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Shirleymander
''Shirleymander'' is a radio comedy drama written by Gregory Evans. It was inspired by ''Today'' journalist Andrew Hosken's book ''Nothing Like a Dame'' (2006). ''Shirleymander'' was first broadcast as the ''Friday Play'' by BBC Radio 4 on 27 November 2009. The play's title is a portmanteau referencing the gerrymandering policy adopted by Shirley Porter while leader of Westminster City Council in the 1980s which "forced homeless families to substandard housing in order to manipulate the borough's voting demographic." ''Shirleymander'' dramatises Porter's time as leader of the council and the scandals that ensued around the illegal homes for votes policy and the sale of 3 cemeteries for 5 pence each. Porter is depicted as "vain, arrogant, bullying and desperate to keep the borough from falling into the hands of her arch-enemies, the socialists." Evans said of his play:I haven't invented stuff, I haven't needed to. The material in Andrew's book was all carefully researched. The p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shirley Porter
Shirley, Lady Porter (''née'' Cohen; born 29 November 1930), styled between 1991 and 2003 as Dame Shirley Porter, is a British politician who led Westminster City Council in London, representing the Conservative Party. She is the daughter and heiress of Sir Jack Cohen, the founder of Tesco supermarkets. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1991 by John Major after delivering victory in Westminster for the Conservatives in the 1990 elections, but was stripped of this title in 2003. While leader of Westminster City Council, Porter oversaw the "Building Stable Communities" policy — later described as the "homes for votes scandal" — and was consequently accused of gerrymandering. The policy was judged illegal by the district auditor, and a surcharge of £27m levied on her in 1996. This was later raised to £42 million with interest and costs. She eventually settled in 2004, paying a final settlement of £12.3 million. Porter moved to Herzliy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nothing Like A Dame
''Nothing Like a Dame: The Scandals of Shirley Porter'' is a 2006 biography by British journalist Andrew Hosken. The book was first published on 1 October 2006 through Granta UK and discusses British politician Shirley Porter's time served as a member of the Westminster City Council. Synopsis The book discusses Porter's time served under the Westminster City Council and the resulting fallout. Hosken also includes several interviews and looks into Porter's history as the daughter of Jack Cohen. Reception ''The Guardian'' gave a positive review for ''Nothing Like A Dame'', calling it "enthralling". Bloomberg gave a more mixed review, remarking that it was "riveting" but also "uneven". In contrast, ''The Contemporary Review'' praised Hosken's research. Jay Rayner, reviewing for ''The Observer'', felt that the book was: "probably as comprehensive an account of Porter's time in power, and the bullying, plotting, maladministration and corruption that went with it, as we are likely to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homes For Votes Scandal
The homes for votes scandal was a gerrymandering controversy involving the Conservative-led Westminster City Council in London. In marginal wards, the Council was starting to move the homeless elsewhere, and sell off council homes to groups who were more likely to vote Conservative. On investigation, the policy was ruled to be illegal, and it was revealed that some of the homeless had been rehoused in condemned accommodation. Former leader of the Council Dame Shirley Porter was found guilty of wilful misconduct and ordered to repay £36.1m. In view of her personal circumstances, a payment of £12.3 million was eventually accepted. Background The Conservatives were narrowly re-elected to Westminster City Council in the 1986 local council elections, with their majority reduced from 26 to 4. The Conservatives in total only held onto control of the council by 106 votes after Labour failed to gain the marginal Cavendish Ward which was needed to give Labour the majority to take control ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tracy-Ann Oberman
Tracy-Ann Oberman (born Tracy Anne Oberman; 25 August 1966) is an English actress, playwright and narrator. She is widely known for roles including Chrissie Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2004–2005) and Valerie Lewis or "Auntie Val" in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Friday Night Dinner'' (2011–2020). Following training at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, Oberman spent four years with the Royal Shakespeare Company, before joining the National Theatre. Her theatrical experience includes appearing with Kenneth Branagh in David Mamet's '' Edmond'' (2003) and a run in the West End revival of '' Boeing-Boeing'' (2007–2008). She appeared in a production of ''Earthquakes in London'' in its 2011 run as Sarah Sullivan. Oberman has performed in more than 600 radio plays since the mid-1990s. Oberman's TV credits have also included ''Doctor Who'', ''Mistresses'', ''Robin Hood'', and ''Doctors''. Before ''EastEnders'', Oberman appeared in a variety of television ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gregory Evans (dramatist)
Gregory Evans is a British television scriptwriter, playwright and radio dramatist. He has also written short stories, features and reviews for journals such as Harpers & Queen, Woman's Journal, The Observer and The Guardian online, and worked as a film critic for Harper's. He has published a book for young children, ''Owl in the House''. His stage adaptation of H. E. Bates's novel ''Fair Stood the Wind for France'' was produced at the Royal Theatre (Northampton). His tragi-comedy ''Shirleymander'', inspired by Andrew Hosken's book '' Nothing Like a Dame'', was staged at the newly-opened Playground Theatre in West London in May and June 2018. It was directed by Anthony Biggs and starred Jessica Martin and Jack Klaff. For BBC Radio 4 he has written original plays (such as '' The Polish Soldier'', '' Ghosting,'' '' Shirleymander'', '' Art & Gadg'') and a returning drama series based on his own family history titled ''Blood and Milk''. He has also written radio dramatisations of nov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Westminster Cemeteries Scandal
The Westminster cemeteries scandal was a British political scandal which began in January 1987 when Westminster City Council (WCC) sold three cemeteries, three lodges, one flat, a crematorium and over of prime development land in London for a total of 85 pence. The three cemeteries – Hanwell Cemetery (formerly City of Westminster Cemetery), East Finchley Cemetery (formerly St. Marylebone Cemetery) and Mill Hill Cemetery (formerly Paddington New Cemetery) – were sold for 5 pence each. Shortly before the sale was finalised, one building had been withdrawn from the lot – because the council had failed to secure the eviction of a cemetery keeper – so WCC also paid the purchaser £70,000 compensation. The sale was ordered by Dame Shirley Porter, the Conservative leader of WCC at the time, in order to save the annual maintenance costs of £422,000, with the upkeep of the cemeteries passing to the new owner. However, the deal had been handled with such incompetence by WCC that t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy Drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical hour-long legal or medical drama, but exhibit far fewer jokes-per-minute as in a typical half-hour sitcom. In the United States Examples from United States television include: ''M*A*S*H (TV series), M*A*S*H'', ''Moonlighting (TV series), Moonlighting'', ''The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd'', ''Northern Exposure'', ''Ally McBeal'', ''Sex and the City'', ''Desperate Housewives'' and ''Scrubs (TV series), Scrubs''. The term "dramedy" was coined to describe the late 1980s wave of shows, including ''The Wonder Years'', ''Hooperman'', ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'' and ''Frank's Place''. See also *List of comedy drama television series *Black comedy *Dramatic structure *Melodrama *Seriousness *Tragicomedy *Psychological ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maureen Lipman
Dame Maureen Diane Lipman (born 10 May 1946) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and her stage work has included appearances with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She was made a dame in the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to charity, entertainment and the arts. Early life and education Lipman was born on 10 May 1946 in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, the daughter of Maurice Julius Lipman and Zelma Pearlman. Her father was a tailor; he used to have a shop between the Ferens Art Gallery and Monument Bridge. Lipman grew up Jewish and found post-war Hull a welcoming place for the Jewish community. She lived on Northfield Road, Hull and attended Wheeler Primary School. Lipman then attended Newland School for Girls in Hull, and became interested in performing as a youth; she performed in school shows, attended an early Beatles concert, and watched Elizabeth Taylor's ... [...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] |
Ewan Hooper
Ewan Hooper (born 23 October 1935 in Dundee) is a Scottish actor who is a graduate from, and now an Associate Member of, RADA. Hooper was the motivating force in the foundation of the Greenwich Theatre, which opened in 1969. Hooper was the founder director of the Scottish Theatre Company formed in Glasgow in the 1980s. He is best remembered as the priest in ''Dracula Has Risen from the Grave'', along with a recurring role as Camp Controller Alec Foster in Jimmy Perry and David Croft's ''Hi-de-Hi!''. Selected filmography * ''How I Won the War'' (1967) * ''Dracula Has Risen from the Grave'' (1968) * ''Julius Caesar'' (1970) * ''Personal Services'' (1987) * '' Kinky Boots'' (2005) Across the lake (1988) Television roles Detective Sergeant Smith in 1970s series ''Hunters Walk''. Selected theatre performances * Mr Hardcastle in ''She Stoops to Conquer'' by Oliver Goldsmith. Directed by James Maxwell at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. (1990) * Mr Jeffcote in '' Hindle Wakes'' by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imelda Staunton
Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born 9 January 1956) is an English actress and singer. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Staunton began her career in repertory theatre in 1976 and appeared in various theatre productions in the United Kingdom. Staunton has performed in a variety of plays and musicals in London throughout her career, winning four Laurence Olivier Awards; three for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her roles in the musicals ''Into the Woods'', ''Sweeney Todd'', and ''Gypsy'', and one for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Play for her work in both '' A Chorus of Disapproval'' and ''The Corn is Green''. Her other stage appearances include ''The Beggar's Opera'', '' The Wizard of Oz'', ''Uncle Vanya'', ''Guys and Dolls'', ''Entertaining Mr Sloane'', and '' Good People''. She has been nominated for 13 Olivier Awards. On film, Staunton starred in ''Antonia and Jane;'' in several supporting roles in Kenneth Brana ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Hogan
Stephen Hogan is an Irish actor and audiobook narrator. Biography Hogan was born in August 1965 and grew up in Darty, Dublin, Ireland. Hogan says he studied architecture at Edinburgh University but upon graduating did not see himself in that profession for the remainder of his life. He says he obtained financially useful scholarship to Royal College of Music and Drama in Glasgow (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), and was also able to obtain a part-time job in an architect's office at the same time. Upon qualifying from drama school in 1992 Hogan says he was lucky to get a role on the long running Scottish Soap drama ''Take the High Road'' with its "crazy characters", his recollections of his storylines as new character was "I worked my way through the entire female case over 60 episodes". He moved to London after leaving the soap, but has returned to Ireland frequently for work and pleasure since. His uncle, Paul Hogan, was one of two students behind the audacious 1956 th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
