document_title: History of London

question_text: when did london's population reach 1 million

question_tokens: when did london 's population reach 1 million

text: History of London

text: Legendary foundations and prehistory[edit]

text: According to the legendary Historia Regum Britanniae, by Geoffrey of Monmouth, London was founded by Brutus of Troy about 1000–1100 B.C. after he defeated the native giant Gogmagog; the settlement was known as Caer Troia, Troia Nova (Latin for New Troy), which, according to a pseudo-etymology, was corrupted to Trinovantum. Trinovantes were the Iron Age tribe who inhabited the area prior to the Romans. Geoffrey provides prehistoric London with a rich array of legendary kings, such as Lud (see also Lludd, from Welsh mythology) who, he claims, renamed the town Caer Ludein, from which London was derived, and was buried at Ludgate.

text: However, despite intensive excavations, archaeologists have found no evidence of a prehistoric major settlement in the area. There have been scattered prehistoric finds, evidence of farming, burial and traces of habitation, but nothing more substantial. It is now considered unlikely that a pre-Roman city existed, but as some of the Roman city remains unexcavated, it is still just possible that some major settlement may yet be discovered. London was most likely a rural area with scattered settlement. Rich finds such as the Battersea Shield, found in the Thames near Chelsea, suggest the area was important; there may have been important settlements at Egham and Brentford, and there was a hillfort at Uphall Camp, Ilford, but no city in the area of the Roman London, the present day City of London.

text: Some recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area. In 1999, the remains of a Bronze Age bridge were found, again on the foreshore south of Vauxhall Bridge.[1] This bridge either crossed the Thames, or went to a now lost island in the river. Dendrology dated the timbers to 1500BCE.[1] In 2001 a further dig found that the timbers were driven vertically into the ground on the south bank of the Thames west of Vauxhall Bridge.[2] In 2010 the foundations of a large timber structure, dated to 4000BCE, were found on the Thames foreshore, south of Vauxhall Bridge.[3] The function of the mesolithic structure is not known. All these structures are on the south bank at a natural crossing point where the River Effra flows into the Thames.[3]

text: Numerous finds[4] have been made of spear heads and weaponry from the Bronze and Iron Ages near the banks of the Thames in the London area, many of which had clearly been used in battle. This suggests that the Thames was an important tribal boundary.

text: Early history[edit]

text: Roman London (43-410 CE)[edit]

text: Londinium was established as a civilian town by the Romans about seven years after the invasion of CE 43. London, like Rome, was founded on the point of the river where it was narrow enough to bridge and the strategic location of the city provided easy access to much of Europe. Early Roman London occupied a relatively small area, roughly equivalent to the size of Hyde Park. In around CE 60, it was destroyed by the Iceni led by their queen Boudica. The city was quickly rebuilt as a planned Roman town and recovered after perhaps 10 years, the city growing rapidly over the following decades.

text: During the 2nd century Londinium was at its height and replaced Colchester as the capital of Roman Britain (Britannia). Its population was around 60,000 inhabitants. It boasted major public buildings, including the largest basilica north of the Alps, temples, bath houses, an amphitheatre and a large fort for the city garrison. Political instability and recession from the 3rd century onwards led to a slow decline.

text: At some time between 180 and 225 CE the Romans built the defensive London Wall around the landward side of the city. The wall was about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) long, 6 metres (20 ft) high, and 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) thick. The wall would survive for another 1,600 years and define the City of London's perimeters for centuries to come. The perimeters of the present City are roughly defined by the line of the ancient wall.

text: Londonium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from across the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.[5]

text: In the late 3rd century, Londinium was raided on several occasions by Saxon pirates.[citation needed] This led, from around 255 onwards, to the construction of an additional riverside wall. Six of the traditional seven city gates of London are of Roman origin, namely: Ludgate, Newgate, Aldersgate, Cripplegate, Bishopsgate and Aldgate (Moorgate is the exception, being of medieval origin).

text: By the 5th century the Roman Empire was in rapid decline, and in 410 CE the Roman occupation of Britain came to an end. Following this, the Roman city also went into rapid decline and by the end of the 5th century was practically abandoned.

text: Anglo-Saxon London (5th century – 1066 CE)[edit]

text: Until recently it was believed that Anglo-Saxon settlement initially avoided the area immediately around Londinium. However, the discovery in 2008 of an Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Covent Garden indicates that the incomers had begun to settle there at least as early as the 6th century and possibly in the 5th. The main focus of this settlement was outside the Roman walls, clustering a short distance to the west along what is now the Strand, between the Aldwych and Trafalgar Square. It was known as Lundenwic, the -wic suffix here denoting a trading settlement. Recent excavations have also highlighted the population density and relatively sophisticated urban organisation of this earlier Anglo-Saxon London, which was laid out on a grid pattern and grew to house a likely population of 10-12,000.

text: Early Anglo-Saxon London belonged to a people known as the Middle Saxons, from whom the name of the county of Middlesex is derived, but who probably also occupied the approximate area of modern Hertfordshire and Surrey. However, by the early 7th century the London area had been incorporated into the kingdom of the East Saxons. In 604 King Saeberht of Essex converted to Christianity and London received Mellitus, its first post-Roman bishop.

text: At this time Essex was under the overlordship of King Æthelberht of Kent, and it was under Æthelberht's patronage that Mellitus founded the first St. Paul's Cathedral, traditionally said to be on the site of an old Roman Temple of Diana (although Christopher Wren found no evidence of this). It would have only been a modest church at first and may well have been destroyed after he was expelled from the city by Saeberht's pagan successors.

text: The permanent establishment of Christianity in the East Saxon kingdom took place in the reign of King Sigeberht II in the 650s. During the 8th century the kingdom of Mercia extended its dominance over south-eastern England, initially through overlordship which at times developed into outright annexation. London seems to have come under direct Mercian control in the 730s.

text: Viking attacks dominated most of the 9th century, becoming increasingly common from around 830 onwards. London was sacked in 842 and again in 851. The Danish "Great Heathen Army", which had rampaged across England since 865, wintered in London in 871. The city remained in Danish hands until 886, when it was captured by the forces of King Alfred the Great of Wessex and reincorporated into Mercia, then governed under Alfred's sovereignty by his son-in-law Ealdorman Æthelred.

text: Around this time the focus of settlement moved within the old Roman walls for the sake of defence, and the city became known as Lundenburh. The Roman walls were repaired and the defensive ditch re-cut, while the bridge was probably rebuilt at this time. A second fortified Borough was established on the south bank at Southwark, the Suthringa Geworc (defensive work of the men of Surrey). The old settlement of Lundenwic became known as the ealdwic or "old settlement", a name which survives today as Aldwich.

text: From this point, the City of London began to develop its own unique local government. Following Ethelred's death in 911 it was transferred to Wessex, preceding the absorption of the rest of Mercia in 918. Although it faced competition for political pre-eminence in the united Kingdom of England from the traditional West Saxon centre of Winchester, London's size and commercial wealth brought it a steadily increasing importance as a focus of governmental activity. King Athelstan held many meetings of the witan in London and issued laws from there, while King Æthelred the Unready issued the Laws of London there in 978.

text: Following the resumption of Viking attacks in the reign of Ethelred, London was unsuccessfully attacked in 994 by an army under King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark. As English resistance to the sustained and escalating Danish onslaught finally collapsed in 1013, London repulsed an attack by the Danes and was the last place to hold out while the rest of the country submitted to Sweyn, but by the end of the year it too capitulated and Æthelred fled abroad. Sweyn died just five weeks after having been proclaimed king and Æthelred was restored to the throne, but Sweyn's son Cnut returned to the attack in 1015.

text: After Æthelred's death at London in 1016 his son Edmund Ironside was proclaimed king there by the witangemot and left to gather forces in Wessex. London was then subjected to a systematic siege by Cnut but was relieved by King Edmund's army; when Edmund again left to recruit reinforcements in Wessex the Danes resumed the siege but were again unsuccessful. However, following his defeat at the Battle of Assandun Edmund ceded to Cnut all of England north of the Thames, including London, and his death a few weeks later left Cnut in control of the whole country.

text: A Norse saga tells of a battle when King Æthelred returned to attack Danish-occupied London. According to the saga, the Danes lined London Bridge and showered the attackers with spears. Undaunted, the attackers pulled the roofs off nearby houses and held them over their heads in the boats. Thus protected, they were able to get close enough to the bridge to attach ropes to the piers and pull the bridge down, thus ending the Viking occupation of London. This story presumably relates to Æthelred's return to power after Sweyn's death in 1014, but there is no strong evidence of any such struggle for control of London on that occasion.

text: Following the extinction of Cnut's dynasty in 1042 English rule was restored under Edward the Confessor. He was responsible for the foundation of Westminster Abbey and spent much of his time at Westminster, which from this time steadily supplanted the City itself as the centre of government. Edward's death at Westminster in 1066 without a clear heir led to a succession dispute and the Norman conquest of England. Earl Harold Godwinson was elected king by the witangemot and crowned in Westminster Abbey but was defeated and killed by William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings. The surviving members of the witan met in London and elected King Edward's young nephew Edgar the Ætheling as king.

text: The Normans advanced to the south bank of the Thames opposite London, where they defeated an English attack and burned Southwark but were unable to storm the bridge. They moved upstream and crossed the river at Wallingford before advancing on London from the north-west. The resolve of the English leadership to resist collapsed and the chief citizens of London went out together with the leading members of the Church and aristocracy to submit to William at Berkhamstead, although according to some accounts there was a subsequent violent clash when the Normans reached the city. Having occupied London, William was crowned king in Westminster Abbey.

text: Norman and Medieval London (1066 – late 15th century)[edit]

text: The new Norman regime established new fortresses within the city to dominate the native population. By far the most important of these was the Tower of London at the eastern end of the city, where the initial timber fortification was rapidly replaced by the construction of the first stone castle in England. The smaller forts of Baynard's Castle and Montfichet's Castle were also established along the waterfront. King William also granted a charter in 1067 confirming the city's existing rights, privileges and laws. Its growing self-government was consolidated by the election rights granted by King John in 1199 and 1215.

text: In 1097 William Rufus, the son of William the Conqueror began the construction of 'Westminster Hall', which became the focus of the Palace of Westminster.

text: In 1176 construction began of the most famous incarnation of London Bridge (completed in 1209) which was built on the site of several earlier timber bridges. This bridge would last for 600 years, and remained the only bridge across the River Thames until 1739.

text: In 1216 during the First Barons' War London was occupied by Prince Louis of France, who had been called in by the baronial rebels against King John and was acclaimed as King of England in St Paul's Cathedral. However, following John's death in 1217 Louis's supporters reverted to their Plantagenet allegiance, rallying round John's son Henry III, and Louis was forced to withdraw from England.

text: Over the following centuries, London would shake off the heavy French cultural and linguistic influence which had been there since the times of the Norman conquest. The city would figure heavily in the development of Early Modern English.

text: During the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 London was invaded by rebels led by Wat Tyler. A group of peasants stormed the Tower of London and executed the Lord Chancellor, Archbishop Simon Sudbury, and the Lord Treasurer. The peasants looted the city and set fire to numerous buildings. Tyler was stabbed to death by the Lord Mayor William Walworth in a confrontation at Smithfield and the revolt collapsed.

text: Trade increased steadily during the Middle Ages, and London grew rapidly as a result. In 1100 London's population was somewhat more than 15,000. By 1300 it had grown to roughly 80,000. London lost at least half of its population during the Black Death in the mid-14th century, but its economic and political importance stimulated a rapid recovery despite further epidemics. Trade in London was organised into various guilds, which effectively controlled the city, and elected the Lord Mayor of the City of London.

text: Medieval London was made up of narrow and twisting streets, and most of the buildings were made from combustible materials such as timber and straw, which made fire a constant threat, while sanitation in cities was of low-quality.

text: Modern history[edit]

text: Tudor London (1485–1603)[edit]

text: Wyngaerde's "Panorama of London in 1543"

text: During the Reformation, London was the principal early centre of Protestantism in England. Its close commercial connections with the Protestant heartlands in northern continental Europe, large foreign mercantile communities, disproportionately large number of literate inhabitants and role as the centre of the English print trade all contributed to the spread of the new ideas of religious reform. Before the Reformation, more than half of the area of London was the property of monasteries, nunneries and other religious houses.[6]

text: Henry VIII's "Dissolution of the Monasteries" had a profound effect on the city as nearly all of this property changed hands. The process started in the mid 1530s, and by 1538 most of the larger monastic houses had been abolished. Holy Trinity Aldgate went to Lord Audley, and the Marquess of Winchester built himself a house in part of its precincts. The Charterhouse went to Lord North, Blackfriars to Lord Cobham, the leper hospital of St Giles to Lord Dudley, while the king took for himself the leper hospital of St James, which was rebuilt as St James's Palace.[6]

text: The period saw London rapidly rising in importance amongst Europe's commercial centres. Trade expanded beyond Western Europe to Russia, the Levant, and the Americas. This was the period of mercantilism and monopoly trading companies such as the Muscovy Company (1555) and the British East India Company (1600) were established in London by Royal Charter. The latter, which ultimately came to rule India, was one of the key institutions in London, and in Britain as a whole, for two and a half centuries. Immigrants arrived in London not just from all over England and Wales, but from abroad as well, for example Huguenots from France; the population rose from an estimated 50,000 in 1530 to about 225,000 in 1605.[6] The growth of the population and wealth of London was fuelled by a vast expansion in the use of coastal shipping.

text: The late 16th and early 17th century saw the great flourishing of drama in London whose preeminent figure was William Shakespeare. During the mostly calm later years of Elizabeth's reign, some of her courtiers and some of the wealthier citizens of London built themselves country residences in Middlesex, Essex and Surrey. This was an early stirring of the villa movement, the taste for residences which were neither of the city nor on an agricultural estate, but at the time of Elizabeth's death in 1603, London was still very compact.

text: Xenophobia was rampant in London, and increased after the 1580s. Many immigrants became disillusioned by routine threats of violence and molestation, attempts at expulsion of foreigners, and the great difficulty in acquiring English citizenship. Dutch cities proved more hospitable, and many left London permanently.[7] Foreigners are estimated to have made up 4,000 of the 100,000 residents of London by 1600, many being Dutch and German workers and traders.[8]

text: Stuart London (1603–1714)[edit]

text: London's expansion beyond the boundaries of the City was decisively established in the 17th century. In the opening years of that century the immediate environs of the City, with the principal exception of the aristocratic residences in the direction of Westminster, were still considered not conducive to health. Immediately to the north was Moorfields, which had recently been drained and laid out in walks, but it was frequented by beggars and travellers, who crossed it in order to get into London. Adjoining Moorfields were Finsbury Fields, a favourite practising ground for the archers, Mile End, then a common on the Great Eastern Road and famous as a rendezvous for the troops.

text: The preparations for King James I becoming king were interrupted by a severe plague epidemic, which may have killed over thirty thousand people. The Lord Mayor's Show, which had been discontinued for some years, was revived by order of the king in 1609. The dissolved monastery of the Charterhouse, which had been bought and sold by the courtiers several times, was purchased by Thomas Sutton for £13,000. The new hospital, chapel, and schoolhouse were begun in 1611. Charterhouse School was to be one of the principal public schools in London until it moved to Surrey in Victorian times, and the site is still used as a medical school.[9]

text: The general meeting-place of Londoners in the day-time was the nave of Old St. Paul's Cathedral. Merchants conducted business in the aisles, and used the font as a counter upon which to make their payments; lawyers received clients at their particular pillars; and the unemployed looked for work. St Paul's Churchyard was the centre of the book trade and Fleet Street was a centre of public entertainment. Under James I the theatre, which established itself so firmly in the latter years of Elizabeth, grew further in popularity. The performances at the public theatres were complemented by elaborate masques at the royal court and at the inns of court.[10]

text: Charles I acceded to the throne in 1625. During his reign, aristocrats began to inhabit the West End in large numbers. In addition to those who had specific business at court, increasing numbers of country landowners and their families lived in London for part of the year simply for the social life. This was the beginning of the "London season". Lincoln's Inn Fields was built about 1629.[11] The piazza of Covent Garden, designed by England's first classically trained architect Inigo Jones followed in about 1632. The neighbouring streets were built shortly afterwards, and the names of Henrietta, Charles, James, King and York Streets were given after members of the royal family.[12]

text: In January 1642 five members of parliament whom the King wished to arrest were granted refuge in the City. In August of the same year the King raised his banner at Nottingham, and during the English Civil War London took the side of the parliament. Initially the king had the upper hand in military terms and in November he won the Battle of Brentford a few miles to the west of London. The City organised a new makeshift army and Charles hesitated and retreated. Subsequently, an extensive system of fortifications was built to protect London from a renewed attack by the Royalists. This comprised a strong earthen rampart, enhanced with bastions and redoubts. It was well beyond the City walls and encompassed the whole urban area, including Westminster and Southwark. London was not seriously threatened by the royalists again, and the financial resources of the City made an important contribution to the parliamentarians' victory in the war.

text: The unsanitary and overcrowded City of London has suffered from the numerous outbreaks of the plague many times over the centuries, but in Britain it is the last major outbreak which is remembered as the "Great Plague" It occurred in 1665 and 1666 and killed around 60,000 people, which was one fifth of the population. Samuel Pepys chronicled the epidemic in his diary. On 4 September 1665 he wrote "I have stayed in the city till above 7400 died in one week, and of them about 6000 of the plague, and little noise heard day or night but tolling of bells."[13][14]

text: Great Fire of London (1666)[edit]

text: The Great Plague was immediately followed by another catastrophe, albeit one which helped to put an end to the plague. On the Sunday, 2 September 1666 the Great Fire of London broke out at one o'clock in the morning at a bakery in Pudding Lane in the southern part of the City. Fanned by an eastern wind the fire spread, and efforts to arrest it by pulling down houses to make firebreaks were disorganised to begin with. On Tuesday night the wind fell somewhat, and on Wednesday the fire slackened. On Thursday it was extinguished, but on the evening of that day the flames again burst forth at the Temple. Some houses were at once blown up by gunpowder, and thus the fire was finally mastered. The Monument was built to commemorate the fire: for over a century and a half it bore an inscription attributing the conflagration to a "popish frenzy".[15]

text: The fire destroyed about 60% of the City, including Old St Paul's Cathedral, 87 parish churches, 44 livery company halls and the Royal Exchange. However, the number of lives lost was surprisingly small; it is believed to have been 16 at most. Within a few days of the fire, three plans were presented to the king for the rebuilding of the city, by Christopher Wren, John Evelyn and Robert Hooke.[16]

text: Wren proposed to build main thoroughfares north and south, and east and west, to insulate all the churches in conspicuous positions, to form the most public places into large piazzas, to unite the halls of the 12 chief livery companies into one regular square annexed to the Guildhall, and to make a fine quay on the bank of the river from Blackfriars to the Tower of London. Wren wished to build the new streets straight and in three standard widths of thirty, sixty and ninety feet. Evelyn's plan differed from Wren's chiefly in proposing a street from the church of St Dunstan's in the East to the St Paul's, and in having no quay or terrace along the river. These plans were not implemented, and the rebuilt city generally followed the streetplan of the old one, and most of it has survived into the 21st century.

text: Nonetheless, the new City was different from the old one. Many aristocratic residents never returned, preferring to take new houses in the West End, where fashionable new districts such as St. James's were built close to the main royal residence, which was Whitehall Palace until it was destroyed by fire in the 1690s, and thereafter St. James's Palace. The rural lane of Piccadilly sprouted courtiers mansions such as Burlington House. Thus the separation between the middle class mercantile City of London, and the aristocratic world of the court in Westminster became complete.[17]

text: In the City itself there was a move from wooden buildings to stone and brick construction to reduce the risk of fire. Parliament's Rebuilding of London Act 1666 stated "building with brick [is] not only more comely and durable, but also more safe against future perils of fire". From then on only doorcases, window-frames and shop fronts were allowed to be made of wood.[18]

text: Christopher Wren's plan for a new model London came to nothing, but he was appointed to rebuild the ruined parish churches and to replace St Paul's Cathedral. His domed baroque cathedral was the primary symbol of London for at least a century and a half. As city surveyor, Robert Hooke oversaw the reconstruction of the City's houses. The East End, that is the area immediately to the east of the city walls, also became heavily populated in the decades after the Great Fire. London's docks began to extend downstream, attracting many working people who worked on the docks themselves and in the processing and distributive trades. These people lived in Whitechapel, Wapping, Stepney and Limehouse, generally in slum conditions.[19]

text: In the winter of 1683–4 a frost fair was held on the Thames. The frost, which began about seven weeks before Christmas and continued for six weeks after, was the greatest on record. The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 led to a large migration on Huguenots to London. They established a silk industry at Spitalfields.[20]

text: At this time the Bank of England was founded, and the British East India Company was expanding its influence. Lloyd's of London also began to operate in the late 17th century. In 1700 London handled 80% of England's imports, 69% of its exports and 86% of its re-exports. Many of the goods were luxuries from the Americas and Asia such as silk, sugar, tea and tobacco. The last figure emphasises London's role as an entrepot: while it had many craftsmen in the 17th century, and would later acquire some large factories, its economic prominence was never based primarily on industry. Instead it was a great trading and redistribution centre. Goods were brought to London by England's increasingly dominant merchant navy, not only to satisfy domestic demand, but also for re-export throughout Europe and beyond.[21]

text: William III, a Dutchman, cared little for London, the smoke of which gave him asthma, and after the first fire at Whitehall Palace (1691) he purchased Nottingham House and transformed it into Kensington Palace. Kensington was then an insignificant village, but the arrival of the court soon caused it to grow in importance. The palace was rarely favoured by future monarchs, but its construction was another step in the expansion of the bounds of London. During the same reign Greenwich Hospital, then well outside the boundary of London, but now comfortably inside it, was begun; it was the naval complement to the Chelsea Hospital for former soldiers, which had been founded in 1681. During the reign of Queen Anne an act was passed authorising the building of 50 new churches to serve the greatly increased population living outside the boundaries of the City of London.[22]

text: 18th century[edit]

text: The 18th century was a period of rapid growth for London, reflecting an increasing national population, the early stirrings of the Industrial Revolution, and London's role at the centre of the evolving British Empire.

text: In 1707 an Act of Union was passed merging the Scottish and the English Parliaments, thus establishing the Kingdom of Great Britain. A year later, in 1708 Christopher Wren's masterpiece, St Paul's Cathedral was completed on his birthday. However, the first service had been held on 2 December 1697; more than 10 years earlier. This Cathedral replaced the original St. Paul's which had been completely destroyed in the Great Fire of London. This building is considered one of the finest in Britain and a fine example of Baroque architecture.

text: Many tradesmen from different countries came to London to trade goods and merchandise. Also, more immigrants moved to London making the population greater. More people also moved to London for work and for business making London an altogether bigger and busier city. Britain's victory in the Seven Years' War increased the country's international standing and opened large new markets to British trade, further boosting London's prosperity.

text: During the Georgian period London spread beyond its traditional limits at an accelerating pace. This is shown in a series of detailed maps, particularly John Rocque's 1741–45 map (see below) and his 1746 Map of London. New districts such as Mayfair were built for the rich in the West End, new bridges over the Thames encouraged an acceleration of development in South London and in the East End, the Port of London expanded downstream from the City. During this period was also the uprising of the American colonies. In 1780, the Tower of London held its only American prisoner, former President of the Continental Congress, Henry Laurens. In 1779 he was the Congress's representative of Holland, and got the country's support for the Revolution. On his return voyage back to America, the Royal Navy captured him and charged him with treason after finding evidence of a reason of war between Great Britain and the Netherlands. He was released from the Tower on 21 December 1781 in exchange for General Lord Cornwallis.

text: In 1762 George III acquired Buckingham Palace (then called Buckingham House) from the Duke of Buckingham. It was enlarged over the next 75 years by architects such as John Nash.

text: A phenomenon of the era was the coffeehouse, which became a popular place to debate ideas. Growing literacy and the development of the printing press meant that news became widely available. Fleet Street became the centre of the embryonic national press during the century.

text: 18th-century London was dogged by crime, the Bow Street Runners were established in 1750 as a professional police force. Penalties for crime were harsh, with the death penalty being applied for fairly minor crimes. Public hangings were common in London, and were popular public events.

text: In 1780 London was rocked by the Gordon Riots, an uprising by Protestants against Roman Catholic emancipation led by Lord George Gordon. Severe damage was caused to Catholic churches and homes, and 285 rioters were killed.

text: In the year 1787, freed slaves from London, America, and many of Britain's colonies founded Freetown in modern-day Sierra Leone.

text: Up until 1750, London Bridge was the only crossing over the Thames, but in that year Westminster Bridge was opened and, for the first time in history, London Bridge, in a sense, had a rival. In 1798, Frankfurt banker Nathan Mayer Rothschild arrived in London and set up a banking house in the city, with a large sum of money given to him by his father, Amschel Mayer Rothschild. The Rothschilds also had banks in Paris and Vienna. The bank financed numerous large-scale projects, especially regarding railways around the world and the Suez Canal.[23]

text: The 18th century saw the breakaway of the American colonies and many other unfortunate events in London, but also great change and Enlightenment. This all led into the beginning of modern times, the 19th century.

text: 19th century[edit]

text: During the 19th century, London was transformed into the world's largest city and capital of the British Empire. Its population expanded from 1 million in 1800 to 6.7 million a century later. During this period, London became a global political, financial, and trading capital. In this position, it was largely unrivalled until the latter part of the century, when Paris and New York began to threaten its dominance.

text: While the city grew wealthy as Britain's holdings expanded, 19th-century London was also a city of poverty, where millions lived in overcrowded and unsanitary slums. Life for the poor was immortalised by Charles Dickens in such novels as Oliver Twist In 1810, after the death of Sir Francis Baring and Abraham Goldsmid, Rothschild emerges as the major banker in London.

text: In 1829 the then Home Secretary (and future prime minister) Robert Peel established the Metropolitan Police as a police force covering the entire urban area. The force gained the nickname of "bobbies" or "peelers" named after Robert Peel.

text: 19th-century London was transformed by the coming of the railways. A new network of metropolitan railways allowed for the development of suburbs in neighbouring counties from which middle-class and wealthy people could commute to the centre. While this spurred the massive outward growth of the city, the growth of greater London also exacerbated the class divide, as the wealthier classes emigrated to the suburbs, leaving the poor to inhabit the inner city areas.

text: The first railway to be built in London was a line from London Bridge to Greenwich, which opened in 1836. This was soon followed by the opening of great rail termini which linked London to every corner of Britain. These included Euston station (1837), Paddington station (1838), Fenchurch Street station (1841), Waterloo station (1848), King's Cross station (1850), and St Pancras station (1863). From 1863, the first lines of the London Underground were constructed.

text: The urbanised area continued to grow rapidly, spreading into Islington, Paddington, Belgravia, Holborn, Finsbury, Shoreditch, Southwark and Lambeth. Towards the middle of the century, London's antiquated local government system, consisting of ancient parishes and vestries, struggled to cope with the rapid growth in population. In 1855 the Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was created to provide London with adequate infrastructure to cope with its growth. One of its first tasks was addressing London's sanitation problems. At the time, raw sewage was pumped straight into the River Thames. This culminated in The Great Stink of 1858.[24] Parliament finally gave consent for the MBW to construct a large system of sewers. The engineer put in charge of building the new system was Joseph Bazalgette. In what was one of the largest civil engineering projects of the 19th century, he oversaw construction of over 2100 km of tunnels and pipes under London to take away sewage and provide clean drinking water. When the London sewerage system was completed, the death toll in London dropped dramatically, and epidemics of cholera and other diseases were curtailed. Bazalgette's system is still in use today.[25]

text: One of the most famous events of 19th-century London was the Great Exhibition of 1851. Held at The Crystal Palace, the fair attracted 6 million visitors from across the world and displayed Britain at the height of its Imperial dominance.[26]

text: As the capital of a massive empire, London became a magnet for immigrants from the colonies and poorer parts of Europe. A large Irish population settled in the city during the Victorian period, with many of the newcomers refugees from the Great Famine (1845–1849). At one point, Catholic Irish made up about 20% of London's population; they typically lived in overcrowded slums.[27] London also became home to a sizable Jewish community, which was notable for its entrepreneurship in the clothing trade and merchandising.[28]

text: In 1888, the new County of London was established, administered by the London County Council. This was the first elected London-wide administrative body, replacing the earlier Metropolitan Board of Works, which had been made up of appointees. The County of London covered broadly what was then the full extent of the London conurbation, although the conurbation later outgrew the boundaries of the county. In 1900, the county was sub-divided into 28 metropolitan boroughs, which formed a more local tier of administration than the county council.

text: Many famous buildings and landmarks of London were constructed during the 19th century including:

text:
Trafalgar Square
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament
The Royal Albert Hall
The Victoria and Albert Museum
Tower Bridge

text: 20th century[edit]

text: 1900 to 1939[edit]

text: London entered the 20th century at the height of its influence as the capital of one of the largest empires in history, but the new century was to bring many challenges.

text: London's population continued to grow rapidly in the early decades of the century, and public transport was greatly expanded. A large tram network was constructed by the London County Council, through the LCC Tramways; the first motorbus service began in the 1900s. Improvements to London's overground and underground rail network, including large scale electrification were progressively carried out.

text: During World War I, London experienced its first bombing raids carried out by German zeppelin airships; these killed around 700 people and caused great terror, but were merely a foretaste of what was to come. The city of London would experience many more terrors as a result of both World Wars. The largest explosion in London occurred during World War I: the Silvertown explosion, when a munitions factory containing 50 tons of TNT exploded, killing 73 and injuring 400.

text: The period between the two World Wars saw London's geographical extent growing more quickly than ever before or since. A preference for lower density suburban housing, typically semi-detached, by Londoners seeking a more "rural" lifestyle, superseded Londoners' old predilection for terraced houses. This was facilitated not only by a continuing expansion of the rail network, including trams and the Underground, but also by slowly widening car ownership. London's suburbs expanded outside the boundaries of the County of London, into the neighbouring counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey.

text: Like the rest of the country, London suffered severe unemployment during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In the East End during the 1930s, politically extreme parties of both right and left flourished. The Communist Party of Great Britain and the British Union of Fascists both gained serious support. Clashes between right and left culminated in the Battle of Cable Street in 1936. The population of London reached an all-time peak of 8.6 million in 1939.

text: Large numbers of Jewish immigrants fleeing from Nazi Germany settled in London during the 1930s, mostly in the East End.

text: Labour Party politician Herbert Morrison was a dominant figure in local government in the 1920s and 1930s. He became mayor of Hackney and a member of the London County Council in 1922, and for a while was Minister of Transport in Ramsay MacDonald's cabinet. When Labour gained power in London in 1934, Morrison unified the bus, tram and trolleybus services with the Underground, by the creation of the London Passenger Transport Board (known as London Transport) in 1933., He led the effort to finance and build the new Waterloo Bridge. He designed the Metropolitan Green Belt around the suburbs and worked to clear slums, build schools, and reform public assistance.[29]

text: In World War II[edit]

text: During World War II, London, as many other British cities, suffered severe damage, being bombed extensively by the Luftwaffe as a part of The Blitz. Prior to the bombing, hundreds of thousands of children in London were evacuated to the countryside to avoid the bombing. Civilians took shelter from the air raids in underground stations.

text: The heaviest bombing took place during The Blitz between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941. During this period, London was subjected to 71 separate raids receiving over 18,000 tonnes of high explosive. One raid in December 1940, which became known as the Second Great Fire of London, saw a firestorm engulf much of the City of London and destroy many historic buildings. St Paul's Cathedral, however, remained unscathed; a photograph showing the Cathedral shrouded in smoke became a famous image of the war.[30]

text: Having failed to defeat Britain, Hitler turned his attention to the Eastern front and regular bombing raids ceased. They began again, but on a smaller scale with the "Little Blitz" in early 1944. Towards the end of the war, during 1944/45 London again came under heavy attack by pilotless V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets, which were fired from Nazi occupied Europe. These attacks only came to an end when their launch sites were captured by advancing Allied forces.

text: London suffered severe damage and heavy casualties, the worst hit part being the Docklands area. By the war's end, just under 30,000 Londoners had been killed by the bombing, and over 50,000 seriously injured,[31] tens of thousands of buildings were destroyed, and hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless.[32]

text: Three years after the war, the 1948 Summer Olympics were held at the original Wembley Stadium, at a time when the city had barely recovered from the war. London's rebuilding was slow to begin. However, in 1951 the Festival of Britain was held, which marked an increasing mood of optimism and forward looking.

text: In the immediate postwar years housing was a major issue in London, due to the large amount of housing which had been destroyed in the war. The authorities decided upon high-rise blocks of flats as the answer to housing shortages. During the 1950s and 1960s the skyline of London altered dramatically as tower blocks were erected, although these later proved unpopular. In a bid to reduce the number of people living in overcrowded housing, a policy was introduced of encouraging people to move into newly built new towns surrounding London.[33]

text: Through the 19th and in the early half of the 20th century, Londoners used coal for heating their homes, which produced large amounts of smoke. In combination with climatic conditions this often caused a characteristic smog, and London became known for its typical "London Fog", also known as "Pea Soupers". London was sometimes referred to as "The Smoke" because of this. In 1952 this culminated in the disastrous Great Smog of 1952 which lasted for five days and killed over 4,000 people. In response to this, the Clean Air Act 1956 was passed, mandating the creating of "smokeless zones" where the use of "smokeless" fuels was required (this was at a time when most households still used open fires); the Act was effective.[34]

text: Starting in the mid-1960s, and partly as a result of the success of such UK musicians as the Beatles and The Rolling Stones, London became a centre for the worldwide youth culture, exemplified by the Swinging London subculture which made Carnaby Street a household name of youth fashion around the world. London's role as a trendsetter for youth fashion was revived strongly in the 1980s during the new wave and punk eras. In the mid-1990s this was revived to some extent with the emergence of the Britpop era.

text: From the 1950s onwards London became home to a large number of immigrants, largely from Commonwealth countries such as Jamaica, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, which dramatically changed the face of London, turning it into one of the most diverse cities in Europe. However, the integration of the new immigrants was not always easy. Racial tensions emerged in events such as the Brixton Riots in the early 1980s.[35]

text: From the beginning of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s until the mid-1990s, London was subjected to repeated terrorist attacks by the Provisional IRA.

text: The outward expansion of London was slowed by the war, and the introduction of the Metropolitan Green Belt. Due to this outward expansion, in 1965 the old County of London (which by now only covered part of the London conurbation) and the London County Council were abolished, and the much larger area of Greater London was established with a new Greater London Council (GLC) to administer it, along with 32 new London boroughs.

text: Greater London's population declined steadily in the decades after World War II, from an estimated peak of 8.6 million in 1939 to around 6.8 million in the 1980s. However, it then began to increase again in the late 1980s, encouraged by strong economic performance and an increasingly positive image.

text: London's traditional status as a major port declined dramatically in the post-war decades as the old Docklands could not accommodate large modern container ships. The principal ports for London moved downstream to the ports of Felixstowe and Tilbury. The docklands area had become largely derelict by the 1980s, but was redeveloped into flats and offices from the mid-1980s onwards. The Thames Barrier was completed in the 1980s to protect London against tidal surges from the North Sea.

text: In the early 1980s political disputes between the GLC run by Ken Livingstone and the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher led to the GLC's abolition in 1986, with most of its powers relegated to the London boroughs. This left London as the only large metropolis in the world without a central administration.

text: In 2000, London-wide government was restored, with the creation of the Greater London Authority (GLA) by Tony Blair's government, covering the same area of Greater London. The new authority had similar powers to the old GLC, but was made up of a directly elected Mayor and a London Assembly. The first election took place on 4 May, with Ken Livingstone comfortably regaining his previous post. London was recognised as one of the nine regions of England. In global perspective, it was emerging as a World city widely compared to New York and Tokyo.[36]

text: 21st century[edit]

text: Around the start of the 21st century, London hosted the much derided Millennium Dome at Greenwich, to mark the new century. Other Millennium projects were more successful. One was the largest observation wheel in the world, the "Millennium Wheel", or the London Eye, which was erected as a temporary structure, but soon became a fixture, and draws four million visitors a year. The National Lottery also released a flood of funds for major enhancements to existing attractions, for example the roofing of the Great Court at the British Museum.

text: The London Plan, published by the Mayor of London in 2004, estimated that the population would reach 8.1 million by 2016, and continue to rise thereafter. This was reflected in a move towards denser, more urban styles of building, including a greatly increased number of tall buildings, and proposals for major enhancements to the public transport network. However, funding for projects such as Crossrail remained a struggle.

text: On 6 July 2005 London won the right to host the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics making it the first city to host the modern games three times. However, celebrations were cut short the following day when the city was rocked by a series of terrorist attacks. More than 50 were killed and 750 injured in three bombings on London Underground trains and a fourth on a double decker bus near King's Cross.

text: London was the starting point for countrywide riots which occurred in August 2011, when thousands of people rioted in several city boroughs and in towns across England. In 2011 the population grew over 8 million people for the first time in decades. White British formed less than half of the population for the first time.

text: In the public there was ambivalence leading-up to the Olympics,[37] though public sentiment changed strongly in their favour following a successful opening ceremony and when the anticipated organisational and transport problems never occurred.

text: Population[edit]

text:
Year
Population[38][39][40][41][42][43][44]

1
A few farmers

50
50–100
100

140
45–60,000
60000

300
10–20,000
20000

800
10–12,000
12000

1000
20–25,000
25000

1100
10–20,000
20000

1200
20–25,000
25000

1300
80–100,000
100000

1350
25–50,000
50000

1500
50–100,000
100000

1550
120,000
120000

1600
200,000
200000

1650
350,000-400,000
400000

1700
550,000-600,000
600000

1750
700,000
700000

1801
959,300
959300

1831
1,655,000
1655000

1851
2,363,000
2363000

1891
5,572,012
5572012

1901
6,506,954
6506954

1911
7,160,525
7160525

1921
7,386,848
7386848

1931
8,110,480
8110480

1939
8,615,245
8615245

1951
8,196,978
8196978

1961
7,992,616
7992616

1971
7,452,520
7452520

1981
6,805,000
6805000

1991
6,829,300
6829300

2001
7,322,400
7322400

2006
7,657,300
7657300

2011
8,174,100
8174100

2015
8,615,246
8615246

text: Historical sites of note[edit]

text:
Alexandra Palace
Battersea Power Station
Buckingham Palace
Croydon Airport
Hyde Park
Monument to the Great Fire of London
Palace of Westminster
Parliament Hill
Royal Observatory, Greenwich
St Paul's Cathedral
Tower Bridge
Tower of London
Tyburn
Vauxhall station
Waterloo International station
Westminster Abbey


document_title: List of minor characters on The Mary Tyler Moore Show

question_text: who played murray's wife on the mary tyler moore show

question_tokens: who played murray 's wife on the mary tyler moore show

root

text: The following is a list of minor characters recurringly featured on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

tag: p

text: For the main characters, see the following pages: Ted Baxter • Lou Grant • Phyllis Lindstrom • Rhoda Morgenstern • Sue Ann Nivens • Mary Richards • Murray Slaughter

text: Georgette Franklin Baxter was played by Georgia Engel. Georgette was the somewhat ditzy girlfriend (and later wife) of stentorian news anchor Ted Baxter (played by Ted Knight). Mary Tyler Moore described her as a cross between Stan Laurel and Marilyn Monroe.[1] She and Mary got along fantastically, and she helped to somewhat fill the void that Phyllis Lindstrom and Rhoda left in Mary's life when they left for San Francisco and New York City, respectively.

tag: ul

text:
Edie Grant (née McKenzie) (Priscilla Morrill) was the wife of Lou Grant. She and Lou had been married for many years and had children, but in the 1971 episode "The Boss Isn't coming to Dinner", marital difficulties lead to Lou and Edie separating. Though they reunite by the end of the episode, they again separate during The Mary Tyler Moore Show's third season, with the marriage ending soon thereafter. In a later season, Edie was remarried to Howard Gordon, and asked Lou and Mary to attend her wedding. Lou held his peace and they parted friends. Even when Lou lived in Los Angeles, he and Edie kept in touch, because their grown daughters remained a common bond between them. In the Lou Grant series, Edie was revealed to be Roman Catholic and of Ukrainian heritage.
Gordon Howard, better known as Gordy, was played by actor John Amos. Gordy was the weather reporter on the nightly WJM-TV newscast. Affable, intelligent and professional, Gordy was the polar opposite of Ted. In 1973, Gordy left WJM, and eventually got a job as host of a talk show in New York City. Ted thought this would be a great chance for him to become a national name, and wheedled Gordy to allow him to join him; but Gordy, although his friend, was also wise to his ways, and gently told him no. After that, Gordy returned to New York and reaped success.

text: Bess Lindstrom was portrayed on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Phyllis by actress Lisa Gerritsen. Bess is the daughter and only child of Phyllis Lindstrom and her late husband, Lars. Bess helped her mother decorate the new apartment that Mary Richards moved into. She bonded well with Rhoda Morgenstern, to her mother's horror, calling her "Aunt Rhoda" (to which her mother invariably replied, "She's not your aunt"). She also bonded with Mary, who was an old friend of her mother's. She only referred to Phyllis by her first name rather than with a motherly endearment.

text:
Florence Meredith, best known as Aunt Flo (actually a distant older cousin of Mary Richards), was played on a recurring basis by actress Eileen Heckart. She was a straight-shooting newspaper columnist, who has won over sixteen journalism awards. She made infrequent visits to Minneapolis and also battled Mary's boss, Lou Grant. Although, they clashed, there was a spark between them and they had a brief fling. Flo later made an appearance on Lou Grant, covering the same political campaign as Tribune reporter Billie Newman.
Martin and Ida Morgenstern were portrayed on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda by veteran actors Harold Gould and Nancy Walker, respectively. They were the parents of Rhoda Morgenstern. Ida was portrayed as a stereotypical overbearing Jewish mother, whereas Martin was somewhat calmer and more even-keeled. While Rhoda was living in Minneapolis, Ida occasionally visited. When Rhoda moved back to New York, she initially stayed with her mother in the Bronx. During the run of Rhoda, Martin and Ida separated while Martin went off to find himself and pursue a long-shelved dream of becoming a lounge singer. Toward the end of Rhoda's run, Martin had returned and was attempting to win Ida back, though this remained unresolved when the series ended.
Dottie and Walter Richards are Mary's parents. Dottie was played by veteran actress Nanette Fabray and Walter was played by Bill Quinn. Their first appearance was in 1972, two years after Mary had left her fiancé and moved to Minneapolis. Her parents moved to Minneapolis to be near Mary, though Mary and her mother, in particular, had a bit of trouble learning to relate to one-another, now that Mary was an adult. That season they made a handful of appearances on the series, before disappearing without explanation.
Marie Slaughter was played by actress Joyce Bulifant. Marie was the wife of news writer, Murray Slaughter, and a homemaker. She and Murray had three daughters; they adopted a Vietnamese son toward the end of the series.
Joe Warner was played by actor Ted Bessell. He became Mary's boyfriend during season 6, appearing in two episodes. Prior to appearing on the Mary Tyler Moore show, he was best known for having played Marlo Thomas' boyfriend in the sitcom That Girl.
Bill, Mary's ex-boyfriend. A doctor, whom Mary dated throughout his med school and residency, after which, he broke things off with her. He appeared only in the pilot, in which he attempted to try to reestablish their relationship, and was played by Angus Duncan.[2]
Howard and Paul Arnell, brothers both of whom were played by actor Richard Schaal. Howard appeared in several Season One episodes as an old boyfriend of Mary's. She broke up with him because of his obsession with her, and his overbearing nature. He appeared at Mary's high school reunion, and also attended an impromptu cocktail party Mary and Rhoda hosted. Mary also briefly dated Howard's much more low-key brother Paul, whose company she enjoyed a bit more, but his parents (Mary Jackson and Henry Jones) seemed to favor Howard, and felt that Mary was being disloyal to him by dating Paul.
Andy Rivers was played by actor John Gabriel. Andy was WJM's sports reporter, and was hired by Mary. He appeared in five episodes in Seasons 4 and 5. He occasionally dated Mary.
Dan Whitfield was played by actor Michael Tolan. Dan taught an evening journalism class that Mary and Rhoda enrolled in. He occasionally dated Mary.
Charlene McGuire, a lounge singer who occasionally dated Lou Grant. Charlene was played by Sheree North, and in one episode by Janis Paige.
Pete was played by actor and cameraman J. Benjamin Chulay A.C.E. (actor). Pete was the blond-haired fellow in the background on certain episodes. He had small speaking appearances in two episodes in 1973 - 1974.


document_title: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)

question_text: who played sirius black in the order of the phoenix

text: Plot[edit]

text: The Order of the Phoenix, a secret organization founded by Albus Dumbledore, informs Harry Potter that the Ministry of Magic is oblivious to Lord Voldemort's return. At the Order's headquarters, Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, mentions that Voldemort is after an object he did not have during his previous attack.

text: Back at Hogwarts, Harry learns that Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge has appointed a new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor: Dolores Umbridge. She and Harry immediately clash, and she punishes Harry for his "lies" by forcing him to write a message with a magic quill, scarring his hand. When Ron and Hermione notice Harry's scars they are outraged, but Harry refuses to go to Dumbledore, who has distanced himself from Harry since the summer. As Umbridge's control over the school increases, Ron and Hermione aid Harry in forming a secret group to train students in defensive spells, calling themselves "Dumbledore's Army". Umbridge recruits the Slytherin students to expose the group. Meanwhile, Harry and Cho Chang develop romantic feelings for each other.

text: Harry has a vision involving an attack upon Arthur Weasley, from the point of view of Arthur's attacker. Concerned that Voldemort will exploit this connection to Harry, Dumbledore instructs Severus Snape to give Harry Occlumency lessons to defend his mind from Voldemort's influence. The connection between Harry and Voldemort leads Harry to further isolate himself from his friends. Meanwhile, Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius' deranged Death Eater cousin, escapes from Azkaban along with nine other Death Eaters. At Hogwarts, Umbridge and her Inquisitorial Squad expose Dumbledore's Army. Dumbledore escapes as Fudge orders his arrest. Umbridge becomes the new Headmistress. Harry's relationship with Cho falls apart, as he believes she betrayed Dumbledore's Army to Umbridge. Harry discovers through Snape's memories why Snape hated Harry's father James, who often ridiculed him.

text: Harry has another vision, this one of Sirius being tortured by Voldemort. Harry, Ron and Hermione rush to Umbridge's fireplace to alert the Order via the Floo Network, since hers is the only fireplace not being monitored, but Umbridge stops them before they can do so. As Umbridge tortures Harry, Hermione tricks Umbridge into entering the Forbidden Forest in search of Dumbledore's "secret weapon". She and Harry lead her to the hiding place of Hagrid's giant half-brother, Grawp, only to be confronted by centaurs who kidnap Umbridge after she attacks and insults them. Harry, Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville and Ginny fly to the Ministry of Magic on Thestrals in an attempt to save Sirius.

text: The six enter the Department of Mysteries where they uncover a bottled prophecy, the object Voldemort was after. However, they are ambushed by Death Eaters including Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange. Lucius reveals that Harry only saw a dream of Sirius being tortured; it was simply a ruse to lure Harry into the Death Eaters' grasp. Harry refuses to give Lucius the prophecy, and a fight between Dumbledore's Army and the Death Eaters ensues. The Death Eaters take everyone except Harry as hostages, threatening to kill them unless he surrenders the prophecy.

text: Harry obliges just as Sirius and Remus Lupin arrive with Order members Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Mad-Eye Moody. As they attack the Death Eaters, Lucius drops the prophecy, destroying it. Just as Sirius overpowers Lucius, Bellatrix kills Sirius. Voldemort appears, but Dumbledore arrives through the Floo Network moments before Voldemort can kill Harry.

text: A duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore ensues, destroying much of the Atrium, while Bellatrix escapes. After the two prove evenly matched, Voldemort possesses Harry to try to get Dumbledore to sacrifice Harry, but the love Harry feels for his friends and Sirius makes it impossible for Voldemort to remain in his body. Ministry officials arrive before Voldemort disapparates; Fudge is forced to admit that Voldemort has returned and resigns as Minister in disgrace. Umbridge is removed from Hogwarts and Dumbledore returns as headmaster. Dumbledore explains he distanced himself from Harry throughout the year hoping it would lessen the risk of Voldemort using their connection. Harry comes to terms with the prophecy; "Neither can live while the other survives."

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, a 15-year-old British wizard famous for surviving his parents' murder at the hands of Voldemort as an infant, who now enters his fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend at Hogwarts.
Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, Harry's Muggle-born best friend and the brains of the trio.
Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, one of Voldemort's most loyal Death Eaters and the cousin of Sirius Black.
Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, the half-giant Gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, leader of the Death Eaters, a dark wizard intent on conquering the Wizarding World.
Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore, the legendary Hogwarts headmaster and leader of the Order of the Phoenix.
Brendan Gleeson as Mad-Eye Moody, Harry's ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood, a member of Dumbledore's Army who is described as having straggly waist-length dirty blond hair, grey eyes and a "permanently surprised look".
Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley, Harry's Muggle uncle.
Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, a falsely pardoned senior Death Eater.
Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, the Potions teacher at Hogwarts and the Head of Slytherin
Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley, Harry's Muggle aunt.
Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and a plant from the corrupt Ministry of Magic.[8]
David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, Harry's ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney, the Divination teacher at Hogwarts.
Julie Walters as Molly Weasley, the Weasley matriarch and a mother figure to Harry, also a member of the Order of the Phoenix.

text: Casting[edit]

text: Casting began as early as May 2005, when Radcliffe announced he would reprise his role as Harry.[9] Across the media frenzy that took place during the release of Goblet of Fire, most of the main returning actors announced their return to the series, including Grint, Watson, Lewis, Wright, Leung, and Fiennes.[10][11][12][13][14][15]

text: The announcements of the casting of the rest of the new characters to the series was spanned across 2006. Evanna Lynch won the role of Luna Lovegood over 15,000 other girls who attended the open casting call,[16] waiting in a line of hopefuls that stretched a mile long.[17] Saoirse Ronan was considered for the role.[18]

text: Persistent rumours linked Elizabeth Hurley to the role of Bellatrix Lestrange, although Warner Bros. asserted there was "no truth whatsoever" to reports that she had been cast.[19] As early as August 2005, rumours began linking Helen McCrory to the role.[20] On 2 February 2006 it was announced that McCrory had indeed been cast as Bellatrix.[21] However, in April 2006 she revealed that she was three months pregnant and withdrew from the film because she would not have been able to perform the intense battle sequences in the Ministry of Magic in September and October 2006. The announcement that Bonham Carter had been recast in the role was made on 25 May 2006.[22] McCrory was subsequently cast as Narcissa Malfoy from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince onwards.

text: The inclusion or cutting of some characters sparked speculation from fans as to the importance of the characters in the final book of the series, which was released just ten days after the film. In April 2006, representatives of Jim McManus said he would be playing Aberforth Dumbledore, Albus' brother and the barman of the Hog's Head, in which Harry and his friends found Dumbledore's Army. A week later WB announced that the role was "very minor", allaying some of the speculation to the significance of the role, which, before the final book, was not even a speaking part.[23] MTV reported in October 2006 that Dobby the house elf, who appeared in the second film, Chamber of Secrets, and in the fifth book, would be cut, opening up "plot questions" as to how the role of the elf would be filled.[24] MTV also reported about a month before the release of the final book that Kreacher, the Black family's house-elf, was cut from the film in one draft of the script. However, after Rowling prodded the filmmakers to include him, saying, "You know, I wouldn't [cut him] if I were you. Or you can, but if you get to make a seventh film, you'll be tied in knots", he was added back into the script.[25]

text: Other minor roles were cut with subsequent drafts of the script. At the US premiere of Goblet of Fire, series producer David Heyman said that former Hogwarts professor Gilderoy Lockhart, played by Kenneth Branagh in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was in the first draft of the script for Phoenix.[26] However, neither Branagh nor the character of Lockhart appears in the final version. Tiana Benjamin was scheduled to return for the film in the role of Angelina Johnson, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but she had to withdraw due to a commitment to playing Chelsea Fox in EastEnders. The character, as well as the entire Quidditch subplot, was ultimately cut from the film. She did, however, record sound clips for the Order of the Phoenix video game.[27]

text: The family of footballer Theo Walcott made a cameo appearance in the film. They were signed on by director David Yates, who is the partner of Yvonne Walcott, Theo's aunt.[28][29] Theo himself was due to appear alongside his family, though his commitments to Arsenal Football Club forced him to pull out.[30]

text: Production[edit]

text: British television director David Yates was chosen to direct the film after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire director Mike Newell, as well as Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Guillermo del Toro, Matthew Vaughn and Mira Nair, turned down offers.[31][32] Yates believed he was approached because the studio saw him fit to handle an "edgy and emotional" film with a "political backstory", which some of his previous television projects including State of Play, Sex Traffic and The Girl in the Café demonstrated.[32] Producer David Heyman supported Yates' comments about the film's political theme, stating that "[Order of the Phoenix] is a political film, not with a capital P, but it's about teen rebellion and the abuse of power. David has made films in the UK about politics without being heavy handed."[33] On the film's political and social aspects, Emma Watson stated that "somehow it talks about life after 7 July, the way people behave when they’re scared, the way truth is often denied and all the things our society has to face. Facing the fact that the authority is corrupted means having a non-conformist approach to reality and power."[34]

text: Steve Kloves, the screenwriter of the first four Potter films, had other commitments. Michael Goldenberg, who was considered to pen the first film in the series, filled in and wrote the script.[35]

text: Rehearsals for Order of the Phoenix began on 27 January 2006, filming began on 7 February 2006 and finished at the start of December 2006.[36][37][38] Filming was put on a two-month hiatus starting in May 2006 so Radcliffe could sit his A/S Levels and Watson could sit her GCSE exams.[39] The film's budget was reportedly between GB£75 and 100 million (US$150–200 million).[4][5] The largest budget of the other films in the series has been the £75 million it cost to make Goblet of Fire.[40]

text: Mark Day was the film editor, Sławomir Idziak was the cinematographer, and Jany Temime was the costume designer.[41] Choreographer Paul Harris, who had previously worked with David Yates several times, created a physical language for wand combat to choreograph the wand fighting scenes.[42]

text: Set design[edit]

text: Stuart Craig returned as set designer, having designed the first four films' sets.[43] There were a number of notable new sets in this film. The atrium in the Ministry of Magic is over 200 feet in length, making it the largest and most expensive set built for the Potter film series to date.[43] Craig's design was inspired by early London Underground stations, where, he said, architects "tried to imitate classical architecture but they used ceramic tile", as well as a Burger King on Tottenham Court Road in London, where "there's a fantastic Victorian façade which just embodies the age".[44][45] The set of Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place contains the Black family tapestry spread across three walls; when the producers told Rowling they wanted to visualise the details of each name and birth year, she faxed them a complete copy of the entire tree.[46] The set of the Hall of Prophecies was entirely digitally built. During a fight scene which occurs there, prophecies crash to the ground and break; had it been an actual physical set, the reset time would have been weeks.[47]

text: The set used for Igor Karkaroff's trial scene in Goblet of Fire was doubled in size for Harry's trial in this film, while still protecting its symmetry.[45] New professor Dolores Umbridge, though she teaches in a classroom that has appeared in films two through four, inhabits an office vastly different from those of her predecessors. The set was redressed with "fluffy, pink filigree" and a number of plates upon which moving kittens were animated in post-production.[48] A 24-hour photo shoot was held to photograph and film the kittens for use on these plates.[49] The quill which Umbridge gives Harry to write lines is designed by the set designers.[48]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Though the producers explored options to film outside of the UK, Leavesden Film Studios in Watford was again the location on which many of the interior scenes, including the Great Hall, Privet Drive and Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place were shot.[50][51][52][53]

text: Locations in England included the River Thames, for the flight of the Order of the Phoenix to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, and the flight of Dumbledore's Army to the Ministry of Magic.[54] This sequence also includes such landmarks as the London Eye, Canary Wharf, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and the HMS Belfast.[55] Filming at Platform 9¾ took place at King's Cross Station, as it has in the past.[56] A telephone booth near Scotland Yard was used as Harry and Arthur Weasley enter the Ministry,[57] while the crew closed the Westminster tube station on 22 October 2006 to allow for filming of Arthur Weasley accompanying Harry to his trial at the Ministry of Magic.[58] Other scenes were filmed in and around Oxford,[59] specifically at nearby Blenheim Palace in Woodstock.[60]

text: In Glenfinnan, the Hogwarts Express crosses a viaduct, as it has in the past films.[61] Aerial scenes were shot in Glen Coe, in Clachaig Gully,[61] and Glen Etive, which, at the time of filming, was one of the few places in Scotland without snow, making it ideal for a backdrop.[62]

text: Director David Yates stated in an interview that he had originally shot a three-hour film of Order of the Phoenix. However, some material had to be cut out in the final edit, as the movie was 45 minutes too long.[63] Therefore, several locations which were used for various scenes do not appear in the final cut of the film. In Virginia Water, scenes were shot where Professor McGonagall recovers from Stunning Spells,[64] and Burnham Beeches was used for filming the scene where Hagrid introduces his fifth-year Care of Magical Creatures class to Thestrals.[65] Harry skips stones in front of the Glenfinnan Monument in Glenfinnan in another cut scene.[61]

text: Visual effects[edit]

text: The film required over 1,400 visual effects shots, and the London-based company Double Negative created more than 950 of them. Working for six months on previsualisation starting in September 2005, Double Negative was largely responsible for sequences in the Room of Requirement, the Forbidden Forest, the Hall of Prophecies, and the Death Chamber.[66]

text: A new character in the film, Grawp, Hagrid's giant half-brother, came to life by a new technology called Soul Capturing, developed by Image Metrics. Instead of building the character from scratch, the movements and facial expressions of actor Tony Maudsley were used to model Grawp's actions.[66][67]

text: Music[edit]

text: Nicholas Hooper was the composer for the soundtrack of the film, following John Williams, who scored the first three films, and Patrick Doyle, who did the fourth. In the new score, Hooper incorporated variations on "Hedwig's Theme", the series' theme originally written by Williams for the first film and heard in all subsequent ones.[68] In March and April 2007, Hooper and the London Chamber Orchestra recorded nearly two hours of music at Abbey Road Studios in London. The score, like the film and book, is darker than previous instalments in the series. To emphasise this, the two new main themes reflect the sinister new character Dolores Umbridge, and Lord Voldemort's invasion of Harry's mind. A Japanese Taiko drum was used for a deeper sound in the percussion.[68] The soundtrack was released on 10 July 2007, the eve of the film's release.[69] For his work on the film, Hooper was nominated for a World Soundtrack Discovery Award. The trailer prominently features the cues "Divine Crusade" by X-Ray Dog and "DNA Reactor" by Pfeifer Broz. Music.

text: The film also featured the song "Boys Will Be Boys" by The Ordinary Boys.

text: Differences from the book[edit]

text: At 766 pages in the British edition and 870 in the American edition, Order of the Phoenix is the longest book in the Harry Potter series.[70] Screenwriter Michael Goldenberg described his task to cut down the novel as searching for "the best equivalent way to tell the story. My job was to stay true to the spirit of the book, rather than to the letter".[71] Goldenberg said that Rowling told him, the producers, and Yates that "she just wanted to see a great movie, and gave [them] permission to take whatever liberties [they] felt [they] needed to take to translate the book into a movie she would love".[71] Cutting down the book to meet the time frame of the film, Goldenberg explained, became "clearer when [he] figured out that the organising principle of the screenplay was to narrate Harry's emotional journey".[71] He and Yates "looked for every opportunity to get everything [they] could in there. And where [they] couldn't, to sort of pay homage to it, to have it somewhere in the background or to feel like it could be taking place off-screen".[72]

text: One cut Goldenberg had to make, which he "hated" to do, was the absence of Quidditch, the Wizarding sport.[72] "The truth is that any movie made of this book, whoever made it, that had included the Quidditch subplot would have been a lesser film", he said.[71] In the book, Ron grows as a character by trying out for the Quidditch team. "Ron facing challenges and coming into his own in the same way that Harry is, we tried to get that into the film in other ways, as much as possible. So, you feel like, if not the details of that story, at least the spirit of it is present in the film".[71] The change disappointed actor Rupert Grint who had been "quite looking forward to the Quidditch stuff".[73][not in citation given]

text: In a significant scene in the book, Harry sees a memory of his own father humiliating Snape in their school days, and Snape insulting his mother after she stood up for him. In the film, it is abbreviated to an "idea", in Goldenberg's words. "It's an iconic moment when you realise your parents are normal, flawed human beings. ... Things get trimmed out, but I kept the meat of that in there – and that was what really gave me the coming-of-age story."[71] Young Lily Potter did not appear at all, but promotional screenshots show unknown teenager Susie Shinner in the role.[74]

text: The scene at St Mungo's, the hospital where Harry and friends run into classmate Neville Longbottom and learn that his parents were tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange, was cut because it required the construction of a new set.[71] The main purpose of the action of the scene was relocated to the Room of Requirement after one of Dumbledore's Army's lessons. Also, to speed up the film's climax, several events in the Ministry leading up to Harry's battle with Voldemort were removed, including the brain room.[70] Mrs. Weasley's encounter with a boggart at Grimmauld Place, Ron, Hermione and Malfoy becoming prefects, the appearance of Mundungus Fletcher, and Firenze teaching Divination followed suit.[73]

text: The character of Kreacher the house-elf, who was included in the script only at Rowling's request, has a larger part in the book than the film. In the novel, he is seen saving some of the Black family's artefacts which the Order of the Phoenix throw away, one of which is a locket which becomes extremely important in the seventh book.[75] "It was kind of tricky to raise that in our story, because it's for so much later", Yates said. "We figured we can probably introduce it later, and that's the approach we took".[25] Whilst Kreacher remained, all scenes involving Dobby were cut, and his important actions given to other characters.[70]

text: Rita Skeeter, the journalist played by Miranda Richardson in Goblet of Fire, was also removed. In the book, Hermione blackmails her into writing an article that supports Harry as the rest of the Wizarding world denies his claims.[70] Richardson noted that "it's never gonna be the book on film, exactly. ... They'll take certain aspects from the book and make it something that they hope is going to be commercial and that people want to see".[76]

text: Distribution[edit]

text: Marketing[edit]

text: The first trailer was released on 17 November 2006, attached to another WB film, Happy Feet. It was made available online on 20 November 2006, on the Happy Feet website.[77] The international trailer debuted online on 22 April 2007 at 14:00 UTC.[78] On 4 May 2007, the US trailer was shown before Spider-Man 3.[79]

text: Three posters released on the Internet that showed Harry accompanied by six classmates, including Hermione Granger, generated some controversy by the media. They were essentially the same picture, though one advertised the IMAX release. In one poster, the profile of Hermione, played by Emma Watson, was made curvier as the outline of her breasts was enhanced. Melissa Anelli, webmistress of noted fan site The Leaky Cauldron, wrote:[80]

text: Emma Watson is playing a 15-year-old girl, and she herself is under 18. I get the full heebie jeebies thinking about the person who sat there thinking, 'Now, if we cinch her waist a bit, and inflate her bust a bit, and give her some dramatic lighting and more blonde hair, this would be a much better picture.'

text: Representatives for WB later wrote about the poster under fire, "This is not an official poster. Unfortunately this image was accidentally posted on the IMAX website".[81]

text: The video game version, designed by EA UK, was released 25 June 2007.[82] Lego produced just one set, a model of Hogwarts, the lowest amount of sets for a film so far.[83][84] NECA produced a series of action figures,[85] while a larger array of smaller figures was also produced by PopCo Entertainment, a Corgi International company.[86]

text: Theatrical release[edit]

text: The film was the third Harry Potter film to be given a simultaneous release in conventional theatres and IMAX. The IMAX release featured the full movie in 2D and the final 20 minutes of the film in 3D.[87] According to estimates in March 2007, by Warner Bros., the film would debut on over 10,000 theatre screens during the summer.[88]

text: The film was released in most countries in a two-week period starting 11 July 2007. WB has tried to stick with day-and-date releases for most countries, except the Middle East and a few minor markets which were to be in holidays at that point. The set of summer releases, even though the films are typically released in the winter, "really maximises our opportunity", said a representative for WB.[88]

text: Previews of the film began in March 2007 in the Chicago area.[89] Under tight security to prevent piracy, WB had security guards patrol the aisles, looking for cell phone cameras or small recording devices, at a preview in Japan.[90] The world premiere took place in Tokyo, Japan on 28 June 2007.[91] MySpace users could bring copies of their online profiles to gain free admission to sneak previews in eight different cities across the country on 28 June 2007.[92] The UK premiere took place on 3 July 2007 in London's Odeon Leicester Square, during which author J. K. Rowling made a public appearance.[93] The US premiere took place on 8 July in Los Angeles.[94] After the premiere, the three young stars of the film series, Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson, were honoured with a ceremony where their handprints, footprints, and "wandprints" were placed in the cement in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre.[95]

text: Originally, Warner Bros. set the Australian release date as 6 September 2007, nearly two months after the majority of other release dates. However, after complaints from the Australian community, including a petition garnering 2,000 signatures the date was pulled back to 11 July 2007.[96] The release dates of the film in the UK and US were also moved back, both from 13 July, to 12 and 11 July, respectively.[97][98]

text: Even though the book is the longest in the series (over 700 pages), the film is 138 minutes long (2 hours and 18 minutes), the second shortest in the entire film series.[99]

text: Home media[edit]

text: The DVDs included additional scenes, a feature showing a day in the life of Natalia Tena, who played Nymphadora Tonks, an A&E documentary about the films and books, and a featurette on film editing in Phoenix. The DVD-ROM features a timeline and a sneak peek of the next film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009). The HD DVD and Blu-ray contain additional features, such as the "in-movie experience", a video commentary in which members of Dumbledore's Army share their favourite moments from the production of the film, and "focus points" featurettes on how certain scenes of the film were made.[100][101] The HD DVD also includes an exclusive feature called "community screening", which enables owners of the HD DVD to watch the film together over the Internet.[102] Order of the Phoenix was the seventh best-selling DVD of 2007, with 10.14 million units.[103] The high-definition DVDs had combined sales of 179,500 copies,[103] with more units coming from the Blu-ray version.[104]

text: There was also a third DVD with extras featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the sets of the movie. This can only be found in those purchased at Target stores (Future Shop in Canada) since it is a Target exclusive. The package included a one-time-only code that activated a digital copy of the film, which may be played on a computer with Windows Media Player. The digital copy, however, is not playable on Macintosh or Apple Inc. iPod devices. This issue was partially addressed, with the film being made available on the iTunes Store in the UK but not the US.[105]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The film opened to a worldwide 5-day opening of $333 million, the fourteenth-biggest opening of all time. In the United States, tickets for hundreds of midnight showings of the film, bought from online ticket-seller Fandango, were sold out, making up approximately 90% of the site's weekly ticket sales.[106] In the US and Canada, midnight screenings (very early morning on 11 July) brought in $12 million[107] from 2,311 midnight exhibitions making the showings "the most successful batch of midnight exhibitions ever".[108] In one-night earnings, Phoenix is behind only At World's End, which had debuted four hours earlier on its date.[109] In studio documents leaked in July 2010, it was revealed the film lost Warner Bros. about $167 million.[110][111]

text: In the North America, Phoenix earned an additional $32.2 million on Wednesday, post-midnight showings, making it the biggest single-day Wednesday gross in box office history, with a total of $44.2 million from 4,285 theatres.[112][113] That amount topped Sony Pictures' Spider-Man 2, which held the record since 2004 with its $40.4 million take on a Wednesday, until this record was broken in 2009 by Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with $62.0 million.[114] It was also the fifth-biggest opening day for a movie in history, at the time, surpassing At World's End's $42.9 million. It earned $1.9 million from a record-breaking 91 IMAX screens, the highest opening day ever for any IMAX day of the week, beating Spider-Man 3's $1.8 million. In the UK the result was similar. The film made £16.5 million during its opening 4-day run, breaking the UK box office record for the biggest 4-day opening weekend ever.[115]

text: Phoenix's gross is at $292 million in the US and Canada, making it the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2007 in these regions,[116] and at £49.2 million,[117] or $101.4 million in the UK[118] Overseas, it has grossed $647.8 million, the seventh-highest grosser ever overseas,[119] for a worldwide total of $939.8 million[3] making it the second-highest-grossing film of the year closely behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End's $963 million gross.[120] It became the sixth-highest-grossing film in history at the time, the second-highest-grossing Potter film worldwide,[121] and the second Potter film to break the $900 million mark.[122] As of December 2015, it is the 32nd-highest-grossing film of all time[123] as well as the fourth-highest-grossing Potter film in the franchise behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2's $1.341 billion,[124] Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone's $974 million,[citation needed] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1's $960 million[125] and the highest-grossing 2007 film in Australia and the UK.[126][127] IMAX Corporation and Warner Bros. Pictures announced that the film has made over $35 million on IMAX screens, worldwide, with an impressive per-screen average of $243,000 making it the highest-grossing live-action IMAX release in history.[128] In South Africa the film opened at number 1 with a total of $944,082.00, being screened at 87 theatres.[129]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 78% based on 244 reviews, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It's not easy to take the longest Harry Potter book and streamline it into the shortest HP movie, but director David Yates does a bang up job of it, creating an Order of the Phoenix that's entertaining and action-packed."[131] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 71 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews"[132] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.[133]

text: Charles Frederick of The Telegraph headlined his review "Potter film is the best and darkest yet".[134] Colin Bertram of the New York Daily News gave the film four out of four stars, calling it the best Potter film yet and wrote that "die-hard Potter addicts will rejoice that Yates has distilled J. K. Rowling's broad universe with care and reverence".[135] Mark Adams of The Sunday Mirror, while giving the film four out of five stars, called it "a dark and delicious delight [and] a must-see movie".[136] Rene Rodriguez of The Miami Herald gave the film three stars out of four and wrote that the film "is the first instalment in the soon-to-be series-of-seven that doesn't seem like just another spinoff capitalising on the money-minting Harry Potter brand name. Instead, Phoenix feels like a real 'movie'".[137]

text: Imelda Staunton's performance as Dolores Umbridge and Helena Bonham Carter's as Bellatrix Lestrange were widely acclaimed; Staunton was described as the "perfect choice for the part" and "one of the film's greatest pleasures", "coming close to stealing the show".[138] The Daily Mail described Staunton's portrayal of Umbridge as a "refreshing addition", with the character herself described as "a cross between Margaret Thatcher and Hyacinth Bucket".[139] Bonham Carter was said to be a "shining but underused talent".[140] Variety praised Alan Rickman's portrayal of Severus Snape, writing that he "may have outdone himself; seldom has an actor done more with less than he does here".[141] Newcomer Evanna Lynch, playing Luna Lovegood, also received good word from a number of reviewers including the New York Times who declared her "spellbinding".[142]

text: Peter Travers of Rolling Stone also lauded the three principal actors' achievements, especially Radcliffe: "One of the joys of this film is watching Daniel Radcliffe grow so impressively into the role of Harry. He digs deep into the character and into Harry's nightmares. It's a sensational performance, touching all the bases from tender to fearful". Rolling Stone's review also classified the film as better than the previous four instalments in the series, by losing the "candy-ass aspect" of the first two and "raising the bar" from the "heat and resonance" of the third and fourth.[143] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called the film "the best of the series so far, [with] the laughs, the jitters and the juice to make even nonbelievers wild about Harry".[143]

text: Leo Lewis of The Times (London) expressed disappointment that the three main actors were not able to fully advance the emotional sides of their respective characters, weakening the film.[140] The San Francisco Chronicle complained about a "lousy" storyline, alleging that the first twenty minutes of the film, when Harry is put on trial for performing magic outside of school and threatened with expulsion, but is cleared of all charges, did not advance the plot.[144] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Phoenix is "quite possibly the least enjoyable of the [series] so far", and that despite "several eye-catching moments", "the magic – movie magic, that is – is mostly missing". The review also criticised the under use of the "cream of British acting", noting the brief appearances of Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, Emma Thompson, David Thewlis, Richard Griffiths, and Julie Walters.[145]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: Before it was released, Order of the Phoenix was nominated in a new category at the 2007 MTV Movie Awards, Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet.[146] On 26 August 2007, the film won the award for Choice Summer Movie – Drama/Action Adventure at the Teen Choice Awards.[147]

text: The film was also nominated for several awards at the 2007 Scream Awards presented by Spike TV, in the categories of The Ultimate Scream, Best Fantasy Movie, and Best Sequel. Daniel Radcliffe was nominated in the Fantasy Hero categories, respectively.[148] The film won for Best Sequel and Ralph Fiennes won for "Most Vile Villain".[149] The film picked up three awards at the inaugural ITV National Movie Awards, taking Best Family Film, Best Actor for Radcliffe and Best Actress for Emma Watson.[150] The film was one of ten nominees for a 2007 Hollywood Movie of the Year.[151] It was also nominated for Best Live Action Family Film at the Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards[152] and won the 2007 People's Choice Award for "Favorite Movie Drama".[153] Having been nominated for six awards at the 13th Empire Awards, organised by Empire, including Best Film, David Yates won Best Director.[154] Yates later received the BAFTA Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing for his four Harry Potter films, which includes Order of the Phoenix.[155]

text: Nicholas Hooper received a nomination for a World Soundtrack Discovery Award for his score to the film.[156] Imelda Staunton was nominated in the "British Actress in a Supporting Role" category at the London Film Critics Circle Awards.[157] At the 2008 BAFTA Awards, the film was nominated for "Best Production Design" and "Best Special Visual Effects".[158] Order of the Phoenix was also nominated for the awards from the Art Directors Guild and Costume Designers Guild,[159][160] and was awarded for "Outstanding Special Effects in a Motion Picture" by the Visual Effects Society out of six nominations.[161] The British Academy Children's Awards (BAFTA) nominated Order of the Phoenix for Best Feature Film in 2007[162] and the Hugo Awards nominated the film for Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form) in 2008.[163]