''Playing the Field'' is a

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

television drama series following the lives of the Castlefield Blues, a fictitious female

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team from

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

Outline

Inspired by

Pete Davies Pete Davies is an English author of history and sports. Career He wrote ''American Road: The Story of an Epic Transcontinental Journey at the Dawn of the Motor Age'' about the 1919 Motor Transport Corps convoy, for which Davies visited sites al ...

's book ''I Lost My Heart to the Belles'' – which was written about a real-life club, the

Doncaster Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an English women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's administration is based at the Eco Power St ...

– ''Playing the Field'' ran for five series, from 1998 to 2002, with scripts by, amongst others,

Kay Mellor The name Kay is found both as a surname (see Kay (surname)) and as a given name. In English-speaking countries, it is usually a feminine name, often a short form of Katherine or one of its variants; but it is also used as a first name in its own ...

Sally Wainwright Sally Anne Wainwright (born 1963) is an English television writer, producer, and director from Yorkshire. Early in her career, Wainwright worked as a playwright, and as a scriptwriter on the long-running radio serial drama ''The Archers''. In t ...

and

Gaynor Faye Gaynor Kay Mellor (born 26 August 1971), better known as Gaynor Faye, is an English actress and writer, best known for playing Judy Mallett in ''Coronation Street'' from 1995 until 1999 and Megan Macey in ''Emmerdale'' from 2012 until 2019. ...

. Despite being set in South Yorkshire, much of the location filming took place in

Ilkeston Ilkeston is a town in the Borough of Erewash, Derbyshire, England, on the River Erewash, from which the borough takes its name, with a population at the 2011 census of 38,640. Its major industries, coal mining, iron working and lace making/texti ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, although the fifth (and final) series was filmed around Leeds; whilst the theme song, "Blue" by

Alison Moyet Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard ( ; born 18 June 1961) is an English singer noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice. She came to prominence as half of the duo Yazoo (also known as Yaz), but has since mainly worked as a solo artist. Her ...

, was originally a B-side track about the singer's love of Southend United FC. A young

Marsha Thomason Marsha Lisa Thomason Sykes (born 19 January 1976) is a British television and film actress who is best known for playing Sara Evers in Disney's ''The Haunted Mansion'', Nessa Holt in the first two seasons of the NBC series ''Las Vegas'', Naomi D ...

– who has since appeared in

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

shows ''

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

'' and ''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

'' – featured in the first three series of ''Playing the Field''. The first four series have been released on DVD in the UK, but the fifth has yet to be made available.

Main cast

Lorraine Ashbourne Lorraine Ashbourne (born 10 April 1961) is an English actress. Career Ashbourne has appeared on British series and television films, including: ''The Street'', ''True Dare Kiss'', '' Thin Ice'', ''In a Land of Plenty'', ''Boon'', ''Playing the ...

... Geraldine Powell *

Melanie Hill Melanie Jane Hill (born 11 January 1962) is a British actress, known for playing Hazel Redfern in ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' (1985–1986), Aveline in ''Bread'' (1986–1991), Rita Dolan in Kay Mellor drama ''Playing the Field'' (1998–2002), Ma ...

... Rita Dolan *Jo McInnes ... Jo Mullen *

Lesley Sharp Lesley Sharp is an English stage, film and television actress whose roles on British television include ''Clocking Off'' (2000–2001), '' Bob & Rose'' (2001) and ''Afterlife'' (2005–2006). She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actres ...

... Theresa Mullen *

... Sharon 'Shazza' Pearce *Saira Todd ... Gabrielle 'Gabby' Holmes *

Debra Stephenson Debra Stephenson (born 4 June 1972) is an English actress, comedian, impressionist and singer, best known for her roles as Diane Powell in ''Playing the Field'', Shell Dockley in '' Bad Girls'' and as Frankie Baldwin in ''Coronation Street''. ...

... Diane Powell *Tracy Whitwell ... Angie Gill *Emma Rydall ... Mikey *Olivia Caffrey ... Kate Howard *

... Holly Quinn *

Claudie Blakley Claudie Blakley (born 4 January 1974) is an English actress. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. In 1998, she won the Ian Charleson Award for her performance in ''The Seagull'' at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds. She is ...

... Kelly Powell *

James Nesbitt William James Nesbitt (born 15 January 1965) is an actor from Northern Ireland. From 1987, Nesbitt spent seven years performing in plays that varied from the musical '' Up on the Roof'' (1987, 1989) to the political drama ''Paddywack'' (1994) ...

... James Dolan *

Tim Dantay Tim Dantay (born 1963) is a British actor who was born in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, ...

... Dave Powell *

Nicholas Gleaves Nicholas Gleaves (born 2 January 1969) is an English actor and playwright. Career Gleaves's first theatre part was as an extra in ''Don Carlos'' at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. He did several plays there including the lead in ''Mac ...

... Rick Powell *

Ralph Ineson Ralph Michael Ineson (; born 15 December 1969) is an English actor and narrator. Known for his deep, rumbling, Yorkshire-accented voice, his most notable roles include William in ''The Witch'', Dagmer Cleftjaw in '' Game of Thrones'', Amycus Ca ...

... Luke Mullen * Chris Walker ... Matthew Mullen * John Thomson ... Eddie Ryan * James Thornton ... Scott *

Lee Ross Lee David Ross (August 25, 1942 – May 14, 2021) was a Canadian-American professor. He held the title of the Stanford Federal Credit Union Professor of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University and was an influential social psychologist wh ...

... Ryan Pratt * James Ellis ... Mr. Mullen *

Brigit Forsyth Brigit Forsyth (born 28 July 1940) is a Scottish actress, best known for her roles as Thelma Ferris in the BBC comedy ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'' and Helen Yeldham in the ITV drama'' Boon''. Since December 2013, Forsyth has appeare ...

... Francine Pratt *

Elizabeth Spriggs Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

... Mrs. Mullen *

Ricky Tomlinson Eric "Ricky" Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Bobby Grant in ''Brookside'', DCI Charlie Wise in '' Cracker'' and Jim Royle in ''The Royle Family'', and playing the titular char ...

... Jim Pratt *

Jason O'Mara Jason O'Mara (born 6 August 1972) is an Irish actor. He has starred in the American television network dramas ''In Justice ''In Justice'' is an American police procedural television series created by Michelle King and Robert King. The series ...

... Lee Quinn *Tom Moore ... Martin Dolan *

Stephanie Putson Stephanie Putson (born August 1973) is an English film, television, and stage actress. Born on Teesside, Steph graduated from the London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and after taking to the stage she gained her first screen role in the ...

... Heidi

Episodes

Series 1 Series 2 Series 3 Series 4 Series 5

Ratings

Home media

The first four series of ''Playing the Field'' have been made available via Universal Playback. * ''Playing the Field: Series 1 & 2'' (VHS) – 23 October 2000 * ''Playing the Field: Series 3 & 4'' (VHS) – 23 October 2000 * ''Playing the Field: Series 1 & 2'' (DVD) – 29 January 2007 (released as "Seasons 1 & 2") * ''Playing the Field: Series 3 & 4'' (DVD) – 23 April 2007 (released as "Seasons 3 & 4") Series 5, which was broadcast in 2002 has not received a VHS release, nor has it been released on DVD.

References

External links

* {{Kay Mellor 1998 British television series debuts 2002 British television series endings 1990s British drama television series 2000s British drama television series BBC television dramas Television series by Endemol Television series by Tiger Aspect Productions English-language television shows Television shows set in South Yorkshire