Stephen Poliakoff is a British playwright, director and screenwriter. In 2006 Gerard Gilbert of The Independent described him as the UK's "pre-eminent TV dramatist" who had "inherited Dennis Potter's crown".
David Edward Williams, known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, author, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003–2007) and Come Fly With Me (2010–2011). From 2012 to 2022, Walliams was a judge on the television talent show competition Britain's Got Talent on ITV. He is also a writer of children's books, having sold more than 37 million copies worldwide.
Ruth Wilson is an English actress. She is known for her performances as the eponymous protagonist in Jane Eyre (2006), as Alice Morgan in the BBC psychological crime drama Luther, as Alison Lockhart in the Showtime drama The Affair (2014–2018), and as the eponymous character in Mrs Wilson (2018). Since 2019, she has portrayed Marisa Coulter in the BBC/HBO fantasy series His Dark Materials, and for this role she won the 2020 BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actress. Her film credits include The Lone Ranger (2013), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016), and Dark River (2017).
Joe's Palace is a BBC television drama, and written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff. It was first aired on BBC One on 4 November 2007. It is linked, by the central character of Joe, to the Poliakoff drama Capturing Mary which was aired on 12 November 2007.
Danny Wynter, known professionally as Danny Lee Wynter, is a British actor, playwright, and activist. He is best known for playing the lead in Stephen Poliakoff's BBC films Joe's Palace and Capturing Mary, alongside Sir Michael Gambon and Dame Maggie Smith, and also for appearing in Dominic Cooke’s 2021 National Theatre revival of The Normal Heart, for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles is a 4-hour BBC television adaptation of Thomas Hardy's 1891 book of the same name. The script is by David Nicholls. It tells the story of Tess Durbeyfield, a low-born country girl whose family find they have noble connections.
Gemma Christina Arterton is an English actress and producer. After her stage debut in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost at the Globe Theatre (2007), Arterton made her feature film debut in the comedy St Trinian's (2007). She portrayed Bond Girl Strawberry Fields in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace (2008), a performance which won her an Empire Award for Best Newcomer.
Michael Byers is a Northern Irish actor, best known for his portrayal of Liam in The Basil Brush Show. Having graduated from the University of St Andrews, his first television appearance was as Brendan Shepherd in Hollyoaks, before playing a fairy named Storm in several episodes of The Mysti Show on CBBC. Michael was then cast as Liam in The Basil Brush Show in 2006, replacing Mr Stephen as the wise-cracking fox's loyal sidekick and flatmate. Making his debut at the start of the fifth series, he has appeared in 26 episodes of the BAFTA-nominated show to date. In 2007, Michael worked with critically acclaimed director Stephen Poliakoff, starring as moody artist Zach in the BBC One film Capturing Mary, alongside Dame Maggie Smith, David Walliams, and Ruth Wilson (actress). Byers has also appeared in an advert for Richmond sausages.
Made in Dagenham is a 2010 British comedy-drama film directed by Nigel Cole and starring Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Geraldine James, Rosamund Pike, Andrea Riseborough, Jaime Winstone, Daniel Mays and Richard Schiff. It dramatises the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968 that aimed for equal pay for women. Its theme song, with lyrics by Billy Bragg, is performed by Sandie Shaw, a native of the area and former Ford Dagenham clerk.
Paul Trijbits is a Dutch-born film and television producer living in London, with his wife Patricia and children Jakob and Lea.
Billionaire Boy is a children's fiction book written by David Walliams and illustrated by Tony Ross. It was published on 28 October 2010 by HarperCollins. The story follows Joe Spud, who is the richest boy in the country and has everything he could ever want, but wishes to have a friend and eventually learns a lesson on being a normal boy. The book was adapted for BBC television, broadcast on 1 January 2016.
Jessica Swale is a British playwright, theatre director and screenwriter. Her first play, Blue Stockings, premiered at Shakespeare's Globe in 2013. It is widely performed by UK amateur companies and is also studied on the Drama GCSE syllabus. In 2016, her play Nell Gwynn won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, after it transferred from the Globe to the West End, starring Gemma Arterton as the eponymous heroine. She also wrote and directed the feature film Summerland (2020).
Made in Dagenham is a musical with music by David Arnold, lyrics by Richard Thomas, and a book by Richard Bean. Based on the 2010 film of the same name, which in turn was based on the real events of the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968, the musical made its West End and world premiere at the Adelphi Theatre in 2014.
Gangsta Granny is a British comedy-drama television film based on David Walliams' 2011 children's comedy fiction book of the same name. The adaptation is by Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley. The first broadcast was on BBC One on 26 December 2013 at 6.05 PM.
Partners in Crime is a British cosy mystery drama television series that began on BBC One on 26 July 2015. The six-part series is an adaptation of two Tommy and Tuppence detective novels by Agatha Christie. The novels are adapted from the short stories of Partners in Crime; the first three episodes from the 1922 novel The Secret Adversary, and the last three episodes from the 1941 novel N or M? The series was not renewed for a second series by the BBC.
Hannah Jane Arterton is an English actress. She attended Gravesend Grammar School for Girls and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2011. She has most notably appeared in the television series The Five (2016) and Safe (2018), and in the film Walking on Sunshine (2014).
Aisling Franciosi is an Irish actress. She won an AACTA Award for her leading role in the film The Nightingale (2018). On television, she is known for her roles in the RTÉ-BBC Two crime drama The Fall (2013–2016), season 2 of the TNT series Legends (2015), and the BBC One miniseries Black Narcissus (2020).
Summerland is a 2020 British drama film written and directed by Jessica Swale, starring Gemma Arterton, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Lucas Bond, Dixie Egerickx, Siân Phillips, Penelope Wilton and Tom Courtenay.
Black Narcissus is a British drama serial, based on the 1939 novel of the same name by Rumer Godden. The series features one of the final performances of Diana Rigg, who died in September 2020. The drama premiered on November 23, 2020, on FX in the US, and on December 27, 2020, on BBC One in the UK.
"Remember Where You Are" is a song by English singer and songwriter Jessie Ware. It was released on 5 February 2021 as the seventh & final single from her fourth studio album, What's Your Pleasure? The song was written by Ware and its producer James Ford alongside Danny Parker and Shungudzo Kuyimba.
