Dame Catherine Ann Cookson, DBE, was a British writer. She is in the top 20 of the most widely read British novelists, with sales topping 100 million, while she retained a relatively low profile in the world of celebrity writers. Her books were inspired by her deprived youth in South Shields, North East England, the setting for her novels. With 104 titles written in her own name or two other pen names, she is one of the most prolific British novelists.
Sarah Ann Akers, known professionally as Suranne Jones, is an English actress and producer. Known for her numerous collaborations with screenwriter Sally Wainwright, she rose to prominence playing Karen McDonald on ITV's Coronation Street between 2000 and 2004. Upon leaving, she furthered her television career in drama series such as Vincent (2005–2006), Strictly Confidential (2006), Harley Street (2008), and Unforgiven (2009).
Matthew David Jones is a British television screenwriter and television producer, who has worked on a variety of popular drama programmes for several television networks in the UK.
Matthew William Goode is a British actor. Goode made his screen debut in 2002 with ABC's television film Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister. His breakthrough role was in the romantic comedy Chasing Liberty (2004), for which he received a nomination at the Teen Choice Awards for Choice Breakout Movie Star – Male. He then appeared in a string of supporting roles in films, such as Woody Allen's Match Point (2005), the romantic comedy Imagine Me and You (2006), and the period drama Copying Beethoven (2006). He earned praise for his performances as Charles Ryder in the 2008 film adaptation of the novel Brideshead Revisited and as Ozymandias in the superhero film Watchmen (2009). He then starred in the romantic comedy Leap Year (2010) and Australian drama Burning Man (2011), the latter earning him a nomination for Best Actor at the Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards.
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.
Douglas “Dougie” James Henshall is a Scottish television, film and stage actor. He is best known for his roles as Professor Nick Cutter in the science fiction series Primeval (2007–2011) and Detective Inspector Jimmy Pérez in the crime drama Shetland (2013–2022).
Ashley Pharoah is a British screenwriter and television producer. He is best known as the co-creator/writer of the successful drama series Life on Mars, which began on BBC One in 2006, and creator/writer of the family drama Wild at Heart, which aired on ITV1 from 2006 until 2012.
Oliver Lee is an English actor. He played the role of Josh Jones in the Channel 4 television drama series Hollyoaks: In the City, during 2006; and Aiden Scotcher in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road, during 2011. He was born in Greater Manchester, England. He is married to Sophie Rosa Lee and they have 3 children.
Katherine Kelly is an English actress. She rose to prominence with her portrayal of Becky McDonald on the ITV soap opera Coronation Street (2006–2012), for which she received multiple awards, including the British Soap Award for Best Actress (2009) and the NTA for Best Serial Drama Performance (2012).
Ann Cleeves is a British mystery crime writer. She wrote the Vera Stanhope, Jimmy Perez, and Matthew Venn series, all three of which have been adapted into TV shows. In 2006 she won the Duncan Lawrie Dagger for her novel Raven Black, the first novel in the Jimmy Perez series.
Left Bank Pictures Ltd. is a British film and television production company owned by Sony Pictures Television. It was formed in 2007 and was the first British media company to receive investment from BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC.
Benjamin Charles Aldridge is an English actor. He is known for his portrayals of Captain James in the BBC military drama Our Girl (2014–2018), Arsehole Guy in the dramedy series Fleabag (2016–2019), and Thomas Wayne in the crime drama series Pennyworth (2019–2023). He has starred in feature films such as Spoiler Alert (2022) and Knock at the Cabin (2023), among other work.
Jessica Rose Brown Findlay is an English actress. She played Lady Sybil Crawley in the ITV television period drama series Downton Abbey and Emelia Conan Doyle in the 2011 British comedy-drama feature film Albatross.
Vera is a British crime drama television series based on the Vera Stanhope series of novels by Ann Cleeves. First broadcast on ITV on 1 May 2011, it stars Brenda Blethyn as the principal character, Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope.
Shetland is a Scottish crime drama television series produced by ITV Studios for BBC Scotland. First broadcast on BBC One on 10 March 2013, it is originally based upon the novels of Ann Cleeves and adapted by David Kane. The first seven series starred Douglas Henshall as DI Jimmy Pérez, whilst Ashley Jensen stars as DI Ruth Calder from the eighth series. The cast also includes Alison O'Donnell as DS Alison "Tosh" McIntosh and Steven Robertson as DC Sandy Wilson, as well as Lewis Howden and Anne Kidd. Henshall won the 2016 BAFTA Scotland award for Best Actor and the series received the award for Best TV Drama.
Unforgotten is a British crime drama television series, which initially aired on ITV on 8 October 2015. It was created and written by Chris Lang and directed by Andy Wilson. The programme follows a team of London detectives led by DCI Cassie Stuart, DCI Jessie James and DI Sunny Khan as they solve cold cases of disappearance and murder.
Love in a Cold Climate is a 1980 British television series produced by Thames Television. It is an adaptation of the Nancy Mitford novels The Pursuit of Love (1945) and Love in a Cold Climate (1949), set between 1924 and 1940, with a screenplay adaptation by Simon Raven. It was originally broadcast on the ITV network in eight episodes. The series starred Lucy Gutteridge, Rosalyn Landor, Michael Aldridge, Judi Dench, Vivian Pickles and Jean-Pierre Cassel.
Quiz is a British drama television serial developed for the ITV channel and AMC and written by James Graham, based on his play of the same name commissioned by William Village and the book Bad Show: the Quiz, the Cough, the Millionaire Major by Bob Woffinden and James Plaskett. It is directed by Stephen Frears and consists of three hour-long episodes. The series focuses on the disgraced Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? contestant Charles Ingram, a former army major in the Royal Engineers, and how he unexpectedly won the £1 million jackpot on the quiz show in 2001, followed by a criminal trial in which he and his wife were convicted of cheating their way to success.
Grace is a British television crime drama series, based in the English city of Brighton and Hove, that stars John Simm in the title role of Detective Superintendent Roy Grace, a dogged detective who, haunted by the disappearance of his wife some years previously, solves a variety of cases.
A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, originally titled Ruth, is an upcoming, four-part British historical drama television series for ITVX, starring Lucy Boynton as Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in Britain, and Toby Jones as her solicitor John Bickford.
