriculture. In regular periods of time, one of the houseguests is evicted, usually in a ceremony called ''The Duel'' where they compete in a physical endurance, but in some adaptations of the show, it is the audience that decides, by telephone ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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