Inspector Morse - The Settling of the Sun - 09:10 am Monday, January 12 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.

Anna Calder-Marshall (Actor) .. Jane Robson

Robert Stephens (Actor) .. Sir Wilfred Mulryne

Derek Fowlds (Actor) .. Kurt Friedman/Michael Robson

Born: September 02, 1937 in London

Best Known For: Yes, Minister, Yes, Prime Minister and Heartbeat.

Early-life: Born in London on September 2, 1937, Derek left school at 15 and worked in a factory as an apprentice painter. It was during his national service that he was encouraged to take up acting. He went on to win a scholarship and grant for Rada.

Career: Fowlds made his stage debut in the West End in The Miracle Worker and continued to win stage work and small roles in films before he became known to millions as Mr Derek in children's series The Basil Brush Show, which ran from 1969 to 1973. His big break came in 1980 when he landed the role of Bernard Woolley in BBC sitcom Yes, Minister and its sequel Yes, Prime Minister. He went on to play Oscar Blaketon in long-running ITV police drama Heartbeat from 1992 until 2010.

Quote: "I'm still waiting to be discovered."

Trivia: He married Blue Peter presenter Lesley Judd in 1974. They divorced four years later.

Robert Lang (Actor) .. Chief Supt Dewar

Avis Bunnage (Actor) .. Mrs Warbut

Amanda Burton (Actor) .. Mirella Lunghi

Born: October 10, 1956 in Ballougry, Co Derry, Northern Ireland

Best Known For: Brookside, Peak Practice, Silent Witness and Waterloo Road.

Early-life: Born in Ballougry, Co Derry, Northern Ireland, on October 10, 1956. She was raised in a Protestant area of Londonderry, where her father was a headmaster. She's the youngest of four girls. At the age of seven, Amanda decided she wanted to become an actress. Eleven years later, she left for England to study drama at Manchester Polytechnic. After graduating, she appeared in plays produced by companies in Lancaster and Bolton.

Career: Burton's first regular TV role came in 1982 as Heather Haversham in Brookside. She spent four years in the soap before securing a regular role in Boon. She also appeared in episodes of Inspector Morse, Medics, Stay Lucky, and Lovejoy. In 1993, she starred alongside Kevin Whately in Peak Practice. Two years later she quit to tackle the role of forensic pathologist Dr Sam Ryan in Silent Witness, and stayed with the show for eight years. Other miniseries and one-off dramas include The Gift, Forgotten, The Whistle-Blower, Marple and The Commander. Burton later spent a year on Waterloo Road, had a supporting role in the film Bronson and has presented the series Amanda Burton: Forensic Killers for the Discovery Channel.

Quote: "I'm not a cold, serious person like many of the characters I've played. I'm actually a complete clown."

Trivia: In 2014, Burton made it through to the semi-finals of Celebrity MasterChef.

Peter Woodthorpe (Actor) .. Max

Philip Middlemiss (Actor) .. Graham Daniel

Eiji Kusuhara (Actor) .. Yukio Li

Tim Barker (Actor) .. Ralph Thomas

Llewellyn Rees (Actor) .. Reverend Robson

Blue MacAskill (Actor) .. Alex Robson

Ellis van Maarseveen (Actor) .. Heidi Vettinger

Ian McCurrach (Actor) .. Swedish student

Jack Ellis (Actor) .. Sergeant

Kenneth Hadley (Actor) .. Peters

Gordon Kennedy (Actor) .. Dewar's detective

Michael Goldie (Actor) .. Tramp

Elizabeth Kettle (Actor) .. Policewoman

Basienka Blake (Actor) .. Gardener

Kenny McBain (Producer)

Peter Hammond (Director)

Charles Wood (Writer)

Inspector Morse: The Settling of the Sun

09:10 am - 11:20 am, Monday, January 12 on ITV3 (10)

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The Settling of the Sun
Season 2, Episode 3

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