Seven Dials (2point4 Children)
''2point4 Children'' is a British television sitcom which was broadcast on BBC One. Created and written by Andrew Marshall, the series follows the Porters, a working-class family who live in Chiswick, west London. It stars Belinda Lang, Gary Olsen, Julia Hills, Clare Woodgate (before being replaced by Clare Buckfield), and John Pickard. Andrew Marshall wrote all episodes, with the exception of three, which were written by Paul Alexander, Simon Braithwaite and Paul Smith. The show was originally directed and produced by Richard Boden, but the later series were directed by Nick Wood, Dewi Humphries and produced by Andrew Marshall. Series overview Episodes Series 1 (1991) Series 2 (1992) Series 3 (1993) Series 4 (1994) Series 5 (1995) Series 6 (1996) Series 7 (1998) Series 8 (1999) Home media BBC Enterprises released a video in 1993, comprising the first three episodes of the series, which are known as: ''Leader of the Pack'', ''Saturday Night and Sunday ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2point4 Children
''2point4 Children'' is a BBC Television sitcom that was created and written by Andrew Marshall. It follows the lives of the Porters, a seemingly average, working-class London family whose world is frequently turned upside-down by bad luck and bizarre occurrences. The show was originally broadcast on BBC One from 1991 to 1999, and ran for eight series, concluding on 30 December 1999 with the special episode "The Millennium Experience". Lead actor Gary Olsen (who played the father) died from cancer in September 2000. The show is regularly repeated in the UK. In Australia showings are on UKTV. The name of the show comes from the stereotypical average size of a typical nuclear family in the UK. The show regularly picked up audiences of up to 14 million throughout the 1990s, with an average of between 6 and 9 million. The final episode was viewed by 9.03 million people. In 1997 a remake of the show debuted in the Netherlands: ''Kees & Co'' starring Simone Kleinsma. The r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Andrew Marshall (writer)
Andrew Paul Marshall (born 27 August 1954) is a British comedy screenwriter, most noted for the domestic sitcom ''2point4 children''. He was also the inspiration for Marvin the Paranoid Android in ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Although he had also previously adapted stories for ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'', in 2002 he made a further move into writing "straight" drama, with the fantasy horror series '' Strange''. He has also written several screenplays. Career Born in Lowestoft, Marshall attended Fen Park School and then Lowestoft Grammar School, and afterwards Borough Road College where he studied mathematics and psychology. Around the same time, he worked regularly on Radio 4's ''Week Ending'', together with David Renwick, Douglas Adams, Alistair Beaton, John Lloyd, Simon Brett and others. Shortly afterwards he began writing ''The Burkiss Way'' with David Renwick and John Mason (who later dropped out to go to acting school). Renwick and Marshall remained scriptwri ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Terminator (character)
The Terminator, also known as a Cyberdyne Systems Model 101 or the T-800, is the name of several film Character (arts), characters from the Terminator (franchise), ''Terminator'' franchise portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger and numerous actor stand-ins digitally overlaid with Schwarzenegger's likeness. The Terminator himself is part of a Terminator (character concept), series of machines created by Skynet (Terminator), Skynet for Infiltration tactics, infiltration-based surveillance and assassination missions, and while an Android (robot), android for his appearance, he is usually described as a cyborg consisting of Tissue (biology), living tissue over a robotic endoskeleton. The first appearance of the Terminator was as the eponymous antagonist in ''The Terminator'', a 1984 film directed and co-written by James Cameron. While the original Terminator was destroyed, other machines with the same appearance are featured in the sequels. In ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' and ''Termin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Animal Euthanasia
Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditions or diseases, lack of resources to continue supporting the animal, or laboratory test procedures. Euthanasia methods are designed to cause minimal pain and distress. Euthanasia is distinct from animal slaughter and pest control although in some cases the procedure is the same. In domesticated animals, this process is commonly referred to by euphemism A euphemism () is an innocuous word or expression used in place of one that is deemed offensive or suggests something unpleasant. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the user wishes ...s such as "put down" or "put to sleep". Methods The methods of euthanasia can be divided into pharmacological and physical methods. Accept ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Department Of Health And Social Security
The Department of Health and Social Security (commonly known as the DHSS) was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Services. History Until 1968 the social security responsibilities had been split between the Ministry of Pensions and National Insurance, and the health responsibilities by the Ministry of Health. In 1988 the department was split again into a separate Department of Health and the Department of Social Security. In 2001 the Department for Work and Pensions was formed from the Department of Social Security, absorbing the employment functions which had previously been the responsibility of the Department for Education and Employment since the dissolution of the Department of Employment in 1995. Ministers * Minister of State for Health and Social Security Impact Even two and a half decades after its abolition, the initials "DHSS" continue to be used ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Dole
Unemployment benefits, also called unemployment insurance, unemployment payment, unemployment compensation, or simply unemployment, are payments made by authorized bodies to unemployed people. In the United States, benefits are funded by a compulsory governmental insurance system, not taxes on individual citizens. Depending on the jurisdiction and the status of the person, those sums may be small, covering only basic needs, or may compensate the lost time proportionally to the previous earned salary. Unemployment benefits are generally given only to those registering as becoming unemployed through no fault of their own, and often on conditions ensuring that they seek work. In British English unemployment benefits are also colloquially referred to as "the dole"; receiving benefits is informally called "being on the dole". "Dole" here is an archaic expression meaning "one's allotted portion", from the synonymous Old English word ''dāl''. History The first modern unemployment be ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Birds And The Bees
The talk about sex, often colloquially referred to as "the birds and the bees" or "the facts of life", is generally the occasion in most children's lives when their parents explain what sex is and how to do it. According to tradition, "the birds and the bees" is a metaphorical story sometimes told to children in an attempt to explain the mechanics and results of sexual intercourse through reference to easily observed natural events. For instance, bees carry and deposit pollen into flowers, a visible and easy-to-explain parallel to the way a man brings about fertilisation. Female birds laying eggs is a similarly visible and easy-to-explain parallel to female ovulation. Possible origins Word sleuths William and Mary Morris hint that it may have been inspired by words like these from the poet Samuel Coleridge (1825): 'All nature seems at work ... The bees are stirring—birds are on the wing ... and I the while, the sole unbusy thing, not honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Happy Families
Happy Families is a traditional British card game usually with a specially made set of picture cards, featuring illustrations of fictional families of four, most often based on occupation types. The object of the game is to collect complete families, and the game is similar to Go Fish and Quartets. In Germany and Austria, the game is known as Quartett or Ablegspiel (in Upper Austria and Styria) and is not restricted to sets of four people, but covers other topics such as farm animals or tractors. The game can also be adapted for use with an ordinary set of playing cards. Gameplay The player whose turn it is asks another player for a specific card: the asking player must hold a card of the same family. If the asked player has the card, they must give it to the requester, and the requester then takes another turn. If the asked player does not have the card, they say "not at home" and it becomes the asked player's turn. When a player completes a family they place it face-down in f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ousted General Motors founder William C. Durant (1861–1947) started the company on November 3, 1911 as the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. Durant used the Chevrolet Motor Car Company to acquire a controlling stake in General Motors with a reverse merger occurring on May 2, 1918, and propelled himself back to the GM presidency. After Durant's second ousting in 1919, Alfred Sloan, with his maxim "a car for every purse and purpose", would pick the Chevrolet brand to become the volume leader in the General Motors family, selling mainstream vehicles to compete with Henry Ford's Model T in 1919 and overtaking Ford as the best-selling car in the United States by 1929 with the Chevrolet International. Chevrolet-branded vehicles are sold in most autom ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Austin Montego
The Austin Montego is a British family car that was produced by British Leyland from 1984 until 1988, and then by Rover Group from 1988 until 1995. The Montego was the replacement for both the rear-wheel drive Morris Ital and the front-wheel drive Austin Ambassador ranges to give British Leyland an all-new competitor for the Ford Sierra and Vauxhall Cavalier. On its launch, it was sold as both an Austin and an MG. It was the last car to be launched under the Austin marque, and from 1988 it was sold without a marque, following the phasing out of the Austin name. Design and development The Montego started life as a four-door notchback variant of project LC10. Development on the new model, intended to succeed both the Morris Marina and the Princess ranges by the turn of the 1980s, had begun in 1977 but ultimately the new car was not launched until seven years after development had started; in the meantime, the Marina had been updated and rebadged as the Morris Ital from 1980, whil ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tax Refund
A tax refund or tax rebate is a payment to the taxpayer due to the taxpayer having paid more tax than they owed. By country United States According to the Internal Revenue Service, 77% of tax returns filed in 2004 resulted in a refund check, with the average refund check being $2,100. In 2011, the average tax refund was $2,913. For the 2017 tax year the average refund was $2,035 and for 2018 it was 8% less at $1,865, reflecting the changes brought by the most sweeping changes to the tax code in 30 years. Taxpayers may choose to have their refund directly deposited into their bank account, have a check mailed to them, or have their refund applied to the following year's income tax. As of 2006, tax filers may split their tax refund with direct deposit in up to three separate accounts with three different financial institutions. This has given taxpayers an opportunity to save and spend some of their refund (rather than only spend their refund). Every year, a number of U.S. taxpay ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |