Chocky
''Chocky'' is a science fiction novel by British writer John Wyndham. It was first published as a Novella, novelette in the March 1963 issue of ''Amazing Stories'' and later developed into a novel in 1968, published by Michael Joseph. The BBC produced a radio adaption by John Tydeman in 1967. In 1984 a children's television drama based on the novel was shown on ITV (TV network), ITV in the United Kingdom. Plot summary David Gore becomes concerned that his twelve-year-old son, Matthew, is too old to have an imaginary friend. His concerns deepen as Matthew becomes increasingly distressed and blames it on arguments with this unseen companion, whom he calls "Chocky". As the story unfolds it becomes clear that the friend is far from imaginary but is an alien consciousness communicating with Matthew's mind. The situation attracts the interest of shadowy government forces. "Chocky" eventually reveals that it is a scout sent from its home planet (where there is only one sex) in searc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Wyndham
John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (; 10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his names, such as John Beynon and Lucas Parkes. Some of his works were set in apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic science fiction, post-apocalyptic landscapes. His best known works include ''The Day of the Triffids'' (1951), The Day of the Triffids (film), filmed in 1962, and ''The Midwich Cuckoos'' (1957), which was filmed in 1960 as ''Village of the Damned (1960 film), Village of the Damned'', in 1995 Village of the Damned (1995 film), under the same title, and again in 2022 in Sky Max The Midwich Cuckoos (TV series), under its original title. Biography Early life Wyndham was born in the village of Dorridge near Knowle, West Midlands, Knowle, Warwickshire (now West Midlands (county), West Midlands), England, the son of Gertrude Parkes, the daughte ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anthony Read
Anthony Read (21 April 1935 – 21 November 2015) was an English television producer, screenwriter, script editor and author. He was principally active in British television from the 1960s to the mid-1980s, which included a period as a script editor and writer of ''Doctor Who'' from 1977 to 1979, although he occasionally contributed to televised productions until 1999. Beginning in the 1980s, he launched a second career as a print author, concentrating largely on World War II histories. He was also a chair of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. From 2004 he regularly wrote prose fiction, mainly in the form of a revival of his television series '' The Baker Street Boys'' (1983). Early life Read was born in the small mining community of Cheslyn Hay, Staffordshire. He originally set out to become an actor, due to his education at Queen Mary's Grammar School in Walsall, known for its strong theatrical tradition, and then at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sacha Dhawan
Sacha Dhawan () (born 1 May 1984) is a British actor. He began his career in the ITV series '' Out of Sight'' (1997–1998), '' The Last Train'' (1999), and '' Weirdsister College'' (2001–2002). He originated the role of Akthar in the play '' The History Boys'' (2004–2006) and reprised his role in its film adaptation (2006). Dhawan has since played Paul Jatri in the BBC One comedy-drama '' Last Tango in Halifax'' (2012), Waris Hussein in the BBC Two docudrama ''An Adventure in Space and Time'' (2013), Davos in the Marvel series '' Iron Fist'' (2017–2018), Count Orlo in '' The Great'' (2020–2023) on Hulu, and The Master in the science fiction series ''Doctor Who'' (2020–2022). Early life and education Sacha Dhawan was born in 1983 or 1984 in Bramhall, Stockport, to Indian parents from Jalandhar, Punjab, India. Dhawan trained at the Laine-Johnson Theatre School in Manchester, and started acting at the age of twelve. He attended the Roman Catholic school Aquinas Col ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broadcast from 09:25 Monday morning to 17:15 Friday afternoon (19:00 Friday night until 1982) at which time it would hand over to London Weekend Television (LWT). Formed as a joint company, it merged the television interests of British Electric Traction (trading as Associated-Rediffusion) owning 49%, and Associated British Picture Corporation—soon taken over by EMI—owning 51%. Like all ITV franchisees at that time, it was a broadcaster, a producer and a commissioner of television programmes, making shows both for the local region it covered and, as one of the "Big Five" ITV companies, for networking nationally across the ITV regions. After its loss of franchise in 1992, it continued as an independent production company until 2006. The ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Trouble With Lichen
''Trouble with Lichen'' (published 1960) is a science fiction novel by British writer John Wyndham. The plot concerns a young female biochemist who discovers that a chemical extracted from an unusual strain of lichen can be used to slow down the ageing process, enabling people to live to around 200–300 years. Wyndham speculates how society would deal with this prospect. Plot summary The two central characters are Diana Brackley and Francis Saxover, two biochemists who run parallel investigations into the properties of a specific species of lichen after Diana notices that a trace of the specimen prevents some milk turning sour. She and Francis separately manage to extract from the lichen a new drug, dubbed Antigerone, which slows down the body's ageing process. While Francis uses it only on himself and his immediate family (without their knowledge), Diana founds a cosmetic spa, and builds up a clientele of some of the most powerful women in England, giving them low doses of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Paperback
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, leather, paper, or plastic. Inexpensive books bound in paper have existed since at least the 19th century in such forms as pamphlets, yellow-backs, yellowbacks and dime novels. Modern paperbacks can be differentiated from one another by size. In the United States, there are "mass-market paperbacks" and larger, more durable "trade paperbacks". In the United Kingdom, there are A-format, B-format, and the largest C-format sizes. Paperback editions of books are issued when a publisher decides to release a book in a low-cost format. Lower-quality paper, glued (rather than stapled or sewn) bindings, and the lack of a hard cover may contribute to the lower cost of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Michael Joseph (publisher)
Michael Joseph (26 September 1897 – 15 March 1958) was a British publisher and writer. Early life and career Joseph was born in Upper Clapton, London. During the First World War, he served as a captain in the Machine Gun Corps and was in the line near Arras. After the war, he embarked on a writing career, his first book being ''Short Story Writing for Profit'' (1923). In 1930, he lived near Regent's Park, where he adopted a Siamese cat, Charles, who became the subject of Joseph's book ''Charles - The Story of a Friendship''. In the summer of 1935, Joseph moved to Acacia Road, St John's Wood, opposite composer Roger Quilter. At the outbreak of war in 1939, Joseph moved to Mayfield and Five Ashes, Mayfield, Sussex.'Charles - The Story of a Friendship' (Joseph, 1943) After a period as a literary agent for Curtis Brown (literary agents), Curtis Brown, Joseph founded his own publishing imprint as a subsidiary of Victor Gollancz Ltd. Gollancz invested £4000 in Michael Joseph Ltd, es ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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BBC Radio 4 Extra
BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It mostly broadcasts archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes, and is the sister station of Radio 4. It is 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 BBC 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 broa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Branwell
John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Epistle of John, often shortened to 2 John * Third Epistle of John, often shortened to 3 John People * John the Baptist (died ), regarded as a prophet and the forerunner of Jesus Christ * John the Apostle (died ), one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ * John the Evangelist, assigned author of the Fourth Gospel, once identified with the Apostle * John of Patmos, also known as John the Divine or John the Revelator, the author of the Book of Revelation, once identified with the Apostle * John the Presbyter, a figure either identified with or distinguished from the Apostle, the Evangelist and John of Patmos Other people with the given name Religious figures * John, father of Andrew the Apostle and Saint Peter * Pope John (disambigu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kathryn Hunt
Kathryn Hunt is a British actress best known for her roles as Angela Harris in ''Coronation Street'' and Val Lorrimer in Series 1–2 of ''Fat Friends''. She also appeared in '' Waterloo Road'' and ''The Royal''. Kathryn also starred in the BBC Three drama '' Drop Dead Gorgeous''. In May 2008 she appeared in the BBC One programme ''Doctors''. More recently, she has appeared as Max's foster mother in hospital drama ''Holby City'', and as Siobhan in the sitcom ''Hebburn''. In November 2014, she appeared as Suzanne Harper in ''Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...''. She also appeared in '' Where the Heart Is'' as Cheryl Lampard from 1997 until 1999. References External links * British television actresses Year of birth missing (living people) Livin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |