Great Fire of London in popular culture

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The Great Fire of London has been discussed, referenced, or recreated in popular culture numerous times.

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The diaries kept by Samuel Pepys during the period became very popular in the following decades.

William Harrison Ainsworth's novel Old St Paul's is set during the events of the fire. [2]

The Great Fire was released on ITV television in 2014. It was shown in four episodes. It constructs a fictional scenario involving the Pudding Lane baker's family in an alleged popish plot. [3]

The round "London's Burning" is said to be about the Great Fire. [1] However, the first notation of a song in this theme dates from 1580 as "Scotland's Burning". [4]

The musical, Bumblescratch by Robert J. Sherman is set during the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666. The musical premiered as part of the 350th Anniversary commemoration of the Great Fire on September 4, 2016 at the Adelphi Theatre. The show starred actor Darren Day as the story's titular character, plague rat "Melbourne Bumblescratch". [5] [6] A cast album of the score was also released by SimG Records later that year. [7]

The catchphrase of fictional firefighter Fireman Sam is "Great fires of London!" which is a reference to the Great Fire of London.

The 1982 Doctor Who serial "The Visitation" takes place during the final days of the Great Plague of 1665 and ends with the Fifth Doctor starting the Great Fire to destroy a Terileptil base hidden in Pudding Lane.

In the 2005 film Batman Begins, Ra's al Ghul, the leader of the League of Shadows, states that the League "Sacked Rome, loaded trade ships with plague rats, burned London to the ground".

The Grisly Great Fire of London is a special episode in the Horrible Histories TV series, released in 2016 to mark the 350th anniversary of the fire.

"Timequake", a feature in 1978 science fiction comic Starlord , said that the fire was inadvertently started by inept time-travelling agents.

Related Research Articles

Great Plague of London Epidemic of bubonic plague from 1665 to 1666

The Great Plague of London, lasting from 1665 to 1666, was the last major epidemic of the bubonic plague to occur in England. It happened within the centuries-long Second Pandemic, a period of intermittent bubonic plague epidemics that originated in Central Asia in 1331, included related diseases such as pneumonic plague and septicemic plague, which lasted until 1750.

Pudding Lane Street in the City of London

Pudding Lane is a small street in London, widely known as the location of Thomas Farriner's bakery, where the Great Fire of London started in 1666. It runs between Eastcheap and Thames Street in the historic City of London, and intersects Monument Street, the site of Christopher Wren's Monument to the Great Fire.

Eyam Village and civil parish in Derbyshire Dales district, Derbyshire, England

Eyam is an English village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales that lies within the Peak District National Park. There is evidence of early occupation by Ancient Britons on the surrounding moors and lead was mined in the area by the Romans. A settlement was founded on the present site by Anglo-Saxons, when mining was continued and other industries later developed. However, Eyam’s main claim to fame is the story of how the village chose to go into isolation so as to prevent infection spreading after bubonic plague was discovered there in 1665.

Bonnie Langford British actress

Bonita Melody Lysette "Bonnie" Langford is an English actress, dancer and singer. She came to prominence as a child star in the 1970s, when she had a notable role in the TV series Just William. In the 1980s, she played companion Mel Bush in Doctor Who. She has also been known for appearing in various musicals in the West End and on Broadway, including shows such as Peter Pan, Cats, The Pirates of Penzance and Chicago. From 2015 to 2018, she portrayed the role of Carmel Kazemi on the BBC soap opera EastEnders, for which she received the 2016 British Soap Award for Best Newcomer.

<i>A Journal of the Plague Year</i> 1722 novel by Daniel Defoe

A Journal of the Plague Year: Being Observations or Memorials, Of the most Remarkable Occurrences, As well Publick as Private, which happened in London During the last Great Visitation In 1665, commonly called A Journal of the Plague Year is a book by Daniel Defoe, first published in March 1722. It is an account of one man's experiences of the year 1665, in which the bubonic plague struck the city of London in what became known as the Great Plague of London, the last epidemic of plague in that city. The book is told somewhat chronologically, though without sections or chapter headings, and with frequent digressions and repetitions.

Darren Day is an English actor, singer and television presenter, well known for his West End theatre starring roles.

Adelphi Theatre West End theatre in London, England

The Adelphi Theatre is a London West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals. The theatre was Grade II listed for historical preservation on 1 December 1987.

William Terriss English actor (1847–1897)

William Terriss, born as William Charles James Lewin, was an English actor, known for his swashbuckling hero roles, such as Robin Hood, as well as parts in classic dramas and comedies. He was also a notable Shakespearean performer. He was the father of the Edwardian musical comedy star Ellaline Terriss and the film director Tom Terriss.

Sir Thomas Bloodworth, born Blidward, also spelled Bludworth was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1660 to 1679. He was Lord Mayor of London from October 1665 to October 1666 and his inaction during the early stages of the Great Fire of London was widely criticised as one of the causes for the great extent of the damage to the city.

Music World Corporation

Music World Corporation is an American music production and music publishing company, representing hundreds of song and music cue titles for a small clientele of composers and lyricists including the company founder. The company was founded in 1958 by Academy Award-winning songwriter Robert B. Sherman.

Great Fire of London Major City of London fire of 1666

The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of London from Sunday, 2 September to Thursday, 6 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall. The death toll is generally thought to have been relatively small, although some historians have challenged this belief.

This article covers the history of London during the Stuart period from 1603 to 1714.

Solomon Eccles English composer and Quaker

Solomon Eccles (1618–1683), also known as Solomon Eagle, was an English composer. However, he later became an active Quaker and distanced himself from church music.

<i>Plague! The Musical</i>

Plague! The Musical is a musical with book, music and lyrics by David Massingham and Matthew Townend. It is a dark comedy based loosely on the events of the Great Plague of London in 1665–1666.

Thomas Farriner British baker and churchwarden

Thomas Farriner was a British baker and churchwarden in 17th century London. Allegedly, his bakery in Pudding Lane was the source point for the Great Fire of London on 2 September 1666.

"'Til I Hear You Sing" is a song from the musical Love Never Dies, the 2010 sequel to the 1986 musical The Phantom of the Opera. It was originally performed by Ramin Karimloo as the Phantom during the London run and was recorded with him for the original London cast album.

The Great Fire is a four-part television drama first shown on ITV from 16 October to 6 November 2014. It is set during the Great Fire of London in England in 1666. It was written by Tom Bradby and produced by Ecosse Films. Each hour-long episode is set in one day of the fire.

Robert J. Sherman American songwriter and producer

Robert Jason Sherman is an American songwriter and businessman based in London. He was born in Los Angeles to Joyce and Robert B. Sherman, the youngest of four siblings. Stemming from a long line of songwriters and composers, spanning more than four generations, at 16 Sherman became one of the youngest songwriters ever invited to join BMI and is an alum of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. He is perhaps best known for his work on Love Birds: The Musical which premiered at the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Sebastian Croft English actor

Sebastian Croft is a British actor. He began his career as a child actor on stage before making his television debut as Young Ned Stark in Game of Thrones (2016). He earned a BAFTA Children's Award nomination for his role as Atti in Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans (2019).

<i>Bumblescratch</i> Musical

Bumblescratch is an original sung-through musical with book, music and lyrics by Robert J. Sherman. The musical premiered at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 4 September 2016 as a one night, celebrity gala charity event in aid of Variety, the Children's Charity (UK). This was done as part of weekend commemorations of the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London. The staged concert was directed and choreographed by Stewart Nicholls with music direction by Tom Kelly, orchestrations by Rowland Lee and design by Gabriella Slade. An Original Cast Recording which includes musical highlights from the show was recorded at Angel Recording Studios on September 12–13, 2016 in Islington, London. The album was mixed and mastered between September 14 – November 11 in Kent and released by SimG Records on December 19, 2016. In the Adelphi cast were Darren Day, Jessica Martin, Michael Xavier, Ilan Galkoff, Alastair Barron, Jacob Chapman, James Dangerfield, Emma Harold, Katie Kerr, Jessie May, Teddy Moynihan, Cathy Read and Dickie Wood. Prior to this performance, there was a workshop of the show held on May 9 and 10, 2013 at the Network Theatre in London.

References

  1. 1 2 Margaret Read MacDonald & Winifred Jaeger (2006). The Round Book: Rounds Kids Love to Sing, p.73. August House. ISBN   978-0-87483-786-5.
  2. Colligan, Mimi (2002). "Pompeii in Australia". Canvas Documentaries: Panoramic Entertainments in Nineteenth-century Australia and New Zealand. Melbourne University Press. p. 151. ISBN   9780522850192 . Retrieved 13 December 2014 via Google Books.
  3. Rahim, Sameer (16 October 2014). "The Great Fire review, ITV: 'historical hokum'". The Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 13 December 2014.
  4. Lindahl, Greg. "Scotland, It Burneth", Ravenscroft Songbook. Cites Vlasto, Jill. "An Elizabethan Anthology of Rounds", Musical Quarterly XL (1954) 222–234. Accessed August 25, 2015.
  5. Clarendon, Emma; Love London Love Culture, "Bumblescratch Review" ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ September 5, 2016.
  6. Alberts, Kara; "Review: Bumblescratch (Adelphi Theatre) ★★★★" West End Wilma, September 12, 2016.
  7. "SimG Records Announces release of 32nd CD: Bumblescratch". SimG Productions. Retrieved 19 September 2016.