
Acting
Charles Kay
Born — Died
1930-08-31 — 2025-01-10
Place of birth
Coventry, West Midlands, England, UK
Known for
Acting
Credits
68 titles
Known for
7.5The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.
Midsomer Murders
1997
6.2Drama 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
5.7Crown Court is an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984.
Crown Court
1972
6.6Play 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
1970
5.2A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
BBC Play of the Month
1965
7.2Roguish comedy drama following the misadventures of small-time crook Arthur Daley.
Minder
1979
Film credits
2000s · 2 titles
6.8Two young gentlemen living in 1890s England use the same pseudonym ('Ernest') on the sly, which is fine until they both fall in love with women using that name, which leads to a comedy of mistaken identities.
The Importance of Being Earnest
2002
5.1The eventful life of a humble Polish priest who once decried the pomp of the Catholic Church "a circus" and labeled the Pope a "prisoner of the Vatican" before ascending to the papal throne to usher Catholicism into the 21st century. Born in Poland and forced to carry on following the untimely death of his family, Karol Wojtyla endured both personal hardships and the rape of his homeland by the Third Reich to spread the word of God through the Catholic Church. Later, as Pope John Paul II, Wojtyla was beloved by millions of Catholics worldwide. From the sexual-abuse scandal that shook the American Catholic Church in the later-20th century to the murder of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero and the near-fatal assassination attempt made on his own life, Pope John Paul II endured to bridge the gap between various faiths until his death resulting from Parkinson's disease in April of 2005.
Have No Fear: The Life of Pope John Paul II
2006
1990s · 4 titles
5.8A trading company manager travels up an African river to find a missing outpost head and discovers the depth of evil in humanity's soul.
Heart of Darkness
1994
6.2In London, during October 1993, England is playing Holland in the preliminaries of the World Cup. The Bosnian War is at its height, and refugees from the ex-Yugoslavia are arriving. Football rivals, and political adversaries from the Balkans all precipitate conflict and amusing situations. Meanwhile, the lives of four English families are affected in different ways by encounter with the refugees.
Beautiful People
1999
7.4In 1975, the British Government quietly closed down a secret evolutionary project codenamed BEAGLE, ordering the destruction of all research materials. Today, the horrific discovery of several oddly mutated bodies alerts Liz Shaw and P.R.O.B.E. to the fact that something is stalking the original site of project BEAGLE – something which may challenge the very nature of humanity itself! With a crack security team at her disposal, Liz desperately attempts to track down the perverted results of the project. But who or what is hunting whom?
PROBE: Unnatural Selection
1996
8.5When 10-year-old Willie is evacuated from the East End of London, he is chosen by Zander, 13-year-old son of an army captain, to be his companion in a rambling country house.
Willie's War
1994
1980s · 7 titles
8.0Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Amadeus
1984
7.1In 1415, in the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France.
Henry V
1989
4.9A ballet dancer struggles with his homosexuality and the increasing allure of a young ballerina who seeks to draw him away from his domineering lover.
Nijinsky
1980
7.3The reign of England's King John is threatened by Philip of France who demands that John's nephew Arthur be placed on the throne. Pragmatic and decisive, King John moves to plactate the French, but there are others who seek disputre his authority.
The Life and Death of King John
1984
NRKay 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
1980
NRIn prison the night before his execution, republican preacher Hugh Peter prepares to be hanged, drawn and quartered for treason
A Last Visitor for Mr. Hugh Peter
1981
Middle-class parents have bought a run-down school in the country. Their two children, plus an assortment of friends, are staying there over the summer. One day an old lady is found in the school, claiming she used to work there. The children hold her to ransom, but no-one takes any notice.
School for Vandals
1986
1970s · 8 titles
5.2Former Irish Republican Army member Niall Hennessy lives in Belfast, Ireland, with his wife and daughter amid the ongoing Irish-British conflict. Though he still knows people in the IRA, including fugitive leader Tobin, Niall has given up his violent ways. One day his family is caught in a chaotic street shootout and killed by British forces. Overwhelmed with rage and hunted by a Scotland Yard inspector, Niall heads to London to exact his deadly revenge.
Hennessy
1975
8.0Lee Remick stars as Jennie Jerome, born in the United States in 1845, who eventually became Lady Randolph Churchill, and gave birth to Sir Winston Churchill in this seven-part, seven-hour biographical mini-series.
Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill
1974
8.5An Edwardian take on the Shakespeare play starring Laurence Olivier.
The Merchant of Venice
1973
NRThe Duchess of Malfi is recently widowed and her greedy brothers are determined she will not marry again, so they employ Daniel De Bosola, a murderer in their pay to spy on her.
The Duchess of Malfi
1972
An elderly priest recruits a young woman as housekeeper in the presbytery he shares with two young priests, but temptation and jealousy soon sew discord and doubt in some minds.
The Prodigal Daughter
1975
10.0'I'd stake my reputation on it. These photographs are not faked.' But how could photographs, taken on a simple camera by two Yorkshire village girls, have momentous implications for man's understanding of the world?
Fairies
1978
The life, background, motivation and struggles of Florence Nightingale.
Miss Nightingale
1974
During a weekend at a country house in the 1920s, a Jewish outsider accuses a former officer of theft, setting off a tragic chain of events.
Loyalties
1976
1960s · 5 titles
6.3Charles Dobbs is a British secret agent investigating the apparent suicide of Foreign Office official Samuel Fennan. Dobbs suspects that Fennan's wife, Elsa, a survivor of a Nazi Germany extermination camp, might have some clues, but other officials want Dobbs to drop the case. So Dobbs hires a retiring inspector, Mendel, to quietly make inquiries. Dobbs isn't at all sure as there are a number of anomalies that simply can't be explained away. Dobbs is also having trouble at home with his errant wife, whom he very much loves, having frequent affairs. He's also pleased to see an old friend, Dieter Frey, who he recruited after the war. With the assistance of a colleague and a retired policeman, Dobbs tries to piece together just who is the spy and who in fact assassinated Fennan.
The Deadly Affair
1967
5.8Harry Brown is a somewhat rough and wild university student, who has the ability to win friends, especially the underdogs like Phil who doesn't play 'rugger' and can't sink a whole pint of beer, and African student Reggie. He also has a way with the girls....
The Wild and the Willing
1962
NRBBC Play of the Month adaptation of Shakespeare's tragic love story.
Romeo and Juliet
1967
8.7A 1965 BBC adaptation of William Shakespeare's first historical tetralogy (1 Henry VI, 2 Henry VI, 3 Henry VI and Richard III), which deals with the conflict between the House of Lancaster and the House of York over the throne of England, a conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. It was based on the 1963 theatre adaptation by John Barton, and directed by Peter Hall for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The Wars of the Roses
1965
6.7A playboy tries to recruit a gang, who include an American who needs cash to satisfy his wife's expensive tastes, and an old time expert cracksman, to rob a foreign embassy's safe, but trouble starts when the plan begins to go wrong.
Piccadilly Third Stop
1960
Series credits
7.5The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.
Midsomer Murders
1997
7.5The peacefulness of the Midsomer community is shattered by violent crimes, suspects are placed under suspicion, and it is up to a veteran DCI and his young sergeant to calmly and diligently eliminate the innocent and ruthlessly pursue the guilty.
Midsomer Murders
1997
6.2Drama 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
5.7Crown Court is an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984.
Crown Court
1972
6.6Play 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
1970
5.2A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
BBC Play of the Month
1965
5.2A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
BBC Play of the Month
1965
5.2A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.
BBC Play of the Month
1965
7.2Roguish comedy drama following the misadventures of small-time crook Arthur Daley.
Minder
1979
8.2Sherlock Holmes, along with his friend Dr. Watson, uses his abilities to take on cases by private clients and those that the Scotland Yard are unable to solve.
Sherlock Holmes
1984
7.8The adventures of Miss Jane Marple, an elderly spinster living in the quiet little village of St Mary Mead. During her many visits to friends and relatives in other villages, Miss Marple often stumbles upon mysterious murders which she helps solve. Although the police are sometimes reluctant to accept Miss Marple's help, her reputation and unparalleled powers of observation eventually win them over.
Agatha Christie's Marple
2004
7.0Jim Bergerac is a detective sergeant in The Foreigners Office who likes to do things his own way. While dealing with his own personal demons Bergerac has a knack of finding trouble, and sometimes causing it.
Bergerac
1981
7.0A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.
Playhouse
1974
4.8No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series Murder Bag and Crime Sheet, all starring Raymond Francis as Detective Superintendent, later Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart.
No Hiding Place
1959
7.0Adapted from the hit US series, Law & Order: UK follows a team of police detectives and prosecutors representing the public interest in the criminal justice system.
Law & Order: UK
2009
7.1Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It stars Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an aging London barrister who defends any and all clients, and has been spun off into a series of short stories, novels, and radio programmes.
Rumpole of the Bailey
1975
7.6Working from his home in a converted windmill, Jonathan Creek is a magician with a natural ability for solving puzzles. He soon puts this ability to the use of solving impossible crimes and mysterious murders.
Jonathan Creek
1997
7.0An anthology of plays and novels adapted into feature length TV movies, broadcast on BBC2 from September 1977 to April 1979.
BBC2 Play of the Week
1977
4.0A UK anthology series of single plays from major playwrights old and new. It ran from 1955 to 1974, producing about five hundred ninety-minute episodes from Granada Television. Season 1 also incorporates the Plays from the 'H.M. Tennant Globe Theatre' series, some of which were incorporated and labelled in listings as official Play of the Week episodes and some of which were played in place of Play of the Week episodes in alternative ITV regions. All 8 plays have been incorporated into this entry for convenience.
ITV Play of the Week
1955
7.3Instead of spending her golden years lying down, the indomitable Hetty Wainthropp found her calling late in life. Combining common sense, her husband, and her pocketbook, this senior sleuth takes on all the cases the police deem too minor.
Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
1996
7.8Acclaimed blackly comic historical drama series. Set amidst a web of power, corruption and lies, it chronicles the reigns of the Roman emperors - Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and finally Claudius.
I, Claudius
1976
5.0Churchill'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
7.9An idyllic picture of 1950's rural England as seen through the lives of the Larkins, a farm family living in Kent. The show revolves around Pa Larkin, a man of a kind and mischievous nature with a penchant for getting into scrapes and talking his way out of them with equal equanimity; and his daughters, as they deal with growing up and discovering the joys and sorrows of young love.
The Darling Buds of May
1991
6.3The Adventurer is an ITC Entertainment TV adventure series created by Dennis Spooner that ran for one season from 1972 to 1973. It premiered in the UK on 29 September 1972. The show starred Gene Barry as Gene Bradley, a government agent of independent means who poses as a glamorous American movie star.
The Adventurer
1972
7.0A crime drama set in Southampton following a team of detectives and the cases they solve.
Target
1977
9.0A BBC anthology series featuring adaptations of detective stories over 45 episodes in three seasons that ran from 1964 to 1969. As with many BBC programmes made before the early 1970s, many of its episodes no longer exist. Of the eighteen episodes from the first season only twelve are currently known to exist; likewise six of the sixteen editions from the second run are considered lost, and just one of the final ten survives in the archives.
Detective
1964
7.0"Fall of Eagles" is a 13-part British television drama aired by the BBC in 1974. The series portrays historical events from 1848 to 1918, dealing with the collapse of the ruling dynasties of Austria-Hungary (the Habsburgs), Germany (the Hohenzollerns) and Russia (the Romanovs).
Fall of Eagles
1974
7.5Compelling crime anthology looks at some of Britain's most notorious murder trials, in which both male and female defendants stood accused of the murder of women. Presented by Robert Morley, seven hour-long dramas reconstruct sensational trials which shocked Britain, offering in-depth analyses of individuals' motives and methods.
Lady Killers
1980
6.3English literature lecturer Guy Pringle and his wife Harriet navigate the early years of WWII in Bucharest. They become involved in anti-fascist politics and are forced to flee as the war escalates, crossing paths with various characters along the way.
Fortunes of War
1987
8.1Environmental activist Emma Craven is murdered in front of her father, local police inspector Ronald Craven. Investigating the death leads him through a haunting revelation of the murkiness of British nuclear policy of the 1980s.
Edge of Darkness
1985
7.2Supernatural is a 1977 British anthology television programme broadcast on BBC One. Each episode follows the Club of the Damned, where a prospective member is required to tell a horror story, and their application would be judged on how fright factor. Applicants who fail to tell a sufficiently frightening story are killed.
Supernatural
1977
7.2Lee Remick stars as Jennie Jerome, born in the United States in 1845, who eventually became Lady Randolph Churchill, and gave birth to Sir Winston Churchill in this seven-part, seven-hour biographical mini-series.
Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill
1974
Dramatisations of three different women, three different cases—Constance Kent (episodes 1–8), Mary Blandy (9–14), and Adelaide Bartlett (15–22)—all 18th- and 19th-century murderesses.
A Question of Guilt
1980
6.5Home to Roost is a British television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television in the 1980s. Written by Eric Chappell, it starred John Thaw as Henry Willows and Reece Dinsdale as his 18-year-old son Matthew. The premise is that Henry Willows is forty-something, who has been divorced from his wife for seven years and is perfectly happy living alone in London. That is, until his youngest child, Matthew arrives to live with him, after being thrown out by his mother. The plots generally revolved around Henry's annoyance at having his solitude disturbed, and the age gap clash. Henry employed two cleaners throughout the show's life; first Enid Thompson, and, in the third season, Fiona Fennell.
Home to Roost
1985
7.8To Serve Them All My Days is a 1980-81 British television drama serial, adapted by Andrew Davies from R. F. Delderfield's 1972 novel of the same name. David Powlett-Jones, a shell-shocked World War I veteran, becomes a teacher at an elite English boarding school, Bamfylde. The drama explores his personal growth, relationships, and evolving views on society over his 20-year career at the school.
To Serve Them All My Days
1980
4.0Time for Murder is a 1985 British anthology crime series produced by Granada Television, featuring six standalone, hour-long mystery episodes with twists, dark humour, and macabre elements, starring popular actors like Charles Dance and Claire Bloom. Each episode presents a different story, such as a tutor becoming a murder suspect or a writer's spa vacation turning sinister, all united by the theme that 'there is always a time for murder'.
Time for Murder
1985
NRSitcom following the office politics in an accounts department. A sequel to The Squirrels.
Fiddlers Three
1991
9.0An epic chronicle of the dysfunctional Plantagenet family from the accession of the young Henry to the death of Richard, last of the Plantagenets. The vacillations of the priestly Henry lead to ungentlemanly behaviour, civil war, treason, murder, regicide, fratricide, and the relentless pursuit of power so characteristic of the Renaissance.
The Wars of the Roses
1965
Thompson is a 1988 British TV variety series hosted by actress Emma Thompson the show also starred Imelda Staunton, Kenneth Branagh and Stephen Moore. The show featured musical numbers, as well as comedy skits and…
Thompson
1988
4.2On her husband's demise, attractive Bridget suddenly finds she can't meet the financial demand of her Sussex country house in Brighton without his income. Her solution: take in lodgers. Two other "belles" answer her offer. Annie, also a widow, is a dim but friendly, likable farmer's daughter from a small village; Frances is a sardonic, sarcastic teacher whose husband Gilbert left her for a younger woman, taking the house. Later, Frances' tactless, overprotective mother Josephine moves in as well, to hover over and generally annoy her daughter. The women bond and Bridget shows her seductive side and she searches for a new mate.
Brighton Belles
1993


