Bloomin' Marvellous is a 1997 BBC comedy series starring Clive Mantle, Sarah Lancashire, and Kathryn Hunt. Written by playwright John Godber, it is described as "a comedy about a couple who decide to start a family." [1] The series was panned by most critics, [2] and Mantle sarcastically remarked that "I've seen murderers and rapists get a better press than we did." [3]
Clive Stuart Anderson is an English television and radio presenter, comedy writer, and former barrister. Winner of a British Comedy Award in 1991, Anderson began experimenting with comedy and writing comedic scripts during his 15-year legal career, before starring in Whose Line Is It Anyway? on BBC Radio 4, then later Channel 4. He has also hosted many radio programmes, and made guest appearances on Have I Got News for You, Mock the Week and QI.
Eddie Izzard, also known as Suzy Izzard, is a British stand-up comedian, actor, and activist. Her comedic style takes the form of what appears to the audience as rambling whimsical monologues and self-referential pantomime.
Caroline Quentin is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances: portraying Dorothy in Men Behaving Badly (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in Jonathan Creek (1997–2000), and DCI Janine Lewis in Blue Murder (2003–2009).
Casualty (stylised as CASUAL+Y) is a British medical drama series that airs weekly on BBC One. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 6 September 1986. The original producer was Geraint Morris. Having been broadcast weekly since 1986, Casualty is the longest-running primetime medical drama series in the world.
Toby Edward Heslewood Jones is an English actor. He is known for his extensive character actor roles on stage and screen. From 1989 to 1991, Jones trained at L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq. He made his stage debut in 2001 in the comedy play The Play What I Wrote, which played in the West End and on Broadway, earning him a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 2020, he was nominated for his second Olivier Award, for Best Actor for his performance in a revival of Anton Chekov's Uncle Vanya.
Sarah-Jane Abigail Lancashire is an English actress from Oldham, England. She is known for her roles on screen and stage; her combined acting credits have earned Lancashire various accolades over a career spanning four decades, including two British Academy Television Awards.
Helen Margaret Lederer is a Welsh comedian, writer and actress who emerged as part of the alternative comedy boom at the beginning of the 1980s. Among her television credits are the BBC2 sketch series Naked Video and BBC One's Absolutely Fabulous, in which she played the role of Catriona.
Clive Andrew Mantle is an English actor. He played general surgeon Mike Barratt in the BBC hospital drama series Casualty and Holby City in the 1990s, and Little John in the 1980s fantasy series Robin of Sherwood. He returned to Casualty in 2016 as Mike Barratt for the show's 30th anniversary.
Sarah Jane Millican is an English comedian, writer and presenter. Millican won the comedy award for Best Newcomer at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In February 2013 she was listed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Radio 4's Woman's Hour, and in the same year she married fellow comedian Gary Delaney. Her first book, How to Be Champion, was published in 2017. Millican has performed on various tours, mainly across the United Kingdom, over the years.
Siobhan Margaret Finneran is an English actress. She made her screen debut in the 1987 independent film Rita, Sue and Bob Too, and subsequently worked consistently in television drama including roles in Coronation Street (1989–1990), Clocking Off (2000–2002) and The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (2006). In 2005, Finneran originated the lead female role in the stage play On the Shore of the Wide World and was awarded the Manchester Evening News Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Also a comedy performer, Finneran appeared as Janice Garvey, a leading character in the first seven series of ITV sitcom Benidorm (2007–2015).
Charlotte Frances Riley is an English actress. She is known for her roles as Sarah Hurst in Easy Virtue (2008) and as Catherine Earnshaw in ITV's adaptation of Wuthering Heights (2009).
Jack Peter Benedict Whitehall is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is known for starring as JP in the comedy drama series Fresh Meat (2011–2016) and as Alfie Wickers in the sitcom Bad Education and its spin-off film The Bad Education Movie (2015), also co-writing the latter two.
Miranda is a British television sitcom written by and starring comedian Miranda Hart. It originally aired on BBC Two from 9 November 2009, and later on BBC One. Developed from Hart's semi-autobiographical BBC Radio 2 comedy Miranda Hart's Joke Shop (2008), the situation comedy revolves around socially inept Miranda, who frequently finds herself in awkward situations. The show features actors Sarah Hadland, Tom Ellis, Patricia Hodge, Sally Phillips, James Holmes and Bo Poraj. It was taped in front of live audiences at the BBC Television Centre and The London Studios.
Natalie Gumede is an English actress. She is known for playing Kirsty Soames in the ITV soap opera, Coronation Street, from 2011 to 2013. She previously played China in BBC Three comedy show Ideal. She has also appeared in The Persuasionists, Emmerdale and Doctor Who among other television shows. Gumede was also runner-up in the 2013 series of Strictly Come Dancing on BBC One. From 2017 to 2019, Gumede began appearing in Netflix original Free Rein as Maggie Steel Phillips.
Last Tango in Halifax is a British comedy-drama series that began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 November 2012 until its final episode which was broadcast on 15 March 2020. Screenwriter Sally Wainwright loosely adapted the story of her mother's second marriage. The series stars Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid as Alan and Celia.
The Wrong Mans is a British BBC Television comedy-drama series, co-produced with the American online television provider Hulu. It premiered on BBC Two on 24 September 2013 and in the United States on 11 November 2013. Considered a critical and ratings success, it was co-created and written by Gavin & Stacey alumni James Corden and Mathew Baynton as an attempt to combine the situation comedy format with the intricate plotting and storytelling tropes of an action-adventure series.
Marvellous is a 90-minute British drama television film first broadcast on BBC Two on 25 September 2014. Directed by Julian Farino and written by Peter Bowker, it is about the life of Neil Baldwin from Westlands, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.
Neil "Nello" Baldwin BEM is an honorary graduate of Keele University from Westlands in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. He is a registered clown and also worked for Stoke City Football Club, for whom he once played briefly in a friendly match. He is the subject of an award-winning BBC television drama, Marvellous, which was broadcast in 2014, and a play of the same name which was performed in London's West End in 2022.
Sarah Lancashire is an English actress whose career began in 1986. Lancashire's first acting roles were in local theatre, with small guest roles in television dramas and sitcoms. After coming to public attention with roles in programmes such as Coronation Street, Where the Heart Is (1997–1999) and Clocking Off (2000), Lancashire signed a two-year golden handcuffs contract with the ITV network, appearing exclusively in ITV1 programming for the next two years. Lancashire has continued to work extensively across a variety of television drama genres, including guest appearances, regular roles in returning series and with featured roles in standalone miniseries' and television films. Her more prolific work includes the drama series' Lark Rise to Candleford (2008–2011), Last Tango in Halifax (2012–2020) and Happy Valley.