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A new idea can become an expensive flop for TV executives. So from the earliest days of television, the concept of a pilot episode seemed like a good idea. Trying out new actors; new situations and new concepts before making a series was good economical sense. It was also tax deductible. Sometimes these pilots were shown on television; sometimes they were so awful they were hidden from sight in archives; and sometimes they were excellent one-offs, but a series seemed elusive and never materialised. Chris Perry has always been fascinated by the pilot episode. So many pilots are made annually, but never seen by audiences. Only a handful appear on screen. It's a hidden world of comedy, variety, drama and factual programming. This volume attempts to lift the lid on the world of the TV pilot by revealing the many transmitted and untransmitted episodes made through the decades.
The character of Colonel Kurtz in the Vietnam War film epic Apocalypse Now is reportedly the cinematic depiction of a real CIA agent and a trained killer. His name was Anthony Poshepny, but he was better known as Tony Poe. Poe was a heavy drinker, a stocky former Marine sergeant with the elite Parachute Battalion, and a CIA paramilitary agent. In 1942, at the age of seventeen, he joined the Marine Raiders. In Guadalcanal, he hunted down Japanese soldiers. In 1945, he led his machine gun section ashore across the knee-deep black sands at Red Beach on Iwo Jima. Recruited by the CIA in 1951, he was told that his role as a paramilitary agent was to carry out the Agency’s dirty work, which coul...
The 1980s was a golden age for British comedy. There were many sitcoms made, with traditional series such as Yes, Minister and Only Fools and Horses, as well as new inventive shows such as The Young Ones. A new style of alternative comedy created many memorable shows. As well as sitcoms, there were a huge number of sketch and stand up comedy shows, both traditional and more radical in style. Find out more about the huge range of comedy in Britain in 1980s with this book.
A timeless middle-grade story of football, friendship and determination from acclaimed author Rebecca Stevens. Lily has a job at the munitions factory and a goalkeeper's spot with a new women's football team, the Rockets. When the war ends, the girls lose their jobs and their football. But Lily refuses to give up her dream ...
A chronicle of a lifetime's passion for gig-going, by one of British television's most respected writers. “Foreground Music is an absolute gem. Charming, very funny and often achingly melancholy, Graham Duff's memoir is suffused with a genuine passion for live music and its (occasionally eccentric) power. —Mark Gatiss The result of a lifetime's passion for gig-going by one of British television's most respected writers, Foreground Music is at once enthusiastically detailed and tremendously illuminating—of both the concert moment and its place in popular culture. It is an engaging memoir of a life lived to the fullest, and a vivid, insightful, and humorous exploration of what music writ...
A companion to John Rudlin's best-selling Commedia dell'Arte: A Handbook for Actors, this book covers both the history and professional practice of commedia dell'arte companies from 1568 to the present day. Indispensable for both the beginner and the professional, it contains historical and contemporary company case histories, details on company organisation, and tips on practical stagecraft. Essential for students and practitioners, this book enables the reader to understand how successful commedia dell'arte companies function, and how we can learn from past and current practice to create a lively and dynamic form of theatre. Includes tips on: * writing a scenario * mask-making * building a stage * designing a backdrop * costume * music. _
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A Guide to British television programmes shown at Christmas time, throughout the years.
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The variety that is children's television drama is recalled in this book; shows such as: "Grange Hill"; "Stig of The Dump"; "The Railway Children"; "The Magician's House"; "The Chronicles of Narnia"; and "The Box of Delights". It lists entries on every British-made children's drama to have been shown on UK screens since 1950. Critical appraisals assess the kind of stories told for children, along with all the technical data and trivia. Programmes from the BBC and ITV are assessed, whether they were adaptations of literary classics or new, contemporary dramas, adventure, fantasy or science fiction.