Extras - David Bowie - 9:30 pm Saturday, January 10 on BBC Three

David Bowie (Actor) .. Himself

Born: January 08, 1947 in London

Best Known For: His changing image.

Early-life: Born David Robert Jones in London on January 8, 1947. His mother Peggy was a cinema usherette, his father Haywood a promotions officer for Barnardo's. David failed the eleven plus exam but was already dedicated to music. In his teens, a friend punched him, resulting in one permanently dilated pupil. He formed his first band at 15 and later studied with mime artist Lindsay Kemp, whom he credits with giving him his interest in performance and androgyny. He also changed his surname to Bowie to avoid confusion with the Monkees' Davy Jones.

Career: Bowie's breakthrough came in 1969 when the BBC used his song Space Oddity for their coverage of the moon landing. Adopting the alter ego of Ziggy Stardust in 1972 made him a huge global star. Landmark albums Diamond Dogs, Young Americans and Low followed. He paired up with Queen for the 1981 chart hit Under Pressure and reached a commercial peak in 1983 with the single Let's Dance. Away from music, he had acted in a number of films, including The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (1983), and Labyrinth (1986), and as himself in the sitcom Extras. He released his 25th and final studio album, Blackstar, on January 8, 2016. Two days later, he died from cancer. He was 69. During his career, he sold more than 140 million records.

Quote: "Any list of advice I have to offer to a musician always ends with, 'If it itches, go and see a doctor.'"

Trivia: In 2014, Bowie won the Best British Male gong at the Brit Awards.

Ricky Gervais (Actor) .. Andy Millman

Born: June 25, 1961 in Reading, Berkshire

Best Known For: Hit BBC sitcom The Office.

Early-life: Born Ricky Dene Gervais in Reading, Berkshire, on June 25, 1961. He's the youngest of four children. Early dreams of being a scientist led him to University College London to read biology, but he switched to philosophy instead. While studying, Gervais created his own band, Seona Dancing. They released two unsuccessful singles, although one of them was a hit in the Philippines. After graduating, Ricky became the entertainments manager at London University's student union.

Career: Gervais started out in radio on Xfm, where he met Stephen Merchant, who would become his writing partner. His first taste of stardom came via Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show. Tongue-in-cheek chat show, Meet Ricky Gervais, paved the way for BBC sitcom The Office. Extras, Life is Short and An Idiot Abroad (featuring his sidekick Karl Pilkington) have also been TV hits. He's also continued to work on radio, done stand-up, wrote the children's books Flanimals, worked on The Simpsons, appeared in various Hollywood movies and wrote and directed (with Merchant) as well as appeared in the film Cemetery Junction. Gervais has won many awards, including several Baftas, Emmys and Golden Globes. His most recent project is the Channel 4 comedy Derek, in which he stars as well as directing and writing each episode.

Quote: "Money gives me the creeps and mildly embarrasses me. I get paid too much anyway."

Trivia: He hosted the Golden Globe Awards in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Ashley Jensen (Actor) .. Maggie Jacobs

Born: August 10, 1969 in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

Best Known For: Playing Maggie in Extras.

Early-life: Ashley Jensen was born in Annan, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on August 10, 1969, and raised by her mother Margaret. She claims to have known from an early age that she wanted to be an actress, and enjoyed dressing up as a child. Jensen later joined London's National Youth Theatre before taking a diploma in speech and drama at Edinburgh's Queen Margaret College. After graduating, she worked with the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow and the Tron and the Traverse theatres in Edinburgh.

Career: Jensen's first TV role was in a Screen One film called Dreaming, which starred Billy Connolly. In the early 1990s, she appeared in shows such as Tickets for the Zoo, Down Among the Big Boys, May to December, Rab C Nesbitt and Roughnecks. A more prominent role came when she was cast as Angie Raeburn in Two Thousand Acres of Sky, but she reached a huge audience as Maggie Jacobs in BBC sitcom Extras. The actress has scooped a number of awards for playing the unlucky-in-love singleton, including a coveted Rose d'Or. She also starred with Patrick Stewart in ITV drama Eleventh Hour, and became well known in America thanks to her role as Christina in Ugly Betty. More recent projects include short-lived American sitcom Accidentally on Purpose, BBC comedy Nativity, ITV drama The Reckoning and providing voiceovers for animated films Gnomeo and Juliet, Arthur Christmas and The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

Quote: "I know what I look like. I'm not a babe who's automatically going to be the leading-lady type. I think I would always be cast as the friend."

Trivia: Jensen married actor Terence Beesley in 2007.

Stephen Merchant (Actor) .. Darren Lamb

Born: November 24, 1974 in Bristol

Best Known For: Being Ricky Gervais' best friend, and sending Karl Pilkington around the world.

Early-life: Merchant was born in Bristol and attended Hanham High School. He graduated from University of Warwick with a first-class degree in Film and Literature.

Career: Before Merchant met Gervais, he was performing stand-up comedy. The pair worked together at London radio station XFM. Later, Merchant worked on a production course at the BBC, in which he enlisted Gervais' help for a short film called 'Seedy Boss' - which is when the idea of The Office arose, with both writing and directing the series. While The Office then enjoyed success Stateside, Gervais and Merchant also concentrated on BBC sitcom Extras. Then came Merchant's radio show for BBC 6 Music, The Steve Show. The comic is in the midst of nationwide tour of the UK, with a stop in New York, and continues to show up in movies and TV shows, including vehicles like An Idiot Abroad and Life's Too Short.

Quote: "Ricky's quite happy to provoke opinion, to blur the line between his acting and his stand-up persona. He likes to be a little bit provocative. He takes pleasure from that and he's good at it, and to him it feels challenging. It feels important. That doesn't concern me."

Shaun Williamson (Actor) .. Himself

Born: November 04, 1965 in Maidstone, Kent

Best Known For: Playing Barry in EastEnders.

Early-life: Born November 4, 1965 in Maidstone, Kent. To pay the rent he worked for the Post Office; the Navy; a supermarket and as a holiday rep. Williamson created his own amateur theatre group and staged a production of A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg. The production won him Best Actor in the Kent Drama Festival. He completed a three-year acting diploma at The Webber Douglas Academy. In 1994 he landed the memorable part of lovable loser Barry Evans in EastEnders.

Career: Williamson stayed with the soap for 10 years and after leaving Albert Square featured in the pantomimes Snow White and Cinderella, and starred in the stage productions Saturday Night Fever, The Rocky Horror Show, Oliver and Guys and Dolls. He enjoyed a new wave of popularity when Ricky Gervais cast him as a comic version of himself in Extras. Also appeared in BBC drama Funland; the movie Daylight Robbery; Comic Relief does Fame Academy 2007; Holby City and BBC One's Fairy Tales.

Quote: "I don't mind portraying myself as someone who's a bit of a loser and who hasn't worked at all because I know it isn't the truth."

Trivia: In 2009, he played Norman Stanley Fletcher in a stage version of TV comedy Porridge.

Liza Tarbuck (Actor) .. Rita

Born: November 21, 1964 in Liverpool

Best Known For: The Big Breakfast and Linda Green.

Early-life: Born November 21, 1964, the middle child of Liverpool comedian Jimmy Tarbuck and his wife Pauline. She doesn't like talking about her family's famous mates, but was good friends with Michael Parkinson's sons while growing up. At convent school, she considered becoming an artist, a PE teacher or a nun, but decided to follow her dad into showbusiness. She had a spell with the National Youth Theatre before training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Career: Tarbuck started out on stage before playing Pamela in the hugely popular ITV sitcom Watching. When the series ended in 1993, she featured in gritty drama Tumbledown, but after struggling to find more roles reinvented herself as a TV presenter, fronting The Weekend Show in 1995 and She's Gotta Have It, before going on to co-host The Big Breakfast with old pal Johnny Vaughan. Tarbuck stayed with the show for a year but left to take on new projects, including Blockbusters and comedy drama Linda Green. She's also appeared in Bleak House, Saxondale, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Extras and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and presented the Channel 4 series Without Prejudice and Britain's Top Dog.

Quote: "I'm like most women, I have good bits and bad bits, but I'm pretty happy with the package. Life's too short to worry about having fat upper arms."

Trivia: She began presenting a Saturday night show on BBC Radio 2 in 2012.

Sarah Moyle (Actor) .. Kimberley

Jamie Chapman (Actor) .. Brains

Andrew Buckley (Actor) .. Gobbler

Shaun Pye (Actor) .. Greg

Claire Adams (Actor) .. Cathy

Ryozo Kohira (Actor) .. Mr Yamaguchi

Richard Morris (Actor) .. Homeless guy

David Earl (Actor) .. David Earl

Nicola Sanderson (Actor) .. Receptionist

Pascal Langdale (Actor) .. Mark

Katy Wix (Actor) .. Girl in nightclub

Bob Mercer (Actor) .. Nightclub punter

Chad Shepherd (Actor) .. Bouncer

Naomi Bentley (Actor) .. Linda

James Dowdeswell (Actor) .. Count F---ula

Charlie Hanson (Producer)

Extras: David Bowie

9:30 pm - 10:00 pm, Saturday, January 10 on BBC Three (23)

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David Bowie
Season 2, Episode 2

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