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Robin Parkinson
Christopher Robin Parkinson (25 October 1929 – 7 May 2022) was an English actor known for his comedy roles. He was the second actor to portray Monsieur Ernest Leclerc in '' 'Allo 'Allo!'' (22 episodes: series 7 to 9), after the death of Derek Royle. He was also the narrator of ''Button Moon''. Career Parkinson began his career in December 1957, appearing in ''The Imperial Nightingale'' at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, then joined the company at the Belgrade Theatre in his native Coventry. He made his first film appearance as the jeweller's assistant in '' Billy Liar'' (1963), followed by such titles as ''The Family Way'' (1966), ''They Came from Beyond Space'' (1967), ''Twisted Nerve'' (1968), ''Catch Me a Spy'' (1971), ''Alfie Darling'' (1975) and ''George and Mildred'' (1980). His TV appearances included roles in ''Dad's Army'', ''It Ain't Half Hot Mum'', ''Terry and June'', '' The Young Ones'', ''The Kenny Everett Television Show'', '' Thriller'', '' Shelley'', ''The D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coventry
Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed by Coventry City Council. Historic counties of England, Formerly part of Warwickshire until 1451, Coventry had a population of 345,328 at the 2021 census, making it the tenth largest city in England and the 12th largest in the United Kingdom. It is the second largest city in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, after Birmingham, from which it is separated by an area of Green belt (United Kingdom), green belt known as the Meriden Gap, and the third largest in the wider Midlands after Birmingham and Leicester. The city is part of a larger conurbation known as the Coventry and Bedworth Urban Area, which in 2021 had a population of 389,603. Coventry is east-south-east of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
It Ain't Half Hot Mum
''It Ain't Half Hot, Mum'' is a BBC television sitcom about a Royal Artillery concert party based in Deolali in British India and the fictional village of Tin Min in Burma, during the last months of the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who had both served in similar roles in India during that war. Fifty-six episodes were broadcast across eight series on BBC1 between 1974 and 1981. Each episode ran for thirty minutes. The title comes from the first episode, in which young Gunner Parkin ( Christopher Mitchell) writes home to his mother in England. In 1975, a recording of "Whispering Grass" performed by Don Estelle and Windsor Davies in character as Gunner "Lofty" Sugden and Sergeant Major Williams, reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart and remained there for three weeks. The series, which attracted up to seventeen million viewers in its heyday, has been accused of racism, homophobia and a pro-imperialist attitude. One specific criticism has been ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Henry VIII School, Coventry
King Henry VIII School is a coeducational independent day school located in Coventry, England, comprising a senior school (ages 11–18) and associated preparatory school (ages 3–11). The senior school has approximately 800 pupils (120 in each of years 7–11 and 100 in each year of the Sixth Form). The current fees stand at £13,785 per year, with bursaries and scholarships available. Due to its location close to Coventry railway station, the school accommodates pupils from around the West Midlands area, including towns at 30 miles' distance, such as Northampton, Warwick, Balsall Common, Leamington Spa, Kenilworth, Rugby and Nuneaton. The school is situated on an urban site. The buildings are an example of Victorian collegiate architecture. The campus has more recent buildings, including a new art complex, drama studio, sports hall, library and, most recently, a swimming pool and fitness suite. In 2015 an extension was added to the library. The Junior school has its own bui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (founded in 1821) are published by Times Newspapers, since 1981 a subsidiary of News UK, in turn wholly owned by News Corp. ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'', which do not share editorial staff, were founded independently and have only had common ownership since 1966. In general, the political position of ''The Times'' is considered to be centre-right. ''The Times'' is the first newspaper to have borne that name, lending it to numerous other papers around the world, such as ''The Times of India'', ''The New York Times'', and more recently, digital-first publications such as TheTimesBlog.com (Since 2017). In countries where these other titles are popular, the newspaper is often referred to as , or as , although the newspaper is of nationa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Professionals (TV Series)
''The Professionals'' is a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mark1 Productions for London Weekend Television (LWT) that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon Jackson as agents of the fictional "CI5" (Criminal Intelligence 5, alluding to the real-life MI5 and CID). ''The Professionals'' was created by Brian Clemens, who had been one of the driving forces behind '' The Avengers''. The show was originally to have been called ''The A-Squad''. Clemens and Albert Fennell were executive producers, with business partner Laurie Johnson providing the theme music. Sidney Hayers produced the first series in 1977, and Raymond Menmuir the remainder. Outline CI5 - or Criminal Intelligence 5, is a British law enforcement department, instructed by the Home Secretary to use any means to deal with crimes of a serious nature that go beyond the cap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rising Damp
Structural dampness is the presence of unwanted moisture in the structure of a building, either the result of intrusion from outside or condensation from within the structure. A high proportion of damp problems in buildings are caused by ambient climate dependent factors of condensation and rain penetration. Capillary penetration of fluid from the ground up through concrete or masonry is known as "rising damp" and is governed by the shape and porosity of the construction materials through which this evaporation-limited capillary penetration takes place. Structural damp, regardless of the mechanisms through which it takes place, is exacerbated by higher levels of humidity. Dampness control is fundamental to the proper functioning of any building. Controlling moisture is important to protect occupants from adverse health effects and to protect the building, its mechanical systems and its contents from physical or chemical damage. Symptoms Dampness tends to cause secondary damag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Liver Birds
''The Liver Birds'' is a British sitcom, set in Liverpool, North West England, which aired on BBC1 from April 1969 to January 1979, and again in 1996. The show was created by Carla Lane and Myra Taylor. The two Liverpudlian housewives had met at a local writers club and decided to pool their talents. Having been invited to London by Michael Mills, the BBC's then Head of Comedy, and asked to write about two women sharing a flat, Mills brought in sitcom expert Sydney Lotterby to work with the writing team. Lotterby had previously worked with Eric Sykes and Sheila Hancock, and on ''The Likely Lads''. For the Liver Birds, Carla Lane wrote most of the episodes, Taylor co-writing only the first two series. The pilot was shown on 14 April 1969 as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'', the BBC's breeding ground for sitcoms at the time.BBC ''Comedy Connections'' Outline The series charted the ups and downs of two "dolly birds" sharing a flat on Liverpool's Huskisson Street, concentrati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads?
''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'' is a British sitcom which was broadcast on BBC1 between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974. It was the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit ''The Likely Lads''. It was created and written, as was its predecessor, by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. There were 26 television episodes over two series, and a subsequent 45-minute Christmas special was aired on 24 December 1974. The cast was reunited in 1975 for a BBC radio adaptation of series 1, transmitted on Radio 4 from July to October that year. A feature film spin-off was made in 1976. Around the time of its release, however, Rodney Bewes and James Bolam fell out over a misunderstanding involving the press, and did not speak again before Bewes' death in November 2017. This long-suspected feud was finally confirmed by Bewes while promoting his autobiography in 2005. Even while Bewes was alive, Bolam was consistently reluctant to talk about the show, and vetoed any attempt to revive his char ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
On The Buses
''On the Buses'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom that was broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 1969 to 1973. It was created by Chesney and Wolfe, Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe, who wrote most of the episodes. It spawned three spin-off feature films and a stage version. Despite the writers' previous successes with ''The Rag Trade'' and ''Meet the Wife (TV series), Meet the Wife'' with the BBC, the corporation rejected ''On the Buses'', not seeing much comedy potential in a bus depot as a setting. The comedy partnership turned to Frank Muir, Head of Entertainment at London Weekend Television (LWT), who loved the idea; the show was accepted, and despite a poor critical reception became a hit with viewers. The series is centred on the working-class life of Stan Butler and Jack Harper, who are the crew of the Number 11 bus at the Luxton and District Motor Traction Company. The action mostly takes place at the Butler home and at the bus depot. Network On Air descr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dick Emery Show
''The Dick Emery Show'' is a British sketch comedy show starring Dick Emery. It was broadcast on the BBC from 1963 to 1981. It was directed and produced by Harold Snoad. The show was broadcast over 19 series with 166 episodes. The show experienced sustained popularity in the 1960s and 1970s. The BBC described the show as featuring 'a vivid cast of comic grotesques'. Frequent performers included Pat Coombs, Victor Maddern, Deryck Guyler, Roy Kinnear, Joan Sims and Josephine Tewson. The principal writers of the programme were David Cummings, John Singer, and John Warren. Additional contributions were by David Nobbs and Peter Tinniswood. Other writers included Dick Clement, Barry Cryer, Selma Diamond, John Esmonde, Marty Feldman, Lucille Kallen, Bob Larbey and Harold Pinter. The American comedy writers Mel Brooks and Mel Tolkin contributed sketches in the early years of the show. The nature of the show with its rapid sketches was initially inspired by the American sketch show ''Your ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shelley (TV Series)
''Shelley'' is a British sitcom made by Thames Television and originally broadcast on ITV from 12 July 1979 to 12 January 1984 and from 11 October 1988 to 1 September 1992. It stars Hywel Bennett as Dr James Shelley, 28 years old (at the outset, although 35 by the sixth series only 4 years later) and a sardonic, perpetually unemployed anti-establishment 'freelance layabout' with a doctoral degree. In the original run, Belinda Sinclair played Shelley's girlfriend Fran, and Josephine Tewson appeared regularly as his landlady, Edna Hawkins. The series was created by Peter Tilbury who also wrote the first three series. The scripts for subsequent episodes were by Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin, Colin Bostock-Smith, David Frith, Bernard McKenna and Barry Pilton. All 71 episodes were produced and directed by Anthony Parker. Series seven was titled on screen ''The Return of Shelley'', and was broadcast in 1988. This time around, Shelley is (still) separated from Fran, and lives on his own ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thriller (British TV Series)
''Thriller'' is a British television series, originally broadcast in the UK from 1973 to 1976. It is an anthology series: each episode has a self-contained story and its own cast. As the title suggests, each story is a thriller of some variety, from tales of the supernatural to down-to-earth whodunits. Background The series was created by Brian Clemens, who also scripted the majority of the episodes and story-lined every installment. It was produced by John Sichel (the first three series), John Cooper (series 4) and Ian Fordyce (the final two series) for Associated Television (ATV) at its Elstree studios north of London. The series evolved from Clemens' previous work, in particular two films in a similar style: '' And Soon the Darkness'' (1970) and ''Blind Terror'' (aka '' See No Evil'', 1971); the latter shares plot similarities with the ''Thriller'' episodes "The Eyes Have It" and "The Next Voice You See". Original music, including the theme tune, was supplied by Clemens' re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
