It's a while since I've seen this classic show, and I can't compete with some of the OFITG buffs on here. I was wondering if anyone remembered any great cameo appearances on the show?
I remember John Bird (I think) was the guy Victor chauffeured in one episode, and played it very well. I also remember Paul Merton in the final episode, not that the role was anything special, but he's probably my favourite comedian of all time.
What about Phil Daniels (Quadrophenia, Scum and Eastenders) as Melvyn in the Christmas Special, 'The Wisdom of the Witch.' Classic episode ;-)
SW.
Edit: Also Ray Winston in Starbound and Tim Brooke-Taylor in Endgame.
and Barbara Windsor in series 5 and Brian Murphy in season 5 too.
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"Carry On" films star Joan Sims appeared in "One Foot in the Algarve" as a woman chatting to Mrs Warboys on the plane.
Comedian Jimmy Jewell (of "Nearest and Dearest" fame) played the blind old man befriend by Margaret in "Who Will Buy?". Also, Stephen Lewis (Blakey in "On the Buses") played Vince in the next episode, "Love and Death".
Fair enough Rula Lenska, who doesn't do much now, but a young Lucy Davis (from The Office) and, most impressive, Ray Winstone as the man who lived in Victor's shed.
Also, Max from Eastenders was in the first series (not really a cameo) as someone who thought Victor was having a heart attack.
I, too, remembered Barbara Windsor, from the "Carry On..." film comedy series. She's the produce vendor who gets punched by Margaret for flirting with Victor.
shareStephen Lewis (from on the buses)in Love and Death season 2
Diana Coupland (Bless this house) Monday Morning Will Be Fine season 3
Richard Davies (well-known actor in a lot of comedy roles) as Victor's old school friend in "Monday Morning Will Be Fine".
Eric Idle (appears as the voice of a car mechanic in "Beast in the Cage" and in person in "Man in the Long Black Coat" as some kind of scientist).
Arabella Weir (later of the Fast Show) as one of the staff of the old peoples home in "Hearts of Darkness"
David Renwick also made a cameo as a TV doctor in "The Executioner's Song"
In one of the episodes (I don't remember which), Margaret asks Victor to drive the husband of one of her friends to a garden store. The man appears to be disabled and Victor ferries him everywhere on a wheelchair until he realizes that the man is not disabled at all.
The man's face and voice kept nagging at me, until I remembered the actor from a 1965 episode of "The Avengers," titled "Death at Bargain Prices," in which he played "Jarvis," house detective at a London department store. The cast listing identified him as JOHN (Edward) CATER, but he's not even mentioned in the IMDB's cast listing for OFITG.
I wonder if some expert in British TV shows could confirm that the wheelchair rider in OFITG was indeed John Cater. Cater's obituary in The Guardian (he died in 2009 at age 77) described him as a "versatile and familiar character actor." Apparently he was best known as the porter, Mr. Starr, in the series "The Duchess of Duke Street."
I think you need to recheck, the episode John Cater was in was "The Return of the Speckled Band" and it is listed on his IMDB page and on the page for that episode.
shareThank you, LAURENCEØ1, for confirming that John Cater was the wheelchair rider ("Mr. Berenger") in "The Return of the Speckled Band." I replayed the DVD and read the credit line at the end.
I so enjoy seeing good character actors continue to play roles – minor though they might be – into their old age. They retain their believability, whereas most featured players, concerned with remaining forever youthful, often turn to plastic surgery and ruin their faces.
I also remember him as a Private in an episode of Dads Army (who thought that Jones was a coward who had left him in the desert, when in reality he had saved him).
shareLloyd McGuire as the garden centre owner in "Return of the Spleckled Band". Seen him playing a lot of policemen, including a custody sergeant in the episode of The Bill where Sgt Penny (one of that show's former regulars) is caught drink-driving.
Chris Ryan (from The Young Ones, Bottom, Only Fools and Horses etc) made a couple of appearances. In "Valley of Fear" as a plumber and in "Hole in the Sky" as twin brother builders.
Jake Wood (Max in Eastenders, Killcrazy in Red Dwarf etc) also made a cameo in "Endgame" as some guy pretending to be a disabled begger.
Christopher Robbie (who plays that pervert optician in "Endgame") was in a 1970s Dr Who story as the leader of the Cybermen (well I think that's interesting).
That actress from Bad Girls who plays "Bodybag" (I forget her name now) appears in one of the episodes of Series 1 of OFITG.
Eamon Walker (The Bill, In Sickness and in Health, etc) as a boxer on holiday in "One Foot in the Algarve".
Character actor JOHN BLUTHAL appears in "I'll retire to Bedlam" (Season One) as one of the patients at the ophthalmologist's waiting for their eyes to eyes to adjust to the pupil-broadening drops.
I remembered him from two Beatles movies, "A Hard Day's Night," where he played a would-be car thief, and "Help!" where he played an Indian flunky named Bhuta.
Check out his filmography in IMDB. It's a mile long.
[UPDATE] And while I'm at it, the second patient in this episode was played by ROGER HAMMOND, another proficient character actor whom I remembered from the Sherlock Holmes TV series in 1985. He played the principal role in "The Red-Headed League" as Mr. Jabez Wilson. His IMDB filmography is also very long.
[2nd UPDATE] I just re-viewed "The Red-Headed League" and realized that RICHARD WILSON appeared in it, playing the role of a Dr. Moriarty associate. It was odd to see Wilson and Hammond sitting across a table, facing each other, both sporting red-haired wigs.
TO: STORMSWORDER
The actress from "Bad Girls" who played "Bodybag" is HELEN FRASER, and she appears as Dr. Snellgrove in "The Big Sleep" (Season One), according to the IMDB databank. I think she is the doctor who shows up to treat Victor's allergic rash on his torso and can't figure out what caused it.
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Watching Episode 1 of Season 2 ("In Luton Airport...") I detected MICHAEL BILTON as the owner of the apartment that Victor's merrymaking guests mistakenly invade. He has only a couple of lines. You may remember him from "Waiting for God," where he played the randy Basil Makepeace, the retirement home's self-described "resident stallion," forever wooing the ladies.
In this episode, BILTON does not look well, sitting in a wheelchair, likely because of the arthritis that beset him in his final days. He died on 5 Nov 93 at the reported age of 74. (I say "reported" because he looked much older here and in "Waiting for God.")