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Ron Moody as Fagin in 'Oliver!' based on Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist.' Ron Moody as Fagin in Dickens musical 'Oliver!': Box office and critical hit (See previous post: "Ron Moody: 'Oliver!' Actor, Academy Award Nominee Dead at 91.") Although British made, Oliver! turned out to be an elephantine release along the lines of – exclamation point or no – Gypsy, Star!, Hello Dolly!, and other Hollywood mega-musicals from the mid'-50s to the early '70s.[1] But however bloated and conventional the final result, and a cast whose best-known name was that of director Carol Reed's nephew, Oliver Reed, Oliver! found countless fans.[2] The mostly British production became a huge financial and critical success in the U.S. at a time when star-studded mega-musicals had become perilous – at times downright disastrous – ventures.[3] Upon the American release of Oliver! in Dec. 1968, frequently acerbic The...

My friend Lisa Daniely, who has died aged 84, was a familiar face in the films of the 1950s and 60s. She also appeared on stage and continued working as an actor well into her late 70s.

She was born Elizabeth Bodington in Reading, Berkshire, to an English solicitor father and a French mother. She was educated in Paris, where she trained at the Sarah Bernhardt theatre, and made her film debut in 1950 at the age of 21 in the title role of Lilli Marlene. Her film-star looks were on the cover of Picturegoer the following year. Her notable films included High Jump (1959) with Richard Wyler (who also acted under the name Richard Stapley), The Lamp in Assassin Mews (1962) with Francis Matthews, Stranger in the House (1967) with James Mason and Geraldine Chaplin, and, perhaps most famously, Hindle Wakes (1952) with Leslie Dwyer.

On the stage she played Madame Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard,...

After defeating Omega and meeting his former selves, the Doctor is given control of the Tardis again and his first adventure finds him joining a peepshow. Parlae the carny? Step right up and see the ferocious Drashigs if you dare. The Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and Jo (Katy Manning) take the Tardis on a test flight. They arrive on a cargo ship, the SS Bernice, that appears to be crossing the Indian Ocean in 1926 but something seems odd with the passengers Major Daly (Tenniel Evans), his daughter Claire (Jenny McCracken), and ship.s officer Lt. Andrews (Ian Marter). Meanwhile on the planet Inter Minor, showman Vorg (Leslie Dwyer) and his assistant Shirna (Cheryl Hall) arrive in unceremonious fashion...