Reginald "Leo" McKern, AO was an Australian actor who appeared in numerous British, Australian and American television programmes and films, and in more than 200 stage roles. His notable roles include Clang in Help! (1965), Thomas Cromwell in A Man for All Seasons (1966), Tom Ryan in Ryan's Daughter (1970), Harry Bundage in Candleshoe (1977), Paddy Button in The Blue Lagoon (1980), Dr. Grogan in The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Father Imperius in Ladyhawke (1985), and the role that made him a household name as an actor, Horace Rumpole, whom he played in the British television series Rumpole of the Bailey. He also portrayed Carl Bugenhagen in the first and second instalments of The Omen series and Number Two in the TV series The Prisoner.
Abigail's Party is a play for stage and television, devised and directed in 1977 by Mike Leigh. It is a suburban situation comedy of manners, and a satire on the aspirations and tastes of the new middle class that emerged in Britain in the 1970s. The play developed in lengthy improvisations during which Mike Leigh explored the characters with the actors, but did not always reveal the incidents that would occur during the play. The production opened in April 1977 at the Hampstead Theatre, and returned after its initial run in the summer of 1977, for 104 performances in all. A recording was arranged at the BBC as a Play for Today, produced by Margaret Matheson for BBC Scotland and transmitted in November 1977.
John Keith Vernon was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada. He was best known for playing Dean Wormer in Animal House, the Mayor in Dirty Harry and Fletcher in The Outlaw Josey Wales.
Richard Lynch was an American actor best known for portraying villains in films and television.
Charles McKeown is a British actor and writer, perhaps best known for his collaborations with Terry Gilliam. The two met while shooting Monty Python's Life of Brian, while McKeown was doing bit parts in the film.
John Woodvine is an English actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles.
Craig Wasson is an American actor. He made his film debut in Rollercoaster (1977). He is best known for his roles as Jake Scully in Brian DePalma's Body Double (1984), and Neil Gordon in Chuck Russell's A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). For his role as Danilo Prozor in Arthur Penn's Four Friends (1981), he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award.
"Woodentop" is an episode of the Thames Television series Storyboard, which comprises a series of one-off plays on different themes. The episode was originally broadcast on 16 August 1983. Woodentop became the first ever episode in the long-running British police television series The Bill. The name woodentop is a colloquialism for beat policemen who traditionally wear helmets; the nickname is itself an allusion to the Children's TV series The Woodentops.
John Arthur Duttine is an English actor noted for his roles on stage, films and television. He is well known for his role as Sgt George Miller in Heartbeat and also Bill Masen in the TV series The Day of the Triffids.
Robert Pugh is a Welsh actor, known for his many television appearances, including the role of Craster in the HBO series Game of Thrones.
David Schofield is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Ian Mercer in the films Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007). He also appeared in the films An American Werewolf in London (1981), Gladiator (2000), From Hell (2001), Valkyrie (2008), The Wolfman (2010) and Darkest Hour (2017).
From the ITV police drama's first screening in 1983, the history of The Bill includes a variety of major plotlines and changes to the programme's format.
Jonathan Mark Phillips is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Charles Lightoller in the film Titanic (1997).
Gerard Anthony Bill is an American actor, producer, and director. He produced the 1973 movie The Sting, for which he shared the Academy Award for Best Picture with Michael Phillips and Julia Phillips. As an actor, Bill had supporting roles in Come Blow Your Horn (1963), Shampoo (1975), Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), and Less than Zero (1987). He made his directorial debut with My Bodyguard (1980) and directed movies Six Weeks (1982), Five Corners (1987), Crazy People (1990), Untamed Heart (1993), and Flyboys (2006).
Albert Moses KStJ was a Sri Lankan actor based in the United Kingdom. He is best known for playing the role of Ranjeet Singh, a student in Jeremy Brown's EFL class in the British sitcom Mind Your Language and one of four students to appear in all four series.
The Bill is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, Woodentop, broadcast on 16 August 1983. ITV were so impressed with the drama that a full series was commissioned. The title originates from "Old Bill", a slang term for the police and show creator Geoff McQueen's original title for the series.
The third series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of twelve episodes, broadcast between 21 September and 7 December 1987. The series was first released on DVD as part of a three-season box set on 10 May 2006 in Australia. It was later made available as a separate season in the United Kingdom on 28 May 2007 and in Australia on 3 August 2011. The above DVD artwork is taken from the most recent Australian release. It features an image of Ch. Supt. Charles Brownlow. The British artwork features a collage image featuring DI Roy Galloway, PCs Nick Shaw and Viv Martella, and DC Mike Dashwood. The image right is the Australian three-season DVD box set features a sole image of chief superintendent Charles Brownlow.
The first series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of eleven episodes, broadcast between 16 October 1984 and 22 January 1985.
Mark James Harrison, known professionally as Samuel James, is an English actor and voiceover artist, known for portraying the role of Garth Stubbs in the ITV sitcom Birds of a Feather from 2014 to 2017. He has also starred in Casualty and EastEnders.
