"Last Gasp" is the fourth episode of the first series of the British
black comedy anthology television programme Inside No. 9. It first
aired on 26 February 2014 on BBC Two. Written by Steve Pemberton and
Reece Shearsmith, the story revolves around the birthday of the severely
ill Tamsin—played by Lucy Hutchinson—whose parents arrange for the
singer Frankie J Parsons (David Bedella) to visit their daughter through
the charity WishmakerUK. Frankie dies after blowing up a balloon,
leading to arguments between Tamsin's father (Pemberton), the
WishmakerUK representative Sally (Tamsin Greig, pictured), and Frankie's
assistant Si (Adam Deacon) over the now-valuable balloon containing
Frankie's last breath. The story was inspired by someone Pemberton had
seen on Swap Shop who collected air from different places. The episode
is a morality tale that satirizes and critiques celebrity culture.
Pemberton subsequently sold a balloon containing his breath on eBay,
with proceeds going to a Sport Relief charity.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_Gasp_%28Inside_No._9%29>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1914:
RMS Britannic, the third and largest Olympic-class ocean liner
of the White Star Line after RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic, was launched
at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMHS_Britannic>
1979:
The Superliner railcar entered revenue service with Amtrak.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superliner_%28railcar%29>
2014:
Former editor-in-chief of Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao Kevin
Lau was stabbed, prompting concerns and protests about media freedom.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knife_attack_on_Kevin_Lau>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
latibulum:
(obsolete) A concealed hiding place, especially of an animal; a burrow,
hole, or lair.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/latibulum>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Poetry will take a great step, a decisive step, a step which,
like the upheaval of an earthquake, will change the whole face of the
intellectual world. It will set about doing as nature does, mingling in
its creations — but without confounding them — darkness and light,
the grotesque and the sublime; in other words, the body and the soul,
the beast and the intellect; for the starting-point of religion is
always the starting-point of poetry. All things are connected.
--Victor Hugo
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Victor_Hugo>