The Twirlywoos
A brand-new comedy pre-school series for CBeebies
We catch up with Teletubbies creator Anne Wood to find out all about her new creation the TwirlyWoos
Can you describe Twirlywoos in your own words?
Twirlywoos is a situation comedy for 3-4 year olds who enjoy the fun of watching characters on screen who know much less than they do.
How did the idea for Twirlywoos come about?
Having worked with Steve Roberts on our very successful short animation Dipdap, we wanted to work together on a longer format, taking some of the ideas that had made children laugh so much in Dipdap.
Tell us about the characters and your favourite thing about them?
The Twirlywoos are bird-like creatures, each with their own characteristics. Chickedy and Chick are an endearing double act. Toodloo is full of frolic and loves to dance. Great BigHoo is the most cautious in his approach to life but is full of curiosity and is most reassuring in the way he joins in the fun.
It’s 18 years on from the launch of Teletubbies how do you think the market/audience has changed?
The market may have changed since Teletubbies in that there is a great deal more competition out there now but the audience does not change. Young children approach the world from their own unique standpoint as they have always done.
This is your third major production with the BBC. What do you enjoy about working with them?
Working with CBeebies is always a pleasure and for Twirlywoos we were delighted that Kay Benbow , Michael Towner and the team were able to join us for detailed discussions of each storyboard before we went into production.
What have you learned from previous series which you brought to bear while developing and making Twirlywoos?
Each Ragdoll programme grows out of the one before. It is a never ending journey. We learn most from watching children’s responses and Twirlywoos in particular owes much to the children’s responses to Dipdap.
How does Twirlywoos differ from other pre-school series on screen at the moment?
Twirlywoos is different in that it is stop-frame animation and contains very little computer generated material. Its main difference, however, is that its animated characters have adventures in the real world.
How did you develop the educational and interactive elements of the series?
From the outset, we invited Professor Cathy Nutbrown to consult with us about the patterns of thinking from which children’s early learning develops. The concept which she approved has become the foundation both of the programme and all developments from it, including interactive.
How did you develop the Twirlywoos characters to make them visually and emotionally appealing to children?
In the early stages of developing Twirlywoos we did a great deal of experimentation both with dolls and through trial animations before we presented the series to the BBC.
Can you tell us a bit about how you collaborate with Steve on the project?
As Creative Director of Ragdoll, all programme ideas begin with me but I am always seeking a creative partner to work with. With this person in mind, I devise a framework within which I think the Lead Creative’s talent, in this case, Steve’s, will flourish. Together we talk about the capacity of the characters for comic action and what form they should take. It was Steve’s idea to use stop-frame animation. I then devised the structure of the programme to arrive at a rhythm which I think children will respond to and this gives us an approximate length which is essential to our first attempts at writing. We then discuss ideas together from concepts approved by Professor Cathy Nutbrown, which Steve then illustrates, and then, together with other writing colleagues, we discuss the final form of each story.
What do you hope children will get from Twirlywoos?
Our greatest hope for Twirlywoos is that it will add to children’s confidence in their own learning. All Ragdoll’s programmes aim to create confidence and knowledgeable viewers.
What are you most proud of about Twirlywoos?
The greatest thing about Twirlywoos is the entire production team who have embraced the idea with truth and affection. It is a complicated show from a production point of view and it has been extremely important that each person engaged in it along the way has understood its intention and the meaning of every shot. The stop-frame combined with live action is something we have never attempted before and because of the support of the team I am very proud of the finished result.
Heaven 17 are coming to Wakefield – Warehouse 23 on Friday 10th April 2015
Rapidly turning into a go-to venue for those 80s acts amongst many other hings, finally with Unity Hall now open too we have great live venues to be proud of.
Heaven 17, please remember, were not even intended to be a group. In the beginning was the British Electric Foundation, or B.E.F., for short. Born out of the collapse of the original Human League, and the brainchild of Martyn Ware, that band’s leader, B.E.F. was less a record label, as a portfolio of future musical projects of which Heaven 17 would be just one. Ian Craig Marsh, co-founder of the Human League, would join Ware along with Glenn Gregory as lead vocalist the man who would have been the original Human League singer had he not been unavailable.
B.E.F. produced the now iconic Music For Stowaways, and Music Of Quality and Distinction 1, and provided a template that subsequent artists would use from The Assembly in the Eighties, Electronic in the Nineties, and most recently, the Damon Alban and Jamie Hewlett project, Gorillaz. But its Heaven 17 which would endure and help shape the future of modern music for over thirty years. Their first album, Penthouse And Pavement, is, and remains, a modern classic.
Looking back on it, Martyn Ware told us "It felt like a race to get the thing done really. There was no mediation involved. It literally was a lot of ideas coming out simultaneously but also with an intensity which meant that you could realise them very quickly. So it wasn’t just like a million ideas and actually three quarters of them were shit when you looked at them on the day – they were all pretty good I have to say. It was like opening a giant tap for a hose and it was just blasting out"
Within a week, they had written and demoed a new song, ‘(We Don’t Need That) Fascist Groove Thang.’ Listening back to a song written in late 1980, it’s astonishingly prescient. The purely electronic template, the driving musical philosophy of the Human League, had been modified with the addition of funky slap-bass guitar, and treated dance-floor piano. Released as a single, it became NME’s record of the week. The song managed to mention the words ‘fascist’, ‘Hitler’, ‘racist’ and was promptly banned from being played by the BBC. ‘One of the reasons the BBC said it couldn’t be played was they thought Ronald Reagan could sue them over it’, said Ian Craig Marsh in 1981 about the song’s most controversial couplet: ‘Reagan’s president elect/Fascist god in motion.’
Penthouse and Pavement is a musically schizoid slab of modern art. Side 1 fires off in the new, funky direction, whilst Side 2, the all-synth side gives a taste of what a third Human League album with Ware and Marsh on-side might have sounded – wonderful melodies and audacious arrangements with tracks such as ‘Let’s All Make A Bomb’ and ‘Song With No Name’ the very best of British electronica.
A defining feature of Heaven 17 was their total artistic control over their music. Whereas the sound and the success of the Human League’s Dare was very much a collaboration between the band and Martin Rushent, Heaven 17 were performers, writers and designers creating not just their own music but every aspect of the music’s presentation and packaging.
Martyn continues "It was written into our contract that we had complete control over the content of what we presented. Each stage of production was integral to the band’s ethos, from cover artwork to their own sartorial elegance in video and on photo shoots. We were influenced by Kraftwerk because what they presented was this world view of which the music was an integrated part"
Their next album, The Luxury Gap, was their pop masterpiece, the moment when everything just clicked into place to devastating effect. The bands favourite-ever song, ‘Let Me Go’ so nearly broke them into the UK Top 40. There would be no such disappoint with its follow up. The band convinced their sceptical record company that ‘Temptation’ had to be the next single. A duet between Glenn Gregory and Carol Kenyon, this song of lust, brilliantly framed by a musical structure which just kept building and building, Escher-like to an electric orgasm that seems never to come, it reached Number 2 in the UK charts in May 1983. Martyn tell us about the lasting impact of the song "Every gig we do, in any circumstances with any demographics, that song always works. I could play it on a guitar in a local pub and it would work. I could do it on a tin whistle in St Kilda and it works! I can talk to anyone I’ve never met before, any age almost, and they all know what it is. It’s just bizarre. You would be Abba if you could continue writing that over and over again"
By the late 2000’s, Heaven 17 were down to two of their original members, Ian Craig Marsh having left the band to take a degree course in Psychology. Yet demand for Heaven 17 live which had run dry a decade earlier had now picked up dramatically. A whole new generation of artists began to sight Heaven 17 as prime influences, not least La Roux who would join Heaven 17 for a storming session for Six Music in 2010.
Heaven 17 then toured their classic album Penthouse and Pavement, with a power and fidelity, yet a contemporaneity which made the music as alive today as it was in 1981 with soul singer Billie Godfrey now an essential part of the live dynamic. Heaven 17, who had largely refused to play live during the Eighties had re-invented themselves as a powerful live act. Glenn had never sung better in his life. On some nights, he would even play a cheeky acoustic version of that other Sheffield band’s biggest hit, ‘Don’t You Want Me.’ ‘Don’t tell anyone I can play the guitar; it’ll ruin me electronic credentials’, Glenn told the audience at the Magna Centre in 2010.
Tickets for the WAKEFIELD – Warehouse 23 show taking place on Friday 10th April are available from:
Box Office No: 01924 724523
Website - http://warehouse23.co.uk/events/heaven-17/
Shows start at 7.30pm
The Jockey Club Live presents ‘An Evening At The Races’ returns with a bang for 2015, announcing today that global superstar KYLIE and indie rockers KAISER CHIEFS are the first acts to join their 2015 ‘Haydock Nights’ season.
At home in some of the world’s biggest and best arenas, Kylie is renowned for her spectacular live shows. She celebrated her first UK number #1 in 1987 with ‘I Should Be So Lucky’, clocking up massive chart hits including ‘Spinning Around’ and ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’. Kylie has now been at the forefront of pop culture for 28 years, selling over 70million records worldwide and releasing her 12th studio album ‘Kiss Me Once’ last year.
With her incredible back catalogue, featuring 44 UK Top 40 hits, Kylie will be playing her classic hits old and new when she brings glamour to the Grandstands.
Kylie told us: "I’m so excited to be performing at an evening at the races. I have an amazing band and fabulous dancers and we can’t wait to share my hits with you in a beautiful Summer outdoor show. Being from a horse racing city like Melbourne, I’ll be sure to have a flutter on the horses myself!"
Following on from Kylie’s headlining performance at Haydock Nights on 20th June, Brit Award-winning, multimillion selling Kaiser Chiefs - lead by BBC1’s ‘The Voice’ coach Ricky Wilson - will be bringing their formidable live show to the course on 7th August. The band first shot to recognition in 2005 for breakout hit ‘I Predict A Riot’, followed by hits including ‘Oh My God’, ‘Everyday I Love You Less and Less’ and 2007’s #1 ‘Ruby’. They released their latest LP, ‘Education, Education, Education & War’ last year, smashing into the #1 spot on the UK album chart on release. The record became their second #1 long play, following 2007’s ‘Yours Truly Angry Mob’ and became their fifth top 10 album.
‘An Evening At The Races’ offers a value for money experience unlike any other this summer. Alongside incredible headlining performances by the likes of Kylie and Kaiser Chiefs, the action kicks off earlier in the evening with 6 races - giving fans the chance to witness up close powerful equine athletes who are stars in their own right, and enjoy the thrilling drama and spectacle of them racing for glory. Whether you fancy a flutter or a dance with friends and family the event is certain to be an odds on favourite for all, with tickets starting at only £30.
Jason Fildes, Haydock Park General Manager told us "We’re expecting a rush for tickets for two of the ‘must be there’ music events of the summer, all racing and music fans are urged to reserve their tickets as soon as they can.”
Tickets will be on sale at 9am 6th February via http://www.thejockeyclublive.co.uk. Tickets are priced starting at £30 adults /£15 child (under 17) for Kaiser Chiefs, and £35 adult/£17.50 child (under 17) for Kylie. All T&C’s are available on http://haydock.thejockeyclub.co.uk. There will be hospitality packages available to suit all budgets.
We are delighted also to offer to our subscribers cant be beaten rates on hotel rooms in the area. You will be required to show your ticket upon check in to obtain these rates rooms are limited and non transferable.
Rooms for night of 20 June (Kylie) SORRY SOLD OUT and for 7 August (Kaisers) SORRY SOLD OUT
"With new material on the horizon we can't wait!"
We can now announce that Mumford & Sons are R and Ls second Main Stage headliners! The British rock band last appeared at Reading & Leeds in 2010 when they performed a triumphant set to a packed NME/BBC Radio 1 Stage. The band return to Reading & Leeds just four years later as Festival headliners.
Festival boss Melvin Benn comments:
“I’m delighted to have secured Mumford & Sons for Main Stage headliners this summer and can’t wait to see them return to the Festivals for their first UK performance in over two years. With today’s announcement of a further eight great acts joining the bill, the Reading & Leeds line-up is already shaping up to be one of the best ever and I’m looking forward to revealing the third headliner and even more great artists soon.”
Reading & Leeds continue to tear-up the festival season by securing performances from some of the biggest bands around.
ROYAL BLOOD, BASTILLE, DEADMAU5, REBEL SOUND FEAT. CHASE & STATUS, RAGE, DAVID RODIGAN AND SHY FX, CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN, YEARS & YEARS, WOLF ALICE, PRETTY VICIOUS, JACK GARRATT AND HANNAH WANTS also announced to appear across the weekend!
Dark times are coming to the United Kingdom. During a handover to MI5 Counter-terrorism leader Harry Pearce (Peter Firth), one of the UK's number one most wanted terrorists, Adam Qasim (Elyes Gabel) devises a way to escape from custody. With a country-wide manhunt in progress, Pearce suddenly disappears, throwing MI5 into chaos. His protégé Will Crombie (Kit Harrington) undertakes the task of hunting down the missing terrorist and finding the lost leader before an attack on London can take place. As he delves deeper into the hidden mysteries surrounding the events, Crombie discovers a worldwide conspiracy with villainous intentions.
Following the tremendous success of the British television series 'Spooks' between 2002 and 2011, the film was announced to be in production in March 2013. At this time, the script was in development from Jonathan Brackley and Sam Vincent - both of whom worked on the series. On 1st November 2013, an official announcement was made, with Bharat Nalluri (the first director to work on the series) directing the film. Principple photography began in March 2014 in London, Berlin, Moscow, and Pinewood Studios. 'Spooks: The Greater Good' is set to hit UK theatres on 8th May 2015.
Click to watch the new teaser trailer.
http://youtu.be/KOvhMI86Ffc
Spooks is starring: Kit Harington, Jennifer Ehle, Elyes Gabel, Lara Pulver, Tuppence Middleton, David Harewood, Peter Firth, Tim McInnerny, Lasco Atkins, Shina Shihoko Nagai, Elizabeth Conboy, Eleanor Matsuura, Michael Wildman, Elliot Levey, Paul Blackwell, Ronan Summers, Graham Curry
The Oscar winning actor, director and ‘king of gangster movies’ Al Pacino, is heading to Yorkshire for an intimate black tie dinner event.
The event, An Experience with…Al Pacino, is taking place on Saturday 18th April at the Leeds Centenary Pavilion at Elland Road and is being organised by the events company, Olexy Productions.
The event will include a revealing Q&A with the star as he regales anecdotes of his illustrious film career that has spanned over five decades. This is the first time Al Pacino will host a dinner of this kind in the UK.
Ahead of the event, we were privileged to have a chat, albeit, brief with the man himself who told us that he had expressed his excitement of visiting Yorkshire and meeting his northern fans. He told us of his connection with Yorkshire having played the region’s most infamous monarch Richard III several times on Broadway in the Shakespeare play of the same name.
Asked if he had any words for his fans in Yorkshire Pacino said “'I am really looking forward to once again meeting the fans from the UK, but this time the fans from the north. I love Yorkshire and Leeds is a fantastic city. I can’t wait to share untold stories with my fans in this intimate setting”
Die-hard fans are also being given the opportunity to ‘say hello to bad guy’, as platinum and VIP tier tickets offer opportunities to meet and have their photo taken with Pacino, who is renowned for his roles as Michael Corleone in The Godfather Trilogy and Tony Montana in Scarface, the character behind his most famous line ‘say hello to my little friend’. VIP tickets retail for £1250 and platinum tickets retail at £2000.
Guests will also have the opportunity to buy exclusive and rare Al Pacino memorabilia at the event during the charity auction. Auction items include a framed gun from Scarface and paintings of scenes from Godfather. A percentage of the profits from auction will be donated to Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust. Their Leeds-ambassador Jenny Croston, recently gained national coverage encouraging professional women to make time for Smear Tests after she was diagnosed with stage 2 cervical cancer. January is national Cervical Cancer Awareness Month.
Established in 2009, Olexy Productions have a reputation for creating unique experiences and bringing Hollywood A-list celebrities to the UK, such as last November’s dinner with Arnold Schwarzenegger, which was hosted by Jonathan Ross. They also hosted An Experience with…Sylvester Stallone in Manchester, which attracted over 4000 attendees.
An Experience with Al Pacino is taking place in association with Rocco Bounvino promoted by the Leeds-based full service marketing agency Pink Gorilla and Hairy Lemon.
Recognised as one of the greatest actors of all time, Pacino has been nominated for the Best Actor award eight times, finally taking home the award in 1993 for the his role in Scent of a Woman, two decades after he was first nominated.
Stephen Oleksewycz, Managing Director, of Olexy Productions told us:
“There’s Hollywood legends and then there’s Al Pacino. He truly is one of the world’s greatest actors with a career that has seen him both in front of and behind the camera, as well as on the stages of Broadway.
“Pacino has already stated that he will never write an autobiography, so this event is a very rare opportunity to hear directly from the star on his life and his outstanding movie career”
There has never been another chance to get so close to the Hollywood legend in the UK.
Several different tickets are available, starting from £150, and all include a three course dinner.
Tickets are available from www.olexyfresh.com/
The video from their last event with Arnold Schwarzenegger is available to view here http://vimeo.com/116189071
The event is taking place 7.30pm, 18th April 2015 at Leeds Centenary Pavilion at Elland Road
