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The Grove Family
''The Grove Family'' was a British television series soap opera, generally regarded as the first of its kind broadcast in the UK, made and broadcast by the BBC Television Service from 1954 to 1957. The series concerned the life of the family of the title, who were named after the BBC's Lime Grove Studios where the programme was made. The programme was written by Roland and Michael Pertwee, the father and elder brother respectively of actor Jon Pertwee. As was common for British television at the time, the series was broadcast live and very few episodes survive in the archives: only three of the original 148 episodes. One of the few surviving shows was transmitted on BBC Four during 2004. A film version produced during 1955 by the Butchers company, written by the Pertwees and featuring the television cast, exists as an example of the series. The film was entitled ''It's a Great Day'' and shown on the Talking Pictures TV channel in July 2017. During 1954 ''The Grove Family'' was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roland Pertwee
Roland Pertwee (15 May 1885 – 26 April 1963) was an English playwright, film and television screenwriter, director and actor. He was the father of ''Doctor Who'' actor Jon Pertwee and playwright and screenwriter Michael Pertwee. He was also the second cousin of actor Bill Pertwee and grandfather of actors Sean Pertwee and Dariel Pertwee. From the 1910s to 1950s, he worked as a writer on many British films, providing either the basic story or full screenplay. He was one of many writers who worked on the script of ''A Yank at Oxford'' starring Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh, the film in which his son Jon made his screen debut, and on '' Caravan''. While he seemingly preferred writing, he acted in ten films (1915–45) and directed ''Breach of Promise'' (1942), which he also wrote. Life and career Pertwee had French Huguenot ancestry (his surname was an Anglicisation of "Perthuis"; the origins of his surname being "de Perthuis de Laillevault", the family being Counts desc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
It's A Great Day
''It's a Great Day'' is a 1955 British comedy film directed by John Warrington. A spin-off of the popular soap ''The Grove Family'', the film stars Ruth Dunning as Gladys Grove, Edward Evans as Bob Grove, and Sid James as Harry Mason. Nancy Roberts, (1885-1962), as Gran, played the same rôle in the TV series. Plot summary A local builder, Bob Grove, has some temperamental differences with his Council Manager leaving him without a product to finish a housing estate. His son, Jack, recruits the services of an alternative supplier, of dubious character, to help him get hold of the materials required to finish work on the new houses. Things turn sour when Bob and his son, Jack, are suspected of stealing, leading to a situation which involves a police investigation. All this takes place around a planned Royal Visit, to the new housing estate. Cast * Ruth Dunning as Gladys Grove * Edward Evans as Bob Grove * Sid James as Harry Mason * Vera Day as Blondie * Sheila Sweet as Pat Gro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kellie Bright
Kellie Denise Bright (born 1 July 1976) is an English actress. Her roles include Linda Carter in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders'', for which she won the 2015 British Soap Award for Best Actress and Best Dramatic Performance, Julie in ''Ali G Indahouse'', Joanna Burrows in ''The Upper Hand'' (1990–1996), Cassie Tyler in '' Bad Girls'' (2002) and Joan Trotter in ''Rock & Chips'' (2010–2011). In 2015, she was the runner-up in the 13th series of the BBC One show '' Strictly Come Dancing''. Career Early career Bright has been acting since she was 11, appearing on stage in shows such as ''Annie'' and ''Les Misérables'', before landing a place at the Sylvia Young Theatre School where she became friends with Emma Bunton and Keeley Hawes. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sally Ann Matthews
Sally Ann Matthews (born 19 September 1970) is an English actress. She is best known for playing the role of Jenny Bradley in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Career Matthews was born in Oldham, Lancashire. She played Jenny Bradley, the daughter of the villainous Alan Bradley (Mark Eden) in ''Coronation Street'' from 1986 to 1991, making a brief return in 1993. In 2005 Matthews joined the cast of ''Emmerdale'' as farmer's wife Sandra Briggs, but left less than a year later. In an interview with ''Inside Soap'', the show's executive producer, Kathleen Beedles, admitted casting Matthews, well-known to soap fans from ''Coronation Street'', in what would essentially become a minor role was a mistake. She also confirmed she would like Matthews to return to the show in some capacity in the future. She returned to ''Coronation Street'' as Jenny in February 2015. Personal life In a one-off documentary ''Coronation Street's DNA Secrets'' in September 2018, Matthews fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick Berry
Nicholas Berry (born 16 April 1963) is a retired English actor and pop singer. He is best known for his roles as Simon Wicks in ''EastEnders'' from 1985 to 1990, and as PC Nick Rowan in '' Heartbeat'' from 1992 to 1998. He sang UK chart singles with "Every Loser Wins" in 1986, which went to number one, and the theme song from ''Heartbeat'', a cover of the Buddy Holly song " Heartbeat", in 1992. Career Berry started acting at the age of eight. After attending the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London he played minor parts on television, film, and stage until his big break playing Simon 'Wicksy' Wicks in the popular BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', joining the series shortly after its inception in 1985 and staying until the end of 1990. Berry's character was thought up overnight and had been scheduled to appear later. However, he was introduced to restore the cast balance distorted by the unexpected departure of actor David Scarboro who played the original Mark Fowler. Scarboro' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sue Johnston
Susan Johnston OBE (née Wright; born 7 December 1943) is an English actress. She is known for portraying Sheila Grant in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Brookside'' (1982–1990), Barbara Royle in the BBC comedy ''The Royle Family'' (1998–2000, 2006–2012), Grace Foley in the BBC drama '' Waking the Dead'' (2000–2011), Gloria Price in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2012–2014) and Miss Denker in the ITV drama ''Downton Abbey'' (2014–2015). She won the 2000 British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actress and was nominated for the 2000 BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy Performance for ''The Royle Family''. Early life Johnston was born on 7 December 1943 in Warrington, Cheshire, and grew up in Prescot, also in Lancashire. She is the daughter of Fred and Margaret Jane Wright (née Cowan). After working as a Higher Grade tax inspector, when her boyfriend was one of the pop group The Swinging Blue Jeans, she worked for Brian Epstein. From the age of 21, Johnston attend ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna Wing
Anna Eva Lydia Catherine Wing (30 October 1914 – 7 July 2013) was an English actress who had a long career in television and theatre, known for portraying the role of Beale family matriarch Lou Beale in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Early life Wing was born in Hackney, London, and started out as an artist's model and later, during the Second World War, worked in East End hospitals. At age 30, she married the actor Peter Davey, by whom she had a son, actor-director Mark Wing-Davey, but the marriage ended in divorce after six years. Her seven years as the lover of Philip O'Connor, a surrealist writer and contemporary of Stephen Spender and Laurie Lee, saw her spend some time as a nursery teacher in West London. With her new lover she had a second son, Jon O'Connor. Career Wing is best known for portraying the Beale and Fowler family matriarch Lou Beale on ''EastEnders'' from the show's inception in February 1985, until the character was killed off in July 1988. She qui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leslie Grantham
Leslie Michael Grantham (30 April 1947 – 15 June 2018) was an English actor, best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He was a convicted murderer, having served 10 years for the killing of a West German taxi driver, and had significant press coverage resulting from an online sex scandal in 2004. Early and personal life Grantham was born in Camberwell, London, the son of Adelaide (''née'' Flinders) and Walter William Grantham (1915–1998). He enlisted in the Royal Fusiliers regiment of the British Army in 1965, at the age of 18. Grantham married Australian Jane Laurie in 1981. The couple had three sons and divorced in 2013. His son Daniel Laurie is also an actor, and plays Reggie Jackson in ''Call the Midwife.'' Murder conviction Having joined the Army (The Royal Fusiliers), Grantham was soon posted to West Germany, where he quickly found himself in debt to army colleagues. He resorted to criminal activities in his attempt to clea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio channels, it is funded by the television licence, and is therefore free of commercial advertising. It is a comparatively well-funded public-service network, regularly attaining a much higher audience share than most public-service networks worldwide. Originally styled BBC2, it was the third British television station to be launched (starting on 21 April 1964), and from 1 July 1967, Europe's first television channel to broadcast regularly in colour. It was envisaged as a home for less mainstream and more ambitious programming, and while this tendency has continued to date, most special-interest programmes of a kind previously broadcast on BBC Two, for example the BBC Proms, no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armchair Theatre
''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968. The Canadian-born producer Sydney Newman was in charge of ''Armchair Theatre'' between September 1958 and December 1962, during what is generally considered to have been its best era, and produced 152 episodes. History Intent ''Armchair Theatre'' filled a Sunday-evening slot on ITV, Britain's only commercial network at the time, in which contemporary dramas were the most common form, though this was not immediately apparent. The series was launched by Howard Thomas, head of ABC at the time, who argued that "Television drama is not so far removed from television journalism, and the plays which will grip the audience are those that face up to the new issues of the day as well as to the problems as old as civilisation." The original producer of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV Series)
''Upstairs, Downstairs'' is a British television drama series produced by London Weekend Television (LWT) for ITV. It ran for 68 episodes divided into five series on ITV from 1971 to 1975. Set in a large townhouse at 165, Eaton Place in Belgravia in central London, the series depicts the servants—"downstairs"—and their masters, the family—"upstairs"—between the years 1903 and 1930, and shows the slow decline of the British aristocracy. Great events feature prominently in each episode but minor or gradual changes are also noted. The show may be regarded as a document of the social and technological changes that occurred during those 27 years, including the Edwardian period, women's suffrage, the First World War, the Roaring Twenties, and the Wall Street Crash. It was a ratings success for ITV and received outstanding acclaim worldwide, winning multiple awards. A BBC Wales and ''Masterpiece''-produced continuation, ''Upstairs Downstairs'', was broadcast by BBC One in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
