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Mary MacLeod (actress)
Mary Katrina Anne MacLeod (6 July 1937 – 7 June 2016) was an English-born Scottish actress who performed on the stage and in film and television productions of the United Kingdom. Born in the Midlands market town of Wednesbury to Scottish parents, she debuted in theatre in 1956 and had her first British cinema role in the Lindsay Anderson film '' if....'' (1968). MacLeod continued to feature in minor roles until her career was ended early by a stroke in 2003. Biography MacLeod was born in the English Midlands market town of Wednesbury on 6 July 1937. She was the second of four children to the Scottish coach builder John MacLeod, who moved from the Isle of Lewis to England for work reasons, and his wife Mary (née Canavan). She was raised in Birmingham, and educated at the Pelsall Senior School in Walsall. There, MacLeod became passionate about drama from an early age, joining a local amateur dramatics group. She also attended Birmingham School of Speech Training and Dramatic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wednesbury
Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of 37,817. History Medieval and earlier The substantial remains of a large ditch excavated in St Mary's Road in 2008, following the contours of the hill and predating the Early Medieval period, has been interpreted as part of a hilltop enclosure and possibly the Iron Age hillfort long suspected on the site. The first authenticated spelling of the name was Wodensbyri, written in an endorsement on the back of the copy of the will of Wulfric Spot, dated 1004. Wednesbury (" Woden's borough") is one of the few places in England to be named after a pre-Christian deity. During the Anglo-Saxon period there are believed to have been two battles fought in Wednesbury, in 592 and 715. According to The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' there was "a great sla ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
O Lucky Man!
''O Lucky Man!'' is a 1973 British comedy-drama fantasy film directed by Lindsay Anderson, and starring Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis, whom McDowell had first played as a disaffected public schoolboy in his first film performance in Anderson's film '' if....'' (1968). The film was entered into the 1973 Cannes Film Festival. Plot The film opens with a short fragment outside the plot. Grainy, black-and-white, and silent, a title "Once Upon a Time" leads to peasant labourers in an unnamed country picking coffee beans while armed foremen push rudely between them. One worker (McDowell with black hair and moustache) pockets a few beans ("Coffee for the Breakfast Table") but is seen by a foreman. He is next seen before a fat Caucasian magistrate who slobbers as he removes his cigar only to say "Guilty." The foreman draws his machete and lays it across the unfortunate labourer's wrists, bound to a wooden block, revealing that he is to lose his hands for the theft of a few bea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Heart (play)
''Blue Heart'' was written by Caryl Churchill and copyrighted in 1997. The play is two one act plays. The first play, ''Heart’s Desire'', is about a family waiting on the arrival of their daughter Suzy. The second play ''Blue Kettle'', is about a man named Derek who goes around telling women they're his mother because he was adopted at birth. The women believe him and truly find ways to tell him the way he is their son. ''Blue Heart'' is highly regarded by critics. Plot The first play in the piece, ''Heart's Desire'', is about a family waiting for their daughter's return from Australia. Her father, mother and aunt play through the same scene, time and time again, a few seconds at a time, with variations. Some variants appear to be wish-fulfilment on the part of one character or another; some to represent a collective attempt to settle on a mutually acceptable compromise account; some include random intrusions from, for instance, a group of armed paramilitaries or an angry emu. W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doctor Finlay
''Doctor Finlay'' is a British television series based on A. J. Cronin's stories about the fictional medical hero, Dr. Finlay. It was first broadcast on 5 March 1993 on ITV. It is a follow-up to ''Dr. Finlay's Casebook'', the successful BBC series and takes place in the 1940s after John Finlay returns from war service. Early storylines include the setting up of the new National Health Service and the modernisation of the medical practice at Arden House, Tannochbrae, Scotland. The show stars David Rintoul as Dr. Finlay, Ian Bannen as his semi-retired practice partner, Dr. Cameron, and Annette Crosbie as his housekeeper, Janet. Other central characters include Finlay's assistant, Dr. Neil, played by Jason Flemyng and Finlay's new partner, Dr. Napier, played by Jessica Turner. The series was a Scottish Television production (now known as STV Productions) that was filmed in Auchtermuchty, Fife, Scotland. It also used the Dumgoyne Peak and Loch Lomond as supposedly local backd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Venus Peter
''Venus Peter'' is a 1989 British film directed by Ian Sellar and produced by Christopher Young for Young films. The film is an adaptation of the novel ''A Twelvemonth and a Day'' by Christopher Rush. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. It was filmed on the Orkney Islands, in the North of Scotland. The film crew paid members of the Orkney community to act as extras in the film. In 1999 Richard Mowe, curator of film at the National Museum of Scotland, chose the film as one of his top twenty Scottish films of the century.Richard MoweTop 20 Scottish films of the 20th Century iofilm Scotland, August 1999 Japanese rock band Venus Peter are named after the film. Plot The film is set on a western isle of Scotland in the 1950s and follows young Peter and his relationship in the mainly adult world of the fishing village and his relationship with the sea and fishing boats (foremost of which is Kirkcaldy-registered KY199). The most importa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mapp And Lucia (1985 TV Series)
''Mapp and Lucia'' is a British television series, set in the fictional Sussex coastal town of Tilling and based on three 1930s novels by E. F. Benson, beginning with '' Mapp and Lucia''. It was produced by London Weekend Television, filmed in Rye (on which Benson based Tilling) and neighbouring Winchelsea in the 1980s, and starred Prunella Scales as Mapp, Geraldine McEwan as Lucia, Nigel Hawthorne as Georgie, and Denis Lill as Major Benjy. The script was by Gerald Savory. There were ten episodes, (which aired in two series of five) broadcast on Channel 4 in 1985 and 1986. These have been repeated over the years, and a new BBC adaptation, '' Mapp and Lucia'', aired in 2014. Series one is a five-episode adaptation of '' Mapp and Lucia'' (1931). Season two adapts both the fifth book ('' Lucia's Progress'', 1935) in the first three episodes, and the sixth book ('' Trouble for Lucia'', 1939) in the final two episodes. Cast *Prunella Scales as Elizabeth Mapp *Geraldine McEwan as Em ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in the United Kingdom. At the time, the only other channels were the television licence, licence-funded BBC One and BBC Two, and a single commercial broadcasting network ITV (TV network), ITV. The network's headquarters are based in London and Leeds, with creative hubs in Glasgow and Bristol. It is publicly owned and advertising-funded; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, a public corporation of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which was established in 1990 and came into operation in 1993. Until 2010, Channel 4 did not broadcast in Wales, but many of its programmes were re-broadcast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taggart (series)
''Taggart'' is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries "Killer" from 6 until 20 September 1983, before a full series was commissioned that ran from 2 July 1985 until 7 November 2010. The series revolved around a group of detectives initially in the Maryhill CID of Strathclyde Police, though various storylines were set in other parts of Greater Glasgow and in other areas of Scotland. The team operated out of the fictional John Street police station. Mark McManus, who played the title character Jim Taggart, died in 1994. However, the series continued under the same name. ''Taggart'' was one of the UK's longest-running television dramas and the longest-running police drama after the cancellation of ''The Bill''. The series theme music is " No Mean City", sung by Maggie Bell. History The Scottish BAFTA-winning pilot episode "Ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brimstone And Treacle
''Brimstone and Treacle'' is a 1976 BBC television play by Dennis Potter. Originally intended for broadcast as an episode of the series ''Play for Today'', it remained untransmitted until 1987. The play was made into a film version (released in 1982) co-starring Sting. Both versions also star Denholm Elliott. The play features a middle-aged middle-class couple living in a north London suburb whose life has been catastrophically affected by a hit-and-run accident which has left their beautiful undergraduate daughter totally dependent upon them. Their lives are dramatically changed by the arrival of a mysterious young stranger. Plot For two years, Tom and Amy Bates have been struggling to cope with their altered lives, after their daughter Pattie (or Patricia) was severely injured in a hit-and-run accident. Pattie is unable to walk, completely dependent upon others for the activities of daily living, and seemingly unable to communicate beyond making unintelligible sounds. Alt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brideshead Revisited (TV Serial)
''Brideshead Revisited'' is a 1981 British television serial starring Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews. It was produced by Granada Television for broadcast by the ITV network. Most of the serial was directed by Charles Sturridge, with certain sequences directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who handled the initial phases of the production. The serial is an adaptation of the novel '' Brideshead Revisited'' (1945) by Evelyn Waugh. It follows, from the 1920s to the early 1940s, the life and romances of the protagonist Charles Ryder—including his friendship with the Flytes, a family of wealthy English Catholics who live in a palatial mansion called Brideshead Castle. The screenplay was written by Derek Granger (the series' producer) and others. Although the credits attribute the screenplay to John Mortimer, Mortimer's script was not used.Jones, Alice"Life after Brideshead" ''The Independent''. 1 October 2008. Charles Sturridge declared that 95% of the dialogue was from Waugh's or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Much Ado About Nothing
''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play was included in the '' First Folio'', published in 1623. The play is set in Messina and revolves around two romantic pairings that emerge when a group of soldiers arrive in the town. The first, between Claudio and Hero, is nearly altered by the accusations of the villain, Don John. The second romance, between Claudio's friend Benedick and Hero's cousin Beatrice, takes centre stage as the play goes on, with both characters' wit and banter providing much of the humour. Through "noting" (sounding like "nothing", and meaning gossip, rumour, overhearing), Benedick and Beatrice are tricked into confessing their love for each other, and Claudio is tricked into believing that Hero is not a maiden (virgin). The title's play on words references t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Duchess Of Duke Street
''The Duchess of Duke Street'' is a BBC television drama series set in London between the late 1800s and 1925. It was created by John Hawkesworth, previously the producer of the ITV period drama ''Upstairs, Downstairs''. It starred Gemma Jones as Louisa Leyton Trotter, the eponymous "Duchess" who works her way up from servant to renowned cook to proprietor of the upper-class Bentinck Hotel in Duke Street, St. James's, in London. The story is loosely based on the real-life career of Rosa Lewis (née Ovenden), the " Duchess of Jermyn Street", who ran the Cavendish Hotel in London, at the corner of Duke St, St. James's. When the show first aired, there were many people who still remembered her, as she lived until 1952. According to census returns, she was born in Leyton, Essex, to a watchmaker. In the series, Louisa's family name is Leyton, and her father is a clockmaker. The programme lasted for two series totalling 31 episodes, shown in 1976 and 1977. Shown later on PB ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
