New Tricks - Death of a Timeshare Salesman - 12:50 pm Saturday, February 7 on U&Drama +1

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

Naomi Bentley (Actor) .. Alice Hill

Claire Rushbrook (Actor) .. Pamela Scott

Born: January 02, 1971 in Hitchin

Best Known For: Secrets & Lies and a string of TV roles.

Early-life: Claire Louise Rushbrook was born in Hitchin on January 2, 1971. She has an older brother. She went on to study acting at Rose Bruford College and worked mainly on the stage for five years before making the move into film and TV. In her first TV credit, she played a policewoman in an episode of Casualty.

Career: In 1996, Rushbrook had a supporting role in Mike Leigh's acclaimed film Secrets & Lies. Her TV credits include Touching Evil, The Sins, Linda Green, Carrie & Barry, Doctor Who, Inspector George Gently, Mutual Friends, Collision, The Fades, and Whitechapel. More recently, she has starred in Home Fires and My Mad Fat Diary. On the big screen, she has made appearances in Under the Skin (1997), Spice World (1997), Plunkett & Macleane (1999) and Enid (2009).

Quote: On Home Fires: "It's been quite a lonely part, but interesting to act."

Trivia: Rushbrook was nominated for a Bafta TV Award in 2014 for My Mad Fat Diary.

Rob Jarvis (Actor) .. DS Justin Morris

Tony Turner (Actor) .. Adrian Osler

Jimmy Roussounis (Actor) .. Costa Kyriacos

David Westhead (Actor) .. Mike Barnes

Adam Howden (Actor) .. Steven Lilwall

Maurice Roeves (Actor) .. Frank Powell

Nick McKinless (Actor) .. Sergeyev

Shane Richie (Actor) .. Johnny Tevis

Born: March 11, 1964 in London

Best Known For: Playing Alfie Moon in EastEnders.

Early-life: Born Shane Patrick Roche on March 11, 1964, in Harlesden, north London. His dad was a dustman and the family struggled to make ends meet - they spent the first nine years of Shane's life living in an attic flat at a hostel for Turkish women, where his mum was a cleaner. He joined an amateur theatre group in his teens and left school at 16 to become a DJ in Plymouth, but the job fell through and he ended up living rough.

Career: Shane lied about his age to get a job as a bluecoat entertainer in Pontins holiday camps, then played the alternative comedy circuit where he was noticed by the BBC. They cast him in short-lived sketch shows such as You Gotta Be Joking, and Up To Something. Daytime show Win, Lose or Draw followed before he got his big break with ITV's Lucky Numbers. His own show, The Shane Richie Experience, was a flop, but he had more success on stage in musicals Grease and Boogie Nights. Richie made his EastEnders debut in 2002 and soon became a firm favourite with fans. During a break from Albert Square, he played the lead role in one series of revamped comedy drama Minder.

Quote: "Even now, to this day, if it all goes belly-up and I had to make a living, I would go back to Pontins."

Trivia: He is a patron of the Huntington's Disease Association.

Babatunde Aleshe (Actor) .. Young mechanic

Patrick Knowles (Actor) .. Fred the fervant member

Matthew Stirling (Actor) .. Snooker hall thug

Trevor Bishop (Actor) .. Plain clothes policeman

Matthew Thomas (Writer)

Keith Thompson (Producer)

Martyn Friend (Director)

New Tricks: Death of a Timeshare Salesman

12:50 pm - 2:05 pm, Saturday, February 7 on U&Drama +1 (60)

About this Broadcast

Death of a Timeshare Salesman
Season 6, Episode 5

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