Wednesday, April 01, 2015

Love & Monsters

The terrifying
Abzorbaloff (Peter Kay)
One episode (Love & Monsters)
First broadcast June 17 2006
Average audience for story: 6.66m

REGULAR CAST

David Tennant (The Doctor) Born Apr 18 1971 Click here for David Tennant's entry on The Parting of the Ways

Billie Piper (Rose Tyler) Born Sep 22 1982 Click here for Billie Piper's entry on Rose

GUEST CAST

Moya Brady (Bridget) Born Sep 8 1962
Career highlights
Debuted in The Road (1987), then Vroom (1988), Little Dorrit (1988), Life is Sweet (1990), Sawdust for Brains (1992), Mr Wroe's Virgins (1993), Inside Victor Lewis-Smith (1993), The Never-Ending Story III (1994), Loop (1997), Gimme Gimme Gimme (2000), My Hero (2000), Pride and Prejudice (2005), MI High (2007), The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), The Crimson Petal and the White (2011), Cucumber (2015), Josh (2016), No Offence (2017), Peterloo (2018) and It's a Sin (2021). Moya's most memorable roles are as Klepto in 21 episodes of Making Out (1989-91), Roberta Cryer in over 70 episodes of The Bill (2002-03), Remona in Shameless (2013) and Breda McQueen in more than 160 episodes of soap Hollyoaks (2018-20).

Camille Coduri (Jackie Tyler) Born Apr 18 1965 Click here for Camille Coduri's entry on Rose

Kathryn Drysdale (Bliss) Born Dec 1 1981
Career highlights
Kathryn debuted in People Like Us (1999), and then found work in Swivel on the Tip (2001), Chambers (2001), Rockface (2003), Vanity Fair (2004), Tripping Over (2006), St Trinian's (2007), Benidorm (2011), Suspects (2015), Urban and the Shed Crew (2015), New Blood (2016), Zapped (2016), Plebs (2018), The Queen and I (2018), The Hollow (2020), Bridgerton (2020) and Relationships (2021). She is best remembered as Louise in 70 episodes of the sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2001-09), but is also known for playing Meghan Markle in The Windsors (2016-20) and voicing JJ in the cartoon Dennis and Gnasher (2017-20).

Bella Emberg (Mrs Croot) Sep 16 1937 to Jan 12 2018 (alcohol poisoning)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Nurse in Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970, uncredited)
Played: Kitchen maid in The Time Warrior (1973-74, uncredited)
Played: Mrs Croot in Love & Monsters (2006)
Career highlights
Bella - born Sybil Dyke - made her screen debut in 1961's Playbox, followed by roles in Love Story (1965), Father Dear Father (1969), Villette (1970), Callan (1972), Sykes (1973), Father Brown (1974), Big Boy Now! (1977), The Foundation (1977), Pennies from Heaven (1978), The Basil Brush Show (2002), Trial and Retribution (2002), Casualty 1906 (2006), Pompidou (2015) and In the Long Run (2017-18). However, it is for her various roles in a number of comedy sketch series which she will be most associated with, including The Benny Hill Show (1966/ 1971-82), Russ Abbot's Saturday Madhouse (1982-84), The Les Dennis Laughter Show (1987-90) and The Russ Abbot Show (1986-91/94). She also played Aunt Barbara in the children's series Bear Behaving Badly (2008-10).
Facts
Bella reprised her role as Mrs Croot from this story in The Runaway Bride (2006), but her scene was cut. One of Bella's most memorable roles during her time with Russ Abbot was Blunderwoman to his Cooperman. An inquest into her death found that Bella died of alcohol toxicity after collapsing at her home, although she was not known to be a heavy drinker.

Simon Greenall (Mr Skinner) Born Jan 3 1958
Career highlights
Simon's career began with Life Without George in 1987, followed by work in One Foot in the Grave (1990), Newman and Baddiel in Pieces (1993), Soldier Soldier (1993), Harry Enfield and Chums (1994/97), The Armstrong and Miller Show (1997-98), Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round (1998), Barking (1998), Smith and Jones (1997-98), Big Train (1998), Boyz Unlimited (1999), Tube Tales (1999), Kiss Me Kate (2000), Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married (1999-2000), Holby City (2001), World of Pub (2001), I'm Alan Partridge (1997-2002), Trevor's World of Sport (2003), Swiss Toni (2004), Bromwell High (2005), Funland (2005), Popetown (2006), Lead Balloon (2006), The Charlotte Church Show (2006-07), Saxondale (2007), Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2008), The Wrong Door (2008), Star Stories (2006-08), Horne and Corden (2009), Life of Riley (2010), Trapped! (2007-10), Phoneshop (2011), Pete Versus Life (2010-11), Spy (2012), Ruddy Hell! It's Harry and Paul (2010-12), Drifters (2013), W1A (2014), Cardinal Burns (2014), Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015), Plebs (2016), The Windsors (2016), Benidorm (2017), Mister Winner (2020) and Hilda (2018-20). He has also voiced Captain Barnacles in over 120 episodes of The Octonauts (2010-21). Simon is also a comedy writer, and has provided material for Harry Enfield's programmes as well as Don't Watch That, Watch This (2005). He was also a producer on the 2011 film We Have to Talk About Kevin.
Facts
Simon is the face behind the voice of Aleksander Orlov the meerkat in the TV commercials for CompareTheMarket.com.

Shirley Henderson (Ursula Blake) Born Nov 24 1965
Career highlights
Debuted in Shadow of the Stone (1987), followed by Wish Me Luck (1990), Clarissa (1991), Rob Roy (1995), Trainspotting (1996), Wonderland (1999), Topsy-Turvy (1999), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), 24 Hour Party People (2002), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Afterlife (2003), Yes (2004), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Wild Child (2008), The Crimson Petal and the White (2011), Treasure Island (2012), The Look of Love (2013), Southcliffe (2013), Jamaica Inn (2014), Urban Hymn (2015), The Tale of Tales (2015), Happy Valley (2016), Bridget Jones's Baby (2016), T2 Trainspotting (2017), Stan and Ollie (2018), The ABC Murders (2018), The Nest (2020) and Worzel Gummidge (2020). She regularly played Isobel Sutherland in Hamish Macbeth (1995-97), and also provided the voice of Babu Frik in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
Awards
2005: BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actress in a Scottish Film (Frozen)
2014: BAFTA Scotland Award for Best TV Actress (Southcliffe)
2018: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical (Girl from the North Country)
Facts
Shirley broke into entertainment by winning a talent contest at a holiday camp and then touring the gig circuit as a singer.

Paul Kasey (The Hoix) Born Aug 5 1973 Click here for Paul Kasey's entry on Rose

Peter Kay (Victor Kennedy/ Abzorbaloff) Born Jul 2 1973
Career highlights
Peter is one of the UK's most successful and best loved comedians who made his screen debut in 1996's Two Minutes. Other appearances include Barking (1998), The Services (1998), Butterfly Collectors (1999), City Central (1999), The Secret World of Michael Fry (2000), Blow Dry (2001), 24 Hour Party People (2002), Linda Green (2002), Coronation Street (1997/2004), Mrs Brown's Boys (2005), The League of Gentlemen's Apocalypse (2005), Little Britain (2006), Britain's Got the Pop Factor... and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly On Ice (2008) and Inside No. 9 (2017). However, it is for his own comedy series that he is best known, including That Peter Kay Thing (2000), Phoenix Nights (2001-02), Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere (2004), Car Share (2015-20), Cradle to Grave (2015) and as the voice of Big Chris in the children's series Roary the Racing Car (2007-11). Peter also writes, produces and directs much of his own work for TV.
Awards
2002: British Comedy Award for Writer of the Year
2009: British Comedy Award Outstanding Contribution to Comedy
2016: British Screenwriters' Award for Best Comedy Writing on TV (Car Share) - shared with Gill Isles, Paul Coleman, Tim Reid and Sian Gibson
2016: Broadcast Award for Best Original Programme (Car Share) - shared with Gill Isles, Paul Coleman, Tim Reid and Sian Gibson
2016: National Television Award for Most Popular Comedy Series (Car Share)  - shared with Gill Isles, Paul Coleman, Tim Reid and Sian Gibson
2016: BAFTA TV Award for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme (Car Share)
2016: BAFTA TV Award for Best Scripted Comedy (Car Share) - shared with Gill Isles, Paul Coleman and Sian Gibson
Facts
As a child Peter was an altar boy, and was taught metalwork at school by fellow comedian Steve Coogan's father. In 2005, he scored a number one hit on the UK singles chart with Is This the Way to Amarillo?, created in aid of Comic Relief. It sold over 1.3 million copies, spent seven weeks at the top and was the biggest selling single of the year (strictly speaking, it was a hit for Tony Christie, who can be heard on the single; Peter only appears in the video). In 2007, he released his own version of the Proclaimers' (I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles in aid of Comic Relief, which also topped the chart, this time for three weeks, and was the eighth biggest selling single of the year. The video features many Doctor Who luminaries, including Bonnie Langford, June Whitfield, Paul O'Grady, Frazer Hines, Burt Kwouk, David Walliams, Matt Lucas and David Tennant. Peter scored a third number one in 2009 in aid of Children in Need with the Peter Kay All Star Animated Band. Also, in 2008 Peter dragged up to portray the character of Geraldine McQueen, a spoof on contestants from The X Factor, and scored two top ten singles with The Winner's Song and Once Upon a Christmas Song. Peter, a tee-totaller, also fronted a series of TV commercials for John Smith beer. In 2011 Peter expressed regret at having appeared in Doctor Who: "It's the one real regret in my career. I loved making it but when I saw it I thought 'Oh my god, I'm a big green lizard running around Cardiff. Is that it?' It's nice to have been in Doctor Who but that is regarded by fans as the worst episode ever!" Peter had originally been offered the part of Elton Pope.

Marc Warren (Elton Pope) Born Mar 20 1967
Doctor Who credits
Played: UNIT soldier in Battlefield (1989, uncredited)
Played: Elton Pope in Love & Monsters (2006)
Career highlights
Marc made his credited debut in a 1991 episode of Casualty, followed by Grange Hill (1992), Sam Saturday (1992), Boston Kickout (1995), Ghostbusters of East Finchley (1995), Shine (1996), Highlander (1997), Bring Me the Head of Mavis Davis (1997), Alice Through the Looking-Glass (1998), Oliver Twist (1999), The Vice (1999-2000), Men Only (2001), Band of Brothers (2001), The Principles of Lust (2003), State of Play (2003), Twisted Tales (2005), Hellraiser: Deader (2005), Color Me Kubrick (2005), Hogfather (2006), Dracula (2006), Life on Mars (2007), Strutter (2006-07), Ballet Shoes (2007), Wanted (2008), Mutual Friends (2008), Ben Hur (2010), Without You (2011), The Good Wife (2012), Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2015), Fungus the Bogeyman (2015), Snatch (2017), Safe (2018), Beecham House (2019), Van der Valk (2020) and Flack (2019-20). He also played Danny Blue in Hustle (2004-12), Rick in Mad Dogs (2011-13) and Rochefort in The Three Musketeers (2015-16).
Facts
Marc was a stand-in for Ewan McGregor during the production of digital storyboards for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999).

CREW

Russell T Davies (writer) Born Apr 27 1963 Click here for Russell T Davies' entry on Rose

Dan Zeff (director) Born 1973
Career highlights
After learning his trade as a camera assistant or runner on productions such as The Long Day Closes and The Crying Game in 1992, Dan qualified to become a director and debuted with Never Mind (1994), followed by stints on Coping with Christmas (1995), Black Eyes (1996), Sunburn (1999), Linda Green (2001), The Worst Week of My Life (2004), Ideal (2005-06), Lost in Austen (2008), Hattie (2011), Pramface (2012), Siblings (2014-16), Inside No.9 (2015), The Collection (2016), Urban Myths (2017), The Other One (2017), Eric, Ernie and Me (2017) and The Queen and I (2018). He has also written for the screen, including the shorts That Sunday (1994), Dual Balls (1997, nominated for a BAFTA), Too Many Gods (2003) and Sweetnightgoodheart (2005, with David Tennant), as well as an edition of Pramface.
Awards
1996: BAFTA TV Award for Best Children's Programme (Coping with Christmas) - shared with Sue Nott and Peter Corey
1996: BAFTA Children's Award for Best Drama (Coping with Christmas) - shared with Sue Nott and Peter Corey
2000: BAFTA Children's Award for Best Schools Factual - Primary (English Express)
2011: BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Television Drama (Case Histories) - shared with Helen Gregory

Phil Collinson (producer) Born Aug 26 1970 Click here for Phil Collinson's entry on Rose

Simon Winstone (script editor) Born 1973 Click here for Simon Winstone's entry on Attack of the Graske

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