New Tricks - Casualty - 11:00 pm Wednesday, March 25 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

Susan Jameson (Actor) .. Esther Lane

Carolyn Allen (Actor) .. Carole

Natalie Forbes (Actor) .. Jayne

Heather James (Actor) .. Alison

David Troughton (Actor) .. Ricky Hanson

John Sessions (Actor) .. Dr Finlay McKenzie

Born: February 11, 1953 in Largs, Ayrshire

Best Known For: Surreal comedy Stella Street.

Early-life: Born John Gibbs Marshall on January 11, 1953, in Largs, Scotland and spent some of his earliest years in Kempston, Bedfordshire and St Albans, Hertfordshire. He graduated with an M.A. in English literature from the University of Wales, where he had begun to appear to audiences with his comedy in shows such as 'Look back in Bangor' and 'Marshall Arts'. He later studied for a PhD from McMaster University in Canada, although he did not complete the doctorate.

Career: He attended RADA in the late 1970s, studying alongside Kenneth Branagh. His debut film was 1982's The Sender, a horror feature in which he played a patient. Two years later he appeared opposite Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins in The Bounty. In the late 1980s he played Lionel Zipser in Porterhouse Blue, appeared regularly on Whose Line is it Anyway? and starred in his own one-man TV show, simply titled John Sessions. He has also appeared in Henry V and In the Bleak Midwinter, both directed by old friend Branagh. He scored a major hit in spoof soap opera Stella Street for which he characterised a variety of middle-aged actors, alongside Phil Cornwell. Other projects include Skins, Outnumbered and The Iron Lady.

Quote: 'When Whose Line Is it Anyway? was such a success, I became a bit of a showbiz Charlie. It did go to my head a bit. So it was important to have old friends who really knew me, who could remind me about what really mattered.'

Trivia: In August 2014, he was one of the 200 public figures who signed a letter opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum.

Lynda Bellingham (Actor) .. DS Karen Hardwick

Born: May 31, 1948 in Montreal, Canada

Best Known For: Those stock cube adverts.

Early-life: Lynda was born in Montreal, Canada, on May 31, 1948, and moved around a lot as a child due to her father's job as a pilot. The family eventually settled on a farm near Aylesbury. Her first ambition was to be a showjumper, but she had to give it up due to hayfever. Her parents were not happy about her decision to become an actress, which was inspired by appearing in various school productions. Lynda enrolled at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating in 1969.

Career: TV roles came in the early 1970s, in shows such as The Sweeney, Within These Walls and Z Cars. Her first regular part was in General Hospital. Bellingham appeared in Confessions of a Driving Instructor (her debut film), The Fuzz and Mackenzie, while maintaining a stage career, but became famous thanks to a series of stock cube adverts, and capitalised on her mumsie image by playing Helen Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small. She went on to star in the likes of Second Thoughts, Faith in the Future, Martin Chuzzlewit, My Uncle Silas, At Home with the Braithwaites, Odd Socks, The All Star Comedy Show and The Bill. She starred alongside Liza Tarbuck in Bonkers and appeared as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing. After losing a battle with colorectal cancer, Bellingham died on October 19th, 2014, at the age of 66.

Quote: 'The decision to give up chemo was a huge relief because I took back some control of myself.'

Trivia: Bellingham supported a number of cancer charities.

Simon Dutton (Actor) .. Duncan Freedman

Nick Haverson (Actor) .. Norman

Meredith Braun (Actor) .. Nyreen

Mark Womack (Actor) .. Ray Monkton

Marian McLoughlin (Actor) .. Shirley White

Noma Dumezweni (Actor) .. Sophie Oyekambi

Alex Graham (Executive producer)

Tom Sherry (Executive producer)

Emma Turner (Producer)

Rob Evans (Director)

Roy Mitchell (Writer)

New Tricks: Casualty

11:00 pm - 12:20 am, Wednesday, March 25 on U&Drama +1 (60)

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Casualty
Season 4, Episode 1

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