State of Play is a British television drama series, written by Paul Abbott and directed by David Yates, that was first broadcast on BBC One in 2003. The series tells the story of a newspaper's investigation into the death of a political researcher, and centres on the relationship between the leading journalist, Cal McCaffrey, and his old friend, Stephen Collins, who is a Member of Parliament and the murdered woman's employer. The series is primarily set in London and was produced in-house by the BBC in association with the independent production company Endor Productions. The series stars David Morrissey, John Simm, Kelly Macdonald, Polly Walker, Bill Nighy, and James McAvoy in the main roles.
David Mark Joseph Morrissey is an English actor and filmmaker. Noted for the meticulous preparation and research he undertakes for each role, he has been described by the British Film Institute as one of the most versatile English actors of his generation.
Kacey Ainsworth is an English actress, known for her roles as Little Mo Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and Cathy Keating in the ITV drama series Grantchester.
Blackpool is a British television musical drama serial, produced in-house by the BBC, that first broadcast on BBC One on 11 November 2004. Starring David Morrissey, Sarah Parish and David Tennant, the serial was written by Peter Bowker, who had previously written for BBC One's modern adaptation of The Canterbury Tales and BBC Two's Flesh and Blood, and directed by Coky Giedroyc and Julie Anne Robinson. The series was filmed on location in Brentford and Blackpool itself, and broadcast across six weeks at 9:00 pm on Thursdays, until 16 December 2004.
Juliet Bravo is a British television police procedural drama series, first broadcast on 30 August 1980, that ran for six series and a total of 88 episodes on BBC1. The theme of the series concerned a female police inspector who took over control of a police station in the fictional town of Hartley in Lancashire. The lead role of Inspector Jean Darblay was played by Stephanie Turner in series 1 to 3, but in series 4 to 6 she was replaced by Anna Carteret for the role of Inspector Kate Longton. Carteret remained with the series until its demise in 1985.
Orla Brady is an Irish theatre, television, and film actress born in Dublin. She has been nominated for several awards from the Irish Film & Television Academy for her work in televised programs, as well as starring in the RTÉ-BBC co-production A Love Divided, for which she won the 1999 Golden Nymph Best Actress Award. She began her career with the Balloonatics Theatre Company as a touring performer, later gaining her first television work in a minor role in the series Minder in 1993. Her first role in film was in Words Upon the Window Pane in 1994. Brady later appeared in recurring roles in a number of US and UK series and in two supporting character roles in the CBS-Paramount+ series, Star Trek: Picard. Brady appeared in the 2020 list of Ireland's greatest film actors, published by The Irish Times.
Dangerfield is a British television medical drama series, first broadcast on BBC One, which described the activities of small-town doctor and police surgeon Paul Dangerfield, played by Nigel Le Vaillant. The series places particular emphasis on Dangerfield's constant struggle to manage the conflicting demands of his two jobs, to come to terms with the death of his wife Celia in a car accident a few years earlier, and to bring up his two initially teenaged, but later grown up, children, Alison and Marty. Six series of the programme were produced, broadcasting from 27 January 1995 until 19 November 1999. After Le Vaillant left the role in 1997, Dr. Jonathan Paige, played by Nigel Havers, became the new central character, after previously appearing in the final two episodes of Le Vaillant's tenure. The BBC decided to end the series in November 1999 when Havers announced his decision to quit. The BBC felt viewers would not find the series credible if the main character was changed for a second time.
Neil Dudgeon is an English actor who, since 2010, has played DCI John Barnaby in the ITV drama series Midsomer Murders. He replaced John Nettles in the lead role in 2011.
Tom Burke is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Athos in the 2014–2016 BBC TV series The Musketeers, Dolokhov in the 2016 BBC literary-adaptation miniseries War & Peace, the eponymous character Cormoran Strike in the BBC series Strike and Orson Welles in the 2020 film Mank.
Karl Collins is a British actor. He is known for his television roles as Danny Glaze in The Bill, Louis Loveday in Hollyoaks, and Shaun Temple in Doctor Who. He played Noah in the Apple TV series Trying, and Lennox in the BBC Series Champion, and also Jack Whiteley in Magpie Murders.
The fifteenth series of The Bill, a British television drama, consisted of 87 episodes, broadcast between 7 January and 31 December 1999. The series saw a notable change as female officers were no longer introduced by the W acronym in ranking, with the last mention of this when Liz Rawton was introduced as a WDC in Follow Through. By the following episode, Walking on Water, female characters were simply introduced as PC/DC etc. On 5 June 2013, The Bill Series 15 Part 1 & 2 and The Bill Series 15 Part 3 & 4 DVD sets were released.
The Bill is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, Woodentop, broadcast in August 1983.
Hunter is a two-part BBC One police crime drama, commissioned in 2008 as a follow-up to Five Days, the 2007 series which introduced the protagonists of Hunter – DSI Iain Barclay and DS Amy Foster – who reprise their roles as the dysfunctional detective pair. The two-part drama aired on Sunday 18 and Monday 19 January 2009 on BBC One, and achieved an average of 5.4 million viewers during first episode. The drama was also simulcast on BBC HD. The drama was intended as a backdoor pilot for a potential series, but no further episodes were commissioned.
HolbyBlue was a British police procedural drama series that ran for two series from 2007 to 2008. The show revolves around the daily lives of a number of police officers working at Holby South police station. The cast for series one included Jimmy Akingbola as PC Neil Parker, Joe Jacobs as PC William "Billy" Jackson, David Sterne as Sergeant Edward 'Mac' McFadden, Cal Macaninch as DI John Keenan, James Hillier as Sergeant Christian Young, Kacey Ainsworth as Inspector Jenny Black, Richard Harrington as DS Luke French, Zöe Lucker as Kate Keenan, Chloe Howman as PC Kelly Cooper, Kieran O'Brien as PC Robert Clifton, Tim Pigott-Smith as DCI Harry Hutchinson, Sara Powell as Rachel Barker and Elaine Glover as PC Lucy Slater. Velibor Topić and Julie Cox joined the cast in a recurring capacity as drug baron Neculai Stenga and Mandy French, Luke French's wife. By the end of series one, Pigott-Smith and Topic both departed the show. Series two saw the introductions of Oliver Milburn as DCI Scott Vaughan and James Thornton as Constable Jake Loughton. Stephanie Langton took over from Julie Cox in series two to continue playing the role of Mandy.
Darrell Fitzgerald D'Silva is a British film and theatre actor, notable for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Eternal Law is a 2012 ITV fantasy drama series created by Ashley Pharoah and Matthew Graham. The show stars Samuel West, Ukweli Roach, Orla Brady, Tobias Menzies and Hattie Morahan. Set in York, it is centred on two angels sent to Earth to assist in court cases. The first episode premiered on 5 January 2012. The show was axed after one series due to low ratings.
Caroline O'Hara is a Burnley-born, English actress who trained at The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
City Central is a British television police procedural drama series, written and created by Tony Jordan, that first broadcast on BBC One on 4 April 1998.
Lawless is a two-part British television thriller miniseries, first broadcast on ITV from 8 to 9 November 2004. Written by Chris Lang, directed by Roger Gartland and starring Trevor Eve, Orla Brady and David Calder, Lawless follows the story of DI John Paxton, who begins to question his job when a murderer walks free from court because of a legal technicality. The two-part miniseries was commissioned in 2003, along with another two-part miniseries written by Lang, Amnesia. The miniseries gathered good viewing figures, with the first part watched by 7.17 million, and the second by 5.65 million. Unlike Amnesia, the series has never been released on DVD.
The first series of the British police procedural television programme Line of Duty, was broadcast on BBC Two between 26 June and 24 July 2012. The series follows the actions of the fictional Anti-Corruption Unit 12. AC-12 is led by Superintendent Ted Hastings who recruits DS Steve Arnott and is backed by undercover officer DC Kate Fleming, as they lead an investigation into the corrupt actions of DCI Tony Gates. Gates leads Tactical Operations Unit 20 (TO-20) which includes DS Matthew "Dot" Cottan and DC Nigel Morton. Supporting characters include Jackie Laverty, Jools Gates, Chief Superintendent Derek Hilton, Chief Inspector Philip Osborne, and Tommy Hunter. The series was created and written by Jed Mercurio, who also serves as a producer. Filming took place in Birmingham in late-2011. Five episodes were directed by David Caffrey and Douglas Mackinnon with cinematographer Ruairi O'Brien. Despite being censured by Ofcom, the series received mostly positive reviews and was nominated for multiple awards leading to the commission of a second series.
