Iain Banks was a Scottish author, writing mainstream fiction as Iain Banks and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, adding the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies. After the success of The Wasp Factory (1984), he began to write full time. His first science fiction book, Consider Phlebas, appeared in 1987, marking the start of the Culture series. His books have been adapted for theatre, radio, and television. In 2008, The Times named Banks in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".
Heaven 17 are an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware (keyboards) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards), and Glenn Gregory. Although most of the band's music was recorded in the 1980s, they have occasionally reformed to record and perform, playing their first ever live concerts in 1997. Marsh left the band in 2007 and Ware and Gregory continued to perform as Heaven 17.
Richard Wilson is a Scottish actor, theatre director and broadcaster. He is most famous for playing Victor Meldrew in the BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave. Another notable role was as Gaius, the court physician of Camelot, in the BBC drama Merlin.
Jonathan Stephen Ross is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on BBC Radio 2 from 1999 to 2010, and served as film critic and presenter of the Film programme. After leaving the BBC in 2010, Ross began hosting his comedy chat show The Jonathan Ross Show on ITV. Other regular roles have included being a panellist on the comedy sports quiz They Think It's All Over (1999–2005), being a presenter of the British Comedy Awards, and being a judge on the musical competition show The Masked Singer (2020–present) and its spin-off series The Masked Dancer (2021–present).
Ian Edward Wright is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer.
Christopher David Moyles is an English radio and television presenter, author and presenter of The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X.
Stonewall is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights charity in the United Kingdom. It is the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe.
William Francis Nighy is an English actor. He started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with The Illuminatus! in 1977. There he gained acclaim for his roles in David Hare's Pravda in 1985, Harold Pinter's Betrayal in 1991, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia in 1993, and Anton Chekov's The Seagull in 1994. He received a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor nomination for his performance in Blue/Orange in 2001. He made his Broadway debut in Hare's The Vertical Hour in 2006, and returned in the 2015 revival of Hare's Skylight earning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination.
Carolyn Leckie is a Scottish politician. She was a member of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), and held a number of senior positions in the party, but has since left the SSP. From 2003 to 2007 she was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Central Scotland region, having been elected on the SSP list.
Barry Ferguson is a Scottish football coach, former player and pundit who was most recently the manager of Alloa Athletic.
John William Leckie is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's Real Life (1978), XTC's White Music (1978) and Dukes of Stratosphear's 25 O'Clock (1985), the Stone Roses' The Stone Roses (1989), the Verve's A Storm in Heaven (1993), Radiohead's The Bends (1995), Cast's All Change (1995), Muse's Origin of Symmetry (2001) and the Levellers' We the Collective (2018).
David James Stuart Mitchell is a British comedian, actor, writer and television personality. He is part of the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb, alongside Robert Webb.
William Pollock McLaren was a Scottish rugby union commentator, teacher, journalist and one time rugby player. Known as 'the voice of rugby', he retired from commentating in 2002. Renowned throughout the sport, his enthusiasm and memorable turn of phrase endeared him to many.
Penthouse and Pavement is the debut studio album by English new wave and synth-pop band Heaven 17, released in September 1981 by Virgin Records.
John Scot Barrowman is a Scottish-American actor, author, presenter, singer and comic book writer. He is known for his role as Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood, and as Malcolm Merlyn in the Arrowverse.
Simon Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe OBE is a writer and broadcaster. He contributes frequently to British newspapers, television and radio. He is also now a consultant and non-executive director of public and private organisations. Fanshawe was one of the founders of the LGBT charity Stonewall. He won the Perrier Comedy Award in 1989. In 2019, he became one of the supporters of the initialive that led to the formation of the LGB Alliance.
Derek Ferguson is a Scottish former professional footballer and manager. A creative midfield player, Ferguson is best remembered for his time with Rangers and Heart of Midlothian.
Hugh McIlvanney was a Scottish sports journalist who had long stints with the British Sunday newspapers The Observer and then 23 years with The Sunday Times (1993–2016). After nearly six decades in the profession, he retired in March 2016 at the age of 82.
The Stonewall Awards was an annual event held by the British charity Stonewall to recognise people who have affected the lives of British lesbian, gay, bi and trans people. The event was first held in 2006 at the Royal Academy of Arts and from 2007 was held at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was held for the final time, with '...of the Decade' categories, in 2015.
"(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" is a song by British synth-pop band Heaven 17. It was their debut single, released on 6 March 1981, also acting as the lead single from their debut studio album, Penthouse and Pavement (1981). It was a minor hit in the UK in 1981, despite being banned by the BBC. It was also a minor dance hit in the US. It developed from an instrumental, "Groove Thang", that Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh created earlier that year for Music for Stowaways, an album they released under the British Electric Foundation name.
