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Ronald Allen
Ronald John Allen (16 December 1930 – 18 June 1991) was an English actor. He is best known for playing David Hunter in the long-running ITV soap opera '' Crossroads'', a role he played from 1969 to 1985. Early life Allen was born in Reading, Berkshire. He studied at Leighton Park School in Reading and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, where he won the John Gielgud Scholarship. Career Allen worked in repertory theatre and had a season at the Old Vic in London. He also appeared in several films, including '' A Night to Remember'' (1958) about the sinking of the ''Titanic'', the espionage film '' A Circle of Deception'' (1960), the British horror films '' The Projected Man'' (1966) and '' The Fiend'' (1972), the war film '' Hell Boats'' (1970), and the black comedy '' Eat the Rich'' (1987). After roles in the BBC soaps ''Compact'' (1963–64) and '' United!'' (1966–67) came his best-remembered role, in the long-running soap '' Crossroads'' (196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reading, Berkshire
Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, England, and the county town of Berkshire. It is the United Kingdom's largest town, with a combined population of 355,596. Most of Reading built-up area, its built-up area lies within the Borough of Reading, although some outer suburbs are parts of neighbouring local authority areas. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet. Reading is a major commercial centre, especially for information technology and insurance. It is also a regional retail centre, serving a large area of the Thames Valley with its shopping centres, including The Oracle, Reading, the Oracle, the Broad Street Mall, and the pedestrianised area around Broad Street. It is home to the University of Reading. Every year it hosts the Reading and Leeds Festivals, Reading Festival, one of England's biggest music festivals. Reading has a professional association football team, Reading F.C., and partici ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Dominators
''The Dominators'' is the first serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which originally aired in five weekly parts from 10 August to 7 September 1968. The Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and his travelling companions Jamie McCrimmon (Frazer Hines) and Zoe Heriot (Wendy Padbury) work with the Dulcians of the planet Dulkis to prevent the alien Dominators from blowing up Dulkis and using its irradiated remains as spaceship fuel. Plot An alien craft bearing the ruthless Dominators arrives on the peaceful planet of Dulkis. The robotic Quarks are sent out by the Dominators to prepare boreholes into the planet’s crust to convert the planet into rocket fuel. One of the locals, Cully, along with The Doctor and Jamie, travel to the capital city but has trouble convincing the Council of the Dominators' threat. The Doctor and Jamie take control of a travel pod and return to the Island of Death. Jamie links up with Cully at the mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
As Seen On TV
"As seen on TV" is a generic phrase for products advertised on television in the United States for directresponse mail-order through a toll-free telephone number. ''As Seen on TV'' advertisements, known as infomercials, are usually 30-minute shows or two-minute spots during commercial breaks. These products can range from kitchen, household, automotive, cleaning, health, beauty, and pet care products, to exercise and fitness products, books, or to toys and games for children. Typically, the packaging for these items includes a red seal in the shape of a CRT television screen with the words "AS SEEN ON TV" in white. Prominent marketers of ''As seen on TV'' products include As Seen on TV, Inc., Time Life, Space Bag, K-tel, Ronco, and Thane. There are also retail brick and mortar and online stores that specifically sell ''As seen on TV'' products. In 1996, "As seen on TV" then moved on to retail, according to A. J. Khubani, CEO of Telebrands, who designed the logo. ''As seen on T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acorn Antiques
''Acorn Antiques'' is a parodic soap opera written by British comedian Victoria Wood as a regular feature in the two series of '' Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV'', which ran from 1985 to 1987. Wood later adapted the concept into a musical, which opened in 2005. Television version Wood originally wrote ''Acorn Antiques'' as a weekly slot in her sketch shows '' Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV''. She based it on the long-running ATV/Central serial '' Crossroads'' (1964-1988), and BBC radio soap '' Waggoners' Walk'' (1969-1980). Its premise – the lives and loves of the staff of an antiques shop in the fictional English town of Manchesterford – hardly reflects the ambitious and implausible storylines, which lampooned the staples of soap operas: love triangles, amnesiacs, sudden deaths and reunited siblings. The banal dialogue frequently includes clumsy references to storylines, for example "It is quiet in here. Anyone would think you was discussing million-pound legacies or somet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood (19 May 1953 – 20 April 2016) was an English comedian, actress, musician, screenwriter, and director. Wood wrote and starred in dozens of sketches, plays, musicals, films and sitcoms over several decades, and her live comedy act was interspersed with her own compositions which she performed at the piano. Much of her humour was grounded in everyday life and included references to activities, attitudes and products that are considered to exemplify Britain. She was noted for her skills in observational comedy and in satirising aspects of social class. Wood started her career in 1974 by appearing on, and winning, the ATV talent show '' New Faces''. She established herself as a comedy star in the 1980s, winning a BAFTA TV Award in 1986 for the sketch series '' Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV'' (1985–87), and became one of Britain's most popular stand-up comics, winning a second BAFTA for '' An Audience with Victoria Wood'' (1988). In the 1990s, she wrote and co-st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bergerac (TV Series)
''Bergerac'' ( ) is a British crime drama television series. Set in Jersey, it ran from 18 October 1981 to 26 December 1991. Produced by the BBC in association with the Australian Seven Network, and first screened on BBC1, it stars John Nettles as the title character Jim Bergerac, who is initially a detective sergeant in Le Bureau des Étrangers ("The Foreigners' Office", a fictional department dealing with non-Jersey residents), within the States of Jersey Police, but later leaves the force and becomes a private investigator. Westward Studios executive producer Brian Constantine has said that a ''Bergerac'' reboot was in the final stages of development. The show launched on the BBC in February 2025. Background The series ran from 1981 to 1991. It was created by producer Robert Banks Stewart after an earlier detective series, '' Shoestring,'' starring Trevor Eve, came to an abrupt end. Like ''Shoestring'', the series begins with a man returning to work after a particularly bad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Avengers (TV Series)
''The Avengers'' is a British Spy fiction, espionage television series that aired from 7 January 1961 to 21 April 1969. It initially focused on David Keel (Ian Hendry), aided by John Steed (Patrick Macnee). Ian Hendry left after the first series; Steed then became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants. His most famous assistants were intelligent, stylish, and assertive women: Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman), Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), and Tara King (Linda Thorson). Dresses and suits for the series were made by Pierre Cardin. The series screened as one-hour episodes for its entire run. The first episode, "Hot Snow (The Avengers), Hot Snow", aired on 7 January 1961. The final episode, "Bizarre", aired on 21 April 1969 in the United States, and on 17 May 1969 in the United Kingdom. ''The Avengers'' was produced by ABC Weekend TV, a contractor within the ITV (TV network), ITV network. After a merger with Rediffusion London in July 1968, ABC Weekend became Thames T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danger Man
''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake (Danger Man), John Drake. Ralph Smart created the programme and wrote many of the scripts. ''Danger Man'' was financed by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. Series development The idea for ''Danger Man'' originated with Ralph Smart, an associate of Lew Grade, head of ITC Entertainment. Grade was looking for formats that could be exported. Ian Fleming was brought in to collaborate on series development, but left before development was complete. Like James Bond, the main character is a globetrotting spy who works at first for NATO, in series one, and then for the fictional British intelligence service M9 for the remainder of the show's run. Like Bond, Drake ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Adventures Of Robin Hood (TV Series)
''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' is a British television series comprising 143 half-hour, black and white episodes broadcast weekly between 25 September 1955 to 1 March 1959First broadcast in UK by ATV London. See: TV Transmission dates at the BFI online website (British Film Institute). The series' first run was broadcast on Sunday afternoons at 5.30 or 5.25pm in the UK for all four series by ATV London from 1955–1959, other regions varied day and year of transmission. See: Wikipedia page: History of ITV. CBS in the US broadcast the first three series on Monday nights at 7.30pm from 26 September 1955 to 30 June 1958. See: epguides.com website. The fourth series episodes were screened in the US on Saturday mornings at 11.30am between 10 January 1959 and 26 September 1959. See: Robin Hood Bold Outlaw of Barnsdale and Sherwood website. Dates given on Network DVD release are incorrect for UK first run, as ATV London being the weekend London broadcast station did not transmit progra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Supergrass
''The Supergrass'' is a 1985 British comedy film directed by Peter Richardson (who also plays a major role) who also wrote the screenplay with Pete Richens. The film stars Adrian Edmondson, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith Allen, Nigel Planer, Alexei Sayle, Ronald Allen, and Robbie Coltrane. ''The Supergrass'' was the first feature-length film by the 1980s alternative comedy group The Comic Strip. The soundtrack to the film featured original music from Keith Tippett, plus music from P. P. Arnold, Grace Jones, and Bob Marley, among others. Plot After returning from a holiday at Hope Cove in the West Country, Dennis Carter (Adrian Edmondson) tries to impress a girl by untruthfully boasting of being a drug smuggler. The girl is unimpressed; however, he is overheard by the police, who persuade him to become a supergrass and inform on his associates. The more Dennis lies, the bigger the hole he digs for himself. Cast * Adrian Edmondson as Dennis Carter * Jennifer Saunders as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Famous Five (characters)
''The Famous Five'' is a series of children's Adventure fiction, adventure novels and short stories written by English author Enid Blyton. The first book, ''Five on a Treasure Island'', was published in 1942. The novels feature the adventures of a group of young children – Julian, Dick, Anne, George and their dog Timmy. The vast majority of the stories take place in the children's school holidays. Each time they meet they get caught up in an adventure, often involving criminals or lost treasure. Sometimes the scene is set close to George's family home at Kirrin Cottage, such as the picturesque Kirrin Island, owned by George and her family in Kirrin Bay. George's own home and various other houses the children visit or stay in are hundreds of years old and often contain secret passages or smugglers' tunnels. In some books the children go camping in the countryside, on a hike or holiday together elsewhere. However, the settings are almost always rural and enable the chil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Enid Blyton
Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have been translated into ninety languages. As of June 2019, Blyton held the 4th place for the most translated author. She wrote on a wide range of topics, including education, natural history, fantasy, mystery, and biblical narratives. She is best remembered for her ''Noddy (character), Noddy'', ''Famous Five'', ''Secret Seven'', the ''Five Find-Outers'', and ''Malory Towers'' books, although she also wrote many others, including; ''St. Clare's (series), St. Clare's'', ''The Naughtiest Girl'', and ''The Faraway Tree'' series. Her first book, ''Child Whispers'', a 24-page collection of poems, was published in 1922. Following the commercial success of her early novels, such as ''The Wishing-Chair (series), Adventures of the Wishing-Chair'' (1937) and '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
