Porridge (TV series)

Porridge was a British sitcom broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977, running for three series, two Christmas specials and a feature film also titled Porridge (the movie was released under the title Doing Time in the United States). Written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it stars Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale as two inmates at the fictional HMP Slade in Cumberland. "Doing porridge" is British slang for serving a prison sentence, porridge once being the traditional breakfast in UK prisons.

Porridge was critically acclaimed and is widely considered to be one of the greatest British sitcoms of all time. The series was followed by a 1978 sequel, Going Straight, which established that Fletcher would not be going back to prison again.

History

Porridge originated with a 1973 project commissioned by the BBC Seven of One, which would see Ronnie Barker star in seven different situation comedy pilot episodes. The most successful would then be made into a full series. One of the episodes, "Prisoner and Escort", written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (who appear in one episode) about a newly convicted criminal, Norman Stanley Fletcher (Barker), being escorted to prison by two warders: the timid Mr. Barrowclough (Brian Wilde) and the stern Mr. Mackay (Fulton Mackay). It was broadcast on 1 April 1973 on BBC2. Despite Barker's initial preference for another of the pilots, a sitcom about a Welsh gambling addict, "Prisoner and Escort" was selected. It was renamed Porridge, a slang term for prison; Barker and Clement and La Frenais actually came up with the same title independently of each other.

24 (TV series)

24 is an American television series produced for the Fox network, created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran, and starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) agent Jack Bauer. Each season, comprising 24 episodes, covers 24 hours in Bauer's life, using the real time method of narration. Premiering on November 6, 2001, the show spanned 192 episodes over eight seasons; the series finale broadcast on May 24, 2010. In addition, a television film, 24: Redemption, was broadcast between seasons six and seven, on November 23, 2008. 24 returned as a 12-episode series titled 24: Live Another Day, which aired from May 5 to July 14, 2014.

The series begins with Bauer working for the Los Angeles–based Counter Terrorist Unit, in which he is a highly proficient agent with an "ends justify the means" approach, regardless of the perceived morality of some of his actions. Throughout the series most of the main plot elements unfold like a political thriller. A typical plot has Bauer racing against the clock as he attempts to thwart multiple terrorist plots, including presidential assassination attempts, weapons of mass destruction detonations, bioterrorism, cyber attacks, as well as conspiracies which deal with government and corporate corruption.

1990 (TV series)

1990 is a British then-futuristic political drama television series produced by the BBC and shown in 1977 and 1978.

Plot

The series is set in a dystopian future in which Britain is under the grip of the Home Office's Public Control Department (PCD), a tyrannically oppressive bureaucracy riding roughshod over the population's civil liberties.

Dubbed "Nineteen Eighty-Four plus six" by its creator, Wilfred Greatorex, 1990 stars Edward Woodward as journalist Jim Kyle, Robert Lang as the powerful PCD Controller Herbert Skardon, Barbara Kellerman as Deputy PCD Controller Delly Lomas, John Savident, Yvonne Mitchell (in her last role), Lisa Harrow, Tony Doyle, Michael Napier Brown and Clive Swift.

Two series, of eight episodes each, were produced and broadcast on BBC2 in 1977 and 1978. The series has never been repeated nor received any official DVD or video release. Two novelizations based on the scripts were released in paperback by the publisher Sphere; Wilfred Greatorex's 1990, and Wilfred Greatorex's 1990 Book Two.

Porridge

Porridge (also spelled porage, porrige, parritch) is a dish made by boiling ground, crushed, or chopped starchy plants - typically grain - in water and/or milk, often with flavourings. It is usually served hot in a bowl. It may be sweetened with sugar, honey etc. and served as a sweet dish, or mixed with spices, vegetables etc. to make a savoury dish.

The term is often used specifically for oat porridge (called oatmeal in the U.S. and parts of Canada), which is eaten for breakfast with salt, sugar, milk, cream and/or butter, and sometimes other flavourings. Oat porridge is also sold in ready-made or partly-cooked form as an instant breakfast.

Other grains used for porridge include semolina, rice, wheat, barley, corn and buckwheat. Many types of porridge have their own names, e.g. polenta, grits and kasha.

Porridge is a staple food in much of Africa.

Historically porridge was a staple food in much of Northern Europe and Russia, often made from barley, though other grains and yellow peas could be used, depending on local conditions. It was primarily a savoury dish, with meats, root crops, vegetables and herbs added for flavour. Porridge could be cooked in a large metal kettle over hot coals or heated in a cheaper earthenware container by adding hot stones until boiling hot. Until leavened bread and baking ovens became commonplace in Europe, porridge was a typical means of preparing cereal crops for the table. It was also commonly used as prison food for inmates in the British prison system, and so "doing porridge" became a slang term for a sentence in prison.

Séries+

Séries+ is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel devoted to scripted comedy and dramatic programming. The channel is owned by Corus Entertainment.

History

On May 21, 1999, Alliance Atlantis Communications (AAC) and Premier Choix Networks (a division of Astral Media) were granted approval by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to launch a national French-language specialty television service called Canal Fiction, described as a "service devoted to drama."

The channel was launched on January 31, 2000 as Séries+ at 6pm EST.

On January 18, 2008, a joint venture between Canwest and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners known as CW Media purchased AAC and gained AAC's interest in Séries+.

On October 27, 2010, Shaw Communications completed its acquisition of Canwest and Goldman Sachs' interest in CW Media, giving it control of CW Media's 50% interest in Séries+.

On March 4, 2013, Corus Entertainment announced that it would acquire Astral Media's stakes in Séries+ and Historia, as well as several other properties, under separate transactions with the two companies. The purchase was tied to Bell Media's pending takeover of Astral Media; an earlier proposal had been rejected by the CRTC in October 2012 due to concerns surrounding its total market share following the merger, but was restructured under the condition that the companies divest certain media properties. In a separate deal, Corus also acquired Shaw's interests in Séries+ and Historia, giving it full ownership. The deals were approved by the CRTC on December 20, 2013 and Corus officially become the full owner of the channel on January 1, 2014.

203 series

The 203 series (203系) is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated in Japan between 1982 and 2011 by Japanese National Railways (JNR) and later by East Japan Railway Company (JR East), and currently operated by KRL Jabodetabek in Indonesia and Philippine National Railways (PNR) in the Philippines.

Operations

The 203 series sets were on through services between the Joban Line and Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line until they were replaced by E233-2000 series EMUs, and finally withdrawn from services in Japan in September 2011.

Formation

The sets were formed as follows.

Cars 3, 6, and 9 were each fitted with one PS21 pantograph.

Interior

Interior view, September 2007

Interior view, September 2007

Priority seating, November 2010

Priority seating, November 2010

History

Withdrawal

The trains were gradually replaced by new E233-2000 series EMUs, and the last set ran in revenue service on 26 September 2011.

Overseas operations

Indonesia

Five former 203 series sets have been sent to KRL Jabodetabek (KCJ) in Jakarta, Indonesia. All trains are in operation in the Jabodetabek area with 8 cars per set, due to the short platforms at most stations in Indonesia.

Toei 10-000 series

The Toei 10-000 series (東京都交通局10-000形) is an electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by the Tokyo subway operator Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Transportation (Toei) on the Toei Shinjuku Line in Tokyo, Japan.

Operations

The 10-000 series operate on the Toei Shinjuku Line between Shinjuku and Motoyawata, and also on inter-running services over the Keio Line from Shinjuku as far as Hashimoto on the Keio Sagamihara Line.

Formations

As of 1 April 2014, the fleet consists of seven eight-car sets (sets 10-220 to 10-280) with six motored (M) cars and two trailer (T) cars, formed as shown below, with car 1 at the Shinjuku end.

Interior

Passenger accommodation consists of longitudinal bench seating throughout. Wheelchair spaces were added when the original six-car sets were lengthened to eight-car sets.

Seating, October 2007

Seating, October 2007

Priority seat, October 2007