Inspector Morse - The Day of the Devil - 11:50 pm Thursday, August 27 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.

Keith Allen (Actor) .. John Peter Barrie

Born: June 02, 1953 in Gorseinon, near Swansea

Best Known For: Being the bad boy of TV.

Early-life: Despite his allegiance to the England football team, Keith Howell Charles Allen was born in Swansea, South Wales, in 1953. He supports Fulham FC. His brother Kevin is an actor, director and comedian. On leaving school, Keith had a variety of jobs, including coal mining (although he only completed three shifts), running the shooting gallery at a funfair and working in a chicken factory. His big showbusiness break came when he went down a storm at the Comedy Store in 1979.

Career: Allen was in a number of Comic Strip Presents... programmes during the 1980s. He also appeared in an episode of The Young Ones and made his film debut in Crystal Gazing, which he co-wrote. Among his highest profile projects are Scandal, A Very British Coup, Carry On Columbus, The Young Americans, Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, Martin Chuzzlewit, De-Lovely, 24 Hour Party People and The Others. Allen featured in BBC reality show Art School, released football-themed single Vindaloo as part of the band Fat Les, has conducted often-controversial interviews for Channel 4, and was most recently seen playing the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood. More recently, he has starred in The Body Farm, By Any Means, and My Mad Fat Diary.

Quote: 'I'm similar to Marmite in many respects. People either love me or hate me.'

Trivia: He supports Fulham FC.

Richard Griffiths (Actor) .. Humphrey Appleton

Gilly Coman (Actor) .. Holly Trevors

Harriet Walter (Actor) .. Dr Esther Martin

James Grout (Actor) .. Chief Superintendent Strange

Richard Graham (Actor) .. PC Cobbs

Susan Ellen Flynn (Actor) .. Waitress

Patrick Drury (Actor) .. Frank McTeer

Peter Attard (Actor) .. Mack Shaw

Wayne Norman (Actor) .. Larry Broomfield

Jacqueline Leonard (Actor) .. Sarah Spillers

David Griffith (Actor) .. Timothy Perry

Katrina Levon (Actor) .. WPC Norah Curtis

Michael Culver (Actor) .. Maugham Willowbank

Gavin Richards (Actor) .. Steven Trevors

Martyn Read (Actor) .. Sergeant Brenner

Antony Carrick (Actor) .. George Granger

Sarah Booth (Actor) .. Jane Post

Stephen Whittaker (Director)

Daniel Boyle (Writer)

Inspector Morse: The Day of the Devil

11:50 pm - 02:00 am, Thursday, August 27 on ITV3 (10)

About this Broadcast

The Day of the Devil
Season 7, Episode 2

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