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Up Pompeii
''Up Pompeii!'' is a British television comedy series set in ancient Pompeii and broadcast between 1969 and 1970, starring Frankie Howerd. The first series was written by Talbot Rothwell, a scriptwriter for the ''Carry On'' films, and the second series by Rothwell and Sid Colin. Two later specials were transmitted in 1975 and 1991 and a film adaptation was released in 1971. Background ''Up Pompeii!'' first appeared in the '' Comedy Playhouse'' series, after Michael Mills and Tom Sloan from BBC Comedy and Light Entertainment visited the ruins of Pompeii. Since Mills had recently seen Frankie Howerd in the stage musical ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' he casually remarked to Sloan that he half expected Howerd to suddenly appear round the corner. Sloan had replied 'Why not?', and the idea took root. Talbot Rothwell was invited to write a script and the designer Sally Hulke visited Pompeii with a sketch book and camera to ensure realism and authenticity. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Up Pompeii (film)
''Up Pompeii'' is a 1971 British sex comedy film directed by Bob Kellett and starring Frankie Howerd and Michael Hordern. It was written by Sid Colin based on an idea by Talbot Rothwell. It is based on characters from the British television sitcom ''Up Pompeii!'' (1969–1975). There were two sequels: ''Up the Chastity Belt'' (1971), and '' Up the Front'' (1972). Plot Lurcio becomes the inadvertent possessor of a scroll bearing all the names of the proposed assassins of Nero. The conspirators need to recover the scroll fast, but it has fallen into the hands of Lurcio's master, Ludicrus Sextus, who mistakenly reads the contents of the scroll to the Senate. Farcical attempts are made to retrieve the scroll before Pompeii is eventually consumed by the erupting Vesuvius. Cast Production Ned Sherrin and Terry Glinwood formed Virgin Films, which made seven films beginning with this and its sequels. Frankie Howerd's agent Beryl Vertue sold the idea of a film version of ''Up Pom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talbot Rothwell
Talbot Nelson Conn "Tolly" Rothwell, Order of the British Empire, OBE (12 November 1916 – 28 February 1981) was an English screenwriter. Life and career Rothwell was born in Bromley, Kent, England. He had a variety of jobs during his early life: Municipal clerk, town clerk, police officer and Royal Air Force Aircraft pilot, pilot. Rothwell was made a prisoner of war during World War II after being shot down over Norway. It was during this period, while incarcerated in Stalag Luft III, that he started to write. Peter Butterworth was in the same camp and the two became firm friends, working on camp concerts with Rothwell mostly writing and Butterworth performing. These concerts helped to relieve the boredom of camp life and the noise helped cover tunnelling escape efforts. After World War II, Rothwell took up writing as his profession, writing scripts for Crazy Gang (comedy group), the Crazy Gang, Arthur Askey, Ted Ray (comedian), Ted Ray and Terry-Thomas. His hit play ''Qu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Cotton
Sir William Frederick Cotton (23 April 1928 – 11 August 2008) was a British television producer and executive, and the son of dance band leader Billy Cotton. The television and radio presenter Fearne Cotton is related to him, as he was her paternal grandfather's cousin. Early life Following a secondary education at the independent school Ardingly College, he joined the Royal Army Service Corps as a transport officer. He joined BBC Television as an in-house producer of light entertainment programmes in 1956, working on various programmes such as his father's '' Billy Cotton Band Show'' and popular music programme ''Six-Five Special''. Professional career In 1970, Cotton was promoted to head of light entertainment, following the death of Tom Sloan in May. In this position, Cotton was responsible for overseeing the production of a whole series of popular variety and light entertainment shows, including '' Jim'll Fix It'' (1975–1994) '' The Morecambe and Wise Show'' (1968� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Television Pilot
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] |
Prologue
A prologue or prolog (from Ancient Greek πρόλογος ''prólogos'', from πρό ''pró'', "before" and λόγος ''lógos'', "speech") is an opening to a story that establishes the context and gives background details, often some earlier story that ties into the main one, and other miscellaneous information. The Ancient Greek word πρόλογος includes the modern meaning of ''prologue'', but was of wider significance, more like the meaning of preface. The importance, therefore, of the prologue in Greek tragedy#Structure, Greek drama was very great; it sometimes almost took the place of a romance, to which, or to an episode in which, the play itself succeeded. Latin On the Latin stage the prologue was often more elaborate than it was in Athens, and in the careful composition of the poems which Plautus prefixes to his plays we see what importance he gave to this portion of the entertainment; sometimes, as in the preface to the ''Rudens'', Plautus rises to the height of h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aside
An aside is a dramatic device in which a character speaks to the audience. By convention, the audience is to realize that the character's speech is unheard by the other characters on stage. It may be addressed to the audience expressly (in character or out) or represent an unspoken thought. An aside is usually a brief comment rather than a speech, such as a monologue or soliloquy. The aside was used by Ian Richardson's character Francis Urquhart in the 1990 BBC mini-series '' House of Cards'', as well as by Kevin Spacey's character Frank Underwood in the 2013 Netflix original series of the same name. It can be used to explain the often complex politics on the show, describe what the character's plans/emotions are or simply for humorous effect. It was also used by Michaela Coel’s character Tracey in the Channel 4 comedy series ''Chewing Gum''; and by the titular character in '' Fleabag'', written and played by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. References * Bevington, David (1962 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Double Entendres
A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacceptable, or offensive to state directly. A double entendre may exploit puns or word play to convey the second meaning. Double entendres generally rely on multiple meanings of words, or different interpretations of the same primary meaning. They often exploit ambiguity and may be used to introduce it deliberately in a text. Sometimes a homophone can be used as a pun. When three or more meanings have been constructed, this is known as a "triple entendre", etc. Etymology According to the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary, the expression comes from the rare and obsolete French expression, which literally meant "double meaning" and was used in the senses of "double understanding" or "ambiguity" but ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valerie Leon
Valerie Therese Leon (born 12 November 1943) is an English actress and model who has had roles in many film and television productions, including six of the '' Carry On'' film series and two James Bond films, '' The Spy Who Loved Me'' (1977) and ''Never Say Never Again'' (1983) alongside Roger Moore and Sean Connery, respectively. She also had roles in high-profile films such as ''The Italian Job'' (1969), ''The Wild Geese'' (1978) and ''Revenge of the Pink Panther'' (1978) and had a starring role in the Hammer horror film '' Blood from the Mummy's Tomb'' (1971). Leon also appeared in the Hai Karate television adverts in the 1970s which gained her substantial publicity. She also became known globally as a sex symbol due to her glamorous looks and attractive figure, and was often referred to as the "English Raquel Welch". Early life Leon was born in Hampstead, London in 1943 to Henry and Daphne Leon (née Ehrmann) and is the eldest of four children. Her father was a director of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wendy Richard
Wendy Richard (born Wendy Emerton; 20 July 1943 – 26 February 2009) was an English actress, best known for her television roles as Miss Shirley Brahms on the BBC sitcom ''Are You Being Served?'' from 1972 to 1985, and Pauline Fowler on the soap opera ''EastEnders'' from 1985 to 2006. Despite being known for her Cockney accent, Richard was born in Middlesbrough. After a childhood in which her father died by suicide, Richard worked in department stores to pay her drama school fees before appearing regularly on-screen from the early 1960s. She played Joyce Harker in '' The Newcomers'' from 1967 to 1969. Richard then appeared in two '' Carry On'' films. In the television series ''Dad's Army'', she was Private Walker's girlfriend, before being cast as Miss Brahms in ''Are You Being Served?'' appearing in all 69 episodes from 1972 to 1985. She also reprised the role in the sequel series '' Grace and Favour'' in 1992 and 1993. After ''Are You Being Served?'' ended, Richard star ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barbara Windsor
Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders''." Ten Things You Never Knew About Barbara Windsor" ''Digital Spy'' 23 May 2007 She joined the cast of ''EastEnders'' in 1994 and won the 1999 British Soap Award for Best Actress, before leaving the show in 2016 when her character was killed off. Windsor began her career on stage in 1950 at the age of 13, and made her film debut as a schoolgirl in ''The Belles of St. Trinian's'' (1954) while studying shipping management at Bow Technical College. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willie Rushton
William George Rushton (18 August 1937 – 11 December 1996) was an English cartoonist, comedian actor and satirist who co-founded the satirical magazine ''Private Eye''. Early life Rushton was born 18 August 1937 at 3 Wilbraham Place, Chelsea, London, the only child of publisher John Atherton Rushton (1908–1958) and his Welsh wife Veronica (née James, 1910–1977). He was educated at Shrewsbury School, where he was not particularly successful academically but met his future ''Private Eye'' colleagues Richard Ingrams, Paul Foot and Christopher Booker. He also contributed to the satirical magazine ''The Wallopian'' (a play on the school magazine name ''The Salopian''), mocking school spirit, traditions and the masters. Later, he said he recalled little of his schooldays, except that "it was Blandings country. The sort of place where you go to die, not to be educated." After school, Rushton had to undertake two years of national service in the army, where he failed officer s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andronicus, the innovator of Latin literature. The word Plautine () refers to both Plautus's own works and works similar to or influenced by his. Biography Not much is known about Titus Maccius Plautus's early life. It is believed that he was born in Sarsina, a small town in Emilia Romagna in northern Italy, around 254 BC.''The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'' (1996) Ed. M.C. Howatson and Ian Chilvers, Oxford University Press, Oxford Reference Online According to Morris Marples, Plautus worked as a stage-carpenter or scene-shifter in his early years. It is from this work, perhaps, that his love of the theater originated. His acting talent was eventually discovered; and he adopted the nomen "Maccius" (from Maccus, a clownis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
