Susie Blake

Susie Blake:

Pert and pretty actress, hilarious as the confidingly bitchy continuity announcer from 'Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV' in the '80s and later memorable as the boozy barmaid Bev in 'Coronation Street' who would have married Fred Elliott - had he not dramatically died in epic soap opera style on the morning of their wedding.

Susie Blake's mother Molly presented the popular 
BBC children's programme 'Muffin The Mule'

A member of the illustrious Mills dynasty of actors (she's the great niece of Sir John and cousin to Hayley and Juliet), Susie Blake trained at LAMDA and began appearing on television during the mid-'70s. Her charm and vivacity might have seen her cast in a number of typically lightweight young female roles of the era, but clearly her stage-honed acting ability and knack for comedy started to show itself quite early in her career.     

In her first TV role, a 1974 episode of 'Zodiac' 

As a music hall singer in the Victorian detective series, 'Cribb'

By the '80s, she could be seen in the sitcom 'Born & Bred' and was a regular in 'Russ Abbott's Saturday Madhouse', but it was 1985's 'Victoria Wood: As Seen On TV' that cemented her place in the public eye. Less famously, she also provided voices for Victor Lewis Smith's hit-and-miss 'Adventures of Ferdinand De Bargos' and was given centre stage in her own sketch comedy vehicle, 'Something For The Weekend' in 1989. 

With Russ Abbott in his popular Saturday
evening variety/sketch show in the '80s 

We also see Susie Blake pop up briefly in hit shows of the '90s such as 'One Foot In The Grave', The Darling Buds Of May', and the wine-bar, Laura Ashley frock-era comedy 'Singles', before we hit the 'Coronation Street' years. She played Bev Unwin from 2003 until 2015, quite an epic stint, even for that great national institution. Keeping her hand in on the theatre stage, she also found time to appear in a number of large productions at the National Theatre and Lyric in everything from Ibsen and Shakespeare to 'South Pacific' and Joe Penhall's 'Blue/Orange'. 
  

Slightly miffed at having John Cleese lick her
injured leg in 'Fierce Creatures' (1997) 

Trouble at the Rovers Return, as Bev Unwin
in 'Coronation Street' 

There aren't many cinema productions in which she can be spotted, but they include 'Fierce Creatures' (1997), and 'Nativity 3' (2014). It's more likely you will see her these days in the unfathomably popular 'Mrs Brown's Boys' in which she plays Hilary. I wonder how Victoria Wood would have her snooty announcer character describe that particular programme? We shall never know.     

Susie Blake - imdb 

Peter Martin

Peter Martin:
† Dec 1941 - April 19 2023

Distinctive, spud-nosed actor. Played the gaffer looking for building supplies in those 'They've got the Jewson lot!' TV ads from the '90s. Born in Accrington, he has cornered a small part of the market for playing Northerners of various sorts, from canny barmen and no-nonsense farmers to daft ha'porths and confused customers.

In fact, a run through his CV takes you on a whistle-stop tour of Northern comedy and drama since the late '70s. 

He's got a list.

Take for instance: 'The Liver Birds', 'A Bit Of A Do', 'The Gaffer', 'First/Last Of The Summer Wine', 'Dinnerladies' and various other Victoria Wood shows, plus 'The Royle Family', 'Rosie', 'In Loving Memory' and the 'Beiderbecke' trilogy.

Enjoying Christmas with 'The Royle Family'

To this, add a smattering of soaps and light dramas, to whit: 'Emmerdale', 'Coronation Street', 'Bergerac', Dalziel & Pascoe', 'Strangers', and so on...  


Peter Martin-imdb

Bernard Wrigley

Bernard Wrigley:
 Curly headed, mustachioed folk-singer-turned-actor with a rather hectoring delivery and heavy Bolton accent, who must surely have influenced both Bobby Ball and Simon Farnaby. He's appeared on 'Coronation Street' in no less than six different and unconnected roles between 1976 and 1999, which must surely mean that he is the go-to guy for shorthand Lancashire walk-ons.  

Which isn't to say he doesn't have some serious clout with some of the country's best playwrights and directors. He appeared in the Stephen Frears TV productions of Alan Bennett's 'Me I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf' and 'Afternoon Off', he was the teacher in Alan Clarke's 'Rita Sue and Bob Too' (1987), and he has been a semi-regular for Victoria Wood's ensemble pieces 'Wood and Walters' and 'Dinnerladies'.   

As Mr Trickett in 'Me I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf'

In 'Brassed Off' (1996)

He was also good as the hard-of-hearing receptionist who had to cope with sales-wanker Gareth Cheeseman in 'Coogan's Run' (pictured, top), and as Dodgy Eric in 'Phoenix Nights' who supplied the club with the unfortunate Bucking Bronco and obscene bouncy castle. 


Big-screen duties have included 'A Private Function' (1984), the aforementioned 'Rita Sue and Bob Too' (1987) and the heartwarming brass band movie 'Brassed Off' (1996). One interesting-sounding film I've not seen is the very-low-budget 'Tanner' (2007) a private detective drama which apparently features Frank Williams (the vicar from 'Dad's Army') as a ruthless gangster. Here's the trailer: click here. Looks like it was shot on a phone.

He's got his own YouTube channel with a nice selection of clips. Check it out here.       


Bernard Wrigley - imdb