Inspector Morse - Dead on Time - 09:10 am Tuesday, June 2 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 Superintendent Strange

Dominic Keating (Actor) .. Murray Stone

Greer Gaffney (Actor) .. Henrietta Fallon

Adrian Dunbar (Actor) .. Dr John Marriott

Born: August 01, 1958 in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh

Best Known For: A string of TV roles.

Early-life: Adrian was born in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, on August 1, 1958. The eldest of seven siblings, he was educated by the Presentation Brothers before attending the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and embarking on a career in stage and screen.

Career: Dunbar has appeared in such notable films as My Left Foot (1989), Hear My Song (1991), The Crying Game (1992) and The General (1998). He has also had leading roles in the films Widows' Peak (1994), Richard III (1995) and Triggermen (2002). On television, he starred in the first episode of Cracker, and has been in many British productions, including Tough Love, Inspector Morse, A Touch of Frost, Murphy's Law, Murder in Mind and Ashes to Ashes. His recent credits include Death in Paradise, Line of Duty, A Touch of Cloth, and Walter. He has many stage credits to his name.

Quote: 'My big break was getting into drama school in London and getting out of Northern Ireland. If that hadn't happened, I wouldn't be here today.'

Trivia: In 2009, he received an honorary degree from the University of Ulster.

David Haig (Actor) .. Peter Rhodes

Samantha Bond (Actor) .. Helen Marriot

Richard Pasco (Actor) .. William Bryce-Morgan

Susan-Jane Tanner (Actor) .. Nurse Rogers

James Walker (Actor) .. Henry Fallon

Joanna David (Actor) .. Susan Fallon

Lesley Vicarage (Actor) .. Woman police constable

Roger Frost (Actor) .. Photographer

Michael Tomlinson (Actor) .. Constable

Thomas Craig (Actor) .. Desk sergeant

Brendan O'Hea (Actor) .. Telecom engineer

Alexander John (Actor) .. Court official

Tony Matthews (Actor) .. Pathologist

Richard Hampton (Actor) .. Coroner

Christopher Owen (Actor) .. Solicitor

John Madden (Director)

Daniel Boyle (Writer)

Deirdre Keir (Producer)

Inspector Morse: Dead on Time

09:10 am - 11:25 am, Today on ITV3 (10)

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Dead on Time
Season 6, Episode 1

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