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Stephen Thorne
Stephen John Thorne (2 March 1935 – 26 May 2019) was a British actor of radio, film, stage, and television. He was best known for his regular BBC Radio 4 work and audiobook recordings, and for his portrayals of several ''Doctor Who'' villains, including the Time Lord Omega. Early life Thorne was born in London in 1935 and brought up in Hesketh Bank, Lancashire, by adoptive parents, Alan Thorne, a vicar, and his wife Betty (née Boulton). He went to school at Liverpool College and then joined the Royal Navy for his national service. On demobilisation Thorne trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), a drama school situated in the Bloomsbury area of London, and graduated in 1957. Career He played several seasons with the Old Vic Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford and London including a tour to Russia. He worked extensively in radio with over 2000 broadcasts for the BBC including as Uncle Mort in the Radio 4 comedy series '' I Didn't Know You C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Liverpool College
Liverpool College is a school in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England. It was one of the thirteen founding members of the Headmasters' Conference (HMC). History Liverpool College was the first of many public schools founded in the Victorian Era. The foundation stone of the original building was laid on 22 October 1840 by Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby K.G. (then styled the Rt. Hon. Lord Stanley MP), the first patron of the college. A group of Christian Liverpool citizens, many of whose names are now famous in the annals of the city, then began the building of a school where education might be combined with 'sound religious knowledge'. The original building in Shaw street (now apartments) is in the so-called Tudor-Gothic style. It was designed by Mr. Harvey Lonsdale Elmes, and was erected at a cost of £35,000. The college was opened on 6 January 1843 by the Right Hon. William Ewart Gladstone (afterwards four time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) and the same ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crossroads (UK TV Series)
''Crossroads'' (later known as ''Crossroads Motel'' and ''Crossroads King's Oak'') is a British television soap opera that ran on ITV (TV network), ITV over two periods – the original 1964 to 1988 run, followed by a short revival from 2001 to 2003. Set in a fictional motel (hotel in the revival) in the Midlands, ''Crossroads'' became a byword for cheap production values, particularly in the 1970s and early 1980s. Despite this, the series regularly attracted huge audiences during this time, with ratings as high as 15 million viewers. It was created by Hazel Adair (actress and screenwriter), Hazel Adair and Peter Ling and produced by Associated TeleVision, ATV (until the end of 1981) and then by ATV's successor, ITV Central, Central Independent Television until 1988. The series was revived by Carlton Television in 2001; however, due to low ratings it was cancelled again in 2003. Storylines 1964–1988 The original premise of ''Crossroads'' is based around two feuding sisters, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Copperfield (1986 TV Serial)
''David Copperfield'' is a 10 episode BBC serial broadcast in 1986 and 1987 and based on the 1850 novel ''David Copperfield'' by Charles Dickens. The series was written by James Andrew Hall and directed by Barry Letts. It was produced by Terrance Dicks. The adaptation follows the story of David Copperfield as he grows up under the care of the cruel Murdstones after the death of his mother, escapes to the care of his aunt Betsey Trotwood and later travels to London where he meets the gentle Micawbers and the scheming Uriah Heep, and falls in love with and marries the spoilt Dora Spenlow. The series was nominated for a BAFTA in the Children's Programme (Entertainment/Drama) 1986 category. Scenes from the series were filmed at Holme-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. The English DVD release with the original ten episode format has become almost impossible to find, with only the Dutch import that edited the episodes together to make it only five parts being available. Plot For a detailed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Death Of An Expert Witness
''Death of an Expert Witness'' is an Adam Dalgliesh novel by P. D. James, published in 1977. It begins with the discovery of a young girl who has been murdered and dumped in a quarry. However, this is not the focus of the novel, but rather is used as a method to introduce the reader to the staff of a forensic laboratory, the background of this mystery. The actual murder of Dr. Lorrimer, an experienced expert witness, is only discovered in the second section of the book. It is quickly established that only people associated with the lab would have the opportunity or the knowledge to commit the crime, which allows the detectives to focus their attention. Plot outline Scotland Yard's Adam Dalgliesh investigates the murder of forensic biologist Dr. Edwin Lorrimer. With too many motives and no physical evidence, Dalgliesh is left to deduce which among the small pool of suspects is the killer, who decides to claim a second victim. Setting The events take place in Hoggatt's Laboratory ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas Courtney
William Nicholas Stone Courtney (16 December 1929 – 22 February 2011) was an Egyptian-born British actor. He was known for his long-running role as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart in the BBC science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Early life Courtney was born in Cairo, Egypt, the son of a British diplomat father and half-American mother. His paternal grandfather was the journalist William Leonard Courtney. He was educated in France, Kenya and Egypt. On his maternal side, Courtney was descended from New Zealand politician John Cuff. He did his national service in the British Army, leaving after 18 months as a private, not wanting to pursue a military career. He moved to England to join London's Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. After two years doing repertory theatre in Northampton, he became resident in London in 1961. Courtney's first television work was in the 1957 series ''Escape''. He made guest appearances in several cult television series, including '' Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Scarifyers
''The Scarifyers'' is an audio adventure and comic book series produced by Bafflegab Productions (formerly Cosmic Hobo Productions) and based on stories written by Simon Barnard and Paul Morris. Set in 1936 and 1937, it originally followed the exploits of DI Lionheart and ghost-story writer Professor Edward Dunning, as played by Nicholas Courtney and Terry Molloy. (It may be no coincidence that 'Edward Dunning' is the name of the protagonist of M R James' ghost story, "Casting the Runes", a man knowledgeable about the occult.) Each adventure is a self-contained story and is released on CD and direct download. The first two stories, ''The Nazad Conspiracy'' and ''The Devil of Denge Marsh'', were broadcast on BBC7 in 2007. A third story, ''For King and Country'', guest-starring Gabriel Woolf, was released in early 2008 and broadcast in 2009. The fourth story ''The Curse of the Black Comet'', guest-starring Brian Blessed, was released in 2009 and broadcast in 2010. The fifth story, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fred Colon
The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is the police force of the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork in the ''Discworld'' series by the English writer Terry Pratchett. The Watch, its growth and development, and its inner workings are explored through a series of eight fantasy novels and one short story. These novels generally feature as the protagonist, the Watch Commander Sam Vimes, and take on the general shape of a crime novel, in which the Watch are called on to solve a mysterious crime. In order of publication, they are; ''Guards! Guards!'' (1989), "Theatre of Cruelty" (1993) (a short story), ''Men at Arms'' (1993), ''Feet of Clay'' (1996), '' Jingo'' (1997), ''The Fifth Elephant'' (1999), '' Night Watch'' (2002), ''Thud!'' (2005) and ''Snuff'' (2011). Besides these main stories, the Watch, and individual members thereof, appear in some form in many of the other Discworld novels, especially those set in Ankh-Morpork. The Watch is also the loose inspiration for the 2021 fantasy police pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guards! Guards!
''Guards! Guards!'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the eighth in the ''Discworld'' series, first published in 1989. It is the first novel about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. The first ''Discworld'' point-and-click adventure game borrowed heavily from the plot of ''Guards! Guards!''BBC - h2g2 - Terry Pratchett's Discworld - the Computer Game Retrieved 2009-05-9 Plot The story follows a plot by a secret brotherhood, the Unique and Supreme Lodge of the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night, to overthrow the of Ankh-Morpork and install a |
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first novel, ''The Carpet People'', was published in 1971. The first ''Discworld'' novel, ''The Colour of Magic'', was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final ''Discworld'' novel, ''The Shepherd's Crown'', was published in August 2015, five months after his death. With more than 85 million books sold worldwide in 37 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal for ''The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents'', the first ''Discworld'' book marketed for children. He received the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lord Of The Rings (1981 Radio Series)
In 1981, BBC Radio 4 produced a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' in 26 half-hour stereo instalments. The novel had previously been adapted as a 12-part BBC Radio adaptation in 1955 and 1956 (of which no recordings are known to have survived), and a 1979 production by The Mind's Eye for National Public Radio in the USA. Like the novel on which it is based, the radio series tells the story of an epic struggle between the Dark Lord Sauron of Mordor, the primary villain of the work, and an alliance of heroes who join forces to save the world from falling under his shadow. Contents The script by Brian Sibley and Michael Bakewell attempts to be as faithful as possible to the original novel. The radio serial however omits the sequence in the book in which the hobbits visit Tom Bombadil. The narrative includes an arc where Wormtongue is waylaid by the Ringwraiths, as narrated in ''Unfinished Tales''. In the final episode, ''Bilbo's Last Song'', a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treebeard
Treebeard, or ''Fangorn'' in Sindarin, is a tree-giant character in J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is an Ent and is said by Gandalf to be "the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth.", book 3, ch. 4 "Treebeard" He lives in the ancient Forest of Fangorn, to which he has given his name. It lies at the southern end of the Misty Mountains. He is described as being about 14 feet (4.5 m) in height, and in appearance similar to a beech or an oak. In ''The Two Towers'', Treebeard meets with Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took, two Hobbits of the Shire. This meeting proves to have consequences that contribute significantly to the story and enables the events that occur in ''The Return of the King''. Origins In Sindarin, one of Tolkien's Elvish languages, "Fangorn" is a compound of ''fanga'', "beard", and ''orne'', "tree", so it is the equivalent of the English "Treebeard". The Rohirrim (Riders of Rohan) called Fangorn Forest the "En ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Magician's Nephew
''The Magician's Nephew'' is a fantasy children's novel by C. S. Lewis, published in 1955 by The Bodley Head. It is the sixth published of seven novels in ''The Chronicles of Narnia'' (1950–1956). In recent editions, which sequence the books according to Narnia history, it is volume one of the series. Like the others, it was illustrated by Pauline Baynes whose work has been retained in many later editions. The Bodley Head was a new publisher for ''The Chronicles'', a change from Geoffrey Bles who had published the previous five novels. ''The Magician's Nephew'' is a prequel to the series. The middle third of the novel features the creation of the Narnia world by Aslan the lion, centred on a section of a lamp-post brought by accidental observers from London in 1900. The visitors then participate in the beginning of Narnia history, 1000 years before ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' (which inaugurated the series in 1950). The frame story, set in England, features two ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
