Alexandra Ratcliff (2nd October 1948 – 7th April 2019) was an English actress, model and counsellor. She made an impression as a model and film actress in the 1970s, but she became known for being one of the original cast members of the BBC soap opera EastEnders in the 1980s. She portrayed the role of Sue Osman but left the role in 1989. In 2010, she revealed that she had retired from acting to train as a counsellor.
Ratcliff, the daughter of an insurance salesman, had a turbulent youth. After being expelled from school at age 12, within two years she was heavily smoking cannabis, and she later went on to serve time in prison for selling it. She had numerous jobs before she took up acting, including waitressing, disc-jockeying and performing as a guitarist in the rock groups Tropical Appetite and Escalator.
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Family Life - 1971 - A family is shattered over there daughter's forced abortion. As she rebels against her family and their traditional, authoritarian, typical-of-the-time norms, she is hospitalized and otherwise mistreated.
A screenshot taken from the movie Family Life 1971.
Ratcliff's career changed direction at 23, when she made a big impression as a model and was cast as "The face of the '70s" by royal photographer Lord Snowdon. This later facilitated a move into film. Her first major role was in the Ken Loach BAFTA-nominated film Family Life (1971), in which she played a schizophrenic teenage girl. This was followed by roles in slightly less well-received films including The Final Programme (1973), Yesterday's Hero (1979) and Hussy (1980) with Helen Mirren. She also appeared in Chris Petit's British road movie Radio On (1979). Ratcliff subsequently acted in several television productions including Minder, Couples, Play for Today, Target, The Sweeney, Shoestring and Shelley, and on stage in 1981 in the Ray Davies/Kinks musical, Chorus Girls.
She became a household name in 1985, as Sue Osman in the BBC serial EastEnders. She played the long-suffering wife of highly-strung cafe owner and mini-cab boss Ali Osman (Nejdet Salih). During her four years in the series, her character contended with cot death, infidelity and finally insanity. Off-screen Ratcliff was struggling with a publicised heroin addiction, and she was written out of the show in 1989. Her television appearances after EastEnders were in 1992's Maigret opposite Michael Gambon, and in the BBC2 productions A Box of Swan (1990) and Men of the Month (1994). In later life, Ratcliff retrained as a counsellor, and drove ambulances; in 2010, it was reported she "eke(d) out a living doing part time jobs", and was living "in a run-down ground floor flat on a busy road in North London".
Ratcliff married photographer Peter Wright in Kensington, London in 1968. They broke up and by 1973 she had her only son, William, by theatre director Terence Palmer. In 1991, her then boyfriend Michael Shorey stood trial at the Old Bailey after he was accused of killing two women. Despite Ratcliff giving him an alibi (she claimed in the witness box that they were making love at the time) he was found guilty and is now serving two life sentences for murder. His court case was to be her last public appearance. In later life, Ratcliff no longer used heroin and lived on a £70 a week disability allowance. She suffered three strokes and was diagnosed with cancer. (Famous people are not always rich).
Ratcliff died in her sleep and her body was found on 7 April 2019. She was 70 years old. In October 2019, the coroner's court attributed her death to taking an excessive amount of morphine due to a terminal lung condition.
EastEnders - Sue Finds Out Who Has Been Tormenting Her (30 Apr 1985)
EastEnders - Sue Finds Out Who Has Been Tormenting Her (30 Apr 1985)
Sue Osman throws Mary out of the Cafe - EastEnders - BBC
Sue Osman throws Mary out of the Cafe - EastEnders - BBC
William Russell "Ross" Davidson (25th August 1949 – 16th October 2006) was a Scottish actor best known for his role as Andy O'Brien in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.
Davidson started his working life as a physical education teacher in Scotland in the early 1970s. He also played water polo at international level for Scotland. He left teaching to run a pub and disco in Glasgow, but furthered his ambitions to act by attending night classes. He made his screen acting debut on television in A Degree of Uncertainty (1979), a BBC Play for Today set in a Scottish university, then appeared as a kilted dancer in Stanley Baxter on Television (1979). He also had small parts as a member of a mime troupe in The Comedy of Errors ("BBC Television Shakespeare", 1983) and a photographer in Widows II (1985), as well as appearing in the film The Pirates of Penzance (1983) and the Monty Python short The Crimson Permanent Assurance (1983), made to accompany the group's feature The Meaning of Life. In Spain, the Netherlands and Germany he was seen in commercials for products ranging from chewing gum to beer.
Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the most goals at the end of the game wins the match. Each team is made up of six field players and one goalkeeper. Excluding the goalkeeper, players participate in both offensive and defensive roles. It is typically played in an all-deep pool where players cannot touch the bottom.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Full Movie - HD
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a 1975 British comedy film satirizing the Arthurian legend, written and performed by the Monty Python comedy group (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin) and directed by Gilliam and Jones in their feature directorial debuts. It was conceived during the hiatus between the third and fourth series of their BBC Television series Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Full Movie - HD
In 1985 he became one of the original cast of the BBC's flagship soap opera EastEnders. He played the altruistic nurse Andy O'Brien for 18 months, after which his screen alter-ego went down in history for being the first main character to be killed off, dying in a road accident in August 1986. Just before he left EastEnders Davidson recorded a pop single, "Jigsaw Puzzle", that failed to chart. He then returned to acting in stage plays (he had previously appeared in Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre) and returned to the small-screen in 1987 as a television presenter. He presented the BBC lunchtime magazine show Daytime Live (1987–88) and the sports challenge series Run the Gauntlet (1989–90). Davidson later returned to acting and appeared in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside and in the Welsh soap Pobol Y Cwm. He also played the role of Peter O'Dell in the Scottish soap Take the High Road for three years. He starred as Andy Morgan in the Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks from 1999 to 2002.
Jigsaw Puzzle ROSS DAVIDSON
Jigsaw Puzzle ROSS DAVIDSON
Brookside is a British television soap opera, set in Liverpool, England. The series began on the launch night of Channel 4 on 2 November 1982, and ran for 21 years until 4 November 2003. Originally intended to be called Meadowcroft, the series was produced by Mersey Television (now renamed Lime Pictures) and was conceived by Grange Hill and Hollyoaks creator Phil Redmond.
Brookside became very successful and was often Channel 4's highest rated programme in the mid-1980s, with audiences regularly in excess of eight million viewers. Initially notable for its realistic and socially challenging storylines, from the mid-1990s the show began raising more controversial subjects under the guidance of new producers such as Mal Young and Paul Marquess. It is especially well known for broadcasting the first pre-watershed lesbian kiss on British television in 1994, as well as a domestic abuse storyline resulting in murder. It also had the first gay character on a British TV series, who was outed in a 1985 storyline. In 1996, the series experienced an extreme backlash from viewers when it featured a hugely controversial storyline focusing on an incestuous sexual relationship between two siblings, and from that point onwards the show became notable for its more outrageous and improbable storylines.
Hollyoaks is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23rd October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera Brookside. Since May 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a day prior to their broadcast on Channel 4. At its inception, the soap was targeted towards an adolescent and young adult audience but has since broadened its appeal to all age groups. Hollyoaks has covered various taboo subjects rarely seen on British television, for which it has received numerous awards. It has won the award for Best British Soap twice, in 2014 and 2019; its first win broke the 15-year tie between rival soap operas EastEnders and Coronation Street. Beginning with a cast of 15 characters, it now has upwards of 50 regular cast members. The longest-serving actor is Nick Pickard, who has portrayed Tony Hutchinson since the first episode.
Davidson's first marriage was to a primary school teacher, but it ended within three years. He took his ex-wife's maiden name, Ross, as his stage name. While he was working on EastEnders Davidson began a relationship with Shirley Cheriton, who played his on-screen girlfriend Debbie Wilkins. The couple separated after five years. He had a son with his second wife, Barbara Black, before they married in 2005. They lived together in the Essex resort of Frinton-on-Sea. Black had three children from her previous marriage.
In February 2005 Davidson was diagnosed with a brain tumour, and swiftly underwent surgery. It was unsuccessful and a month later he was readmitted to the Oldchurch Hospital in Romford, where he was told that he had a glioblastoma Grade 4, the fastest-growing and most invasive form of brain tumour. In July 2005 Davidson went public with the news that his tumour was inoperable and that his life expectancy was 12–18 months. He died on 16th October 2006.
Ross Davidson actor and Briony McRoberts actress Take the High Road.
Elphick grew up in Chichester, Sussex, where his family had a butcher's shop. He was educated at Lancastrian Secondary Modern Boys School in Chichester, where he took part in several school productions including Noah and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He initially considered joining the Merchant Navy and helped out in his local boatyard during school holidays.
It has been reported that he stumbled upon acting by chance when, at the age of 15, he took a job as an apprentice electrician at the Chichester Festival Theatre while it was being built. He gained an interest in acting whilst watching stars such as Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave and Sybil Thorndike. Olivier advised Elphick to go to drama school and gave him two speeches to use at auditions. Elphick was offered a number of places but decided to train at the Central School of Speech and Drama in Swiss Cottage (aged 18), because Olivier had attended there.
Michael John Elphick (19th September 1946 – 7th September 2002) was an English film and television actor. He played the eponymous private investigator in the ITV series Boon and Harry Slater in BBC's EastEnders. He was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1983 film Gorky Park. In his prime, Elphick always looked older than he was, and with his gruff Sussex accent and lip-curling sneer he often played menacing hard men. Elphick struggled with a highly publicised addiction to alcohol; at the height of his problem he admitted to consuming two litres of spirits a day, which contributed to his death from a heart attack in 2002.
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier OM (Order of Merit); 22nd May 1907 – 11th July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the mid-20th century. He also worked in films throughout his career, playing more than fifty cinema roles. Late in his career he had considerable success in television roles.
After graduating from drama school Elphick was offered roles primarily as menacing heavies. He made his debut in Fraulein Doktor (an Italian-made First World War film circa 1968). He went on to play the Captain in Tony Richardson's version of Hamlet (1969); landed parts in cult films such as The First Great Train Robbery and The Elephant Man and appeared in Lindsay Anderson's allegorical O Lucky Man! (1973). He was also seen as Phil Daniels' father in the cult film Quadrophenia (1979), as Pasha in Gorky Park (1983) and as the poacher, Jake, in Withnail & I (1987). In 1984 he played the lead, Fisher, a British detective recalling under hypnosis a dystopian, crumbling Europe and his hunt for a serial killer in Lars von Trier's Palme D'Or nominated debut film, The Element of Crime.
Image above Anthony Hopkins in The Elephanty Man.
The Elephant Man is a 1980 British-American biographical drama film about Joseph Merrick (John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in late 19th-century London. The film was directed by David Lynch, produced by Mel Brooks (who was uncredited, to avoid audiences anticipating the film being in the vein of his comedic works, although his company Brooksfilms is in the opening credits) and Jonathan Sanger, and stars John Hurt, Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Michael Elphick, Hannah Gordon and Freddie Jones. The Elephant Man is generally regarded as one of Lynch's more accessible and mainstream works, alongside The Straight Story (1999).
The film stars Phil Daniels as Jimmy, a young mod who escapes from his dead-end job as a mailroom boy by dancing, partying, taking amphetamines, riding his scooter and brawling with Rockers. After he and his friends participate in a huge brawl with the Rockers at the seaside town of Brighton, he is arrested and his life starts to spiral out of control; he loses his love interest (Leslie Ash), gets kicked out of his house by his parents, and discovers that his idol, the popular mod nicknamed "Ace Face" (Sting), is actually a bellboy at a hotel.
Quadrophenia is a 1979 British drama film, loosely based on The Who's 1973 rock opera of the same name. It was directed by Franc Roddam in his feature directing début. Unlike the adaptation of Tommy, Quadrophenia is not a musical film, and the band does not appear live in the film. The film is set in London in 1964, a time when the working class youth broadly aligned themselves with one of two factions, who frequently fought each other. The Mods wore sharp suits, listened to current pop and soul music, took amphetamines, and rode scooters. Rockers rode powerful British motorcycles such as Triumph and BSA, wore black leather jackets and listened to 1950s rock'n'roll.
Janet Maslin, reviewing the film for The New York Times in 1979, called it "...gritty and ragged and sometimes quite beautiful", creating a "...slice-of-life movie that feels tremendously authentic in its sentiments as well as its details." Maslin states that the director's scenes of youth battles "...capture a fierce, dizzying excitement that epitomizes a kind of youthful extreme."
Quadrophenia To Carry On! - I Went In Search Of These Brighton Film Locations
Quadrophenia To Carry On! - I Went In Search Of These Brighton Film Locations.
On stage, Elphick played Marcellus and the Player King in Tony Richardson's stage version of Hamlet at the Roundhouse Theatre and on Broadway and he later played Claudius to Jonathan Pryce's Hamlet at the Royal Court Theatre, directed by Richard Eyre. In 1981 he appeared in the Ray Davies/Barrie Keeffe musical Chorus Girls at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East and he was also seen in The Changing Room, directed by Lindsay Anderson, at the Royal Court Theatre. His last West End stage appearance was in 1997 as Doolittle in Pygmalion directed by Ray Cooney at the Albery Theatre.
The Changing Room is a 1971 play by David Storey, set in a men's changing room before, during and after a rugby league football game. It premiered at the Royal Court Theatre on 9 November 1971, directed by Lindsay Anderson. The 1973 Broadway production, directed by Michael Rudman, won several awards including the New York Drama Critics' Circle award for Best Play and the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for John Lithgow. The technical director for the play was the former Great Britain Rugby League captain Bev Risman.
At the play's core is a semi-pro Northern England rugby league team. During the week, its members are peaceable men toiling away at mindless, working class jobs. On Saturday, they prepare for gory combat on the playing field. The changing room is where they perform their pre-game initiation rites, strip down, loosen muscles, and get into their uniforms. After the match they return, often broken, muddy, and bloody, regretting their loss or giddy with victory in the communal shower. There is little in the way of plot, but Storey engages his audience with his ability to dissect his characters' hurts, hopes, desires, and fighting instincts.
Some cast members from the long running soap opera Coronation Street.
EastEnders - Charlie Slater Punches Harry Slater (4th October 2001)
EastEnders - Charlie Slater Punches Harry Slater (4th October 2001)
However, it was for his television roles that Elphick became best known. He briefly appeared in Coronation Street (1974) as Douglas Wormold, son of the landlord Edward, who for many years owned most of the properties in the road. Douglas unsuccessfully tried to buy the newsagent shop The Kabin from Len Fairclough. He played three characters in the popular Granada Television series Crown Court—in 1973 as a defendant, in 1975 as a witness (Frank Hollins, private secretary to a female soprano in the episode Songbirds out of Tune), and from 1975 to 1983 as the barrister Neville Griffiths Q.C..
He played one of the main roles in the film Black Island in 1978 for the Children's Film Foundation, played a villain in The Sweeney episode "One of Your Own" (1978) and played a policeman in The Professionals episode "Backtrack" (1979) and had a minor role in Hazell (1979), and appeared in the Dennis Potter play Blue Remembered Hills (1979). Elphick took the title role in Jack Pulman's six part comedy-drama Private Schulz (1981). Here he played alongside Ian Richardson the German forger Gerhard Schulz, who is conscripted into SS Counter Espionage during the Second World War to destroy the British economy by flooding it with forged money.
The six-part TV series Private Schulz was a hit when it first aired and has become something of a cult since it was first broadcast in 1981. Made by the BBC in collaboration with the Australian ABC, it was the last outing for the great TV writer Jack Pulman, whose I, Claudius adaptation had been one of the great successes of the 1970s and who was the BBC’s go-to man for adaptations of big novels (Leo Tolstoy’s War & Peace, Henry James’s The Golden Bowl, Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks).
He appeared as the Irish labourer Magowan during the first series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983) and starred as Sidney Mundy in the ITV sitcom Pull the Other One (1984), before playing Sam Tyler in four series of Three Up, Two Down (1985–89). In 1986 Elphick landed his biggest television success, Boon (1986–92, 1995). He played Ken Boon, a retired fireman who opened a motorbike despatch business and later became a private investigator. Boon was very successful and ran for seven series, attracting audiences of 11 million at its peak. There was also a one-off episode screened in 1995, two years after it had been made. During breaks from Boon, Elphick continued to act in film with cameo roles in The Krays (1990) and Let Him Have It (1991), and in 1991 he played Des King in Buddy's Song, starring Chesney Hawkes and Roger Daltrey.
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet - McGowan
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet - McGowan
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in Düsseldorf. The series was created by Franc Roddam after an idea from Mick Connell, a bricklayer from Stockton-on-Tees, and mostly written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who also wrote The Likely Lads, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Porridge. It starred Tim Healy, Kevin Whately, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall, Christopher Fairbank, Pat Roach and Gary Holton, with Noel Clarke replacing Holton for series three and four and the two-part finale. The series were broadcast on ITV in 1983–1984 and 1986. After a sixteen-year gap, two series and a Christmas special were shown on BBC One in 2002 and 2004.
In 2000, series 1, set in Germany, was ranked number #46 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes in a list compiled by the British Film Institute. In 2015, the 1980s series was voted ITV's Favourite TV Programme of all Time in a Radio Times readers' poll in order to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the station. The show was the subject of the first episode of the BBC documentary series Drama Connections in 2005.
Boon is a British television drama starring Michael Elphick, David Daker, and later Neil Morrissey. It was created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair and filmed by Central Television for ITV, and was originally broadcast between 1986 and 1995. It revolved around the life of an ex-fireman called Ken Boon. - a motorcycle-obsessed small time businessman who at the same time acts as a private investigator, bodyguard and general troubleshooter. Since 16 January 2017 it has been rerun on UKTV channel Drama. The show was memorable for its theme tune - Hi Ho Silver by Scottish singer Jim Diamond, which became a major UK top ten hit single in 1986.
Jim Diamond - Hi Ho Silver (Boon ) TOTP -1986
Jim Diamond - Hi Ho Silver (Boon ) TOTP -1986.
Boon s01e01 Box 13 🔥📺 Full Episode 🎬📽️🎞️ Series One 📺🔥
Boon s01e01 Box 13 🔥📺 Full Episode 🎬📽️🎞️ Series One 📺🔥
Buddy's Song is a 1991 British comedy-drama film starring Chesney Hawkes, Roger Daltrey, Sharon Duce and Michael Elphick, based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Nigel Hinton. The film follows a teenage boy, Buddy Clark (Hawkes), who is determined to make it as a pop star, aided by his father Terry (Daltrey). He struggles with young love, estranged parents and the problems associated with making it in the music business.
Eleven songs from the film, performed by Hawkes, were released on CD and vinyl in 1991. The album is known as The One and Only in the United States, as the film did not see a wide release there. Three singles from the album were released: "The One and Only", "I'm a Man Not a Boy" and "Secrets of the Heart".
The film was accompanied by a soundtrack album which featured Hawkes' song "The One and Only". It was filmed in London and various towns in the Thames Valley. The long-running teddy boy Rockabilly group Sandy Ford and The Flying Saucers play the roles of themselves in the film. Playing the part of Terry's friends, they offer support by rehearsing with Buddy and becoming his backing band. Buddy contributes vocals and rhythm guitar while Sandy Ford handles lead guitar duties.
The Flying Saucers were an influential Teddy Boy rockabilly band from Edmonton, North London, England. The group formed in 1972, released six albums, completed numerous world tours and appeared in the international film Blue Suede Shoes, before disbanding in 1986.
The Flying Saucers were formed in 1972 by bassist Pete Pritchard, drummer Terry Earl, guitarist Chris Townsend, and Rhythm guitarist/ vocalist Alan Jones. Jones and Townsend left the group in 1975 and were replaced by guitarist Nigel "Niggsy" Owen and vocalist Sandy Ford, who remained with the group. Jacko Buddin on saxophone was also added to the line up around this time. With help from a renewed interest in Rockabilly music and The British subculture movement known as Teddy Boy, The Flying Saucers toured Europe and earned recording contracts with EMI Music.
The Teddy Boy March 1976.
The Flying Saucers are best known for performing in the back of a truck during the 1976 Teddy Boy March in London. This march was part of a successful plan to promote the airplay of rockabilly music on BBC national Radio One. Within a matter of weeks, BBC disc jockeys Stuart Colman and Geoff Barker presented "It's Rock ‘n’ Roll," an hourly show which featured the music of bands making music in the style of 1950s rock music, and a long list of guest performers including The Flying Saucers, Dave Edmunds and Crazy Cavan & The Rhythm Rockers amongst many others. The 1976 Teddy Boy March is often credited as the spark which ignited the Rockabilly revival and explosion in popularity of younger rockabilly acts such as Stray Cats and The Blasters during the early 1980s
Julie Graham, Michael Elphick, Tom Hollander and the rest of the cast of Harry. Black and white. Five people stand in the door of a stone office building next to a sign saying ‘News Associates’. Julie Graham, in her early 20s, is front and centre in a black biker jacket with a ’69’ logo, high waisted jeans and an open shirt over a t-shirt. Her dark hair is shoulder length and unstyled, her expression confident and slightly mischievious. Behind her stands Elphick’s Harry, in a pin stripe double breasted suit and tie. Fifty something and solidly built, wearing glasses and a smug expression. To the right Tom Hollander is an ill fitting suit jacket and tie over baggy jeans. He was light, shoulder length hair brushed back and a friendly but gormless expression. To the left are the rest of the team, a young woman with folded arms and a friendly expression, and a slightly shifty looking older man dressed completely in black, shirt and tie. (c) Union Pictures/BBC Studios
David Copperfield is a two-part BBC television drama adaptation of Charles Dickens's 1850 novel of the same name, adapted by Adrian Hodges. The first part was shown on Christmas Day 1999 and the second part the following day. The production is the acting debut of Daniel Radcliffe, who would later rise to stardom as the title character of the Harry Potter film series, where he would collaborate with his David Copperfield co-stars Maggie Smith, Zoë Wanamaker, Imelda Staunton, Dawn French and Paul Whitehouse.
In 1993 Elphick took the role of a former Fleet Street journalist running a Darlington news agency in Harry (1993, 1995). He played the alcoholic and ruthless Harry Salter, who frequently used exploitation and underhand tactics to get a story. This series however was less successful and it was soon cancelled. Elphick went on to play Billy Bones in Ken Russell's televised version of Treasure Island (1995) and Barkis in David Copperfield (1999). Harry is a television drama series that was made by Union Pictures for the BBC, and shown on BBC1 between 18 September 1993 and 12 April 1995. The programme concerned a journalist called Harry Salter (played by Michael Elphick) who ran a news agency in the English town of Darlington in England.
David Copperfield - Starring Bob Hoskins and Daniel Radcliffe amongst others.
In 2001 he joined the cast of EastEnders, where he played Harry Slater, a romantic interest for Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor). The plotline indicated that Slater had sexually abused his niece, Kat Slater (Jessie Wallace), at the age of 13 and her "sister" Zoe (Michelle Ryan) was the daughter born to her when she became pregnant by him. Elphick's heavy drinking began to affect his performances, so the character promptly left the series and was killed off off-screen.
Michelle Claire Ryan (born 22nd April 1984) is an English actress. She played Zoe Slater on the BBC soap opera EastEnders (2000–2005). In 2007, she starred in the short-lived American television series Bionic Woman. She appeared as the evil sorceress Nimueh in the 2008 BBC fantasy series Merlin and as Lady Christina de Souza in the 2009 Doctor Who episode "Planet of the Dead".
Ryan also appeared in Cockneys vs Zombies, a comedy horror film about a team of bank robbers fighting the undead, directed by Matthias Hoene, alongside Georgia King, Rasmus Hardiker and Jack Doolan.The film was released in September 2012.
A member of a local theatre group since she was 10, she was picked for her role in EastEnders when she was 16 and first appeared on the show in September 2000. She left the series in June 2005.
Kathleen "Kat" Slater (also Moon) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jessie Wallace. She is also played by Kate Peck in a flashback in 2001 and Sumar-Elise Sandford in a flashback in 2018. Kat is the second eldest Slater family sister and first appeared on 18th September 2000. Kat's usual dress is very short skirts and leopard-print tops, with much make-up and heavy fake tan. Her initial stint saw her involved in many storylines, most significantly in a plot twist which sees her sister Zoe (Michelle Ryan), revealed to be her daughter after she was raped by her uncle Harry (Michael Elphick) as a child.
Another key aspect to the character's storylines is her marriage to Alfie Moon (Shane Richie), prior to which she became briefly engaged to Alfie's love rival Andy Hunter (Michael Higgs); after Kat jilted Andy on their wedding day, he blackmailed her into sleeping with him in his revenge bid against Alfie and Kat. Wallace has won multiple awards for her portrayal as Kat, who has become one of the show's best loved characters.
Alfie Moon from Eastenders.
Elphick met his long-term partner, schoolteacher Julia Alexander, in 1963 and remained with her until her death from cancer in 1996. The couple had a daughter, Kate. For many years Elphick struggled with alcoholism. He made the first of many attempts to stop drinking in 1988. He sought help from Alcoholics Anonymous in the early 1990s, although he admitted he was still drinking in 1993. In 1996, he admitted that he had begun drinking heavily again and also contemplated suicide after the death of his partner of 33 years. However he rallied and returned to the stage in Loot.
Kate Elphick who is Michael's daughter recalls how her mother Julia Alexander (pictured) hated the limelight and pub culture that was so loved by her father.
Michael with his daughter Kate. Kate Elphick recalls the shame and embarrassment of her father's fame and alcoholism in her new book, Michael Elphick: The Great Pretender
Kate Elphick has written the book in remarkable candour alongside an old family friend.
Elphick was also a remarkable and often underrated actor, whose ascent to stardom in 1986 as tough guy Boon — his most populist and popular role — coincided with Kate’s early adolescence.
A teacher, Julia was the childhood sweetheart to whom Elphick remained famously unmarried for more than three decades. He met her when he was 16 and she 18, and until she died of cancer, aged 50, in 1996, he remained devoted to her in his own peculiar way. Kate recalls that after her father’s death, a string of former girlfriends sent letters claiming special relationships with him. She was sceptical.
Kate also remembers joyous times with her dad, most notably the four years of his sobriety when she was aged 13 to 17. He’d been given an ultimatum by his bosses at Boon: dry out or ship out, and he’d chosen (temporarily) to do the former. ‘Dad and I had these wonderful conversations. We could talk about anything — the possibility of life on other planets, philosophy, religion — and he was just such a deep and intelligent thinker. He was compassionate and so charismatic. He had chutzpah and sparkle.
In his last television role in Eastenders the years of heavy drinking had a visible effect on his paunchy and unkempt appearance. Maybe the writers of Eastenders could of wrote him in as an alcoholic...
The actor also confessed to having taken cocaine and once, while high on drugs, grabbing a shotgun and chasing a gang of thugs after he had been carjacked near his villa in Portugal. During the late eighties and early nineties, he had a brief, but ultimately unsuccessful business interest in The White Swan public house at Henley-in-Arden. Elphick was admitted to the Priory Hospital in Roehampton, in an attempt to beat his addictions. Reports of his alcohol abuse persisted, however, and during his brief spell on EastEnders during 2001, it was reported that the BBC was considering dropping his character if his drinking was not curtailed.
The White Swan public house at Henley-in-Arden.
The White Swan Hotel is a 16th century coaching inn and has been providing accommodation for travellers for over 600 years in the heart of Shakespeare’s county.
On 7th September 2002, Elphick died of a heart attack complicated by his drinking problem. He had collapsed at his home in Willesden Green, London, after complaining of pains. He was rushed to hospital where he died, aged 55, shortly before his 56th birthday. His funeral was held at Chichester Crematorium.
SteakStones Hot Stone Cooking - How to Video
SteakStones Hot Stone Cooking - How to Video.
