Ralph Michael
Ralph Michael (26 September 1907 – 9 November 1994) was an English actor. He was born as Ralph Champion Shotter in London. His film appearances included '' Dead of Night'', '' A Night to Remember'', '' Children of the Damned'', '' Grand Prix'', '' The Assassination Bureau'' and '' Empire of the Sun''. Television credits include: ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'', ''A Tale of Two Cities'', ''Dixon of Dock Green'', ''Danger Man'', '' Kessler'', '' The Forsyte Saga'', ''Man in a Suitcase'', '' The Avengers'', ''Colditz'', '' Doctor at Large'', ''Gazette'', '' Public Eye'', '' Sutherland's Law'', '' Softly, Softly'', '' The Professionals'', ''Rumpole of the Bailey'', ''A Tale of Two Cities'', ''Prince Regent'', ''Doctor Who'', '' Bergerac'', ''Miss Marple'', ''Dempsey and Makepeace'', '' Rockliffe's Babies'', '' Howards' Way'', ''A Bit of Fry & Laurie'' and ''Jeeves and Wooster''. In ''Dempsey and Makepeace'', Ralph Michael played the part of Lord Winfield, Harriet Makepeace's f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Murder Most Foul (film)
''Murder Most Foul'' is the third of four Miss Marple films made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Loosely based on the 1952 novel ''Mrs McGinty's Dead'' by Agatha Christie, it stars Margaret Rutherford as Miss Jane Marple, Ron Moody as the theatre company director H. Driffold Cosgood, Charles Tingwell as Inspector Craddock, and Stringer Davis (Rutherford's husband) as Mr Stringer. The story is ostensibly based on Christie's novel, but notably changes the action and the characters. Hercule Poirot is replaced by Miss Marple and most of the other characters are not in the novel. Throughout the investigation, Marple quotes from " The Shooting of Dan McGrew". The film was released in 1964. It was directed by George Pollock, and David Pursall is credited with the adaptation. The music is by Ron Goodwin. The title is a quotation from ''Hamlet'' (I.v.27–28), where the Ghost comments about his own death: "Murder most foul as in the best it is/But this most foul, strange and unnatural." The t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Avengers (TV Series)
''The Avengers'' is a British Spy fiction, espionage television series that aired from 7 January 1961 to 21 April 1969. It initially focused on David Keel (Ian Hendry), aided by John Steed (Patrick Macnee). Ian Hendry left after the first series; Steed then became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants. His most famous assistants were intelligent, stylish, and assertive women: Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman), Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), and Tara King (Linda Thorson). Dresses and suits for the series were made by Pierre Cardin. The series screened as one-hour episodes for its entire run. The first episode, "Hot Snow (The Avengers), Hot Snow", aired on 7 January 1961. The final episode, "Bizarre", aired on 21 April 1969 in the United States, and on 17 May 1969 in the United Kingdom. ''The Avengers'' was produced by ABC Weekend TV, a contractor within the ITV (TV network), ITV network. After a merger with Rediffusion London in July 1968, ABC Weekend became Thames T ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Miss Marple (TV Series)
''Miss Marple'', titled ''Agatha Christie's Miss Marple'' in the series, is a British television series based on the Miss Marple murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie, starring Joan Hickson in the title role. It aired from 26 December 1984 to 27 December 1992 on BBC One. All twelve original Miss Marple novels by Christie were dramatised. The adaptations were written by T. R. Bowen, Julia Jones, Alan Plater, Ken Taylor and Jill Hyem; and the series was produced by George Gallaccio. In addition to its availability on VHS and DVD, the series began to be released on Blu-ray Disc in October 2014, marking its 30th anniversary. Background Agatha Christie had never been very happy with most filmed adaptations of her works, and according to her grandson Mathew Prichard, who handled her estate after her death, she "did not care much for television", either. Producer Pat Sandys of London Weekend Television first approached Prichard and the Christie estate with a researched, detailed ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bergerac (TV Series)
''Bergerac'' ( ) is a British crime drama television series. Set in Jersey, it ran from 18 October 1981 to 26 December 1991. Produced by the BBC in association with the Australian Seven Network, and first screened on BBC1, it stars John Nettles as the title character Jim Bergerac, who is initially a detective sergeant in Le Bureau des Étrangers ("The Foreigners' Office", a fictional department dealing with non-Jersey residents), within the States of Jersey Police, but later leaves the force and becomes a private investigator. Westward Studios executive producer Brian Constantine has said that a ''Bergerac'' reboot was in the final stages of development. The show launched on the BBC in February 2025. Background The series ran from 1981 to 1991. It was created by producer Robert Banks Stewart after an earlier detective series, '' Shoestring,'' starring Trevor Eve, came to an abrupt end. Like ''Shoestring'', the series begins with a man returning to work after a particularly bad ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterrestrial being called the Doctor, part of a humanoid species called Time Lords. The Doctor travels in the universe and in time using a time travelling Spacecraft, spaceship called the TARDIS, which externally appears as a British police box. While travelling, the Doctor works to save lives and liberate oppressed peoples by combating List of Doctor Who villains, foes. The Doctor usually travels with Companion (Doctor Who), companions. Beginning with William Hartnell, List of actors who have played the Doctor, fourteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; the most recent being Ncuti Gatwa, who portrayed the Fifteenth Doctor from 2023 to 2025. The transition between actors is written into the plot of the series with the Regeneration ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Prince Regent (TV Series)
''Prince Regent'' is a British period television series made and transmitted by the BBC in 1979. It depicts the life of George IV from his youth time as prince regent and his reign as King. It consists of eight episodes of 50 minutes. The series stars Peter Egan as George IV throughout his youth, regency, and first year of his reign, with Nigel Davenport as King George III, and Susannah York as Maria Fitzherbert. It was primarily directed by Michael Simpson, with Michael Hayes directing the fourth episode, and primarily written by Robert Muller, as well as Nemone Lethbridge, Ian Curteis, and Reg Gadney in other episodes. Episodes Cast * Peter Egan as George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV * Nigel Davenport as King George III * Keith Barron as Charles James Fox * Frances White as Queen Charlotte * Susannah York as Maria Fitzherbert * Dinah Stabb as Princess Caroline, later Queen Caroline * Bosco Hogan as Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany * David Horov ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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A Tale Of Two Cities (1980 TV Series)
''A Tale of Two Cities'' is a British television series which first aired on BBC 1 in 1980. It is an adaptation of the novel ''A Tale of Two Cities'' by Charles Dickens. Paul Shelley plays the duel roles of Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay, the first actor to do so since William Farnum in the 1917 silent adaptation. Two weeks later, an American production was released featuring Chris Sarandon in the same duel roles. It is the only BBC adaptation known to exist entirely. Plot summary Cast * Paul Shelley as Sydney Carton/Charles Darnay * Ralph Michael as Doctor Manette * Sally Osborne as Lucie Manette * Vivien Merchant as Miss Pross * Nigel Stock as Jarvis Lorry * Judy Parfitt as Madame Defarge * Stephen Yardley as Defarge * Eric Mason as Jacques Three * David Collings as John Barsad * Peter Cleall as Jerry Cruncher * Michael Halsey as Jacques One * Brian Grellis as Jacques Two * David Webb as Gabelle * Harold Innocent as Stryver * John Abineri as Roadmender * ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Rumpole Of The Bailey
''Rumpole of the Bailey'' is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, often underdogs. The popularity of the TV series led to the stories being presented in other media, including books and radio. The "Bailey" of the title is a reference to the Central Criminal Court, the "Old Bailey". Characters Horace Rumpole While certain biographical details differ slightly between the original television series and the subsequent book series, Horace Rumpole has a number of definite character traits that are constant. First and foremost, he loves the courtroom. Despite attempts by his friends and family to get him to move on to a more respectable position for his age, such as a Queen's Counsel (QC) or a Circuit Judge (positions Rumpole sarcastically calls "Queer Customers" and "Circus Judges"), he only enjoys defendin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Professionals (TV Series)
''The Professionals'' is a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mark1 Productions for London Weekend Television (LWT) that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon Jackson as agents of the fictional "CI5" (Criminal Intelligence 5, alluding to the real-life MI5 and CID). ''The Professionals'' was created by Brian Clemens, who had been one of the driving forces behind '' The Avengers''. The show was originally to have been called ''The A-Squad''. Clemens and Albert Fennell were executive producers, with business partner Laurie Johnson providing the theme music. Sidney Hayers produced the first series in 1977, and Raymond Menmuir the remainder. Overview Criminal Intelligence 5 (CI5) is a British law enforcement department, instructed by the Home Secretary to use any means to deal with crimes of a serious nature that go beyond t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Softly, Softly (TV Series)
''Softly, Softly'' is a British television police procedural series produced by the BBC and screened on BBC1 from January 1966. It was created as a spin-off from the series ''Z-Cars'', which ended its fifth series run in December 1965. The series took its title from the proverb "Softly, softly, catchee monkey", the motto of Lancashire Constabulary Training School. Newsletter 853, Saturday 12 October 2013 Series outline ''Softly, Softly'' centred on the work of regional Law enforcement in the United Kingdom, police crime squads, plainclothes Criminal Investigation Department, CID officers based in the fictional region of Wyvern, supposedly in the Bristol area of England. It was designed as a vehicle for Detective Chief Inspector Charles Barlow and Detective Inspector John Watt (played by Stratford Johns and Frank W ...[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sutherland's Law
''Sutherland's Law'' is a television series made by BBC Scotland between 1973 and 1976. The series had originated as a stand-alone edition of the portmanteau programme ''Drama Playhouse'' in 1972 in which Derek Francis played Sutherland and was then commissioned as an ongoing series. The producer was Frank Cox.Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors, Jerry Roberts, Scarecrow Press 2009, p. 105 ''Sutherland's Law'' dealt with the duties of the Procurator Fiscal in a small Scottish town. The major cast members included Iain Cuthbertson (as John Sutherland), Gareth Thomas, Moultrie Kelsall, Victor Carin, Martin Cochrane, Don McKillop, Maev Alexander and Edith MacArthur. Directors included Douglas Camfield who directed episode 2 of series 2 "Caesar's Wife" transmitted on 22 May 1974Directed by Douglas Camfield, Michael Seeley, Fantom Publishing, 2020, pp. 184, 326 The exteriors for the series were filmed in Oban, Argyll. The signature tune was '' The Land of the Mount ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Public Eye (TV Series)
''Public Eye'' is a British television drama that ran from 1965 to 1975, produced by ABC Weekend TV for three series, and Thames Television a further four. It depicted investigations handled by enquiry agent Frank Marker (Alfred Burke), an unmarried loner who is in his early forties when the series begins. The title is a twist on the more usual "private eye". Background The series was created by writers Roger Marshall and Anthony Marriott with the aim of getting away from "square-jawed" heroes of the type featured in Hollywood movies—a wish shared by Alfred Burke, the actor chosen to play Marker. This aim allowed for flexibility in the structure and plot lines of the episodes; each individual episode usually dealt with an individual case for Marker, but story arcs spanning several episodes, or in one case an entire series, were produced during the life of the programme. Marker's work ranged broadly, from routine matters such as gathering evidence for divorces (at a time whe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |