Serbian (српски, pronounced [sr̩̂pskiː]) is a form of Serbo-Croatian spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Croatia, Albania, Hungary, Slovenia, Romania, Greece, Slovakia and Czech Republic. It is the official state language of Serbia and the principal language of the Serbs.

The dialect serving as the basis for the main literary and standard language is Shtokavian, which is also the basis of standard Croatian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin. In particular, Serbian is standardized around Šumadija-Vojvodina and Eastern Herzegovinian subdialects of Shtokavian. The Torlakian dialect of Serbian is spoken in southeast Serbia, and is not standardized, as it represents transitional form to Macedonian and Bulgarian.

Serbo-Croatian is the only European language with active digraphia, using both Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. The Bosnian and Serbian varieties use both alphabets while the Croatian variety uses only the Latin alphabet.^{[better source needed]} The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet was devised in 1814 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić, who created the alphabet on phonemic principles. The Latin alphabet was designed by Croatian linguist Ljudevit Gaj in 1830.

John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004. He was known for his eclectic taste in music and his honest and warm broadcasting style.

He was one of the first broadcasters to play psychedelic rock and progressive rock records on British radio, and he is widely acknowledged for promoting artists working in various genres, including pop, reggae, indie rock, alternative rock, punk, hardcore punk, breakcore, grindcore, death metal, British hip hop, and dance music.

Peel's Radio 1 shows were notable for the regular 'Peel sessions', which usually consisted of four songs recorded by an artist live in the BBC's studios, and which often provided the first major national coverage to bands that later would achieve great fame. (These 'sessions' are similar to 'Live Lounge' sessions recorded today for the station.) Another popular feature of his shows was the annual Festive Fifty countdown of his listeners' favourite records of the year.

Stana Katic (English pronunciation: /ˈstɑːnə ˈkætɨk/; born April 26, 1978) is a Canadian film and television actress. She is best known for her portrayal of Detective Kate Beckett on ABC's Castle.

Katic was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, to a Serbian father and Croatian mother, who both immigrated from Yugoslavia. Her father is from Vrlika, and her mother is from the surrounding area of Sinj. Katic later moved with her family to Aurora, Illinois. She spent the following years moving back and forth between Canada and the United States. After graduating from West Aurora High School in 1996, she studied acting at Chicago's Goodman School of Drama. She has four brothers and one sister.

Katic played the character of Hana Gitelman in Heroes, Collette Stenger in 24 's season 5, and Jenny in the film Feast of Love starring Morgan Freeman. She also played Morgenstern in Frank Miller's film The Spirit, Corrine Veneau in the Bond movie Quantum of Solace (though she was originally up for the role of Strawberry Fields in the film), and Simone Renoir in the third installment of The Librarian franchise, The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice.