Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators - Teach Me, Dear Creature

Jo Joyner (Actor) .. Luella Shakespeare

Born: February 23, 1978 in Harlow, Essex

Best Known For: Playing Tanya Branning in EastEnders.

Early-life: Born Joanne Mary Joyner on May 24, 1978, in Essex. She has an older brother called Dan. The family later moved to Oxfordshire, where she grew up. She says she always wanted to act, and after finishing her A levels, enrolled in the Welsh College of Music and Drama, graduating in 1999 with a BA. She then spent a couple of years in Manchester looking for work, eventually honing her craft on the stage.

Career: Joyner's big break came with the acclaimed drama Clocking Off. She went on to do a few other northern projects, including Fat Friends and Silent Witness, as well as the period miniseries North and South, before she bit the bullet and moved down to London. She then landed a role in nursing drama No Angels, and has been busy ever since. In 2005, Joyner played a Big Brother contestant in two episodes of Doctor Who, and also appeared in Spooks. She showed off her comedy skills in the sketch show Swinging (winning a Rose d'Or comedy award in the process), before landing the part of Tanya Branning in 2006. Despite her character taking a couple of prolonged breaks, she remains hugely popular with fans.

Quote: On whether she'd like to go to Hollywood: 'I couldn't lose the weight and take the pressure of it all being about looks! I'd love to do it when I'm 50 or 60, like Julie Walters or Brenda Blethyn. Then it's more about what you do and being a good actor.'

Trivia: Joyner has won two British Soap Awards.

Mark Benton (Actor) .. Frank Hathaway

Born: November 16, 1965 in Guisborough

Best Known For: Northern Lights, and Waterloo Road.

Early-life: Born on 16 November, 1965, in Guisborough in the North East, Mark hoped to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, actor Michael Gunn. Always the class clown, he fell in love with the theatre and spent many years trying to make a career out of acting. He was in the same drama class at the Stockton-Billingham Tech as actress Elizabeth Carling. Some of his early acting experience came with the Middlesbrough Youth Theatre, with performances in plays such as Atmos Fear and Twist.

Career: Benton's big break came in the 1997 Mike Leigh film Career Girls. For the past decade he has barely been off our screens. He had a recurring role as Father McBride in the James Nesbitt series Murphy's Law. He has starred with Vic and Bob in their remake of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Catterick, and Monkey Trousers. He was comedy gold in Craig Cash's Early Doors and The Booze Cruise trilogy. His biggest role was alongside Robson Green in Christmas Lights, Northern Lights, City Lights and Clash of the Santas. He was also a regular on Waterloo Road and is the host of game show The Edge. In 2013, he was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.

Quote: 'I think sometimes you have to ask if you want to be an actor or do you want to be a celebrity? I was tempted to do Celebrity Mastermind but I couldn't think of a specialist subject.'

Trivia: Benton is a die-hard supporter of Middlesbrough FC and has featured in the club's official season ticket advertising campaign.

Patrick Walshe McBride (Actor) .. Sebastian Brudenell

Tomos Eames (Actor) .. DS Joe Keeler

Yasmin Kaur Barn (Actor) .. PC Viola Deacon

Tamzin Outhwaite (Actor) .. Jessica Duke

Born: November 05, 1970 in Ilford, Essex

Best Known For: Playing Mel in EastEnders.

Early-life: Tamzin Outhwaite was born on November 5, 1970, in Ilford, Essex. Her mother is Italian. She discovered her love of performing at a young age and would put on plays with her two younger brothers. She became involved with local amateur dramatics in her teens and admits that her schoolwork suffered, although she always did well in drama. After taking her O-levels at 16, Outhwaite signed up for a three-year acting course at the London Studio Centre, where she was voted Most Outstanding All-Rounder.

Career: Outhwaite took small parts in various West End productions and also appeared on TV in The Bill and Men Behaving Badly. Her big break came in 1997, when dramatist Alan Ayckbourn spotted her in the chorus of a musical and offered her the lead role in his play Absent Friends. She then played the part of Melanie Healy in EastEnders for three years. Since leaving Walford, she has starred in the dramas Red Cap and Final Demand, and won rave reviews for her performance as a single mum in the improvised drama Out of Control. Other work includes an appearance in Fast Freddie, The Widow and Me, Doctor Who and Marple. She has also appeared on the stage in revivals of Boeing Boeing and Sweet Charity, and is the lead actress in New Tricks.

Quote: 'Fame's scary sometimes. I'm just thankful I'd had eight years as a jobbing actress before it happened to me. I'd have worried about my sanity if I'd been 19 or 20.'

Gus Barry (Actor) .. Charlie Duke

Hannah Saxby (Actor) .. Isabella Duke

Harki Bhambra (Actor) .. Amit Azim

Niamh McGrady (Actor) .. Cassie Dorcas

Born: October 04, 1983 in Castlewellan, Co Down

Best Known For: Playing Mary-Claire Carter in Holby City.

Early-life: Niamh was born in Castlewellan, Co Down, on October 4, 1983. From the age of 18, she trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. After graduating, she joined a production of Romeo and Juliet and then did a pantomime in Belfast.

Career: In 2007 and 2008, McGrady starred alongside Patrick Stewart in a production of Macbeth that played in London and New York. In 2009, she appeared in the TV movie Best: His Mother's Son, but her part was removed in the cutting room. In the same year, she joined the cast of Holby City as a semi-regular, playing nurse Mary-Claire Carter. In 2013, she began starring alongside Gillian Anderson in the crime drama The Fall. In the same year, she became a regular on Holby City and stayed with the show until early 2015.

Quote: 'I think The Fall is about trying to understand violence against women - things that can happen behind closed doors.'

Trivia: McGrady spent years waitressing in London to make ends meet before her acting career took off.

Ed Brody (Actor) .. Rory Harrison

Dan Muirden (Writer)

Caroline Slater (Producer)

Paul Gibson (Director)

Ceri Meyrick (Executive producer)

Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators: Teach Me, Dear Creature

4:20 pm - 5:20 pm, Monday, March 23 on U&Drama (20)

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Teach Me, Dear Creature
Season 3, Episode 10

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