User:DavidFarmbrough

Born in London, England, educated at St. Paul's C Of E School, Winchmore Hill, and at Bishop Stopford's School at Enfield, where I was in the Choir Form and was the Public Speaker.

Acting
When I was at secondary school I appeared in
 * Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd-Webber (Jacob) (Hebrew),
 * Trial By Jury by Gilbert and Sullivan (Gentleman of the jury) (English),
 * The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan (Gentleman of Japan) (Japanese),
 * Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan (Pirate) (Cornish),
 * The Merchant Of Venice by William Shakespeare (Aragon) (Spanish)

I was a member of Trent Players from 1990 to 1995 and during that time appeared in:
 * Thunder Rock by Robert Ardrey (Dr Kurtz) (German),
 * The Lion in Winter |The Lion In Winter by James Goldman (Philip Of Spain) (Spanish),
 * Frankenstein by David Crook (Blind Man) (European),
 * Redevelopment by Vaclav Havel (Villager) (Czechoslovakian),
 * California Suite by Neil Simon (Bill Cosby) (American),
 * The Unexpected Guest by Agatha Christie (The Inspector) (Welsh), and
 * Running Riot by Derek Benfield (Humphrey Podmore) (Northern). I also co-directed
 * The Lesson (La Leçon)by Eugene Ionesco, and sang in
 * Show Boat by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein (American - in blackface).

It is very rare that I play English people on stage!

Writing
I first started writing book reviews for my youth club's magazine, Explorers Bulletin; I was about ten years old at the time. I would be sent a book by the publisher (usually a Puffin Books|Puffin or Penguin Books|Penguin, despite my request for Doctor Who books.) and asked to submit a review. Among these books was After The First Death by Robert Cormier and The Silver Sword by Ian Seraillier, I Am David by Anne Holm and The Painted Tent by Victor Canning.

In around 1983, I started writing music reviews for Musicnet, the music magazine of Prestel. This lasted for a couple of years until wholesale Prestel cuts resulted in its closure. Among items reviewed were singles by the Boomtown Rats and Whitesnake, and albums by Bronski Beat, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, The Eurythmics and The Shadows.

Some biographical web pages I wrote on Ken Campbell were recommended in the Radio Times Web Watch feature (to my delight!).

From about 1991 until 1995 I edited the Trent Players' magazine Trent News, and wrote many articles for this. I started a series of features called Heroes Of Comedy, among them Eric Sykes, Frankie Howerd, The Goodies, and Spike Milligan, well before the title was appropriated for a television series. I wrote film and play reviews, as well as editing a variety of articles from other contributors.

I have had several letters published in Private Eye and one in Record Collector, and reviews in Celestrial Toyroom, Doctor Who Magazine, Cybermag, Outpost Gallifrey (which was quoted in the Daily Express) and the BBC's own website. During my second degree, I edited the Birkbeck College magazine, Lamp And Owl, wrote some articles and contributed photographs. I have started a review website, [FilmTVReview.com], but my day job and my parenting role means I have little time to maintain this, so it remains a shell. I have also written many film, music, television, toy, and book reviews for Amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, and the Internet Movie Database. My current outlet is usuallyWikipedia, mainly in view of the ease of uploading and editing, but I have also written six legal articles in Axis magazine and one for Solicitors' Journal.

Education
First degree in English Literature from Birkbeck College, University of London where I studied black British writing, post-colonial writing, Shakespeare, classical epic and science-fiction, and an M.A. in History Of Film & Visual Media, also from Birkbeck, where I studied under Professors Laura Mulvey and Ian Christie. My research report was on recovering our lost television heritage and my dissertation was on deaf people's access to television and film. My M.A. was presented to me by Eric Hobsbawm.

Work
Worked in law firms since 1985, but now a freelance writer.

Personal
Moving to the USA very soon. My brother is User:Rich_Farmbrough

The Rt Revd David Farmbrough, the former Bishop of Bedford is a distant cousin of mine, as are nurse, writer, and photographer Florence Farnborough, writer William Henry Farmbrough, sculptor David Fambrough and bassist Charles Fambrough.

Interests
These include music, archaeology, film, television, theatre, dancing, and computers.