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Torchy The Battery Boy
''Torchy the Battery Boy'' is a British television series, the second produced by AP Films and Gerry Anderson, running from 1959 to 1961. Directed by Anderson, it was a collaboration with author Roberta Leigh, with music scored by Barry Gray, art direction from Reg Hill and special effects by Derek Meddings. Based on string puppets, the series depicted adventures of the eponymous boy doll, who had a battery inside him and a lamp in his head, and his master Mr Bumbledrop, voiced by Kenneth Connor (known for his appearances in the '' Carry On'' films), who also voiced a number of other characters. The second series of 26 episodes was produced by Associated British-Pathé without the involvement of Anderson and AP Films. The show is one of several children's television programmes from the mid-twentieth century to exist in its entirety, without loss or damage. Both series have been digitally remastered and released on DVD. Plot Torchy, the Battery Boy, was created by Mr. Bu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adventure (genre)
Adventure fiction is a type of fiction that usually presents danger, or gives the reader a sense of excitement. Some adventure fiction also satisfies the literary definition of Romance (prose fiction)#Definition, romance fiction. History In the Introduction to the ''Encyclopedia of Adventure Fiction'', Critic Don D'Ammassa defines the genre as follows: D'Ammassa argues that adventure stories make the element of danger the focus; hence he argues that Charles Dickens's novel ''A Tale of Two Cities'' is an adventure novel because the protagonists are in constant danger of being imprisoned or killed, whereas Dickens's ''Great Expectations'' is not because "Pip's encounter with the convict is an adventure, but that scene is only a device to advance the main plot, which is not truly an adventure." Adventure has been a common theme (literature), theme since the earliest days of written fiction. Indeed, the standard plot of Romance (heroic literature), Medieval romances was a serie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Adventures Of Twizzle
''The Adventures of Twizzle'' is a television show produced by AP Films and Gerry Anderson. Conceived by author Roberta Leigh, later a co-producer, the children's show premiered in 1957. The show follows a young boy named Twizzle and his companions on adventures. Twizzle has the ability to extend his arms and legs. Although 52 episodes of the show were created during the show's year-long run in 1957, only one of the episodes has managed to survive. This sole episode was released on the '' Space Patrol'' box set. The series was one of the first shows to use intricate puppetry which would prove important in later shows developed by Gerry Anderson. Overview Twizzle's legs looked suspiciously like drinking straws with lines around them in a swirling pattern and undoubtedly the figure was pushed up from below while the straw-like legs were twisted around to give the "Twizzle" effect. In the first episode, Twizzle originally lived in a toy shop and cost two shillings and six pence ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Cavern Club
The Cavern Club is a nightclub on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. The Cavern Club opened in 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 50s and early 1960s. The club became closely associated with Merseybeat and regularly played host to the Beatles in their early years.. The Cavern Club closed and opened on a new site in 1973 and was filled in during construction work on the Merseyrail underground rail loop. It reopened in 1984. History of the Cavern Club Early history Alan Sytner, having been inspired by the jazz district in Paris where there were a number of clubs in cellars, returned to Liverpool and strove to open a club similar to the Le Caveau de la Huchette jazz club. He eventually found a fruit warehouse where people were leasing the cellar, which had been used as an air raid shelter in World War II. Tropical fruit used to be stored there and during warm months the scent from the ripening fruit was absorbed int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the development of 1960s counterculture and popular music's recognition as an art form. Rooted in skiffle, beat and 1950s rock 'n' roll, their sound incorporated elements of classical music and traditional pop in innovative ways; the band also explored music styles ranging from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock. As pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation, the Beatles revolutionised many aspects of the music industry and were often publicised as leaders of the era's youth and sociocultural movements. Led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the Beatles evolved from Lennon's previous group, the Quarrymen, and built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over three years from 1960, initia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the River Severn. The river rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flows into the North Sea near Tilbury, Essex and Gravesend, Kent, via the Thames Estuary. From the west it flows through Oxford (where it is sometimes called the Isis), Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. The Thames also drains the whole of Greater London. In August 2022, the source of the river moved five miles to beyond Somerford Keynes due to the heatwave in July 2022. The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its long tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. Its tidal section includes most of its London stretch and has a rise and fall of . From Oxford to the Estuary the Thames drops by 55 metres. Running through some of the drier parts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maidenhead
Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Buckinghamshire. The town is situated west of Charing Cross, London and east-northeast of the county town of Reading. The town differs from the Parliamentary constituency of Maidenhead, which includes a number of outer suburbs and villages (including parts of Wokingham and Reading) such as Twyford, Charvil, Remenham, Ruscombe and Wargrave. History The antiquary John Leland claimed that the area around Maidenhead's present town centre was a small Roman settlement called Alaunodunum. He stated that it had all but disappeared by the end of the Roman occupation. Although his source is unknown, there is documented and physical evidence of Roman settlement in the town. There are two well known villa sites in the town, one being in the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chamois Leather
Chamois leather () is a type of porous leather, traditionally the skin of the chamois (''Rupicapra rupicapra''), a type of European mountain goat, but today made almost exclusively from the flesh split of a sheepskin. United Kingdom The British Standard BS 6715: 1991 defines chamois leather as: "Leather made from the flesh split of sheepskin or lambskin, or from sheepskin or lambskin from which the grain (the top split) has been removed by frizing, and tanned by processes involving oxidation of marine oils in the skin." United States In the United States, the term ''chamois'' without any qualification is restricted to the flesh split of the sheep or lambskin tanned solely with oils (US Federal Standard CS99-1970). Chamois leather is often counterfeited with goat or pig skin, the practice of which is a particular profession called by the French ''chamoiser''. History The term ''chamois'' as used to refer to specially-prepared leather originated sometime before 1709, referr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supermarionation
Supermarionation (a portmanteau of the words "super", "marionette" and "animation")La Rivière 2009, p. 67. is a style of television and film production employed by British company AP Films (later Century 21 Productions) in its puppet TV series and feature films of the 1960s. These productions were created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed at APF's studios on the Slough Trading Estate. The characters were played by electronic marionettes with a moveable lower lip, which opened and closed in time with pre-recorded dialogue by means of a solenoid in the puppet's head or chest. The productions were mostly science fiction with the puppetry supervised by Christine Glanville, art direction by either Bob Bell or Keith Wilson, and music composed by Barry Gray. They also made extensive use of scale model special effects, directed by Derek Meddings. The term "Supermarionation" was first used during the production of ''Supercar'', whose final 13 episodes were the first to b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christine Glanville
Christine Glanville (born Nancy Christine Fletcher; 28 October 1924 – 1 March 1999) was an English puppeteer who spent much of her professional life contributing to television series produced by Gerry Anderson. Career Glanville became involved in the film industry in war service at Elstree Studios and studied art during her free time. After the Second World War she joined a puppet theatre company with which her parents were connected, Ebor Marionettes. Glanville joined AP Films in 1957 and worked on all its series, as well as the later Supermarionation presentations of Anderson's Century 21 Productions. She worked closely with fellow puppeteer Mary Turner. In addition to her primary role of lead puppet operator, Glanville was often responsible for the design and construction of the puppets themselves ('' Thunderbirds''; 1965–66) and sculpted marionettes of Scott Tracy, Alan Tracy, and Tin-Tin Kyrano. The likeness of Mrs Appleby, a supporting character that appeared in '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Associated British-Pathé
Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), originally British International Pictures (BIP), was a British film production, distribution and exhibition company active from 1927 until 1970 when it was absorbed into EMI. ABPC also owned approximately 500 cinemas in Britain by 1943, and in the 1950s and 60s owned a station on the ITV television network. The studio was partly owned by Warner Bros. from about 1940 until 1969; the American company also owned a stake in ABPC's distribution arm, Warner-Pathé, from 1958. It formed one half of a vertically integrated film industry duopoly in Britain with the Rank Organisation. History From 1927 to 1945 The company was founded during 1927 by Scottish solicitor John Maxwell after he had purchased British National Pictures Studios and its Elstree Studios complex and merged it with his ABC Cinemas circuit, renaming the company British International Pictures. The Wardour Film Company, with Maxwell as chairman, was the distributor of BI ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carry On Films
The ''Carry On'' series of 31 British comedy films were released between 1958 and 1978, produced by Peter Rogers with director Gerald Thomas. The humour of ''Carry On'' was in the British comic tradition of music hall and bawdy seaside postcards. In between the films, Rogers and Thomas produced four Christmas television specials (1969–1973), a 1975 television series of thirteen episodes, and three West End stage shows that later toured the regions. The series drew on regular ensemble that included Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth, Hattie Jacques, Terry Scott, Bernard Bresslaw, Barbara Windsor, Jack Douglas, and Jim Dale. A 31st film was released in 1992, though featuring only four of the "irregular" cast members. The ''Carry On'' series contains the largest number of films of any British film series, and is the second longest running, albeit with a fourteen-year gap (1978–1992) between the 30th and 31st entri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marionettes
A marionette (; french: marionnette, ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms of theatres or entertainment venues. They have also been used in films and on television. The attachment of the strings varies according to its character or purpose. Etymology In French, ''marionette'' means "little Mary". In France, during the Middle Ages, string puppets were often used to depict biblical events, with the Virgin Mary being a popular character, hence the name. In France, the word ''marionette'' can refer to any kind of puppet, but elsewhere it typically refers only to string puppets. History Ancient times Puppetry is an ancient form of performance. Some historians claim that they predate actors in theatre. There is evidence that they wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
