Moira Foot

Moira Foot: 

Very tall and slender, with a charmingly toothy smile and an eye-catching embonpoint, Moira Foot is one of the troupe of dollybird actresses who populated the fantasy landscape of the '70s: either the glory days of light entertainment or the nadir of casual universal sexism, depending on your viewpoint. A quick glance at her credits (that will do, Mr Lucas) immediately conjures another age and another set of comedy values from a problematic canon: 'The Benny Hill Show', 'The Dick Emery Show', the movie of 'On The Buses' (1972), 'Are You Being Served?', and 'Doctor At Large'.     

Benny Hill, as 'World Of Sport's Dickie Davies, delivers a line
that almost certainly has something to do with Bristol City.   

Getting the benefit of George Layton's best bedside
manner in 'Doctor At Large'. 

Her father, Alistair Foot, was a comedy writer and one of the authors of the great touchstone of British theatrical farce, 'No Sex Please, We're British', so perhaps it's not surprising that the attractive young actress should find her way into this particular stream of light entertainment. Her first appearances were in the comedies of Ronnie Barker, well-known for his obsession with saucy postcard humour - a genre from which the cartoonishly glamorous Miss Foot seems to have miraculously stepped. She appears as Effie the maid in 'Hark At Barker' and the follow-up 'His Lordship Entertains', in which she is the frequent cause of Lord Rustless's popped monocle.   

Effie the maid has been making (surprise surprise) some dumplings,
in which Ronnie Barker naturally takes a keen interest    

In addition to the comedy shows and skits, there were a few brief, decorative appearances in dramas, such as 'Quiller' and 'The New Avengers', and other oddments, like the sleuth panel game 'Whodunnit' and a made-for-America musical evening with Jackie Gleason and Julie Andrews. 

As Denise of the Resistance in the later episodes of 'Allo Allo'

Her most recent role was in the fifth series of 'Allo Allo' where she turns up as René's childhood sweetheart, now a member of the Resistance. The show was still very popular, even if it had long since exhausted it's original premise, and she gives an enthusiastic performance at what must have been rather a flat point in the programme's long history. 
                   

Ready to impress the driving examiner - if it were anyone
but Dick Emery's Hello Honky Tonks that is... 

Benny Hill sight gag No. 235. Short bald Jackie Wright is the man
forgetting bus queue etiquette next to the statuesque Moira Foot    

That was 1988, seemingly her last TV appearances for the time being, but she'll certainly be seared into the memories of many for her iconic comedy show legacy. She was understandably sought after by those elder statesmen of British vaudeville and nudge-nudge humour, and whether it was humiliating Benny Hill on a disco dance floor or helping young Mr Grace with his tablets, she played the gag. It was another time. 

Moira Foot-imdb

Paul Angelis

Paul Angelis:

† Jan 18 1943 – Mar 19 2009

This imposing Liverpudlian actor - the older brother of Michael Angelis of 'Liver Birds' fame -  hit our screens a number of times in the '70s and '80s, but had been quietly making his substantial presence known for some time before that. He voiced both Ringo and George, and the Chief Blue Meanie, in the animated Beatles romp 'Yellow Submarine' (1968), for example, and took the randy Scouse git role for the painful but fascinating 'Alf Garnett Saga' (1972) - a grim, barely satirical, document of the sexism and racism of the times. He also appears briefly in the quirky 'Otley' (1968) with Tom Courtenay.     

Playing a comedy heavy with some subtlety and oddly sympathetic menace in
'George & Mildred', while Truffles the Yorkshire terrier piddles on his boots.  

His first regular TV role was as PC Bannerman in the popular cop drama 'Z-Cars', but he swiftly racked up an impressive roll-call of appearances in '70s favourites such as 'Callan', 'Softly Softly', 'The Onedin Line', 'Man About The House', 'Porridge' and 'The Sweeney'. He also appears in some of the more adventurous drama of the period, such as 'Armchair Thriller' and the 'Thirty-Minute Theatre' play 'Under The Age' as Susie, pushing the envelope as a transexual bartender in an edgy piece of TV theatre.   

As Susie in 'Under The Age', a 1972 'Thirty-Minute Theatre'

As TV lost that edge in the '80s, Angelis found roles in the likes of 'Bergerac', 'Boon', 'Tucker's Luck', 'The Gentle Touch' and 'Juliet Bravo', as well as soap opera duties into the '90s with 'Coronation Street', 'EastEnders' and 'Brookside'. While later film work included the Helen Mirren vehicle 'Hussy' (1980) and playing a Bond baddie in 'For Your Eyes Only' (1981).  

With Warren Mitchell in 'The Alf Garnett Saga' (1972) 

In the 1978 'Armchair Thriller' presentation, 'A Dog's Ransom'

The familiar round of latterday TV includes the usual suspects, 'The Bill', 'Casualty' etc, before tapering off in the early 2000s. It seems that he has also written plays and possibly a novel, although I haven't been able to track one down. Still, good stuff all round.  

Paul Angelis-imdb 

Moray Watson

Moray Watson: 

† Jun 25 1928 – May 2 2017

Specialising in the affable sort of toff, jolly sort of magistrate and approachable sort of army officer, this old Etonian has been popping up on TV and in films for the last 60 years. My favourites among his many roles are Lord Collingford in 'Catweazle' and Chief Constable Chubb in 'The Flaxborough Chronicles', but you may have seen him in 'The Avengers', 'The Saint', 'Quiller', or 'Rumpole of The Bailey'. Or maybe 'The Darling Buds Of May' or, quelle surprise, 'Midsomer Murders'. Seems like a gent, anyway.

With the late Elspeth Gray in 'Catweazle'

In the 1982 Dr Who story 'Black Orchid'

In 'The Darling Buds of May'

Moray Watson - imdb profile

Michael Jayston

Michael Jayston: 

† Oct 29 1935 – Feb 5 2024 

"Headache? Tense, nervous headache?"

Despite leading-man good looks and a rich speaking voice, he has tended to play supporting roles as suave villains, businessmen, bounders and decadent aristocrats. After a series of stage Shakespeare successes and a few starring roles in 'Quiller' and 'The Power Game', and as Rochester in 'Jane Eyre', he is now a staple of 'Emmerdale' and 'Holby City' and one of the most in-demand voice-over artists in the country. 

Michael Jayston - imdb profile