The "Did you know" thread.....

[Greenman]

Re Nick Cotton-well we think he is dead but the other Charlie Cotton(Dot was married to a Charlie Cotton before he died), who is pretending to be a copper broke the news to Dot, but didn't allow her to see the body so it could leave the way for Nasty Nick(John Altman) to return and bearing in mind he has left that series many, many times would also be some kind of record. Did you know that programme will be celebrating it's 30th Anniversary next year?

[Lurk_D]

Originally Posted by Greenman

Yes true but I meant soaps-for instance Lucy Beale(Eastenders) was played by 3 different girls at varying ages, and in America they replaced Miss Ellie with another actress when Barbara Bel Geddes died. It does seem odd that you replace one actress with another when really you should kill off the character and bring a new one in. TV Execs and Film Producers eh?

snip

Barbara Bel Geddes was replaced due to a contract dispute. She came back the season after Pam Ewing's dream when the dispute was resolved, and stayed to the end of the show. She died several years after that.

Of course, this had the result of Donna Reed only playing Mama Ewing for two(?) seasons, when she was contracted for at least five, and the producers had to buy out her contract. She then died before Dallas finished its run.

[Jeff Vader]

In WW1 the British submarine E11 managed to break into the Dardanelles (a hairy affair indeed), and there her captain spotted an Ottoman steamer loaded with military supplies heading for Gallipoli. E11 surfaced, engaged the steamer with the deck gun and sank her. However, she was so close to the shoreline that an Ottoman cavalry patrol was able to ride down to the beach and fire at her with their rifles. Since submarine hulls back then were paper thin the captain decided it would be safer to dive than to fight the cavalry. This was the only time cavalry has engaged in battle with a submarine, and the cavalry won.

[Greenman]

Originally Posted by Lurk_D

Barbara Bel Geddes was replaced due to a contract dispute. She came back the season after Pam Ewing's dream when the dispute was resolved, and stayed to the end of the show. She died several years after that.

Of course, this had the result of Donna Reed only playing Mama Ewing for two(?) seasons, when she was contracted for at least five, and the producers had to buy out her contract. She then died before Dallas finished its run.

I bow to your better knowledge.

[rustler]

Originally Posted by Jeff Vader

In WW1 the British submarine E11 managed to break into the Dardanelles (a hairy affair indeed), and there her captain spotted an Ottoman steamer loaded with military supplies heading for Gallipoli. E11 surfaced, engaged the steamer with the deck gun and sank her. However, she was so close to the shoreline that an Ottoman cavalry patrol was able to ride down to the beach and fire at her with their rifles. Since submarine hulls back then were paper thin the captain decided it would be safer to dive than to fight the cavalry. This was the only time cavalry has engaged in battle with a submarine, and the cavalry won.

He might have lost that round, but the commander of that submarine, Lieutenant-Commander Martin Dunbar-Nasmith was so successful that he was awarded the Victoria Cross for his exploits in the Sea of Marmara. He also at one point engaged a train on a viaduct on this mission! Perhaps the only occasion that a train has been attacked by a submarine!?

A part of his citation for the VC reads:

'When he had safely passed the most difficult part of his homeward journey he received information that a cargo of coal was heading towards Istanbul from the Black Sea. Realising that coal was essential for the morale of the besieged city, Nasmith turned back.

When the coal carrying ship came into sight of the docks, a welcoming committee of municipal grandees soon formed, along with a happy crowd – water, electricity and rail transport had all suffered due to a lack of coal. Hardly had the ship berthed than it mysteriously blew up before the eyes of the astounded crowd. Nasmith successfully slipped out again.'

He at one point attached a captured enemy boat to his periscope as cover!

A submarine under his command also had a unique privilege, it had on board Prince Albert (the future King George IV), Winston Churchill, Captain Roger Keyes, a powerhouse in the Royal Navy (and vital in two World Wars), and the former Prime-Minister Sir Arthur Balfour. The submarine was dived for some time with its VIP guests, but Nasmith often wondered afterwards what would have happened to world history if she had sunk that day!

He eventually died on 29th of June 1965 aged 82.


This mans career would make a very interesting film, and not without humour either!

[Greenman]

Ever heard of the Boo Radleys pop combo of the late 1980s-you might recall their hit 'Wake Up Boo' I have often wondered where they got their name. It was from the book 'To Kill A Mockingbird' by Harper Lee and one of the characters was called Boo Radley.

Duran Duran got their name from the film Barbarella(Jane Fonda) but they dropped the 'D' from the end-originally it was Durand Durand played by Milo O'Shea.

[rustler]

Pope Benedict IX was pope three times!

He may also only have been eleven years old when he first became pope?

[Greenman]

The term TURNCOAT comes from the Roundheads v Cavaliers. The Roundheads laid siege to Corfe Castle in Dorset and were kept at bay for ages. The Cavaliers has blue jackets and the Roundheads had red jackets but later became sneaky because they realised they had a blue lining so they turned their coats inside out and fooled the Cavaliers gaining access to the castle-hence turncoat. And so if you are a turncoat you are obviously not to be trusted or I think it is also being a traitor.
Source: Michael Portillo's Great British Railways Journeys-visit to Corfe Castle.

[rustler]

The origins of the term 'the measure of you' or someone, as in 'I've got the measure of you', comes from witchcraft. Wicca to be precise.

When someone is accepted into a coven, they were/are spread out naked on the ground in a five pointed star (a pentagram), like da Vinci's drawing of the Vitruvian man, and ropes are attached to all the extreme points of the body, neck, feet and hands, and these are 'the measure'. These ropes were kept by the High Priest or Priestess, and later if someone betrayed the secrecy of the coven, then the ropes used in the initiation are burned and supposedly the culprit will suffer accordingly.

Hence, 'I've got the measure of you'.

[Greenman]

Following on from my last post about extras at the end of records, did you know that the beginning of Two Tribes by Frankie Goes To Hollywood has an extract from Protect and Survive (the 'incredibly useful' booklet produced by the Tory Government in the 1980s when the threat by the Russians was heightened and incase there was a Nuclear War declared on Britain) It starts with this line "the air attack warning sounds like...this is the sound." whilst the air raid siren is in the background. Veteran actor Partick Allen(of the Barratt Homes adverts) also read another extract in the middle of the song.

The actual manual would turn out to be completely useless with such gems as "to protect yourself and your family take all doors off their hinges and either build a shelter OR batten them to the walls, and another suggested "painting white paint on yourself to deflect the blast" Not much help considering it you got the full force of a blast you were turned to dust! And finally "In the event of a nuclear war being at home is better than being elsewhere or in the country.". As I said it was completely useless.