document_title: Rovers Return Inn

question_text: which couple took on the rover return in 1995

text: Rovers Return Inn

text: History of the pub[edit]

text: The Rovers Return Inn opened in 1902 on the newly built Coronation Street (1902 being Coronation year for Edward VII). It was originally to be called The Coronation but the brewery was forced to change the name as the go-ahead had already been given for the street to be named Coronation Street.[2] When Lieutenant Philip Ridley returned from active service in the Boer War, the pub was named in his honour.[2] In 1918, to celebrate the return of the soldiers from World War I, the apostrophe was removed, thus making it The Rovers Return.[2] When Coronation Street began in 1960, the signage of the pub read "The Rovers Return" but at some point was changed to read "Rovers Return Inn", without a "The".

text: Originally, the pub was divided into three separate bars: the public bar, the snug (usually inhabited by unaccompanied ladies, where drinks were half a penny cheaper) and the select (where drinks were more expensive but were served by a waitress).[3] As late as 1960, the ruling in the pub was that ladies were not allowed to remain at the bar after being served. These archaic rules were dropped in the early 1960s. When the fire gutted the pub in 1986, the three bars were knocked into one large room.

text: The living quarters downstairs bear no resemblance to the exterior set of the pub. In reality, the living room (the "back room") would be in the middle of the street at the side of the pub, outside the medical centre. Since 1960 the toilet and cellar doors on the other side of the building would seem to enter the Barlow's kitchen, next door at number one Coronation Street. There is also no obvious room for a commercial kitchen, despite the lunchtime serving of Betty Williams' (Betty Driver) noted hotpot while she was a barmaid at the pub.

text: Since mid-2008, viewers have seen scenes in a kitchen/dining room in the upstairs of the pub (for use by the licensee/residents), although no other characters had ever used or referred to this room previously.[4] A mock-up of the snug was a feature of the Granada Studios Tour.

text: The set's exterior doors are narrower than the doors on the interior set. This has always been the case as the exterior set is reduced in scale.

text: In February 2008, after 22 years with the same look since re-opening after the fire in 1986, The Rovers Return was redecorated. It received new wallpaper, re-upholstered seating, new flooring and new light fittings. A smoking shelter was built, which is accessed by a new door in the main pub area. This door has not been seen on screen.

text: Since that make over in February 2008, the wallpaper was changed again in October 2008, making its on screen debut 17 October 2008. The producers were dissatisfied with the choice of wallpaper in February 2008. The new wallpaper is similar to the wallpaper used after the 1986 fire which hung in The Rovers for 22 years.

text: The change of decor in February 2008 was a storyline in the show, in which Liz McDonald's (Beverley Callard) husband Vernon Tomlin (Ian Reddington) hired friends to redecorate. The new look of The Rovers in October 2008 was not explained in the story. A few weeks later, Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) commented to Jed Stone (Kenneth Cope) that the local pub had "recently" been redecorated.

text: Major Events[edit]

text: The fictional timeline proceeds as follows:

text:
13 May 1964: Martha Longhurst (Lynne Carol) dies after suffering a heart attack in the snug of The Rovers.
7 March 1979: A lorry crashes into The Rovers Return, injuring several people including Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley), Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs) and Betty Turpin (Betty Driver). Deirdre Langton (Anne Kirkbride) panics because she left a young Tracy (Christabel Finch) sitting outside in her pram, but it emerges that she was kidnapped by Sally Norton (Yvonne Nicholson).
18 June 1986: A faulty electricity box starts a fire in the pub, and the whole interior explodes. Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear) is asleep upstairs, but is eventually rescued by Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell).
12 February 1993: Outside the pub, Lisa Duckworth (Caroline Milmoe) is killed by a speeding motorist while crossing the road. She dies instantly.
13 April 2001: Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) is raped in the ginnel beside The Rovers by an unseen assailant.
10 April 2005: Tracy Barlow's (Kate Ford) biological father Ray Langton (Neville Buswell) dies of stomach cancer during a party to celebrate the second wedding of his ex-wife Deirdre Rachid (Anne Kirkbride) to Ken Barlow (William Roache).
22 February 2008: Violet Wilson (Jenny Platt) gives birth to her son Dylan assisted by Marcus Dent (Charlie Condou).
23 January 2012: During the wedding reception of Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford) and Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson), Steve's ex-wife Becky (Katherine Kelly) reveals that Tracy suffered a miscarriage the day before she blamed Becky for the miscarriage, thus meaning that Tracy was lying. Steve subsequently leaves Tracy.[clarification needed]
9 September 2012: Kirsty Soames (Natalie Gumede) goes into labour after a fight with barmaid Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan). She later gives birth to her daughter Ruby Dobbs in the back room.
18 March 2013: In an attempt to frame Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) for arson, Karl Munro (John Michie) sets fire to The Rovers, leaving Stella Price (Michelle Collins) and Sunita Alahan (Shobna Gulati) hospitalised, and killing Toni Griffiths (Tara Moran) and later Sunita.
26 May 2013: After telling Izzy Armstrong (Cherylee Houston) that Gary Windass (Mikey North) had made a pass at her, Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan) goes into labour with their child two months early.
14 October 2013: After accusing barmaid Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan) of having an affair with her husband David (Jack P. Shepherd), Kylie Platt (Paula Lane) attacks her in The Rovers, leading to an explosive catfight. During the fight, Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard) returns to Coronation Street and announces that she is now co-owner of The Rovers.
25 December 2013: A drunken Kylie Platt (Paula Lane) makes a pass at Rob Donovan (Marc Baylis) and ends up brawling with Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan) yet again outside of The Rovers.
22 January 2014: Anna Windass (Debbie Rush) walks into The Rovers and reveals the news of Hayley Cropper's (Julie Hesmondhalgh) death to the regulars.
27 May 2014: Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne) tells his wife Carla Connor (Alison King) about his affair with Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan) in the backroom. She storms into the pub, shouting that she wants to "kill" Tina. When Tina is later attacked and dies, Carla becomes prime suspect.
13 May 2015: Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard) is attacked by two thugs, but she is unaware that her partner Tony Stewart (Terence Maynard) arranged the horrific attack.
21 October 2016: Following David Platt's (Jack P. Shepherd) horrific car accident on the street, an explosion caused by leaking petrol rips through the street and blows in The Rovers' windows, which also leaves Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh) in a state of shock.
15 September 2017: Rita Tanner (Barbara Knox) publicly collapses at Jenny Bradley (Sally Ann Matthews) and Eva Price's (Catherine Tyldesley) joint hen party, as a result of a brain tumour.

text: Owners since 1960[edit]

text: Jack and Annie Walker (1937–1984)[edit]

text: (Arthur Leslie and Doris Speed)

text: Jack (Arthur Leslie) and Annie Walker (Doris Speed) bought the tenancy and moved into The Rovers Return on 4 February 1937. During World War II, landlord Jack was away from the pub for some time on army duty, leaving Annie to run the pub by herself. The pair was considered very different. Jack, with a broad Northern accent (the phrase "Eeee Annie" heard on many occasion) was no different from his customers, whilst Annie was a snobbish, "well spoken" lady. Despite this, the pair were inseparable until Jack's untimely death in 1970 while the couple were on holiday. (This was due to the sudden death of Arthur Leslie off-screen.) Considered by many to be the best landlady of them all, Annie holds the reins at The Rovers for 46 years. Her sometimes vicious snobbishness often alienates her from her customers, but she runs the pub with class and stands for no nonsense.[5] Behind her mask of a hard landlady, Annie is a very vulnerable person. In 1975, she is held up in her bedroom by two young thieves. After she refuses to reveal where she keeps her money, they flee, receiving a beating in the yard courtesy of Ray Langton (Neville Buswell) and Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson). Though calm throughout, the ordeal causes Annie to collapse later. The brewery hears rumours that she is becoming an absentee landlady, something which she had always feared.[6] She does not like to feel detached from her duties, and is always free to speak to customers and develop friendships with her staff, in particular Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear) and Betty Turpin (Betty Driver). She continues her tenancy until 1983 (on-screen), but in 1984 it is announced that Annie has decided to retire as landlady to spend more time with her daughter, Joan, and her family in Derby. In agreeing to pay off her son Billy Walker's (Ken Farrington) debts, he agrees to take over the tenancy as landlord. Sadly, Billy does not fully enjoy the role, and in December 1984, the brewery buy the tenancy back from the Walker family, ending over 47 and a half years of the Walker name over the door of The Rovers. In 2012, it is revealed that Annie left the tenancy and role of landlady to Betty in her will; however, Betty is not interested, and the letter and will are only found after Betty's death (and the tenancy had already been sold back to the brewery prior to Annie's death, rendering the bequest moot).

text: Billy Walker (1984)[edit]

text: (Ken Farrington)

text: Wayward son of Annie, Billy first appears in Coronation Street in January 1961, but takes over The Rovers Return in 1984 after his mother Annie retires and signs the pub over to him. It doesn't last long, though, and he leaves for good in 1984, after a series of run-ins with police due to the lock-ins held after hours.

text: Bet and Alec Gilroy (1984–1995)[edit]

text: (Julie Goodyear and Roy Barraclough)

text: Arguably the most famous barmaid on Coronation Street, Bet Lynch was in charge of The Rovers Return for a little over 10 years. In late 1984, the brewery, Newton & Ridley, unhappy with the way the pub was being run into the ground by Billy, makes him an offer he cannot refuse for the licence. Rather than re-sell the licence, the brewery decides to hire a manager and Bet applies, despite the fact that she thinks she has little chance, as the brewery normally favours married couples. She is astounded, though, to be told by Dame Sarah Ridley that the "regulars" at the pub have signed a petition insisting she be given the job. In 1985, she becomes the brewery's first single manageress and the first ever manageress of The Rovers. A year later, she is almost immediately put under threat as The Rovers is gutted by fire, caused by Jack Duckworth (William Tarmey), after he tried to fix the faulty lighting. During the inferno, she is rescued from her bedroom by Kevin Webster (Michael Le Vell). While the pub is being refurbished, the nearby "Graffiti Club" in Rosamund Street enjoys a massive increase in trade. It's owner, Alec Gilroy (Roy Barraclough), starts sniffing about after The Rovers re-opens two months later. As the pub struggles to recover from the loss of business, Bet gets to know Alec and even books some of his acts in order to get the trade back up, leading to a love/hate friendship with him. The following year, Newton & Ridley decides to sell the licence to the pub and offers Bet first refusal; however, Bet cannot raise the money and Alec (who was attracted to her) lends her the cash to purchase the licence, allowing her to become the landlady.

text: She starts having serious trouble keeping up with the repayments and, panicking, suddenly disappears. Alec convinces Newton & Ridley to appoint him as a temporary manager so he can mind his investment. When Bet gets in touch with the brewery three months later, Alec immediately flies to Torremolinos where she is working in a bar and proposes - that way, he argues, she can have The Rovers back as the wife of the landlord and won't lose face. She agrees, reasoning to herself that Alec is the only man who tried to charm her without pretending to love her. They are married a year later on 9 September.

text: Bet had given birth to a son, Martin, when aged 16 in 1956. She gave him up for adoption. In 1975, as a successful soldier based in Northern Ireland, he tracks down his mother "Elizabeth". Disgusted by Bet's common and lewd behaviour with the "regulars", he storms out of the pub without even telling her who he is. When a soldier friend of his visits Bet to give her the tragic news that he has been killed in a car crash, Bet is heartbroken - "The only decent thing a fella ever gave me... and now even that's been taken away from me." Contemplating suicide, she is talked out of it by Eddie Yeats, whose kindness and willingness to listen make her realise that life is still worth living.

text: Alec has baggage of his own; a daughter, Sandra Arden (Kathy Jamieson). Sandra and her husband meet the same fate as Martin in 1991, leaving their 15-year-old daughter Vicky (Chloe Newsome) distraught and orphaned. Vicky moves in with her grandfather at The Rovers, before leaving after a disastrous relationship with bad-boy Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson). In March 1988, Bet finds out she is pregnant, leaving her and Alec astounded. Despite the shock, they start to come around to the idea when Bet suffers a miscarriage a week later. Both she and Alec are devastated, but put on brave faces and carried on. In September 1992, Alec is offered a dream job in Southampton. Newton & Ridley agrees to buy back the licence, and Bet and Alec prepare to move. However, Bet finds herself unable to leave The Rovers as it has been her whole world for the past two decades; as a result Alec leaves alone. The brewery agrees to take Bet back on as the manageress. In October 1995, the brewery once again wants to sell The Rovers; this time they are selling not just the licence but the entire pub. If Bet wants to keep her home and her job, she needs to buy The Rovers outright. Bet knows she cannot come up with the £67,000 she needs by herself. First she asks her long-time friend Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox) to lend her the money and become a business partner. Rita has the money, and is about to agree when she talks with Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley). She quickly realises that Bet's idea of a partnership is "you buy it, I'll run it" and refuses. However Bet, having heard from Mavis Wilton (Thelma Barlow) that Rita was going to buy, is furious, leading to a blazing row between the two. Name-calling and dredged-up memories are flung between the two, and the fight ends their friendship permanently. Bet then turns to Vicky, who is by now married to Steve. She is also unwilling to invest, considering The Rovers to be a bad investment, and her offer to buy a house for Bet to rent infuriates her. Enraged, she throws Vicky out of The Rovers and, realising that she has nobody else to turn to, throws everyone out of the pub in the middle of a busy afternoon session. Sending the staff home, Bet promptly packs her bags and calls herself a taxi. After a last look at her licensee nameplate and not knowing where she is going, Bet climbs into the taxi and leaves Weatherfield.

text: Jack and Vera Duckworth (1995–1998)[edit]

text: (Bill Tarmey and Liz Dawn)

text: Newton & Ridley puts The Rovers Return up for sale. Possible owners are Jack (Bill Tarmey) and Vera Duckworth (Liz Dawn) and Jim (Charles Dawson) and Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard). Liz had previously run The Queens pub for the company in 1993. Though they had lived through financial hardship for much of their lives, Jack came into a large inheritance gained from the deaths of his brother Cliff and sister-in-law Elsie in a car accident. Combined with the money made from selling No. 9, Jack and Vera have the cash ahead of the McDonalds and are allowed to buy The Rovers Return. As Jack has a criminal record, Vera is made the licensee. Vera, who always had elevated ideas of her own status, feels she has finally made something of her life. Her happiness is short-lived; in 1997 they discover they owe £17,000 in taxes and are forced to take on Alec, who has returned from Southampton, as a business partner. He allows them to continue living in The Rovers and to stay on as members of staff. When Natalie Horrocks (Denise Welch) takes over the pub a year later, she evicts the Duckworths and they go to run a friend's B&B instead.

text: Alec Gilroy (1998)[edit]

text: (Roy Barraclough)

text: When Alec returns to Weatherfield in 1998, he cons Jack and Vera, who have money problems, into selling half of The Rovers to him. Alec and the Duckworths carry on as business partners until Jack and Vera sell Alec their remaining share in the pub. In late 1998, Alec sells The Rovers Return to Natalie and moves away from Weatherfield again.

text: Natalie Barnes (1998–2000)[edit]

text: (Denise Welch)

text: Natalie raises her own standards by her purchase of The Rovers. Known for interfering in the Kevin and Sally Webster's (Sally Dynevor) marriage, she is one of the Street's typical sirens. Her reign is also short. A month after their marriage, husband Des Barnes (Philip Middlemiss) is murdered by thugs in search of Natalie's son, Tony. She later unexpectedly falls pregnant, and leaves both the pub and Weatherfield in search of a new life.

text: Fred Elliott, Mike Baldwin and Duggie Ferguson (2000–2001)[edit]

text: (John Savident, Johnny Briggs and John Bowe)

text: Natalie puts the pub up for sale when she leaves. However, the interested party is a pub chain called "The Boozy Chain" which intends to rename "The Rovers Return" as "The Boozy Newt". Fearing that they are about to lose part of their local heritage, a consortium of businessmen puts together the £75,000 needed to buy the pub. Duggie Ferguson (John Bowe) is the only one with previous experience as a landlord and is left doing the lion's share of the day-to-day management, the others simply reaping the profits. He devises a plan that results in Fred Elliott (John Savident) and Mike Baldwin (Johnny Briggs) selling their shares to "Hamilton Griffiths Holdings", only for Duggie to reveal that he is the man behind this company. He now takes full control of The Rovers.

text: Duggie Ferguson (2001)[edit]

text: (John Bowe)

text: Duggie's time in charge is short-lived, however. He decides to buy Weatherfield Rugby League and Social Club, being a former Rugby League player. The resulting auction causes a massive bidding war between barmaids Geena Gregory (Jennifer James) and Shelley Unwin (Sally Lindsay). However, Fred returns and stumps them all with his bid, acting on the wishes of his new wife, Eve Elliott (Melanie Kilburn).

text: Eve and Fred Elliott (2001–2002)[edit]

text: (Melanie Kilburn and John Savident)

text: As a couple, Fred and Eve's time in charge is short, with Fred discovering that Eve has committed bigamy by marrying him. Eve leaves Fred for her husband Ray Sykes (Peter McGuinness), but has no legal claim to The Rovers as all documents called her "Eve Elliot", which is not her name given that the marriage was invalid. Fred thus became the sole licensee.

text: Fred Elliott (2002–2006)[edit]

text: (John Savident)

text: Fred, a butcher, is not interested in running a pub, although he frequently helps out. Thus Shelley becomes the first manageress of The Rovers since Bet in 1985. However, following a nervous breakdown, Shelley becomes agoraphobic. Her inability to leave her bedroom seriously compromises her ability to the run the pub, although she eventually recovers, returning the business to relative stability. In September 2006, Fred plans to move away with his soon-to-be wife and Shelley's mother, Bev Unwin (Susie Blake), and agrees to sell the pub to Steve. However, Fred dies shortly after agreeing to the sale and, nothing having been finalised on paper, the pub now legally belongs to Fred's son Ashley (Steven Arnold).

text: Ashley Peacock (2006)[edit]

text: (Steven Arnold)

text: On Fred's death his entire assets, including The Rovers Return, are inherited by his surviving son Ashley. Fred had planned to sell The Rovers to Steve, but died before completing the sale. Like his father, Ashley is a butcher with no real interest in being landlord and decides to sell The Rovers to Steve as his father had planned.

text: Steve McDonald (2006–2011)[edit]

text: (Simon Gregson)

text: For years, Liz had worked at The Rovers on and off. She dreamed of buying it at one point with her then-husband, Jim. Her dream partly comes true when her son, Steve, buys The Rovers from Ashley, Liz becomes its landlady and licensee, as Steve, having a criminal record, cannot hold a licence.

text: A smoking shelter is erected in the back yard, albeit without planning permission. This is to cater for smokers after the public smoking ban is introduced in the summer of 2007. A direct walkway is built from the bar, knocking through part of the back wall of the building, so patrons don't have to pass through the living quarters. In 2011, Liz learns that Steve has started to run the pub into the ground, taking out loans against it. He wants the money so that his wife Becky (Katherine Kelly) can buy her nephew from her negligent sister, an action that has also caused him to surrender custody of Amy (Elle Mulvaney) to her mother Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford). Liz lays the blame for all this squarely at Becky's feet, causing a rift between her and Steve. Jim returns and soon develops the same contempt for Becky. He offers to buy the pub for Liz from Steve and Becky, claiming he has the money; however, this is a lie and, after failing to raise the cash in time, Jim desperately attempts to rob a bank. He is caught and imprisoned. Devastated, Liz finds she has lost her love of The Rovers, and decides to leave without telling Steve and Becky. Calling a taxi, she packs her bags, and leaves the pub and Weatherfield. With Liz gone, Steve and Becky are forced to find a new licensee, as neither can hold the title due to their criminal records. Steve hires Stella Price (Michelle Collins) as the new manageress and licensee of The Rovers Return. He is dismayed when Stella moves in her boyfriend and daughter, though he soon accepts the situation. In December 2011, after beginning a relationship with Tracy Barlow, Steve decides to buy No. 13 and to concentrate on his other business, StreetCars; he puts The Rovers up for sale.

text: Stella Price and Karl Munro (2011–2012)[edit]

text: (Michelle Collins and John Michie)

text: Stella, The Rovers Return's manageress and licensee, is offered first refusal and, while she is interested in buying the pub, her partner Karl Munro (John Michie) is reluctant, although he soon warms to the idea. After an application for a mortgage is approved, Stella and Karl buy The Rovers outright. Karl and Stella are happy being the new landlord and landlady for a while, but Karl becomes irritated at the amount of work he has to put in at The Rovers. In 2012, Karl begins an affair with barmaid Sunita Alahan (Shobna Gulati). When Stella finds out about the affair, she sacks Sunita and throws Karl out, demanding that he sign his half of The Rovers over to her.

text: Stella Price (2012–2013)[edit]

text: (Michelle Collins)

text: With Stella gaining full ownership of The Rovers and Karl out of her life, she begins a relationship with the much younger Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas), making Karl envious. However, he becomes even more jealous when Stella asks Jason to move into The Rovers with her. In March 2013, Karl decides he cannot handle his jealousy of Jason and Stella any longer. On the night of a "Full Monty" charity event at the Bistro, Karl sets fire to The Rovers to frame Jason, who had fixed the electrics earlier in the day. However, Sunita sees Karl enter the pub and follows him. They argue and Karl attacks Sunita, leaving her unconscious after pushing her down the cellar stairs where the fire takes its toll. Unbeknownst to Karl, Stella is trapped upstairs, so Karl runs into the burning pub to save her. After a few days, Stella is discharged from the hospital and surveys the burnt out ruins of her pub. Stella enlists builder Owen Armstrong (Ian Puleston-Davies) to refurbish the pub. Stella later realises that the insurance company won't pay out and she can't afford to pay Owen for the refurbishments. Stella comes up with a plan to sign half of The Rovers over to Owen to pay her debt. Owen refuses the deal, so Stella's mother, Gloria (Sue Johnston), steps in and pays Owen £80,000 so he will finish the renovations. Gloria gloats to Rita that she and Stella plan on re-opening the newly refurbished The Rovers that weekend, implying that she is a co-owner. Stella eventually reunites with Karl, to whom she has become close after the fire, and asks him to move back in to The Rovers giving him the position of landlord again. On her wedding day to Karl, Stella finally finds out that it was Karl who set fire to the pub and murdered Sunita, for which Karl is arrested soon after. Stella decides that Weatherfield and The Rovers hold too many bad memories for her and decides to put the pub up for sale.

text: Liz McDonald and Steve McDonald (2013–2015)[edit]

text: (Beverley Callard and Simon Gregson)

text: When former landlord Steve decides to buy back The Rovers from Stella in October 2013, he enlists the help of his mother, former landlady Liz, as he can not afford to buy the pub outright. Liz agrees to purchase 50% of The Rovers while Steve buys the remaining half with he and Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh) holding the pub licence as Steve's criminal record is now spent. Steve keeps the purchase of The Rovers a secret from Michelle whom he planned to make landlady. At first, Michelle is furious with Steve for going behind her back but warms to the idea of being landlady. In October 2013, just days after Steve and Michelle take over the pub from Stella, a fight breaks out between Kylie Platt (Paula Lane) and Tina McIntyre (Michelle Keegan). During the fight, Liz returns to Weatherfield and breaks it up. She explains to Steve that she has returned to help run the pub much to Michelle's disgust as Steve has kept yet another secret from her. Steve admits to Michelle that he could not afford to buy The Rovers outright and Michelle and Liz agree to be joint landladies.

text: Tony Stewart and Liz McDonald (2015)[edit]

text: (Terence Maynard and Beverley Callard)

text: In 2015, Liz's boyfriend Tony Stewart (Terence Maynard) grows tired of her and plots with secret lover Tracy to take the pub from the McDonalds. Tony falsely tells Steve that he needs back the money that he lent him, forcing Steve to sell his 50% of The Rovers. Steve gets an offer from a pub chain called "Travis Limited" and accepts it, not knowing that Tony is the real buyer. After being successful in purchasing Steve's share of the pub, Tony sets in motion his mission to con Liz into selling her 50% to "Travis Limited" as well, persuading her that they should start afresh a little further away from Weatherfield. When she refuses, he arranges for two of his criminal friends to attack her in the bar. Tony manages to persuade Liz to sell up, promising a new life in Spain with her; however, Michelle's best friend, Carla Connor (Alison King), offers to buy Liz out of the pub. A furious Tony tries to persuade Liz to honour her deal with "Travis Limited" but Liz decides to sell her share to Carla after she promises to keep Steve and Michelle as the pub's licensees. In revenge on Carla for offering to buy The Rovers, Tracy sets the Victoria Court flats on fire with Carla and her own daughter, Amy, trapped inside. Both Carla and Amy survived the blaze; however, Kal Nazir (Jimi Mistry) and Maddie Heath (Amy James-Kelly) are both killed in an explosion during the fire. Before Carla can sign on the dotted line, Liz learns from a vengeful Tracy of Tony's plan to get the pub. Therefore, Liz still owns her half of the pub while Tony owns the other half.

text: Liz McDonald and Steve McDonald (2015–2017)[edit]

text: (Beverley Callard and Simon Gregson)

text: In November 2015, Liz leads Tony to believe that they can reconcile their relationship if he hands back Steve's share of the pub. Tony succumbs and signs his 50% share over to Steve, making him the landlord again. Later, Tony proposes, hoping for a new start but Liz declines and humiliates Tony in front of the entire pub, telling him that their relationship is over.

text: Peter Barlow and Toyah Battersby (2017–present)[edit]

text: (Chris Gascoyne and Georgia Taylor)

text: In 2017, Michelle separates from Steve for good after discovering that he secretly fathered Leanne Battersby's (Jane Danson) son Oliver while they had temporarily split up earlier. She demands that he sell his half of The Rovers and split the money of the sale with her as part of their divorce settlement, to which he agrees. Liz, not wanting to go into business partnership with a stranger, also decides to sell up, and the pub is eventually bought by Peter Barlow (Chris Gascoyne), who becomes its new landlord and installs his girlfriend Toyah Battersby (Georgia Taylor) as the landlady.

text: Employees[edit]

text: Current staff[edit]

text:
Character
Job role

Peter Barlow
Owner/Landlord/Barman

Toyah Battersby
Landlady/Barmaid

Liz McDonald
Bar Manager

Sarah Platt
Barmaid

Eva Price
Barmaid

Leanne Battersby
Barmaid

Sean Tully
Chef/Potman

tag: table

text: Previous staff[edit]

text:
Job role
Characters

Owners
Newton & Ridley, Jack Walker, Annie Walker, Billy Walker, Jack Duckworth, Vera Duckworth, Alec Gilroy, Natalie Barnes, Fred Elliott, Mike Baldwin, Duggie Ferguson, Karl Munro, Stella Price, Tony Stewart, Steve McDonald, Liz McDonald

Licensees
Jim Corbishley, Nellie Corbishley, George Diggins, Mary Diggins, Jack Walker, Annie Walker, Billy Walker, Bet Lynch, Alec Gilroy, Jack Duckworth, Vera Duckworth, Natalie Barnes, Fred Elliott, Mike Baldwin, Duggie Ferguson, Shelley Unwin, Eve Elliott, Karl Munro, Stella Price, Steve McDonald, Liz McDonald

Bartenders
Concepta Riley, Nona Willis, Doreen Lostock, Irma Barlow, Lucille Hewitt, Emily Bishop, Bet Lynch, Liz McDonald, Betty Williams, Blanche Hunt, Gail McIntyre, Suzie Birchall, Gloria Todd, Sally Webster, Raquel Watts, Tanya Pooley, Joyce Smedley, Samantha Failsworth, Judy Mallett, Vera Duckworth, Natalie Barnes, Tricia Armstrong, Lorraine Brownlow, Geena Gregory, Amy Goskirk, Shelley Unwin, Edna Miller, Eve Elliott, Maria Connor, Bev Unwin, Tracy Barlow, Violet Wilson, Lauren Wilson, Stella Price, Kelly Crabtree, Poppy Morales, Becky McDonald, Sunita Alahan, Mandy Kamara, Tina McIntyre, Gloria Price, Eileen Grimshaw, Andrea Beckett, Erica Holroyd, Ivan Cheveski, Sam Leach, Eddie Yeats, Fred Gee, Wilf Starkey, Jack Duckworth, Andy McDonald, Steve McDonald, Bill Webster, Martin Platt, Charlie Stubbs, Vinny Sorrell, Ciaran McCarthy, Vernon Tomlin, Karl Munro, Lewis Archer

Caterers
Betty Williams , Ciaran McCarthy

Cleaners
Martha Longhurst, Clara Midgeley, Hilda Ogden, Tricia Armstrong, Joyce Smedley, Vera Duckworth, Edna Miller, Harry Flagg, Anna Windass

text: Incidents[edit]

text: Martha's death (1964)[edit]

text: Episode 357, transmitted: 13 May 1964

text: In 1964, the producership of Coronation Street was handed to young, enthusiastic Tim Aspinall. He immediately began to ring changes. Since it had been fully networked across the various ITV regions in 1961, Coronation Street had never been out of the top ten ratings of the week (that continues to this day, 50 years on). However, competition came from the BBC (there were only two channels in those days, BBC Television and ITV - BBC 2 was to follow later that year). The BBC placed their most popular comedy series such as Steptoe and Son opposite the programme. In those pre-video recorder days, viewers were forced to choose what to watch, and, as a consequence, Coronation Street began to lose the ratings war. It was decided, by Aspinall, that several "blockbuster" storylines would have to be staged, the most radical being the death of Martha Longhurst (Lynne Carol).

text: Despite being a nosy old gossip and, in the Mancunian dialect of the show was "... no better than she should be....", Martha was a highly popular character; thus she was chosen to be killed off in a highly cynical bid to boost the ratings.

text: On the night of her death, the residents were gathered in The Rovers, singing songs and celebrating Frank Barlow's £5000 win on the Premium Bonds. Martha, on her way to Spain the next day, had been showing off her new passport, of which she was very proud. She began to feel faint and retreated to the Snug, away from the singing punters, all in tune with Ena Sharples (Violet Carson) on piano.

text: Feeling flushed she undid her top button, pushed off her beret, clutched her chest and collapsed onto the table. The regulars, with the impression she was drunk came to see what was going on. Upon inspection, Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson) pronounced her dead. She had suffered a fatal heart attack at the table she had frequented for years. The punters left, leaving only the Walkers, lifelong friend Ena and the late Martha Longhurst.

text: Violet Carson, a highly accomplished pianist (she had played the piano on the BBC's long-running Children's Hour) kept her back to the camera as she played the song "Down At The Old Bull and Bush" as she was so upset by the storyline and didn't want the camera to see her tears.

text: That night saw the credits roll in silence for the very first time (something that would later become the norm whenever a character was "killed-off"), with the rooftop scene replaced by a close of the snug table which contained a sherry glass, a passport and Martha's famous NHS spectacles.

text: Lorry crash (1979)[edit]

text: Episode 1893, transmitted: 7 March 1979

text: Deirdre Langton (Anne Kirkbride) wheeled her young daughter Tracy (Christabel Finch) down to The Rovers in her pram. She was to see Annie Walker (Doris Speed) with regards to a knitting pattern. Knowing Annie's strict rules concerning children on licensed premises, Tracy was left outside in her push chair.

text: No more than two minutes had passed as Deirdre and Annie spoke in the back room. Suddenly, their conversation was halted by screeching of brakes followed by a terrible crash, which shook the pub. Annie froze but Deirdre rushed through the pub and outside where she had left Tracy. In that very spot was a 6-foot pile of timber. Accompanying the pile was a lorry, turned on its side and smoking from the crash. Deirdre hysterically pulled away at the wood screaming for Tracy.

text: Inside the pub, Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley) had been sitting with friend, Len Fairclough (Peter Adamson) in front of the window. Alf lay unconscious as Len, whose own arm was broken, desperately tried to help him.

text: Ken Barlow (William Roache), having rushed across from the community centre, took control. Having realised the driver was dead, he began to help the distraught Deirdre who was still frantically clawing at the timber. Once the police had taken charge, and Deirdre had been taken away to be comforted by Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) and Ena Sharples (Violet Carson), the timber was eventually cleared from the shattered pub.

text: The story was concluded when Tracy was found not to be under the timber, but had been snatched away moments before the pub was hit. The snatcher was a crazed young woman called Sally Norton (Yvonne Nicholson) who had become obsessed with Tracy. Mother and daughter were reunited later by the canal as Tracy was rushed to the arms of Deirdre. For Alf, the scars remained and he underwent a personality change months after he returned from hospital.

text: The Fire (1986)[edit]

text: Episode 2631, Transmitted: 18 June 1986

text: During a sing-a-long night, when the guests stood around the piano, the lights in the pub had been flickering and cutting out all night. Much to the frustration of Bet Lynch (Julie Goodyear) and the rest of the punters. Jack Duckworth (Bill Tarmey), potman at the time, decided to fix the problem. Upon return, he was graciously thanked for solving the problem. However, he had replaced the fuse with a far stronger one, leaving the problem of a potential explosion.... Bet retired to bed that night, having locked up. In the middle of the night, the inevitable happened, and the fuse caught fire.

text: Young couple Kevin (Michael Le Vell) and Sally (Sally Dynevor) were returning from a rock concert in the early hours. Noticing the smoke billowing out from under the Rovers door, Sally alerted Kevin. The street came alive as residents Percy Sugden and Terry Duckworth offered a helping hand. Kevin acquired a ladder with the help of Percy and was able to reach the bedroom window.

text: Inside, Bet had found her exit down the stairs blocked by flames that leapt up at her from the hallway. She let out a gut wrenching scream and crawled back into the bedroom, vomiting up the smoke that had congealed in her stomach. (Actress Julie Goodyear says that her night dress caught fire during filming the scene, and she was in genuine danger - "I can assure you, the scream at the top of the stairs is a genuine one.") She collapsed, overcome from the smoke.

text: Kevin had smashed his way through the window with a brick. Shouting to the rest of the residents that he could see her, he climbed in. Down below the front windows of the Rovers blew out into the street, sending shocked residents running. As Kevin dragged Bet to the window, the Fire Brigade arrived to take over.

text: Bet was saved as heroic Kevin was led home, refusing to be taken to hospital. Vera Duckworth (Liz Dawn) had sarcastically suggested that the cause had been Bet smoking in bed, though Jack knew who was to blame. As Bet was led away in the ambulance she joked "Can you give me a minute, love, give me time to put my face on...?"

text: Breaking with convention, the episode ended not with Bet fighting for her life, which would have been the usual soap opera cliché, but the pub itself, which Newton and Ridley thought was not worth saving and intended to demolish.

text: Once the Rovers was renovated and refurbished, Bet pinned an electrician's number up on the board telling Jack to call upon the services of a professional, as they had the Rovers back, and she intended on keeping it.

text: The closing credits for this episode were particularly long, this was due to a pigeon being captured on the camera after the closing sequence was filmed. The pigeon magically flew over the viaduct and landed on the blackened Rovers sign. The closing credits were extended to show this, with almost the entire theme tune being played, and delays between the last few credits. The entire sequence was 1 minute 45, over twice as long as usual.

text: Ray Langton's death (2005)[edit]

text: In 2005, Ray Langton (Neville Buswell) returned to Coronation Street, where he died of stomach cancer. His death was the second death in the history of Coronation Street to take place inside The Rovers.

text: Dylan Wilson's Birth (2008)[edit]

text: In February 2008, barmaid Violet Wilson (Jenny Platt) gave birth in the pub to Dylan who was fathered by gay barman Sean Tully (Antony Cotton). Landlady Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard), Eileen Grimshaw (Sue Cleaver) and Vernon Tomlin (Ian Reddington) were present at the birth. Sean's boyfriend, Marcus Dent (Charlie Condou), delivered the baby.

text: The Cellar (2008)[edit]

text: Episode 6834, Transmitted: 6 June 2008

text: In June 2008, Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) and Dan Mason (Matthew Crompton) became engaged in a petty feud. Steve believed that Dan scratched his car, which resulted in Steve stealing Dan's mobile phone. At closing time, Dan went to the pub to confront Steve. He ended up hitting Steve by accident. Steve then struck Dan with a crate and threw the mobile down the cellar stairs. When Dan went to retrieve it, Steve locked him in the cellar. Dan, suffering pain from the blow of the crate, fell over in agony on the stairs. Steve, however, had already left and did not hear his shouts for help. The next day, Michelle Connor (Kym Marsh) found Dan and he was rushed to hospital. Steve was arrested for attempted murder and unlawful imprisonment.

text: The Fire (2013)[edit]

text: On 18 March 2013, Karl Munro (John Michie) set fire to the pub's cellar in order to frame Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) but was caught by Sunita Alahan (Shobna Gulati) who was knocked unconscious by Karl when he fled to the Bistro to do his "Full Monty" act. Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden) and Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) came into the restaurant to tell everyone about the fire, and Karl discovered Stella was upstairs in one of the pub's bedrooms so he went back in to save her. As he got to her, the stairs collapsed, trapping them. Luckily Paul Kershaw (Tony Hirst) managed to get to them and got Stella out while his friend and fellow-firefighter Toni Griffiths (Tara Moran) got Karl out before the roof collapsed on top of her and killed her. Shortly afterwards the fire brigade arrived, put out the fire and were able to get Sunita out. The fire caused significant damage and caused financial problems for Stella meaning that she could not afford to hire Owen Armstrong (Ian Puleston-Davies) to do the refurb but after a failed attempt of offering Owen half the pub in exchange for the refurb, Stella's mother Gloria (Sue Johnston) paid him the £80,000 required to complete the work. Sunita was in a coma for a while and was killed by Karl when she began to recover. The Rovers re-opened on 26 May 2013.

text: The Interior Set[edit]

text: The Rovers Return set features walls and windows that can be removed to allow filming from different angles. There is a painted backdrop which looks over to the Webster's house, Audrey's salon and the flat above the salon.


document_title: Peloponnesian War

question_text: after defeating athens in the peloponnesian war sparta was defeated in 371 b.c.e. by what city-state

question_tokens: after defeating athens in the peloponnesian war sparta was defeated in 371 b.c.e . by what city-state

root

text: Peloponnesian War

text: Prelude

text: As the preeminent Athenian historian, Thucydides, wrote in his influential History of the Peloponnesian War, "The growth of the power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Lacedaemon, made war inevitable."[5] Indeed, the nearly fifty years of Greek history that preceded the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War had been marked by the development of Athens as a major power in the Mediterranean world. Its empire began as a small group of city-states, called the Delian League—from the island of Delos, on which they kept their treasury—that came together to ensure that the Greco-Persian Wars were truly over. After defeating the Persian invasion of Greece in the year 480 BC, Athens led the coalition of Greek city-states that continued the Greco-Persian Wars with attacks on Persian territories in the Aegean and Ionia. What then ensued was a period, referred to as the Pentecontaetia (the name given by Thucydides), in which Athens increasingly became in fact an empire,[6] carrying out an aggressive war against Persia and increasingly dominating other city-states. Athens proceeded to bring under its control all of Greece except for Sparta and its allies, ushering in a period which is known to history as the Athenian Empire. By the middle of the century, the Persians had been driven from the Aegean and forced to cede control of a vast range of territories to Athens. At the same time, Athens greatly increased its own power; a number of its formerly independent allies were reduced, over the course of the century, to the status of tribute-paying subject states of the Delian League. This tribute was used to support a powerful fleet and, after the middle of the century, to fund massive public works programs in Athens, causing resentment.[7]

tag: p

text: Friction between Athens and the Peloponnesian states, including Sparta, began early in the Pentecontaetia; in the wake of the departure of the Persians from Greece, Sparta attempted to prevent the reconstruction of the walls of Athens (without the walls, Athens would have been defenseless against a land attack and subject to Spartan control), but was rebuffed.[8] According to Thucydides, although the Spartans took no action at this time, they "secretly felt aggrieved".[9] Conflict between the states flared up again in 465 BC, when a helot revolt broke out in Sparta. The Spartans summoned forces from all of their allies, including Athens, to help them suppress the revolt. Athens sent out a sizable contingent (4,000 hoplites), but upon its arrival, this force was dismissed by the Spartans, while those of all the other allies were permitted to remain. According to Thucydides, the Spartans acted in this way out of fear that the Athenians would switch sides and support the helots; the offended Athenians repudiated their alliance with Sparta.[10] When the rebellious helots were finally forced to surrender and permitted to evacuate the state, the Athenians settled them at the strategic city of Naupactus on the Corinthian Gulf.[11]

text: In 459 BC, Athens took advantage of a war between its neighbors Megara and Corinth, both Spartan allies, to conclude an alliance with Megara, giving the Athenians a critical foothold on the Isthmus of Corinth. A fifteen-year conflict, commonly known as the First Peloponnesian War, ensued, in which Athens fought intermittently against Sparta, Corinth, Aegina, and a number of other states. For a time during this conflict, Athens controlled not only Megara but also Boeotia; at its end, however, in the face of a massive Spartan invasion of Attica, the Athenians ceded the lands they had won on the Greek mainland, and Athens and Sparta recognized each other's right to control their respective alliance systems.[12] The war was officially ended by the Thirty Years' Peace, signed in the winter of 446/5 BC.[13]

text: Breakdown of the peace

text: The Thirty Years' Peace was first tested in 440 BC, when Athens' powerful ally Samos rebelled from its alliance with Athens. The rebels quickly secured the support of a Persian satrap, and Athens found itself facing the prospect of revolts throughout the empire. The Spartans, whose intervention would have been the trigger for a massive war to determine the fate of the empire, called a congress of their allies to discuss the possibility of war with Athens. Sparta's powerful ally Corinth was notably opposed to intervention, and the congress voted against war with Athens. The Athenians crushed the revolt, and peace was maintained.[14]

text: The more immediate events that led to war involved Athens and Corinth. After suffering a defeat at the hands of their colony of Corcyra, a sea power that was not allied to either Sparta or Athens, Corinth began to build an allied naval force. Alarmed, Corcyra sought an alliance with Athens, which after debate and input from both Corcyra and Corinth, decided to swear a defensive alliance with Corcyra. At the Battle of Sybota, a small contingent of Athenian ships played a critical role in preventing a Corinthian fleet from capturing Corcyra. In order to uphold the Thirty Years' Peace, however, the Athenians were instructed not to intervene in the battle unless it was clear that Corinth was going to press onward to invade Corcyra. However, the Athenian warships participated in the battle nevertheless, and the arrival of additional Athenian warships was enough to dissuade the Corinthians from exploiting their victory, thus sparing much of the routed Corcyraean and Athenian fleet.[15]

text: Following this, Athens instructed Potidaea (Chalcidice peninsula), a tributary ally of Athens but a colony of Corinth, to tear down its walls, send hostages to Athens, dismiss the Corinthian magistrates from office, and refuse the magistrates that the city would send in the future.[16] The Corinthians, outraged by these actions, encouraged Potidaea to revolt and assured them that they would ally with them should they revolt from Athens. Meanwhile, the Corinthians were unofficially aiding Potidaea by sneaking contingents of men into the besieged city to help defend it. This was a direct violation of the Thirty Years' Peace, which had (among other things) stipulated that the Delian League and the Peloponnesian League would respect each other's autonomy and internal affairs.

text: A further source of provocation was an Athenian decree, issued in 433/2 BC, imposing stringent trade sanctions on Megarian citizens (once more a Spartan ally after the conclusion of the First Peloponnesian War). It was alleged that the Megarians had desecrated the Hiera Orgas. These sanctions, known as the Megarian decree, were largely ignored by Thucydides, but some modern economic historians have noted that forbidding Megara to trade with the prosperous Athenian empire would have been disastrous for the Megarans, and have accordingly considered the decree to be a contributing factor in bringing about the war.[17] Historians that attribute responsibility for the war to Athens cite this event as the main cause for blame.[18]

text: At the request of the Corinthians, the Spartans summoned members of the Peloponnesian League to Sparta in 432 BC, especially those who had grievances with Athens to make their complaints to the Spartan assembly. This debate was attended by members of the league and an uninvited delegation from Athens, which also asked to speak, and became the scene of a debate between the Athenians and the Corinthians. Thucydides reports that the Corinthians condemned Sparta's inactivity up to that point, warning the Spartans that if they continued to remain passive while the Athenians were energetically active, they would soon find themselves outflanked and without allies.[19] The Athenians, in response, reminded the Spartans of their record of military success and opposition to Persia, and warned them of the dangers of confronting such a powerful state, ultimately encouraging Sparta to seek arbitration as provided by the Thirty Years' Peace.[20] Undeterred, a majority of the Spartan assembly voted to declare that the Athenians had broken the peace, essentially declaring war.[21]

text: The "Archidamian War"

text: Sparta and its allies, with the exception of Corinth, were almost exclusively land-based powers, able to summon large land armies which were very nearly unbeatable (thanks to the legendary Spartan forces). The Athenian Empire, although based in the peninsula of Attica, spread out across the islands of the Aegean Sea; Athens drew its immense wealth from tribute paid from these islands. Athens maintained its empire through naval power. Thus, the two powers were relatively unable to fight decisive battles.

text: The Spartan strategy during the first war, known as the Archidamian War (431–421 BC) after Sparta's king Archidamus II, was to invade the land surrounding Athens. While this invasion deprived Athenians of the productive land around their city, Athens itself was able to maintain access to the sea, and did not suffer much. Many of the citizens of Attica abandoned their farms and moved inside the Long walls, which connected Athens to its port of Piraeus. At the end of the first year of the war, Pericles gave his famous Funeral Oration (431 BC).

text: The Spartans also occupied Attica for periods of only three weeks at a time; in the tradition of earlier hoplite warfare the soldiers were expected to go home to participate in the harvest. Moreover, Spartan slaves, known as helots, needed to be kept under control, and could not be left unsupervised for long periods of time. The longest Spartan invasion, in 430 BC, lasted just forty days.

text: The Athenian strategy was initially guided by the strategos, or general, Pericles, who advised the Athenians to avoid open battle with the far more numerous and better trained Spartan hoplites, relying instead on the fleet. The Athenian fleet, the most dominant in Greece, went on the offensive, winning a victory at Naupactus. In 430 BC an outbreak of a plague hit Athens. The plague ravaged the densely packed city, and in the long run, was a significant cause of its final defeat. The plague wiped out over 30,000 citizens, sailors and soldiers, including Pericles and his sons. Roughly one-third to two-thirds of the Athenian population died. Athenian manpower was correspondingly drastically reduced and even foreign mercenaries refused to hire themselves out to a city riddled with plague. The fear of plague was so widespread that the Spartan invasion of Attica was abandoned, their troops being unwilling to risk contact with the diseased enemy.

text: After the death of Pericles, the Athenians turned somewhat against his conservative, defensive strategy and to the more aggressive strategy of bringing the war to Sparta and its allies. Rising to particular importance in Athenian democracy at this time was Cleon, a leader of the hawkish elements of the Athenian democracy. Led militarily by a clever new general Demosthenes (not to be confused with the later Athenian orator Demosthenes), the Athenians managed some successes as they continued their naval raids on the Peloponnese. Athens stretched their military activities into Boeotia and Aetolia, quelled the Mytilenean revolt and began fortifying posts around the Peloponnese. One of these posts was near Pylos on a tiny island called Sphacteria, where the course of the first war turned in Athens's favour. The post off Pylos struck Sparta where it was weakest: its dependence on the helots, who tended the fields while its citizens trained to become soldiers. The helots made the Spartan system possible, but now the post off Pylos began attracting helot runaways. In addition, the fear of a general revolt of helots emboldened by the nearby Athenian presence drove the Spartans to action. Demosthenes, however, outmanoeuvred the Spartans in the Battle of Pylos in 425 BC and trapped a group of Spartan soldiers on Sphacteria as he waited for them to surrender. Weeks later, though, Demosthenes proved unable to finish off the Spartans. After boasting that he could put an end to the affair in the Assembly, the inexperienced Cleon won a great victory at the Battle of Sphacteria. The Athenians captured 300 Spartan hoplites. The hostages gave the Athenians a bargaining chip.

text: After these battles, the Spartan general Brasidas raised an army of allies and helots and marched the length of Greece to the Athenian colony of Amphipolis in Thrace, which controlled several nearby silver mines; their product supplied much of the Athenian war fund. Thucydides was dispatched with a force which arrived too late to stop Brasidas capturing Amphipolis; Thucydides was exiled for this, and, as a result, had the conversations with both sides of the war which inspired him to record its history. Both Brasidas and Cleon were killed in Athenian efforts to retake Amphipolis (see Battle of Amphipolis). The Spartans and Athenians agreed to exchange the hostages for the towns captured by Brasidas, and signed a truce.

text: Peace of Nicias

text: With the death of Cleon and Brasidas, zealous war hawks for both nations, the Peace of Nicias was able to last for some six years. However, it was a time of constant skirmishing in and around the Peloponnese. While the Spartans refrained from action themselves, some of their allies began to talk of revolt. They were supported in this by Argos, a powerful state within the Peloponnese that had remained independent of Lacedaemon. With the support of the Athenians, the Argives succeeded in forging a coalition of democratic states within the Peloponnese, including the powerful states of Mantinea and Elis. Early Spartan attempts to break up the coalition failed, and the leadership of the Spartan king Agis was called into question. Emboldened, the Argives and their allies, with the support of a small Athenian force under Alcibiades, moved to seize the city of Tegea, near Sparta.

text: The Battle of Mantinea was the largest land battle fought within Greece during the Peloponnesian War. The Lacedaemonians, with their neighbors the Tegeans, faced the combined armies of Argos, Athens, Mantinea, and Arcadia. In the battle, the allied coalition scored early successes, but failed to capitalize on them, which allowed the Spartan elite forces to defeat the forces opposite them. The result was a complete victory for the Spartans, which rescued their city from the brink of strategic defeat. The democratic alliance was broken up, and most of its members were reincorporated into the Peloponnesian League. With its victory at Mantinea, Sparta pulled itself back from the brink of utter defeat, and re-established its hegemony throughout the Peloponnese.

text: Sicilian Expedition

text: In the 17th year of the war, word came to Athens that one of their distant allies in Sicily was under attack from Syracuse. The people of Syracuse were ethnically Dorian (as were the Spartans), while the Athenians, and their ally in Sicilia, were Ionian. The Athenians felt obliged to assist their ally.

text: The Athenians did not act solely from altruism: rallied on by Alcibiades, the leader of the expedition, they held visions of conquering all of Sicily. Syracuse, the principal city of Sicily, was not much smaller than Athens, and conquering all of Sicily would have brought Athens an immense amount of resources. In the final stages of the preparations for departure, the hermai (religious statues) of Athens were mutilated by unknown persons, and Alcibiades was charged with religious crimes. Alcibiades demanded that he be put on trial at once, so that he might defend himself before the expedition. The Athenians however allowed Alcibiades to go on the expedition without being tried (many believed in order to better plot against him). After arriving in Sicily, Alcibiades was recalled to Athens for trial. Fearing that he would be unjustly condemned, Alcibiades defected to Sparta and Nicias was placed in charge of the mission. After his defection, Alcibiades claimed to the Spartans that the Athenians planned to use Sicily as a springboard for the conquest of all of Italy and Carthage, and to use the resources and soldiers from these new conquests to conquer the Peloponnese.

text: The Athenian force consisted of over 100 ships and some 5,000 infantry and light-armored troops. Cavalry was limited to about 30 horses, which proved to be no match for the large and highly trained Syracusan cavalry. Upon landing in Sicily, several cities immediately joined the Athenian cause. Instead of attacking at once, Nicias procrastinated and the campaigning season of 415 BC ended with Syracuse scarcely damaged. With winter approaching, the Athenians were then forced to withdraw into their quarters, and they spent the winter gathering allies and preparing to destroy Syracuse. The delay allowed the Syracusans to send for help from Sparta, who sent their general Gylippus to Sicily with reinforcements. Upon arriving, he raised up a force from several Sicilian cities, and went to the relief of Syracuse. He took command of the Syracusan troops, and in a series of battles defeated the Athenian forces, and prevented them from invading the city.

text: Nicias then sent word to Athens asking for reinforcements. Demosthenes was chosen and led another fleet to Sicily, joining his forces with those of Nicias. More battles ensued and again, the Syracusans and their allies defeated the Athenians. Demosthenes argued for a retreat to Athens, but Nicias at first refused. After additional setbacks, Nicias seemed to agree to a retreat until a bad omen, in the form of a lunar eclipse, delayed any withdrawal. The delay was costly and forced the Athenians into a major sea battle in the Great Harbor of Syracuse. The Athenians were thoroughly defeated. Nicias and Demosthenes marched their remaining forces inland in search of friendly allies. The Syracusan cavalry rode them down mercilessly, eventually killing or enslaving all who were left of the mighty Athenian fleet.

text: The Second War

text: The Lacedaemonians were not content with simply sending aid to Sicily; they also resolved to take the war to the Athenians. On the advice of Alcibiades, they fortified Decelea, near Athens, and prevented the Athenians from making use of their land year round. The fortification of Decelea prevented the shipment of supplies overland to Athens, and forced all supplies to be brought in by sea at increased expense. Perhaps worst of all, the nearby silver mines were totally disrupted, with as many as 20,000 Athenian slaves freed by the Spartan hoplites at Decelea. With the treasury and emergency reserve fund of 1,000 talents dwindling away, the Athenians were forced to demand even more tribute from her subject allies, further increasing tensions and the threat of further rebellion within the Empire.

text: The Corinthians, the Spartans, and others in the Peloponnesian League sent more reinforcements to Syracuse, in the hopes of driving off the Athenians; but instead of withdrawing, the Athenians sent another hundred ships and another 5,000 troops to Sicily. Under Gylippus, the Syracusans and their allies were able to decisively defeat the Athenians on land; and Gylippus encouraged the Syracusans to build a navy, which was able to defeat the Athenian fleet when they attempted to withdraw. The Athenian army, attempting to withdraw overland to other, more friendly Sicilian cities, was divided and defeated; the entire Athenian fleet was destroyed, and virtually the entire Athenian army was sold off into slavery.

text: Following the defeat of the Athenians in Sicily, it was widely believed that the end of the Athenian Empire was at hand. Her treasury was nearly empty, her docks were depleted, and the flower of her youth was dead or imprisoned in a foreign land. They overestimated the strength of their own empire and the beginning of the end was indeed imminent.

text: Athens recovers

text: Following the destruction of the Sicilian Expedition, Lacedaemon encouraged the revolt of Athens's tributary allies, and indeed, much of Ionia rose in revolt against Athens. The Syracusans sent their fleet to the Peloponnesians, and the Persians decided to support the Spartans with money and ships. Revolt and faction threatened in Athens itself.

text: The Athenians managed to survive for several reasons. First, their foes were lacking in initiative. Corinth and Syracuse were slow to bring their fleets into the Aegean, and Sparta's other allies were also slow to furnish troops or ships. The Ionian states that rebelled expected protection, and many rejoined the Athenian side. The Persians were slow to furnish promised funds and ships, frustrating battle plans.

text: At the start of the war, the Athenians had prudently put aside some money and 100 ships that were to be used only as a last resort.

text: These ships were then released, and served as the core of the Athenians' fleet throughout the rest of the war. An oligarchical revolution occurred in Athens, in which a group of 400 seized power. A peace with Sparta might have been possible, but the Athenian fleet, now based on the island of Samos, refused to accept the change. In 411 BC this fleet engaged the Spartans at the Battle of Syme. The fleet appointed Alcibiades their leader, and continued the war in Athens's name. Their opposition led to the reinstitution of a democratic government in Athens within two years.

text: Alcibiades, while condemned as a traitor, still carried weight in Athens. He prevented the Athenian fleet from attacking Athens; instead, he helped restore democracy by more subtle pressure. He also persuaded the Athenian fleet to attack the Spartans at the battle of Cyzicus in 410. In the battle, the Athenians obliterated the Spartan fleet, and succeeded in re-establishing the financial basis of the Athenian Empire.

text: Between 410 and 406, Athens won a continuous string of victories, and eventually recovered large portions of its empire. All of this was due, in no small part, to Alcibiades.

text: Lysander triumphs, Athens surrenders

text: Faction triumphed in Athens following a minor Spartan victory by their skillful general Lysander at the naval battle of Notium in 406 BC. Alcibiades was not re-elected general by the Athenians and he exiled himself from the city. He would never again lead Athenians in battle. Athens was then victorious at the naval battle of Arginusae. The Spartan fleet under Callicratidas lost 70 ships and the Athenians lost 25 ships. But, due to bad weather, the Athenians were unable to rescue their stranded crews or to finish off the Spartan fleet. Despite their victory, these failures caused outrage in Athens and led to a controversial trial. The trial resulted in the execution of six of Athens’s top naval commanders. Athens’s naval supremacy would now be challenged without several of its most able military leaders and a demoralized navy.

text: Unlike some of his predecessors the new Spartan general, Lysander, was not a member of the Spartan royal families and was also formidable in naval strategy; he was an artful diplomat, who had even cultivated good personal relationships with the Persian prince Cyrus, the son of Darius II. Seizing its opportunity, the Spartan fleet sailed at once to the Hellespont, the source of Athens' grain. Threatened with starvation, the Athenian fleet had no choice but to follow. Through cunning strategy, Lysander totally defeated the Athenian fleet, in 405 BC, at the Battle of Aegospotami, destroying 168 ships and capturing some three or four thousand Athenian sailors. Only 12 Athenian ships escaped, and several of these sailed to Cyprus, carrying the "strategos" (General) Conon, who was anxious not to face the judgment of the Assembly.

text: Facing starvation and disease from the prolonged siege, Athens surrendered in 404 BC, and its allies soon surrendered as well. The democrats at Samos, loyal to the bitter last, held on slightly longer, and were allowed to flee with their lives. The surrender stripped Athens of its walls, its fleet, and all of its overseas possessions. Corinth and Thebes demanded that Athens should be destroyed and all its citizens should be enslaved. However, the Spartans announced their refusal to destroy a city that had done a good service at a time of greatest danger to Greece, and took Athens into their own system. Athens was "to have the same friends and enemies" as Sparta.[22]

text: Aftermath

text: The overall effect of the war in Greece proper was to substitute a Spartan empire for an Athenian one. After the battle of Aegospotami, Sparta took over the Athenian empire and kept all of its tribute revenues for itself; Sparta's allies, who had made greater sacrifices for the war effort than had Sparta, got nothing.[1]

text: For a short period of time, Athens was ruled by the "Thirty Tyrants", and democracy was suspended. This was a reactionary regime set up by Sparta. In 403 BC, the oligarchs were overthrown and a democracy was restored by Thrasybulus.

text: Although the power of Athens was broken, it made something of a recovery as a result of the Corinthian War and continued to play an active role in Greek politics. Sparta was later humbled by Thebes at the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC, but the rivalry between Athens and Sparta was brought to an end a few decades later when Philip II of Macedon conquered all of Greece except Sparta.


document_title: Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha

question_text: who is the present vice president of lok sabha

text: Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha

text: Powers and functions of the Deputy Speaker[edit]

text: In case of the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker presides over the sessions of the Lok Sabha and conducts the business in the house. He decides whether a bill is a money bill or a non-money bill. S/He maintains discipline and decorum in the house and can punish a member for unruly behaviour by suspending him/her. S/He permits the moving of various kinds of motions and resolutions like the motion of no confidence, motion of adjournment, motion of censure and calling attention notice.

text: List of Deputy Speakers[edit]

text:
No.
Deputy Speaker
Constituency
Portrait
Term
Party

From
To

1
M. A. Ayyangar[3][4]
Tirupati

30 May 1952
7 March 1956
Congress

2
Hukam Singh[5][4][6]
Bhatinda

20 March 1956
31 March 1962

3
S. V. Krishnamoorthy Rao[7][8]
Shimoga

23 April 1962
3 March 1967

4
Raghnath Keshav Khadilkar[9]
Khed

28 March 1967
11 November 1969

5
George Gilbert Swell[10]
Shillong

27 March 1971
18 January 1977
Independent

6
Godey Murahari[11]
Vijayawada

1 April 1977
22 August 1979
Congress

7
G. Lakshmanan[12]
Madras North

1 December 1980
31 December 1984
DMK

8
M. Thambidurai[13]
Dharmapuri

22 January 1985
27 November 1989
ADMK

9
Shivraj Patil[14]
Latur

19 March 1990
13 March 1991
Congress

10
S. Mallikarjunaiah[15]
Tumkur

13 August 1991
10 May 1996
BJP

11
Suraj Bhan[16]
Ambala

12 July 1996
4 December 1997

12
P. M. Sayeed[17][18]
Lakshadweep

17 December 1998
6 February 2004
Congress

13
Charanjit Singh Atwal[19]
Phillaur

9 June 2004
18 May 2009
SAD

14
Kariya Munda[20]
Khunti

8 June 2009
18 May 2014
BJP

15
M. Thambidurai
Karur

13 August 2014
Incumbent
ADMK


document_title: List of Family Guy cast members

question_text: who plays death's voice in family guy

question_tokens: who plays death 's voice in family guy

text: List of Family Guy cast members

text: Current cast[edit]

text: From seasons 1 to 4, Family Guy had four main cast members. Since season 5, there have been five main cast members. The casting of Meg Griffin changed after season 1.

text: Seth MacFarlane[edit]

text: Seth MacFarlane voices four of the show's main characters: Peter Griffin, Brian Griffin, Stewie Griffin, and Glenn Quagmire.[1] MacFarlane chose to voice these characters himself, believing it would be easier to portray the voices he had already envisioned than for someone else to attempt it.[2] MacFarlane drew inspiration for the voice of Peter from a security guard he overheard talking while attending the Rhode Island School of Design.[3] Stewie's voice was based on the voice of English actor Rex Harrison,[4] especially his performance in the 1964 musical drama film My Fair Lady.[5] MacFarlane uses his own voice while portraying Brian.[2]

text: MacFarlane also provides the voices for various other recurring and one-time only characters, most prominently those of news anchor Tom Tucker, Lois' father Carter Pewterschmidt and Dr. Hartman.[6] He is the only voice to be in every episode.

text: Alex Borstein[edit]

text: Alex Borstein voices Lois Griffin, Asian correspondent Tricia Takanawa, Loretta Brown and Lois' mother Barbara Pewterschmidt.[7] Borstein was asked to provide a voice for the pilot while she was working on MADtv. She had not met MacFarlane or seen any of his artwork and said it was "really sight unseen".[8] At the time, Borstein performed in a stage show in Los Angeles, in which she played a redhead mother whose voice she had based on one of her cousins.[7][8] The voice was originally slower (and deeper for the original series), but when MacFarlane heard it, he replied "Make it a little less fucking annoying ... and speed it up, or every episode will last four hours."[7]

text: Mila Kunis[edit]

text: Mila Kunis is the voice of the character named Meg Griffin.[6] Kunis won the role after auditions and a slight rewrite of the character, in part due to her performance on That '70s Show.[9] MacFarlane called Kunis back after her first audition, instructing her to speak slower, and then told her to come back another time and enunciate more. Once she claimed that she had it under control, MacFarlane hired her.[9] Kunis described her character as "the scapegoat". She further explained, "Meg gets picked on a lot. But it's funny. It's like the middle child. She is constantly in the state of being an awkward 14-year-old, when you're kind of going through puberty and what-not. She's just in a perpetual mode of humiliation. And it's fun."[10]

text: Seth Green[edit]

text: Seth Green primarily plays Chris Griffin and Neil Goldman.[6][11] Green stated that he did an impression of the "Buffalo Bill" character from the thriller film The Silence of the Lambs during his audition.[12] His main inspiration for Chris' voice came from envisioning how "Buffalo Bill" would sound if he were speaking through a public address system at a McDonald's.[13]

text: Mike Henry[edit]

text: Mike Henry is the voice of Cleveland Brown, John Herbert The Pervert and other various characters. A Family Guy writer and producer, he began acting on the show as part of the recurring cast repertory (see below) but was promoted to main cast member in 2005. Since the cancellation of The Cleveland Show, he also voices Cleveland's step-son Rallo Tubbs on Family Guy.

text: Recurring cast[edit]

text: In addition to both its main cast and guest stars, Family Guy utilizes a deep bench of regularly appearing supporting voice actors. Some appear in nearly every episode each season, while others appear less frequently. Some of these actors specifically play recurring characters, while others mainly play background citizens of Quahog or characters in cutaway gags.

text: The current supporting cast repertory includes the following actors:

text:
Actor
Character(s)
No. of Episodes
(Out of 245 produced)
Notes

Benjamin, H. JonH. Jon Benjamin
Carl
14
Since 2005

Breckenridge, AlexandraAlexandra Breckenridge
Various
57
Since 2005. Currently voices most female “extras” not voiced by Alex Borstein.

Brennan, JohnnyJohnny Brennan
Goldman, MortMort Goldman, Horace the bartender
77

Callaghan, SteveSteve Callaghan
Various
37
Also the current showrunner and executive producer of Family Guy and former showrunner/EP of American Dad!. [14]

Garman, RalphRalph Garman
Various
138

Lakin, ChristineChristine Lakin
Kinney, JoyceJoyce Kinney
23
Since 2010.

LaMarr, PhilPhil LaMarr
Williams, OllieOllie Williams and the Quahog judge
56

MacFarlane, RachaelRachael MacFarlane
Olivia and various women
54
Formerly one of the most frequent female voices. She reduced her number of appearances per season after joining American Dad! in 2005 but still appears several times per season. Seth MacFarlane's sister.

Osment, EmilyEmily Osment
Various
14
Since 2012.

Richardson, Kevin MichaelKevin Michael Richardson
Jerome and Cleveland Jr.
30
Since 2009.

Sheridan, ChrisChris Sheridan
Various
33
Also a Family Guy writer.

Smith, DannyDanny Smith
Various, including Evil Monkey, Al Harrington and Ernie, the Giant Chicken
189
Also a Family Guy writer.

Sulkin, AlecAlec Sulkin
Christ, JesusJesus Christ and various others
147
Also a Family Guy writer.

Tatasciore, FredFred Tatasciore
Various
36

Tilly, JenniferJennifer Tilly
Swanson, BonnieBonnie Swanson
42
Has recurred as the Griffin's neighbor since the first season.

Viener, JohnJohn Viener
Various
182
Since 2005, he has been one of the most frequently heard male voices aside from Seth MacFarlane. Also a Family Guy writer.

Warburton, PatrickPatrick Warburton
Swanson, JoeJoe Swanson
163
Has appeared as the Griffins' neighbor since the first season, and usually appears in most episodes each season. Warburton is the most frequently appearing one-character actor in the supporting repertory.

Wingert, WallyWally Wingert
Various
41

text: In addition to the above, the following actors were formerly regularly recurring voice actors in the series:

text:
Actor
Character(s)
No. of Episodes
Notes

Alan, LoriLori Alan
Simmons, DianeDiane Simmons
63
Left the show in season nine when her character was killed off. Was replaced in the series' context by Christine Lakin's Joyce Kinney

Alazraqui, CarlosCarlos Alazraqui
Weed, Mr.Mr. Weed
10
Peter's first boss, Mr. Weed, was killed off early in the series' run.

Barrymore, DrewDrew Barrymore
Russell, JillianJillian Russell
12
Played Jillian, Brian's former girlfriend. The character still appears in background roles

Cole, GaryGary Cole
Various
38
Cole appeared frequently in the earlier seasons, but still pops up now and then to play Meg and Chris' principal, Mr. Shepherd.

Hartman, ButchButch Hartman
Various
8

Henry, MikeMike Henry
Cleveland Brown, Herbert, Bruce, Consuela, and various others

Was promoted to main cast in 2005. Also a Family Guy writer.

Hentemann, MarkMark Hentemann
Opie and various others
45
Recently left Family Guy to work on another Seth MacFarlane project. Also a Family Guy writer.

Fisher, CarrieCarrie Fisher
Angela
19
Has recurred as Peter's boss several times per season since 2005. Died in 2016.

Strong, TaraTara Strong
Various, as well as Meg's singing voice
21
Appeared frequently in the first four seasons. Returned briefly in 2010-2011 and again for one episode in 2014.

Sullivan, NicoleNicole Sullivan
Goldman, MurielMuriel Goldman
27
Muriel was killed off in season nine.

Whitman, MaeMae Whitman
Various
10
Was a recurring younger female voice for several seasons between 2007-2010.

Wild, WellesleyWellesley Wild
Various
14
No longer a recurring voice (since 2013). He was a producer, but left the show.

Wilhoit, LisaLisa Wilhoit
D'Amico, ConnieConnie D'Amico
15
Meg's bully Connie has not appeared in the series since 2013.

West, AdamAdam West
Mayor West, AdamAdam West
93
Played a warped version of himself as the mayor of Quahog. Died in 2017.

text: Recurring guest voices[edit]

text: The recurring guest voices include Adam Carolla as Death, Patrick Stewart as Susie Swanson, Scott Grimes as Kevin Swanson and Sanaa Lathan as Donna Tubbs Brown. Previous recurring guests included Phyllis Diller in three episodes as Peter's Mother, Thelma, and Charles Durning as Peter's father, Francis. Both characters have since died, but Durning returned once to play Francis as a ghost. Early in the show's run, Fred Willard and Jane Lynch had a recurring role as a family of nudists. James Woods as James Woods.

text: Casting changes[edit]

text:
Lacey Chabert voiced Meg for the first production season (14 episodes), but, because of a contractual agreement, was never credited.[15] Chabert left the series due to time constraints with her acting role in Party of Five, as well as schoolwork.[16]
Norm Macdonald voiced the character of Death in a second season episode of Family Guy. He was subsequently replaced by Adam Carolla in all other appearances.
Jon Cryer originally voiced Kevin Swanson in his first appearance, before the role was passed temporarily onto Seth MacFarlane. The character was written out of the series for several years, with Scott Grimes taking over the voice when the character returned.
Fairuza Balk was the original voice of high school bully Connie D'Amico until Lisa Wilhoit took over the character in the third season.

tag: ul

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text:
Year
Actor
Award
Category
Role
Result
Ref.

2000
Seth MacFarlane
Primetime Emmy Award
Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
Stewie Griffin
Won
[17]

2009
Seth MacFarlane
Primetime Emmy Award
Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
Peter Griffin
Won
[18]

2006
Seth MacFarlane
Annie Award
Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production
Stewie Griffin
Won
[19]

2007
Mila Kunis
Annie Award
Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production
Meg Griffin
Won
[20]


question_text: where was the movie three billboards outside of ebbing missouri film

text: Plot[edit]

text: Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) is grieving the rape and murder of her teenage daughter Angela that had occurred seven months earlier. Angry over the lack of progress in the investigation, Mildred rents three abandoned billboards near her home, and posts on them: "Raped While Dying", "And Still No Arrests?", and "How Come, Chief Willoughby?" The billboards upset the townspeople, including Sheriff Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) and Officer Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell), the latter being a racist and a violent alcoholic. The open secret that Willoughby suffers from terminal pancreatic cancer adds to everyone's disapproval. Mildred and her depressed son Robbie are harassed and threatened, but to Robbie's chagrin, she stays firm about keeping the billboards up.

text: While Willoughby is sympathetic to Mildred's frustration, he finds the billboards an unfair attack on his character. Angered by Mildred's lack of respect for his authority, Dixon threatens businessman Red Welby, who had rented Mildred the billboards, and he arrests her friend and coworker, Denise, on trivial marijuana possession charges. Mildred is also visited by her abusive ex-husband Charlie, who blames her for their daughter's death.

text: Willoughby brings Mildred in for questioning after she injures her dentist in an altercation in the dental clinic. During the interview, Willoughby coughs up blood. He leaves the hospital against medical advice and spends an idyllic day with his wife Anne and their two daughters, then commits suicide. He leaves suicide notes for several people, including one to Mildred, in which he explains that she was not a factor in his suicide, and that he secretly paid to keep the billboards up for another month, amused at the trouble this will bring her and hoping that they will keep attention on the murder. Mildred is threatened by a crop-haired stranger in her store. Dixon reacts to the news of Willoughby's death by assaulting Welby and throwing him out of a window. This is witnessed by Willoughby's replacement, Abercrombie, who fires Dixon.

text: The billboards are destroyed by arson. Mildred retaliates by tossing Molotov cocktails at the police station, which she believes is unoccupied for the night. However, Dixon is there to read a letter left for him by Willoughby, which advises him to let go of hate and learn to love, as the only way to realize his wish to become a detective. Dixon escapes with Angela's case file, but suffers severe burns. Mildred's acquaintance James witnesses the incident and provides Mildred with an alibi, claiming they were on a date. Dixon is treated for his burns, and he is temporarily confined in the same hospital room as Welby, to whom he apologizes.

text: Discharged from the hospital, Dixon overhears the man who threatened Mildred bragging in a bar of an incident similar to Angela's murder. He notes the Idaho license plate number of the man's vehicle, then provokes a fight. At home later, he removes a sample of the man's DNA from under his fingernails. Meanwhile, Mildred goes on a date with James to thank him for the alibi. Charlie enters with his 19-year-old girlfriend Penelope, and he admits to burning the billboards. Mildred tells Charlie to treat Penelope well, and she leaves.

text: Abercrombie informs Dixon that the DNA sample does not match DNA found on Angela's body, and that the man was overseas on military duty at the time of the murder. Mildred and Dixon conclude that the man must be guilty of some other rape, and set out for Idaho to kill him. On the way, Mildred confesses to Dixon that she set the police station fire, though he indicates that he knew it was her all along. They express reservations about their mission, but agree to decide what to do along the way.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Frances McDormand as Mildred Hayes
Woody Harrelson as William 'Bill' Willoughby
Sam Rockwell as Jason Dixon
Abbie Cornish as Anne Willoughby
John Hawkes as Charlie Hayes
Peter Dinklage as James
Caleb Landry Jones as Red Welby
Kerry Condon as Pamela
Darrell Britt-Gibson as Jerome
Lucas Hedges as Robbie Hayes
Željko Ivanek as Desk Sergeant
Amanda Warren as Denise
Kathryn Newton as Angela Hayes
Samara Weaving as Penelope
Clarke Peters as Chief Abercrombie
Brendan Sexton III as Crop-Haired Guy
Sandy Martin as Jason Dixon's Mother

text: Production[edit]

text: McDonagh was inspired to write Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri after seeing billboards about an unsolved crime while traveling "somewhere down in the Georgia, Florida, Alabama corner".[5] "The rage that put a bunch of billboards like that up was palpable and stayed with me", McDonagh said.[6] Of writing his scenario, McDonagh noted, "once I decided, in my head, that it was a mother, everything fell into place".[6]

text: The character of Mildred was written with Frances McDormand in mind, and likewise the character of Dixon was written specifically for Rockwell.[7] McDormand initially felt that she was older than the character as it was written, and suggested that Mildred instead be Angela's grandmother; McDonagh disagreed, feeling that it would change the story too much.[7][8] McDormand's husband Joel Coen persuaded her to take the part regardless.[7] McDormand took inspiration for her character from John Wayne; and Rockwell, wanting to make his character "the exact opposite" of Mildred, took inspiration for his character in part from Wayne's co-star in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Lee Marvin.[7]

text: The titular location Ebbing, in the U.S. state of Missouri, is fictional.[9] Principal photography began on May 2, 2016, in Sylva, North Carolina,[10] and ran for 33 days.[11]

text: Music[edit]

text: The musical score was written by Carter Burwell, who had also supplied the score for McDonagh's films In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths. As well as Burwell's score, the film features songs by Joan Baez, Monsters of Folk, Townes Van Zandt, and the Four Tops.

text: Release[edit]

text: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri premiered in competition at the 74th Venice International Film Festival on September 4, 2017.[12] It also had screenings at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival,[13] the 2017 San Sebastián International Film Festival (where it won the Audience Award),[14] the BFI London Film Festival,[15] and the 2017 Zurich Film Festival.[16] It was also screened at the Mar del Plata International Film Festival.[17]

text: In the United States, the film was released, by Fox Searchlight Pictures, on November 10, 2017, beginning with a limited release, before "going wide" on December 1.[4]

text: The film was released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on 27 February 2018.[18] Six Shooter, McDonagh's Academy Award-winning short film, is included as a bonus.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: As of February 11, 2018[update], Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has grossed $45.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $55.5 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $100.9 million.[4]

text: In its limited opening weekend, the film made $322,168 from four theaters for a per-theater average of $80,542, the fourth best of 2017.[19] The film made $1.1 million from 53 theaters in its second weekend and $4.4 million from 614 in its third, finishing a respective 9th and 10th at the box office.[20] In the weekend following its four Golden Globe wins the film was added to 712 theaters (for a total of 1,022) and grossed $2.3 million, and increase of 226% from the previous week's $706,188.[21] The weekend of January 27, 2018, following the announcement of the film's seven Oscar nominations, it made $3.6 million (an increase of 87% over the previous week's $1.9 million), finishing 13th.[22]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film had an approval rating of 92% based on 312 reviews and an average rating of 8.5/10. The site's critical consensus read, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri deftly balances black comedy against searing drama – and draws unforgettable performances from its veteran cast along the way".[23] On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film had a weighted average score of 88 out of 100, based on 50 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[24] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.[25]

text: Owen Gleiberman of Variety praised the film's performances, stating "It's Mildred's glowering refusal to back down that defines her, and McDormand brilliantly spotlights the conflicted humanity beneath the stony façade," and called Rockwell's performance a "revelation".[26] Steve Pond, writing for TheWrap, praised McDonagh's writing, calling it "Very funny, very violent and surprisingly moving".[27]

text: Conversely, others have criticized the film's script. In her review for The New York Times, Manohla Dargis wrote "[McDonagh's] jokes can be uninterestingly glib with tiny, bloodless pricks that are less about challenging the audience than about obscuring the material's clichés and overriding theatricality".[28] In a column for The Daily Beast, liberal blogger Ira Madison III called the film's treatment of Rockwell's character "altogether offensive," arguing that the character's described racism was handled insensitively, writing "McDonagh's attempts to script the black experience in America are often fumbling and backward and full of outdated tropes".[29]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: At the 75th Golden Globe Awards, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Actress – Drama (McDormand), Best Supporting Actor (Rockwell), and Best Screenplay, and was nominated for Best Director and Best Original Score.[30] At the 71st British Academy Film Awards, it received nine nominations, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress in a Leading Role (McDormand), and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for both Rockwell and Harrelson.[31][32] It won five awards, including Best Film and Outstanding British Film (making it the only film along with The King's Speech to win both awards since the latter category was reintroduced in 1992)[33] while both McDormand and Rockwell won the Lead Actress and Supporting Actor awards respectively.[34] It was nominated for four awards at the 24th Screen Actors Guild Awards, winning three, including Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. At the 90th Academy Awards it received seven nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Frances McDormand, Best Original Screenplay for Martin McDonagh and two Best Supporting Actor nominations for both Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson.

text: It was named one of the top 10 films of the year by the American Film Institute.[35] At the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival,[13] the film won its top prize, the People's Choice Award.[36] At the 2017 San Sebastián International Film Festival, it won the Audience Award.[14]

text: Activism inspired by the film[edit]

text: On February 15, 2018, the campaign group Justice4Grenfell, an advocacy group created in response to the Grenfell Tower fire, hired three vans with electronic screens in a protest against perceived inaction in response to the fire.[37] The vans were driven around London, and displayed messages in the style of the billboards in the film: '71 Dead', 'And Still No Arrests?', 'How Come?'[38]

text: In response to the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting that took place on February 14, 2018, in Parkland, Florida, activist group Avaaz had three vans circle Florida senator Marco Rubio's offices displaying 'Slaughtered in School', 'And Still No Gun Control?', 'How Come, Marco Rubio?'[39][40]

text: On the night of February 15, 2018, the movement #OccupyJustice set up three billboards and a number of banners in Malta, marking the four-month anniversary of the murder of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. The billboards bore the text 'A Journalist Killed. No Justice.', 'A Country Robbed. No Justice.', and 'No Resignations. No Justice.'[41][42] The authorities removed the billboards the following day,[43] stating that they were illegal.[44] The government was criticized for this move,[45][46] and a day after their removal, activists laid down banners with similar text near Auberge de Castille, the Office of the Prime Minister.[44]

text: Outside the Bristol city centre on February 3, 2018, a mural was erected depicting three billboards reading 'Our NHS is dying', 'And still no more funding', and 'How come, Mrs May'. It was installed by the groups People’s Republic of Stokes Croft and Protect Our NHS in response to the privatization of the National Health Service (NHS) and the death of a 15 year old girl that has been allegedly attributed to the lack of resources by the NHS.[47]

text: On February 22, 2018, the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, protesting the inaction of the UN's role within the Syrian Civil War, set up three billboards outside the United Nations building in New York that read '500,000 Dead in Syria', 'And still no action?', and 'How come, Security Council'.[48][49]

text: Both McDormand and McDonagh have responded positively to the protests, with McDonagh saying "You couldn't ask for anything more than for an angry film to be adopted by protests"[50][51] and McDormand saying she is “thrilled that activists all over the world have been inspired by the set decoration of the three billboards in Martin’s film.”[52]


document_title: List of Oceanian countries by GDP (nominal)

question_text: which nation in oceania has the highest gdp

text: Gross domestic product (GDP) is the market value of all final goods and services from a nation in a given year. Countries in Oceania are sorted by nominal GDP estimates based on 2013 data from The World Factbook by the Central Intelligence Agency.[1]

text: The figures presented here do not take into account differences in the cost of living in different countries, and the results can vary greatly from one year to another based on fluctuations in the exchange rates of the country's currency.[2] Such fluctuations may change a country's ranking from one year to the next, even though they often make little or no difference to the standard of living of its population.[3] Therefore, these figures should be used with caution.

text: Some countries/regions may have citizens which ar[4]e on average wealthy. These countries/regions could appear in this list as having a small GDP. This would be because the country/region listed has a small population, and therefore small total economy; the GDP is calculated as the population times market value of the goods and services produced per person in the country.[5]

text: Comparisons of national wealth are also frequently made on the basis of purchasing power parity (PPP), to adjust for differences in the cost of living in different countries. PPP largely removes the exchange rate problem, but has its own drawbacks; it does not reflect the value of economic output in international trade, and it also requires more estimation than nominal GDP.[6] On the whole, PPP per capita figures are more narrowly spread than nominal GDP per capita figures.[7]

text:
Country
Nominal GDP[8][9]
(2014 CIA estimate in millions USD)
GDP per capita[10]
(2014 CIA estimate in USD)
GDP (PPP)[4]
(IMF estimate in millions USD)
GDP (PPP) per capita[4]
(IMF estimate in USD)

 Australia
1,444,000
46,400
1,188,764
47,644.363

 Federated States of Micronesia

3,000
314
3,032.615

 Fiji
4,212
8,200
8,374
9,353.390

 Kiribati

1,700
211
1,820.750

 Marshall Islands

3,300
180
3,239.708

 Nauru

5,000 (2005 est.)
-

 New Zealand
198,100
35,200
174,845
37,108.005

 Palau

16,300
276
15,260.417

 Papua New Guinea
16,060
2,400
28,022
3,542.097

 Samoa
826
5,200
1,046
5,368.510

 Solomon Islands
1,155
1,900
1,198
1,995.697

 Tonga
454
4,900
557
5,332.190

 Tuvalu

3,300
39
3,566.816

 Vanuatu
812
3,300
723
2,631.360