|
James Ellis (actor)
James Ellis (15 March 1931 – 8 March 2014) was a Northern Irish actor and theatre director from Belfast who had a career stretching over sixty years. Originally a stage actor and director in his native city, he moved to London in the early 1960s. After gaining recognition in Great Britain through the ''Z-Cars'' (1962–78) police series on BBC1, he appeared in many other television and film roles. He was also a translator. Early life Jimmy Ellis was born in Belfast, attended Methodist College Belfast and later studied at Queen's University Belfast and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Career He began to act with the Belfast-based Ulster Group Theatre in 1952. He first appeared in a revival of the Louis D'Alton play,Robert Welch (ed), ''The Oxford Companion to Irish Literature'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. 131-32 ''They Got What They Wanted'' (1947). Ellis became established as the company's young male lead in such plays as ''April in Assagh'', w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belfast
Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel. It is the second-largest city in Ireland (after Dublin), with an estimated population of in , and a Belfast metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of 671,559. First chartered as an English settlement in 1613, the town's early growth was driven by an influx of Scottish people, Scottish Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Presbyterians. Their descendants' disaffection with Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland's Protestant Ascendancy, Anglican establishment contributed to the Irish Rebellion of 1798, rebellion of 1798, and to the Acts of Union 1800, union with Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain in 1800—later regarded as a key to the town's industrial transformation. When granted City status in the United Kingdom#Northern Ireland, city s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Softly, Softly (TV Series)
''Softly, Softly'' is a British television police procedural series produced by the BBC and screened on BBC1 from January 1966. It was created as a spin-off from the series ''Z-Cars'', which ended its fifth series run in December 1965. The series took its title from the proverb "Softly, softly, catchee monkey", the motto of Lancashire Constabulary Training School. Newsletter 853, Saturday 12 October 2013 Series outline ''Softly, Softly'' centred on the work of regional Law enforcement in the United Kingdom, police crime squads, plainclothes Criminal Investigation Department, CID officers based in the fictional region of Wyvern, supposedly in the Bristol area of England. It was designed as a vehicle for Detective Chief Inspector Charles Barlow and Detective Inspector John Watt (played by Stratford Johns and Frank W ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Lindsay (actor)
Robert Lindsay Stevenson (born 13 December 1949), known professionally as Robert Lindsay, is an English actor. He has appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company and in musical theatre, and is the recipient of a British Academy Television Award, a Tony Award, and two Laurence Olivier Awards. Lindsay's most notable roles on television were playing Wolfie in ''Citizen Smith'' (1977–1980) and Ben Harper in '' My Family'' (2000–11). His other screen credits include ''That'll Be The Day'' (1973), ''Adventures of a Taxi Driver'' (1976), '' Get Some In!'' (1975–1977), ''Twelfth Night'' (1980), ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1981), ''King Lear'' (1983), ''Much Ado About Nothing'' (1984), '' Bert Rigby, You're a Fool'' (1989), '' Strike It Rich'' (1990), '' G.B.H.'' (1991), '' Fierce Creatures'' (1997), '' Divorcing Jack'' (1998) '' Hornblower'' (1998–2003), ''Oliver Twist'' (1999), ''Wimbledon'' (2004), ''Jericho'' (2005), '' Friends and Crocodiles'' (2006), '' Gideon's Daughte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nightingales (British TV Series)
''Nightingales'' is a British situation comedy set around the antics of three security guards working the night shift. It was written by Paul Makin and produced by Alomo Productions for Channel 4 in 1990. Plot ''Nightingales'' revolved around the jobs of three bored nightwatchmen working in a deserted office block, the location of which is never revealed, although exterior shots are of Beneficial House located on Paradise Circus in Birmingham City Centre. A typical episode involved both very naturalistic dialogue — and the kind of claustrophobic studio-setting that prevailed in shows such as ''Steptoe and Son'' — combined with the surreal. ''Nightingales'' ran for two series totalling 13 episodes from 27 February 1990 to 10 February 1993. The long delay was prompted by Channel 4 executive Seamus Cassidy who was not happy with the proposed scripts for the second series and it was nearly three years before it was given the go-ahead. The theme tune was a version of the song " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One By One (TV Series)
''One by One'' is a British television series made by the BBC between 29 January 1984 and 2 May 1987. The series, created by Anthony Read, was based on the early life and writings of international veterinary surgeon David Taylor. Called Donald Turner in the series, the show follows his work caring for exotic animals at zoos in Britain, from the 1950s to the 1970s. Each series was set during a different decade, with exteriors filmed at Dudley Zoo, Chester Zoo and Knowsley Safari Park. Thirty-two episodes were made over three series, transmitted on BBC1 in the early parts of 1984, 1985 & 1987. BBC1 repeated series 2 during the early months of 1986, as no new series had been made that year. The third series was also repeated on BBC1 over the Spring & Summer of 1988. Cast * Rob Heyland – Donald Turner * James Ellis – Paddy Reilly * Sonia Graham – Ethel Leadbetter * Peter Jeffrey – Maurice Webb (Series 1–2) * Heather James – Maggie Raymond (Series 1–2) * Liz Smit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Playing The Field
''Playing the Field'' is a BBC television drama series following the lives of the Castlefield Blues, a fictitious female football team from South Yorkshire. Outline Inspired by Pete Davies's book ''I Lost My Heart to the Belles'' – which was written about a real-life club, the Doncaster Belles – ''Playing the Field'' ran for five series, from 8 March 1998 to 10 February 2002, with scripts by, amongst others, Kay Mellor, Sally Wainwright and Gaynor Faye. Despite being set in South Yorkshire, much of the location filming took place in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, although the fifth (and final) series was filmed around Leeds. The theme song, "Blue" by Alison Moyet, was originally a B-side track about the singer's love of Southend United FC. A young Marsha Thomason – who has since appeared in U.S. shows ''Las Vegas'' and '' Lost'' – featured in the first three series of ''Playing the Field''. The first four series have been released on DVD in the UK, but the fifth has yet to be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ballykissangel
''Ballykissangel'' is a BBC television drama created by Kieran Prendiville and set in Ireland, produced in-house by BBC Northern Ireland. The original story revolved around a young English Roman Catholic priest as he became part of a rural community. It ran for six series, which were first broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 11 February 1996 to 15 April 2001. It aired in Ireland on RTÉ One and in Australia on ABC TV from 1996 to 2001. Repeats have been shown on Drama in the United Kingdom and the series also has been shown in the United States on some PBS affiliates. The series was made and set during the Celtic Tiger economic period in Ireland and this features mainly through Tony Doyle’s character, Brian Quigley. The show is also set amid the backdrop of the Catholic Church scandal and explores controversial themes of the time such as divorce (which had only been legalised a year before the series began), and pre-marital sex. Dervla Kirwan’s and Niall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterrestrial being called the Doctor, part of a humanoid species called Time Lords. The Doctor travels in the universe and in time using a time travelling Spacecraft, spaceship called the TARDIS, which externally appears as a British police box. While travelling, the Doctor works to save lives and liberate oppressed peoples by combating List of Doctor Who villains, foes. The Doctor usually travels with Companion (Doctor Who), companions. Beginning with William Hartnell, List of actors who have played the Doctor, fourteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; the most recent being Ncuti Gatwa, who portrayed the Fifteenth Doctor from 2023 to 2025. The transition between actors is written into the plot of the series with the Regeneration ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Till Death Us Do Part
''Till Death Us Do Part'' is a British television sitcom that aired on BBC1 from 1965 to 1975. The show was first broadcast in 1965 as a '' Comedy Playhouse'' pilot, then as seven series between 1966 and 1975. In 1981, ITV continued the sitcom for six episodes, calling it '' Till Death...''. The BBC produced a sequel from 1985 until 1992, '' In Sickness and in Health''. Created by Johnny Speight, ''Till Death Us Do Part'' centred on the East End Garnett family, led by patriarch Alf Garnett ( Warren Mitchell), a reactionary white working-class man who holds racist and anti-socialist views. His long-suffering wife Else was played by Dandy Nichols, and his daughter Rita by Una Stubbs. Rita's husband Mike Rawlins ( Anthony Booth) is a socialist "layabout" from Liverpool who frequently locks horns with Garnett. Alf Garnett became a well-known character in British culture, and Mitchell played him on stage and television until Speight's death in 1998. In addition to the spin-o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Play For Today
''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were (with a few exceptions noted below) between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration. A handful of these plays, including ''Rumpole of the Bailey'', subsequently became television series in their own right. History The strand was a successor to ''The Wednesday Play'', the 1960s anthology series, the title being changed when the day of transmission moved to Thursday to make way for a sport programme. Some works, screened in anthology series on BBC2, like Willy Russell's '' Our Day Out'' (1977), were repeated on BBC1 in the series. The producers of ''The Wednesday Play'', Graeme MacDonald and Irene Shubik, transferred to the new series. Shubik continued with the series until ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graham Reid (writer)
Joseph Graham Reid (born 1945) is a British playwright from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Background Born into a working-class family in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Reid left school at age 15, served in the British army, married young, but returned to education and graduated from Queen's University of Belfast, Queen's University in 1976. He became a teacher at Gransha Boys' High School in Bangor, County Down but left in 1980 to concentrate on his writing career. His first play, ''The Death of Humpty Dumpty'' is a story about an innocent man who gets caught in the cross fire of the troubles in Belfast. Characters in his work ''The Hidden Curriculum'' were based on pupils and teachers from the school he taught at. Premiered at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin in 1982, after a subsequent production the following year at the Lyric Players Theatre in Belfast, Ulster Television commissioned a screenplay which was broadcast in 1984. His trilogy, colloquially known as the Billy plays, for the B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
