Robert Rigby began his career as a journalist, then spent several years in the music business as a songwriter and session musician. [1] In 1978, the independent record label Flight, released a single by Rigby and the following year Fusion Records (a subsidiary of Rediffusion) released the "Let The Music Play" single. Around this time Rigby also wrote the Rock Star musical, based on the Nativity story. This was recorded and released as an album by Fusion records, produced by Daniel Brown and Mike Wade. He turned to writing for radio, television and the theatre, and has also directed and performed in children’s theatre throughout the country. He has become an established young people’s playwright, and his award-winning work with youth theatre companies has been seen in Britain, Europe, the US and Africa. Rigby wrote the novelizations of the movies, Goal! (film) and Goal II, and his scripts for television include the long-running BBC children’s drama series, Byker Grove .
Rigby also co-wrote the Boy soldier series of books with Andy McNab.
Byker Grove is a British teen drama and coming of age television series which aired between 1989 and 2006 as part of CBBC on BBC One.
Anthony David McPartlin is an English television presenter, former singer, rapper and actor. He is best known for working alongside Declan Donnelly as part of the presenting duo Ant & Dec.
Ant & Dec are a British television presenting duo consisting of Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly from Newcastle upon Tyne. After meeting as child actors on CBBC's drama Byker Grove, they performed together as pop musicians PJ & Duncan, the names of their characters from the series.
Declan Joseph Oliver Donnelly is an English television presenter, television producer, former singer, rapper, comedian and actor. He is best known for working alongside Ant McPartlin as part of the presenting duo Ant & Dec.
Matthew Richard Lucas is an English actor, comedian, writer and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain (2003–2006) and Come Fly with Me (2010–2011).
Steven Billy Mitchell, usually known by the pseudonym and pen-name of Andy McNab, is a novelist and former Special Air Service soldier.
Colin Armstrong,, usually known by the pen-name Chris Ryan, is a British author, television presenter, security consultant and former Special Air Service sergeant.
Matthew Robinson is a British-Cambodian television and film executive producer, producer, director and writer. After graduating from Cambridge University. he directed many episodes of popular British television dramas and soap operas in the 1970s and 1980s. He became the first producer of the series Byker Grove (1989–1997), and was also made the executive producer of EastEnders (1998–2000).
Donna Marie Theresa Air is an English actress, producer and philanthropist.
Catherine Johnson is a British playwright, producing works for stage and television. She is best known for her book for the ABBA-inspired musical Mamma Mia! and screenplay for the musical's film adaptation. The film became the highest-grossing British picture of all time in the UK, and the biggest selling UK DVD of all time in January 2009. She also co-wrote the 2018 sequel, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
Janey Lee Grace is an English singer, author, television presenter and radio disc jockey, first with Virgin Radio as a travel reporter and then graduating to her own late night show for the station.
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Wally K. Daly was an English writer for television and radio and one-time chairman of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. He was born in Grangetown, Middlesbrough.
Declan William Bennett is an English singer-songwriter, actor and playwright. He gained prominence as a member of the band Point Break, before going on to perform on London's West End and as a solo musician. He is known on screen for his roles as Charlie Cotton in the soap opera EastEnders and Jonathan Roberts in the ITV series The Long Call.
Daniel Max Weyman is an English actor notable for his main roles in Just Inès (2010), Foyle's War (2013), and Silent Witness (2016), and more recently known for his role as The Stranger / Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022–present).
Justin Chadwick is an English actor and television and film director. He directed episodes of EastEnders, Byker Grove, The Bill, Spooks and Red Cap before directing nine of the fifteen episodes of the mini-series Bleak House, which was broadcast by the BBC in the UK and by PBS in the United States as part of its Masterpiece Theatre series.
Kanak Asha "Konnie" Huq is a British television and radio presenter, screenwriter and children's author. She became the longest-serving female presenter of the British children's television programme Blue Peter, presenting it from 1997 to 2008. She has been a presenter and guest of shows including the 2010 series of The Xtra Factor on ITV2.
Victor Glynn is a film and television producer and writer.
Zenith Productions was a British independent film and television production company. Zenith created content for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky and UKTV, including a number of series such as Inspector Morse for ITV and Byker Grove and Hamish Macbeth for the BBC. Through its subsidiary Blaze Television, Zenith produced the Saturday morning series SMTV Live and CD:UK for ITV featuring Ant & Dec. The company ceased trading in 2006.
Chelsea Halfpenny is an English actress, known for her roles as Amy Wyatt in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale and Alicia Munroe in the BBC drama Casualty. She played Jenna Hunterson in the 2022 UK Tour of Waitress.