Nicholas Woodeson

 

 

Nicholas Woodeson:

A classic character actor, always believable and technically accomplished without being at all obtrusive. In fact you will have seen Nicholas Woodeson quite often if you have watched British television much since the '80s.     

Or if you've seen some of the bigger feature films of the period, because he appears in 'Heaven's Gate' (1980), 'The Russia House' (1990), 'The Pelican Brief' (1993), Bill Murray's 'The Man Who Knew Too Little' (1997), 'The Avengers' (1998), 'Mad Cows' (1999), 'Topsy-Turvy' (1999), 'John Carter' (2012), and 'Hannah Arendt' (2012), 'Skyfall' (2012), 'The Limehouse Golem' (2016) and 'Paddington 2' (2019). And he's the conductor dragged out of bed at the beginning of 'The Death of Stalin' (2017).       

Appearing in the film version of 'The Avengers' (1999)

                     

On television, Nicholas Woodeson, can be spotted in quite a cavalcade of quality viewing, encompassing 'Poirot', 'Red Riding', the BBC's 1999 'Great Expectations' as Wemmick to Charlotte Rampling's Miss Havisham, 'The Blackheath Poisonings', 'Mapp & Lucia', 'Blackeyes' and 'Rome'.

And plenty of more everyday stuff: 'Doc Martin', 'Midsomer Murders', 'Touch of Frost', and the unavoidable 'Holby City'.

In the concert scene from 'The Death of Stalin' (2017) 

It's notable that he's played a very wide range of characters, from doctors and detectives to scientists and spies. Interestingly, he has also appeared several times as a rabbi - 'Friday Night Dinner', 'Disobedience (2017), 'My Father's Secrets' (voice, 2022), although he isn't Jewish and is a fairly outspoken critic of US interference in the Middle East, where he was born - his father being a British diplomat.    

Nicholas Woodeson-imdb

Carol MacReady

Carol MacReady:

An adaptable actress with expressive eyes and a face made to convey every nuance of doubt and disapproval, Carol MacReady has been a regular presence on the small screen since the early '70s.

Some prestigious dramas include the 1968 Peter Cushing series of 'Sherlock Holmes', 'The Flame Trees Of Thika', 'Mapp And Lucia' 'The Six Wives of Henry VIII', the Michael Hordern 'Christmas Carol' from 1977, as Mrs Cratchitt, and a regular role in the 1975 Thames series 'Couples'.  

As the sister of Anne of Cleves (played by Elvi Hale, right) in
'The Six Wives of Henry VIII' 

There were also roles in sofa-filling favourites like 'The Sweeney', 'Tales Of The Unexpected', 'The Darling Buds Of May', 'Heartbeat', and more recently 'Doc Martin'. Outright comedy and sitcom shows have included 'Victoria Wood', 'Waiting For God', 'The Vicar Of Dibley', 'Birds Of A Feather' and the dreaded 'Never The Twain'. 

As Kath the Aussie barmaid in an episode of 'The Sweeney'

From 'Never The Twain' it's a short hop to children's television. A big success seems to have been the kids' series 'Bodger & Badger' which was a bit after my time, a patently low-budget slapstick affair that makes 'The Sooty Show' look like PG Wodehouse. Her other children's TV appearances include 'The Return Of The Psammead', 'Danger: Marmalade At Work', and feature films like '102 Dalmations' and 'A Feast At Midnight'.

In the kids' show 'Bodger & Badger', mid '90s.

Alongside comedy and children's TV, she seems to have made a speciality of crime drama, with roles in 'Poirot', 'Inspector Alleyn Mysteries', 'Midsomer Murders', Love Lies Bleeding', and the excellent Dorothy L Sayers adaptation 'Gaudy Night' with Harriet Walter. All good solid stuff.     

Carol MacReady-imdb