Denis Lawson

Denis Lawson:

Compact and suavely handsome in a slightly weasely way, Scottish actor Denis Lawson is a stalwart of British television, but probably known only to the wider world - or the nerdier portion of it - as Wedge Antilles, one of the heroic X-Wing pilots of the original 'Star Wars' trilogy. Extra galactic trivia points are doubtless also accrued by being the uncle of Obi Wan Kenobi, Ewan McGregor. 

As Launcelot Gobbo in the 1973 ITV version of

'The Merchant of Venice'

'Survivors': an episode called 'The Future Hour' from 1975

Up until 'Star Wars' (1977) or whatever they call it now, he had been in an interesting grab-bag of serious drama, typified by the televised version of the NT 'Merchant of Venice' with Laurence Olivier, late night plays like 'Ms Jill or Jack' and 'The Paradise Run', and middle-brow TV hits like 'Survivors', and 'Rock Follies'.



Starring in the DJ sitcom 'The Kit Curran Radio Show'

made by Thames Television in 1984.

The '80s were a bit of a boom time and he appeared in memorable stuff like the quirky time-travel TV play 'The Flipside of Dominick Hyde' and the prescient neo-noir conspiracy crime serial 'Dead Head' as well as getting the starring role in the lightweight sitcom 'The Kit Curran Radio Show'.    

As a jet-setting assassin in 'Bergerac' 

There was also some day-to-day drama and comedy to fill the diary too, 'Boon' and 'Bergerac', 'Robin Hood' and 'Miss Marple', and 'The Good Companions' and 'Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV'. More recently, he had the key role of Jarndyce in the BBC's adaptation of 'Bleak House', as well as major parts in the ghost tale 'Marchlands', 'Criminal Justice' and now 'New Tricks'. I also enjoyed the bleak slapstick of the 'Inside No 9' episode where he played the victim of Shearsmith and Pemberton's hapless art thieves.

Aside from the George Lucas gigs, his film credits include a rare Scottish part in 'Local Hero' (1983) and Jack Rosenthal's clever class vignette, 'The Chain' (1984). He also appears alongside his nephew in 'Perfect Sense' (2011), an example of that under-represented genre, romantic Scottish epidemic-apocalypse sci fi. 

Dennis Lawson-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

David Dixon

 

 

David Dixon: 

Boyish, pixie faced actor best known for the part of feckless alien journalist Ford Prefect in BBC's 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. His first big break came in 'Family at War', ITV's wartime drama from 1970-72, in which he played the cynical son Robert Ashton. 

As Prince Leopold in 'Lillie'

He appeared in a very representative mix of good quality television during the  remainder of the '70s, such as 'The Legend of Robin Hood' as a slimy and effete Prince John, 'Rock Follies', and the Victorian bustle-rustler 'Lillie' about the royal admirers of music hall star Lillie Langtry. The '80s brought 'Hitchhikers' of course, but a lot of prosaic schedule-filler programmes as well, for instance, 'Target', 'Boon', A Touch of Frost' and unavoidably, 'The Bill'. One highlight was the darkly comic John Byrne series 'Tutti Frutti' in which he played the extremely unsympathetic violent ex-boyfriend of Emma Thompson's character, Suzi Kettles.      

'Tutti Frutti'

He has appeared in only a couple of feature films: fleetingly in the Michael Palin comedy, 'The Missionary' (1980) and before that in a leading role in the ghastly-looking 'Escort Girls' (1975) which I'm sure he'd rather forget. [Despite which, here's a link to the trailer, which I must warn you, is NSFW, and offensively sleazy, sexist and racist, although it does feature Alan Hawkshaw's 'The Champ' on the soundtrack. Click here.]  

In the seedy 'Escort Girls' (1975) 

In 'A Touch of Frost'. An episode from 1996 called 'Fun Times For Swingers' 

There's a rather odd fansite for him too. Here's a link.


David Dixon - imdb