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Len Fairclough
Len Fairclough is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Peter Adamson between his introduction in 1961 and the character's axing in 1983. Creation and casting Adamson was a former extra and theatre actor who had turned to TV drama with the Granada series ''Skyport'' and ''Knight Errant''. When casting began for the new TV serial ''Florizel Street'', Adamson auditioned for the parts of Dennis Tanner (later Philip Lowrie) and Ken Barlow (later William Roache), however at thirty he was considered too old for either part and instead he was cast as insurance man Harry Bailey. Adamson was one of several actors cast for the dry runs who did not appear on screen; when the series was commissioned, further casting and rewrites took place, and Harry Bailey was dropped from the episode (the character later appeared in Episode 5, renamed Ron Bailey and played by Ray Mort). When the series was extended beyond its initial run, Adamson tri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced street in the fictional town of Weatherfield in Greater Manchester. The location was itself based on Salford, the hometown of the show's first screenwriter and creator, Tony Warren. Originally broadcast twice weekly, ''Coronation Street'' increased its runtime in later years, currently airing three 60-minute episodes per week. Warren developed the concept for the series, which was initially rejected by Granada's founder Sidney Bernstein, Baron Bernstein, Sidney Bernstein. Producer Harry Elton convinced Bernstein to commission 13 pilot episodes. The show has since become a significant part of British culture and underpinned the success of its producing Granada franchise. Currently produced by ITV Studios, the successor to Granada, the seri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Podmore
Edgar William Podmore (15 August 1931 – 22 January 1994) was a British television producer. Born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, he is best remembered for his long association with the soap opera ''Coronation Street'', a series he produced for twelve years (1976–1988). Biography Initially a Royal Air Force pilot, he became a TV cameraman for the BBC, shortly after with Granada Television and later, a director. When, as a relatively young man, he was called upon to direct an episode of ''Coronation Street'', Violet Carson ( Ena Sharples) with a massive twinkle in her eye, drew herself up to her full height and confronted him - "Hello Bill, welcome...my train leaves at 5.30 p.m.!" Podmore was asked to take over as producer of "the Street" in 1976. Initially he turned the offer down flat. As former Street writer John Stevenson recalled in a BBC Radio 2 documentary, "''Coronation Street'' was on a downward slope at the time. No-one wanted to work on it, the quality of the scri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Tanner (Coronation Street)
''Coronation Street'' is a British soap opera first broadcast on 9 December 1960. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in 1967, by order of first appearance. Steve Tanner Stephen Edward "Steve" Tanner, played by Paul Maxwell, was an old flame of Elsie Tanner's from the war. He returned to Weatherfield in 1967 and rekindled his relationship with Elsie. They married that year and moved back to Steve's hometown in America. In 1968 Elsie returned alone saying her marriage was over. Steve followed Elsie back to the Street but he was pushed down a flight of stairs and killed by Joe Donnelli. Ernest Bishop Ernest Bishop, played by Stephen Hancock, made his first screen appearance on 6 September 1967. Ernest had been educated at Weatherfield Grammar School, and, despite being very academically inclined, he refused a place at Manchester Victoria University, in order to run his own photographic business. Operating under his "professional" name Gordon Bishop, h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patricia Phoenix
Patricia Phoenix (born Patricia Frederica Manfield; 26 November 1923 – 17 September 1986) was an English actress who became one of the first sex symbols of British television through her role as Elsie Tanner, an original cast member of ''Coronation Street'', a role which she portrayed from its first episode in 1960 to 1973, and again from 1976 until she quit the role in 1984. In Elsie Tanner, she is credited with creating one of the most famous characters in British soap history. Early life Phoenix was born at St Mary's Hospital in Fallowfield, Lancashire, to Annie (''née'' Noonan), originally of County Galway, Ireland, and Thomas "Tom" Manfield. Phoenix also claimed that she had been born in Galway, although she later stated that she was merely agreeing with something her elderly mother had already told the press. When Phoenix was eight years old, her father was involved in a car accident; in court, it was revealed that his marriage was bigamous as he had never divorced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elsie Tanner
Elsie Tanner (also Howard) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Pat Phoenix from the series' inception in 1960 to 1973, and again from 1976 until 1984. Elsie Tanner was one of the original core characters on ''Coronation Street'' and appeared in the first episode. She is considered to be an icon in soap history and regarded as one of the greatest ever characters to appear in ''Coronation Street''. Her final appearance came in January 1984, when Elsie immigrated to Portugal. Phoenix decided to quit the series in 1983 to pursue other projects. Three years after leaving, Phoenix died, and a few months later, in the VHS special ''The Lives and Loves of Elsie Tanner'', Anne Cunningham returned as Elsie's daughter Linda, hinting about Elsie's previous passing and including archive footage for flashbacks. However, 24 years later, when Philip Lowrie returned as Elsie's son Dennis Tanner, it was revealed that Elsie had died in a ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English rock and pop group formed in 1963 in Manchester and formerly fronted by singer Peter Noone. Known for their jaunty beat sound and Noone's often tongue-in-cheek vocal style, the Hermits charted with numerous transatlantic hits in the UK and in America, where they ranked as one of the most successful acts in the Beatles-led British Invasion. Between March and August 1965 in the United States, the group logged twenty-four consecutive weeks in the Top Ten of ''Billboards Hot 100 with five singles, including the two number ones " Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" and " I'm Henry VIII, I Am". Their other international hits in the 1960s include " I'm into Something Good" (their sole UK number one), " Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", the two covers " Silhouettes" and " Wonderful World", " A Must to Avoid", " Listen People", " No Milk Today", " There's a Kind of Hush", " I Can Take or Leave Your Loving", " Something's Happening" and " My Sentiment ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Noone
Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone (born 5 November 1947) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He was the lead singer "Herman" in the 1960s pop group Herman's Hermits. Early life Noone was born in Davyhulme, Lancashire, England, the second of five children, the son of two accountants, and attended English Martyrs (Urmston), Wellacre Primary School (Flixton), Stretford Grammar School, and St Bede's College, Manchester. In an interview, Noone made this comment about his early years: "My parents had zero input in my career other than to teach me to be independent and to always be honest, steadfast and true and I was steadfast often. I was able to have a perfectly normal teen life ..." Noone studied voice and drama at St. Bede's College and at the Manchester School of Music, where he won the Outstanding Young Musician Award. Career Herman's Hermits Early in his career, he used the stage name Peter Novac. At 15, he became the lead singer, spokesman and fron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weatherfield
Weatherfield is a fictional town based on Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, which has been the setting for the British ITV (TV network), ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' since its inception in 1960. Much of Weatherfield has been seen by viewers throughout the years, though the primary focus from the viewer's perspective is the Wiktionary:eponymous#Etymology, eponymous Coronation Street, a cobbled street where many of the programme's characters live. The soap opera is often shot on location around Salford and the neighbouring large city of Manchester, as its filming studios, the Granada Studios complex on Quay Street in Manchester city centre (which closed in 2013) and its replacement set MediaCityUK in Salford Quays (opened in 2014), only house the Coronation Street sets, outdoor sets of Coronation Street and its immediate surrounding streets. As part of the 2010 Children in Need charity appeal, Weatherfield became twinned with Walford in a special ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Blitz
The Blitz (English: "flash") was a Nazi Germany, German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom, for eight months, from 7 September 1940 to 11 May 1941, during the Second World War. Towards the end of the Battle of Britain in 1940, a contest for daylight air superiority over the United Kingdom between the and the Royal Air Force, Germany began conducting mass air attacks against British cities, beginning with London, in an attempt to draw the RAF Fighter Command into a battle of annihilation.Price 1990, p. 12. Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring, commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, ordered the new policy on 6 September 1940. From 7 September 1940, London was systematically bombed by the Luftwaffe for 56 of the following 57 days and nights. Notable attacks included a large daylight attack against London on Battle of Britain Day, 15 September, a large raid on 29 December 1940 against London -- resulting in a firestorm known as the Second Great Fire of London,Hooton 1997, p. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Stevenson (scriptwriter)
John Stevenson (10 May 1937 – 5 September 2023) was a British screenwriter who, between 1976 and 2006, was a regular writer on Britain's longest-running soap opera, ''Coronation Street''. Early life Stevenson was born in Manchester in 1937. He attended the London School of Economics and was originally a newspaper journalist. He wrote for the '' Oldham Evening Chronicle'' from 1958 to 1964, and then worked as an entertainment journalist and theatre critic for the ''Daily Mail'', based in Manchester. Television writing Stevenson moved into screenwriting after producer Peter Eckersley showed him a sitcom pilot entitled ''Her Majesty's Pleasure'', and asked him to come up with story ideas. Stevenson worked on the show during its run from 1968 to 1969, writing with Leslie Duxbury. He continued to write comedy through the 1970s, with his credits including ''The Last of the Baskets'' and ''How's Your Father?'' He co-wrote the popular comedy-drama ''Brass'' with Julian Roach in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albatross
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific. They are absent from the North Atlantic, although fossil remains of short-tailed albatross show they lived there up to the Pleistocene, and occasional vagrants are found. Great albatrosses are among the largest of flying birds, with wingspans reaching up to and bodies over in length. The albatrosses are usually regarded as falling into four genera, but disagreement exists over the number of species. Albatrosses are highly efficient in the air, using dynamic soaring and slope soaring to cover great distances with little exertion. They feed on squid, fish, and krill by either scavenging, surface seizing, or diving. Albatrosses are colonial, nesting for the most part on remote oceanic islands, often with several species nesting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eileen Derbyshire
Eileen Derbyshire (born 6 October 1931) is an English retired actress, best known for her role as Emily Bishop in the long-running ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. She played the character for 55 years from January 1961 to January 2016 (with a brief cameo in October 2019), making her the longest-serving female cast member in a British TV soap opera. She was appointed an MBE in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours list for her long acting career. Early life Derbyshire was born in 1931 in Urmston, Lancashire. From the age of 17, she was appearing in plays broadcast on radio. After several small parts on television, she joined the cast of ''Coronation Street'', first appearing as Miss Nugent in episode 15 in January 1961 (the character appeared as an extra in episode 4 in December 1960 played by an uncredited walk-on actress). The character was then given the forename Emily in 1962. Career Derbyshire has a degree in teaching, trained at the Northern School of Music, and pas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
