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The Lotus Eaters (TV Series)
''The Lotus Eaters'' is a BBC television drama first broadcast in 1972 and 1973. The series, written by Michael J. Bird, dealt with the lives of British expats living on the island of Crete, and their reasons for being there. Plot The central characters were a married couple, Erik (Ian Hendry) and Ann Shepherd ( Wanda Ventham), who ran a tavern called "Shepherd's Bar". Ann is revealed in the first episode to be a sleeper agent of British Intelligence, Erik having been a broken-down drunk whom she was made to marry as part of her cover story. Other episodes dealt with the other expats who frequented the bar. The most intriguing character in both series is the Greek police captain, Michael Krasakis (Stefan Gryff). In the second series the British Intelligence aspect is developed, until a clash with Soviet and Chinese agents results in both Ann and Erik having to leave Crete. In the final scene, about to board a plane leaving Heraklion airport, they have a partial reconciliation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been contrasted with the epic and the lyrical modes ever since Aristotle's ''Poetics'' (c. 335 BC)—the earliest work of dramatic theory. The term "drama" comes from a Greek word meaning "deed" or " act" (Classical Greek: , ''drâma''), which is derived from "I do" (Classical Greek: , ''dráō''). The two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy. In English (as was the analogous case in many other European languages), the word '' play'' or ''game'' (translating the Anglo-Saxon ''pleġan'' or Latin ''ludus'') was the standard term for dramas until William Shakespeare's time—just as its creator was a ''play-maker'' rather than a ''dramatist'' and the building was a ''play-house'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sleeper Agent
A sleeper agent, also called sleeper cell, is a spy who is placed in a target country or organization not to undertake an immediate mission but to act as a potential asset if activated. Even if unactivated, the "sleeper agent" is still an asset and can still play an active role in sedition, espionage or possibly treason by virtue of agreeing to act if activated. Sleeper agents may also work in groups of a Clandestine cell system with other agents. In espionage In espionage, a sleeper agent is one who has infiltrated into the target country and has "gone to sleep", sometimes for many years. The agent does nothing to communicate with the sponsor or any existing agents or to obtain information beyond what is in public sources. The agent acquires jobs and identities, ideally ones that will prove useful in the future, and attempts to blend into everyday life as a normal citizen. Counter-espionage agencies in the target country cannot, in practice, closely watch all those who may poss ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant. The Sea has played a central role in the history of Western civilization. Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man, Geological evidence indicates that around 5.9 million years ago, the Mediterranean was cut off from the Atlantic and was partly or completely desiccated over a period of some 600,000 years during the Messinian salinity crisis before being refilled by the Zanclean flood about 5.3 million years ago. The Mediterranean Sea covers an area of about , representing 0.7% of the global ocean surface, but its connection to the Atlantic via the Strait of Gibraltar—the narrow strait that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and separates the Iberian Peninsula in Europe from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lotus Tree
The lotus tree ( grc-gre, λωτός, ''lōtós'') is a plant that is referred to in stories from Greek and Roman mythology. The lotus tree is mentioned in Homer's ''Odyssey'' as bearing a fruit that caused a pleasant drowsiness, and which was said to be the only food of an island people called the Lotophagi or lotus-eaters. When they ate of the lotus tree they would forget their friends and homes and would lose their desire to return to their native land in favor of living in idleness. Botanical candidates for the lotus tree include the persimmon ('' Diospyros lotus''), which is a sub-evergreen tree native to Southwest Asia and Southeast Europe that grows to about bearing yellowish green flowers, as well as '' Ziziphus lotus'', a plant with an edible fruit closely related to the jujube, native to the Mediterranean region of Europe, Asia and North Africa. In Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'', the nymph Lotis was the beautiful daughter of Neptune, the god of water and the sea. In o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greek Mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of deities, heroes, and mythological creatures, and the origins and significance of the ancient Greeks' own cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars study the myths to shed light on the religious and political institutions of ancient Greece, and to better understand the nature of myth-making itself. The Greek myths were initially propagated in an oral-poetic tradition most likely by Minoan and Mycenaean singers starting in the 18th century BC; eventually the myths of the heroes of the Trojan War and its aftermath became part of the oral tradition of Homer's epic poems, the '' Iliad'' and the '' Odyssey''. Two poems by Homer's near contemporary Hesiod, the ''Theogony'' and the '' Works and Days'', contain accounts of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lotus-eaters
In Greek mythology, the lotus-eaters ( grc-gre, λωτοφάγοι, lōtophágoi) were a race of people living on an island dominated by the lotus tree, a plant whose botanical identity is uncertain. The lotus fruits and flowers were the primary food of the island and were a narcotic, causing the inhabitants to sleep in peaceful apathy. After they ate the lotus, they would forget their home and loved ones, and only long to stay with their fellow lotus-eaters. Those who ate the plant never cared to report, nor return. Figuratively, 'lotus-eater' denotes "a person who spends their time indulging in pleasure and luxury rather than dealing with practical concerns". Etymology In English, the lotus-eaters ( grc-gre, λωτοφάγοι, ''lōtophágoi''), are also referred to as the lotophagi or lotophaguses (singular ''lotophagus'' ) or lotophages (singular ''lotophage'' ). Mythology In Homer’s epic poem the ''Odyssey'' Book IX, Odysseus tells how adverse north winds blew him and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronald Howard (British Actor)
Ronald Howard (7 April 1918 – 19 December 1996) was an English actor and writer. He appeared as Sherlock Holmes in a weekly television series of the same name in 1954. He was the son of the actor Leslie Howard. Early life Howard was born in South Norwood, London, the son of Ruth Evelyn (née Martin) and the actor Leslie Howard. He attended Tonbridge School. After graduating from Jesus College, Cambridge, Ronald became a newspaper reporter for a while but decided to become an actor. Film career His first film role was an uncredited bit part in '' Pimpernel Smith'' (1941), a film directed by and starring his father in the title role, though young Howard's part ended up on the cutting room floor. In the early 1940s, Howard gained acting experience in regional theatre, the London stage and eventually films; his official debut was in 1947's ''While the Sun Shines''. Howard received varying degrees of exposure in some well-known films, such as '' The Queen of Spades'' (1949) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Godfrey James
Godfrey James (16 April 1931 – 29 October 2019) was an English actor. His film appearances include: ''Séance on a Wet Afternoon'' (1964), '' Witchfinder General'' (1968), '' The Oblong Box'' (1969), ''Cry of the Banshee'' (1970), ''The Blood on Satan's Claw'' (1970), ''Villain'' (1971), ''Hide and Seek'' (1972), '' The Land That Time Forgot'' (1974), '' At the Earth's Core'' (1976), '' Camille'' (1984), '' Out of Order'' (1987) and '' Piccolo Grande Amore'' (1993). In the 1970's British police drama ''The Sweeney,'' episode ''Big Spender,'' James appeared as hard man Charley Smith, part of an organized crime family who involve themselves with two dishonest employees of a car park company in an elaborate fraud. His television credits include: '' The Avengers'', '' Dixon of Dock Green'', '' Department S'', ''Z-Cars'', ''UFO'' (the 1970 episode " The Square Triangle"), '' The Onedin Line'', '' Space: 1999'', '' The Lotus Eaters'', ''The Carnforth Practice'', ''Special Branch'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susan Engel
Susan Engel (born 25 March 1935) is a British actress. She was born in Vienna, Austria. Career Theatre Engel's work in theatre includes: ''Angels in America'' (1992), ''Richard III'', ''King Lear'' (1990), '' The Good Person of Sezuan'', '' Watch on the Rhine'' (1980), '' Spring Awakening'', '' The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other'' and ''Her Naked Skin'' (2008) at the National Theatre, London; '' Women Beware Women'' (2006), ''Luminosity'' (2001), '' Bad Weather'', '' The Dybbuk'', ''King John'' (1988), '' Cousin Vladimir'' (1978), '' The Tempest'', ''The Comedy of Errors'' (1962), ''Julius Caesar'' (1963), '' Henry VI, Part 2'' and '' The Wars of The Roses'' (1963) for the RSC; '' Spinning into Butter'', ''The Happy Haven'', ''Hotel in Amsterdam'' (1968) and ''Macbeth'' at the Royal Court, London, ''Hecuba'' (2004) at the Donmar Warehouse, London; ''After The Gods'', ''Ascent of Mt Fuji'' and ''Shortlist'' at the Hampstead Theatre, London; '' The Sea'' at the Chichester ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Maxwell
Paul Maxwell (born Maxim Popovich; November 12, 1921December 19, 1991) was a Canadian actor who worked mostly in British cinema and television, in which he was usually cast as American characters. In terms of audience, his most notable role was probably that of Steve Tanner, the ex- GI husband of Elsie Tanner in the soap opera ''Coronation Street'' in 1967. Life and career During World War II, Maxwell served in the Royal Canadian Artillery. He studied at Yale University, and graduated with a Master of Fine Arts. Maxwell started as an actor in the U.S., appearing in series such as Dragnet and Alfred Hitchcock Presents before emigrating to Britain in 1960. In the next decade, Maxwell appeared in many TV series produced by ITC Entertainment, such as ''Danger Man'' and '' The Baron''. He also voiced North American characters in series filmed by Gerry Anderson's production company Century 21, most prominently the leading character of Colonel Steve Zodiac in ''Fireball XL5'' (19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Horsley (actor)
John Lovell Horsley (21 July 1920 – 12 January 2014) was a British actor. He was born in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England. The son of a doctor, he made his acting debut at the Theatre Royal in Bournemouth. After appearing in repertory theatres he was called up for military service in the Royal Devon Yeomanry, in which he served in Sicily and Italy during the Second World War. He then contracted hepatitis and become a member of an Army drama company that toured military units. Horsley's early career as a professional career saw him playing a succession of doctors and policemen, including a doctor in the film '' Hell Drivers'' (1957) and a policeman in the television show ''Big Breadwinner Hog'' (1969). He was more prolific in television from the 1960s, and played character roles in many series and programmes including '' The Lotus Eaters'' (1972–73) and ''The Duchess of Duke Street'' (1976–77). He is perhaps best known for his role as Doc Morrissey in the BBC sitcom ''The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Timothy Carlton
Timothy Carlton Congdon Cumberbatch (born 4 October 1939) is an English actor. Early years Carlton was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, the son of Pauline Ellen Laing (née Congdon), who died on 11 October 2007, and Henry Carlton Cumberbatch, a decorated naval officer of both World Wars and a prominent figure of London high society. His grandfather, Henry Arnold Cumberbatch CMG, was the Consul General of Queen Victoria in Turkey. Career He has had a long and distinguished career in both the theatre (''Her Royal Highness'' etc.) and in television, appearing in numerous BBC television series over the years since 1966 to the present day, including ''Cold Comfort Farm'' (1968), the sitcoms '' Executive Stress'', ''Keeping Up Appearances'', ''Next of Kin'' and in the television films ''Gauguin the Savage'' (1980) and ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' (1982). In 2015 he played Donald Sidwell in “Napoleon’s Violin”, S1:E8 of ''The Coroner''. His film career has included roles i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
