New Tricks - Big Topped - 1:55 pm Saturday, December 20 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.

Anthony Calf (Actor) .. DAC Robert Strickland

Susan Jameson (Actor) .. Esther Lane

Ian McNeice (Actor) .. Michael Meadowcroft

Born: October 02, 1950 in Basingstoke

Best Known For: Doc Martin.

Early-life: McNeice was born in Basingstoke in Hampshire in 1950. His acting training started at the Taunton School in Somerset, followed by two years at the Salisbury Playhouse. His childhood was hard, as the shy youngster struggled with a stammer, and he lost his older brother in a car accident. Determined to overcome his shyness, he stuck at acting and spent years in theatre, including a four-year career with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and a production of Nicholas Nickleby on Broadway.

Career: McNeice's TV breakthrough was in the drama series Edge of Darkness. He has also appeared in a number of films, including 84 Charing Cross Road, Day of the Dead, No Escape, From Hell and The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. His breakthrough into American films occurred when he played opposite Jim Carrey as Fulton Greenwall in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995). Other notable credits include Conspiracy (2001), Valkyrie (2009) and the HBO hit series Rome. Since 2004, he has played Bert Large in Doc Martin.

Quote: "In a funny kind of way, the problems that my weight and stammer created were also the foundations of my career as an entertainer."

Trivia: McNeice has played Winston Churchill in a number of projects, including Doctor Who and the stage version of The King's Speech.

Nick Brimble (Actor) .. Amazing Antonio

Born: July 22, 1944 in Bristol

Best Known For: Playing Little John in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

Early-life: Nicholas Brimble was born on July 22, 1944 in Bristol. His father was a schoolteacher and he has two brothers, Ian and Vincent, who have both also become actors. He attended Bristol Grammar School before going on to study Philosophy and English Literature at the University of Sussex, where he got a Master's degree. Nick went on to teach English and Drama at the University of Baghdad but left due to political unrest. He taught at a south London comprehensive school before deciding to try to become an actor.

Career: Brimble started his acting career in theatre, beginning with a job as youth theatre organiser at the Marlowe Theatre and also acting in some of the theatre's plays. He went on to perform in theatre productions by a number of companies. In 1973, he started landing TV roles, starting with Wessex Tales. Following this, he appeared in such TV productions as The Sweeney, The Professionals and Dempsey and Makepeace. His film roles included Sweeney! (1977), Silver Dream Racer (1980) and Who Dares Wins (1982) before he was cast as Little John in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). Since then, he has appeared in such films as Loch Ness (1996), Seven Days to Live (2000) and A Knight's Tale (2001). Meanwhile, in TV, he has appeared in To Play the King, Ivanhoe, Emmerdale, The Bill and Grantchester.

Quote: "Your job as an actor is to look like you know what you are doing - even if you don't."

Trivia: He went to every play at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre from the age of 11 until he went to university at 18.

Martin Burton (Actor) .. Joey the Clown

Kristin Milward (Actor) .. Magnificent Martita

Christine Tremarco (Actor) .. Christy Berlin

Sheila Hancock (Actor) .. Grace Pullman

Born: February 22, 1933 in Blackgang, Isle of Wight

Best Known For: Her roles in a string of hit TV programmes and plenty of stints on the stage.

Early-life: Born Sheila Cameron Hancock on February 22, 1933, in Blackgang, Isle of Wight, but was brought up in London where her parents worked in pubs. During the Second World War, she was evacuated to Berkshire. At only eight years old, she found the experience traumatic and was bullied by the local children. Once back with her parents, Sheila won a grammar school scholarship, where she began acting. She went on to study drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada).

Career: For nine years after leaving Rada, Hancock worked in theatre. Her breakthrough came in 1960s sitcom The Rag Trade. Other early productions include Carry On Cleo, But Seriously, It's Sheila Hancock, and How I Won the War. Roles in Brighton Belles, The Buccanneers, Love and Death on Long Island, Bedtime and EastEnders propelled her further into the spotlight. She took a break from acting when her husband John Thaw fell ill, but returned with Fortysomething in 2003. Hancock continues to work on stage and screen, and in 2010 was a judge alongside Andrew Lloyd Webber on talent search Over the Rainbow. She's also written two acclaimed memoirs. She also regularly works in radio.

Quote: "I can't be bothered to go through the process of getting to know somebody and to pretend you are something else or whatever you do for them. I like my privacy now, I like my freedom.'

Trivia: Hancock's first husband Alec Ross died of oesophageal cancer in 1971. Two years later, she married actor John Thaw, who was killed by the same disease in 2002. Sheila and John each had a daughter from their previous marriages, and one between them - all three girls are actresses.

Gillian Bevan (Actor) .. Oona Pearce

Shaun Prendergast (Actor) .. Brian Tweedie

Fred Perry (Actor) .. Policeman

Gareth Ellis (Actor) .. Gorilla Clown

Alex Graham (Executive producer)

Tom Sherry (Executive producer)

Emma Turner (Producer)

Minkie Spiro (Director)

Roy Mitchell (Writer)

New Tricks: Big Topped

1:55 pm - 3:00 pm, Saturday, December 20 on U&Drama (20)

About this Broadcast

Big Topped
Season 4, Episode 8

Cast & Crew

More Information

Did You Know..

Before / After