Agatha Christie's Marple - The Blue Geranium - 6:05 pm Sunday, February 15 on ITV3

Julia McKenzie (Actor) .. Miss Marple

Born: February 17, 1941 in Enfield

Best Known For: Fresh Fields and Miss Marple.

Early-life: Julia Kathleen McKenzie was born on February 17, 1941 in Enfield to Kathleen and Albion. She was all set to begin training to become a French teacher when she landed a scholarship to study opera. After graduating from the Guildhall School of Music, she toured in operettas and musical comedies for a number of years before landing a role in 1969 in the London production of Mame.

Career: In the early 1970s, McKenzie took over one of the leading roles in Stephen Sondheim's Company. And so began a long association with Sondheim's work. Her big break came in the mid-1970s in the musical review Side by Side by Sondheim. It was a big success in London and New York. During the 1980s, McKenzie won an Olivier Award for her portrayal of Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre. McKenzie has also worked extensively on TV, notably in Fresh Fields and its spin-off French Fields, Blott on the Landscape and Cranford. More recently, she has played the title roles in ITV drama Marple and one-off BBC children's drama Gangsta Granny.

Quote: "It's very easy for people to say actors are jealous, but I've never found that, I've always found them very loveable as we know we are all children at heart."

Trivia: In its day, Fresh Fields was the most popular programme of the week.

Sharon Small (Actor) .. Mary Pritchard

Born: January 01, 1967 in Drumchapel, Glasgow

Best Known For: The Inspector Lynley Mysteries and Mistresses.

Early-life: Sharon was born in Drumchapel, Glasgow on January 1, 1967. She studied drama at the Adam Smith College in Kirkcaldy and the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London. Her first TV credit was a guest role in an episode of Taggart in 1994.

Career: Guest parts followed in a number of TV shows until Small landed a lead role in BBC comedy drama Sunburn. This lasted for two series and she followed it up with the six-part drama Glasgow Kiss. She went on to star in About a Boy (2002) and Dear Frankie (2004) and had guest parts in Cutting It and Rebus before landing a lead role as DS Barbara Havers in BBC crime drama The Inspector Lynley Mysteries alongside Nathaniel Parker. The series ran from 2001 until 2008. More recently, the in-demand actress has starred in Murderland, Mistresses, Downton Abbey, Kidnap and Ransom, New Tricks, Silent Witness, Call the Midwife, Death in Paradise and Midsomer Murders.

Quote: "One of the fantastic things and joys of acting is looking for flaws in characters - if you are perfect or too likeable, you are not going to be believable, so hopefully, you bring in flaws as well."

Trivia: Small is a classically trained lyric soprano.

Toby Stephens (Actor) .. George Pritchard

Born: March 21, 1969 in London

Best Known For: Being a Bond villain.

Early-life: Toby Stephens was born on April 21, 1969, at the Middlesex Hospital, London. He is the son of actors Robert Stephens and Maggie Smith. They divorced in the mid-1970s and Toby didn't see his father for 10 years, although they later became close and stayed friends until Robert's death in 1995. Toby and his brother Christopher (also an actor, using the stage name Chris Larkin) were raised by Smith and her second husband Beverley Cross. Stephens trained at the London Academy of Dramatic Art.

Career: Stevens first professional work came as a stage hand at the Chichester Festival Theatre, where he eventually won small roles. In 1992 he got his big break in TV series The Camomile Lawn and made his film debut in Orlando. He spent the next four years gaining rave reviews in theatre. Since then, he's appeared in Twelfth Night, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Photographing Fairies, Poirot, The Great Gatsby, and Cambridge Spies. He also played the young Clint Eastwood in Space Cowboys. His biggest role to date was as the villain in the James Bond movie Die Another Day. He also played the super spy himself in radio productions of Dr No and Goldfinger. He was an acclaimed Mr Rochester in an adaptation of Jane Eyre, played Prince John in the third series of Robin Hood, and has an acclaimed stage career.

Quote: "If I ever read that actors know what they're doing, they are either immensely successful movie stars or they are just lying."

Claudie Blakley (Actor) .. Philippa Pritchard

Joanna Page (Actor) .. Hester Milewater

Born: March 23, 1978 in Swansea, Wales

Best Known For: Gavin & Stacey.

Early-life: Born Joanna Louise Page on March 23, 1978, in Swansea. She's an only child, the daughter of a mechanic father and bank worker mother. She claims she felt adored while growing up, but that may have caused problems later on, because being turned down after auditions came as a shock. She left home to move to London at 18 to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada). She suffered from homesickness initially, but a friendship with fellow student Maxine Peake helped her settle down. They remain good pals.

Career: Page's first film was 1999's Miss Julie, the same year she made her TV debut as Dora in an adaptation of David Copperfield. She went on to have a regular role in The Cazalets. Page appeared alongside Johnny Depp in From Hell, but it was starring as the girl who steals Martin Freeman's heart in Love Actually that made her a famous face, although she didn't become a household name until tackling one of the lead roles in much-loved sitcom Gavin & Stacey. Other TV work includes appearances in White Van Man, The Syndicate, Gates and the 50th anniversary episode of Doctor Who.

Quote: "I don't go out a lot. The other day I was in the middle of doing the house cleaning and there was a knock on the door and I opened it to some man who went: 'Oh good God, it's you. What are you doing here?'"

Trivia: Page has also appeared frequently on stage, done panto and featured in numerous adverts.

Claire Rushbrook (Actor) .. Nurse Caroline Copling

Born: January 02, 1971 in Hitchin

Best Known For: Secrets & Lies and a string of TV roles.

Early-life: Claire Louise Rushbrook was born in Hitchin on January 2, 1971. She has an older brother. She went on to study acting at Rose Bruford College and worked mainly on the stage for five years before making the move into film and TV. In her first TV credit, she played a policewoman in an episode of Casualty.

Career: In 1996, Rushbrook had a supporting role in Mike Leigh's acclaimed film Secrets & Lies. Her TV credits include Touching Evil, The Sins, Linda Green, Carrie & Barry, Doctor Who, Inspector George Gently, Mutual Friends, Collision, The Fades, and Whitechapel. More recently, she has starred in Home Fires and My Mad Fat Diary. On the big screen, she has made appearances in Under the Skin (1997), Spice World (1997), Plunkett & Macleane (1999) and Enid (2009).

Quote: On Home Fires: "It's been quite a lonely part, but interesting to act."

Trivia: Rushbrook was nominated for a Bafta TV Award in 2014 for My Mad Fat Diary.

Ian East (Actor) .. John the gardener

Kevin R McNally (Actor) .. DI Somerset

Donald Sinden (Actor) .. Sir Henry Clithering

Born: October 09, 1923 in Plymouth

Best Known For: His unmistakable voice.

Early-life: Donald Alfred Sinden was born in Plymouth on October 9, 1923. His father was a chemist. Donald originally wanted to be an architect, but his performance in an amateur production led to him being offered a job with a theatre company set up to entertain troops during the Second World War. He was unable to fight in the conflict due to acute asthma. He later studied at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Career: Sinden made his professional debut in a production of George and Margaret at Brighton's Theatre Royal in 1942. He went on to become an acclaimed Shakespearean star. His first film was Portrait from Life (1948). Other more memorable movies include The Cruel Sea (1953), Mogambo (1953), Doctor in the House (1954), Above Us the Waves (1955), Twice Around the Daffodils (1962) and The Day of the Jackal (1973). He's perhaps better known for his TV work in such series as Father Dear Father, Two's Company, Never the Twain and Judge John Deed. He died on September 11, 2014, at the age of 90.

Quote: "When I meet people they say, 'I thought you put that voice on for TV'. But you can't put on a voice like this - you're just lumbered with it."

Trivia: He was knighted in 1997.

Jason Durr (Actor) .. Eddie Seward

Born: December 02, 1967 in Singapore

Best Known For: Playing Mike Bradley in Heartbeat and David Hide in Casualty.

Early-life: Born on December 2, 1967 in Singapore and raised in Hong Kong. Jason trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before attending the Royal Shakespeare Company. Here, he worked with director Trevor Nunn in Measure for Measure and The Blue Angel and with director Adrian Noble in Macbeth.

Career: Since his days with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Durr has made a number of TV appearances in such shows as Inspector Morse and A Dark Adapted Eye and in television films like Gawain and the Green Knight (1991) and Sharpe's Battle (1995). He landed the role of policeman Mike Bradley in the TV series Heartbeat in 1997 and played the character until 2003. His other TV credits include Above Suspicion, Lewis and New Tricks. Durr also played the lead role in Down Dog (2014). More recently, he has played David Hide in Casualty.

Quote: "I have lived all over the world but my heart now lies in the English countryside - if only it didn't rain quite so much."

Trivia: He enjoys rock climbing.

David Calder (Actor) .. Reverend Dermot Milewater

Paul Rhys (Actor) .. Lewis Pritchard

Patrick Baladi (Actor) .. Dr Jonathan Frayn

Caroline Catz (Actor) .. Hazel Instow

Benjamin Harcourt (Actor) .. Peter Pritchard

Thomas Harcourt (Actor) .. Michael Pritchard

Molly Harcourt (Actor) .. Susan Pritchard

Rebekah Manning (Actor) .. Susan Carstairs

Hugh Ross (Actor) .. Lord Justice Carmichael

Richard Betts (Actor) .. Clerk of the court

Derek Hutchinson (Actor) .. Concierge

Michele Buck (Executive producer)

Rebecca Eaton (Executive producer)

Damien Timmer (Executive producer)

Stewart Harcourt (Writer)

David Moore (Director)

Karen Thrussell (Producer)

Mathew Prichard (Executive producer)

Mary Durkan (Executive producer)

Agatha Christie's Marple: The Blue Geranium

6:05 pm - 8:00 pm, Sunday, February 15 on ITV3 (10)

About this Broadcast

The Blue Geranium
Season 5, Episode 3

Cast & Crew

More Information

Did You Know..

Before / After