92-601: Catweazle is a British children's fantasy television series , starring Geoffrey Bayldon in the title role, and created by Richard Carpenter for London Weekend Television . The first series, produced and directed in 1969 by Quentin Lawrence , was screened in the UK on ITV in 1970. The second series, produced and directed in 1970 by David Reid and David Lane , was shown in 1971. Each series had thirteen episodes, most but not all written by Carpenter, who also published two books based on
184-553: A Birmingham focus. In 1980, the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) decided that ATV's lack of regional programming and production (it had a major studio centre at Elstree in Hertfordshire , a legacy of its London contract, well outside its Midlands franchise) was hampering the region, so it insisted that the new applicant for the franchise be more clearly based in the region and have separate facilities for
276-459: A Catweazle film for the 21st century. He also confirmed that he had drafted a new script. Negotiations for a film had reached pre-production stages when Carpenter died while walking his dog in the countryside at the age of 82 on 26 February 2012. The first episode of the first series is available to view in full for registered users at the BFI Screenonline site. The full series was shown on
368-461: A city in the clouds with the birds and challenges Zeus 's authority. Ovid 's Metamorphoses and Apuleius 's The Golden Ass are both works that influenced the development of the fantasy genre by taking mythic elements and weaving them into personal accounts. Both works involve complex narratives in which humans beings are transformed into animals or inanimate objects. Platonic teachings and early Christian theology are major influences on
460-402: A contract to become one of the new ITV stations. ABDC won the contract but had insufficient money to operate it; ITC failed to win a contract, mainly due to a perceived conflicts of interest resulting from the business operations of Grade and Littler. By the time of the merger ABDC were well advanced with their plans whilst ITPC planned to operate as an independent producer selling their shows to
552-507: A farm in rural England in the year 1969 and befriends a farmer's son, a ginger teenager named Edward Bennet, nicknamed Carrot ( Robin Davies ), who spends most of the rest of the series attempting to hide Catweazle from his father ( Bud Tingwell ) and the farmhand Sam ( Neil McCarthy ). Catweazle searches for a way to return to his own time while hiding in a disused water tower on abandoned Ministry of Defence land, which he calls Castle Saburac, with
644-598: A feature film. However, the planned film was never produced. Both series of Catweazle were released on VHS in 1998. The first series was released on Region 2 DVD in the UK in May 2005, with a short reunion documentary "Brothers in Magic" and audio commentaries on selected episodes by Carpenter, Bayldon, Davies and Executive Producer Joy Whitby . The second series was released in August 2005. In Australia Catweazle: The Complete Series
736-671: A feudal society hindering the modernization of China. Stories of the supernatural continued to be denounced once the Communists rose to power, and mainland China experienced a revival in fantasy only after the Cultural Revolution had ended. Fantasy became a genre of pulp magazines published in the West. In 1923, the first all-fantasy fiction magazine, Weird Tales , was published. Many other similar magazines eventually followed, including The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction ; when it
828-524: A large chain of cinemas under those initials , successfully sued for prior ownership of the name. After the Associated Broadcasting Company had been operating for three weeks the name was changed to Associated TeleVision Ltd (ATV). The logo, designed for "ABC" and tweaked for "ATV", was a "shadowed eye" inspired by the CBS logo and reputedly designed by Lew Grade on a transatlantic flight back from
920-564: A large audience. Lord Dunsany established the genre's popularity in both the novel and the short story form. H. Rider Haggard , Rudyard Kipling , and Edgar Rice Burroughs began to write fantasy at this time. These authors, along with Abraham Merritt , established what was known as the "lost world" subgenre, which was the most popular form of fantasy in the early decades of the 20th century, although several classic children's fantasies, such as Peter Pan and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , were also published around this time. Juvenile fantasy
1012-471: A main plot element, theme , or setting . Magic, magic practitioners ( sorcerers , witches and so on) and magical creatures are common in many of these worlds. An identifying trait of fantasy is the author's use of narrative elements that do not have to rely on history or nature to be coherent. This differs from realistic fiction in that realistic fiction has to attend to the history and natural laws of reality, where fantasy does not. In writing fantasy
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#17328698925891104-412: A new style of "fuzzy" supernatural texts. The fantastic is on the dividing line between supernatural and not supernatural, Just as during this time period the women were not respecting the boundary of inequality that had always been set for them. At the time, women's roles in society were very uncertain, just as the rules of the fantastic are never straightforward. This climate allowed for a genre similar to
1196-444: A single eye shape, moving to reveal the shadowed eye, and animating so that each of the letters ATV animate in accompanied by one of the three musical notes on the ident score. The caption below read Associated TeleVision Ltd. , the only time the station's full name was displayed in an ident. The shadowed eye however was out of proportion, attributed to the hurry to redraw the ident following the name change from ABC. Shortly after
1288-607: A single source. The Welsh tradition has been particularly influential, due to its connection to King Arthur and its collection in a single work, the epic Mabinogion . There are many works where the boundary between fantasy and other works is not clear; the question of whether the writers believed in the possibilities of the marvels in A Midsummer Night's Dream or Sir Gawain and the Green Knight makes it difficult to distinguish when fantasy, in its modern sense, first began. Although pre-dated by John Ruskin 's The King of
1380-590: A twelve beat fanfare for the station, by ATV's musical director Jack Parnell and arranged by Angela Morley . This ident was used from the introduction of colour in 1969 right until the ATV name ceased to be used in 1982. In addition to this, a variation was produced which only featured a white dot on a black background, growing and transforming into the white shadowed eye for programmes still being shown in black and white. Company names: On-air names: Initials used: In 2015, ITV Broadcasting Ltd surrendered its rights to
1472-421: A very large mansion house. Reviewing Catweazle for Starburst magazine, Richard Hollis described Catweazle as "an exceptionally well-made series and a worthy example of British Television fantasy". Television historians Alistair McGown and Mark Docherty wrote that " Catweazle became a highly respected children's series in its time". In the 1980s, Carpenter announced that he hoped to adapt Catweazle into
1564-659: A wide audience, with the success of Robert E. Howard 's Conan the Barbarian and Fritz Leiber 's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories. However, it was the advent of high fantasy , and most of all J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings , which reached new heights of popularity in the late 1960s, that allowed fantasy to truly enter the mainstream . Several other series, such as C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and Ursula K. Le Guin 's Earthsea books, helped cement
1656-615: Is One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights) , which is a compilation of many ancient and medieval folk tales. Various characters from this epic have become cultural icons in Western culture, such as Aladdin , Sinbad and Ali Baba . Hindu mythology was an evolution of the earlier Vedic mythology and had many more fantastical stories and characters, particularly in the Indian epics . The Panchatantra ( Fables of Bidpai ), for example, used various animal fables and magical tales to illustrate
1748-612: The Epic of Gilgamesh . The ancient Babylonian creation epic, the Enûma Eliš , in which the god Marduk slays the goddess Tiamat , contains the theme of a cosmic battle between good and evil, which is characteristic of the modern fantasy genre. Genres of romantic and fantasy literature existed in ancient Egypt. The Tales of the Court of King Khufu , which is preserved in the Westcar Papyrus and
1840-505: The East and West Midlands . ATV Midlands Limited , a shell company created by ACC solely for the franchise process, applied successfully for the contract. As a condition of its award, ACC was forced to sell 49% of the company, relinquish executive roles, sell the Elstree studios and rename the company to demonstrate that it was effectively a new business. ATV ceased broadcasting at 12.34am on
1932-509: The Elder Edda and the Younger Edda , includes such figures as Odin and his fellow Aesir , and dwarves , elves , dragons , and giants . These elements have been directly imported into various fantasy works. The separate folklore of Ireland, Wales, and Scotland has sometimes been used indiscriminately for "Celtic" fantasy, sometimes with great effect; other writers have specified the use of
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#17328698925892024-546: The Midlands . The latter service opened on 17 February 1956, with ABPC's ABC Weekend TV providing the weekend programmes. The company ran into financial difficulty due to the staggering losses of the first two years of ITV and start-up costs. The London weekday contractor Associated-Rediffusion shouldered some of ATV's losses and further funding was achieved by selling shares to the Daily Mirror newspaper. The company structure
2116-624: The Writers' Guild of Great Britain award for Best Children's TV Drama Script in 1971. The series appeared on television for the first time on Sunday, 4 January 1970 in the Netherlands, broadcast by the NOS . It was originally shown in the UK between Sunday, 15 February 1970 and Sunday, 10 May 1970 at 17:30–18:00 in most regions. This series was originally shown between Sunday 10 January 1971 and Sunday 4 April 1971 at 17.35–18.05 (all ITV regions except for ATV ,
2208-425: The toad called Touchwood (as touching wood is believed to bring good fortune). Whenever he is spotted, he uses his magic amulet to hypnotize people into forgetting that they saw him. The second series featured a 12-part riddle that Catweazle, now in 1970, attempts to solve at the rate of one clue per episode, the solution (as he thinks) being revealed in the 13th. A third series, which was apparently to be set on
2300-419: The 'litespots' of the 1970s. Noting it felt the iconic symbol was best left in the past. The majority of ITC programmes were first broadcast by ATV and distributed in the UK by them. Similarly, ATV's productions were distributed by ITC outside of the UK, with most ATV idents replaced with those for ITC. As a side note to ATV's television activities, the company also set up a music publishing division. This
2392-559: The 40th Anniversary Special Edition DVD set was also accompanied by a commemorative publication, The Magic Book by Simon Wells and Paul Pert. Robin Davies (who had played Carrot) died just before its publication, on 22 February 2010, at the age of 56. The publication includes an article by Pert about the longevity of the Catweazle phenomenon, entitled "A Magical Spell in the Countryside," which contains Robin Davies's last recorded comments about
2484-469: The ATV trademark and it was acquired by Associated Television Productions Ltd which has produced programming for the Made Television network of local television channels. The company, ATV Network Limited, was re-established in 2006 headed by former ATV cameraman, director and Head of Children's Drama Alan Coleman. It aims to promote and celebrate the legacy of Lew Grade's ATV, with a new logo, based on
2576-546: The Bennets' farm from the first series rather than the stately home of the second series, never got past the drafting stage. Catweazle mistakes all modern technology for powerful magic (an example of Arthur C. Clarke's third law that "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"), particularly "elec-trickery" ( electricity ) and the "telling bone" (telephone). Often he tried spells that failed and he would sigh, "Nothing works". Feeling flushed with success in
2668-585: The Golden River (1841), the history of modern fantasy literature is usually said to begin with George MacDonald , the Scottish author of such novels as Phantastes (1858) and The Princess and the Goblin (1872); the former is widely considered to be the first fantasy novel ever written for adults. MacDonald was a major influence on both J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis . The other major fantasy author of this era
2760-581: The IBA ordered that for ATV Midlands to keep the franchise the Elstree centre must be sold and a studio centre built in the east of the region. ATV Midlands, renamed Central Independent Television , needed an immediate start for separate East and West Midlands facilities. The new east site was at Lenton Lane, Nottingham , and the land had been bought while ATV was still in control. Planning issues delayed construction so Central purchased an independent production studio in
2852-545: The Media Archive for Central England at the University of Lincoln. For most of its time on air, ATV's main production centre was based at Elstree , Borehamwood , Hertfordshire , near London, where the majority of ATV's earlier programming was produced and distributed. The Elstree studios had been film studios since 1914, and when ATV acquired them in May 1958, the intention was to use them for ITC TV shows shot on film. One of
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2944-589: The RPG products sold in 2005. The science fantasy role-playing game series Final Fantasy has been an icon of the role-playing video game genre (as of 2012 it was still among the top ten best-selling video game franchises ). The first collectible card game , Magic: The Gathering , has a fantasy theme and is similarly dominant in the industry. Fantasy encompasses numerous subgenres characterized by particular themes or settings, or by an overlap with other literary genres or forms of speculative fiction. They include
3036-676: The Rings film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson , and the Harry Potter films, two of the highest-grossing film series in cinematic history. Fantasy role-playing games cross several different media. Dungeons & Dragons was the first tabletop role-playing game and remains the most successful and influential. According to a 1999 survey in the United States , 6% of 12- to 35-year-olds have played role-playing games. Of those who play regularly, two thirds play D&D . Products branded Dungeons & Dragons made up over fifty percent of
3128-470: The Supernatural in the 1890s and 1920s , Lizzie Harris McCormick, Jennifer Mitchell, and Rebecca Soares describe how the social climate in the 1890s and 1920s allowed for a new era of "fantastic" literature to grow. Women were finally exploring the new freedoms given to them and were quickly becoming equals in society. The fear of the new women in society, paired with their growing roles, allowed them to create
3220-694: The UK free-to-air television channel Talking Pictures TV from Saturday 2 November 2019. There are two novelisations by Carpenter, one for each series: Catweazle and Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac . Both books were illustrated by George Adamson . A 20-page picture book, Catweazle in Marrow Escape was also produced, written by Alan Fennell. A comic strip version featured in the TV comic Look-in , written by Angus P. Allan , and three annuals were also released by World, from 1970 to 1972. A German film adaptation of
3312-568: The US. The logo is one of the most recognisable in broadcasting. The Associated Broadcasting Company began broadcasting in its own right on Saturday 24 September 1955, after jointly presenting the network's opening night on Thursday 22 September. The name ATV was first seen in London on Saturday 8 October 1955. The company won two contracts, the weekend contract for London and the Monday–Friday contract for
3404-456: The absence of scientific or macabre themes, although these can occur in fantasy. In popular culture , the fantasy genre predominantly features settings that emulate Earth, but with a sense of otherness. In its broadest sense, however, fantasy consists of works by many writers, artists, filmmakers, and musicians from ancient myths and legends to many recent and popular works. Many works of fantasy use magic or other supernatural elements as
3496-505: The air of uncertainty in its narratives as described by Todorov. Jackson also introduces the idea of reading the fantastic through a psychoanalytical lens, referring primarily to Freud's theory of the unconscious, which she believes is integral to understanding the fantastic's connection to the human psyche. There are however additional ways to view the fantastic, and often these differing perspectives come from differing social climates. In their introduction to The Female Fantastic: Gender and
3588-438: The author uses worldbuilding to create characters, situations, and settings that may not be possible in reality. Many fantasy authors use real-world folklore and mythology as inspiration; and although another defining characteristic of the fantasy genre is the inclusion of supernatural elements, such as magic, this does not have to be the case. Fantasy has often been compared to science fiction and horror because they are
3680-521: The banner Alpha Television . They supplied both ATV and ABC, and supplemented production from Elstree. In readiness for colour television, a large 'state of the art' television studio was built by ATV, the ATV Centre off Broad Street near the centre of Birmingham . This replaced the Aston studios, which were sold. The ATV Centre was in use until 1997 although two of the production studios had been 'mothballed' in
3772-580: The central Indian principles of political science . Chinese traditions have been particularly influential in the vein of fantasy known as Chinoiserie , including such writers as Ernest Bramah and Barry Hughart . Beowulf is among the best known of the Old English tales in the English speaking world, and has had deep influence on the fantasy genre; several fantasy works have retold the tale, such as John Gardner 's Grendel . Norse mythology , as found in
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3864-631: The circular effect that all fantasy works, even the later The Lord of the Rings , were therefore classified as children's literature . Political and social trends can affect a society's reception towards fantasy. In the early 20th century, the New Culture Movement 's enthusiasm for Westernization and science in China compelled them to condemn the fantastical shenmo genre of traditional Chinese literature. The spells and magical creatures of these novels were viewed as superstitious and backward, products of
3956-675: The city (at Giltbrook ) as its East Midlands newsroom. Industrial action prevented this centre from being used, with the new studios ready by the time it was resolved. In 1983 the Elstree centre was sold to the BBC for around £7 million, and is now home of the soap EastEnders . East Midlands Television Centre in Nottingham began operation in September 1983 but was officially opened by H.R.H. Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, in March 1984. The studio
4048-512: The company bought ITC's television and film library from PolyGram/Seagram for £91 million, which reunited the programme library of ATV and Central Television and doubled the stock of its library division Carlton International , by giving it a total of 15,000 hours of programming. Granada plc merged with Carlton in 2004, and all of ATV's national archive programming has been taken into their ownership. The regional news archive from both ATV and Central, plus some regional programmes, are stored at
4140-646: The convention. The first WFC was held in 1975 and it has occurred every year since. The convention is held at a different city each year. Additionally, many science fiction conventions, such as Florida's FX Show and MegaCon , cater to fantasy and horror fans. Anime conventions, such as Ohayocon or Anime Expo frequently feature showings of fantasy, science fantasy, and dark fantasy series and films, such as Majutsushi Orphen (fantasy), Sailor Moon (urban fantasy), Berserk (dark fantasy), and Spirited Away (fantasy). Many science fiction/fantasy and anime conventions also strongly feature or cater to one or more of
4232-469: The difference of critical traditions of each country have led to controversies such as the one led by Stanislaw Lem . Rosemary Jackson builds onto and challenges as well Todorov's definition of the fantastic in her 1981 nonfiction book Fantasy: The Literature of Subversion . Jackson rejects the notion of the fantastic genre as a simple vessel for wish fulfillment that transcends human reality in worlds presented as superior to our own, instead positing that
4324-548: The early 1990s as demand for production studios fell. As of June 2014, the complex has been partially demolished to be replaced by the upcoming Arena Central development, with the main studio building off Bridge Street standing derelict, pending the commencement of further demolition work. The Alpha Tower remains as a listed building . A documentary about the ATV Centre was released in 2011 by MACE ( Media Archive for Central England ). Entitled From ATVLand In Colour (referring to
4416-510: The fantastic is a liminal space , characterized by the intrusion of supernatural elements into the realistic framework of a story, accompanied by uncertainty about their existence. However, this precise definition is not the predominant one in English critical literature, and the French term fantastique is used to differentiate the French concept from the broader English term of fantastic, synonym of fantasy. The restrictive definition of Todorov and
4508-429: The fantastic represents the unspoken desire for greater societal change. Jackson criticizes Todorov's theory as being too limited in scope, examining only the literary function of the fantastic, and expands his structuralist theory to fit a more cultural study of the genre—which, incidentally, she proposes is not a genre at all, but a mode that draws upon literary elements of both realistic and supernatural fiction to create
4600-554: The fantasy publisher Tor Books , men outnumber women by 67% to 33% among writers of historical, epic or high fantasy. But among writers of urban fantasy or paranormal romance, 57% are women and 43% are men. Fantasy is studied in a number of disciplines including English and other language studies, cultural studies , comparative literature , history and medieval studies . Some works make political, historical and literary connections between medievalism and popular culture. French literature theorists as Tzvetan Todorov argues that
4692-642: The final episode, his last words were "Everything works, Touchwood! Everything works!". Both series were shot on 16mm film . The first series was mostly shot on location at Home Farm, Ripley Road, East Clandon , (near Guildford) in Surrey, England in 1969. The second was mostly filmed around the Bayford / Brickendon area of Hertfordshire in 1970 (S02E12 shows scenes of Brickendon and near Bayford station). Interior scenes were filmed at [the now defunct] Halliford Studios, Manygate Lane, near Shepperton. Both series centred on
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#17328698925894784-777: The first productions to be filmed was The Adventures of William Tell . ATV London used a number of other converted locations for live and video-taped shows during its first decade on air, such as the Wood Green Empire, the Hackney Empire , the former Highbury Film Studios , and briefly, the New Cross Empire, but it soon became clear these were inadequate and it was decided to convert the Elstree studios from film to electronic production. The first of four studios there opened in November 1960. Playout and presentation for ATV London
4876-472: The first time, women started to possess more masculine or queer qualities without it becoming as much of an issue. The fantastic during this time period reflects these new ideas by breaking parallel boundaries in the supernatural. The fantastic breaks this boundary by having the readers never truly know whether or not the story is supernatural. Associated Television ATV Network Limited (originally Associated TeleVision , and usually shortened to ATV )
4968-442: The first time. Starting with three lightspots of red, blue and green that grow individually and combine to form six colours above the caption 'In Colour', the three lightspots fully merge forming a single cream dot which then animates out into the ATV shadowed eye, fully formed, in yellow, while the background dissolves from light grey to dark blue. The score for the ident featured four trumpets, four trombones, timpani and vibraphone in
5060-526: The following: In her 2008 book Rhetorics of Fantasy , Farah Mendlesohn proposes the following taxonomy of fantasy, as "determined by the means by which the fantastic enters the narrated world", while noting that there are fantasies that fit none of the patterns: Publishers, editors, authors, artists, and scholars with interest in the fantasy genre get together yearly at the World Fantasy Convention . The World Fantasy Awards are presented at
5152-481: The franchise holder in the Midlands.) The series was more an echo than a continuation of series 1, and apart from Catweazle himself, all characters were new. Peter Butterworth who appeared in one episode in series 1 appeared as a more continual character (in a new role) in series 2. Catweazle's home in series 2 was an abandoned railway building at "Duck Halt". His child contact this time is Cedric, an only child living in
5244-528: The genre is inseparable from real life, particularly the social and cultural contexts within which each work of the fantastic is produced. She writes that the "unreal" elements of fantastic literature are created only in direct contrast to the boundaries set by its time period's "cultural order", acting to illuminate the unseen limitations of said boundaries by undoing and recompiling the very structures which define society into something "strange" and "apparently new". In subverting these societal norms, Jackson claims,
5336-629: The genre's popularity. The popularity of the fantasy genre has continued to increase in the 21st century, as evidenced by the best-selling status of J. K. Rowling 's Harry Potter series, Robert Jordan 's The Wheel of Time series, George R. R. Martin 's Song of Ice and Fire series, Steven Erikson 's Malazan Book of the Fallen sweeping epic, Brandon Sanderson 's The Stormlight Archive series and Mistborn series, and A. Sapkowski 's The Witcher saga. Several fantasy film adaptations have achieved blockbuster status, most notably The Lord of
5428-465: The launch of the Midlands franchise, the ident was again changed to an ident consisting of five stripes. Three of four vertical stripes contain the letters ATV, which animate in to the same musical score, with the other vertical stripe housing the logo and the stations airing times, either displaying both or those of the region being viewed in. the final stripe is horizontal, with the caption 'Presents' inside. The next ident, launched in 1959, featured
5520-415: The major categories of speculative fiction . Fantasy is distinguished from science fiction by the plausibility of the narrative elements. A science fiction narrative is unlikely, though seemingly possible through logical scientific or technological extrapolation, where fantasy narratives do not need to be scientifically possible. Authors have to rely on the readers' suspension of disbelief , an acceptance of
5612-502: The modern fantasy genre. Plato used allegories to convey many of his teachings, and early Christian writers interpreted both the Old and New Testaments as employing parables to relay spiritual truths. This ability to find meaning in a story that is not literally true became the foundation that allowed the modern fantasy genre to develop. The most well known fiction from the Islamic world
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#17328698925895704-595: The morning of Friday 1 January 1982 (the night of Thursday 31 December 1981), following Scottish Television 's networked Hogmanay Show. The final closedown was marked by a brief tribute to ATV from original announcer Shaw Taylor before duty announcer Mike Prince signed off with the playing of the National Anthem (an organ recording made at St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham ). The newly reformed company, Central Independent Television plc , began broadcasting with an extended promo at 9.25am that morning. Central inherited
5796-762: The new network contractors. When financial problems hit ABDC, the Independent Television Authority , the governing body of ITV, invited Grade and Littler to join the ABDC consortium. This provided the money required and put Littler and Grade in control of the new company, sidelining Collins. The new company was originally named the Associated Broadcasting Company ( ABC ), but the Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), which wished to call their station "ABC" and ran
5888-413: The nickname used on ATV's children's programme, Tiswas , and the building being purpose-built for colour broadcasting), the documentary features presenters, actors, announcers and behind-the-scenes staff talking about their time working there, and the programmes that were made there. Contributors include Chris Tarrant , Shaw Taylor , Jane Rossington and Bob Carolgees . In the 1981 franchise review,
5980-401: The relationship between Catweazle and the young lad from the present day who quickly accepts Catweazle as a friend. The second series had a more farcical character than the first. In the plaster fight scene in the episode 'The Enchanted King'. Cedric's parents were slightly unhinged gentry living in their family stately home. Almost all characters seemed out of touch with reality except Cedric. In
6072-511: The remainder of Central after the Australian investor Robert Holmes à Court staged a boardroom coup and forced Grade to cede control. ACC remained in control of ITC and Stoll-Moss Theatres until 1988 when The Bell Group, the owners of ITC were taken over by the Bond Corporation . Subsequently, the new owners started an asset-stripping programme at ITC. In November 1988, ITC Entertainment
6164-405: The scripts. The premise in the first episode is that an 11th-century bumbling wizard named Catweazle (Geoffrey Bayldon) is pursued by soldiers through a wood, carrying only his magic charm and his toad familiar . He says a spell as he jumps into a pond. When he emerges from the pond he believes that he has flown from the woods; in fact he has jumped 900 years into the future. Catweazle arrives on
6256-474: The second series, Catweazle sings/speaks to himself using the series theme tune. Although Bayldon thought the story had run its course after two series, he still praised the second, commenting that two episodes were, in his view, below standard, but not written by Carpenter; "There are two episodes I felt that with; the rest I think are lovely. I thought they were dreadful, but they were not written by Richard. They were written when we were behind". The series won
6348-554: The series that made him a star and about his special friendship with Bayldon. The DVD image gallery also recorded the occasion of their last meeting at an annual commemorative event held at the farm in East Clandon, Surrey, where the first series was filmed in the summer of 1969. Also featured in the article was an interview with Richard Carpenter in which he gave a frank account of his thoughts on modern television, and again expressed his desire to bring his writing career full circle with
6440-511: The series was released in June 2021, featuring German comedian Otto Waalkes as Catweazle. The film was mostly shot on location at Eberbach Abbey and Stolberg ( Kupferhof Rosenthal , primary school Grüntalstraße , Oldtown ) and the Katzensteine between Mechernich and Satzvey Castle . English professional wrestler Gary Cooper (1939-1992) adopted the ring name "Catweazle" and similar image to
6532-458: The several subcultures within the main subcultures, including the cosplay subculture (in which people make or wear costumes based on existing or self-created characters, sometimes also acting out skits or plays as well), the fan fiction subculture, and the fan video or AMV subculture, as well as the large internet subculture devoted to reading and writing prose fiction or doujinshi in or related to those genres. According to 2013 statistics by
6624-406: The shadowed eye zooming into the screen, whilst the familiar letters animate in as in the previous versions. This was altered in 1964 to add either the region name below it, or the word 'Presents' if the programme was an outside broadcast. The company's most recognisable ident, however, is the one launched in 1969. Called Zoom 2, it was the ident that heralded colour broadcasts to the region for
6716-465: The social structure to emerge. The fantastic is never purely supernatural, nor can the supernatural be ruled out. Just as women were not equal yet, but they were not completely oppressed. The Female Fantastic seeks to enforce this idea that nothing is certain in the fantastic nor the gender roles of the 1920s. Many women in this time period began to blur the lines between the genders, removing the binary out of gender and allowing for many interpretations. For
6808-413: The studios at ATV Centre, Birmingham and ATV Elstree along with land that ATV Midlands had purchased for their new Nottingham studio centre. Central also maintained control of ATV's news archive and regional programmes, along with programming already in production or being shown at the time of changeover and schools programming; the rest of the ATV archive was sold by ACC. ACC later divested itself of
6900-436: The title character of the programme. Signed to Joint Promotions , he appeared regularly on the wrestling slot of World of Sport , including Mick McManus ' retirement match in 1982. Fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction which involves themes of the supernatural , magic , and imaginary worlds and creatures . Its roots are in oral traditions, which became fantasy literature and drama. From
6992-462: The twentieth century, it has expanded further into various media, including film , television , graphic novels , manga , animations , and video games . The expression fantastic literature is also often used to refer to this genre by the Anglophone literary critics. An archaic spelling for the term is phantasy . Fantasy is distinguished from the genres of science fiction and horror by
7084-494: The unbelievable or impossible for the sake of enjoyment, in order to write effective fantasies. Despite both genres' heavy reliance on the supernatural, fantasy and horror are distinguishable from one another. Horror primarily evokes fear through the protagonists' weaknesses or inability to deal with the antagonists. While some elements of the supernatural and the fantastic were a part of literature from its beginning, fantasy elements occur throughout ancient religious texts such as
7176-484: The weekend franchise in London to the London Television Consortium , later renamed London Weekend Television , but its Midlands contract was renewed and extended for the full seven days. At this point the company was renamed ATV Network Limited . During the 1970s, ATV received much criticism over its lack of local programming, particularly for the east of its region; such critics held that local shows had
7268-589: Was William Morris , an English poet who wrote several novels in the latter part of the century, including The Wood Beyond the World (1894) and The Well at the World's End (1896). Despite MacDonald's future influence with At the Back of the North Wind (1871), Morris's popularity with his contemporaries, and H. G. Wells 's The Wonderful Visit (1895), it was not until the 20th century that fantasy fiction began to reach
7360-454: Was a British broadcaster, part of the ITV (Independent Television) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on weekdays from 1956 to 1968, and subsequently to the Midlands all week from 1968 to 1982. It was one of the " Big Four " until 1968, and the "Big Five" after 1968, that between them produced the majority of ITV networked programmes. In 1982, ATV
7452-666: Was awarded the franchise to provide a seven-day service for the Midlands region which started on Tuesday, 30 July 1968 and was finally extended until 00:34 on Friday, 1 January 1982. The company was formed from the merger of the Associated Broadcasting Development Company (ABDC) under the control of Norman Collins , and the Incorporated Television Programme Company ( ITC ) under the control of Prince Littler and Lew Grade , two showbusiness agents. Both companies had applied for
7544-680: Was based at a separate master control facility at Foley Street in Central London, which included two studios for continuity and smaller-scale programming, such as Police 5 . Shortly after ATV ceased transmission in London, the Foley Street centre was also used to transmit a management-run national ITV service during the ITV technicians' strike of August 1968. ATV's Midlands studios were originally based in Aston , Birmingham , jointly owned by ATV and ABC under
7636-472: Was bought by its management. In January 1995, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment bought ITC for $ 156 million, with Grade returning as chairman for life, bringing him back into control of ITC until his death in 1998. Carlton Communications spent much of the 1980s and 1990s buying up the intellectual property of the former ACC, including the rights to the ATV logo and company name, the ATV news archive (via its purchase of Central) and finally in early January 1999,
7728-496: Was changed several times until 1966, when ATV and ITC both became subsidiaries of the Associated Communications Corporation (ACC), formed by turning the old structure on its head. This marked the point where Lew Grade advanced from being the greatest influence over the company to taking control. ATV's main impact was in variety and light entertainment . In the contract and region changes in 1968, ATV lost
7820-477: Was considered more acceptable than fantasy intended for adults, with the effect that writers who wished to write fantasy had to fit their work into forms aimed at children. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote fantasy in A Wonder-Book for Girls and Boys , intended for children, although his works for adults only verged on fantasy. For many years, this and successes such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) created
7912-454: Was eventually sold in 2004 to the University of Nottingham as an independent facility and as the home of the Media Archive for Central England, where most of ATV's and Central's programmes are archived. ATV's logo has always consisted of a shadowed eye, inspired supposedly by the logo of CBS . This shadowed eye with the letters ATV inside came to represent the company. The first ident featured
8004-460: Was extended until Sunday, 28 July 1968. ATV was also awarded the franchise to provide the weekdays Independent Television service for the Midlands region. This service started on Friday, 17 February 1956, the third ITA franchisee to go on air, and was extended until Monday, 29 July 1968. Subsequent to the changes made by the ITA to the regional structure of the ITV network, ATV lost its London franchise, but
8096-401: Was founded in 1949, the pulp magazine format was at the height of its popularity, and the magazine was instrumental in bringing fantasy fiction to a wide audience in both the U.S. and Britain. Such magazines were also instrumental in the rise of science fiction, and it was at this time the two genres began to be associated with each other. By 1950, " sword and sorcery " fiction had begun to find
8188-402: Was known as ATV Music and existed initially to publish TV-related music, such as theme tunes, composed by its in-house composers. It was formed after ATV acquired a substantial share of Pye Records . This company was eventually split away from the parent company and went through numerous different owners as well as buying into other established music publishers including Northern Songs , which
8280-548: Was probably written in the middle of the second half of the eighteenth century BC, preserves a mixture of stories with elements of historical fiction, fantasy, and satire. Egyptian funerary texts preserve mythological tales, the most significant of which are the myths of Osiris and his son Horus . Myth with fantastic elements intended for adults were a major genre of ancient Greek literature . The comedies of Aristophanes are filled with fantastic elements, particularly his play The Birds , in which an Athenian man builds
8372-582: Was released in May 2007. In June 2011 both series were released in Region 4. On 29 March 2010 the series was re-released in the UK to commemorate its 40th anniversary. Among several other additional features were a "Westbourne Museum" image gallery (named after a small local museum in the episode "The Curse of Rapkyn" starring Peter Sallis ) featuring the most comprehensive collection of original Catweazle memorabilia and promotional ephemera ever assembled, sourced from The Paul Pert Screen Collection . The release of
8464-466: Was restructured and rebranded as Central Independent Television , under which name it continued to provide the service for the Midlands. ATV was awarded its first franchise by the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide the Independent Television service at weekends for the London region. This service started on Saturday, 24 September 1955, the second ITA franchise to go on air, and
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