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 

Peter Elliott

Peter Elliott:

In the David Hughes pseudo-documentary 'Missing Link' (1988)

The go-to guy for gorillas in the British film industry, Peter Elliott is one of the world's most accomplished animal actors, specialising in the movements of apes and ape-like creatures.   




Putting his face on, in 'Buddy' (1997)

And if he's done anything, he's done apes – donning the monkey suit for 'Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord Of The Apes' (1984), Gorillas In The Mist' (1988), 'Congo' (1995), The Island Of Doctor Moreau (1996), Fierce Creatures (1997), and 'King Kong Lives' (1986).

On all fours again, but no fun-fur this time. As one of
the sinister Wheelers in 'Return To Oz' (1985)  

In the days before CGI, this is how you did scenes of utter devastation and carnage.
A man in a gorilla suit treading on a model Lamborghini in 'King Kong Lives' (1986)

He's also been in Red Dwarf as a chimp and he played Bollo the gorilla, from 'The Mighty Boosh' - but only in the episodes set in Dixon Bainbridge's zoo.

The more domesticated Bollo from the later series of 'The Mighty Boosh'
isn't played by Elliott, but by Dave Brown 

Peter Elliott-imdb

Michael Percival

Michael Percival:

† 2015*

Many people's principle memories of Michael Percival date from when he played the sardonic form-teacher Mr Mitchell in the heyday of the popular BBC school series 'Grange Hill'. He's another of those actors who used to show up regularly, but are infuriatingly difficult to place.  

Perhaps you can spot him in feature films like 'Marat/Sade' (1967), 'No Blade of Grass' (1970), and the John Cleese trio 'Clockwise' (1986), 'A Fish Called Wanda' (1988) and 'Fierce Creatures' (1997),

Unusually casual behind the bar in an episode of 'Inspector Morse'

TV appearances include 'Boon', 'Rosemary & Thyme', 'Inspector Morse', 'Kavanagh QC', and 'My Uncle Silas'. He's also in 'Doctor Who' (Matt Smith episode 'Vampires of Venice'), 'Lovejoy' and comedies 'Me and My Girl' and 'Allo Allo', as well as a regular role in the strange secret service sitcom, 'The Piglet Files' starring Nicholas Lyndhurst.    

As an art dealer in 'Allo Allo'. As you'd imagine, he has just
purchased the 'Portrait of the Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies'.

Having his car stolen by John Cleese in 'Clockwise' (1986)

*Sorry to see Michael Percival's name included in the 'In Memoriam' section of Equity magazine's Winter 2015 issue. I can find no further details at the moment.  

Michael Percival - imdb