
Peter McNamara
Actor · Edmonton, Middlesex, England, UK
Peter McNamara, born in London and attended the National Youth Theatre and trained at LAMDA. Possibly best known as Ralph Passmore, the nemesis of Tucker Jenkin's in Tucker's Luck (1983), the spin off series of Phil Redmond's Grange Hill (1978). Peter was known for his fantastic singing voice in many theatre musical productions including South Pacific. He started out his long list of jobs as a supporting artist, working on such films as Quadrophenia (1979), The Shining (1980), Chariots of Fire (1981) and Star Wars (1977), before being cast in Grange Hill (1978). He worked frequently with Christopher Menaul who cast him as a Chelsea skinhead Rory in The Treatment (1984) and previously Tucker's Luck (1983). He became a well respected character actor in a career that eventually spanned four decades, he was often called upon to play the menacing hard-man and when Denzel Washington came to London to work on For Queen & Country (1988), Peter was asked to show him around and guide him on the Cockney accent. In 1990, Peter starred as Kenno in the controversial football hooligan film, Arrivederci Millwall (1990), one of the first films to tackle that subject. He went onto play Jimmy Cadogan in the children's TV series; Oasis (1993) in 1993 and a spot on 99-1 (1994) which reunited him with Arrivederci Millwall (1990) director Charles McDougall. Despite his hard-man roles Peter often played in a lot of comedy TV shows including Desmond's (1989) and Harry Enfield and Chums (1994). In 1995, he appeared in Funny Bones (1995) with Lee Evans, Jerry Lewis, Oliver Platt and Oliver Reed. Then in 1996 he was seen in the series No Bananas (1996) as DS Howard. He was in both the film and TV series of London's Burning (1988) and played recurring roles in numerous other British TV shows including Thief Takers (1995), The Bill (1984), Trial & Retribution (1997), Silent Witness (1996) and Casualty (1986). In 2002, he appeared as Frederick Michael Argyle in The Gathering (2002) where he acted alongside Christina Ricci, Ioan Gruffudd and Stephen Dillane. In 2004, he appeared in an extraordinary experimental drama documentary called Pissed on the Job (2004), Peter played a heavy drinker who was also a teacher, the film which can be seen online is a great example of his work, his subtle performance is extremely realistic in this damning piece about the dangers of alcohol. He showed up as a vampire drug dealer in the film Dead Cert (2010) in 2010 and had been working on some low budget films in the latter years of his career that sadly never got released due to budget and various technical issues. His last credit Dinklebrain (2012) was not the last film he made, rumour has it that he was very much actively making some independent short films, which hopefully will emerge in the near future. Sadly, Peter McNamara died in May 2018 at the age of 57 and he was cremated at Enfield Crematorium on 14th June 2018, a week after what would have been his 58th birthday. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Shona M
Movies20
Movie8.2HorrorThrillerJack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter. But they aren't prepared for the madness that lurks within.
The Shining
1980 · 19K votes
Movie7.2CrimeThrillerIn the late 1970s, Cockney crime boss Harold Shand, a gangster trying to become a legitimate property mogul, has big plans to get the American Mafia to bankroll his transformation of a derelict area of London into the possible venue for a future Olympic Games. However, a series of bombings targets his empire on the very weekend the Americans are in town. Shand is convinced there is a traitor in his organization, and sets out to eliminate the rat in typically ruthless fashion.
The Long Good Friday
1980 · 450 votes
Movie5.4CrimeDramaA handsome jewel thief is arrested and in order to avoid prison, must break into the heavily guarded German Embassy to steal millions in gems.
Lassiter
1984 · 44 votes
Movie5.7HorrorThrillerItinerant traveler Cassie Grant comes out of a car accident in Glastonbury, England, with partial memory loss. The deeply regretful driver allows her to convalesce at a large rural home, where she becomes friends with the woman's stepson, Michael. As Cassie delves into Michael's research about an old, newly discovered area church, it triggers some strange premonitions and offers gradual clues about her deeper links to this British community.
The Gathering
2003 · 206 votes
Movie7.0DramaMusicBased on the 1973 rock opera album of the same name by The Who, this is the story of 60s teenager Jimmy. At work he slaves in a dead-end job. While after, he shops for tailored suits and rides his scooter as part of the London Mod scene.
Quadrophenia
1979 · 301 votes
Movie6.6ComedyTommy Fawkes wants to be a successful comedian. After his Las Vegas debut is a failure, he returns to Blackpool where his father—also a comedian—started, and where he spent the summers of his childhood.
Funny Bones
1995 · 54 votes
Movie6.3CrimeComedyTwo con artists hire an unwitting medical-school student as a secretary for their latest scam.
Shooting Fish
1997 · 87 votes
Movie5.3DramaNine short stories based on the true experiences of London Underground passengers: "Mr. Cool" (Amy Jenkins, dir.); "Horny" (Stephen Hopkins); "Grasshopper" (Menhaj Huda); "My Father the Liar" (Bob Hoskins); "Bone" (Ewan McGregor); "Mouth" (Armando Iannucci); "A Bird in the Hand" (Jude Law); "Rosebud" (Gaby Dellal); "Steal Away" (Charles McDougall)
Tube Tales
1999 · 19 votes
Movie5.3DramaThrillerA retired British soldier struggles to adjust to everyday life, with increasing difficulty.
For Queen & Country
1988 · 55 votes
Movie6.3ComedyCrimeHalf-way through his 12-year prison sentence for an incompetent armed robbery, Jimmy Hands gets a lucky break: he's transferred to a prison from which he can probably escape. He convinces the governor to stage a musical in an old chapel next to the prison's outer wall. He rounds up volunteer actors and puts his escape plan into production. Two other barriers, besides the wall, confront him: the arrival of a nasty inmate, John Toombes, who insists on joining the escape, and Jimmy's feelings of attraction for Anabel, a social worker who agrees to appear in the play. Opening night approaches: is this Jimmy's breakout performance?
Lucky Break
2001 · 39 votes
Movie5.4DramaTV MovieWhen widowed cabbie Ray and retired teacher Jim meet by chance, they discover they long for the same things from life: adventure, challenge and love. Together Ray and Jim discover that being 64 means a new beginning: it's time to try the things they never dared in their youth.
When I'm Sixty-Four
2004 · 17 votes
Movie4.3ThrillerHorrorA gang of tough London gangsters get more than they bargained for when a group of businessmen make an offer to buy their club, the Inferno. They turn out to be nothing less than Vampires wanting their land back and turn viciously on the gangsters when their demands are not met.
Dead Cert
2010 · 22 votes
Movie7.0CrimeDramaA dramatized speculation of what happened in November 1983 when Micky McAvoy and some of his mates planned a heist and were surprised when they discovered they'd stumbled across a large stash of gold. But getting the gold away without getting caught is only the beginning of their troubles. Realizing the riches the gold represents is difficult, and honor among thieves may only be a myth.
Fool's Gold: The Story Of The Brink's Mat Robbery
1992 · 2 votes
Movie8.5DramaTV MovieIt's Josie Ingham's first day at Blackwall Firestation but things aren't going so well being the only female firefighter in an all-male team. Not only does she have to prove to them that she can do the job, problems at home complicate her life even further. Outside, in the heart of the city, tensions are rising to the extreme, Blue Watch have a long night ahead.
London's Burning: The Movie
1986 · 4 votes
- Movie10.0
Graham studied medicine, but never qualified due to being expelled from medical school for theft. He did pass the final exams, but while being paid to do them for someone else, which he feels qualifies him to practice medicine privately. Dispensing drugs and bogus certificates for cash leads to his arrest and then involvement with a criminal family, one of whom is his patient and a police undercover operation.
Thin Ice
2000 · 1 votes
Movie7.0With a drug-addled lifestyle and a prison sentence firmly behind him, Abel is determined to go straight and stay clean... as soon as he's seen to one final heist. In the house that he burgles he comes across Elizabeth - rich, desperate, hopelessly addicted to a heroin and unconscious. Saving her from the clutched of an overdose, Abel stays out of compassion which eventually evolves into attraction. But when Abel takes on Elizabeth he also takes on her family. His resolution to go straight has to go on the back burner while he struggles against a drugs conspiracy that stretched from the slums of the East End to the Houses of Parliament.
Smack and Thistle
1991 · 1 votes
MovieDramaThrillerA trio of con-artists rip off some gangsters and lie low in a rented house. Christy tries to see the sting through whilst an unwanted guest, Phil, soon has Nick under his spell and Chloe firmly in his sights.
Break Clause
2019
- Movie10.0Drama
Liam is a south London teenager, out of a job, living for Saturday afternoon, for the excitement of the match and the hope of a fight after it. A beautiful girl and a meeting with a priest give him a glimpse of a different life - but his violent brother won't let him go so easily. TV adaptation of the play by Jonathan Moore.
The Treatment
1984 · 1 votes
MovieDramaDocumentaryExperimental dramadoc about high-functioning alcoholics and problem drinking in the workplace. Based on the testimony of real people, with actors playing out their stories and the whole film mimicking the texture of a witty and gritty observational documentary.
Movie6.0DramaTV MovieA group of Millwall supporting hooligans travels to Spain for the 1982 World Cup Finals soon after the start of the Falklands War. One member of the gang is bent on avenging a personal loss.
Arrivederci Millwall
1990 · 3 votes
Series12
TV6.2DramaSoapDrama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.
Casualty
1986 · 88 votes
TV6.7DramaChildren's drama series following the lives of students and teachers at Grange Hill comprehensive school.
Grange Hill
1978 · 26 votes
TV7.6DramaCrimeJack Frost is a gritty, dogged and unconventional detective with sympathy for the underdog and an instinct for moral justice who attracts trouble like a magnet. Despite some animosity with his superintendent, Norman “Horn-rimmed Harry” Mullett, Frost and his ever-changing roster of assistants manage to solve cases via his clever mind, good heart, and cool touch.
A Touch of Frost
1992 · 79 votes
TV6.8CrimeDramaWycliffe is a British television series, based on W. J. Burley's novels about Detective Superintendent Charles Wycliffe. It was produced by HTV and broadcast on the ITV Network, following a pilot episode on 7 August 1993, between 24 July 1994 and 5 July 1998. The series was filmed in Cornwall, with a production office in Truro. Music for the series was composed by Nigel Hess and was awarded the Royal Television Society award for the best television theme. Wycliffe is played by Jack Shepherd, assisted by DI Doug Kersey and DI Lucy Lane. Each episode deals with a murder investigation. In the early series, the stories are adapted from Burley's books and are in classic whodunit style, often with quirky characters and plot elements. In later seasons, the tone becomes more naturalistic and there is more emphasis on internal politics within the police.
Wycliffe
1994 · 5 votes
TV6.8CrimeDramaDevised and written by Lynda La Plante as a follow-on from her successful television series Prime Suspect, this vast police procedural follows police detectives in England as they investigate crimes and the trials that come about as a result.
Trial & Retribution
1997 · 13 votes
TV7.3ComedyDramaLytton's Diary is a 1985–86 British comedy-drama programme created and written by Peter Bowles and Philip Broadley. Produced by Thames Television for ITV, it originated as a single play on the anthology programme Storyboard before expanding into two popular series, known for their mix of glamour, intrigue, and social commentary. Bowles stars as Neville Lytton, a suave and successful Fleet Street gossip columnist for the Daily News. Lytton navigates the world of high-society scandals, political corruption, and personal challenges, balancing his professional life with his love life and his ambition to write a novel.
Lytton's Diary
1985 · 3 votes
TV7.0DramaAfter eight years in prison for a crime he didn't commit – the murder of his wife – John Madson has been released and seeks revenge on the policeman that framed him, DI Rourke. He meets Magda, a feisty barrister, willing to help him legally and also gets him a job as an outside clerk in her chambers. As the wheels of justice grind slowly forward, Madson begins to rebuild his life and feels the need to help Magda's other clients, who the law appears to be treating unfairly.
Madson
1996 · 3 votes
TVCrimeDramaImplicated in an enquiry, maverick undercover DI Mick Raynor goes deep undercover to infiltrate dangerous criminal networks, often bending the rules in order to get results.
99-1
1994
TV8.2DramaFormer soldiers in Britain's elite Parachute Regiment struggle to come to terms with civilian life after leaving the army.
Civvies
1992 · 4 votes
TV7.0DramaFamilyTucker's Luck was a British television series made by the BBC between 1983 and 1985. The series is a spin-off from the school drama Grange Hill and capitalised on the popularity of one of the series' original characters — Peter "Tucker" Jenkins, played by Todd Carty. Tucker's Luck followed the exploits of Tucker and his friends, Alan Humphries and Tommy Watson, after they had left school and their attempts to find employment and cope out there in the "real world". Three series were made, with several former Grange Hill cast members reprising their roles for the spin-off, although the programme never came close to matching the popularity of Grange Hill. The third and final series saw the first appearances of Tucker's younger sister, eight-year old Rhona, and Tucker's elder brother Barry.
Tucker's Luck
1983 · 3 votes
TV6.3ComedyTandoori Nights is a Channel 4 sitcom broadcast in two six-episode series from 1985 to 1987. The programme focuses on the rivalry between two Indian restaurants in East London: The Jewel in the Crown and The Far Pavilions.
Tandoori Nights
1985 · 3 votes
- TV
Oasis was a short lived CITV drama series which was about a group of children who ran an inner city farm. It's best known for featuring John Simm and Dean Gaffney, who later went on to be in the BBC soap EastEnders. It was also set in wasteland site in south London and might have had something to do with graffiti. The drama series ran from 5 January to 9 March 1993 for 10 episodes, made by Zenith North, the team behind Byker Grove for Carlton; their first children's drama series for the ITV network.
Oasis
1993