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UFO (British TV Series)
''UFO'' is a 1970 British science fiction television series about the covert efforts of an international defence organisation (under the auspices of the United Nations) to prevent an alien invasion of Earth. It was created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson with Reg Hill, and produced by the Andersons and Lew Grade's Century 21 for Grade's ITC Entertainment company. A single series of 26 episodes (including the pilot) was filmed over the course of more than a year; a five-month production break was caused by the closure of MGM-British Studios in Borehamwood, where the show was initially made. Production then moved to Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. ''UFO'' was first broadcast in the UK and Canada from 1970, and in the United States from 1972. The Andersons' live-action science fiction movie ''Doppelgänger'' (also known as ''Journey to the Far Side of the Sun'') is considered an immediate precursor to ''UFO'', which was their first entirely live-action TV series. (The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction On Television
Science fiction first appeared in television programming in the late 1930s, during what is called the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality. Visual production process and methods The need to portray imaginary settings or characters with properties and abilities beyond the reach of current reality obliges producers to make extensive use of specialized techniques of television production. Through most of the 20th century, many of these techniques were expensive and involved a small number of dedicated craft practitioners, while the reusability of props, models, effects, or animation techniques made it easier to keep using them. The combination of high initial cost and lower maintenance cost pushed producers into building these techniques into the basic concept of a series, influencing all the artistic choices. By the late 199 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grant Taylor (actor)
Ronald Grant Taylor (6 December 1917 – 26 January 1971) was an English-Australian actor best known as the abrasive General Henderson in the Gerry Anderson science fiction series '' UFO'' and for his lead role in '' Forty Thousand Horsemen'' (1940). Early life Taylor was born in Newcastle upon Tyne in England, but moved to Australia with his parents as a child. For a time he worked as a professional boxer in Melbourne under the name of Lance Matheson. According to a later newspaper report, he had 70 bouts, lost eight and drew 11. He reportedly also served in the Merchant Marine. Acting debut Cinesound Productions were looking for someone with wrestling skills to play the part of a gorilla in '' Gone to the Dogs'' (1939), so Taylor auditioned. He did not get the part but met Alec Kellaway who persuaded him to join Cinesound's Talent School. Ken G. Hall said that one of the problems of the Australian industry of this time was they "were consistently short of trained juvenile ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun
''Journey to the Far Side of the Sun'' (also known by its original title ''Doppelgänger'') is a 1969 British science fiction film directed by Robert Parrish and starring Roy Thinnes, Ian Hendry, Lynn Loring, Loni von Friedl and Patrick Wymark. It was written by Gerry Anderson, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and Donald James, and produced by the Andersons for AP Films#Century 21, Century 21. Set in the year 2069, the film concerns a joint European-NASA mission to investigate a newly discovered planet which lies directly opposite Earth on the far side of the Sun. The mission ends in disaster and the death of one of the astronauts, following which his colleague realises that the planet is a Counter-Earth, mirror image of Earth in every detail, with a parallel and duplicate timeline. The film was the first major live-action production by the Andersons, known for their puppet television programmes such as ''Thunderbirds (TV series), Thunderbirds''. Having originally conceived the story ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of the longest-running newspapers in the United States, the ''Times'' serves as one of the country's Newspaper of record, newspapers of record. , ''The New York Times'' had 9.13 million total and 8.83 million online subscribers, both by significant margins the List of newspapers in the United States, highest numbers for any newspaper in the United States; the total also included 296,330 print subscribers, making the ''Times'' the second-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States, following ''The Wall Street Journal'', also based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' is published by the New York Times Company; since 1896, the company has been chaired by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, whose current chairman and the paper's publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to television programmes, commercials, and pop promos, including the ''James Bond'' and '' Carry On'' film franchises. History Pinewood Studios was built on the estate of Heatherden Hall, a large Victorian country house which was purchased by Canadian financier, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentford and Chiswick, Lt. Col. Grant Morden (1880–1932). He added refinements such as a ballroom, a Victorian-style Turkish bath, and an indoor squash court. Due to its seclusion, it was used as a discreet meeting place for high-ranking politicians and diplomats; the agreement to create the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed there. In 1934, building tycoon Charles Boot (1874–1945) bought the land and turned it into a country club. The ballroo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Borehamwood
Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 36,322, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known as Elstree Studios. History One of the earliest mentions of Bosci de Boreham (Wood of Boreham), is in 1188: :"In 1188 Pope Clement granted to the kitchen of the monastery the whole land of Elstree. He also gave to the Abbey the wood of Boreham for the feeding of the swine." In 1776, Parliament enacted: :"An Act for dividing and closing the Common or Waste Ground, called Boreham Wood Common, in the Parish of Elstree otherwise Idletree, in the County of Hertford." Borehamwood was historically part of the parish of Elstree. A separate ecclesiastical parish of "All Saints, Boreham Wood" was created on 26 February 1909, covering the part of Elstree parish east of the Midland Railway. Despite this change to the ecclesiastical boundaries, B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MGM-British Studios
MGM-British was a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer initially established (as MGM London Films Denham) at Denham Film Studios in 1936. It was in limbo during the Second World War; however, following the end of hostilities, a facility was acquired in Borehamwood (one of several known as Elstree Studios), which remained in use until it was closed in 1970. Pre-war MGM London Films Denham Ltd was formed in 1936. The films produced during the initial period at Denham Film Studios were '' A Yank at Oxford'' (1938), '' The Citadel'' (1938), '' Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (1939) and '' Busman's Honeymoon'' (US: ''Haunted Honeymoon'', 1940). The first production head was Michael Balcon. However, he left after a single film and was replaced by Victor Saville. The subsidiary was in abeyance during the war. Meanwhile, Amalgamated Studios Ltd constructed a large studio on the north side of Elstree Way, Borehamwood, between 1935 and 1937. A January 1937 deal for eight films to be made for the Amer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in the production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme Company Television mogul Lew Grade set up the Incorporated Television Programme Company (ITP) with Prince Littler and Val Parnell in 1954. Originally designed to be a contractor for the UK's new ITV network, the company failed to win a contract when the Independent Television Authority felt that doing so would give too much control in the entertainment business to the Grade family's companies (which included large talent agencies and theatre interests) although the ITA said that ITP were free to make their own programmes which they could sell to the new network companies. ITP put most of the production budget into producing one show, '' The Adventures of Robin Hood'' (ITV, 1955–59). However, the winner of one of the contracts, the As ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a Ukrainian-born British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production began in 1954 when he founded the Incorporated Television Company (ITC; commonly known as ITC Entertainment) to distribute programmes, and following the success of ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' decided to focus on bringing them to the American market. Grade had some success in this field with such series as Gerry Anderson's many Supermarionation series such as '' Thunderbirds'', Patrick McGoohan's ''The Prisoner'', and Jim Henson's ''The Muppet Show''. Later, Grade invested in feature film production, but several expensive box-office failures caused him to lose control of ITC, and ultimately resulted in the disestablishment of ATV after it lost its ITV franchise. Early life Grade was born in Tokmak, Berdyansky Uyezd, Taurida Gov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alien Invasion
Alien invasion or space invasion is a common feature in science fiction stories and films, in which extraterrestrial lifeforms invade Earth to exterminate and supplant human life, enslave it, harvest people for food, steal the planet's resources, or destroy the planet altogether. It can be considered as a science-fiction subgenre of the invasion literature, expanded by H. G. Wells's seminal alien invasion novel '' The War of the Worlds'', and is a type of ' first contact' science fiction. Experts consider the prospects of an actual invasion of Earth by extraterrestrials to be extremely unlikely, due to the enormous cost in time and resources. Origins In 1898, Wells published '' The War of the Worlds'', depicting the invasion of Victorian England by Martians equipped with advanced weaponry. It is now seen as the seminal alien invasion story and Wells is credited with establishing several extraterrestrial themes which were later greatly expanded by science fiction writers in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ATV Midlands
ATV Network Limited, originally Associated TeleVision (ATV), was a British broadcaster, part of the ITV (Independent Television) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on weekdays from 1956 to 1968, and subsequently to the Midlands all week from 1968 to 1982. It was one of the " Big Four" until 1968, and the "Big Five" after 1968, that between them produced the majority of ITV networked programmes. In 1982, ATV was restructured and rebranded as Central Independent Television, under which name it continued to provide the service for the Midlands. ATV was awarded its first franchise by the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide the Independent Television service at weekends for the London region. This service started on Saturday, 24 September 1955, the second ITA franchise to go on air, and was extended until Sunday, 28 July 1968. ATV was also awarded the franchise to provide the weekdays Independent Television service ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ITV (TV Network)
ITV, legally known as Channel 3, is a British free-to-air public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television network. It is branded as ITV1 in most of the UK except for central and northern Scotland, where it is branded as STV (TV channel), STV. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, it has been Legal name, legally known as Channel 3 to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time: BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4. ITV was, for decades, a network of separate companies that provided regional television services and also shared programmes among themselves to be shown on the entire network. Each franchise was originally owned by a different company. After several mergers, the fifteen regional franchises are now held by two companies: ITV plc, which runs ITV1, the ITV1 cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
