Maureen Sweeney

Maureen Sweeney:

Getting her first camera appearance in 'Holiday On The Buses' (1973) as another of those easy-going dollybirds unfathomably drawn to brilliantined bus driver Stan, Maureen Sweeney went on to establish a solid career lasting well into the 2000s.  

'Holiday On The Buses' (1973)

A string of tough, sassy roles followed, mostly playing villains' wives, barmaids, and blue collar mums in various London-set dramas and comedies. She had a regular stint in the caravan comedy 'Romany Jones' with Arthur Mullard and the irreplaceable Queenie Watts, and later appeared in women's prison melodrama 'Within These Walls' and matronly mobster series 'She's Out'.      

In an episode of 'Dempsey & Makepeace' from 1985 

Perhaps surprisingly, she only pops up once in 'The Sweeney', but can be spotted in programmes as varied as 'The Dick Emery Show', 'Crossroads', 'The Duchess Of Duke Street', 'Only Fools And Horses', Rik Mayall's short-lived comedy 'Believe Nothing', and the teen TV drama 'Running Scared'.    

In the 1986 kids' TV drama 'Running Scared' 

And the Clive Owen mini series 'The Echo' from the BBC in 1998 

Later appearances see her move into the familiar TV territory of 'The Bill' and 'Casualty' with her last role to date seemingly being in 2006. 

Maureen Sweeney-imdb

Alan Ford

Alan Ford:

You know him. Intense, real-deal, London-born actor who has virtually created his own sub-type of the gimlet-eyed cockney villain: hard, trim, mod-stylish, a ruthless but rational enforcer or fixer. A slightly different proposition from the affable yet psychopath mob boss (typified by Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Johnny Shannon, etc), you can watch him in action in some tough East End crime movies beginning with 'The Squeeze' (1977) and encompassing the classic 'The Long Good Friday' (1980) and the latter-day set of 'Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels' (1998) and 'Snatch' (2000) – running through to 'Jack Falls' (2011) and the less than satisfactory reboot of 'The Sweeney' (2012).

 

Rare image from the 1975 schools TV series 'Viewpoint',
radical and sophisticated media studies for the time.   

In the interesting London-set Stacey Keach vehicle
'The Squeeze (1977).  

On TV, as you might expect, there's a lot of London hardcase actioners and cop shows, sometimes on the side of law and order but more often than not as a villain of some sort. He's in 'Minder' ('90s variety) and 'Strangers', as well as a selection of lesser fare: 'Bergerac', 'Chinese Detective' etc,  - and he's racked up an impressive eight different characters in episodes of 'The Bill' stretching from 1985 to 2006...     

With DI Bulman (Don Henderson) in the excellent
ITV cop series 'Strangers' 

Less expected are the roles in a range of comedies. He was in the later series of 'Romany Jones' after the death of James Beck, playing (fell-off-the-back-of-a) lorry driver, Ken. He also appeared in 'Birds Of A Feather', 'Keep It In The Family' and 'The New Statesman', before a memorable turn as a boxing promoter in 'Knowing Me Knowing You With Alan Partridge' led to 'The Armando Iannucci Shows' and Matt Berry projects 'Snuff Box' and 'Toast Of London'.   

         

Despite the robes, delivering the full-on Alan Ford London
geezer treatment. A regular in Matt Berry's 'Snuff Box'.
   

All good stuff, and I notice he's also providing voice performances alongside the remarkable David Graham as one of Parker's dodgy mates, Light-fingered Fred, in the latest version of 'Thunderbirds Are Go'.  

Alan Ford-imdb 

Nicola Pagett

Nicola Pagett:

† June 15 1945 – March 3 2021

A very successful actress and a lasting English beauty, combining home counties pertness with the feline eyes of Sophia Loren, Nicola Pagett is possibly still best known for her role as Elizabeth Bellamy in 'Upstairs, Downstairs' the British primetime TV giant of the mid '70s. This came after a series of television appearances in memorable mod-era actioners such as 'Danger Man', 'Mr Rose', 'The Avengers', 'Man In A Suitcase' and 'The Persuaders'. These were interspersed with some serious television plays and historical dramas including a portrayal of the ultimate classical femme fatale, Messalina, in 'The Caesars'.        

In 'Danger Man', acting cute for Patrick McGoohan

With Christopher Matthews in 'Some Like It Sexy' (1969)

The 1977 TV adaptation of 'Anna Karenina'

The '80s and '90s saw her translate her sex siren persona into a series of sassy and sexy older women characters with her turn as Liz in David Nobbs' 'A Bit Of A Do' and two slightly similar Northern sitcoms: 'Ain't Misbehavin', written by 'Last Of The Summer Wine' creator Roy Clarke, and 'Up Rising' with Anton Rodgers. Neither seem to have been great successes.        

As Mary Queen of Scots in 'Anne Of A Thousand Days' (1969)

In the '90s adultery sitcom 'Ain't Misbehavin' with Peter Davison

Movie credits include 'The Viking Queen' (1967), 'Anne Of A Thousand Days' (1969), the Peter Sellers comedy 'There's A Girl In My Soup' (1970), 'Operation Daybreak' (1975), 'Privates On Parade' (1983) and 'An Awfully Big Adventure' (1995).    
Nicola Pagett-imdb

Granville Saxton

Granville Saxton: 

Gaunt and hawk-like character actor Granville Saxton has turned his hand successfully to comedy and drama since the mid-70s. He appeared in several of the ensuing decades' most popular series, though never really grabbing a solidly memorable role in any. You might possibly recognise him from the not-much-loved 1979 BBC version of 'The Old Curiosity Shop' in which he plays Dick Swiveller, or from the kids TV drama 'The Feathered Serpent', a wordy, studio-bound tale of Mesoamerican temple intrigue that sent kids running outside to play in 1978.                

His 1975 TV debut in the Brian Clemens 'Thriller' episode 'Kill Two Birds' 

As Xipec in the exhausting kids drama series 'The Feathered Serpent'

He pops up in a modest way in some quality series during the '80s and '90s, including 'Poirot', 'Charters & Caldicott, 'Our Friends In The North', and 'Shine On Harvey Moon'. Also, there's some variable comedy fare, ranging from 'The Comic Strip Presents' and the mildly diverting 'If You See God, Tell Him' to playing sketch characters in Jimmy Cricket's 'And There's More'.  One intriguing role was as the sinister Mr Fowl in the grimly satirical school comedy 'Hardwicke House' which seemed to aim for the triangular midpoint between 'Grange Hill', The Young Ones' and 'Britannia Hospital' (1982), but fell somewhat short, resulting in a sort of hyperactive, traumatised version of 'Please Sir'. Even a cast including the late great Roy Kinnear and Familiar Unknown favourites Tony Haygarth and Roger Sloman could save it from being axed after only two episodes.      

As Mr Fowl, brushing up on his classroom technique in 'Hardwicke House' 

The cast of 'Hardwicke House', Granville Saxton to rear,
behind the great Roy Kinnear. 

He's also a Harry Dean Stanton-esque Death Eater in parts I and II of 'Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows' (2010/2011), which I suppose is where more people have seen him than in any other role. Here's to many more like it.

Suited for the wizarding world. 

 Granville Saxton-imdb

Leslie Randall

Leslie Randall:

† Oct 19 1924 – Aug 2 2020

I don't think I'd ever really mentally registered the name of Leslie Randall, despite his brief but memorable appearance as TV comedian Danny "It's All Happening" Boon in 'Billy Liar' (1963), one of my favourite films. At the time of shooting for John Schlesinger's classic version, Randall would probably be familiar as the co-star of ITV's first sitcom, 'Joan & Leslie' with his real-life wife Joan Reynolds, which ran to 71 episodes between 1956 and 1958 (although no footage survives). His portrayal of Boon, a ruthless professional behind a vapidly cheerful TV persona, sees him crush Billy's one and only daydream with any chance of coming true.              

In an episode of 'The Monkees' from 1967

A stalwart of the last years of music hall, he was regularly seen on panel games and variety shows during the '50s, but his pre-'Billy Liar' film and TV career is rather slight, he's in the war movie 'Mystery Submarine' (1963) and also stars in the light comedy 'Just Joe' (1960) again with his wife, and a cast including Anna Mae Wong and Jon Pertwee.

Perhaps finding opportunities a little slim in the UK, he headed for the states, where he pops up slightly unexpectedly in episodes of 'I Dream Of Jeannie' and 'The Monkees', before heading for Australia to revive the 'Joan & Leslie' concept, as newly-arrived British immigrants in Melbourne.           

In the Australian reboot of 'Joan & Leslie' from the late '60s

Later appearances are quite a hotchpotch, ranging from the lowly soap 'Emmerdale Farm' to Derek Jarman's painfully arty 'The Garden' (1990) via a corporate short for Abbey National with Patsy Rowlands. 

A one of the regular Vox Pops in 'According To Bex'

After numerous long gaps, he seems to have found a new lease of life in comedy, with regular small roles in 'My Family'  and Jessica (Hynes) Stevenson's 'According To Bex', before presumably settling into retirement around 2008. Born in 1924, he's now well into his '90s, so it's well deserved.      

With Emma Thompson in the Dustin Hoffman
movie 'Last Chance Harvey' (2008) 

Leslie Randall-imdb

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

Rachel Bell

Rachel Bell:  

John Sullivan's '80s lonely-hearts sitcom 'Dear John' had a pleasingly melancholy undertow that makes it more appealing - to me, anyway - than his poll-winning national treasure, 'Only Fools And Horses'. A lot of that can be put down to the downbeat performance of Ralph Bates, previously best known for playing dashing Hammer Horror leading men, but also to a strong ensemble cast. The encounter groups were led by the fearsomely helpful Louise, played strongly by Rachel Bell as a self-help dragon spouting lurid Freudian analysis and trite '80s motivational claptrap.       

Under tough questioning in a 'Crown Court' episode from 1978

With Ronnie Barker in 'The Magnificent Evans' 

Before 'Dear John' in 1987, a number of television productions had featured her talents, among them 'Disraeli' with Ian McShane, 'The Magnificent Evans', 'Alas Smith & Jones', 'Miss Marple', a couple of 'Play For Today' dramas, and the 'Only Fools...' episode 'To Hull And Back'. She was also a regular in a spoof chat show on the newly-created Channel 4 called 'For 4 Tonight', written by  a pre-fame Ruby Wax and directed by a post-fame Mickey Dolenz. Sounds interesting, maybe, but I can't find any archive video.      

The latter '80s and early '90s included some situation comedies: 'Home To Roost', The Upper Hand',  'Last Of The Summer Wine'; some drama 'We'll Meet Again', 'Goodbye Cruel World', and the very odd 'Doctor Who' story 'The Happiness Patrol', before she landed another plum role, as the snooty Edith Pilchester in 'The Darling Buds Of May'.        

In 'Dr Who: The Happiness Patrol'. The weird Sylvester McCoy
era story with the Bertie Bassett-esque alien, The Kandyman  

As Miss Pilchester in 'The Darling Buds Of May' 

'Grange Hill' gave her a long run as Deputy Head Mrs Holmes during its later few years, and the new millennium has brought a steady supply of work ranging from 'Chucklevision', 'Birds Of A Feather' and 'The Bill', to 'The Detectorists' and JK Rowling's low-key detective series 'Strike'.   

As a teacher in the post-Harry Potter reboot
of 'The Worst Witch' for CBBC   

She can be spotted in a few feature films: 'The Edge Of Love' (2008), 'Red Mercury' (2005), 'Mary' (2005), and 'Sweet William' (1980), and also stepped neatly into Patricia Routledge's shoes for the stage version of 'Keeping Up Appearances'  

Rachel Bell-imdb