McDonald & Dodds - A Billion Beats - 4:10 pm Sunday, February 8 on ITV3

Jason Watkins (Actor) .. DS Dodds

Born: July 30, 1963 in Albrighton near Wolverhampton

Best Known For: Trollied, and The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies.

Early-life: Jason Barrington Watkins was born in Albrighton near Wolverhampton on July 30th, 1963 to Alan and Avis. His father is from Cleethorpes and his mother is from Manchester. Jason was brought up in London. Drama teachers at his Hounslow comprehensive encouraged him to pursue a career in acting. He was accepted into Rada at the same time as Ralph Fiennes, Jane Horrocks and Neil Dudgeon.

Career: Watkins has played supporting roles for most of his career. He has made guest appearances in Soldier Soldier, Casualty, The Bill, William and Mary, Life on Mars, and Lewis among many others. In 2011, he began playing store manager Gavin Strong in Sky1 sitcom Trollied. In 2014, he played his first lead role in The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies. His film credits include Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Onegin (1999), Confetti (2006), The Golden Compass (2007), Wild Child (2008), Lost Christmas (2011), and Nativity 3: Dude, Where's My Donkey?! (2014).

Quote: "I got quite close to the world record, when I was about 12 or 13, of running the length of a basketball court on my hands."

Trivia: Watkins was nominated for an Olivier award in 2001 for his performance in A Servant for Two Masters.

Tala Gouveia (Actor) .. DCI Lauren McDonald

Claire Skinner (Actor) .. DSI Mary Ormond

Lily Sacofsky (Actor) .. DC Milena Paciorkowski

Charlie Chambers (Actor) .. DC Samuel Goldie

Danyal Ismail (Actor) .. DC Martin Malik

Paul McGann (Actor) .. Archie Addington

Born: November 14, 1959 in Liverpool

Best Known For: Withnail and I.

Early-life: Born in Liverpool on November 14, 1959, into a staunchly Catholic family. He was the second of his parents' five surviving children - he had older twin brothers but one died at birth. His mother was a teacher, and his dad was a metallurgist - both parents encouraged all their children to develop their interests as much as possible. His first ambition was to become an astronaut, and didn't decide to be an actor until he was 20. He was persuaded by a teacher to try performing, and went on to study at Rada.

Career: McGann started out on stage, eventually making his TV debut in the 1983 series Give Us a Break, but it only lasted for one series. He became a household name in 1987, thanks to acclaimed TV drama The Monocled Mutineer and has achieved long-lasting fame thanks to a starring role in cult 1986 film Withnail and I. He went on to appear in Alien 3, Our Mutual Friend, Nature Boy and Queen of the Damned. McGann also became the eighth Time Lord when he appeared in the 1996 Doctor Who film. Another notable appearance came in The Hanging Gale, a drama about the Irish potato famine which co-starred his three brothers. He's cropped up in several Hornblower dramas, plus Poirot, Marple, acclaimed drama True Dare Kiss and the last-ever episode of Waking the Dead.

Quote: "I don't want to be remembered as the George Lazenby of Doctor Who."

Trivia: He reprised his role as Doctor Who in 2013 mini-episode The Night of the Doctor.

Ben Batt (Actor) .. Philip Henry/DCI Ethan Fletcher

Daisy Bevan (Actor) .. Loz Addington

Best Known For: Being Joely Richardson's daughter.

Early-life: Daisy Carmen Bevan was born in March 1992, the daughter of actress Joely Richardson and film producer Tim Bevan. Her parents divorced when she was five. Daisy made her screen debut in the film Elizabeth (1998) and played a younger version of her mother in The Affair of the Necklace (2001). She went on to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in Manhattan.

Career: More recently, Bevan starred in The Two Faces of January (2014), and the miniseries The Outcast.

Quote: "I feel incredibly lucky and excited to be doing what I want to be doing. I'm just so grateful."

Trivia: At the age of 15, Bevan needed an operation to fix an on-going circulatory condition in her legs.

Kelvin Fletcher (Actor) .. Donovan Janaway

Born: January 17, 1984 in Oldham

Best Known For: Playing Andy Sugden in Emmerdale.

Early-life: Born Kelvin Warren Fletcher in Oldham on January 17, 1984, Kelvin started acting at an early age by attending Saturday morning drama classes at the Oldham Theatre Workshop. As a child actor, he appeared on the stage as Tom Sawyer at the Grand Theatre, Manchester, and appeared on TV in episodes of Three Seven Eleven, Cracker, Chiller and Heartbeat.

Career: His big break came in 1996 when he joined the cast of Emmerdale as Andy Hopwood. Following a troubled childhood, 10-year-old Andy's luck changed when he was fostered by Jack and Sarah Sugden. To help ease Jack's financial problems, Andy hit on the idea of destroying a barn for the insurance money but he didn't know Sarah was in the building with her lover Richie when he set it on fire. She died but Richie managed to escape. Andy went on to have a baby with his first girlfriend Katie. They eventually married but the relationship did not last when Katie fell for his adoptive brother Robert. Andy had a baby with Debbie Dingle but that relationship did not last either. He confessed to setting the fire that killed Sarah and was sentenced to three years in prison. While incarcerated, Andy married Jo Stiles. When he was released, he discovered that everything had changed. The farm was losing money and Jo had lost the lease. It wasn't long before Andy began taking his frustration out on Jo by hitting her. Jo decided that her best course of action was to leave him. Following a breakdown, Andy sought professional help and began repairing friendships.

Quote: "I hope I can show that I've got a little bit of talent. I'm very fortunate now in that I have my first love, which is drama and acting, for a living and I'm also managing to go racing as well."

Trivia: Fletcher has won two British Soap Awards. In 2013, he achieved his childhood dream of competing in the Porsche GT3 Cup series.

Paul Forman (Actor) .. Marco Capone

Naoko Mori (Actor) .. Leyna Masamoto

John Omole (Actor) .. Jules Grove

Bluey Robinson (Actor) .. Gabriel George

Bill Skinner (Actor) .. Lenny Addington

Bridgitta Roy (Actor) .. Mrs Fallon

Nino Furuhata (Actor) .. Joji Masamoto

Louise Jameson (Actor) .. Mrs Burchard

Born: April 20, 1951 in London

Best Known For: EastEnders, Doctor Who, Bergerac and Tenko.

Early-life: Louise was born in London on April 20, 1951. She trained at Rada and went on to spend two years with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Early TV credits included Z Cars, Emmerdale and Space: 1999 but her big break came in 1977 when she was cast as Leela, the leather-clad barbarian warrior companion of the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) in Doctor Who.

Career: In the early 1980s, Jameson had a lead role in the first two series of popular BBC drama Tenko. She went on star in Bergerac as Jim Bergerac's girlfriend for five years. In 1998 she began an association with EastEnders that ran to more than 200 episodes as Rosa di Marco. More recently she has appeared in River City, Doc Martin, Doctors and Holby City. When she is not gracing the small screen, she can usually be found on the stage.

Quote: "When I was Leela I was surprised I became a sex symbol. I thought Doctor Who was just a children's show."

Trivia: In 2007, Jameson toured her one-woman show, Face Value.

Rob Drummond (Writer)

Isher Sahota (Director)

Rebecca Davies (Producer)

Robert Murphy (Executive producer)

Damien Timmer (Executive producer)

McDonald & Dodds: A Billion Beats

4:10 pm - 6:05 pm, Sunday, February 8 on ITV3 (10)

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A Billion Beats
Season 3, Episode 2

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