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Robert Sharples
Robert Sharples (2 July 19138 September 1987), known as Bob Sharples, was a British musical conductor, composer and bandleader, whose work encompassed films and well-known British television programmes in the 1960s and 1970s.Obituary, ''The Guardian'', 9 September 1987 p. 34 Early life and pre-war big bands Sharples was born in Bury, Lancashire, England, under the birth name Robert Standish. He began playing piano at the age of seven and organ at eleven. He studied orchestration, composition and conducting with Hamilton Harty in Manchester before moving to London to enter the world of jazz, where he played in nightclubs and began writing arrangement for big band leaders such as Ambrose, Jack Harris, Roy Fox and Carroll Gibbons. In 1934 he joined the Freddy Platt band at the Carlton Ballroom, Rochdale along with Geoff Love; Sharples played piano, and Love played trombone. He also played with Teddy Foster's big band, which was formed in 1945. Decca After the war and into the 1950s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British People
British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs modern British citizenship and nationality, which can be acquired, for instance, by descent from British nationals. When used in a historical context, "British" or "Britons" can refer to the Ancient Britons, the indigenous inhabitants of Great Britain and Brittany, whose surviving members are the modern Welsh people, Cornish people, and Bretons. It also refers to citizens of the former British Empire, who settled in the country prior to 1973, and hold neither UK citizenship nor nationality. Though early assertions of being British date from the Late Middle Ages, the Union of the Crowns in 1603 and the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 triggered a sense of British national identity.. The notion of Britishness and a shared Brit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blitz!
''Blitz!'' is a musical by Lionel Bart. The musical, described by Steven Suskin as "massive", was set in the East End of London during the Blitz (the aerial bombings during World War II). The story drew on Bart's childhood memories of London's Jewish East End during the Blitz and, like most musicals, centred on a romance between a young couple, in this case a Jewish woman and a Cockney man, although the largest role and main point-of-view character is that of Mrs Blitztein, the young woman's mother.Suskin 2005, Mandelbaum 2005. Steven Suskin describes it as "''Abie's Irish Rose'' set against the burning of Atlanta." Bart himself described the play as "…three human stories inside an epic canvas; the major human conflictthe major plotpersonifies the spirit of London and how that spirit developed during the period of the piece."Mandelbaum 2005 Production history ''Blitz!'' opened in London on 8 May 1962 at the Adelphi Theatre, while Bart's enormous West End success ''Oliver!'' wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Branch (TV Series)
''Special Branch'' is a British television series made by Thames Television for ITV and shown between 1969 and 1974. A police drama series, the action was centred on members of the Special Branch anti-espionage and anti-terrorist department of the London Metropolitan Police. Production The first two series were shot mainly in a studio on videotape with filmed location inserts; a standard method of the time but one which suffered from jarring differences in picture quality between interior and exterior scenes. The location scenes of some episodes were shot on outside broadcast cameras, leading to smoother transitions between location and studio work for those episodes. Series 1 and 2 starred Derren Nesbitt as Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Jordan, working to Detective Superintendent Eden (Wensley Pithey) and subsequently Det. Supt. Inman (Fulton Mackay). The episodes featuring Eden (the first nine of Series 1) were recorded in black and white, while all subsequent episodes wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Public Eye (TV Series)
''Public Eye'' is a British television drama series that ran from 1965 to 1975, for a total of seven series. It was produced by ABC Weekend TV for three series, and Thames Television for a further four. The series depicted the cases and investigations handled by the enquiry agent Frank Marker (Alfred Burke), an unmarried loner who is in his early forties when the series begins. The title is a twist on the more usual "private eye". Background The series was created by writers Roger Marshall and Anthony Marriott with the aim of getting away from "square-jawed" heroes of the type featured in Hollywood movies—a wish shared by Alfred Burke, the actor chosen to play Marker. This aim allowed for flexibility in the structure and plot lines of the episodes; each individual episode usually dealt with an individual case for Marker, but story arcs spanning several episodes, or in one case an entire series, were produced during the life of the programme. Marker's work ranged broadly, fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theme Music
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at some point during the program. The purpose of a theme song is often similar to that of a leitmotif. The phrase theme song or signature tune may also be used to refer to a signature song that has become especially associated with a particular performer or dignitary, often used as they make an entrance. Purpose From the 1950s onwards, theme music, and especially theme songs also became a valuable source of additional revenue for Hollywood film studios, many of which launched their own recording arms. This period saw the beginning of more methodical cross-promotion of music and movies. One of the first big successes, which proved very influential, was the theme song for '' High Noon'' (1952). Celebrities In the early years of radio and tele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teddington Studios
Teddington Studios was a large British television studio in Teddington, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky1 and others. The complex also provided studio space for channel continuity. The site was run by the Pinewood Studios Group. Originally built as film studios, the studios were the main production centres for the ITV franchisees ABC Weekend TV and Thames Television. Pinewood Group's lease on Teddington Studios expired in 2014. The studios were demolished in February 2016 to be turned into housing, with programmes made there having moved to other facilities. The studio buildings will be replaced by three modern apartment blocks and other smaller houses, with the view towards the river from Broom Road opened up. History Film studios The studio began in the early 20th century as film studios when stockbroker Henry Chinnery, owner of Weir House, Teddington, allowed filmmakers t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broadcast from 9:25 Monday morning to 5:15 Friday afternoon (7:00 Friday night until 1982) at which time it would hand over to London Weekend Television (LWT). Formed as a joint company, it merged the television interests of British Electric Traction (trading as Associated-Rediffusion) owning 49%, and Associated British Picture Corporation—soon taken over by EMI—owning 51%. Like all ITV franchisees, it was a broadcaster, a producer and a commissioner of television programmes, making shows both for the local region it covered and, as one of the History of ITV#The Big Four and Big Five, "Big Five" ITV companies, for networking nationally across the ITV regions. After its loss of franchise i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hughie Green
Hugh Hughes Green (2 February 1920 – 3 May 1997) was an English radio and television presenter, game show host and actor. Early life Green was born in Marylebone, London, to a Scottish father, Hugh Aitchison Green, a former British Army officer from Glasgow who made his fortune supplying canned fish to the Allied forces in the First World War, and an English mother, Violet Elenore (née Price), from Surrey, the daughter of an Irish gardener. The family had a home in Meopham, Kent, where the children lived with their mother, who took frequent lovers, while their father did business from the Savoy Hotel, and often stayed there. Green attended Arnold House School, a boys' prep school, in the St John's Wood district of Westminster, Greater London. Career Child performer After the family business went bankrupt, Green's father encouraged his stage-obsessed son into performance, and by the age of 14 Hughie Green had his own BBC Radio show and created and toured with his own all-chi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opportunity Knocks (UK TV Series)
''Opportunity Knocks'' is a British television and radio talent show originally hosted by Hughie Green, with a late-1980s revival hosted by Bob Monkhouse, and later by previous winner Les Dawson. From its origin on BBC Radio in 1949 the show provided a platform to fame for acts such as Spike Milligan and Frankie Vaughan. One of the most popular shows on British television, in the 1960s and 1970s it had a weekly audience of 20 million viewers. The original radio version started on the BBC Light Programme, where it ran from 18 February to 29 September 1949, but moved to Radio Luxembourg in the 1950s. It was shown on ITV from 20 June 1956 to 29 August 1956, produced by Associated Rediffusion. A second run commenced on 11 July 1964 and lasted until 20 March 1978, produced first by ABC and then by Thames. During this period Bob Sharples was musical director.Bob Sharples obituary, ''The Guardian'', 9 September 1987 p. 34 Green presented a single episode of ''Opportunity Knocks'' for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Roadhouse
John Roadhouse (13 January 1921 – 11 April 2009) was a British musician who specialised in saxophone. Biography Roadhouse was born in Sheffield, but lived in Moss Side, Manchester from an early age. He taught himself how to play the saxophone. Originally an aircraft fitter with Metropolitan-Vickers at Trafford Park, he began to play with local dance groups during his spare evenings. He got his first big break when he became a member of the Teddy Foster Orchestra in 1948. He later went on to join the BBC Northern Variety Orchestra in 1953. In 1962 he helped establish the ABC Television Orchestra with musical director Bob Sharples and ABC's Supervisor of Light Entertainment Ronnie Taylor. He opened up his music store, Johnny Roadhouse Music in 1955 on Oxford Road in the Chorlton-on-Medlock area of Manchester. His store became a cornerstone for Manchester music and was used by several famous musicians and groups including Paul McCartney, Oasis and The Smiths. In his retireme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronnie Taylor (scriptwriter)
Ronnie Taylor (28 June 1921 – 9 September 1979) was an English television and radio comedy scriptwriter, producer and director. Early life Born in Leigh, Lancashire, Taylor left school at 14 to join his family's firm of insurance brokers. He taught himself to play the piano and guitar and became involved with amateur dramatics/musicals. He formed a vocal group and wrote sketches and songs and became a founder member of "The Kordites". In 1941, he joined RAF Signals and served in North Africa and Italy where he also wrote and produced service entertainment. BBC After the war he auditioned at BBC Manchester for Bowker Andrews and was initially mistaken as the tuner for the studio Bechstein piano. He was offered a 13-week job writing continuity for Gracie Fields. Fields introduced Taylor to her protégé variety performer Norman Evans and Taylor was contracted to write the radio series ''Over the Garden Wall'', for which Evans is best remembered. He wrote radio series for 'Ol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capitol Theatre, Manchester
The Capitol Theatre was a cinema in Didsbury, Manchester later used as television studios by ITV contractor ABC Weekend TV from 1956 to 1968. The building opened as a cinema in 1931, but was badly damaged by fire in April 1932 and was closed for repairs until August 1933. The cinema was equipped for the production of live shows, and was used for occasional pantomimes and amateur theatrical performances. In 1956 it was converted into television studios for ABC Weekend TV. Early episodes of '' The Avengers'' and programmes such as '' Opportunity Knocks'' were made in the studios. Following the merger of Associated Rediffusion and ABC to create Thames Television (on air from July 1968) the studios were leased to Yorkshire Television in 1967 for recording pre-launch programming whilst their own studios were being constructed and in 1970 was sold to Manchester Polytechnic and was the base for their theatre and television school from 1971. Renamed the Horniman Theatre, it staged perform ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
