New Tricks - Final Curtain - 12:25 pm Saturday, December 27 on U&Drama

Alun Armstrong (Actor) .. Brian Lane

Born: July 17, 1946 in Annfield Plain, near Stanley, Co Durham

Best Known For: New Tricks.

Early-life: Alun Armstrong was born in Annfield Plain, near Stanley, Co Durham, on July 17, 1946. His father was from Cumberland and his mother was from Co Durham. He attended Consett Grammar School before going to Newcastle University. Unhappy in academia, he took a job as a gravedigger, where a colleague managed to get him an interview for a behind-the-scenes job with a theatre company. That in turn led to acting work.

Career: Armstrong's screen debut came in the classic Michael Caine gangster movie Get Carter in 1971. Other early roles included parts in Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Softly, Softly and The Sweeney. His many other TV roles include Austin Donaghue in Our Friends in the North, Detective Chief Inspector Frank Jefferson in In the Red, and George Mole in Adrian Mole: The Cappucino Years, alongside Alison Steadman. Film credits include The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Krull (1983), American Friends (1991), Patriot Games (1992) and Braveheart (1995). He has won countless accolades for his classic stage roles. He is currently best known for playing the role of Brian Lane in popular BBC series New Tricks, a part he played for 10 series.

Quote: "I'm more concerned about losing my marbles than losing parts - especially when it comes to learning lines!"

Trivia: Armstrong originated the role of Thénardier in the London production of Les Misérables and won an Olivier Award for playing the title role in Sweeney Todd.

Amanda Redman (Actor) .. Det Supt Sandra Pullman

Born: August 12, 1957 in Brighton

Best Known For: At Home with the Braithwaites and New Tricks.

Early-life: Amanda Jacqueline Redman was born in Brighton on August 12, 1957, the eldest of two children. She poured a saucepan of boiling soup over her torso and left arm when she was 18 months old and needed regular skin grafts until she was five. She studied at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She was shattered after her father died suddenly when she was 20.

Career: Redman first attracted attention in 1981 with her steamy film debut in Richard's Things. Roles proved sporadic in that decade, but her career took off in 1991 when she played Roberta in Spender, and Sally in The Men's Room. Bigger roles followed, such as Dr Joanna Stevens in Dangerfield in 1995. She hit the headlines in 1998, first with Close Relations which featured a ménage à trois, then as Diana Dors for glossy drama The Blonde Bombshell. Her small-screen success was consolidated with roles as a teacher in Hope and Glory and as lottery winner Alison in At Home with the Braithwaites - but she has also appeared in the films Sexy Beast (2000) and Mike Bassett: England Manager (2005). She starred in popular BBC drama New Tricks between 2003 and 2013. More recently, she starred in TV movie Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This.

Quote: "If you're seen as a strong woman, men think you don't need protecting. Yet, underneath it all, I'm quite vulnerable."

Trivia: Redman received an MBE in 2012.

Dennis Waterman (Actor) .. Gerry Standing

Born: February 24, 1948 in Clapham

Best Known For: The Sweeney, Minder, and New Tricks.

Early-life: Born February 24, 1948, in Clapham, south London, the youngest of nine children, the son of a British Rail ticket collector. As a child he attended the Corona Theatre School and began his professional career with a role in Snowball, a 1960 Children's Film Foundation production. The same year he made Night Train to Inverness, and was asked to join the Royal Shakespeare Company. Playing William in a TV series based on the Just William books made him a star. He then tried to break into Hollywood.

Career: At 16, Waterman returned to Britain and concentrated on stage work until an acclaimed performance in 1968's Up the Junction led to more film roles. Low-budget movies (such as Scars of Dracula) and TV shows (including Colditz) followed until, in 1974, he co-starred with John Thaw in Regan, the pilot episode of iconic series The Sweeney, which became a major TV hit. A 10-year stint in comedy drama Minder followed. Other projects include TV shows On the Up, Stay Lucky, and Circles of Deceit. He's also worked on the stage, most notably in Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, and My Fair Lady. As Gerry Standing, in BBC drama New Tricks, he has introduced himself to a new generation of fans.

Quote: "If I am not such a hell-raiser any more, it isn't because I've given up. It's just that my energy levels have fallen. I haven't stopped looking at women. I'm not blind."

Trivia: He has made several records, including, famously, the theme tunes of several of his TV shows.

Anthony Calf (Actor) .. DAC Robert Strickland

Susan Jameson (Actor) .. Esther Lane

Will Kemp (Actor) .. James Strickland

Claire Bloom (Actor) .. Helen Brownlow

Kim Thomson (Actor) .. Tiffany Barker

Kate Magowan (Actor) .. Catherine Austin

Born: June 01, 1975 in Harrow

Best Known For: Playing Sadie Young in EastEnders.

Early-life: Katie Victoria Magowan was born in Harrow on June 1, 1975. She trained to be an actress at the Actors' Institute in London. Early TV credits include roles in miniseries A Dinner of Herbs, Murder in Mind and Manchild.

Career: Magowan's films credits include It's All Gone Pete Tong (2004), Kidulthood (2006), Stardust (2007), 4.3.2.1. (2010) and Outside Bet (2012). She has appeared alongside her actor husband John Simm in 24 Hour Party People (2002), short film Devilwood, Tuesday (2008) and BBC psychological thriller Exile. Between August 2013 and January 2014, she played beautician Sadie Young in EastEnders.

Quote: On EastEnders: "It's quite an iconic moment when you first move onto the Square."

Trivia: She made her stage debut in a production of Top Girls.

Dermot Crowley (Actor) .. Derek Bennett

Born: March 19, 1947 in Cork

Best Known For: A string of roles.

Early-life: Dermot Joseph Crowley was born in Cork on March 19, 1947. In 1976, he made his TV debut in Victorian Scandals. During the 1980s, he had roles in Return of the Jedi (1983) and Octopussy (1983), and appeared on the small screen in Juliet Bravo, C.A.T.S. Eyes, Call Me Mister, Bulman, Echoes and Hannay.

Career: A prolific character actor, Crowley's other TV credits include guest appearances in Boon, Casualty, El C.I.D., Minder, Stay Lucky, Pie in the Sky, Soldier Soldier, Father Ted, Dangerfield, Jonathan Creek, A Touch of Frost and Holby City. More recently, he has starred in New Tricks, Raw, Father Figure, Borgia and Luther. On the stage, he has starred in A Christmas Carol, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Great Britain and Everyman.

Quote: 'I had seen neither Star Wars nor The Empire Strikes Back before working on Return of the Jedi. I think I would have been completely overawed if I had.'

Trivia: Crowley auditioned for the role of Doctor Who that eventually went to Sylvester McCoy.

John Fortune (Actor) .. Mel Simons

Dexter Fletcher (Actor) .. Tommy Jackson

Gavin Millar (Actor) .. Theatre director

Diana Weston (Actor) .. Jane Morley

Nick Mason (Actor) .. Actor

Keith Thompson (Producer)

Julian Simpson (Director)

Chris Coghill (Writer)

New Tricks: Final Curtain

12:25 pm - 1:30 pm, Saturday, December 27 on U&Drama (20)

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Final Curtain
Season 5, Episode 2

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