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 ]
Publishers are divided on when staff should return to office buildings, with some back at their desks already but others—including Pearson and Taylor & Francis—planning to keep some staff at home until next year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-07-19 14:53:46 UTC ]
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The biggest airport in Canada is eliminating 500 jobs because of the dramatic reduction in demand for air travel due to COVID-19. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2020-07-14 14:02:27 UTC ]
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Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer was seen at a departure gate at Toronto’s Pearson Airport today without a mask on — an apparent contravention of the rules that apply to travellers passing through the terminal. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2020-07-07 20:47:39 UTC ]
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The New York Times Magazine was the top winner at this year's National Magazine Awards (commonly referred to as the "Ellies"), which were held as a virtual ceremony Thursday evening after the annual gala, originally set for Brooklyn in mid-March, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By... Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2020-05-29 01:15:13 UTC ]
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The bosses of two Omnicom stablemates, Tammy Einav of Adam & Eve/DDB and Tim Pearson from OMD Group UK, have been working more closely since the virus crisis and have a blueprint for recovery. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2020-05-15 07:16:20 UTC ]
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Macmillan Children’s Books has appointed Egmont's Nicole Pearson and Little Tiger's Barry Timms to new publishing director roles in its expanding Preschool, Brands and Classics division. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-05-05 14:15:14 UTC ]
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Could the "wealth-conjuring machine" that is Canadian real estate grind to a halt after the COVID-19 crisis exposed its worst weaknesses? That's the concern many who watch a sector that makes up a bigger part of the Canadian economy than oil and... Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2020-05-05 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Pearson has reported it will pay its final dividend for 2019 to investors and is not furloughing any staff, despite a 5% fall in global revenues for the first quarter as a result of Covid-19. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-04-23 16:58:47 UTC ]
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Long before Tinder, there was Jane Austen, warning your dates and their families that you looked nothing like your picture: in this instance, her subject was Mary Pearson, a portrait of whom has recently been discovered and acquired by Jane Austen’s House museum. Pearson, who likely inspired... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-04-07 15:55:45 UTC ]
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San Antonio-based TrueAbility, a skills assessment software company, has signed a multiyear agreement with Minneapolis-based Pearson VUE, enhancing the global testing company's ability to administer certification exams for clients that can accurately demonstrate a test taker's competencies and... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2020-04-04 13:27:17 UTC ]
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Pearson has warned its profits will be hit, and paused its share buyback, after the Covid-19 pandemic closed testing centres and saw US state assessments postponed or waived. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2020-03-22 23:25:19 UTC ]
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Pearson’s 25% stake in Penguin Random House earned the company £65 million in operating profit in 2019. Pearson has sold its 25% share of PRH to Bertelsmann in a deal expected to generated net proceeds of $675 million when the transaction closes. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-02-21 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Rachel Pearson reviews the sequel to “The House of God,” “Man’s 4th Best Hospital,” by Stephen Bergman, written under the pen name Samuel Shem, and discusses the book’s sexism and flaunting of privilege. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2019-12-25 13:00:00 UTC ]
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U.K.-based publisher Pearson is selling its last shares in Penguin Random House, representing 25% ownership of the company, to Germany's Bertelsmann, which will now have 100% ownership of the company. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-12-18 05:00:00 UTC ]
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Pearson is selling its remaining 25% stake in Penguin Random House to Bertelsmann, as its c.e.o. John Fallon prepares to retire next year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-18 01:20:40 UTC ]
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Pearson has won a contract with the UK Home Office to deliver secure English language tests (SELTs) to people who need to demonstrate their English language skills to work or live in the UK. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-12-17 10:16:56 UTC ]
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Members of several Canadian families who lost loved ones in the Ethiopian Airlines crash last March landed at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport Tuesday morning along with seven caskets carrying the remains of their relatives. Continue reading at CBC
[ CBC | 2019-10-22 17:42:52 UTC ]
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Editor of The Bookseller Philip Jones will interview former indie publisher turned audiobook pioneer Mark Pearson at the Frankfurt Book Fair, ahead of the announcement of the shortlists for this year’s FutureBook Awards. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-10-16 14:44:34 UTC ]
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The producer of STM and legal materials overtakes Pearson as the world’s largest publisher. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2019-10-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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In a third quarter trading update, Pearson has reported "weaker than expected" performance in its US higher education courseware business, with revenue down around 10%, but it still expects revenues to stabilise for the whole group this year. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2019-09-26 09:00:05 UTC ]
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