New Tricks - Nine Lives - 11:00 pm Thursday, August 27 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) .. Det Supt 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.

Susan Jameson (Actor) .. Esther Lane

Adrian Scarborough (Actor) .. Harry Hepple

Nitin Ganatra (Actor) .. Dr Lau

Born: June 30, 1967 in Kenya

Best Known For: Playing Masood Ahmed in EastEnders.

Early-life: Born Nitin Chandra Ganatra in Kenya on June 30, 1967, his family's origins are in India. His great grandfather had arrived in Kenya to work on the railways. Nitin was three when his family moved to Coventry. He went on to study Drama, Film and Television at the University of Bristol.

Career: His many film and TV appearances include roles in Truly Madly Deeply (1990), Secrets & Lies (1996), This Life, Extremely Dangerous, Murder in Mind, The Jury, Rescue Me, Being April, Holby City and Bride & Prejudice (2004). In 2005, he became known to worldwide audiences for playing Prince Pondicherry in Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He went on to star in Meet the Magoons, Jane Hall, The Bill, New Tricks and Mumbai Calling before joining EastEnders in 2007 as good-natured postman Masood Ahmed. More recently, he investigated why his family moved to England in Who Do You Think You Are?

Quote: 'I've got that sort of face that always, always gets stopped at immigration and customs. It just says ‘come here sir we need to do a strip search''

Trivia: At the British Soap Awards 2009, Ganatra and his EastEnders co-star Nina Wadia won the award for Best On Screen Partnership.

Eric Sykes (Actor) .. Tim Cuswell

Born: May 04, 1923 in Oldham

Best Known For: His self-titled sitcom.

Early-life: Eric Sykes was born in Oldham on May 4, 1923. His mother died in childbirth, his father, a cotton-mill worker, remarried. He had an older brother and a younger half-brother. In his autobiography, Eric reveals how, as a child, he was 'always hungry and always cold'. He first became interested in entertainment as a career during his time in the Royal Air Force Special Liaison Unit during the Second World War, where he worked with Flight Lieutenant Bill Fraser. After demob, he moved to London and at the end of his first week, Eric bumped into Fraser, who was starring at the Playhouse Theatre and asked his old pal to write for him.

Career: Sykes provided scripts for Fraser and Frankie Howerd, before moving on to radio shows such as Educating Archie and Variety Bandbox. In 1955, he wrote and directed the spoof Pantomania, beginning his career in TV. By 1957 he was almost totally deaf, forcing him to lip-read his fellow actors so he didn't miss his cues. The 1960s saw him team up with Hattie Jacques for the first time since his radio days, and their comedy partnership lasted until her death in 1980. As well as his eponymous sitcom, Sykes other credits include silent comedy The Plank (which he also directed), Curry and Chips, and The 19th Hole, as well as various stage plays and such movies as Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines, The Others, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He died on July 4, 2012, at the age of 89.

Quote: 'I'm proud of being a vaudevillian, the last of my line. Entertainment is too aggressive these days, all 'in your face'.'

Trivia: Married Edith Milbrandt in 1952. They had three daughters, Catherine, Susan and Julie, and a son, David.

David Bamber (Actor) .. Dale Hewson

Lindsey Coulson (Actor) .. Caroline Baker

Best Known For: Playing Carol Jackson in EastEnders.

Early-life: Born in 1960 in north London. The middle child of three, her mother, Mavis, was a social worker. Her father, George, had his own civil engineering business before retiring. After leaving school, Lindsey became a hairdresser, but at 21 gained a place at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. She continued hairdressing to make ends meet after completing drama training.

Career: Initially struggled to gain decent roles and her early projects included theatre work and TV shows such as Boris Bitty's Brand New Parents and A Bear Behind. Her life turned around when she landed the role of bitter mother-of-four Carol Jackson in EastEnders in 1993. For four years she was in the thick of things thanks to strong storylines, but left in 1997. She then took on a very different role - as a doctor - in miniseries Out of Hours in 1998, and a year later returned to Albert Square for 18 weeks. Since then, Coulson has appeared in several TV shows to great acclaim. In 2010, she returned to Walford to reprise her role as Carol.

Quote: 'I know in this business you've got to sell yourself, but the intrusion into your private life when you're in a soap is mind-blowing.'

Trivia: Coulson married her on-screen daughter Patsy Palmers brother Harry Harris in 2002.

Victor McGuire (Actor) .. Peter Baker

Mona Hammond (Actor) .. Betty

Simon Lowe (Actor) .. Liam Donnelly

Amanda Douge (Actor) .. Sian Eton

Jeff Rawle (Actor) .. Jonathan Blunt

Alex Graham (Executive producer)

Tom Sherry (Executive producer)

Emma Turner (Producer)

Syd Macartney (Director)

Lisa Holdsworth (Writer)

New Tricks: Nine Lives

11:00 pm - 12:20 am, Thursday, August 27 on U&Drama +1 (60)

About this Broadcast

Nine Lives
Season 4, Episode 4

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