Inspector Morse - Greeks Bearing Gifts - 06:00 am Saturday, June 6 on ITV3

John Thaw (Actor) .. Chief Inspector Morse

Born: January 03, 1942 in Manchester

Best Known For: Inspector Morse.

Early-life: John Edward Thaw was born on January 3, 1942, in Manchester. He had a younger brother, Ray, but theirs wasn't an easy childhood. The boys' mother, Dorothy, left home when John was seven, while their father, Jack, was often away working as a long-distance lorry driver. Despite being painfully shy, John began appearing in amateur dramatics productions and eventually won a place at RADA, where he studied alongside his friend, Tom Courteney.

Career: Thaw's first professional job came at the Liverpool Playhouse. His film debut came in 1962's The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, which starred Courteney. Thaw worked extensively on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre, and early TV roles came in Z Cars and Redcap. But it was The Sweeney, alongside Dennis Waterman, that made him a household name thanks to its uncompromising style. He switched to comedy with Home to Roost, but it was playing Inspector Morse that made him a national treasure. Almost everything he touched then turned to gold; he starred in top-rated dramas such as Kavanagh QC, Goodnight Mister Tom and Buried Treasure. He died in 2002 following a battle with cancer of the oesophagus.

Quote: 'I was born looking fifty.'

Trivia: Divorced first wife Sally Alexander after four years and one daughter in 1968. Married Sheila Hancock in 1974. They had a daughter together, and Thaw adopted Hancock's daughter from her first marriage.

Kevin Whately (Actor) .. Det Sgt Lewis

Born: February 06, 1951 in Newcastle upon Tyne

Best Known For: Playing John Thaw's right-hand man Lewis in Inspector Morse.

Early-life: Kevin George Edward Whately was born on February 6, 1951, in Hexham, and grew up in the remote Northumberland countryside. His father was in the Navy, and Whately only saw him two or three times a year. He began acting at the age of four and it remained a passion throughout school, alongside a short-lived desire to be a doctor. When his careers teacher advised against acting, he went into accountancy for three years. He later trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. His brother, Frank, is a drama lecturer.

Career: Whately's TV debut came in a 1979 episode of Shoestring. Two years later he had a six-week stint on Coronation Street. His big break came in 1983, when he landed the role of Neville in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. In 1987, he made his first appearance as Sgt Lewis in Morse, and has since appeared in Peak Practice, the TV dramas Trip Trap, Gobble, and The Broker's Man, as well as Oscar-winning drama The English Patient. Other projects include Paranoid, Silent Cry, Murder in Mind, Purely Belter, Promoted to Glory and The Children. He's now the star of hit Morse spin-off Lewis.

Quote: On John Thaw: 'John had a wonderful sense of humour which is belied sometimes by journalists' impression of him as irascible. He was a wonderful mimic, particularly of people on the set rather than famous people.'

Trivia: Married to actress Madeleine Newton, who appeared alongside him in both Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Inspector Morse. They have two children, Kieran and Kitty. His daughter is an acclaimed opera singer.

James Grout (Actor) .. Chief Supt Strange

Jan Harvey (Actor) .. Friday Rees

Martin Jarvis (Actor) .. Randall Rees

Born: August 04, 1941 in Cheltenham

Best Known For: Playing Oliver Pryde in Rings On Their Fingers.

Early-life: Martin Jarvis was born in Gloucestershire on August 4, 1941, the son of Denys Harris Jarvis and Margot Lillian Scottney. He grew up in South Norwood, attending Whitgift School in Croydon. He went on to train at RADA, where he won the Vanburgh Award and the Silver Medal.

Career: Jarvis began his TV career playing a giant butterfly in an early episode of Doctor Who in 1965, and became a familiar face on British TV thanks to several high profile roles on the BBC, including playing Jon in the 1967 adaptation of The Forsyte Saga and the title role in the serialisation of Nicholas Nickleby a year later. He also took the lead role of Oliver Pryde in Rings On Their Fingers between 1978 and 1980 and has more recently starred in shows including Stargate Atlantis and Numb3rs. Martin is also well known for feature films roles, most notably in James Cameron's blockbuster Titanic and his regular appearances in Dictionary Corner on Countdown. He appeared in EastEnders as journalist Harvey Freeman in 2010. He also performs regularly in radio drama and he is one of the leading readers of audiobooks. He has had a long association with narrating Richmal Crompton's Just William stories.

Quote: 'I'm not interested in making my own mark when I read an audiobook, only in serving the writer. My aim is to make people forget they're being read to.'

Trivia: Jarvis has been married to actress Rosalind Ayres since 1974. He has two children, Toby and Oliver, from a previous marriage.

James Hazeldine (Actor) .. Digby Tuckerman

Mike Kremastoules (Actor) .. Nicos Capparis

Andreas Markos (Actor) .. Mr Papas

Eileen Way (Actor) .. Mrs Papas

Maureen Bennett (Actor) .. Val Lewis

Andrew Kazamia (Actor) .. Dino Papas

James Faulkner (Actor) .. Basilios Vasilakis

Eve Adam (Actor) .. Jocasta Georgiadis

Richard Pearson (Actor) .. Jerome Hogg

Elvira Poulianou (Actor) .. Maria Capparis

Carole Ashby (Actor) .. Laura

Lucy Maycock (Actor) .. Daisy

Rosalind March (Actor) .. Susie Tuckerman

Sarah Bullen (Actor) .. Mrs Vasilakis

Stephen Holland (Actor) .. Young husband

Edda Sharpe (Actor) .. Young wife

Jonny Lee Miller (Actor) .. Student

Born: November 15, 1971 in Kingston, Surrey

Best Known For: Trainspotting and Elementary.

Early-life: Born November 15, 1971, in Kingston, Surrey, the son of actor Alan Miller, whose own father was Bernard Lee, best known for playing M in the early Bond films. As a teenager, his shyness didn't stop him becoming a member of the National Youth Music Theatre. He attended Tiffin School, a selective state grammar school for boys, where he acted in their plays. He left at 17 to pursue a showbusiness career.

Career: Made his TV debut in a 1983 adaptation of Mansfield Park. He then had small roles in Itch, Inspector Morse, Keeping Up Appearances, and Prime Suspect 3. He spent a year in EastEnders as Jonathan Hewitt, then made movies Hackers and Trainspotting, which introduced him to a wider audience. Although he hasn't enjoyed the same success as friends Jude Law and Ewan McGregor, Miller remains at the forefront of young British actors. His other credits include Regeneration, Plunkett and Macleane, Love, Honour and Obey, and Byron. Since 2012, he has had a lead role in the American drama Elementary.

Quote: 'I never try to completely do a character, if you know what I mean. I always feel like I'm just being me, but in the character's situation.'

Trivia: On the stage, he has starred in After Miss Julie, and Frankenstein.

Emma Cunningham (Actor) .. Student union official

Ian Sharp (Actor) .. Angler

Rebecca Lamb (Actor) .. Mother's help

Peter Nichols (Writer)

David Lascelles (Producer)

Adrian Shergold (Director)

Inspector Morse: Greeks Bearing Gifts

06:00 am - 08:10 am, Saturday, June 6 on ITV3 (10)

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Greeks Bearing Gifts
Season 5, Episode 4

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