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Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages (typically 22 inches / 559 millimetres or more). The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet newspaper was the Dutch Courante uyt Italien, Duytslandt, &c. published in 1618.

Other common newspaper formats include the smaller Berliner and tabloid/compact formats.

Description[link]

Many broadsheets measure approximately 29+¹⁄₂ by 23+¹⁄₂ inches (749 by 597 mm) per full broadsheet spread, twice the size of a standard tabloid. Australian and New Zealand broadsheets always have a paper size of A1 per spread (841 by 594 mm/33.1 by 23.4 in). South African broadsheet newspapers have a double-page spread sheet size of 820 by 578 mm/32 by 22.8 in (single-page live print area of 380 x 545 mm).

In the United States, the traditional dimensions for the front page half of a broadsheet are 15 inches (381 mm) wide by 22+³⁄₄ inches (578 mm) long. However in efforts to save newsprint costs many U.S. newspapers (including the overseas version of The Wall Street Journal^[1]) are downsizing to 12 inches (305 mm) wide by 22+³⁄₄ inches (578 mm) long for a folded page.

Many rate cards and specification cards refer to the "broadsheet size" with dimensions representing the front page "half of a broadsheet" size, rather than the full, unfolded broadsheet spread. Some quote actual page size and others quote the "printed area" size.

The two versions of the broadsheet are:

• Full broadsheet – The full broadsheet typically is folded vertically in half so that it forms four pages (the front page front and back and the back page front and back). The four pages are called a spread. Inside broadsheets are nested accordingly.
• Half broadsheet – The half broadsheet is usually an inside page that is not folded vertically and just includes a front and back.

In uncommon instances, an entire newspaper can be a two-page half broadsheet or four-page full broadsheet. Totally self-contained advertising circulars inserted in a newspaper in the same format are referred to as broadsheets.

Broadsheets typically are also folded horizontally in half to accommodate newsstand display space. The horizontal fold however does not affect the page numbers and the content remains vertical. The most important newspaper stories are placed "above the (horizontal) fold." This contrasts with tabloids which typically do not have a horizontal fold (although tabloids usually have the four page to a sheet spread format).

Historically, broadsheets developed after the British in 1712 placed a tax on newspapers based on the number of their pages. Larger formats, however, had long been signs of status in printed objects, and still are in many places, and outside Britain the broadsheet developed for other reasons, including style and authority, unrelated to the British tax structure.

The broadsheet has since emerged as the most popular format for the dissemination of printed news. The world's most widely circulated English language daily broadsheet is The Times of India, a leading English language daily newspaper from India, followed closely by The New York Times from the United States, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

History[link]

The original purpose of the broadsheet, or broadside, was for the purpose of posting royal proclamations, acts, and official notices. Eventually the people began using the broadsheet as a source for political activism by reprinting speeches, ballads or narrative songs originally performed by bards. With the early mechanization of the 19th century came an increase in production of printed materials including the broadside as well as the competing penny dreadful. In this period newspapers all over Europe began to print their issues on broadsheets. However, in Great Britain, the main competition for the broadside was the gradual reduction of the newspaper tax, beginning in the 1830s, and eventually its dismissal in 1855.^[2]

With the increased production of newspapers and literacy, the demand for visual reporting and journalists led to the blending of broadsides and newspapers, creating the modern broadsheet newspaper.

Printing considerations[link]

Modern printing facilities most efficiently print broadsheet sections in multiples of eight pages (with four front pages and four back pages). The broadsheet is then cut in half during the process. Thus the newsprint rolls used are defined by the width necessary to print four front pages. The width of a newsprint roll is called its web. Thus the new 12-inch-wide front page broadsheet newspapers in the United States use a 48-inch web newsprint roll.

With profit margins narrowing for newspapers in the wake of competition from broadcast, cable television, and the internet, newspapers are looking to standardize the size of the newsprint roll. The Wall Street Journal with its 12-inch wide frontpage was printed on 48-inch web newsprint. Early adopters in the downsizing of broadsheets initially used a 50-inch web (12 ¹⁄₂-inch front pages). However the 48-inch web is now rapidly becoming the definitive standard in the U.S. The New York Times held out on the downsizing until July 2006, saying it would stick to its 54-inch web (13 ¹⁄₂-inch front page). However, the paper adopted the narrower format beginning Monday, August 6, 2007.

The smaller newspapers also have the advantage of being easier to handle, particularly among commuters.

Connotations[link]

In some countries, especially Australia, Canada, UK, and USA, broadsheet newspapers are commonly perceived to be more intellectual in content than their tabloid counterparts, using their greater size to examine stories in more depth, while carrying less sensationalist and celebrity material. This distinction is most obvious on the front page: whereas tabloids tend to have a single story dominated by a headline, broadsheets allow two or more stories to be displayed, the most important at the top of the page—"above the fold". In other countries, such as Spain, a small format is the universal for newspapers—a popular, sensational press has had difficulty taking root—and the tabloid size has no such connotations.

On the other hand, a few newspapers, such as the German Bild-Zeitung and others throughout central Europe are unashamedly tabloid in content, but use the physical broadsheet format.

UK broadsheets[link]

In the UK, two major daily broadsheets are distributed nationwide, and two on Sundays:

• The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph – broadly right-wing
• Financial Times – broadly right-wing
• The Sunday Times – broadly centre-right

As of April 2011, the average circulation of the Times was around 450,000, the Telegraph 640,000 copies daily, and the Financial Times around 372,000, while the circulations of the Guardian and Independent, both of them previously published in broadsheet format, were 264,000 and 181,000.^[3]

The Herald and The Press and Journal are Scottish broadsheets, though the latter is not a true national newspaper as it is primarily distributed in North-East Scotland.

Switch to smaller sizes[link]

In the United Kingdom[link]

In 2003, The Independent started concurrent production of both broadsheet and tabloid ("compact") editions, carrying exactly the same content. The Times did likewise, but with less apparent success, with readers vocally opposing the change. The Independent ceased to be available in broadsheet format in May 2004, and The Times followed suit from November 2004; The Scotsman is also now published only in tabloid format. The Guardian switched to the "Berliner" or "midi" format found in some other European countries (slightly larger than a traditional tabloid) on 12 September 2005.

The main motivation cited for this shift is that commuters prefer papers which they can hold easily on public transport, and it is presumably hoped that other readers will also find the smaller formats more convenient. It remains to be seen how this shake-up will affect the usage of the term "broadsheet". Notably, the Daily Telegraph increased its lead in circulation over The Times when the latter switched to compact size — this is attributed to the backlash of traditional broadsheet readers.^{[citation needed]}

In the United States[link]

In the U.S., The Wall Street Journal made headlines when it announced its overseas version would convert to a tabloid on October 17, 2005.^[4] There is strong debate in the United States on whether or not the rest of the national papers will, or even should, follow the trend of the British papers and the WSJ.^[5] Currently, both the Chicago Sun-Times and the St. Louis Post Dispatch are printed as compact format newspapers, as well as a digested version of the Washington Post, the edition of July 31, 2006, becoming the first American newspaper to change to the Berliner format; however, the most recent change was in February 2009 when the Reading Eagle converted to the Berliner format as well.^[6]

Notable broadsheets[link]

Argentina[link]

• La Nación, one of the most important newspapers.
• Los Andes, Mendoza's newspaper.
• La voz del interior, Córdoba's newspaper.

Australia[link]

• The Australian, a national newspaper
• The Age, Melbourne
• The Canberra Times
• The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney

Bangladesh[link]

Most Bangladeshi Daily newspapers are broadsheets.

• The Daily Star, a Bangladeshi broadsheet English language daily.
• The Bangladesh Observer, oldest continuously published English language daily in Bangladesh.
• Daily Naya Diganta, a broadsheet Bengali language daily in Bangladesh.
• The Daily Ittefaq, oldest and most circulated newspaper of Bangladesh.
• New Age
• The Independent

Brazil[link]

Most Brazilian newspapers are broadsheets, including the three most important:

• O Globo, Rio de Janeiro
• Folha de S. Paulo, São Paulo
• O Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo

Canada[link]

Almost all of Canada's major daily newspapers are broadsheets.^[7] Newspapers are in English, unless stated otherwise.

National[link]

• The Globe and Mail
• The National Post
• Le Devoir (French)

Atlantic Canada[link]

• The Telegram, St. John's
• The Chronicle-Herald
• The Times & Transcript, Moncton
• The Telegraph Journal, Saint John, New Brunswick
• The Daily Gleaner, Fredericton
• The Charlottetown Guardian

Quebec[link]

• The Gazette, Montreal
• La Presse, Montreal (French)
• Le Soleil, Quebec city (French)

Ontario[link]

• The Guelph Mercury
• The Hamilton Spectator
• The Kingston Whig-Standard
• The London Free Press
• The Ottawa Citizen
• The Pembroke Daily Observer
• The Peterborough Examiner
• The St. Catharines Standard
• The Sudbury Star
• The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal
• The Toronto Star
• The Waterloo Region Record, Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge
• The Windsor Star

Western Canada[link]

• The Winnipeg Free Press
• The Brandon Sun, Brandon, Manitoba
• The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
• The Regina Leader Post
• The Edmonton Journal
• The Red Deer Advocate, Red Deer, Alberta
• The Calgary Herald
• The Vancouver Sun
• The Victoria Times-Colonist, Victoria, British Columbia

Chile[link]

• El Mercurio

China[link]

• China Daily

Denmark[link]

• Jyllands-Posten (switched to tabloid in 2008)
• Politiken
• Berlingske Tidende (switched to compact in 2006)
• Kristeligt Dagblad
• Dagbladet Ringsted/Køge/Roskilde
• Frederiksborg Amts Avis

Dominican Republic[link]

• Listín Diario
• Hoy
• La Información, Santiago de los Caballeros

Ecuador[link]

• El Comercio
• El Telégrafo
• El Universo
• Expreso

Finland[link]

• Aamulehti
• Helsingin Sanomat
• Kaleva
• Turun Sanomat
• Österbottens Tidning

France[link]

• L'Équipe
• Le Figaro

Germany[link]

• Die Zeit
• Die Welt
• Süddeutsche Zeitung
• Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
• Der Tagesspiegel

Greece[link]

• Kathimerini

Hong Kong[link]

• South China Morning Post
• Hong Kong Economic Journal

Hungary[link]

• Népszabadság
• Magyar Nemzet

India[link]

• DNA
• Deccan Chronicle
• Deccan Herald
• Dinamalar
• Dainik Jagran
• The Financial Express
• The Indian Express
• The Economic Times
• The Hindustan Times
• The Hindu
• The Hitavada
• The New Indian Express
• The Statesman
• The Telegraph
• The Times of India
• Dainik Navajyoti
• Malayala Manorama
• Mathrubhumi
• Varthabharathi
• Imphal Free Press

Almost all major newspapers in India are broadsheets. Tabloids are mostly found in small circulation local or rural papers. In Karnataka, Times of India group is bringing out a weekly magazine in Kannada by name VIJAYANEXT which is in broadsheet.

Indonesia[link]

• Jawa Pos
• Kompas

Ireland[link]

• The Irish Examiner
• The Irish Independent
• The Irish Times

Israel[link]

• The Jerusalem Post
• Makor Rishon

Italy[link]

• Corriere della Sera, Milan
• Il Sole 24 Ore, Milan
• Il Mattino, Naples

Japan[link]

• The Yomiuri Shimbun
• The Japan Times (English)
• Asahi Shimbun

Lebanon[link]

• An-Nahar

Libya[link]

• Libya
• Al Bilad
• Al Mayadeen

Mexico[link]

• El Informador, Guadalajara, Jalisco
• El Universal, Mexico City

Mauritius[link]

• L'Express
• Le Matinal
• The Independent

The Netherlands[link]

• De Telegraaf

Malaysia[link]

• The Borneo Post
• Utusan Borneo

New Zealand[link]

• The New Zealand Herald, Auckland
• The Waikato Times, Hamilton
• The Dominion Post, Wellington
• The Press, Christchurch
• Ashburton Guardian, Ashburton Ashburton, New Zealand
• The Otago Daily Times, Dunedin
• The Taranaki Daily News, New Plymouth
• The Southland Times, Invercargill

Pakistan[link]

• The News International
• Dawn
• Express Tribune
• The Daily Times

All Pakistan regional and national newspapers are in Broadsheet. Pakistan Today is the first and only paper in 'Berliner style'.

Panama[link]

• La Prensa

Formerly:

• Panama America (Berliner)
• La Estrella de Panamá (Tabloid)

Peru[link]

• El Comercio, Lima
• La industria, Chiclayo

Philippines[link]

• Philippine Daily Inquirer
• The Philippine Star
• Manila Bulletin
• Manila Standard Today
• The Manila Times
• The Daily Tribune

Poland[link]

All of Poland's quality national dailies (Gazeta Wyborcza, Rzeczpospolita, Dziennik Polska-Europa-Świat and Polska - The Times) are now published in compact format.

Portugal[link]

• Expresso, Lisboa

Romania[link]

• Ziarul de Iaşi, Iaşi
• Jurnalul Naţional, Bucharest

Russia[link]

• Izvestia
• Kommersant
• Russia Beyond the Headlines
• "Rossiyskaya Gazeta"
• Moskovsky Komsomolets

Singapore[link]

• The Straits Times

South Africa[link]

• Beeld
• Pretoria News
• The Star
• The Sunday Times

[edit] Spain

Like in Poland, all newspapers in Spain are printed in compact format.

Sweden[link]

The first major Swedish newspaper to leave the Broadsheet format and start printing in Tabloid was Svenska Dagbladet, on November 16, 2000. As of August 2004, there were 26 Broadsheet newspapers in total, with a combined circulation of 1,577,700 and 50 newspapers in Tabloid with a combined circulation of 1,129,400. October 5, 2004, the morning newspapers Göteborgs-Posten, Dagens Nyheter, Sydsvenskan and Östersunds-Posten all switched to Tabloid, thus making it the leading format for morning newspapers in Sweden by volume of circulation. Most other Broadsheet newspapers have followed since.^[8]

As of 2011, few daily newspapers in Sweden continue to be printed in Broadsheet. Värnamo Nyheter and Smålands-Tidningen, with average daily circulations of 18,700 and 15,700 respective (as of 2010, Tidningsstatistik AB^[9][10]) are two exceptions.

Turkey[link]

Most of the newspapers in the country are printed on this format. Notable ones include:

• Cumhuriyet
• Sabah
• Hurriyet
• Milliyet
• Posta
• Zaman

United Arab Emirates[link]

• Khaleej Times
• Gulf News
• The National

United Kingdom[link]

UK wide[link]

• The Financial Times (Monday to Saturday Only)
• The Daily Telegraph (The Sunday Telegraph)
• The Sunday Times

England[link]

• Yorkshire Post

Scotland[link]

• The Herald
• Scotland on Sunday

United States[link]

• The Albuquerque Journal
• The Arizona Republic
• The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
• The Bakersfield Californian
• The Baltimore Sun
• The Birmingham News
• The Boston Globe
• The Buffalo News
• The Chicago Tribune
• The Charlotte Observer
• The Daily News
• The Dallas Morning News
• The Denver Post
• The Detroit Free Press
• The Fargo Forum
• The Florida Times-Union
• The Fresno Bee
• The Houston Chronicle
• The Indianapolis Star
• The Kansas City Star
• The Las Vegas Review-Journal
• The Long Beach Press-Telegram
• The Los Angeles Times
• The Miami Herald
• The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
• The New Orleans Times-Picayune
• The New York Law Journal
• The New York Sun
• The New York Times
• The Newark Star-Ledger
• The Oklahoman
• The Orange County Register
• The Oregonian
• The Orlando Sentinel
• The Philadelphia Inquirer
• The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• The Plain Dealer
• The Providence Journal
• The Seattle Times
• The St. Petersburg Times
• The Salt Lake Tribune
• San Antonio Express-News
• The San Bernardino Sun
• The San Diego Union-Tribune
• The San Francisco Chronicle
• The Star Tribune
• The Tampa Tribune
• The Wall Street Journal
• The Washington Post
• USA Today

Vatican City[link]

• L'Osservatore Romano

See also[link]

• Berliner
• Compact
• List of newspapers
• Newspaper format
• Paper size
• Tabloid

References[link]

Charlie Brooker
Brooker at the 2011 Royal Television Society Awards
Born	Charlton Brooker (1971-03-03) 3 March 1971 (age 41) Reading, Berkshire, England
Nationality	British
Alma mater	Polytechnic of Central London
Occupation	Broadcaster, writer, columnist, comedian, critic
Years active	1998–present
Religion	None (Atheist)[1]
Spouse	Konnie Huq (2010–present)

Charlton "Charlie" Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is a British journalist, screenwriter and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism. He presents TV shows Screenwipe, Gameswipe and Newswipe, wrote a review column for The Guardian newspaper and currently writes a comment piece each Monday for The Guardian supplement G2, and is one of four creative directors of comedy production company Zeppotron. His five-part horror drama Dead Set for E4 earned him a nomination for a BAFTA. Brooker won Columnist of the Year at the 2009 British Press Awards for his column,^[2] and the Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards 2009. He is co-presenter of 10 O'Clock Live on Channel 4. He has also presented the documentary series How TV Ruined Your Life on BBC Two and created the Channel 4 satirical drama trilogy Black Mirror (writing and co-writing Episodes 1 and 2 respectively).

Early life and education[link]

This section requires expansion.

Brooker was born in Reading, Berkshire ^[3], growing up in the village of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, Oxfordshire^[4]. He first worked as a writer and cartoonist for Oink!, a comic produced in the late-1980s.^[5]

After attending Wallingford School, Brooker attended the Polytechnic of Central London (which became the University of Westminster during his time there) – studying for a BA in Media Studies. He did not graduate because his dissertation was written on video games, which was not an acceptable topic.^[5][6]

Career[link]

[edit] PC Zone

Brooker wrote for PC Zone magazine in the mid-1990s. Aside from games reviews, his output included the comic strip "Cybertwats" and a column titled "Sick Notes", where Brooker would insult anyone who wrote in to the magazine and offered a £50 prize to the "best" letter.

In February 1998, one of Brooker's one-shot cartoons caused the magazine to be pulled from the shelves of many British newsagents. The cartoon was titled "Helmut Werstler's Cruelty Zoo" and professed to be an advert for a theme park created by a Teutonic psychologist for children to take out their violent impulses on animals rather than humans. It was accompanied by photoshopped pictures of children smashing the skulls of monkeys with hammers, jumping on a badger with a pitchfork, and chainsawing an orang-utan, among other things. The original joke was supposed to be at the expense of the Tomb Raider games, known at the time for the number of animals killed, but the original title, "Lara Croft's Cruelty Zoo", was changed for legal reasons.

In October 2008, Brooker and several other ex-writers were invited back to review a game for the 200th issue. Brooker reviewed Euro Truck Simulator.

SuperKaylo[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2011)

A number of Brooker's artworks were available to the public on his website. This body of work is drawn both from the commissions of his various patrons, and began as a paper comic that was sold to customers at Brooker's former workplace CeX. In addition to its counter presence, Brooker sold issues to mail order customers when they called up to place orders for games.

One aspect of the SuperKaylo site was a series of recorded phone conversations, that had originally started from a commissioned featured for PC Zone on technical support phonelines. Brooker took things further than this half serious investigation, when in 1999 he called up the then editor of Edge magazine, Jason Brookes. Pretending to be an angry father, he phoned up enraged by an advert that had appeared in a previous issue for CeX, one that Brooker himself had written and drawn.

TVGoHome[link]

From 1999 to 2003 he wrote the satirical TVGoHome website,^[7][8] a regular series of mock TV schedules published in a format similar to that of the Radio Times, consisting of a combination of savage satire and surreal humour and featured in technology newsletter Need To Know. A print adaptation of the site was published by Fourth Estate in 2001. A TV sketch show based on the site was broadcast on UK digital station E4 the same year.^[9]

Newspaper columns[link]

Brooker began writing a TV review column titled "Screen Burn" for The Guardian newspaper's Saturday entertainment supplement The Guide in 2000, a role he continued through to October 2010.

From the autumn of 2005, he wrote a regular series of columns in The Guardian supplement "G2" on Fridays called "Supposing", in which he free-associated on a set of vague what-if themes. Since late October 2006 this column has been expanded into a full-page section on Mondays, including samples from TVGoHome and Ignopedia, an occasional series of pseudo-articles on topics mostly suggested by readers. The key theme behind Ignopedia was that, while Wikipedia is written and edited by thousands of users, Ignopedia would be written by a single sub-par person with little or no awareness of the facts.^[10]

On 24 October 2004, he wrote a column on George W. Bush and the forthcoming 2004 US Presidential Election^[11] which concluded:

The Guardian withdrew the article from its website and published and endorsed an apology by Brooker.^[12] He has since commented about the remark in the column stating:

Brooker left the "Screen Burn" column in 2010. In the final column,^[14] he noted how increasingly difficult he found it to reconcile his role in mainstream media and TV production with his writing as a scabrous critic or to objectively criticise those he increasingly works and socialises with. Longtime covering contributor Grace Dent took over the column. He continues to contribute other articles to The Guardian on a regular basis.

Television[link]

From 1999 to 2000, Brooker played hooded expert 'the Pundit' in short-lived show Games Republic hosted by Trevor and Simon on BSkyB.

In 2000, Brooker was one of the writers of the Channel 4 show The Eleven O'Clock Show and a co-host (with Gia Milinovich) on BBC Knowledge's The Kit, a low-budget programme dedicated to gadgets and technology (1999–2000). In 2001, he was one of several writers on Channel 4's controversial Brass Eye special on the subject of paedophilia.

In 2003, Brooker wrote an episode entitled "How to Watch Television" for Channel 4's The Art Show.^[15] The episode was presented in the style of a public information film and was partly animated, and gave advice on how to view television.

Together with Brass Eye's Chris Morris, Brooker co-wrote the sitcom Nathan Barley, based on a character from one of TVGoHome's fictional programmes. The show was broadcast in 2005 and focused on the lives of a group of London media 'trendies'. The same year, he was also on the writing team of the Channel 4 sketch show Spoons, produced by Zeppotron.

In 2006, Brooker began writing and presenting his signature television series Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe on BBC Four, a TV review programme in a similar style to his Screen Burn columns in The Guardian. After an initial pilot series of three editions in April of that year, the programme returned in the autumn for a second run of four episodes plus Christmas and Review of the Year specials in December 2006. A third series followed in February 2007 with a fourth broadcast in September 2007, followed by a Review of the Year in December 2007. The fifth series started in November 2008 and was followed by another Review of the Year special. This series was also the first to be given a primetime repeat on terrestrial television (BBC Two), in January 2009.

Screenwipe's format mostly consists of two elements. The first is the playing of clips from other television shows – both mainstream and obscure – interspersed with shots of Brooker, sitting in his living room,^[16] delivering witty critiques on them. The second is where Brooker explains, again with a slice of barbed humour, the way in which a particular area of the television industry operates. Also occasionally present are animations by David Firth and guest contributions, which have included the poetry of Tim Key, and segments in which a guest explains their fascination with a certain television show or genre.

Brooker has regularly experimented with Screenwipe, with some editions focusing on a specific theme. These themes have included American television, TV news, advertising and children's programmes. (The last of these involved a segment where Brooker joined the cast of Toonattik for one week, playing the character of "Angry News Guy".) Probably the most radical departure from the norm came with an episode focused on scriptwriting, which saw several of British television's most prominent writers interviewed by Brooker.

As per the development of his career with The Guardian, a similar show called Newswipe, focusing on current affairs reportage by the international news media, began on BBC Four on 25 March 2009. A second series began on 19 January 2010. He has also written and presented the one off special Gameswipe which focused on video games and aired on BBC Four on 29 September 2009.

Brooker has appeared on three episodes and one webisode of the popular BBC current affairs news quiz Have I Got News for You. He appeared on an episode of the Channel 4 panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats, The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2009, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Would I Lie To You?. In December 2006 reviewed two games written by the presenters of VideoGaiden, on their show. He also made a brief appearance in the third and final instalment of the documentary series Games Britannia, discussing the rise and popularity of computer games.

Brooker wrote for the BBC Three sketch show Rush Hour.

In 2009, Brooker began hosting You Have Been Watching, a panel comedy TV quiz on Channel 4 which discusses television. A second series was broadcast the following year.

On 6 May 2010, Brooker was a co-host of the Channel 4 alternative election night, along with David Mitchell, Jimmy Carr and Lauren Laverne.^[17] The telethon was interspersed with contributions from Brooker, some live in the studio but mostly pre-recorded. Notably, an "Election Special" of You Have Been Watching and two smaller segments in an almost identical style to Screenwipe (the only noticeable difference being that Brooker was sitting in a different room). Brooker described the experience of live television as being so nerve-wracking he "did a piss" during the broadcast.^[18] A spin-off series, 10 O'Clock Live, started in January 2011 with the same four hosts.^[19]

Brooker's "2010 Wipe", a review of 2010 in the style of Screenwipe/Newswipe/Gameswipe, was broadcast on BBC2 on 27 December 2010, and a new documentary series How TV Ruined Your Life started on BBC 2 on 25 January 2011. He has co-written a feature-length spoof crime drama along with Daniel Maier for Sky1 called A Touch Of Cloth (due early 2012).^[20]

Charlie Brooker's 2011 Wipe, an hour-long review show of 2011, was broadcast on BBC Four on 30 December 2011.^[21][22] It was repeated on BBC Two on 3 January 2012.

Dead Set[link]

Brooker wrote Dead Set, a five part zombie horror thriller for E4 set in the Big Brother house.^[23] The show was broadcast in October 2008 to coincide with Halloween and was repeated on Channel 4 in January 2009 to coincide with Celebrity Big Brother, and again for Halloween later that year.^[24] It was produced by Zeppotron, which also produced Screenwipe.

Brooker told MediaGuardian.co.uk it comprised a "mixture of known and less well known faces" and "Dead Set is very different to anything I've done before, and I hope the end result will surprise, entertain and appall people in equal measure." He added that he has long been a fan of horror films and that his new series "could not be described as a comedy". "I couldn't really describe what it is but it will probably surprise people," Brooker said, adding that he plans to "continue as normal" with his print journalism.

Jaime Winstone starred as a runner on the TV programme, and Big Brother presenter Davina McCall guest starred as herself.^[25] Dead Set received a BAFTA nomination for Best Drama Serial.^[26]

Black Mirror[link]

In December 2011, Brooker's Black Mirror a three-part television drama series aired on Channel 4 to largely positive reviews.^[27][28][29] As well as creating the show, Brooker wrote the first episode and co-wrote the second with his wife Konnie Huq.

The series is produced by Zeppotron for Endemol. Regarding the programme's content and structure, Brooker noted, "each episode has a different cast, a different setting, even a different reality. But they're all about the way we live now – and the way we might be living in 10 minutes' time if we're clumsy."^[30]

An Endemol press release describes the series as "a hybrid of The Twilight Zone and Tales of the Unexpected which taps into our contemporary unease about our modern world", with the stories having a "techno-paranoia" feel.^[31] Channel 4 describes the first episode as "a twisted parable for the Twitter age".^[32]

Brooker explained the series' title to The Guardian, noting: "If technology is a drug – and it does feel like a drug – then what, precisely, are the side-effects? This area – between delight and discomfort – is where Black Mirror, my new drama series, is set. The "black mirror" of the title is the one you'll find on every wall, on every desk, in the palm of every hand: the cold, shiny screen of a TV, a monitor, a smartphone."^[30]

Radio[link]

Beginning on 11 May 2010, Brooker presented a 5-part BBC Radio 4 series celebrating failure titled So Wrong It's Right, in which guests compete to pitch the worst possible ideas for new franchises and give the 'most wrong' answer to a question. Also featured are guests' recollections about their own personal life failures and their complaints about life in general in a round called 'This Putrid Modern Hell'. Guests have included David Mitchell, Lee Mack, Josie Long, Frank Skinner and Richard Herring.^[33] The second series began airing on 10 March 2011.^[34] A third series has been commissioned for broadcast in May 2012.^[35] In common with Screenwipe's use of a Grandaddy track (A.M. 180) from the album Under The Western Freeway as its theme tune, So Wrong It's Right uses another track from the same album, Summer Here Kids.

Personal life[link]

Brooker became engaged to former Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq after dating for 9 months, having met whilst filming an episode of Screenwipe.^[36][37] They married on 26 July 2010 at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.^[38][39] On 23 March 2012 Huq gave birth to their first child, Covey Brooker Huq. ^[40]

Brooker is an atheist and contributed to The Atheist's Guide to Christmas.^[41]

Brooker has become an avid running enthusiast, running for up to an hour every day.^[42]

Awards[link]

Brooker won Columnist of the Year at the 2009 British Press Awards for his Guardian column, where the judges described Brooker as "edgy, entertaining and wonderfully surreal, he has the explosive writing skills that can turn your thinking upside down. A definite destination read and a jewel of a column. Acerbic, nasty, spiteful, yet clearly in love with every subject he writes about at the same time. Must read stuff".^[2] He won Best Newcomer at the British Comedy Awards 2009 and the Royal Television Society award 2010 for Best Entertainment Programme (Newswipe), beating The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent. His show (Newswipe) won Best Comedy Entertainment Show at the 2011 British Comedy Awards.

Publications[link]

• TV Go Home, 2001 (rescanned reprint in 2010) (ISBN 1-84115-675-2)
• Unnovations, 2002 (rescanned reprint in 2011) (ISBN 1-84115-730-9)
• Screen Burn, 2004 (ISBN 0-571-22755-4)
• Dawn of the Dumb: Dispatches from the Idiotic Frontline, 2007 (ISBN 9780571238415)
• The Hell of it All, Charlie Brooker, 2009 (ISBN 9780571229574)^[43]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Charlie Brooker

• Charlie Brooker's Official Biography Page on zeppotron.com
• Charlie Brooker's Agents and Production Company – zeppotron.com
• Charlie Brooker at the Internet Movie Database
• Charlie Brooker on Twitter
• TV Go Home
• Charlie Brooker's Guardian columns
• Shuffle's Cue & Ehh? with Charlie Brooker
• Charlie Brooker's made-up film awards
• Charlie Brooker Interview about You Have Been Watching
• Charlie Brooker's page, Conville and Walsh literary agents

Queen Victoria
Victoria wearing her small diamond crown Photograph by Alexander Bassano, 1882
Queen of the United Kingdom
Reign	20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901
Coronation	28 June 1838
Predecessor	William IV
Successor	Edward VII
Prime Ministers	See list
Empress of India
Reign	1 May 1876 – 22 January 1901
Imperial Durbar	1 January 1877
Predecessor	Title created
Successor	Edward VII
Viceroys	See list
Consort	Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Detail Issue
Victoria, Princess Royal, German Empress Edward VII Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Helena, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg
Full name
Alexandrina Victoria
House	House of Hanover
Father	Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn
Mother	Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld
Born	(1819-05-24)24 May 1819 Kensington Palace, London
Died	22 January 1901(1901-01-22) (aged 81) Osborne House, Isle of Wight
Burial	4 February 1901 Frogmore, Windsor
Signature

Queen Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India.

Victoria was the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of King George III. Both the Duke of Kent and the King died in 1820, and Victoria was raised under close supervision by her German-born mother Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. She inherited the throne at the age of 18, after her father's three elder brothers had all died without surviving legitimate issue. The United Kingdom was already an established constitutional monarchy, in which the Sovereign held relatively few direct political powers. Privately, she attempted to influence government policy and ministerial appointments. Publicly, she became a national icon, and was identified with strict standards of personal morality.

She married her first cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children and 26 of their 34 grandchildren who survived childhood married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together and earning her the nickname "the grandmother of Europe". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign, her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration.

Her reign of 63 years and 7 months, which is longer than that of any other British monarch and the longest of any female monarch in history, is known as the Victorian era. It was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover; her son and successor Edward VII belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father.

Birth and family[link]

Princess Victoria, aged four.
Painting by Stephen Poyntz Denning, 1823

Victoria's father was Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the fourth son of the reigning King of the United Kingdom, George III. Until 1817, Edward's niece, Princess Charlotte of Wales, was the only legitimate grandchild of George III. Her death in 1817 precipitated a succession crisis in the United Kingdom that brought pressure on the Duke of Kent (and his unmarried brother) to marry and have children. In 1818, he married Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, a German princess whose brother Leopold was the widower of Princess Charlotte. The Duke and Duchess of Kent's only child, Victoria, was born at 4.15 am on 24 May 1819 at Kensington Palace in London.^[1]

She was christened privately by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Charles Manners-Sutton, on 24 June 1819 in the Cupola Room at Kensington Palace.^[2] She was baptised Alexandrina, after one of her godparents, Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria after her mother. Additional names proposed by her parents—Georgina (or Georgiana), Charlotte and Augusta—were dropped on the instructions of the Duke's elder brother, the Prince Regent (later George IV).^[3]

At birth, Victoria was fifth in the line of succession after her father and his three older brothers: the Prince Regent, the Duke of York, and the Duke of Clarence (later William IV).^[4] The Prince Regent was estranged from his wife and the Duchess of York was 52 years old, so the two eldest brothers were unlikely to have any further children. The Dukes of Kent and Clarence married on the same day 12 months before Victoria's birth, but both of Clarence's daughters (born in 1819 and 1820 respectively) died as infants. Victoria's grandfather and father died in 1820, within a week of each other, and the Duke of York died in 1827. On the death of her uncle George IV in 1830, Victoria became heiress presumptive to her next surviving uncle, William IV. The Regency Act 1830 made special provision for the Duchess of Kent to act as regent in case William died while Victoria was still a minor.^[5] King William distrusted the Duchess's capacity to be regent, and in 1836 declared in her presence that he wanted to live until Victoria's 18th birthday, so that a regency could be avoided.^[6]

Heiress presumptive[link]

Princess Victoria with her spaniel Dash, 1833
Painting by George Hayter

Victoria later described her childhood as "rather melancholy".^[7] Her mother was extremely protective, and Victoria was raised largely isolated from other children under the so called "Kensington System", an elaborate set of rules and protocols devised by the Duchess and her ambitious and domineering comptroller, Sir John Conroy, who was rumoured to be the Duchess's lover.^[8] The system prevented the princess from meeting people whom her mother and Conroy deemed undesirable (including most of her father's family), and was designed to render her weak and dependent upon them.^[9] The Duchess avoided the court because she was scandalised by the presence of the King's bastard children,^[10] and perhaps prompted the emergence of Victorian morality by insisting that her daughter avoid any appearance of sexual impropriety.^[11] Victoria shared a bedroom with her mother every night, studied with private tutors to a regular timetable, and spent her play hours with her dolls and her King Charles spaniel, Dash.^[12] Her lessons included French, German, Italian, and Latin,^[13] but she spoke only English at home.^[14]

Self-portrait, 1835

In 1830, the Duchess of Kent and Conroy took Victoria across the centre of England to visit the Malvern Hills, stopping at towns and great country houses along the way.^[15] Similar journeys to other parts of England and Wales were taken in 1832, 1833, 1834 and 1835. To King William's annoyance, Victoria was enthusiastically welcomed in each of the stops.^[16] William compared the journeys to royal progresses and was concerned that they portrayed Victoria as his rival rather than his heiress presumptive.^[17] Victoria disliked the trips; the constant round of public appearances made her tired and ill, and there was little time for her to rest.^[18] She objected on the grounds of the King's disapproval, but her mother dismissed his complaints as motivated by jealousy, and forced Victoria to continue the tours.^[19] At Ramsgate in October 1835, Victoria contracted a severe fever, which Conroy initially dismissed as a childish pretence.^[20] While Victoria was ill, Conroy and the Duchess unsuccessfully badgered her to make Conroy her private secretary.^[21] As a teenager, Victoria resisted persistent attempts by her mother and Conroy to appoint him to her staff.^[22] Once Queen, she banned him from her presence, but he remained in her mother's household.^[23]

By 1836, the Duchess's brother, Leopold, who had been King of the Belgians since 1831, hoped to marry his niece to his nephew, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.^[24] Leopold, Victoria's mother, and Albert's father (Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha) were siblings. Leopold arranged for Victoria's mother to invite her Coburg relatives to visit her in May 1836, with the purpose of introducing Victoria to Albert.^[25] William IV, however, disapproved of any match with the Coburgs, and instead favoured the suit of Prince Alexander of the Netherlands, second son of the Prince of Orange.^[26] Victoria was aware of the various matrimonial plans and critically appraised a parade of eligible princes.^[27] According to her diary, she enjoyed Albert's company from the beginning. After the visit she wrote, "[Albert] is extremely handsome; his hair is about the same colour as mine; his eyes are large and blue, and he has a beautiful nose and a very sweet mouth with fine teeth; but the charm of his countenance is his expression, which is most delightful."^[28] Alexander, on the other hand, was "very plain".^[29]

Victoria wrote to her uncle Leopold, whom Victoria considered her "best and kindest adviser",^[30] to thank him "for the prospect of great happiness you have contributed to give me, in the person of dear Albert ... He possesses every quality that could be desired to render me perfectly happy. He is so sensible, so kind, and so good, and so amiable too. He has besides the most pleasing and delightful exterior and appearance you can possibly see."^[31] However at 17, Victoria, though interested in Albert, was not yet ready to marry. The parties did not undertake a formal engagement, but assumed that the match would take place in due time.^[32]

Early reign[link]

Victoria receives the news of her accession from Lord Conyngham (left) and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Victoria turned 18 on 24 May 1837, and a regency was avoided. On 20 June 1837, William IV died at the age of 71, and Victoria became Queen of the United Kingdom. In her diary she wrote, "I was awoke at 6 o'clock by Mamma, who told me the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were here and wished to see me. I got out of bed and went into my sitting-room (only in my dressing gown) and alone, and saw them. Lord Conyngham then acquainted me that my poor Uncle, the King, was no more, and had expired at 12 minutes past 2 this morning, and consequently that I am Queen."^[33] Official documents prepared on the first day of her reign described her as Alexandrina Victoria, but the first name was withdrawn at her own wish and not used again.^[34]

Since 1714, Britain had shared a monarch with Hanover in Germany, but under Salic law women were excluded from the Hanoverian succession. While Victoria inherited all the British dominions, Hanover passed instead to her father's younger brother, her unpopular uncle the Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, who became King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover. He was her heir presumptive until she married and had a child.^[35]

Coronation portrait by George Hayter

At the time of her accession, the government was led by the Whig prime minister Lord Melbourne, who at once became a powerful influence on the politically inexperienced Queen, who relied on him for advice.^[36] Charles Greville supposed that the widowed and childless Melbourne was "passionately fond of her as he might be of his daughter if he had one", and Victoria probably saw him as a father figure.^[37] Her coronation took place on 28 June 1838, and she became the first sovereign to take up residence at Buckingham Palace.^[38] She inherited the revenues of the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, and was granted a civil list of £385,000 per year. Financially prudent, she paid off her father's debts.^[39]

At the start of her reign Victoria was popular,^[40] but her reputation suffered in an 1839 court intrigue when one of her mother's ladies-in-waiting, Lady Flora Hastings, developed an abdominal growth that was widely rumoured to be an out-of-wedlock pregnancy by Sir John Conroy.^[41] Victoria believed the rumours.^[42] She hated Conroy, and despised "that odious Lady Flora",^[43] because she had conspired with Conroy and the Duchess of Kent in the Kensington System.^[44] At first, Lady Flora refused to submit to a naked medical examination, until in mid-February she eventually agreed, and was found to be a virgin.^[45] Conroy, the Hastings family and the opposition Tories organised a press campaign implicating the Queen in the spreading of false rumours about Lady Flora.^[46] When Lady Flora died in July, the post-mortem revealed a large tumour on her liver that had distended her abdomen.^[47] At public appearances, Victoria was hissed and jeered as "Mrs. Melbourne".^[48]

In 1839, Melbourne resigned after Radicals and Tories (both of whom Victoria detested) voted against a Bill to suspend the constitution of Jamaica. The Bill removed political power from plantation owners who were resisting measures associated with the abolition of slavery.^[49] The Queen commissioned a Tory, Sir Robert Peel, to form a new ministry. At the time, it was customary for the prime minister to appoint members of the Royal Household, who were usually his political allies and their spouses. Many of the Queen's Ladies of the Bedchamber were wives of Whigs, and Peel expected to replace them with wives of Tories. In what became known as the bedchamber crisis, Victoria, advised by Melbourne, objected to their removal. Peel refused to govern under the restrictions imposed by the Queen, and consequently resigned his commission, allowing Melbourne to return to office.^[50]

Marriage[link]

Marriage of Victoria and Albert
Painting by George Hayter

Though queen, as an unmarried young woman Victoria was required by social convention to live with her mother, despite their differences over the Kensington System and her mother's continued reliance on Conroy.^[51] Her mother was consigned to a remote apartment in Buckingham Palace, and Victoria often refused to meet her.^[52] When Victoria complained to Melbourne that her mother's close proximity promised "torment for many years", Melbourne sympathised but said it could be avoided by marriage, which Victoria called a "schocking [sic] alternative".^[53] She showed interest in Albert's education for the future role he would have to play as her husband, but she resisted attempts to rush her into wedlock.^[54]

Victoria continued to praise Albert following his second visit in October 1839. Albert and Victoria felt mutual affection and the Queen proposed to him on 15 October 1839, just five days after he had arrived at Windsor.^[55] They were married on 10 February 1840, in the Chapel Royal of St. James's Palace, London. Victoria was besotted. She spent the evening after their wedding lying down with a headache, but wrote ecstatically in her diary:

I NEVER, NEVER spent such an evening!!! MY DEAREST DEAREST DEAR Albert ... his excessive love & affection gave me feelings of heavenly love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before! He clasped me in his arms, & we kissed each other again & again! His beauty, his sweetness & gentleness – really how can I ever be thankful enough to have such a Husband! ... to be called by names of tenderness, I have never yet heard used to me before – was bliss beyond belief! Oh! This was the happiest day of my life!^[56]

Albert became an important political adviser as well as the Queen's companion, replacing Lord Melbourne as the dominant, influential figure in the first half of her life.^[57] Victoria's mother was evicted from the palace, to Ingestre House in Belgrave Square. After the death of Princess Augusta in 1840, Victoria's mother was given both Clarence and Frogmore Houses.^[58] Through Albert's mediation, relations between mother and daughter slowly improved.^[59]

Contemporary lithograph of Edward Oxford's attempt to assassinate Victoria, 1840

During Victoria's first pregnancy in 1840, in the first few months of the marriage, 18-year-old Edward Oxford attempted to assassinate her while she was riding in a carriage with Prince Albert on her way to visit her mother. Oxford fired twice, but both bullets missed. He was tried for high treason and found guilty, but was acquitted on the grounds of insanity.^[60] In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Victoria's popularity soared, mitigating residual discontent over the Hastings affair and the bedchamber crisis.^[61] Her daughter, also named Victoria, was born on 21 November 1840. The Queen hated being pregnant,^[62] viewed breast-feeding with disgust,^[63] and thought newborn babies were ugly.^[64] Nevertheless, she and Albert had a further eight children.

Victoria's household was largely run by her childhood governess, Baroness Louise Lehzen from Hanover. Lehzen had been a formative influence on Victoria,^[65] and had supported her against the Kensington System.^[66] Albert, however, thought Lehzen was incompetent, and that her mismanagement threatened the health of his daughter. After a furious row between Victoria and Albert over the issue, Lehzen was pensioned off, and Victoria's close relationship with her ended.^[67]

Earliest known photograph of Victoria, here with her eldest daughter, c. 1844^[68]

1842–1860[link]

On 29 May 1842, Victoria was riding in a carriage along The Mall, London, when John Francis aimed a pistol at her but did not fire; he escaped. The following day, Victoria drove the same route, though faster and with a greater escort, in a deliberate attempt to provoke Francis to take a second aim and catch him in the act. As expected, Francis shot at her, but he was seized by plain clothes policemen, and convicted of high treason. On 3 July, two days after Francis's death sentence was commuted to transportation for life, John William Bean also fired a pistol at the Queen, but it was loaded only with paper and tobacco.^[69] Edward Oxford felt that the attempts were encouraged by his acquittal in 1840. Bean was sentenced to 18 months in jail.^[70] In a similar attack in 1849, unemployed Irishman William Hamilton fired a powder-filled pistol at Victoria's carriage as it passed along Constitution Hill, London.^[71] In 1850, the Queen did sustain injury when she was assaulted by a possibly insane ex-army officer, Robert Pate. As Victoria was riding in a carriage, Pate struck her with his cane, crushing her bonnet and bruising her face. Both Hamilton and Pate were sentenced to seven years' transportation.^[72]

Melbourne's support in the House of Commons weakened through the early years of Victoria's reign, and in the 1841 general election the Whigs were defeated. Peel became prime minister, and the Ladies of the Bedchamber most associated with the Whigs were replaced.^[73]