Reckless

Francesca Annis (Actor) .. Anna Fairley

Born: May 14, 1945 in London

Best Known For: Being Ralph Fiennes' former other half.

Early-life: Born in 1944 in Brazil, where her parents, singer Marquita and actor Anthony owned a nightclub. The family moved back to Britain when she was seven. Her convent education led to Francesca considering a life as a nun, but a talent scout spotted her during a school production and cast her in a play for the BBC. However, her big break came when she was given a role in the Elizabeth Taylor vehicle Cleopatra.

Career: Annis has worked extensively on the big and small screen, as well as the stage; one of her earliest big screen appearances came courtesy of a blink-and-you'll-miss-it role in Carry on Teacher way back in 1959. Her TV credits include the series Lillie, The Gravy Train Goes East, Dalziel and Pascoe, Reckless, Cranford, and Wives and Daughters _ for which she received a Best Actress Bafta nomination. She has featured in films such as Roman Polanski's Macbeth (which featured her reciting the sleepwalking soliloquy in the nude), Dune, Milk, and Revolver. In the theatre, she has gained critical acclaim for productions such as The Vortex, Blood and Shoreditch Madonna.

Quote: "Eat well and sleep well. That will feed your nervous system and your psyche. As you get older, you look how you feel."

Trivia: She was actor Ralph Fiennes' partner for 11 years and has three children from her previous relationship with actor Patrick Wiseman.

Robson Green (Actor) .. Owen Springer

Born: December 18, 1964 in Hexham, Northumberland

Best Known For: His role in Soldier Soldier.

Early-life: Born Robson Golightly Green in Hexham, Northumberland, on December 18, 1964, the son of a miner. He has two sisters and a brother. As a child, he harboured ambitions to become a pilot in the RAF and joined the Air Training Corps, but after leaving school, he took a draughtsman's apprenticeship at a shipbuilder's yard instead. However, after appearing in various amateur dramatic productions, he quit his job to take up acting full time.

Career: Robson started out at Newcastle's Live Theatre, and was spotted in BBC production A Night on the Tyne, which led to a regular role in Casualty. He then spent four years in Soldier Soldier, during which he began a successful singing partnership with co-star Jerome Flynn. The pair also starred together in Ain't Misbehavin' in 1997. Other projects include The Student Prince, Touching Evil, Grafters, Northern Lights, Wire in the Blood, Close and True, Being Human and Waterloo Road. A keen fisherman, he has filmed several series of Extreme Fishing with Robson Green, which has taken him across the globe. He also has a production company, Coastal.

Quote: "Always turn up on time, know your lines and get to know the people you work with."

Trivia: He supports Newcastle United FC.

Michael Kitchen (Actor) .. Richard Crane

Born: October 31, 1948 in Leicester

Best Known For: Foyle's War.

Early-life: Born October 31, 1948, in Leicester. As a boy, he was the head chorister in the Church of the Martyrs choir. The acting bug bit early, and he started treading the boards with the National Youth Theatre and later the Belgrade Theatre. He then went on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he won the Emile Littler Award, which is given to students with outstanding talent and aptitude for the professional theatre. He graduated in 1969.

Career: Kitchen immediately began gaining roles on stage, quickly building a reputation for himself. He was also keen to shun small parts in glossy productions, preferring to play larger roles in less well-attended plays. He made his movie debut in 1971's little-seen Unman, Wittering and Zigo, following it up with Dracula AD 1972. Since then, he's worked steadily on TV and in films. Among his most famous projects are Brimstone and Treacle, Breaking Glass, Out of Africa, The Russia House, Dandelion Dead, A&E and the hugely acclaimed TV series Foyle's War. He also appeared in two of Pierce Brosnan's Bond movies and starred in ITV's 2007 drama Mobile.

Quote: On playing criminals: "I've done quite a few very unpleasant, extremely nasty people and they keep coming - but there seems to be a lot more money in evil, so I'm happy to take them."

Trivia: Kitchen has two sons with Rowena Miller, whom he met while she was a dresser at the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1980s.

David Bradley (Actor) .. Arnold Springer

Kathryn Hunt (Actor) .. Irma

Conor Mullen (Actor) .. John McGinley

Daniela Nardini (Actor) .. Viv Reid

Born: April 26, 1968 in Largs, Scotland

Best Known For: Portraying self-destructive Anna in This Life.

Early-life: Daniela Nardini was born on April 26, 1968 in Largs, Scotland, the only-daughter of an Italian ice-cream selling family. She has described her childhood as happy, but tragedy struck when she was 16 and her elder brother Pietro died in a car accident in Italy. Her original ambition was to be a doctor, but she was later bitten by the acting bug and studied at the Royal Scottish Academy Of Music And Drama. One of her earliest acting jobs involved dressing up as a Tetley tea man and being driven around Edinburgh on a float.

Career: Nardini worked in the theatre for several years before achieving overnight fame with the success of the TV series This Life in 1996. Since then, she has appeared in several TV dramas, including Big Women, Rough Treatment, Undercover Heart, Love In The 21st Century and Sirens. On the big screen, she has starred in Elephant Juice and Festival. Her extensive stage career includes an appearance in A Streetcar Named Desire in 2009 at the Donmar Warehouse in London. She reprised the role of Anna in the 10th anniversary reunion episode of This Life, called This Life +10.

Quote: "I wouldn't like an actor for a boyfriend, because if he was doing love scenes I'd get jealous. I'd be asking: 'What was she like?'"

Trivia: She won a Scottish Bafta in 2009 for her role in comedy drama New Town.

Julian Rhind-Tutt (Actor) .. Danny Glassman

Born: July 20, 1968 in London

Best Known For: Green Wing.

Early-life: Julian Alistair Rhind-Tutt was born in London on July 20, 1968, the youngest of five children. He performed in a number of works at John Lyon School in Harrow, including the lead role in a school production of Hamlet at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the mid-1980s. After studying English and Theatre Studies at the University of Warwick, he attended the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

Career: Rhind-Tutt's breakthrough role was playing the Duke of York in The Madness of King George (1994). He followed this up with roles in The Saint (1997), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Notting Hill (1999), and The Trench (1999). He is best known for playing Dr Mac Macartney in Channel 4 sitcom Green Wing. His more recent credits include Gambit (2012), Rush (2013) and Lucy (2014). He also had a recurring role on the BBC TV comedy Blandings. On Radio 4, he has starred in The Maltby Collection, and The Norman Conquests.

Quote: "When people ask me for advice on starting out, I usually say, `Be careful what your first part is because you'll probably play it for the next five years.'"

Trivia: In 2013, Rhind-Tutt narrated the audiobook version of the book Look Who's Back.

Tony Barton (Actor) .. Decorator

Nicholas Blane (Actor) .. Rodney Ferris

Stephen Hoyle (Actor) .. Shy Kid

Seamus O'Neill (Actor) .. Custody sergeant

David Richards (Director)

Paul Abbott (Writer)

8:00 pm - 8:10 pm, Monday, February 16 on Talking Pictures TV (82)

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Season 1, Episode 5

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