The Spongers
   HOME
*





The Spongers
"The Spongers" is the 14th episode of eighth season of the British BBC anthology TV series '' Play for Today''. The episode was a television play that was originally broadcast on 24 January 1978. "The Spongers" was written by Jim Allen, directed by Roland Joffé, produced by Tony Garnett, and starred Christine Hargreaves, Bernard Hill, Peter Kerrigan, and Paula McDonagh. Set against the backdrop of Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, the play depicts a single mother's struggles as welfare cuts affect the poor and disabled. The derogatory term 'spongers' is used by British tabloid press to describe people who are dependent on welfare support, however the play presents the case of a family who really need the help of welfare support. The title sequence shows the title of the play, 'The Spongers', superimposed over a picture of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, denoting them as 'the real spongers'. Plot Pauline (Christine Hargreaves), a recently separated sin ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Play For Today
''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were (with a few exceptions noted below) between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration. A handful of these plays, including '' Rumpole of the Bailey'', subsequently became television series in their own right. History The strand was a successor to ''The Wednesday Play'', the 1960s anthology series, the title being changed when the day of transmission moved to Thursday to make way for a sport programme. Some works, screened in anthology series' on BBC2, like Willy Russell's ''Our Day Out'' (1977), were repeated on BBC1 in the series. The producers of ''The Wednesday Play'', Graeme MacDonald and Irene Shubik, transferred to the new series. Shubik continued with the series until ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Fred Pearson (actor)
Frederick or Fred Pearson may refer to: *Frederick Pearson (cricketer) (1880–1963), English cricketer * Frederick Pearson (U.S. Navy officer) (1842–1890), commander of Alaska, USA, in 1882 *Frederick Stark Pearson (1861–1915), American engineer and entrepreneur * Frederick M. Pearson (1827–1876), Canadian businessman and politician *Fred Pearson (ice hockey) (1923–2009), American ice hockey player *Fred Pearson (actor), British actor See also *Frederick Pearson Treadwell Frederick Pearson Treadwell (1857 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Portsmouth NH – 24 June 1918 in Zürich) was an American Analytical chemistry, analytical chemist working in Switzerland. Life F.P. Treadwell studied chemistry in Heidelberg (Ger ...
(1857–1918), American chemist {{hndis, Pearson, Frederick ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Middleton, Greater Manchester
Middleton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk southwest of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester city centre. Middleton had a population of 42,972 at the 2011 Census. It lies on the northern edge of Manchester, with Blackley to the south and Moston to the south east. Historically part of Lancashire, Middleton's name comes from it being the centre of several circumjacent settlements. It was an ecclesiastical parish of the hundred of Salford, ruled by aristocratic families. The Church of St Leonard is a Grade I listed building. The Flodden Window in the church's sanctuary is thought to be the oldest war memorial in the United Kingdom, memorialising the archers of Middleton who fought at the Battle of Flodden in 1513. In 1770, Middleton was a village of twenty houses, but in the 18th and 19th centuries it grew into a thriving and populous seat of textile manufacture and it was granted borough status in 1886. Langley ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor. A two-time BAFTA Award nominee, he is best known for his television and film work, which includes his role as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC sci-fi series '' Doctor Who'' (2005), playing Matt Jamison in '' The Leftovers'' (2014–2017), and his collaborations with filmmakers Danny Boyle and Michael Winterbottom. Eccleston trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London and made his professional acting debut onstage in a Bristol Old Vic production of ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. He garnered attention for his film roles as Derek Bentley in ''Let Him Have It'' (1991) and David Stevens in '' Shallow Grave'' (1994), and for his television performances in '' Cracker'' (1993–1994) and '' Hillsborough'' (1996). His BAFTA Award-nominated performance as Nicky Hutchinson in the BBC miniseries ''Our Friends in the North'' (1996) established him as a household name in the United Kingdo ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


TV Cream
TV Cream is a British television nostalgia website, which has expanded to cover not only television, but film, toys, books, and other objects. ''The Daily Telegraph'' called it "a labour of love" and praised "the standard of the writing". In 2003, it was amongst the nominees for Yahoo! UK & Ireland as best comedy website. Its sister website ''Off The Telly'' offered more serious insight into television. History The site originally appeared as The Arkhive in 1997, before adopting its current name the following year. Founded by Phil Norman, the site mainly reviews hundreds of programmes shown on British television (but not necessarily made in the UK), during the 1970s and 1980s, though some earlier and later shows are also featured. The site also features a selection of nostalgia-based articles relating to areas of popular culture such as pop music, film, comics, and so on. Site writers include Steve Berry, Chris Diamond, Chris Hughes, Ian Jones, Graham and Jack Kibble-White, Suzy ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Prix Italia
The Prix Italia is an international Television, Radio-broadcasting and Web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with the High Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic. More than one hundred public and private radio and television organisations representing 57 countries from the five continents form and outline the community of the Prix Italia which is in continuous evolution. Unique in the world, among International festivals and prizes, is the organisational and decision-making body of the Prix. The delegates of broadcating members decide and resolve the editorial outline and elect the President. RAI is in charge and responsible of the organisation of the event, and the General Secretariat has its headquarters in Rome. Prix Italia is held in an Italian city of art and culture annually every September/October for a week, in collaboration with loca ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Ken Loach
Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a British film director and screenwriter. His socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (''Poor Cow'', 1967), homelessness ('' Cathy Come Home'', 1966), and labour rights ('' Riff-Raff'', 1991, and '' The Navigators'', 2001). Loach's film '' Kes'' (1969) was voted the seventh greatest British film of the 20th century in a poll by the British Film Institute. Two of his films, '' The Wind That Shakes the Barley'' (2006) and ''I, Daniel Blake'' (2016), received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, making him one of only nine filmmakers to win the award twice. Early life Kenneth Charles Loach was born on 17 June 1936 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, the son of Vivien (née Hamlin) and John Loach. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School and at the age of 19 went to serve in the Royal Air Force. He read law at St Peter's College, Oxford< ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Jimmy McGovern
James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He also received recognition for creating drama series such as '' Hillsborough'', '' The Lakes'', ''The Street'', and ''Accused'', among others. On 8 December 2021 Jimmy was conferrethe Freedom of Liverpool in recognition of his life's work. Early life McGovern was born in Liverpool in September 1949, the son of working-class parents Jane (née Warner) and William McGovern. He was the fifth of nine children. He suffered from a stammer, for which he received no therapy and which affects him still. Brought up a Catholic, he attended St Francis Xavier's College which moved to the Woolton suburb of Liverpool in 1961. Career Television In 1982, McGovern started his TV career working on Channel 4's soap opera ''Brookside''. He tackled many social is ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


The Wednesday Play
''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of United Kingdom, British television plays which ran on BBC One, BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic adaptations of fiction (and occasionally stage plays) also featured. The series gained a reputation for presenting contemporary social dramas, and for bringing issues to the attention of a mass audience that would not otherwise have been discussed on screen. Some of British television drama's most influential, and controversial, plays were shown in this slot, including ''Up the Junction (The Wednesday Play), Up the Junction'' and ''Cathy Come Home''. The earliest television plays of Dennis Potter were featured in this slot. History Origins and early seasons The series was suggested to the BBC's Head of Drama, Sydney Newman, by the corporation's director of television Kenneth Adam after his cancellation of the two previous series of sin ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


The Spotlight (directory)
Spotlight is the largest casting resource in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1927, it has over 70,000 actors, actresses, presenters, dancers, and stunt performers in its database. It is used by thousands of production companies, broadcasters, advertisement agencies, and casting directors. Clients range from large organisations such as the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 to smaller production companies. It publishes its "Contacts" handbook both in hard copy and as an e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt .... It includes listings for over 5,000 companies, services, and individuals across all branches of film, television, stage, video games, and voice acting. Spotlight is one of the most successful companies in casting, generating over £10 million per year. Although esta ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Left-wing Politics
Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political%20ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in society whom its adherents perceive as disadvantaged relative to others as well as a belief that there are unjustified inequalities that need to be reduced or abolished. Left-wing politics are also associated with popular or state control of major political and economic institutions. According to emeritus professor of economics Barry Clark, left-wing supporters "claim that human development flourishes when individuals engage in cooperative, mutually respectful relations that can thrive only when excessive differences in status, power, and wealth are eliminated." Within the left–right political spectrum, ''Left'' and ''right-wing politics, Right'' were coined during the French Revolution, referring to the seat ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Blacklist
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, they are seen by a government or other organization as being one of a number of people who cannot be trusted or who is considered to have done something wrong. As a verb, blacklist can mean to put an individual or entity on such a list. Origins of the term The English dramatist Philip Massinger used the phrase "black list" in his 1639 tragedy ''The Unnatural Combat''. After the restoration of the English monarchy brought Charles II of England to the throne in 1660, a list of regicides named those to be punished for the execution of his father. The state papers of Charles II say "If any innocent soul be found in this black list, let him not be offended at me, but consider whether some mistaken principle or interest may not have misled ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]