Roger Ashton-Griffiths

Roger Ashton-Griffiths:

The name might mean nothing to you, but pale and jowly Roger Ashton-Griffiths has appeared in a number of high-profile films, including Terry Gilliam's 'The Brothers Grimm' and 'Brazil', Martin Scorsese's 'Gangs of New York' (playing Phineas T Barnum), Roman Polanski's 'Pirates', Peter Greenaway's 'The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover' and Woody Allen's 'You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger'.

Originally trained as a singer, he was a member of the ENO before making his TV debut as a red-painted demon in an episode of 'The Young Ones' alongside the late David Rappaport. This seems to have led directly into a steady stream of work from the mid-'80s onwards.  

As Orgo the Demon in 'The Young Ones'

As well as the big cinema names listed above, he was seen in a roll-call of some of the most popular, if not always primetime, television of the last three decades: ' Young Indiana Jones Chronicles', 'Cadfael', 'The Darling Buds of May', 'C.A.T.S. Eyes', 'Lovejoy', 'Grange Hill' and inevitably, 'The Bill'. Recent interesting parts have included 'Torchwood' and that great salvation for the British character actor,  'Game of Thrones' in which he plays high lord something-or-other Mace Tyrell.

In the Matthew Holness short 'A Gun for George' (2011)

As Dr Johnson in 'Samuel Johnson: The Dictionary Man'

 Other appearances include the very dark comedy short (by 'Garth Marenghi's Darkplace' maverick Matthew Holness) 'A Gun For George'. He is also cast as Alfred Hitchcock in Olivier Dahan's forthcoming 'Grace of Monaco' (2014), which sounds interesting, not least for having Robert Lindsay playing Aristotle Onassis.

Roger Ashton-Griffiths-imdb

Kenneth Cope

Kenneth Cope:

† Apr 14 1931 – Sep 11 2024

'Jeff! Wake up, Jeff!'

I'm including Kenneth Cope on here, although I'm aware that to a lot of TV viewers who are British and over 40, he's probably a bit of a star. For you youngsters and non-UK types, lovable rogues are a speciality of this popular Liverpudlian actor. His knack for combining cheeky confidence and nervous agitation has stood him in good stead in roles that have made him a UK cult favourite and a primetime perennial. Playing the ghostly Marty Hopkirk in the unique '60s detective show 'Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)' imprinted his face on the British psyche forever – an immaculate mod-suited spirit with childish emotions tempered by deadpan humour. He was the perfect foil to hard-boiled, two-fisted investigator Jeff Randall, as played by the late Mike Pratt.   

                   



As superstitious property developer Jack Victor in 'Catweazle'

Before that, he'd made a bit of a splash as the likeable petty villain Jed Stone in 'Coronation Street' in the very early days of the series, appearing first in 1961 and making comebacks in 1966 and 2008. That was followed by a period on the legendary satirical series 'That Was The Week That Was', which further ensured his '60s credentials. Other cult TV connections are 'Catweazle' ('Touch not the Wogle Stone...'), 'Doctor Who' (Tom Baker era story 'Warrior's Gate'), and two episodes of 'The Avengers' in 1967 and '68. The '80s and beyond  saw him much in demand for the likes of 'Minder', 'Bergerac', 'Lovejoy' etc, and a stint on 'Brookside'.   



In the Small Faces pop/crime caper 'Dateline Diamonds' (1965) 

 

As shop steward Vic Spanner in 'Carry On at Your Convenience' (1971)

In 'Miss Marple Investigates'

His movie roles include a bunch of late-'50s teen b-pictures and swinging '60s efforts where his Beatle-esque accent (often accompanied by a Beatle-esque wig) was a bonus. See for example: 'Naked Fury' (1959), the Tony Newley vehicle 'The Lady Is A Square' (1959), 'Jungle Street' (1960), 'The Criminal' (1960) with Stanley Baker, Joseph Losey's 'The Damned' (1963), and playing the Small Faces' manager in the pirate radio heist movie 'Dateline Diamonds' (1965). Later would come a string of 'Carry Ons' ('...Dick','... Matron' and '...At Your Convenience'), and the inevitable saucy comedies 'She'll Follow You Anywhere' (1971), 'Rentadick (1972) and the movie version of 'George and Mildred' (1975). 



Kenneth Cope-imdb

Donald Sumpter

Donald Sumpter:

Severe-looking character actor offering broken-nosed toughness combined with an aura of intelligence, which allows him to play parts that depict deep wisdom or low cunning with equal veracity. His only cinema starring role was as real-life murderer Dennis Neilson in the rather tasteless 'The Black Panther' (1977), but he also appears in better-known movies like the Hammer monster romp 'The Lost Continent' (1967), the sexploitative 'Groupie Girl' (1970), 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' (1971), 'Stardust' (1974), 'Enigma' (2001), 'The Constant Gardener' (2005), and 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' (2011). He's also in the early Mike Leigh film 'Bleak Moments' (1971) and the strange-looking David Hemmings movie 'The Walking Stick' (1970).        

In sleazy rocker mode in 'Groupie Girl (1970)

In spiritual mode in 'Meetings with Remarkable Men (1979)

His TV portfolio is substantial, and ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous, or from 'Black Mirror', 'Our Friends in the North' and 'Jesus of Nazareth' to 'Merlin', 'Game of Thrones' and 'Holby City'. A fine all rounder.   

In the teen horror series 'Being Human'

Donald Sumpter - imdb

Douglas Wilmer

Douglas Wilmer: 

† Jan 8th 1920 – Mar 31st 2016

With his powerful, craggy features, just a fraction too exaggerated for romantic leads, Douglas Wilmer, now 92, has enjoyed a fantastic career as a character actor without ever quite becoming a household name. The list of classic films he appeared in is pretty impressive and includes sword and sandal favourites 'El Cid' (1961), 'Cleopatra' (1963), Jason and the Argonauts' (1963), and 'Fall of the Roman Empire' (1964).    It was about this time that he was chosen to play Sherlock Holmes in a TV adaptation of 'The Speckled Band' which led to a further 12 stories screened in 1965, briefly making him a popular television celebrity. He was seen in a number of quality shows of the '60s and early '70s, such as 'The Avengers', The Saint', 'The Baron', 'Mogul', 'UFO', 'Space: 1999' and, cleverly, as Professor Von Dusen in 'The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes'.         
 

As Sherlock Holmes in the popular mid-'60s TV adaptation

As King Pelias who sends Jason on his mission in the
Ray Harryhausen epic 'Jason and the Argonauts' (1963) 

There was still plenty of movie work on offer: see for example his turn as Baron Hartog in the fabulous Hammer negligee-ripper 'The Vampire Lovers' (1970) with Peter Cushing, George Cole and a bevy of fanged females including Ingrid Pitt and Madeline Smith.


 

'The Vampire Lovers' (1970) 

Douglas Wilmer - imdb

Christopher Beeny

Christopher Beeny: 

† July 7 1941 – January 3 2020

A chirpy and genial middle-aged pixie of an actor, who was a schoolboy star as Lennie Grove in the prototype soap opera of the '50s, 'The Grove Family'. To viewers of a more recent generation, he's familiar as Billy Henshaw, Thora Hird's long-suffering nephew in the undertaker sitcom, 'In Loving Memory' (see also Colin Farrell). Or perhaps as Edward the footman in 'Upstairs Downstairs' getting perpetual reprimands from Gordon Jackson's dour butler, Mr Hudson. 

Other TV roles incude 'The Rag Trade', 'Miss Jones and Son' (with Paula Wilcox), as well as 'Minder', 'The Sweeney' and 'Dixon of Dock Green'. He also had a regular part as Morton in the late 2000s dregs of 'Last of the Summer Wine', but in the Burt Kwouk/ Brian Murphy/ Russ Abbott era, long after the departure of his old colleague Thora. 

'Miss Jones and Son'

'The Little Kidnappers' (1953)

He hasn't done much on the big screen: a few child parts in the early '50s, 'The Long Memory' (1953), 'The Little Kidnappers' (1953), and 'Child's Play' (1955), but not much as an adult: an uncredited turn in 'Doctor in Distress' (1963) and a Children's Film Foundation romp 'Pop Pirates' (1984) which also features Roger Daltrey!    

Christopher Beeny - imdb

Tony Millan

Tony Millan: 

Unforgettable as the morose, harassed and over-fertile Tucker in 'Citizen Smith', but once he'd lost the Zapata moustache, he also filled nervy character roles in comfy comedies like 'One Foot In The Grave', 'Birds of a Feather', 'Lame Ducks', 'Last of the Summer Wine' and the stillborn Brian Murphy driving-instructor sitcom 'L For Lester'. 

As a gorilla-gram in 'As Time Goes By'

He's also a writer, penning Chris Barrie sitcoms 'The Brittas Empire' and 'Prince Among Men'. He also wrote the decidedly oddball post-apocalyptic sitcom 'Not With A Bang', featuring Ronald Pickup, Stephen Rea and Josie Lawrence. Despite the impressive cast, LWT pulled the plug after seven episodes of nervous laughter.  

With Richard Wilson in 'One Foot in the Grave'

Tony Millan - imdb

Kervork Malikyan

Kervork Malikyan:

I'm stretching the definition of British a little here, but this versatile Armenian-born actor has been London-based since coming to study drama in England in the late '60s, and his face is certainly most familiar to British TV audiences. He played Greek student Max in 'Mind Your Language' wearing a succession of generously open-necked shirts, and has popped up in a bewildering array of assumed ethnicities and roles, equally at home with sinister, silly, sympathetic sleazy or sophisticated characterisations.   

 

Kazim chases Indy around the seedy side of Venice in
'Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade' (1989)  

Much in demand for the movies, he played Roger Moore's manservant Luigi in 'The Man Who Haunted Himself' (1970) and, more significantly, the memorable Kazim in 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' (1989). Other big movies that you might spot him in include: 'Midnight Express' (1978), 'Pascali's Island' (1988), the remake of 'Flight of The Phoenix' (2004), and the Liam Neeson thriller 'Taken 2' (2012).
        
 

In 'The Man Who Haunted Himself' (1970)

As Max in 'Mind Your Language'

Menawhile, British TV viewers became accustomed to his presence in the likes of 'Doctor Who' (in the Troughton-era Cyberman story 'The Wheel in Space'), 'The Saint', The Avengers', 'Jason King', 'The Professionals', 'Minder', 'Auf Wiedersehn Pet' and 'Silent Witness'. 

'The Bill' and 'Casualty' are presumably more or less a formality if you have an agent who can pick up a phone.

Still going strong at 70 and lending a hand to the Turkish film industry after 50 years away in England. Hokay.   

Kervork Malikyan - 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

Paul Darrow

Paul Darrow: 

† May 2 1941 – Jun 3 2019

Sullen and intense-looking actor whose perma-scowl was a defining feature of the clunky BBC cult space opera, 'Blakes 7' between 1978 and 1981. He played Avon, whose cynical self-interest, dubious loyalties, and kiss/kill relationship with the show's arch-baddie, slinky Federation commander Servalan, drove most of the key storylines.
  

With his old adversary Servalan (Jacqueline Pearce) in 'Blakes 7'

Before 'Blakes 7', Darrow had appeared in a few roles in middling popular dramas ranging from 'Emergency Ward 10' and 'Coronation Street' to 'The Saint' and the gripping Nazi-fest 'Manhunt'. A big break was playing the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1975 BBC series; The Legend of Robin Hood', in which he got to exercise his sinister glare to good effect. He was in 'Doctor Who', before and after 'Blakes 7', and made a convincingly devious Mr Carker in the BBC's 'Dombey & Son' in 1983.

'The Legend of Robin Hood'

Darrow never got much film work. In fact, from imdb it looks as though he only hit the big screen a couple of times, playing doctors in both 'The Raging Moon' (1971) and 'Die Another Day (2002).

Since the '80s, you may have caught his regular appearances in 'Law & Order: UK' or his part as roguish middle-aged biker Eddie Fox in 'Emmerdale', but increasingly he has found a niche in the world of video game voiceovers. I've never heard of any of them and won't list them here, but I hope we see more of Paul Darrow on our TV and cinema screens in future.



In the Lord Peter Wimsey mystery 'Murder Must Advertise'

Telling Malcolm McDowell the bad news in 'The Raging Moon (1971)

Paul Darrow - imdb

Simon Chandler

Simon Chandler:

Another of the grey men. Simon Chandler's assured portrayals of middle-class anxiety and establishment brinkmanship seem to have led to his being cast in a long string of substantial TV roles. His longest and probably highest profile residency in a TV series has come in 'Judge John Deed' in which he plays Martin Shaw's machiavellian nemesis Sir Ian Rochester. He was also in the wry comedy 'Teachers' and played the Reverend Farebrother in the 1994 adaptation of 'Middlemarch'.   


It's a bit of a giveaway that your profile isn't as high as it could be, however, when you get cast as a number of characters over the course of a long-running series. He has been in 'The Bill' in several different one-off roles between 1992 and 2007, but more worryingly, was able to pop up in 'Doctors' in 2011 as one Elliot Taylorman, despite having appeared as semi-regular Andrew Hewitt in three different earlier storylines. The 'Doctors' audience was presumably untroubled by any confusing memory of that character.
     

In the Mel Gibson version of 'The Bounty' (1984)

As Dr Finlay in 'The Singing Detective'

More satisfying TV work has included: 'The Singing Detective', 'Brideshead Revisited', 'Bulman', 'Anglo Saxon Attitudes' and 'The Thick of It'. A glance at imdb also reveals that he has also appeared in a quite impressive collection of major feature films, ranging from 'The Bounty (1984), 'Vera Drake' (2004) and 'Perfume, The Story of a Murderer' (2006) to 'The Iron Lady' (2011), 'The King's Speech' (2010) and the voice of Merry in Ralph Bakshi's truncated and gloomy animated version of 'The Lord of the Rings' (1978). 

'Urban Gothic'

'Midsomer Murders'

Simon Chandler - imdb

Anna Dawson

Anna Dawson: 

Probably more of a song and dance turn than a straight actress, she made her name in West End musicals throughout the '50s and '60s, but she cornered the market in sassy, no-nonsense dames in TV comedy and variety for a good chunk of the '70s and '80s. You will have almost certainly forgotten seeing her in 'The Benny Hill Show', 'The Kenny Everett Show', 'The Morecambe & Wise Show', 'Larry Grayson', 'Bernie' (as in Winters), the excruciating 'Leslie Crowther Show', and (shudder) 'The Jim Davidson Show'.    

With Bill Fraser in the movie 'Love Thy Neighbour' (1973)

Acting parts encompass comedies of variable quality, from 'The New Statesman' and 'Smith & Jones' to 'Rings On Their Fingers', 'Robin's Nest' and kids' non-favourite 'Super Gran' (playing a character called Wendy Whiplash). A bonus role arrived in the '80s with a semi-regular turn in 'Keeping Up Appearances' as well-off sister Violet.    

In the jaw-droppingly awful 1977 variety special 'Hi Summer!'  

On Malcolm McDowell's lap in 'O Lucky Man! (1973)

Her film work has been more of the same. Dubious tie-ins and semi-saucy comedies: 'Love Thy Neighbour (1973), 'Stand Up Virgin Soldiers' (1977), 'The Sexplorer' (1976) and hitting the odd jackpot, see 'O Lucky Man!' (1973), and cult car-crash, see Kenny Everett's 'Bloodbath at the House of Death' (1984).  

Anna Dawson - imdb

Aubrey Woods

Checking passports in 'San Ferry Ann' (1965)

Aubrey Woods: 

† Apr 9 1927 – May 7 2013

Another veteran with a curious collection of character roles in film and television. Starting in the mid-'50s his rather stern countenance began showing up in some minor cult classics, including: 'Father Brown' (1954), 'Spare the Rod' (1961), 'San Ferry Ann' (1965), 'Futtocks End' (1970), Joe Orton's 'Loot' (1970), 'Up Pompeii' and 'Up the Chastity Belt' (both 1971), 'The Abominable Dr Phibes' (1971) and 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory' (1971). 

'The Abominable Dr Phibes' (1971)

Television work has included some modest parts in some popular actioners: 'Sexton Blake', 'Cribb' and 'Menace', as well as a '70s double-top of 'Doctor Who' and 'Blakes 7'. Add to that a smattering of mid-table favourites like 'Ever Decreasing Circles', 'Auf Wiedershein, Pet' and 'Hazell'      

And then there's this bizarre artefact, Eric Idle's 'Commander Badman'. Enjoy.

The candy man…'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Aubrey Woods - imdb

Michael Troughton

 

Michael Troughton as Piers Fletcher-Dervish

  Michael Troughton: 

Chunky and clean-cut in appearance, he's the son of the second Dr Who, Patrick Troughton. Young Michael has little of the eccentricity and brooding intensity of his late father, but he is certainly a very accomplished character actor. He has dovetailed neatly into a collection of roles, usually cast in a naturally affable middle-class mould. He was Piers Fletcher-Dervish, the idiotic sidekick to Rik Mayall's monstrous Alan B'Stard in 'The New Statesman', a part which didn't really give him a lot of room to be anything other than the utterly dim foil to Mayall's showboating. Before that he had a more sympathetic sidekick role in 'Minder' as DC Mellish, forever at the elbow of Arthur Daley's would-be nemesis, DS Rycott.        


Popular, comfortable comedies have used his talents on a number of occasions, for example, 'Goodnight Sweetheart', '2 point 4 Children', 'The Detectives' with Jasper Carrott and Robert Powell, and 'My Family'. He's also done a bit of TV drama, ranging from 'Testament of Youth' and 'Strangers and Brothers' to 'Blakes 7', 'Boon' and 'Cat's Eyes'. Seemed to be in demand for kids' shows too, particularly in the '80s, so those of a certain age might remember him from the likes of 'Graham's Gang' and 'Woof!'.   

'Dorothy L Sayers Mysteries: Have His Carcase'

DC Taff Jones (Michael Povey) and DC Mellish in 'Minder'

Update: Nice to see him pop up in the 2014 Christmas episode of Dr Who. A nice nod to his old man's Whovian legacy.


Michael Troughton - imdb