
Ray Smith
Actor · 1936 – 1991 · Trealaw, Glamorgan, Wales, UK
Ray Smith (1 May 1936 – 15 December 1991) was a Welsh actor who played the tough-talking police chief, Detective Superintendent Gordon Spikings, in the television series Dempsey and Makepeace. He was the first actor to play Brother Cadfael for BBC radio, and played a memorable Dai Bando in the BBC's 1975 adaptation of How Green Was My Valley - a touching performance given that Smith;s own father was a miner killed in a pit accident when Smith was just three years old. His final role work was in the TV adaptation of Kingsley Amis' novel, The Old Devils. He died just before filming concluded at the age of 55 from a massive heart attack and won the posthumous BAFTA Cymru Award for Best Actor in 1992.
Series23
TV5.7DramaCrown Court is an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984.
Crown Court
1972 · 6 votes
TV7.0DramaITV Playhouse is a British comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a format that would inspire Dramarama. Actors appearing in the series included Leslie Anderson, Gwen Nelson, Ricky Alleyne, Pat Heywood, Michael Elphick, Ian Hendry, Edward Woodward, Margaret Lockwood, Jessie Matthews and Lloyd Peters.
ITV Playhouse
1967 · 3 votes
TV4.8CrimeDramaNo Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series Murder Bag and Crime Sheet, all starring Raymond Francis as Detective Superintendent, later Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart.
No Hiding Place
1959 · 4 votes
TV7.0DramaCrimeThriller is a British television series, originally broadcast in the UK from 1973 to 1976. It is an anthology series: each episode has a self-contained story and its own cast. As the title suggests, each story is a thriller of some variety, from tales of the supernatural to down-to-earth whodunits.
Thriller
1973 · 12 votes
TV7.5MysteryCrimeAn anthology series produced by Thames Television, comprised of short mystery, suspense or crime adaptations featuring, as the title suggests, detectives who were literary contemporaries of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes
1971 · 11 votes
TV8.2CrimeDramaPublic Eye is a British television drama broadcast from 1965 to 1975 on ITV1. Produced by ABC Television for three series, and Thames Television for a further four, the programme follows the investigations and cases handled by the unglamourous enquiry agent Frank Marker.
Public Eye
1965 · 6 votes
TV6.8Action & AdventureDramaDempsey and Makepeace is a British television crime drama made by London Weekend Television for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham. The leading roles were played by Michael Brandon and Glynis Barber, who later married each other on 18 November 1989. The series combined elements of previous series such as the mis-matching of British and American crime-fighters from different classes as seen in The Persuaders! and the action of The Professionals.
Dempsey and Makepeace
1985 · 33 votes
TV7.0Action & AdventureDramaCallan is the title of a British television series set in the murky world of espionage. Originally produced by ABC Weekend Television and later Thames Television, it was aired on the ITV network over four seasons spread out between 1967 and 1972. The series starred Edward Woodward as David Callan, a reluctant professional killer for a shadowy branch of the British Government's intelligence services known as 'the Section'.
Callan
1967 · 10 votes
TV6.3CrimeDramaNew Scotland Yard is a police drama series produced by London Weekend Television for ITV from 1972 and 1974. It features the activities of two officers from the Criminal Investigations Department in the Metropolitan Police force headquarters at New Scotland Yard, as they dealt with the assorted villains of the day.
New Scotland Yard
1972 · 3 votes
TV8.3DramaThe Main Chance was a British television series which first aired on ITV between 1969,1970,1972 and 1975. A drama, it depicts the sudden transformation in the life of solicitor David Main who relocates from London to Leeds.
The Main Chance
1969 · 4 votes
TV7.0DramaCrimeA crime drama set in Southampton following a team of detectives and the cases they solve.
Target
1977 · 4 votes
TV8.2DramaWar & PoliticsEnemy At The Door is a British television drama series made by London Weekend Television for ITV. The series was shown between 1978 and 1980 and dealt with the German occupation of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, during the Second World War. The programme generated a certain amount of criticism in Guernsey, particularly for being obviously filmed on Jersey despite being ostensibly set on Guernsey. The series also marked the TV debut of Anthony Head as a member of the island resistance. The theme music was by Wilfred Josephs.
Enemy at the Door
1978 · 5 votes
- TVDrama
Dramatisations of three different women, three different cases—Constance Kent (episodes 1–8), Mary Blandy (9–14), and Adelaide Bartlett (15–22)—all 18th- and 19th-century murderesses.
TV7.7DramaWar & PoliticsColditz is a British television series co-produced by the BBC and Universal Studios and screened between 1972 and 1974. The series deals with Allied prisoners of war imprisoned at the supposedly escape-proof Colditz Castle when designated Oflag IV-C during World War II, and their many attempts to escape captivity, as well as the relationships formed between the various nationalities and their German captors.
Colditz
1972 · 14 votes
- TVDrama
A series of plays from Birmingham by new writers.
TV7.5CrimeDramaFollows the linked fates of nine bank robbers, led by George. It begins with the nine men meeting in prison during their appeal and traces each individual after the group escape from custody.
Villains
1972 · 4 votes
TV7.1DramaAction & AdventureMasada is a 1981 American historical drama television miniseries aired on ABC under the tentpole ABC Novel for Television. The screenplay by Joel Oliansky is based on Ernest Gann's 1971 novel The Antagonists. A dramatization of the historical siege of the Masada citadel in Roman Palestine by legions of the Roman Empire in AD 73. A siege that ended when the Roman armies entered the fortress, only to discover the mass suicide by the Jewish defenders when defeat became imminent.
Masada
1981 · 65 votes
TV8.5MysteryDramaA horror anthology series, with each episode featuring a different eerie tale.
The Frighteners
1972 · 2 votes
- TV5.0Drama
Anthology of self-contained dramas that aired from 1977 to 1978.
The Sunday Drama
1977 · 1 votes
TV7.5Drama18 short plays written especially for TV, an opportunity for up-and-coming directors such as floor manager Alan Clarke, who ended up doing 10 of the episodes. Some top ranking performers were attracted to the series.
Half Hour Story
1967 · 2 votes
TV4.6DramaAn anthology series adapted from plays and short stories by A.E Coppard and H.E. Bates, depicting English country life and rural romance at the turn of the 20th-century. It presents unsentimental stories of human relationships and raw emotions – heartfelt passions, crippling frustrations, unspoken love and destructive jealousy.
Country Matters
1972 · 5 votes
TV7.3DramaFollowing the death of the sitting Labour Party Member of Parliament, Bill Brand is selected as Labour candidate for a Lancashire textile constituency.
Bill Brand
1976 · 4 votes
TV6.7Anthology series in which characters find themselves in weird and scary situations. Not evoked by the supernatural but by other people.
Shadows of Fear
1970 · 3 votes
Movies20
Movie6.9ActionWarCzechoslovakia, 1942. Three brave Czech patriots risk everything to rid their country of its brutal Nazi leader, SS-General Reinhard Heydrich.
Operation: Daybreak
1975 · 50 votes
Movie6.8CrimeWhen the detective in charge of investigating a series of bank robberies starts to get too close to the culprits, they set up a blackmail scheme to warn him off. But when the crooks begin to fall out with each other, the police learn the truth.
The Informers
1963 · 13 votes
Movie10.0TV MovieWhen an elderly woman is hospitalised, the truth behind her illegal adoption of 14 children is revealed.
Mrs. Lawrence Will Look After It
1968 · 1 votes
Movie6.1ComedyDramaThe delightful if peculiar story of a day in the life of a small, Welsh fishing village called "Llareggub" in which we meet a host of curious characters (and ghosts) through the 'eyes' of Blind Captain Cat.
Under Milk Wood
1972 · 23 votes
Movie6.5DramaWarIn 1939, Sir Robert Thorndyke takes aim at Adolf Hitler with a high powered rifle, but the shot misses its mark. Captured and tortured by the Gestapo and left for dead, Sir Robert makes his way back to England where he discovers the Gestapo has followed him. Knowing that his government would turn him over to German authorities, Sir Robert goes underground in his battle with his pursuers.
Rogue Male
1976 · 23 votes
Movie6.0ThrillerA British policeman (John Gregson) tries to find a rich man's (Alec Clunes) son before a kidnapper's (Robert Shaw) time bomb blows.
Tomorrow at Ten
1963 · 13 votes
MovieDramaTV MovieDecades after the end of World War II, escaped war criminal Klaus Barbie is brought to justice.
MovieDramaHistoryThe Life and Times of David Lloyd George charts the life of the controversial Liberal politician with Philip Madoc in the titular role. The title theme, Chi Mai, was by Ennio Morricone
Movie9.0TV MovieHorrorAn American jazz pianist, blinded in a London bank robbery ten years before, makes his first return appearance in England at an engangement party where he believes he hears the voice of the gunman who cost him his sight.
The Next Voice You See
1975 · 3 votes
Movie6.7DramaTV MovieA no-nonsense businessman, Mr. Wilkie, is interviewed for a position with a top-of-the-line hotel chain corporation. During the interview, Wilkie attempts to complete a shaggy-dog story. His frustrations lead to a total breakdown. He suddenly snaps and pulls a gun on the interviewers.
Shaggy Dog
1968 · 3 votes
Movie7.0DramaThis compelling emotional drama stars Carol White as a young single mother who finds herself caught between two people – a local priest and a folk singer – each of whom wants to convert her to his own worldview. An elegy to a younger generation looking for something to believe in, Made co-stars hugely influential folk-rock musician Roy Harper in his screen debut. Produced by Joseph Janni – who previously made the astonishingly successful Poor Cow with White – directed by The Long Good Friday's John Mackenzie and featuring new songs specially composed by Harper.
Made
1972 · 3 votes
MovieCrimeMysteryProfessional killer Kersten arrives in England and is hired by Donald Edwards to murder his wife Helene. But Helene's lover Robert Vaughan discovers the plot and he trails Kersten and Edwards to a country cottage.
Movie9.0ComedyTV MovieOlive Major is determined that her year of office as Mayor will be a happy and successful one. But her appointment of Ex-Warrant Officer Higham as Attendant and Mace-bearer causes the storm-clouds to gather over Medburgh Town Hall.
The Mayor's Charity
1977 · 1 votes
- Movie7.0DramaTV Movie
Stella escapes an unhappy relationship to live in a bedsit. She meets another man which forces her to make decisions about her life.
Stella
1968 · 2 votes
Movie6.2DramaHistoryBased on the 1925 novel The Sailor's Return by David Garnett. A sailor returns to his hometown to open a pub bringing with him his new black wife. Very quickly they find themselves ostracised by the community.
The Sailor's Return
1978 · 6 votes
- MovieDramaTV Movie
Scientists who worked for the allies on the development of the atom bomb in World War II are revealed to be Russian agents.
The Atom Spies
1979
Movie5.8ThrillerJo and Mark are working the "outraged husband" racket when they fall foul of the sinister Kleinie....
The Painted Smile
1962 · 13 votes
Movie5.5DramaWhen England's aging King Lear renounces his throne to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, treachery, madness and murder soon follow. After banishing Cordelia, his most loyal daughter, Lear is betrayed and cast out by her elder sisters Regan and Goneril. Meanwhile, evil brews at the Gloucester castle as Edgar falls victim to his brother's deception. As battle lines are drawn and backs are stabbed, Lear rages against a fearsome storm. Can a man undo his wrongs? Will Cordelia be saved? Or will the wheels of fate crush all in its way?
King Lear
1974 · 4 votes
- Movie
Part of BFI collection "Running a Railway."
- MovieDramaTV Movie