|
Pob's Programme
''Pob's Programme'' is a children's television programme which was broadcast in the United Kingdom on Channel 4. The programme is presented by a puppet named Pob (played by puppeteer Robin Stevens), who speaks with a speech impediment and who supposedly lives inside the viewer's TV (the casing and red, green and blue electron guns visible behind him). Music was composed and performed by Mike Stanley. The opening titles of the show consist of the character breathing on the camera lens (this breathing was often mistaken for spitting, given the loud noise accompanying it and the thick condensation appearing on screen), and tracing his name in the condensation. Each week on the programme, a celebrity guest visits Pob's garden, and entertains him — though Pob and the guest never appear on screen together. ''Pob's Programme'' was created by Doug Wilcox and Anne Wood of Ragdoll Productions, which also created ''Rosie and Jim''. Wood went on to create the ''Teletubbies''. Series ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slapstick
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as saws and ladders. The term arises from a device developed for use in the broad, physical comedy style known as ''commedia dell'arte'' in 16th-century Italy. The "Clapper (musical instrument), slap stick" consists of two thin slats of wood, which make a "slap" when striking another actor, with little force needed to make a loud—and comical—sound. The physical slap stick remains a key component of the plot in the traditional and popular Punch and Judy puppet show. Other examples of slapstick humor include ''The Naked Gun'' and Mr. Bean (character), Mr. Bean. Origins The name "slapstick" originates from the Italian ''Batacchio'' or ''Bataccio'' – called the "Clapper (musical instrument), slap stick" in English – a club-like objec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Patten
Brian Patten (born 7 February 1946) is an English poet and author. He came to prominence in the 1960s as one of the Liverpool poets, and writes primarily lyrical poetry about human relationships. His famous works include "Little Johnny's Confessions", "The Irrelevant Song", "Vanishing Trick", "Emma's Doll", and "Impossible Parents". Career Patten was born in Bootle, England, near the Liverpool docks. He attended Sefton Park School in the Smithdown Road area of Liverpool, where his early poetic writing was encouraged. He left school at fifteen and began work for ''The Bootle Times'' writing a column on popular music. Together with the other two Liverpool poets, Roger McGough and Adrian Henri, Patten published '' The Mersey Sound'' in 1967. One of the best-selling poetry anthologies of modern times, ''The Mersey Sound'' aimed to make poetry accessible to a broader audience. It has been described as ''the most significant anthology of the twentieth century''. Together with Henri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Howitt
Peter Howitt (; born 5 May 1957) is a British actor and film director. Biography Early life Howitt was born on 5 May 1957, the son of Frank Howitt, a renowned Fleet Street journalist who, in 1963, broke the infamous Profumo affair, Profumo Scandal by getting the exclusive story from call girl Christine Keeler of her illicit affair with a high ranking government minister. Howitt grew up in Eltham, London and Bromley, Kent. He was educated at Wyborne Primary School in New Eltham and Colfe's Grammar School in Lee, South London. While in Eltham he was a member of the Priory Players amateur dramatics group. Howitt spent a brief time at Paisley Grammar School in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley, Scotland in 1970. He studied at the Drama Studio London in 1976. Career Howitt's first notable TV role was in the 1984–85 series of Yorkshire Television's long-running programme for schools ''How We Used To Live'', where he starred alongside Brookside (television programme), Brookside a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bernard Hepton
Francis Bernard Heptonstall (19 October 1925 – 27 July 2018) better known by the stage name Bernard Hepton, was an English theatre director and actor. Best known for his stage work and television roles in teleplays and series, he also appeared briefly on radio and in film. Early life and education Hepton was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire. His father, Bernard senior, was an electrician, while his mother Hilda (née Berrington) was from a mill-working family. Brought up as a Catholic, he attended St Bede's Grammar School. His short-sight meant he was unable to serve in the British Army during the Second World War. He trained as an aircraft engineer and draughtsman while undertaking firewatching duties. Theatre Hepton trained at the Bradford Civic Playhouse under director Esme Church. He had extensive stage experience as an actor in repertory, especially in Scarborough and York. In 1952, he joined Birmingham Rep under Barry Jackson, later himself becoming the the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rupert Frazer
Rupert Frazer (born 12 March 1947) is a British actor. Career His work in theatre includes performances at the Citizens Theatre, the Royal Court Theatre and the Royal National Theatre. In 1975, he played the title role in the first British stage production of Seneca's ''Thyestes''. Other theatre roles include King Lear, Ferdinand in '' The Tempest'' and Tamburlaine. He appeared in Richard Attenborough's ''Gandhi'' in 1982. In Steven Spielberg's ''Empire of the Sun'' (1987) he plays the father of the protagonist Jim (Christian Bale). Other roles include Philip Castallack in ''Penmarric'' (1979), Muller in '' Eye of the Needle'' (1981), Lionel Stephens in ''The Shooting Party'' (1985), Algernon Moncrieff (Algy) in a 1986 tv-production of Oscar Wilde's ''The Importance of Being Earnest'', Alan Desland in '' The Girl in a Swing'' (1988), Lord Alexander Montford in ''The House of Eliott'' and Neville Chamberlain in ''Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical dr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Josette Simon
Josette Patricia Simon is a British actress. She trained for the stage at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, and played the part of Dayna Mellanby in the third and fourth series of the television sci-fi series ''Blake's 7'' from 1980 to 1981. On stage, she has appeared in Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) productions from 1982, playing Ariel in '' The Tempest'', to 2018 when she was Cleopatra in '' Antony and Cleopatra''. The first black woman in an RSC play, Simon has been at the forefront of 'colour-blind casting', playing roles traditionally taken by white actresses, including Maggie, a character that is thought to be based on Marilyn Monroe, in Arthur Miller's '' After the Fall'' at the National Theatre in 1990. Her first leading role at the RSC, the first for a black actress, was as Rosaline, in Love's Labour's Lost, directed by Barry Kyle, in 1984. In 1987, Simon appeared for the RSC again, in the lead role of Isabelle in ''Measure for Measure''. Later le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anni Domingo
Anni Domingo (born 1950s) is a British actress, director and writer, working in theatre, television, radio and films. She additionally holds positions on the boards of several organisations in various sectors, and has said: "You can't make a difference unless you have a seat at the table." Her writing includes plays, poetry and fiction, with her debut novel ''Breaking the Maafa Chain'' published in 2021. Background and career Anni Domingo was born in London, England, to Sierra Leonean parents, who when she was four years old decided to go back to their birth country so that their children would grow up with African culture. She attended school in Freetown ( St Joseph's Convent School and Freetown Secondary School for Girls), going on to further education in the UK, where she pursued an ambition to act. She applied for and was accepted on a drama course to train as a performer, also qualifying in her early 20s as a teacher of Speech and Drama at Rose Bruford College, and dur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Pertwee
William Desmond Anthony Pertwee, (21 July 1926 – 27 May 2013) was a British comedy actor. He played the role of Chief ARP Warden Hodges in the sitcom ''Dad's Army''. Early life Pertwee was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, on 21 July 1926."Dad's Army star Bill Pertwee dies aged 86" BBC News, 27 May 2013 Born the youngest of three boys of a Brazilian mother and an English father, James Francis Carter Pertwee, who travelled the country as a salesman until he became ill and died in 1938, when Bill Pertwee was 12. The family moved home many times during Pertwee's childhood and he lived in , |
Toyah Willcox
Toyah Ann Willcox (born 18 May 1958) is an English musician, actress, and TV presenter. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Willcox has had eight top 40 singles, released over 20 albums, written two books, appeared in over 40 stage plays and 10 feature films, and voiced and presented numerous television shows. Between 1977 and 1983, she fronted the band Toyah, before embarking on a solo career in the mid-1980s. At the 1982 BPI/Brit Awards, Toyah was nominated for British Breakthrough Act, and Best Female Solo Artist. Toyah was nominated a further two times in this category in 1983, and in 1984. Her hit singles include "It's a Mystery", " Thunder in the Mountains" and " I Want to Be Free". Childhood and early life Willcox was born on 18 May 1958 in Kings Heath, Birmingham. Her father Beric Willcox ran a successful joinery business and owned three factories. Her mother Barbara Joy, née Rollinson, was a professional dancer, with whom he fell in love after seeing her on stage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where he spent his childhood before relocating in 1931 to England, where he lived and worked for the majority of his life. Disliking his first name, he began to call himself "Spike" after hearing the band Spike Jones, Spike Jones and his City Slickers on Radio Luxembourg. Milligan was the co-creator, main writer, and a principal cast member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'', performing a range of roles including the characters Eccles (character), Eccles and Minnie Bannister. He was the earliest-born and last surviving member of the Goons. He took his success with ''The Goon Show'' into television with ''Q... (TV series), Q5'', a surreal sketch show credited as a major influence on the members of ''Monty Python's Flying Circu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ross Davidson
William Russell "Ross" Davidson (25 August 1949 – 16 October 2006) was a Scottish actor best known for his role as Andy O'Brien in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. Career Davidson started his working life as a physical education teacher in Scotland in the early 1970s. He also played water polo at international level for Scotland. He left teaching to run a pub and disco in Glasgow, but furthered his ambitions to act by attending night classes. He made his screen acting debut on television in ''A Degree of Uncertainty'' (1979), a BBC '' Play for Today'' set in a Scottish university, then appeared as a kilted dancer in '' Stanley Baxter on Television'' (1979). He also had small parts as a member of a mime troupe in ''The Comedy of Errors'' ("BBC Television Shakespeare", 1983) and a photographer in '' Widows II'' (1985), as well as appearing in the film ''The Pirates of Penzance'' (1983) and the Monty Python short ''The Crimson Permanent Assurance'' (1983), made to accompan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Duttine
John Arthur Duttine (born 15 March 1949) is an English actor noted for his roles on stage, films and television. He is well known for his role as Sgt George Miller in '' Heartbeat'' and also Bill Masen in the TV series ''The Day of the Triffids''. Early life Duttine was born on 15 March 1949 in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire. He attended Buttershaw Secondary School; Stephen Petcher from his school would also appear in ''Heartbeat''. He grew up in Buttershaw, in south-west Bradford. He trained at the Drama Centre London in north London. In London he shared a flat with Bradford actor Ken Kitson. Career In 1973, Duttine starred opposite Francesca Annis in the BBC adaptation of ''A Pin to See the Peep Show'' by F. Tennyson Jesse. This was followed in 1974 by a small role in the TV adaptation of the Lord Peter Wimsey story ''The Nine Tailors''. His first big break came when he played John the Apostle in the 1977 television mini-series ''Jesus of Nazareth''. This was followe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_03.jpg "Click for more on -> Slapstick")
