The Bill - Cautious Approach - 12:00 pm Saturday, July 25 on U&W

Andrew Lancel (Actor) .. DI Neil Manson

Billy Murray (Actor) .. Don Beech

Simon Rouse (Actor) .. DCI Jack Meadows

Roberta Taylor (Actor) .. Insp Gina Gold

Born: February 26, 1948 in London

Best Known For: Playing Irene Raymond in EastEnders and Inspector Gina Gold in The Bill.

Early-life: Born the illegitimate child of a bus conductor on 26 February, 1948, in London, Roberta was brought up by her mother, aunts and grandmother. She was always very close to her mum, and they lived in the same street in London before she died suddenly of bronchial pneumonia. Roberta documented her early years in the 2005 memoir Too Many Mothers. After attending drama school in London, she joined the highly acclaimed Glasgow Citizens' Company and worked for years in theatre.

Career: Appeared in the projects Ladykillers, Inspector Morse, The Witches, Tom & Viv, Dangerfield and Silent Witness before being cast as Irene Raymond in EastEnders. She stayed with the hit soap for three years until 2000, then went on to appear in Doctors and Holby City. After four previous appearances in The Bill, she was finally cast as Gina Gold in 2002, and played the same character in spin-off series MIT: Murder Investigation Team. She also appeared in the BBC's 2005 critically acclaimed adaptation of Bleak House.

Quote: 'It's fantastic to play somebody like Gina (in The Bill). She is just so sarcastic with everybody. It takes people's breath away and she is not shocked by anything.'

Trivia: Away from acting, she is an active supporter of the Labour Party.

Beth Cordingly (Actor) .. PC Kerry Young

Daniel MacPherson (Actor) .. PC Cameron Tait

Born: April 25, 1980 in Sydney, Australia

Best Known For: Neighbours and The Bill

Early-life: Born April 25, 1980, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. His mother, Anne, is a jeweller, his dad, Keith, is a businessman. He has a younger brother and sister, Andrew and Brodie. When he was 10, MacPherson's family relocated to England. They also lived in Italy, France, and Switzerland before returning to Sydney. A talented triathlete, he was spotted by an agent while training on a beach. He ditched his plan to study economics at university to concentrate on acting.

Career: MacPherson's TV debut came when he landed the role of Joel Samuels in Neighbours in 1998. The character left Ramsay Street in 2002, a few months after the actor came to Britain to star in pantomime Aladdin in Canterbury. He went on to appear in a touring version of musical Godspell, alternating the roles of Judas and Jesus with co-star Jonathan Wilkes. In 2003, MacPherson landed the role of PC Cameron Tait in The Bill. In 2008, he began hosting the Australian version of Dancing with the Stars.

Quote: 'My time on The Bill has been fantastic. I came to get away from Neighbours and the whole Aussie soap star thing and I don't regret a minute of it.'

Trivia: MacPherson competes in triathlon and ironman events.

Larry Lamb (Actor) .. Jonathan Fox

Born: October 10, 1947 in London

Best Known For: Playing Archie in EastEnders.

Early-life: Born in London in 1943, Lamb joined the oil industry, which resulted in him working in Libya and Canada, where he attended St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. This developed his amateur interest in acting into a professional level, performing at Canada's Stratford Festival in 1975-1976. He returned to the UK, and became a regular cast member, along with Kate O'Mara, in the BBC's North Sea ferry based soap Triangle (1981-83), in which he played Matt Taylor, the ship's Chief Engineer.

Career: Other credits include The New Avengers, The Professionals, Fox, Minder, Get Back, Lovejoy, Get Back, A Touch of Frost, Our Friends in the North, Taggart, Casualty, Kavanagh QC, Spooks, Midsomer Murders and The Bill. Lamb has also appeared in various films including the 1980s hit Buster also starring Phil Collins and Julie Walters, as Peter Chase in Essex Boys and in 1983, had a small speaking role in the blockbuster Superman III. Most recently, Lamb has been seen in Gavin & Stacey playing Gavin's father, Michael Shipman. In 2008, he began playing the part of twisted, manipulative Archie Mitchell in Eastenders.

Quote: "Archie is two characters rolled into one - he is Mr Nice and Mr Nasty!"

Trivia: He is the father of BBC 6 Music disc jockey, Celebrity Scissorhands and Big Brother's Little Brother presenter George Lamb.

Todd Carty (Actor) .. PC Gabriel Kent

Born: August 31, 1963 in Limerick, Ireland

Best Known For: Grange Hill and EastEnders.

Early-life: Born Todd Jennings on August 31, 1963, in Limerick, Ireland, but grew up in Kilburn, North London. His father was an engineer, his mother a nurse. He has two sisters. Carty started acting at just four years old. His first TV appearance came in a commercial for a well-known department store.

Career: Carty made his film debut in the big-screen version of Please Sir! in 1971. Other early appearances came in Professor Popper's Problem, and Z Cars. His big break came when he was cast as Tucker Jenkins in Grange Hill in 1978. When he left four years later, the show's ratings dipped, prompting the BBC to launch a spin-off, Tucker's Luck, in 1983, the same year he appeared in the movie Krull. He began a 13-year stint in EastEnders in 1990. He's also appeared in Black Velvet Band, and returned briefly to Grange Hill in 2003. Carty joined The Bill in the same year, before leaving in 2005. Since then, he has appeared in the last-ever episode of Grange Hill (2008), and Dangerous Adventures for Boys. He has also starred in a number of pantomimes and the role of Patsy in a touring version of Spamalot.

Quote: 'I have no desire to be famous or a celebrity. I suppose a lot of kids do, but you never hear anyone saying they want to work hard.'

Peter O'Brien (Actor) .. DI Peter Cavanaugh

Cyril Nri (Actor) .. Supt Adam Okaro

Tony Haygarth (Actor) .. Roy Stafford

Jane Wood (Actor) .. Ivy Cook

Mark Wingett (Actor) .. DC Jim Carver

Natalie Roles (Actor) .. DS Debbie McAllister

Lisa Maxwell (Actor) .. DS Samantha Nixon

Born: November 24, 1963 in London

Best Known For: The Bill and Loose Women.

Early-life: Born on November 24, 1963, in Elephant and Castle, London. She was raised by her mother Val, a solicitor's receptionist, after her father walked out on them; she met him again when she was 45. Thanks to her performances at the Italia Conti Stage School, she was encouraged to pursue a showbusiness career by her mum. At 11, she won a role in the stage production Annie, appeared in the TV drama Ballet Shoes and made the schools programme A Place Like Home.

Career: Maxwell's first big break came in the early 1980s, when she was picked to front youth programme No Limits. She also provided the voice of Kira in 1982's cult movie The Dark Crystal. A role in the film Remembrance followed, as did TV series Splash. She became a household name while appearing alongside Russ Abbot and Les Dennis in their comedy series. Her popularity led to her own show, and in 1993 she moved to America. Maxwell landed the role of Daphne in Frasier but, after criticising the scripts, was replaced by Jane Leeves. She returned to the UK where she worked on stage and appeared in In Deep, before joining The Bill as Sam Nixon in 2002. She has appeared as a regular contributor on Loose Women since 2009.

Quote: On working with Russ Abbott: 'They were happy, happy days. Just imagine this, you get up every morning and all you've got to do is go and play silly beggars.'

Trivia: Maxwell proposed to her partner Paul Jessup, on the traditional Leap Year Day (29 February 2012).

Michele Austin (Actor) .. PC Yvonne Hemmingway

Manjinder Virk (Actor) .. Khadija Miah

Best Known For: Being a multi-talented writer, director and actor.

Early-life: Manjinder was born in Coventry and comes from a family of three children. Her first taste of acting came at the Belgrade Youth Theatre in Coventry and she went on to become artistic director of Pangram Dance Theatre with her brother, Hardish. She earned a degree in contemporary dance at De Montfort University in Leicester. She made her TV acting debut in an episode of Holby City in 1999.

Career: Guest roles for Virk followed in Doctors, the TV film Ready When You Are, Mr McGill, The Bill, Swiss Toni, and Green Wing. She had a recurring role in ITV medical drama Monroe. More recently, she has starred in The Thick of It, Hunted, Call the Midwife and Ordinary Lives. Her other TV credits include the TV movies The Bradford Riots and Britz. Away from acting, she started writing when she joined the Royal Court Young Writers Programme. Her first commission in 2003 was a stage play called Glow for Theatre Centre. In 2010, she won a Best Actress gong at the British Independent Film Awards for the documentary The Arbor.

Quote: 'I've written and devised plays since I was at school. My whole family are in the arts, my mum and dad are writers, it's really natural to be doing it.'

Trivia: Virk's 2013 short film Out of Darkness won the Best Drama Award and the Best of Fest Award at the Aesthetica Short Film Festival.

Shobu Kapoor (Actor) .. Mrs Miah

Ryan Coath (Actor) .. Stephen Giles

Alex Walkinshaw (Actor) .. Sgt Dale Smith

Born: October 05, 1974 in Barking, Essex

Best Known For: Playing Smithy in The Bill.

Early-life: Alex Walkinshaw was born in Barking, Essex, on 5 October 1974. A keen swimmer as a child, he used to train five days a week and compete in various competitions, finding it helped his asthma. An energetic, extroverted child, he studied drama as an outlet for his creativity. After studying drama at his secondary school, Alex soon found he had a real talent and joined a Saturday drama class. Encouraged by his teachers, Alex was elated to be accepted into the Sylvia Young Theatre School and later the London Dance Studios.

Career: His first TV appearance was at the age of 12 as an extra in Grange Hill. From 1992 to 1993 he appeared in the sitcom Side by Side. He first appeared in The Bill as a guest star in 1992, 1993 and 1995, before joining as a regular cast member in 1999. He played PC Dale Smith, better known as 'Smithy'. He left the show in 2001, only to return in 2003 when his character was promoted to Sergeant. After a spell in Waterloo Road, Walkinshaw joined the cast of Casualty in 2012 as senior staff nurse Adrian Fletcher. He took his character to Holby City in August 2014.

Quote: On his move from Casualty to Holby City: 'I was really quite nervous when I first started, but everyone has been so welcoming and friendly that I feel my transition has been fairly smooth.'

Trivia: In 2007, he took part in The Weakest Link and won £9,450 for Essex-based charity called 'Kids in Need'.

Vickie Gates (Actor) .. SRO Marilyn Chambers

Daniel O'Grady (Actor) .. Trevor Little

Lee Whitlock (Actor) .. Jason Black

Dawn Harrison (Writer)

Martin Hutchings (Director)

Caroline Levy (Producer)

Tim Key (Producer)

The Bill: Cautious Approach

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm, Saturday, July 25 on U&W (25)

About this Broadcast

Cautious Approach
Season 20, Episode 33

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