April Walker
Acting
Biography
April Walker is a British actress and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art between 1960 and 1962. She worked extensively in repertory and touring theatre before appearing on television in BBC TV comedy series such as The Two Ronnies, Fawlty Towers (as Jean Wilson, in an early episode in which a hotel proprietor, Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese, seeks to stamp out suspected extra-marital liaisons on his premises), Yes Minister (as a journalist, who discovers that a Government Minister, whose wife is a friend of hers, has retained for himself a valuable vase presented during an overseas visit), Dad's Army (as a Second World War “land girl”), Morecambe and Wise, The Dick Emery Show, Terry and June, Sykes, and The Les Dawson Show. Interspersed with the comedy were drama series which included appearances in Inspector Wycliffe, Anna Karenina, Minor Complications, Father Brown, The Prince and the Pauper, Judge John Deed and Waking The Dead. She has also performed on radio, including the last series of The Navy Lark, and in films such as The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Rhubarb Rhubarb and Shadow in a Landscape. Walker's experience of touring took her to Canada and South Africa in 1979, with Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques, and to the Middle East and Far East in 1990 with Tim Brooke Taylor in a Derek Nimmo production of Alan Ayckbourn's Table Manners. She has appeared in West End productions: Oh Clarence at the Lyric Theatre in 1968 (in which she played Jon Pertwee's niece), in Key For Two at the Vaudeville in 1982, Present Laughter at both the Aldwych Theatre and the Wyndham Theatre in 1996, and Brief Encounter at the Lyric Theatre in 2000. In 1973, a new companion was being sought to star opposite Jon Pertwee in the long-running television series Doctor Who. After auditioning many women, producer Barry Letts selected Walker for the role of Sarah Jane Smith. Pertwee, who had been playing the Doctor for some time, had not been consulted and totally disagreed with the casting although he and Walker had worked harmoniously together in Oh Clarence. He was not comfortable with playing opposite his female co-star, who was tall and blonde. Already contractually protected, Walker was paid for the entire season but any monies earned at the BBC during the period of the contract were deducted. The role was re-cast with Elisabeth Sladen, who was not as tall as Walker and had dark hair. Although committed to not talking about the issue in her release agreement, Walker began to discuss the circumstances surrounding her casting decades later. After giving some written interviews to fanzines, in May 2020 Walker gave an on-screen interview to 'Time Space Visualiser' giving much further detail about the circumstances, including revealing later work alongside Pertwee in the last series of radio comedy, The Navy Lark. Walker stated that they "were perfectly civil to each other, but I could never quite forgive him"
Known For
Play 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
Roguish comedy drama following the misadventures of small-time crook Arthur Daley.
Minder
Introducing the Walmington-On-Sea home guard. During WW2, in a fictional British seaside town, a ragtag group of Home Guard local defense volunteers prepare for an imminent German invasion.
Dad's Army
The Onedin Line is a BBC television drama series which ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and deals with the rise of a shipping line, the Onedin Line, named after its owner James Onedin. Around this central theme are the lives of his family, most notably his brother and partner, shop owner Robert, and his sister Elizabeth, giving insight into the lifestyle and customs at the time, not only at sea, but also ashore. The series also illustrates some of the changes in business and shipping, such as from wooden to steel ships and from sailing ships to steam ships. It shows the role that ships played in affairs like international politics, uprisings and the slave trade.
The Onedin Line
Judge John Deed is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Sir John Deed, a High Court judge who tries to seek real justice in the cases before him. It also stars Jenny Seagrove as the barrister Jo Mills, frequently the object of Deed's desire. A pilot episode was broadcast on 9 January 2001, followed by the first full series on 26 November 2001. The sixth and last series concluded on 18 January 2007. The programme then went on an indefinite break after Shaw became involved in another television programme, and he and Seagrove expressed a wish for the format of the series to change before they filmed new episodes. By 2009, the series had officially been cancelled. The six series produced make it the longest-running BBC legal drama. The factual accuracy of the series is often criticised by legal professionals and journalists; many of the decisions taken by Deed are unlikely to happen in a real court. The romanticised vision of the court system created by Newman caused a judge to issue a warning to a jury not to let the series influence their view of trials—referring to an episode where Deed flouts rules when called up for jury duty. Another episode led to complaints about biased and incorrect information about the MMR vaccine, leading the BBC to ban repeats of it in its original form. All six series have been released on DVD in the UK.
Judge John Deed
Owner Basil Fawlty, his wife Sybil, a chambermaid Polly, and Spanish waiter Manuel attempt to run their hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding guests.
Fawlty Towers
Terry and June Medford are both middle aged and beginning to find the trials of life are more difficult as they try to succeed in their daily lives. The couple have just moved to Purley, south-east London... Aunt Lucy and the mynah bird had disappeared, as had the occasionally visiting daughters. Terry and June now mixed with a friendly next door neighbour, Beattie; Terry's chatty work colleague, Malcolm; and their gruff boss Sir Dennis Hodge. Otherwise, things were much as before, with Terry's pigheaded childishness causing no end of problems, usually thwarting June's attempts at leading a cosy life.
Terry and June
Classic sitcom starring Eric Sykes and Hattie Jacques as brother and sister twins who have to tackle the trials and tribulations of suburban life.
Sykes
This final follow-up to 'Till Death Us Do Part' follows an aged Alf Garnett, now dealing with his wife Else's declining health and mobility, as well as the challenges of navigating the social security system and other everyday situations.
In Sickness and in Health
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? is a British sitcom which was broadcast between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974 on BBC1. It was the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit The Likely Lads. It was created and written, as was its predecessor, by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. There were 26 television episodes over two series; and a subsequent 45-minute Christmas special was aired on 24 December 1974. The cast were reunited in 1975 for a BBC radio adaptation of series 1, transmitted on Radio 4 from July to October that year. In 1976, a feature film spin-off was made. Around the time of its release, however, Rodney Bewes and James Bolam fell out over a misunderstanding involving the press and have not spoken since. This long-suspected situation was finally confirmed by Bewes while promoting his autobiography in 2005. Unlike Bewes, Bolam is consistently reluctant to talk about the show, and has vetoed any attempt to revive his character.
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?
Wilde Alliance is a 1978 British television programme created by Ian Mackintosh and produced by Yorkshire Television for l ITV. The light-hearted mystery series follows husband-and-wife amateur detectives Rupert and Amy Wilde.
Wilde Alliance
Counterstrike is a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC in 1969. The series starred Jon Finch as an alien living on Earth as a human named Simon King. He was assigned to live there to prevent an alien invasion of the planet. The programme lasted for one series of ten episodes, but only nine episodes were actually transmitted. The screening of the sixth episode, "Out of Mind", was canceled on the day it was due to be shown due to a late schedule change, being replaced by a documentary on the Kray brothers who had been refused leave to appeal against their prison sentences on that same day. For reasons that will probably never be known, "Out of Mind" was never rescheduled; it was subsequently wiped from the BBC Archives and has never been screened – thus making it possibly one of the rarest pieces of British science fiction television. The first four episodes – "King's Gambit", "Joker's One", "On Ice" and "Nocturne" – still exist in the BBC Archives as 16mm Black & White Film telerecordings, while the remaining five transmitted instalments – "Monolith", "The Lemming Syndrome", "Backlash", "All That Glisters" and "The Mutant" – are listed as missing by the Lost Shows website.
Counterstrike
After a burglary at his sister's house, retired soldier Major Wyatt sets up a Neighbourhood Watch group. The motley collection of individuals who come together to form the group are quickly divided by personality clashes. This is particularly true where Major Wyatt and smarmy salesman Peter Pitt are concerned.
Wyatt's Watchdogs
30 years after Fawlty Towers (1975) ended, Stephen Fry narrates a documentary about the making of this classic sitcom.
Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened
Kay Gilbert goes into hospital for a minor operation which goes badly wrong. Based on an actual case, this play tells the story of her fight for compensation.
Minor Complications
During a game of golf between a police inspector and a vicar the inspector cheats by having a constable move his ball into favourable positions and the vicar's into hazardous ones. when the vicar discovers this he prays for divine intervention which turns the tables.
Rhubarb Rhubarb
Behind-the-scenes stories from the long-running sci-fi drama. There are tales of stunts that went dangerously wrong and secrets of how the crew brought monsters to life, as well as revelations about how some storylines proved to be so scary the BBC were forced to re-edit episodes.
Doctor Who: 60 Years of Secrets & Scandals
On Christmas Eve in 1874, the turkey has been stolen from Sir Giles and Lady Hampton. What are they going to serve their guests? They call in the detectives Piggy Malone and Charley Farley to find who stole it.