Inside the Langham: Britain's First Grand Hotel

Did You Know..

Maureen Lipman (Narrator)

Born: May 10, 1946 in Hull

Best Known For: Over 30 years of film and TV roles.

Early-life: Born Maureen Diane Lipman on May 10, 1946 into a Jewish family in Hull. Her father was a tailor who had his own business in the town. Maureen claims her first performances involved doing Alma Cogan impersonations at home. She was eventually pressed into acting by her mother Zelma, who used to take her to pantomimes and then push her onto the stage. She later studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Career: Lipman's first professional stage work came at the Palace Theatre in Watford. She made her film debut in Up the Junction in 1967 before appearing in Regan, a TV movie that acted as the pilot for The Sweeney. She became a household name with the cult sitcom Agony in 1979. However, attempts to revive the show in 1995 failed. Lipman starred in a series of successful adverts for British Telecom and received rave reviews for her stage performances in Re-Joyce, and Oklahoma! (with the then unknown Hugh Jackman). Since then, she has appeared in Roman Polanski's The Pianist, Coronation Street, Jonathan Creek, Doctor Who, Skins, Casualty, Holby City and Ladies of Letters. She has written several autobiographical books, including How Was It for You? and Something to Fall Back On.

Quote: 'I behave really very childishly and like a teenager. I am always on a high and largely neurotic.'

Trivia: Lipman was married to writer Jack Rosenthal from 1973 until his death in 2004. They had two children, Adam and Amy. Not one to suffer fools, she once claimed she'd like to pour a glass of wine over critic Charles Spencer's head after he wrote a bad review of her performance in a production of A Little Night Music.

Connie Fisher (Producer)

Born: June 17, 1983 in Lisburn

Best Known For: Winning reality talent show How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?

Early-life: Born on June 17, 1983, in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, Connie lived in Dorset until she was six, when the family moved to Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire. There, as a teenager, she joined a local operatic society and a youth theatre. After appearing in several touring productions (including Pendragon, which went to Japan), Connie won a scholarship to the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, graduating in 2005 with a First Class degree in Musical Theatre.

Career: Connie's early TV credits include Jane MacDonald's series Star for a Night and BBC Children In Need, and she landed her first professional job in 2005 in panto. However, real fame came a year later when she won BBC talent contest How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria?, landing the leading role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's West End musical The Sound of Music. Since then, she has taken part in the 2007 Concert for Diana, and a revival of the musical They're Playing Our Song, opposite Alistair McGowan. She made her TV acting debut in ITV one-off drama Caught in a Trap and had a recurring role in Casualty. She joined a touring version of The Sound of Music in 2009 and returned to the stage in the spring of 2012 in a revival of Leonard Bernstein's Wonderful Town.

Quote: 'My voice now has a creak. I still have melody in it but I've gone from a high soprano to an alto, and that precludes certain roles in musical theatre.'

Trivia: In 2011, Fisher was forced to scale back her singing commitments when she was diagnosed with congenital sulcus vocalis (holes in her vocal cords).

Tim Green (Executive producer)

7:30 pm - 8:00 pm, Tuesday, July 21 on ITV1 London (3)

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