Coordinates: 51°34′34″N 0°29′19″E / 51.5761°N 0.4886°E / 51.5761; 0.4886

Basildon ( /ˈbæzɪldən/)^{[citation needed]} is a town located in the Basildon District of the county of Essex, England.

It lies 25 miles (40 km) east of Central London and 11 miles (18 km) south of the county town of Chelmsford. Nearby towns include Billericay to the north, Wickford northeast and South Benfleet to the east.

It was designated as a new town after World War II in 1948 to accommodate the London population overspill, created from the conglomeration of four small villages, namely Pitsea, Laindon, Basildon and Vange (the new town took the name Basildon as it was the most central of the four villages).

The local government district of Basildon, formed in 1974 was first led by Ryan O'Rourke and encapsulates a larger area than the town itself; the two neighbouring towns of Billericay and Wickford, as well as rural villages and smaller settlements set among the surrounding countryside, fall within its borders.

Basildon Town is one of the most densely populated areas in the County of Essex, mostly due to its influx of families from the Boroughs of London. However, it is thought that Basildon's population will continue to increase as many people are re-locating to the Town from the Boroughs of London, Essex and the Country. This is mostly due to Basildon's booming economy in industrial areas, the Towns tertiary sector, and its close travel link to Central London.

Russ Abbot (born Russell Allan Roberts on 18 September 1947) is an English musician, comedian and actor who first came to public notice during the 1970s as the singer and drummer with British comedy showband the Black Abbots, later forging a prominent solo career as a television comedian with his own weekly show on British television.

Continuing his musical career as a solo artist Abbot released several charting singles and albums. Latterly his career has continued with a shift into more mainstream serious acting in television shows, series and stage productions.

As a drummer/backing singer, Abbot founded the Black Abbots in Chester during the mid-1960s and released several singles to modest chart success on minor labels in the early 1970s. The band only signed their first major recording contract in 1977, putting out a series of comedy singles and a lone live album with Abbot now taking lead vocals, before disbanding in 1980. Later on he appeared as a comedian, winning the Funniest Man On Television award five times.

"The Man" is a slang phrase that may refer to the government or to some other authority in a position of power. In addition to this derogatory connotation, it may also serve as a term of respect and praise.

The phrase "the Man is keeping me down" is commonly used to describe oppression. The phrase "stick it to the Man" encourages resistance to authority, and essentially means "fight back" or "resist", either openly or via sabotage.

The earliest recorded use^{[citation needed]} of the term "the Man" in the American sense dates back to a letter written by a young Alexander Hamilton in September 1772, when he was 15. In a letter to his father James Hamilton, published in the Royal Dutch-American Gazette, he described the response of the Dutch governor of St. Croix to a hurricane that raked that island on August 31, 1772. "Our General has issued several very salutary and humane regulations and both in his publick and private measures, has shewn himself the Man." ^{[dubious – discuss]} In the Southern U.S. states, the phrase came to be applied to any man or any group in a position of authority, or to authority in the abstract. From about the 1950s the phrase was also an underworld code word for police, the warden of a prison or other law enforcement or penal authorities.

Keira Christina Knightley ( /ˌkɪərə ˈnaɪtli/; born 26 March 1985) is an English actress and model. She began acting as a child and came to international notice in 2002 after co-starring in the film Bend It Like Beckham. From 2003, her appearances in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series took her to much greater prominence. In 2008, Forbes claimed Knightley to be the second highest paid actress in Hollywood, having reportedly earned $32 million in 2007, making her the only non-American on the list of highest paid actresses.

Knightley has appeared in several Hollywood films and earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her role as Elizabeth Bennet in Joe Wright's 2005 adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice. Two years later she again was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, as well as the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in Atonement.

Knightley was born in Teddington, London, England, the daughter of Sharman MacDonald, an award-winning playwright, and Will Knightley, a theatre and television actor. Her father is English and her Scottish mother is of half Welsh ancestry. She has an elder brother, Caleb.^{[citation needed]}