John Thomson (comedian)
John Patrick Thomson (born Patrick Francis McAleer; 2 April 1969) is an English comedian, narrator and actor best known for his roles in ''The Fast Show'', ''Men Behaving Badly'', ''Cold Feet'', '' 24 Hour Party People'', '' The Brothers Grimsby'' and ''Coronation Street''. Early life Thomson was born in 1969 in Walkden, Worsley, Lancashire, to Mary McAleer, who gave him up for adoption six weeks later. He was adopted from the Catholic Children's Rescue Society by Andrew and Marita Thomson, a businessman and a bookseller from Didsbury. He has one younger brother, Ben (born to his adoptive parents).Cooke, Rachel (2003-05-11"Infamy, infamy ..." ''The Observer''. Retrieved on 2007-02-17 He attended All Hallows Catholic High School near Preston, Lancashire, leaving with three O-levels. He then attended Runshaw College between 1985 and 1987, studying for four A-levels, including theatre studies. He was described as "clearly avinga talent for comedy". Following this, he turned ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Walkden
Walkden is a town in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, northwest of central Salford, and of Manchester. Walkden has been designated as one of seven main town centres in the City of Salford, and now largely functions as a retail centre and commuter suburb of Greater Manchester. Historically in the township of Worsley in Lancashire, Walkden was a centre for coal mining and textile manufacture. In 2021, the electoral wards of Walkden North, Walkden South and Little Hulton had a combined population of 39,761. History The name Walkden or ''Walkeden'' derives from the Old English ''denu'', a valley, belonging to a man possibly called Wealca ( fuller), an Old English personal name. It has been in existence since at least the 13th century. The name was recorded in documents dating to 1246. A Roman road crossed the area roughly on the line of the present A6 road through Walkden and Little Hulton. In 1313, in a dispute involving land, a jury decided that Walkde ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Runshaw College
Runshaw College is a Further education, Higher and Further Education college based in Leyland, Lancashire, Leyland, England. History Runshaw College was established in 1974. It initially catered solely for school leavers from Balshaw's Church of England High School, Balshaw's High School in Leyland, and Parklands High School, Chorley, Parklands High School in Chorley. In 1983 it became a tertiary college following a reorganisation by Lancashire's education authority. On 17 January 2023, Runshaw opened a new building called Buttermere. The building is used to house T Level courses. Construction began in February 2022. The new building was built by Collinson Construction and cost £3 million. Buttermere is 2-storeys and has an area of 1,000m2 for 12 classrooms and a study space. Locations Runshaw's current campus in Leyland, is a sixth form college primarily catering for students aged 16–19, as well as hosting adult education and apprenticeship courses. The Euxton Lane, Chorley ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Richard Herring
Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967) is an English stand-up comedian and writer whose early work includes the comedy double act Lee and Herring (alongside Stewart Lee). He is described by ''The British Theatre Guide'' as "one of the leading hidden masters of modern British comedy". Towards the end of the double act, Herring also worked as a writer, producing four plays. After Lee and Herring went their separate ways he co-wrote the British sitcom, sitcom ''Time Gentlemen Please'', but quickly returned to performance with high-concept, concept-driven one-person shows like ''Talking Cock (comedy show), Talking Cock'', ''Hitler Moustache'' and ''Christ on a Bike'' as well as regular circuit stand-up. Herring has created fourteen of these stand-up shows since 2001, performing them for eleven consecutive years from 2004 to 2014 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with annual tours and a final performance recorded for DVD. His 2016–17 show was a 'best of' tour, drawing from these ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stewart Lee
Stewart Graham Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English comedian. His stand-up routine is characterised by repetition, internal reference, and deadpan delivery. Lee began his career in 1989 and formed the comedy duo Lee and Herring with Richard Herring. In 2001, he co-wrote and co-directed the West End hit musical '' Jerry Springer: The Opera'', a critical success that sparked a backlash from Christian right groups who staged a series of protests outside its early performances. In 2011, he won British Comedy Awards for Best Male Television Comic and Best Comedy Entertainment Programme for his series '' Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle''. He has written music reviews for publications including ''The Sunday Times''. In 2009 ''The Times'' referred to Lee as "the comedian's comedian, and for good reason" and named him "face of the decade". In 2012, he was placed at No. 9 on a poll of the 100 most influential people in UK comedy. In 2018, ''The Times'' named him as the best current Engli ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Edinburgh Fringe
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featured more than 51,446 scheduled performances of 3,746 different shows across 262 venues from 60 different countries. Of those shows, the largest section was comedy, representing almost 40% of shows, followed by theatre, which was 26.6% of shows. Established in 1947 as an unofficial offshoot to (and on the "fringe" of) the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place in Edinburgh every August. The combination of Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Edinburgh International Festival has become a world-leading celebration of arts and culture, surpassed only by the Olympics and the World Cup in terms of global ticketed events. It is an open-access (or " unjuried") performing arts festival, meaning that there is no selection committee, and anyone m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Perrier Comedy Award
The Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly the Perrier Comedy Awards, and also briefly known by other names for sponsorship reasons) are presented to the comedy shows deemed to have been the best at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland. Established in 1981, they are the most prestigious comedy prize in the United Kingdom. The awards have been directed and produced by Nica Burns since 1984. Format The main prize, which was for many years the only prize, and is now known as The Donald and Eleanor Taffner Best Comedy Show, is awarded "for the funniest, most outstanding, up-and-coming comic / comedy show / act" at the Fringe. The winner receives a cash prize of £10,000. The DLT Entertainment Best Newcomer Award category was introduced in 1992 for Harry Hill, and is given to the best "performer or act who is performing their first full-length show (50 minutes or more)". The prize is £5,000. Newcomers are eligible for the Best Comedy Show Award, but no act is allowed to appear on ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Knowing Me Knowing You With Alan Partridge (TV Series)
''Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge'' (also known as ''Knowing Me, Knowing You'') is a BBC Television comedy series of six episodes (beginning 16 September 1994), and a Christmas special ''Knowing Me, Knowing Yule'' on 29 December 1995. It is named after the song "Knowing Me, Knowing You" by ABBA (the main character's favourite band), a rendition of which was used as the show's title music. Steve Coogan plays the incompetent but self-satisfied Norwich-based talk show host Alan Partridge, who often insults his guests and humiliates himself in the process. Alan was a spin-off character from the spoof radio show '' On the Hour'' (which later transferred to TV as '' The Day Today''). ''Knowing Me, Knowing You'' was written by Coogan, Armando Iannucci (who produced the radio version) and Patrick Marber (who also starred), with contributions from the regular supporting cast of Doon Mackichan, Rebecca Front and David Schneider, who played Alan's weekly guests. Steve Brown p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Coogan's Run
''Coogan's Run'' is a 1995 UK TV series featuring Steve Coogan as a series of odd characters living in the fictional town of Ottle. It was written by various people including Coogan, Patrick Marber, David Tyler, Graham Linehan, Arthur Mathews, Geoffrey Perkins and Henry Normal. The series consists of six self-contained stories, although Coogan's characters from the other episodes in the series make occasional cameo appearances. Cast * Steve Coogan - Paul Calf / Pauline Calf / Gareth Cheeseman / Ernest Moss / Peter Calf / Mike Crystal / Guy Crump / Tim Fleck / Tony Sword (Voice) * John Thomson - Robin Moss * Malcolm Raeburn - Inspector Lynch * Teresa Banham - Debs * Adrian Scarborough - Councillor Hillary Crabbe * Philip Martin Brown Philip Martin Brown (born 9 July 1956) is an English actor. He is known for his long-running portrayal of English teacher Grantly Budgen in the hit BBC One school-based drama series '' Waterloo Road'', which he played from 2006 to 2013. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Caroline Aherne
Caroline Mary Aherne (24 December 1963 – 2 July 2016) was an English actress, comedian, writer and director. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host '' Mrs Merton'', in various roles in '' The Fast Show'', and as Denise in '' The Royle Family'' (1998–2012), a series which she co-wrote. She won BAFTA awards for her work on ''The Mrs Merton Show'' and ''The Royle Family''. Aherne narrated the Channel 4 reality television series '' Gogglebox'' from its inception in 2013 until 8 April 2016. She died of cancer at the age of 52. Early life Aherne was born in Ealing, London, on 24 December 1963, the second child of Irish parents Bartholomew Edmond "Bert" Aherne, a railwayman with London Transport, and Mary Frances "Maureen" Aherne (''née'' Regan). From the age of two, Aherne was brought up in Wythenshawe, Manchester.Rinaldi, Graham.Aherne, Caroline (1963–). screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved on 25 August 2007. Like her brother Patrick, Aherne had retinoblast ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Pilot Episode
A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distributor. A pilot is created to be a testing ground to gauge whether a series will be successful. It is, therefore, a test episode for the intended television series, an early step in the series development, much like pilot studies serve as precursors to the start of larger activity. A successful pilot may be used as the series premiere, the first aired episode of a new show, but sometimes a series' pilot may be aired as a later episode or never aired at all. Some series are commissioned straight-to-series without a pilot (although an increasing number of such series have their first episodes titled "Pilot"). On some occasions, pilots that were not ordered to series may also be broadcast as a standalone television film or ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Granada TV
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend Television was its weekend counterpart. Granada's parent company Granada plc later bought several other regional ITV stations and, in 2004, merged with Carlton Communications to form ITV plc. Granada Television was particularly noted by critics for the distinctive northern and "social realism" character of many of its network programmes, as well as the high quality of its drama and documentaries. In its prime as an independent franchisee, prior to its parent company merging with Carlton Communications to form ITV plc, it was the largest Independent Television producer in the UK, accounting for 25% of the total broadcasting output of the ITV network. Granada Television was founded by Sidney Bernstein at Granada Studios on Quay Street in Manchester and is ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Spitting Image
''Spitting Image'' is a British satirical television puppet show, created by Peter Fluck, Roger Law and Martin Lambie-Nairn. First broadcast in 1984, the series was produced by 'Spitting Image Productions' for Central Independent Television over 18 series which aired on the ITV network. The series was nominated and won numerous awards, including ten BAFTA Television Awards, and two Emmy Awards in 1985 and 1986 in the Popular Arts Category. The series features puppet caricatures of contemporary celebrities and public figures, including British Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major and the British royal family. The series was the first to caricature Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (as an elderly gin-drinker with a Beryl Reid voice). One of the most-watched shows of the 1980s, ''Spitting Image'' satirised politics, entertainment, sport and British popular culture of the era. At its peak, the show was watched by 15 million people. The popularity of the show saw col ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |