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Wings (British TV Series)
''Wings'' is a drama series about the Royal Flying Corps that ran on BBC television from 1977 to 1978. It stars Tim Woodward as Alan Farmer, a young blacksmith turned fighter pilot in the First World War. Nicholas Jones played his teacher and mentor, Captain Triggers and Michael Cochrane played his upper-class friend, Charles Gaylion, who began a relationship with Farmer's girlfriend while Farmer was believed dead, shot down over France. The series reveals that the British pilots are struggling with aeroplanes which are unreliable and inferior to the German machines and with an Establishment that classes voicing an opinion to that effect as being tantamount to cowardice. The airmen must also face the resentment of British soldiers who see them having an "easy" life. The rigidity of the British class structure is highlighted when Farmer becomes an officer in the second series – he faces resentment from some officers because of his class and NCOs because of his new rank. The seri ...
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Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the epic and the lyrical modes ever since Aristotle's '' Poetics'' (c. 335 BC)—the earliest work of dramatic theory. The term "drama" comes from a Greek word meaning "deed" or " act" (Classical Greek: , ''drâma''), which is derived from "I do" (Classical Greek: , ''dráō''). The two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy. In English (as was the analogous case in many other European languages), the word ''play'' or ''game'' (translating the Anglo-Saxon ''pleġan'' or Latin ''ludus'') was the standard term for dramas until William Shakespeare's time—just as its creator was a ''play-maker'' rather than a ''dramatist'' and the building was a ''play-house'' r ...
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The Establishment
''The Establishment'' is a term used to describe a dominant social group , group or elite that controls a polity or an organization. It may comprise a closed social group that selects its own members, or entrenched elite structures in specific institutions. One can refer to any relatively small social class , class or group of people who can exercise control as ''The Establishment''. Conversely, in the jargon of sociology, anyone who does not belong to ''The Establishment'' may be labelled an Emic and etic, outsider (as opposed to an "insider"). Anti-authoritarianism, Anti-authoritarian Anti-establishment, anti-establishment ideologies question the legitimacy of establishments, seeing their influence on society as Criticism of democracy, undemocratic. The term in its modern sense was popularized by the British journalist Henry Fairlie, who in September 1955 in the London magazine ''The Spectator'' defined the network of prominent, well-connected people as "the Establishment". H ...
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British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, distribution, and education. It is sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and partially funded under the British Film Institute Act 1949. Purpose It was established in 1933 to encourage the development of the arts of film, television and the moving image throughout the United Kingdom, to promote their use as a record of contemporary life and manners, to promote education about film, television and the moving image generally, and their impact on society, to promote access to and appreciation of the widest possible range of British and world cinema and to establish, care for and develop collections reflecting the moving image history and heritage of the United Kingdom. BFI activities Archive The BFI maint ...
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BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, primetime drama and entertainment, and live BBC Sport events. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution. It was renamed BBC TV in 1960 and used this name until the launch of the second BBC channel, BBC2, in 1964. The main channel then became known as BBC1. The channel adopted the current spelling of BBC One in 1997. The channel's annual budget for 2012–2013 was £1.14 billion. It is funded by the television licence fee together with the BBC's other domestic television stations and shows uninterrupted programming without commercial advertising. The television channel had the highest reach share of any broadcaster in th ...
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First Solo Flight
The first solo flight is when a new airplane pilot completes a takeoff, and usually a short flight and safe landing, by themselves. Flying such a flight is a milestone known as soloing. Being solo pilot of an aircraft is different from most other situations in that the pilot has not only to be able to fly and navigate the machine in a competent manner but they also have to be able to cope with unpredictable developments like mechanical failure, bad weather etc. on their own and without advice from other sources (most air traffic controllers are not pilots and may not be contactable anyway). Requirements Depending on the country, there may be a requirement for some minimum number of training hours to have been completed by the student pilot before they are allowed to solo. In most countries, it is assumed that such students will be familiar with (and may have to pass an examination on) the relevant air laws or regulations, and will have completed exercises in handling aircraft ...
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Tim Pigott-Smith
Timothy Peter Pigott-Smith, (13 May 1946 – 7 April 2017) was an English film and television actor and author. He was best known for his leading role as Ronald Merrick in the television drama series '' The Jewel in the Crown'', for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor in 1985. Other noted TV roles included roles in '' The Chief'', ''Midsomer Murders'', '' The Vice'', ''The Suspicions of Mr Whicher'', ''King Charles III'' and two ''Doctor Who'' stories (''The Claws of Axos'' (1971) and ''The Masque of Mandragora'' (1976)). Pigott-Smith appeared in many notable films including: '' Clash of the Titans'' (1981), ''Gangs of New York'' (2002), ''Johnny English'' (2003), ''Alexander'' (2004), ''V for Vendetta'' (2005), ''Quantum of Solace'' (2008), '' Red 2'' (2013) and ''Jupiter Ascending'' (2015). Early life Pigott-Smith was born in Rugby, Warwickshire, the son of Margaret Muriel (née Goodman) and Harry Thomas Pigott-Smith, who was a journalist. He was e ...
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Jane Lapotaire
Jane Elizabeth Marie Lapotaire (née Burgess; 26 December 1944) is an English actress. Biography Lapotaire was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, the daughter of Louise Elise (Burgess). Her stepfather, Yves Lapotaire, worked in the oil industry and was originally from Quebec, Canada. From the age of two months, she was raised as a foster child by an old-age pensioner, Grace Chisnell (Granny Grace), who was also the foster mother of Lapotaire's own biological mother, a French orphan, who was abandoned in England. When Lapotaire was about 12, her biological mother made a bid to get her back. The child welfare department of the Suffolk County Council intervened and decided that the mother had this right. Lapotaire chose to be with Granny Grace, but lived with her biological mother and stepfather, who worked in various French oil companies in North Africa (particularly Libya), three times a year. She also adopted their family name. The Lapotaires in North Africa were Francophones, and like Fr ...
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Simon Cadell
Simon John Cadell (19 July 1950 – 6 March 1996) was an English actor, best known for his portrayal of Jeffrey Fairbrother in the first five series of the BBC situation comedy ''Hi-de-Hi!''. Early life Born in London, he was the son of theatrical agent John Cadell, grandson of the Scottish character actress Jean Cadell, great nephew of Francis Cadell RSA, the brother of the actress Selina Cadell and commercials director Patrick Cadell, the cousin of the actor Guy Siner and son-in-law of the television producer David Croft. He was educated at The Hall School in Hampstead and Bedales School at Petersfield where his close friends included Gyles Brandreth, who remained a friend until Cadell's death. Career Cadell was a member of the National Youth Theatre and appeared with them in the 1967 production of ''Zigger Zagger''. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. His first successes were found in the theatre in the mid to late 1970s. An early television role was in Simo ...
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Anthony Andrews
Anthony Colin Gerald Andrews (born 12 January 1948) is an English actor. He played Lord Sebastian Flyte in the ITV miniseries ''Brideshead Revisited'' (1981), for which he won Golden Globe and BAFTA television awards, and was nominated for an Emmy. His other lead roles include ''Operation Daybreak'' (1975), ''Danger UXB'' (1979), ''Ivanhoe'' (1982) and ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' (1982), and he played UK Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin in ''The King's Speech'' (2010). Early life and career Andrews was born in London, the son of Geraldine Agnes (née Cooper), a dancer, and Stanley Thomas Andrews, an arranger and conductor for the BBC. He grew up in North Finchley, London. At the age of eight, he took dancing lessons, making his stage debut as the White Rabbit in a stage adaptation of Lewis Carroll's ''Alice in Wonderland''. He attended the Royal Masonic School for Boys in Bushey, Hertfordshire. After a series of jobs that included catering, farming and journalism, he secured a po ...
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Celia Bannerman
Celia Bannerman (born 3 June 1944) is an English actress and director. Career Bannerman was born at Abingdon, Oxfordshire, and trained at the London Drama Centre. She started her professional career with Ralph Richardson as Dolly in Bernard Shaw's '' You Never Can Tell'' and Lucy in Sheridan's ''The Rivals'' followed by Cecily in "The Importance of Being Earnest" at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London. She played Lady Anne in "Richard III", Katherine in "Perkin Warbeck" and Mrs Galy Gay in "Man is Man" at the RSC. She played a number of major television roles early on in her acting career notably Elizabeth Bennet in '' Pride and Prejudice'' (1967), Cecily in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' and Lady Diana Newbury in '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. She starred in the films ''The Tamarind Seed'' (1974), ''Biddy'' (1983) for which she received an award from Moscow Film Festival, ''Little Dorrit'' (1987) and ''The Land Girls'' (1998). Bannerman was Associate Director at the Bristol ...
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Reg Lye
Reginald Thomas Lye (14 October 1912 – 23 March 1988), was an Australian actor who worked extensively in Australia and England. He was one of the busiest Australian actors of the 1950s, appearing in the majority of locally shot features at the time, as well as on stage and radio. Lee Robinson called him "one of the best character actors in Australia." He moved to England in the early 1960s, (also starring in television, such as ''Mrs Thursday'' and ''The Wednesday Play''), but returned to Australia when the film industry revived in the 1970s. He won the Australian Film Institute award for the his role in the 1975 film, '' Sunday Too Far Away'', opposite Jack Thompson. Selected filmography *''King of the Coral Sea'' (1954) - Grundy *''Smiley'' (1956) - Pa Bill Greevins *''Walk Into Paradise'' (1956) - Ned 'Shark-eye' Kelley *'' Three in One'' (1957) - The Swaggie (segment "Joe Wilson's Mates") *'' The Shiralee'' (1957) - Desmond *'' The Stowaway'' (1958) - Buddington *''Smi ...
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Anne Kristen
Anne Kristen (7 March 1937 – 7 August 1996) was a Scottish actress, best known for portraying Olive Rowe in '' Coronation Street''. Her longest-lasting role was as Miss Meiklejohn in ''Hamish Macbeth''. She also appeared in ''Wings'' as Molly Farmer, and in ''Casualty'' as receptionist Norma Sullivan. Early life and education Kristen was born in 1937 in Strathclyde, Glasgow, growing up in the suburb of Bearsden. Her father, Reginald Byles, was a senior journalist and lead writer for the Glasgow Herald. She acted in plays at the Laurel Bank school in Glasgow. After leaving school, she went on to study at the Royal College of Music and Dramatic Art in Glasgow, where she won a Silver Medal for her work. Kristen then went on to further stage work in Scotland and London before embarking on a television career. Career Early television career Kristen's first role was on ''BBC Sunday-Night Play'' in 1960, for one episode, as the character Nellie Watson. She then appeared i ...
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