William Simons
   HOME
*





William Simons
Clifford William Cumberbatch Simons (17 November 1940 – 21 June 2019) was a Welsh-born actor best known for his role as PC Alf Ventress in '' Heartbeat'', a role he played for 18 years, from 1992 to 2010. Early life Simons was born on 17 November 1940 in Swansea where his father was stationed in the Second World War and he grew up in South Wales until the family moved to North London. He started acting as a child,http://www.boyactors.org.uk/actors/2389.jpg appearing in the films '' No Place for Jennifer'' (1950), '' Where No Vultures Fly'' (1951) and '' West of Zanzibar'' (1954). He then suffered from severe acne, which caused him to prefer working backstage as a stage manager for four years before deciding to become an adult actor. Later in life, he would become a patron of the charity Changing Faces, which supports people with facial deformities. ''Heartbeat'' He played PC Ventress for the entire 18-year run of ''Heartbeat''. Although playing a heavy smoker, Simons was a no ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Swansea
Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in .... It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, twenty-fifth largest in the United Kingdom. Located along Swansea Bay in southwest Wales, with the principal area covering the Gower Peninsula, it is part of the Swansea Bay (region), Swansea Bay region and part of the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Glamorgan; also the ancient Welsh commote of Gŵyr. The principal area is the second most List of Welsh principal areas by population, populous local authority area in Wales with an estimate ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


The Guardians (British TV Series)
''The Guardians'' is a television political thriller series of 13 60-minute episodes made by London Weekend Television and broadcast in the UK on the ITV network (with the exception of Ulster Television) between 10 July 1971 and 2 October 1971. Synopsis ''The Guardians'' is a dystopian political thriller set in the 1980s. Following economic chaos, democratic government has been overthrown in a bloodless coup, the Royal Family fled into self-imposed exile and the United Kingdom is ruled autocratically by Prime Minister Sir Timothy Hobson. Hobson is initially a pawn of 'the General'; a military officer by the name of Roger, who later becomes the Minister of Defence. Hobson subscribes to an outwardly benevolent paternalistic fascism, based on the principle that "democracy is a form of group suicide." Political opposition is suppressed by a uniformed paramilitary force recruited from former policemen, soldiers and security guards and called ''"The Guardians of the Realm"'' (known f ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

The Darling Buds Of May (TV Series)
''The Darling Buds of May'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British comedy drama television series, produced by ITV Yorkshire, Yorkshire Television for the ITV (TV network), ITV network, first broadcast between 7 April 1991 and 4 April 1993. The first six episodes of Series 1 and the first two of Series 2 are adaptations of the 1958 novel The Darling Buds of May (novel), of the same name, and three of its four sequels, by H. E. Bates. The remaining episodes are original storylines based on the same format. Set in rural 1950s Kent, it follows the life of the Larkin family. It starred David Jason as "Pop" Larkin alongside Pam Ferris as "Ma" Larkin, with Catherine Zeta-Jones playing their eldest daughter Mariette, who marries tax inspector Cedric "Charley" Charlton, played by Philip Franks. A ratings success, it was Zeta-Jones's breakout role. Featuring a total of 20 episodes, it was broadcast as three series of six double-episode story lines in the spring of 1991, 1992 and ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Give Us A Break (TV Series)
''Give Us a Break'' is a British comedy drama television series which was originally broadcast on BBC One in a series of seven episodes between 22 September an 3 November 1983 with a feature-length Christmas Special the following year.Perry p.247 Synopsis A London wheeler dealer is extremely put out at having to look after his girlfriend's younger brother from Liverpool. Things change, however, when he discovers that he is a snooker prodigy. Main cast * Robert Lindsay as Micky Noades * Paul McGann as Mo Morris * Shirin Taylor as Tina * David Daker as Ron Palmer * Ron Pember as Bobby Weeks * Alan Ford as Nobby Wilson * David Sibley as Billy Wilson * Johnny Shannon as Lenny Stone * Tony Selby as Benny * Julian Holloway as Dave Nelson * John Forgeham as Brindly * William Simons as Tommy Buck * David Jackson as Stitch Peters * Bill Wallis as Jack Hobson * Victoria Burgoyne as Nancy * Walter Sparrow Walter Leonard Sparrow (22 January 1927 – 31 May 2000) was an Englis ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Dempsey & Makepeace
''Dempsey and Makepeace'' is a British television crime drama made by LWT for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham. Lead roles were played by Michael Brandon (Lieutenant Dempsey) and Glynis Barber (Detective Makepeace), who later married each other in real life in 1989. Premise The premise of ''Dempsey and Makepeace'' is the oddball pairing of two police detectives: an elegant British noblewoman, Sgt (Lady) Harriet Makepeace, and a streetwise working-class New Yorker, Lt James Dempsey, both working for an elite and armed unit of the London Metropolitan Police. When his partner Joey dies in a botched drugs operation and he uncovers police corruption at the highest level, Dempsey is under threat of assassination. With help from his colleagues, he hurriedly leaves New York for London, on the pretense of an undercover international police exchange programme. Harriet "Harry" Makepeace is the daughter of Lord Winfield (Ralph Michael), who owns an English stately home. Referen ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Minder (TV Series)
''Minder'' is a British comedy-drama series about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television, and shown on ITV for ten series between 1979 and 1994. The series was notable for using a range of leading British actors, as well as many up-and-coming performers before they found their greatest success; at its peak it was one of ITV's most watched shows. The series was revived by Channel 5 in 2009 but was discontinued after only six episodes. Plot The first seven series starred Dennis Waterman as Terry McCann, a Fulham fan, an honest and likeable bodyguard (''minder'' in London slang) and George Cole as Arthur Daley, a socially ambitious, but highly unscrupulous importer/exporter, wholesaler, used-car salesman and purveyor of anything else from which there was money to be made, legally or not. The series is principally set in inner west London (specifically Shepherd's Bush, Ladbroke Gro ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


The Sweeney
''The Sweeney'' is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan and Dennis Waterman as his partner, Detective Sergeant George Carter. It was produced by the Thames Television subsidiary Euston Films for broadcast on the ITV (TV network), ITV network in the UK between 2 January 1975 and 28 December 1978. The programme's title comes from the real-world Cockney rhyming slang nickname "Sweeney Todd" used to refer to the Flying Squad by London's criminal fraternity in the mid 20th Century. The popularity of the series in the UK led to two feature films, ''Sweeney!'' (1977) and ''Sweeney 2'' (1978), both starring Thaw and Waterman, and a later film, ''The Sweeney (2012 film), The Sweeney'' (2012), starring Ray Winstone as Regan and Plan B (musician), Ben Drew as Carter. Background ''The S ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Originally broadcast twice weekly, the series began airing six times a week in 2017. The programme was conceived by scriptwriter Tony Warren. Warren's initial proposal was rejected by the station's founder Sidney Bernstein, but he was persuaded by producer Harry Elton to produce the programme for 13 pilot episodes, and the show has since become a significant part of English culture. ''Coronation Street'' is made by ITV Granada at MediaCityUK and shown in all ITV regions, as well as internationally. In 2010, upon its 50th anniversary, the series was recognised by Guinness World Records, as the world's longest-running television soap opera. Initially influenced by the conventions of kitchen sink realism, ''Coronation Street'' is noted for its ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Francis Storm Investigates
''Francis Storm Investigates'' is a British television series which originally aired on ITV in 1960.Pitts p.316 A former SOE operative sets up as a private detective from his mews house in Kensington. Main cast * Brian Worth as Francis Storm * William Simons Clifford William Cumberbatch Simons (17 November 1940 – 21 June 2019) was a Welsh-born actor best known for his role as PC Alf Ventress in '' Heartbeat'', a role he played for 18 years, from 1992 to 2010. Early life Simons was born on 17 Novem ... as Robin * Sarah Long as Penelope Worth * Robin Wentworth as Sgt. Pilcher References Bibliography * Pitts, Michael R. ''Famous Movie Detectives III''. Scarecrow Press, 2004. External links * {{IMDb title, id=1439727 1960 British television series debuts 1960 British television series endings 1960s British drama television series ITV television dramas English-language television shows Television shows produced by Associated-Rediffusion ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Auf Wiedersehen Pet
''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' () is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in Düsseldorf. The series was created by Franc Roddam after an idea from Mick Connell, a bricklayer from Stockton-on-Tees, and mostly written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who also wrote ''The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'' and ''Porridge''. It starred Tim Healy, Kevin Whately, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall, Christopher Fairbank, Pat Roach and Gary Holton, with Noel Clarke replacing Holton for series three and four and the two-part finale. The series were broadcast on ITV in 1983–1984 and 1986. After a sixteen-year gap, two series and a Christmas special were shown on BBC One in 2002 and 2004. In 2000, series 1, set in Germany, was ranked number #46 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes in a list ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




The Sun Makers
''The Sun Makers'' is the fourth serial of the 15th season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC1 from 26 November to 17 December 1977. The serial is set on Pluto. In the serial, the alien time traveller the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and his travelling companions Leela ( Louise Jameson) and K9 ( John Leeson) start a revolution among the humans against an alien corporation which has an economic hold over humanity. Plot The Fourth Doctor and Leela arrive on the planet Pluto just in time to prevent one of its citizens, Cordo, from committing suicide over his energy bill. The monopolistic energy company on Pluto is using its economic stranglehold to extract ever growing taxes and those who refuse to pay are forced to live in the dark tunnels of the Undercity. The Doctor, Leela and Cordo venture to the Undercity, where they encounter thieves and dropouts led by the brutal Mandrel. Mandrel tells the ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the universe in a time-travelling space ship called the TARDIS. The TARDIS exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. With various companions, the Doctor combats foes, works to save civilisations, and helps people in need. Beginning with William Hartnell, thirteen actors have headlined the series as the Doctor; in 2017, Jodie Whittaker became the first woman to officially play the role on television. The transition from one actor to another is written into the plot of the series with the concept of regeneration into a new incarnation, a plot device in which a Time Lord "transforms" into a new body when the current one is too badly harmed to heal normally. Ea ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]