Actor Spotlight - David Neal (Mr Leach in Murrain)

 

Born as David Henry Neal in Desborough, Northamptonshire, on 13^th February 1932, David trained at RADA between 1958 and 1962. Amongst his contemporaries were Patrick Mower, Martin Jarvis, Lynda la Plante and Christopher Bidmead; Bidmead and la Plante would later change career and move into scriptwriting - Bidmead would become a script editor for 1980s Doctor Who, whilst la Plante would create Prime Suspect amongst many other highly respected dramas.

Although rarely cast in leading roles the slender framed and hollow featured Neal had a career that spanned three decades and included a variety of supporting and guest roles in major productions on TV and in the cinema. Shortly after his graduation he became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. However, during the 1960s and 1970s the bulk of his stage work was in repertory theatre, though he did also write and adapted many short stories by H E Bates for radio. In 1998 he co-wrote the screenplay for the Swedish film Under the Sun[1], adapted from Bates novel The Little Farm.

Neal made his TV debut with a small role in an episode of the medical soap opera Emergency Ward Ten (15^th February 1963). He was mainly engaged in theatre work during 1964[2], but the following year would see Neal become much active on TV with small roles in The Man in Room 17 – ‘Black Anniversary’ (3^rd September 1965) and the now lost BBC series Hereward The Wake (12^th September - 26^th December 1965). Based on the 1866 novel by Charles Kingsley and dramatized in sixteen episodes by Anthony Steven the production had an expansive cast of quality character actors including Alfred Lynch as Hereward himself. Neal's next TV credit was a small role credited as Young Man Number 3 in the ITV Play of the Week production ‘Ivanov’ (21^st March 1966). Neal concentrated on theatre roles for the next few years and he was absent from the small screen for a while.

He returned to television with an episode of the police procedural series Fraud Squad. Neal is credited as Philip Cross in the episode ‘Over A Barrel’ (24^th June 1969) opposite Christopher Benjamin donning tanned make up to play an illegal Kenyan immigrant! He completed his TV work for the year with an appearance in the Softly Softly Task Force episode ‘To Protect the Innocent’ (18^th December 1969) as the character Oswald. Apart from his TV work Neal had a role as a German Army officer in the World War Two movie The Cut Throats (1969), a low budget knock off of the similar themed and highly successful war film The Dirty Dozen. His next film role was in the more high profile production of William Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar (1970) which starred Charlton Heston. Neal featured as Cinna the Conspirator.

The First Churchills told the story of the life of John Churchill (played by John Neville), the first Duke of Marlborough and his wife Sarah (played by Susan Hampshire). Neal appeared in the third episode, ‘Plot, Counter Plot’ (24^th January 1971), as the Speaker of the House of Commons. He then had further small roles as a doctor in the Z Cars episode ‘The Taker’ (6^th May 1971) followed by a turn in The Persuaders – ‘Someone Waiting’ (18^th December 1971) in the guest role of Jerry Sandford. His only TV work for 1972 was a Crown Court storyline. Neal played Jonathan Fry QC in the story Doctor’s Neglect, a three part tale transmitted between 11^th October and 13^th October 1972. Jack the Ripper was a BBC docudrama which starred Stratford Johns and Frank Windsor as their Softly Softly / Z Cars alter egos Barlow and Watt examining the famous serial killers crimes in the hope of identifying a suspect. The drama employed modern police procedures on the established facts of the case as well as dramatizing events and the court hearings. Neal was seen in episode five, ‘Suspects’ (10^th August 1973).

Neal’s first screen appearance for 1974 was in an episode of the BBC period drama Fall of Eagles – ‘Requiem for a Crown Prince’ (3^rd April 1974) as Baltazzi. He then made the first of two appearances in the ATV police drama Hunter’s Walk when he guest starred as DCI Terry in the episode ‘Digger’ (3^rd June 1974) opposite his future ‘Murrain’ co-star David Simeon as Constable Mickey Finn. He was engaged by the BBC to play Doctor Ackerly in the Play for Today episode ‘The Childhood Friend’ (27^th June 1974) which also starred Anthony Hopkins. Next was a role as Edward in the BBC production Churchill’s People – ‘Shouts and Murmurs’ (10^th March 1975) and Neal followed this by playing the King of France in a BBC Play of the Month production of Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’ (23^rd March 1975) which starred Michael Horden as Lear. Neal’s appearance as Mr Leach in ‘Murrain’ was next.

Post-‘Murrain’ Neal featured in another episode of Hunter’s Walk which reunited him with David Simeon. This time Neal was cast as the character Kelleher in the episode ‘Spinsters’ (10^th August 1976). He then took a very rare leading role as engine driver Bob Carter in both seasons of the children’s television series The Flockton Flyer made by Southern Television for ITV. Twelve episodes were made and transmitted in blocks of six episodes between 18^th April 1977 to 23^rd May 1977 and 9^th January 1978 to 13^th February 1978. He also had a small guest spot in an episode of the Yorkshire TV sitcom Selwyn, which starred Bill Maynard as the titular buffoon. Neal played a film director in the second episode, ‘Wish You Were Here’ (12^th September 1978). 1978 also saw Neal make a rare excursion into the film industry when he was cast as the 7^th Elder in the superhero blockbuster Superman (1978).

Neal would see in the new decade with a rare lead recurring role for the TV series Noah’s Castle which was based on the novel by John Rowe Townsend. Set in a near future where the UK is experiencing social decay and economic collapse leading to hyper-inflation and mass food shortages Neal plays Norman Mortimer, who fearing for his family’s safety, takes them away from the city and into the countryside to a large house. Here he reinforces the cellar to store food and essentials. However, the arrival of the Mortimers arouses the suspicions of the locals and the family come under threat as news of their food store becomes public knowledge. The series was directed and produced by Colin Nutley who had cast Neal three years earlier in The Flockton Flyer. The Southern Television production was transmitted between 2^nd April and 14^th May 1980.

Also during 1980 he could also be seen as the captain of Ming the Merciless’ air force in the Mike Hodges film Flash Gordon (1980). Neal’s appearance as Aidallberry in the two-part BBC 2 Playhouse production ‘Elizabeth Alone’ (3^rd and 10^th April 1981) saw him start a busy year of television appearances which included BBC Shakespeare dramatization, Timon of Athens (16^th April 1981), with Neal making a brief appearance as First Senator under the direction of the esteemed Jonathan Miller. He stayed with Miller and was given the more substantial role of Proculeius in another BBC Shakespeare production, Anthony and Cleopatra (8^th May 1981). The BBC Play for Today production ‘London is Drowning’ (27^th October 1981) featured Neal as Walter Dodds in a play examining the possibility of London flooding which was written by ex-Doctor Who producer Graham Williams. This was followed by a role in the fourth season Blake’s 7 instalment ‘Games’ (16^th November 1981) as Gerren, a mineralogist who is rescued by Avon, Villa and company. His last TV appearance for the year was in the popular, but critically panned BBC period drama The Borgias. Neal appeared in three episodes as Yves D’Alerge.

He started 1983 with a guest role in ‘Cry Wolf’ (9^th January 1983), the seventh episode of the fifth season of The Professionals, as a character called Bauer. Number Ten was a Yorkshire TV series which depicted the life of seven British prime ministers and Neal appeared in episode seven, ‘Bloodline’ (27^th March 1983), playing Doctor Addington supporting Jeremy Brett as William Pitt the Younger. He completed the year with some light relief by appearing in the Bill Maynard sitcom The Gaffer playing a golf club secretary in the episode ‘Moonlight and Ruses’ (7^th June 1983).

He undertook what is possibly his most notable role next when he appeared in the final Peter Davison Doctor Who era adventure ‘The Caves of Androzani’ as The President in the first three episode transmitted between 8^th March and 15^th March 1984. Annika, a three part mini-series co-produced between the UK’s Central Television and Sweden’s Sveriges Television, featured Neal playing the character Gordon Neal in the final episode transmitted 24^th August 1984. By the Sword Divided was an epic BBC period drama set during the English Civil War which depicted the conflict through the story of two families; the Laceys, loyal to the crown and King Charles I and the Fletchers loyal to Oliver Cromwell. Neal appeared in several episodes of the second season as Preacher Lambe.

Covington Cross was a thirteen episode production by Thames Television that was transmitted on ITV and the American Broadcasting Company and starred Nigel Terry and Cherie Lunghi. Set in the Fourteenth Century the series told of the ordeals endured by Sir Thomas Grey and his children. Neal appeared in one episode, ‘Blinded Passions’ (24^th October 1992), as Lord Hazelmeer. He then made a rare big screen appearance with a small role in the David Cronenberg film M. Butterfly (1993) playing a courtroom judge. His other main big screen appearance for the decade was in the Merchant Ivory period film drama Feast of July (1995), based on the H E Bates romantic novel. Neal’s character went by the catchy name of Mitchy Mitchell. 1996 TV appearances began with the much maligned BBC series Crime Traveller playing Sir Iain Hawkins in the episode ‘Death Minister’ (5^th April 1997). His final TV appearance was in the Showtime TV movie Garden of Redemption (25^th May 1997) playing Don Sebastiano.

Neal, not enjoying the best of health, retired from acting after these credits. He died in Kettering on 27^th June 2000. Neal had been married to the costume designer Margaret Manning, but they divorced in 1981. The couple had two daughters. His obituary, by his colleague Noel Davis, in trade paper The Stage summarised Neal as “Graced with good looks and charm, he was much liked by his fellow actors, and wonderfully professional.[3]”

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[1] Under The Sun was Sweden’s official entry as Best Foreign Language Film for the 2000 Academy Awards. The award was won by Pedro Almodvor’s All About My Mother.

[2] He was a member of the Nottingham Playhouse repertory company under the leadership of John Neville

[3] Obituary by Noel Davis, The Stage, 10^th August 2000

Actor Spotlight - Marjorie Yates (Mrs Leach in Murrain)

The film, television and stage career of Marjorie Yates

Marjorie Yates is a native of Birmingham and was born on 13^th April 1941. She studied at the Bourneville College of Art and the Guildhall School of Music and Dance. For a time she was married to Michael Freeman, a university administrator and local councillor and a former parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party. They have two children, a daughter, Polly, and a son called Carl, but separated in the 1980s. The marriage was dissolved in 1994.

Like many young actors of her generation Yates found her first professional acting roles in local repertory theatre. She was signed to the Liverpool Repertory Company and appeared in a string of productions staged at the Liverpool Playhouse; a version of Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle (October 1964), All In Good Time (January and February 1965) supporting Anthony Hopkins, The Playboy of the Western World (April 1965), Seidman and Son (August and September 1965) and Life Worth Living during February 1966. During 1966 and 1967 she was attached to the repertory company at the Little Theatre in Bristol where she appeared in several stage productions including A Tale of Two Cities, Hindle Wakes and Bartholomew Fair as Dame Overdo.

Her first TV appearance was in the series Suspicion, an ATV anthology drama series, where she played Miss Peters in the debut episode ‘Plain Jane’ (23^rd November 1971). The series was produced by Nicholas Palmer who would also go on to act as producer on the Against the Crowd series and the episode ‘Murrain’. She then returned to the stage playing for The English Stage Company at the Royal Court, London in a run of Lear which was staged from 1971 to 1972. Her next television appearance was in the drama series Villains. The series depicted the exploits of nine bank robbers, led by David Daker as George, meeting in prison and then escaping. The drama then follows the stories of each man and viewers learn about their lives, the women in their lives and the robbery itself over thirteen episodes. Yates played Julie Owens, a wife of one of the robbers, Bernie Owens, portrayed by Tom Adams in the episode ‘Bernie’ (22^nd September 1972). The series also provided early credits for rising stars such as Martin Shaw, Alun Armstrong and Bob Hoskins.

1973 would be a very busy year for Yates. She began the year by appearing in her third, and most acclaimed, Play For Today, with a role in the Colin Welland written ‘Kisses At Fifty’ (22^nd January 1973) as the young barmaid Audrey who begins an affair with the middle aged Harry (Bill Maynard). Next was a headlining role as the character Marilyn in the one off Granada drama Putting on the Agony (28^th February 1973). She must have had a good agent as this was soon followed with the role of Mrs Winrose in the first episode of the second season of the Thames Television anthology series Six Days of Justice – ‘The Counsellor’ (1^st May 1973). Her next appearance was playing Martha Ainsworth in the Crown Court story ‘Destruct, Destruct’ transmitted between 29^th August 1973 and 31^st August 1973. This was a somewhat controversial case for the cosy daytime drama series - a thirteen year old boy is charged with the murder of his twelve year old friend by suffocating him with a plastic bag. The jury must decide if it was a game that went horribly wrong or if there was real intent to harm. Harriet’s Back in Town was a Thames Television afternoon drama with William Russell and Pauline Yates in the lead roles as Tom and Harriet Preston. Yates appeared in two episodes broadcast 4^th and 5^th September 1973, though her major role for the year was in the Peter Sellers starring film The Optimists of Nine Elms (1973). Yates can be seen as Chrissie Ellis in the film which tells the story of a retired entertainer who makes his living as a street musician in London. The film was a resounding flop on its release and has since faded into obscurity despite the presence of Sellers.

Her popularity amongst television producers continued into the following year. First was a role in the long-running BBC police series Z Cars. Yates played June Cunningham in the episode ‘Waste’ (25^th February 1974) which is notable for the cast also featuring Lewis Collins in an appearance before being cast in The Professionals. Her next TV appearance was as Mrs Ellis, wife of Ron Moody’s Mr Ellis, in ‘Mr Ellis Vs the People’ (16^th July 1974), the very first episode of the anthology drama series Village Hall. She then played Virginia Fox in two episodes of the fourth season of the business drama The Brothers – ‘Loneliness’ (6^th October 1974) and ‘Hit and Miss’ (13^th October 1974). She also appeared in the David Essex starring film Stardust (1974) in a small uncredited role.

Yates began the next year with an appearance in the thirty minute experimental drama anthology Centre Play in the episode ‘A Helping Hand’ (27^th January 1975) written by Howard Schuman. She was of only three cast members, playing a young girl called Pam opposite the actors Gawn Grainger and Rowena Cooper as a married couple. The play opens with Cooper finding her husband Grainger sat amongst a wrecked living room. He tells her that he had bought Pam home to help her as she was in distress and that she had flipped and trashed the room. However, there is more to this than meets the eye… Yates’ next engagement was as Mrs Adam in an episode of the BBC espionage series Spy Trap – ‘The Melioidosis Report’ (16^th May 1975) which also featured her old Villains co-star Tom Adams in the cast. Outside of TV she also made a rare cinema appearance playing Madame Tellier in the British horror film Legend of the Werewolf (1975) which featured also featured her old colleague from Village Hall, Ron Moody, in the cast. Her role as Mrs Leach in ‘Murrain’ was next.

She was cast as Maureen Bell for the ATV one off drama It’s A Lovely Day Tomorrow (8^th October 1975) which recreated the tragic events during wartime in Bethnal Green when 173 people died on the London Underground after a panicked crowd stampeded. Between 14^th October 1975 and 14^th May 1976 she was a series regular in the daytime soap opera Couples, playing Jane Selby in all 87 episodes. She was next seen as May Holmes, an old flame of Jack Regan, in ‘May’ (25^th October 1976), a third season episode of The Sweeney. She then returned to more experimental work with an appearance in the BBC Two drama anthology series Second City First episode ‘Daft Mam Blues’ (17^th May 1977) written by the renowned playwright David Halliwell. Yates played a young woman called Lilly whilst Bernard Hill, in an early role, played a young man called Billy. Her next appearance was in a controversial British film, The Black Panther (1977). Based on the true story of a young girl kidnapped and held for ransom that went tragically wrong the film featured Donald Sumpter as the kidnapper Donald Neilson and Debbie Farrington as the doomed kidnapped girl Lesley Whittle. Yates was on hand to appear as Neilson’s unsuspecting and naive wife.  Her other cinema release for the year was as Mrs Fielding the classic Children’s Film Foundation production Glitterball (1977) which told the adventures of two teenagers helping an alien stranded on Earth in the form of a metal ball. Directed by Harley Cokliss on a shoestring budget this short film has well executed visual effects courtesy of British effects maestro Brian Johnson of Thunderbirds fame and animator Barry Leith who had honed his craft on the children’s favourites Paddington and The Wombles. Yates was also an active member of the actor’s union Equity and served on union council during 1977 and 1978.

During 1978 she concentrated on her theatre work and could be seen in a lengthy run of the play Touched staged at the Old Vic theatre in London and supporting Nicol Williamson in a version of John Osbourne’s Inadmissible Evidence at the Royal Court theatre during autumn 1978. Clive Swift, who starred in the Beasts episode ‘The Dummy’, was also in the cast. She was next seen on TV as Mam, opposite Alun Armstrong playing Dad, in the play A Day on the Sands (24^th February 1979) which was filmed in Morecambe, Lancashire which actually does not have sandy beaches, only mud banks[1]. This was the last of six plays written by Alan Bennett for London Weekend Television and was a comedy drama about the Cooper family who go to Morecambe instead of the usual Minorca in Spain for their family holiday. The play is based on Bennett’s own childhood experiences of family holidays in Morecambe and the surrounding area.

 Next was another themed drama anthology series, The Other Side, which saw Yates appearing in the episode ‘Connie’ (27^th April 1979) as the titular character. The Other Side’s unifying theme concerned those that did not fit into the accepted norms of society and Connie was such an outsider; unmarried and still living at home with her elderly mother. Yates came in for high praise in contemporary reviews including the trade newspaper The Stage which commented “Here was a splendid fusion of technique and emotional involvement with the character which makes for a highly satisfying experience.[2]” She had another film role with an appearance in Priest of Love (1981) which featured Ian McKellen playing D H Lawrence in the last years of his life following the banning of his novel The Rainbow. Yates played Ada Lawrence, sister of the famous author. A rare role in a serial was next with Yates playing Mrs Joe Gargery in four episodes the BBC adaptation of Great Expectations transmitted between 4^th October 1981 and 27^th December 1981. Theatre wise she was engaged with the Royal Shakespeare Company in a production of Richard III playing the Duchess of York at the Aldwych Theatre in London and appeared in a revival of Touched staged at the Royal Court theatre.

The following year was a social worker in the flagship social drama Walter (2^nd November 1982) which aired on the launch night of Channel 4. Her next TV appearance was in the Alan Bennett BBC Two comedy drama Objects of Affection with Yates playing Marjory in the episode ‘Marks’ (10^th December 1982). The play was directed by Piers Haggard who had previously dabbled in folk horror with the British horror film Blood On Satan’s Claw (1971) as well as directing the final Quatermass[3] TV series, with John Mills as the scientist, for ITV in 1979. She made no TV or film appearances in 1983 though she appeared in several prestigious stage productions including a tour with The Royal Shakespeare Company and playing Mathilde Cimmaruta in a production of Inner Voices with the National Theatre.

Her first TV role for the following year was in the John Thaw starring series Mitch with Yates cast as Carol Blackburn in the episode ‘Sleeping Dogs’ (7^th September 1984). She then had a rare recurring role in the acclaimed series Morgan’s Boy (11^th October 1984 to 29^th November 1984) which starred Gareth Thomas as a Welsh sheep farmer. Yates can be seen in four episodes of the BBC series as the supporting character Val Turner. Yates appeared in a production of Night Mother at the Hampstead Theatre, London during February 1985. She was then cast as Verity Braithwaite alongside such respected thespians as Vanessa Redgrave, Judi Dench and Ian Holm in the British film drama Wetherby (1985), written and directed by David Hare. Yates also had a small role in an American TV movie biopic of Florence Nightingale (7^th April 1985) which starred Jaclyn Smith in the lead role. Then there was more theatre work with a play about the dancer Isadora Duncan, When She Dances, presented during November and December 1985. Dead Man’s Folly (8^th January 1986) was an American TV movie which featured Peter Ustinov as the Agatha Christie creation Hercule Poirot. Yates had a tiny uncredited role as Mrs Tucker. Her theatre work continued with acclaimed performances in a Cambridge Theatre Company production of The Killing of Sister George staged during April and May 1986 in Oxford, The Daughter-In-Law during February 1987 in Birmingham, Thatcher’s Women in March 1987 at London’s Tricycle Theatre and Children of the Dust at the Soho Poly over March 1988.

‘Suffer Little Children’ (22^nd January 1987) was an episode of Worlds Beyond, a horror themed British TV anthology programme. Yates received third billing as Margaret with Karen Black headlining as an American visiting her English friend. Whilst staying at her friend’s home Black see the ghost of a little boy as a tale of revenge begins to unfold. Yates played the supporting role of the cook in the British political thriller A Very British Coup transmitted between 3^rd July and 19^th June 1988. She was then inactive on TV for a few years whilst she was contracted with The Royal Shakespeare Company appearing in a variety productions including Edward IV as the Duchess of York, Mrs Stanley in The Man Who Came To Dinner and Widow Blackacre in The Plain Dealer. During 1990 and 1991 Yates again undertook the role of the Duchess of York in a touring production of Richard III as well as appearing in a string of plays produced at the Young Vic theatre in London up until 1992. She made her TV return as a guest star in ‘Coverup’ (15^th October 1991) an episode of the popular series Boon. During January 1992 Yates could be seen in the Young Vic production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons with Ian Bannen in the lead role. During this period (1992 to 1997) Yates was also extremely busy on the stage playing one of the witches in a Royal Shakespeare Company touring production of Macbeth throughout 1993 and 1994. She then appeared in The Brutality of Fact at New End Theatre, London during 1995 and as Linda Loman in a National Theatre staging of Death of a Salesman during 1996 and 1997. More theatre work followed with Yates playing Sibyl Birling in a touring production of An Inspector Calls during 1998 and 1999. She was next seen on TV as Mother Morel in a two-part version of D H Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers (12^th and 13^th January 2003) which also featured Sarah Lancashire as Gertrude Morel. This was followed by the role of Aunty Pat in episode four of the first season of the Channel Four medical comedy drama No Angels (23^rd March 2004).

2004 was the year that Yates first undertook the role that currently defines her in the public eye. First appearing in the third episode of the popular Channel Four comedy drama Shameless (27^th January 2004) as a one-off appearance as Carol Fisher, mother of the regular character Veronica Fisher (Maxine Peake). Yates would become a series regular as Carol in the forthcoming seasons running all the way through to the fourth season transmitted in 2007. This role kept Yates extremely busy and she made few guest appearances in other programmes during this period. She made a memorable Toby in an unconventional interpretation of Twelfth Night staged by The Royal Shakespeare Company between August and October 2007. The cast was headlined by John Lithgow. Other theatre engagements included a run of Honeymoon Suite during January and February 2004 at the Royal Court theatre.

In 2010 Yates made the little seen British multi-story drama film Edge which featured her Shameless co-star Maxine Peake and was written and directed by Carol Morley, who would make the critically acclaimed documentary Dreams of a Life (2011). Yates continues to be a very active guest actor on TV with her most recent appearances including an episode of the third season of the hard hitting BBC cop drama Line of Duty (21^st April 2016) and two episodes of Channel Four sitcom Damned created by Morwenna Banks and Jo Brand. Yates played the dementia afflicted Audrey in two episodes transmitted 18^th and 25^th October 2016. She also guest starred in the detective series Shakespeare & Hathaway as the character Edie Grimes in the episode ‘Toil and Trouble’ (2^nd March 2018) and was also seen as Frances in ‘The Client’ (23^rd June 2018), an episode of the crime thriller series Ransom. Other recent TV appearances include Almost Never (2019) and the day time play ‘Man of Steel’ (2^nd March 2020), part of the anthology series Moving On written by Jimmy McGovern.

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[1] The author lives near to Morecambe so knows it well

[2] 'It Didn’t Beat The Big Drum' by Hazel Holt, The Stage, Thursday 3^rd May 1979, page 26

[3] Also known as The Quatermass Conclusion

Actor Spotlight - Ray Dunbobbin (Jimmy in Murrain)

The career of writer and actor Ray Dunbobbin

Ray Harold Dunbobbin was born in Ontario, Canada on 31^st March 1931. His parents, Merseyside natives, returned home to the UK when he was barely one year old and he was subsequently raised in Wavertree, Liverpool. His mother, Louise, was a staunch member of the Salvation Army but sadly died when Dunbobbin was very young. Dunbobbin suffered another traumatic experience when, at the age of seven years old, he was knocked down by a car whilst crossing the road. Amongst his injuries he had both legs broken which would lead to Dunbobbin having difficulties with walking throughout his life. The accident also led to a long period of recuperation which impacted greatly on his education[1].
After leaving school he volunteered for service in The Royal Air Force and found himself analysing aerial photographs of foreign countries and having to sign the Official Secrets Act. On being demobbed and returning to civilian life Dunbobbin worked as a professional photographer and a commercial artist as well as performing for the Playgoer’s Dramatic Society in Liverpool. After one performance a talent scout, who had been in the audience, approached Dunbobbin with a job offer. Would he be interested in a small part in a film starring John Gregson[2] which was being shot at the local Cammel Laird shipyards in Birkinhead? This first taste of professional acting encouraged Dunbobbin to seek further film or TV work.

His first professional engagement for television was not as an actor however, but actually as a script writer for the BBC police drama Z Cars. Credited as Ray H Dunbobbin he wrote the episode ‘Down and Out’ (24^th April 1962) which saw the regulars involved in one action packed night shift featuring thieves breaking into a pet shop, a drunken disturbance and two of the policemen threatened with a knife.  He then provided scripts for three episodes of the soap opera Coronation Street transmitted 22^nd August 1962, 10^th October 1962 and 11^th February 1963. His next work for the BBC was on the anthology drama Suspense – ‘Two Bits of Iron’ (2^nd September 1963) as the co-writer with John Finch. The episode featured Sheila Ballantine and young, a 17 year old Roy Holder and was the television directorial debut of John Gorrie. Next Dunbobbin contributed jokes and material to the first episode of the second series of According To Dora (2^nd May 1969) fronted by comedic actress Dora Bryan. He returned to write for Z Cars, again credited as Ray H Dunbobbin, after a seven year break with a two part story entitled ‘A Right Cock and Bull Story’ transmitted Monday 10^th and Tuesday 11^th November 1969. The story sees three policemen dispatched to the city airport to investigate a bomb hoax, but they discover something else just as explosive…
His TV acting debut came in a first episode of The Flaxton Boys, a children’s historical drama produced by Yorkshire Television, playing the character Albert Craddock in ‘1854: The Island’ (30^th November 1969). Then there was Parkin’s Patch, a Yorkshire set drama about the work of a village policeman. Dunbobbin featured as a chemist in the episode ‘Vickory’ (23^rd January 1970) which was written by Troy Kennedy-Martin under the pseudonym of Tony Marsh. He was still writing material, mainly comedy such as gags for radio and theatre shows, and for the majority of 1969 he was busy with researching and writing the historical drama Black Spot on the Mersey which was set during the aftermath of the 1840 Irish Potato Famine. It was first performed on BBC radio under the producership of a young Alan Ayckbourn. The play was later staged by the Liverpool Playhouse from March 1970.  In the programme notes for the play Dunbobbin noted that “the history of the Irish Potato Famine has been told many times, but the retribution of political mismanagement in Ireland was paid in full by Ireland’s second capital, Liverpool.”[3] The play dealt with the story of Father James Nugent, played by Del Henney, and the clashes between Roman Catholics and Protestants in Liverpool in the 1850s and 1860s. This was part of the aftermath of the Irish potato famine of 1849 when huge numbers of Irish immigrants arrived in Liverpool in hope of work and food. Father Nugent was a central figure in bringing order to the ensuing chaos and alleviating hardship. His statue now stands in St Johns Gardens in the centre of Liverpool.
Dunbobbin’s next acting role was in an episode of the Granada Television drama anthology Confession. He played a photographer in the episode ‘People Who Visit Glass Houses’ (24^th July 1970). His next engagement, broadcast three days later, was for a programme he had previously provided scripts for. Dunbobbin appeared as the character Charlie Clarke in a single episode of Coronation Street (27^th July 1970). This appearance makes him one of only seven people who have the distinction of both writing for and acting in the series. He then returned to The Flaxton Boys, though as the completely different character called Moscrop, in an episode of the second season called ‘1890: The Valentine’ (1^st November 1970). The following year he made a third appearance, again as a different character, when he appeared as Bill Grover in the third season episode ‘1928: To See…A Fine Horse’ (7^th November 1971). The long running afternoon courtroom drama series Crown Court began with the episode ‘Doctor’s Neglect? Part One’ (11^th October 1972) and Dunbobbin can be seen as uncredited extra in some scenes in the episode. Next was a guest appearance for another series he had provided scripts for when he played Jonty Foley in the Z Cars episode ‘Public Relations’ (30^th October 1972).

He made his second appearance in the courtroom drama series Crown Court, though still in a small supporting role with little dialogue. He was the jury foreman in ‘Beware of the Dog’ (11^th April 1973 to 13^th April 1973) which details the case of a security firm charged with attacking a young couple with guard dogs and undue force after they had trespassed on a private development. His next television appearance was as an uncredited extra in the Jon Pertwee era Doctor Who adventure ‘The Time Warrior’ (15^th December 1973 to 5^th January 1974). Dunbobbin can be seen as one of the human villain Irongron’s henchmen. A few weeks later he made his first, fleeting appearance in The Liver Birds in the episode ‘Follow That Ring’ (13^th March 1974). Dunbobbin appears as a railway porter, but he would return to the series in a much more substantial role at a later date. He was then cast as a character named Reeves in the seventh episode of the children’s period drama The Boy Dominic – ‘The Man With the Painted Face’ (5^th May 1974). This was followed by another return to Z Cars to portray a gentleman called Scully in the episode ‘Certain Parties’ (20^th May 1974). Next was one of his signature roles, as the light bulb eating Welsh[4] prison inmate Evans, in the classic comedy series Porridge. Dunbobbin appeared in just one episode, ‘The Hustler’ (12^th September 1974), but he made a lasting impression on the viewing public. It certainly seemed to boost his prestige as a comedy actor. More comedy work for the BBC followed with Dunbobbin popping up in an episode of the Carla Lane sitcom No Strings – ‘Say It With A Flower’ (18^th October 1974).

His first TV work for 1975 was a small role as a pedlar in the third episode of the BBC classic serial The Secret Garden – ‘The Door in the Wall’ (15^th January 1975). He then played another photographer, this time in the BBC play The Evacuees (5^th March 1975), which was written by Jack Rosenthal and directed by Alan Parker. More comedy work followed when he appeared in the first episode of the Liverpool set ITV sitcom The Whackers – ‘Out of the Frying Pan’ (19^th March 1975). He then returned in the fourth episode, ‘The Root of All Evil’ (9^th April 1975) as a policeman. His next role came with an episode of the London Weekend Television comedy drama Affairs of the Heart playing a receptionist in the episode ‘Elizabeth’ (13^th April 1975). He followed this with his appearance as Jimmy in ‘Murrain’. Dunbobbin’s next stage play as a writer was The Great Sex Swindle which was mounted by the Mountview Theatre Club in June 1975. His final TV appearance for the year was in the BBC sitcom I Didn’t Know You Cared in the role of Sid Skelhorn. His appearance in the fourth episode of the first season, ‘After the Ball Was Over’ (17^th September 1975), would lead to a recurring role in the second series of the programme.

The sixth season of the popular Carla Lane scripted sitcom The Liver Birds debuted on 13^th February 1976 with the episode ‘Facing up To Life’. Dunbobbin made his debut as Mr Boswell, the bus driver father of central character Carol and her brother Lucien, and would become a regular character from this season onwards and provide the bulk of his TV work for the next few years. He also made a return appearances in the second season of the sitcom I Didn’t Know You Cared as Sid Skelhorn. His next TV engagement was for another BBC sitcom, The Good Life, with Dunbobbin appearing briefly as a postman in the episode ‘Whose Fleas Are These?’ (15^th October 1976). A mere two days later he was seen in another BBC sitcom, The Liver Birds, when returned once more as the character Mr Boswell even though he was only ten years older than Angelis, who played his son Lucien. Dunbobbin appeared as Mr Boswell in three episodes of the sixth season of The Liver Birds and in  season seven in a further four episodes. He also appeared in the 1976 Christmas special – ‘It Insists on Coming Once a Year’ (22^nd December 1976).

During 1977 Dunbobbin once more portrayed Mr Boswell for the eighth series of The Liver Birds and appeared in all seven episodes transmitted between 23^rd September and 4^th November 1977. His only TV appearance outside of playing Mr Boswell was a small support artist role in the first part of the Crown Court story ‘Scalped’ (7^th November 1978). Otherwise he was back on The Liver Birds sitcom treadmill appearing in all episodes of the final and ninth season of the original run of the series shown from the end of November 1978 until the first week of January 1979.

Into the 1980s and Dunbobbin made only one TV appearance during the year when he was cast as Dave Duncan in a single episode of the rural soap Emmerdale transmitted 12^th February 1980. He was next seen as Reverend Perry in a single episode, ‘Kiss Me Quick’ (26^th June 1981), of the Alan Plater scripted drama Get Lost! More comedy work followed with an appearance in the BBC sitcom Sink or Swim – ‘The Marrying’ (12^th November 1981). Dunbobbin also featured in the children’s educational drama How We Used to Live playing a shop keeper in three episodes during September and November. He featured in a further episode but played a different character, Mr Taylor, in the episode ‘Your Undoubted Queen’ (24^th March 1982). Having previously worked as a photographer Dunbobbin was ideal casting to play one in the Bergerac episode ‘Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie’ (23^rd January 1983). His only other TV role for the year was Hamish in an episode of the sitcom Hallelujah! – ‘Luncheon Club’ (27^th May 1983). The role provided more echoes with Dunbobbin’s own past with the series based on the misadventures of a local branch of The Salvation Army. He then made a very rare film appearance as a tinker in the British horror film The Doctor and The Devils (1985) which was directed by Freddie Francis and based on a previously unproduced screenplay by the late Dylan Thomas.

Dunbobbin’s final role is also his most famous and the one that embedded him in the public’s mind set. Phil Redmond’s soap opera Brookside provided him with a long running role as widower Ralph Hardwick who teamed up with fellow widower Harry Cross (Bill Dean[5]) to share a bungalow for bickering companionship. The character would be a series regular for five years between 1984 and 1989. Dunbobbin died in August 1989, aged 67, whilst still playing Ralph. His death also left in limbo a commission he had received to write and direct a promotional video for the Boy Scout Movement. Aside from his acting and writing Dunbobbin was the secretary of the northern branch of the Society of Authors. He was also employed as an adaptor of best-selling novels for spoken word cassettes and CDs as well as a narrator for them including all of The Onedin Line series. He was still active in this field up until his death.

Dunbobbin was an excellent raconteur and also made a wage by appearing as an after dinner speaker. In the book Liverpool’s Own by Christine Dawe (who was his wife up until his death in 1989) Dunbobbin reflected on his most famous role with the type of wit that also made him a popular and well paid after dinner speaker: “I was in a restaurant in Church Stretton. A very attractive lady came up to our table, smiled warmly at me and said “It is you, isn’t it? I’d recognise you anywhere. You made us so happy. It’s been about five years now, hasn’t it? I want to thank you on behalf of my family. Oh, here’s my husband. Darling, look who’s here. It’s that man who rescued our cat for us”.”

His obituary in The Stage stated “Ray’s natural sense of fun shone through his many television roles and endeared him both to the public and to his fellow actors. He mixed easily with many of the best-known names in show business, without losing his innate modesty and down-to-earth attitude.[6]”

 

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[1] Biographical detail courtesy of the book Liverpool’s Own by Christine Dawe, The History Press, 2008. Dawe was Dunrobbin’s wife until his death.

[2] Gregson had also been a member of the Liverpool Playgoer’s before turning professional

[3] Programme notes for Black Spot on the Mersey as quoted in Liverpool Playhouse: A Theatre And Its City by Ros Merkin, Liverpool University Press, 2011

[4] Evans also ate boot polish, shaving cream and razor blades!

[5] Rather weirdly Bill Dean would appear in the Beasts episode ‘What Big Eyes’

[6] The Stage, Thursday 24^th September 1998, page 29

Actor Spotlight - Una Brandon Jones (Mrs Clemson in Murrain)

A look at the eclectic career of Una Brandon Jones

A native of St Albans, Hertfordshire Una Brandon Jones was born on 24^th April 1916. She was primarily a stage actress featuring in film and TV in a variety of small supporting or guest roles in a career that spanned over fifty years playing landladies, aunts or other similar older female figures. Her stage work has a more notable political slant due to her lifelong socialist views.

From the late 1930s onwards she was an active member of the Unity Theatre based in Camden, London. The theatre club was formed in 1936, an off shoot of the Worker’s Theatre Movement, and attempted to bring contemporary political and social issues to a working class audience. It would produce plays by the workers, for the workers, about the workers and cover topics such as the plight of the unemployed during the hardships of the depression, the rise of the Nazis in Germany and the British Union of Fascists in the UK. The company also utilised new forms of drama including documentary performances and satirical pantomimes. It was one of these satirical pantomimes which would see the debut performance of Una Brandon Jones when she appeared opposite Alfie Bass and Bill Owen (of Last of the Summer Wine fame) in a production of Babes in the Woods in 1938.

In 1942, with many of the creative males involved in staging productions away waging war, Una stepped up to the challenge to fill the void. She became a lyricist and helped to pen the popular wartime song Women in Industry about females working in factories during wartime. She was still active in Unity Theatre productions with roles such as The Queen in Alice in Thunderland (1945), a politicised satire of Alice in Wonderland. After a dispute with the actor Bill Owen over the lack of females in Unity’s touring group[1] she formed an all-female revue group called The Amazons for which she wrote material from an early feminist perspective.

In 1953 writer and journalist John Gold and Lionel Bart joined the theatre group and they wrote numerous songs for revues and productions. Bart was soon talent spotted by Joan Littlewood and left to begin a career which would see him become a famous song writer with credits including the film Oliver (1968). Gold meanwhile married Una and they would remain in wedlock until his death in 1998. Following her marriage Una would sometimes be credited as Una Gold, especially in her theatre roles. The marriage would produce two children with a daughter, Louise Gold, being born first in 1956. Louise is best known for her work as a puppeteer / voice actor for The Muppet Show as well as Spitting Image (as Nancy Reagan, Joan Collins and The Queen amongst others) and Roland Rat the TV Series as Iris Rat and Roxanne. A son, Maxim J Gold, was born in 1958. He now acts under the name of Max Gold and is a respected theatre actor, writer and director. He is probably best known for his role as Frank in The Buddha of Suburbia (1993) and appearances in episodes of Eastenders, The Bill and The Tunnel (2016).

Una Brandon Jones made appearance on TV from 1968 onwards. Amongst her first credits was an appearance as Sister Packer in ‘Purposes of Love’ (22^nd November 1968), an episode of the second season of the BBC drama anthology Boy Meets Girl. She had previously had a small role credited as ‘British Woman’ in the children’s educational series Merry Go Round when she appeared in the episode ‘The Broken Sword Part 1: Death of the Eagle’ (13^th May 1968). Her next TV role was also for Merry Go Round when she appeared as Aunt Mina in the episode ‘When Uncle Klaas Fell Over Part 1: The Empty Stable’ (10^th March 1969).

Wicked Women was a London Weekend Television drama anthology based around the theme of Victorian woman who had made the headlines in the newspapers due to the crimes they had committed. Una appeared in the episode ‘Christiana Edmund’ (21^st February 1970) as Bertha. Anna Massey portrayed the title character, a murderess who poisoned a child. Una’s most notable stage role for the year was in Terence Rattigan’s A Bequest to the Nation, a play about Lord Nelson, staged at Haymarket Theatre during winter 1970. The following year she had a small role as a landlady in the sublime detective series Public Eye in the episode ‘Transatlantic Cousins’ (15^th September 1971). In cinemas she could be seen as a supervisor in Mike Leigh’s first film Bleak Moments (1971) which began as an alternative theatre play and was then financed by the actors Albert Finney and Michael Medwin for a cinema adaptation through their Memorial Films production company.  

She next popped up in the ATV series Spyders Webb – ‘Rev Counter’ (14^th April 1972) as a ‘socialist woman’ – typecasting at its finest / worse depending on your point of view. She was cast as a female police superintendent in the fourth and final episode of the BBC drama A Pin To See The Peepshow (16^th August 1973) which starred Francesca Annis and John Duttine as young lovers accused of murder. She was also in the Derek Nimmo-as-a-comedy-vicar vehicle Oh, Father! In the episode ‘Angels and Ministers’ (3^rd October 1973) as Miss Noonan. Vienna 1900 was a BBC anthology of stories dramatized by Robert Muller[2] from the writings of Arthur Schnitzler and Una featured in a small role as a postmistress in the episode ‘Man of Honour’ (9^th March 1975). Mrs Clemson in ‘Murrain’ was her next role.

Una made a rare film appearance playing Martha Willoughby in A Dirty Knight’s Work (1976) AKA Trial by Combat / A Choice of Weapons. I’ve never seen this film but it sounds tremendous fun and has a great cast – John Mills, Donald Pleasance, Peter Cushing, Brian Glover and Barbara Hershey to name a few. Director Kevin Connor would also make the lost worlds movies At the Earth’s Core (1976), The Land That Time Forgot (1975) and Warlords of Atlantis (1978). On television viewers saw her in Supernatural, a BBC horror anthology where membership of a secret society is granted if an applicant can tell a chilling enough horror story. Una featured in the episode ‘Lady Sybil’ (9^th July 1977) as Miranda.

Una continued her career into a new decade as she made her first appearance in the popular children’s drama series Grange Hill when she was cast as a hospital visitor in an episode of the third series transmitted 25^th January 1980. It was back to comedy next with a small role as a shop customer in an episode of the third season of the Wendy Craig starring sitcom Butterflies – ‘Problems, Problems’ (30^th September 1980). This was followed by a return to the horror genre with the classic ‘The House That Bled to Death’ (11^th October 1980), a well-remembered episode of the horror anthology programme Hammer House of Horror.

She memorably played an old woman who dies of a heart attack whilst he husband looks on and refuses to help or call a doctor. Another typecast role as an elderly woman followed in the third episode of the four-part BBC drama series Love Is Old, Love Is New (8^th April 1982) which also starred James Fox and Jane Asher. She was then seen as a nurse in two episodes of the Central Television historical biographical drama I Remember Nelson – ‘Love’ (21^st February 1982) and ‘Passion’ (21^st April 1982) -which starred Kenneth Colley as Nelson.

Her final credit of the year was in an episode of the documentary series Arena – ‘A Genius Like Us: A Portrait of Joe Orton’ (9^th November 1982) which mixed interviews and dramatizations to tell the rise of and the events that led to the murder of Joe Orton. Brandon Jones could be seen as one of the cast members in a section of Orton’s play Loot. She also appeared in The Year of the Bodyguard, a short drama-documentary film made for Channel 4 in 1982. She is credited as Wardress. The film used archive material and reconstructions to portray the feminist struggle to form the Women’s Social and Political Union in 1913. Women’s rights was an issue that Brandon Jones felt passionately about and this role reflects a lifetime committed to social issues such as this one.

Una had close links with The Fall Out Theatre Group during the 1980s. The group was a combination of amateurs and “resting” actors usually under the direction of Una. The group mounted three major productions mostly all directed and written by Una which included major tours for Time Is Running Out (1989) and Gulf War (1991). The Setbacks was a Thames Television comedy in which Una had a recurring role as Gran in the fourth season transmitted in 1985. Then there was more cinema work as a Weeping Woman in the 1986 Derek Jarman fim Caravaggio. She was one of the models for the famous artist’s paintings. The following year she made perhaps her best known appearance[3] as Mrs Parkin in the film Withnail And I (1987), wife of the farmer with his leg wrapped up in a bin bag! Theatre work for the year included the experimental piece Dungeness, described as a “small opera about landscape[4]”, and staged at the ICA in London during October 1987

She returned to horror once more with a rather unexpected credit in the anthology horror film Pulse Pounders (1988) which has earned something of a cult following due to being uncompleted and unreleased[5]. As well as featuring sequel segments to the films Trancers and The Dungeonmaster the production also contained a brand new H P Lovecraft adaptation – ‘The Evil Clergyman’. Una played a landlady opposite David Warner as the evil clergyman of the title. A workprint of the Trancers and ‘Evil Clergyman’ segments was shown in at a film festival in Chicago in 2012 and has since surfaced on the internet as an illegal download. The film itself has never been completed.

Her first television role of 1989 was in the American financed, but shot in Europe, drama series A Fine Romance[6]. Brandon Jones plays a cleaner in the tenth episode, ‘School Daze’. Transmitted on the America TV channel ABC opposite the ratings winners The Cosby Show and A Different World it quickly died a death with only seven episodes transmitted before the programme was pulled. Five episodes remain unseen of which ‘School Daze’ is one. Una featured as the recurring character Annie Murdoch in three episodes of the BBC drama Chelworth, which featured Peter Jeffries as a down on his luck Earl who is trying to restore his estate to its former glory. Una was in the first three episodes (9^th – 23^rd July 1989.

She made far fewer film and TV appearances in the 1990s though she was cast as a grandmother in the British Film Institute short film Meat (1990) opposite Roger Lloyd Pack and Ewen Bremner. In 1991 she appeared as Nadine Stacey in the Inspector Morse episode ‘Fat Chance’ (27^th February 1991), her only TV or film credit for the year. She was still popular in theatre works including R(age) at Battersea Arts Centre during March and April 1990, Macbeth in Birmingham during January 1991 and Blood Wedding at the Haymarket in Leicester over October 1992 followed by a production of Under Milk Wood during December 1992 . After over a year’s absence she made a return to TV, and to the children’s drama Grange Hill, playing yet another old lady in the fourth episode of the eighteenth series transmitted 13^th January 1995. She also played an old lady mourning at a funeral in the BBC TV movie The Great Kandinsky (14^th April 1995) which starred Richard Harris as a geriatric escapologist wanting to perform one final escape. Theatre wise Brandon Jones appeared in a version of George Bernard Shaw’s Heartbreak House at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry during April and May 1995

Una was one of the main cast in the short film The Chocolate Acrobat (1995) playing Etta, an elderly acrobat in a care home. The film was directed by Tessa Sheridan, who had worked as an animator on When the Wind Blows (1986), and she would cast Una in her next short film. Is It the Design on the Wrapper (1996) was an eight minute short which won a Palm d’Or at Cannes film festival. Una was one of the members of the public in the market scenes. She was also in Tire a part (1996), a French drama film that starred Terence Stamp. Una was seen as the character Maggie Brown. She appeared in seven episodes of The Bill, all as different characters; ‘Runaround’ (13^th September 1988) as Daisy Allison, ‘A Blind Eye’ (15^th September 1992) as Frances Webb, ‘Fall Guy’ (22^nd December 1994) as Mrs Challen, ‘A Policeman’s Lot’ (17^th January 1997) as Helen Macey, ‘Vacant Possession’ (16^th July 1998) as Mrs Fowler, ‘Behind Enemy Lines’ (17^th November 2000) as the obligatory old lady and the episode ‘011’ (25^th April 2002) as Edith Summers. Her final TV appearance was in an episode of Dalziel and Pascoe – ‘Mens Sana’ (7^th October 2002) when she played the character Harriet Vanstone.

Una died, aged 94, on 22^nd December 2010.

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[1] This was a group of entertainers who toured the factories and performed in air raid shelters to boost the public’s morale.

[2] Muller had written for anthology series Mystery and Imagination and would go on to create the BBC horror anthology Supernatural (1977)

[3] Her first scene in Withnail and I is exactly the same as her introduction in ‘Murrain’ as she opens the door to the vet Critch with a matching air of suspicion to that she displayed to Richard E Grant and Paul McGann

[4] A Place in Time by Gerard Werson, The Stage, Thursday 15^th October 1987, page 14

[5] “Band’s horror / fantasy anthology has been held up in litigation for over twenty years since the collapse of his primo studio” – Empire of the ‘B’s : The Mad Movie World of Charles Band by Dave Jay, Torsten Dewi and Nathan Shumate, page 371, Hemlock Books 2013

[6] Not the sitcom with Judi Dench which this acting credit is often mistaken for.