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

David Simeon

David Simeon: 

The sandy-haired and usually horn-rimmed Mr Simeon was once a solid regular of British TV, turning up in an assortment of middling comedies and dramas throughout the '70s and early '80s, after getting of to a good start with a decent part in the now-lost 1967 TV series of 'Sexton Blake'. He was one of the key members of the teatime comedy show 'End of Part One' alongside the over-excitable Denise Coffey and kids favourites Fred 'Ragtime' Harris and Tony Aitken, and played the straight man in sketches for comedians as diverse(?) as Dick Emery and Lenny Henry. His sitcom work is a bit patchy: from top-notch stuff like 'Fawlty Towers', 'The New Statesman' and 'Ever Decreasing Circles', to schedule-fillers 'Birds of a Feather' and 'Sykes', and a lot of rubbish along the lines 'Rings on their Fingers', 'The Many Wives of Patrick', and the abysmal Leslie Phillips vehicle 'Casanova '73'.        

On the drama front, he shows up in ho-hum '70s cop soaps 'Z-Cars', 'Hunters Walk', and 'Special Branch', and the obligatory 'Dr Who' or two ('The Daemons' and 'Inferno'), and appears for an instant in the famously hard-boiled (or gratuitously violent) Brit 1969 gangster series 'Big Breadwinner Hog'. After all that comes the wasteland of '80s hospital and courtroom tosh: 'Angels', 'The Bill', 'Casualty' and 'Doctors'. A rare starring role comes in Nigel Kneale's 'Murrain', a segment of the interesting drama series 'Beasts'.    

He hasn't hit Hollywood, or even Borehamwood, in a big way, but minor credits include 'A Fish Called Wanda' (1988), 'Sweet William' (1980) and the interesting-sounding 'Freelance' (1971), a gangland thriller starring Ian McShane and with a soundtrack by Basil Kirchin.   

David Simeon - imdb