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Weak At The Top
''Weak at the Top'' is a situation comedy originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005 and 2006. It revolves around a businessman anti-hero, John Weak (Alexander Armstrong), whose main attributes are summed up in the words "randy, sexist, and drunk". Weak is the Marketing Director of Smokehouse plc, a global corporation which turns "food you wouldn't give to your dog" into snacks and other packaged and processed items. Smokehouse's actual products are irrelevant to John Weak, whose objects in life are to have the best car, bed the hottest women, and be top dog. John Weak's main problem is satisfying Smokehouse CEO Sir Marcus Rigsby (Geoffrey Whitehead), who is liable to demand adoption of the latest management fad "by Friday, John!". Thick-skinned personal assistant Hayley (Clare Perkins) fences with her boss John constantly. When the squeeze is really on, John turns to his "Director of Long Lunches and Work Avoidance", Bill Peters (Ron Cook), who can be counted on to rescue the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new characters in each sketch, and stand-up comedy, where a comedian tells jokes and stories to an audience. Sitcoms originated in radio, but today are found mostly on television as one of its dominant narrative forms. A situation comedy television program may be recorded in front of a studio audience, depending on the program's production format. The effect of a live studio audience can be imitated or enhanced by the use of a laugh track. Critics disagree over the utility of the term "sitcom" in classifying shows that have come into existence since the turn of the century. Many contemporary American sitcoms use the single-camera setup and do not feature a laugh track, thus often resembling the dramedy shows of the 1980s and 1990s rather t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasting House, London. The station controller is Mohit Bakaya. Broadcasting throughout the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands on FM, LW and DAB, and on BBC Sounds, it can be received in the eastern counties of Ireland, northern France and Northern Europe. It is available on Freeview, Sky, and Virgin Media. Radio 4 currently reaches over 10 million listeners, making it the UK's second most-popular radio station after Radio 2. BBC Radio 4 broadcasts news programmes such as ''Today'' and ''The World at One'', heralded on air by the Greenwich Time Signal pips or the chimes of Big Ben. The pips are only accurate on FM, LW, and MW; there is a delay on digital radio of three to five seconds and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BBC Radio 4 Extra
BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the principal broadcaster of the BBC's spoken-word archive, and as a result the majority of its programming originates from that archive. It also broadcasts extended and companion programmes to those broadcast on Radio 4, and provides a "catch-up" service for certain programmes. The station launched in December 2002 as BBC 7, broadcasting a mix of archive comedy, drama and current children's radio. The station was renamed BBC Radio 7 in 2008, then relaunched as Radio 4 Extra in April 2011. For the first quarter of 2013, Radio 4 Extra had a weekly audience of 1.642 million people and had a market share of 0.95%; in the last quarter of 2016 the numbers were 2.184 million listeners and 1.2% of market share. According to RAJAR, the station broadc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Armstrong (comedian)
Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter and singer. He is the host of the BBC One game show ''Pointless'', as well as the morning show on Classic FM. He is one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. Armstrong's television credits include ''Armstrong and Miller'', '' Beast'', '' Life Begins'', ''Hunderby'' and '' Danger Mouse''. He is also known as the voice of Mr Smith, Sarah Jane Smith's alien (Xylok) supercomputer in ''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' and the series 4 finale of ''Doctor Who''. Armstrong is a bass-baritone and has released three studio albums. Early life Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, on 2 March 1970, the youngest of three children, to physician Henry Angus Armstrong and Emma Virginia Peronnet (née Thompson-McCausland). The Armstrongs are a North East landowning family distantly related to The 1st Baron Armstrong. Armstrong's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clare Perkins
Clare Perkins (born 18 August 1965) is an English actress who is known for her roles as Denise Boulter in ''Family Affairs'' and Ava Hartman in '' EastEnders''. Career Perkins' first role was as Opal in the 1991 TV film 'Hallelujah Anyhow' in the ''Screen Two'' strand. On TV she has appeared in ''Family Affairs'', ''All in the Game'', '' Pig Heart Boy'', ''Casualty'', '' EastEnders'', ''Men Behaving Badly'', ''Big Women'' and ''Clapham Junction''. She has appeared in many theatres, such as the Royal Court, Young Vic, National Theatre and Soho Theatre. Her film credits include Jill in the Palme d'Or-winning '' Ladybird, Ladybird'' (Ken Loach), '' Secrets & Lies'' (Mike Leigh), ''Bullet Boy'' (Saul Dibb) and '' 7 Lives''. Clare was part of the BBC production ''Pig Heart Boy'', which won a Children's BAFTA for Best Drama. Clare has worked in theatre, film, TV and radio, she has been a member of the BBC Radio Drama Company and played the character of Mel for 8 years in the Wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geoffrey Whitehead
Geoffrey Whitehead (born 1 October 1939) is an English actor. He has appeared in a range of television, film and radio roles. In the theatre, he has played at Shakespeare's Globe, St Martin's Theatre and the Bristol Old Vic. Early life Whitehead was born in Grenoside in Sheffield. With his father killed in the Second World War, Whitehead received an RAF benevolent grant which sent him to a minor public school. He later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he became friends with fellow student John Thaw. Career His film appearances have included ''The Raging Moon'' (1971), ''Kidnapped'' (1971), the vengeful woodsman in ''And Now the Screaming Starts!'' (1972), '' S.O.S. Titanic'' (1979) as shipbuilder Thomas Andrews, ''Inside the Third Reich'' (1982), ''Shooting Fish'' (1997) and '' Love/Loss'' (2010). His television appearances include '' Bulldog Breed'' (1962), ''Z-Cars'' (1964–1965 and 1972–1975), playing two different regular characters, ''Some Mothers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ron Cook
Ronald G. Cook (born 1948) is an English actor. He has been active in film, television and theatre since the 1970s. Early and personal life Cook was born in 1948 in South Shields, County Durham, England, the son of a school cook and a car worker. When he was six his family moved to Coventry; he went to Wyken Croft Junior School and then Caludon Castle School and is a graduate of Rose Bruford College. Career On stage, he appeared in the original 1988 production of Timberlake Wertenbaker's play ''Our Country's Good''. He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award in the category of Best Supporting Actor in 2000 for his role in '' Juno and the Paycock'' at the Donmar Warehouse. He also appeared in a new play by Conor McPherson, '' The Seafarer'', at the Royal National Theatre. In 2008–2009, he took part in the Donmar's West End season at Wyndham's Theatre, playing Sir Toby Belch in ''Twelfth Night'' and Polonius in ''Hamlet''. In 2011, he played The Fool in ''King Lear'' st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guy Browning
Guy Browning (born 1964 in Chipping Norton) is a humourist, after-dinner speaker and film director. He wrote the ''How To...'' column in ''The Guardian'' from 1999–2009. Before that he wrote about office politics and social climbing. Early life Browning was educated at Magdalen College School and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. He started out in the comedy duo Dross Bros with Patrick Marber. The two fell out and Browning went into advertising with Darcy Macius Benton Bowles where he was responsible for the line "Delicious Meaty Chunks in a Nutritious Gravy". He went on to become the Creative Director of the Added Value Company before setting up his own business, Smokehouse, in 1997 which organises interactive events all over the world. Radio Browning is a regular on BBC Radio 4, e.g. ''Small Talk'' (2003) and ''Weak at the Top'', which ran for two series in 2005/6 starring Alexander Armstrong. The fictional John Weak works for Smokehouse, the name of Guy Browning's real busines ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Situation Comedy
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use new characters in each sketch, and stand-up comedy, where a comedian tells jokes and stories to an audience. Sitcoms originated in radio, but today are found mostly on television as one of its dominant narrative forms. A situation comedy television program may be recorded in front of a studio audience, depending on the program's production format. The effect of a live studio audience can be imitated or enhanced by the use of a laugh track. Critics disagree over the utility of the term "sitcom" in classifying shows that have come into existence since the turn of the century. Many contemporary American sitcoms use the single-camera setup and do not feature a laugh track, thus often resembling the dramedy shows of the 1980s and 1990s rather t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claret
Bordeaux wine ( oc, vin de Bordèu, french: vin de Bordeaux) is produced in the Bordeaux region of southwest France, around the city of Bordeaux, on the Garonne River. To the north of the city the Dordogne River joins the Garonne forming the broad estuary called the Gironde; the Gironde department, with a total vineyard area of over 120,000 hectares, is the largest wine growing area in France. Average vintages produce over 700 million bottles of wine, ranging from large quantities of everyday table wine, to some of the most expensive and prestigious wines in the world. The vast majority of wine produced in Bordeaux is red (sometimes called "claret" in Britain), with sweet white wines (most notably Sauternes), dry whites, and (in much smaller quantities) rosé and sparkling wines (Crémant de Bordeaux) collectively making up the remainder. Bordeaux wine is made by more than 8,500 producers or ''châteaux''. There are 54 appellations of Bordeaux wine. History Viticulture ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nikkei, with core editorial offices across Britain, the United States and continental Europe. In July 2015, Pearson sold the publication to Nikkei for £844 million (US$1.32 billion) after owning it since 1957. In 2019, it reported one million paying subscriptions, three-quarters of which were digital subscriptions. The newspaper has a prominent focus on financial journalism and economic analysis over generalist reporting, drawing both criticism and acclaim. The daily sponsors an annual book award and publishes a " Person of the Year" feature. The paper was founded in January 1888 as the ''London Financial Guide'' before rebranding a month later as the ''Financial Times''. It was first circulated around metropolitan London by James Sherid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prentice Hall
Prentice Hall was an American major educational publisher owned by Savvas Learning Company. Prentice Hall publishes print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market, and distributes its technical titles through the Safari Books Online e-reference service. History On October 13, 1913, law professor Charles Gerstenberg and his student Richard Ettinger founded Prentice Hall. Gerstenberg and Ettinger took their mothers' maiden names, Prentice and Hall, to name their new company. Prentice Hall became known as a publisher of trade books by authors such as Norman Vincent Peale; elementary, secondary, and college textbooks; loose-leaf information services; and professional books. Prentice Hall acquired the training provider Deltak in 1979. Prentice Hall was acquired by Gulf+Western in 1984, and became part of that company's publishing division Simon & Schuster. S&S sold several Prentice Hall subsidiaries: Deltak and Resource Systems were sold to National Education ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
