Simon Phillip Hugh Callow, CBE (born 15 June 1949) is an
EnglishThe English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
actorAn actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
,
writerA writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and theatre director. He is also currently a judge on
Popstar to OperastarPopstar to Operastar is a British television programme singing competition based around the training of pop stars of current to be able to sing opera. The show began airing on ITV on 15 January 2010 at 9pm. The show is repeated on TV3 Ireland on Saturday evening. The programme is produced by...
.
Early years
Callow was born in
StreathamStreatham is a district in Surrey, England, located in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-History:...
,
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK, the son of Yvonne Mary (née Guise), a secretary, and Neil Francis Callow, a businessman. His father was of English and
FrenchThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
descent and his mother was of
DanishDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
and
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
ancestry. He was brought up Catholic. Callow attended the
London Oratory SchoolThe London Oratory School is a Catholic secondary comprehensive school in Fulham, London. The Headmaster is David McFadden. It has around 1,365 pupils. It is not to be confused with The Oratory School, a Catholic boarding school...
and then went on to study at
The Queen's University of BelfastQueen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB...
('Queen's') in
Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
before giving up his degree course to go into acting at the Drama Centre London.
Career
Callow's immersion in the theatre came when he wrote a fan letter to Sir
Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
, the Artistic Director of the
National TheatreThe Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
, getting a response by return suggesting that the young Simon come on board the staff, working in the box office. It was while watching actors rehearse that he realised that acting was something that he knew he wanted to do.
Callow made his stage debut in 1973, appearing in
The Thrie Estates at the Assembly Hall Theatre, Edinburgh. In the early 1970s he joined the Gay Sweatshop theatre company and performed in
Martin ShermanMartin Sherman is an American dramatist and screenwriter, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Bent , which explores the persecution of homosexuals during the Holocaust...
's critically acclaimed
Passing By. In 1977 he took various parts in the
Joint Stock Theatre CompanyThe Joint Stock Theatre Company was founded in London 1974 by David Hare, Max Stafford-Clark and David Aukin. The director William Gaskill was also an important part of the company. It was primarily a new work company....
's production of
Epsom DownsEpsom Downs is a 1977 play by Howard Brenton. Taking its name from the racecourse at which it is set, the play presents a panorama of race-goers, horse-owners, bookies, jockeys, etc...
and in 1979 he starred in
Snoo WilsonSnoo Wilson, , born Andrew James Wilson, is an English playwright, screenwriter and director. His early plays such as Blow-Job were overtly political, often combining harsh social comment with comedy...
's
The Soul of the White Ant at the
Soho PolySoho Theatre is a theatre in the eponymous Soho district of the City of Westminster. It presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret....
.
He made his first film appearance, as Schikaneder, in
AmadeusAmadeus is a 1984 period drama film directed by Miloš Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Adapted from Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the story is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the latter half of the...
in 1984 (having played
MozartWolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
in the original stage production at the
Royal National TheatreThe Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
in 1979). His first television role was in
Carry On LaughingCarry on Laughing is a British television comedy series produced in 1975 for ATV. Based on the Carry On films, it was an attempt to address the films' declining cinema attendance by transferring the franchise to television...
episode "Orgy and Bess", in 1975, but it was apparently cut from the final print. He starred in several series of the
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
situation comedyA situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
,
Chance in a MillionChance in a Million was a British sitcom broadcast between 1984 and 1986, produced by Thames Television for Channel 4.The series was co-written by Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen and starred Simon Callow and Brenda Blethyn....
, as Tom Chance, an eccentric individual to whom coincidences happened regularly. Roles like this and his part in
Four Weddings and a FuneralFour Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It was the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant...
brought him a wider audience than his many critically acclaimed stage appearances.
At the same time, Callow was successful both as a director and as a writer. His
Being An Actor (1984) was a critique of 'director dominated' theatre, in addition to containing autobiographical sections relating to his early career as an actor. At a time when subsidised theatre in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
was under severe pressure from the
ThatcherMargaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
government, the work's original appearance caused a minor controversy. In 1992, he directed the play
Shades by
Sharman MacDonaldSharman Macdonald is a Scottish playwright, screenwriter, and former actress. She is the mother of Academy Award-nominee Keira Knightley.-Career:...
and the musical
My Fair Lady featuring costumes designed by
Jasper ConranJasper Alexander Thirlby Conran OBE is an English fashion designer. He is the son of the designer Sir Terence Conran and the author Shirley Conran.-Education:He was educated at Port Regis School and Bryanston School in the 1970s...
. In 1995 he directed a stage version of the classic French film
Les Enfants du ParadisLes Enfants du Paradis, released as Children of Paradise in North America, is a 1945 French film by French director Marcel Carné, made during the German occupation of France during World War II...
for the
RSCThe Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
. The production was not a success. Callow has also directed opera productions.
One of Callow's best-known books is
Love Is Where It Falls, a poignant analysis of his eleven-year relationship with
Peggy RamsayMargaret Francesca Ramsay was a British theatrical agent. Ramsay was raised in South Africa, but during a brief and unhappy marriage came to England in 1929; her husband Norman Ramsay was under investigation in South Africa...
(1908–91), a prominent British theatrical agent from the 1960s to the 1980s. He has also written extensively about
Charles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, whom he has played in a one-man show,
The Mystery of Charles Dickens by
Peter AckroydPeter Ackroyd CBE is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a particular interest in the history and culture of London. For his novels about English history and culture and his biographies of, among others, Charles Dickens, T. S. Eliot and Sir Thomas More he won the Somerset Maugham Award...
, in the film
Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a FairytaleHans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale is a 2001 semi-biographical television miniseries that fictionalizes the young life of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. It was directed by Philip Saville and starred Kieran Bew as the title character...
, and on television several times including
An Audience with Charles Dickens (BBC, 1996) and in "
The Unquiet Dead"The Unquiet Dead" is an episode in the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on 9 April 2005 and is the first episode of the revival to be set in the past. In Victorian Cardiff, the dead are walking, and creatures made of gas are on the loose...
", a 2005 episode of the
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
science-fictionScience fiction first appeared on a television program during 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; this makes television an excellent medium...
series
Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. He will return to Doctor Who for the
2011 season finale"The Wedding of River Song" is the thirteenth and final episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, BBC America and Space on 1 October 2011.-Plot:...
, again taking the role of Dickens.
Callow appeared with
Saeed JaffreySaeed Jaffrey OBE is an Indian-born British actor, who has done numerous British movies. He was born in Malerkotla, Punjab...
in 1994 British television series
Little NapoleonsLittle Napoleons was a 1994 British television serial starring Saeed Jaffrey, Norman Beaton, Simon Callow and Lesley Manville as four politicians involved in local council elections. Beaton and Jaffrey played rival Labour candidates while Callow was their Conservative colleague....
. In 1996 Callow directed
CantabileCantabile - The London Quartet is a British a cappella vocal quartet.-Biography:They were formed as a student group whilst studying at Cambridge University in 1977...
in three musical pieces (
CommutingCommuting is regular travel between one's place of residence and place of work or full time study. It sometimes refers to any regular or often repeated traveling between locations when not work related.- History :...
,
The Waiter's Revenge,
Ricercare No. 4) composed by his friend Stephen Oliver. Ricercare No. 4 was commissioned by Callow especially for Cantabile. He voice-acted the sly and traitorous Wolfgang in
Shoebox ZooShoebox Zoo is a children's fantasy TV series made in a collaboration between BBC Scotland and various Canadian television companies. It is mostly live-action, but with CGI used for the animal figurines. It was first broadcast in 2004 by CBBC...
. In 2004, he appeared on a Comic Relief episode of
Little BritainLittle Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas...
for charity causes. In 2006, he wrote a piece for the BBC1 programme
This WeekThis Week is a current affairs and politics TV programme in the United Kingdom on the BBC, screened on Thursday evenings, hosted by former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil alongside former Conservative Member of Parliament and Minister Michael Portillo, and a left leaning guest panellist on...
bemoaning the lack of characters in modern politics. He has starred as Count Fosco, the villain of
Wilkie CollinsWilliam Wilkie Collins was an English novelist, playwright, and author of short stories. He was very popular during the Victorian era and wrote 30 novels, more than 60 short stories, 14 plays, and over 100 non-fiction pieces...
's novel
The Woman in WhiteThe Woman in White is an epistolary novel written by Wilkie Collins in 1859, serialized in 1859–1860, and first published in book form in 1860...
, in film (1997) and on stage (2005, in the
Andrew Lloyd WebberAndrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
musicalThe Woman in White is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Zippel with a book by Charlotte Jones, based on the novel The Woman in White written by Wilkie Collins...
in the West End).
In December 2004, he hosted the
London Gay Men's ChorusFounded in 1991 by a group of six gay men, the London Gay Men’s Chorus is now, with around 190 singing members and over 230 members in total, Europe’s largest and best known gay choir.-Introduction:...
Christmas Show,
Make the Yuletide Gay at the Barbican Centre in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. He is currently one of the patrons of the Michael Chekhov Studio London. Callow narrated the
audio bookAn audiobook or audio book is a recording of a text being read. It is not necessarily an exact audio version of a book or magazine.Spoken audio has been available in schools and public libraries and to a lesser extent in music shops since the 1930s. Many spoken word albums were made prior to the...
of
Robert FaglesRobert Fagles was an American professor, poet, and academic, best known for his many translations of ancient Greek classics, especially his acclaimed translations of the epic poems of Homer...
' 2006 translation of
VirgilPublius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
's
The Aeneid.
In July 2006, the world-renowned London Oratory School Schola announced Callow as one of their new patrons. In November 2007 he threatened to resign the post over controversy surrounding the Terrence Higgins Trust (an AIDS charity of which Callow is also a patron). Other patrons of the Catholic choir are
Princess Michael of KentPrincess Michael of Kent is an Austrian-Hungarian member of the British Royal Family. She is married to Prince Michael of Kent, who is a grandson of King George V....
and the leading Scottish composer James MacMillan. He reprised his role as Wolfgang in
Shoebox Zoo and voice-acted the wild and action-seeking Hunter as well.
From 11 July to 3 August 2008, Callow appeared at the
Stratford Shakespeare FestivalThe Stratford Shakespeare Festival is an internationally recognized annual celebration of theatre running from April to November in the Canadian city of Stratford, Ontario...
in Canada in
There Reigns Love, a performance of the sonnets of
William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and also in 2008, he appeared at the
Edinburgh FestivalThe Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
performing "Dr Marigold" and "Mr Chops" by
Charles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, adapted and directed by
Patrick Garlandthumb|right|200pxPatrick Garland is a British actor, writer, and director.Garland started Poetry International in 1963 with Ted Hughes and Charles Osborne. He was a director and producer for the BBC's Music and Arts Department , and worked on its Monitor series...
; repeating them from December 2009 to January 2010 at the
Riverside StudiosRiverside Studios is a production studio, theatre and independent cinema on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. It plays host to contemporary and international dramatic and dance performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production.-History:In 1933, the...
and on tour in 2011.
In February 2008, he played the psychiatrist in
Chichester Festival TheatreChichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
's production of
Peter ShafferSir Peter Levin Shaffer is an English dramatist and playwright, screenwriter and author of numerous award-winning plays, several of which have been filmed.-Early life:...
's
EquusEquus is a play by Peter Shaffer written in 1973, telling the story of a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious fascination with horses....
.
Between March and August 2009, he starred as Pozzo in
Sean MathiasSean Gerard Mathias is a British theatre director, film director, writer and actor.Mathias was born in Swansea, south Wales. He is known for directing the film, Bent, and for directing highly acclaimed theatre productions in London, New York, Cape Town, Los Angeles and Sydney...
's production of
Waiting for GodotWaiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
by
Samuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
opposite Sir
Ian McKellenSir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
(Estragon),
Patrick StewartSir Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television for around half a century...
(Vladimir) and also
Ronald Pickup-Life and career:Pickup was born in Chester, England, the son of Daisy and Eric Pickup, who was a lecturer. Pickup was educated at The King's School, Chester, trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and became an Associate Member of RADA.His television work began with an episode...
(Lucky). The tour opened in Malvern before travelling to Milton Keynes, Brighton, Bath, Norwich, Edinburgh and Newcastle; its run at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket was extended due to demand.
From June to November 2010, he appeared in a national tour of a new one-man play,
Shakespeare: the Man from Stratford, written by
Jonathan BateJonathan Bate CBE FBA FRSL is a British academic, biographer, critic, broadcaster, novelist and scholar of Shakespeare, Romanticism and Ecocriticism...
, directed by Tom Cairns and produced by the
Ambassador Theatre GroupThe Ambassador Theatre Group is an independent operator of theatres in the United Kingdom. Formed in 1992, by Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire,OBE, it acquired the Live Nation theatre group in November 2009.-List of theatres:...
. The play was renamed Being Shakespeare for its West End debut at the
Trafalgar StudiosTrafalgar Studios, formerly The Whitehall Theatre until 2004, is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London....
where it is due to open on 15 June 2011.
Callow has also written biographies of
Oscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
,
Charles LaughtonCharles Laughton was an English-American stage and film actor, screenwriter, producer and director.-Early life and career:...
and
Orson WellesGeorge Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
. He is currently at work on the third volume of his life of Welles. He has also an anthology of Shakespeare passages
Shakespeare On Love, and contributed to Cambridge's
Actors on Shakespeare series. Callow was also the reader of
The TwitsThe Twits is a humorous children's book written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. It was written in 1979, and first published in 1980....
and
The Witches in the Puffin
Roald DahlRoald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
Audio Books Collection (ISBN 978-0-140-92255-4) and has done audio versions of several abridged
P. G. WodehouseSir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
books that feature, among others, the fictional character
JeevesReginald Jeeves is a fictional character in the short stories and novels of P. G. Wodehouse, being the valet of Bertie Wooster . Created in 1915, Jeeves would continue to appear in Wodehouse's works until his final, completed, novel Aunts Aren't Gentlemen in 1974, making him Wodehouse's most famous...
. They include
Very Good, Jeeves and
Aunts Aren't Gentlemen. A devotee of classical music, he has contributed articles to
Gramophone magazine.
Personal life
Callow is one of the most prominent
gayGay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
actors in Britain, listed 28th in the Independents 2007 listing of the most influential gay men and women in the UK. In 1999 he was appointed a Commander of the
Order of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(CBE) for his services to acting. For some time Callow lived with director
Daniel KramerDaniel Kramer is an American director of stage and opera. He was born in Wadsworth, Ohio, USA. He currently lives in London. He has worked with a number of different stage and opera companies...
. They shared a house in
CamdenIn 1801, the civil parishes that form the modern borough were already developed and had a total population of 96,795. This continued to rise swiftly throughout the 19th century, as the district became built up; reaching 270,197 in the middle of the century...
,
North LondonNorth London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
, but have now ended their relationship. He was one of the first actors publicly to
declareComing out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
his
homosexualityHomosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
, doing so in his 1984 book Being An Actor. (In another he revealed his platonic relationship with the theatrical agent
Peggy RamsayMargaret Francesca Ramsay was a British theatrical agent. Ramsay was raised in South Africa, but during a brief and unhappy marriage came to England in 1929; her husband Norman Ramsay was under investigation in South Africa...
who was 40 years his senior.)
Film
| Year | Title | Character | Production |
| 1984 |
Amadeus Amadeus is a 1984 period drama film directed by Miloš Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Adapted from Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the story is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the latter half of the...
|
Emanuel Schikaneder Emanuel Schikaneder , born Johann Joseph Schickeneder, was a German impresario, dramatist, actor, singer and composer. He was the librettist of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Magic Flute and the builder of the Theater an der Wien...
/Papageno |
|
| 1985 |
The Good Father The Good Father is a 1985 British film directed by Mike Newell and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jim Broadbent, Harriet Walter, Fanny Viner, Simon Callow, Joanne Whalley, and Michael Byrne....
|
Mark Varda |
|
| A Room with a View A Room with a View is a 1985 British drama film directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant. The film is a close adaptation of E. M...
|
The Reverend Mr. Beebe |
Merchant Ivory |
| 1987 |
MauriceMaurice is a 1987 British film based on the novel of the same title by E. M. Forster. It is a tale of homosexual love in early 20th century England, following its main character Maurice Hall from his school days through university until he is united with his life partner.It was produced by Ismail...
|
Mr. Ducie |
Merchant Ivory |
| 1988 |
Manifesto Manifesto is a 1988 American comedy drama film directed by Dusan Makavejev and starring Camilla Søeberg, Alfred Molina and Simon Callow. It is based on the novel Pour une nuit d'amour by Émile Zola...
|
Police Chief Hunt |
|
| 1990 |
Postcards from the EdgePostcards from the Edge is a 1990 American comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Carrie Fisher is based on her 1987 semi-autobiographical novel of the same title.-Plot:...
|
Simon Asquith |
|
Mr. & Mrs. BridgeMr. & Mrs. Bridge is a 1990 Merchant Ivory film based on the novels by Evan S. Connell of the same name. It is directed by James Ivory, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and produced by Ismail Merchant.-Plot:...
|
Dr. Alex Sauer |
Merchant Ivory |
| 1991 |
The Ballad of the Sad Cafe The Ballad of the Sad Café is a 1991 Merchant Ivory film, produced by Ismail Merchant and directed by Simon Callow, starring Vanessa Redgrave and Keith Carradine. Michael Hirst adapted the Edward Albee play, which in turn was based on a novella in a collection of short stories of the same title by...
|
Director only |
Merchant Ivory, film entered into Berlin The 41st annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 15 to 26, 1991.-Jury:* Volker Schlöndorff * Chantal Akerman* Laurie Anderson* José Luis Borau* Judith Godrèche* Yuri Klepikov* Renate Krößner* Gillo Pontecorvo...
|
| 1991 |
Howards End Howards End is a 1992 film based upon the novel of the same title by E. M. Forster , a story of class relations in turn-of-the-20th-century England...
|
Music and Meaning Lecturer (cameo) |
Merchant Ivory |
| 1992 |
Soft Top Hard Shoulder Soft Top Hard Shoulder is a 1993 British comedy drama film directed by Stefan Schwartz, produced by Richard Holmes and starring Peter Capaldi, Frances Barber, Jeremy Northam and Richard Wilson. A man has to reach his estranged father's birthday party in time to inherit a large sum of money. Winner...
|
Eddie Cherdowski |
|
| 1994 |
Four Weddings and a FuneralFour Weddings and a Funeral is a 1994 British comedy film directed by Mike Newell. It was the first of several films by screenwriter Richard Curtis to feature Hugh Grant...
|
Gareth |
|
| Street Fighter Street Fighter is a 1994 American action film written and directed by Steven E. de Souza. It is based loosely on the same-titled video games produced by Capcom, and stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Raul Julia, along with supporting performances by Byron Mann, Damian Chapa, Kylie Minogue, Ming-Na...
|
A.N. Official |
|
| 1995 |
England, My England England, My England is a 1995 British historical film directed by Tony Palmer and starring Michael Ball, Simon Callow and Robert Stephens. It depicts the life of the composer Henry Purcell, seen through the eyes of a playwright in the 1960s who is trying to write a play about him. It was written by...
|
Charles IICharles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
|
|
| Victory Victory is a 1996 film directed by Mark Peploe. The screenplay was written by Peploe based on the novel by Joseph Conrad.The novel previously has been adapted films multiple times including a 1919 silent version directed by Maurice Tourneur featuring Jack Holt, Seena Owen, Lon Chaney, Sr., and...
|
Zangiacomo |
|
| Jefferson in Paris Jefferson in Paris is a 1995 Franco-American historical drama film directed by James Ivory . The screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala is a semi-fictional account of Thomas Jefferson's tenure as the Ambassador of the United States to France prior to his Presidency, and his alleged relationships with...
|
Richard Cosway |
Merchant Ivory |
| Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls is the sequel to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective . Jim Carrey reprises his role as the title character Ace Ventura, a detective who specializes in retrieval of tame or captive animals. This is the only sequel to a film starring Carrey in which Carrey reprised his role...
|
Vincent Cadby |
|
| 1996 |
James and the Giant Peach James and the Giant Peach is a 1996 musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick, based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. It was produced by Tim Burton and Denise Di Novi. The film is a combination of live action and stop-motion animation....
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Grasshopper (voice) |
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| 1998 |
The Scarlet Tunic |
Captain Fairfax |
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| Bedrooms and Hallways Bedrooms and Hallways is a 1998 comedy-drama film about bisexuality or the fluidity of sexuality. It was written by Robert Farrar and directed by Rose Troche, starring Kevin McKidd, James Purefoy, Tom Hollander, Julie Graham, Simon Callow and Hugo Weaving....
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Keith |
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Shakespeare in LoveShakespeare in Love is a 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard....
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Sir Edmund Tilney Sir Edmund Tilney or Tylney was a courtier best known now as Master of the Revels to Queen Elizabeth and King James. He was responsible for the censorship of drama in England. He was also instrumental in the development of English drama of the Elizabethan period...
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| 1999 |
Around the World in 80 Days Around the World in Eighty Days is a classic adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in 1873. In the story, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly employed French valet Passepartout attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days on a £20,000 wager set by his friends at the...
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Phileas Fogg (voice) |
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| Junk |
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| 2001 |
No Man's Land No Man's Land is a 2001 tragic war drama that is set in the midst of the Bosnian war. The film is a parable and marked the debut of Bosnian writer and director Danis Tanović...
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Soft |
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| 2001 |
Christmas Carol: The Movie Christmas Carol: The Movie is a 2001 British live action/animated film based on Charles Dickens's classic novella. Directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, the film features the voices of numerous actors including Simon Callow, Kate Winslet , and Nicolas Cage.- Voice cast :*Simon Callow – Charles...
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Ebenezer ScroogeEbenezer Scrooge is the principal character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the novel, Scrooge is a cold-hearted, tight-fisted and greedy man, who despises Christmas and all things which give people happiness...
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| 2002 |
Thunderpants Thunderpants is a 2002 family film about a boy whose incredible capacity for flatulence gets him a job as an astronaut. The film was directed by Pete Hewitt, whose previous work included Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey and The Borrowers...
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Sir John Osgood |
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| Merci Docteur Rey Merci Docteur Rey is a 2002 Merchant Ivory's gay comedy film directed by Andrew Litvack, starring Diane Wiest and Jane Birkin. Filmed in Paris.-Synopsis:...
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Bob |
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| 2003 |
Bright Young Things Bright Young Things is a 2003 British drama film written and directed by Stephen Fry. The screenplay, based on the 1930 novel Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh, provides satirical social commentary about the Bright Young People: young and carefree London aristocrats and bohemians, as well as society in...
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King of Anatolia |
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| 2004 |
George and the Dragon |
King Edgar |
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The Phantom of the OperaThe Phantom of the Opera is a 2004 film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux....
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Andre |
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| 2005 |
Rag Tale |
Fat Boy |
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| The Civilization of Maxwell Bright The Civilization of Maxwell Bright is a 2005 romance film starring Patrick Warburton, Marie Matiko, Eric Roberts, Leland Crooke and Jennifer Tilly that has seen success on the arthouse movie circuit. It has won awards at the WorldFest Houston, New York VisionFest, Florida Film Festival, Boulder...
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Mr. Wroth |
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| Bob the Butler Bob the Butler is a 2005 family comedy film about Bob Tree , who decides to get a job as a butler after going through many other jobs.-Plot synopsis:...
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Mr. Butler |
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| 2006 |
Sabina |
Eugene Bleuler |
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| 2007 |
Chemical Wedding Chemical Wedding is a British supernatural horror/science fiction film produced by Bill&Ben Productions in conjunction with the London-based Focus Films. It is directed by Julian Doyle, who edited Terry Gilliam's Brazil and Time Bandits, Life of Brian and Monty Python's The Meaning of Life...
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Professor Haddo/Aleister Crowley |
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Arn – The Knight TemplarArn – The Knight Templar is a 2007 epic film based on Jan Guillou's trilogy about the fictional Swedish Knight Templar Arn Magnusson. The film was released in December 2007 and the sequel, Arn – The Kingdom at Road's End , was released August 22, 2008...
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Father Henry |
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| 2011 |
No Ordinary Trifle Love's Kitchen is a 2011 British romantic comedy film directed by James Hacking and starring Dougray Scott, Claire Forlani, and Michelle Ryan...
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Guy Witherspoon |
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Television
| Date | Title | Character | Broadcaster |
| 2011 |
Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
- "The Wedding of River Song"The Wedding of River Song" is the thirteenth and final episode of the sixth series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was first broadcast on BBC One, BBC America and Space on 1 October 2011.-Plot:...
" |
Charles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
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BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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| 2011 |
Popstar to Operastar Popstar to Operastar is a British television programme singing competition based around the training of pop stars of current to be able to sing opera. The show began airing on ITV on 15 January 2010 at 9pm. The show is repeated on TV3 Ireland on Saturday evening. The programme is produced by...
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Himself |
ITV ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
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| 2011 |
Jamie's Dream School Jamie's Dream School is a seven-part British television documentary series made by Fresh One Productions, first aired on Channel 4. In it, Jamie Oliver enrols a group of teenagers with fewer than five GCSEs into his "Dream School" - a school in which lessons are taught by celebrities who are...
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Himself |
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
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| 2009 |
Lewis - "Counter Culture Blues" |
Vernon Oxe |
ITV ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
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| 2008 |
The Mr. Men ShowThe Mr. Men Show is an animated television series based on the original Mr. Men and Little Miss books created in the 1970s, 80s and 90s by British author Roger Hargreaves and his son Adam Hargreaves. Adapted from the published source material into a television variety program, The Mr...
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narrator |
Five |
| 2007 |
The Company The Company is a miniseries about the activities of the CIA during the Cold War. It was based on the best selling novel by Robert Littell. The teleplay adaptation was written by Ken Nolan.-Plot:...
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Elihu |
TNT |
| 2007 |
How Gay Sex Changed the World |
Himself |
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
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| 2007 |
Trick or TreatTrick or Treat is a British television show hosted by Derren Brown and broadcast on Channel 4. The first episode was broadcast on 13 April 2007. The focus of the show is on one person selected from a pool of volunteers who responded to adverts in the national press to take part in the show. The...
- Episode 4 |
Himself |
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
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| 2006 |
Midsomer MurdersMidsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
- "Dead Letters" |
Doctor Richard Wellow |
ITV ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
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| 2006 |
Classical Destinations |
Narrator |
Sky Arts Sky Arts and Sky Arts HD is the brand name for a group of art-oriented television channels offering 18 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music...
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| 2005 |
RomeRome is a British-American–Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald. The show's two seasons premiered in 2005 and 2007, and were later released on DVD. Rome is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic...
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Publius Servilius |
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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| 2005 |
Doctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
- "The Unquiet Dead"The Unquiet Dead" is an episode in the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who that was first broadcast on 9 April 2005 and is the first episode of the revival to be set in the past. In Victorian Cardiff, the dead are walking, and creatures made of gas are on the loose...
" |
Charles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
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BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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| 2004 |
Shoebox ZooShoebox Zoo is a children's fantasy TV series made in a collaboration between BBC Scotland and various Canadian television companies. It is mostly live-action, but with CGI used for the animal figurines. It was first broadcast in 2004 by CBBC...
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Wolfgang the Wolf/Hunter the Horse |
BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
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| 2003 |
Angels in America Angels in America is a 2003 HBO miniseries adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name by Tony Kushner. Kushner adapted his original text for the screen, and Mike Nichols directed...
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Prior Walter Ancestor #2 |
Avenue Pictures Productions |
| 2001 |
Don't Eat The Neighbours Don't Eat the Neighbours is a children's comedy series that originally aired in the United Kingdom and Canada in 2001-2002. It was filmed mainly with puppets, but occasionally used computer graphics. The series was focused on the characters Rabbit, Wolf, and their children...
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Fox & Bear |
CITVCITV is a British television channel from ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc. It broadcasts content from the CITV archive, as well as commissions and acquisitions. CITV itself is the programming block on the main ITV Network .The CITV channel broadcasts from 06:00 to 18:00...
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| 1998 |
Trial & Retribution Trial & Retribution is a feature-length ITV police proceduraltelevision drama series that began in 1997. It was devised and written by Lynda La Plante as a follow-on from her successful television series Prime Suspect. Each episode of the Trial & Retribution series is broadcast over two nights. The...
II |
Rupert Halliday |
La Plante Productions |
| 1996 |
An Audience With Charles Dickens 1996, Ambassador Theatre, London |
Charles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
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BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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| 1994 |
Little Napoleons Little Napoleons was a 1994 British television serial starring Saeed Jaffrey, Norman Beaton, Simon Callow and Lesley Manville as four politicians involved in local council elections. Beaton and Jaffrey played rival Labour candidates while Callow was their Conservative colleague....
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Edward Feathers |
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
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| 1993 |
Femme Fatale |
Vicar Ronnie |
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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| 1990 |
Old Flames |
Nathaniel Quass |
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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| 1987 |
Inspector Morse: The Wolvercote Tongue Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. Dexter makes a cameo appearance in all but three of the episodes....
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Theodore Kemp |
ITV ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
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| 1986 |
Dead Head Dead Head is a four-part crime thriller scripted by Howard Brenton. Juxtaposing 1930s film noir style and costume with contemporary London settings, it aroused controversy due to sexually explicit scenes. It was directed by Rob Walker....
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Hugo Silver |
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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| 1986 |
David Copperfield |
Mr Micawber |
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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| 1984 |
Chance in a Million Chance in a Million was a British sitcom broadcast between 1984 and 1986, produced by Thames Television for Channel 4.The series was co-written by Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen and starred Simon Callow and Brenda Blethyn....
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Tom Chance |
Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
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| 1981 |
The Man of Destiny The Man of Destiny is an 1897 play by George Bernard Shaw. It was published as a part of Plays Pleasant, which also included Arms and the Man, Candida and You Never Can Tell. Shaw titled the volume Plays Pleasant in order to contrast it with his first book of plays, Plays Unpleasant....
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Napoleon |
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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| 1976 |
The SweeneyThe Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London...
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Detective Sergeant |
Thames Television Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
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| 1975 |
Get Some In! Get Some In! was a British television series about life in Royal Air Force National Service broadcast between 1975 and 1978 by Thames Television...
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Wally |
Thames Television Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
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External links