Sam Redlark

Image generated using craiyon Crossposted from r/ImaginaryLondon In 1983, the screenplay writer, Charles Hayhurst, who was riding high on the success of his 4-part drama - Whispering Upwind - approached the BBC with an idea for a new show. “It was a high concept drama,” recalls former commissioning editor, Scot Kingsbury. “Statues in London come to life and have to find a place in contemporary society, which they achieve with varying degrees of success.” “I had this concept that was provisionally titled Dawn of a New Day ,” says Hayhurst . “ I wanted to explore the idea of London as being one of those points of convergence, where people from all over the world will come and build lives for themselves, “No matter who you are, or where you are from, there will be somewhere in the capital where you will fit in. That kind of thing. “The show was also about the organic process of integration. Linger in the big city long enough and you will become a Londoner by default. That's is a hard...

  Mark Lanegan's autobiography - Sing Backwards and Weep , charts the course of the tombstone-voiced singer's life, from his dismal, alcoholic upbringing in Ellensburg, Washington, up until the speedball-induced death of his close friend - the Alice in Chains frontman, Layne Staley, in 2002. Lanegan portrays himself as a piece of shit, with very few redeeming qualities: A bona fide drug dealer, whose band (Screaming Trees) happen to be signed to a major record label. For much of the book he is in the grip of twin addictions to crack cocaine and heroin; the latter requiring constant maintenance. From there on, it's a relentless downhill grind, to the point where he is sleeping rough while working as a dealer's lackey, stealing small quantities of smack from his employer, while pawning his last remaining possession of any value - a pair of filthy leather trousers that he purchased in Paris with the aforementioned Staley. This bleak downturn of events is sparsely seasoned ...