Richard Whiteley
John Richard Whiteley (28 December 1943 – 26 June 2005) was an English presenter and journalist, best known for his twenty-three years as host of the game show '' Countdown''. ''Countdown'' was the launch programme for Channel 4 at 4:45 pm on 2 November 1982, and Whiteley was the first person to be seen on the channel (not counting a programme montage). Whiteley enjoyed projecting the image of an absent-minded eccentric. His trademarks were his jolly, avuncular manner, his fondness for puns, and his bold, sometimes garish wardrobe. Thanks to over twenty years' worth of daily instalments of ''Countdown'' as well as his work on the Yorkshire magazine programme ''Calendar'' and various other television projects, at the time of his death Whiteley was believed to have clocked more hours on British television screens—and more than 10,000 appearances—than anyone else alive, apart from Carole Hersee, the young girl who appeared on the BBC's Test Card F. Early life Whitele ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Countdown (game Show)
''Countdown'' is a British game show involving word and mathematical tasks that began airing in November 1982. It is broadcast on Channel 4 and is most recently presented by Colin Murray, assisted by Rachel Riley with lexicographer Susie Dent. It was the first programme to be broadcast on Channel 4 and 91 series have been broadcast since its debut on 2 November 1982. With over 8,000 episodes, ''Countdown'' is one of Britain's longest-running game shows; the original French version, ''Des chiffres et des lettres'' (Numbers & Letters), ran on French television almost continuously from 1965 until 2024. The two contestants in each episode compete in three game types: ten #Letters Round, letters rounds, in which they attempt to make the longest word possible from nine randomly chosen letters, four #Numbers Round, numbers rounds, in which they must use arithmetic to reach a random target figure from six other numbers and the conundrum, a buzzer round in which the contestants compete ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Bradford
Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdom, city status has belonged to the larger City of Bradford metropolitan borough. It had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 Census for England and Wales, 2011 census, making it the second-largest subdivision of the West Yorkshire Built-up Area after Leeds, which is approximately to the east. The borough had a population of , making it the List of English districts by population, most populous district in England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city grew in the 19th century as an international centre of Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, textile manufacture, particularly wool. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the earliest Industrialisation, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Woodrow Wyatt
Woodrow Lyle Wyatt, Baron Wyatt of Weeford (4 July 1918 – 7 December 1997) was a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster, close to the Queen Mother, Margaret Thatcher and Rupert Murdoch. For the last twenty years of his life, he was chairman of the state betting organisation The Tote. Early life: 1918−1945 Born in Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, Wyatt was the second son of Robert Harvey Lyle Wyatt, the founder and headmaster of Milbourne Lodge School, Esher, and his wife Ethel (née Morgan). Born on America's Independence Day, he was named after the American President Woodrow Wilson. Wyatt was educated at Eastbourne College and Worcester College, Oxford, where he read jurisprudence and graduated with a second-class degree in 1939. He volunteered for military service ten days before the outbreak of the Second World War with the Suffolk Regiment and rose to the rank of major. Wyatt was posted to Normandy on D-Day plus one and was mentioned in despatc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Jeremy Isaacs
Sir Jeremy Israel Isaacs (born 28 September 1932) is a Scottish television producer and executive, and an opera manager. Following a career at Granada Television, the BBC and Thames Television, Isaacs was the founding chief executive of Channel 4 in 1982, serving in the role until 1987. He won the BAFTA Fellowship in 1985, the British Film Institute Fellowship in 1986, and the International Emmy Directorate Award in 1987. He was also the General Director of the Royal Opera House from 1987 to 1996. A recipient of many British Academy Television Awards and International Emmy Awards, Isaacs was knighted in the 1996 Birthday Honours "for services to Broadcasting and to the Arts." Early life Isaacs was born in Glasgow from what were described as "Scottish Jewish roots". He grew up in Hillhead, the son of a jeweller and a GP, and is a cousin to virologist Alick Isaacs. He was educated at the independent Glasgow Academy and Merton College, Oxford, where he read Classics. Whilst ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Des Chiffres Et Des Lettres
''Des chiffres et des lettres'' (; ) is a French Television show, television programme which originally aired from 1965 to 2024. It was created by Armand Jammot and tests the numeracy skills and vocabulary of two contestants. It was one of the longest-running game shows in the world and the inspiration for ''Countdown (game show), Countdown'' on the British Channel 4. The game debuted in 1965 as ''Le mot le plus long'' (), using letters only, and reached its present format in 1972. From 2004 to 2024, it was transmitted on France 3 after 39 years on Antenne 2 and later France 2. It had been hosted since 1992 by Laurent Romejko, who was originally assisted by Arielle Boulin-Prat and Bertrand Renard, the latter two respectively checking words proposed by the contestants and providing solutions to the number problems the contestants failed to solve. Renard was hired on the show at the age of 19, after having won as a contestant in 12 consecutive matches. Starting on 17 September 2022 ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The Yorkshire Post
''The Yorkshire Post'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper, published in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. It primarily covers stories from Yorkshire, although its masthead carries the slogan "Yorkshire's National Newspaper". It was previously owned by Johnston Press and is now owned by National World. Founded in 1754, it is one of the oldest newspapers in the country. The paper's head office is in Whitehall Road, Leeds and the current editor is James Mitchinson. It considers itself "one of Britain's most trusted and historic newsbrands." History The paper was founded in 1754, as the '' Leeds Intelligencer'', making it one of Britain's first daily newspapers. The ''Leeds Intelligencer'' was a weekly newspaper until it was purchased by a group of Conservatives in 1865 who set up the Yorkshire Conservative Newspaper Company Limited then published daily under the current name. The first issue of ''The Yorkshire Post'', on 2 July 1866, included the following statement: The newspaper ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Brian Plummer
Brian Plummer, also known as David Brian Plummer (11 September 1936 – 12 September 2003), was a British writer, teacher and dog breeder. Background In 1977, Plummer appeared on Richard Whiteley's ''Calendar'' regional news programme, during which a ferret became 'latched' onto Whiteley's fingers. A blasé Plummer showed little concern for the pain Whiteley was in, instead telling him that if the ferret had been serious the bite would have been "through to the bone. He's playing with you." Growing up in the austere years around World War II, Plummer based some of his biographical stories in and around the valley in which he grew up. Some of the stories involve friends, members of the village community, and bizarre members of his own family. After a stint of National Service, Plummer trained to be a teacher and worked in various areas of the United Kingdom, including Rotherham and Walsall. In his books he hints at various 'episodes' in his life including a couple of abortive ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Ferret
The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), as evidenced by the ferret's ability to interbreed with European polecats and produce hybrid offspring. Physically, ferrets resemble other mustelids because of their long, slender bodies. Including their tail, the average length of a ferret is about ; they weigh between ; and their fur can be black, brown, white, or a mixture of those colours. The species is sexually dimorphic, with males being considerably larger than females. Ferrets may have been domesticated since ancient times, but there is widespread disagreement because of the sparseness of written accounts and the inconsistency of those which survive. Contemporary scholarship agrees that ferrets were bred for sport, hunting rabbits in a practice known as rabbiting. In North America, the ferret has become an increasingly pro ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Daily Post (North Wales)
The ''Daily Post'' is a daily newspaper for the North Wales region of Wales. Its website is branded ''North Wales Live''. The newspaper gained independence from the ''Liverpool Daily Post'' in 2003, which later ceased production in December 2013. It was based on Vale Road, Llandudno Junction, from 2001 to 2017. In May 2017, it moved to its new and current base at Bryn Eirias on Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay () is a town, Community (Wales), community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (h ...'s Abergele Road. References {{UK regional daily newspapers Reach plc Mass media in Wales Newspapers published in Wales Daily newspapers published in the United Kingdom 2003 establishments in Wales ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in its journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. S ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Criminal Cases Review Commission
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is the statutory body responsible for investigating alleged miscarriages of justice in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It was established by Section 8 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 and began work on 31 March 1997. The commission is the only body in its area of jurisdiction with the power to send a case back to an appeals court if it concludes that there is a real possibility that the court will overturn a conviction or reduce a sentence. Since starting work in 1997, it has on average referred 33 cases a year for appeal. Responsibilities From 31 March 1997 to 30 September 2017, the commission referred 634 cases back to appeals courts, or almost one case for every eight working days (see casework statistics below). Those referrals came from a total of 21,780 cases closed during that period, meaning that the commission has referred for appeal around 2.91% of the applications it has considered. Of the cases it has referred, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published on Saturday 26 March 2016, leaving only the online edition. The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards. ''The Independent'' won the Brand of the Year Award in The Drum Awards for Online Media 2023. History 1980s Launched in 1986, the first issue of ''The Independent'' was published on 7 October in broadsheet format.Dennis Griffiths (ed.) ''The Encyclopedia of the British Press, 1422–1992'', London & Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1992, p. 330. It was produced by Newspaper Publishing plc and created by Andreas Whittam Smith, Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds. All three partners were former journalists at ''The Daily Telegraph'' who had left the paper towards the end of Lord Hartwell' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |