
Ray Brooks
Actor · 1939 – 2025 · Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK
Ray Brooks was a British actor famous for his role as the narrator in the classic children's cartoon series Mr Benn, for the films The Knack...And How To Get It, Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150AD and Cathy Come Home, and for the TV series Big Deal and Growing Pains. In later years he played Joe Macer, the husband and murderer of Albert Square stalwart Pauline Fowler, in the BBC's long running soap opera EastEnders and has wrote several books, including his autobiography. He died at the age of 86 on 9th August 2025 following a short illness. He had been living with dementia in his final years.
Series24
TV4.2SoapDramaThe everyday lives of working-class residents of Albert Square, a traditional Victorian square of terrace houses surrounding a park in the East End of London's Walford borough.
EastEnders
1985 · 229 votes
TV6.6DramaPlay for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted. The individual episodes were between fifty and a hundred minutes in duration.
Play for Today
1970 · 10 votes
TV5.3Talk ShowChat show hosted by Terry Wogan, featuring live studio interviews with famous and notable personalities.
Wogan
1982 · 7 votes
TV5.2DramaA BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
BBC Play of the Month
1965 · 8 votes
TV7.8Action & AdventureCrimeA quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).
The Avengers
1961 · 156 votes
TV7.2DramaTheatre 625 is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title referred to its production and transmission being in the higher-definition 625-line format, which only BBC2 used at the time.
Theatre 625
1964 · 5 votes
TV5.2DramaAn anthology series of television plays which aired on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured.
The Wednesday Play
1964 · 5 votes
TV7.0Anthology series of dramatic works.
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969 · 3 votes
TV7.1DramaComedyRumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It stars Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an aging London barrister who defends any and all clients, and has been spun off into a series of short stories, novels, and radio programmes.
Rumpole of the Bailey
1975 · 24 votes
TV4.3DramaAn anthology of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short length, and which therefore attracted many writers who later became well known.
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965 · 8 votes
TV9.0DramaThe Expert is a British television series produced by the BBC between 1968 and 1976. The series starred Marius Goring as Dr. John Hardy, a pathologist working for the Home Office and was essentially a police procedural drama, with Hardy bringing his forensic knowledge to solve various cases. The Expert was created and produced by Gerard Glaister. The series was also one of the first BBC dramas to be made in colour, and throughout its four series had numerous high quality guest appearances by actors such as John Carson, Peter Copley, Rachel Kempson, Peter Vaughan, Clive Swift, Geoffrey Palmer, Peter Barkworth, Jean Marsh, Ray Brooks, George Sewell, Anthony Valentine, Bernard Lee, Lee Montague, Geoffrey Bayldon, Mike Pratt, Edward Fox, André Morell, Brian Blessed, Nigel Stock, Philip Madoc and Warren Clarke.
The Expert
1968 · 2 votes
TV7.0DramaGideon's Way is a British television crime series made by ITC Entertainment in 1964/65, based on the novels by John Creasey. The series was made at Elstree in twin production with The Saint TV series. It starred Liverpudlian John Gregson in the title role as Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard, with Alexander Davion as his assistant, Detective Chief Inspector David Keen, Reginald Jessup as Det. Superintendent LeMaitre, Ian Rossiter as Detective Chief Superintendent Joe Bell and Basil Dignam as Commissioner Scott-Marle. The show did not acknowledge any help from Scotland Yard, any other police force or advisor. Daphne Anderson starred as his wife, Kate with Giles Watling as young son, Malcolm, Richard James as older son, Matthew who seemed to have a lot of new girlfriends and Andrea Allan as daughter, Pru. Unusually for police stories, Gideon was shown as a family man at home though urgent phone calls from his bosses tend to disrupt family plans too often. However, he did admit in "State Visit" that his wife had walked out on him for a while years ago when he put the job first and her second. They live in an expensive detached house in Chelsea.
Gideon's Way
1965 · 5 votes
- TV6.0
Open Air was BBC1's flagship programme for their new daytime service which began on 27 October 1986. It discussed all aspects of television and also tried to answer any questions which viewers had.
Open Air
1986 · 3 votes
TV6.4DramaSci-Fi & FantasyDoomwatch is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC, which ran on BBC 1 between 1970 and 1972. The series was set in the then present-day, and dealt with a scientific government agency led by Doctor Spencer Quist, responsible for investigating and combating various ecological and technological dangers. The series was followed by a film adaptation produced by Tigon British Film Productions and released in 1972, and a revival TV film was broadcast on Channel 5 in 1999.
Doomwatch
1970 · 6 votes
TV7.7FamilyA British magic show and variety show that aired on BBC1 from 9 June 1979 to 18 June 1994. Daniels' assistant throughout the series was Debbie McGee, whom he married in 1988. At its peak in the 1980s, the show regularly attracted viewing figures of 15 million and was sold to 43 countries.
The Paul Daniels Magic Show
1979 · 3 votes
TV6.9CrimeDramaCentred on the cases of P. D. James' gentleman detective Adam Dalgliesh. In addition to his career as a policeman, Dalgliesh is also a published poet and an intensely private man.
Dalgliesh
1983 · 7 votes
TV7.3DramaThe ups and downs of small time London gambler Robby Box, and the effect that his poker addiction has on his long suffering girlfriend Jan Oliver and family.
Big Deal
1984 · 4 votes
TV7.0ComedySci-Fi & FantasyRandall and Hopkirk (Deceased) is a British private detective television series. In the initial episode Hopkirk is murdered during an investigation, but returns as a ghost. Randall is the only main character able to see or hear him, although certain minor characters are also able to do so in various circumstances throughout the series.
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
1969 · 18 votes
TV7.0ComedyDramaPat Hollingsworth fancies the idea of fostering. But can she convert her husband Tom and their three teenage children to her way of thinking?
Growing Pains
1992 · 2 votes
TVDramaComedyAnthology series of love stories.
Boy Meets Girl
1967
- TV6.5ComedyDrama
Black and Blue was a BBC TV comedy-drama series, first broadcast in 1973. The show consisted of six 50–60 minutes episodes, each a separate self-contained playlet. The only connection was the Black and Blue humour theme. The first episode was broadcast on 14 August 1973, with the finale on 18 September 1973. The first, Secrets, was wiped, only surviving thanks to a domestic videotape copy made from the master by producer Mark Shivas.
Black and Blue
1973 · 2 votes
- TVDrama
Trapped (1967) is a 12-episode British drama anthology series produced by Associated Television (ATV) and broadcast in the UK during the summer and autumn of 1967. The series focused on the emotional struggles and complex moral situations of characters trapped in difficult or inescapable circumstances.
Trapped
1967
- TV7.0Drama
Blackmail, in all its meanings and forms, was the central theme of the episodes comprising this series.
Blackmail
1965 · 1 votes
TV6.0DramaArmchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.
Armchair Theatre
1956 · 6 votes
Movies22
Movie6.3FamilyFantasyAn all-star cast highlights this vibrant musical adaptation of Lewis Carroll's immortal tale. One day, plucky young Alice follows a white rabbit down a hole and discovers a world of bizarre characters.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
1972 · 50 votes
Movie6.5AdventureHistoryDefiant's crew is part of a fleet-wide movement to present a petition of grievances to the Admiralty. Violence must be no part of it. The continual sadism of Defiant's first officer makes this difficult, and when the captain is disabled, the chance for violence increases.
H.M.S. Defiant
1962 · 61 votes
Movie6.2FamilyScience FictionDoctor Who and his companions are hurled into the future and make a horrifying discovery: the Daleks have conquered Earth! The metal fiends have devastated entire continents and turned the survivors into Robomen.
Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.
1966 · 106 votes
Movie5.8ComedyCelebrating twenty years of classic Carry On films, two of the films’ best-loved stars, Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor return to Pinewood film studios to unwrap some rib-tickling moments from the series. From the original, military mayhem of Carry On Sergeant, through to the really ancient archaeological gags of Carry On Behind, our saucy hosts get their titters out for this laugh-a-second gallop through the most successful series of British comedy films ever made.
That's Carry On!
1977 · 25 votes
Movie6.0ComedyRomanceA nebbish schoolteacher begs his smooth (and misogynistic) pal to teach him 'the knack' – how to score with women. Serendipitously, the men meet up with a new girl in town, as well as a friendly lunatic who can’t help but paint things white.
The Knack... and How to Get It
1965 · 80 votes
Movie5.8DramaThrillerWhen the British government orders the assassination of an Air Ministry official suspected of leaking top secret intel, their top assassin assigned to the job discovers there may be more to the hit than meets the eye.
Assassin
1973 · 8 votes
Movie4.4ComedyLight-hearted and occasionally unclothed adaptation of a British comic strip in the over-the-top, on-beyond-Bond spy fantasy vein. Based on the Daily Mail comic strip.
Tiffany Jones
1973 · 12 votes
Movie4.2WarDirected by cult British director John Krish, the film was sponsored by the Army Kinematograph Corporation. This tightly plotted drama shows British POWs enduring brainwashing and torture during the Korean War, thereby revealing what a soldier could expect if he was ever captured by enemy forces.
Captured
1959 · 8 votes
Movie7.5DramaMusicFour teen-aged Teds are persuaded to form a rock group and undertake the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme to keep them out of trouble.
Some People
1962 · 6 votes
Movie6.3ComedyA group of holidaymakers head for the Spanish resort of Elsbels for a 4-day visit. When they get there, they find the Hotel still hasn't been finished being built, and the weather is awful. And there is something strange about the staff—they all look very similar. To top it all off, the weather seems to be having an adverse affect on the Hotel's foundations.
Carry On Abroad
1972 · 92 votes
Movie5.6Science FictionThrillerTom Kovack is a hard-nosed race car driver until a sudden supernatural vision causes a near-fatal crash while he's hurtling down the backstretch at 140 miles per hour. Michele Brent is the woman who convinces Kovack that his visions are significant. She leads him to the manor house that appeared in his vision, which in turn leads him into a world of revenge and murder from beyond the grave. Kovack must tap into his newfound power to conquer the evil forces at work.
Baffled!
1973 · 22 votes
Movie6.1MusicDramaA struggling singer and his band befriend an heiress who, against the wishes of her father, is searching for the lover who she has been forbidden to see and with whom she is hoping to elope.
Play It Cool
1962 · 7 votes
Movie5.9HorrorSomewhere in the middle of the English countryside a former judge and a group of former prison warders, including his lover, run their own prison for young women who have not been held properly to account for their crimes. Here they mete out their own form of justice and ensure that the girls never return to their old ways.
House of Whipcord
1974 · 58 votes
Movie5.7HorrorThrillerActors rehearsing a show at a mysterious seaside theater are being killed off by an unknown maniac.
The Flesh and Blood Show
1972 · 38 votes
Movie8.0ComedyTV MovieThree a.m. A crash of breaking glass ... the slow creak of a door opening ... is it a burglar? Raymond Collis finds out the hard way.
A Touch of the Tiny Hacketts
1978 · 1 votes
MovieRomanceDramaAngela is insecure and gawky, overawed by her new job at an advertising agency. Her boss, Pam, is poised and sophisticated - the epitome of a successful career woman. Together both women share an emotional vulnerability. For while Angela falls prey to the office Romeo, Pam continues an unsatisfying affair with a married colleague. Office Romances is an engaging look at the many secrets of love and relationships that lead to tormented love. It's an honest, sensitive view of romance and human nature!
Office Romances
1983
Movie5.7DramaActionTwo ruthless mercenaries break their friendship when one of them changes sides.
The Last Grenade
1970 · 6 votes
Movie7.0DramaTV MovieCathy and Reg are a couple with three young children, who find their life spiralling into poverty when Reg loses his well-paid job. Gripping and emotional, Cathy Come Home remains a truly ground-breaking piece of dramatic fiction, engaging viewers with social issues, such as homelessness, unemployment and the rights of mothers to keep their own children.
Cathy Come Home
1966 · 26 votes
MovieDramaA film tycoon hires the wrong writer. Instead of getting the writer of Lawrence of Arabia, he gets someone whose only credits are two episodes of Coronation Street.
- Movie7.0ComedyCrime
Alex Conway is an actor who plays the part of 'Eddie Weary', a sympathetic, down-at-heel, shabby, Northern, working-class private detective, in a TV show. Except Conway is actually a complete idiot in real-life: stuck up, pretentious and selfish, the constant focus of tabloid interest for his bad, usually drunken behaviour. But then he discovers he gets truckloads of mail from fans who think he really is Eddie Weary, asking for his help, so he decides to help them - with the aid of his assistant, Birdie.
The World of Eddie Weary
1990 · 1 votes
Movie7.0Madame Ranevskaya is a spoiled, aging aristocratic lady who returns from a trip to Paris to face the loss of her magnificent Cherry Orchard estate after a default on the mortgage. In denial, she continues living in the past, deluding herself and her family, while the beautiful cherry trees are being axed down by the re-possessor Lopakhin, her former serf, who has his own agenda.
The Cherry Orchard
1971 · 1 votes
MovieDramaTV MovieA television producer encounters personal problems while making a documentary about the philosopher Wittgenstein.