spb/wp30_uqo

1{2  "document_id": "lb_hotpotqa_40b5d54934bcf22bb9267e605c49d46509f3bd41b1a34c31",3  "family": "public_hotpotqa",4  "split": "test",5  "text": "Passage 1:\nLive at the Electric\nLive at the Electric is a British comedy series that aired on BBC Three from 31 May 2012 and 28 February 2014 and is hosted by Russell Kane who performed stand-up in between comedy sketches from a variety of performers such as Joe Wilkinson and Diane Morgan's double act Two Episodes of Mash. It also featured comedy duo Totally Tom serving as backstage crew for the show.\n\nExternal links\nLive at the Electric at BBC Online \nLive at the Electric at British Comedy Guide\nPassage 2:\nStart-rite\nStart-rite is a brand of children's shoes. The shoemaker, purportedly Britain's oldest and one of the first manufacturers in Norfolk, was established in 1792 in Norwich, England, by James Smith. His grandson, James Southall, gave the firm its current name; it rose in prominence during the 20th century thanks in part to an iconic poster, reading Children's shoes have far to go, which was displayed on the London Underground for 20 years from 1947. Controversy exists around the origins of the image in this poster. It has been attributed to artists  Andy Wood, William Grimmond, Joe Wilkinson of Stanley Studios, Susan Pearce, Nancy Gardner and to the company's own advertising agent.In 1955 Start-rite was granted a royal warrant by Queen Elizabeth II to supply footwear for the young Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.  The company was granted a second royal warrant in 1989 by the Prince of Wales to supply children's footwear for Prince William and Prince Harry. This royal warrant was withdrawn in 2003 on production being moved from the UK. In 2016 Prince George was pictured wearing Start-rite shoes in an official portrait taken to commemorate the 90th birthday of the Queen.In 2003 the company ceased production in the UK, outsourcing its operations to India and Portugal. The cost cutting move came amid a £600,000 annual loss, which the company reversed the following year to turn a £1.5 million profit. Sales further increased by 20% to 2007.The company focuses on correctly fitting shoes to children's feet, and was the first to introduce variable width fittings for children's shoes. It once maintained concession stores in the now-defunct children's clothing retailer Adams.\nPassage 3:\nNora Lewin\nNora Lewin is a fictional character on the TV show Law & Order, played by two-time Academy Award winning actress Dianne Wiest from 2000 to 2002. She appeared in 51 episodes (48 episodes of Law & Order, one episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent and two episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit). Her character was particularly notable for the fact that she was the first woman in the program's history to hold the position of New York County District Attorney (no woman has held the position in real life). Pursuant to New York law, an interim District Attorney is appointed by the Governor.\n\nRole within Law & Order\nPrior to her appointment as interim DA, Lewin was a law professor, which often provoked her critics to dismiss her as a detached academic with no practical experience. Lewin's term as DA is defined by a liberally directed program of legal application to many notable criminal cases, which often brings her into political and legal dilemmas. While she is an idealist, however, she is not prepared to subvert the correct application of the law due to her personal beliefs. In a 2001 episode, she is confronted with the decision to pursue the death penalty in a conviction of an 18-year-old murderer. While she personally opposes the death penalty, she realizes that her office would be seen as soft on crime, and reluctantly succumbs to political pressure. The young man is found guilty and sent to death row.Lewin works closely with Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) and Abbie Carmichael (Angie Harmon). Her political beliefs often put her into conflict with both of them, especially the latter, a staunch political conservative. After Carmichael leaves the DA's office, Lewin replaces her with Serena Southerlyn (Elisabeth Röhm), whose liberal idealism more closely resembles her own political philosophy.She has a niece, indicating that she has at least one sibling.\n\nDeparture\nIn September 2002, after two years of her term as District Attorney, Lewin departs the office. The manner in which she departed the show is never specified on screen. However, in his tie-in book Law & Order: Crime Scenes, Dick Wolf wrote that his intention for the character was that Lewin found herself disenchanted with the position of D.A., and opted not to run for election following her interim term. Fred Dalton Thompson subsequently joined the cast as Republican Arthur Branch. Wiest later stated, in the book Actors at Work, written by Rosemarie Tichler and Barry Jay Kaplan, that she was tired of the role and wished to move on to other projects.\nIn her first scene, Lewin is introduced to McCoy by Mayor Rudy Giuliani (playing himself in a cameo appearance), who praises Lewin's record and assures her that she will do a fine job as District Attorney.\n\nAppearances on other TV series\nLaw & Order: Criminal Intent\nSeason One\nEpisode 1: \"One\"\nLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit\nSeason Three\nEpisode 10: \"Ridicule\"\nSeason Four\nEpisode 1: \"Chameleon\"\nPassage 4:\nLucy Davis\nLucy Clare Davis (born 17 February 1973) is an English actress best known for playing Dawn Tinsley in the BBC comedy The Office (2001–2003). \nShe is also known for her roles as Hilda Spellman in the Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018–2020), Dianne in the horror-comedy Shaun of the Dead (2004), and Etta Candy in Wonder Woman (2017). She is also currently playing the role of Eva in Disney Channel's action comedy series The Villains of Valley View, which premiered on 3 June 2022.\n\nCareer\nDavis appeared briefly in an episode of The Detectives, a show created for and starring her father (Jasper Carrott). She played Maria Lucas in the BBC's 1995 production of Pride and Prejudice, and also had a role in the 1996 Christmas special of One Foot in the Grave. After her breakthrough role as Dawn Tinsley in The Office, Davis appeared in the films Sex Lives of the Potato Men and Shaun of the Dead in 2004, whilst continuing to play Hayley Jordan in The Archers on BBC Radio 4. She gave up this last role when her other acting responsibilities made it impossible to continue, and the part was recast in September 2005.\nDavis appeared in the third-season episode \"Elephants and Hens\" of UK TV programme Black Books. In 2006, Davis appeared as the \"Fashion TV\" host on ABC's Ugly Betty, and later that year played writer Lucy Kenwright in NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. In 2008, she appeared in several episodes of the US series Reaper. In 2010, Davis starred in ITV's six-episode comedy drama, Married Single Other, and also appeared in a guest role in The Mentalist alongside her then-husband Owain Yeoman. Davis also appears in the John Landis-produced thriller Some Guy Who Kills People. In 2012, Davis had a guest voice part in Family Guy for the episode \"Be Careful What You Fish For\". Davis appeared in series two, episode eight of the BBC series Death in Paradise (2013). She became a Patron for the performing arts group Theatretrain in 2012.Davis plays the role of Etta Candy in the 2017 film Wonder Woman. Her performance marked the first live action cinematic portrayal of that comic book character. Davis has said of the character: \"She's a woman in a man's world and so being heard and seen aren't the easiest things, but it kind of doesn't deter her. Etta is unapologetically herself and I think that that's the thing that has drawn me to her the most... it took quite a while in my life to be unapologetically myself.\"Davis appeared in the Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina as Hilda Spellman, which aired from 2018 to 2020. She is starring as Eva, known as the supervillain Surge, on the Disney Channel sitcom The Villains of Valley View which premiered on 3 June 2022.\n\nPersonal life\nDavis is the daughter of Hazel Jackson and comedian Robert Davis, better known as Jasper Carrott. In December 1997, Davis underwent a kidney transplant after being diagnosed with kidney failure during a medical examination. Her mother donated the kidney. Around Christmas 2005 she was hospitalised once again because of kidney failure, but later recovered. Davis also has type 1 diabetes.On 9 December 2006, Davis married Welsh actor Owain Yeoman at St Paul's Cathedral, London. The wedding was attended by fellow The Office cast members and writers. Davis was entitled to marry there as her father is an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and St Paul's contains the chapel of the order. The couple separated in January 2011 and divorced in October 2011.In 2007, Davis posed nude in the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals's campaign against the Guards Division's continued use of traditional bearskin caps.\n\nFilmography\nFilm\nTelevision\nRadio\nPassage 5:\nDiane Morgan\nDiane Morgan (born 5 October 1975) is an English actress, comedian, television presenter, and writer. She is best known for playing Philomena Cunk on Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe and in other mockumentaries, as Liz in the BBC Two sitcom Motherland, and Kath in the Netflix dark comedy series After Life. She also wrote and starred in the BBC Two comedy series Mandy.\n\nEarly life\nMorgan was born in Bolton, Greater Manchester on 5 October 1975, daughter of a physiotherapist and a stay-at-home mother; she has one brother. She grew up in nearby Farnworth and Kearsley, and attended George Tomlinson School in Kearsley. When she was 20, she studied at the East 15 Acting School in Loughton. She said in a 2020 interview, \"There were a few actors on [my father]'s side of the family: Julie Goodyear, Frank Finlay and Jack Wild. What a dynasty. We're like the Redgraves. Julie's got a touch of the Mandys, actually. Maybe I could cast her as Mandy's mum.\"\n\nCareer\nMorgan had a small part as Dawn in Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights before a spell working various jobs, including as a dental assistant, a telemarketer, a potato peeler at a chip shop, selling Avon, and boxing up worming tablets in a factory. She subsequently made her first attempt at stand-up comedy. She was placed second in the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year award in 2006, and as runner-up in the 2006 Funny Women Awards.Morgan and Joe Wilkinson later formed a sketch comedy duo called Two Episodes of Mash. From 2008, they performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for three consecutive years, and in 2010, they appeared on Robert Webb's satirical news show Robert's Web. In 2012, the act completed its second BBC radio series (co-starring David O'Doherty), and appeared in BBC Three's Live at the Electric. In the same year, she appeared in Him & Her, which featured Wilkinson, and in 2013, she played Nicola in the TV series Pat & Cabbage. In 2014, she made an appearance in the TV series Utopia, as Tess, and in 2015, she appeared in two episodes of Drunk History.\n\nPhilomena Cunk\nMorgan is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Philomena Cunk, an extremely dim-witted and ill-informed interviewer and commentator on current affairs. The character first appeared in a regular segment on Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe (2013–2015). Cunk has since appeared in other mockumentary contexts. In December 2016, she presented BBC Two's Cunk on Christmas. In April 2018, the five-part historical mockumentary Cunk on Britain began broadcasting on BBC Two. Also in 2018, Morgan wrote Cunk on Everything: The Encyclopedia Philomena, published by Two Roads on 1 November. In December 2019, Morgan appeared as Cunk for short episodes of Cunk and Other Humans, once again on BBC Two. She returned in a one-off episode of Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe titled \"Antiviral Wipe\", about the COVID-19 pandemic, in May 2020. Another series, Cunk on Earth, began broadcasting in September 2022. For her performance in the latter, Morgan was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance.\n\nOther roles\nMorgan played David Brent's public relations guru in the film David Brent: Life on the Road (2016). She has appeared in several short films, including The Boot Sale, which was shortlisted in the Virgin Media Shorts film competition 2010.In 2016, Morgan played Mandy in Sky One's comedy Rovers, appearing in all six episodes of the first series. She also appeared in the pilot for the BBC2 comedy We the Jury as Olivia. She also plays receptionist Talia in Sky's comedy drama Mount Pleasant and Liz in the BBC2 sitcom Motherland.\nMorgan plays Kath in the Netflix black-comedy series After Life, written by Ricky Gervais. She starred in the Gold sitcom The Cockfields, again alongside Wilkinson, and in comedy-drama Frayed in 2019. In 2019, she wrote, directed, and starred in the BBC2 comedy short Mandy, described as \"a comedy by Diane Morgan about Mandy, a woman who really, really wants a sofa, and will stop at absolutely nothing to get it\". Carol Decker appeared as herself in the short. The character returned in August 2020 for the full series Mandy, with Shaun Ryder, Maxine Peake, and Natalie Cassidy in guest roles. A Christmas special, We Wish You a Mandy Christmas, loosely based on A Christmas Carol, was broadcast in December 2021.Also in 2020, Morgan played Gemma Nerrick in the British mockumentary Death to 2020, created by Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones. She reprised the role in Death to 2021. She voiced the character 105E in the 2021 animated Cartoon Network series Elliott from Earth.\nIn April 2022, Morgan starred as Donna in the first episode of the seventh series of Inside No. 9. In December 2022, Morgan reprised her role as Liz on Motherland for the Christmas special.\n\nPersonal life\nMorgan lives in the Bloomsbury district of London with her boyfriend, BBC comedy producer Ben Caudell.Interviewed by Stuart Jeffries for The Guardian' in 2016, she said, \"I've always wanted to make people laugh. It's been my only ambition, ever since my dad introduced me to the genius of the great comedians: Tony Hancock, Woody Allen, people like that. While other kids were into New Kids on the Block, I was into Harold Lloyd and Stan Laurel. I'm still like that. I don't have any hobbies.\"\n\nFilmography\nPassage 6:\nMy Family (series 10)\nThe tenth series of the BBC family sitcom My Family originally aired between 9 July 2010, and 27 August 2010, with a Christmas special that went to air on 24 December 2010. The series was commissioned following consistent ratings from the previous series. The opening episode, \"Wheelie Ben\", re-introduces the six main characters, with the addition of regular appearances from Kenzo Harper, played by Tayler Marshall. However, the character of Roger Bailey only made an appearance in the series finale. All episodes from the tenth series are thirty minutes in length, with the exception of the Christmas Special. The series was once again produced by Rude Boy Productions, a company that produces comedies created by Fred Barron. Unlike previous series of the show, which were filmed on a yearly basis, both Series 10 and 11 were filmed back-to-back. For the first time in the show's history, two episodes of the series remained unaired for some time. At the time of release, the DVD of the series contained two episodes that had yet to be broadcast on television. On 17 June 2011, one of these two episodes were aired, and the remaining one aired on 22 July 2011. The series averaged 4.55 million per episode; however, they managed to get over 6.00 million viewers for the Christmas Special.\n\nEpisode Information\nNotes\nPassage 7:\nDavid Earl (actor)\nDavid Geoffrey Earl (born 20th March 1974) is a British actor and comedian, best known for his comedy character Brian Gittins. He has featured in several projects associated with Ricky Gervais, most notably as Kevin \"Kev\" Twine in the comedy-drama Derek, and in smaller roles in Extras, After Life and the film Cemetery Junction. Earl also works frequently with comic Joe Wilkinson. Together they co-wrote and starred in the sitcom Rovers, and the comedy series The Cockfields. They also host three podcasts called Gossipmongers, Chatabix and My New Football Club. He also co-wrote and starred in the feature film Brian and Charles where he plays an isolated inventor who builds a robot.\n\nEarly life\nEarl was born in Crawley in 1974. Before undertaking any acting roles, Earl worked as a gardener and as a van driver, delivering building tools.\n\nComedy career\nOne of Earl's earliest online videos featured him playing a character called Graham, which he sent to a friend who showed it to Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. They liked the video and Gervais asked Earl to play an obsessive fan, based on the character from the video, who talks to Andy Millman in a pub in an episode of Extras. Around this time Earl played Tony Queen in the film The Penalty King.Earl went on to create a number of online videos in character as Brian Gittins and played this role in the film Cemetery Junction. In 2012 a sitcom pilot entitled Gittins was broadcast on Channel 4. In the pilot Gittins works as a taxi driver: previously the character had been a cafe owner and this discrepancy is highlighted in an episode of the podcast Flatshare Slamdown, in which Earl appears as Brian. He releases regular Brian Gittins and Friends podcasts.Another of Earl's characters is Steve \"Cumbo\" Cumberland, who features in a number of online videos, including a Channel 4 Comedy Blaps series, co-written with Brett Goldstein.In 2011, Earl was revealed to be the person behind the popular Twitter account of Dr Peter Thraft, a supposed sex therapist.\n\nPersonal life\nEarl has three children and lives in Devon.\n\nFilmography\nPodcasts\nThe Brian Gittins Show\nA live radio show hosted on Spreaker from 2012-2017, where Brian played the role of 'the worst radio presenter in the world'. Callers would Skype in from around the world, and these included David Edwards and Charles Petrescu.\n\nBrian Gittins and Friends\nBrian, David Edwards and Charles Petrescu have a chat with various comedians. It started in 2016, with guests including John Kearns, Lolly Adefope, and Scroobius Pip.\n\nGossipmongers\nIn 2019, David Earl, Joe Wilkinson and Poppy Hillstead began a podcast called Gossipmongers, a weekly podcast where listeners send in unsubstantiated rumours. At the end of each episode they choose their favourite piece of gossip from that episode. In 2020 Poppy was booted from the podcast by Joe and David.\n\nChatabix\nIn 2021, David Earl and Joe Wilkinson began a podcast called Chatabix, a daily weekday podcast recorded very early in the morning.\n\nMy New Football Club\nIn 2021, David Earl and Jon Beer began a podcast called My New Football Club. A weekly podcast about David becoming a new fan of Exeter City.\nPassage 8:\n7 Day Sunday\n7 Day Sunday (7 Day Saturday in 2013) is a British comedy radio talk show hosted by Al Murray on BBC Radio 5 Live. Broadcast weekly on Sunday mornings, the show takes an irreverent look at the topical news stories of the past seven days. \nOriginally presented by Chris Addison: he was joined by regular guests Sarah Millican and Andy Zaltzman, and a fourth special guest each episode. It premièred in January 2010 to mixed reviews. It returned for a second series in September 2010. Al Murray served as host for the last five episodes of the second series, joined by regular guests Rebecca Front and Joe Wilkinson. The show returned for a third series in January 2012 with Murray hosting alongside Andy Zaltzman and Rebecca Front as the regular guests. A fourth series followed from September 2012.\n\nHistory\n7 Day Sunday was announced as a new show on 11 December 2009, to be hosted by Addison and broadcast for an hour in the 11 am to 12 noon slot. The guests for the opening episode were to be Zaltzman, Millican, and a special guest. It was to replace another comedy show The Christian O'Connell Solution, hosted by Christian O'Connell with Bob Mills. The new show was to begin on 10 January 2010, as part of the wider re-organisation of 5 Live's schedule which had already begun to be announced in October 2009, the largest since controller Adrian Van Klaveren joined the station in April 2008.The show is produced for 5 Live by Avalon Television. It was initially commissioned for a 20-week run. This first series duly ran from 10 January 2010 until 6 June 2010. After three months it resumed for a second series on 5 September 2010 until 3 April 2011. The third series began 8 January 2012.In press interviews during March 2010 while promoting his upcoming stand-up tour, Addison explained that doing a radio show was a childhood ambition, and that as a \"current affairs junkie\", hosting 7 Day Sunday was ideal, more relaxed than television and good fun, with the weekly deadline being a good motivation.\n\nFormat\nWhen the show was announced, it was cast as a topical news series aiming to \"pull apart the week's big news stories and see what makes them tick\", with Addison describing it as \"four relatively ill-informed idiots fail to take the news seriously for an hour\".\n\nHosts and regulars\nThe following people have hosted the show during its run:\n\nAs well as the host there are usually two other regulars plus a guest.  For series 1 and 2 regulars were Andy Zaltzman and Sarah Millican.  For series 3 Rebecca Front replaced Sarah Millican.\n\nBroadcasts\nLast updated January 2018The show aired on Sundays from 11 am to noon. It once aired at 9 pm on 31 January 2010. The series occasionally missed a week for sporting events (Formula 1 Grand Prix, London Marathon, etc.).\nSeries One featured 20 episodes which were broadcast between 10 January 2010 and 6 June 2010.  There were no episodes broadcast on 7 February 2010, 25 April 2010.Series Two consisted of 26 episodes, broadcast between 5 September 2010 and 3 April 2011. There were no episode broadcast on 19 September 2010, 3 October 2010, 26 December 2010, 2 January 2010 and 30 January 2010.Series Three had 15 episodes which were broadcast between 8 January 2012 and 6 May 2012. No episode was broadcast on 25 March 2012.Series Four also had 15 episodes, began on 9 September 2012, and ended on 16 December.\nIn 2013, the show returned for a new, slightly different series: it was moved to Saturdays, renamed 7 Day Saturday, had 11 episodes between 8 June and 24 August, kept Al Murray as host, and featured Andy Zaltzman and two guests each programme. There was also a Christmas special, 7 Days of Christmas, broadcast on 24 December 2013.\nSeries Five only had 5 episodes, broadcast between 11 May and 8 June 2014.\nThe last edition of 7 Day Sunday was broadcast on 9 August 2015. This edition was hosted by Jenny Eclair, with the final guests included Andy Zaltzman, Holly Walsh and Stephen Grant.\nThe show was made available on the BBC's iPlayer service and as a podcast, which features additional material.\n\nReception\nAfter the first show, Jane Thynne of The Independent questioned the lack of variety, covering as it did mainly the heavy snowfall with little political content, which given Addison had made his name in a political satire, she found odd. She ultimately reserved judgement on the show, calling Addison witty but recommending he slow down the pace and stop his \"nervous giggling\".Chris Campling of The Times criticised the first episode as being a duplicate of the \"dismal, desperate\" The Christian O'Connell Solution it replaced, with a turgid format. Persevering, he described the second episode as just as dreary with no chemistry and \"none of the News Quiz-esque scoring of laughter points, where clever people fall over each other in their desperation to be funnier than the last.\"After the third episode, Elisabeth Mahoney of The Guardian said the show was \"really quite funny\" but the listener needed to stay focussed on the content as the four way dialogue was quite involved as it covered a comprehensive sweep of topics. For listeners who might want to multi-task on a Sunday morning, she recommended Dave Gorman's show on Absolute Radio.\nPassage 9:\nJohn Jackson (writer)\nJohn Jackson is an English television screenwriter.\n\nLife and career\nAfter leaving Cambridge University, John Jackson developed and script edited the ITV soap Night and Day. Altogether he wrote 35 episodes for the TV Series. In 2009 he wrote the episode The King Is Dead, Long Live the King…  for the BBC One series Robin Hood. From 2010 to 2012 he wrote two episodes of the serial drama Lip Service. From 2011 until 2013 he wrote three episodes for the supernatural drama Being Human. This brought him a Writers' Guild of Great Britain award for Best TV Drama Series. He also wrote two episodes for the Being Human spin off Becoming Human.In 2014 Jackson wrote an episode for another BBC Three series, In the Flesh. He would become a regular writer on ITV's Grantchester, and in 2020, was lead writer on season 3 of Sky's Riviera.\n\nFilmography\nAwards and nominations\nAwards\nWriters' Guild of Great Britain Award:\n\n2012: Best TV Drama Series (Being Human)\nPassage 10:\nEgypt (TV series)\nEgypt is a BBC television docudrama serial portraying events in the history of Egyptology from the 18th through early 20th centuries. It originally aired on Sunday nights at 9 pm on BBC1 in 2005. The first two episodes explored the work of Howard Carter and his archaeological quest in Egypt in the early part of the twentieth century. The next two episodes focused on the eccentric explorer \"The Great Belzoni\" played here by Matthew Kelly. The final two episodes dramatise the discovery and deciphering of the Rosetta Stone by Jean-François Champollion (Elliot Cowan).\nThe music was recorded by the Warsaw Radio Orchestra and is featured on the CD Timeless Histories by Chappell music, produced by Clare Isaacs.\n\nProduction\nThe series was a major new docudrama series produced by the BBC for the Autumn 2005 schedule.\n\"The whole idea behind the series was to be able to discover Ancient Egypt through the eyes of Howard Carter – famous for uncovering the tomb of Tutankhamun; The Great Belzoni – an amazing adventurer and explorer; and the scholar Jean-François Champollion, who was the first to decipher the Rosetta Stone and open up the meaning of hieroglyphics.\"\nIn order to create a sense of \"seeing the treasures of Ancient Egypt for the first time\", Dolling and Bradshaw felt it essential to film at the actual archaeological sites referenced in the series.\n\n\"We had fantastic help from the Government and a local production crew, they managed to fix it for us to film in areas that, as far as we know, have never been used by other television or film productions.\"\n\"Being the first UK TV company to attempt such a project in the most amazing historical sights was very exhilarating, and to be able to return them - with additional sets and some computer imagery - to how they were during the time of the Pharaohs was incredible.\"\nFilming at such invaluable and popular sites created new challenges for the film makers.\n\n\"Keeping people out of shot was one — sometimes this was nearing impossible — but we tended to shoot early in the day so disruptions were kept to a minimum. The other was obviously making sure we didn't damage anything, which thankfully we managed!\"\n\"It was difficult keeping such a unique project running so far from home, and it is a tribute to the cast and crew that we managed to succeed. The series really is great and looks fantastic, well worth all the hard work.\"\nThe co-production between BBC and The Learning Channel was initially budgeted at around £6.5m but problems filming on location in Egypt, including the weather and illness, meant the producers required another £2million. Post production costs involved in recreating Ancient Egypt meant that the final costs could have resulted in a £5million overspend but the BBC denied this.\n\n\"To suggest the overspend is anything in the [range of] £5m is utterly ridiculous — it is simply not true. This was a huge project shot on location in Egypt and, as with any project of such scale, we had contingency funds available to us — so the unavoidable overspend was accommodated for and fully authorised.\"\n\"I think it's useful to point out that the cost per hour of Egypt will still be lower than other comparable programmes such as Pompeii, Genghis Khan and Pyramid. In fact, due to the international co-financing, this is actually incredibly good value for money providing full period drama for the budget normally associated with a documentary.\"\nSeveral multi-media productions were commissioned to tie-in with the series including interactive drama BBC Egypt Interactive, award-winning online-game Death in Sakkara: An Egyptian Adventure, and an interactive exhibition at BBC Birmingham.A companion series Egyptian Journeys with Dan Cruickshank, in which architectural historian Cruickshank travels the country to explore some of the intriguing stories that have emerged from ancient Egypt, was broadcast concurrently on BBC Two.\n\nReception\nReviews\nSam Wollaston writing about episode one in The Guardian said that he \"was expecting to hate this show,\" fearing it would be \"narration interspersed with lame reconstruction,\" but he was pleased to discover it was, in fact, \"a proper drama, with a very decent script and real actors.\" \"And it's a great story, too,\" he states, although he did not enjoy the re-enactments of the life of Tutankhamun, which he described as \"olive-skinned actors with non-speaking parts and an awful lot of eye-liner, wandering around in a semi-darkness lit by flickering candles,\" and claims were not necessary, \"but maybe that will help to sell it to America.\" He concludes that he is \"looking forward to part two.\"David Liddiment writing in The Guardian complimented the cleverly twinning of this docudrama with the more cerebral Egyptian Journeys with Dan Cruickshank on BBC Two but he points out that this was done during the final stages of the BBC's charter renewal review and insists that the corporation should keep up standards after this process is completed.\n\nRatings\nEpisode one (2005-10-30): 7 million viewers (29% audience share).\nEpisode two (2005-11-06): 6 million viewers (24% audience share).\nEpisode three (2005-11-13): 5.7 million viewers (23% audience share).\nEpisode four (2005-11-20): 4.8 million viewers.\nEpisode five (2005-11-27): 4.5 million viewers (18% audience share).\n\nEpisodes\nPart one: Howard Carter\nThe story of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun by Howard Carter and the popular belief in the Curse of the Pharaohs, a supposed result of Carter's disturbing Tutankhamen's resting place. The episodes include short dramatizations of the life of Tutankhamun.\n\nEpisode one: The Search for Tutankhamun\nTutankhamun vanished from history in 1324 BC following his hurried burial and the erasure of his name from all monuments. In the winter of 1898 Carter is at the temples of Deir el Bahri recording wall reliefs threatened by a freak storm when he is thrown from his horse and makes a discovery in the sand. Retired Boston lawyer Theodore M. Davis funds Carter's excavation of Queen Hatshepsut's tomb but it is found to be empty and Carter deprived of further funding is reduced to selling his paintings to tourists on the street.\nIn 1905 Lord Carnarvon arrives in Luxor to convalesce after a road accident and is shown an artifact bearing the cartouche of the mysterious Tutankhamun discovered by Davis on his new dig. Tutankhamun succeeded his heretical father as pharaoh at the age of 8 and was named in honour of Amun to symbolise his mission to restore the old gods and save the empire from turmoil. An inspired Carnarvon employs Carter but they are denied access to the Valley of the Kings for which only Davis has a permit. Amidst the flurry of construction that marked the beginning of Tutankhamun's reign the most important to the boy Pharaoh would have been that of his tomb. An ailing Davis announces his discovery of this, the final Pharaoh's tomb, prior to his retirement. Carter doubts the find and convinces Carnarvon to take up the concession. The methodical and meticulous excavation commences in 1914 but is quickly interrupted by World War I.\nThe Carnarvons return to Egypt at the end of the war and Carter recommences his excavation but with a continued lack of results leading to doubts that any undiscovered tombs are left in the valley the funding is finally cut in 1922. Tutankhamun's tomb was well concealed to ensure his undisturbed afterlife. Carter convinces Carnarvon to fund one last season during which the tomb is finally unearthed. When the tomb is opened in the presence of Carnarvon and his daughter it is revealed to be the only unplundered pharaoh's tomb in the valley.\n\nEpisode two: The Curse of Tutankhamun\nIn 1922 Carter goes to the Egyptian Antiquities Service in Cairo to announce his discovery but disagrees with Director Pierre Lacau over the clearance and cataloguing of the contents. The discovery revealed a dark time in the history of Egypt and the death of its boy king. Carter assembles an international team of experts to commence the work under the unwelcome scrutiny of Lacau's inspector and the western press. Carnarvon's cavalier attitude to the finds he considers his property starts to infuriate both Carter and Lacau.\nAs the finds are slowly catalogued and removed Carter becomes close to Carnarvon's daughter Evelyn but his strictness begins to alienate his team. Tutankhamun was married to his own sister but the union failed to produce an heir to secure the future of the kingdom. Stories of the curse begin to circulate as Carter breaks through into the burial chamber to reveal an intact tomb. As Lacau threatens to take over the excavation and several of the experts quit, Carnarvon questions Carter over his leadership and his relationship with Evelyn. When he came of age Tutankhamun took over control of the kingdom from his military advisor Ay only to die from unknown causes shortly thereafter. Carter rushes to Carnarvon's death-bed where the two make-up. Upon Tutankhamun's death Ay seized the throne and married the widowed queen. Carter, disappointed by Evelyn's engagement to another man, returns to continue his work. Tutankhamun's death came before the royal tomb could be completed so he was hastily buried in the tomb Ay had prepared for himself. Lacau takes over the running of the tomb in 1924 when Carter and his team stop work to protest continued Egyptian interference.\nThe following year Carter is called back by Lacau to reopen the tomb with funding from Lady Carnarvon. The team start to extract the nested coffins revealing one of them to be made of pure gold that confirms the presence of a Pharaoh. The team begin to notice evidence that the burial was done in a hurry as the body itself is finally uncovered. When Ay died without heir a new dynasty took to the throne that erased all references to the Boy King. In 1932 with his work complete Carter leaves the tomb for the last time and hands the key to Lacau.\n\nCast\nStuart Graham as Howard Carter\nJulian Wadham as Lord Carnarvon\nCaroline Langrishe as Lady Carnarvon\nAlex Weaver as Evelyn Carnarvon\nValentine Pelka as Pierre Lacau\nWilliam Hope as Theodore M. Davis\nLaurence Fox as Leonard\n\nPart two: The Great Belzoni\nThe story of Italian engineer and circus strongman Giovanni Belzoni who became the most unlikely Egyptologist the world has ever seen, intercut with Flashbacks to the life of Ramses the Great, in whose footsteps Belzoni would continually stray.\n\nEpisode three: The Pharaoh and the Showman\nA dissatisfied Belzoni leaves England with his wife, Sarah, and servant, James Curtin, to see the world. Finding themselves destitute in the streets of Cairo after work on an irrigation project falls through, they are rescued by the eccentric John Lewis Bukhardt who introduces them to British Consul Henry Salt. Belzoni is hired to recover the massive Head of Memnon, later revealed to a statue of the Pharaoh Ramesses the Great, as a gift for the British Museum. Arriving in Luxor in 1816 amidst a gold rush of black market antiquities dealers Belzoni finds himself unwelcome.\nAt the Ramesseum Belzoni examines the head and devises a plan for its removal. The local Caimakan, under advice from Belzoni's French rival Bernardino Drovetti, denies Belzoni's permit and initially refuses to supply labour until threats bring him around. Ramesses marriage to his true love Nefertari was fruitful and secured the family line and the country too was fertile thanks to the annual flooding of the Nile. The approaching flood season however threatens to strand the head in the heart of the flood plain bringing an abrupt halt to Belzoni's mission. When the local labourers finally arrive Belzoni immediately sets to work moving the head using the same techniques its builders had used 3,000 years previous. Belzoni sends the ailing Jim back to Cairo to request a bigger boat so that they can collect even more antiquities and with time running out is forced to take greater risks to get the head to the bank of the Nile.\nWith the head secured the Belzonis heads south along the Nile to Abu Simbal in uncharted Nubia to expand the collection of antiquities. Ramesses built two temples at Abu Simbal; one dedicated his beloved wife and the other to his military prowess in the first victorious campaign. Belzoni locates the entrance to the Great Temple but finds it blocked, and so forced to head back to Cairo he vows to return to excavate the site the following season.\n\nEpisode four: The Temple of the Sands\nBelzoni, arriving back in Cairo, is informed by Salt that only the head is to be sent to the British Museum while the rest of the antiquities he has collected are to be kept at the consulate. Salt refuses to fund an excavation at Abu Simbal and Belzoni is sent south again with Salt's secretary William Beechey and a local dealer called Yanni. Belzoni, whilst becalmed at Minya. spots Yenni talking to his French rival Drovetti and hastily rides to Luxor determined to get there first. Arriving to late Belzoni discovers that the entire area licensed to Drovetti and he must dig elsewhere.\nBelzoni, guided by the image of Ramesses, digs in an unlicensed area and discovers a perfectly preserved bust. An infuriated Drovetti has the local ruler issue an edict against Belzoni. With no other option Belzoni heads south to the Island of Philae to collect the antiquities he has stored there only to discover upon arrival that the French have ransacked them. Funds arrive from Salt to begin excavation at Abu Simbal and Belzoni heads to the site with two British Royal Navy officers. Work progresses slowly in the shifting desert until Belzoni devises a plan to build a palisade to hold back the sand. With the entrance uncovered the group cautiously enter to view the magnificent interior. Belzoni records every detail of the temple decorations, which celebrate the capture of Kadesh that made Ramesses a great warrior king. Back in Luxor Belzoni, reunited with Sarah and Jim, is threatened by Drevetti but undeterred he heads deep into the western hills where he enters the Valley of the Kings. Belzoni learns from Yanni and Beechey that Salt is selling off the antiquities he collects rather than donating them to the British Museum.\nPersuaded to go on with his explorations Belzoni constructs a battering ram to break through the thick walls of the valley side and open up an undiscovered tomb. Defying booby-traps Belzoni pushes on into the lavish interior of the tomb where he enters the burial chamber of the Pharaoh Seti I. It was here upon the death of his father that Ramesses started his reign, which would bring peace and prosperity to Egypt. The discovery of Belzoni's Tomb secures the Egyptologist's reputation and makes him a celebrity in his adopted home of London where the British Museum would later honour him.\n\nCast\nMatthew Kelly as Belzoni\nLynsey Baxter as Sarah Belzoni\nNevan Finnigan as James Curtin\nRobert Portal as Henry Salt\nRichard Dempsey as William Beechey\nThomas Lockyer as John Lewis Bukhardt\nJoseph Long as Bernardino Drovetti\n\nPart three: Champollion\nJean-François Champollion uses the Rosetta Stone to unlock the mysteries of the lost civilisation of Ancient Egypt which had been closed off to Europeans for centuries prior to the invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798. The stone, discovered by the French in 1799, had been created as a work of propaganda by the Greek-speaking Pharaoh Ptolemy V to establish his place in Egyptian cosmology and flashbacks are included to explain this belief system.\n\nEpisode five: The Mystery of the Rosetta Stone\nThe young Champollion, encouraged to develop his gift for languages by his elder brother, becomes obsessed with deciphering hieroglyphs as a means to telling the age of the world and revenging France against the British who had confiscated the stone in 1801. When Alexander the Great had conquered Egypt, he had fuelled local resentment by bringing in a Greek speaking elite to rule. Their descendant King Tutankhamun had commissioned a series of stones written in Greek, common Egyptian and hieroglyphs for temples across the land to extol his virtues and underline his claim to the throne.\nChampollion studies under Silvestre de Sacy in Paris but finds the professor who had himself failed decipher hieroglyphs dismissive of further attempts believing them to be symbolic rather than a true language. English scientist Thomas Young uses mathematics to decipher the inscription like a code whilst Champollion believing hieroglyphs to be representative of a spoken language attempts to relate them to the Coptic language of Egypt's ancient Christian communities. Young makes a number of breakthroughs including the spelling of Ptolemy in hieroglyphs while Champollion finds work as assistant professor at the University of Grenoble. France is thrown into political turmoil in 1815 following defeat at the Battle of Waterloo and the republican Champollion is arrested for sedition and exiled to Figeac until 1821. Eccentric Egyptologist Giovanni Belzoni discovers an obelisk inscribed with the name of Cleopatra in Greek and hieroglyphs at Philae and sends it back to Young in England.\nYoung makes a mistake in translating the obelisk setting back his work whilst Champollion using a copy of the obelisk creates a hieroglyphic alphabet that he uses along with Coptic to translate the name of Ramesses the Great from sketches of Abu Simbal. Champollion's discovery arouses the suspicions of the Catholic Church who fear hieroglyphs might disprove the historical accuracy of the Bible. Young wishes Champllion good luck in proving his theories but Sacy and the Church are determined to stop him.\n\nEpisode six: The Secrets of the Hieroglyphs\nChampollion is determined to travel to Egypt to prove his theory but poor and jobless he is reduced to buying up whatever scraps of papyrus he can find and this obsession alienates his wife. The Dendera zodiac purchased by the French King Charles X threatens to challenge the biblical chronologies of church scholars, as it is believed by some to date to before the Great Flood of 2349 BC. Champollion is called in to confirm Sacy's dating of the antiquity to around 2000 BC; he disputes Sacy's dating but not Church authorities by dating it to some 2,000 years later than that during the Roman period.\nChampollion is sent to Turin by the King to value a collection put up for sale by the French Consul to Egypt Bernardino Drovetti. Prior to his departure Champollion's wife announces that she is pregnant and she is not pleased by his new job. Champollion builds a strong reputation for himself in Italy even being invited for an audience with Pope Leo XII. Returning to Paris with a large collection of antiquities for the King he is put in charge of the Egyptian collection at the Louvre. The King finally agrees to fund Champollion's expedition to Egypt on the proviso that he does not publish any finds that contradict the teachings of the Church. Champollion, arriving in 1828, starts by studying the Great Pyramid at Giza discovering it to be a tomb built for the Pharaoh Khufu around 2560 BC. At Saqqara he finds the site largely stripped by dealers but in a forgotten tomb he discovers ancient hieroglyphs he translates to prove his theories. Eager to understand the Ancient Egyptians he pushes on to the ancient capital of Thebes where at the sprawling Temple of Karnak he reads the story of Ramesses the Great and the battle against the Hittites at Kadesh.\nAt Belzoni's Tomb in the Valley of the Kings the ailing Champollion reads the story of Pharaoh Seti I and learns of the burial rites of Pharaohs. He is thus able to comprehend the belief system of the Ancient Egyptians for the first time. Champollion dies back in France 18 months later but his legacy allows Egyptologist to comprehend the meaning behind monuments such as the Great Pyramid of Giza and to decipher papyri that lead to such discoveries as the Tomb of Tutankhamun by Howard Carter.\n\nCast\nElliot Cowan as Jean-François Champollion\nStuart Bunce as Jacques-Joseph Champollion\n\nMedia information\nDVD release\nReleased on Region 2 DVD by BBC Video on 2006-02-06.Also released on Region 1 DVD (2 discs, but does not include the bonus 'Pyramid') by BBC Worldwide 2006-05-23\n\nCompanion book\nThe 2005 companion book to the series was written by author and archaeologist Joyce Tyldesley expands on the series to tell the full story of the discoveries and the colourful characters who made them.\n\nSelected editions\nTyldesley, Joyce (6 October 2005). Egypt, How A Lost Civilization Was Rediscovered. BBC Books (hardcover). ISBN 978-0-563-52257-7.\nTyldesley, Joyce (1 June 2003). Egypt, How A Lost Civilization Was Rediscovered. BBC Books (paperback). ISBN 978-0-563-49381-5.\nTyldesley, Joyce (18 September 2005). Egypt, How A Lost Civilization Was Rediscovered. UC Press (hardcover). ISBN 978-0-520-25020-8.\n\nSee also\nBuilding the Great Pyramid",6  "char_len": 46050,7  "document_hash": "671162caa17e1b41eac3ca8f1fd7b3b200685fa11c16878bfd6320444c2bc7c6",8  "questions": [9    {10      "question_id": "q00",11      "qtype": "hotpotqa",12      "question": "what is the group called that Dianne Morgan and Joe Wilkinson a part of in the BBC comedy \"Two Episodes of Mash\""13    }14  ]15}