New Tricks - End of the Line - 10:00 pm Tuesday, May 12 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.

James Bolam (Actor) .. Jack Halford

Born: June 16, 1935 in Sunderland

Best Known For: Being a Likely Lad.

Early-life: Born James Christopher Bolam on June 16, 1935, in Sunderland. His father died when he was young. The family left the North East when James was 12, and he attended school in Derby. There was no showbiz influence in his family, but Bolam went to the cinema every Saturday and that inspired him to try acting. He briefly worked as a trainee chartered accountant, before winning a place at the Central Drama School in London. He made his professional stage debut at the Royal Court in 1959.

Career: Bolam appeared on stage alongside Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud, then followed it up with films The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and A Kind of Loving, before being cast as cynical Terry Collier in The Likely Lads in 1964. He agreed to reprise the role in Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads? nine years later. James went on to star in When the Boat Comes In, Only When I Laugh and Alan Plater's Beiderbecke trilogy. He has also appeared in Clockwork Mice, The End of the Affair, Born and Bred, Grandpa in My Pocket, To Kill a King and controversial feature-length drama Shipman, about serial killer doctor Harold Shipman. He starred in New Tricks between 2003 and 2012 and continues to appear on stage.

Quote: 'I'm suddenly popular again. I don't know why.'

Trivia: He was awarded an MBE in 2009.

Amanda Redman (Actor) .. 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.

Susan Jameson (Actor) .. Esther Lane

Sylvestra Le Touzel (Actor) .. Janice Pargetter

Peter Davison (Actor) .. Charles Allenforth

Born: April 13, 1951 in Streatham, London

Best Known For: Being the fifth Doctor Who.

Early-life: Born Peter Moffett on April 13, 1951, in Streatham, south London. He moved with his three sisters to Surrey when his parents, Sheila and Claude, bought a village store. He had an undistinguished time at Winston Churchill School, but he did enjoy music and drama. After leaving with three O-levels, he considered teaching, but entered the Central School of Speech and Drama after catching the acting bug through amateur performances. To avoid confusion with director Peter Moffatt, he changed his surname to Davison.

Career: Davison's first professional role was in Love's Labour's Lost at Nottingham Playhouse in 1972 and his TV debut came in a 1975 episode of The Tomorrow People. A lean spell followed (during which he spent 18 months working in a tax office in Twickenham), but his big break came in 1978 when he landed the role of Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small. In 1981, he took over from Tom Baker as the fifth Doctor Who, but quit three years later for fear of being typecast. Other career highlights include A Very Peculiar Practice, Campion, At Home with the Braithwaites, The Last Detective, The Complete Guide to Parenting, Distant Shores and Law & Order: UK. Throughout 2010, he starred in the West End production of Legally Blonde, and directed and wrote a spoof documentary called The Five(ish) Doctors to tie in with Doctor Who's 50th anniversary in 2013.

Quote: 'You don't ever decide you're old - at least I haven't yet. I'm still quite surprised if I get dragged for a night out somewhere why I'm yawning by half-past-11.'

Trivia: He composed the theme tunes for Button Moon and Mixed Blessings. His actress daughter, Georgia Moffett, is married to David Tennant.

Keith Allen (Actor) .. Roger McHugh

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 Graham (Actor) .. Peter Offord

Virginia Fiol (Actor) .. Christine Offord

Lisa Diveney (Actor) .. Leah

Margo Gunn (Actor) .. Nun

John McEnery (Actor) .. Tony No Ticket

Boyd Clack (Actor) .. Broadmoor Bill

Tony Rohr (Actor) .. Bedknob

Donna Berlin (Actor) .. Woman on Tube

Christopher Fry (Actor) .. Uniform PC

Glen Davies (Actor) .. Ken Jackson

Roy Mitchell (Writer)

Keith Thompson (Producer)

Robin Sheppard (Director)

New Tricks: End of the Line

10:00 pm - 11:20 pm, Tuesday, May 12 on U&Drama (20)

About this Broadcast

End of the Line
Season 8, Episode 2

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