The Happiness Patrol

The Kandy Man (David John Pope) faces
off against Ace (Sophie Aldred)

Three episodes (Part One, Part Two, Part Three)
First broadcast Nov 2 to 16 1988
Average audience for serial: 5.07m

REGULAR CAST

Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor) Born Aug 20 1943 Click here for Sylvester McCoy's entry on Time and the Rani

Sophie Aldred (Ace) Born Aug 20 1962 Click here for Sophie Aldred's entry on Dragonfire

GUEST CAST

Tim Barker (Harold V) Born Apr 29 1947
Career highlights
Debuting in Home Sweet Home (1982, as Harold!), then Juliet Bravo (1982), Morons from Outer Space (1985), Who Sir? Me Sir? (1985), A Month in the Country (1987), Inspector Morse (1988), A Gentleman's Club (1988), Forever Green (1989), The Piglet Files (1990), All Creatures Great and Small (1983/90), Dark Season (1991), Gone to Seed (1992), Once Upon a Time in the North (1994), Seaforth (1994), Cadfael (1995), Wokenwell (1997), Family Money (1997), Bugs (1998), Let Them Eat Cake (1999), Calendar Girls (2003), The Royal Today (2008), Trollied (2012), Moving On (2013) and Peterloo (2018).
Facts
As an ardent Carlisle United FC fan, Tim recorded the song Looking Good (We're Carlisle United) in 1974 as Tim Barker and the Carlisle United Singers when the team was promoted to Division 1 in the Football League for the first time in its history (the song got a re-release in 2011). Tim is known for translating Shakespearean stories into dialect. In 2005, he was granted planning permission to open a museum to show off his 10,000 toy soldiers - you can visit the Soldiers in Silloth exhibition in Cumbria.

Rachel Bell (Priscilla P) Born 1950
Career highlights
Debuting in Second City Firsts (1975), Rachel's other work includes Disraeli (1978), Sweet William (1980), For 4 Tonight (1983), The Magnificent Evans (1984), Only Fools and Horses (1985), Home to Roost (1990), The Upper Hand (1991), One Foot in the Grave (1995), Murder in Mind (2003), Red Mercury (2005), EastEnders (2006), The Edge of Love (2008), Mrs Biggs (2012), Birds of a Feather (2014), Detectorists (2015), The Worst Witch (2017) and C.B Strike (2017). Regular roles include Louise in sitcom Dear John (1986-87), Edith Pilchester in The Darling Buds of May (1991-93), Miss Pringle in ChuckleVision (1992/2001), teacher Margaret Holmes in 95 episodes of children's drama Grange Hill (1997-2002), and Eve Haskey in Doctors (2017-20).
Facts
Rachel, who was married to pianist Mike O'Neill, has also worked as a teacher in an English boarding school. In 2010, she took on the role of Hyacinth Bucket in a stage version of the classic sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, and was perfect for the part - here she is interviewed about it, and revealing that she is a huge fan of Flight of the Conchords!

Jonathan Burn (Silas P) Born Nov 28 1939
Career highlights
Debuted in The Human Jungle (1963), then Six (1965), The Party's Over (1965), The Avengers (1966/68), Sudden Terror (1970), Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971), I, Claudius (1976), The Upchat Connection (1978), Smiley's People (1982), Beau Geste (1982), Ellis Island (1984), Mother Love (1989), Till We Meet Again (1989), The Good Guys (1992), 2point4 Children (1998) and Cambridge Spies (2003). Jonathan also had recurring roles as Val Dartie in The Forsyte Saga (1967) and Max Lorimer in soap Crossroads (1977).
Facts
Jonathan is now retired and living in France, but in one online profile he amusingly summarises himself: "Born to a refugee Jewish Venetian father and a refugee Jewish Viennese mother within the sound of Bow Bells so I am technically a Cockney Austro-Italian Jew - and am married to a Francophone Mauritian."

Mark Carroll (Sniper)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Tetrap in Time and the Rani (1987, uncredited)
Played: Genius in Time and the Rani (1987, uncredited)
Played: Sniper in The Happiness Patrol (1988)
Career highlights
Mark's other work includes The Gold Key (1985), The Pleasure Principle (1992) and Patch (2014). He was also a member of the casts of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar in 2000 and The Phantom of the Opera in 2004, and was part of the original West End casts of Miss Saigon and Marguerite.
Facts
He also writes his own musicals - including The Attic, Duncton Wood, Supernova and Astronaut - and was once the recipient of the John Lennon Award for outstanding new songwriter presented by Yoko Ono. Two of his compositions have been performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and two more recorded by Ruthie Henshall on her album Pilgrim, which he also produced.

Lesley Dunlop (Susan Q) Born Mar 10 1956
Doctor Who credits
Played: Norna in Frontios (1984)
Played: Susan Q in The Happiness Patrol (1988)
Career highlights
Debuting in A Little Princess aged 17, Lesley's CV includes roles in Crown Court (1973), Oranges and Lemons (1973), The Adventures of Black Beauty (1974), South Riding (1974), Haunted (1974), My Brother's Keeper (1975), Our Mutual Friend (1976), The Onedin Line (1977), A Little Night Music (1978), Penmarric (1979), Dick Turpin (1979), The Elephant Man (1980), The Monster Club (1981), Smuggler (1981), Waters of the Moon (1983), Thirteen at Dinner (1985), Capstick's Law (1989), Silent Witness (1996), Wokenwell (1997), The Phoenix and the Carpet (1997), My Uncle Silas (2000/03), The Many Lives of Albert Walker (2002) and Casualty (2007). Between 2000-06 Lesley appeared as Anna Kirkwall in the drama Where the Heart Is, after first achieving recognition as Zoe Callender in the sitcom May to December (1990-94). Since 2008, she has been playing Brenda Walker in soap Emmerdale.
Facts
Lesley was once married to actor Christopher Guard, who appeared in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy in 1988/89 (this also made her sister-in-law to actor Dominic Guard, who appeared in Terminus, and his wife, actress Sharon Duce, who was in Ghost Light). She is now married to fellow Emmerdale star Chris Chittell. Lesley's father was TV writer Pat Dunlop, who contributed uncredited to the script for The War Machines. Lesley's face is also associated with Kleenex toilet tissue in the UK due to her TV commercials in the 1990s (directed by Mike Leigh).

Ronald Fraser (Joseph C) Apr 11 1930 to Mar 13 1997 (internal haemorrhage)
Career highlights
Ronald started with a bit part in Montserrat (1954), after which he appeared in a great many productions, including Black Ice (1957), Invisible Man (1959), The Sundowners (1960), Jungle Fighters (1961), The Ginger Man (1962), The Punch and Judy Man (1963), Crooks in Cloisters (1964), The Avengers (1965), Sword of Honour (1967), The Killing of Sister George (1968), The Bed Sitting Room (1969), Rentadick (1972), Swallows and Amazons (1974), Melissa (1974), Star Maidens (1976), Follow Me (1977), Pennies from Heaven (1978), The Wild Geese (1978), Spooner's Patch (1979), Trail of the Pink Panther (1982), Absolute Beginners (1986), Scandal (1989), Boon (1990), The Blackheath Poisonings (1992), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1993) and The Willows in Winter (1996). He played Basil Allenby-Johnson in The Misfit (1970-71), Dr Reginald Biddy in The Practice (1985) and Harold Chambers in Life Without George (1987-89), and may also be remembered as The Lord of Love on Chris Evans's TFI Friday (1996-97).
Awards
1971: Royal Television Society Award for Best Performance (The Misfit)
Facts
Ronald was known in his native Hampstead in London as a heavy drinker and a regular at local pubs. The pallbearers at his funeral included actors Peter O'Toole, Sean Connery, Simon Ward, and Chris Evans.

Ryan Freedman (Wulfric) Born 1976
Career highlights
Ryan also appeared in Knockback, Part 1 (1985), Shalom Joan Collins (1989) and Birds of a Feather (1990).

Georgina Hale (Daisy K) Aug 4 1943 to Jan 4 2024
Career highlights
Georgina's debut came in 1965's The Flying Swan, after which she found work in Mickey Dunne (1967), Virgin of the Secret Service (1968), The Main Chance (1970), The Devils (1971), The Boy Friend (1971), Anyone for Sex? (1973), Mahler (1974), Notorious Woman (1974), Voyage of the Damned (1976), The World is Full of Married Men (1979), McVicar (1980), Eden End (1981), Castaway (1986), South of the Border (1988), One Foot in the Grave (1990), The Detectives (1993), Treasure Island (1995), Preaching to the Perverted (1997), Casualty (2000), The Bill (1994/2002), Emmerdale (2006), Cockneys vs Zombies (2012), Crime Stories (2012) and Holby City (2016). Georgina will be best known by children of the 1990s as Tabatha Bag in 42 episodes of the T-Bag series between 1990-92, but other recurring roles include Jean Bird in Budgie (1971-72), Georgina in Yes, Honestly (1976-77), Lynne in Gems (1988) and Blanche Longford in Hollyoaks (2010-11).
Awards
1975: BAFTA Film Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles (Mahler)
Facts
In the 1960s, Georgina was married to actor John Forgeham. Poorly educated as a child, Georgina was unable to read or write for many years.

Sheila Hancock (Helen A) Born Feb 22 1933
Career highlights
Born on the Isle of Wight, Sheila's debut came in Skywatch (1960), then Twice Round the Daffodils (1962), The Moon-Spinners (1964), Carry On Cleo (1964), The Anniversary (1968), Simply Sheila (1968), Take a Girl Like You (1970), Scoop (1972), But Seriously, It's Sheila Hancock (1972-73), Couples (1976), The Wildcats of St Trinian's (1980), The Remainder Man (1982), Bulman (1985), Hawks (1988), Buster (1988), Jumping the Queue (1989), Three Men and a Little Lady (1990), Gone to Seed (1992), The Buccaneers (1995), Dangerous Lady (1995), Close Relations (1998), Alice in Wonderland (1999), EastEnders (2000-01), Fortysomething (2003), Bleak House (2005), The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008), Hustle (2012), Remember Me (2014), Casualty (2016), Endeavour (2017), Edie (2017), The More You Ignore Me (2018) and Unforgotten (2020). She regularly played Carole Taylor in The Rag Trade (1961-62), Sheila Ross in The Bed-Sit Girl (1965-66), Thelma Teesdale in Mr Digby Darling (1969-71), Claire Love in Now, Take My Wife (1971), Frances in Brighton Belles (1993-94), Alice Oldfield in Bedtime (2001-03, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA), Grace Pullman in New Tricks (2007-11) and Mimi Vincent in Delicious (2016-19). She was also a regular contributor to the series Grumpy Old Women (2004-08), and was a judge in the talent search series Over the Rainbow (2010).
Awards
1974: Officer of the order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama
2007: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical (Cabaret)
2011: Commander of the order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to drama
Facts
In 1963, Sheila released a single called My Last Cigarette, about trying to give up smoking. Quaker Sheila's first husband was actor Alec Ross, who appeared in The Evil of the Daleks, but died of oesophageal cancer in 1971; her second husband was actor John Thaw, of Inspector Morse fame, who also died of oesophageal cancer, in 2002 (the day before Sheila's 69th birthday). In 1978, Sheila co-founded (with Clive Swift, William Hobbs and John Alderton) the Actors Centre, a meeting place in London for members of her profession. In 1988, Sheila fought and won a battle against breast cancer herself. Her daughter is actress Melanie Thaw (actually Alec Ross's daughter, who John Thaw adopted). In 2014, Sheila published her debut novel, Miss Carter's War.
This is Your Life: Sheila was the subject of Thames TV's This is Your Life on January 5th, 1977, surprised by host Eamonn Andrews during the curtain call for the play The Bed Before Yesterday at London's Lyric Theatre. Three Doctor Who actors were guests for the tribute - Royce Mills, Tony Beckley and Richard Briers. Link to The Big Red Book entry.

Mary Healey (Killjoy) Born Dec 9 1942
Career highlights
Mary debuted as Ruth in the 1968 adaptation of The Railway Children, then took roles in Villette (1970), Sentimental Education (1970), Never Say Die (1970), Villains (1972), The Hole in the Wall (1972), Pollyanna (1973), Holding On (1977), Van der Valk (1977), Leave It to Charlie (1978), The Gentle Touch (1981), The Gaffer (1983), Blott on the Landscape (1985), Consuming Passions (1988), Capstick's Law (1989), Young, Gifted and Broke (1989), Coronation Street (1977/90), Chaplin (1992), Mulberry (1993), Dangerous Lady (1995), Brassed Off (1996), Goodnight, Mister Tom (1998), Gimme Gimme Gimme (2001), Blue Murder (2003), Outlaws (2004), Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005), Saxondale (2006), Life of Riley (2010), The Royle Family (2012), The Cafe (2011-13), The Great Fire (2014), Houdini and Doyle (2016) and Line of Duty (2017). Mary had regular roles as Mrs Cochrane in The Duchess of Duke Street (1976-77), Mary Peel in The Mallens (1979-80), Miss Wilmot in King and Castle (1986-88), Ruth Sweeney in Brookside (1992-94) and Mrs Watkins in Heartbeat (1996).
Facts
Mary is married to actor Morgan Deare, who appeared in Doctor Who twice: Delta and the Bannermen and Rosa. She is a natural health science advocate. In 1988, Mary recorded the voice for cartoon character Betty Boop for the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit after original voice artiste Mae Questel dropped out. When a magazine stated that Questel was the voice in an article published for the film's release, Mary got in touch to say it was actually her voice, little knowing that the filmmakers had used Questel's voice after all, and Mary's contribution had been dropped (in some early releases of the film, Mary is still credited as Betty Boop).

Annie Hulley (Newscaster) Born Oct 23 1955
Career highlights
Annie made her debut in a 1977 Play for Today entitled Spend Spend Spend, after which she found work in Strangers (1978), Kinvig (1981), Fame is the Spur (1982), A Brother's Tale (1983), Sleepers (1991), Between the Lines (1992), Eldorado (1993), September Song (1994-95), Liverpool 1 (1998), Tipping the Velvet (2002), The Courtroom (2004), Skins (2008), Sirens (2011) and Dates (2013). Annie also played Karen Moore in Emmerdale Farm (1984-86), Brelca in The Return of the Antelope (1988), Sarah Sydenham in City Central (1998-99), Gwen Loveday/ Davies in Coronation Street (1999-2000) and Muriel Parsons in Sweet Medicine (2003); she also provided the voice of Babs in the video game version of the animated film Chicken Run (2000).
Facts
In the 21st century she has become involved in property investment, buying up property in London and Liverpool and writing a book called How to be a Property Millionaire (2004). She is married to Doctor Who director Chris Clough.

Harold Innocent (Gilbert M) April 18 1933 to Sep 12 1993
Doctor Who credits
Played: Gilbert M in The Happiness Patrol (1988)
Played: Freeth in The Paradise of Death (1993, audio)
Career highlights
Harold debuted in Adventures in Paradise (1959), then Sea Hunt (1960), The Twilight Zone (1961), five episodes of Gunsmoke (1961-62), The River Flows East (1962), Crane (1964), Riviera Police (1965), The Queen Street Gang (1968), The Avengers (1963/68), Every Home Should Have One (1970), Loot (1970), Z Cars (1972), Churchill's People (1975), Killers (1976), Ripping Yarns (1977), The Further Adventures of Oliver Twist (1980), A Tale of Two Cities (1980), Kessler (1981), An Englishman Abroad (1983), Diana (1984), Brazil (1985), The Canterville Ghost (1986), Hideaway (1986), Porterhouse Blue (1987), Life Without George (1988), Buster (1988), Without a Clue (1988), The Tall Guy (1989), Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), EastEnders (1992) and Heartbeat (1993). He also appeared as Mr Tucker in The Squirrels (1975-77).
Facts
Harold died between the radio broadcast of episodes 3 and 4 of The Paradise of Death. He was the mentor of fellow actor William Ilkley, who appeared in The Mark of the Rani.

Philip Neve (Wences)
Career highlights
Philip's further work includes London's Burning (1989), Maid Marian and Her Merry Men (1990, in which he plays the Nuisance of Nuneaton!), Teenage Health Freak (1991) and A Haunting Harmony (1993).

John Normington (Trevor Sigma) Jan 28 1937 to Jul 26 2007 (pancreatic cancer)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Morgus in The Caves of Androzani (1984)
Played: Trevor Sigma in The Happiness Patrol (1988)
Played: Tom Flanagan in Torchwood: Ghost Machine (2006)
Career highlights
John, who originally trained as an opera singer, debuted in Family Solicitor (1961), then Inadmissable Evidence (1968), Sexton Blake (1968), The Caesars (1968), Canterbury Tales (1969), The Reckoning (1970), On the House (1970-71), The Edwardians (1972), A Day Out (1972), The Song of Songs (1973), Stardust (1974), Rollerball (1975), The Medusa Touch (1978), Life of Shakespeare (1978), Strangers and Brothers (1974), A Private Function (1984), Yes, Prime Minister (1986), My Family and Other Animals (1987), Jack the Ripper (1988), The Paradise Club (1989), In Sickness and in Health (1992), Hetty Wainthropp Investigates (1996), Coronation Street (1997), David Copperfield (1999), Longitude (2000), Thieves Like Us (2007), Trial and Retribution (2007) and Atonement (2007).
Facts
John was first diagnosed with cancer in 2004, but recovered well enough to continue acting until his death. His longtime partner was theatrical wig maker John Anderson.

David John Pope (Kandy Man) Born 1952
Career highlights
David's earliest role was in Star Cops (1987), then Bergerac (1988), A Sense of Guilt (1990), Fiddlers Three (1991), Haggard (1992), Solomon and Sheba (1995) and Ultraviolet (1998), The Knock (1999). He had a regular role as Luigi in My Husband and I (1987-88).
Facts
David gave up acting in the late 1990s and moved to Spain, where he lived and worked as an artist, but returned to the UK in 2011 to resume his acting career. David is also a singer, and has his own YouTube channel where you can see him singing his own compositions, as well as covers of The Doors and Damien Rice, among others.

Tim Scott (Forum doorman)
Doctor Who credits
Played: Chima in Delta and the Bannermen (1987)
Played: Forum doorman in The Happiness Patrol (1988)
Tim has no other acting credits, but did later set up his own actors' management company.

Richard D Sharp (Earl Sigma)
Career highlights
Richard's earliest screen role was Lifeforce (1985), followed by Turnaround (1987), Love Potion (1987), Crusoe (1988), Perry Mason (1990), Sweating Bullets (1993), Soldier Soldier (1994), Mission: Impossible (1996), Kavanagh QC (1997) and CI5: The New Professionals (1999).

Steve Swinscoe (Sniper) Born Nov 10 1951
Career highlights
Steve's further work includes EastEnders (1986), The Paradise Club (1990), The Chief (1991), The Cloning of Joanna May (1992), A Touch of Frost (1992), Sin Bin (1994), September Song (1994-95), David Copperfield (1999), Red Cap (2001), Rome (2005), Bad Girls (2006), eight episodes of The Bill (1987-2007) and five episodes of Doctors (2005-08).
Facts
He is also a mime artist and choreographer.

CREW

Graeme Curry (writer) Sep 17 1957 to Feb 24 2019 (brain tumour)
Doctor Who credits
Wrote: The Happiness Patrol (1988)
Played: Tourist in Silver Nemesis (1988, uncredited)
Career highlights
Before writing for Doctor Who, Graeme was a choral singer, performing in places such as St Paul's Cathedral, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and Ely Cathedral. Other writing work included The Bill (1988) and EastEnders (1989), as well as various radio productions.
Facts
In 1986, he married opera singer Tessa Bonner (they later separated), and later married long-time partner Susan Robinson just days before his death. He also wrote children's books of poetry with his mother Jennifer, such as Around the World in 80 Poems, Revolting Rhymes and Measles and Sneezles.

Chris Clough (director) Born Mar 9 1951
Doctor Who credits
Directed: The Trial of a Time Lord Parts 9-14 (1986), Delta and the Bannermen (1987), Dragonfire (1987), The Happiness Patrol (1988), Silver Nemesis (1988)
Played: Voice of Fifi in The Happiness Patrol (1988, uncredited)
Played: Policeman in Silver Nemesis (1988, uncredited)
Career highlights
Further directing work includes Brookside (1982), EastEnders (1985-88), Casualty (1994-95), The Bill (1992-95), Ballykissangel (1996) and Skins (2007). Chris later went into production, handling The Bill (1995-97), Ballykissangel (1998-99), Black Cab (2000), Table 12 (2001), Born and Bred (2003-04), The Ghost Squad (2005), Skins (2007-13), Sirens (2011), Strike Back (2012), Lucan (2013), The Missing (2014), Stan Lee's Lucky Man (2016), Rellik (2017), Dark Heart (2018) and World on Fire (2019).
Awards
2019: BAFTA TV Award for Best Single Drama (Killed By My Debt) - with Joseph Bullman, Tahsin Guner and Aysha Rafaele.

John Nathan-Turner (producer) Aug 12 1947 to May 1 2002 (liver failure) Click here for John Nathan-Turner's entry on The Leisure Hive

Andrew Cartmel (script editor) Born Apr 6 1958 Click here for Andrew Cartmel's entry on Time and the Rani