Brian Capron

Brian Capron: 

A very familiar face: perhaps it's that of 'Hoppy' Hopgood from 'Grange Hill', or of Gail's murderous husband Richard Hillman from 'Coronation Street', as those are possibly the most memorable of his TV appearances.      

In an episode of 'Blake's 7'

Brian Capron has also been seen in many of the nation's favourites, starting with 'Z-Cars' in 1973 and including other cop and crime dramas such as 'Dixon of Dock Green', 'The Sweeney', 'The Gentle Touch', 'Shoestring' and 'Bergerac'.

A 1977 episode of  'Crown Court' entitled
'A Place to Stay' 

The handsome and amiable seeming actor is also a mainstay of comedy through the 70s-90s, heading the cast of the house-sharing sitcom 'Full House', and showing up on 'Beryl's Lot',  'Doctor On The Go', 'Kelly Monteith', 'Minder', 'Birds of a Feather', 'Take My Wife' (with the curious coupling of Duggie Brown and Elisabeth Sladen), 'Mixed Blessings', and Dawn French's 'Murder Most Horrid'.  

'Full House' in which he starred with Christopher Strauli (right),
seen here in the first episode with the great Milton Johns. 
 

Since the 2000s, he's clocked up a solid reckoning of daytime dramas from 'Doctors', 'Judge John Deed' and 'New Tricks' to 'Midsomer Murders' and 'Where the Heart Is'. 

On the big screen, he can be spotted in the Gwyneth Paltrow 'Emma' (1996), '101 Dalmations' (1996), and in bigger roles in the lesser-known British productions, 'Ambleton Delight' (2009) and 'The National Union of Space People' (2016).      

Brian Capron-imdb

Gabrielle Glaister

 

Gabrielle Glaister:

"Well now, young ... Bob."

A running joke across the 'Blackadder' series was Edmund's perplexing attraction to strapping young lad Bob, played by the transparently female Gabrielle Glaister. A nod to the gender politics of the various eras in which it's set - and a nod to Shakespearean theatre and cross-dress plotting. Writer Ben Elton returns to this theme in 'Upstart Crow' when a judge, also played by Glaister, turns up as "Judge Robert". 

Before these meta comedy japes, Gabrielle Glaister would probably have been best known to British TV audiences as Patricia Farnham in the long running Liverpool-set soap, 'Brookside', a role she played for seven years. She was also a long-running character in 'Coronation Street', and appeared in 'Emmerdale' and the less well-remembered soap 'Family Affairs'.

A photo-opp for Channel 4's 'Brookside'
(Gabrielle Glaister, second left) 

Beyond 'Blackadder' her comedy roles have included 'All at Number 20', 'Get Well Soon', the aforementioned 'Upstart Crow' and Ben Elton's sketch vehicle, 'The Man from Auntie'. But it's in more straight drama programming that you're more likely to run across her, for example all the daytime TV staples: 'The Bill', 'London's Burning', 'Casualty', 'Doctors' and 'Peak Practice'.   

As Debs Brownlow in 'Coronation Street'

Gabrielle Glaister-imdb

Susie Blake

Susie Blake:

Pert and pretty actress, hilarious as the confidingly bitchy continuity announcer from 'Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV' in the '80s and later memorable as the boozy barmaid Bev in 'Coronation Street' who would have married Fred Elliott - had he not dramatically died in epic soap opera style on the morning of their wedding.

Susie Blake's mother Molly presented the popular 
BBC children's programme 'Muffin The Mule'

A member of the illustrious Mills dynasty of actors (she's the great niece of Sir John and cousin to Hayley and Juliet), Susie Blake trained at LAMDA and began appearing on television during the mid-'70s. Her charm and vivacity might have seen her cast in a number of typically lightweight young female roles of the era, but clearly her stage-honed acting ability and knack for comedy started to show itself quite early in her career.     

In her first TV role, a 1974 episode of 'Zodiac' 

As a music hall singer in the Victorian detective series, 'Cribb'

By the '80s, she could be seen in the sitcom 'Born & Bred' and was a regular in 'Russ Abbott's Saturday Madhouse', but it was 1985's 'Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV' that cemented her place in the public eye. Less famously, she also provided voices for Victor Lewis Smith's hit-and-miss 'Adventures of Ferdinand De Bargos' and was given centre stage in her own sketch comedy vehicle, 'Something For The Weekend' in 1989. 

With Russ Abbott in his popular Saturday
evening variety/sketch show in the '80s 

We also see Susie Blake pop up briefly in hit shows of the '90s such as 'One Foot In The Grave', The Darling Buds Of May', and the wine-bar, Laura Ashley frock-era comedy 'Singles', before we hit the 'Coronation Street' years. She played Bev Unwin from 2003 until 2015, quite an epic stint, even for that great national institution. Keeping her hand in on the theatre stage, she also found time to appear in a number of large productions at the National Theatre and Lyric in everything from Ibsen and Shakespeare to 'South Pacific' and Joe Penhall's 'Blue/Orange'. 
  

Slightly miffed at having John Cleese lick her
injured leg in 'Fierce Creatures' (1997) 

Trouble at the Rovers Return, as Bev Unwin
in 'Coronation Street' 

There aren't many cinema productions in which she can be spotted, but they include 'Fierce Creatures' (1997), and 'Nativity 3' (2014). It's more likely you will see her these days in the unfathomably popular 'Mrs Brown's Boys' in which she plays Hilary. I wonder how Victoria Wood would have her snooty announcer character describe that particular programme? We shall never know.     

Susie Blake - imdb 

Dicken Ashworth

Dicken Ashworth:

These days, if I were to say the words 'Alan Partridge' to you, you'd probably lunge back with a hearty 'A-ha!'. Well, if you're that sort of person, you might. But, back in the early '80s, those words would immediately bring to mind the image of Dicken Ashworth. He was playing the hefty, sobbing and very drunk sad-sack Alan Partridge, stumbling about the close in Channel 4's new soap 'Brookside', knocking over the bins and yelling 'Why did you leave me, Sam?', while the net curtains twitched nervously in the front rooms of Edna Cross and Sheila Grant.  

As the (very Yorkshire) alien barbarian chieftain, Gunn-Sar,
in 'Blakes 7'. Thankfully, he has his shirt on in this shot. 

Burly, gruff and permanently-moustachioed Yorkshire-born actor Dicken Ashworth made his first TV appearances in the late '70s, but an early memorable role was in 'Minder' as the abusive husband of one of Terry's old girlfriends (played by Sharon Duce). It's the episode where Terry gets a bit wistful and almost gives up all the ducking and diving with Arthur when she tells him the her lad is his son. 

 

The ominous arrival in London of violent husband 
Ronnie, looking for his wife and son, in 'Minder'

In 'Scabs', the award-winning ITV drama about the
miners' strike, still a very raw subject in 1986.   

Comedy buffs might remember him in Norman Lovett's awkwardly surreal sitcom 'I, Lovett', and others such as 'Love Hurts', 'Keeping Up Appearances', 'The Thin Blue Line', The Detectives', and the star-studded but rather clunkily satirical 'Look At The State We're In!'. He also crops up in fun stuff like 'Doctor Who', 'Blakes 7', and 'Crossbow' aka 'William Tell', the international TV collaboration in the 'Robin of Sherwood' mould. 

Norman's neighbour Darren, in 'I, Lovett'

He was arguably more at home in police and action dramas, from the cosy capers of 'Boon' and 'Big Deal', to the more gritty 'Inspector Morse', The Chinese Detective', 'Juliet Bravo', 'The Gentle Touch', 'Hazell'. In addition to 'Brookside', he had soap stints in 'Coronation Street' and 'Emmerdale', as well as multiple roles over the years in 'The Bill' and those old stand-bys 'Doctors' and 'Heartbeat', but he is unusual in avoiding the 'Casualty'/'Holby City' universe.        

A bit of muscle for protection racketeer Philip 
Jackson in an episode of 'The Gentle Touch' 

He was in some feature films too. He's in the fantasy classic 'Krull' (1983), 'Force 10 From Navarone' (1978) and Roman Polanski's 'Tess' (1979). He also provided the voice of Mr Mulch in 'Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were Rabbit' (2005).

So, there you go. Knowing you, Dicken Ashworth. A-ha!

Dicken Ashworth-imdb

Christopher Sandford

Christopher Sandford:  

 The '60s were remarkable years, fizzing with possibilites, of sudden opportunities and lingering disappointments. Christopher Sandford's story is fascinating in the way it touches obliquely on some pivotal pop-culture moments. Without knowing it, I'd watched him in a number of my favourite films and television programmes, without a glimmer of recognition or connection.

'Coronation Street' Oct 1963, as would-be beat sensation Walter Potts   

Early roles as a teenager included a few TV shows, mostly now lost, and typical light comedies such as the inevitable cruise-ship romp 'Next To No Time' (1958) with Kenneth More and Sid James, and the equally inevitable schoolboy hi jinks of 'A French Mistress' (1960), with James Robertson Justice. But it was his role as Walter Potts, the gormless window cleaner of 'Coronation Street' that brought him to the public's attention. In 1963, as Beatlemania was gathering momentum, the primetime soap's storyline saw Walter transformed into "Brett Falcon" by would-be impresario Dennis Tanner. This neat TV-pop crossover even resulted in a flurry of real-life singles on Decca and Fontana. 

         

His solo album on Transatlantic from the mid-'60s. 

Demonstrating a radio tracking device to
Patrick McGoohan in 'Danger Man'  

He appears in several episodes of 'Danger Man', notably as a Arthur the departmental boffin and as a DJ/agent on a pirate radio station in 'Not So Jolly Roger'. He seems to have been ticking along nicely with the odd part in popular shows of the time, including 'Z-Cars', 'No Hiding Place', 'Public Eye' and 'The Saint'. He also appears in 'Half A Sixpence' (1967) as Tommy Steele's mate Sid, and the BBC adaptation of Dickens's 'Dombey & Son' from 1969.   

Flash bang wallop what a picture.  In 'Half A Sixpence' (1967)
with Tommy Steele (and the late great Julian Orchard). 

As Brett Sinclair's tuneless cousin Onslow, about to get electrocuted in a
'Kind Hearts & Coronets'-influenced episode of 'The Persuaders'    

The '70s presented a new landscape. Sandford's swinging London pop-persona was in demand, but looking increasingly outré in the new decade. He appears in full comedy-mode in 'The Persuaders' Ealing-esque episode 'A Death In The Family' as Roger Moore's groovy duffer of a cousin. On the darker side, he turns up as the brilliantly-named depraved pornographer David Thing  in "Cool It Carol' (1970) a rather grimy, if moralistic, sexploiter with Robin Askwith.        

Great character name. With a curious mix of guest stars in the
Robin Askwith sexploitation movie 'Cool It Carol' (1970)  

Darker still is his slightly chilly turn as Sue's fiancé in the marvellous 'Deep End' (1971), and another rather grim gooseberry role in the obscure Giallo-style 'Die Screaming Marianne' (1971).       

As the fiancé of Sue (Jane Asher) in 'Deep End' (1971)

'Die Screaming Marianne' (1971)

The remainder of the '70s saw relatively few highlights, and in fact there are only six entries on imdb covering the period from 1975 to 2006. He also returned to music with a couple of pastiche comedy records. A modest claim to fame comes from his appearance in the 'Dad's Army' episode 'Time On My Hands' as the German airman dangling from the Walmington-on-Sea town hall clock.  
  

A mixed bag, but some real gems, some terrific oddball stuff and a fascinating story.   

Christopher Sandford-imdb

Sharon Duce

Sharon Duce: 

An acclaimed stage actress, but best known to TV audiences for a string of roles in series through the 1980s including 'Big Deal', 'The Hard Word', 'Funny Man' and 'Coming Home' starred with Duggie Brown in both 'The Hard Word' in 1983 and Shelagh Delaney's  'The House That Jack Built'. Earlier work saw her establishing a precedent of attractive, but serious young women characters - a doubtless uphill struggle in the aftermath of the dolly-bird era. She played a WPC in 'Z Cars', and was Terry's old flame in the memorable 'Minder' episode where he thinks he has a long-lost son.     

As Lu in Shelagh Delaney's 1977 drama series 'The House That Jack Built'

As Jan Oliver in 'Big Deal' 

The 1990s and 2000s saw her appear in the most popular primetime fodder of the day: 'Peak Practice', 'Boon', 'Holby City' etc, and crime dramas such as 'Dalziel & Pascoe' and  'Wycliffe'.   

Enjoying Christmas with the 'Royle Family' in 2000. 

More recently there have been forays into the world of soaps, with featured roles in 'Coronation Street' and 'Emmerdale', and of course the ever-present 'Midsomer Murders' and the likes of 'Casualty', 'London's Burning', 'The Bill' and 'Doctors'.     

As the self-reliant Hermione Hepworth in 'In Loving Memory'

Television comedy has included 'In Loving Memory', 'Singles' and the much loved 'Royle Family At Christmas', while sporadic feature film appearances were in 'Outland' (1981), 'Funny Man' (1981), 'Rogue Trader' (1999) and Conviction' (2004).  
    
Sharon Duce - imdb

Edward De Souza

Edward De Souza:
Debonair De Souza approached male lead status in the early '60s, appearing in the Hammer films ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (1962) and ‘The Kiss of the Vampire’ (1962), followed by 'Jules Verne's First Men In The Moon' ( 1964), but somehow he missed that particular boat and moved into character roles, in which he has been a consistent fixture across more than five decades.  There have been a number of relatively high profile film appearances. In 1977 he played Sheik Hosein in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me' and is seen in the fantasy drama ‘The Golden Compass’ (2007).

Propping up the bar of the Rovers Return in 'Coronation Street'

Television, however, has been his bread and butter, with comedy playing a surprisingly large part. From 1961 to 1966, he starred in the sitcom 'Marriage Lines' with Richard Briers and Prunella Scales.  de Souza played the role of Afonso in One Foot in the Grave One Foot in the Algarve (1993). He also appeared in 'Not In Front Of The Children' with Wendy Craig, as well as the underrated office comedy, 'The Squirrels' and the television version of 'After Henry' (1989–90).

In 'Kiss Of The Vampire' (1962)

In TV drama, he was solicitor Bonny Bernard in the first series of ‘Rumpole of the Bailey’ (1978), and in 1982 he appeared in the final ‘Sapphire & Steel’ adventure as "The Man". Farrington. Earlier, he took the part of Soveral (the Portuguese Ambassador to Britain) in ‘Edward the Seventh’, and joined the British soap opera Coronation Street as Colin Grimshaw, in 2008 and 2009. To this we can add a sprinkling of cult fodder stretching from 'The Saint', 'The Avengers', and 'Department S' to 'Strangers' and 'The Sweeney'. Latterly you might catch him in 'Doctors', the 2012 version of 'The Borgias', or 'New Tricks'.  

In the Wednesday Play 'The End Of Arthur's
Marriage', with the late Ken Jones

 Trivial treat: In 1965, he appeared as the lead in the Doctor Who story Mission to the Unknown – the only story ever broadcast in the series not to feature the Doctor in any capacity. He took on Valentine Dyall’s trademark role as the ominous sounding 'Man in Black' on BBC Radio 4 between 1988 and 1992.

Not quite stealing the limelight in 'Kiss Of A Vampire' (1962)

Edward De Souza-imdb

Rosemarie Dunham

Rosemarie Dunham

† Dec 13 1924 – Dec 5 2016*

Probably best known for her portrayal of Edna, the sensual, if slightly careworn, landlady in 'Get Carter' (1971), acclaimed stage actress Rosemarie Dunham had previously appeared in a smattering of TV dramas, such as 'The Avengers', 'Z-Cars', 'No Hiding Place' and 'Gideon's Way', as well as a less-expected 'Benny Hill Show'. Born Rosemarie Tomlinson, daughter of a squadron leader stationed on the RAF base at Leuchars in Fife, she later took as her stage name the middle name of her first husband, noted television presenter and documentarist Michael Ingrams.           

Rosemarie Dunham (left) with Mary Kenton in a 1964
episode of the Victorian detective series 'Sergeant Cork'    

Vamping it up with Benny Hill in 1965

As a no-nonsense waitress in the first episode of  'Budgie'

After 'Get Carter' there were a few more feature films, such as 'The Divine Sarah' (1976) and 'Croupier' (1999), but more often straight-to-video stuff like 'Tai-Pan' (1986) and 'Lady Oscar' (1979).

Getting a little frisky with Jack Regan (John Thaw), deep
undercover as a hard-of-hearing shop assistant, in 'The Sweeney'

In an episode of the Kenneth More TV series of 'Father Brown'

Her later TV roles were a mixed bag too. From 'The Sweeney', 'The Return Of The Saint', 'Father Brown', 'Shoestring' and 'Bergerac', to soaps and daytime serials like 'Coronation Street', 'Crown Court', and 'The Cedar Tree'. Mostly she seems to have played tough, confident types, but in an impressive sweep from dowds to duchesses, including an impressively realist 'Play For Today' performance in 1973's 'Kisses At Fifty' with Bill Maynard.    

As boutique owner Sylvia in 'Coronation Street', dealing with
nightmare customer Hilda Ogden (Jean Alexander) in 1976

*Edit: Having heard of Rosemarie Dunham's death from her son, I've adjusted her dates to match the information he provided, including date of birth which must have been earlier than usually quoted.    

Rosemarie Dunham - imdb

Peter Martin

Peter Martin:
† Dec 1941 - April 19 2023

Distinctive, spud-nosed actor. Played the gaffer looking for building supplies in those 'They've got the Jewson lot!' TV ads from the '90s. Born in Accrington, he has cornered a small part of the market for playing Northerners of various sorts, from canny barmen and no-nonsense farmers to daft ha'porths and confused customers.

In fact, a run through his CV takes you on a whistle-stop tour of Northern comedy and drama since the late '70s. 

He's got a list.

Take for instance: 'The Liver Birds', 'A Bit Of A Do', 'The Gaffer', 'First/Last Of The Summer Wine', 'Dinnerladies' and various other Victoria Wood shows, plus 'The Royle Family', 'Rosie', 'In Loving Memory' and the 'Beiderbecke' trilogy.

Enjoying Christmas with 'The Royle Family'

To this, add a smattering of soaps and light dramas, to whit: 'Emmerdale', 'Coronation Street', 'Bergerac', Dalziel & Pascoe', 'Strangers', and so on...  


Peter Martin-imdb