Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators - The Sticking Place

Mark Benton (Actor) .. Frank Hathaway

Born: November 16, 1965 in Guisborough

Best Known For: Northern Lights, and Waterloo Road.

Early-life: Born on 16 November, 1965, in Guisborough in the North East, Mark hoped to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, actor Michael Gunn. Always the class clown, he fell in love with the theatre and spent many years trying to make a career out of acting. He was in the same drama class at the Stockton-Billingham Tech as actress Elizabeth Carling. Some of his early acting experience came with the Middlesbrough Youth Theatre, with performances in plays such as Atmos Fear and Twist.

Career: Benton's big break came in the 1997 Mike Leigh film Career Girls. For the past decade he has barely been off our screens. He had a recurring role as Father McBride in the James Nesbitt series Murphy's Law. He has starred with Vic and Bob in their remake of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Catterick, and Monkey Trousers. He was comedy gold in Craig Cash's Early Doors and The Booze Cruise trilogy. His biggest role was alongside Robson Green in Christmas Lights, Northern Lights, City Lights and Clash of the Santas. He was also a regular on Waterloo Road and is the host of game show The Edge. In 2013, he was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.

Quote: 'I think sometimes you have to ask if you want to be an actor or do you want to be a celebrity? I was tempted to do Celebrity Mastermind but I couldn't think of a specialist subject.'

Trivia: Benton is a die-hard supporter of Middlesbrough FC and has featured in the club's official season ticket advertising campaign.

Jo Joyner (Actor) .. Luella Shakespeare

Born: February 23, 1978 in Harlow, Essex

Best Known For: Playing Tanya Branning in EastEnders.

Early-life: Born Joanne Mary Joyner on May 24, 1978, in Essex. She has an older brother called Dan. The family later moved to Oxfordshire, where she grew up. She says she always wanted to act, and after finishing her A levels, enrolled in the Welsh College of Music and Drama, graduating in 1999 with a BA. She then spent a couple of years in Manchester looking for work, eventually honing her craft on the stage.

Career: Joyner's big break came with the acclaimed drama Clocking Off. She went on to do a few other northern projects, including Fat Friends and Silent Witness, as well as the period miniseries North and South, before she bit the bullet and moved down to London. She then landed a role in nursing drama No Angels, and has been busy ever since. In 2005, Joyner played a Big Brother contestant in two episodes of Doctor Who, and also appeared in Spooks. She showed off her comedy skills in the sketch show Swinging (winning a Rose d'Or comedy award in the process), before landing the part of Tanya Branning in 2006. Despite her character taking a couple of prolonged breaks, she remains hugely popular with fans.

Quote: On whether she'd like to go to Hollywood: 'I couldn't lose the weight and take the pressure of it all being about looks! I'd love to do it when I'm 50 or 60, like Julie Walters or Brenda Blethyn. Then it's more about what you do and being a good actor.'

Trivia: Joyner has won two British Soap Awards.

Tomos Eames (Actor) .. DS Joe Keeler

Yasmin Kaur Barn (Actor) .. PC Viola Deacon

Patrick Walshe McBride (Actor) .. Sebastian Brudenell

Philip Jackson (Actor) .. Chamberlain

Christopher Timothy (Actor) .. Major Terence Benedick

Born: October 14, 1940 in Bala, north Wales

Best Known For: Being James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small.

Early-life: Born 14 October, 1940 in Bala, north Wales, the son of Andrew Timothy, an Army chaplain-turned-BBC announcer who was also the straightman on The Goon Show. He was brought up in Shrewsbury, bitten by the acting bug at an early age, and encouraged to take it up professionally by his father. Timothy trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, and claims he smelled of chips throughout his course due to a part-time job in a transport cafe.

Career: Parts in the films Othello (1965) and The Virgin Soldiers (1968) were followed by TV shows UFO, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and Van der Valk. In 1978, he landed the role of James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small, becoming one of the most popular actors on British TV. The series returned in the early Nineties but Timothy later blamed it for typecasting him. He has narrated the hit docusoap Vets in Practice and can be seen in the BBC's daytime medical drama, Doctors, in which he plays Dr Brendan 'Mac' Maguire. He's also directed some episodes of the show and an edition of The Afternoon Play.

Quote: 'One of my favourite pastimes is watching good actors, working with them is even better. And to work with them as a team is a joy.'

Trivia: He has appeared as a guest on Radio 4's Just a Minute.

Miranda Howard-Williams (Director)

Caroline Slater (Producer)

Ceri Meyrick (Executive producer)

Johanne McAndrew (Writer)

Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators: The Sticking Place

5:20 pm - 6:20 pm, Thursday, March 12 on U&Drama +1 (60)

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The Sticking Place
Season 3, Episode 3

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