Peter Jonfield

Peter Jonfield:

With a memorable debut in the 1979 Sherlock Holmes movie 'Murder By Decree', Peter Jonfield's acting career swung into action. The film, starring Christopher Plummer and James Mason, is rather dated, apart from its fashionably '70s conspiracy theme, and it's surprising to find it was shot simultaneously with the groundbreaking 'Alien' at Elstree.    

Shutting the gate behind Natasha Richardson and Joss Ackland in the

1985 'Adventures of Sherlock Holmes' episode, 'The Copper Beeches'

Peter Jonfield's television career includes a lot of crime series, for instance: 'Bulman', 'Wycliffe', 'Widows 2', 'Bergerac', 'Spender' and a good few episodes of 'The Bill', in which he plays tough coppers, concerned citizens and shifty villains with equal aplomb. 

He also appears in TV comedy such as 'Smith & Jones' and 'Mornin Sarge', and period drama from 'Age Of Treason', 'Foyles War' and 'Bramwell' to 'The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes' and 'Sharpe's Regiment'.       



Throttled to death at the docks, attempting to
escape justice in 'Murder By Decree' (1979) 

His film CV includes roles in 'Clockwise' (1986), 'Pink Floyd: The Wall' (1982), 'McVicar' (1980), 'Time Bandits' (1981), 'A Fish Called Wanda' (1988), and in a slightly different mature role as Mr Andrews in 'Pierrpoint: The Last Hangman' (2004).

In 'Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman' (2004)

Peter Jonfield - imdb

Sheila Fearn

Sheila Fearn: 

A little bit of glamour now, of the wholesome British sort. The lovely Sheila Fearn, who managed to embody both confident sexiness and a down-to-earth mix of good humour and common sense. This impression probably stems largely from two of her best-known roles; as Terry Collier's sister Audrey in 'The Likely Lads' and as the witty and unaffected Anne Fourmile in 'George & Mildred'.

Other golden-era TV appearances include 'The Avengers', 'Z-Cars', 'Adam Adamant Lives', and even an episode of ' The Beverly Hilbillies' where they come to live in an English castle (it's one of the colour series from 1967, I don't know if it ever aired in the UK). She never seemed to hit the big time on the cinema screen, but her few minor roles are in some interesting films, such as 'Billy Liar' (1963), 'Catch Us If You Can' (1965), and an unusually unsympathetic turn as Kevin's mother in 'Time Bandits' (1981) alongside stalwart David Daker. In later years she showed up as Timothy's would-be girlfriend in the depressing Ronnie Corbett TV comedy 'Sorry!' (see also Roy Holder), but faded from sight in the '80s.

At one point, her Wikipedia entry contained a suggestion that her career was brought to an abrupt halt by injury in a serious accident, much as her 'George & Mildred' co-star Norman Eshley's was, although hers was described as a (rather unlikely-sounding) mountaineering fall. This may have been some sort of unedited wiki-mischief, as currently it just says that she retired from acting in 1988.  

Either way, I hope she is in good health these days, and hopefully there might be more acting work in Sheila Fearn's future.            

'The Likely Lads'

'The Avengers' - Murdersville  

'Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'

'George and Mildred'

Sheila Fearn - imdb

David Daker

David Daker: 

Stolid bloodhound type with a classic comb-over, he has played convicts, dads, lorry-drivers, coppers (eg Constable Culshaw in 'Z-Cars'), teachers, heavies, and various nervous, shifty types. Films include a role as the disinterested dad in Terry Gilliam's 'Time Bandits' (1981),  and 'Stardust' (1974), 'The Black Windmill' (1974) and 'Britannia Hospital' (1982). 

On TV he has been seen in 'Dick Turpin', 'Minder', 'Boon', 'UFO', 'Juliet Bravo', and the last resort of the British character actor, 'Holby City'. An old dependable.

And let's not forget his appearance as medieval warrior Irongron, the first human to encounter a Sontaran in Dr Who.

David Daker - imdb profile

Derek Deadman

Derek Deadman: 

† May 1940 – November 21 2014

A former window-cleaner who has made a decent career out of playing dimwits, to the point that he hardly needs to act at all. Which is a good thing, as his acting seems to consist mostly of scratching his head and doing huge double-takes. See his definitive turn as Ringo in the excruciating 'Never The Twain', and spots in 'Benny Hill' (as a sort of junior Bob Todd), 'Porridge', 'George & Mildred', 'Get Some In' and hundreds of bit-part hospital porters, cabbies, butchers, and petty crooks, as well as Stor the Sontaran in the 1978 'Doctor Who' story 'The Invasion of Time'.

'Get busy with the fizzy!' Sodastream advert circa 1980 

In Michael Winner's star-studded but so dreary
British-set version of "The Big Sleep' (1978)  

He was in 'Brazil' (1985), 'Bullshot' (1983), 'Time Bandits' (1981) and a 'Harry Potter' (Philosopher's Stone, 2001), doing more of the same, and fulfilling a constant need within British cinema. For which we salute him.

Update Mar 2015: Sorry to hear that Derek Deadman passed away in Nov 2014.

Derek Deadman - imdb profile