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Son Of Fred
''Son of Fred'' is the successor series to '' The Idiot Weekly, Price 2d'' and '' A Show Called Fred''. It was made by Associated-Rediffusion for ITV, which at the time was available only in the London area, the Midlands and Northern England. It was the third and final in a series of sketch comedy shows attempting to translate the humour of ''The Goon Show'' to television. Spike Milligan concentrated on writing and only made small walk on appearances, leaving the lead acting to Peter Sellers. The series was produced and directed by Richard Lester. Impact on comedy and culture The minimalist format, with little or no scenery and few props, sketches without any real purpose or punch line, and mixing live action and short animations directly influenced the format of ''Monty Python's Flying Circus''. The unconventional format was revived in Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright ...
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Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his childhood before relocating in 1931 to England, where he lived and worked for the majority of his life. Disliking his first name, he began to call himself "Spike" after hearing the band Spike Jones, Spike Jones and his City Slickers on Radio Luxembourg. Milligan was the co-creator, main writer, and a principal cast member of the British radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show'', performing a range of roles including the characters Eccles (character), Eccles and Minnie Bannister. He was the earliest-born and last surviving member of The Goons (The Goon Show), the Goons. He took his success with ''The Goon Show'' into television with ''Q... (TV series), Q5'', a surreal sketch show credited as a major influence on the members of ''Monty Pytho ...
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The Goon Show
''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 1951, was titled ''Crazy People''; subsequent series had the title ''The Goon Show''. The show's chief creator and main writer was Spike Milligan, who performed the series alongside Harry Secombe, Peter Sellers and (for the first two series) Michael Bentine. The scripts mixed ludicrous plots with surreal humour, puns, catchphrases and an array of bizarre sound effects. There were also light music interludes. Some of the later episodes feature electronic effects devised by the fledgling BBC Radiophonic Workshop, many of which were reused by other shows for decades. Elements of the show satirised contemporary life in 1950s Britain, parodying aspects of show business, commerce, industry, art, politics, diplomacy, the police, the military, e ...
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ITV Sketch Shows
ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands **ITV1, formerly ITV, a television channel broadcasting on the majority of the ITV network, covering England, Southern Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands **ITV plc, ITV1's parent company, which owns 13 of the 15 ITV network licences **itv.com, the main website of ITV plc **ITVX, streaming service operated by ITV plc **ITV News, ITV news programmes ***ITN, the Independent Television News production and broadcast journalism company **ITV Studios, a television production company owned by ITV plc * Independent Television (Tanzania), a Tanzanian television station and member of the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA) *CITV-DT, a television station in Ed ...
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British English-language Television Shows
British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture * British English, the English language as spoken and written in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and, more broadly, throughout the British Isles * Celtic Britons, an ancient ethno-linguistic group * Brittonic languages, a branch of the Insular Celtic language family (formerly called British) ** Common Brittonic, an ancient language Other uses *People or things associated with: ** Great Britain, an island ** British Isles, an island group ** United Kingdom, a sovereign state ** British Empire, a historical global colonial empire ** Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) ** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) * British Raj, colonial India under the British Empire * British Hong Kong, colonial ...
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British Surreal Comedy Television Series
British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture * British English, the English language as spoken and written in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and, more broadly, throughout the British Isles * Celtic Britons, an ancient ethno-linguistic group * Brittonic languages, a branch of the Insular Celtic language family (formerly called British) ** Common Brittonic, an ancient language Other uses *People or things associated with: ** Great Britain, an island ** British Isles, an island group ** United Kingdom, a sovereign state ** British Empire, a historical global colonial empire ** Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1800) ** United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1801–1922) * British Raj, colonial India under the British Empire * British Hong Kong, colonial Ho ...
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1950s British Television Sketch Shows
Year 195 ( CXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Scrapula and Clemens (or, less frequently, year 948 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 195 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus has the Roman Senate deify the previous emperor Commodus, in an attempt to gain favor with the family of Marcus Aurelius. * King Vologases V and other eastern princes support the claims of Pescennius Niger. The Roman province of Mesopotamia rises in revolt with Parthian support. Severus marches to Mesopotamia to battle the Parthians. * The Roman province of Syria is divided and the role of Antioch is diminished. The Romans annex the Syrian cities of Edessa and Nisibis. Severus re-establishes his headquarters and the colonies th ...
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1956 British Television Series Endings
Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are killed for trespassing by the Waorani people of Ecuador, shortly after making contact with them. * January 16 – Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser vows to reconquer Palestine (region), Palestine. * January 25–January 26, 26 – Finnish troops reoccupy Porkkala, after Soviet Union, Soviet troops vacate its military base. Civilians can return February 4. * January 26 – The 1956 Winter Olympics open in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. February * February 2 – Austria and Israel establish diplomatic Austria–Israel relations, relations. * February 11 – British Espionage, spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean (spy), Donald Maclean resurface in the Soviet Union, after being missing for 5 years. * ...
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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 ...
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Goon Show Preservation Society
The Goon Show Preservation Society is a non-profit organisation, formed to help preserve and research the history of the ''Goon Show''. The society, founded in 1972, maintains an archive of ''Goon Show'' material, often used by professional researchers and media organisations, including the BBC. The society also owns the Neddie Seagoon puppet from '' The Telegoons''. It no longer has formal regional groups within the United Kingdom but maintains international representation in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United States, Germany and Japan. King Charles III, then Prince Charles, became patron of the society in 1998, however, his continued patronage following his ascension to the throne in September 2022 is uncertain. Honorary presidents of the society are John Antrobus, Spike Milligan's daughter, Jane Milligan, and Michael Coveney. Sir Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan and Eric Sykes Eric Sykes (4 May 1923 – 4 July 2012) was an English radio, stage, television and film ...
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Q (TV Series)
''Q...'' is a surreal television comedy sketch show written by Spike Milligan and Neil Shand, and starring Spike Milligan with supporting players, usually including Julia Breck, John Bluthal, Bob Todd, and John Wells. The show ran from 1969 to 1982 on BBC2. There were six series in all, the first five numbered from ''Q5'' to ''Q9'', and a final series titled ''There's a Lot of It About''. The first and third series ran for seven episodes, and the others for six episodes, each of which was 30 minutes long. Various reasons have been suggested for the title. One possibility is that it was inspired by the project to construct the Cunard liner '' QE2'', launched in September 1967, which was previously codenamed ''Q4''. Another theory is that Milligan was inspired by the BBC 6-point technical quality scale of the time, where "Q5" was severe degradation to picture or sound, and "Q6" was complete loss of sound or vision. This was extended by some engineering departments to a 9-po ...
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Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh actor, comedian, director, historian, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones and writing partner Michael Palin wrote and performed for several high-profile British comedy programmes, including '' Do Not Adjust Your Set'' and '' The Frost Report'', before creating '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'' with Cambridge graduates Graham Chapman, John Cleese, and Eric Idle and American animator-filmmaker Terry Gilliam. Jones was largely responsible for the programme's innovative, surreal structure, in which sketches flowed from one to the next without the use of punch lines. He made his directorial debut with ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'', which he co-directed with Gilliam, and also directed the subsequent Python films '' Life of Brian'' and '' The Meaning of Life''. Jones co-created and co-wrote with Palin the anthol ...
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