Happy Valley

Sarah Lancashire (Actor) .. Catherine Cawood

Born: October 04, 1964 in Oldham

Best Known For: Playing Raquel in Coronation Street.

Early-life: Born on October 4, 1964, in Oldham, Lancashire. Her father was scriptwriter Geoffrey Lancashire, who penned more than 100 episodes of Coronation Street in the 1960s. She has three brothers (one of whom is her twin), and claims to have had an idyllic childhood, growing up in a rambling Victorian home. She trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and on graduating took work in bars to make ends meet.

Career: Lancashire's first professional job was with the Manchester Library Theatre; she then spent four years teaching drama at Salford University. She made her Coronation Street debut in 1987 with a walk-on part, returning in 1991 to play Raquel Wolstenhulme - the role that made her a star. She quit five years later, and became one of the most sought-after actresses in British TV appearing in such series as Where The Heart Is, Clocking Off, Seeing Red, The Glass, Chambers, Rose and Maloney, The Birthday Girl, The Rotters' Club, Doctor Who, and All the Small Things. Through much of 2011, Lancashire starred on the West End stage in Betty Blue Eyes, a musical comedy based on the film A Private Function. She's since collaborated with writer Sally Wainwright on hit TV series Last Tango in Halifax and Happy Valley.

Quote: 'When I left drama school I thought, 'For the rest of your days, Sarah, you're going to be a second income.' I assumed I'd never have my name on a mortgage.'

Trivia: In 2014, she won a Bafta for her performance in Last Tango in Halifax.

James Norton (Actor) .. Tommy Lee Royce

Born: July 18, 1985 in London

Best Known For: Playing Sidney Chambers in Grantchester.

Early-life: James Geoffrey Ian Norton was born on July 18, 1985 in London. His family lived in Malton, North Yorkshire and he was educated at Ampleforth College. James read Theology at Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge University and graduated in 2007. He went on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and got a role in An Education (2009) shortly before he was due to graduate.

Career: After An Education, Norton had a number of theatre roles, including appearances in Posh at Royal Court Theatre, That Face at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and a touring production of Journey's End. He then went on to get parts in a number of films, including Cheerful Weather for the Wedding (2012), Rush (2013), Belle (2013) and Northmen: A Viking Saga (2014). He has also had a number of roles in TV, including as Henry Alveston in Death Comes to Pemberley, Andrei Bolkonsky in War and Peace, Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley and Sidney Chambers in Grantchester.

Quote: 'If it's a sunny day, I get this weird guilt if I'm not making the most of it, so I'll walk or go for a swim or get on my bike, or I'll go to the Heath, just to have a reason to get out.'

Trivia: He received a Fitzwilliam Travel Grant to travel to Northern India and teach and perform for children at 16 schools.

Siobhan Finneran (Actor) .. Clare Cartwright

George Costigan (Actor) .. Nevison Gallagher

Rhys Connah (Actor) .. Ryan Cawood

Karl Davies (Actor) .. Daniel Cawood

Vincent Franklin (Actor) .. Andy Shepherd

Born: November 03, 1966 in Yorkshire

Best Known For: A string of roles.

Early-life: Vincent Warren Franklin was born in Yorkshire on November 3, 1966. While studying drama at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Vincent worked shifts in a Clifton restaurant. He made his TV debut in an edition of Sharman in 1996.

Career: Franklin is best known for playing PR guru Stewart Pearson in The Thick of It. His other TV credits include The Office, Doc Martin, Twenty Twelve and the TV movie That Day We Sang. In 2015, he played his first lead role, in Channel 4 drama Cucumber. He has appeared in a number of films, including Topsy-Turvy (1999), From Hell (2001), The Bourne Identity (2002), Vera Drake (2004), Mr Turner (2014) and The Riot Club (2014). He also has extensive theatre credits.

Quote: 'I played a Tory party spin doctor for five years and nobody said to me, are you really a Tory? But as soon as you play a gay character, people want to know if you're really gay.'

Trivia: Franklin is a founder of the communications consultancy Quietroom.

Charlie Murphy (Actor) .. Ann Gallagher

Con O'Neill (Actor) .. Neil Ackroyd

Born: August 15, 1966 in Weston-super-Mare

Best Known For: A string of stage and TV roles.

Early-life: Born Robert O'Neill on August 15, 1966 in Weston-super-Mare, Con's TV acting debut was a walk-on role in Willy Russell's coming-of-age drama One Summer. At the age of 22, he was cast in another Russell project, playing Mickey on the stage in Blood Brothers. His performance won him the 1988 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical and a Tony nomination for the Broadway version.

Career: O'Neill's other stage credits include The Awakening, A Tribute to the Blue Brothers, Telstar, Midnight Cowboy, The Caretaker, A View from a Bridge, and The Ladykillers. A regular on the small screen, O'Neill's TV credits include Brookside, Pie in the Sky, Tom Jones, Heartbeat, Waking the Dead, Moving Story, Criminal Justice, The Bible, Uncle, Banana and Cucumber. On the big screen, his credits include Dancin' Thru the Dark (1990), Telstar (2008) and Frank (2012). In early 2015, he starred in the 35th-anniversary staging of Educating Rita at the Liverpool Playhouse.

Quote: 'I think Blood Brothers is the most phenomenal musical, you can't help but be moved by it.'

Trivia: In 2011, he won the Manchester Theatre Award for Best Actor for his performance in A View from a Bridge at the Exchange Theatre in Manchester.

Derek Riddell (Actor) .. Richard Cawood

Shane Zaza (Actor) .. Shafiq Shah

Mete Dursun (Actor) .. Gorkem Tekeli

Joe Simpson (Actor) .. DC Carey

Joe Armstrong (Actor) .. Ashley Cowgill

Ishia Bennison (Actor) .. Joyce

Rick Warden (Actor) .. Mike Taylor

Jason Merrells (Actor) .. DC Stead

Born: November 02, 1968 in London

Best Known For: Cutting It and Emmerdale.

Early-life: Born on November 2, 1968, in Wanstead, Essex. Jason developed a passion for art, writing and acting from an early age. However, his brother Simon had dropped out of the acting profession, so when arts graduate Jason later expressed an interest in the same career, his parents were worried he was making the wrong move, but eventually backed him. His dad designed the posters for a one-man show, and his mum used to pretend to be his agent to get him bookings. Merrells also cut hair as a student, little knowing it would come in handy for a later role.

Career: Became a familiar face in 1994 as Matt Hawley in Casualty, but quit after three years in the role. He went on to appear in episodes of Thief Takers, The Bill, Fat Friends, Queer as Folk and Clocking Off. However, it was as Gavin Ferraday in BBC One drama Cutting It that he sent pulses racing. His student days snipping hair were boosted by five days' intensive training. He had the lead role in short-lived medical drama Sweet Medicine, before making appearances in Where the Heart Is and Murder City. Between 2006 and 2008 he played headmaster Jack Rimmer in Waterloo Road. In 2010, he made his debut in Emmerdale, playing Declan Macey.

Quote: 'Love scenes are quite a difficult technical exercise, but they're also slightly hysterical.'

Trivia: He has directed episodes of River City for BBC Scotland.

Sara Bahadori (Actor) .. Binita Bhuppal

Danny Cunningham (Actor) .. Toby Millward

Belinda O'Hooley (Actor) .. DCS Liz Thornton

Simon Lenagan (Actor) .. Mr Readyough

Freddy Smith (Actor) .. Cesco

Bethany Stott (Actor) .. Florence Hepworth

Bonnie Stott (Actor) .. Poppy Hepworth

Mark Stanley (Actor) .. Rob Hepworth

Born: April 29, 1988

Best Known For: Playing Grenn in Game of Thrones.

Early-life: Born on April 29, 1988. Mark started acting while he was at Prince Henry's Grammar School. He then went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which he graduated from in 2010.

Career: Stanley's first TV appearance was in Game of Thrones, playing the character Grenn from 2011 to 2014. Since then, he has appeared in such series as Dickensian, The Collection and Broken. His film credits include National Theatre Live: Coriolanus (2014), Kajaki (2014), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) and Our Kind of Traitor (2016).

Trivia: He was part of the ensemble cast of Game of Thrones that was nominated for Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2012 and 2015.

Natalie Anderson (Actor) .. Leah

Born: October 24, 1981 in Bradford

Best Known For: Playing Alicia in Emmerdale.

Early-life: Natalie Jane Anderson was born in Bradford on October 24, 1981 to Debbie and Tony and she is the eldest of five children. After graduating from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts, Natalie landed the role of Nurse Stella Davenport on The Royal, a part she played between 2005 and 2008. Prior to that, she had made guest appearances on Dalziel and Pascoe, Holby City and Wire in the Blood.

Career: Anderson has always juggled acting with singing and released her debut album, Return to Me, in 2008. She returned to acting in the 2009 British film Freight and a year later, joined the cast of Emmerdale as Alicia.

Quote: 'You don't have to live in London to have a good career and I wouldn't ever want to leave the sense of pride that Leeds has.'

Trivia: Anderson won £80,000 for charity on the ITV entertainment show Your Face Sounds Familiar.

Mollie Winnard (Actor) .. Joanna Hepworth

Joseph Palmer (Actor) .. Ezra Brook

Saba Amini (Actor) .. Nazeem

Myra-Sofia Iftikhar (Actor) .. Haniya Bhatti

Yasmin Ali (Actor) .. Maira Bhatti

Rina Mahoney (Actor) .. Anisha Bhatti

Amit Shah (Actor) .. Faisal Bhatti

Jack Bandeira (Actor) .. Matija Jankovic

Oliver Huntingdon (Actor) .. Ivan Sertic

Anthony Flanagan (Actor) .. Viktor

Alexis Platt (Actor) .. Water engineer

Danny Mellor (Actor) .. Water engineer

Rebecca Ferguson (Executive producer)

Ben Irving (Executive producer)

Will Johnston (Executive producer)

Faith Penhale (Executive producer)

Sally Wainwright (Executive producer)

Patrick Harkins (Director)

Jessica Taylor (Producer)

9:00 pm - 10:20 pm, Friday, May 29 on U&Drama (20)

About this Broadcast

Season 3, Episode 1

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