Our Friends in the North - 1979 - 10:00 pm Wednesday, July 8 on BBC Four

Daniel Craig (Actor) .. Geordie `George" Peacock

Born: March 02, 1968 in Chester

Best Known For: Being James Bond.

Early-life: Daniel Wroughton Craig was born in Chester on March 2, 1968. His father is a former merchant seaman and pub landlord, his mother an art teacher. Daniel has an older sister, Lea, and knew from an early age he wanted to be an actor, but failed to get into drama school at 17. He spent time with the National Youth Theatre before being accepted by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Career: Craig started out on stage, eventually making his film debut in 1992's The Power of One. TV series Our Friends in the North and TV movie The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders made him a star in 1996. The movies Elizabeth (1998), Love is the Devil (1998), Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), Road to Perdition (2002), The Mother (2003), Sylvia (2003), Enduring Love (2004), Layer Cake (2004) and Munich (2005) followed. He was controversially cast in a five-film deal as James Bond, but proved doubters wrong with an outstanding performance in Casino Royale (2006). He's since followed it up with Quantum of Solace (2008) and Skyfall (2012). He's also appeared in Cowboys & Aliens (2011), and the US remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).

Quote: 'I always wanted to be an actor. I had the arrogance to believe I couldn't be anything else.'

Trivia: Skyfall made more than $1billion at the box office.

Mark Strong (Actor) .. Tosker `Terry" Cox

Born: August 05, 1963 in London

Best Known For: Being a prolific character actor.

Early-life: Born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia in London on August 5, 1963, Mark is the son of an Austrian mother and an Italian father. His father left home soon after his birth and he was raised by his mother. She had has name changed by deed poll when he was young. He studied in Munich with the intention of becoming a lawyer but after a year, he returned to London to study English and drama at Royal Holloway, University of London. He went on to develop his acting craft at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Career: Strong made his TV debut in a 1989 episode of After Henry and followed this up with a number of guest roles in the likes of The Bill, Inspector Morse, Prime Suspect 3 and Kavanagh QC. In 1996, he had a starring role in acclaimed BBC miniseries Our Friends in the North. Since then he has appeared in dozens of TV shows and featured in a number of films, including Revolver (2005), Syriana (2005), RocknRolla (2008), Kick-Ass (2010), Robin Hood (2010), Green Lantern (2011), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), John Carter (2012) and Zero Dark Thirty (2012). In 2013, Strong played a detective in short-lived AMC crime drama Low Winter Sun, reprising the lead role he played in the original 2006 British miniseries.

Quote: 'Because I had children relatively late - in my 40s rather than in my 20s - it wasn't anything I ever knew that I would do. It kind of happened to me: I met the right woman and we had children.'

Trivia: Away from acting, Strong is heavily in demand as a narrator.

Christopher Eccleston (Actor) .. Nicky Hutchinson

Born: February 16, 1964 in Salford

Best Known For: Doctor Who.

Early-life: Christopher Eccleston was born on February 16, 1964, in Salford, Manchester, but raised in Eccles. His father worked in a factory, and he knew he didn't want to follow in his footsteps, preferring to dream of a career as a Manchester United footballer. However, he realised he was better at acting than soccer, so after studying at Salford Technical College, he enrolled at London's Central School of Speech and Drama.

Career: Following his graduation in 1986, Eccleston spent several years without an acting job, making ends meet as a labourer. He eventually made his professional stage debut at the Bristol Old Vic, and gained plaudits for his first film, Let Him Have It. Major roles in Cracker, Shallow Grave and Our Friends in the North made him an instantly recognisable figure. He's since appeared in such projects as Jude, Hillsborough, Elizabeth, The Others, 24 Hour Party People, 28 Days Later, and The Second Coming. In 2005 he became the ninth official Doctor Who, but quit after one series to avoid being typecast. He's since appeared in Heroes, GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra, Lennon Naked, Accused, The Shadow Line, and HBO drama The Leftovers.

Quote: 'I don't want to be thought of as the Doctor to the exclusion of everything else I've done or may do.'

Trivia: He supports Manchester United and used to be a regular marathon runner.

Gina McKee (Actor) .. Mary Cox

Born: April 14, 1964 in Sunderland

Best Known For: Our Friends in the North.

Early-life: Born in Sunderland in 1964, she was raised in Easington, County Durham, by non-theatrical parents. Notoriously reticent at talking about her family, but she does admit to being a highly creative and imaginative child who loved to draw, write stories and act out plays. She became hooked on acting and, while not encouraged by her parents, they didn't stand in her way when she won a role on TV show Quest of Eagles before joining the National Youth Theatre.

Career: At 17, McKee auditioned but was turned down by drama school. At first, she thought she wouldn't make it in showbusiness, but continued auditioning anyway. She appeared on TV in such programmes as An Actor's Life for Me, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Inspector Morse, and The Lenny Henry Show. McKee also made a handful of movies, most notably Mike Leigh's Naked, before hitting the big time with miniseries Our Friends in the North in 1996, for which she won a Bafta. Since then, she's appeared in such acclaimed projects as Notting Hill, Croupier, The Forsyte Saga, The Lost Prince and The Borgias.

Quote: 'Some people can talk about their private lives to the media, and good luck to them. But I just don't feel comfortable. And I wouldn't be any good at it - showing people around my kitchen or whatever. I'd be pathetic in fact.'

Trivia: In 2002, McKee received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Sunderland.

Freda Dowie (Actor) .. Florrie Hutchinson

Peter Vaughan (Actor) .. Felix Hutchinson

Tony Haygarth (Actor) .. Roy Johnson

David Bradley (Actor) .. Eddie Wells

Malcolm McDowell (Actor) .. Benny Barratt

Born: June 13, 1943 in Leeds

Best Known For: A Clockwork Orange.

Early-life: Born Malcolm John Taylor on June 13, 1943, in Horsforth, Leeds. He moved to Liverpool when he was three and also spent time in Bridlington, where his parents owned a pub; his father also spent time in the RAF. He has two sisters - one is the mother of Primeval and 24 actor Alexander Siddig. Malcolm attended Cannock House boarding school in Kent, where he first decided to become an actor. He later studied at the London Academy of Music and Art, then made ends meet as a waiter and salesman before landing acting roles.

Career: After changing his name to McDowell (his mother's maiden name) to avoid clashing with another actor called Malcolm Taylor, he started out in the theatre, before making his TV debut in Crossroads. His first film was 1967's Poor Cow, but his scenes were cut from the completed movie. McDowell's breakthrough was If... in 1968. Directed by Lindsay Anderson, it was followed by two more movies featuring McDowell's character of Mick Travis - O Lucky Man! and Britannia Hospital. He's also since appeared in such cult hits as A Clockwork Orange, Caligula, Blue Thunder and Star Trek: Generations. Other projects include Our Friends in the North, Gangster No. 1, Hidalgo, Franklin & Bash, The Mentalist and the remakes of Halloween and its sequel.

Quote: 'The best thing I did was abuse myself when younger - I dabbled in everything, cocaine, booze, women - because now I don't have to do it anymore.'

Trivia: He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012.

Julia Hampson (Actor) .. Olive

Libby Davison (Actor) .. Sarah

Mary Woodvine (Actor) .. Alison

Neil Armstrong (Actor) .. Ben

Born: August 05, 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio

Best Known For: Being the first man to walk on the moon.

Early-life: Neil Alden Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio. During his youth he was constantly moved around because his father worked for the government, before the family settled in Wapakoneta. He attended Blume High School and Purdue University before being called into the Navy. He became a fully qualified Naval Aviator and served in the Korean War, before returning to university.

Career: After graduation, Armstrong became an experimental research test pilot. He began working at the Lewis Field in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1955. Two years later he was selected for the US Air Force's ‘Man in Space Soonest' programme, and this appears to be the first point in which he was linked to space travel. Shortly after this he joined NASA, and was drafted onto the crew of Gemini 8 in 1965. Four years later Armstrong was selected to command Apollo 11, and his place in the annals of history was assured. Since that monumental mission, he became a professor at the University of Cincinnati and has taken part in NASA's investigations into disasters such as the Challenger Shuttle explosion.

Quote: 'That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.'

Trivia: In 1978, president Jimmy Carter awarded him the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

David Haddow (Actor) .. DI Martin Oldfield

Peter Michael McGowan (Actor) .. DS Conway

Nick Figgis (Actor) .. Anthony Cox

Emma Lightfoot (Actor) .. Bernadette Cox

Judith Parker (Actor) .. Mrs Noble

Peter Flannery (Writer)

Simon Cellan Jones (Director)

Charles Pattinson (Producer)

Our Friends in the North: 1979

10:00 pm - 11:10 pm, Wednesday, July 8 on BBC Four (9)

About this Broadcast

1979
Season 1, Episode 6

Cast & Crew

More Information

Did You Know..

Before / After