Children's Ward is a British children's television drama series produced by Granada Television and broadcast on the ITV network as part of its Children's ITV strand on weekday afternoons. The programme was set – as the title suggests – in Ward B1, the children's ward of the fictitious South Park Hospital, and told the stories of the young patients and the staff present there.
Kay Mellor was an English actress, scriptwriter, producer and director. She was known for creating television series such as Band of Gold, Fat Friends, and The Syndicate, as well as co-creating CITV's children's drama Children's Ward (1989–2000).
Clare JuliaHawes, known professionally as Keeley Hawes, is an English actress. After beginning her career in a number of literary adaptations, including Our Mutual Friend (1998) and Tipping the Velvet (2002), Hawes rose to fame for her portrayal of Zoe Reynolds in the BBC series Spooks (2002–2004), followed by her co-lead performance as DI Alex Drake in Ashes to Ashes (2008–2010). She is also known for her roles in Jed Mercurio's Line of Duty as DI Lindsay Denton (2014–2016) and in BBC One drama Bodyguard (2018) in which she played Home Secretary Julia Montague. Hawes is a three-time BAFTA TV Award nominee, having been nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for her roles as Lindsay Denton and Julia Montague, and a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Dorothy Wick in the drama Mrs Wilson.
Melanie Jane Hill is a British actress, known for playing Hazel Redfern in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1985–1986), Aveline in Bread (1989–1991), Rita Dolan in Kay Mellor drama Playing the Field (1998–2002), Maggie Budgen in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road (2012–2015), Julie Travers in BBC One drama series The Syndicate (2015), Cathy Matthews in ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2015–2022) and Siobhan McKenzie in Casualty (2024).
Vincent is a British television crime drama series, created and principally written by Stephen Butchard, that first broadcast on ITV on 10 October 2005.
Chris Lang is a British screenwriter, producer and actor. Lang has written for many British television series but is best known as the writer, creator and executive producer of Unforgotten.
Gaynor Kay Mellor, known professionally as Gaynor Faye, is an English actress and writer. She played Judy Mallett in television soap opera Coronation Street from 1995 until 1999 and Megan Macey in Emmerdale from 2012 until 2019.
Elizabeth White is an English actress. She grew up in Plymouth and attended Plymstock School from 1989 until 1994. She is known for portraying roles of Annie Cartwright in the BBC One drama series Life on Mars (2006–2007), and Emma Keane in the Channel 4 school-based drama series Ackley Bridge (2017–2019).
Carolyn Pickles is an English actress who has appeared in West End theatre and on British television. She is known for playing DCI Kim Reid in The Bill and Shelley Williams in Emmerdale.
Fat Friends is a British drama that aired on ITV from 12 October 2000 to 24 March 2005, consisting of 25 episodes over four series. Set in Leeds, the series explores the lives of several slimming club members, with a focus on the various ways their weight has impacted upon them.
Diamond Geezer was a British television crime drama, broadcast on ITV between 20 March 2005 and 23 April 2007. Created by Caleb Ranson, the series stars David Jason as jewel thief and professional con man Des. One series of the programme was broadcast. A second series was not commissioned due to falling viewing figures, and Jason filming the first full series of A Touch of Frost since 2002.
The Syndicate is a British television drama series. It was written by Kay Mellor and is broadcast on BBC One. It sees five members of a betting syndicate win the lottery. Each series follows a different syndicate. The first series is set in a Leeds supermarket; the second, a public hospital in Bradford; the third, a crumbling stately home near Scarborough; and the fourth is set between a dog kennel in Yorkshire and Monaco.
Angel Leonie Coulby is an English actress. She gained recognition for portraying the character Gwen (Guinevere) in the BBC fantasy series Merlin.
Hot Money is a British television crime drama film, written by Neil McKay and directed by Terry Winsor, first broadcast on ITV on 12 December 2001. Inspired by the Loughton incinerator thefts, the film stars Caroline Quentin as Bridget Watmore, a cleaner at the Bank of England who hatches a plot "for impoverished workers to pinch cash" before it is incinerated. The film was commissioned by ITV in January 2001, as one of two new projects to star Quentin, with the other, Blood Strangers, following in 2002. Nick Elliott, then controller of drama at ITV, described Quentin as being "...very good at playing very ordinary women." Filming began in February 2001.
The Road to Coronation Street is a 2010 British drama first broadcast on BBC Four. It is a dramatisation of the creation of Coronation Street, the UK's longest-running television soap opera, from conception to its first transmission in December 1960. Set mainly at Granada Studios, Manchester in 1960, the 75-minute-long programme follows the true story of Tony Warren, a struggling scriptwriter who creates a vision of a television programme depicting normal life in a Salford street of terraced houses. The production first aired in October 2010, and was one of several programmes celebrating the 50th anniversary of Coronation Street that year.
DCI Banks is a British television crime drama series produced by Left Bank Pictures for the ITV network. Originally broadcast over five series in 2010–2016, the series was based on Peter Robinson's Inspector Alan Banks novels and stars Stephen Tompkinson as Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. In 2013, the series won in the drama category at the regional Royal Television Society Yorkshire Programme Awards.
The third and final series of the British crime drama Broadchurch began airing on the ITV broadcast network in the United Kingdom on 27 February 2017 and is set three years after the events of series two. The eight-episode series follows the rape of a local woman in the fictional, close-knit coastal town of Broadchurch in Dorset, England. The return features series stars David Tennant and Olivia Colman and many other actors from the first two series.
In Defence is a four-part British television legal drama series, created and partially written by Mike Cullen, that first broadcast on ITV on 26 June 2000. The series stars Ross Kemp and Sophie Okonedo, and follows Sam Lucas (Kemp), a lawyer and legal detective, who takes it upon himself to investigate cases where the police have failed to uncover enough evidence to secure a conviction. The series was co-written by Maxwell Young and Abigail Fray, and was initially billed as a "star-vehicle" for Kemp, as part of a "golden handcuffs" deal to lure Kemp away from the BBC. The series broadcast weekly until 17 July 2000.
Blood Strangers is a two-part British television crime drama, written by Gwyneth Hughes and directed by Jon Jones, that broadcast across two consecutive nights in February 2002 on ITV. The series was commissioned in January 2001, as one of two new projects to star Caroline Quentin, with the other, Hot Money, broadcasting in December 2001. Nick Elliott, then controller of drama at ITV, described Quentin as being "...very good at playing very ordinary women." The series was described by ITV as "an emotionally charged two-part thriller that looks at the devastating effect of teenage prostitution on two respectable British families." Paul McGann, Sheridan Smith, David Crellin and Ray Panthaki are also credited as principal members of the cast.
Gifted is a one-off British drama thriller television film, written and devised by Kay Mellor, that first broadcast on ITV on 29 October 2003. Starring Kenny Doughty, Claire Goose and Christine Tremarco, the film follows top-flight footballer Jamie Gilliam (Doughty), who is accused of rape by Sharon Harrison (Tremarco), a part-time lap dancer. When Gilliam strongly denies the accusations made against him, Harrison drops the case following intense scrutiny from the press, leading her best friend, Maxine Norris (Goose), to look deeper into the case.
