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Francis Wright (puppeteer)
Francis Wright (born 1958) is an English voice actor, puppeteer, and television presenter. He also teaches public speaking and communication skills. Early life Wright was born in St John's Wood, the son of Dr Bedřich Bělohlávek and Joan Wright, and was registered under both names. His father was a Czech bookseller working in London, while his mother was a journalist then working for the BBC as a publicity officer, and both were authors. Wright was educated at St Paul's Juniors, Colet Court and St Paul's School, London, then studied drama, graduating with honours. He later noted “I decided to specialise in puppetry, which seemed to be a good way of never being typecast and/or doomed to a life mainly out of work.” Career Wright's work on screen began with ITV Entertainment's '' The Munch Bunch''. After that, he was a leading character in ''You and Me (British TV series), You and Me'', a BBC Schools series, in which he played Dibs from 1983 until 1992. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St John's Wood
St John's Wood is a district in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster, London, England, about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Historically the northern part of the Civil Parish#Ancient Parishes, ancient parish and Metropolitan Borough of St Marylebone, Metropolitan Borough of Marylebone, it extends from Regent's Park and Primrose Hill in the east to Edgware Road in the west, with the Swiss Cottage area of Hampstead to the north and Lisson Grove to the south. The area includes Lord's Cricket Ground, home of Marylebone Cricket Club and Middlesex County Cricket Club, Middlesex CCC and a regular international test cricket venue. It also includes Abbey Road Studios, well known through its association with the Beatles. Origin The area was once part of the Forest of Middlesex, an area with extensive woodland, though it was not the predominant land use. The area's name originates, in the Lisson Grove#Manor of Lileston, M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gophers!
''Gophers!'' is a Channel 4 children's programme about a family of American gophers who move into a new neighbourhood, called Sycamore Heights, living next door to a family of uptight but well-intentioned rabbits, The Burrows. There were many recurring jokes within this short-lived show such as Arthur Burrows' vegetables planning a rebellion to escape his garden, a mad scientist ferret called Dr Wince, whose ambition was to conquer the world by obtaining a crystal buried in the Gophers' garden with the help of his reptilian servant Sly, and an alien in love with a zucchini determined to get home. Also there were stereotypical "Mexican" cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the Order (biology), order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known Pest (organism), pests. Modern cockro ...es (dressed in costumes of Mexican peasant revolutionaries of the Mexican Revolution ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, distribution, and education. It is sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and partially funded under the British Film Institute Act 1949. Activities Purpose The BFI was established in 1933 to encourage the development of the arts of film, television and the moving image throughout the United Kingdom, to promote their use as a record of contemporary life and manners, to promote education about film, television and the moving image generally, and their impact on society, to promote access to and appreciation of the widest possible range of British and world cinema and to establish, care for and develop collections reflecting the moving image history, heritage and culture of the United Kingdom. Archive The BFI maintain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Generation Game
''The Generation Game'' is a British game show produced by the BBC in which four teams of two people from the same family, but different generations, compete to win prizes. The game There are eight competitors, hence the catchphrase "Let's meet the eight who are going to generate" used in earlier series by Bruce Forsyth. The couples were a generation apart and in later series, but not originally, of different genders. Most of the time it was mother/son, father/daughter. Sometimes aunt/nephew and uncle/niece played. In the first two rounds, two couples compete against each other in two games. One game usually involves first seeing a skilled professional construct or perform something, such as pottery or dancing. The contestants attempt to do the same, and a score is given by the professional. The other game usually involves more of a quiz element, such as identifying pieces of music. At the end of each of the first two rounds, the couple with the lower score is eliminated. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul O'Grady
Paul James O'Grady (14 June 1955 – 28 March 2023) was an English comedian, broadcaster, drag queen, actor, and writer. He achieved notability in the London gay scene during the 1980s with his drag persona Lily Savage, through which he gained wider popularity in the 1990s. O'Grady subsequently dropped the character and in the 2000s became the presenter of various television and radio shows, including ''The Paul O'Grady Show''. Born to a working-class Irish migrant family in Tranmere, Cheshire, O'Grady moved to London in the late 1970s, initially working as a peripatetic care officer for Camden Council. He developed his drag act in 1978, basing the character of Lily Savage upon traits found among female relatives. Touring England as part of drag mime duo the Playgirls, O'Grady then went solo as a stand-up comedian in the early 1980s. Performing as Savage for eight years at a South London gay pub, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern (RVT), he gained a popular following among London's g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Australian Princess
''Australian Princess'' is an Australian reality television show that first premiered on Network Ten on 5 October 2005. It is produced by Granada Australia, who are responsible for other programs such as ''Dancing with the Stars'', '' Australia's Next Top Model'', and ''Merrick and Rosso Unplanned''. It is an Australian version of '' American Princess''. The show is also aired in the United Kingdom on ITV2, in Finland on SubTV, in Canada on W Network, in the United States on WE: Women's Entertainment, in the Middle East on MBC 4, and in Belgium on Vitaya. The contestants have been judged by Paul Burrell, Jane Luedecke (sister of Sarah, Duchess of York) and Jean Broke-Smith since its inception along with various other guest judges. The two series of the show were hosted by Jackie O. Overview Fuelled by the fairy tale story of Mary Donaldson who, in 2004, married Denmark's heir to the throne, Crown Prince Frederick, ''Australian Princess'' scoured the country to find 12 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Princess (2005 TV Series)
''American Princess'' is an American reality competition that aired on We TV from August 7, 2005, until October 7, 2007. It is hosted by Catherine Oxenberg with Jean Broke-Smith and Paul Burrell serving as judges. ''American Princess'' is based on the George Bernard Shaw play '' Pygmalion'' and Alan Jay Lerner's ''My Fair Lady'' in a modern setting, where twenty American women who are average, plain, and rather ill-mannered, are taken to London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ..., England to master the finer arts of British society and be crowned "American Princess" and earn valuable prizes. But first, the women have to learn how to eat dinner, handle cutlery, serve tea, walk in high heels, dance, and act as a proper royal should be. There is an Australian versio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sooty
Sooty is a British children's television media franchise created by Harry Corbett incorporating primarily television and stage shows. The franchise originated with his fictional glove puppet character introduced to television in '' The Sooty Show'' in 1955. The main character, Sooty, is a mute yellow bear with black ears and nose, who is kind-hearted but also cheeky. Sooty performs magic tricks and practical jokes, and squirts his handler and other people with his water pistol. The franchise itself also includes several other puppet characters who were created for television, as well as an animated series, two spin-off series for the direct-to-video market, and a selection of toy merchandising. The franchise remained in the ownership of Corbett until his retirement in 1976, before being passed on to his son Matthew. The rights to the franchise were sold in 1996 to a development firm who formed a holding company for the property, with Matthew later retiring and handing over ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bug Alert
''Bug Alert'' is a British children's television series, first shown on GMTV in September 1996. It featured the antics of a range of bug-like characters who lived in the kitchen of an unnamed house. These creatures apparently only came out when the resident humans were "not about." In the final series, the characters moved out of the house and opened a somewhat seedy restaurant ("Bug Bites") where they set about serving Weasel Curry to their regular clientele. 78 episodes were made in total and were repeated regularly on GMTV, Tiny Living and Channel 4 between 1996 and 2004. After the first two series, the show format was bought by Channel 4, which commissioned 26 further episodes. These, and the previous series, were aired in their weekend morning slot. The show was characterised by its somewhat adult references and themes, most of which went above the heads of watching children. The 78 30-minute scripts were co-written by the director Peter Eyre and the main puppeteer, Fran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grotbags
''Grotbags'' was a children's television programme which ran for three series between 1991 and 1993 about a fictional witch named Grotbags, a spin-off of multiple earlier Rod Hull and Emu shows. Very much in the mould of the traditional pantomime villain, Grotbags was played by actress, singer and comedian Carol Lee Scott in a costume comprising vivid green make-up and wig and a witch's cape and hat. Each episode co-starred Francis Wright and Richard Coombs in multiple puppet roles. Premise The character Grotbags originally appeared in the Rod Hull television show ''Emu's World'' in 1982 and she remained the principal antagonist throughout the rest of the decade in the programme's various other incarnations (''Emu's All Live Pink Windmill Show'', ''Emu's Wide World'', and 1989's ''EMU-TV''), plus the subsequent animated series ''Rod 'n' Emu''. In 1991, Central Independent Television awarded Grotbags her own solo spin-off, which was created by Carol Lee Scott and puppeteer Rich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Attack
''Art Attack'' is a British children's television programme revolving around art, originally hosted by Neil Buchanan on CITV from 1990 to 2007, and subsequently hosted by Lloyd Warbey on Disney Junior from 2012 to 2015. The original programme aired on CITV between 15 June 1990 and 19 May 2007, and was presented by one of its creators, Neil Buchanan, throughout. Buchanan also wrote and produced the programme, and came up with a majority of the creative ideas. A new series launched on Disney Junior on 6 June 2011 and was presented by Jassa Ahluwalia. Each show involved Ahluwalia voicing-over footage of an artist producing three works of art, taking the viewer through the various stages of production step by step. Ahluwalia was later replaced with Lloyd Warbey at the start of the British second revived series. History The programme was originally a TVS production, devised by two TVS employees, Neil Buchanan and Tim Edmunds. Buchanan and Edmunds met each other at Southern Tel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alice In Wonderland (1999 Film)
''Alice in Wonderland'' is a 1999 made-for-television film adaptation of Lewis Carroll's books ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and ''Through the Looking-Glass'' (1871). It was first broadcast on NBC and then shown on British television on Channel 4. Tina Majorino played the lead role of Alice and a number of well-known performers portrayed the eccentric characters whom Alice meets during the course of the story, including Ben Kingsley, Martin Short, Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Ustinov, Christopher Lloyd, Gene Wilder, George Wendt, Robbie Coltrane and Miranda Richardson. In common with most adaptations of the book, it includes scenes and characters from ''Through the Looking-Glass''. The film won four Emmy Awards in the categories of costume design, makeup, music composition and visual effects. The film was re-released as a special edition DVD on March 2, 2010. No special features were included; however, the film was restored to its original speed as prior releases suff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
