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The Herald Scotland
17-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Then Gordon Kennedy, of Absolutely, was found dead. It was bonkers TV
Full disclosure: I'm an eejit. Before the first of four parts was over it did not need the powers of Sherlock Holmes to see The Game was a rum do. Jason Watkins played DI Huw Miller, a chap so dull he couldn't get anyone to attend his retirement bash. Miller was leaving under a cloud, having failed to catch The Ripton Stalker, a serial killer who made his victims think they were going mad. He was so arrogant he even had a catchphrase: 'Catch you later'. As we saw in a flashback, it was the last thing poor Huw heard before the stalker bashed him over the head and escaped. Back in the present, only Miller's young colleague Jenny (Amber James) made an effort to mark his retirement. 'I don't know what old men like,' she said, handing over cufflinks to the 55-year-old. Ouch, but also quite funny. It was similarly promising when Gordon Kennedy, of Absolutely fame, turned up as Huw's neighbour, Frank. But then Huw found Frank dead in the bath. Never mind, because Frank's house was bought by Patrick Harbottle (Robson Green), a regular charmer with the ladies. 'I like getting hot and sweaty,' said one neighbour as she offered to help him move in. Not everyone fell for Patrick's charms. There was something about the new arrival that made Huw's spidey senses tingle, especially Patrick's use of the phrase 'Catch you later'. Was the game of cat and mouse on again, or was Huw imagining things, just like before? Read more Green had a smashing time playing smoothie chops Patrick, even if he was hardly Max Cady and this was no Cape Fear. With his polo neck and leather blouson, Patrick looked like he had wandered in from an episode of The Sweeney. Watkins had a tougher task with his nervy ex-copper. He was far better, more muted, playing another Everyman tested beyond his limits in the drama Coma. Here, he seemed to have only two gears, one and fifth, and he made a right racket changing up and down. Helping to keep Huw and the drama in general on an even keel was the ever-reliable Sunetra Sarker (Casualty) as the ex-copper's wife, Alice. Her growing scepticism about Patrick kept the drama watchable long after everything else had gone to pot. They've been together now for 25 years, an' it don't seem a day too much. Apart from her effing and jeffing, him splitting his trousers, and her obsession with knocking down walls, that is. To mark the quarter of a century since Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer were joined together in unholy telly matrimony, Location, Location, Location Night (Channel 4, Wednesday) gave viewers a tour of the show and the couple's partnership. (Image: Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp celebrated 25 years together in Location, Location, Location night.) Beans were duly spilled. 'We have never been an item,' declared Kirstie. 'But we are very good friends,' said Phil, finishing her sentence in true married style. 'Most of the time'. Whether they are secretly a couple is one of the questions the pair are most often asked. That, and 'Is Phil as nice as he seems?' No and yes were the answers. Of the four programmes, the look back at the recent history of house buying offered the best value. The show's original title was The Great House Hunt, but after a few pronunciations went badly wrong, this was changed to Location, Location, Location. The year was 2000 and the average house price was £78,000. Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive even if there was no internet and they had to use phone boxes. Couple after couple came along, all different but looking for the same thing: a hand to hold while they took the terrifying leap into buying a place. And help K&P did, as we saw with various case studies, including a couple who traded their flat in London for a house in Arrochar. That so many of the home hunters were still together was a testament to the strength of their relationships and, I'd like to think, the quality of K&P's advice. What one forgets about this pair, but which soon became evident as they talked us through the boom and bust years, is that they genuinely know their stuff. The fascinating facts continued. Did you know that they give house hunters their personal phone numbers? The only rule, said Kirstie, was not to phone while drunk. Only one person had broken it: a bloke at the races, showing off to his pals. As for regrets, they had a few. In Kirstie's case it was evangelising for open plan living, only for Covid to come along. The night finished with a rerun of the first show, featuring a hunt for a one-bedroom flat in Hackney. I'd like to say Phil had hair back then, but no. Kirstie, however, was a stone-cold fox, a young Julie Burchill lookalike in shades, knee-high boots and a killer fringe. Kate the renter eventually found her place for grand sum of £103,000. What the place is worth 25 years on I'd hate to say, but Kirstie and Phil will always be gold. The obsession with property continued as Scotland's Home of the Year (BBC1, Monday) reached the halfway mark. Back in the olden days of 2019, the year SHOTY began, it did not take much to impress viewers. A cleverly placed skylight or nicely restored parquet flooring was enough to send us racing to B&Q, ready to recreate the look. But these days, don't even think of coming through the door unless you know your enfilade from your Zellige tiles, your Eames combo from your Togo sofa. In Scotland, in some parts at least, we're all design freaks now. The judges were in Central and Tayside, where the first stop was the Tree House in Broughty Ferry. Designed by a young architect 60 years ago for his own family, the modernist building had lain empty for five years till Jackie and Paul came along to restore it and add some magic of their own. For judge Danny it was love at first sight. An architect by trade, Danny is usually the first to wheel out his specialist knowledge, but this time he was beaten to the punch by fellow judge and interior designer Anna. 'It's a classic modernist move to connect spaces with partial walls, setting the rooms up enfilade,' she announced. 'Enfilade?' asked Banjo. 'It means without corridors,' said Anna. Not wishing to be left out, Danny started banging on about 'clean lines' and 'creating volumes'. (Image: The Tree House in Broughty Ferry offered a masterclass in modernism. Image: BBC Scotland) On to the kitchen and even Banjo, normally a plain-speaking sort, felt the need to stick his design oar in, praising the Zellige tiles. A quick Google search revealed these to be Moroccan and known for their 'irregularity of appearance' or, to use a more familiar term, wonkiness. All we wanted to see was the rest of the house - gorgeous - before stopping off at The Dairy, a farm steading conversion in Deanston near Doune. With its hand-painted animal wallpaper, Welsh blankets and tray of empire biscuits, The Dairy restored the mood to cosy silliness as usual. The Carriage House, a Victorian conversion in Auchterarder, was the final contender. Audrey and Malcolm's home had some oddly shaped rooms. In the TV room the sofas were away from the walls and placed at a 45 degree angle. Banjo's inner feng shui alarm started to ping. 'I don't know if that's the way to do it,' he said. Did we care? Not much. They spent so long assessing furniture angles there was hardly any time to praise the jewel in the crown - the garden. I know it's Scotland's home of the year and not Scotland's garden, but maybe there is scope for another programme along those lines. With the original SHOTY now so highfalutin, getting back to basics could be just the thing. The winner was never in any doubt, with The Tree House five points clear of the other contenders. Next week, the show is in the Highlands and Islands. What are our chances of spotting shadow gap skirting there?
The Irish Sun
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Doctor Who & Carry On star Julian Holloway's will revealed with his supermodel daughter getting just a fraction of eye-watering sum
DOCTOR Who star Julian Holloway's will has been revealed with his supermodel daughter receiving just a fraction of the whopping sum. Holloway, 2 Julian Holloway's career lasted for 59 years Credit: Getty 2 Julian with his daughter, super model Sophie Dahl Credit: Alamy Documents have now revealed he left £25,000 each to daughter Sophie Dahl and stepdaughter Kate Gregory. The actor and voice over artist left the bulk of his £500,000 fortune to his stepson Joel Gregory, documents reveal. Sophie was born from a brief relationship Julian had with Tessa Dahl in 1976, the daughter of actress Patricia Neal and author Joel was also appointed as the will's administrator. He stated in his will that he wanted his ashes scattered at Lords Cricket Ground in London or Sudbrooke Park Golf Club in Surrey. Julian gained fame after featuring in eight He also played a leading role in the Doctor Who serial Survival, which was the last story of the show's original 26-year run. Following this, he featured in an episode of police drama The Sweeney and had performances in a range of other shows. Most read in Showbiz The star developed a reputation as a successful voice actor, primarily in the US, and later performed as Captain Zed in Captain Zed and the Zee Zone. Julian's voice featured in 55 of the 65 episodes of James Bond Jr., an animated American show based on the James Bond franchise.
Telegraph
21-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
‘Like Upstairs Downstairs with pheromones': how Britain fell in love with Dempsey and Makepeace
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the classic 1980s British TV cop drama Dempsey and Makepeace. The series starred South African-born actress Glynis Barber as the aristocratic, Cambridge-educated Detective Sergeant Harriet 'Harry' Makepeace opposite Brooklyn-born actor Michael Brandon's tough, brash, impetuous and often trigger-happy New York cop Lieutenant James Dempsey. With Dempsey having been seconded to the Met in order to lay low in London for his own protection after exposing NYPD corruption, the series followed the ostensibly mismatched crime-fighting duo who, despite their initial reservations, developed a fulfilling working relationship, and in so doing rid the capital of nefarious thieves, murderers and terrorists with a heady mixture of sass, humour and uncompromising action. With Chief Superintendent Spikings (played with irascible charm by Welsh actor Ray Smith) heading up the (imaginary) elite Met unit S1-10 and Scottish stalwart Tony Osoba as reliable desk jockey Sergeant Chas Jarvis, Dempsey and Makepeace enjoyed a strong cast, as well as quintessentially 80s sartorial styles and memorably explosive music composed by Alan Parker. The show was written and created by Scottish writer and producer Ranald Graham, who also wrote the gritty 1970s television crime dramas The Sweeney and The Professionals. Yet it was noticeably different from its predecessors. Whereas both earlier shows had a harder edge, with the latter at times having an almost quasi-military feel (Lewis Collins 's character Bodie in The Professionals had formerly been in the SAS), Dempsey and Makepeace had a more knowing and ironic tone. For Glynis Barber, it was primarily the male-female dynamic which made it stand out. 'A lot of British TV shows, like The Sweeney, starred male cops only. This was one of the first where the leads were a man and a woman. 'Makepeace was ahead of her time in her position in the force and also how she took on Dempsey – her demanding to be treated with respect and as an equal, not as a sexual conquest. She exercised her boundaries while Dempsey had none. She had to keep him in check.' Running for three seasons and numbering 30 episodes in total, Dempsey and Makepeace aired between January 1985 and November 1986. Despite a few negative critical reactions to the first episode ('If I say that Dempsey and Makepeace appears to be the worst thing that London Weekend Television have done since they came into existence in 1968, this is probably an understatement,' growled the Telegraph critic Richard Last), it went on to attract more than 20 million viewers in the UK at its peak. As Brandon says, 'The public made the show a phenomenon. They showed their choice by watching every week.' Barber adds with evident satisfaction, 'I remember that after the first episode aired some of the reviews were scathing and thought it would bomb. They were instantly proved wrong and many of them made a quick U-turn and claimed they always knew it would be a success.' The show became a global hit at a time when much British TV failed to gain a worldwide audience and was exported to over 75 countries throughout Europe, America, Asia and Africa. As Brandon recalls, 'It was bigger in France than it was in England. It was huge in Poland and saved me from a speeding ticket in Spain.' 'On a trip to Slovakia in the early 90s we were mobbed by thousands of people,' recalls Barber. 'We were in Zimbabwe at around that time and at the Victoria Falls we were surrounded by a group of school children. We had no idea the show had been aired there but got recognised wherever we went.' For her, it resonated around the world 'because of the chemistry [between the two leads] which was universal.' Indeed the repartee between the two leads was often reminiscent of Burton and Taylor, or Bogart and Bacall. As Brandon asserts, 'The humour and the chemistry made it special. There are a lot of cop shows, but the viewers were drawn to the chemistry between these two characters.' 'The culture clash between Dempsey and Makepeace was real and hadn't been done before in this way, and the 'will they, won't they' element had people hooked. The constant clashing with a sexual tension,' says Barber. The class dynamic at play between the protagonists also helps explain the show's astonishing popularity. As Brandon notes laconically, 'It's a class clash which echoes Upstairs Downstairs, but with pheromones.' Despite the chemistry between the two lead characters, the scripts remained chaste. However what all adoring fans wished for actually took place off-screen, where, in a heart-warming case of life mirroring art, Brandon and Barber fell in love and married in 1989. Of their real-life relationship, Brandon says: 'Our series continues with 35 years of marriage – a great bit of casting!' Barber adds: 'Miraculously and against all the odds, we're still together. But it's Michael and Glynis who are together, not Dempsey and Makepeace. There's a big difference.' Today, Dempsey would doubtless be cancelled for his unashamedly macho posturing, but, despite the ease and frequency with which he dispatched criminals with his Smith & Wesson revolver, he was all heart – chivalrous, loyal, dependable and with a fully functioning moral compass. As Brandon aptly says of his most famous incarnation, 'Of course, today Dempsey is 'unwoke' – his irreverence was part of his charm.' It's easy to forget that Dempsey and Makepeace was made in an era where legitimate concerns were being raised about the levels of violence on TV and in the booming video market. The show walked a tightrope between authenticity and audience concerns, and Brandon says some of the more violent scenes were subsequently toned down for reruns. However, he argues: 'We were nowhere near as violent as shows are today.' The London backdrop was also a crucial part of the show's appeal. During the mid-1980s, the capital's skyline was in the process of change and much of the filming was done on location in pre-gentrified, often insalubrious parts of the city, including Docklands. There were also plenty of establishing shots of the murky River Thames, adding a Dickensian patina of grime, not to mention offering a portrait of a hidden London. Sadly for its devoted fanbase, the show ended after the third season – and for no discernible reason. Barber recalls that 'Our contracts were for three seasons. It was a co-production between LWT and Tribune Entertainment in the States. Tribune were very keen to make a lot more but LWT just dropped it. We never found out why.' There still exist a couple of dedicated fan clubs and websites around the world, testament to the cult status the show achieved in the intervening 40 years. Dempsey and Makepeace remains a standout classic of the genre, not only comparable with, but actually far superior to most other British crime dramas of the last five decades. The mixture of humour, grit and old-school action still gives shows like the hugely popular Gangs of London a run for their money. Above all, Dempsey and Makepeace is refreshingly itself – both of its time and for all time. All episodes of Dempsey and Makepeace are available to stream on ITV X. That's All I'm Sayin' by Michael Brandon (Chronos, £14.99) will be published on May 1
BBC News
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Lee Montague: Michael Palin leads tributes to Bafta-winning actor after his death aged 97
Bafta-winning actor Lee Montague, a star of both stage and screen, has died aged was perhaps best known for appearing in Bergerac as Henri Dupont in several episodes and also featured in shows including The Sweeney and Seconds death was announced earlier this week by the Keats Community Library, where he served as president for life. Fellow actor, Monty Python star Michael Palin led the tributes to the Jackanory storyteller saying it was "always a pleasure to share a stage with him". Keats Community Library said they were "deeply sad" to announce Montague's death, describing him as a "highly respected actor" who was also "vital to our success". Montague toured with Laurence Olivier and Peter Brook, starred on Broadway and had a long career in film and TV, carving out a niche by often playing tough made his big screen debut in 1952's Moulin Rouge and later starred in films such as Brass Target, Brother Sun, Sister Moon and How I Won The War, opposite John Lennon.A student of the Old Vic, Montague played Gregory Hawke in The Climate of Eden on Broadway in 1952, then later Ed in Entertaining Mr Sloane, and John Rawlings in the 1971 production of Who Saw Him Die by Tudor Gates at London's Theatre Royal he was the first storyteller on the BBC children's programme Jackanory in 1965, for which he won the Bafta, narrating 15 2011, he formed a committee to establish the Keats Community Library charity, writing and performing there with the likes of Palin, Robert Powell, Simon Callow and Janet charity noted how he was "a highly respected actor" who would be "greatly missed".Palin told the local Ham and High newspaper he was "very sad to hear that I shall not see Lee again"."He was such good company, wise, experienced, empathetic, funny," he added. "It was always a pleasure to share a stage with him."Actor Robert Lindsay added: 'I'm devastated as I regarded Lee as my theatrical Dad and I have kept in touch with him over many years!"Playwright Sir David Hare described Lee as "a consummate gentleman".Montague was married to fellow actor Ruth Goring for 67 years until her death in 2023, and they shared two children.
The Guardian
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Julian Holloway, Carry On star and father of Sophie Dahl, dies aged 80
Julian Holloway, who starred in eight Carry On films and was a regular in TV shows such as The Sweeney and Doctor Who, has died. He was 80. In a statement to the Guardian, agents for the actor confirmed that Holloway died after a brief illness in a Bournemouth hospital on 16 February. The son of My Fair Lady star Stanley Holloway, the actor was a staple of the innuendo-laced Carry On comedies throughout their most popular period, featuring in films such as Carry On Camping and Carry On Up the Khyber. Born in 1944, Holloway attended Rada before forging a career on the 1962 sitcom Our Man Higgins. He appeared alongside Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey in Carry On films, as well as guest starring in The Sweeney, Porridge and Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? Superman actor Sarah Douglas, who first worked with Holloway in the 1970s, called him 'the wittiest of men … he was a friend through thick and thin'. In later years, Holloway moved to the US and developed a successful career as a voice actor, including in 55 of the 65 episodes of James Bond Jr, an animated American show based on the James Bond franchise. He also voiced Siegfried Fischbacher in 2004's Father of the Pride, and Prime Minister Almec in several episodes of the long running show Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Holloway was the father of the model and author Sophie Dahl, following a relationship with her mother, Tessa Dahl, in 1976.
