Inspector Morse - Happy Families - 06:00 am Saturday, February 7 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) .. Detective Sergeant 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.

Sukie Smith (Actor) .. Lorraine

Gwen Taylor (Actor) .. Margaret Cliff

Martin Clunes (Actor) .. James Balcombe

Born: November 28, 1961 in London

Best Known For: A string of TV hits, including Men Behaving Badly and Doc Martin.

Early-life: Born Alexander Martin Clunes on November 28, 1961, in Wimbledon, south London, into a theatrical family. His father was the acclaimed classical actor Alec Clunes, who died of lung cancer in 1970. His mother used to work as Orson Welles's secretary, and his cousin was Sherlock Holmes star Jeremy Brett. Clunes left school at 16 with one O-level and wanted to be a carpenter before enrolling at the Arts Educational Drama College in London. He started out in theatre and won acclaim for directing The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner.

Career: Clunes made his TV debut in a 1983 Doctor Who adventure, followed by a regular role in sitcom No Place Like Home. In 1990 he appeared alongside Sean Connery in The Russia House and two years later in the much-maligned comedy Carry On Columbus. He turned to directing again with comedy film Staggered, in which he also starred. Men Behaving Badly made him a household name - but not until original co-star Harry Enfield was replaced by Neil Morrissey and the series moved from ITV to the BBC. He has chalked up a major success for ITV as über-grumpy GP Doc Martin. Clunes has also presented several documentaries, and appeared in such series as William and Mary, A is for Acid, The Town and Reggie Perrin.

Quote: "I get contemptuous of my own acting and wish I had fewer chins."

Trivia: He won a British Comedy Award and BAFTA award for his performance on Men Behaving Badly.

George Raistrick (Actor) .. Sir John Balcombe

Jonathan Coy (Actor) .. Harry Balcombe

Andrew Ray (Actor) .. Alfred Rydale

Anna Massey (Actor) .. Lady Emily Balcombe

Born: August 11, 1937 in Thakeham, West Sussex

Best Known For: A myriad of character roles.

Early-life: Anna Raymond Massey was born on August 11, 1937, in Thakeham, West Sussex. She came from an acting background - her father, Raymond Massey, starred in 1960s series Dr Kildare, her mother, Adrianne Allen, was a leading stage star in the 1930s, and her brother, Daniel, appeared in a string of top-class productions. Director John Ford was her godfather. Anna felt she was expected to become a thespian, and turned professional after leaving school at 15.

Career: Massey's first roles came on the stage in the early 1950s. Her film debut was in Ford's Gideon's Way in 1958. Among her most famous movies were Peeping Tom, Frenzy, The Vault of Horror, Another Country, The Tall Guy and The Importance of Being Earnest. She won a Bafta for her role in 1986 TV movie Hotel du Lac. Other small-screen credits include Tales of the Unexpected, A Tale of Two Cities and He Knew He Was Right. She died on July 3, 2011, at the age of 73.

Quote: "I don't really enjoy the theatre anymore - it takes up too much of your life."

Trivia: During her career, Massey won numerous awards for her work in the theatre.

Rupert Graves (Actor) .. Billy

Born: June 30, 1963 in Weston-super-Mare

Best Known For: Appearing in period dramas.

Early-life: Rupert Graves was born June 30, 1963, in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. The acting bug bit while performing in Victorian musical nights at the town's Birbeck Pier. Unhappy at school, he left at 15 to become a circus clown. He made his TV debut in 1978 in The Return Of The Saint and had small roles in various other productions. He later entertained children at holiday camps as part of Silly Billy Pickles And The Peanut Street Gang before his big break in Merchant Ivory's 1985 movie A Room With A View.

Career: Rejoined Merchant Ivory in 1987 to play a homosexual in Maurice, alongside James Wilby and Hugh Grant. The controversial role gained him fans of both sexes. He has tackled numerous challenging parts since, including a transvestite villain in Open Fire and the lover of a sex-change male in Different For Girls. He won the Best Actor award at the Montreal Film Festival for his part as a naive young man seduced by an older woman in Intimate Relations. Other notable productions include The Madness of King George, Mrs Dalloway, The Blonde Bombshell, Take A Girl Like You and Fortunes Of War. Graves has appeared on Broadway in Closer, and The Elephant Man. Has become a regular in a raft of top-notch detective shows, including Wallander, Lewis, and Sherlock and is very much in-demand.

Quote: "I'm really pleased with myself. I've not had any training. I knew nothing about acting except that early on I knew I wanted to do it, and I've managed for years to do things without doing them just for the money."

Trivia: He enjoys playing football.

Jamie Foreman (Actor) .. Chas

Alun Armstrong (Actor) .. Supt Holdsby

Born: July 17, 1946 in Annfield Plain, near Stanley, Co Durham

Best Known For: New Tricks.

Early-life: Alun Armstrong was born in Annfield Plain, near Stanley, Co Durham, on July 17, 1946. His father was from Cumberland and his mother was from Co Durham. He attended Consett Grammar School before going to Newcastle University. Unhappy in academia, he took a job as a gravedigger, where a colleague managed to get him an interview for a behind-the-scenes job with a theatre company. That in turn led to acting work.

Career: Armstrong's screen debut came in the classic Michael Caine gangster movie Get Carter in 1971. Other early roles included parts in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Softly, Softly and The Sweeney. His many other TV roles include Austin Donaghue in Our Friends in the North, Detective Chief Inspector Frank Jefferson in In the Red, and George Mole in Adrian Mole: The Cappucino Years, alongside Alison Steadman. Film credits include The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Krull (1983), American Friends (1991), Patriot Games (1992) and Braveheart (1995). He has won countless accolades for his classic stage roles. He is currently best known for playing the role of Brian Lane in popular BBC series New Tricks, a part he played for 10 series.

Quote: "I'm more concerned about losing my marbles than losing parts - especially when it comes to learning lines!"

Trivia: Armstrong originated the role of Thénardier in the London production of Les Misérables and won an Olivier Award for playing the title role in Sweeney Todd.

Charlotte Coleman (Actor) .. Jessica White

Ralph Nossek (Actor) .. Professor Joshua Masterson

Mark Draper (Actor) .. Constable

Elizabeth Kettle (Actor) .. WPC

Tony Guilfoyle (Actor) .. Journalist 1

Sophie Heyman (Actor) .. Woman journalist

Robert Demeger (Actor) .. Forensic scientist

David Bauckham (Actor) .. Police sergeant

Daniel Mitchell (Actor) .. Journalist 2

Richard Ireson (Actor) .. Pathologist

Jane van Hool (Actor) .. Receptionist

Dorian MacDonald (Actor) .. Constable

Beryl King (Actor) .. Nottingham lady

John Styles (Actor) .. Punch & Judy man

Daniel Boyle (Writer)

Adrian Shergold (Director)

Deirdre Keir (Producer)

Inspector Morse: Happy Families

06:00 am - 08:15 am, Saturday, February 7 on ITV3 (10)

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Happy Families
Season 6, Episode 2

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