Alan Dobie

Alan Dobie:

Alan Dobie seems a rather dour, astringent sort of actor, but perhaps that's because I find it a little difficult to separate him from the character of Inspector Cribb, as seen in the '80s Victorian detective series of that name. His career on the big screen has been one interesting oddities, with early roles including 'Captured' (1959), originally an army training film about resisting interrogation that has come to be seen as a classic POW drama, and the Brit-noir 'Seven Keys' (1961) in which he plays an ex-con unravelling a mystery while seeking hidden loot.    

In 'Captured' (1959), a military training film that remained
unseen by the general public until 2004

He also appears in the popular Disney adventure serial, later released as a feature film, 'Dr Syn, Alias The Scarecrow' (1963) opposite Patrick McGoohan as the eponymous smuggler, and he's in the curiously seedy Kenneth More drama, 'The Comedy Man' (1964).

In the Walt Disney adventure serial 'Dr Syn' (1963)

For much of the '60s and '70s, he became a stalwart of the television play, appearing in various strands such as 'The Wednesday Play', 'BBC Sunday-Night Play', 'Theatre 625', and 'Play For Today'. He also in some heavy drama serials like 'Resurrection',  'The Plane Makers', 'War and Peace' and 'Hard Times', before getting the starring role in 'Cribb', itself a spin-off from an original play. Other highlights of the '80s include the post-'Secret Army' series 'Kessler', the highbrow, but rather fleshy, drama-documentary about the life of Ingres, 'Artists and Models', and the tour-de-force portrayal of Rabbi Moses Ben Nachman in the medieval religious debate of 'The Disputation'.           

As Prince Bolkonsky in the 1972 BBC epic 'War and Peace' 

As befits such an accomplished actor, he's more often been seen on the stage and is a regular of the Peter Hall Company at the Old Vic Theatre in London and the Theatre Royal, Bath.

Alan Dobie - imdb

Tony Britton

Tony Britton:

† June 9 1924 – December 22 2019

Tall and imposing, Tony Britton's smooth good looks could have made him a leading man, but for one reason and another we now chiefly remember him in sitcom fare like 'Robin's Nest' 'Don't Wait Up', 'And Mother Makes Five' and 'Don't Tell Father'.

Back in the '50s, he had a few starring and higher-billing supporting roles in films like 'Loser Take All' (1956), 'The Birthday Present' (1957), 'Behind the Mask' (1958), The Heart of a Man' (1959), and the Boulting Brothers spy suspenser 'Suspect' (1960). All are now largely forgotten, although 'Suspect' (aka 'The Risk') does have a cracking supporting cast with Thorley Walters, Donald Pleasence and Spike Milligan in a rare semi-straight performance.    

'Suspect' (1960)

'There's A Girl In My Soup' (1970)

He was in an episode of 'The Saint' on TV but didn't show up in the usual ITC classics, more often appearing in 'Play for Today' and the like, before landing parts in some interesting films. He was in the Peter Sellers/Goldie Hawn screwball romance 'There's A Girl In My Soup' (1970), the middle-aged permissive era misery-fest 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' (1971) and the perennial dad's favourite 'The Day of the Jackal' (1973), before the sitcom '70s finally beckoned. 

With Roger Moore in 'The Saint'

In 'Robin's Nest'

He's an accomplished stage actor and still going strong at 89. This might bring back a few memories though.

Edit 22nd Dec 2019: Sorry to hear that Tony Britton has died aged 95.

Tony Britton - imdb