Sir Philip Nicholas Outram Pullman is an English writer. His books include the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials and The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, a fictionalised biography of Jesus. In 2008, The Times named Pullman one of the "50 greatest British writers since 1945". In a 2004 BBC poll, he was named the eleventh most influential person in British culture. He was knighted in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to literature.
His Dark Materials is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife (1997), and The Amber Spyglass (2000). It follows the coming of age of two children, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they wander through a series of parallel universes. The novels have won a number of awards, including the Carnegie Medal in 1995 for Northern Lights and the 2001 Whitbread Book of the Year for The Amber Spyglass. In 2003, the trilogy was ranked third on the BBC's The Big Read poll.
Ruby Wax is a British-American actress, comedian, writer, television personality, and mental health campaigner. A classically-trained actress, Wax was with the Royal Shakespeare Company for five years and co-starred on the ITV sitcom Girls on Top (1985–1986).
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 different shows in 322 venues. Established in 1947 as an alternative to the Edinburgh International Festival, it takes place in Edinburgh every August. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has become a world-leading celebration of arts and culture, surpassed only by the Olympics and the World Cup in terms of global ticketed events. As an event it "has done more to place Edinburgh in the forefront of world cities than anything else" according to historian and former chairman of the board, Michael Dale.
Billie Paul Piper is an English actress and former singer. She initially gained recognition as a singer after releasing her debut single "Because We Want To" at age 15, which made her the youngest female singer to enter the UK Singles Chart at number one; her follow-up single "Girlfriend" also entered at number one. In 1998, Piper released her debut studio album, Honey to the B, which was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Her second studio album, Walk of Life, was released in 2000 and spawned her third number-one single, "Day & Night". In 2003, Piper announced that she had ended her music career to focus on acting.
Mystery! is a television anthology series produced by WGBH Boston for PBS in the United States.
Timothy Mark Vine is an English comedian, actor, writer, and presenter best known for his one-liners and his role on the sitcom Not Going Out (2006–2014). He has released a number of stand-up comedy specials and has written several joke books.
Veronica Beatrice "Sally" Lockhart is a fictional character in a series of books by Philip Pullman.
The Shadow in the North (1986) is a book by the English author Philip Pullman. It was originally published as The Shadow in the Plate.
The Tin Princess (1994) is a young adult novel by the English author Philip Pullman, part of the Sally Lockhart series.
John Joseph Feild, is a British American film, television, and theatre actor. He started his television career in 1999. He played Fred Garland in Philip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North television adaptations. In 2007, he starred as Henry Tilney in the television film Northanger Abbey. The following year, he made his West End debut in a production of Ring Round the Moon. From 2014 to 2016, he portrayed Major John André in Turn: Washington's Spies. His film credits include Telstar (2009), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), Austenland (2013), and Professor Marston and the Wonder Women (2017).
Adrian Hodges is an English television and film writer. He has won a BAFTA Award.
Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) has inspired many cinematic, literary, and artistic adaptations.
David Harewood OBE is a British actor and the current president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He is best known for his roles as CIA Counterterrorism Director David Estes in Homeland (2011–2012), and as J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter and Hank Henshaw / Cyborg Superman in Supergirl (2015–2021).
Brink Productions is an Australian theatre company based in Adelaide, South Australia, specialising in the ensemble-development of new writing.
Amy McAllister is an actress most notable for her role as Mary in hit BBC drama Call the Midwife. She recently appeared in Breeders alongside Martin Freeman for Sky One and in A Discovery of Witches which also stars Matthew Goode and Alex Kingston. Other credits include the BAFTA Award-winning BBC/Merman comedy-drama There She Goes with Jessica Hynes and David Tennant, Victorian detective drama Miss Scarlet and the Duke for UKTV and PBS, Witless for BBC Three and the Stephen Frears film Philomena, which stars Steve Coogan and Judi Dench.
Jing Lusi is a British actress. She is best known for her roles in Stan Lee's Lucky Man (2016), the film Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and the BAFTA nominated series Gangs of London (2020). She has presented for the BBC documentaries My Chinese New Year (2015) and Chinese New Year: The Biggest Celebration on Earth (2016).
Jack Thorne FRSL is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer.
David Farr is a British writer, theatrical director and Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour is a play based on the 1998 novel The Sopranos by Alan Warner, adapted for the stage by Lee Hall. It received its world premiere at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in August 2015, before embarking on a short UK tour. The play is a co-production between the National Theatre of Scotland and Live Theatre. The production ran at London's National Theatre in August 2016 and was scheduled to transfer to the West End's Duke of York's Theatre in May 2017.
