77 Sentences With "fruit machine" | Random Sentence Generator

The military would often employ the infamous 'fruit machine' to suss out homosexuals.

The bloke with the ponytail who sits joylessly pumping pound coins into the fruit machine night after night down your local pub?

To identify targets, the authorities conducted surveillance, made threats and even developed a so-called "fruit machine" built in order to detect homosexuality.

It included a failed attempt by the police to create what was termed a "fruit machine," which was intended to identify subjects' sexual orientation.

During the early 1960s, the national police force commissioned a psychologist to secretly build a "fruit machine," a failed attempt at a homosexuality detector.

They are weird as shit – a sudden stark reminder that not everyone in the world feels like there is a fruit machine in their head.

At one point, the police force commissioned a psychology professor at Carleton University in Ottawa to develop a "fruit machine" to determine public servants' sexual orientation.

At a high table next to a faulty fruit machine, Joey Bradbury and Rowan Martin are nursing a pint of Pepsi and a cup of tea respectively.

During this time, the federal government even dedicated funding to an absurd device known as the Fruit Machine — a failed technology that was supposed to measure homosexual attraction.

Sure, he got to wear a ruff and everything and he invented 1700 words which was pretty cool, but he never snogged anyone by a fruit machine at closing time.

The Canadian government would often employ a device that would measure sweat and sexual reaction to certain words, phrases, and images—dubbed internally as the 'fruit machine'—to vet suspected LGBTQ government employees.

From the 1950s to the '90s, the Canadian government carried out what critics call a "purge" in which officials identified government employees they suspected were gay, forced the employees to go through humiliating tests — including one called the "fruit machine" — and interrogations, and ultimately kicked allegedly gay officials out of their jobs, the Canadian Press reported.

Brian Drader's 1998 play The Fruit Machine juxtaposes the fruit machine project with a parallel storyline about contemporary homophobia. An abandoned attempt to employ a fruit machine during the interrogation of Canadian diplomat John Watkins was shown in the 2002 TV film, Agent of Influence. Alex Brett's novel Cold Dark Matter (2005) uses the project as a plot device. Sarah Fodey's 2018 documentary film The Fruit Machine profiled the effects of the project on several of the people affected by it.

The song was to receive its full UK release on 9 February 2009,Re-release of "Fruit Machine" it however was cancelled a week before its released date, being removed from every retailers database."Fruit Machine" removed Two weeks later though, their next single would be released, "We Walk". "Fruit Machine" had already charted on the Australian club chart at 37.

"The Fruit Machine: Why every Canadian should learn about this country's 'gay purge'". CBC Arts, May 30, 2018.

The Fruit Machine is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Sarah Fodey and released in 2018.Peter Knegt, "The Fruit Machine: Why every Canadian should learn about this country's 'gay purge'". CBC Arts, May 30, 2018. The film profiles the "fruit machine", a controversial device used by the Canadian government in the 1950s and 1960s in an attempt to identify LGBT employees and disqualify them from the civil service, and its effects on the people whose lives and careers were disrupted or destroyed by the test.

Brian Drader (born 1960) is a Canadian stage actor and playwright."Manitoban Drader among 'fresh crop'". Winnipeg Free Press, October 21, 2003. He is best known for his plays ', about Alfred Kinsey and Clara McMillen, and The Fruit Machine, about the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's controversial 1960s fruit machine project to identify homosexual people.

Lekakis sang the title track to the British film The Fruit Machine, which was released in 1988. In the US, the film was renamed Wonderland.

This estate has a few units of small businesses such as Nova fitness equipment and a small fruit machine distributor. Chilcompton is the headquarters of the fashion company Mulberry Group plc.

The song was also used in the 1988 film The Fruit Machine. and in the 1990 film Miller's Crossing. It was used in an advertising campaign for Prada "Candy" perfume in 2011.

To measure the range, a new dial was added that moved a mechanical marker to a selected blip on the display. When a particular target was properly selected, the operator pushed a button to activate the fruit machine, which then read these inputs. In addition to the inputs, the fruit machine also had a series of local corrections for both angle and altitude, as measured by calibration flights and stored in the machine in telephone uniselectors. These corrections were automatically added to the calculation, eliminating the time-consuming lookup of these numbers from tables.

Together with Saint Etienne's Paul Kelly, Wykes went on to form indie- chamber-pop band Birdie, which released the albums Some Dusty (1999), Triple Echo (2001) and Reverb Deluxe (2003). Rachel Bor played in a band called Fruit Machine until 1999.

"Fruit machine" is a term for a device developed in Canada by Frank Robert Wake that was supposed to be able to identify gay men (derogatorily referred to as "fruits"). The subjects were made to view pornography; the device then measured the diameter of the pupils of the eyes (pupillary response test), perspiration, and pulse for a supposed erotic response. The "fruit machine" was employed in Canada in the 1950s and 1960s during a campaign to eliminate all gay men from the civil service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and the military. A substantial number of workers did lose their jobs.

In the mid 1990s, Wednesday night was Fruit Machine, hosted by Miss Kimberly with a strong Drag theme. Fridays were Garage playing Techno and Hardbag with DJs Blu Peter and Mrs Wood. Saturday nights were 'Heaven is Saturday – Saturday is Heaven' which hosted a variety of parties and weekly changing themes.

Mostly an audience was present in the studio as the show went out. The setup of the show was that contestants answered a general knowledge question correctly to be allowed a go of the fruit machine to see if they win a prize. Contestants had to match up three symbols of Plums, Bells, Cherries or Lemons to win a prize. If they were lucky enough to match up three plums then they win the star prize. If they collected three different symbols they were able to ‘nudge’ the symbols into a winning combination, as on a standard fruit machine. A member of the audience was delegated the job of 'Nudger-Watcher' and would have to call out ‘The nudge is out’ should three different symbols be given by the fruit-machine. If contestants received two matching symbols they were asked to ‘hold’ the two that matched and were given one last spin to see if they matched the third symbol, and because plums were the show's top symbol, to win the star prize contestants were encouraged to ‘Hold Your Plums’, coining the show's name. The prizes were often tacky silly pointless objects and were only added for comical value.

Performing at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, Georgia on 23 October 2008 Their first double-A single "That's Not My Name/Great DJ" was jointly released by the band and local label, Switchflicker Records. With their second single "Fruit Machine", they were on heavy rotation on British radio, including BBC 6 Music and others. DJ Marc Riley was the first to have them in session on 6 Music and the first to play their record on the station. "Fruit Machine" was a released as limited-edition, 500-only, seven-inch single on Legendre Starkie Records (the band's own label), which was only available at the group's gigs at Islington Mill in Salford, Electrowerkz in Islington, Berlin, Germany and at Glasslands in Brooklyn, New York City.

"We Walk" is a song by English duo The Ting Tings from their debut studio album, We Started Nothing (2008). It was released as the album's sixth and final single on 23 February 2009. "Fruit Machine" was originally set to be released two weeks before the release of "We Walk" as a download-only single; however, this was cancelled.

"Fruit Machine" is the second official single released by Salford band The Ting Tings in 2007. The single was limited to a 500-copy run.The Ting Tings release new single... NME - 28 September 2007 The vinyl was only available for fans of The Ting Tings to buy at their live shows. Every single released had different cover art.

Griffiths graduated with a BSc in Psychology from the University of Bradford. He began teaching in 1988 while working on his PhD at Exeter University. He was a lecturer for the Workers' Education Association and did weekly support teaching at Exeter University. He completed his PhD thesis on fruit machine addiction at Exeter University in 1990.

Carsten Nørgaard (born March 3, 1963) is a Danish actor.»Jeg har aldrig drømt om at blive Tom Cruise« Interview: Carsten Nørgaard Berlingske Tidende, 19.11.2006, 4 Sektion, MS Berlingske Tidende, Side 28 Norgaard was born Frederiksberg, Denmark. He began his career playing the enigmatic Dolphin Man in the 1988 film The Fruit Machine (known as Wonderland in the U.S.).

Indieville,"Don Pyle and Andrew Zealley - The Law of Enclosures (CD)". Indieville, June 2001. and the short films This is Nothing and Herr, Sarah Polley (I Shout Love) and Wrik Mead (Fruit Machine, Hoolboom, Camp). CD releases of the soundtracks were billed as "Don Pyle + Andrew Zealley" to set them apart from the other Greek Buck releases.

Tony Forsyth (born Liverpool, Lancashire) is a former English theatre and film actor of the 1980s-90s, noted for his troubled teen portrayals and scouse accent. Forsyth is best known for his role playing rent-boy "Michael" in the 1988 British film The Fruit Machine, a/k/a Wonderland (USA). He first appeared on television in the BBC's John Lennon: A Journey in the Life and Channel 4's Brookside before being cast in The Fruit Machine, writer Frank Clarke's follow-up to Letter to Brezhnev. Other film roles include Hard Days Hard Nights as Alan in a story loosely based on the Beatles trip to Hamburg before they hit the big time, The Tall Guy as Berkoff Actor and Derek Jarman's Edward II in which he played Captive Policeman.

In 1997 Framestore acquired the Computer Film Company, which was one of the UK's first digital film special effects companies, developing technology for digital film scanning, compositing, and output. CFC was founded in London in 1984 by Mike Boudry, Wolfgang Lempp (now CTO at Filmlight) and Neil Harris (Lightworks). CFC's first film was The Fruit Machine, in 1988, which utilised early morphing techniques.Rickitt, Richard (2000).

Chain Home display showing several target blips between 15 and 30 miles distant from the station. The marker at the top of the screen was used to send the range to the fruit machine. The operator display of the CH system was a complex affair. The large knob on the left is the goniometer control with the sense button that made the antenna more directional.

His name changes between media: in the graphic novel his surname was "Grelbman" and his first name is the newspaper comic strips was "Schweinhund" (literally "pig-dog" - a German insult). Gitfinger is extremely short (barely half the height of Carla and Kremmen) and wears a white lab coat. He also has glasses, in which fruit machine symbols sometimes appear. In some areas, he is portrayed as a Nazi.

Figures interviewed in the film include Michelle Douglas, John Ibbitson, John Sawatsky and Gary Kinsman. The film premiered at the Inside Out Film and Video Festival on June 1, 2018, and had selected other film festival screenings before airing as a TVOntario special presentation on September 29."TVO Original documentary The Fruit Machine explores a dark chapter in the history of Canada and the LGBTQ+ community". TVOntario, September 18, 2018.

Budgie reckons he can sell it, however Mr Endell insists that he burns it all. The wind catches the paper and the pornography blows off the bonfire just as a busload of cricket players arrive. Budgie comes away with a fruit machine from the cricket club which he takes to Hazel's flat. They drive off but his assistant Grogan says he is going off with Charity (the stripper).

Budgie is left to explain this to Mr Endell. Eventually all his supposed friends desert him; he ends up back in court for handling stolen goods: a fruit machine stolen from a cricket club and featured in the storyline of the first episode. In reality, Charlie Endell has shopped him for this. Ironically one of Budgie's lesser crimes, he is found guilty... not helped by poor advice from his lawyer.

As no small part of the manpower required was dedicated to calculation and plotting, a great reduction could be made by using as much automation as possible. This started with the use of various mechanical aids; these were eventually replaced by the fruit machine, an electromechanical analogue computer of some complexity. It replicated all of these devices and tables in electrical form. An electrical repeater, or synchro, was added to the gonio dial.

Although funding for the "fruit machine" project was cut off in the late 1960s, the investigations continued, and the RCMP collected files on over 9,000 "suspected" gay people. The chair employed resembled that used by dentists. It had a pulley with a camera going towards the pupils, with a black box located in front of it that displayed pictures. The pictures ranged from the mundane to sexually explicit photos of men and women.

The 1988 Philip Saville film The Fruit Machine featured interior and main entrance scenes of the Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool, including a vertical pan shot past the lit marquee at night. In 2008 as part of the Capital of Culture celebrations, a musical based on the Adelphi Hotel, written and directed by Phil Willmott, Once Upon A Time At The Adelphi, ran at the Liverpool Playhouse from 30 June until 2 August.

It is the duo's second highest-peaking single in the UK, charting at number six, while reaching number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Be the One" was released on 13 October 2008 as the sixth single from the album, peaking at number 28 on the UK chart. The re-release of "Fruit Machine" was originally planned to be released on 9 February 2009 as the album's seventh single, but was cancelled a week before the release.

Fruit and fruitcake, as well as many variations, are slang or even sexual slang terms which have various origins but modern usage tend to primarily refer to gay men and sometimes other LGBT people. Usually used as pejoratives, the terms have also been re-appropriated as insider terms of endearment within LGBT communities. Many modern pop culture references within the gay nightlife like "Fruit Machine" and "Fruit Packers" have been appropriated for reclaiming usage, similar to queer and dyke.

Hermann Hauser and Chris Curry in Cambridge Curry and Hauser decided to pursue their joint interest in microcomputers and, on 5 December 1978, they set up Cambridge Processor Unit Ltd. (CPU) as the vehicle with which to do this. CPU soon obtained a consultancy contract to develop a microprocessor-based controller for a fruit machine for Ace Coin Equipment (ACE) of Wales. The ACE project was started at office space obtained at 4a Market Hill in Cambridge.

The theme tune, "Cocoon", was performed by Timerider, a pseudonym of the German singer Fancy. The track also appeared in the film The Fruit Machine, and Waterman also used it as the signature tune for his Saturday morning Radio City show. It is still today used as the theme tune for Barnsley F.C. and is played as the team comes out onto the pitch at every home game. Latterly, the show's theme tune changed to "Rofo's theme" by Rofo.

Le Mesurier introduced Holmes to George Deakin, a fruit machine salesman who, he thought, would have contacts with people who might be prepared to deal with Scott. Holmes and Le Mesurier concocted a story involving a blackmailer who needed to be frightened off; Deakin agreed to help.Chester et al. pp. 217–20 In February 1975 Deakin met Andrew Newton, an airline pilot, who said he was willing to deal with Scott for an appropriate fee—between £5,000 and £10,000 was suggested.

In August 2010 he presented Casting Light a video projection mapped onto the façade of a bank in Cavan which was showcased during the Fleadh Cheoil. This included a segment where the bank appeared as a giant fruit machine. An updated version featured in 2012. Byrne is working on a number of commissions including a per cent for art work for the Loreto School in Balbriggan and a new collaborative work with The Palestrina Choir entitled Good Works commissioned through Create.

Often contestants would return to the show and become regular stars themselves often complaining to Billy or Wally that the prize they won last time on the show was never delivered, adding more comical value. Usually Billy was quizmaster and clue giver, helping contestants as best as he could get the right answer. He also operated the fruit-machine. Wally set the questions and organised the prizes, he would often try to help Billy with clues to help contestants answer their given question.

In addition to Earthed, Kilbey published a book of poetry in 1998 entitled Nineveh/The Ephemeron; Kilbey later republished a hard copy version that contained both books and a limited number of 50 copies was released. In August 2013, Uncollected, described as, "A deluxe edition of his books - Earthed, The Ephemeron, Nineveh, Fruit Machine and other selected work", was released on his own Time Being label. Kilbey's inaugural autobiography, Something Quite Peculiar, was then published by Hardie Grant on 1 November 2014.

The discography of The Ting Tings, an English indie pop duo, consists of three studio albums, three extended plays, 10 singles and 14 music videos. The Ting Tings were formed in 2004 in Salford, England by Jules De Martino and Katie White. The band was signed to independent record label Switchflicker Records in 2006 and released their limited-edition debut single, "Fruit Machine", the following year. Following an appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in 2007, The Ting Tings were signed to Columbia Records.

In 1940, John Randall and Harry Boot developed the cavity magnetron, which made ten-centimetre ( wavelength ) radar a reality. This device, the size of a small dinner plate, could be carried easily on aircraft and the short wavelength meant the antenna would also be small and hence suitable for mounting on aircraft. The short wavelength and high power made it very effective at spotting submarines from the air. To aid Chain Home in making height calculations, at Dowding's request, the Electrical Calculator Type Q (commonly called the "Fruit Machine") was introduced in 1940.

The soundtrack was written by then newcomer Hans Zimmer. A soundtrack has never officially been released; however a 20-minute piece entitled The Fruit Machine Suite appears on the album HANS ZIMMER: The British Years, a sampling of the composer's earlier film work. The disco dance sequence used music from both Divine, a drag queen who had released several singles in the UK charts in the 1980s, and Man 2 Man, using their hit "Male Stripper". The film's title song was produced by Stock, Aitken & Waterman and sung by Paul Lekakis.

The fruit machine greatly simplified measurement and calculation, driving the plotter directly. Operating a CH station was a manpower-intensive situation, with an operator in the transmitter hut, an operator and assistant in the receiver hut, and as many as six assistants in the receiver hut operating the plotters, calculators and telephone systems. In order to provide 24-hour service, multiple crews were needed, along with a number of service and support personnel. This was then multiplied by the reporting hierarchy, which required similar numbers of WAAFs at each level of the Dowding system hierarchy.

The Fruit Machine (known as Wonderland in the United States) is a 1988 British film thriller starring Tony Forsyth, Emile Charles, Bruce Payne and Robbie Coltrane in the role of "Annabelle." The film, which was directed by BAFTA- winner Philip Saville, is about two gay teen friends who are running from an underworld assassin and the police. It was produced by UK TV company Granada Productions. The film showcases the rising careers of actors Coltrane and Payne, as well as a future Academy Award winner, composer Hans Zimmer, who wrote the soundtrack.

Saville's significant later work includes Boys from the Blackstuff (1982) and The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1986), which both won BAFTAs for Best Drama Series. For the cinema, Saville directed The Fruit Machine (1988, released as Wonderland in the US), Metroland (1997) and The Gospel of John (2003). He also directed a masterclass studio in London specialising in dramatic improvisation.See The Philip Saville Studio Saville's documentary on Harold Pinter Pinter's Progress (2009) for Sundance international television channels and UK's Sky Arts features numerous interviews with associates of the Nobel Prize–winning playwright.

After Curry and Sinclair found out about the BBC's plans, The BBC allowed other manufacturers to submit their proposals. Hauser quickly drafted in Steve Furber (who had been working for Acorn on a voluntary basis since the ACE fruit machine project) and Sophie Wilson to help complete a revised version of the Proton which met the BBC's specifications. BBC visited Acorn and were given a demonstration of the Proton. Shortly afterwards, the literacy programme computer contract was awarded to Acorn, and the Proton was launched in December 1981 as the BBC Micro.

Coin Slot, Friday, 5 February 1993, p. 4. Today Electrocoin, largely under the Bar-X brand, continues to produce new machines and electronic games. Coinciding with its 35th anniversary in 2016, it released the Bar-X Deluxe app for the iPhone and iPad to appeal to a new generation of players whilst retaining its classic format. A second mobile app, Bar-X Card Crazy is the latest addition to its mobile range, offering what it clams is "the most comprehensive and genuine fruit- machine gameplay experience on a mobile".

In a rage, Den violently throws Chrissie against a fruit machine and is only stopped by Zoe, who hits him over the head with an iron doorstop in The Queen Vic, presumably killing him. Minutes later, whilst Sam and Zoe go upstairs, Den stirs and grabs Chrissie's ankle, telling her, "You'll never get me out of The Vic!" Chrissie responds by striking over the head again and he dies moments later. Sam secretly witnesses the fatal blow, but Chrissie continues to allow Zoe to think it is she who has killed Den.

Chrissie knows that Sharon is the one person Den truly loves and cares about and knows that losing Den the love of his favourite child will destroy him. Den walks back in and she taunts him that he now knows what it is like to lose what he loves most. Unable to contain his rage, Den attacks his wife and hits her head against a fruit machine. Zoe picks up the nearest object (a metal, dog-shaped doorstop) and hits Den over the head with it and he falls to the ground.

The poster was also used in a scene in the British film The Fruit Machine. On December 12, 2008 Billy performed a free Christmas concert in his home town of Cleveland, Ohio to raise money for "Feed a Family", a local charity that provides food to families in need. On January 4, 2009, Billy starred on VH1's Confessions of a Teen Idol, a reality show in which former teen idols attempt to revitalize their entertainment careers. He said that he enjoyed his time in the house with the other six idols, as they all learned from each other.

When a button was pushed, the Fruit Machine read the inputs and calculated the X and Y location of the target, which a single operator could then plot on a map, or relay directly over the telephone. The original transmitters were constantly upgraded, first from 100 kW of the Orfordness system to 350 kW for the deployed system, and then again to 750 kW during the war in order to offer greatly increased range. To aid in detection at long range, a slower 12.5 pulse per second rate was added. The four-tower transmitter was later reduced to three towers.

The output was the altitude, which then allowed the plotters to determine the proper over-ground distance to the target. Later versions of the fruit machine were upgraded to directly output the position of the aircraft with no manual operation. Using the same buttons to send settings to the machine, the operator simply triggered the system and the outputs were used to drive a T-square-like indicator on the chart, allowing the operator to read the calculated location directly. This reduced the number of people needed at the station and allowed the station to be reorganized into a much more compact form.

They are total opposites that argue like an old married couple. Leaving behind the grim, oppressive reality of Liverpool (in the 1980s unemployment rates in Liverpool were amongst the highest in the UK), they stumble into the bizarre fantasy world of a gay transvestite nightclub called The Fruit Machine, run by "Annabelle". There, they witness a brutal gangland murder by Echo that transforms their thirst for adventure into a run for their lives. Alone and afraid, yet hopeful, they wind up in Brighton with Vincent and Eve at Wonderland, where their path is strewn with manipulation, deceit and murder.

In early 1987, "Male Stripper" charted again in the UK, and this time the song became an even bigger hit, spending five weeks in the Top 10 and two weeks at No. 4.. The song peaked at number 3 in Australia. "Male Stripper" was a breakout crossover pop hit and in March 1987 Man 2 Man appeared on a segment of the European music TV show "Top Of The Pops". "Male Stripper" was featured in the 1988 British film The Fruit Machine. The next single, "Who Knows What Evil", reached No. 90 on the UK chart in April 1987.

It was in the early 1960s that Fraser first met Charlie and Eddie Richardson of the Richardson Gang, rivals to the Kray twins. According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for the Great Train Robbery by bribing a policeman. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang. In 1966, Fraser was charged with the murder of Richard Hart, who was shot at Mr Smith's club in Catford while other Richardson associates, including Jimmy Moody, were charged with affray.

The data from this display could be read directly to the intercepting pilots, without the need for additional operators or control centres. With the deployment of GCI, CH became the early warning portion of the radar network. To further simplify operations and reduce manpower requirements, the job of plotting the targets became semi-automated. An analogue computer of some complexity, known simply as "The Fruit Machine", was fed information directly from the operator console, reading the goniometer setting for bearing, and the range from the setting of a dial that moved a mechanical pointer along the screen until it lay over a selected target.

The village came to the attention of the nation in January 1967 when the body of fruit machine magnate employee Angus Sibbett, was found murdered in his Jaguar car under Pesspool Bridge. Dennis Stafford and Michael Luvaglio were later convicted of the crime, although there have been ongoing campaigns to clear both names. All appeals (including the House of Lords) failed due to a proven but unexplained collision between the cars of Sibbett and Stafford & Luvaglio, although Stafford and Luvaglio at their trial denied seeing or meeting up with Sibbett during the vital hours surrounding the actual murder The killing inspired the 1970s gangster film Get Carter starring Michael Caine.

A double A-side single consisting of "That's Not My Name" and "Great DJ" was released as the first single from the album on 27 May 2007 through the independent label Switchflicker Records. The album's second single, "Fruit Machine", was released as a limited 500-copy run, only available for the fans at the duo's concerts. Four covers were made: one for Salford, one for Berlin, one for London and one for New York. The third single, a reissue of "Great DJ", was released on 3 March 2008. The song did chart until the re-release of "That's Not My Name", reaching number 33 on the UK Singles Chart.

A Liberty Bell machine The Liberty Bell was the first variation of the modern mechanical slot machine we see today, originally being referred to as a "fruit machine" or "one-armed bandit". Created in 1894 by Charles Fey (1862–1944), a car mechanic from San Francisco, the Liberty Bell's popularity set the standard for the modern slot machine; its three-reel model is still used today despite great advances in slot technology over the past several decades. An original Liberty Bell slot machine is currently on display at the Liberty Belle saloon in Reno, Nevada as a historic artifact.Inventors.about.com, The History of Slot Machines-Liberty Bell.

The band's first releases were early examples of indie pop, with three singles being released in 1984 on their own SS20 label. Their first (mini-)album, Growing Up Absurd, appeared the following year. With an explosion of indie pop groups in 1986, their May release Fruit Machine EP gained them both attention and radio airplay, followed by a second mini-album, What's In A Word. "Brian Rix", a re-recorded version of a track from the LP, with added trumpet, and a tribute to Rix, the "king of farce", was issued as a single, the proceeds going to Mencap, the charity of which Rix was chairman.

By the Second World War, all sides had developed automatic electro-mechanical calculators, exemplified by the U.S. Navy's Torpedo Data Computer.The British called theirs the "fruit machine". Submarine commanders were still expected to be able to calculate a firing solution by hand as a backup against mechanical failure, and because many submarines existing at the start of the war were not equipped with a TDC; most could keep the "picture" in their heads and do much of the calculations (simple trigonometry) mentally, from extensive training. Against high-value targets and multiple targets, submarines would launch a spread of torpedoes, to increase the probability of success.

The pub is reputedly haunted by the ghost of the Captain's wife, who often appears as a dark shadow and disoriented. Another female spirit is said to walk through the bar doors and walk the length of the lounge before disappearing into the fruit machine. A male ghost of a man with windswept hair who died about the age of 40 is said to roam the bar area. A ghost of a young boy aged 4–5 is often heard in one of the upstairs bedrooms, and another young boy has been seen regularly near the chimney in the bar area; it is believed he was trying to escape from his violent father and died there.

His main instruments are the guitar and concertina. He began acting around the same time and has made many appearances on stage, most famously in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot alongside Mike Harding at Bolton's Octagon Theatre, and Jim Cartwright's Road at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. Wrigley has made many appearances in British TV programmes in a career spanning over five decades, including Phoenix Nights (where he was Dodgy Eric, who sold club owner Brian Potter a Das Boot fruit machine, a bucking bronco and an obscene bouncy castle), Emmerdale (as eccentric rocket inventor Barry Clegg) and Coronation Street (most recently as the Rev. Marvin Winstanley, the shady 'internet priest' whom Roy and Hayley approached to arrange their wedding - Wrigley's sixth character in the soap).

The accuracy and functional mechanism of the "fruit machine" was questionable. First, the pupillary response test was based on fatally flawed assumptions: that visual stimuli would give an involuntary reaction that can be measured scientifically; that homosexuals and heterosexuals would respond to these stimuli differently; and that there were only two types of sexuality.The Current, CBC Radio, 9 May 2005 A physiological problem with the method was that the researchers failed to take into account the varying sizes of the pupils and the differing distances between the eyes. Other problems that existed were that the pictures of the subjects' eyes had to be taken from an angle, as the camera would have blocked the subjects' view of the photographs if it were placed directly in front.

It was the recently-vacated country house of North East fruit machine businessman Vince Landa, who had fled the country in 1969 after the murder of his right-hand man Angus Sibbett, the so-called one- armed bandit murder. Many believed the crime was part of a failed attempt by the Kray twins to gain control of the Newcastle underworld. Michael Klinger and the MGM publicity spokesman dismissed the use of the location as mere coincidence; however, Hodges was aware of the significance of the house and chose it deliberately. Steve Chibnall writes "It proved a perfect location, wreaking of authenticity and full of useful details such as the cowboys and indians wallpaper...the African shield and crossed spears on the wall of the crime lord's living room".

During his PhD studies in the late 1970s, Furber worked on a voluntary basis for Hermann Hauser and Chris Curry within the fledging Acorn Computers (originally the Cambridge Processor Unit), on a number of projects; notably a microprocessor based fruit machine controller, and the Proton - the initial prototype version of what was to become the BBC Micro, in support of Acorn's tender for the BBC Computer Literacy Project. In 1981, following the completion of his PhD and the award of the BBC contract to Acorn, he formally joined the company where he was a Hardware Designer and then Design Manager. He was involved in the final design and productionization of the BBC Micro and later, the Electron, and the ARM microprocessor. In August 1990 he moved to the University of Manchester to become the ICL Professor of Computer Engineering and established the AMULET microprocessor research group.

Graham has appeared in the Channel 4 Blood Red Roses (1986, filmed in East Kilbride) and the BBC TV series The Houseman's Tale (1987). She has also had roles as Alison McGrellis in Casualty (1988–1989), Alice in Harry (1993–1995), Alison McIntyre in Life Support (1999), Lisa Kennedy in The Bill (2010), Megan Hartnoll in At Home with the Braithwaites (2000–2003), Alona Cunningham in Between the Sheets (2003), and Mary Gilcrest in William and Mary (2003–2005). Her film credits include The Fruit Machine (1988), Silent Scream (1990), Nuns on the Run (1990), The Big Man (1990), The Near Room (1995), Preaching to the Perverted (1997), Bedrooms and Hallways (1998), and Some Voices (2000). In 1991, she starred in the short film Rosebud with UK painter Sadie Lee. She also appeared as Rosie in the Leave It All Behind series of British television commercials for the Peugeot 106 car, alongside Annie Dunkley and Michael McKell in the mid 1990s.