Agatha Christie's Marple - The Secret of Chimneys - 12:15 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.

Anthony Higgins (Actor) .. Count Ludwig Von Stainach

Charlotte Salt (Actor) .. Lady Virginia Revel

Dervla Kirwan (Actor) .. Lady Bundle Revel

Born: October 24, 1971 in Churchtown, Dublin

Best Known For: Ballykissangel.

Early-life: Dervla Kirwan was born in Churchtown, Dublin, on October 24, 1971. She is the youngest of three sisters. Her father was an insurance executive and her mother a French and English teacher. She was bullied at school and her parents encouraged her to take drama classes to make friends. At 15 she landed her first major role in BBC drama Troubles, and a year later appeared on the London stage in Billy Roche's Wexford Trilogy. She hasn't looked back since.

Career: At the age of 18, she moved to London permanently and numerous stage roles followed. She also appeared in the movie December Bride, but it was playing a teenage temptress in A Time to Dance in 1992 that brought her instant media attention. Since then she has starred in Goodnight Sweetheart and Ballykissangel, which established her as one of British TV's best-loved actresses. She's also won acclaim for her work on The Dark Room, Flint Street Nativity, Eureka Street, The Bombmaker, Hearts and Bones, The Silence, 55 Degrees North, Doctor Who and Injustice.

Quote: "I could have taken the money and gone on running with BallyK. But then, would I have had a career in five years? I have to move on, to show what I am capable of doing."

Trivia: Kirwan married actor Rupert Penry-Jones in 2007.

Edward Fox (Actor) .. Lord Caterham

Born: April 13, 1937 in London

Best Known For: The Day of the Jackal.

Early-life: Edward Charles Morice Fox was born on April 13, 1937, in Chelsea, west London. He is part of the Fox theatrical dynasty. Edward has two younger brothers - James is also an actor, while Robert is a producer. His mother, Angela, is said to have been the inspiration for Noel Coward's song Don't Put Your Daughter on the Stage Mrs Worthington. Following a spell in the Coldstream Guards, Fox studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Career: Fox was an extra in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (which featured his brother James), and had a bigger role in 1963's This Sporting Life, the same year he made his TV debut in Suspense. He quickly became famous in the UK thanks to Edward & Mrs Simpson, The Jokers, The Portrait of a Lady, Oh! What a Lovely War, and The Go-Between, but it was The Day of the Jackal in 1973 which brought him international acclaim. Since then, Fox has appeared in A Bridge Too Far, The Duellists, Gandhi, Never Say Never Again, A Passage to India, Lost in Space, Stage Beauty and Oliver Twist. He continues to act on stage.

Quote: "Actors either know the job or they don't. I would rather not be there if they don't know what they are doing."

Trivia: He received an OBE in 2002.

Michelle Collins (Actor) .. Treadwell

Born: May 28, 1961 in Hackney, London

Best Known For: Playing Cindy Beale in EastEnders and Stella Price in Coronation Street.

Early-life: Born Michelle Danielle Collins on May 28, 1961, in Hackney, London. When Collins was a baby, her father walked out, leaving her mother to bring up two daughters. Collins dreamed of becoming an actress, but didn't do anything about it until the age of 16 when her best friend Kate died of a heart attack. Suddenly life seemed short, and Collins set about getting onto a drama course.

Career: A self-confessed workaholic, her first professional job was as a backing singer for Mari Wilson, which she followed up by appearing in a Squeeze video. She made several minor TV appearances before joining EastEnders in 1988. Since quitting her role as Cindy Beale in the BBC soap she has starred in numerous other major TV shows - including Sunburn (she also released the theme tune as a single), Real Women, Ella and the Mothers, Daylight Robbery, Rock Rivals and Getting Out. She joined the cast of Coronation Street in 2011, playing Stella Price, the landlady of the Rovers Return, but left three years later. She's since appeared in Casualty.

Quote: "I'm not too beautiful, I'm not too ugly. I'm normal, and I think other women find me accessible."

Trivia: Away from showbusiness, she is a committed supporter of Oxfam and has travelled to various countries to witness the charity's work in action.

Adam Godley (Actor) .. George Lomax

Ruth Jones (Actor) .. Miss Blenkinsopp

Born: September 22, 1966 in Bridgend, Wales

Best Known For: Gavin and Stacey.

Early-life: Ruth Alexandra Elizabeth Jones was born on September 22, 1966, in Bridgend, Wales. She has two older brothers and a younger sister; her mother was a child psychiatrist, her father a legal executive at British Steel in Port Talbot. Ruth attended the same school as future comedy actor (and Gavin and Stacey co-star) Rob Brydon. She graduated from Warwick University with a drama degree and also studied at Cardiff's Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.

Career: Jones struggled to make a living as an actress and was thinking of retraining as a solicitor - until she landed a panto job. Brydon also persuaded her to join an improvisational group in Bath which included Julia Davis; they would later work together on Nighty Night and Gavin and Stacey. Roles in East is East, Saxondale and Little Britain followed, but it was Fat Friends that changed the course of her career. It was there that Jones met James Corden, with whom she would create Gavin and Stacey. Its success turned them both into major stars. Since then she's hosted her own chat shows and starred in Marple, The Great Outdoors and Hattie. She is also the writer and star of Sky1's Stella.

Quote: "At drama school I can remember thinking: 'I will never be Juliet. I'll always be the nurse'."

Trivia: Jones is married to TV producer David Peet. They own their own company, Tidy Productions, which makes Stella.

Mathew Horne (Actor) .. Bill Eversleigh

Jonas Armstrong (Actor) .. Anthony Cade

Born: January 01, 1981 in Dublin

Best Known For: Robin Hood.

Early-life: William Jonas Armstrong was born in Dublin on January 1, 1981. He has a younger brother and sister. After graduating from Rada in 2003, he appeared in Quartermaine's Terms at the Royal Theatre in Northampton before starring in The Skin of Our Teeth at the Young Vic theatre.

Career: In 2004, Armstrong made his TV debut in Channel 4 drama Teachers. His big break came in 2006 when he landed the title role in BBC drama Robin Hood, a part he played in 39 episodes until the series ended in 2009. Since then, he has appeared in The Street, Marple, The Body Farm, Prisoners' Wives, Hit & Miss, The Field of Blood and The Whale.

Quote: "I've always been a stubble man, I don't do clean-shaven."

Trivia: By his own admission, when he was 14, he almost had a leprechaun tattooed on his forearm.

Stephen Dillane (Actor) .. DCI Simon Finch

Laura O'Toole (Actor) .. Agnes

Alex Knight (Actor) .. Jaffers

Robert Dunbar (Actor) .. Young Count

Ian Weichardt (Actor) .. Young Lomax

Letty Butler (Actor) .. Young Treadwell

John Strickland (Director)

Karen Thrussell (Producer)

Paul Rutman (Writer)

Michele Buck (Executive producer)

Damien Timmer (Executive producer)

Rebecca Eaton (Executive producer)

Mary Durkan (Executive producer)

Mathew Prichard (Executive producer)

Agatha Christie's Marple: The Secret of Chimneys

12:15 pm - 2:10 pm, Sunday, February 15 on ITV3 (10)

About this Broadcast

The Secret of Chimneys
Season 5, Episode 2

Cast & Crew

More Information

Did You Know..

Before / After