Ever Decreasing Circles - Xmas 1989 - 02:10 am Thursday, December 25 on BBC Four HD

Richard Briers (Actor) .. Martin Bryce

Born: January 14, 1934 in Merton, Surrey

Best Known For: His role in The Good Life.

Early-life: Richard David Briers was born on January 14, 1934, in Raynes Park, London. The cousin of gap-toothed comic actor Terry-Thomas, Briers grew up in a flat above a cinema and attended RADA between 1954 and 1956. He has a sister and left school with no qualifications. He did, however, win a scholarship to Liverpool Playhouse, and soon became an accomplished stage actor. He moved to the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry before making his West End debut.

Career: Briers' film career began in the 1960s with British features including Bottoms Up, Murder She Said, and The Girl on the Boat. He turned his attention to TV, gaining fame initially in the sitcom Marriage Lines, but it's probably for The Good Life that he will be best remembered. He teamed up again with its creators, John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, on the 1980s sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles. Briers went on to join Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company, taking on more classical and Shakespearean roles including King Lear and Uncle Vanya. He's also appeared in Monarch of the Glen, Peter Pan, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Torchwood. He voiced the cartoon Roobarb twice - in 1974 and 2005.

Quote: On growing old: "I want very little action. I'm one of those awfully boring people who likes David Attenborough and the news."

Trivia: Briers was married to actress Ann Davies from 1958 until his death in 2013. They had two daughters, Lucy and Kate.

Penelope Wilton (Actor) .. Ann Bryce

Born: June 03, 1946 in Scarborough

Best Known For: Downton Abbey.

Early-life: Penelope Alice Wilton was born on June 3, 1946, in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. She was raised in London after her father, a barrister, went to work there. She has two sisters. Acting is in the family's blood - her aunt and uncle are Linden and Bill Travers, while her cousin, Richard Morant, also treads the boards. After completing her drama school training, Wilton began her professional career at the Nottingham Playhouse before joining the Royal Court Theatre.

Career: Wilton worked on the stage until 1972, eventually making her TV debut in An Affair of Honour. Her first film was 1977's Joseph Andrews. BBC sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles made her a household name in 1984; it ran for four series. She's also appeared on TV in The Monocled Mutineer, The Borrowers, Talking Heads 2, The Whistle-Blower, Lucky Jim and Falling. Movie work includes The French Lieutenant's Woman, Cry Freedom, Clockwise, Iris, Shaun of the Dead and Calendar Girls. Sci-fi fans will know her best from her role as British Prime Minister Harriet Jones in Doctor Who; the role was written specifically for her by Russell T Davies, with whom she'd previously worked on Bob and Rose. Her recent work includes The History Boys, Five Days, South Riding and Downton Abbey.

Quote: "I always wanted to act. I remember being taken to the theatre as a girl and thinking, 'I don't want to be sitting here, I want to be up there'."

Trivia: She won the Critics Circle Theatre Award in 1981 for Much Ado About Nothing and again in 1993 for The Deep Blue Sea.

Peter Egan (Actor) .. Paul Ryman

Stanley Lebor (Actor) .. Howard Hughes

Geraldine Newman (Actor) .. Hilda Hughes

Simon Merrick (Actor) .. Mr Beavis

Ann Davies (Actor) .. Mrs Ripper

David Janson (Actor) .. Mr Ellison

Vanessa Knox-Mawer (Actor) .. Mrs Ellison

Brian Cant (Actor) .. Vince

Born: July 12, 1933 in Ipswich

Best Known For: Play Away, Play School and Trumpton

Early-life: Born July 12, 1933, in Ipswich, Suffolk, the son of an engineer. His interest in showbusiness began when went to see comedians such as Max Miller. They inspired him to do amateur dramatics and help out at his local theatre. After school, he became a lithographic artist in an Ipswich fine art shop. Moved to London and joined the Mountview Theatre Club, where he was spotted by an agent while appearing in an amateur production. He organised an audition for Cant, who got the part and gave up his regular job the next day.

Career: Cant's first professional job was in summer season, followed by a two-year stint in rep at Peterborough. Other theatre work followed before he began getting TV jobs on such classic shows as Danger Man and Doctor Who. Also appeared in BBC Schools dramas before landing a presenting job on classic children's show Play School in 1964. He went on to narrate Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley. Play Away was also a success. In the 1980s, he disappeared from our screens, returning in the 1990s with Dappledown Farm. He also read stories on Teletubbies and in 2000 had a guest role in Doctors. These days he mostly writes and appears in the theatre.

Quote: On his career slump: "All my regular programmes disappeared in one fell swoop. Play Away had really run its course, but I was, rather unfortunately, considered too old for Play School."

Trivia: In 2010, Cant received a special award at the Children's Baftas for his work on children's TV.

Carmel Cryan (Actor) .. Nina

Leslie Clack (Actor) .. Mr Britten

Alexander Scott (Actor) .. Darren

Frank Coda (Actor) .. Waiter

Noel Slattery (Actor) .. Removal man

John Esmonde (Writer)

Bob Larbey (Writer)

Harold Snoad (Director)

Ever Decreasing Circles: Xmas 1989

02:10 am - 03:30 am, Thursday, December 25 on BBC Four HD (106)

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Xmas 1989
Season 1, Episode 1

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