Benidorm

Perry Benson (Actor) .. Clive

Born: October 12, 1961 in London

Best Known For: You Rang, M'Lord?, Oh, Doctor Beeching! and Benidorm.

Early-life: Perry was born in London on October 12, 1961. Perry was seen in the film Scum in 1979 and a year later, he starred in the TV series Going Out. Roles in the 1980s included guest appearances in The Black Adder, The Young Ones, Prospects, Filthy Rich & Catflap, Hi-de-Hi!, and The Bill. During this period, he also starred on the big screen in Sid and Nancy (1986).

Career: Benson became more widely known after playing Henry Livingstone in the BBC sitcom You Rang, M'Lord. He went on to star in Oh, Doctor Beeching!, Operation Good Guys, Top Buzzer, Rose and Maloney, My Family, Parents of the Band, and Reggie Perrin. His film credits include Love, Honour and Obey (2000), Alien Autopsy (2006), This is England (2006), Somers Town (2008), Outside Bet (2011) and Get Santa (2014). He also starred in the mini-series This is England '86. More recently, he has been playing Clive Dyke in ITV sitcom Benidorm.

Quote: "I'm no Brad Pitt when I get my kit off, but people don't seem to mind too much."

Trivia: Benson admits to being a tech geek - he is a qualified computer network engineer.

Jake Canuso (Actor) .. Mateo

Born: January 13, 1970 in Near Zurich

Best Known For: Playing barman Mateo in Benidorm.

Early-life: Born Carmine Canuso near Zurich on January 13, 1970 to Italian parents. By the age of 16, he was the youngest member of Zurich's leading contemporary dance company. He performed on the stage and in TV shows in Paris before spending a year in London training at the London Studio Centre. After finishing the course, he trained and performed in New York. He returned to Paris and got to work with Roman Polanski in a piece at the Opera de Bastille.

Career: After settling in London, Canuso danced on tour with a number of artists, including Take That, East 17, Elton John, the Spice Girls and Annie Lennox. He also performed on various TV shows such as the Les Dawson Show, the Royal Variety Performance and Top of the Pops. Canuso eventually made the move into acting and his TV credits include guest appearances in Hustle, Heartbeat, Casualty, Doctors, Shameless, The Hour and Bad Education. He is best known for playing barman Mateo in ITV sitcom Benidorm. On the big screen, he has appeared in Kinky Boots (2005), Journal of a Contract Killer (2008), City Rats (2009) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

Quote: On his Benidorm character: "I don't think there are many similarities between me and Mateo actually. We are quite far apart as people."

Trivia: He speaks six languages.

Janine Duvitski (Actor) .. Jacqueline

Best Known For: Waiting for God, One Foot in the Grave and Benidorm.

Early-life: Born Christine Janine Drzewicki in Morecambe in June 1952 to an English mother and a Polish father. She moved to London to train as an actor at the East 15 Acting School. Her first TV credit was an episode of Z Cars in 1972. After finishing her training and despite being in her early 20s, she landed the role of a 13-year-old girl in the 1975 BBC play Diane. Her big break came in 1977 when Mike Leigh cast her in his stage play Abigail's Party. She went on to play the same role in an abridged TV version for the BBC.

Career: Duvitski has worked steadily on TV in a number of shows, popping up in the likes of Citizen Smith, Minder, Cowboys, The New Statesman, Midsomer Murders, Foyle's War and Little Dorrit. Her face is better known to audiences as prudish assistant Jane in Waiting for God, Victor and Margaret's neighbour Pippa in One Foot in the Grave and swinger Jacqueline in Benidorm. She has also appeared on the big screen in Dracula (1979), Breaking Glass (1980) and The Madness of King George (1994).

Quote: "People really do seem to believe I'm a swinger!"

Trivia: Duvitski enjoys reading when she's not filming.

Adam Gillen (Actor) .. Liam

Tim Healy (Actor) .. Les/Lesley

Born: January 29, 1952 in Newcastle upon Tyne

Best Known For: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.

Early-life: Timothy Malcolm Healy was born on January 29, 1952, in Newcastle upon Tyne. Before becoming an actor, he served an apprenticeship as a welder at the Caterpillar Tractor Co and spent three years as a paratrooper in the British Army. He started his showbusiness career in 1972 as a stand-up comedian.

Career: After a number of minor roles on TV, his big break came in 1983 when he landed the part of Dennis Patterson in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet. The hugely popular comedy drama returned for a second series in 1986 and further new episodes were broadcast in 2002 and 2004. Healy has been an ever-present face on British TV since the success of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and he has appeared in a number of shows, including Boys from the Bush, Common As Muck, The Grand, Catterick and Coronation Street. Healy has also had an accomplished stage career. He was a founder member of Live Theatre in Newcastle in the 1970s and he has played everything from Dame Trott in Jack and the Beanstalk to Sir Toby Belch in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. He was nominated for an Olivier Award for his role as the dad in the West End version of Billy Elliot. He played transvestite Les/Lesley in the third series of ITV sitcom Benidorm and became a regular in series four.

Quote: "I love the freedom that a bike gives you, the open road. Plus, when I´ve got my helmet on, nobody knows who I am."

Sherrie Hewson (Actor) .. Joyce

Born: September 17, 1950 in Burton Joyce, Nottinghamshire

Best Known For: Coronation Street and Loose Women.

Early-life: Sherrie Lynn Hutchinson was born in Burton Joyce, Nottinghamshire, on September 17, 1950. Her father was a singer and her mother was a model. From the age of six, Sherrie began touring theatres in revues. She went on to graduate from Rada. Early TV appearances included roles in The Moonstone, Love for Lydia, Z Cars, Minder, Juliet Bravo and The Gentle Touch.

Career: Hewson's talent for comedy led to her working in various Russ Abbot TV shows for more than 10 years. Other comedy credits include All at Number 20, In Loving Memory, Never the Twain, Home to Roost and Barbara. In 1993, she was cast in Coronation Street as accident-prone supermarket assistant Maureen Naylor. She stayed with the show until 1997 and made a brief return in 2006. Another soap beckoned in 2001 when she began playing receptionist Virginia Raven in the short-lived revival of Crossroads. In 2004, she joined the cast of her third soap opera, Emmerdale. She remained on the Yorkshire-based show for two years. Since 2003, Hewson has been a regular panellist on Loose Women. More recently, she has been playing hotel manager Joyce Temple-Savage in ITV sitcom Benidorm. In August 2015, she entered the Celebrity Big Brother house.

Quote: "Benidorm isn't really the place to find romance," she says. "It's either couples or stag dos, or blokes getting drunk and going to the girlie bars."

Trivia: In 2011, Hewson published her autobiography, Behind the Laughter.

Elsie Kelly (Actor) .. Noreen

Tony Maudsley (Actor) .. Kenneth

Born: January 30, 1968 in Kirkby, Merseyside

Best Known For: Playing hairdresser Kenneth in Benidorm.

Early-life: Tony was born in Kirkby, Merseyside, on January 30, 1968. He trained to be an actor at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. His first acting role was in the 1998 TV movie A Life for a Life.

Career: Maudsley made his film debut in Plunkett & Macleane (1999). His other film credits include Sleepy Hollow (1999), Honest (2000) and Born Romantic (2000). He is largely known for small parts on TV. These have included roles in the likes of Coronation Street, Queer as Folk, Where the Heart Is, Peak Practice, Rose and Maloney, and Doc Martin. He has had recurring roles on In a Land of Plenty, Eyes Down, The Royal and The Job Lot. He is perhaps best known for playing hairdresser Kenneth in Benidorm and Grawp in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007).

Quote: On filming Benidorm: "It was like being on holiday. It's friendly, there's so much to do."

Trivia: He won a Royal Television Society Best Newcomer award for his role in A Life for a Life.

Danny Walters (Actor) .. Tiger

Born: June 01, 1993 in Harlow

Best Known For: Playing Tiger Dyke in Benidorm.

Early-life: Danny was born in Harlow on June 1, 1993. He spent a year training at the London School of Musical Theatre.

Career: Walters made his TV debut in an episode of BBC3 combat drama Our World War in 2014. In the same year he became a regular on the ITV sitcom Benidorm, playing Tiger Dyke.

Quote: On landing his role in Benidorm: "I went from being a young wannabe actor to being surrounded by amazing talent."

Trivia: He enjoys juggling and playing poker.

Johnny Vegas (Actor) .. Geoff - the Oracle

Born: September 11, 1971 in St Helens, Lancashire

Best Known For: His hoarse voice.

Early-life: Born Michael Joseph Pennington in St Helens, Lancashire, on September 11, 1971, he's the youngest of four children. As a child, he wanted to be a priest, and joined a seminary at the age of 11, but left after four terms. He then attended an all-boys grammar school before studying art and ceramics at Middlesex University. Following his graduation, he worked in a bar and went through periods of being unemployed before trying comedy, performing as the character of failed potter and disillusioned entertainer Johnny Vegas.

Career: Vegas's big break came in 1997 when he was nominated for the prestigious Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival. He made his TV debut in the one-off Johnny Vegas TV Show the following year. In 2001, he landed a role in the Paul Whitehouse sitcom Happiness, which won him the Best Newcomer trophies at the Royal Television Society and British Comedy Awards, although it was arguably his appearance in a series of cult adverts with a sock monkey for ITV Digital that made him a household name. Since then, he's been a regular panellist on Shooting Stars, acted in series Tipping the Velvet, Bleak House, Dead Man Weds, Ideal, Massive, Benidorm, Still Open All Hours and presented his own show, 18 Stone of Idiot. He was also in Johnny Depp film The Libertine and The Harry Hill Movie.

Quote: "This is a good job that gives us a good life, you can't expect to turn that off when it suits you."

Trivia: Vegas released an autobiography, Becoming Johnny Vegas, in 2013.

Alan David (Actor) .. Glynn

Charlotte Eaton (Actor) .. Terri

Alice Barlow (Actor) .. Annie

Milanka Brooks (Actor) .. Ionela

John Challis (Actor) .. Monty

Philip Olivier (Actor) .. Jason

Crissy Rock (Actor) .. Janey

Nadia Sawalha (Actor) .. Melanie

Born: January 18, 1964 in London

Best Known For: Her role as Annie Palmer in EastEnders and winning Celebrity MasterChef.

Early-life: Nadia Sawalha was born in London on January 18th, 1964 to Bobbie and actor Nadim Sawalha. She originally wanted to follow a career in nursing until she was bitten by the acting bug after appearing in a school play at the age of 13. When she threatened to throw herself out of a window if her mum and dad didn't send her to stage school, they didn't have much choice. She has never looked back, even when younger sister Julia shot to stardom on the small screen first. Nadia trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts and began her career on the stage.

Career: After waiting more than 10 years for her big break, Sawalha landed the role of tough businesswoman Annie Palmer in EastEnders in 1997. She left the soap in 1999 and moved into presenting with the daytime TV show Live Talk and game show It's Not the Answer. Since then, she has fronted a number of programmes, including Passport to the Sun, Now You're Talking, Accidents Can Happen, Wanted Down Under, Eating in the Sun, Kitchen SOS and Saturday Cookbook. Since 2013, she has been a regular panellist on Loose Women. In 2011, she appeared as a contestant on Dancing on Ice, but was voted out in the first week. In early 2015, she entered the Celebrity Big Brother house.

Quote: "I've never bowed to the pressure to be thin. I think people like seeing a TV presenter who looks real."

Trivia: Sawalha won Celebrity MasterChef in 2007.

Leroy Charlery (Actor) .. Tribute band member

Leroy Davis (Actor) .. Tribute band member

Kojo Adisi (Actor) .. Tribute band member

Derren Litten (Writer)

Sandy Johnson (Director)

Lucy Armitage (Producer)

Ben Cavey (Executive producer)

Sophie Clarke-Jervoise (Executive producer)

12:05 am - 01:05 am, Today on That's TV (56)

About this Broadcast

Season 7, Episode 6

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