Pamela Stephenson
A look behind the scenes of satirical sketch show Not the Nine O'Clock News.
Actress and writer Pamela Stephenson is now a successful therapist – Dr Pamela Connolly – with a private practice in Los Angeles. She draws upon her professional training when interviewing A-list celebrities.
'Salty Sam' Stephenson, Pamela's great, great grandfather, family legend has it was the owner and captain of the sailing ship ROSALIE who was abandoned by his crew in the 1820s and never heard of again. A chance encounter with the descendant of another crew member who had a different story to tell prompted Pamela to discover the fate of her ancestor. Delving in maritime archives she begins to piece together his background. From Rotherhithe she retraces his journeys along the old spice route and hires a sailing boat with a heavily armed crew to continue her search in pirate-infested waters. A tale of genealogy, mystery and adventure.
Fat middle aged 24/7 drunkard Les Patterson represents Australia at the UN where his fart literally incinerates an Arab ambassador. Patterson is reassigned to the Middle East so he can be tortured to death by the country he insulted. Patterson's arrival is the prefect distract of a coup and he is spared. At a bar Patterson meets a bio weapons scientist who's developed a horrific disease for the KGB whom plan to distribute it to the Pentagon via toilet seats. Patterson of course is far too drunk to understand anything happening and teams up with Dane Edna to save the world.
The Grand Knockout Tournament (colloquially also known as It's a Royal Knockout) was a one-off charity event which was shown on British television on 19 June 1987. It followed the format of It's a Knockout (the British version of Jeux Sans Frontieres), a slapstick TV gameshow which was broadcast in the UK until 1982. The event was staged on the lakeside lawn of the Alton Towers stately home-cum-theme park. However, the event used its own specially created immersing set, meaning that the location was not very recognisable in the TV broadcast.
A disturbed woman murders her husband, and others, so that she can be haunted by their "wronged" spirits.
Lost Empires is a 1986 television adaptation of J. B. Priestley's novel of the same name, and starred Colin Firth, John Castle and Laurence Olivier. Produced by Granada Television, it was shown as a serial, and premiered on the UK's ITV network in October and November 1986.
The comedy event of the year took place in April 1986 at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London. All those taking part gave their services free in order to support the famine relief camp in Umbala in the west of Sudan. Tonight Omnibus, in collaboration with Charity Projects, presents the best comic talents in Britain today. Among those appearing: Rowan Atkinson, Frank Bruno, Kate Bush, Graham Chapman, Billy Connolly, Ronnie Corbett, Paul Eddington, Ben Elton, French and Saunders, Stephen Fry, Bob Geldof, Terry Gilliam, Lenny Henry, Howard Jones, Terry Jones, Hugh Laurie, Hank Marvin, Rik Mayall, Michael Palin, Cliff Richard, Pamela Stephenson, Spitting Image, Midge Ure, The Young Ones.
An investigative reporter following an espionage story goes to London and gets involved with murder, scam artists and rock concerts.
On the run from the police and a female roller derby team, scam artist Michael Rangeloff steals a coffin and boards a train, pretending to be a soldier bringing home a dead war buddy. He gets more than he bargained for from the train and the coffin.
Six scientists arrive at the creepy Headstone Manor to investigate a strange phenomena which was the site of a mysterious massacre years earlier where 18 guests were killed in one night. It turns out that the house is the place of a satanic cult lead by a sinister monk who plans to kill the scientists who are inhabiting this house of Satan.
Aiming to defeat the Man of Steel, wealthy executive Ross Webster hires bumbling but brilliant Gus Gorman to develop synthetic kryptonite, which yields some unexpected psychological effects in the third installment of the 1980s Superman franchise. Between rekindling romance with his high school sweetheart and saving himself, Superman must contend with a powerful supercomputer.
An uproarious version of history that proves nothing is sacred – not even the Roman Empire, the French Revolution and the Spanish Inquisition.
Not the Nine O'Clock News is a television comedy sketch show which was broadcast on BBC2 from 1979 to 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the Nine O'Clock News on BBC1, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy sketches, re-edited videos, and spoof television formats. The show featured Rowan Atkinson, Pamela Stephenson, Mel Smith, and Griff Rhys Jones, as well as Chris Langham in the first series. The format was a deliberate departure from the Monty Python's Flying Circus stream-of-consciousness meta-comedy, returning to a more conventional sketch show format. Sketches were mostly self-contained, lasting from a few seconds to a few minutes and often had a degree of naturalism in performance. The series launched the careers of several high-profile actors and writers, and also led to other comedy series including Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and Alas Smith and Jones.
A singer holes up at a sinister estate to write new songs for his act. The ghost of his murdered wife begins to haunt him, then the person who actually killed her shows up at the mansion.
Some British soldiers in Singapore are more concerned with finding sex than finding Communists.
A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, and features performances by a musical guest.
Ryan was an Australian adventure television series screened by the Seven Network from 27 May 1973. The series was produced by Crawford Productions and had a run of 39 one hour episodes. The title character was a dashing private investigator played by Rod Mullinar. Ryan's assistant was played by New Zealand-born actor Pamela Stephenson, soon to leave for England and a successful television career. Other regular characters were Tony Angelini, a taxi driver and Ryan's regular informant, while Detective Cullen was Ryan’s main liaison with the police force. Ryan was shot entirely on film and in colour with an eye to potential international sales. An initial sale of 39 episodes to the Seven Network recouped only 55% of the series' relatively high production costs. An international sale was therefore crucial to the show's continued feasibility. Australian television was still broadcasting in black and white in 1973, while key international markets broadcast in colour and would more readily purchase a colour series. Though many Australian series shot their interior scenes on videotape in the studio using a multiple-camera setup with only outdoor scenes shot on film, because Australia was yet to switch to colour television the television studios were not yet equipped with colour equipment. This meant Ryan had to be shot entirely on film. In another concession to international marketability Mullinar was instructed to play the role using a Mid-Atlantic American accent.
