Mark Arden
Acting
Biography
Mark David Darwin Arden (born 31 July 1956) is a British comedian and actor, best known for his television appearances. During the 1980s, he was one half of comic double act 'The Oblivion Boys', alongside Stephen Frost. Arden was born in Newbury, Berkshire. He and Frost came to prominence in the late 1970s alternative comedy boom, and became recognisable to a national audience with regular spots on Saturday Live. In the early 1980s, they were instrumental in the forming of the long-running north London comedy show News Revue, and shortly afterwards began appearing as a pair in episodes of series such as The Black Adder and The Young Ones; they are perhaps most remembered for a series of commercials for Carling Black Label lager, one of which involved Arden and Frost appearing in the nude. Arden continued to perform with Frost in comedy clubs, although he did not follow his partner into the genre of improvisation. Nevertheless, he featured as the chauffeur Johnny Blackpool (a paranoid ex-soldier) in the partially-improv 1994 comedy film There's No Business..., opposite Raw Sex (Simon Brint and Rowland Rivron). Arden had a role as Roland 'Vaseline' Cartwright in London's Burning, appearing in the original pilot film[1] and the first two series; he has also had roles in such comedies as Blackadder II and Bottom. He and Frost also played the title roles in the surrealist police sitcom Lazarus and Dingwall. Later, Arden appeared in the 1992 film Carry On Columbus and in the 1990s series Harry Enfield and Chums. In October 1996 he played Jansson in an episode of the 6th series of Heartbeat (Snapped). Arden also has had a theatre career, appearing in Willis Hall's play The Long, the Short and the Tall in the West End.[2] He also played the inspector in An Inspector Calls at the Garrick Theatre, Pop in the musical We Will Rock You at London's Dominion Theatre, and in Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be[3] at the Theatre Royal Stratford East. Arden's television career continued in 2002 with The Estate Agents. In 2018, he appeared in several episodes of Endeavour.
Known For
Drama series about life on the wards of Holby City Hospital, following the highs and lows of the staff and patients.
Holby City
Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.
Heartbeat
The daily lives of the men and women at Sun Hill Police Station as they fight crime on the streets of London. From bomb threats to armed robbery and drug raids to the routine demands of policing this ground-breaking series focuses as much on crime as it does on the personal lives of its characters.
The Bill
Blackadder traces the deeply cynical and self-serving lineage of various Edmund Blackadders throughout British history, from the muck of the Middle Ages to the frontline of The Great War.
Blackadder
Kraven Kravinoff's complex relationship with his ruthless gangster father, Nikolai, starts him down a path of vengeance with brutal consequences, motivating him to become not only the greatest hunter in the world, but also one of its most feared.
Kraven the Hunter
The Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, who do parodies of films, literature and sometimes major events.
The Comic Strip Presents...
The misadventures of four lunatic students who live in a shared student house. There's Rick, the overblown political one addicted to Cliff Richard, Vyvyan the experimental scientific one/part-time anarchist, Neil the worried hippy, and Mike the ladies' man (at least he is in his mind).
The Young Ones
Burnt out on office politics, Agatha Raisin retires early to a picturesque village in the Cotswolds and soon finds a second career as an amateur detective investigating mischief, mayhem, and murder in her deceptively quaint town.
Agatha Raisin
All Quiet on the Preston Front (or the shortened Preston Front as it became known for series two and three) was a BBC comedy drama about a group of friends in the fictional Lancashire town of Roker Bridge, and their links to the local Territorial Army infantry platoon. It was created by Tim Firth and ran from 1994 to 1997.
(All Quiet on the) Preston Front
Richie Richard (socially awkward, sexually inexperienced) and Eddie Hitler (carefree alcoholic ) are two social outcasts living on the dole. Trapped together in a squalid flat in Hammersmith, London they are perpetually skint, bored and sexually frustrated. They spend their days scheming, bickering, and being nasty and sadistic to each other.
Bottom
Steve Coogan plays Tommy Saxondale: an ex-roadie with anger management issues and a pest-control business. Tommy is a little arrogant, a little egotistical and feels the world owes him more respect than it typically shows him. He has an assistant named Raymond who lives in a spare room in Tommy's house, a live-in girlfriend named Magz who owns a T-shirt business, and a receptionist named Vicky who has a tendency to drive him up the wall.
Saxondale
Four girls share a flat together in London. Having nothing in common aside from their gender, they barely manage to co-exist.
Girls On Top
Introduced by renowned English actor Edward Woodward, In Suspicious Circumstances is an anthology of reenactments depicting real-life murder mysteries, some famous and some obscure, exploring cases with elements of miscarriage of justice, unsolved mysteries, and unusual circumstances, often spanning different historical periods.
In Suspicious Circumstances
Chiller is a five-part British horror anthology television series, produced by Yorkshire Television, broadcast on ITV from 9 March to 27 April 1995. Described by The Guardian as ITV's 'answer to The X Files', the series is inspired by, but unconnected to, the 1991 Channel 4 thriller Gray Cray Dolls, which broadcast under the Chiller banner. The series featured writing contributions from renowned playwrights Stephen Gallagher, Glenn Chandler and Anthony Horowitz.
Chiller
Teenage Health Freak is a British teen comedy-drama about the life and travails of a socially awkward teenager as he goes through life. It is best known for featuring the actress Liza Walker and the actor Alex Langdon. It was based on the book Diary of a Teenage Health Freak, by Dr. Ann McPherson and Dr. Aidan Macfarlane.
Teenage Health Freak
The Story of Light Entertainment is a British documentary series shown on the BBC in 2006. The series comprises eight episodes and is narrated by Stephen Fry.
The Story of Light Entertainment
Teen-age gang leaders Passion and Little Sister are released from prison, only to find that their gang the Slags has disbanded due to a rival gang, the Hawaiians, who wear garlands and drink Pina Coladas.
Slags
Space Vets was a 39-episode children's sci fi show about a motley crew of misfit intergalactic space vets. The concept was devised by Stephen Edmondson and Jerome Vincent, but the characters were created by writer Christopher Middleton, and most of the 39 episodes written by him, too. Music for the series was produced by former Doctor Who composer Dominic Glynn.
SpaceVets
Teenage Kicks is a British sitcom starring Adrian Edmondson, Ed Coleman and Laura Aikman, filmed at Teddington Studios. Originally as a radio show for BBC Radio 2 in 2007, it was turned into a TV series by Phil McIntyre Productions for ITV. The show ran for 8 episodes beginning 28 March 2008 although the show was not recommissioned for any further series. The opening theme tune is "Teenage Kicks" by the band The Undertones.
Teenage Kicks
Set in Post World War II Britain, chronicles the rise and fall of real life British crime lord Charlie Richardson.