Peter Armitage

Acting

Peter Armitage

Born — Died

1940-01-26 — 2018-12-04

Place of birth

Sheffield, Yorkshire, England

Known for

Acting

Credits

40 titles

Peter Armitage (1940-2018) was perhaps best known for playing builder Bill Webster, father of Kevin, in Coronation Street, a role he first played in 1984, before returning to the show for a second stint in 1995 to 1997, and for a final time in 2006 to 2011. He also played a bicycle-buying father in a memorable 1980s advert for Yellow Pages. His TV career stretched back to 1970 and his many credits included roles in Ken Loach's Days of Hope, Alan Bleasdale's GBH, Jimmy McGovern's Hearts and Minds and Dockers, and Russell T Davies' The Second Coming, in which he played the father of Christopher Eccleston's modern day Christ. He also starred in the Steve Coogan film The Parole Officer in 2001, …

Known for

Casualty poster
6.2

Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.

Casualty

1986

Heartbeat poster
7.1

Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.

Heartbeat

1992

Peak Practice poster
6.5

Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time. It originally starred Kevin Whately as Dr Jack Kerruish, Amanda Burton as Dr Beth Glover and Simon Shepherd as Dr Will Preston, though the roster of doctors would change many times over the course of the series. Cardale was based on the Staffordshire village of Longnor for the final series, but was previously based in the Derbyshire village of Crich, although certain scenes were filmed at other nearby Derbyshire towns and villages, most notably Matlock, Belper and Ashover.

Peak Practice

1993

ITV Playhouse poster
7.0

ITV Playhouse is a British comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a format that would inspire Dramarama. Actors appearing in the series included Leslie Anderson, Gwen Nelson, Ricky Alleyne, Pat Heywood, Michael Elphick, Ian Hendry, Edward Woodward, Margaret Lockwood, Jessie Matthews and Lloyd Peters.

ITV Playhouse

1967

The Professionals poster
7.6

The lives of Bodie and Doyle, top agents for Britain's CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5), and their controller, George Cowley. The mandate of CI5 was to fight terrorism and similar high-profile crimes. Cowley, a hard ex-MI5 operative, hand-picked each of his men. Bodie is a cynical ex-SAS paratrooper and mercenary whose nature ran to controlled violence, while his partner, Doyle, comes to CI5 from the regular police force, and is more of an open minded liberal. Their relationship is often contentious, but they are the top men in their field, and the ones to whom Cowley always assigned to the toughest cases.

The Professionals

1977

The Sweeney poster
8.1

Jack Regan, an unethical officer of the Flying Squad, uses unorthodox methods to pursue criminals with the help of his partner, George Carter.

The Sweeney

1975

Film credits

1990s · 3 titles

Series credits

Casualty poster
6.2

Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.

Casualty

1986

Heartbeat poster
7.1

Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.

Heartbeat

1992

Heartbeat poster
7.1

Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.

Heartbeat

1992

Peak Practice poster
6.5

Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time. It originally starred Kevin Whately as Dr Jack Kerruish, Amanda Burton as Dr Beth Glover and Simon Shepherd as Dr Will Preston, though the roster of doctors would change many times over the course of the series. Cardale was based on the Staffordshire village of Longnor for the final series, but was previously based in the Derbyshire village of Crich, although certain scenes were filmed at other nearby Derbyshire towns and villages, most notably Matlock, Belper and Ashover.

Peak Practice

1993

ITV Playhouse poster
7.0

ITV Playhouse is a British comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a format that would inspire Dramarama. Actors appearing in the series included Leslie Anderson, Gwen Nelson, Ricky Alleyne, Pat Heywood, Michael Elphick, Ian Hendry, Edward Woodward, Margaret Lockwood, Jessie Matthews and Lloyd Peters.

ITV Playhouse

1967

The Professionals poster
7.6

The lives of Bodie and Doyle, top agents for Britain's CI5 (Criminal Intelligence 5), and their controller, George Cowley. The mandate of CI5 was to fight terrorism and similar high-profile crimes. Cowley, a hard ex-MI5 operative, hand-picked each of his men. Bodie is a cynical ex-SAS paratrooper and mercenary whose nature ran to controlled violence, while his partner, Doyle, comes to CI5 from the regular police force, and is more of an open minded liberal. Their relationship is often contentious, but they are the top men in their field, and the ones to whom Cowley always assigned to the toughest cases.

The Professionals

1977

The Sweeney poster
8.1

Jack Regan, an unethical officer of the Flying Squad, uses unorthodox methods to pursue criminals with the help of his partner, George Carter.

The Sweeney

1975

Lovejoy poster
7.4

The adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a likeable but roguish antiques dealer based in East Anglia. Within the trade, he has a reputation as a “divvie”, a person with an almost supernatural powers for recognising exceptional items as well as distinguishing genuine antique from clever fakes or forgeries.

Lovejoy

1986

Centre Play poster
7.0

Anthology series of half hour plays produced in BBC's Television Centre's studios.

Centre Play

1973

Justice poster
7.3

Justice is a British drama television series which originally aired on ITV in 39 hour-long episodes between 8 August 1971 and 16 October 1974. Margaret Lockwood stars as Harriet Peterson a female barrister in the North of England. It was made by Yorkshire Television and was based loosely on Justice Is a Woman, an episode of ITV Playhouse broadcast in 1969 in which Lockwood had previously also played a barrister. The theme music was Crown Imperial by William Walton.

Justice

1971

Strangers poster
7.2

Strangers is a 1978–82 ITV police procedural created and principally written by Murray Smith, based on characters created by Kenneth Royce in his novel series and subsequent 1977–78 television adaptation The XYY Man. Don Henderson and Dennis Blanch reprise their roles, respectively, of Detective Sergeant (DS) George Bulman and Detective Constable (DC) Derek Willis. A group of police officers are brought together from across the country to the north of England. There, the fact that they're not well-known gives them the advantage to infiltrate where a more familiar local detective could not. Despite being based around a comparatively small team of detectives, a regular feature in its early years is that few episodes feature the entire team, with most using just two or three regulars in any major role.

Strangers

1978

Churchill's People poster
5.0

Churchill's People is a British anthology series based on A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Winston Churchill's four-volume history of Britain and its former colonies. 26 episodes were produced by the BBC and initially broadcast from 30 December 1974 to 23 June 1975.

Churchill's People

1974

In Suspicious Circumstances poster
6.5

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

1991

Chandler & Co poster
8.0

Chandler and Co is a British television programme written by Paula Milne and produced by Ann Skinner for the BBC. Aired with two series from 1994 to 1995, it follows private detective Elly Chandler, alongside her sister-in-law Dee Tate. In the second series, Tate is replaced by Kate Phillips, a former client turned employee.

Chandler & Co

1994

Jack the Ripper poster
7.0

Jack the Ripper is a 1988 two-part television film/miniseries portraying a fictionalized account of the hunt for Jack the Ripper, the unidentified serial killer responsible for the Whitechapel murders of 1888. The series coincided with the 100th anniversary of the murders.

Jack the Ripper

1988

Rockliffe's Babies poster
5.8

Rockliffe's Babies is a British television police procedural devised by Richard O'Keefe, and starring Ian Hogg as maverick Detective Sergeant Alan Rockliffe, who is assigned to train seven young recruits to the CID, all fresh out of uniform. Under his irascible guidance, it is hoped that they will blossom into full-blown detectives. But Rockliffe is human – so human that he makes more mistakes than the 'Babies' he's supposed to be training. A follow-up series, Rockliffe's Folly, follows Rockliffe through his relocation to Wessex, dealing with rural crimes as part of a new team of investigators. The seven episode third series proved to be the last, with many citing a change in the programme's formula for the heavy ratings decline. Many viewers stated that the success of the two Babies series came not from Rockliffe himself, but from the popular ensemble cast.

Rockliffe's Babies

1987

No artwork available
5.3

Harry is a television drama series produced by Union Pictures for the BBC, and shown on BBC1 between 18 September 1993 and 12 April 1995. The programme follows a journalist called Harry Salter, who ran a news agency in the English town of Darlington.

Harry

1993

No artwork available
6.0

Magic Grandad was an educational programme which originally aired on BBC Two under the title 'Switch On, Switch Off' during Schools section of 1993. The show saw 'Magic' Grandad take his young grandchildren back in time, many of the adventures are about comparing the past and the present and seeing how evidence of what happened in the olden days still survives. The show was said to make learning about history "fun for youngsters" and was aimed at children aged 5-7 years. The series was introduced to support the History National Curriculum at Key Stage 1. New seasons have been made periodically to support new areas of the infant history curriculum such as seaside holidays and toys. The early season have a companion booklet of teacher's notes with descriptions of the episodes, various suggestions for follow-up work and photocopiable worksheets.

Magic Grandad

1993

G.B.H. poster
6.3

GBH was a seven-part British television drama written by Alan Bleasdale shown in the summer of 1991 on Channel 4. The protagonists were Michael Murray, the Militant tendency-supporting Labour leader of a city council in the North of England and Jim Nelson, the headmaster of a school for disturbed children. The series was controversial partly because Murray appeared to be based on Derek Hatton, former Deputy Leader of Liverpool City Council — in an interview in the G.B.H. DVD Bleasdale recounts an accidental meeting with Hatton before the series, who indicates that he has caught wind of Bleasdale's intentions but does not mind as long as the actor playing him is "handsome". In normal parlance, the initials "GBH" refer to the criminal charge of grievous bodily harm - however, the actual intent of the letters is that it is supposed to stand for Great British Holiday.

G.B.H.

1991

Chimera poster
6.0

A journalist investigates the death of his girlfriend at a fertility clinic where she worked and uncovers a plot to create a new breed of human based on crossing the genetics of man and ape.

Chimera

1991

Sorted poster
8.3

Sorted is a six-part BBC television comedy-drama series about the personal and professional lives of several postmen. It initially broadcast in 2006 on BBC One and BBC HD. Created by Danny Brocklehurst, the series, set in Manchester but filmed in Stockport, stars Neil Dudgeon, Will Mellor, Hugo Speer, Cal MacAninch, and Dean Lennox Kelly.

Sorted

2006

Mr. Wroe's Virgins poster
5.6

Prophet John Wroe preaches of the coming Apocalypse and appeals for seven virgins to 'serve' him in his home. This series is their story. Based on the novel by Jane Rogers.

Mr. Wroe's Virgins

1993

No artwork available
7.0

After surviving a series of attempts on his life, successful businessman Lew Burnett decides to remain 'dead' after the most recent one so he can go undercover and find out which of his close friends and business associates want him dead.

The Hanged Man

1975

No artwork available
NR

Newly-divorced Jennifer Holt moves with her teenage son to a rural veterinary practice in Devon , where she has to prove herself to her colleagues and local farmers.

The Vet

1995

Days of Hope poster
7.0

A series of four feature-length episodes following the lives of a working-class family from the turmoils of the First World War in 1916 to the General Strike in 1926.

Days of Hope

1975

The Second Coming poster
7.0

Video store clerk Steve Baxter realises that he is in fact the Son of God. He has just a few days to find the human race's Third Testament and thus avert the Apocalypse.

The Second Coming

2003

No artwork available
9.0

The Befrienders is a British television series produced by the BBC in 1972. The series dealt with the work of the Samaritans organisation, and the individual cases its staff came across. The leading cast members were Megs Jenkins and Michael Culver. The Befrienders was first aired as a single play as part of the Drama Playhouse strand in 1970, which was followed by one series of eleven episodes.

The Befrienders

1972

Hearts and Minds poster
7.8

A young teacher begins work at a tough Liverpool comprehensive, where he has to deal with racism, homophobia and his students' poor backgrounds.

Hearts and Minds

1995

Lucky Feller poster
7.2

Lucky Feller is a 1976 ITV sitcom written by Terence Frisby and produced by Humphrey Barclay with London Weekend Television for ITV. It follows two brothers in Southeast London, the basic set-up can be seen as a dry run for Only Fools and Horses, except with David Jason playing the nerdy "Rodders" part, Shorty Mepstead. The other brother, Randolph Mepstead, was played by Peter Armitage.

Lucky Feller

1976

No artwork available
NR

Sam is a Jewish detective in North London whose old-fashioned mother moves in after his wife leaves him.

Sam Saturday

1992

Plaza Patrol poster
5.5

Cannon and Ball star as security guards Trevor and Bernard at the Margaret Thatcher Plaza shopping centre Trevor Purvis and his senior, Bernard Cooney, are security guards at the Margaret Thatcher Plaza shopping precinct. Whilst Bernard is eager to just get on and get the shift completed, Purvis is a little more casual with his use of company time.

Plaza Patrol

1991

No artwork available
7.0

Interlinked six episodes that focussed upon the separate lives of players at an amateur rugby club. A marvellous comedy drama that allowed an ensemble cast to each take their turn to shine. Written by the Oscar-winning Colin Welland.

The Wild West Show

1975

The Royal poster
7.8

Follows the staff and patients of a Yorkshire cottage hospital in the 60s, embroiled in tangled love lives and bitter power struggles.

The Royal

2003