Derek Martin

Derek Martin:  
† Apr 11 1933 – Jan10 2026

If you watch 'EastEnders', you'll recognise Derek Martin as lovelorn cabbie Charlie Slater who was finally killed off in 2016, after 700+ episodes and even a spin-off, 'Slaters In Detention'. And if you don't watch 'EastEnders', you'll recognise him from dozens of cop series, gangster dramas and comedies, stretching back to the '60s.

Cutting up rough in an episode of 'The Professionals'

Despite having little formal drama training, Londoner Derek Martin has been ubiquitous in no-nonsense roles across British television for decades. Leaving his job at Smithfield meat market and starting as a stuntman and extra, he soon proved to be more than capable with dialogue and gradually built a reputation as reliable casting for heavies, coppers, soldiers and security guards. 

An uncredited appearance in the 'Doctor Who'
adventure 'The Claws Of Axos' from 1971

In 'The Curse Of Fendahl', a classic Tom Baker 'Who' from 1977 

An idea of this trajectory can be seen from his long involvement with 'Doctor Who'. Cast in no fewer than nine adventures from 1965 onwards, he was an uncredited extra until 1977's 'The Curse Of Fendahl'. A conscious decision to move away from stunt work and into speaking roles paid off after much effort and application. The long upwards haul included appearances in 'No Hiding Place', 'Adam Adamant Lives!', 'Z-Cars', 'Softly Softly', 'Terry & June', 'Hart To Hart' (an episode shot in London), 'Target', 'Shoestring', 'Private Schultz', 'Minder' and 'Angels'.        

As a redcap in an episode of 'It Ain't Half Hot Mum'
with the late Windsor Davies and Donald Hewlett  

As the bent copper DI Lyall in 'Law & Order' 

Big breaks came in the form of 'Law & Order' in 1978, a gritty police corruption drama featuring his soon-to-be 'EastEnders' colleague Peter Dean. He also played David Yip's guvnor DCI Berwick in 'The Chinese Detective' and Janet McTeer's cynical deputy in the prison drama 'The Governor'. 

A TV stalwart and deserving of a salute.

Derek Martin-imdb 

Paul Putner

 Paul Putner:

Expert comic foil Paul Putner is a somewhat familiar face, at least in the edgier realms of UK television comedy. You may have seen him in shows with the likes of Kevin Eldon, Peter Serafinowicz, Lee & Herring, Lucas & Walliams, and the Comedy Lab.     

In the 'Peter Serafinowicz Show'

In the early '90s, LAMDA graduate Paul Putner was part of the comedy team at London's easy-listening revival hotspot The Regency Rooms, with kitsch crooner Lenny Beige and Co. A meeting of minds with Richard Herring seems to have led to a rich seam of semi-straight-man roles in TV as the fringe comics were snaffled up by the networks. He's also a successful comedy writer with credits in TV and radio.

As Curious Orange on 'This Morning With Richard, Not Judy'

A disquieting vignette with Toby Jones in
the always excellent '15 Storeys High'  

He can be spotted in 'The Glam Metal Detectives', 'Murder Most Horrid', 'This Morning With Richard, Not Judy', '15 Storeys High' and 'Spaced', as well as Peter Serafinowicz's eponymous show and his cult hit 'Look Around You', not to mention 'Little Britain', 'It's Kevin', and 'Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle'.     

As the surreally practical Bob in 'It's Kevin'

With Nicholas Lyndhurst, getting the third 
degree from Mel Smith in 'Rock and Chips'

More conventional TV fare includes 'The Bill', 'Foyle's War', 'Midsomer Murders', 'Downton Abbey' and the '60s-set 'Only Fools and Horses' prequel 'Rock and Chips'. All in all, a pretty decent collection of comedy connections and a likeable screen presence - so hopefully this little salute has done something to elevate him above 'that bloke' status. 

Edit: And the more I find out about Mr Putner, the more I like him. Here's a link to a rummage through his excellent-looking record collection. 

Paul Putner-imdb

Patrick Murray

Patrick Murray:

† Dec 17 1956 – 29 September 2025

London-born actor, probably most instantly recognisable as Mickey Pearce, Rodney's comedy foil in 'Only Fools And Horses', permanently frozen as a chirpy two-tone wideboy, already something of an anachronism by the time he appeared in 1983.

Patrick Murray had previously been seen in the gritty Borstal drama 'Scum' (1979) and before that, the low-budget 'Moon Over The Alley' (1976) a sort-of musical that dealt fairly unflinchingly with racism in '70s Notting Hill, and 'The Class Of Miss McMichael' (1977) which saw a rigid Oliver Reed and progressive Glenda Jackson clashing in the staff room of a rough-house London school.      

In the interesting social conscience musical 'Moon Over The Alley' (1975)

  At the tail-end of the '70s there was a flush of tougher social dramas with 'natural' actors and Patrick Murray was able to find a series of roles in these, but his 'authentic' London characterisations were tempered by his slight build and less-than-menacing demeanour which led to a series of comedy parts, including the perennial chancer of the Nag's Head.  

            

As Dougan in the powerful and influential 'Scum' (1979)

While a semi-regular gig in 'Only Fools And Horses' that ran across 20 years, from 1983 till 2003, other roles filled out the actor's schedule. TV comedies included 'The Upper Hand', 'Shelley', Hale & Pace's 'The Management', and the strangely memorable Robert Gillespie vehicle, 'Keep It In The Family. 

With Glenda Jackson in 'The Class Of Miss McMichael' (1977)

As a lift boy in the feeble 'Curse Of The Pink Panther' (1983)

On the drama side, he shows up in smallish roles in 'Bergerac', 'Lovejoy', Roy Clarke's short-lived 'Pulaski', 'House Of Elliott' and of course 'The Bill'. I'm slightly surprised to see that he never appeared in 'The Sweeney' or 'Minder', which I would have thought were nailed-on certainties. One interesting oddity is 'Big Jim & The Figaro Club' a one-off nostalgic drama about a student who returns to his village for summer work on a building site, it later became a series, but without Murray.     

Playing Enid Blyton's idea of a villain in 'Five On Kirrin Island Again' 

Most recently, he has been starring in his own series - originally to be called 'Brain Damage', but which is now being touted under the name 'Conditions' - a light-hearted (I think) drama about retrieving some escaped mental patients. As far as I can tell, it has yet to be picked up by a network, although a number of episodes have been made - with Denis Waterman joining the cast at some point.    

Still wearing the Mickey Pearce pork-pie hat for the fans 

Feature film jobs since the '70s have been rather thin on the ground, but he can be spotted briefly in 'The Curse Of The Pink Panther' (1983) a poor effort made after Peter Sellers died, and has a rather grisly moment in the Hazel O'Connnor pop potboiler 'Breaking Glass' (1980) as the kid killed during a skinhead riot under the Westway.  He has apparently spent some time abroad and worked extensively as a limo driver in North Kent near where I live. More recently, I'm pleased to see that has returned to acting. He appears in 'Vikingdom' (2013) a cartoony 3D-CGI fantasy movie, although he's not easy to recognise under the world's biggest eyebrows. Here's the trailer.       

Something a bit different. As the wise man Alcuin in the
Norse hokum 'Vikingdom' (2013)

Patrick Murray-imdb

Rachel Bell

Rachel Bell:  

John Sullivan's '80s lonely-hearts sitcom 'Dear John' had a pleasingly melancholy undertow that makes it more appealing - to me, anyway - than his poll-winning national treasure, 'Only Fools And Horses'. A lot of that can be put down to the downbeat performance of Ralph Bates, previously best known for playing dashing Hammer Horror leading men, but also to a strong ensemble cast. The encounter groups were led by the fearsomely helpful Louise, played strongly by Rachel Bell as a self-help dragon spouting lurid Freudian analysis and trite '80s motivational claptrap.       

Under tough questioning in a 'Crown Court' episode from 1978

With Ronnie Barker in 'The Magnificent Evans' 

Before 'Dear John' in 1987, a number of television productions had featured her talents, among them 'Disraeli' with Ian McShane, 'The Magnificent Evans', 'Alas Smith & Jones', 'Miss Marple', a couple of 'Play For Today' dramas, and the 'Only Fools...' episode 'To Hull And Back'. She was also a regular in a spoof chat show on the newly-created Channel 4 called 'For 4 Tonight', written by  a pre-fame Ruby Wax and directed by a post-fame Mickey Dolenz. Sounds interesting, maybe, but I can't find any archive video.      

The latter '80s and early '90s included some situation comedies: 'Home To Roost', The Upper Hand',  'Last Of The Summer Wine'; some drama 'We'll Meet Again', 'Goodbye Cruel World', and the very odd 'Doctor Who' story 'The Happiness Patrol', before she landed another plum role, as the snooty Edith Pilchester in 'The Darling Buds Of May'.        

In 'Dr Who: The Happiness Patrol'. The weird Sylvester McCoy
era story with the Bertie Bassett-esque alien, The Kandyman  

As Miss Pilchester in 'The Darling Buds Of May' 

'Grange Hill' gave her a long run as Deputy Head Mrs Holmes during its later few years, and the new millennium has brought a steady supply of work ranging from 'Chucklevision', 'Birds Of A Feather' and 'The Bill', to 'The Detectorists' and JK Rowling's low-key detective series 'Strike'.   

As a teacher in the post-Harry Potter reboot
of 'The Worst Witch' for CBBC   

She can be spotted in a few feature films: 'The Edge Of Love' (2008), 'Red Mercury' (2005), 'Mary' (2005), and 'Sweet William' (1980), and also stepped neatly into Patricia Routledge's shoes for the stage version of 'Keeping Up Appearances'  

Rachel Bell-imdb

Denis Lill

Denis Lill:

New Zealander Denis Lill has worked his trademark combination of 'tache and balding pate into some of the most popular British TV since the early '70s. There are some iconic period dramas, like 'Edward VII', 'Lillie', 'Fall Of Eagles', 'The Gathering Storm' and 'Madame Bovary'. Then there are the popular action series, including 'Z-Cars', 'Softly Softly Task Force', 'Survivors', 'The Professionals' and 'Van Der Valk'.

A rare appearance without the trademark moustache in
the TV sensation of 1976, 'Rock Follies'.

In 'Fall of Eagles' as Prince Frederick III, son-in-law of
Queen Victoria and father of the future Kaiser Wilhelm

He has a talent for comedy too. There have been roles in some of the better class of gentle humour, such as 'Moody & Pegg' (with Judy Cornwell), the rarefied delights of 'Mapp & Lucia', 'Blackadder III', 'Yes, Prime Minister', 'Outside Edge' and Paul Merton's rather pointless revisiting of Galton and Simpson's 'Impasse' sketch from 'The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins' (1971), in which he took the Keith Smith part as the RAC Man.     

As the permanently sozzled Major Benjy Flint in 'Mapp & Lucia'. Seen here with
the great character actor Geoffrey Chater, playing Mr Algernon Wyse.

Unusually, there have been a comparatively few run-of-the-mill soapy dramas and duff comedies, it's mostly inoffensive primetime stuff and the repeat fees must be continually landing on his doormat. See for example, 'The Royal', 'Only Fools and Horses', 'Red Dwarf', 'Casualty' and 'Heartbeat'.   

As senior surgeon Mr Rose in 'The Royal'

Trivia point: he was in 'Batman' (1989), perhaps in the unique instance of a stand-in for a cameo. Original Batman creator Bob Kane was cast as the cartoonist on the Gotham Globe but couldn't make the filming. 


Denis Lill-imdb

Robin Driscoll

Robin Driscoll:

One of the eminences grises of the British comedy establishment, Robin Driscoll is a key part of the 'Mr Bean' franchise, which he co-writes, but he also turns up on-screen once in a while. He's occasionally seen in 'Bean' episodes, often uncredited, as a  'man in queue', 'patient in waiting room' or 'ticket collector', fulfilling the need for an expert foil for Atkinson's rubbery star turn.

A fare-dodging Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson) attempts
the nonchalant approach on Robin Driscoll  

You might also remember him as one of 'The Fat Sweaty Coppers' - the piss-take of 'The Bill' on 'The Fast Show', which neatly recalled his rare starring role in the '80s police sitcom 'Mornin' Sarge' in which he played Ted, a fat sweaty copper of the old school. An earlier comedy series with many of the same cast members was the 1984 sci-fi spoof, 'They Came From Somewhere Else'. It's dated now, but behind the student politics, hair gel and clonky 'Comic Strip' satire, there's a lot that points the way towards the comedy of Simon Pegg and Co that was to follow. (You can watch it in all its murky VHS glory here.)      

In 'They Came From Somewhere Else'

In a 'Mornin Sarge' episode from 1989

His TV comedy connections have seen him pop up in a few small roles over the years, such as 'Alas Smith and Jones', 'Colin's Sandwich', 'Murder Most Horrid', 'The Smell of Reeves & Mortimer', and 'Chef', which seems to suggest that he's a fun bloke to have on set as well as a comedic craftsman.     

Robin Driscoll-imdb

Diane Langton

Diane Langton:

† May 31 1947 – Jan 15 2025
A successful belter of stage musicals who has made a few forays into TV and movie roles since the early '70s. She was in a few moderately saucy movies during the depressing drizzly decline of the old school British cinema industry: 'Confessions of a Pop Performer' (1975), 'Carry On England' (1976), and one slightly surprisingly example of its renewal, 'The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover' (1989).

With Linda Regan (right) as the Climax Sisters in
'Confessions of a Pop Performer' (1975)  

As Private Easy in 'Carry On England' (1976)

 On the small screen, she's been in the 'Carry On Laughing' TV spin-off, as a sort of ersatz Barbara Windsor, 'Only Fools and Horses' as Del's old flame June, and in the revival of 'The Rag Trade' in the '70s. She's also had some regular drama roles, in 'Heartbeat', 'EastEnders' and 'Hollyoaks', for instance. 

As Ruby Rowan in 'Heartbeat'

Diane Langton-imdb

Nick Stringer

Nick Stringer:

Bullet headed, droopy-tached actor who is often cast as stubborn and belligerent working class characters. He's regularly seen on British TV playing trade-unionists, landlords, coppers, doormen, van drivers and cabbies. Lots of detective and cop shows, as you might expect, including 'The Sweeney', 'Target', 'The Gentle Touch', 'Shoestring', 'The Professionals', 'Bergerac', etc.   

In 'Only Fools and Horses' with David Jason

He's also done a lot of comedy, ranging from the mediocre: 'Bread', 'Rosie', 'Open All Hours', 'Birds of a Feather', to the moderately interesting: 'The New Statesman', 'Murder Most Horrid' and 'This is David Lander'.   

As Alan B'Stard's parliamentary rival Bob Crippen in 'The New Statesman'

Movie appearances include: 'The Long Good Friday' (1980), 'Clockwise' (1986), 'Personal Services' (1987), Roman Polanski's 'Oliver Twist' (2005), and the ill-advised Dylan Thomas romancer 'The Edge of Love' (2008).


Nick Stringer - imdb