Ahead of a new stage revival, the creators and cast of Channel 4’s classic 90s newsroom sitcom remember close encounters with future Bond stars, writing episodes at the last minute and the meaning between that mysterious titleWhen Drop the Dead Donkey debuted on Channel 4 on 9 August 1990, it was something entirely new. Creators Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin used the offices of fictional TV studio GlobeLink News to combine a classic workplace sitcom with hot-off-the-presses topical gags. Over time, the characters became the main attraction: bickering anchors Henry Davenport (David Swift) and Sally Smedley (Victoria Wicks), amoral foreign correspondent Damien Day (Stephen Tompkinson), and Gus Hedges (Robert Duncan), the jargon-spouting emissary of GlobeLink’s rapacious owner Sir Roysten Merchant. Other cast members included Neil Pearson (as office dogsbody Dave Charnley) and, for two seasons, Haydn Gwynne (as adept assistant editor Alex Pates).Drop the Dead Donkey was a consistent hit, peaking at 4-5 million viewers during its eight-year run. It attracted guest stars such as Neil Kinnock and Jon Snow and up-and-coming actors including Andrew Lincoln, Hermione Norris, Gina McKee and Daniel Craig. Now, the entire surviving cast (Swift died in 2016 and Gwynne in 2023) has reunited for a touring stage show, Drop the Dead Donkey: The Reawakening!, which drops the GlobeLink diaspora into a news landscape that makes the 1990s skulduggery seem almost sweet. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-01-20 11:55:00 UTC ]
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New study finds less than half of adult Americans read a book for pleasure last year. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-11-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Unit sales of print books fell 3.2% last week at outlets that report to Circana BookScan. The performance wasn’t a bad one—it was just unable to match the same period last year, when 'It Starts with Us' by Colleen Hoover sold more than 810,000 copies in its first week on sale. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-10-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Scholastic Inc. will end a widely criticized policy that made it easier for school book fairs not to sell works with racial, disability and LGBTQ+ themes Continue reading at ABC News
[ ABC News | 2023-10-25 19:50:33 UTC ]
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Documentary tells story of David Holmes who sustained a spinal injury during filming of The Deathly Hallows: Part 1Daniel Radcliffe has teamed up with his Harry Potter stunt double, who became paralysed after an on-set accident, for an HBO documentary.David Holmes worked closely with Radcliffe... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-10-25 14:32:27 UTC ]
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Michelle Obama will perform the digital audiobook edition of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, coming October 31! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-10-25 11:45:24 UTC ]
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Rushdie, who was grievously injured onstage last year, said the forthcoming book was a way “to answer violence with art.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-10-11 14:10:29 UTC ]
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Ek blames Apple for holding back his company’s first foray into audiobooks and confirms his company is in talks with Google about in-app purchases. Spotify is doubling down on audiobooks: Paying subscribers of the music service will now have access to up to 15 hours of audiobook listening as... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2023-10-03 16:30:00 UTC ]
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The cartoonist has written some of the great haters, slackers, and screwups in modern comics. His new graphic novel imagines if one of them grew up. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2023-10-02 13:46:00 UTC ]
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Amazon has kicked off a new Fire tablet sale ahead of its Prime Big Deal Days event later this month. The discounts include the Fire HD 8 down to $60, the Fire HD 8 Plus for $70, the Fire Max 11 for $150, the previous-generation Fire HD 10 for $75 and the Fire 7 for $40,... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-10-02 07:45:36 UTC ]
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Veteran actor Michael Gambon, who was known to many for his portrayal of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in six of the eight Harry Potter films, has died, his publicist said Thursday. He was 82. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2023-09-28 12:32:43 UTC ]
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Murdoch papers declare the premier’s electoral popularity was a ‘cult’ and his legacy nothing but a state ‘deep in debt’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe Sunday Herald Sun’s front-page photo of the... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2023-09-27 03:28:06 UTC ]
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The actor’s audio-only memoir delivers songs, stories and scenes with humor and vulnerability. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-09-22 09:01:07 UTC ]
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Last spring, I approached Nickolas Butler, internationally bestselling author of the novels Shotgun Lovesongs, The Hearts of Men, and Godspeed, to be the judge for this year’s Insider Prize, American Short Fiction’s annual literary award for incarcerated writers in Texas. He’d worked with... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-09-22 08:15:30 UTC ]
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The trailer for the adaptation of the bestselling book LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY starring Brie Larson has just dropped! Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-09-14 18:04:40 UTC ]
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The National Book Foundation has rescinded Drew Barrymore's invitation to host the National Book Awards while her show tapes amid the Hollywood strikes. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-09-12 23:23:20 UTC ]
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The National Book Awards has rescinded its invitation to Drew Barrymore to host the 74th National Book Awards following the actor's decision to resume filming her daytime talk show in spite of the ongoing Hollywood strikes. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-12 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Peter Ruis has resigned as CEO of Indigo Books & Music, a position he held for a year. The news comes after the retirement of founder Heather Reisman, a boardroom shake-up, and a destructive cyber attack that impacted sales. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-09-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In the 1950s, a group of women known as the Folly Cove Designers made prints that still capture the imagination today. A simple Yankee swap in 1938 between neighbors in the quaint neighborhood of Folly Cove, in Gloucester, Massachusetts—design lessons in exchange for music instruction—became... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2023-08-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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The author and essayist Daniel Kehlmann will give the laudation on Frankfurter Buchmesse’s final day, for Salman Rushdie’s award. By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson Rushdie Speaks September 13 in a First Amendment Summit hen the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade is... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2023-08-24 19:37:32 UTC ]
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