Colditz (1972 TV Series)
''Colditz'' is a British television drama series co-produced by the BBC and Universal Studios and screened between 1972 and 1974. The series deals with Allied prisoners of war imprisoned at the supposedly escape-proof Colditz Castle when designated Oflag IV-C during World War II, and their many attempts to escape captivity, as well as the relationships formed between the various nationalities and their German captors. ''Colditz'' was created by Brian Degas working with the producer Gerard Glaister, who went on to devise another successful BBC series dealing with the Second World War, '' Secret Army''. Technical consultant for the series was Major Pat Reid, the real British Escape Officer at Colditz. One of the locations used in filming was Stirling Castle. Characters British *Lieutenant Colonel John Preston DSO TD ( Jack Hedley) – Senior British Officer, Colonel Preston is the embodiment of the British stiff upper lip. He is mostly emotionless, intelligent, respected by h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Brian Degas
Brian R. Degas (2 October 1935 – 3 April 2020) was an English producer and writer, merchandiser, and creative packager of ancillary rights. Early career Degas was born to English parents on 2 October 1935 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As a youth, he worked as a writer and director in amateur productions. At the age of 21, he took a job in the United States at the CBS network as a production trainee in public affairs programming. He later worked with Charles Collingwood on the documentaries ''Adventure'' and ''Odyssey''. In 1957, John Houseman invited Degas to work on his TV anthology series '' The Seven Lively Arts'' for CBS. During this period, Degas also worked with Reginald Rose, Sidney Lumet and George Roy Hill. At the age of 27, Degas was appointed Executive Producer of Light Entertainment and a member of the programming board for a new CBS affiliate. After a meeting with Roger Moore, Degas received the opportunity to write several episodes of the television series ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Secret Army (TV Series)
''Secret Army'' is a British television drama made by the BBC and the Belgian national broadcaster BRT (now VRT) created by Gerard Glaister. It tells the story of a fictional Belgian resistance movement in German-occupied Belgium during the Second World War, an escape line dedicated to returning Allied airmen, usually shot down by the Luftwaffe, to Great Britain. It was made in the UK and Belgium and three series were broadcast on BBC1 between 7 September 1977 and 15 December 1979. Fay Weldon said of the series: "There is, in the making of such programmes, a level of professionalism, and sheer patient, largely unacclaimed, hard work from producer to script editor to writer to designer to vision mixer to editor by way of sound and lighting engineers that is probably equalled only in a heart transplant theatre". Series overview Series One Lisa Colbert runs Lifeline, a Brussels-based evasion organisation. It helps Allied aircrew to evade capture and return to Britain via neut ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Christopher Neame
Christopher Neame (born 12 September 1947) is an English actor who resides in the United States. UK career Neame's UK film credits include appearances in two Hammer Film Productions, Hammer Horror films: ''Lust for a Vampire'' (1971) and ''Dracula AD 1972'' (1972). He also appeared in ''No Blade of Grass (film), No Blade of Grass'' (1970). He appeared in ''The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (TV series), The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes'' as Sydney Wing in the episode entitled "The Secret of the Magnifique". In 1975 he played Kaiser Wilhelm II in the ITV 13-part drama series, ''Edward the Seventh''. He was featured in two BBC dramas dealing with the Second World War: as Lieutenant Dick Player in ''Colditz (1972 TV series), Colditz'' (1972–74), and as Flight Lieutenant John Curtis in the first season of the World War II drama, ''Secret Army (TV series), Secret Army'' (1977). In between those, in the TV film ''A Point in Time'' (1973)he appeared nudeon the small screen. Neame played ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cricket), bails (small sticks) balanced on three stump (cricket), stumps. Two players from the Batting (cricket), batting team, the striker and nonstriker, stand in front of either wicket holding Cricket bat, bats, while one player from the Fielding (cricket), fielding team, the bowler, Bowling (cricket), bowls the Cricket ball, ball toward the striker's wicket from the opposite end of the pitch. The striker's goal is to hit the bowled ball with the bat and then switch places with the nonstriker, with the batting team scoring one Run (cricket), run for each of these swaps. Runs are also scored when the ball reaches the Boundary (cricket), boundary of the field or when the ball is bowled Illegal delivery (cricket), illegally. The fielding tea ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Card Sharp
A card sharp (also card shark, sometimes hyphenated or spelled as a single word) is a person who uses skill or deception to win at card games (such as poker). "Sharp" and "shark" spellings have varied over time and by region. The label is not always intended as pejorative, and is sometimes used to refer to practitioners of Card manipulation, card tricks for entertainment purposes. In general usage, principally in American English and more commonly with the "shark" spelling, the term has also taken on the meaning of an expert card gambler who takes advantage of less-skilled players, also called an "advantage player", without any implication of actual Cheating in poker, cheating at cards, in much the same way that "" or Hustling , "pool hustler" can (especially when used by non-players) be intended to refer to a skilled player rather than a cheater or swindler. The synonym to "card sharp", "", when used with reference to card-playing and swindlers, has pejorative connotations. A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Paul Chapman (actor)
Paul Chapman (born 1939) is a British actor. He made his acting debut in 1964 in the series ''Curtain of Fear'', and is best known for his recurring roles as Captain George Brent in ''Colditz'' (1972–74) and Stephen in '' As Time Goes By'' (1993–2005). Chapman was born in London in 1939 and is the brother of screenwriter and actor John Chapman, and a nephew of actor Edward Chapman. Since graduating from RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) in the early 1960s, he has had an extensive career on stage and on screen. He has a number of high-profile television series to his name, including ''The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'', ''A Bit of a Do'', '' Fairly Secret Army'', '' Pie in the Sky'' and ''Midsomer Murders''. He starred in ''Colditz''. Chapman's other TV credits include '' Waiting for God'' ("The Helicopter" episode as Councillor Ferguson), and in the BBC's 1971 adaptation of Jane Austen's ''Persuasion'', as Captain Benwick. In December 1971 he created the role of Nogba ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Public School (United Kingdom)
A public school in England and Wales is a type of fee-charging Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school originally for older boys. The schools are "public" from a historical schooling context in the sense of being open to pupils irrespective of locality, Christian denomination, denomination or paternal trade guild, trade or profession or family affiliation with governing or military service, and also not being run for the profit of a private owner. Although the term "public school" has been in use since at least the 18th century, its usage was formalised by the Public Schools Act 1868 (31 & 32 Vict. c. 118), which put into law most recommendations of the 1864 Clarendon Report. Nine prestigious schools were investigated by Clarendon (including two day schools, Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood, Merchant Taylors' and St Paul's School, London, St Paul's) and seven subsequently reformed by the Act: Eton College, Eton, Shrewsbury School, Shrewsbury, Harrow School, Ha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Devil's Advocate
The (Latin for Devil's advocate) is a former official position within the Catholic Church, the Promoter of the Faith: one who "argued against the canonization (sainthood) of a candidate to uncover any character flaws or misrepresentation of the evidence favoring canonization". In common parlance, the phrase "playing devil's advocate" describes a situation where someone, given a certain point of view, takes a position they do not necessarily agree with (or simply an alternative position from the accepted norm), for the sake of debate or to explore the thought further using valid reasoning that both disagrees with the subject at hand and proves their own point valid. Despite being medieval in origin, this idiomatic expression is one of the most popular present-day English idioms used to express the concept of arguing against something without actually being committed to the contrary view. Playing devil's advocate is considered a form of the Socratic method. Origin and history ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Richard Heffer
Richard Elliott Heffer (born 28 July 1946) is a British actor, known for his roles on television in the 1970s and 1980s. His film career included appearances in ''Women in Love'' (1969), '' Waterloo'' (1970), '' Penny Gold'' (1973), '' The Sign of Four'' (1983), '' Countdown to War'' (1989), '' Night of the Fox'' (1990), '' Possession'' (2002), and '' Dimensions'' (2011). Richard Heffer studied English at Oxford University. He played as Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' and worked with Richard and Elizabeth Burton on stage and in film. Heffer played supporting roles in television series early in his career, including '' Department S'', '' The Pathfinders'' and '' Jason King'', before gaining the role of British Army Captain Tim Downing in the BBC/Universal television series, ''Colditz'' (1972–74), in which Heffer was a regular throughout. He went on to play Det. Sgt. Alan Bruton in the final series of ''Dixon of Dock Green'' (1976) and Peter Porteous in two series of ''Enemy at the Do ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Dominic Bruce
Dominic Bruce, (7 June 1915 – 12 February 2000) was a British Royal Air Force officer, known as the "Medium Sized Man." He has been described as "the most ingenious escaper" of the Second World War. He made seventeen attempts at escaping from POW camps, including several attempts to escape from Colditz Castle, a castle that housed prisoners of war "deemed incorrigible". He was named by Jim Rogers ("Tunnelling into Colditz") as one of the ten 'Kings of Colditz', the men who "dedicated their waking hours only to the idea of escaping". Famed for his time in Colditz, Bruce also escaped from Spangenberg Castle and the Warburg POW camp. In Spangenberg Castle he escaped with the ''Swiss Red Cross Commission escape''; it is also argued he co-innovated the wooden horse escape technique while serving time inside Spangenberg. In Warburg he escaped dressed as a British orderly in a fake workers party. Inside Colditz Castle, Bruce authored the ''Tea Chest Escape'' and also faced a firing s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Dunkirk Evacuation
The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the north of France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940. The operation commenced after large numbers of Belgian, British, and French troops were cut off and surrounded by German troops during the six-week Battle of France. After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, France and the British Empire declared war on Germany and imposed an economic blockade. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was sent to help defend France. After the Phoney War of October 1939 to April 1940, Germany invaded Belgium, the Netherlands, and France on 10 May 1940. Three panzer corps attacked through the Ardennes and drove northwest to the English Channel. By 21 May, German forces had trapped the BEF, the remains of the Belgian forces, and three French field ar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful command and leadership during active operations, typically in actual combat. Equal in Awards and decorations of the British Armed Forces, British precedence of military decorations to the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross and Royal Red Cross, since 1993 the DSO is eligible to all Military rank, ranks awarded specifically for "highly successful command and leadership during active operations". History Instituted on 6 September 1886 by Queen Victoria by Warrant (law), Royal Warrant published in ''The London Gazette'' on 9 November, the first DSOs awarded were dated 25 November 1886. The Order (distinction), order was established to recognise individual instances of meritorious or distinguished service in war. It is a military order, and wa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |