All articles in Entertainment
28th October, 2024 in Entertainment
Casting the impossible: The search for James Bond
The search for an actor to play James Bond did not start with the journey that ultimately led to the monumental casting of Sean Connery in 1962, but a full three years before in 1959 when 007 looked like making his cinematic debut in a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. After yea…
27th August, 2024 in Biography & Memoir, Entertainment, Women in History
The music behind ‘Where Madness Lies’
Author of Where Madness Lies Lyndsy Spence, has provided the soundtrack to the fascinating, but also tragic, life of film star Vivien Leigh. The complete playlist is available on Spotify below. Happy listening… Track 1: Il cielo in una stanza by Mina The dreamy orchestration evok…
27th October, 2021 in Entertainment, Society & Culture, Women in History
Black women in British theatre
In his latest book, author Stephen Bourne celebrates the pioneers of Black British theatre. A powerful study of theatre’s Black trailblazers and their profound influence on British culture today, Deep Are the Roots is also a personal history, and not an objective, academic one. H…
24th June, 2021 in Biography & Memoir, Entertainment, Women in History
Ask the author: Lyndsy Spence on Maria Callas
Maria Callas is one of opera’s greatest talents, and yet so much of her life is lost when we focus solely on Callas the artist and ignore Maria the woman. We spoke to Lyndsy Spence, author of Cast a Diva: The Hidden Life of Maria Callas, about Maria’s legacy… What drew you to Mar…
23rd March, 2021 in Entertainment, Local & Family History
10 fabulous facts about London’s Record Shops
Garth Cartwright and Quintina Valero take us on a tour around London’s Record Shops. 1. HMV – the chain of record stores that once straddled the globe – started as a single shop at 363 Oxford Street, London. Opened in 1921 by parent company His Master’s Voice to sell the 78s and…
27th March, 2020 in Entertainment, Women in History
Diana Dors: Mink and millions?
Diana Dors had a background of home stability and comfort. As the only child of financially stable parents much of her upbringing was cosseted and secure. Although Diana could be considered indulged, she was still a female child being raised in an age of male breadwinners and fem…
20th November, 2019 in Entertainment, Society & Culture
Playing Gay Q&A
The television set – the humble box in the corner of almost every British household – has brought about some of the biggest social changes in modern times. It gives us a window into the lives of people who are different from us: different classes, different races, different…
18th January, 2019 in Entertainment, Women in History
Mary, Queen of Scots in seven actresses
Scotland has a long and turbulent royal history, but no one invites fascination and speculation quite as much as Mary, Queen of Scots. Born in Linlithgow Palace on 8 December 1542 and pronounced queen six days later when her father, James VI, died with no male heirs, Mary’s life…
14th December, 2018 in Entertainment
Will ‘the talkies’ ever catch on? Film criticism through history
It may have become as much a part of Christmas as the turkey and the tree, but It’s a Wonderful Life was deemed ‘not a good film’ when it first came out in 1947, while Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Vertigo was dismissed as ‘not an important film or even major Hitchcock’ in 1958 – o…
10th December, 2018 in Entertainment, Society & Culture
Christmas television past
One essential element to a Christmas programme, however clichéd the writing, and despite the fact it was probably taped in July, still conveyed a sense of occasion – one where a familiar figure would ‘put on a turn’. Such shows were typically aimed at an audience gathered around…
31st October, 2018 in Entertainment, Military, Society & Culture
How British theatre raised funds in World War I
If you were fundraising for a good cause in Great War Britain, where was your first port of call? More than likely it was a local playhouse, variety theatre or music hall where a matinee might raise large sums in an afternoon. No sooner had war been declared than West End stars,…
1st October, 2018 in Entertainment, Women in History
Mata Hari: The enduring fantasy
Mata Hari is a name that still resonates over 100 years after her execution for espionage. But why do we find female spies in general and Mata Hari in particular so fascinating? Why should we remember a woman who betrayed her adopted country, a self-proclaimed international woman…