UpAndHappy! Radio Features

Such sad news today - Rory Morrison has died. Rory worked at Beacon Radio during the late 80s where he presented the afternoon show as well as doing the travel news out and about as "Fonzie". He moved to the BBC in 1990 and eventually worked on Radio 4 (Continuity and News), where he was a regular & recognisable voice until fairly recently. I worked with Rory, at Beacon, during the summer of 1989, and I learnt so much about the art of radio presentation from him. Such a lovely chap, a happy & friendly personality, truly unflappable, a real professional and I've still got the presenter card he signed for me! I worked with him again briefly in 2006 when he was a surprise 'guest' on my own Saturday Morning show, UpAndHappy! Here is the recording of that, from Saturday 1st April 2006. To set the story in context, each week I would run a roundup of Sports News, read by my mate Andy Walters, but in a style more akin to Tony Blackburn. We were looking round for a name for this character, and Andy found Rory's Beacon jingle. I thought it'd be a nice tribute, not that Rory ever spoke in such a cheesy style!! We used the jingle and the name week after week, until one day... on April Fools Day 2006... well, have a listen for yourself... Bless you Rory, you inspired me more than you'll have realised... :(

"From Headlines to Tight-Lines - The Story of ATV Today" is the second documentary produced by ATVLAND.productions for the Media Archive of Central England (the first DVD was "From ATVLAND In Colour"). The documentary has won an award at the FOCAL International Awards 2013, in the category "Best Use of Footage in a Home Entertainment Release". Lee Bannister, one of the producers of the documentary series, was interviewed on 101.8 WCR FM about the good news by Breakfast Presenter Jon Fisher ("The Fish") and this is what happened... The DVD is available from: http://www.macearchive.org http://www.amazon.co.uk http://www.play.com You can find out further details about the ATV DVD series at: http://www.atvlandproductions.com http://www.facebook.com/atvtodaystory More about theFOCAL Awards: http://www.focalint.org/

As part of the promotion for the DVD release that I have been involved with, From ATVLand In Colour, I recently interviewed Emma Morley, from the Media Archive for Central England. Here is an extended version of that interview! About: www.atvlandproductions.com Like: www.facebook.com/fromatvlandincolour Buy: www.macearchive.org

 Tiswas, was the original Saturday Morning Children's TV show of the 70s & 80s. For those of a certain age, it was everything you could wish for to kick start your weekend. Music, cartoons, celebrity guests, custard pies, buckets of water... It made stars out of Chris Tarrant, Sally James, Lenny Henry, John Gorman and Bob Carolgees. And it's back on TV on Saturday 16th June (Tiswas Reunited, 9.15pm, ITV1). To celebrate, I've put together a 2-hour Tiswas radio special. This is the first hour, you'll find the second hour... just below! Check out www.upandhappy.com/tiswas for more details. Find out more about Tiswas at www.tiswasonline.com The official Tiswas Reunited website: http://reunited.tiswasonline.com THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT!

Welcome back to the second hour of this Tiswas Radio special (Hour 1 is elsewhere on this page!) The whole programme contains songs, sketches and interviews from the Tiswas team! All digitally remastered to get rid of the flans and water which permeates between the gwooves! Remember, there's a bucketeer in all of us. www.upandhappy.com/tiswas www.tiswasonline.com http://reunited.tiswasonline.com

CASINO ROYALE, the 21st James Bond adventure in the most successful franchise in film history, stars Daniel Craig in his debut as 007, and is based on Ian Fleming's first novel to feature the ultimate secret agent, which was published in 1953. CASINO ROYALE traces the early career of James Bond. His first "007" mission leads him to Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), banker to the world's terrorists. In order to stop him, and bring down the terrorist network, Bond must beat Le Chiffre in a high-stakes poker game at Casino Royale. Bond is initially annoyed when a beautiful Treasury official, Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), is assigned to deliver his stake for the game and watch over the government's money. But, as Bond and Vesper survive a series of lethal attacks by Le Chiffre and his henchmen, a mutual attraction develops leading them both into further danger and events that will shape Bond's life forever. Starring: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Caterina Murino, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Ivana Milicevic, Simon Abkarian, Issach De Bankole, Claudio Santamaria, Jesper Christensen, Tobias Menzies, Clemens Schick, Emmanuel Avena, Joseph Millson, Sebastian Foucan, Ludger Pistor, Malcolm Sinclair, Daud Shah, Urbano Barberini, Charlie Levi Leroy, Tom So, Ade, Lazar Ristovski, Tsai Chin, Veruschka, Daniel Andreas, Carlos Leal, Con O'Neill, Jurgen Tarrach, Christina Cole, Richard Branson, Daniel Andreas, Tommy So. Directed by Martin Campbell. Rated: 12a, 144 minutes. All clips and interviews used by kind permission of Cameo Productions for promotional purposes. Casino Royale ©2006 Danjaq, LLC, United Artists Corporation, Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. 007 Gun Logo and related James Bond Trademarks ©1962-2006 Danjaq, LLC and United Artists Corporation. Casino Royale, 007 and related James Bond Trademarks are trademarks of Danjaq, LLC. All Rights Reserved. A United Kingdom - Czech Republic- German - USA Co-Production

Eight bright, funny history students in the north of England in the mid 1980s are pursuing an undergraduate place at the country's two finest universities. Their Headmaster is obsessed with breaking into the ranks of those schools that regularly send boys up to Oxford and Cambridge and enlists Irwin, a shrewd newcomer, to coach the boys into intellectual shape for the trials ahead. Seduced though they are by the exam-busting bag of tricks offered by the temporary supply teacher, the boys are torn by their loyalty to the hugely eccentric, poetry-spouting English master Hector and the regular diet of nourishing facts and figures dispensed by Mrs. Lintott, their history mistress. As they prepare for the daunting admissions process, the journey of the History Boys becomes as much about how education works as it is about where education leads. Starring: Samuel Anderson, Jack Bagley, Samuel Barnett, Stephen Campbell Moore, Dominic Cooper, James Corden, Frances de la Tour, Sacha Dhawan, Richard Griffiths, Robbie Jarvis, Andrew Knott, Clive Merrison, Jon Overton, Jamie Parker, Adrian Scarborough, Georgia Taylor, Russell Tovey, Penelope Wilton. Directed by Nicholas Hytner. Rated '15', released: 13 October 2006; 109 minutes. All clips, interviews and music used by kind permission of 20th Century-Fox and Cameo Productions.

When news of the death of Princess Diana, undoubtedly the most famous woman in the world, breaks upon a shocked and disbelieving British public, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren) retreats behind the walls of Balmoral Castle with her family, unable to comprehend the public response to the tragedy. For Tony Blair (Michael Sheen), the popular and newly elected Prime Minister, the people's need for reassurance and support from their leaders is palpable. As the unprecedented outpouring of emotion grows ever stronger, Blair must find a way to reconnect the Queen with the British public. Starring: Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Sylvia Syms, Paul Barrett, forbes KB, Elliot Levey, Gavin Park, Stephen Samson, Christopher Fosh. Directed by Stephen Frears Released: 15th September 2006. 102 mins. Rated 12A

American Dreamz is a social satire based on the television show American Idol. Hugh Grant plays the disgruntled host of the show, looking for a more exciting season than years past. He requests more interesting contestants this year, and ends up getting more than he bargained for. Among them are the super-sweet yet super-manipulative Sally Kendoo, played and voiced by Mandy Moore, and the too-nice-for-terrorist-camp Omer, who ended up on the show quite accidentally and is now charged with the task of killing the President of the United States, who, incidentally, will be a guest judge on the show’s finale. The film gives a satirical look at all of the roles, who are clearly shadows of the well-known people they represent, and puts them all together for a hilarious look at what would happen if these individuals all came together. Starring: Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, Mandy Moore, Marcia Gay Harden, Willem Dafoe, Chris Klein, Judy Greer, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Adam Busch, Jerome Caldwell, John Cho, Jennifer Coolidge, Noureen DeWulf, Sam Golzari. Directed by Paul Weitz, Certificate 12A, Released: 21st April 2006 (107 mins). All clips and interviews used by kind permission of Cameo Productions.

Inspector Jacques Clouseau, a name that strikes fear into the hearts of criminals everywhere - and anyone else he comes across as well. Maybe it's because his deductive powers are so inadequate, his grasp of the obvious so elusive, his command of the language so severely limited and his physical coordination so completely lacking. But while his approach may be unorthodox and often confounding, he always manages to solve the crime - in his own fashion. At least until now. In the action-packed comedy, The Pink Panther, the bumbling Inspector Closeau (Steve Martin) takes on his most important case ever. World famous soccer coach Yves Gluant has just led Team France to victory over Team China. Surrounded by grateful adoring fans and his beautiful lover, the international pop star Xania (Beyoncé Knowles), Gluant is felled by a poisoned dart. In the ensuing panic, Gluant's priceless diamond ring, "The Pink Panther," mysteriously disappears. The murder becomes a media sensation and a national obsession. Cracking the case falls to Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Kevin Kline), who is up for the prestigious Medal of Honor - for the seventh time. Aware that he cannot afford to make a single mistake - at least none that can be attributed to him - Dreyfus presses the indefatigable Inspector Clouseau into service. Clouseau and his new assistant, the steadfast, stoic Gendarme Gilbert Ponton (Jean Reno), follow a tangle of clues that leads them all over Paris and, eventually, New York City. In the Big Apple, Clouseau and Ponton travel to Times Square and the nearby diamond district, as well as to the city's posh Fifth Avenue and the renowned Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Along the way, Clouseau and Ponton are waylaid by elusive diamond cutters, would-be thugs, notorious bandits, smarmy casino owners, secret agents, mysterious trainers and an exotic beverage called "The Flaming Mojito." One by one, Clouseau narrows his search and tracks down the most likely suspects. They include Xania, a spurned soccer star (William Abadie), a millionaire casino owner (Roger Rees) and a flirtatious P.R. publicist (Kristin Chenoweth). Clouseau's process is fascinating, if harrowingly circuitous. But he never loses his focus, his purpose or his pride - much to the consternation of Dreyfus, who may or may not have Clouseau's best interests at heart. In the end, with the aid of Ponton and his devoted secretary Nicole (Emily Mortimer), Clouseau must unmask the murderer and keep Dreyfus from taking credit. Starring Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, Beyonce Knowles. Directed by Shawn Levy. Rated PG, released on 17th March 2006 (92 mins) All clips and interviews used by kind permission of Cameo Productions.